Rare Ice Age Animal Dug up Near Chippewa Lake

In early August, backhoe operator Tyler Underwood (photo 1) got a big surprise while digging up clay to build a horse rink on Ryan King’s land near Medina. He was digging at about 16 feet deep, when his equipment brought up the partial skull and some antler pieces of what looked like a huge moose. In response to several phone calls, staff from the Ohio Historical Society traveled to Medina County the following week to examine the specimen and to see if more of the animal could be found. OHS Curator of Natural History, Bob Glotzhober quickly recognized the skull and antlers as those of the extinct Stag-moose (Cervalces scotti) that is known from Ohio during the Pleistocene or Ice Age. Glotzhober and OHS archaeologists Linda Pansing and Bill Pickard worked a long day with Underwood to recover quite a few more bones and bone fragments.

This is only the ninth time the remains of a Stag-moose have been found in Ohio. Most of the previous finds have been limited to just a small handful of bones. Ryan King’s specimen consists of 34 bones – mostly broken fragments – making it one of the more complete finds to date in Ohio. A female Stag-moose uncovered near Hartville, Stark County, Ohio in 1987, and on exhibit at the Ohio Historical Society museum in Columbus, remains the most complete specimen.

While this newly found skeleton is broken in many pieces and may not make much of an attractive show piece, it is very valuable to science. We would hope to someday be able to obtain a carbon-14 date on the bones. Three of Ohio’s 8 other specimens have been dated, and register at 10,230; 11,840; and 11,990 years before present. This one came from by far the deepest known site, so it may be much older yet! The skeleton also has some mysteries that need to be answered. All of the large leg bones show fractures that have been determined to have happened near the time of death. Were these caused by some huge predator, by glaciers still in the region, by early human hunters or something else? The bones are currently under a carefully controlled, slow-drying process in the OHS museum collections. As they become drier and more stabile, we hope to examine them in more detail and perhaps find some clues that will help answer those questions.

Submitted by Bob Glotzhober
OHS Curator of Natural History

The 2008 Flint Ridge Knap-In: It's That Time of Year Again

Seen in the inset are a set of projectile points made in the Archaic style by master flintknapper Roy Miller. They were flaked from slabs of flint cut from a single large block of very attractive Flint Ridge Flint Mr. Miller dug from his property adjacent to Flint Ridge State Memorial. On several weekends throughout the summer, Roy and other very talented local filntknappers were in attendance at the State Memorial to give informal demonstrations on how it is possible to turn a chunk of raw flint into beautiful utilitarian art. It is expected that the programs will resume again next summer. However, if you were unable to attend any of these small but informative sessions there is still the “grand-daddy” of them all to take place in a couple of weeks. From August 29 through August 31, 2008 the Flint Ridge Lithic Society, in cooperation with the Ohio Historical Society, will hold its annual Flint Knap-In and Stone Tool Technology Show at Flint Ridge State Memorial. As was the case for thousands of years past, the woods and the rolling hills of southeast Licking County around Flint Ridge will once again ring with the musical sound of hammer stone on flint as folks from all over the country gather at the ancient quarries to see old friends and make new and practice the art of flint knapping or flaking arrow heads and spear points from raw flint. Although the digging of flint on the State Memorial property itself is prohibited, there will be plenty of flint, obsidian and other raw material suitable for knapping available from other sources as far away as Australia. It is an excellent opportunity to see how things were made in very old times and how some modern practitioners have elevated what was once a subsistence skill to an art form. The annual Flint Ridge Knap-In is one the largest events of its type in the country and in years past over 100 knappers were on hand to demonstrate their craft. If you feel so inclined, there is always room for anyone else who just might want to give it a try. Additionally there will be demonstrations of other traditional crafts and skills including spear throwing with a device known as an atlatl. An atlatl is a handle-like device that allows a person to throw a spear further and at a greater velocity than with just regular arm motion. It was perhaps THE weapon of choice in prehistoric times in both the Old World and in the Americas and used extensively for hunting and warfare before the advent of the bow and arrow.
On Friday evening August 29 there will be a lecture/slide show on some aspect of local archaeology. The Friday evening presentation is an annual event at the Knap-In and has become very popular with those in attendance. It’s also free and open to the public! On Saturday August 30, an archaeologist from the Ohio Historical Society will be on hand at the museum between 10:00 and 4:00 to identify artifacts and other objects brought in by the public. So if you have an arrow head you dug out of your garden or a few things grandpa found while plowing, here is a chance to find out about them.
Besides the Knap-In event it’s worth the trip to see the nearby Newark Earthworks, Ohio’s official prehistoric earthwork. You are also invited to spend some time exploring the beautiful and tranquil Black Hand Gorge located along the Licking River about 7 miles north of Flint Ridge, just off St Rt 16 at CR 668
If the weather cooperates the Flint Ridge Knap-In is always a fun and rewarding event. It's even fun when it does rain. Hope to see you there!

Day 8: 2008 Pickawillany Hocking College Field School

Thursday July 31 and the Hocking College field school at Pickawillany has come to a close. The excavation units are all mapped and filled in; little sign of all the action that has taken place over the past two weeks visible on the landscape.

We here at OHS want to thank those that have been such an important part of the project.

1. Dr. Annette Ericksen and all the staff and students for their efforts this year. We look forward to more investigations next year!
2. Urbana University for housing the workers during their two week stay.
3. Volunteers Doug Angeloni, Jim Bartlett, Michael Dion, Veronica
   Frost, Erica Keener and Wes Keifer for donating 97 work hours to the project.
4. Andy Hite and the Piqua Historical Area State Memorial staff.
5. The Piqua Historical Area Friends Council for hosting a dinner for the students.
6. Daryl Baldwin and George Ironstrake, representatives from the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, for visiting with the students at the Friends Council dinner.
7. To all the press that helped get the word out about this exciting work.
8. And most of all to the public for all of their interest, enthusiasm and kind words. We hope to see you again next year!
   

Day 7: 2008 Pickawillany Hocking College Field School

Wednesday the 30th was such a busy day! Over 140 members of the public traveled by canal boat to see what all the "buzz" was about.

Today Elise was the lucky student who was chosen to show visitors some of the interesting artifacts they have found (photo 1).

People talked to students who were diligently excavating and some even joined in on screening for artifacts. One actually found a Pickawillany era lead item. She thought it was "way cool" to be the first one to come across this item in 250 years (photo 2)!

After an hour the visitation came to a close and everyone reluctantly left the site. Time just seemed to fly by too fast.

At the end of a long hot day the students were treated to a dinner hosted by the Piqua Area Historical Society Friends Council. In attendance were members of the Council, local business representatives, Ohio Historical Society Division Directors, and Daryl Baldwin and George Ironstrake of the

Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. Both Daryl and George spoke to everyone about the importance of the work the field school students are doing and how the information they gather will be valuable in helping to interpret the site (photo 3, Daryl right, George second on the right).

Gov. Strickland READ's about Archaeology!

You all probably have seen some of the American Library Association's popular series of posters featuring celebrities and their favorite books.

The State Library of Ohio recently created one of these posters of Ohio Governor Ted Strickland. I thought it was significant that Governor Strickland is shown reading a copy of James Micheners' book The Source, which is a marvelous account of an archaeological excavation of a tell, or mound, in Israel. As significant artifacts are uncovered, we go back in time to learn about the people and events surrounding these special objects. Ultimately, the book covers the entire history of the Jewish people.

Thank you, Governor Strickland, for promoting reading and for choosing a book on archaeology as your favorite!

The ALA's webpage is at http://www.ala.org/.