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CHAPTER 7 CEREMONIAL DISTRICTS OF THE SOUTHERN OHIO VALLEY It may be said that this is a group of peoples of rather simple culture, living in rather small groups, being primarily hunters and fishers, with deer, shellfish, roots and berries constituting their main diet, building only rude habitations, perhaps holding together as family groups but with little regard for the dead (Webb and Haag 1940:109). In previous chapters I have argued that the interpretive tag of “village” does not do the Archaic shell-bearing sites justice. But, if the huge shell sites at the riverside were not the places where families resided, dogs scavenged, children played, and from which gathering and hunting parties left and to which they returned, for what were these places created? If the amassing of shells was not part of daily dietary solutions, why were they piled in such great numbers or harvested at all? If the Hypsithermal does not account for the demise of shellfishing on the Ohio, on the Green, and in central Tennessee, why were shellfish, and the practice of accumulating shells, abandoned? If shellfish were a dietary staple and the population was growing, why was this easily harvested, fast-replenishing food abandoned? The answers to these questions will be provided in some detail in this chapter. I believe that the shell-bearing sites were aggregation camps used on a variable basis, where significant group rituals were hosted for the populace as well as for outsider guests. Furthermore, these camps existed in ritual precincts,specific segments of river courses believed to be auspicious, and were but one type of sacred site. The shell-bearing sites on top of the bluffs and knolls appear to have served ritual purposes as well, but perhaps for a different audience or for different rituals. Other 136 Ceremonial Districts of the Southern Ohio Valley types of sites also served ritual and gathering needs, such as some caves and rock shelters, shell-free mortuary sites, and burial-free shell sites. The persistent point of difference about these Archaic shell sites and other Archaic sites is the presence of millions of shells.What the millions of shells offered were food, building material, visual marker, height, depth, pearls, and a direct encounter with elements of the Underworld. As extrapolated from later beliefs, the Underworld would be the source of life as a watery place and the origin of rain and winds. Shells were a visible reminder of that place and of water. Shells signified renewal of the group and of the individual (Baillou 1968, Claassen 2008). Furthermore,shellfish provided an abundant,transportable,storable, and predictable food supply that came with its own container—precisely what would be called for when a feast was to be held (Hayden 2001, Russo 2004, Saunders 2004, Sassaman 2006). And feast they did, for weeks on end, dozens if not hundreds of times at Anderson, Hayes, Hornung, Old Clarksville, Reid, Perry, Mulberry, O’Neal, Long Branch, Indian Knoll, Carlston Annis, DeWeese, and Haynes, to name a few of the monumental feasting locations. The big feasts were occasioned by the founding of a new ceremonial center, a directional ceremony that required the killing of four individuals, performance of earth renewal/ world renewal ceremonies, water cleaning, rebalancing ceremonies, and rain calling as needed. During these gatherings the participants made sacrificial offerings, buried many of their dead, and attended to social needs. For these big events it was necessary for the hosts to spend some time at the ceremonial center to prepare the grave goods, the burial facility, the gifts, and the feast.The latter activity would require the gathering of mollusks, deer, turkey, raccoons, fish, and turtles, all while awaiting the arrival of other participants. Once the groups had assembled—hosts and guests—the rites appropriate to the occasion were performed, the dead were prepared and then buried, and feasting commenced.This sequence of events may well have required up to two months of preparation and habitation at the center, with the event perhaps unfolding over several weeks. A mortuary center was founded when a new group wished to establish direct communication with deities through the medium of their own ancestors.These founders selected a new location in a particularly auspicious place. Where possible, a location near another center could “borrow ” some of the accumulated power, and allow historically important guests to find the location easily while flaunting the spiritual favoritism of the new group’s founders. A new center needed to be dedicated with [3.143...

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