Turpin Site facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Turpin Site
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Overview of the site
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 Location in Ohio
Location in the United States
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| Location | On the Turpin farm property |
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| Nearest city | Newtown, Ohio |
| Area | 9 acres (3.6 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 74001514 |
| Added to NRHP | December 27, 1974 |
The Turpin Site (also known as 33Ha28) is an exciting archaeological site in southwestern Ohio. An archaeological site is a place where people find old things from the past. This site is near Newtown in Hamilton County.
It holds the remains of a village from the Fort Ancient culture. The Fort Ancient people were Native Americans who lived in the Ohio River Valley. The site also has several burial mounds. These are large piles of earth built over graves.
Scientists have explored the Turpin Site carefully. They found many bodies buried in and around the mounds. Because of its historical importance, the Turpin Site helps us learn about other similar places. It is also recognized as a special historic site.
Contents
Discovering the Past: Excavations at Turpin Site
People started exploring the Turpin Site a long time ago. This was at the end of the 1700s. Back then, there were at least three mounds near the main village area. There was also a Native American cemetery, which is a burial ground.
In 1800, explorers focused on this cemetery. They dug there and found fifty skeletons. This was one of the first big discoveries at the site.
The Main Mound and More Discoveries
By 1881, the biggest mound at the site was on Philip Turpin's farm. It was known as an important prehistoric spot in Anderson Township. This mound was about 10 feet (3.0 m) high. Its base was about 175 feet (53 m) around.
It was a well-known landmark because it was so big. It was also located along a main road between Cincinnati and Batavia. The cemetery was very close to this large mound. A local historian said that "human remains may be exhumed with almost every lift of spade or shovel." This means they found bones very easily when digging.
Other mounds were also found at the site. One was a stone mound. Experts think it was built during the Late Woodland period. Another was an earth mound from the Fort Ancient period.
In the late 1800s, Charles Metz led digs at two smaller mounds. The main Fort Ancient mound was explored again in 1947. This time, an expedition from the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History investigated it. Charles Metz had noted that the Turpin family had made this mound smaller over time. One expert in 1997 suggested it was once large enough to cover all the burials around it.
But the mound was not empty! Over sixty bodies were found buried inside it. Many Fort Ancient mounds contain both adults and children. However, the Turpin mound had many infant bodies. This makes it different from some other mounds of that time. Unlike many Fort Ancient mounds, this one had no structures underneath it. Also, few bodies were buried with grave goods, which are items buried with the dead.
What We Learned: Understanding the Fort Ancient Culture
The professional digs in the 1900s taught us a lot. They showed that the Turpin Site was mainly a Fort Ancient village. But it also had some influence from the Late Woodland people.
In 1966, an archaeologist named James Griffin studied the Turpin Site. He grouped it with the nearby Sand Ridge Site. Both were part of the Madisonville Focus of the Fort Ancient culture.
Twenty years later, another study looked at the timeline of the Fort Ancient culture. It placed Turpin in the Early Fort Ancient period. This was from about AD 1000 to 1250. The Madisonville Site was from the Late Fort Ancient period.
People in Early Fort Ancient villages usually lived in single-family houses. This was different from later villages like the Madisonville Site in Mariemont. The Madisonville Site had larger houses for multiple families. Mariemont is just across the Little Miami River from Newtown.
Clues from Artifacts
Scientists found many artifacts at the Turpin Site. Artifacts are objects made by people in the past. These included decorated ceramics and tempered pottery. Tempered pottery means clay mixed with other materials to make it stronger.
These artifacts suggest that the people at Turpin were influenced by Mississippian groups. The Mississippian culture was another large Native American culture. One example is the Angel Phase people.
A special design on Turpin pottery is called guilloché. This is a pattern of circles or loops. The holes in the Turpin guilloché patterns had smaller holes inside them. This unique feature has also been found at two other sites in the Little Miami River valley.
In 1986, Wesley Cowan suggested that Turpin could be a type site. A type site is a place that helps define a specific phase or period. He proposed it for a phase of the Fort Ancient culture in southwestern Ohio. This phase lasted from AD 1000 to 1250.
Protecting History: Recognition of the Turpin Site
The Turpin Site is one of the most important archaeological sites in southwestern Ohio. It has been used as a guide to study other Fort Ancient sites. These sites are found in the area around the Ohio River.
In 2007, Kathleen Brady-Rawlins used a lot of information from Turpin. She used it to analyze the O.C. Voss Site in western Franklin County. She also used it for other sites in southern and central Ohio.
The Turpin Site is also recognized for its prehistoric preservation. The National Park Service listed it on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. This means it's a special place worth protecting. Four other sites near Newtown are also on the National Register. These include the Madisonville Site.
The Turpin Site and the surrounding farm are still owned by the Turpin family. They grow sod (grass) on the property today.
