HAPPY HOLIDAYS! -- NO MAYAN APOCALYPSE IN DECEMBER

According to David Morrison, a senior scientist at NASA, about one out of ten Americans are worried that the world actually might be coming to an end on December 21st, 2012.

That's a lot of people experiencing unnecessary anxiety during this holiday season.

Just in case you are one of those people and are looking for reassurance that the world isn't, in fact, approaching oblivion, Morri-son has prepared a helpful DOOMSDAY 2012 FACTSHEET that should go a long way towards setting your mind at ease.

According to Morrison, "The ancient Maya did not predict the end of the world or any disaster in December 2012. Such doomsday predictions are a modern hoax."

Anthony Aveni, an expert on archaeo-astronomy, offers a more in depth discussion of the issues in his article "Apocalypse Soon?" on the Archaeological Institute of America's website. He writes that "pulling prophecy from [Mayan] monuments ... amounts to an exercise in cherry-picking data -- often incomplete, vague, or inapplicable -- to justify a nonsensical, pre-formed idea."

He further suggests that all of this "the Y12 hysteria" may be an indication that archaeologists and astronomers aren't doing our jobs.

As much as I hate to admit it, I think he's right. Archaeologists and other scientists need to work harder at public education -- and that's the reason for Morrison's DOOMSDAY 2012 FACTSHEET and this blog post.

The Mayans didn't have much, if anything, to do with ancient Ohio and Ohio's Hopewell culture doesn't appear to have attached any particular significance to 2012.

Nevertheless, if Morrison is right that one out of 10 Americans are worried about an upcoming apocalypse, then there undoubtedly are modern Ohioans out there with concerns about what might happen on December 21st. So as a public service, I will state for the record that although archaeologists and astronomers can't say that nothing at all bad will happen in December, we categorically can state that the ancient Mayans never claimed the world would end in 2012 and there is absolutely no archaeological or astronomical evidence whatsoever to suggest any major world-ending catastrophe is about to happen.

Brad Lepper

ELSA RICAUD ON THE ANCIENT EARTHWORKS OF OHIO AND ST LOUIS

During the summer of 2012, Elsa Ricaud initiated a study of the mounds and earthworks of eastern North America as part of a research project supported by a Richard Morris Hunt Fellowship sponsored by the American Architectural Foundation, the French Heritage Society and the group Lafarge.

 

According to the American Architectural Society website, "her interest lies in the preservation and maintenance of North American earthen architecture... She plans to survey pre-Columbian earthen heritage sites in the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River valleys as well as pueblo and earthen heritage sites in the Four Corners region."

 

As part of her project, she created a blog and has graciously allowed us to publish the following entry, which includes her observations on the on the Fort Ancient Earthworks and the Newark Earthworks, on the Ohio Archaeology Blog.

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WEEK 6 : The Earthworks of Ohio and St-Louis (MO)

 

I left the Finger Lakes for Ohio, where several pre-Columbian cultures are referred to as the "mound builders," because of the very large earthen mounds they built. The "Adena Culture" lived between about 1000 BC and AD 100, the Hopewell Culture between 100 BC and AD 400 and the "Mississippian Culture" between AD 800 and 1500.

 

Several of the Ohio Hopewell earthworks are on the World Heritage Tentative List. These geometric structures occupy a very large area of land. They were made for ceremonial and burial purposes attracting thousands of Natives Americans and were linked with astronomical observations and beliefs. One of the best sites to experience the extraordinary scale is the Newark Earthworks (Hopewell culture) where I had the pleasure to visit with Richard Shiels (Ohio State University) and Bradley Lepper (archaeologist - Ohio Historical Society).

 

I also visited the Fort Ancient site (also Hopewell Culture) with its huge earthen enclosure network. Here I walked the site with John Hancock (architect - University of Cincinnati). (Although the Fort Ancient Culture is named for the site, it is actually a Mississippian era culture.)

 

These pre-Columbian populations settled on fertile lands along tributaries of the Ohio River and also used the clayey soil to raise up their sacred shrines. Their burial mounds are usually conical and made of several layers of soil, clay and sand, alternating with  mortal remains, like the Mound City site (Hopewell Culture). Some of them also utilized sod. Some others are reinforced with stones, like the Serpent Mound (Fort Ancient Culture), a very long mound depicting a sacred snake, that I visited with Dave Kuehner (formerly the site manager).

 

Excavations at Fort Ancient revealed that the natives mastered several techniques to allow the waterproof quality of the ditches that might have held water, thanks to clay coatings. They also knew how to improve the coherence of the mounds, mixing together different kinds of soils and dried clay and also may have practiced some collective ceremonies that consisted of covering the ground of sacred spaces with clays of different colors, an action that we can consider as a metaphor of some present Indian Creation myths describing that humanity was made from the clay of a sacred hill. The Creek and the Shawnee tribes, considered as possible descendants of these pre-Columbian cultures, still believe in this myth and I saw, during my trip to New Mexico, that this social and religious aspect of collective clay coating, is also well established among the Puebloan tribes.

The dwellings around these ceremonial places were first dispersed (Hopewell Culture) and began to form villages under the Mississipian Culture. Excavations revealed that building techniques were quite similar from one culture to another and were based on a wooden frame with wattle-and-daub walls. I visited two sites showing this kind of house. The East St-Louis town, where I met Joe Galloy (archaeologist - Illinois State archaeological survey), is now under excavation because of highway contruction and is now considered as one of the main examples of Mississipian Culture towns. The second one, SunWatch Village, that I visited with Andrew Sawyer (archaeologist - site manager), is a reconstruction of a village of about the same period. Both of them show the archaeologists' interesting deductions about building techniques, from very scarce clues like holes left by posts into the ground, or grassprints left into dried clay.

 

The recognition of these earthen sites as part of the national heritage is now accepted, but their conservation is still an important concern. The great Monks Mound platform at Cahokia (Mississipian Culture), that I visited with Joe Galloy (Research Coordinator), Mark Esarey (Site Manager) and William Iseminger (Assistant Site Manager), is considered as the largest earthen structure in the USA. Recurrent slumpings of its eastern side necessitated some technical enquiries to identify the best restoration process. Such excavations are often prone to tensions between scientists and Native Americans who still engage in prayer at these sites. But these relations are now more and more improved thanks to the use of nondestructive techniques such as ground penetrating radar or LiDAR.

 

Earthen mounds also have to be protected against erosion and invasive vegetation, so some are regularly burned and covered by a special grass developped by agronomists.

 

These earthen mounds can also be a source of inspiration for contemporary artists. The landscape design of the Cincinnati campus, that I visited with John Hancock  (architect - University of Cincinnati), was realized by the architect George Hargreaves, after he visited the Ohio earthen mounds. Thanks to a landscape vocabulary based on months, organic shaped embankments and holes, he managed to homogenize the heterogeneous architecture of the campus, and the result is relevant.

 

Elsa Ricaud, Richard Morris Hunt Fellow 2012

SOME HARD QUESTIONS MAY BE THE WRONG QUESTIONS – OR NOT

In my November column in the Columbus Dispatch I consider a couple of important, but seemingly perennial questions in Ohio archaeology: When did people first come to Ohio? and When did Ohio’s early hunting and gathering cultures first take up farming? I conclude with the observation that it may well be impossible to find definitive answers to these questions – for interesting reasons. If that’s actually the case (and you’ll have to read the column to see if you agree), then, rather than trying to draw precise lines in the shifting sands of imperfect knowledge, we should be trying to come up with better questions – questions that are aimed at shedding light on the evolutionary processes of discovery, colonization, domestication, and other important turning points in the human evolutionary story.

 

That’s as may be, but the search for the “first” or the “oldest” of just about anything is fascinating to most people – including most archaeologists. As a result, archaeologists who can make the case that they have found evidence for the oldest human ancestor, the first Americans, the earliest pottery or the oldest mound not only get more media attention, they also are likely to get more funding for their work.

 

I don’t mean to suggest for a minute that this work isn’t important.

 

Discoveries of the oldest [insert favorite cultural Rubicon here] irresistibly grab the media’s attention and the stories that appear, even if they’re a bit sensationalistic, remind the general public of the value of archaeology – which is good, because the general public, in one way or another, pays for much of the scientific research that gets done in the United States and it helps if they think what we’re doing is important.

 

And it is important. We may never find the oldest… whatever, but every time we find an older one, we get that much closer to the oldest. Eventually, we get so close that it gets harder and harder to find anything older. At that point, we’re justified in using that provisional date as one of the parameters for our more process-oriented questions.

For example, we may not know precisely when the first Paleolithic Asian stepped onto American soil and became the first Paleoindian, but we do know, for a variety of reasons, including the genetics of modern Native Americans and the timing of the colonization of the Siberian arctic by modern humans, that the original discovery of the Americas couldn’t have occurred before about 20,000 years ago.

We may never find the equivalent of a Paleoindian Plymouth Rock at which to build a monument commemorating one of the epic achievements of humanity, but we do have a reasonable framework from which to begin building better theories for explaining the rapid spread of humans throughout the hemisphere, the ecological effects of that expansion, the evolution of the diverse Native American cultures, and the timing of the shift from foraging to farming in the Americas versus the Old World.

And what if someone someday finds a site that’s demonstrated to be 30,000 years old -- or even older!?

 

After taking a moment to celebrate the awesomeness of the discovery, we’d get down to the work of building even better theories.

Brad Lepper

Help!!! I’m Being Followed by Ancient Aliens!!!

Ken Feder is a guest contributor for this Ohio Archaeology Blog post. Ken is  a good friend and a fellow crusader against pseudo-scientific claims relating to the ancient past. We worked together to address the outrageous claims made in the Lost Civilizations of North America DVD and we're both participating in the Myths and Mysteries in Archaeology lecture series at SunWatch Village next year.

 

Ken's topic for the lecture series, scheduled for Saturday, January 19th, will be "Amorous Astronauts, Inkblots, and A Low Opinion of Our Ancestors: the Ancient Aliens Fantasy." His blog post is a tantalizing preview of his presentation.

 

After reading his description of a Close Encounter at the remarkable Palatki Heritage site in Arizona, I'm sure you'll want to join me for his program in January. It's sure to be informative and great fun!

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Help!!! I’m Being Followed by Ancient Aliens!!!
 

The Palatki site is located in the Coconino National Forest, just west of the town of Sedona, Arizona. In a region where people can visit the massive cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, few bother making the trip to this tiny jewel of a place with its swirl of massive red rocks enveloping the living space of the ancient Sinagua people. Only about 50 or 60 tourists visit the site each day, so at any particular time you pretty much have the place to yourself and the one or two volunteer docents who monitor it.

 

As a result,  I was more than a little surprised during a recent visit when a tour group approached, huffing and puffing up the trail to the site. I was even more surprised when one of the people in the group walked up to me as I was admiring one of the beautiful ancient rock art panels and said: “Hey! I recognize you! You’re an archaeology professor, aren’t you? I’ve seen you on TV.”

 

Imagine my reaction. I’m 6 miles up a dirt road in the middle of Arizona, and my television fame precedes me! I replied politely, even enthusiastically, “Yup. That’s me.”

“Wow! How wonderful running into you here. I just saw you on a show about that scientist who believes in ancient astronauts. What’s his name?”

 

“Do you mean Erich von Däniken?” I asked.

 

“Yeah, that’s the guy. Von Däniken.”

“Von Däniken isn’t a scientist. He’s a fantasy writer as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well, you really should reconsider your skepticism. After all, there’s some very good evidence for those ancient astronauts visiting earth. First of all,  how do you explain the fact that the Maya had a base-12 number system? Doesn’t that prove that the Maya were an alien race with six fingers on each hand?”

“Actually that’s not the case,” I pointed out, “the Maya didn’t have a base-12 system. Their’s was  a base-20 system.”

 

“Okay, base-12, base-20. Whatever. It’s just that the Maya system allowed them to count so high, so much higher than would be necessary for a simple farming people. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

 

“Look,” I patiently explained, “the Maya developed an impressive numerical system. So what? The fact that they could count high is in keeping with their brilliant architectural, artistic, engineering, and calendrical achievements. The Maya were smart. That proves they were, well, smart. That doesn’t prove they were extraterrestrials.”

 

“Oh, okay. Well, I just think you need to keep an open mind.”

 

“My mind is open, always, I just haven’t seen any evidence to support the ancient astronaut hypothesis.”

We shook hands and, grinning, my new friend walked away.

My encounter exemplifies so much of what is wrong about the ancient astronaut belief. Let’s ignore the inconvenient fact that there is absolutely no material, archaeological evidence for it—no laser guns found in neat stratigraphic context next to the bones of woolly mammoths; no light sabers secreted in Egyptian tombs; and no Star-Trek-like communicators reverentially placed in Hopewell burial mounds. There’s another thing just as fundamentally wrong here: There is no need for a hypothesis of technologically sophisticated aliens dispensing knowledge to ancient human beings. The archaeological record shows clearly that our human ancestors were enormously intelligent and resourceful. They were more than capable of developing sophisticated technologies on their own. Rather than exhibiting a pattern of new ideas appearing magically and without antecedents at ancient sites, the actual record shows lengthy developmental sequences—in the domestication of plants and animals, the evolution of Egyptian pyramids, metallurgy, and so on. The development of these things didn’t occur overnight, they weren’t “air-lifted” to Earth from another planet. Instead, the stories of these accomplishments are filled with the very human pattern of trial and error, fits and starts, missteps and leaps forward. To assume that the achievements of ancient humanity were made possible by visitors from outer space is to grossly underestimate the intelligence and capabilities of our ancestors and to ignore the enormously fascinating, actual archaeological record. And you don’t need six fingers on each hand to understand that.

Ken Feder

 

Kenneth L. Feder is Professor of Anthropology at Central Connecticut University. He is the author of several books, including Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology and the Encyclopedia of Dubious Archaeology: from Atlantis to the Walam Olum.

Artifact Identification Workshop November 17 at Roscoe Village

On November 17, 2012 an artifact identification workshop will be among the other programs offered this fall at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum in Roscoe Village. Historic Roscoe Village is a reconstructed 1830’s canal town located just west of Coshocton along the route of the Ohio-Erie Canal, about 70 miles east of Columbus on Route 16. In general the Coshocton region of east central Ohio is deeply steeped in history. For 12,000 years or more Ancient Ohioans mined the flint outcrops along the Walhonding River in northern Coshocton County to obtain flint necessary to fashion spear points and other tools. The distinctive blue-black stone is technically known as Upper Mercer Flint but is often referred to locally as Coshocton Flint or Nellie Chert. This material was prized for its durability and superior chipping quality and has been found on archaeological sites hundreds of miles from its source. It seems to have been especially utilized during the Paleoindian period at the end of the last ice age although it’s use up to and through the latest periods of prehistoric activity throughout the region is well documented.

The area had been sparsely settled by pioneers in the early decades of the 18^th century although soon enough the region of the “Forks of the Muskingum”, where the Walhonding and Tuscarawas Rivers join to form the Muskingum, would become the central focus of both missionaries and traders with both groups very much intent on conducting their own form of business with the native inhabitants. By the way, Walhonding is said to be derived from a Delaware Indian word meaning “white woman” referring to a captive named Mary Harris who resided in a village upstream from Coshocton at the confluence of Killbuck Creek and the Walhonding River. The first major European incursion into the region was in 1763 when Colonel Henry Bouquet mounted an expedition to the Forks in order to exchange captives with the Indians at the conclusion of Pontiac’s Rebellion. This event also firmly fixed the site of Coshocton. After the close of the Revolutionary War pioneers from the east streamed into the Ohio Country in great numbers and permanent towns and villages began to be established. By the end of the first quarter of the 19^th Century, Ohio had become settled enough that canal systems and other transportation routes between Lake Erie and the Ohio River were being built and small ports along the way like Roscoe Village began to appear, which brings us to the present.

Do you have some oddly shaped rocks or fossils in a box in your closet or a collection of flint points that your grandfather collected that you have always been curious about? Have you ever wondered just how someone could take a piece of raw stone and turn it into a well crafted spear point? Well, here’s your chance to find out about these things and view the marvelous collections of the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum all in one trip. I’ll be on hand and happy to identify what you have to bring in as to age and function and provide how to best preserve your item or collection.

The workshop will be between 4 and 7 on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, 300 N. Whitewoman Street in Roscoe Village. Program cost is $6 for adults and $3 for students. This includes admission to the Museum. For further information call the Museum at 740-622-8710 or email jhmuseum@jhmuseum.org or visit their web site at www.jhmuseum.org

 

Bill Pickard

 

Ohio Historical Society takes action after Serpent Mound desecrated

Press release from the Ohio Historical Society

Criminal charges sought and damage assessed

COLUMBUS—The Ohio Historical Society, in coordination with the Adams County Sheriff’s Department, is in the process of taking legal action against the individuals allegedly responsible for the desecration in mid-September 2012 of Serpent Mound. The world-renowned earthwork effigy of a serpent is a National Historic Landmark, officially recognized by the US government for outstanding historical significance.

“Desecration of one of Ohio’s ancient earthworks will not be tolerated,” said Burt Logan, executive director of the Ohio Historical Society. “We take any vandalism and desecration of historic sites extremely seriously. We are taking steps to file criminal charges against those responsible.” Under Ohio Revised Code 2927.11, desecration of any earthwork is a second degree misdemeanor and equivalent to the desecration of the American flag with penalties of up to a $5,000 fine.

In mid-September, Adams County community members and others notified the Ohio Historical Society about suspicious activity at Serpent Mound. Numerous small objects had been inserted into the earthwork. The objects are being identified and the Ohio Historical Society is making every effort to retrieve all of the objects from the vicinity of the mound.

“We are charged with preserving historic sites which incorporate an incredible wealth of natural, archaeological, and historical significance in Ohio,” continued Logan. “We have always been vigilant in caring for and protecting our sites and we are increasingly attentive to safeguarding them and assuring visitor safety. We are appalled at the irresponsible behavior and deliberate vandalism by some. Ohio’s history must be preserved and protected for future generations.”

“Preserving and protecting our historic sites and assuring visitor safety are our first priorities. In response to this act of desecration, we are increasing our vigilance. Violation of spiritual sites, or any historic site, is absolutely unacceptable,” added George Kane, director of historic sites and facilities for the society.

Serpent Mound, thought to be built between 800 to 1,000 years ago, is the largest surviving example of a prehistoric effigy mound in the world. Archaeology experts around the world have compared the earthwork to the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, Pompeii, Stonehenge, and the Taj Mahal. Ohio Historical Society archaeologist, Bradley Lepper, refers to it as “perhaps the most recognizable icon of ancient America.” Most recently, Serpent Mound's significance has garnered international attention and is being considered for inscription on the prestigious World Heritage List. In addition to its archaeological and anthropological significance, Serpent Mound and other ancient earthworks in Ohio hold great spiritual value to the members of Native American communities. Serpent Mound represents the peak of prehistoric effigy mound-building in the world and is part of a tradition of effigy mound building among some American Indian cultures of the present Eastern United States.

Managing partner of Serpent Mound, The Arc of Appalachia Preserve System, welcomes over 20,000 people throughout the year to Serpent Mound. “Fortunately, the vast majority of the visitors demonstrate the respect and humility appropriate for visiting a Native American site of this stature,” said Nancy Stranahan, director of the Arc. “It is tragic that the narrow self-interests of a few individuals defied the public’s overwhelming sentiment to protect this ancient site for the present and future generations.”

To learn more about Serpent Mound and its visiting hours, visit www.ohiohistory.org/serpentmound. The 63-acre park is one of 58 state memorials administered by the Ohio Historical Society.

ABOUT THE ARC OF APPALACHIA PRESERVE SYSTEM
The non-profit Arc of Appalachia Preserve System manages 14 preserves in South-central Ohio totaling 5000 acres. In its mission to protect the state’s rich diversity of native plants and animals, the Arc actively acquires land for the purpose of building large blocks of healthy contiguous forests. At the system’s largest preserve, the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, are the Appalachian Forest Museum, 15 miles of hiking trails, lodging retreats, and outdoor education facilities. For more information see www.arcofappalachia.org, or contact the Arc at 937.365.1935; info@arcofappalachia.org.

ABOUT THE OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Founded in 1885, the non-profit Ohio Historical Society provides a wide array of statewide services and programs related to collecting, preserving and interpreting Ohio’s history, archeology and natural history. The Society has about 1.6 million items in its collections throughout its 50+ sites and museums and within its 283,000-square-feet Ohio History Center at 800 E 17th Ave. (Exit 111 off Highway I-71), Columbus, Ohio, 43211. The Society receives a portion of its funding from the state, but relies on admission fees, memberships, grants, donations and other forms of revenue to continue to serve Ohioans in the future. For information regarding the Society, contact Jane M. Mason, Director of Marketing and Communications, Ohio Historical Society: 614.297.2312, jmason@ohiohistory.org.