Kennewick Man Revealed
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HOPEWELL WOODHENGE • ANCIENT URBANITES • REVISITING A LABOR MASSACRE american archaeologyWINTER 2014-15 a quarterly publication of The Archaeological Conservancy Vol. 18 No. 4 Kennewick Man $3.95 REVEALED WINTER 2014-15 americana quarterly publication of The Archaeological archaeology Conservancy Vol. 18 No. 4 COVER FEATURE 19 THE STORY OF KENNEWICK MAN BY DAVID MALAKOFF A new book tells the tale of the famous ancient skeleton. 12 REMEMBERING THE LATTIMER MASSACRE BY BRUCE BEANS An archaeological project has uncovered evidence of one of the country’s largest labor massacres. 26 ANCIENT URBANITES BY LIZZIE WADE An investigation of a Teotihuacan suburb is yielding insights into daily life in this ancient metropolis. 32 A HOPEWELL WOODHENGE BY DAVE GHOSE Archaeologists are learning that the Hopewell, who are ON ON I known for their earthen architecture, apparently made TUT I extensive use of wood as well. This discovery could change NST I interpretations of Hopewell sites. AN I SON H 39 QUESTIONING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM T I BY KRISTIN OHLSON RK / SM Recent research at the Biesterfeldt site in North Dakota could A overturn assumptions that have existed for decades. CHIP CL CHIP 19 46 new acquisition THE REDISCOVERY OF SALLY WARREN MOUNDS The Conservancy preserves two mounds that disappeared for some 30 years. 47 point acquisition A PIECE OF AMERICAN HISTORY The Conservancy obtains part of what was once North America’s largest wooden fort. 48 point acquisition A SAVING A MAJOR MOHAWK VILLAGE VER A The Conservancy is set to acquire the Garoga site. ALICI 26 2 LAY OF THE LAND 50 FiELD NOTES 52 REVIEWS 54 EXPEDITIONS 3 LETTERS 5 EVENTS COVER: Scientists who have studied the 8,500-year-old skeleton known as Kennewick Man have come to a number of conclusions 7 IN THE NEWS about him. This sculpted bust, for example, is their interpretation • Chaco Canyon Threatened By Fracking of what he looked like. • Haiti Shipwreck Not The Santa Maria? CREDIT: SutdioEIS • Poverty Point Named World Heritage Site american archaeology 1 Lay of the Land Fulfilling Our Mission ack in 1980, The Archaeologi- preserve this site. Large-scale develop- PEZ O cal Conservancy’s first year of ments were less than a quarter mile LIZ L operation, I visited the famous away, and the threats to completely Mark Michel, President BHopewell site near Chillicothe, Ohio, destroy this indispensable part of Amer- for the first time. Two thousand years ica’s prehistoric legacy were acute. All Hopewell site. It turns out that a 73-acre ago it was the ceremonial center of the experts concurred that, despite circular feature is still intact under the the Hopewell people. Today, it is the its history of abuse, the Hopewell site plow zone, and that it appears to be a type-site of the Hopewell culture and still contained vital information about kind of calendrical monument. Despite perhaps the most famous archaeologi- one of North America’s most enigmatic being known for some 200 years, no cal site in the Eastern United States. In cultures. Even though we really could one had excavated and examined this 1980, most of the 200-acre site was not afford it, we bought the main part feature. Because the Conservancy planted in corn. It had been extensively of the site. Two other tracts were added acquired the site and preserved it, it excavated by several archaeologists later, and some years later it was added is still there for new archaeologists to and amateurs, traversed by a road and to the new Hopewell Culture National investigate using the latest technol- a railroad, plowed down, and just beat Historical Park. ogy. That’s why the Conservancy was up. But there it was, still intact. In this issue of American Archae- founded in 1980, and it feels good to We consulted with state officials ology (see “A Hopewell Woodhenge,” see those efforts pay off. and several archaeological experts. page 32) we report on exciting new Everyone agreed that it was critical to research that is being done at the 2 winter • 2014-15 Letters Editor’s Give The Students Credit Living in Oklahoma, Corner I turned first to the Many people spend their time on this Spiro Mounds story earth quietly going about their busi- (“Rethinking Spiro ness, noses to the grindstone. So it was Mounds”) when my for a 5-foot-7-inch, 160-pound, 40-year- Fall issue arrived. In old guy with bad teeth. Thousands due course I came Medicinal of years ago he wandered the Pacific across the sentence Tobacco Northwest Coast while doing his job, “This hypothesis It was interesting which was hunting and gathering. satisfied (Missis- to read the article By all indications, life was tough. sippian archaeologist James A.) Brown “Holy Smoke” in the He had a laundry list of ailments: a until a few years ago, when a student summer issue, which was about Native fractured shoulder bone, cracked ribs, asked him if enough details of the American tobacco use and the prac- minor head injuries. And that’s not to Great Mortuary were available to cre- tice of blowing tobacco smoke into mention the stone point in his hip. ate an illustration of it.” The student’s a child’s ear to relieve an earache. My Given his injuries, throwing an atlatl— question eventually led to Brown’s new mother used to tell of her father taking a requirement for someone in his busi- theory on Spiro. her on his lap and blowing pipe smoke ness—must have been painful. Then I read “Searching for De into her ear when she had earache. My Nonetheless, he did his job, and Soto,” which begins with the sentence paternal grandmother, who grew up in presumably did it well. Then one day “The Atlanta high school girl was in the a sod house on the Kansas prairie in death came. He was given a proper middle of a solitary stint at the sifting the 1870s and ’80s, said that their only burial, and that was that. He rested in screen, while archaeologist Dennis doctor was a Native American “herb peace for some 8,500 years. Then, on a Blanton and the rest of the group work- doctor” who lived nearby. summer day in 1996, that peace came ing at the Glass site were engaged else- American Archaeology and to an end. where.” Her subsequent discovery “sent Archaeology are my two favorite maga- He, of course, is Kennewick Man. a jolt through Blanton and his crew.” zines. When I was a kid, I didn’t know When his nearly intact skeleton was What these articles have in com- there was such a profession as archae- discovered that day in Kennewick, mon is that the impetus for changing ologist. If I had, I might have become Washington, he quickly got the atten- perspectives in both cases came from one. Keep up the good work. I look tion of the local authorities. He subse- unnamed, uncredited students. forward to every issue. quently captivated the archaeological community, Native Americans, the Gary Edmondson Larry B. King press, and the world. It took a very Duncan, Oklahoma Wolf Creek, Oregon long time, but this ordinary fellow, who probably aspired to nothing more than day-to-day survival, achieved mod- Sending Letters to American Archaeology ern celebrity. Perhaps that shouldn’t American Archaeology welcomes your letters. be surprising, since his is a remarkable Write to us at 1717 Girard Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, tale. And as our feature “The Story Of or send us e-mail at [email protected]. Kennewick Man” (page 19) shows, his tale hasn’t been fully told. We reserve the right to edit and publish letters in the magazine’s Letters department as space permits. Please include your name, address, and telephone number with all correspondence, including e-mail messages. american archaeology 3 Welcome to the ArchAeologicAl conservAncy! 1717 Girard Boulevard NE Albuquerque, NM 87106 • (505) 266-1540 he Archaeological Conservancy is the www.americanarchaeology.org only national nonprofit organization that identifies, acquires, and preserves Board of Directors the most significant archaeological Gordon Wilson, New Mexico CHAIRMAN sites in the United States. Since its Cecil F. Antone, Arizona • Carol Condie, New Mexico beginning in 1980, the Conservancy Janet Creighton, Washington • Jerry Golden, Colorado has preserved more than 480 sites W. James Judge, Colorado • Jay T. Last, California • Bill Lipe, Idaho t Leslie Masson, Massachusetts • Dorinda Oliver, New York across the nation, ranging in age from the earliest habitation sites in North America to Rosamond Stanton, Montana a 19th-century frontier army post. We are Conservancy Staff building a national system of archaeological Mark Michel, President • Tione Joseph, Business Manager preserves to ensure the survival of our Lorna Wolf, Membership Director • Sarah Shuler, Special Projects Director irreplaceable cultural heritage. Dawn Kaufmann, Web Developer • Melissa Montoya, Administrative Assistant Crista Taylor, Administrative Assistant • Shelley Smith, Administrative Assistant Why Save Archaeological Sites? The ancient people of North America Regional Offices and Directors left virtually no written records of their Jim Walker, Senior Vice President, Southwestern Region (505) 266-1540 cultures. Clues that might someday 1717 Girard Boulevard NE • Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106 solve the mysteries of prehistoric Tamara Stewart, Projects Coordinator • Chaz Evans, Field Representative America are still missing, and when a ruin is destroyed by looters, or Paul Gardner, Vice President, Midwestern Region (614) 267-1100 leveled for a shopping center, precious 3620 N. High St. #307 • Columbus, Ohio 43214 information is lost. By permanently Josh McConaughy, Field Representative preserving endangered ruins, we make sure they will be here for future Jessica Crawford, Regional Director, Southeastern Region (662) 326-6465 generations to study and enjoy.