Carlston Annis Shell Mound
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Carlston Annis Shell Mound (15BT5)
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| Location | Eastern side of the Green River off Kentucky Route 403 |
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| Nearest city | Schulztown, Kentucky |
| Coordinates | 37°17′28″N 86°48′19″W / 37.29111°N 86.80528°WCoordinates: 37°17′28″N 86°48′19″W / 37.29111°N 86.80528°W |
| Area | 2.4 acres (0.97 ha) |
| MPS | Green River Shell Middens of Kentucky TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 86000632 |
| Added to NRHP | April 1, 1986 |
The Carlston Annis Shell Mound (designated 15 BT 5) is a prominent archaeological site in the western part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Located along the Green River in Butler County, this shell midden has been declared a historic site because of its archaeological value.
The Carlson Annis Shell Mound sits on the eastern side of the Green River, somewhat more than 300 feet (91 m) east of the shoreline. Because it lies in the river's floodplain, the mound is the highest point in the area; its top is typically dry even though the surrounding terrain be flooded. It occupies a dark loamy soil, although the edges of the mound are covered by a substantially lighter loam with mixtures of sand and clay. Since the mound was formed, the river has changed its course; it appears to have flowed directly by the base of the mound as it was being created. When the area was first settled in the early nineteenth century, the floodplain was recognized as valuable farmland, and because the mound is an island during floods, settlers saw it as a place of refuge; for most of the time since whites arrived, farmsteads have occupied its summit.
Measuring approximately 350 feet (110 m) from north to south and 300 feet (91 m) east to west, the mound rises approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) above the surrounding terrain. The shells extend down from the surface by 7.5 feet (2.3 m) from the center; the difference between the heights is the result of floods since the midden was created, which have deposited multiple layers of earth around the base.
In 1939, archaeologists from the University of Kentucky began to excavate the Annis Mound under the leadership of W.D. Funkhouser and W.S. Webb. Initial surveys found minimal damage to the site: a well had been dug into the center, and the surface was slightly affected by the foundations of buildings on the top, and neighbors from miles around were frequently digging from the edge to procure shells for use as chicken feed. Excavations began with the digging of a trench through the southern portion of the mound, after which the mound was divided into blocks of 30 by 40 feet (9.1 m × 12.2 m) so that the locations of artifacts could more accurately be plotted on diagrams. The initial excavation produced evidence of 129 different features:
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Wikipedia