Fort Ancient (33 WA 2) is a Native Americanearthworks complex located in Washington Township, Warren County, Ohio, along the eastern shore of the Little Miami River about seven miles (11 km) southeast of Lebanon on State Route 350. The site is the largest prehistoric hilltop enclosure in the United States[2] with three and one-half miles (18,000 ft) of walls in a 100-acre (0.40 km2) complex. Built by the Hopewell culture, who lived in the area from the 200 BC to AD 400, the site is situated on a wooded bluff 270 feet (82 m) above the Little Miami. It is the namesake of a culture known as Fort Ancient who lived near the complex long after it was constructed.
Maintained as a state historical park, the site was designated a National Historic Landmark for its significance. The State of Ohio purchased the land and made it Ohio's first state park in 1891. In addition, this is part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, one of 14 sites nominated in January 2008 by the U.S. Department of the Interior for potential submission by the United States to the UNESCO World Heritage List.[3] It was officially designated a World Heritage Site on September 2023 together with the earthworks at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and the Newark Earthworks.[4]
The Fort Ancient earthworks were built in at least three stages over an estimated 400-year period. The shoulder blades of deer, split elk antlers, clam shell hoes, and digging sticks were used to loosen the dirt, and baskets holding 35 to 40 pounds were used to carry and distribute the soils in building the earthworks. Archaeologists estimate the total volume of earth in the walls at 553,000 cubic yards (423,000 m3).
Archaeological ResearchEdit
In 1809 the Philadelphia Port Folio published the first map and description of Fort Ancient.[5] The accounts of the site by Atwater [6] and Warden [7] several years later are nearly identical to the 1809 report and map. The site was visited and surveyed in by John Locke in 1843. In Edwin Hamilton Davis and Ephraim George Squier's Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, they described Fort Ancient as "one of the most extensive, if not the most extensive, work...in the entire West", regarding its size.[8] Warren K. Moorehead conducted some of the initial excavations at Fort Ancient in 1887 and published his research in 1891 in the book Fort Ancient: Great Prehistoric Warren County Ohio.[9] Additional research was conducted by William C. Mills in 1908 [10] and Richard Morgan and Holmes Ellis in 1939-1940.[11]
More contemporary research includes the following:
From 1982 until her untimely death in 1991, Patricia Essenpreis conducted a series of excavations that included the re-excavation and examination of embankment wall cuts conducted by Richard Morgan. These excavations demonstrated that the embankment walls were built in multiple stages and that post structures were documented at the base of the walls. She also examined the Gateway 13 exterior spur where she found evidence of bladelet manufacturing. Her final project involved the excavation of a pavement and structure on the exterior of the earthworks near the Twin Mound complex. Here, she documented a three-level limestone pavement with household or domestic activity at the lowest level.[12]
From 1987 through 2006, Robert Connolly collaborated with and then continued the research projects initiated by Patricia Essenpreis. His initial work involved taking Essenpreis's "canons of construction" to develop an "architectural grammar" of earthwork elements, demonstrating their intentional and precise placement throughout the Fort Ancient complex.[13] In 1995 and 1996 Connolly directed the investigation of embankment walls and a large interior space of the North Fort of the earthwork in advance of a new museum construction. The embankment wall excavation confirmed Essenpreis' conclusion of multiple construction levels, but added a level of complexity in alternate basket loads of different soils in the construction, many features below the embankment wall, and a three-level limestone pavement on the exterior of the wall that contained a cache of burnt animal bones.[14] Excavation in the North Fort interior space revealed the presence of 10 habitation structures.[15]
Beginning in 2006, Robert Riordan conducted excavations in the North Fort of the earthwork complex that revealed a complex series of posts and activity areas, some with intense burning.[16] Riordan named the Moorehead Circle after the archaeologist who conducted early excavations at the site.
Some archaeologists originally thought the site was created to provide shelter against enemies. However, that interpretation is now discounted as the site presents anomalies inconsistent with defensive use such as:
Ditches are located inside the walls, rather than outside as a means of defense.
The 84 gateway openings in the walls could not have been defended in case of attack.
Evidence has not been found for the number of occupants necessary for a significant defense force.
Based on the total corpus of archaeological research, the current functional interpretation is that the walls were designed for social, economic, political and ceremonial purposes.[17] Research demonstrates the site architecture was aligned with significant astronomical events.[18] In the Northeast corner of the complex, four circular stone-covered mounds are arranged in a square. The southwest mound of the four is interpreted to have functioned as a point that aligned with gateway openings in the embankment walls to mark significant solar and lunar events.[19]
MuseumEdit
The site now includes a 9,000-square-foot (840 m2) museum covering 1500 years of American Indian heritage in the Ohio Valley. Topics include North America's earliest people, the development of agriculture, and the impact of Europeans who migrated to the area and came into conflict with the Native Americans then living in region. The Museum also contains a classroom, a research area, and a gift shop. The site is open to the public Tuesday-Saturday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and Sunday 12:00 - 5:00 PM April through November; weekends only from December through March.
The Historic Era Fort Ancient VillageEdit
Stone building from 1802 operated as the Cross Keys Tavern from 1809-1820
In the 1800s to early 1900s a village existed on the eastern bank of the Little Miami River, at the base of the Fort Ancient Earthworks. The village once had a post office (1846),[20] hotel, blacksmith shop and other businesses and residences. The village no longer exists, but is currently the home of a canoe livery and a private campground.
In the 19th century, Fort Ancient was a stop on the Little Miami Railroad. A historic tavern called the Cross Keys Tavern remains on the west bank of the Little Miami River and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The area is currently a public access to the Little Miami Bike Trail, which occupies the former railway land that follows the River. There is a public access and parking for the Little Miami River at the site.
^Smith, Steve; et al. (2007). "Arts & Attractions". Cincinnati USA City Guide. Cincinnati Magazine. p. 22. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
^"Secretary Kempthorne Selects New U.S. World Heritage Tentative List" 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine, Dept. of Interior (posted by Octagonmoonrise), 22 Jan 2008, accessed 5 Dec 2008
^Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
^Smith, T.H. (1977). The Mapping of Ohio. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press.
^Atwater, Caleb (1820) Description of the Antiquities Discovered in the State of Ohio and other Western States. Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society.
^Warden, M. (1825). Recherches sur les Antiquités des États-Unis. Paris, France: Recueil de Voyages et de Memoires, La Societe de Geographie. pp. 372–506.
^Ephraim George Squier; Edwin Hamilton Davis (1848). Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley. Smithsonian Institution. pp. 79–86.
^Moorehead, Warren K. Fort Ancient: The Great Prehistoric Earthwork 1891, AMS Press.
^Mills, William C. (1908) Field notes from 1908 excavations at Fort Ancient. Ms. on file, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus Ohio.
^Morgan, Richard and Holmes Ellis (1939-1940) Field Notes from 1939 & 1940 Excavations at the Fort Ancient State Memorial. Ms. on file, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus
^Connolly, Robert (1996). Middle Woodland Hilltop Enclosures: The Built Environment, Construction and Function. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms.
^Connolly, Robert (1998) The Architectural Grammar of Middle Woodland Hilltop Enclosures: Fort Ancient as a Case Study. In Ancient Earthen Enclosures of the Eastern Woodlands, edited by Lynne Sullivan and Robert Mainfort, University Press of Florida, Gainesville.
^Connolly, Robert and Lauren Sieg (1997). The Gateway 84 Embankment Wall. Volume II, 1995 Report of Investigations at the Fort Ancient State Memorial. copy on file, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus.
^Adrienne, Lazazzera (2004). Hopewell Household Variation at the Fort Ancient Site. In The Fort Ancient Earthworks, edited by Robert P. Connolly and Bradley T. Lepper, Ohio Historical Society. pp. 84–106.
^Robert, Riordan (2015). The End. In ‘Building the Past: prehistoric wooden post architecture in the Ohio Valley-Great Lakes,’ edited by Brian G. Redmond and Robert A. Genheimer, University Press of Florida, Gainesville. pp. 126–145.
^Connolly, Robert (2004) Time, Space, and Function at Fort Ancient. In The Fort Ancient Earthworks: Prehistoric Lifeways of the Hopewell Culture in Southwestern Ohio, edited by Robert P. Connolly and Bradley T. Lepper. Ohio Historical Society, Columbus.
^Romain, William (2004) Journey to the Center of the World: Astronomy, Geometry, and Cosmology of the Fort Ancient Enclosure In The Fort Ancient Earthworks: Prehistoric Lifeways of the Hopewell Culture in Southwestern Ohio, edited by Robert P. Connolly and Bradley T. Lepper. Ohio Historical Society, Columbus. pp. 66-83.
^Essenpreis, Patricia and David Duszynski (1989) Possible Astronomical Alignments at the Fort Ancient Monument. Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta.
^. Warren County Genealogical Society. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
SourcesEdit
Elva R. Adams. Warren County Revisited. [Lebanon, Ohio]: Warren County Historical Society, 1989.
Robert L. Black. The Little Miami Railroad. Cincinnati: n.p., 1940.
The Centennial Atlas of Warren County, Ohio. Lebanon, Ohio: The Centennial Atlas Association, 1903.
Josiah Morrow. The History of Warren County, Ohio. Chicago: W.H. Beers, 1883. (Reprinted several times)
Warren County Engineer's Office. Official Highway Map 2003. Lebanon, Ohio: The Office, 2003.
Bradley Thomas Lepper (2005). Ohio Archaeology. Orange Frazer Press. ISBN1-882203-39-9
Robert P. Connolly and Bradley T. Lepper "The Fort Ancient Earthworks: Prehistoric Lifeways of the Hopewell Culture in Southwestern Ohio" Ohio Historical Society Press. (2004). ISBN978-0877580294
External linksEdit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Ancient.
Fort Ancient Archaeological Park
Fort Ancient, Ancient Ohio Trail
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage Nomination
Fort Ancient Earthworks
October 18, 2023
fort, ancient, lebanon, ohio, 4077833, 0902528, 4077833, 0902528, fort, ancientu, national, register, historic, placesu, national, historic, landmarknearly, miles, trails, wind, through, fort, ancient, state, memorial, acres, show, ohioshow, united, statesnear. 39 24 28 02 N 84 05 24 91 W 39 4077833 N 84 0902528 W 39 4077833 84 0902528 Fort AncientU S National Register of Historic PlacesU S National Historic LandmarkNearly two miles of trails wind through Fort Ancient State Memorial s 764 acres 3 09 km2 Show map of OhioShow map of the United StatesNearest cityLebanon OhioNRHP reference No 66000625 1 Added to NRHPOctober 15 1966Fort Ancient 33 WA 2 is a Native American earthworks complex located in Washington Township Warren County Ohio along the eastern shore of the Little Miami River about seven miles 11 km southeast of Lebanon on State Route 350 The site is the largest prehistoric hilltop enclosure in the United States 2 with three and one half miles 18 000 ft of walls in a 100 acre 0 40 km2 complex Built by the Hopewell culture who lived in the area from the 200 BC to AD 400 the site is situated on a wooded bluff 270 feet 82 m above the Little Miami It is the namesake of a culture known as Fort Ancient who lived near the complex long after it was constructed Maintained as a state historical park the site was designated a National Historic Landmark for its significance The State of Ohio purchased the land and made it Ohio s first state park in 1891 In addition this is part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks one of 14 sites nominated in January 2008 by the U S Department of the Interior for potential submission by the United States to the UNESCO World Heritage List 3 It was officially designated a World Heritage Site on September 2023 together with the earthworks at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and the Newark Earthworks 4 Contents 1 Construction 2 Archaeological Research 3 Purpose 4 Museum 5 The Historic Era Fort Ancient Village 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Footnotes 7 2 Sources 8 External linksConstruction EditThe Fort Ancient earthworks were built in at least three stages over an estimated 400 year period The shoulder blades of deer split elk antlers clam shell hoes and digging sticks were used to loosen the dirt and baskets holding 35 to 40 pounds were used to carry and distribute the soils in building the earthworks Archaeologists estimate the total volume of earth in the walls at 553 000 cubic yards 423 000 m3 Archaeological Research EditIn 1809 the Philadelphia Port Folio published the first map and description of Fort Ancient 5 The accounts of the site by Atwater 6 and Warden 7 several years later are nearly identical to the 1809 report and map The site was visited and surveyed in by John Locke in 1843 In Edwin Hamilton Davis and Ephraim George Squier s Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley they described Fort Ancient as one of the most extensive if not the most extensive work in the entire West regarding its size 8 Warren K Moorehead conducted some of the initial excavations at Fort Ancient in 1887 and published his research in 1891 in the book Fort Ancient Great Prehistoric Warren County Ohio 9 Additional research was conducted by William C Mills in 1908 10 and Richard Morgan and Holmes Ellis in 1939 1940 11 More contemporary research includes the following From 1982 until her untimely death in 1991 Patricia Essenpreis conducted a series of excavations that included the re excavation and examination of embankment wall cuts conducted by Richard Morgan These excavations demonstrated that the embankment walls were built in multiple stages and that post structures were documented at the base of the walls She also examined the Gateway 13 exterior spur where she found evidence of bladelet manufacturing Her final project involved the excavation of a pavement and structure on the exterior of the earthworks near the Twin Mound complex Here she documented a three level limestone pavement with household or domestic activity at the lowest level 12 From 1987 through 2006 Robert Connolly collaborated with and then continued the research projects initiated by Patricia Essenpreis His initial work involved taking Essenpreis s canons of construction to develop an architectural grammar of earthwork elements demonstrating their intentional and precise placement throughout the Fort Ancient complex 13 In 1995 and 1996 Connolly directed the investigation of embankment walls and a large interior space of the North Fort of the earthwork in advance of a new museum construction The embankment wall excavation confirmed Essenpreis conclusion of multiple construction levels but added a level of complexity in alternate basket loads of different soils in the construction many features below the embankment wall and a three level limestone pavement on the exterior of the wall that contained a cache of burnt animal bones 14 Excavation in the North Fort interior space revealed the presence of 10 habitation structures 15 Beginning in 2006 Robert Riordan conducted excavations in the North Fort of the earthwork complex that revealed a complex series of posts and activity areas some with intense burning 16 Riordan named the Moorehead Circle after the archaeologist who conducted early excavations at the site Purpose Edit nbsp 1843 Map of the earthworks at Fort Ancient included in Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley Some archaeologists originally thought the site was created to provide shelter against enemies However that interpretation is now discounted as the site presents anomalies inconsistent with defensive use such as Ditches are located inside the walls rather than outside as a means of defense The 84 gateway openings in the walls could not have been defended in case of attack Evidence has not been found for the number of occupants necessary for a significant defense force Based on the total corpus of archaeological research the current functional interpretation is that the walls were designed for social economic political and ceremonial purposes 17 Research demonstrates the site architecture was aligned with significant astronomical events 18 In the Northeast corner of the complex four circular stone covered mounds are arranged in a square The southwest mound of the four is interpreted to have functioned as a point that aligned with gateway openings in the embankment walls to mark significant solar and lunar events 19 Museum EditThe site now includes a 9 000 square foot 840 m2 museum covering 1500 years of American Indian heritage in the Ohio Valley Topics include North America s earliest people the development of agriculture and the impact of Europeans who migrated to the area and came into conflict with the Native Americans then living in region The Museum also contains a classroom a research area and a gift shop The site is open to the public Tuesday Saturday from 10 00 AM to 5 00 PM and Sunday 12 00 5 00 PM April through November weekends only from December through March The Historic Era Fort Ancient Village Edit nbsp Stone building from 1802 operated as the Cross Keys Tavern from 1809 1820In the 1800s to early 1900s a village existed on the eastern bank of the Little Miami River at the base of the Fort Ancient Earthworks The village once had a post office 1846 20 hotel blacksmith shop and other businesses and residences The village no longer exists but is currently the home of a canoe livery and a private campground In the 19th century Fort Ancient was a stop on the Little Miami Railroad A historic tavern called the Cross Keys Tavern remains on the west bank of the Little Miami River and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places The area is currently a public access to the Little Miami Bike Trail which occupies the former railway land that follows the River There is a public access and parking for the Little Miami River at the site See also EditMoorehead Circle List of Registered Historic Places in Warren County Ohio Fort Ancient Culture List of Hopewell sitesReferences EditFootnotes Edit National Register Information System National Register of Historic Places National Park Service January 23 2007 Smith Steve et al 2007 Arts amp Attractions Cincinnati USA City Guide Cincinnati Magazine p 22 Retrieved 2013 05 06 Secretary Kempthorne Selects New U S World Heritage Tentative List Archived 2011 07 21 at the Wayback Machine Dept of Interior posted by Octagonmoonrise 22 Jan 2008 accessed 5 Dec 2008 Centre UNESCO World Heritage Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage Centre Retrieved 2023 09 24 Smith T H 1977 The Mapping of Ohio Kent Ohio Kent State University Press Atwater Caleb 1820 Description of the Antiquities Discovered in the State of Ohio and other Western States Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society Warden M 1825 Recherches sur les Antiquites des Etats Unis Paris France Recueil de Voyages et de Memoires La Societe de Geographie pp 372 506 Ephraim George Squier Edwin Hamilton Davis 1848 Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley Smithsonian Institution pp 79 86 Moorehead Warren K Fort Ancient The Great Prehistoric Earthwork 1891 AMS Press Mills William C 1908 Field notes from 1908 excavations at Fort Ancient Ms on file Ohio Historical Society Columbus Ohio Morgan Richard and Holmes Ellis 1939 1940 Field Notes from 1939 amp 1940 Excavations at the Fort Ancient State Memorial Ms on file Ohio Historical Society Columbus Connolly Robert 1996 Middle Woodland Hilltop Enclosures The Built Environment Construction and Function Ann Arbor University Microfilms Connolly Robert 1998 The Architectural Grammar of Middle Woodland Hilltop Enclosures Fort Ancient as a Case Study In Ancient Earthen Enclosures of the Eastern Woodlands edited by Lynne Sullivan and Robert Mainfort University Press of Florida Gainesville Connolly Robert and Lauren Sieg 1997 The Gateway 84 Embankment Wall Volume II 1995 Report of Investigations at the Fort Ancient State Memorial copy on file Ohio Historical Society Columbus Adrienne Lazazzera 2004 Hopewell Household Variation at the Fort Ancient Site In The Fort Ancient Earthworks edited by Robert P Connolly and Bradley T Lepper Ohio Historical Society pp 84 106 Robert Riordan 2015 The End In Building the Past prehistoric wooden post architecture in the Ohio Valley Great Lakes edited by Brian G Redmond and Robert A Genheimer University Press of Florida Gainesville pp 126 145 Connolly Robert 2004 Time Space and Function at Fort Ancient In The Fort Ancient Earthworks Prehistoric Lifeways of the Hopewell Culture in Southwestern Ohio edited by Robert P Connolly and Bradley T Lepper Ohio Historical Society Columbus Romain William 2004 Journey to the Center of the World Astronomy Geometry and Cosmology of the Fort Ancient Enclosure In The Fort Ancient Earthworks Prehistoric Lifeways of the Hopewell Culture in Southwestern Ohio edited by Robert P Connolly and Bradley T Lepper Ohio Historical Society Columbus pp 66 83 Essenpreis Patricia and David Duszynski 1989 Possible Astronomical Alignments at the Fort Ancient Monument Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology Atlanta Warren County Ohio Place Names Warren County Genealogical Society Archived from the original on 13 March 2018 Retrieved 13 March 2018 Sources Edit Elva R Adams Warren County Revisited Lebanon Ohio Warren County Historical Society 1989 Robert L Black The Little Miami Railroad Cincinnati n p 1940 The Centennial Atlas of Warren County Ohio Lebanon Ohio The Centennial Atlas Association 1903 Josiah Morrow The History of Warren County Ohio Chicago W H Beers 1883 Reprinted several times Ohio Atlas amp Gazetteer 6th ed Yarmouth Maine DeLorme 2001 ISBN 0 89933 281 1 Warren County Engineer s Office Official Highway Map 2003 Lebanon Ohio The Office 2003 Bradley Thomas Lepper 2005 Ohio Archaeology Orange Frazer Press ISBN 1 882203 39 9 Robert P Connolly and Bradley T Lepper The Fort Ancient Earthworks Prehistoric Lifeways of the Hopewell Culture in Southwestern Ohio Ohio Historical Society Press 2004 ISBN 978 0877580294External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Ancient Fort Ancient Archaeological Park Fort Ancient Ancient Ohio Trail Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage Nomination Fort Ancient Earthworks Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fort Ancient Lebanon Ohio amp oldid 1176884305, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
