UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-1-2019 The Bioarchaeology of Instability: Violence and Environmental Stress During the Late Fort Ancient (AD 1425 - 1635) Occupations of Hardin Village Amber Elaine Osterholt Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Biological and Physical Anthropology Commons Repository Citation Osterholt, Amber Elaine, "The Bioarchaeology of Instability: Violence and Environmental Stress During the Late Fort Ancient (AD 1425 - 1635) Occupations of Hardin Village" (2019). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 3656. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/15778514 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). 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THE BIOARCHAEOLOGY OF INSTABILITY: VIOLENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS DURING THE LATE FORT ANCIENT (AD 1425 – 1635) OCCUPATIONS OF HARDIN VILLAGE by Amber Elaine Osterholt Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology Indiana University – Purdue University, Fort Wayne May 2011 Master of Science in Anthropology University of Indianapolis August 2013 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy – Anthropology Department of Anthropology College of Liberal Arts The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2019 Dissertation Approval The Graduate College The University of Nevada, Las Vegas December 11, 2018 This dissertation prepared by Amber Elaine Osterholt entitled The Bioarchaeology of Instability: Violence and Environmental Stress during the Late Fort Ancient (AD 1425 – 1635) Occupations of Hardin Village is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy – Anthropology Department of Anthropology Debra Martin, Ph.D. Kathryn Hausbeck Korgan, Ph.D. Examination Committee Chair Graduate College Interim Dean Barbara Roth, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Karen Harry, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Janet Dufek, Ph.D. Graduate College Faculty Representative ii ABSTRACT The Bioarchaeology of Instability: Violence and Environmental Stress during the Late Fort Ancient (AD 1425 – 1635) Occupations of Hardin Village by Amber Elaine Osterholt Dr. Debra L. Martin, Examination Committee Chair UNLV Distinguished Professor of Anthropology University of Nevada, Las Vegas Conflict, poor health, environmental instability, captive taking, and culture change are all potential contributors for the abandonment of the Middle Ohio River Valley at the end of the Protohistoric Period in eastern North America. This project investigated the relationship between these factors among the Fort Ancient community of Hardin Village. The data presented in this study use bioarchaeological analysis to reveal how environmental and cultural instability influenced communities to leave their homeland. Bioarchaeology was well suited for this investigation because it links the most direct evidence of violence and poor health and nutrition (skeletal injuries and evidence of disease) to archaeological reconstructions of past lifeways. A comprehensive assessment of the health, nutritional status, activity levels, and traumatic injury at Hardin Village was completed using the data from a sample of 403 adult and subadult human burials. The findings of this study demonstrated nutritional deficiency and violent conflict that were not documented for this site in previous studies. This project found insufficient diets, violent encounters, and a relatively low age at death for the population. Results indicated that children, especially those of weaning age between one and five years old, iii and young adults had particular difficulty maintain necessary resources and avoiding violent conflict. Just over 10 percent (11.7%) of the population at Hardin Village lived beyond age 30. The results showed that interpersonal violence was a fact of life for the people living at Hardin Village. Evidence of lethal and non-lethal trauma, including instances of injury recidivism, where individuals were victimized repeatedly, showed that warfare and raiding were endemic to the Fort Ancient region. There was some evidence of captive-taking at the earlier occupied 15th century portion of the site, however no evidence was found of excessive captive- taking from Hardin Village during the late Protohistoric occupation. This did not support ethnohistoric documents which suggest that captive taking by other indigenous groups was a primary motivator for the abandonment of the Middle Ohio River Valley. Instead, resource stress, poor nutrition, and endemic violence are stronger candidates for driving the abandonment of the Middle Ohio River Valley by Fort Ancient communities like Hardin Village. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completion of the dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance of my committee chair, Dr. Debra Martin. I am thankful for her mentoring and the opportunities for growth as a scholar she has provided me. I am further grateful to the contributions of my committee members, Dr. Barbara Roth, Dr. Karen Harry, and Dr. Janet Dufek. Their encouragement throughout this process has been invaluable. Special thanks must be given to Dr. Matt Davidson, of the U. S. Forest Service for starting me down the path of research at Hardin Village and providing valuable insight about Hardin Village. I am appreciative of his thoughts on my research and findings throughout this process. I am also grateful to my colleagues at the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research and Policy, especially Dr. Amanda Haboush-Deloye, Dr. Erika Marquez, and Amaris Knight for their constant support and encouragement throughout this process. This project could not have been completed without the support of the Webb Museum of Anthropology, where the remains from Hardin Village are curated. Thank you for providing access to these remains. I am grateful to the UNLV Graduate and Professional Student Association for providing funding for different stages of this research. Finally, I must thank my family and friends for all their support throughout the past five years. Thanks go to my parents, Kari and Mark, for their unwavering support throughout all of the challenges of the past many years. Thanks to my grandmother Jill, for encouraging me to never give up. Thank you to my brother Grant, for always inspiring me to do my best. Thank you to my husband, Ryan, for always believing in me and encouraging me to never give up. v Thanks to Sonia and Robin, my rocks. I’m really glad your hair is like that. Finally, thank you to my earliest mentor Dr. Christopher Schmidt, for pushing me to pursue this process. vi DEDICATION To Ryan, Frankie, and the Mo. Thank you for being there, always. Eye lava ewe. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ v DEDICATION .............................................................................................................................. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................. viii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Research Strategy........................................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2: ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE OHIO RIVER VALLEY .......................... 7 A Brief Overview from Paleoindian to Early Woodland ............................................................ 7 The Middle Woodland Period ..................................................................................................... 9 The Late Woodland Period ....................................................................................................... 10 The Late Prehistoric Period ...................................................................................................... 12 Fort Ancient .......................................................................................................................... 12 Abandonment ............................................................................................................................ 18 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS AND METHODS