| SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological
Park is a partially reconstructed Fort Ancient period Native
American village along the Great Miami River in Dayton, Ohio. The
Fort Ancient culture as defined by archaeologists occupied the
Middle Ohio River Valley between about AD 1000 and AD 1650 from
what is now southeastern Indiana east to modern day West Virginia.
The Fort Ancient peoples who lived in this area were the first
intensive farmers of the area, and the last prehistoric group to
occupy it prior to the arrival of European settlers. Unfortunately
we do not know exactly who their modern descendants are.
SunWatch, originally named the Incinerator
site, was first excavated and reported on in the 1960's by amateur
archaeologists John Allman and Charles Smith. When news came in the
early 1970's that the City of Dayton planned to expand a nearby
sewage treatment plant onto the property and impact the site Allman
and Smith contacted James Heilman, the Curator of Anthropology at
the Dayton Museum of Natural History, in hopes of recovering as
much valuable information from the site as possible. In 1971 the
Dayton Museum of Natural History (now the Boonshoft Museum of
Discovery) began "salvage" excavations at the site with just this
goal in mind.
This initial work was designed to recover
as much data on the village as possible prior to the proposed
destruction of the site to make way for the sewage treatment plant
expansion. As excavations continued a planned, stockaded village
which was estimated to have been occupied for about 20 years and
included apparent astronomical alignments was revealed. The 2.5-3
acre village site contained many well-preserved artifacts,
including fragile items such as crayfish pincers, fish scales,
turkey egg shell fragments, and even uncharred wood remains. The
work at the site also exposed many students and adult volunteers to
archaeology for the first time and gave them an appreciation of the
archaeology and history of the region.
With the cooperation of the City of Dayton
the plans for the expansion of the sewage treatment plant were
modified, and with the assistance of the city, numerous volunteers,
scholars, and supporters the site was saved from destruction. Soon
after planning began to interpret and open the site to the
public.
On July 29, 1988, after 17 years of
excavation and research by the Dayton Society of Natural History,
SunWatch opened to the public. Seasonal excavations continued
through 1989. The years of excavation at the site, combined with
additional analysis and research, have resulted in a remarkable
understanding of the site's original inhabitants. SunWatch
currently combines experimental archaeological research, including
the reconstruction of the Fort Ancient structures in their original
13th century locations, with an interpretive center that exhibits
many of the artifacts that have been recovered from the site. The
village reconstruction includes five lath and daub structures with
grass thatch roofs, portions of a stockade, and a native garden and
prairie with plants typical of the period. Inferred astronomical
alignments originate from a complex of posts at the center of the
village that have also been replaced. There is also a picnic
shelter and picnic tables overlooking the village and are available
for visitors to relax.
Because of its archaeological and
historical significance the site was placed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 1975 and became a National Historic
Landmark in 1990. |