**Hopewell Archeology:**

**The Newsletter of Hopewell Archeology in the Ohio River Valley**

**Volume 2, Number 2, October 1997**

**1. Current Research at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park By
Bret J. Ruby, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ohio**

Archeological research is an essential activity at Hopewell Culture
National Historical Park. An active program of field research provides
the information necessary to protect and preserve Hopewellian
archeological resources. The program also addresses a series of
long-standing questions regarding the cultural history and adaptive
strategies of Hopewellian populations in the central Scioto region.

Presented below are preliminary notices of recent field projects
conducted by park personnel with the assistance of the National Park
Service\'s Midwest Archeological Center, Lincoln, Nebraska. These recent
efforts are focused on three Hopewellian centers in Ross County. Two of
these centers, the Mound City Group and the Hopeton Earthworks, are
administered by the National Park Service as units of Hopewell Culture
National Historical Park. The third center, the Spruce Hill Works, is
privately owned and is being considered for possible inclusion in the
park.

Research at the Mound City Group

Work at the Mound City Group was prompted by plans to install a set of
eight new interpretive signs along a trail encircling the mounds and
earthworks at the site. Although the Mound City Group has been the focus
of archeological investigations for almost 150 years, previous research
has focused almost exclusively on the mounds and earthworks themselves
(Figure 1), with little attention paid to identifying archeological
resources that may lie just outside the earthwork walls.

![](media/image1.jpeg){width="5.998611111111111in"
height="3.8208333333333333in"}

**Figure 1. A portion of the Mound City Group as mapped by Squier and
Davis in 1846. Note that the canal shown west of the main mound group is
the Ohio and Erie Canal**

As a result, existing documentation was insufficient to determine if
archeological resources might be disturbed by the sign installations.
Furthermore, the earlier focus on mound explorations has limited the
availability of data that would permit an evaluation of the extent to
which these mound and earth-work centers served non-mortuary functions,
whether in the domestic or corporate-ceremonial spheres.

A 50-x-50-cm test unit was excavated at the proposed location of each
interpretive sign. The test units were distributed along the west,
south, and east sides of the earthwork enclosure, at distances ranging
from about 5 m to 50 m from the earthwork walls. Each test unit
disclosed archeological evidence of the use of the Mound City Group as
the site of Camp Sherman, a U.S. Army training camp used during World
War I. All test units contained debris relating to this occupation
(especially nails, glass, coal, and cinders). Several locations produced
evidence of grading, cutting, and filling resulting from the
construction and demolition of the camp. In some cases, prehistoric
chert debitage and ceramic vessel fragments were recovered from these
disturbed contexts. However, at one location a railroad bed constructed
during the Camp Sherman era had effectively sealed and protected a
prehistoric midden deposit from further disturbance. The artifact
assemblage contained in this deposit (chert debitage, undecorated
ceramics, wood charcoal, animal bone) suggests that activities including
food processing, consumption, and discard were conducted nearby. Future
research should seek to determine whether these activities indicate a
nearby domestic habitation, or whether they represent
corporate-ceremonial activities associated with the construction or use
of the mound and earthwork complex. These limited investigations
demonstrate that significant archeological deposits from both the
Hopewellian and Camp Sherman occupations remain intact outside the
earthwork walls at the Mound City Group. These deposits hold tremendous
potential for problem-oriented investigations into the nature,
variability, chronology, intensity, and duration of Hopewellian
activities at the site.

Research at the Hopeton Earthworks

The Hopeton Earthworks, located across the Scioto River opposite the
Mound City Group, has been a unit of Hopewell Culture National
Historical Park since 1980. The main features of the site consist of
conjoined circular and square earthen enclosures, each encompassing
nearly 20 acres, and a set of parallel linear embankments stretching for
nearly half a mile toward the Scioto River (Figure 2).

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="5.998611111111111in"
height="5.629166666666666in"}

**Figure 2. Part of the Hopeton Earthworks mapped by Squier and Davis in
1846. The resistance survey area (discussed in the section entitled
\"Remote Sensing\") is in the red rectangle around the southernmost
circular enclosure. Areas in red are alterations made to the original
map.**

Originally, the walls of the square enclosure stood nearly 12 feet high,
and the circular enclosure and linear embankments stood between two and
five feet high. Altogether, the site ranks among the largest of the
Hopewellian earth-work centers and represents a truly monumental
investment of labor in public architecture.

Despite the great size and complexity of the Hopeton Earth-works, the
site has received little archeological attention. There are a series of
important 19th century maps of the site, but little else is known about
the age, duration, or function of the site, or the range of activities
that may have been conducted there. Very little of the surrounding
landscape has been systematically surveyed to identify nearby
habitations and other activity areas. The nature and chronology of
earthwork construction at the site remains undocumented.

Surface Collections

During the spring of 1996, an intensive survey was conducted on about 65
acres in the cultivated fields surrounding the earthwork walls. The
survey discovered and mapped the locations of numerous habitation sites
and other activity areas representing at least 6,000 years of Native
American and Euroamerican occupation. By far the greatest density of
cultural debris relates to Hopewellian occupations. Hopewellian
artifacts (primarily projectile points and lamellar blades) were found
at many scattered locations, with one notable concentration just
southwest of the earthwork walls. This location is not associated with
any particular topographic or hydrologic feature, suggesting that
proximity to the earthwork walls was the primary determinant of its
location. This further suggests that this activity area may be
associated with the use or maintenance of the earthworks rather than a
domestic habitation. Test excavations in this area conducted during the
summer of 1997 will be reported in a future issue of Hopewell
Archeology.

Remote Sensing

Early maps and aerial photographs of the Hopeton Earthworks show two
small circular enclosures along the eastern edge of the square enclosure
(Figure 2). Cultivation and erosion have obliterated any surface traces
of these features.

An earth resistance meter (Geoscan Research RM-15) was used over the
past year to search for buried remnants of the southernmost circular
enclosure. Resistance measurements were recorded at 1 m intervals within
an 80 m by 120 m grid. The measurements disclosed a region of low
electrical resistance that corresponds in shape and size to an interior
ditch depicted on early maps running parallel to the circular embankment
(Figure 3). Excavations designed to \"ground truth\" the resistance data
are planned for 1997.

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="4.166666666666667in"
height="2.8020833333333335in"}

Figure 3. Resistance map of the area around a circular enclosure shown

in Figure 2. Low resistance areas (dark) correspond to an interior
ditch.

The preliminary results suggest that remote sensing can be an efficient
and non-destructive means of documenting earthwork features at the
Hopeton Earthworks and similar sites.

Excavations

During the summer of 1995, the National Park Service and Ohio State
University began a cooperative salvage investigation of a Hopewellian
occupation located just outside the park on lands owned by the
Chillicothe Sand and Gravel Company (see Hopewell Archeology, Vol. 2,
No. 1). The first season\'s investigations employed remote sensing
(magnetic and resistance surveys), surface collection, and excavation to
identify and recover data from a series of refuse-filled pit features
that likely represent a household-scale Hopewellian occupation.
Subsequently, Dr. John Weymouth (University of Nebraska, Lincoln)
conducted further analysis of the remote sensing data in light of the
information revealed through excavation. This further analysis suggested
that several additional pit features may have gone undetected during the
excavations. During the summer of 1996, additional excavations were
targeted at these anomalies and successfully identified several
additional refuse-filled pits.

Near-surface geophysical remote sensing greatly aids in the
identification of buried archeological deposits. The findings underscore
the necessity of truly inter-disciplinary cooperation between geophysics
and archeology.

Further processing and data analysis are continuing under the direction
of Dr. William S. Dancey (Ohio State University). Results will be
summarized in a future issue of Hopewell Archeology and elsewhere.

Earthwork Construction

Monumental geometric earthwork enclosures have long stood as a testament
to the remarkable scale and complexity of Ohio Hopewell
corporate-ceremonial life. Nevertheless, few investigations have
specifically targeted earthwork walls as a focus for archeological
investigation. During the summer of 1996, a wall segment at the Hopeton
Earthworks was explored by means of a 1 m x 14 m hand-excavated trench
located near the northwest corner of the large square enclosure (Figures
2, 4).

![](media/image4.jpeg){width="6.0in" height="1.6479166666666667in"}

**Figure 4. Profile of the trench dug along the northwest wall segment
of the Hopeton Earthworks. This is the west profile and represents data
recorded in the 1996 field season.**

One goal of the investigation was to establish a baseline assessment of
the current condition of the earthworks. The excavations demonstrated
that almost half of the wall segment\'s original 4 m of relief has been
lost to plowing and erosion. The wall retained a high degree of
integrity below the disturbed surface. Future management will seek to
maintain a stable vegetative cover and monitor the earthwork for change
from this baseline condition.

A second goal of the investigation was to document earthwork
construction methods and assess the intensity and frequency of
construction episodes. The excavations encountered a deep, highly
organic, undisturbed A horizon consistent with a prairie soil beneath
the wall. This suggests that a prairie opening in the bottomland
hardwood forest was selected for earthwork construction to avoid
extensive forest clearance. At least three principal construction
episodes were identified. A prepared surface composed of thin (ca. 1 cm)
strata of sand and clay atop an irregular deposit of silt loam soil lay
on the original ground surface. This surface was overlain by a deposit
of wood charcoal that had burned in situ. Flotation processing of this
charcoal deposit yielded many small flecks of mica but no other cultural
materials, suggesting a ceremonial context.

The first construction episode concluded when this deposit was capped
with a low (ca. 20 cm) mantle of yellowish-brown silt loam soil. The
second episode raised the wall to at least 2 m in height with a massive
unit of yellowish-brown silt loam soil. The final episode added another
massive unit of reddish-brown clay loam soil to the exterior aspect of
the wall. The pace and timing of these three episodes remain unclear.
Individual basket loads were occasionally evident throughout the wall.

A final goal of the investigation was to begin to build intra-site and
intersite chronologies of earthwork construction and use in the central
Scioto region. Wood charcoal from the deposit at the base of the wall
was dated to 1930 ± 60 radiocarbon years before the present (Beta-96598,
A.D. 20 ± 60, uncalibrated). Interestingly, the calibrated date of this
sample is contemporary with four samples drawn from sub-mound and
sub-earthwork features at the Mound City Group, located only 3 km west
of the Hopeton Earthworks. If this chronology proves accurate, it
suggests that these two mound and earthwork complexes may have
functioned together as a single closely related unit.

These investigations at Hopeton provide several important insights. Site
selection may have been influenced by the distribution of open, prairie
environments. Earthwork construction was conducted within the context of
a non-mortuary ceremonialism as evidenced by the prepared surface,
burning and exotic raw materials (mica) associated with the initial
construction episode. The color and placement of various soils may also
bear symbolic significance. Earthwork construction involved multiple
episodes, an observation that must be taken into account when estimating
the pace and intensity of labor investment in monumental architecture.
The apparent contemporaneity of geographically proximate mound and
earth-work centers such as Mound City and Hopeton has significant
implications for reconstructions of the regional Hopewellian social
landscape.

Spruce Hills Works

The Spruce Hill Works site was described as early as 1811 as a
stone-walled fortification ringing the brow of a prominent hill
overlooking the Paint Creek valley southwest of Chillicothe (Figure 5).
Later investigations at other hilltop enclosures in southern Ohio such
as Fort Ancient, Fort Hill, and the Pollack Works have determined that
many of these were built during the Hopewell period for ceremonial
rather than defensive purposes. In 1987, the National Park Service began
to consider whether the Spruce Hill Works might be significant enough to
warrant protection and preservation, either as a unit of Hopewell
Culture NHP or perhaps by some other means.

![](media/image5.jpeg){width="5.998611111111111in"
height="6.007638888888889in"}

**Figure 5. A map of the Spruce Hill Works made by Squier and Davis in
1847. One of the gateway features at the south end of the site was test
excavated in 1995.**

However, virtually no systematic scientific investigations had been
conducted at the site, and some questioned whether the \"stone walls\"
were man-made at all. Legislation enacted in 1992 directed the National
Park Service to conduct further studies of the site to answer these
questions and to explore options for preservation, if warranted.

During the fall of 1995, personnel from Hopewell Culture NHP surveyed
the site and conducted limited test excavations near one of four opening
or gateways at the southern end of the site. The encircling band of
loose sandstone blocks was found to be in much the same condition and
configuration as described and mapped by the earliest observers.

The stratigraphic position of the gateway features above bedrock
exposures confirms their anthropogenic origin, though much of the
remainder of the \"wall\" is coincident with a natural sandstone outcrop
and may in fact be natural. Test excavations recovered fragments of a
single plain, grit-tempered ceramic vessel and a diagnostic Hopewell
bladelet manufactured from Vanport (Flint Ridge) flint in association
with one of the southern gateway openings.

These results suggest that the Spruce Hill Works site does, in fact,
represent one of several Hopewellian hilltop enclosures in southern
Ohio.

Additional excavations were conducted during 1996. An excavation trench
placed across one of the gateways along the southern margin of the site
produced conclusive evidence for a Hopewellian authorship. The stones
making up the gateway were stratigraphically separated from the
underlying sandstone bedrock by more than 3 m of Wisconsin-age loess
deposits.

Furthermore, the size and distribution of the stones used to construct
the gateway provide evidence of intentional design: the bulk of the
feature is constructed of small, rubble-sized stones while the outer
surfaces are faced with large tabular blocks, perhaps to stabilize the
structure or modify its outward appearance. A diagnostic Hopewell
bladelet of Vanport flint was found embedded approximately 40 cm deep
within the structure.

All of the early accounts of the Spruce Hill Works attest to the
occurrence of considerable quantities of burned, fused, or glazed
sandstones and vitrified soils at several locations along the enclosure
wall. The temperatures needed to produce these effects (in excess of
1100° C) have led many to speculate that these may relate to some high
temperature technology such as iron ore extraction. There is no evidence
that prehistoric Native Americans ever experimented with these
technologies. However, 18th and 19th century Euroamericans are known to
have constructed simple iron furnaces in southern Ohio and elsewhere.

During the present investigations, test excavations at three locations
documented vast quantities of these burned materials. In all three
cases, the materials appear to be in secondary, redeposited contexts.
The nature, origin, age, and affiliation of these materials remain
uncertain.

Thanks:

A special note of appreciation is due to Edward and Mary Emily Steel,
the present stewards of the Spruce Hill Works, for their friendship,
hospitality, and efforts to protect and preserve the Spruce Hill Works
for future generations.

**2. Meeting Calendar 1997 Southeastern Archaeological Conference**

Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, November 5-8, 1997. Contact
Rebecca Saunders, Museum of Natural Sciences, Louisiana State
University, Baton Rouge, LA; phone 504-388-6562, fax 504-388-3075.

55th Annual Plains Anthropological Conference

University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado; November 19-22, 1997. Contact
Douglas Bamforth, University of Colorado, Boulder; phone 303-492-7586,
fax 303-492-1871, email: bamforth@spot.colorado.edu

1998 Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology

Crown Plaza Ravennia Hotel, Atlanta, GA, January 7-11, 1998. Contact TRC
Garrow and Associates, Atlanta, GA; phone 404-651-2255, fax
404-651-1718.

63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology

Seattle, WA, March 25-29, 1998. Contact Society for American
Archaeology, Washington, D.C.; phone 202-789-8200, fax 202-789-0284,
email: meetings@saa.org.

**3. New Publications**

Two new publications of interest to Hopewellian scholars are now
available:

A View from the Core: A Synthesis of Ohio Hopewell Archaeology, edited
by Paul J. Pacheco, Ohio Archaeological Council, Columbus. Copies may be
obtained through Eastern National, a non-profit cooperating association
that supports scientific and educational programs at Hopewell Culture
National Historical Park and other eastern National Parks. Eastern
National, 16062 State Route 104, Chillicothe, OH 45601; 614-774-1125.
\$32.95 plus shipping and handling.

Ohio Hopewell Community Organization, edited by William S. Dancey and
Paul J. Pacheco, Kent State University Press, Kent. The volume is
available at bookstores or from the Kent State University Press, P.O.
Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242; 1-800-247-6553. \$45 cloth.

**4. Notes and News**

The Bellinger Site and the Goodall Tradition

In 1941, George Quimby defined the Goodall Focus and brought attention
to Hopewellian sites in northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan. The
Goodall focus was defined on the basis of ten sites, all with mounds,
which produced pottery similar to that found in the Illinois River
Valley. The Goodall Focus has been generally regarded as a regional
variant of Havana Hopewell.

Mark R. Schurr has recently published a paper titled \"The Bellinger
Site (12SJ6) and the Origin of the Goodall Focus.\" The paper appeared
in Archaeology of Eastern North America (1997), Volume 25, pages
125-142. The paper describes field investigations by the Department of
Anthropology, University of Notre Dame, at the Bellinger site. The field
investigations included geophysical survey using a Geoscan FM36
gradiometer and an RM15 resistance meter. The study also included
excavations of a mound and a habitation area associated with the mound.
The paper describes the field investigations and artifacts that were
collected. Schurr offers interpretations about the sequence of mound
construction, the nature and affiliation of ceramics from the site, and
the nature of Middle Woodland occupation in the Kankakee Valley.

Aboriginal Use of Metals

A recent issue of The Michigan Archaeologist (Volume 41, Number 1, March
1996), contains a paper by John R. Halsey titled \"Without Forge or
Crucible: Aboriginal Native American Use of Metals and Metallic Ores in
the Eastern Woodlands.\" The paper explores Native American use of
metals and ores prior to European contact. Much of the paper is devoted
to prehistoric uses of copper, which are well documented in the
literature about Hopewell and the midwestern United States. However, the
paper also presents useful discussion and references regarding
aboriginal uses of gold, silver, lead, and iron. Many of the sites from
which these latter metals have been reported are either Hopewell or more
general Middle Woodland contexts. The paper is a useful summary of the
evidence for aboriginal uses of metal, and it has an extensive
bibliography.