Levy, Richard S., (American Archaeological Consultants, Inc.)
MILLERSBURG MOUND, PRELIMINARY REPORT
The Millersburg Site, at the time of our investigation, consisted of two small
remnants--the North and South Rim--comprising about 0.4 acre of a site that at
one time probably occupied 10 acres. The center of the site was removed to provide
fill for the construction of an earthen levee in the late 1960s. Many artifacts
and human burials were exposed at that time, and a period of intensive looting
of the surviving portion of the site ensued. We estimate that 96% of the original
site area was destroyed by the borrow activity and that 15 to 20% of the remaining
area was looted in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Chronologically the site spans the period from late Paleo-Indian to Middle Woodland
times. Only the Late Archaic through Middle Woodland cultures are represented
in the features, with earlier cultures exhibiting a much more ephemeral occupation
of the site. Although most of the features do not contain diagnostic materials,
those that do show a preponderance of Late Archaic projectile point forms (especially
Matanzas, Lamoka and McWhinney). It appears that the majority of the features
are of Late Archaic age and date from 3500 BC to 2000 BC.
Features of Woodland age are present but not common. In at least four cases it
appears that later Woodland peoples excavated pit features into earlier Archaic
burials. Only one definite Woodland burial is present on the North Rim. A poorly
preserved extended burial was discovered which contained a very large projectile
point with a base similar to the Middle Woodland Bakers Creek forms. On the underside
of this projectile point was a poorly preserved copper encrustation in the form
of a partial ring. Pottery comprises mainly grog tempered plain and cord marked
sherds. Much of this pottery was recovered in plow zone, and the total for the
site was less than 280 grams.
The North Rim section of the site contained approximately 240 features and included
pits, hearths, postmolds and graves. Among these features were 27 graves containing
the remains of 35 individuals. One grave contained a mass burial of 6 individuals.
Two other graves contained the remains of two individuals. One grave contained
the well preserved remains of a woman with a fetus apparently in utero. The majority
of the burials date to the Late Archaic period and are extended burials without
accompanying grave goods. For those burials with grave goods, turtle shell fragments
and various pigments (red ochre, white kaolinitic clay, and yellow clay) are frequent
inclusions in the graves. A Matanzas projectile point was found embedded in the
scapula of a male interred in the mass grave with 6 individuals, indicating a
Late Archaic age for this important feature.
Analysis of the patterns of postmolds on the North Rim revealed approximately
6 large circles of posts, ranging between 6m and 27m in diameter. Almost all of
the graves are induded within three of these large circles, and nearly all of
the posts included in these large circles appear to have been burned in place.
Only four hearths were discoverd on the North Rim and these occur in four of the
large circles. The primary function of the large circles, and indeed of this portion
of the site, is apparently for mortuary ritual. There is no evidence of domestic
structures, and there are lower densities of debitage, fire cracked rock, and
tools than would be typical of domestic sites.
The large circles are similar in outline and size to the later circular submound
post patterns beneath many Adena mounds. Berle Clay has recently reviewed data
on circular submound structures from the Wright, C and O. Morgan Stone Mound,
Robbins Mound and Crigler Mound Adena sites ("Adena Ritual Spaces" in Early
Woodland Archaeology, edited by Kenneth Farnsworth and Thomas Emerson, pp.
581-595, Center for American Archaeology, Kampsville, Illinois, 1986). The average
diameter for 9 circular structures illustrated by Clay is approximately 12 meters.
The large circles in the North Rim averaged 17 meters in diameter. The average
distance between posts on the Adena circles was about 60cm; in contrast the Millersburg
North Rim posts were 120cm apart, on the average. The Millersburg large circles
lack the paired posts found in many of the later Adena sites.
The South Rim portion of the site contained approximately 105 features, including
pits, postmolds and at least one burial. The South Rim had a much lower density
of large features and very little bone was preserved. Circular patterns of posts
were also evident on the South Rim; these large circles of posts averaged 10 meters
in diameter. The South Rim (large circles) contained one or two large features
within them, whereas the North Rim large circles contained 20 or more large features.
The large size of the South Rim circles and the presence of a handful of human
tooth fragments in one of the larger interior features suggested that these were
also related to mortuary activities rather than to domestic tasks. There also
seems to have been at least one large rectangular post pattern on the South Rim.
The specialized mortuary character of the Millersburg site is suggested by the
large circles of posts, the absence of domestic structures, low densities of fire-cracked
rock, rarity of hearths, and high density of burials relative to other feature
types. The suggestion of specialized mortuary sites as early as the Late Archaic
challenges some current assumptions about the antiquity of mortuary ritual in
Ohio Valley prehistory. [return to 1989 abstracts menu][continue to next]