State Line Archeological District | |
 Fields in the district | |
   | |
| Location | On the Indiana/Ohio line, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of theOhio River[2]: 113–114 |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Elizabethtown, Ohio |
| Coordinates | 39°8′15″N84°49′12″W / 39.13750°N 84.82000°W /39.13750; -84.82000 |
| Area | 8 acres (3.2 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 75001423[1] |
| Added to NRHP | July 24, 1975 |
TheState Line Archeological District (also known as theState Line site[1]) is a complex ofarchaeological sites and nationalhistoric district located west ofElizabethtown, Ohio, United States. Located on both sides of theIndiana/Ohio border,[2] thehistoric district is composed of fivecontributing properties spread out across 8 acres (3.2 ha) of land.[1] It is believed to have been the site of a village of theFort Ancient culture of prehistoricNative Americans.
Radiocarbon dating has revealed that State Line was occupied at approximately the same time as theSunWatch site nearDayton, Ohio and theTurpin site atNewtown, Ohio, whilepost-excavation analysis has shown that the inhabitants of the three sites were all members of the sameculture.[2]: 113–114 Occupation of these sites is believed to date from the Middle Fort Ancient period of the thirteenth century AD.[2]: 91
A leading part of the district is a village site, also known as the "Henry Bechtel Village"; it includes a widemidden and a cemetery.Plowing of the fields at the village site has frequently turned up a wide range ofartifacts, including burial pits,hearths, and trash pits.[3]Ceramics found duringexcavation at the site have typically beentempered with shells.[4] This pottery shares many characteristics with that produced byMiddle Mississippian cultures, such as distinctive styles of painting and the presence of pottery modelled after owls and the heads of humans.[5]
Because the midden is wide but quite shallow, it has been proposed that the village's population was significant but its period of occupation was short.[3]
Among the district's contributing properties are three smallburial mounds, which appear to be the work of earliermound building peoples. At one time, the site comprised five mounds, but only three remain within the district's boundaries.[3]
In 1975, State Line was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places for its archaeological significance.[1]
| Anderson Focus |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Baum Focus | ||
| Feurt Focus | ||
| Madisonville Focus | ||
