Helmkamp, Criss R. and Alta Mae Frobish (Department of Sociology and Anthropology,
Purdue University, Lafayette) and Michael D. Danti (Department of Anthropology,
The University of Pennsylvania)
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE BLUE SEA SITE (12 WH 24) WHITE COUNTY, INDIANA
Our understanding of the Woodland and Upper Mississippian cultures of Northwestem
Indiana is inadequate, owing primarily to a meager date base. The total number
of sites registered for Benton, Carroll, and White Counties is less than 100,
and the vast majority of these are clustered within riverine zones. There is no
effective data base for the vast prairie-marshland areas that covered much of
this region. Our investigation of the Blue Sea site (12 Wh 24) initiates a long-term
effort to build a comprehensive and representative regional data base, and to
begin to develop an understanding of human prehistory in this region.
The Blue Sea site is located in northwestern White County, less than 200 m from
the Jasper County Iine. The site was selected for our 1990 summer field school
because it can be considered a typical occupation site in the southern margin
of the Kankakee Outwash and Lacustrine Plain, a relatively unsampled physiographic
zone, and because the site has been subjected to a number of transformation processes
that are typical of the relatively unstable sandridges which comprise an important
topographic feature in this area.
The site encompasses an area of approximately one hectare; it is situated on a
sandridge that, in prehistoric times, projected into a large shallow marsh historically
referred to as the Blue Sea. Now ditched and draped for agricultural purposes,
the water table drains into the Tippecanoe River about 15 km to the east. Prior
to modern modifications, this area marked the southern margin of the Prairie Peninsula.
Wet and dry prairie biomes met the oak- hickory forests lying to the east, creating
an "edge effect," an intergrading of two major biotic zones. This intergrading
created isolated forests, called "oak openings," on the larger sandridges. These
were, and to a lesser degree still are, peripheral fragments of the oak-hickory
forests that adjoined the prairie-marshland zone
Approximately one-fourth of the site has been plowed but has not been planted
recently; the result has been severe wind erosion of the highly friable sandy
loam soil. Soil erosion and deflation is a site preservation problem common to
this region, and is one that presents a serious problem for reliable surface survey.
In order to test the reliability of these "blow-out" areas, a complete pick-up
was conducted in a 10 by 10 m area. It was found that displacement of artifactual
material was primarily vertical, with the amount of displacement being strongly
correlated with the amount of matrix that had been eroded. Horizontal displacement,
due to water run-off, produced no significant correlation of slope and artifact
density. In other words, once uncovered by plowing, artifactual materials do not
travel downhill, they travel straight down as matrix is blown out from under them.
Consequently, surface densities of wind eroded areas are neither representative
nor reliable measures of actual artifact densities.
The 1990 excavations included two block excavations (8 by 8 and 6 by 6 m, respectively)
and twenty-five 1 by 1 m test pits. All were located in areas that had never been
cultivated, but, as we were to learn in the case of the 8 by 8 m block, had been
disturbed by disking undertaken in behalf of artifact hunters. Both block units
contained late Middle and Late Woodland components as well as Upper Mississippian
components. We found no evidence to reject the hypothesis that the Woodland occupations
were part of the Allison-LaMotte and Albee phases normally associated with the
lower and central Wabash River system. Two flared base points and a light distribution
of cordmarked pottery appeared to be diagnostic of an Allison-LaMotte period occupation.
Pentagonal, triangular, and elliptical points, along with grit tempered cordmarked
and a minor amount of smooth surfaced shell tempered pottery, confirmed the presence
of Albee Late Woodland through Upper Mississippian components. The Upper Mississippian
pottery has been tentatively classified as being stylistically associated with
late prehistoric southern Michigan (James Griffin, personal communication), which
would coincide with the ethnohistorically documented movement of the Miami and
associated groups into this area during the proto-historic period.
The nature of the occupation of the site appeared to have remained unchanged from
late Middle Woodland through Upper Mississippian times. The remains of five to
seven temporary shelters were located in the excavation units. The floors of these
features, which ranged from two to three meters in diameter, were identifiable
only through their post mold pattems. They lacked any substantial accumulation
of ash, charcoal, or organic debris, suggesting short-term utilization. Similarly,
no midden- like features or storage pits were found. One severely disturbed, partial,
and fragmented human burial (adult male) was also found, but it was located in
an extensively plowed "blow out" area separate from the two block excavations,
and neither its cultural nor temporal associations could be determined.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this site was an almost complete absence
of remains of aquatic fauna. In spite of generally good preservation, no evidence
of fish or waterfowl, and only one small fragment of mollusk shell was recovered.
The only substantial occurrence of non-human bone was that of deer, and even that
was limited to three isolated elements. Although the paucity of faunal remains
could be attributed to sampling or preservation, a more viable hypothesis relates
to the aforementioned edge-effect and the "oak opening" plant community of these
prairie-marshland region sandridges.
Two students, Sally Rehm and Andy Van Ness, conducted a tree survey of the site
and found that approximately 70% of the trees growing on the site are red oak,
hickory, or wild cherry (the site has never been timbered). Considering all the
above, we hypothesize that from Middle Woodland through Upper Mississippian times
the site was utilized primarily as a harvesting station, with the primary focus
being on hickory nuts and acorns and with a secondary focus on wild cherries and
a broader spectrum of seasonal berries and the like.
Testing this hypothesis will require paleobotanical analysis of both current and
any future samples. Preliminary analyses, however, have found few paleobotanical
remains of any kind. Existing lithic evidence strongly supports the notion of
a specialized short term occupation. Chert debris consist almost entirely of retouch
flakes, and there is no evidence of tool manufacture. Only one grinding stone
and one hammer stone have been found thus far. Given that the hut floors suggest
short term occupations, it appears that only harvesting, and not processing, characterizes
the nature of the utilization of this location.
In summary, investigations of the Blue Sea site indicate that during the late
Middle Woodland through Upper Mississippian periods the site was seasonally occupied
by small groups for the primary purpose of harvesting arboreal resources. It also
appears that these groups represent indigenous Wabash River traditions until the
Upper Mississippian period at which time there may have been an influx of influences
or people from the southern Great Lakes region. [return to 1990 abstracts menu][continue to next]