Animal bone was often used to make tools, such as the awl in Figure 1. An awl could either be made out of a section of bone or a whole bone by removing one end and sharpening it into a point. Then it could be used in basketry, hide work, as well as other tasks (Stewart 1996). Most bone from archaeological sites are not tools; the majority of animal bone remains are fragments, such as those in Figure 2.
Animal bone can provide important information about prehistoric subsistence and about past environments. Animal remains can be identified from their fragments making archaeologists able to discover what types of animals Fort Ancient people hunted. The number of bone fragments from each type of animal allows the archaeologist to ascertain which prey were favored and/or which prey were available. Burned animal bone is also found (the left pile of bones in Figure 2) which provides evidence that a animals were sources of food.
Figure 1. Bone awl.
Figure 2. Burned and
unburned bone fragments.
SHELL
Figure 3. Large drilled shell.
Figure 4. Mussel shell fragments.
Since the area inhabited by the Fort Ancient people contained many water ways, freshwater mussels and clams were also used as a food source. During late summer, freshwater mussel beds were harvested after the water levels had fallen, this task is thought to have been undertaken by women and children (Cowan, 1987).
Once the meat from these bivalve mollusks was eaten, the left over shell was used in a variety of ways. Shells were ground up and used as temper in the pottery. Shell beads and pendants were made for personal and ceremonial use. Larger freshwater mussel shells were also drilled to create one large hole where a wooden pole was most likely attached. The resulting tool was used for gardening (similar to a hoe). There also might have been a distinction between shells used for personal and ceremonial decoration and those used as tools. From the shell fragments archaeologists can produce information on environmental reconstruction, subsistence, and seasonal resource use.
CANNEL COAL
Cannel coal was most often used to make pendants and figurines. Cannel coal is a soft rock so it is easily carved and worked. It might have also been used as fuel for very hot fires (e.g. pottery firing).
Figure 5. Cannel coal.
DAUB
Figure 6. Daub.
Fort Ancient people built houses by making a wooden frame out of branches and twigs, and then plastering the frame with clay. This kind of structure is referred to as wattle-and-daub. Pieces of daub are the remnants of clay plaster found by archaeologists.
FEATURES
Post-molds like those shown in Figures 7 and 8 are formed when the posts that supported structure have decomposed and turned the remaining sediment dark. Fort Ancient structures were constructed by digging a long ditch, or trench, in which posts were later placed. These posts served as a frame around which twigs and other branches were woven in order to create a wall. Houses were rectangular and varied in size from 6x17m to 9x22m. During the Middle and Late Fort Ancient, houses might have been occupied by 9-12 people. What types of artifacts would you expect to find around a house?
Figure 7. Trench with post-molds.
Figure 8. Cross-section of post-mold.