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McLean County · Native · 3000 BCE – 1000 BCE

Ward Site (15McL11), McLean County

On the Godfrey Ward farm along the Green River, WPA crews under John B. Elliott dug about 16,000 square feet in 1938 and catalogued 433 human burials plus dog burials and dozens of features—another Late Archaic shell-midden cemetery in the same Green River series as Indian Knoll and Carlston Annis.

Later paleodemography treated Ward as a year-round fisher–hunter–gatherer community with heavy mussel, fish, deer, and nut use, plus clear skeletal evidence of trauma and short adult lifespans. With Butterfield and Barrett nearby, Ward helps pin the eastern edge of Kentucky’s densest Archaic shell-midden landscape.

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Published . Last revised .

Chicago

Snowden, Shannon. "Ward Site (15McL11), McLean County." Kentucky History Drive. Published September 13, 2026. Last revised September 13, 2026. https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/ward-site-15mcl11-mclean-county/.

MLA

Snowden, Shannon. "Ward Site (15McL11), McLean County." Kentucky History Drive, published 13 Sept. 2026, last revised 13 Sept. 2026, https://kyhistorydrive.com/stories/ward-site-15mcl11-mclean-county/.

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