new acquisition

Getting a Glimpse of the Adena

The Williams-Morgan Archaeological Preserve offers researchers an intact Adena mound.

About 2,000 years ago, a hunting/gathering/gardening culture, known to archaeologists as the Adena people, lived in the Silver Creek Valley of central Kentucky. They exploited the area’s native wild plant and animal resources and grew domesticated plants in their gardens, such as squash, goosefoot, and sunflower.

Adena society was made up of small, dispersed social groups that did not recognize overt distinctions in social status. The Adena made stone spearpoints and ceramic vessels, and crafted, among other things, engraved stone tablets, copper ear spools, mica crescents, and elbow and platform pipes for use in their rituals. These kinds of artifacts have been found in the burial mounds they built from approximately 500 B.C. until about A.D. 200.

The Conservancy has saved a well-preserved Adena mound through its establishment of the WilliamsMorgan Archaeological Preserve. Adena mounds, which generally range in size from 20 to over 80 feet in diameter, served as the final resting place for male and female individuals. Adena groups returned to the same mounds year after year to bury their newly dead and pay homage to their ancestors. Thus, over time, some Adena mounds grew to be quite large.

Adena people intentionally built their mounds away from their residences and at the boundaries of neighboring communities. The mounds were therefore the final resting places for the dead of several different groups. Consequently, they served as important social focal points; periodic visits to a mound provided groups with an opportunity to interact with both the dead and the living. Objects placed with the dead, manufactured from materials found in other regions such as copper and mica, show

The Adena produced beautiful artifacts like this human-effigy pipe from the Adena Mound in Chillicothe, Ohio.

that Adena groups participated in long-distance trade networks.

Many Adena mounds were investigated in Kentucky during the Depression as part of the Works Projects Administration (WPA). Numerous artifacts were recovered during these investigations that were made available for study; however, partially due to the fact that archaeological methods were much less advanced at that time, many questions still remain about Adena ritual.

The Williams-Morgan Archaeological Preserve encompasses the mound itself as well as a few surrounding acres that may contain information about off-mound rituals.

Sara Morgan donated this land to the Conservancy in honor of her late brother David J. Williams III. Williams was a long-time supporter of the Conservancy who wanted this site preserved for the benefit of future generations.

This preserve is the Conservancy’s third in the Silver Creek watershed. The other two, Bogie Circle (an Adena ceremonial circle) and Round Hill (an Adena mound), are roughly the same age as this new aquisition: approximately 1,800 years old. Because of their close proximity, this section of Silver Creek may have served as a sacred Adena mortuary area and could reflect continuity in the ritual use of this place over many generations. Well-preserved Adena mounds such as this one can give us a better understanding of this fascinating culture. —Joe Navari