The Clarke Farm Site is an ancient

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Located near Point Pleasant in

Clermont County Clermont County, popularly called Clermont ( ), is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 208,601. Ordinanced in 1800 as part of the Virginia Military District, Clermont is Ohio's eighth oldest county, the ...

, it is a heavily

stratified Stratification may refer to: Mathematics * Stratification (mathematics), any consistent assignment of numbers to predicate symbols * Data stratification in statistics Earth sciences * Stable and unstable stratification * Stratification, or st ...

site, with nearly 8,000 years of occupation. Excavations at the site have yielded a large number of artifacts, including bones,

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a prec ...

, pottery, and shells. Cultures represented at the site range from

Early Archaic Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * E ...

to Fort Ancient, along with various

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

cultures.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 139. The site encompasses an area of approximately , located along Big Indian Creek.Day, Gordon. "Cannel Coal Pendants". ''Ohio Archaeologist'' 8.2 (1958): 64. Because of the wide range of artifacts from so many cultures present at Clarke Farm, it has been recognized as a premier archaeological site. It is believed that the evidence of multiple cultures in succession at the site may contribute to an understanding of the succession of various cultures in the region. The archaeological value of the site led to its placement on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974.

References

{{NRHP in Clermont County, Ohio Archaeological sites in Ohio Archaic period in North America National Register of Historic Places in Clermont County, Ohio Fort Ancient culture Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Woodland period