Archaeological Site Report:
River Bend Elementary School Site
Chesterfield, Missouri
| Late Woodland | AD 300 – 800 |
Introduction: Chesterfield resident and amateur archaeologist Richard Martens discovered and excavated a Late Woodland Period (AD 300–800) village during construction of the River Bend Elementary School in 1968. The bow & arrow, a significant technological innovation, appeared during the Late Woodland Period. The use of pottery, which appeared in some parts of Missouri during the Late Archaic Period (3,000–600 BC), was used throughout the State during the Late Woodland Period. Pottery was another significant innovation. Evidence uncovered from ten ancient storage/trash pits showed that the villagers of the River Bend Elementary School Site used both of these innovations.
Looking through ancient trash—it's the pits! Ancient people dug and used a number of different types of earthen pits: cooking, storage, and trash. Often times a pit dug for cooking or storage was later used for trash. Archaeologists can learn a great deal about ancient people through analyzing the contents of such pits.
Ten pits were excavated from the River Bend Elementary School village. The contents of the pits included:
New Technology: the bow & arrow. During the Late Woodland Period people began hunting with the bow & arrow. This innovation provided greater accuracy than the atlatl (spear thrower). This greater accuracy may have enabled hunters to obtain the meat they needed with less time and effort. Perhaps fewer hunters were needed to supply villages with meat. This could have freed people up to specialize in other tasks.
New Technology: pottery & gardening. The making of pottery that began during the end of the Late Archaic Period (3,000–600 BC) in some parts of the state, appears to have become widespread by the Middle Woodland Period (AD 150–300). Its use continued during the Late Woodland Period. It was made from clay that was dug along the banks of rivers and creeks. The use of pottery may have aided in the start of gardening, providing the ability to store seeds and transport water. The bulk of the Woodland diet was still provided by hunting animals and gathering edible plans. Growing crops was an important addition—particularly the ability to dry and store crops for use during the winter months when hunting and gathering were less fruitful.
Below is a large cooking pot from the River Bend School Site. Mr. Martens carefully pieced together the broken pieces and was able to determine that it would have held over 3 gallons.
Late Woodland People: What Did They Eat? Deer bone and dockweed seeds where found at the River Bend Elementary School Site. Another Late Woodland site was uncovered at the Hayden Site. The Hayden Site is best known for the large Late Archaic village that also was excavated at the site. Evidence of hoes and plant remains from the Late Woodland part of the site showed they practiced gardening. Their diet also included nuts, squash, maygrass seeds and barely. A Middle Woodland site was excavated at Creve Coeur Park in 1953. Over 1,000 bone fragments were uncovered. The most common species were deer, turtles and raccoon. Lesser quantities of squirrel, muskrat, bobcat, beaver, duck, turkey, fish and mussels were also represented. Nut remains included walnut, hazelnut and hickory.
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