Fort Ancient 2018 Lecture Series
Fort Ancient Earthworks and Nature Preserve celebrates 2018 with a series of interesting lectures. They offer scholarly looks at historic archaeological topics.
Event details
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Fort Ancient 2018 Lecture Series
For 2018, Fort Ancient Earthworks and Nature Preserve will offer a schedule of interesting and scholarly looks at historic archaeological topics. Many subjects demand a fresh look with the aid of current technologies.
February 3, 2018- Fort Ancient Lecture Series #1 – 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
If you enjoy archaeology, join Dr. Jason Rech at Fort Ancient on Saturday, February 3 at 10:30 a.m. for a lecture on reconstructing the life of early American hunter-gatherer societies.
Surprisingly, the driest place on Earth—the Atacama Desert in northern Chile—is perhaps also one of the best localities to understand the ecology of early American (13,000–12,000 years old) hunter-gatherer societies.
In most areas, the preservation of archaeological material is low and geologic processes have erased much of the archaeological and geological record.
Recent archaeological investigations in the Atacama Desert have identified sites with incredible preservation of materials (including lithics, bone, fibers, seeds, twigs, pigments, shell, dung and wooden artifacts) that is changing our understanding of early American societies.
This program is free to the public, but general site admission applies to the museum for non-members.
March 3, 2018 – Fort Ancient Lecture Series #2- 10:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.
On Saturday, March 3 at 10:30 a.m., Matt Purtill, Geoarchaeologist, Applied Anthropology Laboratories, Ball State University, presents “Archaeology Hidden in Plain Sight” His lecture considers the potential for portions of Indiana and Ohio to be archaeologically reinvestigated. New technology could demonstrate that considerable reactivation or remobilization of aeolian sediments allow a more complete documentation of our prehistoric past.
Windblown sediments blanket portions of high terraces in valleys and upland settings throughout the midcontinental U.S. Aeolian sedimentation, including formation of sand dunes, traditionally was thought to have occurred soon after the retreat of the last Ice Sheet around 21,000 years ago.
Recent geochronological research, however, is demonstrating that considerable reactivation or remobilization of aeolian sediments occurred throughout the Holocene often in response to past droughts or wildfire activity. This potential has received limited attention
Review of the literature documents examples of archaeological sites buried beneath aeolian sediments. Developing methods to evaluate this potential is essential if we hope to fully document our prehistoric past.
General site admission applies for non-members.
April 7, 2018- Fort Ancient Lecture Series #3 – 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p. m.
Dr. Jarrod Burks, Director of Archaeological Geophysics, Ohio Valley Archaeology Inc. presents “New Earthwork Discoveries in Southern Ohio—Revealing the Bounty of Hidden Ancient Monuments with Aerial Photos and Geophysics.”
Dr. Burks shares his insight on earthwork mapping. Recent surveys using today's technology have led to several important new finds at known sites and the discovery of previously unknown enclosure sites in a few instances. More exciting are the results of an on-going, systematic examination of older aerials, primarily from the 1930s, 1950s, and 1960s…which have uncovered dozens of new enclosure sites.
In this detailed presentation, we will examine new magnetic survey data and some of the more interesting new discoveries from the aerial photo analysis. Ohio is one of the most unique regions in the world for ancient earthwork construction and the evidence is mounting!
This program is free to the public, but general admission applies to the museum for non-members.