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Terrell Martin

I recently came across an artifact col-lection from the Waverly site (23lf1),

a Middle Woodland settlement in westcentral Missouri. This intensively occupied site is located on the Missouri River bluffs of Lafayette County. I col-lected these artifacts over 40 years ago and had not closely examined them in decades.

The Waverly site is situated on an up-land ridge about 1.7 km to the south of the Missouri River floodplain in a setting where several ridge spurs merge. The site probably extends along some of the spurs, but these areas were not under cultivation when the site was surveyed.

The site was originally reported to the Archaeological Survey of Missouri, prob-ably in the 1940s, by J. M. “Buster” Crick, who lived in the Lafayette County com-munity of Corder. He reported a Middle Woodland site which had been cultivated for years and noted a “Pottery scatter over the area.” He illustrated sherds that had cross-hatching or dentate-stamping on the rim and sketched outlines of corner-notched points similar to those that I recovered. He summarized his collection from the site as including 16 celts, 1 cigar box of hematite pieces and sandstone, 5 cigar boxes of scrapers, 11 hoes, and 9 well-worked blades.

Crick reported a mound toward the center of the site which was about 60 ft in diameter, 1.5 ft in height, and “eroded down until it is hard to see.” Property owner Jack Peters remembered that plow-ing had exposed a large area with char-coal. He also said that local artifact collectors had called the site the “best arrowhead field in the county.” The site is also known as the “Buck Orchards site” in reference to previous owners.

The site was discussed by Heldman (1973) in his mas-ters thesis, which was a study of the cultural relationship of Missouri Middle Woodland to Illinois Hopewell. He thought the Waverly site “could be valuable in attempting to determine whether both localities were part of one cul-tural development, or whether both were separate develop-ments” (Heldman 1963:56).

The Waverly Site (23LF1)A Middle Woodland Settlement in Westcentral Missouri

I visited the site twice during the spring of 1970. The site was well washed after spring plowing, creating optimal survey conditions. However, footprints indicated the site had been previously collected. During one of the visits to the site, an artifact collector was observed excavating a nearly complete ceramic vessel that had been exposed by cultivation. I observed a moderately heavy surface scatter of artifacts and collected lithic tools, including several pro-jectile points, and numerous decorated sherds.

I revisited the site during the spring of 2011 to check the condition and attempt to relocate the mound and charcoal

Figure 1. Projectile points/hafted bifaces from the Waverly site (see Table 1 for artifact descriptions).

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The Waverly Site (23LF1)A Middle Woodland Settlement in Westcentral Missouri

concentration. A debitage sample, additional lithic tools, and ceramics were collected.

At the time I visited the site, it had recently received over an inch of rain and had not been walked over by local collectors. The northeast portion was no longer under cultivation. Ground visibility was optimal (about 95%), except for an area of about two acres on the central portion where gravel and asphalt covered the surface. The cultural deposits in this area had been impacted by the staging of construction machinery, decades of cultivation, and agricultural terracing. This disturbed area now yielded few artifacts. I did recover a significant number of lithic tools over the less disturbed sloping portion of the site, but ceramics were thinly scattered on the surface and no concentrations of chert debitage were observed.

Artifacts

Material recovered from the site by the author consists of lithic artifacts and ceramic sherds (see Figures 1–5). No faunal material was observed on the surface, suggesting poor preservation conditions. Heldman (1963:68) also noted that bone and antler artifacts were not in the site samples collected by the members of the Missouri Archaeological Society and the University of Missouri staff that surveyed the site. All diagnostic artifacts are affiliated with the Middle Woodland period.

Lithic Artifacts

Diagnostic chert artifacts consist primarily of Manker, Steuben, and Snyders projectile point variants (Table 1, Figure 1). Steuben points differ from Manker points in having a longer stem, narrower blade, and more abbreviated

Table 1. Attributes of Projectile Points from the Waverly Site.

Point Type ChertThermally

Altered Comments

Snyders Burlington (?) Yes Highly crinoidal, rounded blade (Figure 1a)

Manker Unidentified No Tan and gray chert (Figure 1b)

Kings variant Burlington Yes Narrow corner notching (Figure 1c)

Side-notched Burlington No Highly crinoidal (Figure 1d)

Snyders/Manker Chouteau No Part of base missing (Figure 1e)

Expanding-stem Burlington Yes Blade shaped into drill/graver; displays use-wear (Figure 1f)

Manker Burlington Yes One blade margin reworked (Figure 1g)

Expanding-stem Burlington No Blade reworked into parallel margins (Figure 1h)

Manker Unknowna No Diagonal blade fracture (Figure 1i)

Manker/Steuben Burlington Yes Mozarkite variety of Burlington chert (Figure 1j)

Manker variant Burlington Yes Distal fracture shows retouching (Figure 1k)

Manker variant Burlington Yes Highly crinoidal; blade displays use-wear (Figure 1l)

Manker variant Burlington Yes One side of blade reworked; blade edge has use-wear

Manker Burlington Yes Base and broken blade reworked

Manker Burlington No Part of base missing; blade edges display use-wear

Manker/Steuben Burlington Yes Blade missing except for one shoulder

Manker Burlington Yes Distal portion missing

Manker Unidentified Yes Base and distal portion missing

Manker/Steuben Burlington Yes Reworked blade that displays use-wear

Manker (?) Burlington Yes Base and distal portion missing

Stemmed point Winterset No Reworked blade and distal portionaThis point appears to be made from either Winterset or Warsaw chert.

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shoulders. One complete point resembles the Kings corner-notched type (Figure 1c) which is generally associated with the latter part of the Middle Woodland period. Several of the projectile points are difficult to assign to a specific artifact type due to fractures or extensive reworking.

Twenty-two biface fragments, including eight distal portions (Figure 2g–h), four medial portions, and three

uncategorized examples were re-covered. Seven proximal portions consist of three with an excurvate base, three with a contracting stem, and one with a straight base. All of the bifaces were made from Burlington chert except for one proximal portion and one medial portion made from Winterset chert and one proxi-mal portion from Jefferson City chert. The site yielded a complete drill made from Winterset chert (Figure 2k) and a fragment of a drill made from Burlington chert (Figure 2j).

Other chert artifacts include eight bifacial scrapers and seven unifacial scrapers that exhibit retouch over much of the blade margins. The bifacial examples consist of three discoidal scrap-ers (Figures 2a–b), three with an asymmetrical blade (Figure 2c), one with a rectangular form (Figure 3d), and an ovate end/side scraper that appears to be a modi-fied projectile point (Figure 2e). All but two of the scrapers were made from Burlington chert. The exceptions consist of the rectan-gular specimen, which was made from an unidentified dark and light gray chert, and a symmetri-cal scraper made from Winterset chert. The seven unifacial scrap-ers, which have an elevated dorsal surface, include two small exam-ples with an irregular outline, one with a discoidal shape, and one with a rectangular shape (Fig-ure 2f). A fifth is an ovate end scraper. These five scrapers were made from Burlington chert. Two larger examples have cortex on the unifacial surface and were made from an unidentified chert that might represent glacial till.

A grab sample of 82 pieces of debitage was recovered from the

surface. Twenty-two of these were found to be retouched flakes. The site yielded only one blade that has a retouched end forming a rounded edge (Figure 2i).

The sample of groundstone artifacts consists of five pieces of ground hematite and a nodule of brown chal-cedony that appears to be Knife River flint. The nodule has a highly smoothed surface. It may represent a trade item

Figure 2. Miscellaneous lithic artifacts from the Waverly site: (a–b) discoidal scrapers; (c) asym-metrical scraper; (d, f) rectangular-shaped scrapers; (e) ovate scraper; (g–h) distal fragments from bifaces; (i) retouched blade; (j–k) drills.

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Figure 3. Rim sherds from the Waverly site: (a) cord-wrapped stick-impressed, noded, and dentate-stamped; (b, d, f–i, k) cross-hatched; (c) dentate-stamped; (e) diagonal-impressed; (j) plain.

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from the primary source for Knife River flint in southern North Dakota, although other secondary sources could be Missouri River gravel bars or regional glacial till. The Knife River flint I have observed in northern Missouri glacial till, however, occurs in flatter and smaller pieces than the Waverly specimen which weighs 57 g.

Ceramic Artifacts

A significant percentage of the sample of 27 rim sherds and 178 body sherds is decorated. The primary tempering agent is grit (crushed igneous material), although sand was commonly used as well. Occasionally, crushed limestone occurs in the paste and a few sherds appear to have grog tempering. It is notable that no cordmarked sherds were

recovered other than three body sherds w it h smoot hed-over cordmarkings (only faint evidence of impre s s ions). This is consistent with the ceramic samples studied by Heldman (1963:56); they contained no cordmarked sherds. The decorated ce-ramics are typical of the Middle Havana subperiod (a.d. 150–200) as defined by O’Brien and Wood (1998). Although the designs continued into the Late Ha-vana period, they were applied in a less controlled man-ner. The Middle Havana time span is associated with the “Hopewell f lo-rescence.” Chapman (1980:39, 41) men-tioned the Waverly site as one of several “Cla s s ic Midd le Woodland” sites in the Big Bend area of westcentral Mis-souri.

A tota l of 23 (85%) of the 27 rim sherds have exterior decorations, primar-ily rocker or dentate

stamping (Figures 4–5; Table 2). The rim sherds with dentate stamping, as well as those with plain tool or cord-wrapped stick impressions, are referred to as Naples Stamped ceramics (Griffin 1952).

Some rims have been modified from the interior by punching, which creates an exterior node, or by channel-ing. Six of the 20 complete rims sherds have exterior nodes (Figures 4a, 5a, 5c, 5e). Channeling is evident on nine rim sherds (e.g., Figure 3k), although some of the channeling was modest and appears to have been the result of the punching to create nodes. A majority of the rim sherds have insloping lips. The average thickness is 7.3 mm.

The body sherds consist of 138 plain (78%), 36 tool-decorated (20%), 1 with a red exterior slip (<1%), and 3 smoothed-over cordmarked (2%). The thicknesses of the

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body sherds vary from 4 to 12.5 mm, with an average of 6.6 mm (Table 3).

A notable percentage of the decorated body sherds are classified as zone decorated (N=13 or 36%) (see Figure 5). Zoned sherds typically have designs set off from unzoned areas by curvilinear incised lines that are usually broad and shallow (Figure 5a–b, d, f, i–k). Five other sherds may be

zone decorated, but either lack designs to off-set the zones or are too eroded or incomplete to determine if a design was present (Figure 5o). Designs on the zoned sherds con-sist of rocker or dentate stamping. Several small decorated sherds may represent portions of zone-decorated body sherds or portions of rim sherds.

Figure 4. Rim sherds from the Waverly site: (a–b, d) dentate-stamped; (c) horizontal cord-impressed; (e) plain tool-impressed; (f, i) cord-wrapped rod impressed; (g–h) horizontal incised.

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Table 3. Attributes of Body Sherds from the Waverly Site.

Body sherd type (based on exterior surface treatment) Count Thicknessa (average)

Zoned with dentate stamping 8 5–10.5 (7.5)

Dentate stamped 4 5.5–11 (7.6)

Zoned with rocker stamping 5 5–8 (6.5)

Rocker stamped 4 4–8 (6.5)

Punctated 3 5.5–6.5 (6)

Linear incised (broad) 5 6–12.5 (9.2)

Linear incised (narrow) 2 6 (6)

Plain tool-impressed 2 6–7 (6.5)

Cordwrapped rod-impressed 2 6–8.5 (6.3)

Cord-impressed 1 6 (6)

Plain red-slipped 1 6.5 (6.5)

Smoothed over cordmarked 3 6–8 (7)

Plain 138 4.5–10 (6.4)

Totals 178 4.5–12.5 (6.6)aThickness in mm.

Table 4. Chert Artifacts by Source of Material (Thermally Altered Examples Shown in Parenthesis).

Chert type Projectile points Bifaces Scrapers Drills Debitage Retouched/utilized flakes Blade Total

Burlington 16 (13) 19 (13) 11 (10) 1 (1) 49 (28) 17 (8) 1 114 (73)

Chouteau 2 - 2 2 (1) - 6 (1)

Winterset/Excelloa 1 2 1 1 4 2 - 11

Jefferson City - 1(1) - - - - - 1 (1)

Cobden - - - - 1 - - 1

Unidentified 2 (1) - 3 - 4 (1) 1 - 10 (2)

Total 21 (14) 22 (14) 15 (10) 2 (1) 60 (29) 22(9) 1 143 (77)aPennsylvanian cherts Winterset and Excello are combined due to overlapping attributes.

Lithic Procurement Strategy

An examination of chert artifact attributes provides insight into the lithic processing behavior of the prehistoric inhabitants of the Wa-verly site. The closest known chert source is the Burlington Forma-tion of the Mississippian geologic system, which occurs near Van Meter State Park about 23 km to the east. Although chert from sev-eral formations is represented in the lithic assemblage, about 80% (N=114) of the chipped-stone arti-facts are composed of Burlington chert (Table 4). Evidence suggests that primary chert reduction was occurring at an off-site location. The lack of chert cores, the paucity of decortication f lakes, and the

generally small size of the flakes indicate that early-stage reduction was not a significant activ-ity at the site. Debitage is also not as abundant as might be expected for a Middle Woodland multi-activity base settlement.

The fact that 27% of the debitage sample (22 of 82) was retouched/utilized suggests waste from tool manufacturing was being extensively utilized. Only one example of a chert blade, an artifact type associated with the Middle Wood-land toolkit, is represented.

A total of 64% (39 of 61) of the patterned tools was thermally altered, along with 48% (29 of 61) of the debitage, and 41% (9 of 22) of the expedi-ent tools. Sixty-four percent of the Burlington chert artifacts were thermally altered, compared with only 14% of the other chert types (see Table 4). This is not surprising since the heat treatment of Burlington chert significantly improves its knappability.

Table 2. Attributes of Rim Sherds from the Waverly Site.

Lip Forma

Rim sherd type (based on exterior surface treatment) No.

No. with Nodinga Flat Insloping Round

Thickness (mm)

Interior Channel

Cross hatching 9 0 of 4 - 8 1 3.5–7 4

Dentate stamping, vertical

3 0 of 3 - 3 - 6.5–8.5 -

Dentate stamping, diagonal

3 2 of 3 1 2 - 5.5–8.5 2

Cordwrapped rod impressions, diagonal

2 2 of 2 - 2 - 9.5–12 -

Pain tool impressions, diagonal

2 1 of 2 - 2 - 8–8.5 1

Horizontal trailing 2 0 of 1 1 1 - 3–6 1

Horizontal cord impressions

1 1 of 1 - 1 - 7 1

Plain 4 0 of 4 2 - 2 6–8.5 -

Eroded decorated surface 1 - - - 1 12 -

Total 27 6 of 20a 4 19 4 3–12 9aIncomplete rims not included in the total.

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Figure 5. Body sherds from the Waverly site: (a–e) rocker-impressed; (f, h–l) dentate-stamped (g, p) punctated; (m) cord-impressed; (n) cord-wrapped, rod-impressed; (o) incised.

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The chert samples indicate that several secondary chert types are represented. Eleven artifacts, none thermally al-tered, are made from Pennsylvanian chert associated with the Winterset or Excello formations, which occur north of the Missouri River. A third Pennsylvanian chert source could be the Myrick Station Formation, which is known to contain chert-bearing deposits in Lafayette County (Ray 2007:327). However, Myrick Station chert was not found in the site samples and the formation may be chert free in the vicinity of the Waverly site. Even if present, this chert may not have been an important source of knapping material due to its often coarse nature (Jack Ray, personal communication 2010).

Other nonlocal cherts represented in the lithic assem-blage include a biface made from Jefferson City chert, which crops out about 55 km to the southeast. Six arti-facts were made from chert associated with the Chouteau bedrock strata that immediately underlies the Burlington Formation to the east.

Another chert type in the assemblage is represented by six flakes made of a dark gray to dark bluish gray material. The fine-grained, vitreous texture is distinct from the dark gray Pennsylvanian chert associated with the Winterset and Excello formations. The six flakes are believed to originate from the Mississippian geologic system. One of the flakes was identified as Cobden chert, which is found in southern Illinois (DeRegnaucourt and Georgiady 1998:166). The other five may be from a previously identified Mississippian chert variety in Missouri, possibly from the Burlington Formation.

ConclusionThe Waverly site is a large habitation site occupied dur-

ing the Middle Woodland period, primarily during the Middle Havana ceramic period as defined by O’Brien and Wood (1998). I initially considered the site's location in the uplands away from a major stream or perennial tributary as a unique feature. Johnson (1976:9; 1979:87) discussed a settlement system for Middle Woodland groups in the Kansas City vicinity that consisted of large villages situated at a point where tributary streams emerge from the bluf-fline onto the Missouri River floodplain. Special purpose camps were distributed along the tributary above the base camp.

Harl (2010) and Martin (2009) have defined a similar Middle Woodland settlement system for eastern Missouri, which includes large bottomland settlements or nodal com-munities occurring at the outfalls of streams into the Mis-sissippi River bottoms. In central Missouri, Kay (1980:46) hypothesized a Middle Woodland system for the Lamine River drainage that consisted of a nodal community, the Mellor site, located on a terrace at the confluence of the Missouri and Lamine rivers. Less complex satellite sites were dispersed upstream in the uplands and lowlands of the Lamine River drainage.

Heldman (1963:56) described the artifact assemblage from the Waverly site as being practically identical to that from the Mellor site. He also stated that he believed the Middle Woodland sites along the Missouri River repre-sented migrants from the Illinois River valley. Chapman (1980:41) discussed the need for more detailed studies of classic Middle Woodland sites, including the Waverly site, in westcentral Missouri. He suggested the research needed to focus on the context and inter-site relationships of those sites which occur along the Missouri River from Lexington to Boonville.

References CitedChapman, Carl H.

1980 The Archaeology of Missouri, II. University of Missouri Press, Columbia.

DeRegnaucourt, Tony, and Jeff Georgiady1998 Prehistoric Chert Types of the Midwest. Occasional Monographs

in Archaeology No. 7. Upper Miami Valley Archaeological Research Museum, Arcanum, Ohio.

Griffin, James B.1952 Some Early and Middle Woodland Pottery Types in Illinois. In

Hopewellian Communities in Illinois, edited by Thorne Deuel, pp. 93–129. Scientific Papers No. 5. Illinois State Museum, Springfield.

Harl, Joseph L.2010 Archaeology of St. Louis. Unpublished manuscript.

Heldman, Donald P. 1963 A Study of the Nature and Degree of Cultural Relationship of

Missouri to Illinois Valley Hopewell. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Colum-bia.

Johnson, Alfred E.1976 A Model of the Kansas City Hopewell Subsistence-Settlement

System. In Hopewellian Archaeology in the Lower Missouri River Valley, edited by Alfred E. Johnson, pp. 7–15. Publications in Anthropology No. 8. University of Kansas, Lawrence.

1979 Kansas City Hopewell. In Hopewell Archaeology: The Chillicothe Conference, edited by David S. Brose and N’omi Greber, pp. 86–93. Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio.

Kay, Marvin1980 The Central Missouri Hopewell Subsistence-Settlement System.

Research Series No. 15. Missouri Archaeological Society, Co-lumbia.

Martin, Terrell L.2009 Middle Woodland Settlement Patterns in the St. Louis Vicin-

ity. The Missouri Archaeologist 70:89–111.O’Brien, Michael J., and W. Raymond Wood

1998 Prehistory of Missouri. University of Missouri Press, Columbia.Ray, Jack H.

2007 Ozarks Chipped-Stone Resources: A Guide to the Identification, and Prehistoric Use of Cherts and Other Siliceous Raw Materials. Special Publications No. 8. Missouri Archaeological Society, Springfield.