RARE Native American pendent found as crew digs Ohio trench

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

CINCINNATI (AP) -- A rare Native American pendant dating to the fifth century has been discovered by a crew doing utility work in southwest Ohio.

The suburban Cincinnati village of Newtown and the Cincinnati Museum Center say a shell pendant called a gorget (GOR'-jit) was recently found amid Native American human remains and artifacts uncovered while a crew dug a trench. The decorative pendant is engraved with an unidentified animal.

Archaeologists hope studying the pendant will teach them more about the early portion of the late Woodland period and the people who lived in the area.

An archaeology curator at the museum says gorgets with animal depictions are rare and there are only about eight of that style and period in the United States.


Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NATIVE_AMERICAN_ARTIFACT_OHIO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-03-01-15-30-10

[indie9197]

1. no pics? eom

[enlightenment]

2. Here you go.

http://www.archaeology.org/news/3048-150227-ohio-shell-gorget

[blackspade]

3. Cool, but I'm more interested in the context that the gorget itself.

Where was the artifact in relation to the burial? What other material was present?
Were there other features associated with the burial?
Was additional excavation carried out?

This is one of the issues I have with reporting related to archaeology.
It seems to rely on "oh, shiny" rather that actual context and meaning, you know, the science part....

[CountAllVotes]

5. The tribe that lived in this part of Ohio needs to be identified

If possible it needs to be returned (by law) to the tribe that lived in this part of Ohio at this time if this is possible.

It is an interesting item no doubt and I too (as an archaeologist) would like to know what the answers are to the questions that your pose.

[blackspade]

6. NAGPRA definitely applies in this case...

But it will be a modern tribe that will claim it.
None of the modern tribes existed in their current form, if at all, during the Middle and Late Woodland Period.
Fort Ancient groups superseded the Woodland groups centuries before the modern tribes formed.
That is not to say that they don't have a legal claim to their potentially distant cultural heritage, but they are not the same groups that inhabited this area during the Woodland Period.

All that said, the most likely tribes to claim the burial artifacts and skeletal remains would be the Seneca, Shawnee, Miami, and Cherokee. There are others, but these tribes usually take the lead in these cases due to their comparatively strong position dealing with the Feds.

[MissMarple]

8. Thank you for the information.

I have been wondering about the movement of people and groups over time in North America because there were such huge migrations of people, well pretty much every where. I think that just because you have been on the land for quite a bit does not mean you own the bones and the things that come with the land. How very interesting things become from our nomadic and searching nature, but can any one group own these things?

[blackspade]

11. Technically, by law, they do own them.

Unfortunately, this sometimes results in a loss of scientific data, but on the other hand it does empower Native Americans, a positive result in the long run.

I also didn't mean to imply that there was no connection between woodland and modern groups. There likely is a distant connection although it is very difficult to make. It's rather like connecting modern day Germans to the Celtic la Tene culture. There is likely a connection, but it's thin.

The law reflects an unfortunate interaction that archaeologists and anthropologists (among others) have had with Native American groups over the last century and a half. Their sacred sites and burials have been systematically looted for museum, university, and private collections in addition to their land being stolen. This has left a lasting suspicion that scientists are not to be trusted. A good book that summarizes a lot of these issues is "Skull Wars".

[No Vested Interest]

7. This area in Newtown Ohio has long been the site of finding many

Last edited Mon Mar 2, 2015, 02:06 PM - Edit history (1)

Native artifacts, including another gorget with an animal etched into it.
An Indian mound is also nearby, and there were a number of mounds in the general area, including one still extant in Norwood, Ohio, and another, since removed, in downtown Cincinnati.
It is believed the group responsible for these artifacts were gone from the area about 600 years ago.

[Quackers]

10. It's a little older but don't forget Serpent Mound.

It's about 50 miles east of Newtown.

[No Vested Interest]

12. You're correct .- O believe it's in Adams County;

I was going to mention it, but I don't think I ever been there.
Beautiful from above.
Reminds one of sites recently discovered in South America, in or near Peru.

[littlemissmartypants]

9. Very cool. nt