Ridgeway Site facts for kids
| Location | Hardin County, Ohio,  USA |
|---|---|
| Region | Hardin County, Ohio |
| History | |
| Periods | Late Archaic |
| Cultures | Glacial Kame Culture |
The Ridgeway Site was an important archaeological site in Ohio, USA. It was also known as the "Ridgeway Kame" or "Richardson Kame." A "kame" is a hill made of sand and gravel left behind by glaciers.
This site became famous when a railroad was being built. Workers found many interesting artifacts and ancient burials there. The Ridgeway Site is so important that it's the main example for the Glacial Kame Culture. All other sites from this culture are compared to it.
Discovering the Ridgeway Site
The Ridgeway Site was located in Hardin County, Ohio, between the towns of Ridgeway and Mount Victory. It was a large hill of gravel left by ancient glaciers. For many years, local people found old tools and bones there. But the site became widely known in 1856.
That year, the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad started building a new rail line. They needed a lot of gravel to build the tracks. So, they built a small side track to the hill. Workers then dug up the gravel and loaded it onto trains. Before they started digging, the hill looked like a simple apple orchard. Before the apple trees, it was a very thick forest.
What Was Found at Ridgeway
As workers dug for gravel, they started finding many ancient burials. By the time they finished digging, hundreds of bodies had been discovered. The exact number is not certain. Some records say 380 bodies, while the main excavator, John Matson, counted 308. He thought there might have been as many as 400 or 500 people buried there.
The bodies were buried in different ways. Some were face-down, and others were bent in various positions. There was also evidence that some bodies had been cremated. More than 50 of the skeletons were children under eight years old. One discovery was an unborn child found inside its mother's ribs. Some older bodies showed signs of very old age.
Besides human bodies, other interesting things were found. These included dog skeletons buried next to people. There were also beads made of copper and shells. Other copper tools and various stone tools were found. Shell gorgets, which are special ornaments shaped like sandal soles, were also present.
Some of the most important finds included:
- A bird stone, which is a carved stone shaped like a bird.
- Tools called awls, made from deer bones.
- A very long string of shell beads, about 90 feet long. This string was wrapped many times around a group of bodies.
- Groups of rattlesnake rattles.
Understanding the Discoveries
John Matson carefully wrote down everything he found during the digging. He shared his findings after the work was done. In the mid-1800s, not much was known about Ohio's ancient people. So, Matson could not say exactly which group of people had buried the bodies. He only knew that the Ridgeway people traded with groups who lived near sources of shells and copper.
Later, in the 1880s, the Ridgeway Site was thought to be an extreme example of a Mound Builder site. But since then, it has been identified as the most important site for the Glacial Kame Culture. This culture was important in the Great Lakes region during the later part of the Archaic period.
Today, Hardin County and nearby Logan County are considered the main area for the Glacial Kame people. The Ridgeway Site and the Zimmerman Site in southern Hardin County are among the most important sites ever found for this culture. Many Glacial Kame sites are not as valuable for archaeologists. This is because they are often found after modern digging machines have already destroyed many ancient items. Because of this, well-recorded sites like Ridgeway and Zimmerman are extremely important for learning about the past.
