Native American Village Research Articles

Shellfishing, sea levels, and the earliest Native American villages (5000–3800 yrs. BP) of the South Atlantic Coast of the U.S

Shell ring archaeological sites are one of the most visible site types along the lower South Atlantic Coast of the United States. These cultural sites are large, circular to arcuate piles of mollusk shells with some reaching over three meters in elevation and over 100 m in diameter. They are comprised largely of mollusk shells (e.g., Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica), but also contain early pottery, nonhuman faunal remains, and other artifacts. Our work establishes that they represent the earliest widespread Native American villages occupied year-round in the Eastern Woodlands of North America. Significantly, our results from sea-level modelling and isotope geochemistry on mollusks establish that the inhabitants of these earliest villages (ca. 5000–3800 yrs. BP) lived within a fluctuating coastal environment, harvested certain resources year-round, and targeted diverse habitats across the estuaries. Both the growth and decline of these earliest villages are associated with a concomitant rise and lowering of sea level that impacted the productivity of the oyster reef fishery along the South Atlantic Coast. Despite these large-scale environmental changes, this research indicates that Native American fishing villages persisted along the coast for over 1000 years.

Collective action and shellfish harvesting practices among Late Archaic villagers of the South Atlantic Bight

Indigenous coastal communities across the globe sustainably harvested oysters and other shellfish species for millennia. European colonialism and the emergence of market-based institutions, however, lead to the eventual demise of many oyster reefs and fisheries beginning in the late 1800 s. Circular shell rings situated on Georgia’s South Atlantic coast are the preserved remnants of Native American village communities during the Late Archaic (5000–3000 cal. BP). Mollusk shells from these archaeological contexts hold chemical clues into past human-environmental interactions and thus give insight into Indigenous histories and sustainable shellfish harvesting practices. In this paper, we interpret shellfish geochemistry data (oxygen isotopes, δ18O) from the Sapelo Island Shell Ring Complex within a theoretical framework of cooperation and collective action to understand the ways in which Ancestral Muskogean people of Sapelo Island, Georgia, effectively managed and sustained oyster reefs and other coastal fisheries during the Late Archaic. More specifically, δ18O values from 18 oysters and 57 clams were used to determine season of harvest and to estimate salinity values of the habitats from which the shells were harvested. Results demonstrate considerable variation in estimated salinity values and some statistically significant differences in δ18O and salinity values between shells harvested in different seasons. This indicates that the sedentary villagers who lived at the Sapelo Shell Ring Complex were moving around seasonally and using an array of habitats. We argue that this suggests the presence of social institutions or rules that governed the use of coastal estuaries so that mollusks were not overexploited.

A multi-proxy assessment of the impact of environmental instability on Late Holocene (4500-3800 BP) Native American villages of the Georgia coast.

Circular shell rings along the South Atlantic Coast of North America are the remnants of some of the earliest villages that emerged during the Late Archaic (5000–3000 BP). Many of these villages, however, were abandoned during the Terminal Late Archaic (ca 3800–3000 BP). We combine Bayesian chronological modeling with mollusk shell geochemistry and oyster paleobiology to understand the nature and timing of environmental change associated with the emergence and abandonment of circular shell ring villages on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Our Bayesian models indicate that Native Americans occupied the three Sapelo shell rings at varying times with some generational overlap. By the end of the complex’s occupation, only Ring III was occupied before abandonment ca. 3845 BP. Ring III also consists of statistically smaller oysters harvested from less saline estuaries compared to earlier occupations. Integrating shell biochemical and paleobiological data with recent tree ring analyses shows a clear pattern of environmental fluctuations throughout the period in which the rings were occupied. We argue that as the environment became unstable around 4300 BP, aggregation at villages provided a way to effectively manage fisheries that are highly sensitive to environmental change. However, with the eventual collapse of oyster fisheries and subsequent rebound in environmental conditions ca. post-3800 BP, people dispersed from shell rings, and shifted to non-marine subsistence economies and other types of settlements. This study provides the most comprehensive evidence for correlations between large-scale environmental change and societal transformations on the Georgia coast during the Late Archaic period.

Waterlogged: Examples and Procedures for Northwest Coast Archaeologists. KATHRYN BERNICK, editor. 2019. Washington State University Press, Pullman. x + 246 pp. $32.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-087422-366-8 — ERRATUM

Toad bones, sometimes occurring in great numbers in pit features and other contexts in Native American village and mound sites in the Appalachian Summit, have been interpreted as evidence that toads were consumed, used for their purportedly hallucinogenic toad venom, placed as ritual deposits, or naturally entrapped/intrusive. A paucity or lack of bones of the head in some contexts is suggestive of decapitation and consumption of toads. Alternatively, bones of the head may be less preservable, recoverable, or identifiable. This study examines toad remains on Appalachian Summit late precontact and contact period sites, reviews previous experimentation, and presents a new experimental study undertaken to identify agencies of accumulation. We propose that toads were regularly consumed and possibly as part of ritualized events associated with village and mound construction. The temporal and geographic restriction of this practice to the Pisgah and Qualla phases of the Appalachian Summit suggests subsistence ethnicity as alluded to in historical accounts.

Paleoclimate of the Little Ice Age to the Present in the Kankakee Valley of Illinois and Indiana, USA Based on 18O/16O Isotope Ratios of Freshwater Shells

ABSTRACT The cooling associated with the Little Ice Age (LIA) had differential severity across the globe. Within the American Midwest, the local impacts of this cooling have not been established. Our purpose here is to determine its local effects and establish the impacts on the environment encountered at a seventeenth century Native American village in Illinois, USA. We obtained oxygen and carbon stable isotope ratios of freshwater mussel shells from this early seventeenth century site, occupied during one of the coldest periods of the LIA. These data were compared to the oxygen and carbon ratios of freshwater shells from a nineteenth century cabin as well as modern shells. Results demonstrate that shell stable oxygen isotopes capture environmental conditions at the three sites and suggest more arid conditions during the LIA and increased precipitation into the present. Findings also may capture the extensive alteration of the Kankakee region’s drainage between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as well as contemporary global warming. Overall, this study illustrates the value of archaeological data to past and contemporary climate studies.

America’s Use of Terror: From Colonial Times to the A-Bomb. By Stephen Huggins (Lawrence, University Press of Kansas, 2019) 368 pp. $39.95

Huggins’ book is a detailed retelling of the United States’ use of violence against non-combatants. It advances two central arguments—first, that states, not just non-state actors, commit terrorism and, second, in the deliberate targeting of non-combatants, the United States is no exception. Like other nationalities, Americans have often attacked non-combatants when it suits their interests. In defending these positions, Huggins uses clear argumentation and highly accessible case studies from U.S. history.The first argument hinges on Huggins’ definition of terrorism as the deliberate attacking of non-combatants to alter their political will. He rules out both wanton, apolitical violence and genocide as neither act is about coercion but about revenge or sadism and extermination, respectively. Given the many competing definitions of terrorism in the legal, academic, and policy worlds, the addition of a new definition is neither necessary nor surprising. Still, Huggins’ view is worth considering as it has significant consequences for our understanding of political violence.Although Huggins’ definition prevents states from escaping the label of terrorism and aids in impugning immoral state actions, it muddies our understanding of violent behavior. Are aerial bombardment, state repression, lynchings, the burning of Native American villages, and the 9/11 attacks all best understood as one and the same phenomenon? Certainly they are all coercive acts centered on the repugnant killing of non-combatants. However, racial violence, state repression, and warfare have varying logics and are often studied separately. It is unclear that the strategic calculations of white supremacists, al Qaeda, Curtis LeMay, and George Custer are the same. Hence, although defining terrorism broadly aids condemnations of state actions and highlights them as forms of coercion, it clouds our understanding of the strategic thinking underlying these various forms of political violence. Huggins’ book makes clear that such trade-offs are inherent to any definition of terrorism and thus inescapable. Whether the gains from Huggins’ definition are worth the losses depends on readers’ interests.Huggins has a much easier time making his second argument. Through detailed case studies ranging from the 1600s to the 1940s, he shows that the U.S. government and private U.S. citizens have regularly attacked non-combatants, especially if they perceived those non-combatants as racial or ideological others. He covers a wide variety of instances, including wars with Native Americans, the repression of slaves in antebellum America and of blacks under Jim Crow, the use of torture in the Philippines, and the firebombing of Axis cities in World War II. Although these cases do not break new historical ground, having them all in one book makes for powerful, if grim, reading. They also make a compelling case against American exceptionalism—the theory that the United States is fundamentally different and better than other nations.Huggins sometimes includes attacks arguably outside his definition of terrorism. For instance, many campaigns against Native American tribes were genocidal in nature, and some of the detailed atrocities appear to have been acts of wanton violence driven by rage, rather than calculated political acts. He also occasionally references unintentional, collateral casualties, such as civilian victims during the siege of Vicksburg. His definition, however, could easily be modified to include such acts. The central point about Americans not being exceptional stands.Ultimately, the book is important for two reasons: (1) It forces Americans to come to terms with some of the more unsavory elements of their history, and (2) it illustrates that definitions of contentious concepts like terrorism shape how we analyze the world. In the absence of no singular, correct definition of terrorism, Huggins’ more expansive conception highlights the ways in which states often parallel or exceed the brutal actions of non-state groups in their attacks on non-combatants. For these reasons, the book is well worth reading.

Explaining Toad Bones in Southern Appalachian Archaeological Deposits

Toad bones, sometimes occurring in great numbers in pit features and other contexts in Native American village and mound sites in the Appalachian Summit, have been interpreted as evidence that toads were consumed, used for their purportedly hallucinogenic toad venom, placed as ritual deposits, or naturally entrapped/intrusive. A paucity or lack of bones of the head in some contexts is suggestive of decapitation and consumption of toads. Alternatively, bones of the head may be less preservable, recoverable, or identifiable. This study examines toad remains on Appalachian Summit late precontact and contact period sites, reviews previous experimentation, and presents a new experimental study undertaken to identify agencies of accumulation. We propose that toads were regularly consumed and possibly as part of ritualized events associated with village and mound construction. The temporal and geographic restriction of this practice to the Pisgah and Qualla phases of the Appalachian Summit suggests subsistence ethnicity as alluded to in historical accounts.

The Fabric of Empire in a Native World: An Analysis of Trade Cloth Recovered from Eighteenth-Century Otstonwakin

The residents of Otstonwakin, an eighteenth-century multinational Native American village in Pennsylvania, were involved in extensive trade networks that resulted in the incorporation, modification, and selective adoption of a variety of European-manufactured goods and technologies. Although Native Americans in the fur trade era like those at Otstonwakin negotiated the exchange of a wide array of commodities including alcohol, firearms, iron tools, and brass kettles, the most commonly traded commodity was cloth. Despite its role as a cornerstone commodity, colonial trade cloth has received considerably less scholarly attention than more durable objects largely because very few textiles have survived into the twenty-first century. This article reports on a rare find, a preserved European textile from Otstonwakin's burial ground recovered in the 1930s and hitherto unanalyzed. By analyzing the fabric fragments, sewing thread, and lace with metallic thread, I explore the material and social negotiation of colonial identity on the Pennsylvania frontier.

Discovering accounts of Native American burning within digitized historical documents using information retrieval methods

Historical accounts (ca 17th–19th centuries ce) are valuable for understanding how and where past Native American cultures used fire as a land management tool. Previous research has compiled and interpreted accounts, but methods of compiling them remains less systematic, leaving open the possibility that undiscovered accounts exist. This study uses information retrieval methods to locate accounts of Native American burning within digitized historical documents. Utilizing known accounts from digitized documents, this research develops a model to rank text portions within unread documents based on their predicted relevance. The model used frequencies of key terms and related textual features as predictors, and the presence and absence of accounts within text portions as the dependent variable. Within 121 documents related to western New York State (NYS), USA, this study discovered 40 accounts including 28 in western NYS. Of accounts in western NYS, 12 accounts (describing 21 locations) made explicit connections to Native American burning, were resolvable to town-level or finer resolution, and were not derivative of other texts. To locate all known accounts, the model aided in reducing the amount of text to read to only 0.61% of total. Locations of burning were 0.0 to 16.2 km (median = 5.6 km) from the nearest Native American village area, and 0.1 to 12.5 km (median = 1.5 km) from the nearest trail. This study demonstrates how information retrieval can discover accounts of Native American burning, and suggests that undiscovered historical accounts exist that may advance historical, cultural, and ecological understandings of burning practices.

Roads and Military Provisioning During the French and Indian War (1754–1763): The Faunal Remains of Fort Shirley, PA in Context

Early British generals faced serious challenges in delivering and storing sufficient provisions for 18 th century British soldiers and colonial militia. This analysis investigates the influence of developed road systems that facilitated delivery of provisions and resulted in distinctive dietary patterning. The comparison of faunal data from forts located on major road systems with frontier garrisons and associated Native American villages like Fort Shirley and Aughwick Old Town, a short-lived (1754–1756) French and Indian War frontier fortification in central Pennsylvania, indicates a significantly reduced reliance on domestic livestock at these more inaccessible locations. These results suggest that road infrastructure heavily influenced military provisioning, encouraged adaptation to frontier living through reliance on wild game, and resulted in varied dietary practices at military installations in eastern North America.

Increasing the Robustness of Meta-analysis Through Life History and Middle-Range Models: an Example from the Northeast Pacific

While most comparative and meta-analysis in archaeology would like to assume that taphonomic factors act randomly and do not bias the results of studies with many data points, archaeological records may suffer from systematic biases in preservation, sampling, recovery methods, analytic methods, reporting practices, or yet other factors. Using a life history and middle-range perspective, we outline an approach for assessing possible systematic biases and for explicitly evaluating factors that affect assemblages included in comparative analysis at any scale. We demonstrate the usefulness of the life history concept as a framework for holistically evaluating bias with a zooarchaeological case study from the northeast Pacific. Our comparative analysis of regional fishbone records shows that unusually high abundances of sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)—a nutritious and highly valued, yet rarely reported, species—at one large Native American village on the coast of Washington State, USA, cannot be explained by post-depositional destruction, screen size effects, sample size effects, or differences in fishbone identification methods. Though this study focuses on zooarchaeology, the framework we present has potential value for any large-scale meta-analysis that seeks to identify cultural and environmental patterns in “noisy” archaeological data.

Assessing reproducibility in faunal analysis using blind tests: A case study from northwestern North America

Zooarchaeologists have long recognized that assigning taxonomic identifications to animal remains is a subjective process, and recent studies have highlighted the need for data quality assurance standards in archaeofaunal research. Our study contributes to this growing interest in quality assurance by presenting simple quantitative methods for assessing the reproducibility of analytic results through blind reanalysis of animal remains that we developed during analysis of fishbone from Čḯxwicən, a large Native American village on the coast of Washington State, U.S.A. Given the large scale of the Čḯxwicən project – over 112,000 fish remains were documented by five different analysts over three years – there was a real possibility that inconsistencies in laboratory practices affected analytic results (e.g., number of identified specimens, taxa present and relative abundance, elements identified, burning frequencies). To evaluate the reproducibility of the Čḯxwicən fishbone data, and the possibility of “protocol drift” – changes in how specimens and bone modifications were identified over the course of analysis – we reanalyzed samples of fish remains that were previously documented during three discrete stages (beginning, middle, and end) of the Čḯxwicən project. The original data and the reanalysis results show close agreement in each stage, with only minor differences in the numbers of recorded specimens, taxonomic representation at family- and finer taxonomic levels, and body part representation assessed for a single taxonomic order. Identifying burning on bone was not very reproducible. Reproducibility studies such as this are useful for highlighting ambiguous identification criteria (e.g., in taxonomic assignment, bone modification), and could stimulate dialog among researchers about ways to address such issues in future studies. Increasing the implementation of these, and other, widely applicable methods should improve zooarchaeological data quality and stimulate further research on quality assurance in archaeology overall.

Tracking Fish and Human Response to Earthquakes on the Northwest Coast of Washington State, USA: A Preliminary Study at Tse-whit-zen

ABSTRACTEvidence of large earthquakes occurring along the Pacific Northwest Coast is reflected in coastal stratigraphy from Oregon to British Columbia, where there also exists an extensive archaeological record of Native American occupation. Tse-whit-zen, a large Native American village dating between ∼2800 yrs BP and the historic era, located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State, was excavated with exceptionally fine stratigraphic control allowing for precise comparison of these natural and cultural records. Here we report on the ∼10,000 fish remains from one 2 × 2 m excavation block; this assemblage spans the timing of one seismic event, allowing study of changes in relative taxonomic abundance through time that may coincide with earthquakes or other environmental changes. Results indicate a wide variety of fish taxa were used throughout the dated occupation. Comparisons of fish use before and after one earthquake event shows a decline in salmon (Oncorhynchus sp.) and an increase in herring (Clupea pallasii), shifts consistent with earthquake-related habitat loss. This serves as a pilot study for a large-scale collaborative project that is drawing on the range in animal types (invertebrates, mammals, birds, and fishes) to assess human response to gradual and abrupt environmental change at Tse-whit-zen.

It's Jun-e-ata, Not Juan-ita!

It's Jun-e-ata, <i>Not</i> Juan-ita!

Fort Indiantown Gap and Pennsylvania's Role in Refugee Resettlement

Fort Indiantown Gap and Pennsylvania's Role in Refugee Resettlement Stephanie Hinnershitz (bio) Fort Indiantown Gap, located near Annville in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, is celebrated as a Pennsylvania Army and National Guard training center. Less well known, however, is the military site's connection to Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. In 1932, the state of Pennsylvania purchased more than 18,000 acres of land in northern Lebanon and Dauphin Counties to establish a munitions testing and military training site for the Pennsylvania National Guard. The federal government contributed funds for its construction through public works programs, and by 1934 the Indiantown Gap Military Reservation, named after a former Native American village located in a gap in the Blue Mountains, was up and running. The reservation fell under federal control during World War II and was used as training grounds for soldiers and housing for German prisoners of war, many of whom labored on nearby farms. Today, the Pennsylvania National Guard (PNG) maintains the reservation, known as Fort Indiantown Gap since 1975, and operates a museum dedicated to the history of the PNG.1 Hidden within the history of Fort Indiantown Gap are the stories of the more than 32,000 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees who passed through the barracks on their way to resettlement during the late 1970s. Following the fall of Saigon in 1975, thousands of Vietnamese and, later, Cambodians clamored to escape the wreckage of the war and the brutality of the Khmer Rouge. In 1975, President Ford established federally funded programs to help refugees settle in the United States. Once they arrived from stays at camps in Guam or the Philippines, refugees were taken to resettlement camps before being "processed" by social service agents who helped them locate sponsors and jobs. Starting with the arrival of the first refugees in 1975, military bases across the United States, including Fort Indiantown Gap, served as refugee resettlement camps.2 While awaiting processing in Indiantown Gap, refugees attended English language classes, participated in sports, and searched for employment [End Page 420] in Pennsylvania. Although many of the refugees grew bored with life in the camp (including a young refugee who complained, "one can only play so much volleyball"), others expressed satisfaction with the "excellent" conditions and resources at Indiantown, especially when compared to what they had escaped in Vietnam and Cambodia.3 Adjusting to life in America and coping with psychological and emotional trauma were not easy tasks, but refugees yearned for a new life in the United States. Indiantown Gap quickly gained a reputation as a "fast" processing center, and by the early 1980s, around 12,000 refugees had found work and sponsors in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg, making Pennsylvania the state with the third-largest population of refugees (after California and Texas) at the time.4 For refugees, life outside of Indiantown Gap was often complex. Those refugees who settled in the larger cities in Pennsylvania could more easily "blend in," as one Pennsylvania resident put it, than the Vietnamese and Cambodians who found themselves in smaller towns in central Pennsylvania. In such environments, it was far more difficult for immigrants and racial minorities to mesh with local, mainly white residents. "Some people would look at me and give me strange looks like they were strange or nervous that they didn't know how to respond," recalled twenty-three-year-old refugee Hung Bui, who left Indiantown Gap with the sponsorship of a local couple in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1975 and found a job at a local hospital.5 Indeed, some local residents in Bloomsburg and other small towns in the Susquehanna Valley were not receptive to refugees, either because they represented the "enemies" during the Vietnam War or because the federal government supposedly gave them "handouts" while Americans struggled with inflation and unemployment during the 1970s.6 Despite some less than ideal interactions, other refugees reported warm and welcoming sponsors and employers who made their transition to American life relatively comfortable.7 While Fort Indiantown Gap served as a gateway for the thousands of Vietnamese and Cambodians who eventually settled in Pennsylvania, the site itself also serves as rich resource for understanding Pennsylvania's more [End Page 421...

Brewster site zooarchaeology reinterpreted: understanding levels of animal exploitation and bone fat production at the Initial Middle Missouri type site

Zooarchaeological analyses of Middle Missouri Plains village sites have traditionally relied on species lists and counts of individuals and specimens as a means of interpreting the prehistoric past. The published literature from some of these sites suggests that the fractured and fragmented nature of large mammal bones at Middle Missouri sites serves as evidence of bone marrow and bone grease exploitation. Quantitative approaches to identifying bone fat exploitation and characterising bone fracture patterns allow for more nuanced interpretations of the complex Middle Missouri period village sites of South Dakota and Northwest Iowa. The application of new methods to study the archaeofauna of the Brewster site allows for a reinterpretation of the site's animal economies. New data reveal a consistent pattern of bone fat exploitation at the Brewster site over time, suggest that bone fat exploitation was practiced as an occasional or small-scale activity at the site, and demonstrate the potential of these methods as a means of reinterpreting complex zooarchaeological assemblages. This study also discusses some of the methodological and sampling issues that are critical to achieving accurate, evidence-based results when assessing complex zooarchaeological deposits.Statement of significance The Brewster site is a Native American village in Northwest Iowa that was likely occupied between AD 1100 and AD 1200. The villagers at the Brewster site hunted large mammals from the landscape surrounding their village, and practiced some of the earliest agriculture in the region. As a result, large numbers of bison bones are preserved archaeologically at the site. ~140 kg of bone, excavated in 1970, has been analyzed and reported in this article. When fractured and fragmented bones are found in the archaeological record, they are often associated with the exploitation of bone marrow and bone grease, two highly nutritious substances. This article reports on the relative importance of the bones and bone fragments at the Brewster site with regard to their use and utility as sources of bone fats. While there is some evidence to suggest that the bones were intentionally fractured and fragmented, the evidence suggests that the Brewster villagers frequently ignored the dietary potential of bone fats.Data availability The authors confirm that all data underlying the findings are fully available without restriction. All relevant data are contained within the paper.

Reassessment of the Use of Fire as a Management Tool in Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America

Prescribed burning is increasingly being used in the deciduous forests of eastern North America. Recent work suggests that historical fire frequency has been overestimated east of the prairie-woodland transition zone, and its introduction could potentially reduce forest herb and shrub diversity. Fire-history recreations derived from sedimentary charcoal, tree fire scars, and estimates of Native American burning suggest point-return times ranging from 5-10 years to centuries and millennia. Actual return times were probably longer because such records suffer from selective sampling, small sample sizes, and a probable publication bias toward frequent fire. Archeological evidence shows the environmental effect of fire could be severe in the immediate neighborhood of a Native American village. Population density appears to have been low through most of the Holocene, however, and villages were strongly clustered at a regional scale. Thus, it appears that the majority of forests of the eastern United States were little affected by burning before European settlement. Use of prescribed burning assumes that most forest species are tolerant of fire and that burning will have only a minimal effect on diversity. However, common adaptations such as serotiny, epicormic sprouting, resprouting from rhizomes, and smoke-cued germination are unknown across most of the deciduous region. Experimental studies of burning show vegetation responses similar to other forms of disturbance that remove stems and litter and do not necessarily imply adaptation to fire. The general lack of adaptation could potentially cause a reduction in diversity if burning were introduced. These observations suggest a need for a fine-grained examination of fire history with systematic sampling in which all subregions, landscape positions, and community types are represented. Responses to burning need to be examined in noncommercial and nonwoody species in rigorous manipulative experiments. Until such information is available, it seems prudent to limit the use of prescribed burning east of the prairie-woodland transition zone.

John Harris, Historical Interpretation, and the Standing Stone Mystery Revealed

In the early spring of 1754, John Harris, operator of a trading post and ferry on the Susquehanna River, described for the provincial government two paths of travel through the Pennsylvania wilderness to the Native American village of Logs Town (present-day Ambridge) on the Ohio River. Titled “An Acct. of the Road to Logs Town on the Allegeheney River, Taken by John Harris, 1754,” his sketch provides marvelous details of the natural and man-made features of backcountry Pennsylvania on the eve of the French and Indian War. Recorded as a deposition before Provincial Secretary Joseph Shippen, Harris’s description is one of several made for the government by frontier traders, among them Andrew Montour, Hugh Crawford, and Phillip Davies. But Harris’s deposition in particular would later cause historical confusion about the dimensions of one of the landscape features he listed—the Standing Stone.

Chronic Coxofemoral Luxation in a 13th Century Virginia Dog: Differentiation from Hip Dysplasia

The almost complete skeleton of a male dog with hypertrophic osteopathy and a chronically luxated right coxofemoral joint was one of over 100 canine skeletons excavated from Weyanoke Old Town, a Native American village site in what is now Virginia. Radiometric analysis indicated this dog lived between 1224 and 1296 AD. It was of medium size (46 cm tall, 12–13 kgs), and was an older individual. The right femoral head was dorsally luxated and articulated with an acetabular‐like structure composed of a rim of irregular osteophytes with eburnated bone at its center. The ventral aspect of the right femoral head was flattened and eburnated where it was in contact with the dorsal rim of the acetabulum. Hip dysplasia is common in modern dogs and is characterized by bilateral, gradual, post‐natal craniodorsal subluxation of the femoral heads, which results in erosion of the acetabulum and cranial flattening of the femoral head. This dog's hip lesions were most likely traumatic, as they were not bilateral, the dorsal acetabular rim was still intact, and there was ventral rather than cranial erosion of the femoral head. Animal paleopathology is not as well‐established as human paleopathology, but careful comparisons of lesions found in ancient animal remains with those in modern animals can provide important information about animal health both in the past and the present.

Instructional Design as Critical and Creative Thinking: A Journey Through a Jamestown-Era Native American Village

The role of critical and creative thinking has been debated within the field of instructional design. Through an instructional design and development project we have identified how critical and creative thinking are essential to the instructional design process. This paper highlights a recent project focused on a virtual Native American village and the development of supporting instructional materials. The materials combine instruction on content-area material, technology and critical and creative thinking skills. Our concept of critical and creative thinking skills is guided by a model that includes idea generation, reflective judgment, attitudes and dispositions and self-regulation. Through the process of designing instruction to teach critical and creative thinking skills, we recognized that these critical and creative thinking skills are essential in the design process.