WESSELMAN FARM, AN ARCHAIC SITE ON THE LOWER GREAT MIAMI RIVER, HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

Abstract

Wesselman Farm is a previously unidentified precontact site in Hamilton County, Ohio. The site is an early Late Archaic period (4330 ± 30 to 4080 ± 30 BP [4959 - 4462 cal BP]) habitation site with dense midden development situated on a summit over the Great Miami River. This research was inspired by a small box of stone tools that a family had collected since the 1940s as they plowed the fields on their 15.38-hectare (38.00 acre) historic farmstead. The landowner’s collection, archival research, geophysical survey, archaeological excavations, and radiocarbon dates each contributed valuable information in locating and interpreting this incredible archaeological site. The data also allows an understanding of the role this site had within the larger Archaic settlement system of extreme southwest Ohio and changes our understanding of Archaic settlement distribution theory.