News

05/19/2008

Don Cochran retired from Ball State in May 2008.  Don was the Director of ARMS since 1984.   His contributions to ARMS and to Indiana Archaeology are numerous.  The staff of ARMS will greatly miss his vision.

04/05/2008

Wabash Valley survey

ARMS received a FY2008 Historic Preservation Fund Grant to conduct a data enhancement project for threatened archaeological resources in the Wabash River Valley in Miami, Wabash and Huntington Counties, Indiana, for a FY2008 Historic Preservation Fund Grant.  The project will involve a pedestrian survey of approximately 900 acres of agricultural land, a survey and evaluation of mound sites in the southern part of the drainage basin, and documentation of Big Bangs and Little Bangs Mounds in order to nominate them to the State and National Registers. The main goals of the project are to increase site data from areas of the river valley threatened by gravel mining, refine the regional cultural chronology, refine settlement patterns of the precontact era, and investigate early Aboriginal and EuroAmerican settlement within the counties. 

Field work will be initiated in May and will be ongoing until the project is completed in April of 2009. 

04/05/2008

National register nominations

hobb's knob and taylor ten

ARMS received a FY2008 Historic Preservation Fund Grant to investigate and nominate two prehistoric habitation sites in the Upper White River drainage to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).  The two sites, Hobbs’ Knob (12-M-266) and Taylor Ten (12-H-987), have already provided important information on prehistoric settlement in the Upper White River drainage, however information on the integrity of deposits is lacking.  The project will recover the additional information necessary to complete National Register nominations for these two important sites.

Field work will be initiated in May and will be ongoing until the project is completed in April of 2009. 

04/05/2008

Glacial Sluiceways and modern streams:  An Archaeological investigation of eastern hamilton county

ARMS received a FY2007 Historic Preservation Fund Grant to investigate threatened portions of unsurveyed glacial sluiceways and modern stream valleys in eastern Hamilton County, Indiana.  Hamilton County is one of the fastest growing counties in Indiana and urban sprawl and gravel operations are threatening archaeological resources.  Approximately 388 acres of agricultural land were surveyed and 168 new archaeological sites were recorded.  The survey recovered 1937 prehistoric artifacts and 249 historic artifacts from nine locations within the Stony Creek and William Lock Ditch valleys.  Early Archaic, Late Archaic, Middle Woodland and Late Woodland/Prehistoric components were documented from the precontact era.  The average site density recorded for the project area for precontact sites was one site per 2.3 acres.  This density was one of the highest in the region and higher than that encountered in the White River valley.  The highest artifact densities were encountered in survey areas with Milton Variant silt loam.  This soil overlies shallow limestone deposits that likely contain both Fall Creek chert and Liston Creek cherts.  Investigations of the locally available Fall Creek chert, Fall Creek Quartzite and Liston Creek chert revealed issues related to chert sourcing and identification.  It was proposed that Fall Creek chert be classified as a variety of Jeffersonville chert.  The project suggests that precontact populations used the Stony Creek valley and its tributary valleys for repeated short term forays.  Site duration was most intensive at focal resources areas such as chert locations.

Field work was initiated in June of 2007 and completed in June of 2008.  Visit our Publication page to download the final report.

For past years news, visit the archives:

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