Feasting at a World Center Shrine: Paleoethnobotanical and Micromorphological Investigations of a Woodhenge Earth Oven

Abstract

Earth ovens are a ubiquitous feature of eastern North America, used throughout many cultures and periods, leaving a highly visible signature of habitational life. This study focusses on one of the four uniquely outsized earth ovens from the center of a woodhenge at Hopewell Mound Group, the type site of the Hopewell culture. Cleaned of artifacts and fire-cracked rock, this feature required specialized analysis to shed light on its function: macrobotanical methods of seed identification and wood charcoal analysis along with phytolith and soil micromorphological analysis. These analyses create a holistic picture of the earth oven, the woodhenge, and the nature of feasting and ritual at Hopewell Mound Group, along with a snapshot of the paleoenvironment. Results show ritual use of ash wood (Fraxinus sp.), Eastern Agricultural Complex seeds seasonally timed with a summer solstice ritual, and grass leaf phytoliths deposited deeper than the surrounding natural strata. Feasting at this site seems to be focused on feeding large numbers of people, as opposed to a small set of competitive elites.