Historic district in Kentucky, United States
United States historic place
Green River Shell Middens Archeological District
Location Along the Green River NRHP reference No. 85003182 Added to NRHP May 5, 1994[1] Designated NHLD May 5, 1994[1]
The Green River Shell Middens Archeological District is a historic district composed of archaeological sites in the U.S. state of Kentucky . All of the district's sites are shell middens along the banks of the Green River that date from the later portion of the Archaic period .[2] Studies of this assemblage of sites were critical in the development of knowledge of the Archaic period in the eastern United States.
Kentucky's Green River runs through a broad alluvial plain, from which outcroppings of bedrock project. The plain is an area that was inundated during the Pleistocene by a water body dubbed Lake Green, which resulted in the deposition of large amounts of silt. The middens of this district are typically located along the prehistoric routes of waterways that were established after Lake Green was drained. Archaic period Native Americans were drawn to these waterways by an abundance of mussels.[3]
The district was established and named a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1994.[2] Each of the district's twenty-three contributing properties had previously been listed on the National Register of Historic Places by itself. The sites are distributed among five counties: Butler County (BT), Henderson County (HE), McLean County (McL), Muhlenberg County (MU), and Ohio County (OH).[4]
Contributing properties [ edit ] The district comprises the following sites, listed by their Smithsonian trinomials ; names are provided for named sites.
Number [5] Name [5] Location City Photo Comments 15BT5 Carlston Annis Eastern side of the Green River off Kentucky Route 403 37°16′28″N 86°48′19″W / 37.27444°N 86.80528°W / 37.27444; -86.80528 (15BT5 ) [6] : 56 Schulztown 15BT6 DeWeese Eastern bank of the Green River in Horseshoe Bend, west of Taylor Lake37°18′26″N 86°49′4″W / 37.30722°N 86.81778°W / 37.30722; -86.81778 (15BT6 ) [6] : 358 Highview 15BT10 Read Northern side of the Green River , west of Morgantown37°14′33″N 86°47′27″W / 37.24250°N 86.79083°W / 37.24250; -86.79083 (15BT10 ) [7] : 120 Monticello 15BT11 Russell Eastern bank of the Green River in Horseshoe Bend37°16′16″N 86°48′1″W / 37.27111°N 86.80028°W / 37.27111; -86.80028 (15BT11 ) [6] : 358 Logansport 15BT41 Rayburn Johnson Eastern bank of the Green River in Horseshoe Bend, northwest of Taylor Lake37°19′28″N 86°49′4″W / 37.32444°N 86.81778°W / 37.32444; -86.81778 (15BT41 ) [8] : 41 Prentiss 15BT67 Woodbury Left bank of the Green River immediately above Woodbury37°10′51″N 86°37′39″W / 37.18083°N 86.62750°W / 37.18083; -86.62750 (15BT67 ) [8] : 41 Woodbury 15HE160 Bluff City 0.5 miles (0.80 km) above Bluff City on a Green River bluff37°47′58″N 87°22′20″W / 37.79944°N 87.37222°W / 37.79944; -87.37222 (15HE160 ) [9] : 440 Hebbardsville 15HE580 None Right bank of the Green River , 1 mile (1.6 km) above Bluff City37°48′25″N 87°21′56″W / 37.80694°N 87.36556°W / 37.80694; -87.36556 (15HE580 ) [8] : 40 Hebbardsville 15HE589 James Giles Left bank of the Green River , east of Bluff City37°48′20″N 87°19′31″W / 37.80556°N 87.32528°W / 37.80556; -87.32528 (15HE589 ) [8] : 40 Rumsey 15HE635 None In the lawn of a house on Reed Bluff City Rd., northeast of Bluff City37°48′54″N 87°22′12″W / 37.81500°N 87.37000°W / 37.81500; -87.37000 (15HE635 ) [8] : 40 Hebbardsville 15McL2 R.D. Ford Along the Green River off Kentucky Route 256 , west of Calhoun37°33′36″N 87°22′0″W / 37.56000°N 87.36667°W / 37.56000; -87.36667 (15McL2 ) [10] : 4 Ashbyburg 15McL7 Butterfield Southern bank of the Green River across from the mouth of the Rough River 37°28′57″N 87°8′3″W / 37.48250°N 87.13417°W / 37.48250; -87.13417 (15McL7 ) [10] : 31 Livermore 15McL15 Austin Left bank of the Green River , 4 miles (6.4 km) below Calhoun37°32′36″N 87°18′21″W / 37.54333°N 87.30583°W / 37.54333; -87.30583 (15McL15 ) [10] : 4 Rumsey 15McL16 None Left bank of the Green River immediately above Rumsey37°31′48″N 87°15′5″W / 37.53000°N 87.25139°W / 37.53000; -87.25139 (15McL16 ) [10] : 4 Rumsey 15McL17 None Above the right bank of the Rough River , 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Livermore37°29′3″N 87°6′21″W / 37.48417°N 87.10583°W / 37.48417; -87.10583 (15McL17 ) [10] : 4 Livermore 15McL109 Crowe Left bank of the Green River , 1 mile (1.6 km) above Livermore37°28′26″N 87°7′27″W / 37.47389°N 87.12417°W / 37.47389; -87.12417 (15McL109 ) [8] : 41 Kirtley 15MU12 Baker Left bank of the Green River , 3 miles (4.8 km) above the Paradise Fossil Plant 37°14′18″N 86°56′47″W / 37.23833°N 86.94639°W / 37.23833; -86.94639 (15MU12 ) [11] Skilesville 15OH1 Chiggerville Right bank of the Green River , 3 miles (4.8 km) above the Paradise Fossil Plant 37°14′24″N 86°56′29″W / 37.24000°N 86.94139°W / 37.24000; -86.94139 (15OH1 ) [11] Knightsburg 15OH10 Smallhous Right bank of the Green River at Smallhous37°22′49″N 87°5′33″W / 37.38028°N 87.09250°W / 37.38028; -87.09250 (15OH10 ) [9] : 443 Smallhous 15OH13 Bowles Northern side of the Green River opposite Rochester37°12′51″N 86°53′52″W / 37.21417°N 86.89778°W / 37.21417; -86.89778 (15OH13 ) [12] Rochester 15OH19 Jimtown Jimtown Hill, 2 miles (3.2 km) above Livermore37°28′0″N 87°6′32″W / 37.46667°N 87.10889°W / 37.46667; -87.10889 (15OH19 ) [8] : 41 Kirtley 15OH95 J.T. Barnard Across the Green River from South Carrollton37°20′12″N 87°7′48″W / 37.33667°N 87.13000°W / 37.33667; -87.13000 (15OH95 ) [8] : 41 Central City 15OH97 None Foot of Kirtley-River Rd. at the Green River above Livermore37°26′12″N 87°6′8″W / 37.43667°N 87.10222°W / 37.43667; -87.10222 (15OH97 ) [8] : 41 Kirtley
See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] ^ a b "National Register Information System" . National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service . July 9, 2010. ^ a b "National Historic Landmarks Program (NHL)" . National Park Service . Archived from the original on June 3, 2010. Retrieved July 15, 2008 . ^ "Green River Shell Middens of Kentucky TR" . National Park Service. Retrieved January 15, 2020 . ^ "National Register Information System" . National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service . April 15, 2008. ^ a b National Historic Landmark Nomination: Green River Shell Middens . National Park Service : 1994-05-05. ^ a b c Funkhouser, W.D., and W.S. Webb. "Archaeological Survey of Kentucky: Butler County". University of Kentucky Reports in Anthropology 7.5 (1950). ^ Milner, George R., and Richard W. Jefferies. "The Read Archaic Shell Midden in Kentucky ". Southeastern Archaeology 17.2 (1998): 119-132. ^ a b c d e f g h i Claassen, Cheryl. Feasting with Shellfish in the Southern Ohio Valley: Archaic Sacred Sites and Rituals . Knoxville : U of Tennessee P , 2010. ^ a b Moore, Clarence B. "Some Aboriginal Sites on Green River, Kentucky". Journal of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences 16 (1916): 431-487. ^ a b c d e Webb, William S., and William G. Haag. "Archaic Sites in McLean County, Kentucky". University of Kentucky Reports in Anthropology 7.1 (1947): 1-46. ^ a b Moore, Christopher R. Production, Exchange, and Social Interaction in the Green River Region of Western Kentucky: A Multiscalar Approach to the Analysis of Two Shell Midden Sites . Diss. University of Kentucky , 2011, 163. ^ Emerson, Thomas E. Archaic Societies: Diversity and Complexity Across the Midcontinent . Albany : SUNY Press , 2009, 655. External links [ edit ]
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