Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Post date: Mar 28, 2017 12:45:11 AM

On Wednesday we had Glen Boatman come up from Ohio to do a presentation entitled: What is the Extend of Hopewell in North Central Ohio.

His report was mostly based on the Esch Mounds Site which is 2 miles in from Lake Erie, along the Huron River in Erie County, Ohio. The Esch Mounds were a pair of conical burial mounds which produced many artifacts that are representative of the Hopewell culture. This site is most famously known for the alligator effigy pipe the was found there; the pipe is shaped like an alligator's head.

There were also silver wrapped pan pipes that had their origins in Cobalt Ontario showing connections to this side of the border.

There are several sites in the area all Hopewellian in origin, as well as several early and middle Woodland sites.

The Esch Mounds have produced pottery shards that are indicative of a new pottery style that have been named Metz Transitional Pottery Style. Its most distinctive characteristic and telling trait is the rolled over rim with thicknesses of five to twelve millimetres. The shape of the pottery changed over time as well, going from more round to becoming more elongated vertically over time. The Metz Transitional Pottery Style is often compared to McGraw ware and Wayne ware, however it predates them by fifty to one hundred years.

The site produced many points, bladelets and pottery shards and there is more to be excavated on these mounds, so much more has yet to be discovered.