Description: Photograph of a large group of men and women gathered at Fort Ancient, ca. 1890-1900. The group is believed to be the International Congress of Americanists, made up of delegates from the leading states of Europe, and nearly all of the Countries of the Americas, held their biennial meeting in New York City, beginning October 22, 1902. It was the expressed and almost universal desire of the delegates to this congress that they have an opportunity of visiting Fort Ancient, and negotiations between the Secretary of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, and Mr. M. H. Saville, the general secretary of the congress and Assistant Curator of the American Museum of Natural History of New York, resulted in the accomplishment of the wish of the members of the congress. By the action of the Trustees of the Ohio Society, the AMERICANISTS were made the guests of the Society at Fort Ancient, on Thursday, October 30, 1902. The train conveying the foreign party reached Columbus in the early morning of the date in question, and they were met and greeted by the following trustees and officers of the State Society: Gen. R. Brinkerhoff, G. F. Bareis, A. R. McIntire, M. D. Follett, H. A. Thompson, J. P. MacLean, C. L. Martzolff, B. F. Prince, C. P. Griffin, N. B C. Love, E. O. Randall, W. C. Mills and E. F. Wood. … After a substantial lunch had been partaken of, an address of welcome was made to the guests by General Brinkerhoff, on the part of the Society, and remarks explanatory of the Fort were made by Professors J. P. MacLean and W. C. Mills. The entire grounds were then inspected, many of the party putting in much of their time in looking for relics … The following is a list of the guests present at the Fort Ancient visit: Edward H. Thompson, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. David Boyle, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Juan B. Ambrosetti, Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic. M. Gonzalez de la'Rosa, Paris, France. Arthur Farwell, Boston, Mass. Arthur M. J. Hirsh, Munich, Germany. Waldemar Borgoras, St. Petersburg, Russia. Alfred M. Tozzer, Peabody Museum, Cambridge. Francisco Belmar, State of Oaxaca, Mexico. Henri Pittier de Fabrega, Costa Rica. Leon Lejeal, College of France, Paris. Alfredo Gonzalez, Mexico. Chevalier L. C. van Panhuys, The Hague, Netherlands. Prof. Eduard Seler, Berlin, Germany. Juan F. Ferraz, Costa Rica. Mary Endora Lyon, Salem, Mass. Mrs. Jessie Crellin Pepper, Newark, New Jersey. Mrs. Annie Lyon Saville, New York City. Mrs. Grace Hyde Trine, Oscawana-on-Hudson, N. Y.” Among the folks in the picture are several of the most important archaeologists around at the time, including: Frederic Ward Putnam, the “Father” of American Archaeology, who studied Serpent Mound and is responsible for its preservation. Warren King Moorehead, the Ohio History Connection’s first Curator of Archaeology, did a lot of work at the Fort Ancient Earthworks and is largely responsible for its preservation William C. Mills, the Ohio History Connection’s fourth Curator of Archaeology and later the Director Gerard Fowke, worked with Moorehead and is the author of the Archaeological History of Ohio, published by the Ohio History Connection The Fort Ancient Earthworks are a series of earthen embankments that extend for more than three and one half miles around a high bluff along the Little Miami River in southwestern Ohio. Although it is called a "fort," it probably never served as a defensive work. Ditches are located inside the walls rather than outside as might be expected in a fortification. There are more than 60 gateways in the walls, making it difficult to defend the site against enemies. The Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 500 A. D.) of prehistoric American Indian people constructed the earthworks. Later native residents built a village and a cemetery within the walls of the already ancient South Fort. Archaeologists mistakenly assumed that these villagers had built the earthen walls. It was called the Fort Ancient culture (1000 A.D. to 1650 A.D.) after the name of the site. This mistake has caused confusion for later students of Ohio archaeology. Recent excavations at Fort Ancient have discovered the remains of Hopewell culture houses and ceremonial features both inside and outside of the enclosure walls. It is not known whether the houses located inside the enclosure were occupied before or after the enclosure was built. It also has yet to be determined whether the houses were the dwellings of more or less full time residents, or the temporary shelters of visitors. The Fort Ancient Earthworks is an Ohio Historical Society site open to visitation. It is located seven miles southeast of Lebanon, in Warren County, Ohio. In addition to the earthworks, the site features a museum with interpretive exhibits about Ohio's ancient past. The Fort Ancient Earthworks site also is a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04693
Subjects: Fort Ancient (Ohio); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650); Earthworks (Archaeology); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400); State parks & reserves; Mounds--Ohio--Warren County; Portrait photography
Places: Warren County (Ohio)