Feasting with Shellfish in the Southern Ohio Valley: Archaic Sacred Sites and Rituals

289 Pages·2010·1.2 MB·English

by  Cheryl Claassen

Feasting with Shellfish in
the Southern Ohio Valley

Feasting with Shellfish in
the Southern Ohio Valley
Archaic Sacred Sites and Rituals
Cheryl Claassen
The University of Tennessee Press / Knoxville
Copyright © 2010 by The University of Tennessee Press / Knoxville.
All Rights Reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America.
First Edition.
Thanks to the Society for Historical Archaeology and editor J. W. Joseph for permission to
reuse the contents of Chapter 4, taken from “Washboards, Pigtoes, and Muckets: Historic
Musseling Industries of the Mississippi Watershed,” by Cheryl Claassen in Historical
Archaeology 28 (2): 1–125, 1994.
Quotations from “The Essential Features of Adena Ritual and Their Implications,” by
R. Berle Clay in Southeastern Archaeology 17(1):1–21, used by permission from editor
Charles Cobb.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Claassen, Cheryl, 1953–
Feasting with shellfish in the southern Ohio Valley: Archaic sacred sites and rituals /
Cheryl Claassen. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN-13: 978-1-57233-733-6
eISBN-10: 1-57233-733-8
1. Indians of North America—Ohio River Valley—Antiquities.
2. Indians of North America—Ohio River Valley—Rites and ceremonies.
3. Kitchen-middens—Ohio River Valley.
4. Shellfish—Social aspects—Ohio River Valley—History.
5. Excavations (Archaeology)—Ohio River Valley.
6. Sacred space—Ohio River Valley—History.
7. Landscapes—Social aspects—Ohio River Valley—History.
8. Ohio River Valley—Antiquities.
9. Green River Valley (Ky.)—Antiquities.
10. Tennessee River Valley—Antiquities. I. Title.
E78.O4C55 2010
977—dc22
2010011935
Patty Jo Watson
Jack Hofman
Ken Sassaman
Michael Russo
Karen Bassie-Sweat
Jill Furst
Robert L. Hall
James E. Brady
For inspiration derived from your writings and conversations.
David Anderson
Ken Sassaman
Patty Jo Watson
Evan Peacock
William Marquardt
Tom Whyte
For true support in my endeavors over the past 25 years. Never
underestimate the power of a compliment or the honor derived
from honest intellectual consideration.

C
ONTENTS
Acknowledgments
xi
1. Thinking about Archaic Hunter-Gatherers
1
2. Archaic Shell-bearing Sites of the Southern Ohio Valley
11
3. Locations of Shell-bearing Sites
35
4. Overexploitation of Mollusks
51
5. The Demise of the Hypsithermal
69
6. Ohio River Valley Shell-bearing Sites: Villages?
85
7. Ceremonial Districts of the Southern Ohio Valley
135
8. Archaic Rituals at Shell-bearing Sites
169
9. From Archaic Villages to Ritual Camps: The Theoretical Landscape
195
Appendix: Site Data
228
References Cited
235
Index
265

I
LLUSTRATIONS
Figures
2.1. Sites on the Tennessee, Duck, Harpeth,
and Cumberland Rivers 21
2.2. Sites on the Green, Ohio, and Wabash Rivers 24
2.3. Some West Virginia Sites on the Ohio River 28
3.1. Map of Archaic Shell-bearing Sites 35
3.2. Site Clusters on the Green River 40–41
3.3. Site Clusters on the Upper Tennessee River 44
3.4. Sites Founded Before 7,500 Years 45
4.1. Various Freshwater Mollusks 54
6.1. Bluff Creek, Alabama, 160' Profile 87
6.2. Working Inside Long Branch, Alabama 90
6.3. Digging Trenches in Mulberry Creek, Alabama 91
7.1. Excavation at the Bluff-top Read Site, Kentucky 141
7.2. Jimtown Hill Excavation 142
7.3. Bluff Setting for Jimtown Hill Site 143
8.1. Dog Burials at Read, Kentucky 190
Tables
2.1. Radiocarbon Dates by River 12
2.2. Duration of Selected Activities at Several Sites 19
4.1. Mussel Fishery Statistics for 1912–1914 55
4.2. Mussel Poundage Taken from Iowa’s
Rivers, 1920–1942 60
4.3. Shell Tonnage by River, 1965–1987 61
6.1. Volumes for Some Archaic, Woodland,
and Mississippian Mounds 89
6.2. Tool Counts at Archaic Sites 98
6.3. Groundstone Items per Non-Infant 101
6.4. Site-Specific Evidence of Violence 110