Fort Ancient

The Fort Ancient culture is a Native American archaeological culture that dates back to c. 1000–1750 CE.^[1] Members of the culture lived along the Ohio River valley, in an area running from modern-day Ohio and western West Virginia through to northern Kentucky and parts of southeastern Indiana.^[2] A contemporary of the neighboring Mississippian culture, Fort Ancient is considered to be a separate "sister culture".^[2] Mitochondrial DNA evidence collected from the area suggests that the Fort Ancient culture did not directly descend from the older Hopewell Culture.^[3][4]

Material evidence also suggests that the Fort Ancient peoples introduced maize agriculture to Ohio,^[2] and other evidence connects this culture to the Great Serpent Mound.^[5] In 1999, an archaeological study by Brad Lepper and Tod A. Frolking used radiocarbon testing to show that the Alligator Effigy Mound in Granville also dates to the Fort Ancient era, rather than the assumed Hopewell era.^[6][7] Both the Serpent and Alligator Mounds, first understood as burial locations, have been shown to be Fort Ancient ceremonial effigy sites.