Indiana Archaeology Month 2020 - September 2020 will be the 25th anniversary of a statewide celebration of Indiana archaeology.
The 2020 commemorative Indiana Archaeology Month poster design has been completed and is on our webpage. As was stated in a previous Archaeology News, we will not be printing posters this year. The “theme” highlights early Indiana schoolhouse sites. Archaeological investigation at these types of sites can teach us much about the lives of the students and teachers who were part of these important Hoosier places.
We thank Adam Cox, with the DNR’s Division of Communications, for designing this year’s poster image. Images and artifacts courtesy: AECOM; Amy L. Johnson; Cathy Draeger-Williams; Anne Shaw; Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.; Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology; Harrison Funke, Material Culture Lab, Department of Anthropology, University of Indianapolis; and from the collection of the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites.
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Archaeological Site Visit - Beth McCord and Rachel Sharkey visited the Guard Site (12-D-29) on July 17. The Ft. Ancient village and mound site is on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently, archaeologists from the Archaeological Research Institute (ARI) (exploreari.org; Facebook.com/thearchaeologicalresearchinstitute), with Ohio State University archaeologists, are conducting excavations at the site to learn more about it and to promote the archaeological importance of the region. Beth and Rachel met with Marcus Schulenburg, Senior Archaeologist with ARI, who showed them the interpretive signs placed at the site for public education and gave them a tour of the site.
Archaeology Career Day - DHPA Research Archaeologist Rachel Sharkey attended the Archaeological Research Institute’s (ARI) summer internship wrap-up day on July 25, 2020. Six interns, all college-level, presented their summer research projects on the archaeological work they put into the Guard Site and also developing public archaeology opportunities through ARI. The students then had the opportunity to network with professionals in the field of archaeology. For more information on internships and summer camps offered by ARI, visit their website or facebook page.
Upcoming Outreach-
* DHPA Research Archaeologist Rachel Sharkey will present: “Skeleton Stories: What Bioarchaeology Can Teach us about the Lives of Early People in Indiana” as part of the Connections to Indiana Life Records event on Aug. 29.
* Also on Aug. 29, Potato Creek State Park (North Liberty, IN) is having an Archaeology Day, and Cathy Draeger-Williams, archaeologist with the Division of Historic Preservation & Archaeology, has been invited back to the park. Cathy will give a presentation about archaeology in Indiana. She will have various free archaeology outreach materials available. There will also be different safe and fun activities depending on COVID-19 restrictions. Please contact Potato Creek State Park for more information. This will be a good event to attend right before the beginning of September’s Indiana Archaeology Month.
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Archaeology Site of the Month - In honor of the 25th anniversary of statewide celebration of archaeology in Indiana, we will be highlighting the 25th recorded archaeological site for each county in Indiana. This focus will span all 92 counties over the next year. Archaeological sites are each given a unique, sequential identification number as they are recorded. This helps archaeologists keep track of the artifacts that come from the site, and differentiates it from other sites in the area. The numbering system tells archaeologists what state and county a site comes from, and what the specific number in that county belongs to the site. For example, Angel Mounds is archaeological site 12-Vg-1, meaning it is from Vanderburgh County (Vg), Indiana (12), and is the first documented site in that county (1). In this newsletter, we will be highlighting the 25th site from Adams through Brown County.
Adams County, 12-A-25: This site is a small lithic scatter of only 8 chert flakes, documented in 1983.
Allen County, 12-Al-25: This is a mound site that had already been the victim of destruction at the time of its recording by Glenn Black in 1936. At that time, it was reported that the center of the mound had been dug out. Despite this disturbance, the mound still had a height of about three and a half feet and the ditch around the mound was still intact.
Bartholomew County, 12-B-25: This is a small lithic scatter that was documented by archaeologist Curtis Tomak from a collector reported site in 1970.
Benton County, 12-Bn-25: This site was reported to Noel Justice at the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Indiana University, in 1977. The site consists of an isolated find of a bifacial chisel or pick.
Blackford County, 12-Bl-25: Ball State University documented this site in 1983. It consisted of a scatter of precontact and historic artifacts.
Boone County, 12-Bo-25: Ball State University also documented this site, this time in 1981. It consisted of a small scatter of flakes, two pieces of worked chert and one piece of mussel shell. The site was classified as a camp.
Brown County, 12-Br-25: This site was documented by the Glenn A. Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Indiana University, as a result of a wastewater improvements project in Nashville, Indiana in 1981. The site consisted of a scatter of both precontact and historic artifacts.
SHAARD Tip - Have you ever searched for a site in the search bar and been surprised to see a black dot where your site is? Whenever you use the search bar to locate a site, the result will appear black. This does NOT mean that the site is demolished. Once you exit out of your search on the search bar, the black dot will disappear, and the corresponding rating color will again be visible.
This information is distributed via email by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology (DHPA). This is meant to provide information on current archaeological topics and issues in which the DHPA is involved. An archive of past Archaeology News issues is available. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact our office at 317-232-1646.
Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology, 402 W. Washington St., Room W274, Indianapolis, IN 46204. www.IN.gov/dnr/historic, www.facebook.com/INdhpa
Indiana Archaeology Month (September) webpage - http://www.in.gov/dnr/historic/3674.htm | #INArchaeoMonth
