A team led by Brian Redmond of the Cleveland Museum of Natural
History is excavating a 4,000-year-old site in northeastern Ohio. So
far, they have uncovered a three-inch-thick floor made from layers of
yellow clay that was carried to the site. A basin was built into the
floor, along with cooking pits and storage holes that held hickory nuts.
Post holes show where hickory saplings were placed and then tied
together to create a framework covered with cattail mats. “A small
family would be very comfortable. They were well insulated, and
sheltered under the tree canopy of oaks. Unlike at other sites, they’re
going to the trouble to make floors. They’re here for months at a time,”
Redmond told
Cleveland.com.
He thinks that these hunter-gatherers migrated to the area from the
southeast to spend the fall and winter for a period of some 200 to 300
years. “There’s nothing like this anywhere in Ohio. It’s very
significant, a much more significant site than we previously thought.
These are house structures. This was like a village site,” he added. For
more on an ancient culture that occupied Ohio some 2,000 years ago, go
to "
Who Were the Hopewell?"
No comments:
Post a Comment