The hidden record: Late Holocene landscapes and settlement archaeology in the Lower Ohio River Valley

Abstract

From extensive backhoe trenching and coring in the Great Miami–Ohio River confluence region, in conjunction with a large suite of radiocarbon ages, we have identified large tracts of late Holocene alluvium. Thick blankets of Historic alluvium (post‐settlement) may also cover levees of the Ohio River. In conjunction with other studies in the Outer Bluegrass Region of the lower Ohio River valley, it is possible to document an association between floodplain Mollisols, Inceptisols, and Entisols and late Holocene‐aged landforms. Levees appear to have stabilized between 1000 and 2000 yr B.P. Although buried soils are rare, archaeological materials were ubiquitous in late Holocene Landform Sediment Assemblages. Because a substantial volume of valley fill is late Holocene in age, Woodland sites of all types are frequently buried, and Fort Ancient sites may be buried by Historic alluvium. Therefore, if Woodland or later settlement studies in this region are based on surface evidence alone, they are likely to be biased. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Biomantle formation and artifact translocation in upland sandy soils: An example from the Holly Springs National Forest, north‐central Mississippi, U.S.A.

“…In recent years, biases introduced by geomorphic processes into archaeological survey results have been increasingly recognized (e.g., Mandel, 1995;Stafford, 1995;Tankersly et al, 1996;Waters and Kuehn, 1996;Wilkinson, 2000;Bettis and Mandel, 2002;Stafford and Creasman, 2002). Upland landforms in the Southeast and elsewhere are often considered to be geomorphologically "stable" except for Historicperiod erosion.…”

Archaeological site distribution by geomorphic setting in the southern lower Cuyahoga River Valley, northeastern Ohio: Initial observations from a GIS database

“…Whereas the abundance of Woodland sites in the CRV study area attests to activity along the major river valleys and major tributaries (sensu Jenensky, 1979;O'Brien, 1987;Munson, 1988), the observation that artifactual contexts dating to earlier periods are underrepresented in existing records predicates a reexamination of the prehistoric land-use patterns in the upper Midwest (Stafford, 1994;Stafford and Creasman, 2002, and references therein). Some workers have suggested that exploitation of bottomland locales was not a chief component of local prehistoric economies during certain periods.…”

Modeling soil-geomorphic associations and Archaic stratigraphic sequences in the lower Ohio River valley

“…2). In other portions of the lower Ohio River, this unit can attain a thickness of over 1.0 m and is bedded and/or laminated with coarser sediment (fine sand) [12]. Pedogenesis is limited and AeC profiles are common.…”

“…Soils typically associated with the modern Ohio River levees are Mollisols with cambic (Bw) horizons [12].…”