An Archaeological Survey of the Salamonie Reservoir

Part of the Salamonie Reservoir Survey 1982 project

Author(s): William R. Wepler; Donald R. Cochran

Year: 1982

Summary

An archaeological survey of the Salamonie Reservoir was carried out to identify the variables that influenced site selection, refine the cultural history of the area, develop hypotheses concerning Early Archaic settlement patterns, investigate the seeming lack of Middle Archaic occupation of the area, and evaluate the effect the reservoir has had on the archaeological resources

Refinements and expansion of the description of the natural setting of the area as originally presented by Wepler (1982) allowed the definition of a region to be called the Upper Wabash drainage. This region is characterized by till plain topography, beech-maple forests, and extensive outcrops of only one type of chert.

The survey identified 370 prehistoric sites reflecting occupation from the Late Paleo-Indian through the Late Woodland periods. Late Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic sites were found to be small, usually single component, and most often located on the Till Plain. Middle and Late Archaic sites were large and most often located on terraces within the river valley. Early and Middle Woodland components were identified on only four sites and, as in the Late Paleo-Indian and Early Archaic periods, appeared to represent small group activity. Late Woodland sites were also relatively small and were found on low terraces at the edge of the river and on bluff edges overlooking the river.

Outcrops of chert were not located within the survey area although an abundance of chert was available in the glacial till. Use of cherts from sources outside the area was found in all periods except the Late Paleo-Indian and Late Woodland. This use was, however, most prevalent during the Early Archaic when cherts from the Middle Wabash Valley and eastern Ohio were in use. Late Archaic and Early Woodland exotic cherts were from north central Ohio while the one Middle Woodland point was manufactured from southern Illinois chert.

Reservoir impacts were found to be essentially the same as for the Mississinewa Reservoir. Potentially significant sites were found that are being damaged by cultivation, lake shore erosion, and uncontrolled artifact collecting. A number of recommendations are made for the management of these archaeological resources.

Cite this Record

An Archaeological Survey of the Salamonie Reservoir. William R. Wepler, Donald R. Cochran. 1982 ( tDAR id: 401195) ; doi:10.6067/XCV88P628Z

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Archaic Early Archaic Early Woodland Historic Historic Native American Late Archaic Late Woodland Middle Archaic Middle Woodland PaleoIndian Woodland

Material
Ceramic Chipped Stone Fauna Glass Ground Stone Metal Shell

Site Name
12HU188 12HU190 12HU191 12HU192 12HU193 12HU194 12HU195 12HU196 12HU197 12HU198 12HU199 12HU200 12HU201 12HU202 12HU203 12HU204 12HU205 12HU206 12HU207 12HU208 12HU209 12HU210 12HU211 12HU212 12HU213 12HU214 12HU215 12HU216 12HU217 12HU218 12HU219 12HU220 12HU221 12HU222 12HU223 12HU224 12HU225 12HU226 12HU227 12HU228 12HU229 12HU230 12HU233 12HU234 12HU235 12HU236 12HU237 12HU238 12HU239 12HU240 12HU241 12HU242 12HU243 12HU244 12HU245 12HU246 12HU247 12HU248 12HU249 12HU250 12HU251 12HU252 12HU254 12HU255 12HU256 12HU257 12HU258 12HU259 12HU260 12HU261 12HU262 12HU264 12HU265 12HU266 12HU267 12HU268 12HU269 12HU270 12HU271 12HU272 12HU273 12HU274 12HU276 12HU277 12HU278 12HU279 12HU280 12HU281 12HU282 12HU283 12HU284 12HU285 12HU286 12HU287 12HU288 12HU289 12HU290 12HU291 12HU292 12HU293 12HU294 12HU295 12HU296 12HU297 12HU298 12HU299 12HU300 12HU301 12HU302 12HU303 12HU304 12HU305 12HU306 12HU307 12HU308 12HU309 12HU310 12HU311 12HU312 12HU313 12HU314 12HU315 12HU316 12HU317 12HU318 12HU319 12HU320 12HU321 12HU322 12HU323 12HU324 12HU325 12HU326 12HU327 12HU328 12HU329 12HU330 12HU331 12HU332 12HU333 12HU334 12HU335 12HU336 12HU337 12HU338 12HU339 12HU340 12HU341 12HU342 12HU343 12HU344 12HU345 12HU346 12HU347 12HU348 12HU349 12HU350 12HU351 12HU352 12HU354 12HU355 12HU356 12HU357 12HU358 12HU359 12HU360 12HU361 12HU362 12HU363 12HU364 12HU365 12HU366 12HU367 12HU368 12HU369 12HU370 12HU371 12HU372 12HU373 12HU374 12HU375 12HU376 12HU377 12HU378 12HU379 12HU380 12HU381 12HU382 12HU383 12HU384 12HU385 12HU386 12HU387 12HU388 12HU393 12HU394 12HU397 12HU427 12HU429 12HU430 12HU431 12HU432 12HU433 12HU434 12HU435 12HU436 12HU437 12HU438 12HU439 12HU440 12HU441 12HU442 12HU443 12HU444 12HU534 12HU68 12WB133 12WB134 12WB135 12WB136 12WB137 12WB138 12WB139 12WB140 12WB141 12WB143 12WB144 12WB145 12WB146 12WB147 12WB148 12WB149 12WB150 12WB151 12WB152 12WB153 12WB154 12WB155 12WB156 12WB157 12WB158 12WB159 12WB160 12WB161 12WB162 12WB163 12WB164 12WB165 12WB166 12WB167 12WB168 12WB169 12WB170 12WB171 12WB172 12WB173 Show More

Site Type
Archaeological Feature Artifact Scatter Isolated Artifact

Spatial Coverage

min long: -85.714; min lat: 40.736 ; max long: -85.522; max lat: 40.825 ;

Notes

General Note: The digital materials in this collection were processed by the Veterans Curation Program (VCP), and include the artifact database, artifact report, finding aid, scanned asset key, and select artifact photographs. Additional digital materials held by the VCP include additional artifact photographs, box labels, document folder listing, initial data sheets, and notes. For additional information on these materials, refer to the Finding Aid.

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
1040-0004.pdf 24.94mb Jan 19, 2016 4:28:37 PM Confidential

Accessing Restricted Files

At least one of the files for this resource is restricted from public view. For more information regarding access to these files, please reference the contact information below

Contact(s): US Army Corps of Engineers Mandatory Center of Expertise for the Curation and Management of Archaeological Collections, St. Louis District