Message #3028

[Cleito]

This material is presented for consideration by anyone with an interest in the early habitation of North America, describing artifacts first recognized and re- corded in 1987 at an unglaciated hilltop site in southeastern Ohio.  These have appeared in large quantity, at depths of from near the surface to well over a meter below, and the surface of this large site has only been scratched.  At this point, five doctorate-level professionals - archaeologists, geologists, and a forensic biologist - have identified human agency in both lithic and organic material.  The Ohio Historic Preservation Office has included the site in the Ohio Archaeological Inventory, recognizing evidence of prehistoric habitation, although they are unable at this point to identify temporal or cultural associa- tion.  Since they lack the funding and staffing needed even to keep up with Ohio's many typically "Indian" sites, this is as far as their involvement seems likely to progress.