The Ohio Hopewell Episode: Paradigm Lost and Paradigm Gained

19. The Controlled Fire Reduction Features (CFRs) of Turner

Name /uap04/22015_u19 04/28/04 01:55PM Plate # 0-Composite pg 445 # 1 ⫺1 0 ⫹1 445 Chapter 19 T H E C O N T R O L L E D F I R E R E D U C T I O N F E A T U R E S ( C F R S ) O F T U R N E R The second line of evidence in support of the Laying-In/World Renewal Crypt Model of the Turner site is based on the contents of the major mounds of this site, sometimes referred to as altar mounds. Mound 1 and the Conjoined Mound will be the focus. What is named here as the Conjoined Mound was numbered by Willoughby and Hooton as several individual mounds, Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 14 (fig. 19.1). Treating them as a conjoined set of mounds might be more appropriate since, as will be argued, this earthwork was probably the result of the simultaneous abandonment of the conjoined floors with associated structures found at its base. In keeping with the earlier terminology, the total set of structures represented by the floors of this conjoined mound will be termed the Renewal Lodge Complex. Of these seven mound components, the focus will be on Mound 3 and Mound 4 and the major features on their floors (figures 19.2 and 19.3), in particular, first, the set of compound pits that is unique to Turner (fig. 19.4), and then the two burnt offering altar deposits. To support the Laying-In/ World Renewal Crypt Model, it is necessary to link the Western and Eastern CBLs to the compound pits and the burnt offering deposits. The burnt offering deposits should fit what would be expected of the residue of collective memorial/world renewal rites of the type already Name /uap04/22015_u19 04/28/04 01:55PM Plate # 0-Composite pg 446 # 2 446 o h i o h o p e w e l l a n d w o r l d r e n e w a l ⫺1 0 ⫹1 demonstrated for the Hopewell site. The contents then would be primarily the remains of laying-in warrants and mourning gifts, both personalty-mourning gift and specialized mourning gift types. Completing the grounding of the model will prepare the basis for arguing the nature of the relationship that linked the Turner and Hopewell sites. the conj oined mound The Conjoined Mound is found in the southeast sector of the Great Enclosure (fig. 2.11). Its depiction in figure 19.1 is somewhat idealized . According to Greber, the relative positioning of Mounds 3 and 4 is slightly skewed and not 90⬚ as shown here.1 However, the axis is oriented in a slightly east of north direction. Mound 3 is the southernmost and Mound 14 is the northernmost component. According to the plan design, if a line were drawn through the approximate centers of Mound 3 and Mound 14, it would roughly divide this complex into mirror-image halves. The component floors covered by these mounds are defined by low flat conjoined stone walls, reinforcing the notion that these floors were part of a single, complex structure. Each floor had one or more defined burning areas: stone hearths, burnt clay areas, altars showing signs of burning, and/or linked pits, tunnels, and flues displaying marks of sometimes intensive fire. The floor of Mound 3 (fig. 19.2) is about 34 m in diameter (100 feet). It is one of the two largest of these conjoined floors and it displays the most complex set of ritual burning features. The oblong floor of Mound 4 (fig. 19.3), about 36 m by 21 m (108 feet by 60 feet, is second only to the floor of Mound 3 in complexity of activity areas. Before focusing on these two floors, the features on the other floors will be briefly summarized in order to demonstrate that the core symbolic pragmatic meanings of all these floors were probably very similar. The floor of Mound 5 (fig. 19.1) had four rectangular altars arranged in a vertical sequence, indicating that the floor was added to during its usehistory . The floor of Mound 6 had a circular altar and three rectangular Name /uap04/22015_u19 04/28/04 01:55PM Plate # 0-Composite pg 447 # 3 c o n t...