Browsing by Author "Henry, Edward R., advisor"

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Open Access
Circles, birds, and soil: experience across the itinerary of Pinson's Eastern Enclosure
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2024) Kitteringham, Lia G., author; Henry, Edward R., advisor; Van Buren, Mary, committee member; Harry, Dennis, committee member
The Eastern Precinct of Pinson Mounds State Archaeological Park in Tennessee encompasses Middle Woodland earthworks including the large Eastern Enclosure, Mound 29, and Mound 30. A paucity of investigation in comparison to other parts of the site has left large gaps in our understanding of these features and their relationships to the rest of Pinson and the Middle Woodland Southeast and Midwest. To address these gaps, I apply geophysical and geoarchaeological techniques to reconstruct the itinerary of this landform. Both North American Indigenous and Western perspectives on mnemonic landscapes, places, and experiences in relation to earthworks like the Eastern Enclosure are evaluated to form an interpretive framework for this data. My findings include the assertion that Pinson's Mound 30 is a bird effigy mound, that the Eastern Enclosures itinerary progresses from activities before earthmoving to preparatory removal of A-Horizon soils across its extent, through several phases of construction and continues with meaningful interactions between person and place even after earthworks are completed. This research also enables me to compare this landscape temporally, spatially, and morphologically to other enclosures across the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee River Valleys during the Middle Woodland period.
Open Access
Peter Village and the delineation of space: new research at an unusual enclosure in central Kentucky
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) DeSanto, Carly M., author; Henry, Edward R., advisor; Van Buren, Mary, committee member; Choi, Jane, committee member; Carman, Scott, committee member
After over a century of research, archaeologists still identify one of the most important characteristics of the Early and Middle Woodland Period in the Middle Ohio Valley region as the construction, maintenance, and use of small geometric ditch-and-embankment earthen enclosures. However, the Peter Village site (15Fa166), located in Fayette County, Kentucky, is a ditch-and-embankment earthen enclosure that is both non-geometric and unusually large. Past archaeological summaries of Peter Village have classified it as an example of a non-mortuary site in the region, though its exact purpose remains unknown. Recent archaeological research I conducted on this atypical enclosure includes analyses of LiDAR-derived topographic visualizations, subsurface geophysical surveys, soil cores, and the construction of a new radiocarbon chronology that employs Bayesian statistical modeling. The result of my work provides new insights into the delineation of space at Peter Village. My data indicate that a second, previously undefined, embankment likely exists exterior to the ditch. There is also evidence from my geophysical imagery that shows the enclosure's entrance and associated linear features in the southern, interior portion of the site. Finally, new radiocarbon data suggests that Peter Village is potentially one of the earliest examples of a ditch-and-embankment enclosure in the Middle Ohio Valley region. Using these new diverse datasets collected via multiple geoarchaeological methods, I argue that enclosure features like those present at Peter Village require us to reconsider their early monumental nature. Moreover, the identification of multiple embankments forces us to reconsider changes in the delineation of space at the site. Peter Village serves as an important example of how a multi-scalar archaeological investigation can expand upon previous archaeological research.