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.

An archaeological records check and field reconnaissance have been completed for a proposed utility improvement project in Switzerland County, Indiana. Twenty-nine archaeological sites were documented. These sites date from the Early Archaic to the twentieth-century.Two sites, 12Sw381 and 12Sw386, were recommended for archaeological intensive assessments, or avoidance. Two sites, 12Sw366 and 12Sw368, were considered potentially eligible to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. These sites were not recommended for further assessment, because the proposed project would not adversely effect their significant archaeological resources. Three areas were also recommended for a subsurface reconnaissance.Beyond these areas and resources, it was recommended that the remainder of the proposed project be allowed to proceed. However, it was recommended that if any unanticipated archaeological resources were encountered, the project should be halted and the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources contacted before work resumes. / Department of Anthropology

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

The goal of this thesis research is to examine the Patty Ann Farms site using noninvasive techniques, such as a magnetic gradiometer. The Patty Ann Farms site, 12H1169, located in northeastern Hamilton County Indiana, is a multicomponent archaeological site spanning all periods of prehistory. Diagnostic artifacts from the Paleo-Indian, Archaic, and Woodland periods have been surface collected by the land owner. The land owner’s collection was documented, and the site was recorded at the Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology--Department of Natural Resources, in 2004. Since then, a controlled surface survey has been conducted identifying three areas of high artifact density and preliminary soil phosphate tests have been conducted. / Department of Anthropology

Presented in this thesis is the human osteological analysis of the cremation burials from ten Early Archaic features excavated at the McCullough's Run Site (12-B-1036) located in the eastern portion of Columbus, Bartholemew County, Indiana. The analysis of burials excavated from the McCullough's Run Site, one of the few Early Archaic Cemeteries found in the United States to date, add data that serve to clarify and expand our understanding of the Early Archaic in Indiana. / Department of Anthropology

The majority of African Diaspora archaeology has focused on slavery and plantation contexts, particularly in the American South. Recently, some historical archaeologists have conducted research on the African American, postbellum experience in various settings and geographical locations. A few archaeologists have argued that race and racism were at the heart of American social structure in the antebellum and postbellum world alike. Expanding on current research, this paper compares the glass bottle assemblages from two sites from Indianapolis, Indiana's near-Westside to examine the ways in which race and racism impacted everyday consumption in an early to mid-twentieth century, Midwestern city. These two sites, a residence and a corner store within the same neighborhood, offer a unique archaeological opportunity to study how the relationship between race and consumption is affected by marketing and distribution. / Department of Anthropology

The Charley farmstead in Harrison County, Indiana represents a significant archaeological resource within a region that has been largely neglected by historians and historical archaeologists alike. The farm was settled by George Charley, a Revolutionary War veteran from Virginia, in 1810, and was continuously occupied for two centuries. This study presents the results of an archaeological investigation at the site that included primary document research, mapping of the architectural landscape, a soil resistance survey, subsurface testing, and the analysis of historic materials. The data collected was used to interpret the material and economic conditions experienced at the site during the nineteenth century. From this data it appears that the Charley farmstead was a diverse and successful agricultural operation that began as a subsistence-level corn and swine farm, adopted market-dependent surplus agriculture by the mid-nineteenth century, and followed general trends towards increased market-dependence and consumerism into the twentieth century. / Department of Anthropology