Ball State University will receive a $50,000 grant to survey 60 acres of Deadman Hollow in Morgan-Monroe State Forest to better understand pre- and post-contact use of the area. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Historic and Preservation and Archaeology is funding the grant.
Pre-contact means land use before Native Americans had contact with European civilization. Post-contact refers to the period after Europeans made contact with Native Americans.
The grant will let Ball State’s Applied Anthropology Laboratories conduct “phase one archaeologic survey,” which involves digging shovel test pits, the project’s principal investigator Hannah Ryker said. Ryker said they will make a grid and a hole will be dug every 15 meters across the project area in hopes of finding archaeologic sites, evidence of human activity, in the area.
The purpose of surveys like this one is to find and protect archaeological sites that were previously unknown. It also leads to the public knowing more about the history of the area. Locations of archaeological sites will remain confidential to protect them, but public presentations will be made to inform the public of what was found.
“This is all to give the property and the division of forestry, who owns the property, more information about what cultural resources they have, so that they can manage them,” Ryker said.
Field work will start in summer 2027 with the final report draft due in April 2028 and the project ending by June 2028, Ryker said.
She said they will be looking for artifacts like stone tools, evidence of stone tool production, and evidence of historic occupation. Soils will be collected in the area.
“I'd like it to go smoothly and us to find some interesting artifacts. So it'd be nice to have something to add to the history of the area,” Ryker said.
There is already evidence of historic sites in the area such as a house foundation and botanical evidence like daffodils, she said.
A challenge that is expected when doing these surveys is the terrain. Ryker said sometimes there’s thick brush or poison ivy. She said the tornado in June that damaged part of the Morgan-Monroe Forest missed the survey area, but there could be downed trees from strong winds.
