Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Office: LA3021 Phone: 464-1931 Email: mstrezewsk Harmonist Redware Jar

I am an archaeologist working in the Midwest since 1992. Most of my experience has been with Late Prehistoric (A.D. 1000 – 1500) Native American sites in Indiana and Illinois, with a focus on burial practices and what they can tell us about social organization and religious belief.

More recently, I have been involved with survey and excavations at the site of Kethtippecanunk, a French and Wea Indian trading town that was located northwest of present-day Lafayette, Indiana. The town was burned by the Kentucky militia in 1791. Our survey and excavations have helped to define the limits of the town and identify the locations of trader's structures. Materials recovered from three excavation seasons at Kethtippecanunk represent a snapshot of Native American life during the late fur trade period. Reports on the Kethtippecanunk excavations can be found at the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Archaeological Survey website.

Since 2008, I have been involved with archaeological research at New Harmony, an early nineteenth-century utopian religious community in southwestern Indiana. The USI field schools have focused on the site of the Harmonist Redware pottery kiln, which was in operation from 1815 to 1824. Redware is a type of utilitarian, low-fired ceramic that was locally made during the pioneer-era. The Harmonist potter, Christoph Weber, made redware pottery for the members of the society and for sale to surrounding settlers. Although there were many redware manufacturers in the pioneer-era Midwest, very little research has been conducted on the individual potters, their methods of manufacture, and types of vessels made. The USI excavations at New Harmony have begun to shed some light on this little-known industry.

Cockspurs

Setting Wedges

In the nineteenth century, pottery manufacture was an inexact science, and many vessels emerged from the kiln in an unusable condition; over- or under-fired, cracked, or warped. For this reason, kiln operations generated a lot of waste. Not surprisingly, our excavations have recovered very large quantities of broken pottery vessels. In addition, a large percentage of the material recovered consisted of "kiln furniture;" items that were specifically manufactured to aid in loading the kiln and keep the vessels from sticking together during the firing process. These consist of thick clay shelves used for stacking vessels, cockspurs, and wedges. The kiln furniture has provided a lot of information on the manufacturing methods used by Weber. Our excavations have also identified one of the kiln's fireboxes, indicating that Weber's kiln was manufactured by placing limestone blocks into a shallow trench. The spaces in between the blocks were filled in with clay. The upper portion of the kiln, though no longer intact, was made from locally-manufactured soft red brick.

 

Education
• Ph.D. in Anthropology, Indiana University, 2003. Dissertation title: "Mississippian Mortuary Practices in the Central Illinois River Valley: A Region-Wide Perspective."
• M.A. in Anthropology, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1995
• B.S. in Psychology, Loyola University of Chicago, 1989

Research Interests
• Late Prehistoric archaeology of the Midwest
• French colonial archaeology
• The archaeology of New Harmony
• The archaeology of religion and ritual
• Mortuary archaeology

Selected Publications
2010    “‘These Indians Appear to be Wealthy’: Kethtippecanunk and the Late Fur Trade Period in the Lower Great Lakes.” In American Indians and the Market Economy, 1775 - 1850, edited by Lance Greene and Mark R. Plane, pp. 19-32. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

2010    Michael Strezewski and Robert G. McCullough “Report of the 2009 Archaeological Investigations at Three Fur Trade-Era Sites in Tippecanoe County, Indiana: Kethtippecanunk (12-T-59), Fort Ouiatenon (12-T-9), and a Kickapoo-Mascouten Village (12-T-335).” Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Archaeological Survey, Reports of Investigations 903. Submitted to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, Indianapolis, Indiana.

2009    “The Concept of Personhood in a Mississippian Society.” Illinois Archaeology 21:166-190.

2008    “Archaeological Investigations at Kethtippecanunk, a French and Native Trading Town on the Wabash River.” Le Journal 24(2):1-10.

2008    Christopher R. Andres, Dorothea McCullough, Michael Strezewski, and Robert G. McCullough  “Archaeological Investigations of Fort St. Philippe des Miamis (1722) and the First American Fort (1794) in Fort Wayne, Indiana.” Indiana Archaeology 4(1):108-130. (http://www.in.gov/dnr/historic/3676.htm)

2008    Christopher R. Andres, Michael Strezewski, Dorothea McCullough, and Robert G. McCullough  “Intensive Survey of the Forts of Fort Wayne.” Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Archaeological Survey, Reports of Investigations 801. Submitted to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, Indianapolis, Indiana.

2007    Michael Strezewski, Robert G. McCullough, Dorothea McCullough, Craig Arnold, and Josh Wells, “Report of the 2006 Archaeological Investigations at Kethtippecanunk (12-T-59), Tippecanoe County, Indiana.” Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Archaeological Survey, Reports of Investigations 703. Submitted to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, Indianapolis, Indiana. (http://www.ipfw.edu/archsurv/reports.html)

2006    “Patterns of Interpersonal Violence at the Fisher Site.” Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 31(2):249-279.

2006    Michael Strezewski, James R. Jones III, and Dorothea McCullough, “Archaeological Investigations at Site 12-T-59 and Two Other Locations in Prophetstown State Park, Tippecanoe County, Indiana.” Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Archaeological Survey, Reports of Investigations 513. Submitted to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, Indianapolis, Indiana. (http://www.ipfw.edu/archsurv/reports.html)

2003    “‘Ellen We Miss Thee at Home’: Archaeological Investigations at the Michigan City Old Graveyard (12 Le 348), La Porte County, Indiana.” Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne Archaeological Survey, Reports of Investigations 308. Submitted to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, Indianapolis, Indiana. (http://www.ipfw.edu/archsurv/reports.html)

2003    “Morton Mound 14 and Mortuary Ceremonialism in the Central Illinois River Valley.” Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 28(1):7-32.

2002    Elizabeth Pennefather-O’Brien and Michael Strezewski, “An Initial Description of the Archaeology and Morphology of the Clark’s Fork Skeletal Material, Bonner County, Idaho.” North American Archaeologist 23(2):101-115.

2002    “Investigations at Pottersville (12Ow431): A Small Oliver Phase Habitation Site in Owen County, Indiana.” Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Indiana University, Research Reports, No. 20 (http://www.gbl.indiana.edu/abstracts/cur.html).

Recent Conference Papers
2011    "Origins of Angel: Evidence from the Kuester Site.” Paper presented at the annual Mississippian Conference, Angel Mounds State Historic Site, July 23, 2011.

2010    “Recent Investigations at Eighteenth Century Fur Trade Sites in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.” Paper presented at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, Bloomington, Indiana, October 21-24, 2010.

2010    “Redware Pottery Production in New Harmony, Indiana, 1814-1824.” Paper presented at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, Bloomington, Indiana, October 21-24, 2010.

2010    “Harmonist Redware Pottery Manufacture in New Harmony” Paper Presented at the Communal Studies Association Conference, New Harmony Indiana, September 30 - October 3, 2010.

2010    “Prelude to Prophetstown: The Late 18th Century Occupation of the Central Wabash.” Paper presented at the Historic Southern Indiana 1st annual War of 1812 Bicentennial Symposium entitled “The Gathering Storm: The Rise of Tecumseh,” Vincennes University, June 26, 2010.

2010    Michael Strezewski and Robert G. McCullough, “Investigations at Fort Ouiatenon and Kethtippecanunk, Two Fur-Trade Era Sites in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.” Paper presented at the 75th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, St. Louis, Missouri, April 14-18, 2010.

2010    “Harmonist Redware Pottery: Archaeology at the Harmonist Kiln Site.” Paper presented at Preserving Historic Places, Indiana’s Statewide Preservation Conference, New Harmony, Indiana, April 7, 2010.

2010    “USI’s Excavations at the Harmonist Redware Kiln Site” Talk presented at the Indiana Archaeological Council Spring Workshop, Strawtown, Indiana, March 20, 2010.

2009     “Excavations at the Harmonist Redware Kiln Site, New Harmony, Indiana.” Paper presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, Iowa City, Iowa, October 15-18, 2009.

2009     “Ritual Use of Limestone Pavements at Mortuary Sites in Illinois” Paper presented at the 74th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta, Georgia, April 23-26, 2009.

2009     “Redware, Stables and Cesspools: Recent Archaeology at New Harmony.” Talk presented at the Indiana Archaeological Council Spring Workshop, Strawtown, Indiana, March 21, 2009.

2009     “Harmonist Redware from New Harmony, Posey County, Indiana” Paper presented at the 27th Annual Symposium on Ohio Valley Urban and Historic Archaeology, Muncie, Indiana, February 28, 2009.

2008     “Recent Studies of Harmonist Redware from Southern Indiana.” Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 15-19, 2008.

2008    “Archaeology at New Harmony: Old and New.” Talk presented at the Indiana Archaeological Council Spring Workshop, Strawtown, Indiana, April 5, 2008.

2007    “Investigations at Kethtippecanunk, a French and Wea Trading Town on the Wabash River.” Invited speaker at the annual conference of the Center for French Colonial Studies, Lafayette, Indiana, November 2-3, 2007.

2007    Robert G. McCullough, Michael Strezewski, Joshua J. Wells, and Andrew A. White “Three Years of Geophysical Archaeology at Strawtown, Indiana: An Overview of Archaeological and Educational Results from a National Science Foundation Sponsored Research for Undergraduates Program.” Poster presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, South Bend, Indiana, October 4-6, 2007.

2007    Kristin M. Hedman, Thomas E. Emerson, and Michael Strezewski “Preliminary Investigations of Langford - Fisher Subsistence Variation: The Stable Isotopic Evidence.” Poster presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, South Bend, Indiana, October 4-6, 2007.

2007    “Oakwood Mound and Langford Mortuary Practices in Northeastern Illinois.” Paper presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, South Bend, Indiana, October 4-6, 2007.

2007    “Calm Before the Storm: The Wea Town of Kethtippecanunk.” Paper presented at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, Texas, April 25-27, 2007.

2007    “Kethtippecanunk: The Use of Magnetometry at a Historic Period Site.” Paper Presented at the Indiana Archaeological Council Spring Workshop, Strawtown, Indiana, March 17, 2007.

2006    “Excavations at Kethtippecanunk: An Eighteenth Century French and Wea Indian Town.” Wisconsin Archaeological Society Invited Lecture, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, November 20, 2006.

2006    “Investigations at the Eighteenth Century French and Wea Town of Kethtippecanunk, Indiana.” Paper presented at the Midwest Historical Archaeology Conference, Muncie, Indiana, November 4, 2006.

2006    Munson, Cheryl Ann, Robert G. McCullough, C. Russell Stafford, and Michael R. Strezewski “The 2005 Archaeological Investigations at the Prather Site (12CL4): Surveys, Geoarchaeology, and Test Excavations.” Paper presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, Urbana, Illinois, October 12-14, 2006.

2006    “The 2006 Excavations at Kethtippecanunk: An Eighteenth Century French and Wea Indian Town.” Paper presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, Urbana, Illinois, October 12-14, 2006.

2006    “Report of the IPFW-AS 2005 Investigations at Kethtippecanunk (12-T-59).” Paper presented at the Indiana Archaeological Council Spring Workshop, Strawtown Indiana, March 25, 2006.