Laura Margaret Bossio

LAURA BOSSIO, then a graduate student at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, was awarded a grant in April 2023 to aid research on “Interaction in the Wetlands: Late Woodland Community and Upper Mississippian Migrants at the First Rapids of the Maumee River, Ohio,” supervised by Dr. Raven Garvey. The Western Lake Erie region was home to Late Woodland people whose lifestyle included foraging and maize horticulture; they survived on nearby wetlands, rivers, and freshwater marshes. But, at about AD 1250, lifeways changed, including how people were living and the houses they lived in, their subsistence regimes, and the material culture they produced. This collaborative project sought to understand the role that migration events played in this cultural change, and whether significant interaction and coalescence, territoriality, or displacement was responsible for the cultural change. To answer these questions, geophysical surveys, excavation, and collaboration with members and scholars of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma were integrated to evaluate these hypotheses. The archaeological research revealed a wide and deep ditch enclosure with datable charcoal, animal bone, and artifacts, along with a multi-purpose pit feature containing animal remains, charcoal, artifacts, and fire-cracked rock. In addition, learning from members of the Miami Tribe revealed tribal historical evidence of Miami migrations into the Maumee River Valley from Indiana. This research supports that non-local migrants did move into the Maumee River valley and establish a defensive village at the site, and more research will be carried out to further evaluate hypotheses of coalescence or displacement.