Dating the middle to late woodland transition in the Illinois Valley: Radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dates from the Baehr-Gust site

Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Spring 2003 by Holt, Julie Zimmermann, Feathers, James K

We reiterate that differences between Havana and White Hall pottery can be subtle, especially in the case of body sherds, and we do not claim to know whether the transition from one pottery style to the other took one year or 50 years. Nevertheless, claims (in Winters et al. 1989) that the relatively few Havana-Hopewell sherds and abundant White Hall pottery at Baehr-Gust were found together in good context, and therefore were contemporaneous, are not supported by this analysis, which might suggest that the transition was more sudden than gradual. Although most features excavated by NYU were clearly White Hall, several-most notably Feature 1(1987) on the bluff, which contained abundant Hopewell pottery and obsidian-were clearly Havana. Winters was correct in considering the ceramics he named "Gustware" (e.g., from Feature 4[1988] and Feature 5[1988]) a variety of Hopewell ware, although he apparently underestimated the age of this style.

There is no convincing evidence from Baehr-Gust that its White Hall occupants built mounds or made Hopewell pottery. Whether White Hall occupants at Baehr-Gust participated in any "Hopewellian" activities is a hypothesis that can be tested further but that is not supported by the results of the radiometric analyses reported here. Analysis of the animal remains from the dated features at Baehr-Gust and from several contemporaneous sites corroborates this conclusion: Feasting and rituals involving animals appear more important at Havana sites than at White Hall and Weaver sites (Holt 2000).

The radiometric analyses reported here provide significant data regarding the timing of the Middle-Late Woodland transition in the Illinois Valley, and equally important, they demonstrate the usefulness of integrated radiometric research. In particular, they demonstrate the usefulness of TL dating in directly dating ceramics from ambiguous contexts.

Analysis of the ceramics, lithic artifacts, and other materials from the NYU excavations at Baehr-Gust was interrupted by Winters's untimely death in the spring of 1994. It is hoped that this report will encourage other researchers to continue the analysis of the substantial body of materials collected from this important site. Further research on the Baehr-Gust site should first and foremost complete the identification of materials from the site. Additional analysis should seek to more clearly define activities and activity areas associated with each component, including more precisely dating the mounds at the site.

Acknowledgments

Radiometric analyses were funded by Holt's dissertation improvement grant from the National Science Foundation (SBR-9704018). Thanks to David Asch for his help in selecting and preparing the bulk radiocarbon samples. Thanks to the American Museum of Natural History for the loan of the bone awl for AMS dating and to David Hurst Thomas and the many individuals at the AMNH who assisted Holt in examining (and borrowing from) the Snyder collection. Radiocarbon dating was conducted by the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) and by Stafford Research Laboratories, Inc. Special thanks to Jack Liu and the ISGS for providing several dates free of charge. Thanks to Eugene Boesch, Duane Esarey, Ken Farnsworth, and Mike Wiant for examining the sherds selected for TL dating, to Bill Green for reading and providing helpful comments on an early version of this report and for directing us to the CALIB program, and to several anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions. Most of all, Holt thanks Howard Winters and Anne-Marie Cantwell for including her in this project. Of course, none of these individuals is responsible for any fallacies that might be found herein. An earlier version of this article was presented by Holt at the 65th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology (2000) in the symposium "Making Time Work: Problem Solving in Temporal Resolution," organized by Ann Ramenofsky and Jim Feathers.