Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations Arts & Sciences Spring 5-15-2018 Earthen Monuments and Social Movements in Eastern North America: Adena-Hopewell Enclosures on Kentucky’s Bluegrass Landscape Edward Ross Henry Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the Indigenous Studies Commons Recommended Citation Henry, Edward Ross, "Earthen Monuments and Social Movements in Eastern North America: Adena-Hopewell Enclosures on Kentucky’s Bluegrass Landscape" (2018). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1534. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/1534 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts & Sciences at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Department of Anthropology Dissertation Examination Committee: Tristram R. Kidder, Chair Sarah I. Baitzel David A. Fike Michael D. Frachetti Gayle J. Fritz Sarah C. Sherwood Earthen Monuments and Social Movements in Eastern North America: Adena-Hopewell Enclosures on Kentucky’s Bluegrass Landscape by Edward Ross Henry A dissertation presented to The Graduate School of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2018 St. Louis, Missouri © 2018, Edward Ross Henry Table of Contents List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………….v List of Tables……………………………………………………………………………………...x Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………………….xii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………xvii Chapter 1: Adena, Hopewell, and the Awkward Past and Present of Archaeology in the Eastern Woodlands of North America…………………………………………………………………….1 1.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….1 1.2 Adena, Hopewell, Adena-Hopewell, or Adena Hopewell?................................................3 1.3 Geometric enclosures as ritual infrastructure and material expression of religious institutions…………………………………………………………………………………9 1.4 The structure of the dissertation…………………………………………………………13 1.5 References Cited…………………………………………………………………………15 Chapter 2: Mapping the Adena-Hopewell Landscape in the Middle Ohio Valley, USA: A Landscape-scale Analysis of LiDAR Data from Central Kentucky……………………………..26 2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………26 2.2 Study Area: Ritual Infrastructure on the Early and Middle Woodland Landscape in the Middle Ohio Valley...……………………………………………………………………29 2.2.1 Physiographic Setting of the Study Area: The Bluegrass and Knobs Regions of Kentucky……………………………...…………………………………………..31 2.3 Methods………………………………………………………………………………….32 2.3.1 LiDAR Collection, DTM creation, and Analyses……………………………………32 2.3.2 Geophysical Methods………..……………………………………………………...39 2.3.3 Coring…………………………………………………………………………….43 2.4 Survey Results…………………………………………………………………………...43 2.4.1 The Mahan Feature...……………………………………………………………....44 2.4.2 The Denali Feature…………………………………………………………………48 ii 2.4.3 The Normandy Feature...…………………………………………………………...57 2.4.4 The Exline Feature...……………………………………………………………….62 2.4.5 The Bogie West Feature...………………………………………………………….67 2.4.6 The Goff Feature…………………………………………..……………………….71 2.4.7 The Earthwalker Feature...…………………………………………………………74 2.4.8 The Minerich Feature...…………………………………………………………….79 2.5 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………..81 2.6 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………84 2.7 References Cited…………………………………………………………………………87 Chapter 3: Ritual Dispositions, Adena-Hopewell Enclosures, and the Passing of Time: A Monumental Itinerary for the Winchester Farm Enclosure in Central Kentucky, USA…………98 3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………98 3.2 Archaeological Circuits: Multiple Approaches to a Detailed Past……………………..102 3.2.1 Approaching Biographies and Itineraries of the Past…...…………………………..102 3.2.2 Social Geoarchaeology, Bayesian Chronologies, and the Biographical Approach…………...……………………………………………………………106 3.3 The Winchester Farm Enclosure: An Adena-Hopewell Monument……………………108 3.3.1 The History of Research at Winchester Farm………………………………………111 3.4 Methodologically Considering the Itinerary of an Enclosure …………………………..113 3.4.1 Geoarchaeological Data from Winchester Farm……………………………………116 3.4.2 Archaeobotanical and Zooarchaeological Data from Winchester Farm……………...117 3.4.3 Artifact Analyses at Winchester Farm……………………………………………..118 3.4.4 Bayesian Chronological Modeling of Radiocarbon Dates from Winchester Farm……119 3.5 Identifying and Understanding the Contexts of Itineraries at Winchester Farm……….120 3.5.1 The Embankment………………………………………………………………...120 3.5.2 The Ditch………………………………………………………………………...123 iii 3.5.3 Laboratory-based Analyses of Sediments from the Embankment and Ditch…………124 3.5.4 Identifying What Took Place Inside the Enclosure…………………………….130 3.6 Winchester Farm and the Temporality of Ritual Dispositions…………………………144 3.7 The Monumental Itinerary of Winchester Farm: A Discussion………………………..156 3.8 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...164 3.9 References Cited………………………………………………………………………..166 Chapter 4: The Temporality of Adena-Hopewell Monuments: Bayesian Perspectives on the Chronology of Mounds and Enclosures in the Bluegrass Region of Central Kentucky………..185 4.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..185 4.2 Models for Adena-Hopewell Monumentality in Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region……….189 4.3 A Bayesian Approach to Chronology Building and the Past…………………………...191 4.4 Bayesian Models from the Bluegrass: Burial Mounds and Earthen Enclosures……….194 4.4.1 Earthen Enclosures……………………………………………………………...194 4.4.2 Burial Mounds………………………………………………………………….210 4.5 Discussion………………………………………………………………………………213 4.6 Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………..219 4.7 References Cited………………………………………………………………………..220 Chapter 5: Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………228 5.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………..228 5.2 Chapter Summaries……………………………………………………………………..229 5.3 Synthesis………………………………………………………………………………..231 5.4 Future Research Directions……………………………………………………………..234 5.5 References Cited………………………………………………………………………..234 Appendix A: OxCal Codes for Bayesian Chronological Models Presented in Chapter 3……...237 Appendix B: OxCal Codes for Bayesian Chronological Models Presented in Chapter 4……...239 iv List of Figures Figure 1.1: Map of North America showing the geographic extent of traditionally-defined Adena (500 BC–AD 250) societies (red polygon) and Hopewell (200 BC–AD 500) societies (yellow polygon) …….………………………………………………………...…...…4 Figure 2.1: Location of physiographic regions in Kentucky and LiDAR examinations carried out in this study …………………………..………..……..…………………...…………28 Figure 2.2: Examples of geometric features on the Central Kentucky Landscape that compare to Adena-Hopewell enclosures: A.) Horse racing track; B.) Flattened water tower; C.) Subtle topography of Winchester Farm Enclosure (15Fa153), an Adena-Hopewell enclosure site ..…………………………………..………..……..…………………..35 Figure 2.3: Topographic signatures in LiDAR data from: A.) Irregular Enclosure, Peter Village (15Fa166); B.) Circular enclosure, LeBus Circle (15Bb01); and C.) Burial mound, Elam Mound (15Fa12) ..……………..………..……..…………………...…………37 Figure 2.4: Location of known and potentially unknown sites of Early to Middle Woodland ritual infrastructure .………………………..………..……..…………………...…………40 Figure 2.5: Location of features examined during this study with reference to adjacent known enclosures ..……………..………..……..…………………....…………...…………45 Figure 2.6: A.) LiDAR imagery depicting the Mahan Feature. B.) Magnetic data from the Mahan Feature displayed at two standard deviations with additional geophysical survey areas depicted …..…………………………..………..……..…………………...…………45 Figure 2.7: EMI data from the Mahan Feature overlaid onto magnetic data with 50-percent transparency. A.) Conductivity data from 0.5m coil; B.) Conductivity data from 1m coil; C.) Magnetic susceptibility data from 0.5m coil; D.) Magnetic susceptibility data from 1m coil...………………………..………..……..…………………...…………47 Figure 2.8: GPR amplitude slice maps from the Mahan Feature. A.) 22-38cm below surface; B.) 33-48cm below surface ..…………..………..……..…………………...……………49 Figure 2.9: LiDAR data depicting the Denali Feature. Arrows point to the potential ditch. Geophysical survey areas denoted and contours of small topographic rise discussed in text are highlighted …………………..………..……..…………………...…………50 Figure 2.10: Magnetic data from the Denali Feature displayed at 2 standard deviations ……….51 Figure 2.11: EMI data from the topographic rise at the Denali Feature. A.) Conductivity data from 0.5m coil; B.) Conductivity data from 1m coil; C.) Magnetic susceptibility data from 0.5m coil; D.) Magnetic susceptibility data from 1m coil .......…………53 v Figure 2.12: GPR amplitude slice maps from the topographic rise at the Denali Feature. A.) Reflections from 9-21cm below surface; B.) Reflections from 26-38cm below surface; C.) Reflections from 34-46cm below surface; D.) Location of Oakfield soil cores in proximity to the topographic rise ……….…..…………………....………54 Figure 2.13: LiDAR data depicting the Normandy Feature. Geophysical survey areas and placement