Testing a Possible Feasting Context at an Early Fort Ancient Village: A Zooarchaeological Analysis from the Turpin Site in Southwest Ohio

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Turpin site (33Ha19) reflects the remains of an early Fort Ancient (ca. AD 1000-1300) village located near the confluence of the Little Miami and Ohio Rivers on the east side of modern-day Cincinnati, Ohio. Recent excavations at Turpin revealed evidence of habitation, midden, and possible special purpose contexts. One large pit (Feature 100) dated between cal. AD 1223 - 1276 contained a notably high concentration of artifacts, including the remnants of decorated shell tempered vessels, mussel shells, adornments, and the remains of a variety of animals. The density and nature of these deposits led to an initial interpretation that Feature 100 contains the remains of a feasting event. This project has two objectives focused on examining this hypothesis using animal remains. First, a zooarchaeological analysis is conducted using the Feature 100 assemblage to characterize the species deposited here. Then, this assemblage is compared to an equivalent sample from a contemporaneous midden context to determine whether Feature 100 reflects the secondary deposition of feasting debris or if it is just a larger pit used for everyday disposal. This comparison provides insight into Fort Ancient subsistence practices and has the potential to reveal elements of feasting in an early agricultural village.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39577.0