Humans have lived in North America for more than 20,000 years, but the written history of the continent dates back less than 500 years. This gap leaves many questions for archaeologists to address: What were people doing during those prehistoric years? How and where did they live? What parts of their environments did they use? How did they interpret their world?
Artifacts are often all that remain of these first inhabitants. Archaeologists recover these materials, then describe and analyze them to interpret how prehistoric people lived in the same areas where we live today.
Repatriation Requests
Our policy is to promptly and respectfully respond to any repatriation request and determine appropriate next steps with the inquiring party. Our institution is supportive of repatriation and we have respectfully repatriated human remains and funerary objects that fall under NAGPRA as recently as 2021.
Research Requests
The archaeology collection will be closed to researchers beginning August 4, 2023, due to a facilities upgrade and an internal review of our access policies. For updated information on reopening and the Department of Archaeology's holdings, please contact Dr. Meghan Strong, Director of Collections, at
[email protected].
Archaeology Collection
The Museum’s archaeology collection houses artifacts and samples from more than 2,700 sites in Ohio. These collections total more than 1 million individual objects and groups of objects. Most of these were obtained after 1970 through systematic excavation by staff and other professional archaeologists. Other collections were obtained through donation.
Specimens from 65 Ohio counties are represented in the collection, but most Ohio materials were obtained in the state’s northern counties. These archaeological specimens range from 500 to 13,000 years in age. Objects from younger sites date to the last 1,000 years before European contact and are associated with the Whittlesey and Sandusky archaeological traditions. Documentation for the archaeology collection, including field records, maps, and photographs, is also maintained in the Department of Archaeology laboratory.
Collection highlights include:
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Paleoindian stone tools from the 13,000-year-old Paleo Crossing site
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10,000 animal bones and artifact casts from the late–ice age Sheriden Cave site
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Stone tools, pottery, and food remains from several village settlements, including the South Park, White Fort, Petersen, and Heckelman sites, radiocarbon-dated to between 500 and 800 years ago.
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The Ringler Dugout, discovered in Savannah Lake in Ashland County—a 500-year-old watercraft carved from a 22-foot-long white oak log.
ARTIFACT IDENTIFICATION
Find something interesting? Fill out this form and a Museum archaeologist will get back to you as soon as possible. Please note that this form isn't to be used for requests to authenticate specimens or appraise them for monetary value or insurance purposes. The Museum’s Department of Archaeology no longer performs contract work or in-person consultations on potential sites. Potential new sites can be reported to the
State Historic Preservation Office (Ohio History Connections).
VOLUNTEERING IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY
The Department of Archaeology is supported by a large and active group of volunteers.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Museum, please
browse our current volunteer opportunities.
Learn more about the Cleveland Archaeological Society.
CONTACT
Department of Archaeology
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
1 Wade Oval Drive
Cleveland, OH 44106
United States of America
Department Phone: 216.231.4600 x3504