Of Caves and Shell Mounds

9. Lithic Materials from the Read Shell Mound: A Reanalysis of a Works Progress Administration Collection

9 Lithic Materials from the Read Shell Mound A Reanalysis of a Works Progress Administration Collection Christine K. Hensley THE STUDY OF Green River shell middens has been prominent historically in American archaeology. William S. Webb and his associates located 36 shell mounds along Green River in west-central Kentucky and directed the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to excavate 10 of those mounds. The Read Shell Mound, 15Bho (hereafter Bho), was among those excavated (Figure 9.1). Because the Bho artifacts were recovered using late-1930 methods, inherent biases in field recovery methods and interests are present in the artifactual collection. In this chapter I explore the nature of bias in the lithic assemblage and describe it in terms that make the data more amenable for current research questions. I have used a bifacial reductive trajectory typology to aid in understanding the lithic industry at Bho. Read Shell Mound In 1937 approximately 30 unemployed men were hired under the auspices of the WPA to excavate a prehistoric shell midden in the Little Bend of Green River, Butler County, Kentucky (Figure 9.2). Their efforts resulted in the total excavation of Bho, the Read Shell midden. Thousands of artifacts were recovered , as well as more than 200 human burials (Haskins and Herrmann, this volume ). William S. Webb, director of the WPA archaeology program in Kentucky, published a 44-page report describing the excavation, the artifacts, and his interpretations of the material (Webb 1950b). The WPA began work on Bho on December 28, 1937, with Albert C. Spaulding as project supervisor. Spaulding established both the field methods and the recording system for the site excavation. He left Bho on September 8, 1938, to be replaced by his assistant supervisor, Ralph D. Brown. Brown directed fieldwork until the project closed on March 2, 1939. Excavation of the site was almost continuous except for a three-week layoff in October 1938 and another during February 1939, when high water prevented access to the site. Bho was backfilled in early March 1939. 94 N (N",z'E) EOGE OF CLIFF * Sil, Dafum at roo S, IOOE (base of loro_ trtl) _ 9 9 . 5 0 99.25 99.00 9 8 . 7 5 - - - - 15 Bt 10 READ SITE BUTLER COUNTY, KY. July 12,I9B2 CONTOUR INTERVAL· 025m o 10 r---:*..., 9.1 Contour Map of Read Shell Mound, 15BtlO. Source: Based on a map by William H. Marquardt. Used by permission. t- 1ii ~ ~ ~ ~ ~I:> I:>... V> ;::- :: ~§ I:>... ~ ~ ____ =;._J~;;;f'~ " c:; . . . . .:::::::::5) ,~. O. C: I R48 R44 READ SITE (l5BTlO) Excavation Plan , Human burial o Dog burial o Feature I I , R40 R36 R32 " () x \;J> x , R28 , R24 , R20 R16 ,.'~. x '~ •• ' ,;. ill .:;. or,::. • _. x x .::. ~:i '".' , ::;, ~~ ...... ::?~' Ie 'A':~--;~~':' x x .:) ,... " ' ; " x .... J( OX 1" , ", " , " , " , , " XllXX~l( xl( .,xX , , " lI. .Il lU'''X X " " x xxx XX x ~.' oxxX , , "jl(IIXXX! XX " , Jl X:1C X"l.X II lI. xx .II: fY'x x X:l)c , o~xo 0 x " R'12 u 0 , , " 0 feet Xx ()X Foundation of -"d Modern House , , ", ~ \;:x xx ~x ~ Extent of shell lens ,J , L8 j LI2 I LI6 L20 r L24 9.2 Works Progress Administration Excavation Plan of Bho (adapted from Rolingson 1967) I,C 0'1 Q ::1. ! fI> ..... ...::t "'40 North ~ , ~ fI> .i I I L28 L32 Lithic Materials from the Read Shell Mound I 97 The excavation procedure at Btto was comparable to that at other sites dug throughout the WPA era: shovels were the primary tools, and dirt was not screened. This is not to say that the excavation was not systematic, for it was, but by today's standards the quality of recovery is questionable. A total of 41400 square feet (3939.1 m2) was excavated at Read, almost the entire deposit. A baseline was laid out along the northern extent of the midden. The baseline was divided into 5-foot (1.52-m) intervals, and at each interval an east-west stake line was established at right angles. During the early days of the excavation, a 10foot -wide (3.05-m) trench was placed between R14 and R16. This trench ran on a north-south line and extended the entire width of the site. It enabled the supervisors to define a northern and southern shell lens and a clay ridge that separated them. Digging proceeded in a southerly direction, upslope, which made backfilling easier. Both...