On a hilltop in Southern Ohio is Fort Ancient, an archaeological site characterized by a number of earthworks which reach a height of about 23 feet. Other sites in the middle Ohio River Valley had similar characteristics and archaeologists have grouped these sites as the Fort Ancient Tradition. In terms of time, the Fort Ancient Tradition flourished from about 1000 CE to 1700 CE.
Shown above is the Fort Ancient site in Ohio. This site map was displayed in the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio.
In his chapter in The Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology, Bernard K. Means writes:
“The term Fort Ancient was first used in the early 20th century to describe the archaeological sites in the southern part of Ohio but was later expanded to include sites in Indiana, Kentucky, and West Virginia.”
In their chapter in Societies in Eclipse: Archaeology of the Eastern Woodland Indians, A.D. 1400-1700, archaeologists Pennelope Drooker and C. Wesley Cowan write:
“Fort Ancient people developed and sustained a way of life characterized by maize horticulture, nucleated villages, nonhierarchical settlement patterns, a social organization with a single level of achieved authority, and significant interregional interaction.”
Fort Ancient Tradition villages were generally situated near waterways (rivers or streams). The villages had houses which were made with poles and then covered with wattle-and-daub, bark, or mats. Larger structures served as council houses.
In an article in American Archaeology, Linda Vaccariello writes:
“Most Fort Ancient sites were short-lived, evidence suggests that after 10 to 30 years in one location—once the soil was depleted by farming, the firewood exhausted, or the social ties frayed—the people relocated.”
Some of the Fort Ancient villages were stockaded with the homes arranged in a circular fashion around a central plaza. The presence of the stockade may be an indication of concern for warfare or attacks by other people. Many sites had burial or temple mounds. The villages show no sign of social stratification—that is, there does not appear to a social division into rich people and poor people.
Village plazas and large ceremonial structures are characteristic of most Fort Ancient sites. Linda Vaccariello writes:
“Ceremonies in plazas would have been visible, and thus open to all. Those conducted inside a public structure would have been restricted to fewer people within a much smaller space. Public structures gave village leaders more control over who participated in these events. Through their control of rituals that involved the use of yellow clay, fire, sacred poles, and marine shells, Fort Ancient leaders would have sought to maintain the support of village residents and attract new residents to their village.”
The Fox Farm site, located about 50 miles north of present-day Lexington, Kentucky, has a large ceremonial structure—45 feet by 26 feet—that seems to have been built on an astronomical alignment. There is no central hearth, but a series of hearths in the center of the building. Pole pits within the building suggest that sacred poles were set up and removed during ceremonies conducted within the building. Linda Vaccariello reports:
“These poles could have extended above the roof of the structure and supported animal totems that served as symbolic links to the cosmos.”
Some other Fort Ancient sites include features which were used for astronomy. Sun Watch Village in Ohio, established about 1200 CE, has a pole complex which was used for making astronomical observations. In his chapter in the The Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology, Bernard Means reports:
“Located in the center of the village plaza are traces of a red cedar pole, which likely functioned as the site’s axis mundi, apparently used to create alignments to astronomical phenomena.”
Bernard Means also reports:
“By incorporating celestial alignments into their overall village plan, the inhabitants of Sun Watch and other villages could have reactivated on select occasions to link to the cosmos through the layouts of their villages, which represented microcosms or reflections of larger ‘realities.’”
Astronomical observations made by Fort Ancient people included sun cycles (solstices and equinoxes) and moon cycles, including the 18.6 year lunar cycle.
The Sun Watch Village also has two large ceremonial buildings. The village had a population of about 250 people.
Subsistence
While the mythology of the American past envisions American Indians as nomadic hunters, in fact agriculture was well established millennia before the beginning of the European invasion. Fort Ancient people were cultivating corn (maize), beans, squash, sunflowers, and tobacco. About 48-70% of their diet was corn. One of the consequences of this corn-based diet, however, was high rates of spina bifida and tooth decay.
These people were also hunting deer, bear, turkey, and elk. They fished using bone hooks, harpoons, and nets. Wild plant resources used by Fort Ancient people included a variety of nuts and fruits.
In his entry on Fort Ancient in A Dictionary of Archaeology, Richard Jefferies reports:
“Fort Ancient diet was based on a combination of cultivated plants (maize, beans, squash), nuts and wild game (elk, bear, white-tailed deer, turkey).”
In his chapter on the prehistory of the Ohio Valley in the Handbook of North American Indians, James B. Griffin writes:
“There was a strong dependence on deer (80% in some sites), elk, bear, and racoon, and lesser emphasis on beaver, bobcat, mountain lion, and smaller animals. At some sites large numbers of mollusks were consumed. Turkey furnished most of the bird meat; at some sites the passenger pigeon was second in importance.”
Material Culture
In addition to using stone and copper, the Fort Ancient people used bone and antler for tools and ornaments. James B. Griffin reports:
“The Fort Ancient people had knives, scrapers, hoes, and spoons fashioned from appropriate mussel shells.”
They also manufactured shell disk and tubular beads.
The Fort Ancient people used the bow and arrow for hunting. One of the characteristics of their culture was a slender, triangular arrow point.
Fort Ancient pottery was tempered with shell or grit. Most of the vessels are squat and globular. They have rounded bottoms, broad mouths, and slightly flaring rims. Many of the vessels have strap handles. The Fort Ancient people also made ceramic animal effigies.
A variety of pipes from both stone and clay were also constructed. While the most common pipes had a rectangular or conical shape with a wooden stem, some of the pipes were made in animal shapes, some were elbow pipes, and some had a projecting prow in the front to provide a cool handhold for the smoker.
Burials and Offerings
Among the important data used by archaeologists in interpreting prehistory are burials and offerings. James B. Griffin writes:
“Fort Ancient burial practices had considerable diversity. Burial mounds are found in all phases and were located in the village sites. They are not present at all sites.”
Stone box graves, similar to those used by historic tribes such as the Shawnee, were fairly common. James B. Griffin reports:
“Most of the artifacts with burials were primarily decorative. Projectile points, bone needles, celts, and pipes were usually found with adult burials.”
A celt is a chisel-shaped, ungrooved stone tool used for cutting and shaping wood. Celts are similar in shape to chisels but have a wider blade. In his book The Dictionary of Native American Terminology, Carl Waldman writes:
“Celts usually were made by grinding rather than flacking. Although celts, unlike the heads of axes, have no groove for attachment to a handle, some are thought to have been inserted in a cavity in a piece of wood or antler, or wrapped at one end in rawhide.”
Offerings placed in the graves included bracelets, axes, breastplates, and earspools made from copper. Shell beads, some of which are from the Atlantic Ocean, were also used as offerings.
In her book America Before the European Invasions, Alice Beck Kehoe writes:
“At a large Ohio Fort Ancient village, graves alongside a central plaza had an interesting contrast, men on one side buried with arrows and pipes, men on the opposite side with small sets of objects likely to have constituted healers’ or diviners’ amulets.”
The Fort Ancient people seem to have cremated the dead and then placed bundles containing the cremains into a grave lined with sandstone slabs. The bodies were de-fleshed prior to cremation. Evidence for de-fleshing was seen at a burial of a six-year-old child and an adult in the Clark Rockshelter (15GD110) in Kentucky. In an article in the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Douglas MacDonald et al report:
“The evidence of the de-fleshing cut marks on the child’s remains supports the argument that the skull of this individual was likely cleaned and stored until eventual internment, perhaps soon after the death of the adult.”
The remains of the adult in the Clark Rockshelter were buried with a large amount of mica. MacDonald et al report:
“The large amount of mica clearly reflects the significance of the individuals interred at Clark Rockshelter.”
Shell beads, including at least one from the Atlantic Ocean, were placed with the Clark Rockshelter remains at the time of burial. The beads appear to have been made by different individuals. Douglas MacDonald et al report:
“It is conceivable that single beads were placed with the human remains as gifts by different persons, thus resulting in the differences between the beads.”
Trade
Prehistoric American Indian societies did not exist in isolation but actively engaged in trading material items, ideas, and even religious ceremonies with other groups. Vast trading networks spread throughout the Americas. During the protohistoric period—the period between the beginning of the European invasion and actual contact with the European invaders—European materials followed these routes long before the European explorers. Alice Beck Kehoe writes:
“In the protohistoric sixteenth century, Fort Ancient people were in trading contact with Mississippians to the south who passed on Spanish objects, and with Iroquoians to the northeast who passed on, among other items, iron kettle lugs from Basque fishermen using the Gulf of St. Laurence shores to dry fish and render whale oil.”
Shawnee
While some archaeologists consider Fort Ancient to be ancestral to the Shawnee, archaeologists Pennelope Drooker and C. Wesley Cowan write:
“Archaeologists and ethnohistorians have reached no consensus about which historically named group or groups might have been descended from Fort Ancient populations, although Shawnee and related Central Algonquian groups are most often suggested.”
In his book Shawnee! The Ceremonialism of a Native American Tribe and its Cultural Background, archaeologist James Howard writes:
“It would certainly appear that the most economical explanation in terms of available archeological, linguistics, and ethnohistorical data is to equate the prehistoric Shawnees with at least part of the Fort Ancient archaeological culture, though other groups were probably involved as well.”
The End of the Fort Ancient Tradition
By the 17th century, European epidemics—primarily smallpox—had reached the Indian peoples living in the Ohio area. The demise of the Fort Ancient culture was probably brought about by these European diseases.
Ancient America
For thousands of years prior to the European invasion of North America, American Indians settled the continent, developed agriculture, and built amazing structures. We are learning about these ancient peoples through archaeology and discussions with tribal elders. More from this series:
Ancient America: Fort Ancient offerings (museum tour)
Ancient America: Linking people to the cosmos in ancient Ohio
Ancient America: A very brief overview of the Hopewell moundbuilders
Ancient America: Avonlea, the early bow hunters
Ancient America: Astronomy
Ancient America: A collection of stone fishing weights (photo diary)
Ancient America: Florida, 1000 CE to 1300 CE
Ancient America: Bears (revised)