Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Ancient pottery find in Onalaska leads to more questions
 pottery that was found at an Onalaska dig.Dick Riniker photo |
ONALASKA, Wis. - While pieces of pottery found in an ancient refuse pit here last week are the first ever local link to the legendary prehistoric city of Cahokia, they are providing local archaeologists with more questions than answers.
The Cahokia-style pottery was found at a dig along with artifacts from the area's late Woodland people, conducted by the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said archaeologist Robert "Ernie" Boszhardt.
The pottery can be dated to about 1100, he said, which was a time when Cahokia was in its heyday with a population of between 10,000 and 20,000. Cahokia is in Collinsville, Ill., eight miles from East St. Louis - the largest and only known prehistoric Indian settlement north of Mexico.
While discoveries are ongoing at Cahokia, which now is a state park and a National Historic Landmark, Boszhardt said much is becoming known about that culture, which had a chieftain-based society, was involved in trade and probably had a complex form of religion.
Boszhardt said the design on the Cahokia pottery, "a forked eye," a sign of power, was related to rituals.
It was found in an undisclosed location in Onalaska - in a refuse pit with other evidence such as dog and fish bones, suggesting a ritual feast. Dog meat was eaten during feasting by some tribes, he said.
But now come the questions, Boszhardt said, likening the dig to a mystery.
"How did this pottery, which, from its design is definitely from Cahokia, get here? he said. "Was it brought up by people seeking to colonize here, as part of trading or even by missionaries from there?"
Boszhardt said the idea of missionaries could be a valid one, as it is possible the people of Cahokia wanted to spread the word of their way of life.
When the pottery with the outline of an eye with two rays coming out of it - a forked eye, Boszhardt said, was found, it was broken, the piece with the rays on it had broken away.
"At first we thought maybe we had the letter D," he said, gently rolling the highly polished brownish-black repaired piece over in his hand, his fingers curving to block out the rays, leaving only the eye, when tipped on its side, did look like a letter from our alphabet.
The Woodland pottery found with it is much more decorative, featuring lines and dots all over its sides.
The pottery from the two cultures also is different in that the Woodland people used a rock mixture for their medium, the Cahokia pottery had clam shells mixed in it.
Another first time find here was that of an ear spool, a circular rock attached to the ear lobe to stretch it, Boszhardt said.
"The ear spool is made of purple pipestone that comes from the Baraboo area. Ear spools like this have also been found at Cahokia," he noted.
Boszhardt said an archaeological find is like a crime scene in that it's very important to see everything in the context in which it was found.
"With these things, the context was everything," he said. "Because it was found all together in a refuse pit, it was like in a time capsule. That allowed us to date it," he said. "If it had all been moved around, we wouldn't have been able to do that."
Linda McAlpine can be reached at (608) 791-8220 or lmcalpine@lacrossetribune.com
To learn more about the Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, call (608) 785-8463 or go to www.uwlax.edu/mvac.
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