Howard Site: Late Fort Ancient in Madison County

It was occupied sometime between about AD 1400 and 1750. The Kentucky Archaeological Survey's Howard site page (opens in a new tab) summarizes what excavation there has shown.

A farming village

Fort Ancient is the name archaeologists give to the farming peoples of the middle Ohio Valley in the centuries before European contact. A broader overview of Fort Ancient culture and its villages (opens in a new tab) is available.

At Howard, people lived in clusters of houses. They grew corn and beans and gathered large amounts of nuts. They hunted deer, black bear and turkey. Hunters used finely made small triangular arrow points.

Tools and crafts

Endscrapers outnumber arrow points at the site. Archaeologists read that as a sign that preparing animal hides was an important task. People also made shell-tempered pottery jars for cooking and storage.

Several finds show care and artistry. They include a small dog effigy, a human head effigy, a pipe and a spoon. These objects hint at personal and ceremonial life in the village.

Trade near and far

Howard's residents were connected to distant places. A marginella shell bead came from the coasts of the southeastern United States or the Gulf of Mexico. Mica came from the Appalachian highlands of North Carolina, about 322 kilometers away.

Other finds point to European trade goods arriving before Europeans themselves. These include a blue cobalt glass bead made by winding wire, and a tubular copper bead. Residents also made gunflints from local chert, showing that they knew about firearms and adapted them to local materials.

An abandoned village

The village was abandoned shortly before Europeans arrived in the area. KAS calls the site a rare glimpse of Native American life just before that contact. Other Fort Ancient stories on this site include the Muir site in Jessamine County, an earlier village, and the Buckner site in Bourbon County.

Together, these places show how Fort Ancient life changed over several centuries. Howard, at the late end, shows long-distance exchange and the first European goods reaching the interior.