By: Deborah L. Rotman, Aaron O. Smith , Elizabeth Campell , and Rachel Maninci
Report of Investigations 51. Archaeological Resources Management Service, Ball State University.
Abstract
Archaeological and historical investigation of nineteenth-century rural settlements in Randolph County, Indiana was conducted under a Department of Interior Historic Preservation Survey and Planning Grant administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. The purpose of the project was to identify archaeological sites associated with early nineteenth-century African-American and white farmers in the county.
All lines of historical inquiry were directed toward understanding the social, political, and economic context in which three early communities of mixed ethnicity in the county operated prior to 1850. The artifacts and other archaeological data recovered provide information regarding the settlement of the area, agricultural practices, the nature of social relations, and the eventual abandonment of these communities.