Maumee Archaeological Landscape Project (MALP): At the First Rapids
MALP seeks to understand how people of the past utilized and interacted with the unique ecological landscape of the Maumee River Valley of the Western Lake Erie Basin. Specifically, I am interested in how the location of the First Rapids was used as a site of regional and inter-group interaction. My dissertation focuses on how Late Woodland peoples of this region interacted with Fort Ancient peoples from southern Ohio.
I present three hypotheses to explain Upper Mississippian influence on Late Woodland (LW) peoples: (1) a local response to changing social and physical landscapes, including Fort Ancient encroachment with minimal direct interaction; (2) significant interaction, incorporation of Fort Ancient migrants, and community coalescence; or (3) displacement of WBT peoples by Upper Mississippian groups. My project utilized minimally-invasive research methods to address these questions, including pedestrian surface survey, geophysical surveys, analysis of private collections and legacy collections, and ceramic petrography. |
The Landscape.
Before European influence, the Maumee River Valley (MRV) was ecologically diverse and productive, providing important resources for prehistoric peoples through time. The Maumee River, which spans Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, drains the largest watershed of all tributaries of the Great Lakes and supports one of the largest fish migrations in the Great Lakes.
The MRV functioned as the northern bound of the expansive Great Black Swamp, a massive (almost 4000 sq. km) and substantial elm-ash swamp, which attracted many types of mammals, waterfowl, and various aquatic creatures year-round. Among the arboreal swamp were areas of coastal marshes, which would have produced various types of vegetation, tubers, and possibly wild rice. The Oaks Opening region north of the MRV bolstered a mix of oak savanna, woodland, and prairie, offering a variety of nuts and berries for subsistence.
Before the drainage of the Great Black Swamp in the late 1800s, the Maumee River’s flora and fauna was once very populous and bountiful. Surrounding wetlands buffered and filtered the river’s water, resulting in clearer, cleaner, and healthier waters. Perhaps the most productive locale was at the river’s estuary (the lower 24 km), which begins at the First Rapids and empties into Maumee Bay. The First Rapids, containing a spawning riffle, is still considered prime location for walleye runs today. It has been argued by past researchers that the carrying capacity of the Maumee River, and particularly at the First Rapids, would be higher than the other tributaries of the Western Lake Erie Basin because of these fish runs of the Maumee, making the First Rapids an optimal location for intensive exploitation and occupation during prehistory.
The MRV functioned as the northern bound of the expansive Great Black Swamp, a massive (almost 4000 sq. km) and substantial elm-ash swamp, which attracted many types of mammals, waterfowl, and various aquatic creatures year-round. Among the arboreal swamp were areas of coastal marshes, which would have produced various types of vegetation, tubers, and possibly wild rice. The Oaks Opening region north of the MRV bolstered a mix of oak savanna, woodland, and prairie, offering a variety of nuts and berries for subsistence.
Before the drainage of the Great Black Swamp in the late 1800s, the Maumee River’s flora and fauna was once very populous and bountiful. Surrounding wetlands buffered and filtered the river’s water, resulting in clearer, cleaner, and healthier waters. Perhaps the most productive locale was at the river’s estuary (the lower 24 km), which begins at the First Rapids and empties into Maumee Bay. The First Rapids, containing a spawning riffle, is still considered prime location for walleye runs today. It has been argued by past researchers that the carrying capacity of the Maumee River, and particularly at the First Rapids, would be higher than the other tributaries of the Western Lake Erie Basin because of these fish runs of the Maumee, making the First Rapids an optimal location for intensive exploitation and occupation during prehistory.
Archaeology of the Western Lake Erie Basin.
For some time, the archaeology of the Western Lake Erie Basin was largely disregarded, likely due to descriptions by early European colonists of the “treacherous” conditions of the Great Black Swamp, and due to the fact that indigenous groups were not present in the area at contact. However, people lived and thrived in the Maumee River Valley since the Late Pleistocene. The Western Basin Tradition (WBT) of the Late Woodland period marks a general continuation of lifeways, where people aggregated at riverside and lacustrine locales to exploit seasonal wetland and aquatic flora and fauna, and they dispersed to upland areas in cold weather. They typically lived in ovoid structures in warm weather, with smaller and ephemeral hunting camps being used in upland locations in cold seasons.
However, the LW transitional period (AD 1250-1350) of Northwestern Ohio constitutes an anthropologically-important yet currently-unexplained shift in sedentism, territoriality, and material culture. This shift is referred to by some as “Mississippification” with a resulting Upper Mississippian culture. Around AD 1250, “Mississippified” Wolf phase sites are found, typically at only one or two riverside locales in the Western Lake Erie Basin and north to the Late St. Clair region. These Wolf phase villages are considerably different than previous hamlets, and contain material culture with similarity to other Upper Mississippian cultures, and specifically that of Fort Ancient in southern Ohio.
However, the LW transitional period (AD 1250-1350) of Northwestern Ohio constitutes an anthropologically-important yet currently-unexplained shift in sedentism, territoriality, and material culture. This shift is referred to by some as “Mississippification” with a resulting Upper Mississippian culture. Around AD 1250, “Mississippified” Wolf phase sites are found, typically at only one or two riverside locales in the Western Lake Erie Basin and north to the Late St. Clair region. These Wolf phase villages are considerably different than previous hamlets, and contain material culture with similarity to other Upper Mississippian cultures, and specifically that of Fort Ancient in southern Ohio.
Middle Mississippian Core and Upper Mississippian Sphere.
The Late Woodland period of the Great Lakes region coincides with the rise and fall of Cahokia and the Mississippian core (AD 1050-1350). The term “Mississippian” is usually defined by a list of archaeological correlates shared by various cultures in the midcontinent, which include maize horticulture, fortified communities, large earthen mounds, social ranking, and use of specific rituals and symbols.
Cahokia was a rapidly-built cultural center of a complex and hierarchical society characterized by an intensely agricultural economy with plazas and mound centers. Recent research suggests that Cahokia was a diverse urban center, as strontium isotopes indicate some community members likely immigrated from outside of the American Bottom. It is clear that religious, social, political, and economic factors played a role to create the unique and influential center known as Cahokia.
Cahokia quickly became a cultural hot-spot for people throughout the Eastern Woodlands, and people, ideas, and influence spread from its core. Early archaeologists noted cultural similarities between the American Bottom and material culture of the larger region of the midcontinent, so "Upper Mississippian" is a term that has been applied to signal relation to Mississippian culture. Because of this, it is often difficult to understand exactly how "Upper Mississippian" peoples are actually related to Mississippian communities.
Cahokia was a rapidly-built cultural center of a complex and hierarchical society characterized by an intensely agricultural economy with plazas and mound centers. Recent research suggests that Cahokia was a diverse urban center, as strontium isotopes indicate some community members likely immigrated from outside of the American Bottom. It is clear that religious, social, political, and economic factors played a role to create the unique and influential center known as Cahokia.
Cahokia quickly became a cultural hot-spot for people throughout the Eastern Woodlands, and people, ideas, and influence spread from its core. Early archaeologists noted cultural similarities between the American Bottom and material culture of the larger region of the midcontinent, so "Upper Mississippian" is a term that has been applied to signal relation to Mississippian culture. Because of this, it is often difficult to understand exactly how "Upper Mississippian" peoples are actually related to Mississippian communities.
Fort Ancient.
Fort Ancient culture (ca. AD 1000) is known for their large, organized agricultural villages with plazas, earthworks, and material culture similar to that of Mississippian culture. Who Fort Ancient people were and their relation to the Mississippian core has troubled researchers for decades, but recent research has helped to unravel the mystery. Recent climatic research has indicated that periods of severe drought plagued the people of Cahokia, and likely provided a catalyst to the fall of the Cahokian center. By AD 1200, the droughts centered not only on Cahokia but also much of Central Mississippi and the Lower Ohio Valleys – areas thought to be origins for Fort Ancient.
During this period, evidence for emigration from throughout the Mississippian core and peripheries is evident. In the Middle Ohio Valley, an area absolved from these droughts, Fort Ancient/Mississippian houses with non-local materials have been found. It is now understood that Mississippian migrants entered southwest Ohio and southeast Indiana at early Fort Ancient dates (ca. AD 1000-1300). In addition, strontium isotopes from Fort Ancient human remains show that some people were non-local, with the highest proportions of non-local people at earlier sites. In sum, Fort Ancient culture is known to be the result of Mississippian migration from the American Bottom.
Explaining broad Upper Mississippian connections to Mississippian communities, however, is neither simple nor straightforward, and it is clear that Mississippian histories are complex and varied across space and through time! So, my question remains, what caused the Upper Mississippian shift seen in the Western Lake Erie Basin with the Wolf phase, and how are those communities related to (Upper) Mississippian Fort Ancient communities to the south?
During this period, evidence for emigration from throughout the Mississippian core and peripheries is evident. In the Middle Ohio Valley, an area absolved from these droughts, Fort Ancient/Mississippian houses with non-local materials have been found. It is now understood that Mississippian migrants entered southwest Ohio and southeast Indiana at early Fort Ancient dates (ca. AD 1000-1300). In addition, strontium isotopes from Fort Ancient human remains show that some people were non-local, with the highest proportions of non-local people at earlier sites. In sum, Fort Ancient culture is known to be the result of Mississippian migration from the American Bottom.
Explaining broad Upper Mississippian connections to Mississippian communities, however, is neither simple nor straightforward, and it is clear that Mississippian histories are complex and varied across space and through time! So, my question remains, what caused the Upper Mississippian shift seen in the Western Lake Erie Basin with the Wolf phase, and how are those communities related to (Upper) Mississippian Fort Ancient communities to the south?
Follow along as this project continues!
Works Cited.
Alt, S. M. (2006). The power of diversity: The roles of migration and hybridity in culture change. In B. M. Butler, P. D. Welch, & Southern Illinois University Carbondale (Eds.), Leadership and polity in Mississippian society (pp. 289–308). Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
Birch, J., & Thompson, V. D. (2018). The Power of Villages. In J. Birch & V. D. Thompson (Eds.), The archaeology of villages in eastern North America (pp. 1–19). University Press of Florida.
Brose, D. S. (1997). Cultural relationships of the late prehistoric Whittlesey and Sandusky traditions of Northern Ohio A Response to Stothers, Murphy and Prufer. North American Archaeologist, 18(2), 177–204.
Brose, D. S. (2000). Late Prehistoric Societies of Northeastern Ohio and Adjacent Portions of the South Shore of Lake Erie: A Review. In R. A. Genheimer (Ed.), Cultures before contact: The late prehistory of Ohio and surrounding regions (pp. 96–122). Ohio Archaeological Council.
Brose, D. S. (2001). Penumbral Protohistory on Lake Erie’s South Shore. In D. S. Brose, C. W. Cowan, & R. C. Mainfort Jr. (Eds.), Societies in eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, A.D. 1400—1700. Smithsonian Institution Press.
Comstock, A. R. (2017). Climate Change, Migration, and the Emergence of Village Life on the Mississippian Periphery: A Middle Ohio Valley Case Study [The Ohio State University].
Comstock, A. R., & Cook, R. A. (2018). Climate Change and Migration Along a Mississippian Periphery: A Fort Ancient Example. American Antiquity, 83(1), 91–108.
Cook, R. A. (2017). Continuity and change in the Native American village: Multicultural origins and descendants of the Fort Ancient Culture. Cambridge University Press.
Cook, R. A., & Fargher, L. F. (2007). Fort Ancient-Mississippian Interaction and Shell-Tempered Pottery at SunWatch Village, Ohio. Journal of Field Archaeology, 32(2), 149–160. https://doi.org/10.1179/009346907791071647
Cowan, C. W. (1987). First Farmers of the Middle Ohio Valley: Fort Ancient Societies, AD 1000-1670. The Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.
Drooker, P. B. (1997). The view from Madisonville: Protohistoric Western fort ancient interaction patterns. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan.
Drooker, P. B., & Cowan, C. W. (2001). Transformation of the Fort Ancient Cultures of the Central Ohio Valley. In D. S. Brose, C. W. Cowan, & R. C. Mainfort Jr. (Eds.), Societies in eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, A.D. 1400—1700 (pp. 83–106). Smithsonian Institution Press.
Griffin, J. B. (1966). The Fort Ancient Aspect. University of Michigan Press.
Hedman, K. M., Slater, P. A., Fort, M. A., Emerson, T. E., & Lambert, J. M. (2018). Expanding the strontium isoscape for the American midcontinent: Identifying potential places of origin for Cahokian and Pre-Columbian migrants. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 22, 202–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.09.027
Herdendorf, C. E. (1990). Great Lakes Estuaries. Estuaries, 13(4), 493. https://doi.org/10.2307/1351795
Kaatz, M. R. (1955). Settlement of the Black Swamp of Northwestern Ohio.
Kowalewski, S. A. (2006). Coalescent Societies. In Thomas J. Pluckhahn & Robbie Ethridge (Eds.), Light on the Path: The Anthropology and History of the Southeastern Indians (pp. 94–122). University Alabama Press.
Pauketat, T. R. (2004). Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians. Cambridge university press.
Pauketat, T. R. (2005). The Forgotten History of the Mississippians. In T. R. Pauketat & D. D. Loren (Eds.), North American archaeology (pp. 187–211). Blackwell Pub.
Pompeani, D. P., Bird, B. W., Wilson, J. J., Gilhooly, W. P., Hillman, A. L., Finkenbinder, M. S., & Abbott, M. B. (2021). Severe Little Ice Age drought in the midcontinental United States during the Mississippian abandonment of Cahokia. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 13829. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92900-x
Prahl, E. J. (1969). Preliminary Comparison of Three Prehistoric Sites in the Vicinity of the Western Lake Erie Shore. Toledo Area Aboriginal Research Club Bulletin, 1(1), 32–64.
Prahl, E. J., Brose, D. S., & Stothers, D. M. (1976). A Preliminary Synthesis of the Late Prehistoric Phenomena in the Western Basin of Lake Erie. The Late Prehistory of the Lake Erie Drainage Basin: A 1972 Symposium Revised, 1, 251–282.
Railey, J. A. (1992). Fort Ancient cultural dynamics in the Middle Ohio Valley. In A. G. Henderson (Ed.), Fort Ancient cultural dynamics in the Middle Ohio Valley (pp. 137–170). Prehistory Press.
Rutter, W. E. (1984). The Upper Mississippian Component at the Fort Meigs Site, Northwest Ohio, with Special Emphasis on the Analysis of the Ceramic Assemblage [M.A., Western Michigan University]. https://www.proquest.com/docview/303309453/citation/A4D2CE2705EB42D1PQ/1
Schmidt, B. A., Tucker, T. R., Collier, J. J., Mayer, C. M., Roseman, E. F., Stott, W., & Pritt, J. J. (2020). Determining habitat limitations of Maumee River walleye production to western Lake Erie fish stocks: Documenting a spawning ground barrier. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 46(6), 1661–1673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2020.08.022
Smith, B. D. (1978). Variation in Mississippian Settlement Patterns. In Mississippian Settlement Patterns (pp. 479–503).
Stothers, D. M., & Abel, T. J. (2002). The early Late Woodland in the southwestern Lake Erie littoral region. In J. P. Hart & C. B. Rieth (Eds.), Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change, AD 700-1300 (pp. 73–96). New York State Education Department.
Stothers, D. M., Graves, J. R., Bechtel, S. K., & Abel, T. J. (1994). Current Perspectives on the Late Prehistory of the Western Lake Erie Region: An Alternative to Murphy and Ferris. Archaeology of Eastern North America, 22, 135–196.
Birch, J., & Thompson, V. D. (2018). The Power of Villages. In J. Birch & V. D. Thompson (Eds.), The archaeology of villages in eastern North America (pp. 1–19). University Press of Florida.
Brose, D. S. (1997). Cultural relationships of the late prehistoric Whittlesey and Sandusky traditions of Northern Ohio A Response to Stothers, Murphy and Prufer. North American Archaeologist, 18(2), 177–204.
Brose, D. S. (2000). Late Prehistoric Societies of Northeastern Ohio and Adjacent Portions of the South Shore of Lake Erie: A Review. In R. A. Genheimer (Ed.), Cultures before contact: The late prehistory of Ohio and surrounding regions (pp. 96–122). Ohio Archaeological Council.
Brose, D. S. (2001). Penumbral Protohistory on Lake Erie’s South Shore. In D. S. Brose, C. W. Cowan, & R. C. Mainfort Jr. (Eds.), Societies in eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, A.D. 1400—1700. Smithsonian Institution Press.
Comstock, A. R. (2017). Climate Change, Migration, and the Emergence of Village Life on the Mississippian Periphery: A Middle Ohio Valley Case Study [The Ohio State University].
Comstock, A. R., & Cook, R. A. (2018). Climate Change and Migration Along a Mississippian Periphery: A Fort Ancient Example. American Antiquity, 83(1), 91–108.
Cook, R. A. (2017). Continuity and change in the Native American village: Multicultural origins and descendants of the Fort Ancient Culture. Cambridge University Press.
Cook, R. A., & Fargher, L. F. (2007). Fort Ancient-Mississippian Interaction and Shell-Tempered Pottery at SunWatch Village, Ohio. Journal of Field Archaeology, 32(2), 149–160. https://doi.org/10.1179/009346907791071647
Cowan, C. W. (1987). First Farmers of the Middle Ohio Valley: Fort Ancient Societies, AD 1000-1670. The Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.
Drooker, P. B. (1997). The view from Madisonville: Protohistoric Western fort ancient interaction patterns. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan.
Drooker, P. B., & Cowan, C. W. (2001). Transformation of the Fort Ancient Cultures of the Central Ohio Valley. In D. S. Brose, C. W. Cowan, & R. C. Mainfort Jr. (Eds.), Societies in eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands Indians, A.D. 1400—1700 (pp. 83–106). Smithsonian Institution Press.
Griffin, J. B. (1966). The Fort Ancient Aspect. University of Michigan Press.
Hedman, K. M., Slater, P. A., Fort, M. A., Emerson, T. E., & Lambert, J. M. (2018). Expanding the strontium isoscape for the American midcontinent: Identifying potential places of origin for Cahokian and Pre-Columbian migrants. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 22, 202–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.09.027
Herdendorf, C. E. (1990). Great Lakes Estuaries. Estuaries, 13(4), 493. https://doi.org/10.2307/1351795
Kaatz, M. R. (1955). Settlement of the Black Swamp of Northwestern Ohio.
Kowalewski, S. A. (2006). Coalescent Societies. In Thomas J. Pluckhahn & Robbie Ethridge (Eds.), Light on the Path: The Anthropology and History of the Southeastern Indians (pp. 94–122). University Alabama Press.
Pauketat, T. R. (2004). Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians. Cambridge university press.
Pauketat, T. R. (2005). The Forgotten History of the Mississippians. In T. R. Pauketat & D. D. Loren (Eds.), North American archaeology (pp. 187–211). Blackwell Pub.
Pompeani, D. P., Bird, B. W., Wilson, J. J., Gilhooly, W. P., Hillman, A. L., Finkenbinder, M. S., & Abbott, M. B. (2021). Severe Little Ice Age drought in the midcontinental United States during the Mississippian abandonment of Cahokia. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 13829. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92900-x
Prahl, E. J. (1969). Preliminary Comparison of Three Prehistoric Sites in the Vicinity of the Western Lake Erie Shore. Toledo Area Aboriginal Research Club Bulletin, 1(1), 32–64.
Prahl, E. J., Brose, D. S., & Stothers, D. M. (1976). A Preliminary Synthesis of the Late Prehistoric Phenomena in the Western Basin of Lake Erie. The Late Prehistory of the Lake Erie Drainage Basin: A 1972 Symposium Revised, 1, 251–282.
Railey, J. A. (1992). Fort Ancient cultural dynamics in the Middle Ohio Valley. In A. G. Henderson (Ed.), Fort Ancient cultural dynamics in the Middle Ohio Valley (pp. 137–170). Prehistory Press.
Rutter, W. E. (1984). The Upper Mississippian Component at the Fort Meigs Site, Northwest Ohio, with Special Emphasis on the Analysis of the Ceramic Assemblage [M.A., Western Michigan University]. https://www.proquest.com/docview/303309453/citation/A4D2CE2705EB42D1PQ/1
Schmidt, B. A., Tucker, T. R., Collier, J. J., Mayer, C. M., Roseman, E. F., Stott, W., & Pritt, J. J. (2020). Determining habitat limitations of Maumee River walleye production to western Lake Erie fish stocks: Documenting a spawning ground barrier. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 46(6), 1661–1673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2020.08.022
Smith, B. D. (1978). Variation in Mississippian Settlement Patterns. In Mississippian Settlement Patterns (pp. 479–503).
Stothers, D. M., & Abel, T. J. (2002). The early Late Woodland in the southwestern Lake Erie littoral region. In J. P. Hart & C. B. Rieth (Eds.), Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change, AD 700-1300 (pp. 73–96). New York State Education Department.
Stothers, D. M., Graves, J. R., Bechtel, S. K., & Abel, T. J. (1994). Current Perspectives on the Late Prehistory of the Western Lake Erie Region: An Alternative to Murphy and Ferris. Archaeology of Eastern North America, 22, 135–196.