Not One, But Two Floors!

Just one day into our first week of excavation at Burrell Orchard, we discovered another clay floor.  This feature is some 20 to 25 cm higher than the floor we found last season and is situated about 2.0 meters to the east.  If the radar images of the deep floor are accurate, then this new floor, designated as Feature 15-05, partially overlaps the deeper floor, Feature 14-11.    Both clay strata appear to be similar in make-up, that is, they were made from nearly pure yellow clay probably derived from subsoil deposits below the midden (Figure 1).  

Figure 1. Exposed southern section of yellow clay floor (Feature 15-05) in Unit 496N 514E.

So far, we have identified Feature 15-05 at about 30 cm bd in Units 498N 514E and 496N 514E.  The portion we have exposed measures at least 3.0 m north to south and 1.5 m east to west.  But we don’t have it all, since the clay deposit runs eastward out of the excavated area.  On Friday, we took three one-inch core samples at 50 cm intervals eastward from Feature 15-05 (Figure 2).  The results revealed that this new clay floor extends to the east between 1.0 to 1.5 m.  Interestingly, the core taken at 1.0 meter contained samples of two stratified clay floors, something we see evidence for in Unit 498N 514E.  Later in the afternoon we opened a new 2.0 x 2.0 m unit at 496N 516E to expose more of the floor.  Once excavation started we quickly found the floor at only about 15 cm bd in this new unit.

 Figure 2. Taking core samples eastward from the upper clay floor (Feature 15-05).

Meanwhile, Brian S.’s crew continued to carefully excavate 10 cm-thick levels of midden soil in Unit 496N 512E.  At about 30 cm bd, they exposed a large cluster of FCR, as well as two ground-stone tools: one a small hand-held grinding stone or “mano” with distinctive polish on the flat side and a large (3.0 kg) pitted stone.  As its name indicates, the pitted stone is marked by several distinct, regular depressions on several faces the look to have been made by the use of a rotating implement (Figure 3).  These pits appear too regular to have been made by simple whacking this stone with another stone to crack nuts or flake flint cores.  In fact, the likely purpose of these pitted stones remains unknown. 

Figure 3. Pitted stone found within midden deposits in Unit 496N 512E.

The discovery of at least two stratified clay surfaces is exciting and much unexpected.  It makes our excavation more complex but also very exciting.  Who know what will turn up this coming week!

Search for the Clay Floor Begins

Today we began our four week Archaeology in Action program at Burrell Orchard.  Despite the soggy conditions, we managed to make a start on three new excavation units located adjacent to two of last year’s units.  The reason we are returning to just about the same spot as last summer is to expose more of the Late Archaic clay floor feature found in unit 498N 512E last July.  This distinctive yellow clay layer was found near the bottom of the midden deposits at about 60 cm deep.  Its surface was burned to a bright red color in several areas, indicating the making of fires for cooking or some other function (Figure 1).  Along one edge of this clay floor we discovered an arc of post molds which may represent where the wall of a house was constructed.  By the look of things, it seemed that we had only exposed maybe one quarter or so of the floor, which appeared to extend

Figure 1. Exposed clay floor found in 2014. (White dots mark the locations of post molds)

southward into an unexcavated area.  So, this year we have returned to see if indeed this floor continues.  We hope to expose most of what is left and determine what it represents.  Perhaps it is a house floor or maybe a working surface for various open-air activities. In any case, nothing like it has yet been found in northern Ohio.

Today we proceeded to open the new 2x2m units and remove up to 20 cm of soil from the upper stratum or plow zone (Figure 2).  Here we found fire-cracked rock and chert (flint) flakes along with a few shards of historic dishware, mostly blue and red transfer-print ware. 

Figure 2. Work on new excavation units begins.

The find of the day was made by Marsha R. who turned up a complete triangular arrowhead, known as a “Madison” point, which was used from about A.D. 1200 to 1600.   It is a small point, possibly made from the broken tip of a somewhat larger arrow head (Figure 3).  It is made of lustrous gray chert known as Pipe Creek that outcrops just south of Sandusky, Ohio.    This point is some of the rare evidence we have collected for site occupants post-dating the Late Archaic settlers of the Burrell Orchard site.  These people of the Late Prehistoric period were apparently at this site for brief visits just a few centuries before Europeans entered northern Ohio and some 3500 years after the Late Archaic hunters and gatherers left.

Figure 3. Madison triangular arrow point found in the plow zone of unit 498N 514E.

New Field Season at Burrell Orchard Underway

On May 17, preliminary test excavations began at the Burrell Orchard site with volunteers from the Firelands Archaeological Research Center (FARC). A 1x1m excavation unit was laid out in the area surveyed with Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) in October last year. At this spot, the GPR detected a particularly strong reflection beneath the surface that is similar in form to the signal made by the clay floor feature we identified last summer (see Blogging Archaeology post for 7-12-2014). So, in this new spot, we hope to find evidence of a second structural floor dating to the Late Archaic period, about 4000 years ago.



Figure 1. Excavating the first test unit of the season.

Excavation through the plow zone deposits quickly turned up flint flakes and fire-cracked rock (FCR). Going deeper, small amounts of burned (calcined) animal bone and a few fragments of flint projectile points were recovered. Although fragmentary, these artifacts were easily identified as the long, narrow, stemmed lanceolate knives and spear tips that were used by the Late Archaic peoples who lived here.

At the 40 cm deep level, several patches of burned soil were detected, one of which was covered with a small amount of FCR. These features appear to represent locations where surface fires were made or are the very bottoms of small roasting pits. Elsewhere on the unit floor, careful troweling exposed small concentrations of charcoal. During the past two field seasons (2008 and 2014) we have identified similar features at approximately this level, some of the features were accompanied by flat-lying concentrations of siltstone fragments. These stone “pavements” may represent flat work areas or possibly the paved bottoms of cooking facilities. In any case, these clusters of thermal features, FCR, and burned bone likely represent living floors on which daily food processing and preparation activities took place. Interestingly, past experience at this site tells us that such floors are stratified into at least two levels at Burrell Orchard, and, thus reflect repeat visits to this site over a period of centuries. On our next visit, we will section the features and continue excavation of the midden soil to see if any clay surfaces appear.

Figure 2. The floor of the test unit showing two of the burned soil features (raised areas) at left. (If you look closely, you can just see the orange tint to the soil at these spots.)