Fort Ancient Adaptations in the Mid Ohio Valley

Abstract

William C. Mills first used the term Fort Ancient in 1906 to define a series of village sites in southern Ohio. Mills defined Fort Ancient as a culture and James B. Griffin placed this Fort Ancient Culture in the Aspect category of the McKern taxonomic system. The Fort Ancient Aspect was divided into four foci in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky, with related components located in West Virginia and Indiana. Subsequent archeologists have referred to Late Fort Ancient, after A.D. 1400/1450 as a horizon or tradition (the Madisonville Horizon). Fort Ancient may be more accurately defined as an adaptation used by several distinct ethnic groups or lineages occupying the mid-Ohio Valley. This paper reviews the history of Fort Ancient and some of the characteristics of this adaptation. Fort Ancient adaptations are then compared to Monongahela adaptations to the north, Page adaptations to the east, and Radford adaptations to the south. Defining a Fort Ancient southern boundary along the New/Kanawha River system may be difficult.