Web Page: The People
Who were the first Americans to live at the East Steubenville site? Since the
1930s, stone tools and shell middens found at the site confirmed that Native
Americans had lived there, but little more was known about the people
themselves.
THEIR REMAINS
During the excavations in 1999-2000, archaeologists discovered human
skeletal remains in six prehistoric burials on the site. These graves were
mostly shallow pits, dug into the flanks of the ridgespur, in which the
deceased were laid to rest with their knees and hands drawn up to their
chests. Field drawings of Feature 37 and Feature 46 show how these people
were buried. We found no grave goods with these burials, perhaps
suggesting simple ceremonies by the kin of the deceased.
Ryan: Please hyperlink Feature 37 and Feature 46 to Figures by Eric
Scuoteguazza (to follow).
Feature 37
Caption:
Field drawing of burial found in Feature 37, male, lying on left side. This
individual died between 45 and 55 years of age. He showed evidence of
arthritis in his back and had suffered a broken foot that later healed.
Feature 46
Caption:
Feature 46 burial, female, lying on left side, hands placed over her face.
This woman’s age at death was 35-45 years. Her remains showed much
evidence of arthritis, both in her back and limbs.
Insert Artist’s Concept Drawing (forthcoming). You decide how to do this—
whether as a visible page graphic or watermark. Plus there is considerable
text to accompany it. If it is hyperlinked, can we add this much (the
following) text?
Concept Caption: A Panhandle Archaic burial ceremony, 4,260 years ago,
as it might have taken place when the family of the woman found in Feature
46 laid her to rest. Perhaps using deer bone digging tools, the family dug a
shallow pit and placed the woman on her left side, arranging her hands over
her face. Her body was then carefully covered over with soil.
THEIR APPEARANCE
Study of the Native American remains from these burials tells us about who
these people were and what their lives were like. Sexing of the skeletal
remains revealed that both men and women were buried at the site. Life was
not long by modern standards: these Native Americans died between the
ages of 20 and 55 years. Measurements of skeletal remains showed that
although they were long-legged in their body proportions, their stature was
somewhat shorter than today. The male found in Feature 37 stood about five
feet, five inches tall, while the woman buried in Feature 46 measured about
five feet in height.
LIVES IN HARD LABOR
The human remains showed that these people suffered a variety of ailments
and injuries during their lives. Arthritis in the back, hands and feet, was
common, reflecting lives spent hunting, fishing and gathering food in a
rugged landscape, and nearly constant travel between campsites, carrying all
of their possessions.
The older Native Americans at the East Steubenville site also suffered from
severely worn teeth, probably from a diet of shellfish, plants or other foods
with large amounts of grit. However, because of this hunter-gatherer diet,
tooth cavities were rare; Late Prehistoric Native Americans suffered far
more from tooth decay because of a starchy diet based on corn.
THEIR IDENTITY
The skeletal remains from East Follansbee also tell us about the biological
relationships of these people to other prehistoric groups in North America.
The question is important because new discoveries of prehistoric human
remains have recently led scientists to suggest several scenarios for
European and Asian groups peopling North America 15,000-30,000 years
ago. Dr. Sciulli concluded from skull measurements that the Follansbee
visitors were distinct from European populations and most closely resembled
other Asian-descended Native American groups who lived in Eastern North
America during the last 10,000 years.