Prairie Creek Site facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Prairie Creek Site
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Overview of the site
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 Location in Indiana
Location in the United States
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| Location | Southeastern bank of Prairie Creek, 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) below the western edge of the Thousand Acre Woods |
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| Nearest city | Washington, Indiana |
| Area | 30 acres (12 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 75000013 |
| Added to NRHP | May 12, 1975 |
The Prairie Creek Site is an exciting archaeological site located in the southwestern part of Indiana, a state in the United States. An archaeological site is a place where people find old things from the past. These findings help us learn about how people and animals lived long, long ago.
This special site is about 3 miles (4.8 km) north of a town called Washington, in Daviess County. It sits right along the southern bank of Prairie Creek, which flows west. Prairie Creek is a small river that eventually joins the larger White River. Not far from the site, the creek flows out of a big, wooded area called the Thousand Acre Woods. This area used to be a glacial lake, formed by ancient ice.
Contents
Discovering the Prairie Creek Site
How the Site Was Found
The Prairie Creek Site was first discovered in 1972. A local person was walking along the creek and noticed some very old bones. These bones belonged to a mastodon, which was a huge, elephant-like animal that lived thousands of years ago!
The person reported their amazing find to the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University Bloomington. Soon after, an archaeologist named Curtis Tomak came to check out the site. He carefully removed some of the mastodon bones. He also looked closely at the different layers of soil and rock, which archaeologists call stratigraphy. This helps them understand the history of a site.
Exploring the Layers of History
In late 1973, Curtis Tomak led a test excavation at the site. This means they dug small areas to see what they could find. They worked on weekends, and their efforts really helped them understand the many layers of the site.
They found fifteen different layers, or strata, of soil. These layers were mostly made of clay, silt, and sand. The seventh layer down was especially interesting! It contained many different objects, including stone tools and bones from various animals. Some of these animal bones were from extinct species, like ancient pigs (Mylohyus) and giant beavers (Castoroides).
Other layers also had animal bones. For example, in the ninth layer, they found an armadillo shell. This was a very exciting discovery because it was the farthest north an armadillo shell had ever been found at that time!
Amazing Finds at Prairie Creek
Tools and Ancient Animal Bones
Besides the many animal bones, archaeologists also found lots of human-made objects, called artifacts, at the Prairie Creek Site. In the seventh layer, they discovered twenty-seven lithic flakes. These are small pieces of stone that break off when someone is making a stone tool. They also found bits of coal and oxidized sandstone, which is a type of rock.
The site also contained pieces of burned wood from ash and maple trees. This suggests that ancient people might have used fire there.
Other Interesting Artifacts
In other layers, archaeologists found fish bones and more wood. They even found a fishhook made from bone! This shows that the people living there long ago were likely fishing in the creek. They also found larger amounts of coal in some areas.
It's important to know that even though bones of extinct animals were found near human artifacts, archaeologists believe they weren't from the same time period. The flowing water of the creek likely moved things around over many years.
Protecting This Historic Site
A Valuable Archaeological Treasure
After the test excavation, Curtis Tomak and his team were very hopeful about the Prairie Creek Site. They thought that even though the creek's water had mixed some of the layers, there might be other areas away from the bank that were still untouched.
As the Glenn Black Laboratory continued its work, they discovered that the site had a Paleoindian component. This means that very early people, known as Paleo-Indians, lived there thousands of years ago.
Today, the Prairie Creek Site is recognized as a very important archaeological location. Because of its historical value, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. This helps protect the site so that future generations can continue to learn from its secrets.
