THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY AT LOCUS 2 OF THE ALLEN SITE (33AT653): A LATE WOODLAND – LATE PREHISTORIC HOUSEHOLD IN SOUTHEASTERN OHIO A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science Tracy H. Formica August 2006 This thesis entitled THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY AT LOCUS 2 OF THE ALLEN SITE (33AT653): A LATE WOODLAND – LATE PREHISTORIC HOUSEHOLD IN SOUTHEASTERN OHIO by TRACY H. FORMICA has been approved for the Program of Environmental Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences by Elliot M. Abrams Professor of Anthropology Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences ABSTRACT FORMICA, TRACY H., M.S., August 2006, Environmental Studies THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY AT LOCUS 2 OF THE ALLEN SITE (33AT653): A LATE WOODLAND – LATE PREHISTORIC HOUSEHOLD IN SOUTHEASTERN OHIO (113 pp.) Director of Thesis: Elliot M. Abrams Little is known about Fort Ancient sites in the southern Hocking River drainage basin of southeast Ohio. The Allen site, a multicomponent habitation site located along Margaret Creek, a tributary of the Hocking River, has begun to change this situation. Part of the greater central Ohio River drainage basin and Fort Ancient culture area, the most intense occupation at the Allen site occurred during the Late Woodland and Late Prehistoric periods. Locus 2 represents a fissioning of the main Allen site population during this time to accommodate population growth. Based on excavations conducted at Locus 2 by Ohio University archaeological summer field schools in 1994 and 1996, feature and artifactual analyses are presented, emphasizing the environmental setting, chronology, function, and the domestic economy of this economically interdependent household that is part of the greater Allen village community. It is concluded that a wide range of domestic economic functions were conducted on a day-to-day basis within the Allen 2 household and occasionally as part of the greater Allen village community-level economy. Members of this Fort Ancient household were self-sufficient, managing their domestic economy around the availability and accessibility of a multitude of natural resources to meet the household’s basic needs. Approved: Elliot M. Abrams Professor of Anthropology DEDICATION In memory of the native peoples who survived and persisted across North America for thousands of years without any of the modern amenities we today take for granted. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am indebted to several organizations and individuals for completion of this thesis. I would first like to thank the Environmental Studies Program of Ohio University (OU) for granting me support during my graduate education. As for the Environmental Archaeology program itself, I can only hope that other graduate level archaeology programs will take note of the interdisciplinary nature of OU’s program, as a professional archaeologist working in contract, or CRM, archaeology today must be versed in a variety of scientific disciplines. To the director of my thesis and fellow committee members, Dr. Elliot Abrams, Dr. AnnCorinne Freter, and Dr. Dorothy Sack, a sincere thank you for your assistance, guidance, patience, mentoring, and dedication throughout this endeavor. Several different contributors provided funding for the Allen 2 radiometric dates. These include the John Baker Foundation of Ohio University, the Ohio Archaeological Council, and the David Hudnell Fund of Ohio University. Others who graciously offered assistance with various aspects of this thesis include Joe Wakeman of Hocking College; Martha Otto of the Ohio Historical Society; Anne Lee, Andy Sewell, Pat Bennett, and Tommy Ng of Hardlines Design Company; and, fellow colleagues in the Environmental Archaeology program, Staci Spertzel and Paul Patton. To my father, Francis Formica, Jr., thank you for your support, encouragement, and always taking a sincere interest in what your daughter was up to. To my fiancé, Benjamin Stewart, thank you for standing by my side and supporting me no matter what. Finally, to David Hudnell and the 1994 and 1996 OU field school students, this thesis would have been possible without your hard work in the field. Thank you. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................................3 DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................................4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...............................................................................................................................5 LIST OF TABLES ..........................................................................................................................................8 LIST OF FIGURES.........................................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................10 A. Allen Site Overview ...........................................................................................................................14 B. Data Collection ...................................................................................................................................15 C. Research at the Allen Site...................................................................................................................19 D. Statement of the Research Problem ....................................................................................................20 F. Questions.............................................................................................................................................21 CHAPTER 2 – ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING..........................................................................................23 A. Paleoclimate........................................................................................................................................23 B. Geomorphology ..................................................................................................................................23 C. Soils ....................................................................................................................................................27 D. Natural Resources...............................................................................................................................29 1. Floral Resources ..............................................................................................................................29 2. Faunal Resources .............................................................................................................................30 3. Salt Resources..................................................................................................................................30 4. Coal Resources ................................................................................................................................31 5. Chert Resources ...............................................................................................................................31 6. Ground Stone, Petrified Wood, and Hematite Resources ................................................................34 7. Clay and Temper Resources ............................................................................................................34 CHAPTER 3 – CULTURAL SETTING.......................................................................................................36 A. The Late Woodland Period.................................................................................................................36 B. The Late Prehistoric Period.................................................................................................................37 C. Patterns of the Hocking River Drainage .............................................................................................38 CHAPTER 4 – ALLEN 2 FEATURES.........................................................................................................40 CHAPTER 5 – ALLEN 2 CHRONOLOGY.................................................................................................47 A. Radiometric Dating.............................................................................................................................47 B. Projectile Point Seriation ....................................................................................................................48 C. Ceramic Seriation................................................................................................................................56 D. Feature Stratigraphy............................................................................................................................56 E. Historic Artifacts.................................................................................................................................57 CHAPTER 6 – ALLEN 2 ECOFACT AND ARTIFACT ANALYSES.......................................................58 A. Ethnobotany........................................................................................................................................58 7 B. Faunal Remains...................................................................................................................................61