Further excavation of a small American Indian mound continued at the Guernsey Crossing development Friday as archaeologists fight to keep the ground from freezing.
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| Ted Sunderhaus of the Cincinnati Museum Center works on cutting away layers of dirt as he and others work on searching the remains of a small mound on North Bridge Street on Friday [Credit: Elise Manahan, Gazette] |
“There used to be a mound here, that’s the truth,” said Jarrod Burks, an archaeologist and principal investigator for Ohio Valley Archeology. “We are excavating it and removing all of it. Frankly, there wasn’t much left when we found it.”
Ohio Valley Archaeology Inc., Heartland Earthworks Conservancy, the Ohio History Center and the Cincinnati Museum Center sent volunteers to carefully move the mound, which is being dated between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200, Burks said.
A tent and smaller shelter structure were put up in a fenced area on the 11.5-acre development, where a new 100,000-square-foot shopping center is expected to open sometime later this year or early 2016.
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| Archaeologists and volunteers from the Mound City Chapter ASO, Ohio History Connection, Ohio Valley Archeology and the Cincinnati Museum Center work together to excavate a small mound located on North Bridge Street on Friday. The group had recovered objects estimated to be around 2,000 years old including wood used for mortuary purposes, pottery and bones [Credit: Elise Manahan, Gazette] |
Archaeologists have been working on the site for about two weeks, Burks said, and have been given three weeks by the project developer to finish excavation before negotiations for more time could happen. The mound itself was known to exist by many but never reported to the state.
“Before 2008, it was a bump around 2 1/2 feet tall and quite easy to see,” Burks said. “It was known by many but, for some reason, wasn’t reported. Many mounds go unreported. … I was contacted by a number of people who said the developer was starting to dig, and we came to an agreement on excavation.”
Burks said mounds such as the one on North Bridge Street often contain human burials. Upon inspection, it appears the nearly 2,000-year-old mound could cover the foundation of a building with areas where posts were originally set vertically into the ground. Pottery fragments and burned bones belonging to humans and animals have been found.
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| Archaeologists and volunteers from the Mound City Chapter ASO, Ohio History Connection, Ohio Valley Archeology and the Cincinnati Museum Center work together to excavate a small mound located on North Bridge Street on Friday. The group had recovered objects estimated to be around 2,000 years old including wood used for mortuary purposes, pottery and bones [Credit: Elise Manahan, Gazette] |
Burks and his colleagues conducted a magnetic survey of the site, which allows them to detect the original footprint of the mound and where to dig. Excavation could reveal spots within the original structure where cremations occurred and other items were burned, Burks said.
“When the fire gets that hot, it burns the soil too,” Burks said. “It’s pretty easy to see that in the ground.”
There are no plans to look for other mounds in the area, Burks said, because it is not uncommon for mounds to be solitary.
“That’s what makes places like Mound City so unique,” Burks said. “Our biggest challenge going forward is to keep the ground from freezing.”
Looking forward, Burks said, Ohio Valley Archaeology is talking with Guernsey Crossing about what the next step will be for construction plans. Any items found at the site will go to the Ohio History Center in Columbus.
Author: Caitlin Turner | Source: Newark Advocate [January 30, 2015]
