by Constance M. Sedler, Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Central States Archaeological Journal January 2016
Teresa Putty – Photography & Graphics
In the southwest corner of Ohio, near the Indiana border, is Shawnee Lookout Park. The 2430-acre park has breathtaking views of the mouth of the Great Miami River and surrounding valleys. Within the park’s boundaries are at least thirty-four archaeological sites. One of these sites is a twelve acre Hopewell Indian enclosure which is referred to as Miami Fort or Fort Hill.
The fifty-one points pictured here are from a cache known as the Fort Hill Turkeytails. The entire cache was found in a mound at Fort Hill sometime prior to 1910 and originally consisted of fifty-three pieces. They are of Harrison County and Sonora flints and range in size from 3 ¾ to 5 ½ inches.
In a 1913 article, “A Wisconsin Collection” from the journal Records of the Past, author Charles E. Brown discusses Ringeisen’s collection. Mr. Brown mentions the Fort Hill Cache and states, “No printed descriptions can do full justice to the beauty of these series of aboriginal implements. They must be seen to be fully appreciated.”
The Fort Hill Turkeytail Cache later became part of the Judge Claude U. Stone collection before being acquired by Earl Townsend, Jr.
On September 14, 2013, T & T Archaeological Consulting, LLC conducted an auction of a portion of the Earl Townsend Collection. Included in the sale were the fifty-three points from the Fort Hill Turkeytail Cache. Each turkeytail was sold individually.
Collector Michael Sedler of Lawrenceburg, Indiana, lives just a few miles from Shawnee Lookout Park. He has a particular fondness for local artifacts and was determined to keep the cache intact. After enlisting the help of fellow collectors for the bidding process, Mike was able to acquire all but four of the points. He has since purchased two more of the pieces (Fig. 2) and hopes to eventually reassemble all fifty-three pieces of this exceptional cache.
