Members of the Department of Anthropology are conducting a systematic survey of East Hamilton County's Stony Creek in order to determine the history of people who have lived in the area.
The survey is funded by a $15,446 grant from the U.S. Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology
"We're trying to figure out the pre-contact period before the Europeans were there, back when Native Americans lived in the area," Beth McCord, assistant director for research in the Department of Anthropology, said.
The survey is being conducted by about 10 people, mostly graduate and undergraduate students studying anthropology, along with professors and people who work in the lab.
"The survey is a chance for students to have a hands-on learning experience," McCord said.
Surveyors will walk over plowed fields and look for artifacts in the 400-acre area.
"Because the corn fields have been plowed, a lot of what we're finding on the surface has been underground," said Andrew Smith, a graduate student participating in the surveys.
The year-long project started at the end of May, but has been delayed because of the height of the corn, McCord said.
So far, about 100 acres of the 400 have been inspected.
"What we're finding is that people from the same time period living in the White River Valley and Stoney Creek area have few differences," McCord said. "However, we don't have evidence that there were larger towns in the Stoney Creek area like there were in the White River Valley, but we aren't done yet."
Smith said most of the findings have been pieces of tools, points, and waste flakes. The surveyors have also found a piece of chert stone, a material often used for stone tools.
"A lot of the fields have already been picked through by collectors, but they usually leave the waste flakes, and that's what we're finding," Smith said.
When the field work is completed, the surveyors will write a report for the state. The information will be used for other projects and presentations for public and school groups, McCord said.
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