Darla Spencer

A discussion of the Fort Ancient Culture of West Virginia. (Author Darla Spencer is a little cautious in using the term “culture”, noting that it usually applies to a single ethnic group and that there is some evidence that multiple ethnic groups were involved). Most of the book is a listing of archaeological sites where elements of the Fort Ancient Culture have been found; many were heavily collected by amateurs long before professional archaeologists came on the scene, and other were found in construction projects where “salvage archaeology” was necessary. The Fort Ancient Culture dates from Late Prehistoric to Protohistoric (from around AD1000 to AD1700). The youngest Fort Ancient sites sometimes have European trade goods – glass or copper beads – but these were likely acquired from other Native Americans rather than direct contact with Europeans.

The Fort Ancient people seem to have been like everybody else, based on the scanty remains; they fought wars (some of the skeletons recovered have multiple embedded arrow points); they mourned their dead, especially children (who were often buried with extensive grave goods); and they went about their lives hunting and fishing and farming and smoking. They favored a kind of jewelry called “marine shell gorgets”, with a pattern carved into a shell that came from the distant coast. It’s not clear how or if they are related to other native peoples; burials and grave goods have been given to the Seneca Nation.

A quick and easy read, and informative. The long lists of sites and recovered artifacts might have gotten boring but Ms. Spencer managed to keep me interested.… (meer)