Little Freeman Cave, MO (23PU565) Project

Bonnie Styles

Little Freeman Cave, MO (23PU565) Project

Summary

Little Freeman Cave (23PU565) is a large cave (25 m x 28 m with a current ceiling height of 6 m) situated in the oak-hickory forest on the south facing bluff overlooking the Big Piney River in the Central Ozark Highland in the Fort Leonard Wood military reservation in Pulaski County, Missouri. Phase II testing at the site in 1996 and more extensive excavations in 1997 by the Illinois State Museum (under the direction of Dr. Steven Ahler), under contract with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Vicksburg District), yielded abundant, well preserved faunal remains. Faunal remains were collected through dry-screening through 1/4 inch mesh and collection of unscreened flotation samples. The flotation samples were water processed using 1/16 inch mesh for the recovery of the heavy fraction, which included the faunal remains. Selected flotation samples were screened in the lab through 1/4" screen to create > 1/4 inch and < 1/4 inch fractions, which were tabulated separately. Test Units 1 (Slope Zone and Lower Tier Area) and 2 (upper Tier Area) excavated in 1996 yielded bone and shell associated with historic, Late Woodland, Middle Archaic, and pre-Middle Archaic activities. Test Units 3 (upper Tier Area), 4 (Rock Removal Area), 5 (Dripline Area), and 8 (Northwest Area) excavated in 1997 yielded faunal remains associated with Late Woodland, Middle Woodland-Late Archaic, Late Archaic, Middle Archaic, and Early Archaic activities. Bonnie Styles of the Illinois State Museum directed the analysis of the vertebrate fauna, and Dr. Robert Warren (Illinois State Museum) analyzed the freshwater mussels. Karli White (Illinois State Museum) identified the vertebrate faunal remains, and Dr. Styles verified identifications for most fish and some birds. Given financial and temporal constraints flotation samples from the 1997 excavations of Test Units 3, 4, 5, and 8 were scanned to see what they would add to the interpretations based on the 1/4" dry screening.

The Archaic occupations appear to represent short-term, generalized domestic activities.

Cite this Record

Little Freeman Cave, MO (23PU565) Project. ( tDAR id: 400807) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8CC1284

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Archaic • Early Archaic • Late Archaic • Late Woodland • Middle Archaic • Middle Woodland

Material
Fauna

Site Name
Little Freeman Cave

Site Type
Artifact Scatter • Cave • Cave habitation site • Encampment • Hearth • Midden • Pit • Refuse Pit • Sheet Midden • Trash Midden

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Environment Research • Heritage Management • Site Evaluation / Testing

General
Faunal Analysis (Prehistoric)

Geographic Keywords
Big Piney River, Missouri • Ozark Highlands • Prairie Peninsula

Temporal Keywords
Early Archaic • Late Archaic • Late Archaic-Middle Woodland • Late Woodland • Middle Archaic

Temporal Coverage

Radiocarbon Date: 8190 to 8030 (uncorrected RCYBP, ISGS-3535, Stratum 4, Upper Tier Area (Test Unit 3, level 8), Early Archaic)

Radiocarbon Date: 5520 to 5300 (uncorrected RCYBP, ISGS3544, Strata 3-4-4B, Northwest Area (Test Unit 8), late Middle Archaic to Late Archaic component)

Radiocarbon Date: 8161 to 8101 (uncorrected RCYBP, Stratum 3-Middle (Test Unit 3, Level 6, Bag 147), Upper Tier Area, bison bone, date is older than the late Middle Archaic cultural assignment for this level, but Stratum 4 in this unit yielded the date of 8110 plus or minus 80 RCYBP)

Radiocarbon Date: 7580 to 7320 (uncorrected RCYBP, ISGS-3542, Stratum 3, Upper Tier (Test Unit 6, level 9), early Middle Archaic)

Radiocarbon Date: 4190 to 4050 (uncorrected RCYBP, ISGS 3539, Feature 4, top of Stratum 3, Test Unit 7, Upper Tier, Late Archaic)

Radiocarbon Date: 9330 to 8870 (uncorrected RCYBP, ISGS-3538, Stratum 1, Rock Removal Area (Test Unit 4), Early Archaic)

Spatial Coverage

min long: -92.505; min lat: 37.71 ; max long: -92.417; max lat: 37.733 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Mona Colburn

Contributor(s): Robert Warren; Karli White

Field Director(s): Steven R. Ahler

Project Director(s): Bonnie Styles

Source Collections

US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory 2902 Newmark Dr, Champaign, IL 61822

Little Freeman Cave, MO (23PU565) Project

Summary

Cite this Record

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Source Collections

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Datasets

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Little Freeman Cave, MO (23PU565) Project

Summary

Cite this Record

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Source Collections

Add to a Collection

Included as part of :

Resources Inside this Project (Viewing 1-51 of 51)

Datasets

Coding Sheets