A r c h e o l o g i c a l S o c i e t y o f Vi r g i n i a
Massanutten Chapter
Volume 34, Issue 3
March 2013
Jamestown Rediscovery Project
Submitted by George Lott
Figure 1: George Lott, Buck Woodard & Matt Weatherholtz Stand Before
The Fine Results Of Their Collaboration
Continued on Page 2
Inside this issue:
Jamestown Rediscovery
Project
1, 2,
3
Stone Burial Mounds of
Western Virginia
4, 5,
6, 7,
8
March Birthdays
8
Certification Program
Opportunities
9
Upcoming Events
9
March MCASV
Meeting Agenda
10
Jamestown Rediscovery Project, Continued
The phone call came in mid-November, two days before my scheduled knee
surgery and the subject of that call had to be the last thing I was thinking
about. On the other end of the line was the Director of Public Programs and
Operations for the Historic Jamestown Rediscovery Project. The request was
pretty straight forward: Could I make three bows, eighteen arrows, and three
quivers before the end of the year. These were to be used in an expanded
interpretative program at Jamestown. Buck Woodard, the Director of the
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s American Indian Initiative, served as our
contact on details of materials and construction.
With some degree of uncertainty about my recovery from knee surgery, I agreed
to the eighteen arrows and three quivers but recommended that they consider
Matt Weatherholtz for the three bows. (Matt is an experienced bowyer who has
made well over two hundred Native American style bows. He is currently involved in the construction of the Native American Hamlet at the Frontier
Culture Museum.) Even with Matt’s assistance, the completion of all of these
items within about a month’s period was going to be daunting.
By way of some background information, I had previously made a Powhatan
style bow, arrows, and a quiver for the same project about a year and a half
earlier. The bow is based on one in the Ashmolean Museum in England and
collected in 1665 from the Powhatan. The arrows, also identified as Powhatan,
are in the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
For the current project, the request was for similar style bows in hickory; river
cane arrows with hardwood fore shafts and appropriate triangular stone points;
two Poplar bark quivers and a third of brain tanned deer hide. (Poplar bark was
commonly used for house coverings and basketry, and there are surviving examples of arrow quivers in the Eastern Woodland tradition made of this material.)
We completed the project and made delivery to Jamestown on December 18th.
The whole experience was exciting and made more so by our introduction to Dr.
William Kelso and a tour of one of the artifact processing labs.
The surprises kept coming. Jamestown had also purchased an English War Bow
and six medieval style arrows with reproduction heads based on ones excavated
at Jamestown.
Continued on Page 3
Volume 34, Issue 3
Page 2
Jamestown Rediscovery Project, Continued
These were made in England by one of the foremost interpreters of medieval
archery. Although they had had these items for a couple of months, no one had
attempted to string the 120# bow. A member of Dr. Kelso’s staff who had archery
experience had volunteered to be the public interpreter but had some
apprehensions about the methods of stringing and shooting this powerful weapon.
Matt Weatherholtz who had made and shot bows of comparable weights agreed to
assist. The photo below shows Matt shooting the bow at a target of hay bales
against a back drop of the James River.
Figure 2: Matt Weatherholtz demonstrates how to shoot the powerful bow
Our day was not yet complete because we had determined that we were also
going to harvest some river cane for future projects. With that done, we headed
back to the Valley to end a lengthy but rewarding day.
Volume 34, Issue 3
Page 3
Stone Burial Mounds Of Western Virginia
Submitted by Carole Nash
Native American burial mounds have always interested historians, archaeologists,
and residents in Western Virginia and figure prominently in the earliest histories
of the area (Kercheval 1833). Over the past 180 years, we have come to
understand many things about these features, but many questions remain, the
most significant of which is “What is the origin or this burial practice, which is
seemingly unrelated to previous practices?” As you’ll see below, more recent
research into this phenomenon has opened the door to even larger questions
about the transition to more complex forms of social organization in Indian
communities.
Here’s what we do know. During the first part of the Middle Woodland period
(2450-1800 B.P.), a Stone Burial Mound Complex developed in the Shenandoah
Valley, characterized by clusters of stone mounds located on bluffs overlooking
floodplains (Gardner 1993). The mounds are comprised of piles of stones capping
one or more burial pits. Recovered grave goods (celts, ochre, and biface caches)
were often made from local materials, supporting the hypothesis of the mounds
as an indigenous interpretation of a non-local (Ohio Valley Adena-Hopewell)
tradition. This may also be the first indication of social hierarchy among Valley
groups. Because the stone burial mounds were restricted, usually containing the
remains of a single individual, it has been hypothesized that they represent a
“Big Man” type of social organization (Stewart 1992). These cultural phenomena
have been located on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and in West
Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
Separated by almost 800 years from the more egalitarian, communal Late
Woodland accretional moundbuilding tradition of 1200 B.P. (also known as the
Lewis Creek Mound Culture), the end of Middle Woodland moundbuilding was
thought to signal a movement away from social ranking and the end of
pan-regional exchange networks. Many are familiar with Thomas Jefferson’s 1787
description of the excavation of one of these accretional mounds on the Rivanna
River in Albemarle County. Also most frequently found in the Ridge and Valley,
such mounds held the remains of over 1,000 people who were most likely
interred together in small, secondary deposits every few years. The presence of
this mound type is thought to signal the emergence of clan connections between
communities spread throughout a territory.
Continued on Page 5
Volume 34, Issue 3
Page 4
Stone Burial Mounds Of Western Virginia, Continued
However, additional studies have challenged the separation of Middle and Late
Woodland burial practices. A reanalysis of Gerard Fowke’s 1894 mound investigations led Dunham (1994) to hypothesize that four of the documented accretional
burial mounds in the James, Shenandoah and Rappahannock drainages
(Cowpasture, Linville, Hayes Creek, and Rapidan) served an original function as
“bounded cemeteries” for high ranking individuals. Primary, individual belowmound interments reflected the pattern previously documented in Middle Woodland mortuary ceremonialism. The presence of Middle Woodland Point
Peninsula-style artifacts in two sub-mound pits at Linville Mound, as well as a
radiocarbon date of 1300 B. P. from a sub-mound pit in the Rapidan Mound,
contributed to these observations.
Excavations at the Gala Site (44BO48) in the upper James River basin underscore
the need to further examine the hypothesized connection between Middle and
Late Woodland mound construction. A dense cluster of at least 28 burials and
cremations with associated large pit features are interpreted as the initial stages
of mound construction. Bowden, Boyd, and Boyd (2002) note the similarity
between these features and the sub-mound components of the four accretional
mounds reviewed by Dunham, hypothesizing Gala mortuary ceremonialism as
transitional between that of Middle Woodland stone/earthen mounds and Late
Woodland accretional mounds. Four calibrated radiocarbon dates (2-sigma) overlap between A.D. 990-1030, placing these features at the early range of the
accretional mound phenomenon.
Regardless of the structural similarity between the bluff-top stone and earthen
burial mound interments and the sub-mound interments of Fowke’s accretional
mounds, the few radiometric dates for these sites point to a temporal separation
of at least 500 years. This hiatus in moundbuilding corresponds to the lack of
recorded sites dating to Middle Woodland II, both taken as evidence of social
disintegration and possible regional abandonment of the interior north of the
James River (Gardner 2000). The temporal gap in moundbuilding and its
re-emergence in a new context must become a focus of research, in light of the
hypothesized transitional burial forms now recognized. Based on present data, it
appears that restricted burial in stone and earthen mounds ceased for several
centuries during Middle Woodland II, but re-emerged during the 7th century A.D.
to form the basis of the later practice.
Continued on Page 6
Volume 34, Issue 3
Page 5
Stone Burial Mounds Of Western Virginia, Continued
The idea of a ‘reservoir’ of moundbuilding and social ranking in western Virginia
should be of great interest to archaeologists working in the region, as should the
shift from restricted to communal burial in the same mound.
References available on request
Editor’s Addendum,
Dr. Nash led MCASVers on two field trips to the Bath County camp of Lester
Hogshead. On the first trip in May 2010 MCASV members were joined by
members from Highland County Chapter. During this trip, we identified and
examined what was believed to be a an actual stone burial mound. On our
second trip in June 2011 Lester led us to number of more stone piles that were
Intriguing, but as yet not confirmed to be burial mounds. Those interested can
learn more information about these trips by going to www.mcasv.org and
reviewing the October 2010 and July 2011 editions of Points. Here follow a few
photographs from our Chapters Bath County field trips.
Figure1: Lester Hogshead with MCASV and Highland County Chapter Members, May 2010
Continued on Page 7
Volume 34, Issue 3
Page 6
Stone Burial Mounds Of Western Virginia, Continued
Figure 2: Dr. Nash Maps The Stone Mound, May 2010
Figure 3: Stone Mound With Debris Removed, May 2010
Continued on Page 7
Volume 34, Issue 3
Page 7
Stone Burial Mounds Of Western Virginia, Continued
Figure 4: Lester and Dr. Nash at Large Rock Pile, June 2009
March Birthdays
March 4
Robert Hebron
March 7
Trisha Maust-Blosser
March 9
Cindy Turner
March 17
Linda Farrar
March 27
Page Shields
March 27
Robert Oliver
Please complete the MCASV Membership
Application and submit to the MCASV Treasurer,
so we have your birthdates for the newsletter.
Volume 34, Issue 3
Page 8
Certification Program Opportunities
Submitted by Carole Nash. The following is information on upcoming certification opportunities:
There are a number of opportunities available throughout the state for Certification members and
Chapter volunteers. Check out the MCASV website at www.mcasv.org for a full listing of the programs,
their websites, and contact information.
Gloucester County
Dave Brown and Thane Harpole of the Fairfield Foundation ant the Middle Peninsula Chapter ASC
announce a program on March 19 & 20 from 9amto 4pm at the future Middle Peninsula State Park near
the Rosewell Visitor Center. Please email Dave and Thane at [email protected] as soon as possible if you
would like more information or plan to attend.
Northampton and Accomack Coounties
VDHR-ASV-USFS announce a field school on the Eastern Shore, April 17-24. Sea level rises are resulting
in the loss of shoreline and coastal archeological sites. There will be opportunities for survey and
Excavation under the direction of Mike Barber (VDHR) and Mike Madden (USFS). Participants will have
Training in the documentation and testing of sites that may be lost to us in the near future. For more
information contact Mike Barber at [email protected]. Application is due April 1.
Department of Historic Resources (DHR) Volunteer Program
Volunteer days can be arranged during the week for anyone interested. Prehistoric and historic artifact
processing, cataloguing, data entry, documentary research, and outreach activities are some examples
of what work is available. Please contact Chief Curator Dee DeRoche at [email protected]
or (804) 367-2323 x134 for an application and to set up day(s) to volunteer if you are interested.
MCASV Facebook Page
Kay McCarron has created a Facebook page for the Certification Program, and it’s available for your
comments/photos. We have plans to post materials for the program and are open to your suggestions.
Please look for it the next time you’re social networking: “Virginia Certification and Training Program
for Archaeological Technicians.”
Upcoming Events
March 6, 2013
7:00 p.m. Arey Hall in the Bridgewater Municipal Building.
Program: Dr. Tim Walton, from the JMU Department of Integrated Science and
Technology, “Pieces of Eight: The First Global Currency.”
April 3, 2013
7:00 p.m. Arey Hall in the Bridgewater Municipal Building.
Program: TBA
May 8, 2013
7:00 p.m. Arey Hall in the Bridgewater Municipal Building.
Program: TBA
June 5, 2013
Volume 34, Issue 3
7:00 p.m. Arey Hall in the Bridgewater Municipal Building.
Program: TBA
Page 9
MCASV March 2013 Business Meeting Agenda
The MCASV monthly meeting will commence at 7:00 p.m. at the Bridgewater Town Hall.
I.
Call to Order
II.
Welcome to Guests
III.
Program: Dr. Tim Walton, from the JMU Department of Integrated Science and Technology,
“Pieces of Eight: The First Global Currency.”
IV. Secretary’s Report
V.
Treasurer’s Report
VI.
Newsletter Editor’s Report
VII. Primitive Technology Day Report
VIII. New Business
IX.
Certification Program Report
X.
Morris Pottery Kiln
XI.
Announcements
XII. Adjournment
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Publisher:
Jeff Good
[email protected]
Editor:
Tom Hester
[email protected]
Assistant Editor:
Laura Roder
Page 10
[email protected]