A Glimpse into the Ancient History of the Wright State University Woods
The Wright State University woods are unique because they are a split between old growth, which is very rare in Ohio now, and new growth. Old growth woods are characterized by trees that are older than 50 years. The old growth tells of a time before most of us existed. It has stood the test of time and offers us an insight into Ohio’s more distant history. For the past 200 years Ohio’s woods have been under constant attack and eradication from agricultural, commercial, and residential development. Very few old growth forest exist still today in the once densely forested region of Ohio. Ohio is now known for its endless fields of crops such as corn and soy, and its heavily populated cities and suburbs such as Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Toledo. Between the farming fields and constant outward development of many major cities, the state would be unrecognizable to anyone born before the 1900s. Humans have completely changed the forest landscape of the state and made irreversible changes. However, Ohio’s history can still be found in small corners of the landscape. Places have been preserved and protected by scientists, environmentalists, and nature-lovers alike. Not all of Ohio’s history has been lost and though it is rare and shrinking, glimpses of the past can still be found today.
The most readily available glimpse into the history of the Ohio woods is a tree in the Wright State University woods nicknamed Burley. It is an about 200-year-old Bur Oak tree. The tree managed to evade human detection until it was discovered eight years ago by biology professor Don Cipollini. It is located near an access road by the powerline prairies, between the Mini University and the Nutter Center parking lot. It is very rare and exciting for a two-century old tree to be found on a busy college campus only a few years ago (Cipollini). This is a great example of how the history in the WSU woods is both waiting to be discovered and passed the test of time. Proof that all the preservation efforts that past and current WSU staff and students have put into maintaining the WSU woods and protecting the plants and animals within it is so important. Anyone can go into these woods to take a walk, bird watch, view plants and animals, explore and discover something new. Burley is easily accessible to most people on the WSU campus and will offer an important reflection on how long these woods have been around and why conservation is so important.
The most readily available glimpse into the history of the Ohio woods is a tree in the Wright State University woods nicknamed Burley. It is an about 200-year-old Bur Oak tree. The tree managed to evade human detection until it was discovered eight years ago by biology professor Don Cipollini. It is located near an access road by the powerline prairies, between the Mini University and the Nutter Center parking lot. It is very rare and exciting for a two-century old tree to be found on a busy college campus only a few years ago (Cipollini). This is a great example of how the history in the WSU woods is both waiting to be discovered and passed the test of time. Proof that all the preservation efforts that past and current WSU staff and students have put into maintaining the WSU woods and protecting the plants and animals within it is so important. Anyone can go into these woods to take a walk, bird watch, view plants and animals, explore and discover something new. Burley is easily accessible to most people on the WSU campus and will offer an important reflection on how long these woods have been around and why conservation is so important.
Two hundred years seems like, in our short mammalian lifespans, a very long time. However, it is nothing compared to the depth of human history present in the WSU woods. Humans have been around since the Paleo-Indian period between 12,000-8,000 BCE. These were the earliest humans and were hunting the giant fauna of the ice age. The time period between 9,000-1,000 BCE is called the Archaic period (Ohio’s). This is the time when the glaciers were retreating and leaving behind till soil, eroded rivers, rolling hills, and a huge growth in fauna/flora. The landscape with the Miami River Valley and the rolling hills of eastern Ohio was caused by these retreating glaciers. The clean mountain water and till soil left behind by the glacier were what caused the booming success of the agricultural age in Ohio and the Midwest. These changes caused a huge increase in human populations and technology. One technological advancement made in this time was the creation of throwing spears. These spears were tipped with pieces of sharp flint or other stones. In the WSU woods a spear point was found to be between 9,500-9,000 years old. It was classified as a Kirk Corner Notched point lithic tool (Greene).
A discovery like this in the WSU woods seems so out of place for a busy, developing college campus. This spear point is something that is older than the college, Dayon, Ohio, modern society, even older than the discovery of agriculture. It seems impossible to be a part of such a modern landscape. Just meters away there are busy streets with electric and gas cars, buildings with air conditioning, computers smarter than people, and students that probably could not identify when the Archaic time period was. And yet, there it was in the woods, waiting to be found again. I said ‘again’, because this spear tip was created by a human over 9,000 years ago. It was created, lost, buried, discovered, and recognized by humans. This kind of discovery is common all over Ohio and America. You can find a hidden gem of history in old woods and streams. The woods do a remarkable job at preserving history. The history of not just the people of Dayton or Ohio, but of the humans who lived millennia ago. We must learn from and preserve our past in order to make it into our future. Discoveries like Burley and the lithic tool are fewer and fewer the more woodlands we destroy. We lose our history if we lose the woods. If we lose our history, we lose apart of ourselves as well.
A place's history is carefully connected to human history. Humans are the only species that record and actively seek out their history to discover and learn from. People are connected through their history and future. People create things, knowledge, and records. Fortunately, landscapes have an amazing ability to hold vast amounts of time all at once. The WSU campus holds cutting edge technology and educates young minds about the quickly approaching future. The old growth woods stand at the edges of campus waiting for those young minds to take a break from the modern world and venture into the past. To visit the trees, plants, animals, and soil. To explore what people decades, centuries, and even millennia before them had discovered. To go back in time through history and see this place as they had seen it in their time.
Work Cited:
Cipollini, Don, "The Discovery and Significance of Burly, Wright State's Massive Bur Oak" (2020). Wright State Runkle Woods Symposiums. 5. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/woods_symposium/2020/virtual/5
Greene, Lance, "Keynote Presentation - Archeology in the Wright State University Woods" (2020). Wright State Runkle Woods Symposiums. 3.
“Ohio's Prehistoric Past (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 22 July 2021, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/ohio-s-prehistoric-past.htm.
A place's history is carefully connected to human history. Humans are the only species that record and actively seek out their history to discover and learn from. People are connected through their history and future. People create things, knowledge, and records. Fortunately, landscapes have an amazing ability to hold vast amounts of time all at once. The WSU campus holds cutting edge technology and educates young minds about the quickly approaching future. The old growth woods stand at the edges of campus waiting for those young minds to take a break from the modern world and venture into the past. To visit the trees, plants, animals, and soil. To explore what people decades, centuries, and even millennia before them had discovered. To go back in time through history and see this place as they had seen it in their time.
Work Cited:
Cipollini, Don, "The Discovery and Significance of Burly, Wright State's Massive Bur Oak" (2020). Wright State Runkle Woods Symposiums. 5. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/woods_symposium/2020/virtual/5
Greene, Lance, "Keynote Presentation - Archeology in the Wright State University Woods" (2020). Wright State Runkle Woods Symposiums. 3.
“Ohio's Prehistoric Past (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 22 July 2021, https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/ohio-s-prehistoric-past.htm.