Swan's Landing Archeological Site
Encyclopedia
The Swan's Landing Archeological Site is an archaeological site
from the Early Archaic period in Harrison County
, Indiana
, United States
. Located along the Ohio River, it has been extensively damaged by modern activity, but it is still one of the most important sites for its time period in North America. It has been designated a historic site
because of its archaeological value.
, the site is largely buried by as much as 6 metres (19.7 ft) of alluvium
deposited by the river. It sits at Mile 658 in the river's floodplain
, about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north of the town of New Amsterdam
, and about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) above the confluence
of the Blue River. Measuring about 5 hectares (12.4 acre) in area, its name is taken from the area's former use by the Swan family as a landing
for riverboat
s along the Ohio. Nearby terrain features include a dirt road at the site's southern end, a large pond just a stone's throw to the south, and the mouth of Indian Creek about 1800 metres (5,905.5 ft) south of the site.
s on the beach; however, it was first published
in 1982. Between these years, the site was greatly damaged by human activity: some intentionally, and some unintentionally. Realizing that large numbers of artifacts
were buried under the soil, some individuals began to dig with shovels on the side of the alluvial deposits, while others brought high-pressure hoses
to wash away the top of the deposits. By the time that professional archaeologists discovered the site in the early 1980s, extensive vandalism had removed large amounts of soil and large numbers of artifacts. Moreover, changes in 1974 to the management of the Cannelton Locks and Dam
, downstream from the site, caused the water level to rise, eroding
the riverbank rapidly. By the mid-1990s, the riverbank had eroded more than 20 metres (65.6 ft) from its previous location.
. This was done by the Glenn Black
Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University with financing from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources
.
Professional surveys in the 1980s revealed a long line of archaeological deposits that was strung out along the riverbank for at least 500 metres (1,640.4 ft). Types of artifacts found at the site include Kirk cluster projectile points from the Early Archaic period, various types of scrapers
, hammerstone
s, large celts
, biface
s, and many other kinds of stone tool
s. Most of these tools were composed of Wyandotte chert
, a high-quality stone that is more plentiful in Harrison County and surrounding regions than anywhere else in the world. Charcoal
was present at the site in abundance, along with multiple hearth
s; the lack of damage to the stones at the site has been taken as an indication that the inhabitants were capable of constructing wood fires with good aeration
. Their fires were not composed exclusively of wood: evidence exists that they employed coal
, oil shale
, and perhaps manganese dioxide as fuel. Artifacts recovered through test excavations were subjected to radiocarbon dating
, which produced a wide range of dates: because some artifacts were dated as much as eight thousand years before others, and because many dates were either too ancient or too recent for the Archaic period that produced the characteristic projectile points found at the site, it is plain that the results were flawed in some way.
at other locations. Because virtually all stone tools found at the site are made of local Wyandotte chert, it seems that the people who frequented the site neither travelled afar nor traded stone with other peoples. Swan's Landing appears to have been used by skilled craftsmen: the wide range of tools suggests that the workers were highly specialized
. Multiple tribes may have frequented the site; one scholar has proposed that it functioned as a trading post
between different peoples. With little evidence of daily life, the site may have been used typically by groups that camped there for short periods of time. The reason for the site's abandonment appears to have been that its users found nearby areas that were more appealing for their industrial purposes.
because of its archaeological significance. Other manufacturing and reduction sites from the Early Archaic period are known elsewhere in the country, such as the twin Houserville
and Tudek
Sites in central Pennsylvania
, and the artifacts suggest that the people who worked at Swan's Landing were similar to those who lived at the St. Albans Site
in West Virginia
and Icehouse Bottom in Tennessee
. Regardless of its similarities to these sites, and despite extensive vandalism, the amount of information remaining at Swan's Landing makes it one of the leading Early Archaic sites throughout eastern North America.
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
from the Early Archaic period in Harrison County
Harrison County, Indiana
Harrison County is a county located in the far southern part of the U.S. state of Indiana along the Ohio River. It is divided into twelve townships, and the county seat is Corydon, the former capital of Indiana. The county is part of the larger Louisville/Jefferson County, KY–IN Metropolitan...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Located along the Ohio River, it has been extensively damaged by modern activity, but it is still one of the most important sites for its time period in North America. It has been designated a historic site
Historic site
A historic site is an official location where pieces of political, military or social history have been preserved. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have recognized with the official national historic site status...
because of its archaeological value.
Location
Located along the Ohio RiverOhio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
, the site is largely buried by as much as 6 metres (19.7 ft) of alluvium
Alluvium
Alluvium is loose, unconsolidated soil or sediments, eroded, deposited, and reshaped by water in some form in a non-marine setting. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles of sand and gravel...
deposited by the river. It sits at Mile 658 in the river's floodplain
Floodplain
A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...
, about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north of the town of New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam, Indiana
New Amsterdam is a town located in Washington Township, Harrison County, Indiana, USA,along the Ohio River. At the 2010 census, New Amsterdam had a population of 1....
, and about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) above the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Blue River. Measuring about 5 hectares (12.4 acre) in area, its name is taken from the area's former use by the Swan family as a landing
Landing (water transport)
A landing is a water terminal which may receive ferry passenger or cargo traffic from marine vessels. They may characterized by long wharves if they handle a large volume of cargo....
for riverboat
Riverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
s along the Ohio. Nearby terrain features include a dirt road at the site's southern end, a large pond just a stone's throw to the south, and the mouth of Indian Creek about 1800 metres (5,905.5 ft) south of the site.
Damage
Local residents became aware of the site by the early 1960s, at which time collectors were finding projectile pointProjectile point
In archaeological terms, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a projectile, such as a spear, dart, or arrow, or perhaps used as a knife....
s on the beach; however, it was first published
Academic publishing
Academic publishing describes the subfield of publishing which distributes academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in journal article, book or thesis form. The part of academic written output that is not formally published but merely printed up or posted is often called...
in 1982. Between these years, the site was greatly damaged by human activity: some intentionally, and some unintentionally. Realizing that large numbers of artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
were buried under the soil, some individuals began to dig with shovels on the side of the alluvial deposits, while others brought high-pressure hoses
Pressure washer
A pressure washer is a high pressure mechanical sprayer that can be used to remove loose paint, mold, grime, dust, mud, and dirt from surfaces and objects such as buildings, vehicles, and concrete road surfaces. The volume of a pressure washer is expressed in Gallons Per Minute, which is designed...
to wash away the top of the deposits. By the time that professional archaeologists discovered the site in the early 1980s, extensive vandalism had removed large amounts of soil and large numbers of artifacts. Moreover, changes in 1974 to the management of the Cannelton Locks and Dam
Cannelton Locks and Dam
The Cannelton Locks and Dam is a concrete dam connected to two locks on the Ohio River at river mile 720.8. It is three miles upstream from Cannelton, Indiana...
, downstream from the site, caused the water level to rise, eroding
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
the riverbank rapidly. By the mid-1990s, the riverbank had eroded more than 20 metres (65.6 ft) from its previous location.
Excavations
In the summer of 1986, an archaeological survey was conducted at the site to determine if the site were eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. This was done by the Glenn Black
Glenn Albert Black
Glenn Albert Black was an influential archaeologist of the United States who was the first professional to study Indiana prehistoric sites. He was born 18 August 1900 in Indianapolis, Indiana and died 2 September 1964....
Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University with financing from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is the agency of the U.S. state of Indiana charged with maintaining natural areas such as state parks, state forests, recreation areas, etc...
.
Professional surveys in the 1980s revealed a long line of archaeological deposits that was strung out along the riverbank for at least 500 metres (1,640.4 ft). Types of artifacts found at the site include Kirk cluster projectile points from the Early Archaic period, various types of scrapers
Scraper (archaeology)
In archaeology, scrapers are unifacial tools that were used either for hideworking or woodworking purposes. Whereas this term is often used for any unifacially flaked stone tool that defies classification, most lithic analysts maintain that the only true scrapers are defined on the base of...
, hammerstone
Hammerstone
In archaeology, a hammerstone is a hard cobble used to strike off lithic flakes from a lump of tool stone during the process of lithic reduction. The hammerstone is a rather universal stone tool which appeared early in most regions of the world including Europe, India and North America...
s, large celts
Celt (tool)
Celt is an archaeological term used to describe long thin prehistoric stone or bronze adzes, other axe-like tools, and hoes.-Etymology:The term "celt" came about from what was very probably a copyist's error in many medieval manuscript copies of Job 19:24 in the Latin Vulgate Bible, which became...
, biface
Biface
In archaeology, a biface is a two-sided stone tool and is used as a multi purposes knife, manufactured through a process of lithic reduction, that displays flake scars on both sides. A profile view of the final product tends to exhibit a lenticular shape...
s, and many other kinds of stone tool
Stone tool
A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric, particularly Stone Age cultures that have become extinct...
s. Most of these tools were composed of Wyandotte chert
Chert
Chert is a fine-grained silica-rich microcrystalline, cryptocrystalline or microfibrous sedimentary rock that may contain small fossils. It varies greatly in color , but most often manifests as gray, brown, grayish brown and light green to rusty red; its color is an expression of trace elements...
, a high-quality stone that is more plentiful in Harrison County and surrounding regions than anywhere else in the world. Charcoal
Charcoal
Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
was present at the site in abundance, along with multiple hearth
Hearth
In common historic and modern usage, a hearth is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven often used for cooking and/or heating. For centuries, the hearth was considered an integral part of a home, often its central or most important feature...
s; the lack of damage to the stones at the site has been taken as an indication that the inhabitants were capable of constructing wood fires with good aeration
Aeration
Aeration is the process by which air is circulated through, mixed with or dissolved in a liquid or substance.-Aeration of liquids:-Methods:Aeration of liquids is achieved by:...
. Their fires were not composed exclusively of wood: evidence exists that they employed coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
, oil shale
Oil shale
Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced...
, and perhaps manganese dioxide as fuel. Artifacts recovered through test excavations were subjected to radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
, which produced a wide range of dates: because some artifacts were dated as much as eight thousand years before others, and because many dates were either too ancient or too recent for the Archaic period that produced the characteristic projectile points found at the site, it is plain that the results were flawed in some way.
Findings
The massive numbers of stone tools recovered at Swan's Landing indicate that the site was employed as a factory for stone tools from nearby stone outcrops. Some tools were produced at the site, and many blanks were also produced there for reductionLithic reduction
Lithic reduction involves the use of a hard hammer precursor, such as a hammerstone, a soft hammer fabricator , or a wood or antler punch to detach lithic flakes from a lump of tool stone called a lithic core . As flakes are detached in sequence, the original mass of stone is reduced; hence the...
at other locations. Because virtually all stone tools found at the site are made of local Wyandotte chert, it seems that the people who frequented the site neither travelled afar nor traded stone with other peoples. Swan's Landing appears to have been used by skilled craftsmen: the wide range of tools suggests that the workers were highly specialized
Division of labour
Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and likeroles. Historically an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialisation...
. Multiple tribes may have frequented the site; one scholar has proposed that it functioned as a trading post
Trading post
A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....
between different peoples. With little evidence of daily life, the site may have been used typically by groups that camped there for short periods of time. The reason for the site's abandonment appears to have been that its users found nearby areas that were more appealing for their industrial purposes.
Recognition
In 1987, Swan's Landing was listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
because of its archaeological significance. Other manufacturing and reduction sites from the Early Archaic period are known elsewhere in the country, such as the twin Houserville
Houserville Site
The Houserville Site is an archaeological site located near State College in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. Used as a stone workshop by prehistoric Native Americans ten thousand years ago, it has been recognized as a prime candidate for prehistoric preservation.-Location:Located in...
and Tudek
Tudek Site
The Tudek Site is an archaeological site located near State College in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. Used as a stone mine by prehistoric Native Americans ten thousand years ago, it has been recognized as a prime candidate for prehistoric preservation.-Location:Located in College...
Sites in central Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, and the artifacts suggest that the people who worked at Swan's Landing were similar to those who lived at the St. Albans Site
St. Albans Site
St. Albans Site is a historic archaeological site located near St. Albans, Kanawha County, West Virginia. It was a camping site for prehistoric peoples between c. 12,000 B.C. and A.D. 1700. Excavations in 1964-1965, yielded projectile points ranging in age from 7900 t o 6210 B.C.It was listed on...
in West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and Icehouse Bottom in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
. Regardless of its similarities to these sites, and despite extensive vandalism, the amount of information remaining at Swan's Landing makes it one of the leading Early Archaic sites throughout eastern North America.
Further reading
- Smith, Edward E. "The Swan's Landing Site: An Early Archaic Lithic Reduction and Tool Manufacturing Site in Harrison County, Indiana". Current Research in the Pleistocene 4 (1987): 71-72.