Anthropology

Excavated prehistoric site collections

The greatest strength in our archaeological collections is the extensive suite of excavated late prehistoric Fort Ancient culture (A.D. 1000-1650) artifacts and associated records. Ten excavated site collections cover the entire temporal range of the Fort Ancient culture in the Ohio River valley, from the Turpin and Guard sites, which date to approximately A.D. 1000-1250, to the well-known Madisonville site and the Clear Creek site, which date to about A.D. 1450-1650 and include early 17th century trade goods of European manufacture.

Intensive excavations of portions of the Hopewellian Fort Ancient site (in 1996-1997) and the Stubbs Earthworks site (in 1998-2001) yielded strong research collections for the Hopewellian Middle Woodland period. In particular, the Stubbs Earthworks field investigations were the most extensive archaeological excavations ever conducted at any Ohio Hopewell site. The excavations produced substantial samples of Hopewell material culture, and intensive flotation sampling (approximately 1,500 individual samples) provides a wealth of ethnobotanical remains and microartifacts associated with more than two-dozen wooden Hopewell structures. These well-documented excavations complement earlier, extensive controlled surface collections from the Stubbs Earthworks complex. Other Hopewell contexts include salvage excavations at the Landen Mound in Warren County, Ohio.

Excavated historic site collections

The 1981-1982 excavations at the Betts Longworth Historic District in downtown Cincinnati produced over 50,000 items from well-dated 19th century contexts. Assembled mostly from privy excavations, the collection features excellent faunal and floral assemblages as well as a wide range of 19th century material culture.

In 1996-1997, historic archaeological fieldwork focused on the detailed identification of privies associated with a mid-19th century neighborhood in downtown Cincinnati. Test excavations at the Findlay Market site yielded a wealth of artifacts and information pertaining to the diet, health and daily habits of the residents of nineteenth century Cincinnati, as well as invaluable evidence on the construction, use and abandonment of urban outhouses.

In 1998, preliminary test excavations were conducted at the John P. Parker House in Ripley, Ohio. Parker was a freed slave who became a successful businessman and a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. The excavations, undertaken prior to renovation of the house, provide a sample of 19th century industrial and domestic material culture from a small town context. In 2000, more systematic excavations sponsored by the National Park Service were conducted at the John P. Parker House site, revealing extensive fill episodes designed to raise the landform above flood levels. The footprint and associated features of Parker's iron foundry were also located.

Regional survey collections

The Museum's holdings include the collections and records of extensive site surveys conducted by regionally-based and federally-funded archaeological preservation offices from the early 1970s until 1981. These collections and records represent twelve counties along the Ohio River in south-central and southwestern Ohio: Adams, Brown, Butler, Clinton, Clermont, Hamilton, Highland, Jackson, and Lawrence, Pike, Scioto and Warren counties. The collections include systematic regional surveys, documentation of private collections from archaeological sites and extensive, gridded surface collections of some major sites, such as the Hopewellian Stubbs Earthwork Complex.

Synoptic collections

A large collection of prehistoric and proto-historic artifacts, assembled by the Cincinnati Art Museum during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was transferred to Cincinnati Museum Center in 1991. This 50,000-artifact collection, mostly from regional contexts, includes about 26,000 projectile points and thousands of ground stone artifacts. The Museum houses nearly 1,000 complete or nearly complete Late Mississippian pottery vessels from northeastern Arkansas collected in the 19th century by C. W. Riggs. A donated collection from the well-known 19th century Point Pleasant, Ohio, pipe factories includes an extensive and well-documented type collection (55+ varieties) of approximately 1,500 clay smoking pipes.