Archaeology Lectures, Spring 2023
We are delighted to announce the return of in-person lectures this year! With the support of our academic partners at the University of Louisville and University of Kentucky, we look forward to presenting a series of talks in which internationally-recognized scholars discuss their latest research.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE of AMERICA
KENTUCKY SOCIETY
Thursday, March 23, 2023 • 6:00 PM EST
University of Louisville Center for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage (CACHe)
1606 Rowan Street, Louisville, KY 40203
In Search of Greener Pastures:
Climate Change, Migration, and the Emergence
of Fort Ancient Societies in the Middle Ohio Valley
Dr. Aaron Comstock (Indiana University East)
How did climate change and migration shape early settlement in the Middle Ohio Valley? Archaeologist Aaron Comstock addresses this question in our next talk!
The spread of maize agriculture into the Eastern Woodlands of North America was a process that resulted in significant cultural transformations. In the Middle Ohio Valley, the origins of the first maize farmers, referred to as Fort Ancient societies, are unclear. While traditionally considered an in situ development, recent research suggests that some Fort Ancient sites exhibit traditions practiced by neighboring Mississippian polities. This presentation explores recent fieldwork at the Guard and Turpin sites, early Fort Ancient villages occupied between AD 1,000-1,300, with the goal of characterizing some of the first villages in the Middle Ohio Valley. By examining these sites in a broader regional context that includes climate change and migration, a more complex and dynamic picture of the first farmers in the region emerges.
Aaron Comstock is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Archaeology Research Center at Indiana University East.
“In Search of Greener Pastures” is part of an ongoing series of talks presented by the Kentucky Society of the Archaeological Institute of America with support from the University of Louisville Departments of Anthropology and History and the University of Kentucky.