A wide range of historic and prehistoric archaeological research and the artifacts documenting the evolution of communities, daily life, and social change will be explored during the 36th Annual Kentucky Heritage Council Archaeology Conference Friday through Sunday, March 1-3, at Northern Kentucky University (NKU) and other local venues.
The conference is an opportunity for professional archaeologists from Kentucky and neighboring states to network and share information about their work as well as hear presentations by historians and architectural historians.
This year’s conference is co-sponsored by NKU, the Kentucky Organization of Professional Archaeologists, the city of Newport, Northern Kentucky Restoration Weekend, Cardno Inc., the Western Kentucky University Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology, Acheulean Archaeology, K&V Cultural Resources Management, Corn Island Archaeology, the Falls of the Ohio Archaeological Society, and the Central Ohio Valley Archaeological Society.
Friday activities kick off at 1 p.m. with a tour of the James A. Ramage Civil War Museum and Devou Park, where archaeological investigations recently facilitated the listing of two Civil War-era fortification sites in the National Register of Historic Places.
From 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Southgate Street School in Newport, Kentucky Places sessions will delve into projects relating to above-ground historic resources, which can inform archaeological study. Topics cover the Ludlow Historic Society’s restoration of a Victorian townhouse in Latta Row, research into the “Ashland Tragedy” and Burns Cemetery in Boyd County, educational equality through the mid-19th century lens of Parker Academy in Southern Ohio, the historic significance and maintenance challenges of Northern Kentucky Ohio River Bridges, and a Louisville graduate project exploring digital storytelling as a form of preserving places.
Conference papers and posters will be presented from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 to 11 a.m. Sunday at NKU’s Landrum Building.
Saturday, prehistoric research topics will focus on a Middle to Late Holocene period sink site in central Kentucky, Green River Shell Midden sites in Henderson County, the bioarchaeology of a late Fort Ancient village, and Fort Ancient shell-tempered ceramics in the Middle Ohio River Valley. Historic archaeology project presentations will feature a site in Gilbertsville, Beecher Terrace in Louisville, the Tanner Quarry Millstone manufacturing site in Woodford County, and what is arguably the catchiest-named session: “Construction History, Lots of Ladies’ Undergarment Fasteners, and a Fiery End: Excavations at Harrison’s Tavern Stand/The Halfway House of Mason County.”
Sunday presentations will highlight evidence of turkey management at a large Fort Ancient village in Mason County, landscape history and social changes at Indian Old Fields and Goff Circle in Clark County, and findings from a 19th century East Covington privy.
The conference is open to anyone interested in Kentucky history or prehistory. The cost is $25 per person, and participants may register at the door. For more, contact Yvonne Sherrick at 502-892-3602, or click this link for detailed program information.