Ft Ancient Village Site-Scioto County Ohio

[The Grim Reaper]

Everything you see posted here will be a personal find with the exceptions of a few items given to me or a couple I purchased. So, 99.9% of what you see was found by me between the years of 1993 when I found my very first piece on this site and up until the present. The Ft Ancient Village site located here has been carbon dated from around 1000 to 1650 AD, but when it was excavated in the 30's and 40's lots of early Archaic and Paleo pieces were found in the deeper pits. I have found Bifurcate Points in Trash Middens so maybe they found them and made use of some of them again as well.

This site is located in Clay Township in Scioto county Ohio. It sets up on a large plateau that juts out into the river bottoms. The site used to be a lot larger at one time but they removed a lot of it to obtain gravel and fill when the built the new highway back in the mid 20's I believe so there are probably a lot of artifacts buried under Rt 23 at the Clay Overpass. This area is zoned commercial and has numerous businesses located there. The area that is still farmed is owned by a local attorney and off limits, but the long slopes leading down to the bottoms belongs to another person and he allows me to hunt it. I'd say 50 to 60% of what you see has came off that slope, which is a wooded area you basically have to crawl around on to find anything.

The artifacts found on sites like this is just astounding. You could literally fill up a 5 gallon bucket with Pottery within a couple of hours if you chose to. I usually only pick up Rim, Handle, or Decorated pieces now. The Points are all Triangles and some are nicely Serrated. Lots of Bone Tools, Beads of Bone and Shell, Fish Hooks, Deer Antler Arrow Points and Flakers, Drills, Pipes, Flutes, etc. You find a lots of broken and damaged pieces mostly because what we find is eroding from Trash Pits.

The first Pipe you see is by far my best find off the site and probably my best find ever. It has a mouth cut into the bottom so it's an Effigy and it is in pristine condition. It's made from a very fine grained Sandstone. The second Pipe is also an Effigy. It is a Phallic Effigy and that has been confirmed by several well known collectors.

Hope you enjoy the photos and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

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[vpnavy]

WOW The Grim Reaper! Thanks for sharing...

 

[Buckleberry]

Awesome and probably the best ( and authentic) site collection I've seen on this forum.
It's a perfect example of a cultures moment in time and place captured in the surviving relics.

It's amazing how much bone you find down there Steve, only ever found a couple pieces here, I think the soil is too acidic up this way.

Mods, How do I nominate the collection for a banner?

Nevermind i found the small red rectabgle at the the top right of the post.

Hey peeps, let's get this collection a banner...click that button on the top right

 

[quito]

Very Nice!!

I too am amazed at the amount of bone that survived. I have found very little over here myself.

 

[sandchip]

Good gracious, Grim! Thanks for sharing an incredible assemblage of finds from that one site. Those pipes are something else, of which an intact example has eluded me for years. That insitu shot of the little elbow is tops!

Banner!

 

[theviking]

Very nice!

 

[1320]

Keeping it real, thanks. Awesome collection Grim, thanks for sharing.

 

[Tpmetal]

epic amount of artifacts. Gotta get you a museum or something.

 

[reuellis]

outstanding! well done and thanks for sharing.

 

[fishstick]

That's an AWESOME display Grim!!!! I've often wondered why there were VERY few Ft. Ancient sites from just west of Cincy to the Falls of the Ohio on the Indiana side of the river. I've heard some theories but nothing concrete. Again AWESOME display!!!!

 

[Timbermusic27891]

Super nice collection.

I am surprised that the bone material could survive so many years without rodents eating on it. Makes you wonder if there wasn't some kind of natural disaster that covered the area with dirt instantly or at least very rapidly protecting the more delicate artifacts like that from rodents and degrading from exposure to the elements. So many unknowns when you really think about an area like you have there. Then again if there was some kind of natural disaster you would think there would be some of the human remains also in the same area as the artifacts. Sorry for so many questions, kind of thinking out loud...

What do you mean when you use the term "trash pit" ?
What were the flat round pieces in the 2nd picture top right used for?
Thanks,

 

[newnan man]

Great finds!! Love the pipes! It's good someone like you found them & appreciates their value is more than a dollar sign. Thanks

 

[creekhunter]

Banner nomination as well, never get tired of seeing your amazing collection!

 

[Ici]

That is an impressive collection you have there. Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[GB Paleo]

Fantastic site collection. Bone artifacts are usually rarer out west too. Your bone artifacts are amazing!!

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the kind words. That represents a lot of literally crawling on my hands and knees up and down a wooded hillside.

I saw I forgot to put any pottery pictures on so I added a few.

 

[quito]

Oh, and I am also amazed at the lack of what most call thumb-scrapers.

Them things are 90% of what I find on my sites.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Super nice collection.

I am surprised that the bone material could survive so many years without rodents eating on it. Makes you wonder if there wasn't some kind of natural disaster that covered the area with dirt instantly or at least very rapidly protecting the more delicate artifacts like that from rodents and degrading from exposure to the elements. So many unknowns when you really think about an area like you have there. Then again if there was some kind of natural disaster you would think there would be some of the human remains also in the same area as the artifacts. Sorry for so many questions, kind of thinking out loud...

What do you mean when you use the term "trash pit" ?
What were the flat round pieces in the 2nd picture top right used for?
Thanks,

We have to find the Bone pieces soon after they are exposed, especially in the wooded areas where squirrels are everywhere. They will gnaw on them if they are left exposed for a while. We find pieces that are chewed up all the time. Mostly antler though.

You ask about how the stuff got covered and preserved and if it happened quickly. This site was occupied for around 700 years so imagine how much "trash" would accumulate in that span. They had to do something with it. It has been proven that the people that occupied this site didn't dig holes to put their trash in. Instead they would pile it up and then cover it with a layer of dirt and do this for several layers before starting another pile. Excavations in the late 1800's and early 1900's revealed the layers of the Middens and I have seen it first hand in excavations going on there now by the private owner. If you're digging at this site and think you hit the bottom of a Trash Pit you need to go through that layer of dirt and you will hit artifacts again and the deeper you go the older the pieces. Also, to answer your question, what I refer to as a Trash Pit is also know as a Midden.

Lastly, the round pieces you asked about are called Stone Discs, Discoidals, and the larger ones, which I don't have, are called Chunkey Stones. Lots of theories on these smaller ones. Everything from Gaming Pieces, Pot Lids, Spindle Whorls for the drilled ones, large Beads, etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Oh, and I am also amazed at the lack of what most call thumb-scrapers.

Them things are 90% of what I find on my sites.

Funny you mention that. We only have one Ft Ancient site where the Thumbscrapers were found in abundance and 90% of them were bifacial. I have shown them on here before. This site will produce a crude Side Scraper but I have never found a true uniface Thumbscraper here.

 

[joshuaream]

Steve always good to see your material. Banner worthy.

There are some different reasons bone on sites is preserved. A lot of it has to do with the right soil conditions but a major part comes from the amount of trash discarded (modern stuff in landfills doesn't break down either.) That changes the acidity and microbes in the soil, and leads to better preservation. Bone & shell tools that have been cleaned of meat and then been polished through use also preserve better than unused natural bone and shell that rot and then get buried.