Hidden Hopewell Landscapes Project 2015

1897 plan of the Hopewell Mound Group drawn by Warren K. Moorehead.  The project area (defined by blue outlined box) is located just outside the north gate of the Great Square (upper right portion of photo).

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North Gate Great Square Project Area Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ross County, Ohio

This project conducted targeted excavations to ground-truth four large (ca. 4 m x 4m) semi-rectangular magnetic anomalies located just outside the Great Square Enclosure at the Hopewell Mound Group unit of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. This oneyear project was completed in support of the park’s long-term Hidden Hopewell Landscapes Archeological Research Framework (see Ruby 2015 ¹). Fieldwork, laboratory processing, and all cataloging was completed between May 18 and July 10, 2015. All project objectives were accomplished.

This project was completed by seven Pathways Student Interns working under the direction of Park Archeologist Dr. Bret J. Ruby (Hopewell Culture National Historical Park). Dr. Timothy Schilling (NPS Midwest Archeological Center, Lincoln, NE) provided expert geoarcheological support from June 15 – 26, 2015. Twenty K-12 teachers enrolled in a continuing education “Teacher’s Workshop in Archeology” contributed 800 hours to the project as Volunteers In Parks (VIPs). Two archeologists from the Libyan Department of Antiquities (Naser al-Hrari , Benghazi; Munsif Awad, Shahat) worked alongside NPS archeologists from June 29 – July 3, 2015 in a capacitybuilding exchange program sponsored by the NPS Office of International Affairs, the US State Department Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, and the Oberlin College Archaeological Mission to Libya. William Raynolds (Oberlin College) provided expert translation services during the Libyan visit.

Dr. Timothy Schilling of the NPS Midwest Archeological Center helps out during the excavation process at Hopewell Mound Group.

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The project was funded through the Youth Partnership Program in the amount of $16,284.95 (PMIS PXP0197681B). The project funded salary, benefits, supplies and equipment for seven undergraduate and graduate anthropology students employed in the park as Pathways Interns (GS-0199-04/05 Student Trainee Archeological Aid/Technician). The interns gained valuable career experience through participation in all aspects of project fieldwork, laboratory processing, cataloging, and curation of all project artifacts and records. The interns interacted and shared their knowledge with park visitors, volunteers, teachers, and Boy Scouts on a daily basis, ultimately making personal interpretive contact with more than 500 individuals. Public participation was facilitated through social media postings on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This project investigated a series of four large magnetic anomalies detected during a recent survey commissioned by the NPS (see Burks 2013 ²). These anomalies are characterized by strongly positive central regions surrounding by a halo of negative readings. The anomalies are rectanguloid in shape, ranging from about 3.5 x 3.5 meters up to 6 x 7 meters in size. Elsewhere, similar anomalies have been shown upon excavation to represent burned house floors or large pits filled with burned soil (Burks 2013:37).

North-south profile of Anomaly 141 showing a feature that likely represents a borrow pit where Scioto Hopewell peoples obtained a distinctive, fine-grained grey sand for use on structure floors or mound-capping strata.

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This project excavated a total of 24 square meters focused on the southwestern-most of the four anomalies (Anomaly 141). Upon excavation, the feature was documented as a large and empty pit feature: five meters long, four meters wide, and about one meter deep. The pit was excavated into a distinctive glacial outwash sedimentary unit: a finegrained, homogenous deposit of grey-colored sand. An estimated volume on the order of 15 cubic meters was excavated prehistorically. No artifacts or other in-situ deposits were identified at the base of the pit. The pit was backfilled prehistorically with a culturally sterile yellowish-brown clay loam soil. Artifacts were limited to a low-density scatter near the surface of the pit, including diagnostic Hopewellian lamellar bladelets and ceramics. The pit appears to have been surrounded by an intentionally-placed gravel berm. A working interpretation is that the pit represents a borrow pit where Scioto Hopewell peoples (AD 1 – 400) obtained a distinctive, fine-grained grey sand for use on structure floors or mound-capping strata. This project documented a new class of largescale architecture at the Hopewell Mound Group. A final report is in preparation.

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¹ Ruby, Bret J. (2015). Hidden Hopewell Landscapes: An Archaeological Research Framework for Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. Research Plan 2015. Manuscript on file, HOCU.

² Burks, Jarrod (2013). Large Area Magnetic Survey at the Hopewell Mound Group Unit, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ross County, Ohio, OVAI Contract Report #2012-52-1. Contraxt P12PX15855. Prepared for Midwest Archeological Center, National Park Service, Lincoln, NE. Prepared by Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc., Columbus, OH.

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Prepared by: Bret J. Ruby, Archeologist/Chief, Resource Management, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

Magnetic survey results commissioned by the NPS in 2013 (Burks 2013). Note the four large (ca. 4 m x 4 m) semi-rectangular magnetic anomalies located just outside the north gate of the Great Square.

Jarrod Burks

Excavation units targeting the southwestern-most of four large semi-rectangular magnetic anomalies (Anomaly 141).

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Archeological technician intern Cailey Mullins shares finds with park visitors.

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Archeological Technician Intern Andrew Weiland speaks to Libyan Department of Antiquities archeologists, Naser al Hrari (left) and Munsif Awad (center) while their translator, William Raynolds (center) looks on.

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Teachers enrolled in the “Teacher’s Workshop in Archeology” get their hands dirty during the field portion of the class.  In addition to earning CEU's for participating, they contributed 800 hours to the project as Volunteers In Parks (VIPs).

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