Since Mounds State Park contains one of the best preserved Woodland earthwork complexes in the State of Indiana, any plans for development and improvements to the park facilities must take into account the need for conservation and interpretation of these archaeological resources. This thesis discusses and describes, the archaeological resources and their context and makes suggestions for their investigation, interpretation, and care.

The proposed thesis titled “Core and Periphery in the Middle Woodland Midwest: An Analysis of the Earthworks of East Central Indiana and South-Central Ohio” will examine Middle Woodland earthwork sites in South Central Ohio and East Central Indiana. Expanding upon current ideas about core and periphery currently used by many prehistoric archaeologists this thesis hopes to change the way archaeologists define core and periphery by putting core and periphery into the proper context of a mini-system. Using the original works of Wallerstein and his vaguely defined concept of a mini-system and further defining this concept through examination of the notion of a gift based economy this thesis hopes to discern not only core and periphery areas in the Middle Woodland Midwest, but also to discern if one mini-system or multiple mini-systems existed in the Middle Woodland Midwest. Through analysis of quantitative data gathered from the Scioto, Licking, Upper White, and Big Blue River valleys the thesis will demonstrate new methodologies for establishing the extant of mini-systems. Statistical analysis to be used includes linear regression testing and the analysis of power law distributions. These tests, coupled with analysis of the data sets, using a comparative framework, are hoped to provide deeper analysis of core and periphery relationships / The prehistoric eastern woodlands, Middle Woodland archaeology and core/periphery -- Core and periphery in non-capitalist societies -- Maps, mounds and measurements -- Results from maps, mounds and measurements -- Core and periphery, Middle Woodland mini-systems and the Midwest : south central Ohio and east central Indiana discerned. / Department of Anthropology

In 1992 and 1993 the Archaeological Resources Management Service (ARMS) of Ball State University in conjunction with the Upper White River Archaeological Society (UWRAS) conducted limited research of Windsor Mound located in Randolph County, Indiana. The project consisted of obtaining accurate profiles of an amateur excavation that began in 1986 and backfilling the excavation. This thesis provides a synthesis of the previous studies on Windsor Mound, an analysis of the materials recovered and the results of the limited UWRAS/ARMS excavations. / Department of Anthropology

This study tested two hypotheses related to Woodland settlement trends and ritual development in East Central Indiana through the example of Mounds State Park in Anderson, Indiana. The first hypothesis was that earthwork enclosure complexes, such as at Anderson, were utilized as central places within a defined territory for the redistribution of resources. The second hypothesis was that a link existed between increasing social stratification in a mixed foraging and horticultural economy and a shift in the function of earthwork complexes resultant from a change in subsistence. It was determined that no conclusions could be made about the validity of these hypotheses due to incomplete data. Suggestions for obtaining relevant data and a theoretical model of earthwork function based on available data are presented. / Department of Anthropology