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. 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.
The district was established and named a National Historic Landmark on May 5, 1994. 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).
Contributing properties The district comprises the following sites, listed by their Smithsonian trinomials; names are provided for named sites. NumberNational Historic Landmark Nomination: Green River Shell Middens. National Park Service: 1994-05-05. NameLocationCity PhotoComments Carlston Annis Eastern side of the Green River off Kentucky Route 403 Schulztown DeWeese Eastern bank of the Green River in Horseshoe Bend, west of Taylor LakeFunkhouser, W.D., and W.S. Webb. "Archaeological Survey of Kentucky: Butler County". University of Kentucky Reports in Anthropology 7.5 (1950). Highview Read Northern side of the Green River, west of MorgantownMilner, George R., and Richard W. Jefferies. "The Read Archaic Shell Midden in Kentucky". Southeastern Archaeology 17.2 (1998): 119-132. Monticello Russell Eastern bank of the Green River in Horseshoe Bend Logansport Rayburn Johnson Eastern bank of the Green River in Horseshoe Bend, northwest of Taylor LakeClaassen, Cheryl. Feasting with Shellfish in the Southern Ohio Valley: Archaic Sacred Sites and Rituals. Knoxville: U of Tennessee P, 2010. Prentiss Woodbury Left bank of the Green River immediately above Woodbury Woodbury Bluff City above Bluff City on a Green River bluffMoore, Clarence B. "Some Aboriginal Sites on Green River, Kentucky". Journal of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences 16 (1916): 431-487. Hebbardsville Right bank of the Green River, above Bluff City Hebbardsville James Giles Left bank of the Green River, east of Bluff City Rumsey In the lawn of a house on Reed Bluff City Rd., northeast of Bluff City Hebbardsville R.D. Ford Along the Green River off Kentucky Route 256, west of CalhounWebb, William S., and William G. Haag. "Archaic Sites in McLean County, Kentucky". University of Kentucky Reports in Anthropology 7.1 (1947): 1-46. Ashbyburg Butterfield Southern bank of the Green River across from the mouth of the Rough River Livermore Austin Left bank of the Green River, below Calhoun Rumsey Left bank of the Green River immediately above Rumsey Rumsey Above the right bank of the Rough River, east of Livermore Livermore Crowe Left bank of the Green River, above Livermore Kirtley Baker Left bank of the Green River, above the Paradise Fossil PlantMoore, 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. Skilesville Chiggerville Right bank of the Green River, above the Paradise Fossil Plant Knightsburg Smallhous Right bank of the Green River at Smallhous Smallhous Bowles Northern side of the Green River opposite RochesterEmerson, Thomas E. Archaic Societies: Diversity and Complexity Across the Midcontinent. Albany: SUNY Press, 2009, 655. Rochester Jimtown Jimtown Hill, above Livermore Kirtley J.T. Barnard Across the Green River from South Carrollton Central City Foot of Kirtley-River Rd. at the Green River above Livermore Kirtley
See also Indian Knoll, another shell midden in the region not included in the district List of National Historic Landmarks in Kentucky
References
External links