McCullough, Robert G. (Southern Illinois University at Carbondale)
A PROGRESS REPORT OF OLIVER PHASE RESEARCH IN SOUTHERN INDIANA
The goal of the current project is to gather additional information on Oliver
phase sites in the East Fork of the White River basin of Southern Indiana. This
paper represents a progress report of investigations funded by a 1992 Survey and
Planning Grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic
Preservation and Archaeology. Through resurvey, excavation, and confirmation of
collector site location reports in Orange, Lawrence, and Martin Counties, this
study will assist in the conservation and management concerns for the late prehistoric
archaeological resources in south-central Indiana. In addition, this project is
part of a broader research plan to examine settlement variability by tracing the
continuity of late prehistoric settlement through seriational techniques on selected
artifacts, especially ceramic attributes. The expected results should demonstrate
whether the settlement variability can be accounted for by synchronic (functional)
explanations or by settlement change over time.
These objectives are being addressed through the analysis of materials collected
and excavated in the current study, and examination of both public and private
archaeological collections when reliable proveniences can be established.
To date, three previously documented and nine previously undocumented prehistoric
sites have been systematically surveyed to determine site dimensions and the range
of cultural components. Additionally, ten previously undocumented prehistoric
site locations have been reported by local collectors. Two sites with Oliver phase
components have been intensively surveyed using a segmented transect technique,
and two sites (12 Lr 431 and 12 Mn 33) have had limited test excavations.
The Abner Site (12 Lr 431) is situated on the crests of two sand ridges on the
river side of a terrace overlooking the East Fork White River floodplain in Lawrence
County. Twenty features were visible on the surface in January of 1992, and these
were mapped by personnel from the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology. Seven
two by two meter excavation units and three one meter wide trenches were placed
to recover both feature information and site structure. Approximately 90.0 square
meters of surface area were excavated (see Figure
15). Of the 15 anomalies that were exposed, 11 were determined to be cultural
in origin. A cluster of Oliver phase storage pits (feature numbers 3-7) were identified.
These pits exhibited low amounts of cultural materials suggesting that they were
not reused as refuse facilities, and the late prehistoric component was probably
of short duration. Also, the extent of Oliver phase materials appears to have
been limited to the river side of the terrace, and no stockade feature or circular
village structure was identified.
A limited test excavation was also conducted at the Warren Rockshelter Site (12
Mn 33) in Martin County. This site was first identified in the survey of Martin
County conducted by William R. Adams in 1946, and the recovery of a triangular
point and a grit tempered sherd indicated an Oliver phase component. The presence
of this late prehistoric occupation was reconfirmed, during the most recent survey,
by the recovery of a grit-tempered sherd on the surface. This site was investigated
because of the lack of information for upland late prehistoric sites in the study
area, and because an excavation by Adams (in the 1940's) at the Cedar Bluff Rockshelter,
also in Martin County, produced a high density of ceramics.
Approximately 4.25 square meters of surface area were excavated in an attempt
to locate buried deposits and cultural features. The remnant of one archaeological
feature was identified during the course of this investigation (see Figure
16). However, a burrowing animal had drastically disturbed the integrity of
this anomaly, and the mixing of cultural materials was evident. More importantly,
excavation to a depth of 110.0 cm revealed that all the cultural material in these
deposits were confined to the upper 25-30 cm., revealing no significant prehistoric
cultural component separation. In addition, only a small amount of Oliver phase
materials was recovered, thus indicating that this location was only marginally
utilized during the late prehistoric period.
Research on the late prehistoric period settlement in south- central Indiana is
continuing. At the present time, all of the materials recovered during this study
are cataloged, but the analysis is just beginning and the artifacts have yet to
be tabulated. [return to 1992 abstracts menu][continue to next]