Dragonfly Interview

A little while ago I was interviewed by Gordon Maupin, Joanne Ballbach, and Gary Popotnik of the Wilderness Center in Wilmot, Ohio. The subject was dragonflies and damselflies and a wide variety of related questions and answers about the life history and behavior of these fascinating animals. On July 26, 2012 that interview was broadcast on “Wild Ideas – The Podcast”, which is accessible at
http://www.wildernesscenter.org/podcasts/files/wild-ideas...the-podcast-172.mp3 or by going their website at http://www.wildernesscenter.org/ and following the various links. The podcast starts out with about 27 minutes of the three hosts discussing various topics, then turns to my interview, which runs for another 43 minutes. The interview was lots of fun, and we covered many interesting phenomenon regarding these gossamer winged flying tigers. At the end of the interview, Joanne quoted the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson, along with his quote about them being a “living flash of light.” Most apropos.

Tune it in or save it to an MP3 player. Also check out their archives of earlier postings.

Bob Glotzhober
Senior Curator of Natural History

TRADE DURING THE LATE PREHISTORIC PERIOD

I am used to thinking of Ohio's Hopewell culture (circa 100 B.C. - A.D. 400) as the time when a far flung interaction sphere brought enormous quantities of exotic raw materials and artifacts into Ohio. It's becoming increasingly clear, however, that virtually all ancient American Indian societies valued rare and beautiful things and did their best to acquire them.

In my book Ohio Archaeology: an illustrated chronicle of Ohio's ancient American Indian cultures, I wrote that there was "little evidence for trade during the Late Prehistoric period" (circa A.D. 1000 - 1650). I argued that increasing intergroup conflict largely had eliminated the need for these kinds of social symbols and created an environment in which long distance travel and trade would have been too risky to undertake -- at least on a regular basis.

I was wrong.
Ohio's Madisonville site, a major Late Prehistoric village and cemetery now encompassed by suburban Cincinnati, was an important center of interregional trade. In my July column in the Columbus Dispatch I point out that a number of artifacts that originated in Europe found their way to Madisonville long before any Europeans had set foot here. Those artifacts certainly are the most spectacular evidence of trade during this period, but they are far from the whole story.

Also found at Madisonville are grooved stone mauls and bone rasps from the upper Mississippi valley, pipes from southern Wisconsin, a ceramic head-effigy pot from Missouri, and engraved shell gorgets from eastern Tennessee.

Clearly, trade was an important activity during the Late Prehistoric period and the rare commodities obtained through these extensive networks must have been important status symbols. The evidence for warfare during this period also is clear, however, so this interaction may have taken place in the periods between intermittent eruptions of violence -- possibly in the context of neighboring groups negotiating alliances with one another.

This is very different from what was happening in the Hopewell era for which there is virtually no evidence of intergroup violence of any kind and the flow of exotic materials into Ohio was orders of magnitude beyond anything seen either before or after. Trade almost surely was a part of what was going on, but the sheer volume of hyper-exotic material accumulating at Ohio earthwork centers and the lack of almost anything from Ohio showing up at the other ends of the interaction sphere suggest to me that the monumental Hopewellian earthworks were pilgrimage centers.

Madisonville, on the other hand, was something much more down-to-earth and familiar. It was a large village and a center of trade and commerce for many generations of Late Prehistoric folks.

In fact, I would argue that what we see at Madisonville is exactly what more or less ordinary trade should look like in the archaeological record. The accumulation of prodigious amounts of precious materials at Hopewell earthworks may not represent the offerings of pilgrims, but it's something more than trade.

For more information about the Madisonville site, I recommend Penelope Ballard Drucker's marvelous book The View From Madisonville: prehistoric western Fort Ancient interaction patterns.

If you want to read more about my ideas on Hopewell pilgrimage, the best place to start is my chapter in Recreating Hopewell, edited by Doug Charles and Jane Buikstra: "The Great Hopewell Road and the role of the pilgrimage in the Hopewell Interaction sphere."

You also can check out the following related blog posts:
The Newark Earthworks: a place of pilgrimage

The Fort Ancient Earthworks -- place of pilgrimage

Ancient American pilgrimage: communitas or costly signaling?

Special thanks to Bob Genheimer, George Rieveschl Curator of Archaeology at the Cincinnati Museum Center, for taking the time from a busy field season to take the picture of the Clarkdale Bell.

Brad Lepper

Upcoming Presentation: "The Newark Earthworks: A Wonder of the Ancient World"

On Saturday, July 28, 2012 at 1:00 p.m., a presentation entitled "The Newark Earthworks: A Wonder of the Ancient World" will be given by Bradley T. Lepper, Curator of Archaeology for the Ohio Historical Society. It will be held at the Photography Center in Secor Metropark.

This special program will be the last event held in conjunction with "The Ancient Ohio Landscape" photographic exhibit which is currently being held at the National Center for Nature Photography, Secor Metropark, 10001 W. Central Ave., Berkey, Ohio. The exhibit is presented as part of the "Ancient Ohio Travel Summer Events" which was coordinated and supported by the Ohio State University Newark Earthworks Center with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Further support for the photo exhibit was made possible by the Anderson's, Inc.

This presentation is co-sponsored by the Toledo Area Aborigial Research Society and the Toledo Area Metroparks. It is free and open to the public.

The Newark Earthworks are the largest set of geometric enclosures and mounds in the world. The work of the Hopewell culture, between 100 B.C. and A.D. 400, these geometric earthworks cover nearly five square miles, using more than seven million cubic feet of earth. Why did the Hopewell build such monumental works? Were they prehistoric forts or ancient American cathedrals? Perhaps Dr. Lepper can answer some of these questions.

Dr. Lepper earned his B.A. degree from the University of New Mexico and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the Ohio State University. His primary areas of interest include the Ice Age peoples of North America, Ohio's magnificent mounds and earthworks, and the history of North American archaeology. Dr. Lepper has written extensively on these subjects for both technical journals and magazines intended for a general audience. He is the author of the book, Ohio Archaeology: an illustrated chronicle of Ohio's ancient American Indian cultures, published in 2005 by Orange Frazer Press. He also writes a bi-weekly column on archaeology for the Columbus Dispatch.

For more information, contact Kathi @419-893-4213 or Karen Pugh @419-407-9773

Fort Ancient Hiking Trails: New and Old

Most people think of Fort Ancient as one of the premier archaeological sites in Ohio – and it certainly is that. About two thousand years ago, Native Americans of the Hopewell Culture built more than 18,000 lineal feet of earthen walls. These vary from fairly low to nearly 20 feet high and enclose an irregularly-shaped area of about 100 acres. You can learn more about these fantastic feats of engineering (all done by hand and by baskets-full of dirt) and the astronomical alignments that some of the walls and mound create by visiting the 9,000 square foot museum at the site. Begin your tour by visiting our website for Fort Ancient at http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/portal/name-p.shtml .

With more than 750 acres of land stretching from the hilltop down to the gorge of the Little Miami River nearly 290 feet below – Fort Ancient also offers plenty of interesting natural features. Bluebirds, Red-headed Woodpecker, Scarlet Tanagers, Red-shouldered Hawks and numerous other birds were seen on a recent visit, and wildflowers are abundant especially in spring. Several trails are available and useful both to learn more about the archaeology and the natural history of the site.

Recently, an Eagle Scout candidate, Kevin Knippenberg, completed a project to build a bridge that adds greatly to the ease of using one of the trails at Fort Ancient. Kevin worked with OHS staff and the Buckeye Trail Association – as this trail is on OHS property, but is an official side-trail of the BTA. Darryl Smith of the BTA worked with Kevin in the planning and during part of the actual construction.

The trail starts at the ODNR canoe access on SR 350 and the Little Miami River – goes east up the road to the turn-off for the adjacent Kings Domain camp, follows that road north a short distance before heading off into the woods. After another 2/3 of the total 2.5 miles, it re-joins the Little Miami Greenway trail, which you follow south (downriver) back to the canoe launch site. The bridge was needed to gap the bed of Ferris Run – a stream which often is dry – but in heavy rain is a raging torrent.

Here you see Darryl and Kevin “mid-stream” during a dry spell last July – planning where and how to place the bridge.

Actual construction started early this past April, with Kevin gathering together other members of his troop. The materials were purchased with money from a variety of fund raising events that Kevin led as part of his Eagle requirements to complete the project.

The first task was to build piers on either end of the stream to support the bridge stringers. In addition to the hard work, this required having an OHS archaeologist on staff to supervise all the digging. The site in close to the prehistoric Anderson Village site, which in the early 20th century yielded vast finds of a Fort Ancient Culture village in the area. Anytime there is digging on any of our historic or prehistoric sites we are certain to have the watchful eye of an archaeologist present just in case any artifacts or features are discovered in the process.

The day the piers were built was one of the more pleasant and mild early spring days we had this past April. Kevin’s crew was not so lucky the following week when they brought out the carefully engineered stringers and deck boards. Just carrying these to the site was no easy task. But solving such problems and logistics is part of what an Eagle Scout project is all about.

Finally, just in time for the Annual Meeting of the Buckeye Trail Association in late April, the bridge was completed. Several hikes with BTA members were able to use this trail and the new bridge during their meeting.

Here is the finished bridge as it stands today. Each end has been reinforced with rock from the stream bed and the bridge is ready for service.
Thanks and congratulations to Kevin Knippenberg and his crew!

With the paved pathway of the Little Miami Greenway right nearby, why would anyone want to take this 2.5 mile long side-trail? Diversity of habitat and the challenge of a climb are two factors. After the trail crosses Ferris Run and travels a bit further on relatively flat flood plain of the Little Miami, it climbs to a hilltop not far from the tall Jeremiah Morrow Bridge on which Interstate 71 crosses the valley. The trail makes good use of gentle switchbacks, so while you are climbing long and high – it is not too strenuous. Along the northern most hilltop (as you weave back and forth) is what is probably the western-most outlier of the Appalachian Plateau, with trees like Chestnut Oak and plants like Huckleberry which typically are found in Ohio far to the east and not in southwestern Ohio. It is a rugged but beautiful landscape that few people take the time to enjoy.

Several other trails are available at Fort Ancient. In the South Fort you can walk the Earthworks trail, which loops around inside the earthworks. At several points along this relatively level trail there are interpretive signs which talk about the prehistoric culture that built the earthworks here. At the North Overlook you can look out over the valley of the Little Miami River, and also see the distant Interstate Bridge. The Connector Trail leads down the 290 foot hillside to the Little Miami Scenic Greenway – and ultimately then the river itself. It is a steep climb, but again with wonderful scenery. Staff from OHS and another potential Eagle Scout candidate are currently working to repair and re-align some segments of this trail – as the Illinoian age glacial till erodes readily and without regular work can become slippery and erode. You’ll probably see places where this trail has been re-designed, and other places that still need more work. Bear with us – but with caution it can be an enjoyable trail, which lots of people walk almost daily. About half-way down the Connector Trail is the Terrace Trail, which loops around the hillside at a middle elevation, following the almost flat natural terrace of the hillside, left from an earlier stage of glacial erosion in the valley. Wildflowers abound along this trial in the spring – including the interesting and unusual American Columbo. The trail re-connects with the Earthworks trail, which can loop you back to either the North Overlook, the South Overlook and several different parking options.

We hope you visit Fort Ancient – it is a wonderful site. Why not plan to visit the museum, enjoy a picnic lunch and hike one or more or our trails before heading home! Staff at the museum can direct you to the appropriate trail heads.

Bob Glotzhober

Atlatl Contest This Weekend at Flint Ridge

The Ohio Atlatl Association will hold demonstration work shops and accuracy competition this weekend (July 14-16) at Flint Ridge State Memorial near Brownsville, Ohio. Atlatl’s are hooked sticks or handles used to throw flint tipped spears or long shaft darts and the distance and accuracy achieved by an accomplished atlatlist is amazing. I have seen a steel tipped atlatl dart actually penetrate a car door! The modern use of the word atlatl is derived from the Aztec word ahtlatl meaning spear thrower. However, atlatl’s were used for thousands of years in both the Old World and New Worlds before the advent of the bow and arrow. In Europe highly decorative atlatl hooks carved in the likenesses of animals both real and imagined have been recovered from numerous cave sites indicating their use during the Upper Paleolithic in that part of the world for perhaps 30,000 years. Many were so intricately carved and detailed that they should rightly be considered works of functional art. In North America less intricate atlatl hooks carved from antler and bone were recovered from Archaic Period sites like Indian Knoll in Kentucky where they were found in direct association with shaped stone weights or banner stones. It is thought that the banner stones were attached to the atlatl to add momentum and aid in both accuracy and distance. Archaeologists believe the use of atlatl’s in North America goes as far back as the end of the last ice age when they were used to hunt mammoths, mastodons and other great beasts of that time. Was the atlatl a tool that the first people to enter the New World brought with them or was it an independent invention? I guess you’ll have to be the judge of that. Drop by if you can. Perhaps you’ll be the next great atlatlist. It isn’t a particularly expensive hobby to take up so why not?.

Flint Ridge State Memorial is the site of ancient flint quarries where for thousands of years people came to mine the flint necessary to make their spear points, knives and other flaked stone tools. Flint Ridge Flint is particularly colorful (the official Ohio gemstone) and highly prized by flint knappers both ancient and modern. There is a museum on site actually built over an ancient quarry pit as well as picnic areas and hiking trails. Flint Ridge State Memorial is located about 50 miles east of Columbus between Newark and Zanesville. Exit I-70 at Brownsville and take Route 668 about 4 miles north. From Newark/ State Route 16 take 668 south (at Hanover) about 6 miles. On Saturday at the museum there will be a flint knapper demonstrating how folks long ago made the points used on atlatl darts as well as an archaeologist if you have a box of old arrowheads that you would like to learn more about. Hope to see you at the ‘Ridge.

Bill Pickard

History to Come Alive at Fort Laurens

Pictured is a selection of some of the nearly 300 pieces of lead ammunition and miscellaneous scrap from a deposit excavated at Fort Laurens near Bolivar, Ohio by Ohio Historical Society archaeologists and volunteers in 2004. The ammunition deposit was likely a remnant of a March 1779 pack horse stampede that occurred just as a relief column arrived at the beleaguered frontier outpost. Just how the deposit came to be is a prime example of just when you think absolutely nothing more can go wrong you can always depend on Murphy’s Law.

Fort Laurens was constructed in the fall of 1778 during the American Revolution as part of a strategic American campaign against the British stronghold at Detroit. It had been planned that an American army of some 1200 soldiers and militia led by General Lachlan McIntosh would march from Fort Pitt, through northern Ohio and attack Fort Detroit from where the British had been directing the war along the northwestern frontier. Due to inclement weather and a particularly early winter it was decided that the army would halt its march in northeast Ohio and construct an outpost along the west bank of the Tuscarawas River, mostly as a way station and a jumping off point to continue the campaign in the spring. The fort was named Fort Laurens in honor of Henry Laurens, McIntosh’s friend and benefactor and president of the first Continental Congress. Soon after its completion the bulk of the army returned to the east leaving a garrison of just under 200 to man the fort. From the beginning the fort was undersupplied in even the most basic necessities. After an ambush and massacre of a wood gathering party in February 1779 the fort’s garrison believed that it was surrounded by an overwhelming combined force of British and their Indian allies and remained holed up inside the fort, unable to venture out even to hunt. As a result the garrison had to subsist on what scant supplies they had on hand and were soon reduced to grubbing for roots and grasses growing along the fort walls. It was said that the conditions soon became such that the soldiers even attempted to make a weak broth by boiling their moccasins. This state of near starvation went on for nearly a month until a relief column finally arrived from the east. The garrison was so overwhelmed by the sight of the pack train that the first thing they did was fire a musket volley or feu de joie as a salute. A hugely unexpected consequence of the musket blasts was that it startled the pack horses, causing them to bolt in a stampede and drop their supplies for miles over the countryside. It was this incident that likely produced the deposit of lead shot unearthed in 2004.

With his supplies scattered and lost forever McIntosh quickly realized his dreams of conquest and glory were dashed. Interestingly enough within a few days of the wood cutters massacre, George Rogers Clark captured Fort Sackville at Vincennes and in large part secured the northwest frontier for the American cause. With war aims now focused elsewhere Fort Laurens was seen as no longer necessary and it was abandoned in the summer of 1779.
This weekend July 14^th and 15^th 2012 there will be an encampment of the Brigade of the American Revolution at Fort Laurens. Brigade members are modern day re-enactors dedicated to preserving the Revolutionary spirit and bringing the past to the present with displays and demonstrations of weapons used during the Revolution, marching and close order drills, mock battles and skirmishes and keeping authentic camps. It is well worth the trip to see how things in the “good old days” really were and to get an idea how the forces that helped found this country actually operated.
Fort Laurens is located off I-77 at Bolivar, Ohio in northeast Ohio, just south of Canton. Activities last from 10:00 to 5:00 both days. Admission is $7.00 for adults and $3.00 for children.
Don’t worry; there are plenty of places to eat in the area so your moccasins are safe!

Bill Pickard

"SHAMAN OF NEWARK" STONE CARVING IS THE FOCUS OF SUNDAY'S PROGRAM AT THE OCTAGON EARTHWORKS

Join me at the Octagon Earthworks this Sunday, July 8th at 7:00 PM, for a discussion of what we know about one of the most amazing artifacts ever found at the Newark Earthworks -- or anywhere else for that matter!

The "Shaman of Newark" is the name I've given to a small stone figurine that appears to represent a shaman, or spiritual leader, of the Hopewell culture. The Hopewell culture is the name archaeologists use to refer to groups living throughout southern Ohio between about 100 B.C. and A.D. 500.

This unique sculpture was discovered in 1881 while workmen were digging at the location where the largest burial mound at Newark once had stood. This mound had been at the center of the cluster of mounds that appear to have served as the principal cemetery for the Newark Earthworks.

The Shaman of Newark is a naturalistic carving of a man or a woman (no gender-specific traits are evident) wearing bear regalia, including a bear mask on his or her head and bear paws covering the hands. The left hand is on the mask as if caught in the act of either raising or lowering it over the shaman's face.

In many tribal societies, the shaman served as a combination of priest, rabbi, and healer. The shaman was believed to be able to bring rain for the crops or aid hunters in locating game animals.

In 1775, the Moravian missionary John Heckewelder witnessed a man wearing similar regalia along the streets of the Delaware Indian town that would become modern Coshocton. Heckewelder was astonished and wrote that he thought he was seeing some kind of evil spirit: “The dress this juggler had on, consisted of an entire garment or outside covering, made of one or more bear skins, as black as jet, so well fitted and sewed together, that the man was not in any place to be perceived.  The whole head of the bear, including the mouth, nose, teeth, ears, &c., appeared the same as when the animal was living."

Heckewelder used the derogatory term "juggler," but Chief Killbuck assured him that the man was, in fact, the village's "Doctor" on his way to visit "one of his patients who was bewitched."

Does this strking similarity in appearance mean that there was essential continuity in some ceremonial practices from Hopewell times through the historic period?

We'll discuss this and other issues on Sunday evening!

Check out this video for a preview of some of the things I'm likely to say about this amazing sculpture.

Brad Lepper