An Introduction to the Prehistory of Indiana

The time of the Archaic Tradition is one during which the harsh environmental conditions and the limited resources of the "ice age" were ameliorated and were finally superseded by a climate, fauna, and flora approximating that first encountered by Europeans upon entrance into the New World. Average temperatures increased; the tundra-like aspect of portions of Indiana moved northward and was initially replaced by coniferous forests and, finally, by the deciduous hardwoods. Rivers which had served as major sluiceways for glacial meltwater diminished in size to expose broad and flat aggraded valleys, and the large Pleistocene mammals that had foraged in the area became extinct.

Man, in order to survive in an altered and changing natural environment, found it necessary to modify a way of life and discover new opportunities. The archaeological record indicates that change was initially slow. Originating in the Paleo-lndian Tradition, the Early Archaic continues the dominant hunting pattern. However, projectile point styles occur in greater variety. Some of these retain the lanceolate form and basal grinding of the earlier form, but flutes are consistently absent. Other points from this period are relatively large and stemmed. Many are extremely well made and indicate a substantial skill in flint knapping. While the total cultural inventory is sparse for this period, Early Archaic projectiles have been recovered from dated and deeply stratified rock-shelters and alluvial deposits in many areas in eastern North America, including Indiana, and a chronological sequence for these artifacts is firmly established.

Also, Tomak (1979) has reported a possible Early Archaic cemetery in Daviess County

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that contained human cremations, red ocher, drilled animal teeth, and bone and shell artifacts.[see Late Paleo Indian- Early Archaic Blades]Similarly, much of the knowledge of the Middle Archaic is represented by a sequence of comparable artifact forms. However, excavations in deeply stratified sites such as Koster in Illinois reveal a gradually evolving cultural system with subsistence based upon the usage of a wide range of naturally occurring plants and animals, housing architecture that suggests greater residential stability, and cemetery areas (Streuver and Holton 1979). Also, the ability to manufacture stone tools by grinding and smoothing, in addition to chipping, is developed at this time, substantially enlarging the varieties of specialized implements suited to particular tasks.

In contrast with the earlier periods, Late Archaic in Indiana is represented by hundreds of sites which reflect considerable regional variability.

The most obvious of these adaptations are the numerous "shell mounds" encountered in the southwestern portion of the state (Miller 1941; Winters 1963, 1969). They occur within the Ohio River floodplain and on the adjacent terraces downriver from Clark County into at least Warrick County. They are present in portions of the lower Wabash Valley, i.e., Posey and Sullivan counties, and extend up the White River into Dubois, Lawrence, and Orange counties. The mussel, an oyster-like bivalve, was at one time very abundant in the streams of the region before pollution, and raised water levels resulting from dam construction destroyed their habitat. They provided an easily accessible and reliable source of food. Once the meat had been removed, the shells were discarded with the result that the slowly accumulating heaps provided a well-drained elevation upon which settlement occurred. Judged by the quantity and kinds of cultural materials encountered at these shell midden sites, it is likely that they served as base camps and were occupied for considerable periods of time during the year.

While none of the recorded shell mounds in Indiana compare in size and depth to some reported in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, they are impressive. A few represent an accumulation of ten feet or more and may be several acres in horizontal extent. However, data concerning size are difficult to obtain since many of the sites, particularly those in the Ohio Valley proper, are often buried by several feet of more recent alluvium. Only a caving riverbank, cultivation, or a construction project provides evidence for their existence. Undoubtedly there are many more present than have been recorded. Along the smaller tributaries of the Ohio the shell middens tend to be located on terraces or high bordering bluffs overlooking the floodplain.

Though the mussel provided an abundant and reliable food source, and they must have been consumed in tremendous, albeit monotonous, quantities, other food sources were heavily exploited as well. Large numbers of deer were butchered, as were elk and bear, and the remains of smaller mammals are present in the middens. Also, turtle, fish, and water fowl were taken. Where conditions of preservation permit, charred remains of plant products, particularly hickory, occur in great abundance. In brief, the evidence suggests that a broadly based food supply is represented. Also, though probably not a major contributor to the food supply, cultivated squash is present by at least 2,000 B.C.

The major hunting weapon was the spear used in combination with the spear thrower. The latter in its simplest form was a short wooden shaft measuring about 18 inches in length, one end of which was held in the hand and the other with a hook attached provided a temporary rest for the basal end of the spear. This simple mechanical device extended the length of the arm during the casting motion resulting in the transfer of considerably more force to the spear. At least some of the spear throwers encountered in the shell mounds were of a composite nature and consisted of a round wooden shaft to which were attached bone handles and hooks. Perforated shells and

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stones were sometimes placed on the shaft. [see Archaic Spear Thrower] Some of the latter, the so-called "bannerstone, " were extremely well made and nanufactured from rose quartz, which was finished to a high polish.

Most of the material remains found in the shell mounds are utilitarian in nature. There are a variety of chipped flint projectile points, knives, drills, and end and side scrapers. Ground stone artifacts include grooved axes, bell-shaped pestles, and a number of well-made artifacts made from slate. A few tubular pipes suggest the occurrence of smoking. The bone and antler artifact assemblage is particularly rich, though some of this abundance undoubtedly results from the excellent preservation conditions encountered in the shell mounds. Included are projectile points, awls which are sometimes engraved with geometric designs, polished bone pins and needles, and fishhooks. Fragments of fire-cracked rock often occur in quantity, and it is concluded, since pottery is lacking, that liquids were heated by placing them in skins or coated baskets and dropping in heated stones (stone boiling). Occasional scattered post molds sn thc shell middens suggest the use ot simple windbreaks or other shelter types. Prepared clay floors and fire hearths may occur in such areas.

Human burials have been found in substantial numbers in such sites. For example, Indian Knoll, a large shell midden located on the Green River in Kentucky, has recorded well over a thousand burials during the several seasons of excavation there. Commonly, shallow circular pits were dug into the shell midden deposit, and the dead were placed in these in a tightly flexed position. Interestingly, domesticated dogs were sometimes placed with the human remains or were given a separate burial.[see Archaic Bannerstones]

While the overall cultural picture which emerges emphasizes utilitarian pursuits, there are

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indications of developing specialization and widespread trade. Copper appears to have been obtained from the upper Great Lakes area. and a few artifacts made from marine shell occur.

While emphasis has been placed on the shell mound contexts, because these represent the most obvious kind of site associated with thc Latc Archaic, life was certainly not confined to these localities. The subsistence remains indicate that a wide range of native products were exploited and obtaining these would have required a somewhat mobile existence. Also, it is doubtful that shellfish could have been obtained at all seasons due to high water, and flooding of the river bottoms would have necessitated moving to more elevated regions. Throughout the area of the shell mounds there are numerous sites of the same period which, except for the absence of shell debris, produce nearly identical artifacts and are undoubtedly seasonal encampments of these same people. The many rock-shelters in the Crawford Uplands often contain deep midden deposits that represent occupations by these same groups. In brief. the shell mounds are only one element in a complex Late Archaic settlement system (Munson 1980). [see Late Archaic Artifacts]

Northward from the shell mound area in central Indiana cultural materials similar to those in the south are encountered also. For example, there is a comparable chipped flint assemblage, the compound spear thrower was used, and the ground stone tools are similar.

The later Archaic Tradition complexes in northern Indiana are much different, though very little work in the area has been accomplished and they are less well understood. Much of our present knowledge derives from cemeteries, most of which have been discovered accidently; hence, little can be determined concerning the day-to-day activities of the groups. However, the absence of any single consistently available and storable food resource combined with the fact that habitation sites are generally small and not intensively occupied suggests that migratory hunters and food collectors were involved.

Glacial Kame is the most widespread of these northern late Archaic cultural manifestations. It derives its name from the fact that cemeteries from the period were customarily made in sand and gravel ridges formed by glacial outwash called "Kames" by the geologist. Although not all human burials encountered in such contexts necessarily represent thc same time interval, many of them do reflect similar burial methods and a recurrent artifact complex indicative of a common cultural pattern.

Glacial Kame cemeteries are unmarked and their discovery is usually a matter of accident (Lilly 1942:31-33). Often first encountered during the course of sand or gravel mining, information about such sites is frequently secondhand. They may contain from only a few to several dozen human interments. The tightly flexed burials, usually single but sometimes paired, were placed in circular graves. Powdered red ocher was often associated with the bodies. Large drilled sandal-sole and circular gorgets cut from marine shells were sometimes placed in the graves as were the distinctive "birdstone." Commonly carved from slate and extremely well made, it derives its name from a profile that resembles a stylized bird. One suggested function is that of a spear thrower weight, but such a use has not been confirmed by other associations, such as that for the bannerstone. Other artifacts from burial contexts include copper and shell beads, long bone pins, and bone awls.

Glacial Kame artifacts, some from burial sites, are found throughout northern Indiana and southward into Shelby County. The latter example, though somewhat outside the expected area of occurrence, involved a flexed human burial together with a sandal-sole gorges and copper beads, all of which were literally buried in red ocher; the grave had been made in a low sandy ridge .

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A related mortuary complex in the western portion of the state bears the somewhat ambiguous title Red Ocher. Small, low, artificial mounds were constructed, and quantities of ocher were sometimes placed over the burials covered by the mounds. The distinctive artifact is a narrow bi-pointed flint blade with shallow side notches at one end. These are commonly called "turkey tails" and were typically manufactured from an excellent quality blue-grey "flint" extensively mined in south-central Indiana, particularly Harrison County. These blades have been found singly as well as in buried caches of several dozen. There is also some suggestion that an early form of heavy pottery, Marion Thick, may be coeval with Red Ocher.

A salvage excavation of a Red Ocher mound in Terre Haute, though hindered by the premature bulldozing of a school construction site, succeeded in identifying a shallow clay basin within which were the charred remains of a human cremation associated with flint blades, including a "turkey tail," an expanded-end bar gorges made of stone, and scattered deposits of red ocher.

On occasion copper artifacts have been reported in northern Indiana that appear to reflect a third late Archaic cultural expression, the Old Copper Culture. Old Copper is indigenous to Wisconsin where mass burials may have associated a number of distinctive copper artifacts, including tanged and socketed projectile points, knives, axes, and awls. Located in areas where copper was readily available, such material was hammered into the appropriate shapes as early as 3,000 B.C. While no Old Copper sites are known in Indiana, reminiscent artifacts have been recovered from the surface.

Because there are some general similarities in Glacial Kame, Red Ocher, and Old Copper, as well as with other archaeological cultural expressions farther to the east, it has been proposed that they be grouped into a "northern " or "boreal " archaic. A further hypothesis is that the beginnings of the mortuary ceremonialism that climaxes in the subsequent Woodland Tradition occur in this area. [see "Turkey Trail" Blade]

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By way of summary, then, the Archaic Tradition is characterized by change, slow in its earliest stages but with an increasing tempo that ultimately produces a more efficient adaptation to a variety of local environmental conditions. Though it can be argued that the technology is relatively simple, the widespread if not abundant occurrence of copper and shell from the warm salt waters to the south is indicative of an incipient trade network. Human groups have traversed a considerable distance from the hunting adaptation that seems to characterize the earliest period.