Browsing by Author "Wilson, Jeremy J."
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Item Anthropogenic Transformation at Angel Mounds: Construction, Chronology and Context for Mounds A and F(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2014-04-11) Wilson, Jeremy J.; Monaghan, G. WilliamInvestigations at Angel Mounds since 2005 have tackled a series of questions related to anthropogenic transformation, the built landscape and mound construction. During the 2013 NSF-sponsored research, investigations focused on Mound A’s lower platform and the reopening of Mound F. Results from these investigations revealed a series of use-surfaces on Mound A’s lower platform with evidence for burning episodes that were followed by reconstruction. Excavations on Mound F also revealed a burning episode associated with a structure on the “inner mound,” as well as a sub-mound structure and features demonstrating use of the space prior to mound construction.Item Chronology of a Fortified Mississippian Village in the Central Illinois River Valley(Cambridge, 2019-06) Krus, Anthony M.; Hermann, Edward W.; Pike, Matthew D.; Monaghan, G. William; Wilson, Jeremy J.; Geography, School of Liberal ArtsGeophysical survey and excavations from 2010–2016 at Lawrenz Gun Club (11CS4), a late pre-Columbian village located in the central Illinois River valley in Illinois, identified 10 mounds, a central plaza, and dozens of structures enclosed within a stout 10 hectare bastioned palisade. Nineteen radiocarbon (14C) measurements were taken from single entities of wood charcoal, short-lived plants, and animal bones. A site chronology has been constructed using a Bayesian approach that considers the stratigraphic contexts and feature formation processes. The village was host to hundreds of years of continuous human activity during the Mississippi Period. Mississippian activity at the site is estimated to have begun in cal AD 990–1165 (95% probability), ended in cal AD 1295–1450 (95% probability), and lasted 150–420 yr (95% probability) in the primary Bayesian model with similar results obtained in two alternative models. The palisade is estimated to have been constructed in cal AD 1150–1230 (95% probability) and was continuously repaired and rebuilt for 15–125 yr (95% probability), probably for 40–85 yr (68% probability). Comparison to other studies demonstrates that the bastioned palisade at Lawrenz was one of the earliest constructed in the midcontinental United States.Item Dental microwear texture analysis of Homo sapiens sapiens : Foragers, farmers, and pastoralists(Wiley, 2019-06) Schmidt, Christopher W.; Remy, Ashley J.; Van Sessen, Rebecca; Scott, Rachel M.; Mahoney, Patrick; Beach, Jeremy J.; McKinley, Jacqueline; d’Anastasio, Ruggero; Chiu, Laura W.; Buzon, Michele R.; de Gregory, J. Rocco; Sheridan, Susan G.; Eng, Jacqueline T.; Watson, James T.; Klaus, Haagen D.; Willman, John C.; Da-Gloria, Pedro; Wilson, Jeremy J.; Krueger, Kristin L.; Stone, Abigail; Sereno, Paul C.; Droke, Jessica L.; Perash, Rose L.; Stojanowski, Christopher M.; Herrmann, Nicholas P.; Anthropology, School of Liberal ArtsObjectives The current study seeks to determine if a sample of foragers, farmers, and pastoralists are distinguishable based on their dental microwear texture signatures. Materials and methods The study included a sample of 719 individuals from 51 archeological sites (450 farmers, 192 foragers, 77 pastoralists). All were over age 12 and sexes were pooled. Using a Sensofar® white‐light confocal profiler we collected dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) data from a single first or second molar from each individual. We leveled and cleaned data clouds following standard procedures and analyzed the data with Sfrax® and Toothfrax® software. The DMTA variables were complexity and anisotropy. Statistics included ANOVA with partial eta squared and Hedges's g. We also performed a follow‐up K‐means cluster analysis. Results We found significant differences between foragers and farmers and pastoralists for complexity and anisotropy, with foragers having greater complexity than either the farmers or the pastoralists. The farmers and pastoralists had greater anisotropy than the foragers. The Old World foragers had significantly higher anisotropy values than New World foragers. Old and New World farmers did not differ. Among the Old World farmers, those dating from the Neolithic through the Late Bronze Age had higher complexity values than those from the Iron Age through the medieval period. The cluster analysis discerned foragers and farmers but also indicated similarity between hard food foragers and hard food farmers. Discussion Our findings reaffirm that DMTA is capable of distinguishing human diets. We found that foragers and farmers, in particular, differ in their microwear signatures across the globe. There are some exceptions, but nothing that would be unexpected given the range of human diets and food preparation techniques. This study indicates that in general DMTA is an efficacious means of paleodietary reconstruction in humans.Item Differences in forest composition following two periods of settlement by pre-Columbian Native Americans(Springer, 2022-10-01) Commerford, Julie L.; Gittens, Gabrielle; Gainforth, Sydney; Wilson, Jeremy J.; Bird, Broxton W.; Earth Sciences, School of ScienceTemperate broadleaf forests in eastern North America are diverse ecosystems whose vegetation composition has shifted over the last several millennia in response to climatic and human drivers. Yet, detailed records of long-term changes in vegetation composition and diversity in response to known periods of human activity, particularly multiple distinct periods of human activity at the same site, are still relatively sparse. In this study, we examine a sediment record from Avery Lake, Illinois, USA, using multiple metrics derived from pollen data to infer vegetation composition and diversity over the last 3,000 years. This 3,000-year history encompasses the Baumer (300 bce–300 ce) and Mississippian settlements (1150–1450 ce) at Kincaid Mounds (adjacent to Avery Lake), and captures differences in the impact that these groups had on vegetation composition. Both groups actively cleared the local landscape for settlement and horticultural/agricultural purposes. Given the persistence of fire-tolerant Quercus in conjunction with declines in other tree taxa, this clearing likely occurred through the use of fire. We also apply a self-organized mapping technique to the multivariate pollen assemblages to identify similarities and differences in vegetation composition across time. Those results suggest that the vegetation surrounding Avery Lake was compositionally similar before and after the Baumer settlement, but compositionally different after the Mississippian settlement. The end of the Mississippian settlement occurred simultaneously with a regional shift in moisture characterized by drier summers and wetter winters associated with the Little Ice Age (1250–1850 ce), which likely prevented this ecosystem from returning to its pre-Mississippian composition.Item Late-Holocene floodplain development, land-use, and hydroclimate–flood relationships on the lower Ohio River, US(Sage, 2019-12) Bird, Broxton W.; Barr, Robert C.; Commerford, Julie; Gilhooly, William P., III; Wilson, Jeremy J.; Finney, Bruce; McLauchlan, Kendra; Monaghan, G. William; Earth Sciences, School of ScienceFloodplain development, land-use, and flooding on the lower Ohio River are investigated with a 3100-year-long sediment archive from Avery Lake, a swale lake on the Black Bottom floodplain in southern Illinois, US. In all, 12 radiocarbon dates show that Avery Lake formed at 1130 BCE (3100 cal. yr BP), almost 3000 years later than previously thought, indicating that the Black Bottom floodplain is younger and more dynamic than previously estimated. Three subsequent periods of extensive land clearance were identified by changes in pollen composition, corresponding to Native American occupations before 1500 CE and the current Euro-American occupation beginning in the 18th century. Sedimentation rates prior to 1820 CE changed independently of land clearance events, suggesting natural as opposed to land-use controls. Comparison with high-resolution paleoclimate data from Martin Lake, IN, indicates that lower Ohio River flooding was frequent when cold-season precipitation originating from the Pacific/Arctic predominated when atmospheric circulation resembled positive Pacific North American (PNA) conditions and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) was in a positive mean state (1130 BCE to 350 CE and 1150–1820 CE). Conversely, Ohio River flooding was less frequent when warm-season precipitation from the Gulf of Mexico prevailed during negative PDO- and PNA-like mean states (350 and 1150 CE). This flood dynamic appears to have been fundamentally altered after 1820 CE. We suggest that extensive land clearance in the Ohio River watershed increased runoff and landscape erosion by reducing interception, infiltration, and evapotranspiration, thereby increasing flooding despite a shift to negative PDO- and PNA-like mean states. Predicted increases in average precipitation and extreme rainfall events across the mid-continental US are likely to perpetuate current trends toward more frequent flood events, because anthropogenic modifications have made the landscape less resilient to changing hydroclimatic conditions.Item Midcontinental Native American population dynamics and late Holocene hydroclimate extremes(Nature, 2017) Bird, Broxton W.; Wilson, Jeremy J.; Gilhooly, William P., III; Steinman, Byron A.; Stamps, Lucas; Department of Earth Sciences, School of ScienceClimate’s influence on late Pre-Columbian (pre-1492 CE), maize-dependent Native American populations in the midcontinental United States (US) is poorly understood as regional paleoclimate records are sparse and/or provide conflicting perspectives. Here, we reconstruct regional changes in precipitation source and seasonality and local changes in warm-season duration and rainstorm events related to the Pacific North American pattern (PNA) using a 2100-year-long multi-proxy lake-sediment record from the midcontinental US. Wet midcontinental climate reflecting negative PNA-like conditions occurred during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (950–1250 CE) as Native American populations adopted intensive maize agriculture, facilitating population aggregation and the development of urban centers between 1000–1200 CE. Intensifying midcontinental socio-political instability and warfare between 1250–1350 CE corresponded with drier positive PNA-like conditions, culminating in the staggered abandonment of many major Native American river valley settlements and large urban centers between 1350–1450 CE during an especially severe warm-season drought. We hypothesize that this sustained drought interval rendered it difficult to support dense populations and large urban centers in the midcontinental US by destabilizing regional agricultural systems, thereby contributing to the host of socio-political factors that led to population reorganization and migration in the midcontinent and neighboring regions shortly before European contact.Item On the Cusp: A Study of Macro- & Microwear in Middle Woodland & Mississippian Skeletal Samples from the Lower Midwest(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2013-04-05) Query, Jamie R.; Wilson, Jeremy J.Studies of dental macro- and microwear are emerging as complimentary lines of evidence to archaeological research, enabling scholars to track changes in the mode of subsistence over long and short periods. These tooth wear studies simultaneously allow for analyses within and between age and sex cohorts, providing surrogate measures of a population’s dietary diversity. The current study examines dental wear for two Pre-Columbian samples from the Midcontinental United States. The first (n = 10) is from the Middle Woodland period Mann (12Po2) site, which is located on the Ohio River in southwestern Indiana. Recent radiocarbon dating conducted as part of the current research indicates the site was utilized between AD 127 and 259. Paleoethnobotanical research demonstrates that Middle Woodland people engaged in hunting and gathering, as well as a form of low-level food production that relied on indigenous starchy and oily seeds. The second sample (n = 20) is from the Mississippian period Orendorf (11F107) site in the Central Illinois River Valley. Previous radiometric assays indicate that the site was occupied between AD 1175 and 1250 with the site’s inhabitants taking part in a broad-scale subsistence change to maize agriculture. While research is ongoing and data will be forthcoming for the Mann site, measures of microwear complexity (1.49 asfc) and anisotropy (0.0032 epLsar1.8) from Orendorf reveal a diet that was rough with a low level of orientation between features on the occlusal surfaces of molars. Contrary to previous studies, individuals from Orendorf are atypical among late prehistoric, Midcontinental agriculturalists with a rougher diet more characteristic of preceding foragers or horticulturalists. In a comparison to a worldwide database, dietary roughness for Orendorf is comparable to Early Bronze Age farmers from England; however, the anisotropy value for Orendorf clusters with the Mebrak buckwheat farmers of Nepal and Neolithic samples from Israel.Item A paleodemographic assessment of mortality and fertility rates during the second demographic transition in rural central Indiana(Wiley, 2022-01) Zoeller, Gretchen E.; Drew, Brooke L.; Schmidt, Christopher W.; Peterson, Ryan; Wilson, Jeremy J.; Anthropology, Liberal ArtsOBJECTIVES: Since its inception, skeletally based paleodemographic research has emphasized the utility of biocultural models for interpreting the dynamic relationship between the sociocultural and ecological forces accompanying demographic transitions and shaping populations' health and well-being. While the demographic transition associated with the Neolithic Revolution has been a common focus in bioarcheology, the present study analyzes human skeletal remains from a large 19th century cemetery in central Indiana to examine population dynamics during the second demographic transition, a period generally characterized by decreasing fertility rates and improvements in life expectancy. This study demonstrates the potential to methodologically identify regional variations in the timing and interactions between broad-scale socioeconomic changes and technological advancements that characterized the time period through observed changes in survivorship and fertility based on age-at-death distributions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study uses three temporally distinct samples (AD 1827-1869; 1870-1889; 1890-1935) from the Bethel Cemetery (n = 503). Kaplan-Meier survival analyses with a log- rank tests are utilized to evaluate survivorship and mortality over time. Next, Cox proportional hazard analyses are employed to examine the interaction between sex and time as covariates. Finally, the D0-14/D ratio is applied to estimate fertility for each of the three temporally bounded cohorts. RESULTS: The Kaplan-Meier survival analyses and Cox proportional hazard modeling revealed statistically significant differences in survivorship between the three time periods. Age-specific mortality rates are reduced among adult female and male age classes in this rural community over the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, resulting in the increasing life expectancies associated with the second demographic transition. While mortality in early adulthood was common during the first time period and decreases thereafter, sex was not identified as a meaningful covariate. The proportion of juveniles in the three temporal samples indicate that fertility rates were higher than national averages for the better part of the 19th century and subsequently declined around the turn of 20th century for this community. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate temporal differences between the three periods, demonstrating increased survivorship and decreased mortality and fertility over time. These findings corroborate two key features of the second demographic transition characterized by the move from high rates of both fertility and mortality to reduced rates and a general easing of demographic pressures. The observed trends likely reflect improvements in health, coinciding the industrial advance and economic development within and around Indianapolis. While the socioeconomic factors characterizing the Industrial Revolution drove demographic shifts that parallel an equally important epidemiological transition, potential regional differences are discussed to highlight variability in the timing of demographic transitions. The paleodemographic methods utilized in this study demonstrate improved accuracy and efficacy, which ultimately advances researchers' potential to disentangle population-specific socioeconomic factors that may contribute to asymmetrical experiences of health and mortality.Item Pre-Columbian lead pollution from Native American galena processing and land use in the midcontinental United States(GSA, 2019-10) Bird, Broxton W.; Wilson, Jeremy J.; Escobar, Jaime; Kamenov, George D.; Pollard, Harvie J.; Monaghn, G. William; Earth Sciences, School of ScienceThe presence and sources of pre-Columbian (before 1492 CE) lead (Pb) pollution in the midcontinental United States were investigated using geochemical and Pb isotope analyses on sediment cores recovered from Avery Lake, a floodplain lake located directly adjacent to the Kincaid Mounds archaeological site on the lower Ohio River, Illinois. Geochemical results indicate the presence of Pb pollution during the Baumer (300 BCE to 300 CE) and Mississippian (1150–1450 CE) occupations, and since the 1800s. Pb isotope results link Mississippian Pb pollution to the processing and use of galena primarily from southeastern and/or central Missouri, and to a lesser extent the upper Mississippi River valley, with ∼1.5 t (metric tons) of galena-derived Pb deposited in Avery Lake during this time. Pb pollution during the Baumer phase, equating to ∼0.4 t of Pb, was not accompanied by a Pb isotope excursion and most likely originated from local biomass burning. These results provide new information about the environmental impacts associated with pre-Columbian Native Americans’ interaction with and utilization of their landscape and its resources.Item Redefining Women's Work: Female Entrepreneurs on the South Side of Indianapolis, 1880-1920(2019) DeMatteo, Stephanie Marie; Mullins, Paul R.; Hyatt, Susan B.; Wilson, Jeremy J.Research on the roles of women in the past commonly focuses on either the demure or the radical. This study of female entrepreneurs shows an area in which women occupied a more central position in their communities. Female entrepreneurs were able to possess a certain degree of independence without being viewed, or viewing themselves, as rebellious. This thesis focuses exclusively on the women who owned businesses on a two-block length of one street, South Meridian, in Indianapolis, over a forty-year period. Even with this limited focus, there is substantial variation in the motivations of the women. Some entered in to business with the support of their wealthy families, while others were obligated to work to support their families. The stories of these women can be revealed through their presence in official documents, city directories, and newspapers of the time. In addition to the individual stories of female entrepreneurs, these sources provide information about who the businesswomen of the time were as a group. The majority were born in the United States and among that group most were born in the state of Indiana. The most common businesses owned by women were millinery shops, dress shops, and boarding houses. Other demographic characteristics, such as age, marital status, and time in business, do not form a pattern across the group. These sources also show how women compared to men who were in business in the same location over the same period. Most of the female entrepreneurs of the South Side of Indianapolis around the turn of the century worked in fields that could fit under the heading of “women’s work,” but this categorization ignores the intricacies of their positions as business people. These women were not solely providing a service or producing a good, similar to what they would be expected to do in the home as wives, mothers, or daughters. They were also responsible for the other aspects of business ownership, including finding and maintaining premises, purchasing products and materials, and managing finances. It is these details that, for example, set apart the owner of a dress shop from a woman making clothes for her family.