Yesterday we visited Sunwatch Indian Village near Dayton with our homeschool co-op. It was so cool! This ancient indian village was discovered in the 1960's because the land was being considered as a site of a water treatment plant. A team of archeologists set to explore the land before it would be turned over to the city for development of the water treatment plant. The whole idea of gridding the land and the meticulous work of an archeologist is truly amazing to me. I don't have the patience or attention span to sew on a button or Awana patch so the work of archeologists truly astound me. This team not only discovered many artifacts but were able to determine the layout of the village, how these indians lived, and so much more. It is definitely a place I would like to revisit.
Anna...please note the last bullet point! ;)
The grew the 3 sisters: Corn, Beans, Squash = CBS!
If you look closely you can see a mound here. These weren't mound building indians. The difference between the top of the mound and the dip is how far down the archeologists had to dig before they found the artifacts. Parts of this village have yet to be excavated.
The village was built in the shape of a circle. These poles in the center were used to help them tell time, not only for the day but for the calendar year, thus the Sunwatch Indians. You can see in the picture below.
When the shadow from the center pole would cast into the solstice house on what we know to be December 21st they knew winter had officially arrived. However, when the shadow cast into the Big House they knew it was time to begin planting. It is amazing to me that we can find over and over again different civilizations reliance on the sun to bring order to their culture.
Their homes... Approximately 8-10 people would live in these homes. There was a clay firepit in the center of the home and "draft" windows on either end of the center peak.
This is a grave marker.
I thought this was interesting about the Trash Pits.
If you notice, the bottoms of the logs look charred. The indians would burn out a tree instead of hacking it down because it was much easier. All of the logs to build this fence around the village along with the homes & buildings were like this. Can you believe the amount of time it took? The guide said he counted up that it would take 76 posts to make a house! 76!! Each hole is approximately 2 - 2 1/2 feet deep. Can you imagine? I would be one of those to die early for sure!
This is a view from within the Solstice House out to the center log.
After digging 76 holes and setting 76 logs that you had to burn down, they then secured the horizontal cross "beams", attached the reeds/grass you see in the picture above, and finally finished the structure with a substance our guide called daub, which was a mixture of clay and mud. Lastly they would cover the structure with more reed/grass. Notice the stitching of the grass? He told us these structures could last approximately 15-20 years depending on the conditions.
Like I have already said, I would recommend this as a field trip to friends and other homeschool groups. I learned alot, the tour guide was super, duper with kiddos, it was hands-on, kid friendly, and the people working there were very, very friendly and accommodating. Another added bonus is that you could actually afford goodies from the gift shop! Can you believe it? Bamboo flutes for $1, arrowheads for $.95 or $.50 depending on the style, coloring books for $2, minerals/rock rings for $1.50, and so on.
Memories = priceless!
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