“The Place of Solemne Prayer”: Intrasettlement Post-and-Trench Mortuary-Ritual Structures in the Precontact Era of Northern Ohio

ABSTRACT

Most traditional archaeological interpretations of life within late precontact period village sites in the Eastern Woodlands focus primarily on the domestic sphere or ritual activities associated solely with burial features. Yet, ethnohistorical studies reveal that both the domestic and ritual-ceremonial realms were tightly entangled in the lives of indigenous actors during the contact period. A recent reanalysis of a small enclosure and burial precinct at the White Fort site in northern Ohio presents new evidence of ceremonial use and reuse within a large habitation site during the late precontact period (ca. AD 1250–1400). Excavation data reveal how human interment, artifact caching, and layering of colored soils were incorporated in six pit burials arranged around a C-shaped post-and-ditch enclosure. The sequencing of interments and enclosure construction that composed this distinct area show that it served as a hub for burial and ritual behavior over multiple generations of seasonal village occupation.

KEYWORDS:

• late precontact
• Ohio
• ritual
• ditched enclosure
• pit burial
• marker posts
• shamanism

Acknowledgments

This project was made possible through the cooperation and support of the following individuals and institutions. The Lorain County Board of Park Commissioners and former Lorain County Metro Parks director James D. Martin granted permission for the excavations. Metro Parks’ staff provided in-kind assistance in the form of mowing, mechanical backfilling, and periodic security surveillance of the site area. The late Barbara Barrish supervised excavation in Block 1. CMNH associate curator of archaeology Ann DuFresne oversaw the processing and curation of the material from White Fort. A multitude of student archaeologists and trained volunteers are thanked for their enthusiastic contributions and dedication to the field project. Finally, we are grateful for the helpful comments of three anonymous reviewers; their insights improved the quality of this paper. Any errors or omissions in this report are the sole responsibility of the authors.

Notes on Contributors

Brian G. Redmond, PhD, is curator and John Otis Hower Chair of Archaeology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. His major research interests include the development of settled village life and community organization in the Midwest and Woodland ceremonialism in the Great Lakes region.

Alyssa Davis Traster, MA, is a curatorial assistant at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College. She received a master of arts in anthropology and a graduate certificate in museum studies from New Mexico State University. Excavating ancient Maya households in northwestern Belize inspired Traster’s research into the social memory of intentional deposition. She explored this further at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History while investigating late precontact period archaeological sites in northern Ohio. At White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, historical archaeology and public history were central to her research with the National Parks Service. Furthermore, her work in the Southwest Borderlands region sparked a lasting interest in cross-cultural collaboration with indigenous peoples in archaeology and museum curation.

Notes

1 All calibrated radiocarbon dates are reported at the 2σ confidence level and were calculated using Calib software version 7.0.4 (Stuiver and Reimer 1993).

2 All human remains were exposed, recorded, and then reburied in place in accordance with CMNH standard practice.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for fieldwork at White Fort was provided by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, the Laub Foundation, the Norcross Wildlife Foundation, the Nord Family Foundation, the Stocker Foundation, the Hankins Foundation, and the Fox Charitable Foundation. Support for research by the junior author was contributed by the Laub Foundation and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.