SunWatch Indian Village

Open-air museum in Ohio, US

United States historic place

SunWatch Site

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

U.S. National Historic Landmark

SunWatch Village

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Location| 2301 W. River Rd., Dayton, Ohio
Coordinates| 39°42′59″N 84°13′54″W﻿ / ﻿39.71634°N 84.231577°W﻿ / 39.71634; -84.231577
Area| 3 acres (1.2 ha)
NRHP reference No.| 75001500[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP| April 1, 1975
Designated NHL| June 21, 1990

SunWatch Indian Village / Archaeological Park, previously known as the Incinerator Site, and designated by the Smithsonian trinomial 33-MY-57, is a reconstructed Fort Ancient Native American village next to the Great Miami River. The dwellings and site plan of the 3-acre (1.2 ha) site are based on lengthy archeological excavations sponsored by the Dayton Society of Natural History, which owns and operates the site as an open-air museum. Because of its archaeological value, the site was listed in 1974 on the National Register of Historic Places. Since that time, as the many years of archaeological research at the site have led to important findings about the Fort Ancient culture, SunWatch Indian Village was designated in 1990 as a National Historic Landmark.[2]

## History

[edit]

Artist's conception of the SunWatch Indian Village

Amateurs had found some prehistoric materials at the site in the 1960s. Professional excavation began in 1971 as a salvage operation when the city planned a sewage treatment plant. With the discovery of significant artifacts and the remains of a stockaded village, the city changed its plans to preserve the site. Excavations continued through 1988 and are generally completed, although additional small studies have been done. The studies have revealed much about the original people's dwellings, social organization, diets, burial practices and other aspects of their lives at the site. The circular village, surrounded by defensive palisades, was occupied for about 20 years, with a total population of about 250. They depended on farming and hunting.

Scholars have named it Sun Watch because, since studies of the 1980s, they believe that a complex of posts in the plaza is related to astronomical measurements. The Fort Ancient culture people, whose society was based on agriculture, would have planned rituals around a solar calendar.

With reconstructed dwellings, a plaza and gardens, and an interpretive center, the village was opened in 1988 to the public as an open-air museum. Interpretive tours are offered as well as a variety of educational programs and special events developed in collaboration with Native American and other groups. Archaeological excavations are ongoing in the area, with special opportunities for school groups, graduate students, and adult learners.

Additional artifacts and exhibits are held in the related Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton. These help interpret the history and culture of the people, and show more of the artifacts recovered at the site than can be displayed at SunWatch.

## See also

[edit]

* Boonshoft Museum of Discovery
* List of National Historic Landmarks in Ohio

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. ^ "NHL nomination for SunWatch Site". National Park Service. Retrieved March 27, 2018.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Allman, John C. (1968) "The Incinerator Village Site," Ohio Archaeologist 18 (2): 50–55.
* Cook, Robert A. (2008) SunWatch: Fort Ancient Development in the Mississippian World, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
* Heilman, J., Malinda Lileas and Chris Turnbow (editors) (1988) A History of 17 Years of Excavation and Reconstruction: A Chronicle of 12th Century Human Values and the Built Environment Volumes I and II, Dayton Museum of Natural History, Dayton, Ohio.
* Heilman, James M. and Roger Hoefer (1981) "Possible Astronomical Alignments in a Fort Ancient Settlement at the Incinerator Site in Dayton, Ohio," in Archaeoastronomy in the Americas, ed. Ray Williamson, Los Altos, California: Ballena Press/ Center for Archaeoastronomy.

## External links

[edit]

Media related to Sunwatch village at Wikimedia Commons

* SunWatch Indian Village / Archaeological Park
* NHL Summary
* Earthworks Timeline, Ancient Ohio Trail

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Fort Ancient culture

* List of archaeological periods (North America)
* Mound Builders

Anderson
Focus|

* Fort Ancient site
* Hine site
* Kemp site
* State Line site
* SunWatch Indian Village

Baum Focus|

* Alligator Effigy Mound
* Baldwin site
* Baum Site
* Gartner site
* Serpent Mound

Feurt Focus|

* Buffalo Indian Village Site
* Feurt Mounds and Village Site
* Hardin Village site
* Leo Petroglyph
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Madisonville
Focus|

* Buckner site
* Clay Mound
* Cleek–McCabe site
* Clover site
* Fox Farm site
* Hahn Field site
* Larkin site
* Lower Shawneetown
* Madisonville site
* Ronald Watson Gravel site
* Sand Ridge site
* Turpin site

Related topics
Bone Stone Graves
Bone Mound II
Cole culture
Mississippian culture
Monongahela culture
Oliver phase
Oneota
Owasco culture
Springwells phase

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Native Americans in Ohio

Prehistory of Ohio – History of Ohio – Northwest Territory – Ohio Country – Native Americans in the United States – History of Native Americans in the United States

Historic tribes|

* Chalahgawtha (Shawnee)
* Delaware (Lenape)
* Erie people (Iroquois)
* Honniasont
* Huron (Wyandot)
* Miami
* Mingo (Iroquoian speaking)
* Mosopelea (Siouan speaking)
* Ojibwe (Anishinaabe)
* Odawa (Anishinaabe)
* Pekowi (Shawnee)
* Piankeshaw (Miami)
* Shawnee
* Wyandot
* See also Western Confederacy

Consulted tribes|

* Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians
* Citizen Potawatomi Nation
* Delaware Nation
* Delaware Tribe of Indians
* Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
* Forest County Potawatomi Community
* Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
* Osage Nation
* Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
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Languages|

* Algonquian languages

Former reservations|

* Blanchard's Fork Reserve
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* See also Indian removals in Ohio

Historic figures|

* Blue Jacket (Shawnee)
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Historic communities|

* Hell Town, Ohio
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* Adena (Early Woodland)
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* Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands
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Prehistoric communities or sites|

* Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
* Archaeological sites in Ohio
* Mounds in Ohio
* Petroglyphs in Ohio‎
* Tower Site
* See also Ohio River – Wilderness Road

Culture|

* Birdstone (sculpture)
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* Underwater panther

Museums|

* Flint Ridge State Memorial
* Fort Ancient (Lebanon, Ohio)
* Fort Hill State Memorial
* Fort Recovery
* Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
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* New Indian Ridge Museum
* Shawnee Woodland Native American Museum
* SunWatch Indian Village
* Zane Shawnee Caverns

Events|

* Beaver Wars (1609–1701)
* Nanfan Treaty (1701, 1726)
* Raid on Pickawillany (1752)
* Pontiac's War (1763)
* Lord Dunmore's War (1774)
* Yellow Creek massacre (1774)
* Treaty of Camp Charlotte (1774)
* Northwest Indian War (1785–1795)
* St. Clair's defeat (1791)
* Siege of Fort Recovery (1794)
* Battle of Fallen Timbers (1794)
* Treaty of Greenville (1795)
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* Treaty of Brownstown (1808)
* Treaty of Fort Meigs (1817)
* Treaty of St. Mary's (1818)

Other topics|

* Native American place names in Ohio
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Human
remains|

* Anzick-1
* Arlington Springs Man
* Buhl Woman
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* La Brea Woman
* Leanderthal Lady
* Melbourne Man
* Minnesota Woman
* Peñon woman
* Spirit Cave mummy
* Vero man

Miscellaneous|

* Aridoamerica
* Ballgame
* Black drink
* Ceremonial pipe
* Chanunpa
* Chunkey
* Clovis point
* Container Revolution
* Eastern Agricultural Complex
* Eden point
* Effigy mound
* Falcon dancer
* Folsom point
* Green Corn Ceremony
* Horned Serpent
* Kiva
* Medicine wheel
* Metallurgy
* Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing
* Mound Builders
* N.A.G.P.R.A.
* Norse colonization of North America
* Oasisamerica
* Piasa
* Projectile point
* Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
* Stickball
* Three Sisters agriculture
* Thunderbird
* Transoceanic contact
* Underwater panther
* Water glyphs

Related
Genetic history
Pre-Columbian era

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U.S. National Register of Historic Places

Topics|

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Lists of specific structure types|

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Related|

* National Historic Preservation Act
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