pointdlr
Sr. Member
Some of you may know that I grew up near a very famous Fort Ancient Village site in Southwest Ohio called "Madisonville". During the first half of the 20th century, people were allowed to dig the site at their leisure. Add on top of that, 40 years of Harvard Archaeology field school, and I bet the site is still 50% intact. The eminent archie James Griffin, stated in his masterwork "The Fort Ancient Aspect", that the culture should have been called "The Madisonville Focus", but the name had been around too long to change. I digress.....
Today, the site is off limits, and you can and will be arrested for even surface hunting it. I have spent a decade tracking down the old diggers who were allowed to collect from the site.
I recently found a source, who had a few items that a grandfather found in the 1950's on the site. I should say it was reported to me that the items were found on Madisonville. I have been around long enough to know that if the information gets around that someone is collecting from a site/type that those pieces will magically appear. In this case, I was shown a pile of artifacts that clearly fit the Madisonville look, but there was one piece that I had not seen another like it. I knew the piece was authentic, but left the purchase not knowing if it was a Madisonville piece.
That evening, I cracked open my Madisonville "Bible" written in the 1920's by Hooton and Willoughby of Harvard called "Prehistoric Village and Cemetary at Madisonville". After scanning the plates, I found what I was looking for. 3 of the exact same type I had drawn on a page. The description also matched that they were all bird head effigies carved from naturally turned(diseased) antler. This was really exciting. Next I pulled out the Madisonville Horizons book put out by U of Michigan a few years ago, and found the same artifacts in the drawings from the 1920's, but this time they were pictured. The last step was going to the Griffin book, and looking at the Fort Ancient trait list. Only 1 site is listed as producing these enigmatic artifacts: Madisonville. Now I am really happy, and know that I acquired one of the rarer Fort Ancient forms on record found at the place I caught the artifact bug.
This story illustrates the thrill I can recieve from buying artifacts. There is a chase, and sometimes buried treasure with every purchase.
I pictured the piece from many angles. There was a slight crack on the bottom, so I thought it best to coat it in a non-invasive Elmer's glue mix. I also took pictures of the illustration, the picture, and the trait list showing only the 1 dot(Madisonville) for "Antler Animal Effigies".
Regards,
Jon Dickinson.
Today, the site is off limits, and you can and will be arrested for even surface hunting it. I have spent a decade tracking down the old diggers who were allowed to collect from the site.
I recently found a source, who had a few items that a grandfather found in the 1950's on the site. I should say it was reported to me that the items were found on Madisonville. I have been around long enough to know that if the information gets around that someone is collecting from a site/type that those pieces will magically appear. In this case, I was shown a pile of artifacts that clearly fit the Madisonville look, but there was one piece that I had not seen another like it. I knew the piece was authentic, but left the purchase not knowing if it was a Madisonville piece.
That evening, I cracked open my Madisonville "Bible" written in the 1920's by Hooton and Willoughby of Harvard called "Prehistoric Village and Cemetary at Madisonville". After scanning the plates, I found what I was looking for. 3 of the exact same type I had drawn on a page. The description also matched that they were all bird head effigies carved from naturally turned(diseased) antler. This was really exciting. Next I pulled out the Madisonville Horizons book put out by U of Michigan a few years ago, and found the same artifacts in the drawings from the 1920's, but this time they were pictured. The last step was going to the Griffin book, and looking at the Fort Ancient trait list. Only 1 site is listed as producing these enigmatic artifacts: Madisonville. Now I am really happy, and know that I acquired one of the rarer Fort Ancient forms on record found at the place I caught the artifact bug.
This story illustrates the thrill I can recieve from buying artifacts. There is a chase, and sometimes buried treasure with every purchase.
I pictured the piece from many angles. There was a slight crack on the bottom, so I thought it best to coat it in a non-invasive Elmer's glue mix. I also took pictures of the illustration, the picture, and the trait list showing only the 1 dot(Madisonville) for "Antler Animal Effigies".
Regards,
Jon Dickinson.
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I have a celt that my dad found there in the 1930's with a Mariemont police officer by the name of Ray Brier who had a big collection from Madisonville. I would hope that the Peabody Museum has the famous Metz collection on display but it's probably all boxed away.
