The Fort Ancient Culture, 950 AD to 1650 AD
Posted on 21. Aug, 2009 by Shannon Graham in Artifact Finds, Flint Artifacts, Ohio
Note: The following article is a submission from Steve Valentine, prominent Arrowheadologist well known in the forums and galleries for his informative posts and amazing collection of rare finds. Take time to learn more about this amazing culture. You won’t be disappointed! Click on the photos for a better view!
The Fort Ancient Culture, 950 AD to 1650 AD
The Fort Ancient culture existed along the Ohio River and its tributaries for around 700 years, beginning around 950 AD and continuing all the way up until the historical period. The Fort Ancient culture was originally thought to be an extension of the large Mississippian Cultures that were flourishing in the south, but they are now generally seen as coexisting at the same time and independently of each other. Both cultures are believed to have evolved and developed from the Late Woodland culture. Some of the more prevalent Fort Ancient sites are the Blaine, Madisonville, Morrison, Graham, Voss, McCune, Gabriel, Erp, Incinerator, Sloane, Turpin Farm, Haffner-Kuntz, Sun Watch, and Riker sites. In my general area of southern Ohio there are the Hardin Village, Goldcamp, Schisler, and Feurt Mound and Village sites.
The Fort Ancient culture gets its name from a site in Ohio called Fort Ancient. This site is now thought to have actually been built by the Hopewell and then later occupied by the Fort Ancient peoples. This site is located on a hill above the Little Miami River near Lebanon, Ohio and is believed to not have actually been a fort, but more than likely a place for ceremonies to take place. In recent history the largest effigy mound in the United States, Serpent Mound located near Peebles, Ohio along St Rt 73 has been attributed to possibly being built by the Fort Ancient people because of new carbon dating done on charcoal found under the mound.
The Fort Ancient culture can be distinguished by their use of small triangular shaped arrowpoints, some which were serrated with needle tips, and the use of shouldered pentagonal knives. They also utilized mussel shell for a lot of their tools and jewelry as well as mussels being a large staple of their diet. Other artifacts included the use of Shell Hoes for agriculture, all types of Bone Tools like Awls, Punches, Hoes, Fish Hooks, Bone Needles, and Hide Scrapers. They also made a lot of jewelry from both bone and shell like Beads, Hair Pins, Pendants, Tinklers, and Shell Gorgets of which a number of examples have the “weeping eye” motif engraved upon them. These people also enjoyed smoking and playing a game called Chunkey which is evident by the large amount of Pipes and Discoidals found on these sites. They made Pipes of all shapes and sizes, including lots of effigy styles representing the wildlife that surrounded them.
The Fort Ancient people lived in large villages that were surrounded by huge wooden stockades to keep out predators and invaders. They were primarily farmers by nature and lived on a diet of maize, squash, and beans but they also hunted and fished to supplement their diet with meat. It is generally accepted that they did not have an elite social or political structure. Although some individuals may have risen to the status of leader, most of the population was considered to be equal. This is evident in the artifacts buried with individuals which usually do not vary much from grave to grave showing that no one person had a higher status than another.
The disappearance of the Fort Ancient culture during the mid 1600’s has been attributed to the arrival of the Spanish and the subsequent disease and epidemics brought with them. Although there is a gap in the time between the disappearance of the Fort Ancient people and the arrival of the Shawnee Indians, it is widely accepted that the Shawnee evolved from the Fort Ancient because of the similarities in their artifacts , art, and mythology, plus some of the oral history links them together.
There are four Fort Ancient sites and one historical Shawnee village within 20 miles of my house. I have hunted all of them but only have artifacts from the four Fort Ancient sites. I do however have a buddy who has an extensive collection of historical items from the Shawnee village. The flint points at the Shawnee village are identical to the Fort Ancient points, but you find lots of copper and brass Tinklers, Glass Trade Beads, and other items at the Shawnee site that you won’t find at Fort Ancient sites because of contact with white settlers.
Here are some pictures of typical Fort Ancient artifacts from the four sites I hunt.
The first three pictures are of pieces from the Feurt Mound and Village site which is located just north of Portsmouth, Ohio in Clay Township, Scioto county. There are Triangle Points, Bone Beads, Shell Beads, Fish Hooks, Bone Tools, Deer Antler Arrowpoints, Drills, Pendants, and Drilled Teeth in the trays and also a picture of a pristine Effigy Pipe made from sandstone.
Finds from Feurt Mound and Village site.
Finds from Feurt Mound and Village site.
Pristine Effigy Pipe
The next two pictures are of pieces from the Hardin Village Site which is located in Greenup county Kentucky in an area known as the Siloam Bottoms.
Hardin Village Site artifacts.
Hardin Village Site artifacts.
The next two pictures are of items from the Goldcamp Site which is in Lawrence county Ohio just north of Hanging Rock, Ohio.
Artifact finds from the Goldcamp Site.
Artifact finds from the Goldcamp Site.
The last picture is a tray of artifacts from the Schisler Site which is in a field directly behind the ODOT garage just south of Lucasville, Ohio in Scioto county.
Artifacts from the Schisler Site.
As you can see all of the artifacts from each site are very similar. As all of these villages were in existence at the same time, I’m sure they traded many items amongst each other. About 98% of these are personal finds.
I hope you enjoyed this article and it helped to inform you on the Ft Ancient culture and the many sites I am able to hunt in my area.
Steve Valentine
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41 Responses to “The Fort Ancient Culture, 950 AD to 1650 AD”
Leave a Reply
Big Ed
12. Oct, 2009
Great stuff, Steve. When are you going to write some more articles for us?!
abby bayus
02. Dec, 2009
can you show some houses of them for us caus i need to know what they look like by December 4,2009
keith dunkin
04. Dec, 2009
I am currently searching/digging artifacts from what I believe to be a Ft. Ancient site. All of the artifacts seem to match most of Mr. Valentines collection. The digging is slow but rewarding. The site is about 30 miles west of Portsmouth, close to the river. However, I believe it to be a camp site. Weather permitting I will visit the site and continue to figure out what the site was used for.
Henderson Selby
19. Feb, 2010
Thanks Steve for sharing. My son David and I have visited you and enjoyed your collection. Not many people are willing to sare their knowledge. Enjoyed your site.
self storage
07. Mar, 2010
Thanks for sharing this information all this are of extreme use.
Matt
23. Apr, 2010
Keith,
Im interested in the site you are digging. Could you send me a map or profiles of the units you are working on?
Anonymous
27. Apr, 2010
What Ft.Ancients ate?
Ashley
27. Apr, 2010
What Ft.Ancients ate?
Sandra Kipp
22. Oct, 2010
Interesting artifacts…my grandfather, Philip Kientz, donated many items to the Ohio Historical Society. His collections are included at Fort Ancient, Shisler Village and Feurt Village.
Thanks
rae
07. Nov, 2010
hi! just wanted to say thanks for shareing.!! those pics are unbeliveable!!=-) i live in michigan~in detroit.. and have been serching for arrow heads for about 6 years with barely any luck.ive serched all the places you would think i could find one, rivers , lakes, high ground near those places, places where there have been tale of natives liveing near by,~no farms though.. ive found a cupple peices of chert and what looks like could be a cupple throw away pieces,in harbor springs mi, about 5 hours from detroit.. i drove to peebles ohio last spring and serched a few places but wasnt sure where to go~if you knew of any places i would love to check them out one day, i know most people dont share there finding spots~totally understanable, but i would love to find a point 1 day!! and i dont know 1 person into finding arrow heads so i wouldnt tell a soul=-) lol ha ha , even to check out your collection would be great (~my boyfriend and i come down to ohio often..) ive never seen so many, being a city girl and all!! well thanks for your time my email is starshipbutterfly@yahoo.com
hoolala
08. Nov, 2010
i want to know stuff
Anonymous
10. Nov, 2010
omg needs more exitment
catherine
11. Nov, 2010
kick ass this is great
jessica
30. Nov, 2010
what do their houses looked like
dreama pinkerman
30. Nov, 2010
what do there houes look like?
Anonymous
30. Nov, 2010
thx 4 the info
bob
02. Dec, 2010
hi
bob
02. Dec, 2010
hi people
owen
02. Dec, 2010
hi hi hi hi hihi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi ih ih ih hi hi hi hi hi hih ih ih ih ih ih ih hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hihi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi max
TAYLOR CURTISS
11. Dec, 2010
I freaken have a socal studies project and its on the fort ancien indians im in 4ht gradeeee! at I NEED TO NO THERES AWNSERS 1WHAT DID THEY EAT HOW DID THEY GET IT
2.DID THEY TRADE WHAT DID THEY TRADE
3.DID THEY BURY THIR DEAD HOW
4.DID THEY CREATE ARE
5.WERE DID THEY LIVE IN OHIO,OTHER PLACES
6.ANY THING SPACIAL ABOUT THEM?
YOU BETTER AWNSER ME! I NEED HELP
(*please*) L0L
TAYL0R CURT!$$
11. Dec, 2010
IM NOT LEAVING TILL i get a fucken awnser!
TAYL0R CURT!$$
11. Dec, 2010
you have the same name as me HA HA HA peeps im not the one one who cussed up there TRUST MEE ! im a fourth grader i cant cuss;D
SMEXY BABE
11. Dec, 2010
l0l i belive you taylor curtiss ha ha ha ha you guys have the same names! l0l i might be able to awnser you Question!
(MABY)
taylor curtiss
11. Dec, 2010
THANKS i hope you can but if you not on at 8:00 am im not taking your awnser!:)))
evan hartman
12. Dec, 2010
me too!!! i don’t like this project!!!!!
Bobby Wright
14. Dec, 2010
I have about 1200 artifacts-mostly from Texas. Two from Saudi Arabia and two from Libya. I enjoyed the article and the pictures of artifacts. I didn’t notice any pottery. Our Caddo Indians were famous for their pottery in E. Texas.
Tune» Blog Archive » pictures of ancient places
12. Jun, 2011
[...] The Fort Ancient Culture Click on the photos for a better view! The Fort Ancient Culture, 950 AD …. WERE DID THEY LIVE IN OHIO,OTHER PLACES … [...]
Anonymous
12. Oct, 2011
this stuff sucks
Abby
18. Oct, 2011
This stuff Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just love Indians.
Anonymous
21. Oct, 2011
heyy people
Anonymous
21. Oct, 2011
imm at school
Anonymous
26. Oct, 2011
you rock
303
04. Nov, 2011
?
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04. Nov, 2011
dude
k
04. Nov, 2011
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Anonymous
23. Nov, 2011
i am out of school
Anonymous
05. Dec, 2011
you suc
anna
05. Dec, 2011
you suck
lola
05. Dec, 2011
u didnt give me any info i wanted
Anonymous
19. Dec, 2011
Im 9 and i don’t know what ur talking about and this is to much informat!!
iofn
31. Jan, 2012
u suck harry balls