ROI090, Archeology of the Battles of Fort Recovery, Mercer County, Ohio: A Deeper Understanding

Summary

The purpose of this project was to conduct additional systematic archeological investigations at the location of the Battle of the Wabash (1791), a pivotal battle and Native American victory in the Northwest Indian Wars. We investigated the northwest boundaries of the battlefield in addition to unsurveyed parcels of outlying agricultural land by means of metal detector and pedestrian surveys. All land investigated during this project was previously unsurveyed and within the boundaries of the proposed expanded battlefield area as outlined in the 2010 American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) report, grant # GA-2255-10-002 (Keller et al. 2011). These new survey areas correspond to the location where the Native Americans would have formed their crescent battle formation prior to confronting St. Clair’s army and covers areas corresponding to the Native American’s least visible paths of approach. These paths, as identified by KOCOA analysis and GIS data modeling in the 2010 ABPP grant report (Keller et al. 2011), are based on the level of cover and concealment they provided to the Native Americans as they surrounded St. Clair’s army. Investigations into these areas increased our knowledge of Native American battle strategy and the results were used to update existing GIS models of the battle. These research findings will continue to be part of an on-going educational process at the Fort Recovery State Museum and will continue to be disseminated to the public via media and web site updates, presentations, open houses and other public events.

3D models of the artifacts recovered from Report of Investigations 090, Archeology of the Battles of Fort Recovery, Mercer County, Ohio: A Deeper Understanding, can be viewed using the following link: https://skfb.ly/oWCyt

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• BSUAAL Reports of Investigations

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Kevin C. Nolan; Applied Anthropology Laboratories, Ball State University

Contributor(s): Melanie Cabak; Deb Hollon; Shelbi Long; Jessie Moore; Nick Nelson; Benjamin Ollestad; Eliot Reed; Dane Rowles; Stefan Woehlke; Tyler Wolford

Principal Investigator(s): Kevin C. Nolan; Christine Thompson

Sponsor(s): National Park Service, Department of the Interior

Repository(s): Applied Anthropology Laboratories, Ball State University

Prepared By(s): Applied Anthropology Laboratories, Ball State University

Submitted To(s): Fort Recovery Historical Society; National Park Service, Department of the Interior; Ohio History Fund, Ohio History Connection

Record Identifiers

Reports of Investigation(s): 090

Grant #(s): GA-2287-13-002

File Information