Articles and Abstracts 2024

by Tara Bostater and Metin I. Eren

This report describes a collection of lithic artifacts recovered from Northwestern Ohio which were donated to the Oak Harbor Public Library. Here we provide artifact types, chert types, basic measurements, and images. We also identify the time periods these artifacts potentially represent, which spans the entire Holocene, and the chert types these artifacts are produced from, which represent both local and non-local toolstones.

by Kevin R. Schwarz

This current research article involves controlled surface collection and analysis of a cobble chert quarry/workshop site in Brown County. The Yates site, 33BR154, is one of 29 sites associated with the expansion of the Brown County Landfill, near Georgetown in southwest Ohio. The Yates site is a habitation site and a low-intensity prehistoric quarry where Native Americans exploited glacial chert cobbles, which consisted of Bisher or Brassfield cherts. This study undertook a chaine operatoire analysis and spatial statistical analysis designed to understand the lithic tool production strategies at play at this site. It was shown through these analyses that technological choices were enacted that resulted in the production of bifacial tools, but also expediently produced flake tools. The study provides a window on the complexities of prehistoric decision-making and agency within a technical productive system.

Keywords

Chert quarry, lithic workshop, Bisher chert, Brassfield chert, chaine operatoire, spatial statistics, Local Indicator of Spatial Association, LISA, trend surface, technological choice, agency theory, gearing up.

by Metin I. Eren, et al.

Northwest Ohio possesses a rich archaeological record spanning more than 13,000 years. Thus, when sediment and climate scientists began testing at the Portage River and Crane Creek field sites, they wanted to make sure they were not disturbing cultural resources. To assess this possibility, Kent State archaeologists conducted minimally invasive test excavations at these two locations. The results, which yielded no archaeological remains, are consistent with the conclusion that there are no substantial cultural resources at Portage River or Crane Creek sites.