Prairie Creek Site
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Prairie Creek Site
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Overview of the site
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| Location | Southeastern bank of Prairie Creek, 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) below the western edge of the Thousand Acre Woods |
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| Nearest city | Washington, Indiana |
| Coordinates | 38°43′4″N 87°9′55″W / 38.71778°N 87.16528°WCoordinates: 38°43′4″N 87°9′55″W / 38.71778°N 87.16528°W |
| Area | 30 acres (12 ha) |
| NRHP Reference # | 75000013 |
| Added to NRHP | May 12, 1975 |
The Prairie Creek Site is an archaeological site in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana. Located approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Washington in Daviess County, it lies along the southern bank of the westward-flowing Prairie Creek, a White River tributary. About 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of the site, the stream leaves the Thousand Acre Woods, a heavily wooded area around a glacial lake; six miles downstream is the creek's confluence with the White River.
In early 1972, a local resident observed the bones of a mastodon along the creekside and reported the finding to the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology at Indiana University Bloomington; before long, university archaeologist Curtis Tomak examined the site, removing portions of the mastodon skeleton and inspecting the stratigraphy of the site. This inspection revealed that the site was heavily stratified, due largely to stream deposits. Tomak led a test excavation at the site on weekends during the final third of 1973, which greatly clarified the stratification present at the site. Fifteen different strata were identified; all were formed mostly of clay, silt, and sand, but the majority of the material was sand. The seventh stratum from the top yielded a wide range of objects, including various stone tools and bones of multiple animal species, including extinct species of the Mylohyus and Castoroides genera. Other strata also yielded animal bones; chief among these was an armadillo shell found in Stratum 9, which at the time of discovery was the northernmost known armadillo shell.
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