Angel Mounds Research Articles

Furrows Without Ridges: Evidence for an Agricultural Field at Angel Mounds (12Vg1), Southwestern Indiana, USA

ABSTRACT Evidence of precontact agricultural practices demonstrating how and where crops were grown is often scant because of poor preservation and modern land use practices. As a result, relatively few sites have been identified that document farm fields or garden beds. We document remnants of a ridge and furrow agricultural system found at Angel Mounds, an important regional Mississippian site, in Indiana, USA. Researchers have identified many different cultigens from Angel Mounds, but the location, type, and age of fields had not been identified previously. Our research team recovered data indicating that the third terrace of Angel Mounds supported ridge and furrow agriculture where villagers grew maize, beans, and gourds for several centuries. This study suggests that agricultural evidence is extant in buried contexts and that these features are easily overlooked using traditional geophysical and survey techniques.

Chapter 8 Glenn A. Black and the Problems of Objectification in Big Site‐Big Science Legacy Archaeology

ABSTRACTLarge‐scale excavations in the first half of the twentieth century conducted by Glenn A. Black at Angel Mounds were viewed as moving archaeology away from its antiquarian roots toward legitimate scientific practice. Although this transformation led to innovative field methods, amassed collections of unprecedented size and depth, and created foundational archaeological programs and knowledge, the past and the peoples who occupied it became increasingly objectified and marginalized. How did archaeological practice on such an expansive scale remove from history the people whose heritage is memorialized at a national historic landmark? And how has this history impacted archaeological practice today? To address these questions, I draw on personal letters and published accounts for insights into the interests and problematic aspects of Black's archaeological practices before turning to a consideration of some present‐day continuities, challenges, and ways forward. The issues and biases revealed in the case of Black's early 20th century archaeological praxis are not unique for the time. Nonetheless, underlying problems of objectification and racism challenge us to not only confront legacy biases and the harm they have caused, but to work toward ethical ways to use such collections now and in the future.

Social change and late Holocene hydroclimate variability in southwest Indiana

The archaeology of how communities in the North American midcontinent responded to environmental change has had global significance for understanding hydroclimate-human relationships in non-industrialized societies. We evaluate how an agriculturalist settlement network, the Angel polity, coped with environmental change through comparing the radiocarbon-derived occupation history to local proxies for hydroclimatic change from Martin Lake, Indiana. Located within the northeast Mississippian (AD 1000–1500) frontier, the Angel polity consisted of a network of hamlets and villages, encompassing ∼800 km2 in southwest Indiana with the Angel Mounds site serving as the polity’s social nexus. The results indicate that Angel Mounds was established as the Medieval Climate Anomaly transitioned to Little Ice Age (LIA) drought with the construction of a community centered around a platform mound earthwork. The Angel polity’s population became more centralized at Angel Mounds during the initial decades of the LIA drought conditions and a large fortification was constructed at Angel Mounds during this time. The dissolution of the Angel polity occurred in AD 1350–1450 during a profound LIA-associated mega-drought and regional depopulation of the midcontinent. These results provide an example of how non-industrialized, agriculturalist communities responded to episodes of hydroclimatic change.

An Archaeoastronomic Assessment of Angel Mounds, Indiana, with Commentary on Moundville, Alabama, and Cahokia, Illinois

Abstract The Angel Mounds site was a large, fortified Mississippian village located in southwestern Indiana. The site flourished from circa AD 1100 to AD 1450 and represents one of the largest recorded Mississippian settlements in the Ohio River valley. In this article, we use astronomic data, lidar imagery, ethnohistoric data, and computer planetarium simulations to identify solar, stellar, and lunar alignments at the site. Of special interest are new findings showing how mound axes are oriented to the Milky Way on the night of the summer solstice. In traditional Eastern Woodlands belief, the Milky Way was the path that souls of the dead traveled on their journey to the Land of the Dead. Supportive of the findings for Angel are similar Milky Way alignments at Moundville, Alabama, and Cahokia, Illinois.

From the Mound to the Moon: Geophysical insights into Angel phase landscapes

• Geophysics offer effective methods for understanding socio-spatial practices. • Angel social identities were negotiated in both monumental and residential landscapes. • Mound C was converted to a defensive structure as the Angel Mounds site contracted. • The lunar Angel Axis was repeated in residential architecture at hinterland sites. • Nearly one quarter of hinterland structures were aligned to the Angel Axis.

Document and data continuity at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how archaeological document collections are layered entities and, thus, consist of documents that may be in discordance with one another. Implications of this scenario for scientific study are discussed. Tensions arise between archaeological and Information and Library Science practices. Curators become primary agents in reconstructing the appropriate representational continuity of these documents.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is an in-depth examination of documentation in the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology. It assesses how representations between documents are maintained as part of the collection management process. A document archaeological analysis of the Angel Mounds Collection shows how discordant data between documents is reconciled.FindingsThe study shows how documentary institutions are central to maintaining the chain of reference necessary to maintain the veracity of scientific data. Documents are embedded within a professional network of classification control that has implications for the conceptualization of documents. The study can help scholars gain a more nuanced view of the role of documents in scientific knowledge creation.Social implicationsCuratorial intervention plays a central role in maintaining the veracity of scientific data. In this way, the narrative shows how social and professional scientific discourses are impacted by curatorial intervention and that this process is inextricable from how we understand “knowledge” broadly construed.Originality/valueThis study examines how documents are embedded within a broader collection context and further studies should acknowledge this. It shows how documents within the domain of archaeology pose specific issues of concern for document curators and scholars, especially in relation to the documentation of spatial data, which is central to this work.

The Timing of Precolumbian Militarization in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast

AbstractBayesian chronological modeling is used to investigate the chronology of bastioned palisades during the precolumbian period in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Nine precolumbian settlements in the Midwest and Southeast with bastioned palisades have been subject to scientific dating (Angel Mounds, Annis Village, Aztalan, Cahokia Mounds, Etowah, Kincaid Mounds, Jonathan Creek, Moundville, and Southwind). Complete radiocarbon datasets from these sites are presented within an interpretative Bayesian statistical framework. The results provide a glimpse into the history of Mississippi period (A.D. 1000–1700) fortifications with bastions and indicate that the analyzed fortifications were built and maintained predominantly in A.D. 1200–1400. This finding suggests a greater institutionalized role for defense and warfare in post-A.D. 1200 Mississippian societies. Additionally, modeling results further indicate that the investigated Mississippian centers continued to maintain fortifications for generations after their construction.

Absorbed Residue Analysis of a Mississippi Plain Jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1)

AbstractFor the first time in North American archaeology, absorbed residue analysis was conducted on multiple samples from the same vessel, a complete Mississippi Plain jar from Angel Mounds (12Vg1). This approach provided comprehensive, residue-based interpretations of the form and function of a single pot. The Mississippi Plain jar was recovered from a burnt house floor along with the broken remains of a similar vessel and burnt maize. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of absorbed lipid residues were performed on four different parts of this vessel to determine its contents and function. Comparison of absorbed residues from the pot and soil lipids was used to determine whether the pot was buried with contents intact. The results indicate that this vessel was used to cook a mixture of riverine (lean fish or shellfish) and plant resources, probably including maize. Diterpenoid biomarkers were also present, suggesting that conifer resin was used either to seal the pot or as a flavoring. The jar, though deposited whole, was probably not buried with contents intact.

INSIGHTS FROM THE ANALYSIS OF ANGEL MOUNDS POTTERY TROWELS

Archaeologists have recovered pottery trowels in excavations at numerous historic and pre-Columbian archaeological sites in North America since the late nineteenth century. Despite these facts, pottery trowels have not been the subject of thorough scientific analysis or interpretation. In this study, I define and implement a new method of analysis for pottery trowels, using a sample of 188 pottery trowels from the Mississippian site of Angel Mounds (12VG1). After describing the quantitative and qualitative attributes of pottery trowels, I define categories of frequently occurring pottery trowel bell and handle types. The extensive variability of pottery trowel shapes and sizes discovered at Angel Mounds is then discussed with regard to alternative or multiple uses for the tools and the spatial and temporal distributions of pottery trowel types. As an artifact type that provides opportunities to analyze technology, craft production and specialization, and daily practices in past societies, I argue pottery trowels may hold important future insights into a number of topics of interest to archaeologists.

Questioning Craft Production at Angel Mounds Analysis of the 2006–2009 Angel Mounds Field-Schools

AbstractSeventy years of archaeological investigations at the site of Angel Mounds (12VG1) have led to a broad overall understanding of the cultural practices of the Mississippian people in southwest Indiana nearly 1,000 years ago, but have also raised ever expanding new questions. Recent field-school excavations at Angel Mounds, sponsored by the Glenn A. Black Laboratory (GBL) at Indiana University, explored magnetic anomalies in a previously unexcavated area at Angel Mounds. Analyses of features and artifacts encountered during the excavations at Unit A (the “Potter's House”), including large amounts of Mississippi Plain pottery and craft-production objects, inspired new questions on the organization of craft production at Angel Mounds and other Mississippian archaeological sites. In this article, I test whether a structure at Unit A may have been a craftproduction workshop by reviewing data archaeologists traditionally associate with workshops and examining the standardization of pottery found at the l...

Estimation of WPA Artifact Collection Bias in the East Village at Angel Mounds

The East Village is a densely occupied area spanning 5,700 m2 on the eastern edge of Angel Mounds. The Works Project Administration (WPA) conducted excavations at the East Village from 1939 through 1942. In 2010, the northern boundary of the WPA East Village excavations was relocated, and artifacts were discovered in the excavation backfill. To estimate artifact collection bias during the WPA excavations at Angel Mounds, a sample of backfill was screened and the number and type of artifacts were identified and recorded. From this analysis, it appears that approximately 80 percent of pottery sherds and flakes discovered during WPA-era excavations at Angel Mounds were collected for curation.

Pre-Mississippian Projectile Points in Mississippian Context at Angel Mounds

AbstractThe majority of projectile points found at Angel Mounds are triangular points typical of the Mississippian period. However, Paleoindian and Early Archaic projectile points predate the terrace on which the site is situated. Contemporary geoarchaeological practices were employed to date the landform and confirm that later groups must have brought the ancient points to the site. Evidence of curated ancient projectile points from Angel Mounds may be the result of collecting behavior not unique to the time period; such behavior has been reported at other sites in the region and around the world. Although we may never know the reason Angel Mounds people curated these tools, ethnographic and archaeological evidence suggests that the tools might have been associated with special properties or powers, been seen as curiosities, or presented the practical benefit of easy reuse. The evidence presented reminds us that multicomponent assemblages do not always indicate multicomponent sites.

Ancient DNA from Angel Mounds

This article summarizes an ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of 100 burials from the Mississippian Angel Mounds site. Although the DNA recovery rate was poor (25%), a number of interesting results were revealed through this project. The maternal genetic status of the “conjoined twins” and female immigrants to Angel Mounds was determined, a relatively rare mitochondrial haplogroup (C4c) was identified, and evidence of regional gene flow was identified. DNA degradation was attributed to the sun drying of human remains during the excavations at Angel Mounds.

The Timing of Angel Mounds Palisade Construction A Search for the Best Chronological Model

Angel Mounds was a heavily fortified Mississippian settlement with several discrete palisades. Although the palisades were identified early on, the construction sequence has remained elusive because the construction episodes do not have stratigraphic relationships with one another. Recent work at the site reexamined old test excavations and collected new material for radiocarbon dating. AMS dating yielded a suite of new dates from palisade contexts. To refine the construction sequence, five Bayesian chronological models were constructed for palisade building. These models indicate that palisades were first built at Angel Mounds sometime between A.D. 1278 and A.D. 1410, which precedes or coincides with regional depopulation in the lower Ohio River valley. These results further indicate that palisade building at Angel Mounds may be a consequence of external competition and conflict caused by resource-induced stress resulting from deteriorating climatic conditions.

Physical and Geochemical Characteristics of Soils from Angel Mounds State Historic Site, Indiana, including a Case Study of Sherds from Unit A

Using physical and chemical characteristics of soil to evaluate archaeological artifacts and their preservation potential along with associated features is well established. The soil characteristics and geochemistry of the Angel Mounds site (12Vg1) indicate the soil geochemistry is very homogenous and composed of loams and silt loams with a range of pH values from 4.69 to 6.17, mean value of 5.40 ± 0.47. The slightly acidic nature of the soil favors the preservation of pollen and soil diatoms, with minor corrosion potential for the bone, shell, and sherd artifacts. A comparison of the geochemistry of the soils from Unit A and site-wide sampling to sherds from Unit A suggests that elevated phosphorus (P) in the sherds is either the result of the addition of a P-rich temper material or from the sourcing of nonlocal clay-rich sediment, and not from use-derived residue or from the soils themselves.

Mound Construction Chronology at Angel Mounds Episodic Mound Construction and Ceremonial Events

AbstractMound F was the second-largest platform mound at Angel Mounds (12Vg1), a Mississippian town in southwestern Indiana. It consisted of a simple truncated pyramid shape, but excavations in 1939–1942 and 1964–1965 revealed at least two platforms that once contained buildings buried within it. Each of these mounds and buildings were successively larger than the preceding. The first platform mound (informally known as the inner mound) was <1 m high and include at least two buildings. Thatch from one building yielded a 14C age of 900 B.P. Other 14C ages indicated that the inner mound was buried ca. 750 B.P. when a second ca. 2 m high platform (informally known as the primary mound) was built. Features and structural elements from a large, multichambered building on this surface yield 14C ages between 680 and 530 B.P. A final ca. 3–4 m mound (informally known as the secondary mound) was built over the Primary Mound soon after 530 B.P. No building was found on the secondary mound’s upper platform.Compared ...

Sun Circles and Science

The Angel Mounds site has the largest number of negative painted pottery sherds of any single site in the Eastern Woodlands. Previous research by Sherri Hilgeman (1985, 1991, 2000) on this pottery type has provided a detailed description of its variation in form, style, and age. Her investigation also attempted to determine its function and method of manufacture, utilizing ethnohistorical and experimental archaeology data. This article summarizes preliminary studies to both test and expand on Hilgeman's research of negative painted pottery with an intrasite spatial study, an organic residue analysis to determine its use, and geochemical techniques to define its manufacture and source.

Introduction to the Angel Mounds Issue

(2013). Introduction to the Angel Mounds Issue. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology: Vol. 38, The Angel Mounds Issue, pp. 149-153.

Brief communication: Conjoined twins at angel mounds? an ancient DNA perspective

Conjoined twins are born when a single fertilized egg partially splits into two fetuses. A hypothetical case of infant conjoined twins from Angel Mounds, a Middle Mississippian site (A.D. 1050-1400) on the Ohio River near Evansville, Indiana, was discovered in 1941. Morphological analysis does not rule out the field interpretation of this double burial as twins. Ancient mitochondrial DNA recovered from both infants demonstrates that they were not maternal relatives, and hence that they cannot have been conjoined twins.

Practice Makes Within 5% of Perfect: Visual Perception, Motor Skills, and Memory in Artifact Variation

Practice Makes Within 5% of Perfect: Visual Perception, Motor Skills, and Memory in Artifact Variation