A rockshelter was excavated in the west central portion of Crawford County, Indiana. A total of 87 excavation units were screened. Prom the lithic and fauna material, and the features uncovered it can be concluded that this locality was used as a hunting camp for a larger and more permanent site.

Archaeologists have often speculated about the role of soil in the selection of prehistoricarchaeological site locations. These locations may be temporary or permanent settlements as well as isolated finds resulting from transient activities such as hunting. As an ecological factor, it would seem evident that soil played some part in the decision-making process. A review of recent literature reveals limited studies in this area. Several different approaches to the problem have been attempted. Recent research in the Central Indiana Wabash and Maumee drainages has been used develop a predictive model for this selection process based on the location of 890 sites on specific soils. The model has been tested with additional sites from various counties throughout Southern Indiana.The predictive model is based on the percentage of the original 890 sites which were located on each soil and on the resulting probability of finding additional sites on similar soils. The percentage of sites on each soil drainage class from the very poor to the excessively drained classes creates a curve similar to a normal curve. The test sites from the southern part of Indiana create a similar curve. / Department of Anthropology

The Newport Army Ammunition Plant archaeological survey showed the existence of a more complex settlement pattern than could be explained by the simple dispersed hunting model used in organizing the survey. This reexamination of the survey data in light of a more complex model of subsistence and settlement drawn from ethnographic data indicates the existence of a system of three classes of sites including camps, intelligence gathering stations, and resource extraction locations, that can be distinguished in part by the number of artifacts per site. It is further shown that the subsistence activities of prehistoric Indians did not differ significantly between unwatered forest sites and prairie sites. Finally, it is suggested that a relatively high density of sites in the prairie and the high intensity of their occupation is related to the presence of nearby water sources.

In order to determine if there is a shared biological lineage among four east central Indiana skeletal populations, the remains have been subjected to nonmetric trait analysis. This technique examines the directly observable manifestations of the genome on the skeleton in order to determine if two or more groups have a shared genetic background beyond the genes that all humans share. This information supplements the archaeological information already available from the cultural remains of these groups, in addition to the metrical data. / Department of Anthropology

This is a study of the known archaeological resources of the Upper East Fork of the White River in Marion and Hamilton Counties, Indiana, and a proposed management plan for the prehistoric cultural resources as a part of the White River Resource System. The extensive population growth and resultant impact of urbanization to the natural and cultural resources within Central Indiana along the White River from Martinsville to Muncie has exemplified a need for proper management and conservation of the remaining resource base. This study is an effort to illustrate the need for proper management of the archaeological resources within the whole corridor of the White River Resource System, provide a preliminary plan and strategy for the identification and evaluation of the resources and identify known critical management needs within Marion and Hamilton Counties.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

This study is an assessment of the archaeological resources the Strawtown Site area in northeastern Hamilton County, _ndiana. Strawtown was an intensively occupied village during the Late woodland Period (Householder, personal communication, 1986) and appears closely related to the Bowen site (Dorwin, 1971:209).This thesis documents the Strawtown Site and associated :materials through background research and collection analysis; other sites in the immediate vicinity were identified through a systematic reconnaissance of a 555.24 acre sample area. This information was combined to test both Dorwin"s (1971) Oliver Phase settlement pattern and the Woodland settlement model proposed by Stephenson (1984).In light of the information that is available, Dorwin"s and Stephenson's models of a seasonal occupation of the river valley by Late Woodland groups was argued against in favor of a model which assumes permanent Late Woodland occupation of the river valley.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Recent archaeological surveys of portions of Fox Island County Park near Fort Wayne, Indiana, revealed the locations of 16 archaeological sites. This study was undertaken to explore the factors affecting site selection and to analyze the artifacts and investigate lithic procurement and reduction strategies as reflected by them. Further, an attempt was made to understand Fox Island's role in the prehistoric subsistence-settlement system. The sites appear to have been selected because of the environmental setting of Fox Island, a wooded sand dune complex surrounded by wet prairie and marsh with upland decidious forests within a mile. The variety of habitats concentraved a wealth of food resources within an easily exploitable area. Analysis of the artifacts from the sites revealed a primary reliance on lithic raw material from near Huntington and an occupational sequence spanning approximately 8,000 years from the Early Archaic through historic aboriginal occupation of the area. Cultural affiliation of the Late Woodland occupation was with the southeastern Michigan Younge Tradition. Although somewhat contradictory, subsistence-settlement pattern models from surrounding areas suggested that Fox Island should have been primarily occupied during spring and summer in conjunction with the seasons of' greatest carrying capacity of the wet prairie and marsh. This was consistent with the few food remains encountered.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the histomorphometric analysis of age could be used to determine the age at death of subadults from the Commissary Archaeological Site. The histomorphometric analysis was used because of the fragmented condition of the bones. Sections from the left femur were obtained and processed for light and electron microscopy. Using the regression formula of Ahlqvist and Damsten and Ubelaker, age was estimated from the percentage of Haversian canals per 1 mm unit of bone. Results show the subadult population ranged in age from 0.9- 16.7 years. The correlation between the thickness of compact bone, the midshaft width, and the marrow cavity width to that of the assigned age supports the validity of the regression formula. The study demonstrates that the histomorphometric analysis can be applied to estimate age in subadult skeletons. This study further provides the first scientific analysis of age for the subadult skeletons of the Commissary site, an Early Late Woodland Native American population. / Department of Anthropology

This is a general regional research design for the prehistoric archaeological resources of the Upper White River Drainage region of east-central Indiana. Following the example of McGinsey, Davis, and Griffin (1968), this design consists primarily of research problems, questions, and hypotheses suggested by the current state of the regional data base and the pertinent literature. These research problems are organized into three basic groups which represent the goals of the discipline of archaeology (that is, the study of culture history, extinct lifeways, and culture process). These groups are themselves expressed as a hierarchy to demonstrate the relative significance of the problems expressed in each. When used as part of a greater research design process (including more specific designs) this design has the potential to contribute to the scientific rigor as well as the efficiency of archaeological research carried out in this region.

The mixture of Late Woodland and Fort Ancient ceramics found on sites in central Indiana has presented a problem for archaeologists for over fifty years. This unique combination of ceramic traits has become known as the Oliver Phase. Materials recovered from the Bowen Site, (Dorwin 1971) have in the past been used to define this phase. Originally, the Bowen Site was believed to represent the excavation of an entire synchronically occupied prehistoric site. A reanalysis of the distribution of diagnostic ceramic attributes from the Bowen Site suggests multicomponent occupations resulting from diachronic settlement. Therefore, the full range of ceramic variation originally attributed to this phase needs to be reexamined in the light of this new information, and it's usefulness as a diagnostic assemblage should be carefully evaluated. / Department of Anthropology