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Early Woodland Ritual use of Caves in Eastern North America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

George M. Crothers
George M. Crothers*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 211 Lafferty Hall, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506 (george.crothers@uky.edu)
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Abstract

Mammoth and Salts caves in west-central Kentucky were Intensively mined for gypsum and other sulfate minerals during the Early Woodland period (ca. 1000–200 B.C.). I propose that this mining was part of a larger ritual performance assodated with the initiation of adolescent males into adulthood. Drawing on ethnological literature, I suggest that, beginning in the Early Woodland, caves became integral settings for male rites of passage. This argument is based on (1) ethnographic examples of male initiation that invokes the use of caves for secrecy and seclusion, (2) fecal steroid analysis that indicates exclusive male activity, (3) medicinal use of cave minerals as a purgative, (4) evidence of sensory deprivation and possible use of psychotropic substances to heighten states of consciousness, and (5) collection of gypsum as a symbolic marker of transitional rites. Using an institutional economic approach, I further suggest that Early Woodland ritual cave use is correlated with the formation of new social institutions and new forms of property relations stemming from the emergence of horticultural economies in the Eastern Woodlands.

Resumen

Resumen

El yeso y otros minerales sulfatados fueron explotados intensamente durante el periodo Woodland temprano (1000–200 a.C.) en las cuevas Mammoth y Salts en el centro-oeste de Kentucky. Propongo que esta minería fue parte de una práctica ritual mayor asociada con la iniciación de los adolescentes varones a la edad adulta. Basándose en la literatura etnológica, sugiero que, a partir del periodo Woodland temprano, las cuevas se convirtieron en las ubicaciones sistémicas para los ritos de paso masculinos. Este argumento se basa en: 1) ejemplos etnográficos de iniciación masculina que demandan el uso de las cuevas como lugares secretos y de encierro; 2) análisis fecal de esferoides que indican actividad exclusiva de hombres; 3) uso medi-cinai de minerales de la cueva como purgantes; 4) evidencia de privación sensorial y el posible uso de sustancias sicotrópi-cas para alcanzar estados elevados de conciencia; y 5) la recolección de yeso como marcador simbólico de los ritos de transición. Utilizando un enfoque económico, sugiero además que el uso ritual de las cuevas durante el periodo Woodland temprano se relaciona con la formación de nuevas instituciones sociales y nuevas formas de relaciones de propiedad derivadas del desarrollo de economías horticultoras en la región este de Woodlands.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 77 , Issue 3 , July 2012 , pp. 524 - 541
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2012

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