Thousands of artifacts have been recovered in Dayton after an archaeological investigation of a former Native American settlement.
Last month, the city of Dayton concluded an archaeological investigation on the historic Lichliter Village – a former Native American settlement – to assess if the surrounding area is suitable for future development. This yielded artifacts that will now be in the care the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.
The property that was investigated is 126 acres. Just above Wolf Creek, Lichliter Village was first discovered in 1953, with a few archaeological excavations occurring on the site in the following two decades. The site’s been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.
It’s believed to have been established in the year 680 by an Indigenous population in Ohio during the Woodland period. Relics of this time are hard to find today.
The city collaborated with the Dayton Society of Natural History, Ohio History Connection, Ohio Valley Archaeology, and the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority for the archaeology project’s duration.
The city wanted to ensure that anything of cultural or historical interest would not be in conflict with site development, said Keith Klein, senior economic development specialist with the city of Dayton.
“This is really about trying to do the right thing and making sure that when we are trying to encourage development, we are also being respectful of all the other different issues and communities and stakeholders that come into those discussions,” Klein said.
The city will preserve the eight acres identified as the village; the presumed village was not disturbed in the process, said Klein. The goal was to ensure the village didn’t expand beyond that area.
“We cleared with the State of Ohio Historic Preservation Office … that the rest of the site, other than the original village that had been discovered, is suitable to be potentially developed going forward,” Klein said.
The two year investigation also produced 2,208 artifacts, ranging from pottery to flint stones. The Boonshoft Museum of Discovery now has possession of the artifacts to archive. They will not be on display.
Boonshoft holds over 10,000 additional artifacts from excavations on the site decades prior. Boonshoft’s curator Jill Krieg Stover said once the city announced its intention to complete this investigation in 2022, city officials reached out for the museum’s assistance.
“So we met with them, (and we were) really trying to explain to them how significant this village is because it's from this time where we know very little. The Late Woodland represents a very dynamic time because people start living in true villages for the first time,” Krieg Stover said.
They have yet to link the artifacts to any particular historic Ohio tribe, largely because present day descendants likely comprise several different tribes, Krieg Stover said.
The city of Dayton reached out to 45 tribal representatives with ancestral ties to the region, none of which claimed the artifacts, Klein said.
No human remains were found during the investigation.
The city of Dayton went to great lengths to ensure development is not only legal but ethical, said Krieg Stover.
“The reason why Lichliter went through this rigorous survey process is because of the efforts of the city of Dayton. And they went above and beyond really what they were legally required to do. So that's, I think, what makes it such a success story,” Krieg Stover said.
Klein said starting this summer, the city of Dayton, along with neighboring Trotwood, will hold community discussions around what future development of the site should look like, ranging from "light industry to research and development (R&D) facilities.”
