Pace, Robert E. (Anthropology Laboratory, Indiana State University)
TEST EXCAVATIONS OF THE VAN DUYAN SITE (12 P 571), PARKE COUNTY
Surface altering projects, such as strip mining or highway construction, result
in abrupt and obvious destruction of archaeological sites. However, the less obvious
and more gradual impact of crop cultivation undoubtedly has accounted for a far
greater loss of archaeological information over the years. Churning of soil by
cultivation has destroyed the integrity of shallow sites, and with progressively
deeper plowing, that of sites with buried deposits and features. The Van Duyan
Site, located on the east bluff overlooking the Wabash River floodplain, once
occupied 3 acres and contained an unknown number and variety of features. After
years of plowing and related erosion, very little remains beyond a mixture of
plowzone materials. With the labor of a group of high school honors students,
16 units, each 2 meters square, were excavated in what appeared to be the only
remaining area of the site that seemed to have any subplowzone integrity. A two-week
effort in August uncovered an area of intensively burned soil and associated charcoal
and fire-cracked stones located around a central deposit of mussel shells. A mixture
of shell fragments in the plowzone debris elsewhere on the site suggested other
features of this type had been destroyed by agricultural activities. Projectile
points recovered in archaeological context identify the feature as a component
of the Riverton Culture. In the absence of other tools, as well as of floral and
faunas remains, it is hypothesized that this is a specialized mussel processing
site that should be included as a part of the Riverton settlement subsistence
system. A number of hunting and nut processing sites occur in the general area,
representing other specialized camps. Mussel processing for consumption likely
was scheduled for late summer when water levels were low, and before fall nuts
became available. [return to 1987 abstracts menu][continue to next]