1989, the Archaeological Resources Management Service Ball State University conducted a reconnaissance level survey of 550 acres located within and adjacent to the Wabash River Valley in Huntington and Wabash Counties, Indiana. Additional survey was conducted in 1990 and 1991 on areas of expanded right-of-way within the original project area. The field reconnaissance located 188 archaeological sites. Twenty-one of the sites located by those surveys were subjected to archaeological testing.This study examines data from the survey and testing and presents a distribution of sites and human settlement across the study area. The study also develops a site typology which is used to address settlement pattern questions for the study area. / Department of Anthropology

The wane of the North American Fur Trade (ca. 1800-1850) was the result of resource depletion, military action, social unrest, increased European settlement and the increased proximity of diverse cultural groups. The effects of these occurrences upon the residents of Aussom Cabin Site have been analyzed. Both historical and archaeological analyses were utilized, offering a verified and accurate account of the demise of the fur trade and its effect upon a specific population.Attention is paid to the development of the fur trade industry, as well as to the manner in which it affected regional lifeways. The location of the Aussom Cabin, both chronologically and socially, within this process has been explicated. The chain of occupation at the site has been established, the morphology of the cabin, and the lifeways of its inhabitants have been surmised. The manner in which the cabin was razed and the depositional integrity of the Aussom Cabin have also been determined. / Department of Anthropology