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Pedogenesis of Cotiga Mound, a 2100-Year-Old Woodland Mound in Southwest West Virginia

GAI Consultants, Inc., 570 Beatty Rd., Monroeville, PA 15146

*Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Cotiga Mound, an Early Woodland mortuary mound constructed 2100 YBP, was sampled to evaluate diagnostic horizon development during a well-defined, relatively short period of time. Five columns (profiles), three of which extended into the submound terrace soil, and one Giddings core of the terrace soil were sampled for particle-size, pH, organic C, and micromorphology analysis. Six additional cores were collected to characterize the terrace soil. The mound was constructed of acid, silty material, in a manner that resulted in basketloading macrofabric consisting of long, sinuous, thin layers contrasting in color and texture. Pedogenesis destroyed the macrofabric and formed a solum in the upper 0.75 to 1.0 m of the mound. The solum consisted of a thin, dark A horizon; and intermittent, thin E horizon; and a variable B horizon. The B horizon was thickest at the mound crest, contained clay films on ped surfaces, and was designated Bt. On side slopes, the B horizon was thinner, lacked clay films, and was designated Bw. No B horizon was formed at the mound periphery. Clay distribution indices indicated that the Bt horizon was borderline cambic-argillic, consistent with those typical of 2000-yr-old mid-Atlantic alluvial soils. Clay films were sparsely distributed throughout the mound, indicating that clay accumulation mechanisms were largely inefficient in the 2100 yr. Mound soils were classified as Typic Dystrochrepts grading to Typic Hapludults at the mound crest. These soils are similar to floodplain soils mapped nearby. Submound terrace soils and adjacent terrace soils were classified as Humic Hapludults.

Received for publication June 20, 1994.