Archaeological Site Report:
The Hayden Site
Chesterfield, Missouri
Late Archaic |
3,000 – 600
BC |
Introduction: The Hayden Site was named for local home builder Dennis Hayden. While preparing to build the Countryside at Chesterfield subdivision, near Long Rd. and Wildhorse Creek Rd., Mr. Hayden noticed numerous artifact collectors digging at the site. Worried that these looters (people who dig up and steal artifacts) were destroying a possible ancient archaeological site, Mr. Hayden contacted Joseph Harl, an archaeologist at UM–St. Louis. Police kept looters off the site, while Mr. Harl and his team of archaeologists moved into action. Mr. Hayden's phone call saved an important site. Furthermore, he payed for the entire excavation.
Joseph Harl led a team of 14 archaeology students from both University of Missouri–St. Louis and Washington University in excavating the Hayden Site. In this photo, which appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, a student is sifting excavated soil through a mesh screen to look for artifacts: stone, bone, plants, etc.
The excavations were conducted between April 30 and July 30 in 1993. Mr. Harl and his team uncovered a large village dating to 2,300–1,900 BC, a part of the Late Archaic Period. Evidence indicated that this village may have been occupied year-round, which marked a major cultural change.
The much earlier Paleoindians were almost always on the move following large animals through their seasonal migrations. After these animals became extinct, people still lived a life on the move. However, where and when they traveled was based on how they could best obtain their resources within the change of seasons. Gradually, as they became better and better at obtaining resources, they traveled within a smaller and smaller territory and lived at each place for longer and longer periods of time. The ability of the villagers at the Hayden Site to live in one place year-round was a significant cultural achievement.
The People of the Late-Archaic Period: 3,000–600 BC. Scientists think that most people of this period rotated through two to three different camps throughout the change of seasons:
Some villages, like the Hayden Site village, were able to stay in one place all year. As time progressed, more and more people adopted this practice, eventually leading to long term villages and even large cities in the periods that followed. How did the Hayden Site village accomplish this?
Researchers think they did this by practicing specialization of tasks. In earlier cultures every individual within a group performed every type of task. During the warm seasons, the entire village moved to their river camp and engaged in hunting, fishing, gathering and other tasks. In fall, they moved again to the upland forests, where everyone performed the necessary tasks, including the harvesting and processing of nuts. In winter, they moved again to a deer hunting camp along forest edges.
The people at the Hayden Site village began to specialize in certain tasks. The village stayed at its upland location, situated along a gently sloping hillside, above Bonhomme Creek. Rather than relocate the entire village, it may have sent out smaller special function groups to each of the seasonal camps at the appropriate season.
Note: In the map shown above, only the Hayden Site (shown in orange) was excavated. The Deer Hunting Camp and the Fishing Camp were added to the map only to show where special function camps may have been located. No special function camps associated with the Hayden Site have been excavated.
The Hayden Site may have been occupied year-round, while using several offsite special function camps. For instance a small group of people specializing in fishing may have been sent out to a fishing camp during warm seasons. Another may have camped at a site along the edge of the forest and prairie to hunt deer. This use of special function groups eliminated the need to move the entire village from season to season. This was more efficient and may have left them with the time to produce more stone blades than they needed, which they could trade to groups living in areas without good quality flint.
Trade: Researchers have speculated that deposits of good quality flint (a special type of stone used for tools and weapons) allowed the people of the Hayden Site village to make excess tools that were traded to outside groups for special items that were not available locally. Certain members of this community may have specialized in flint-knapping (making tools from stone) long, thin blades for use as spear points or knives. Evidence indicates they may have traded these blades to other groups living in southern Missouri and Illinois. Evidence of exotic materials such as hematite, galena, rhyolite, granite, steatite and certain non-local flint, support this theory.
Late Archaic Technology: The Paleoindians hunted small and large game using spears tipped with flint Clovis points. Sometime after the disappearance of large game, such as mastodon and long horned bison, people seemed to prefer a different type of weapon, called an atlatl or spear thrower. The atlatl was a wooden stick that acted to extend the arm of the person throwing it, allowing spears to be thrown farther.
Evidence found at the Hayden Site indicated they probably hunted using the atlatl. The evidence for the use of the atlatl is shown below. The tool sketched from the front and side, located at the bottom of the drawing is called a bannerstone. It is thought to have been attached to atlatls as a counter-weight.
The tool sketched at the top of the drawing (above) is a granite axe. This would have been bound to a wooden handle (below) and used to chop down trees. This axe is on display at Chesterfield City Hall.
Shown below is archaeologist Joseph Harl, holding an axe from the Faust Family Collection. This collection was donated to Shenandoah Elementary School, in Chesterfield and is on display inside their school entrance. Mr. Harl kindly donated his time to analyze and date the collection.
Jewelry from the Hayden Site village: C, D, & E are gorget fragments. Gorgets are thought to have hung around a person's neck from a string, as a decorative necklace. F is a granite bead, and G is a clay bead. Both would have been used as part of decorative jewelry.
Above: The Hayden Site village was situated atop this hillside, above Bonhomme Creek. The creek eroded away soil exposing deposits of high quality flint. This flint, along with nuts available for harvest in fall, may have been key factors in the villagers' selection of this site.
The Hayden Site Village: What Did They Eat?
Evidence of plant and animal remains was discovered in numerous storage and food preparation pits at the Hayden Site. Skeletal evidence of deer indicates that venison was part of the inhabitant's diet.
Archaeologist Patti Wright analyzed the dietary plant remains of the site. Nuts such as hickory, walnut, oak and hazelnut appeared to have made up a significant part of their diet. Evidence of tubers or roots was discovered leading researchers to include them in the Hayden site diet as well. The amount of evidence was small, however, since tubers are generally consumed raw or only slightly roasted, and there would be very little evidence surviving their immediate preparation and consumption. Starchy seeds such as goosefoot and oily seeds such as giant ragweed also were part of the diet. Fruits such as persimmon and grape were included as well.
Summary:
For More Information: