Alligator Mound: Geoarchaeological and Iconographical Interpretations of a Late Prehistoric Effigy Mound in Central Ohio, USA

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley T. Lepper ◽  
Tod A. Frolking
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Archaeological Investigation ◽  
Fort Ancient ◽  
Effigy Mound

Alligator Mound is an animal effigy mound in central Ohio, USA. Since Ephraim Squier and Edwin Davis first recorded and mapped it in 1848, many have speculated regarding its age and meaning, but with remarkably little systematic archaeological investigation. Many scholars have assumed the Hopewell culture (c. 100 BC-AD 400) built the mound, based principally on its proximity to the Newark Earthworks. The Hopewell culture, however, is not known to have built other effigy mounds. Limited excavations in 1999 revealed details of mound stratigraphy and recovered charcoal embedded in mound fill near the base of the mound. This charcoal yielded radiocarbon dates that average between AD 1170 and 1270, suggesting that the Late Prehistoric Fort Ancient culture (c. AD 1000-1550) made the mound. This result coincides with dates obtained for Serpent Mound in southern Ohio and suggests that the construction of effigy mounds in eastern North America was restricted to the Late Woodland and Late Prehistoric traditions. Ethnographic and ethnohistoric analogies suggest that the so-called 'Alligator' might actually represent the Underwater Panther and have served as a shrine for invoking the aid of supernatural powers.

Population Aggregation and the Emergence of Circular Villages in Southwest Virginia

2018 ◽  
pp. 140-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Jefferies
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
North America ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Settlement Structure ◽  
Southern Appalachian ◽  
Late Prehistoric Period ◽  
Population Aggregation

Archaeological evidence from throughout much of eastern North America documents a transition from small, scattered settlements to nucleated, often circular, villages during the Late Woodland/Late Prehistoric period (ca. A.D. 1000-1600). In southwestern Virginia's Appalachian Highlands, this transition is marked by the appearance of large circular palisaded villages associated with what Howard MacCord called the Intermontane Culture. This paper investigates the origin, structure, and spatial distribution of Late Woodland circular villages across the southern Appalachian landscape and compares their emergence to similar trends in settlement structure and organization witnessed in other parts of the Appalachian Highlands and beyond.

Present and postglacial rates of uplift for glaciated northern and eastern North America derived from postglacial uplift curves

1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 703-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. T. Andrews
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
High Cell ◽  
Uplift Rate ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Maximum Value ◽  
Current Maximum ◽  
A Current

Average rates of postglacial uplift reach a maximum value of nearly 4 m 100 y−1 over southeastern Hudson Bay, and another high cell, with rates of about 2.5 m 100 y−1, lies between Bathurst Inlet and Southampton Island. Current rates of uplift are underestimated if exponential curves are fitted solely to dated raised marine deposits without considering the amount of future recovery. Rates of rebound are, instead, derived from A/t where A is uplift in the first 1000 y since deglaciation, and t is time since deglaciation. For the northwest margin of the former ice sheet coefficients of determination for rate of uplift, at specific times, as a function of distance are [Formula: see text]. Maps of rates of uplift for northern and eastern North America are presented for 8000 y B.P., 6000 y B.P. and the present day. They reveal the existence of three uplift centers and show that rates of uplift declined from a maximum of 10 to 12 m 100 y−1, immediately following deglaciation, to a current maximum of about 1.3 m 100 y−1. Agreement is satisfactory when calculated rates of uplift are compared with those derived from geological observations, radiocarbon dates, and from water-level records. A final map shows isochrones on the uplift rate of ~1 m 100 y−1. The rate dropped to this value about 10 000 y ago on the outer northwest and southeast coasts, whereas the value might not be reached for another 2000 y in southeastern Hudson Bay.

Conflict and Societal Change in Late Prehistoric Eastern North America

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 96-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
George R. Milner ◽  
George Chaplin ◽  
Emily Zavodny
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Societal Change ◽  
Late Prehistoric

Evaluating the Old Wood Problem in a Temperate Climate: A Fort Ancient Case Study

2014 ◽  
Vol 79 (04) ◽  
pp. 763-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Cook ◽  
Aaron R. Comstock
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
American Southwest ◽  
Wood Charcoal ◽  
Arid Climate ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Eastern Woodlands ◽  
Fort Ancient

Abstract Schiffer (1986) first identified the old wood problem for wood charcoal-based dates from archaeological contexts in the American Southwest. The potential for dates to be skewed toward excessively old calendar ages in this region has recently generated reticence in part of the archaeological community towards including wood charcoal dates in general. Some scholars have even begun to cleanse the radiocarbon databases of regions throughout North America, partly with this presumed limitation in mind. However, the issues that contribute to the old wood problem have not been closely examined outside the arid climate of the American Southwest, resulting in some studies excluding hundreds of radiocarbon dates. The present study fills that void by examining the radiocarbon record from four well-dated Fort Ancient sites in southwestern Ohio and southeastern Indiana. Specifically, we test whether or not there are significant differences between wood charcoal and non-wood charcoal assays. Our findings suggest that wood charcoal dates should not be excluded. We explore reasons for this difference in the Eastern Woodlands and propose an ideal dating regime.

Evidence for Stepped Pyramids of Shell in the Woodland Period of Eastern North America

2016 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Pluckhahn ◽  
Victor D. Thompson ◽  
W. Jack Rink
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Construction Material ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Woodland Period ◽  
Alternative Form ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Late Woodland Period ◽  
Mississippian Period

AbstractAntiquarians of the nineteenth century referred to the largest monumental constructions in eastern North America as pyramids, but this usage faded among archaeologists by the mid-twentieth century. Pauketat (2007) has reintroduced the term pyramid to describe the larger, Mississippian-period (A.D. 1050 to 1550) mounds of the interior of the continent, recognizing recent studies that demonstrate the complexity of their construction. Such recognition is lacking for earlier mounds and for those constructed of shell. We describe the recent identification of stepped pyramids of shell from the Roberts Island Complex, located on the central Gulf Coast of Florida and dating to the terminal Late Woodland period, A.D. 800 to 1050, thus recognizing the sophistication of monument construction in an earlier time frame, using a different construction material, and taking an alternative form.

Regional variation in the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene radiocarbon record of eastern North America

2013 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Shane Miller ◽  
Joseph A.M. Gingerich
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Younger Dryas ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Northeastern United States ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Terminal Pleistocene ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Data Result

AbstractIn this paper we use radiocarbon dates to evaluate the signature of the Younger Dryas Chronozone (YDC) in eastern North America. Using an approach that examines radiocarbon dates by region, we argue that the northeastern United States shows a better overall representation of radiocarbon dates when compared to the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. These data result in a peak in summed probability distributions during the YDC, which is often interpreted as evidence of population growth. Further examination of these distributions, however, illustrates that differential standard deviations, varying sample size, and the effect of taphonomic and research biases likely overwhelm any demographic signatures in our study sample. Consequently, the frequency of radiocarbon dates by itself is insufficient for understanding the relationship between climate, culture and demography in eastern North America.

Mississippian Beginnings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Complex Societies ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Analytical Tools

The emergence of the complex societies of the late prehistoric era in Eastern North America has been the subject of extensive research in recent years, resulting in a new appreciation for how these changes played out at specific sites and across the region. Concern with variation within local historical trajectories, the movements and practices of peoples, and detailed site reconstructions have replaced the broad general neoevolutionary approaches that characterized research on Mississippian origins a generation ago. Aided by a wealth of new fieldwork and analytical tools, our understanding of the Mississippian emergence and what is meant by Mississippian itself has become much clearer in recent years, as has our knowledge of events at specific sites.

Some Amerasian Pottery Traits in North Asian Prehistory

1953 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Tolstoy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
New World ◽  
The United States ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Eastern Siberia ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Old World ◽  
The Subject

Asiatic origins have, at one time or another, been suggested or at least considered for a number of traits connected with the manufacture and decoration of the earlier New World pottery. The well-known paper by McKern (1937) is among the most explicit statements on the subject. Griffin (1946; Sears and Griffin 1950a) has held similar views for some time. Like McKern, he has primarily in mind traits of the Woodland pattern of eastern North America, although he also mentions some non-Woodland traits among those which have counterparts in the Old World (1946, p. 45).Since McKern's paper, the distribution in time of the traits involved has become a lot better established. With the help of the still suspiciously regarded radiocarbon dates, our perspective on ceramic history in the United States has been extended over a span which appears to be that of some four millennia. Among the more significant additions to the Asiatic half of the distributional picture first place must be given to recent Soviet work in eastern Siberia.

scholarly journals Geophysical Detection and Assessment of Leveled Mounds: An Example from the Upper Mississippi Valley

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
William Green ◽  
Adam S. Wiewel ◽  
Steven L. De Vore
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Visual Inspection ◽  
Geophysical Methods ◽  
Late Woodland ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Magnetic Survey ◽  
Mississippi Valley ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Burial Mounds

Most earthen burial mounds of eastern North America have been destroyed—or have they? We review geophysical methods for assessing whether leveled mounds retain intact deposits or features. Magnetic survey holds promise for locating and evaluating leveled mounds because it is rapid and sensitive to magnetic variations associated with anticipated features such as pits and deposits of mound fill. As a case study, we discuss our magnetic survey of the Gast Farm site (13LA12) in eastern Iowa. The survey covered 8.64 ha, encompassing loci of one previously reported mound and possible geometric earthworks as well as Middle and Late Woodland habitation areas. Interpretation of survey results incorporated quantitative differentiation of magnetic anomaly types using GIS techniques, along with standard visual inspection. We found no evidence of geometric earthworks but identified at least six leveled mounds. Displaced mound fill appears to account for the earthwork-like features. We conclude that leveled mounds are detectable and may retain subsurface integrity. Their associated features, including burials, may be identifiable even when above-ground evidence has disappeared.

Estimating Original Firing Tempieraiure in Low Fired Prehistoric Ceramics

1990 ◽  
Vol 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Feathers
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Drying Shrinkage ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Prehistoric Pottery ◽  
Prehistoric Ceramics ◽  
River Valleys

AbstractThe river valley clays used for prehistoric pottery throughout much of Eastern North America require a nonplastic additive, or temper, to improve their workability and reduce drying shrinkage. During the Late Prehistoric (roughly after 900 AD) crushed shell was added as temper along most of the river valleys of the Midwest and along portions of the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

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