No abstract

Additional information has been identified concerning a fired-clay human figurine analyzed and reported by Bebber and colleagues (2018). Despite this figurine having been discovered within a box labeled “Hopewell Figurine—Hopeton Earthworks,” they argue against a Hopewellian affiliation based on Thermoluminescence (TL) dating, a comparative study, and the inability to firmly establish the specimen’s provenience. A rediscovered letter from Olaf Prufer offers a new site of origin and a more complete chain of custody, which is partially corroborated by photographs curated at the Ohio History Connection and a 1925 Boston Evening Transcript article. With this new information, we dispute Bebber and colleagues’ (2018) interpretation of the figurine’s acquisition, its alleged site of origin, and the conclusions of their comparative analysis. This case study does not support their call for more rigorous authentication of collector-acquired objects; rather, it documents the difficulty in reestablishing the provenience of objects once they have become disassociated.

Over the past 160 years Woodland period earthworks and mounds along the main valleys of the Great and Little Miami rivers in southwestern Ohio have received considerable archaeological attention in contrast to those along the secondary tributaries of these drainages. This study examines Twin Creek, a secondary tributary of the Great Miami River, in an attempt to synthesize existing information on Woodland period archaeological sites located on this drainage. Of interest is whether earthworks and mounds form clusters at regularly spaced intervals from one another and/or at certain topographical situations. Major Woodland period sites identified by investigators in the nineteenth and early twentieth century are reexamined to see whether these sites still exist, and if so, how they have been impacted by historic disturbances over the past 200 years. In addition, the results of recent fieldwork and survey on Woodland period sites along Twin Creek are presented.