The Bone Stone Graves are a prehistoric

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

in the southwestern part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 northwest of the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of Oregonia in northwestern Washington Township,

Warren County Warren County is the name of fourteen counties in the USA. Some are named after General Joseph Warren, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War: * Warren County, Georgia * Warren County, Illinois * Warren County ...

, the cemetery is composed of an uncertain number of graves of individuals from the

Fort Ancient Fort Ancient is a name for a Native American culture that flourished from Ca. 1000-1750 CE and predominantly inhabited land near the Ohio River valley in the areas of modern-day southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, southeastern Indiana and western ...

culture of Native Americans.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 2.

St. Clair Shores St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ...

: Somerset, 1999. Graves at the site are composed of bodies contained within limestone

stone box grave Stone box graves were a method of burial used by Native Americans of the Mississippian culture in the Midwestern United States and the Southeastern United States. Their construction was especially common in the Cumberland River Basin, in settle ...

s. A cemetery of this type from the Fort Ancient period is very uncommon, making the Stone Graves a valuable

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 a ...

. Increasing the significance of the area is a complex of other nearby Fort Ancient sites, including the Bone Mound II that is only away. Because most Fort Ancient sites include only a single type of burials, rather than both a mound and a cemetery, it is believed that the vicinity of the Stone Graves may have been inhabited by people of two different

foci Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

. In the future, more information may be gained from the cemetery, for the site has never been subject to an archaeological excavation. On July 15, 1974, the Bone Stone Graves were listed 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 ...

because of their archaeological value. The Bone Mound II was listed on the Register on the same day.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Archaeological sites in Ohio Cemeteries in Warren County, Ohio Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Fort Ancient culture Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Geography of Warren County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Warren County, Ohio Native American cemeteries