Outdoor Education Center (OEC 1) Site
2001 Archaeological Investigations at the OEC 1 Site (33Cu462)
Mark A. Kollecker
Brian G. Redmond
Introduction
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) continued archaeological investigations of the OEC 1 site (33CU462) during the year 2001. The OEC 1 site is located on a lacustrine terrace of the Cuyahoga River in Independence, Ohio. The site was initially investigated in 2000 in conjunction with the CMNH Archaeology Field Experience and summer Field School programs.
The Field Experience program, under the direction of Mark A. Kollecker, Supervisor of Field Programs, was again held at the site in the spring of 2001. During the summer, an abbreviated version of the Archaeological Field School, called the “Archaeology in Action” program and directed by Dr. Brian G. Redmond, Curator and Head of Archaeology, was conducted at the site. Processing and analysis of the recovered artifacts and records continues in the laboratory with the work of staff, volunteers, and undergraduate student researchers. This report details the work conducted at 33CU462, both in the field and in the laboratory, during the year 2001. The report concludes with some preliminary interpretations of the archaeology and prehistory of the OEC 1 site.
Spring 2001 Field Experience Program
The spring session of the Field Experience program was held from April 19 through June 1, 2001. A total of 827 students from thirteen schools participated in this program. The northern and western boundaries of the site continued to be examined via the systematic excavation of 1.0 m by 1.0 m test units spaced at 10 m intervals. The extent of the historical disturbance (gravel quarrying?) to the eastern portion of the site was also examined at this time.
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A total of 26 test units were excavated during the spring 2001 investigations. Many artifacts indicative of the prehistoric utilization of this site were collected. These artifacts include chert (flint) flakes which result from the manufacturing of stone tools, triangular arrow point fragments, pottery fragments, and bone food refuse. In addition to the prehistoric period artifacts, seven features and several post molds were identified. The features for the most part represent small pits used for storage or food preparation. The post molds may represent the partial outlines of shelters.
Excavation Plan |
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Summer 2001 Archaeology In Action Program
The summer Archaeology In Action program, was held at 33CU462 between June 11 and 29, 2001. Fourteen CMNH members participated in this three week program. The goals of this investigation were to completely excavate the second large pit feature (Feature 00-32) (which was originally identified during the fall 2000 Field Experience program); to identify and sample additional features; and to determine if a stockade (i.e., defensive enclosure) existed around the site. To achieve these goals, test units of various sizes (1.0 m by 1.0 m and larger) were excavated at strategically selected locations across the site area.
During the summer 2001 investigations, a total of five 1.0 m by 1.0 m test units, five 1.0 m by 2.0 m and one 1.0 m by 1.5 m trenches, and four 2.0 m by 2.0 m block units were excavated. This work resulted in the identification of six additional features. One of the more unusual features encountered was Feature 01-08. This feature was a large circular pit that measured 175 cm in diameter and approximately 40 cm deep. Upon excavation, this pit was found to be filled with a dense concentration of fire-cracked rocks. Most of the rocks were roughly fist-sized and were blackened with charcoal. Over 700 rocks weighing more than 200 kg were removed from the pit. Beneath the rocks at the bottom of the pit were several large pieces of carbonized wood. The wood appears not to have been fully consumed by the last fire built in the pit. Very few artifacts were recovered from this feature. Feature 01-08 most likely represents a large earth oven used for the roasting of corn, wild vegetables, or even meat.
Fire-cracked rock and charcoal in Feature 01-08 |
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Another interesting feature encountered was Feature 01-10. This feature was a narrow (75 cm wide), north-south oriented, trench-like excavation located along the extreme western portion of the site. The maximum depth of this feature was approximately 25 cm. Although no definite large post molds were discovered within Feature 01-10, it is possible that this feature relates to some kind of stockade fortification.
Feature 01-13 contained the third human burial (BF-3) identified at 33CU462. The only portion of this burial exposed were phalanges (toe bones), tarsals (foot bones), and the extreme end portions of a tibia and fibula (lower leg bones). It is difficult to say if these remains represent a complete burial or scattered remains. If the former, the head would be located to the south-southwest. According to CMNH policy, the remains were recorded (photographed and mapped) then covered over with soil.
The summer 2001 investigations also resulted in the complete excavation of Feature 00-32, the large pit originally identified during the fall 2000 Field Experience. This feature measured approximately 1.5 m in diameter and extended to a depth of 2.0 m below the ground surface. It appeared very similar in form of construction and use to Feature 00-09, the large pit excavated during the summer of 2000. Like Feature 00-09, Feature 00-32 contained chert flakes and stone tools, numerous pottery fragments, and a variety of animal bones. Remnants of grass, which may have served as a lining for the pit, were present at the base of Feature 00-32.
Laboratory Work
A majority of the work performed during any archaeological investigation occurs back at the laboratory long after the field work has ended. The artifactual material collected from 33CU462 has been washed, inventoried and cataloged by the Archaeology Department’s corps of volunteers. Objects needing special attention, particularly fragile pieces of pottery, have been conserved. Staff members and undergraduate students have initiated a number of different analyses on the collected artifacts. Student researchers from Case Western Reserve University have completed preliminary analyses of faunal remains (animal bone) from Feature 00-9; the Early Woodland (2000 year old) pottery vessel from Feature 00-10; and flint arrow points found during the 2000 season. Museum Research Associate Katharine Ruhl has analyzed all the pottery remains from both seasons of excavation at the OEC 1 site and has reconstructed several partial pottery vessels found in Feature 00-32. Brian Redmond presented a paper titled, Recent Excavations at the OEC 1 Site (33CU462), a Whittlesey Tradition Settlement in Northeast Ohio, to the fall 2000 membership meeting of the Ohio Archaeological Council. An abstract of this paper was published in the March 2001 Ohio Archaeological Council Newsletter. Finally, an interpretative display of artifacts from the excavations was produced for the Outdoor Education Center.
Section of cooking pot from Fea. 00-32 |
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Interpretations
The following interpretations are based on all of the work that has been conducted at 33CU462 including the 2000 and 2001 field work and the continuing laboratory analyses. Based on information provided by the systematic testing of the project area, the site area appears to encompass approximately 2-3 acres. The north and east boundaries of the site are in general delimited by the terrace margin. Unfortunately, gravel quarrying operations along the northeast perimeter of the terrace removed an unknown portion of the site deposits sometime within the last century or so. The southern boundary appears to be contained within the area owned by the Outdoor Education Center. The western boundary is unclear at this time; however, it is unlikely to extend much further west than the location of Feature 01-10, the possible stockade trench. Although prehistoric cultural material is present on most of the level portion of the landform, the greatest number of artifacts and features cluster in the southern half of the project area. This area represents the most heavily utilized portion of the village settlement. The site was occupied during at least two different time periods. The earliest occupation occurred during the Early Woodland period, ca. 800 to 100 B.C. Little is known about this occupation except that a single pottery vessel from this time was discarded into a small pit (Feature 00-10). The major occupation of the site occurred during the Late Prehistoric period. A series of five radiocarbon dates bracket this occupation in time to between A.D. 1450 and 1650. This places the occupation of the site in the last half of the Whittlesey cultural tradition. These dates agree nicely with the presumed age of the Tuttle Hill Notched ceramic type which is the predominate form of pottery found on the site. Although some projectile point fragments recovered suggest that there may also have been other occupations of this site, more detailed evidence is lacking.
Whittlesey Tradition people were maize (corn) farmers who occupied their villages year-round. Their villages tended to be located on high, steep-sided landforms which overlook the major rivers of northeast Ohio. The two large pits (Features 00-9 and 00-32) were probably constructed as communal maize storage pits. When the pits were no longer in use for storage, village refuse was deposited in them. When the pits became full, they were capped with a layer of soil to minimize odor and deter animal scavenging. As the organic refuse decomposed, the soil caps slumped. Additional refuse was then placed in the now shallow pits and they were again capped with soil. Both large pits were filled and capped several times before the site was abandoned. Preliminary analysis of the floral and faunal (plant and animal) remains, mostly recovered from the two large pits, indicate that the inhabitants were eating a mixture of wild plant foods, deer, elk, turkey, and other small game, as well as maize.
Three human burials have been documented at 33CU462. These occur within the living area of the settlement, a practice not uncommon on Whittlesey village sites. Only one burial (BF-2) was fully exposed, and no grave goods were found to be present. The numerous small pit features and post molds encountered throughout the site area attest to the intensive occupation of the site. Although the precise function of most of these features remains uncertain, some no doubt served as small fire hearths, small cache pits, and receptacles for posts which would have been used for drying racks, staking-out hides during the tanning process, and structural supports. No structures have been identified among the post molds encountered. Feature 01-12, located along the terrace edge of the eastern portion of the site, appears to be a remnant of midden (deposits of assorted village refuse).
Conclusions
The OEC 1 site (33CU462) is a unique and important cultural resource. Excavations have revealed moderate agricultural disturbance across the site area which has not greatly impacted buried cultural features. A portion of the site has been destroyed by past mining activities. Past looting of features is evident on the surface of the site. Subsurface evidence of illicit excavation was discovered in the form of a pot-hole stain located next to BF-3. Otherwise, the site is well preserved and contains important subsurface deposits of a Whittlesey Tradition village occupation. The work conducted at 33CU462 has already provided a wealth of information concerning the late prehistoric occupation of the region. Hundreds of greater Cleveland area school children and numerous adult Museum members and undergraduate archaeology students have benefited from their participation in the work conducted here.
Acknowledgements
The Archaeology Department of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History would like to thank the Independence Board of Education and the Outdoor Education Center for their support. The Archaeology Field Experience Program was supported by grants from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, The Harry K. Fox and Emma R. Fox Charitable Foundation, The Laub Foundation, and the Gannett Foundation.