{"title":"Survivorship of Earthworks Mapped by T. H. Lewis in Iowa 1884–1894","authors":"W. Whittaker","doi":"10.1080/01461109.2019.1685242","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01461109.2019.1685242","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Between 1884 and 1894, Theodore Hayes Lewis mapped 370 prehistoric American Indian mounds and earthworks in Iowa as part of a larger survey of mounds in the upper Midwest. Georeferencing remapped Lewis survey notes allows their comparison with modern GIS data including lidar topographic maps, aerial photos, and land records. Of the 370 mounds, 190 (51.4%) are clearly visible in lidar, 160 (43.2%) are probably destroyed, and 20 (5.4%) are undetermined. Data analyses explore the factors that influenced mound survivorship. By far the strongest correlations for survivorship are modern land use, modern ownership, and local landform, with mounds most likely to survive in wooded areas, on public land, and on islands. Iowa data are compared with Lewis map data from Minnesota, revealing Iowa has a far higher survivorship, 51.4% versus 25.6%, likely attributable to land use in the late nineteenth century. Further comparison with Minnesota data suggests perhaps twice as many mounds stood in modern agricultural fields of Iowa before Lewis made his surveys.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/01461109.2019.1685242","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46616660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
J. Collins, C. Andrus, R. Scott, Amy Moe-Hoffman, E. Peacock
{"title":"Refit and Oxygen Isotope Analysis of Freshwater Mussel Shells from the Tillar Farms Site (3DR30), Southeast Arkansas","authors":"J. Collins, C. Andrus, R. Scott, Amy Moe-Hoffman, E. Peacock","doi":"10.1080/01461109.2019.1677999","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01461109.2019.1677999","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT We investigate the link between the consumption of foodstuffs, excavation of a large pit, and disposal of waste at the Tillar Farms site (3DR30), southeast Arkansas, using refit and oxygen isotope analyses of well-preserved freshwater mussel shells from Feature 1. Only 0.13% of 7,408 valves analyzed were unidentifiable to species.The refit analysis produced 460 refits across 23 species and strongly indicates that the shell midden represents a single episode of shellfish gathering, consumption, and discard. Oxygen isotope analysis of five randomly selected shells are used as a test of the refit results. δ18O values from the five archaeological shells are compared to modern control samples of live-collected specimens from Bayou Bartholomew in winter of 2011. Refit analysis suggests the accumulation of mussel shells occurred quickly, likely as a result of one collection, consumption, and discard event. δ18O values suggest this activity took place during a single winter season.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/01461109.2019.1677999","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48561205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cooking and Community","authors":"J. Painter, J. O’Gorman","doi":"10.2307/26759197","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/26759197","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 For many years, archaeological research regarding the Oneota tradition has focused on broad similarities and trends among groups spread over a wide geographical area. While this research is important for understanding the tradition, examinations of synchronic variability between Oneota groups have been underdeveloped. Exploring this variability may help archaeologists better understand how different groups adapted to various social and environmental circumstances and the processes that led to the emergence of different historical social groups in the upper Midwest and eastern prairies. In order to begin exploring this variability in core practices, a pilot study was completed comparing cooking and foodways practices found during an analysis of vessel function on stylistically Oneota pots recovered at the Tremaine site (47Lc95) in Wisconsin and the Morton Village site (11F2) in Illinois. Preliminary results show that food practices between these two groups varied, possibly as a response to different social circumstances.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68760155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaluating the Relationship between Ceramic Wall Thickness and Heating Effectiveness, Fuel Efficiency, and Thermal Shock Resistance","authors":"Kayla Bowen, Karen G. Harry","doi":"10.1080/01461109.2019.1647948","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01461109.2019.1647948","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In 1983, David Braun proposed that a shift from thicker- to thinner-walled cooking vessels in the midwestern United States was triggered by an increased dietary reliance on starchy grains (Braun 1983). Drawing on well-established principles of materials science (Van Vlack 1964), he suggested that, compared to thicker-walled vessels, thinner-walled ones would have been more thermally efficient and less likely to break from thermal shock. These attributes, he suggested, would have been advantageous for preparing seeds and grains that require lengthy cooking periods. Although consistent with materials science principles, Braun’s proposition has never been tested. In this paper, we present results of experiments undertaken to evaluate the relative cooking efficiency of thin- versus thick-walled vessels and consider the implications of these findings for understanding traditional ceramic technologies.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/01461109.2019.1647948","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45551118","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cooking and Community: An Exploration of Oneota Group Variability through Foodways","authors":"J. Painter, J. O’Gorman","doi":"10.1080/01461109.2019.1634327","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01461109.2019.1634327","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT For many years, archaeological research regarding the Oneota tradition has focused on broad similarities and trends among groups spread over a wide geographical area. While this research is important for understanding the tradition, examinations of synchronic variability between Oneota groups have been underdeveloped. Exploring this variability may help archaeologists better understand how different groups adapted to various social and environmental circumstances and the processes that led to the emergence of different historical social groups in the upper Midwest and eastern prairies. In order to begin exploring this variability in core practices, a pilot study was completed comparing cooking and foodways practices found during an analysis of vessel function on stylistically Oneota pots recovered at the Tremaine site (47Lc95) in Wisconsin and the Morton Village site (11F2) in Illinois. Preliminary results show that food practices between these two groups varied, possibly as a response to different social circumstances.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/01461109.2019.1634327","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47086156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Comparative Macroscopic and Microscopic Gunflint Use-Wear Analysis","authors":"M. Mattson","doi":"10.1080/01461109.2019.1629058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/01461109.2019.1629058","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The present research is focused on a morphological and microscopic comparative analysis of the gunflints of the fur trade component of the Horseshoe Bay site (21CA201), Leech Lake, Cass County, Minnesota. Background information pertaining to the Horseshoe Bay site is followed by the research methodologies utilized in the current analysis of the gunflints. Morphological and microscopic patterns of use wear have identified two different functions for gunflints. The results of the analysis indicate that (1) gunflints can potentially retain use-wear associated ferric depositions for an extended period of time; (2) the ferric depositions retained on archaeologically recovered gunflints display diagnostic striation patterns and microspherule attachment remnants that match replicated samples; (3) gunflints utilized for fire starting in conjunction with a fire steel display morphological characteristics that can be visually identified; and (4) gunflints were utilized for the purposes of fire starting in northern Minnesota during the period circa 1784 to at least 1853.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/01461109.2019.1629058","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42112074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Serpent Mound in its Woodland Period Context","authors":"William F. Romain","doi":"10.2307/26599988","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/26599988","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio, is probably the most widely recognized effigy mound in the world. Opinions differ, however, as to who built the effigy and when. Currently there are two conflicting positions. According to Lepper and colleagues (this volume and elsewhere) the effigy was built by people of the Fort Ancient culture circa AD 1070. According to the present author and colleagues, recently obtained radiocarbon dates and other data indicate that Serpent Mound was built much earlier, by people of the Adena culture, circa 320 BC.\u0000 In this article, evidence is presented that corroborates the earlier published radiocarbon dates suggestive of an Adenaera construction. This evidence includes a review of findings that real serpents were sometimes buried with Adena and Hopewell people and consideration of a relational complex reaching back to the Early Woodland—wherein the Great Serpent of Native American legend is associated with the journey of the deceased person’s soul, the star constellation Scorpius, and the Lowerworld. Together, these data provide an Early Woodland cultural and interpretive context for Serpent Mound and further corroborate the Adena-era radiocarbon dates for its construction.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46216045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Serpent Mound","authors":"G. Monaghan, E. Herrmann","doi":"10.2307/26599989","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/26599989","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Radiocarbon dates from the base of Serpent Mound in Ohio demonstrate that it was built 2,100–2,300 years ago during the Adena period but was subsequently rebuilt or repaired about 900 years ago during the Fort Ancient period. We describe the basis for supporting the chronology of this building sequence, why it is the best and most complete explanation from the data at hand, and discuss the errors and misconceptions that critics of it have put forth. Our interest is in establishing a chronology of mound construction in order to address questions about cultural continuity/discontinuity, appropriation, and reuse of cultural monuments and religious/political symbols. We also plead that researchers jointly collect new data from Serpent Mound to end the back-and-forth questioning of chronological context and research competence.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44989023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Paouté and Aiaouez","authors":"C. Betts","doi":"10.2307/26599990","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/26599990","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 A fine-grained spatial and temporal analysis of relevant seventeenth-century French documents reveals that from circa 1650 to 1685 the two terms principally associated with the Ioway, Aiaouez and Paouté, were consistently applied to geographically distinct branches of that tribe. The conflation of these two terms after circa 1700 is the product of both changes in the contact-period cultural landscape and the manner in which it was defined. This conclusion has importance for the use of these accounts as analogues for reconstructing Oneota tradition social organization and highlights the value in applying contemporary theoretical perspectives and analytical techniques to ethnohistoric data.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44271215","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Debating the Age of Serpent Mound","authors":"B. Lepper, T. Frolking, W. Pickard","doi":"10.2307/26599987","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/26599987","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The debate over the age of Serpent Mound (33AD01) is important because without a cultural context it is impossible to make meaningful statements about what this monumental effigy mound might have meant to its builders. In this response to Romain and Herrmann’s rejoinder, we clarify the provenience of the samples, which yielded the radiocarbon dates that contribute to our argument for a post–Late Woodland age for the effigy. In addition, we extend our critique of Romain and colleagues’ arguments to include the results of an independent study of soil cores extracted from the Serpent and surrounding landscape, which fails to corroborate Romain and colleagues’ assertion that a buried A horizon underlies the mound. Finally, we suggest that the construction of Serpent Mound may be historically linked to droughts in the Mississippi Valley that began at around AD 1100, which resulted in an influx of Mississippian refugees into the region.","PeriodicalId":43225,"journal":{"name":"Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.4,"publicationDate":"2019-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42872473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}