Fort Ancient Has No Class: The Absence of an Elite Group in Mississippian Societies in the Central Ohio Valley

Abstract

Diligent search of publications dealing with late prehistoric societies in southern Ohio, northcentral and northeastern Kentucky and western West Virginia, identified by archaeologists as Fort Ancient, did not identify any behavioral patterns that might represent the presence of an elite group. Personal communications from authoritarian figures in Fort Ancient archaeology confirm the absence of identifiable practices that could represent the presence of an upper class in this Mississippian society.