"Shoulder to Shoulder to Do Our Best For Science": Archaeologists, Landowners, and Excavations at the Turpin Site, Southwest Ohio, 1797- 1994
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Date
2024-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
This thesis traces the modern history of the Turpin archaeological site in southwest Ohio from 1797-1994, seeking to illustrate the relationship between landowners, archaeologists, and other stakeholders throughout the site's private ownership. This thesis was developed in response to the lack of a comprehensive historical narrative of the period in the existing site literature; the literature mostly deals with the results of previous research on Turpin's precontact inhabitation, without shining light on how this research was shaped by the stakeholders involved. The author used primary sources including the Elizabeth Brockschlager collection at the Lloyd Library, Cincinnati, and notes from previous investigators compiled by Dr. Robert Cook. Also cited are a variety of secondary sources, including many made available by the Anderson Township Historical Society. This thesis suggests that the Turpin and Walls families' preservationist tendencies framed the work conducted at the Turpin site in the 19th and 20th centuries, and that the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History Women's Committee's excavation of the site (1969-1972) has been insufficiently recognized for its scope and significance; overall, it is reductive to view the site primarily through the lens of the Charles Metz and Frederic Ward Putnam excavation of 1885-1886, which has historically been accorded the most importance.
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Keywords
Turpin, Archaeology, History, Putnam, Native Americans, Cincinnati