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FROM:<br>
Scientific American 60-Second Science (podcast)<br>
(<a
href="http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=fort-actually-ancient-aqueduct-08-09-24">http://www.sciam.<wbr>com/podcast/<wbr>episode.cfm?<wbr>id=fort-actually<wbr>-ancient-<wbr>aqueduct-<wbr>08-09-24</a>)
<br>
"Fort" Actually Ancient Aqueduct<br>
What had been thought to be a Native American fort in what is now Ohio
was <br>
actually a complex water management system. Cynthia Graber reports <br>
[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.] <br>
<br>
There’s a Native American site in Ohio that appeared to be a fort. But
recent <br>
discoveries by archaeologists at the University of Cincinnati show
that’s <br>
not the case. Instead, it’s a two-thousand year old Shawnee water
management <br>
system. It stretches out almost six kilometers. That’s much larger than
what <br>
had been thought to comprise the so-called fort. It’s one of the
largest such <br>
sites in the country. <br>
<br>
What had been thought to be gates for military protection are actually
a <br>
series of dams and irrigation canals. There are logs and clay bricks
for <br>
damming; raceways for flowing water originate in far-off springs. The
water was <br>
stored and channeled for irrigation. Drill cores show water sediments
and clay. <br>
<br>
The site demonstrates a sophisticated knowledge of engineering—which <br>
archaeologists did not realize that Native American communities might
have. The site <br>
also reveals an emphasis on public works, rather than on war. So this <br>
discovery might rewrite a bit of history. Another interesting note:
Shawnee remains <br>
from the time are typically of petite, graceful men—and robust,
muscular <br>
women. So it was probably the women who built the water system. Which
means even <br>
more history to rewrite. <br>
—Cynthia Graber <br>
<br>
More information about the field school and its investigations can be
found at:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uoc-rar091208.php">http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uoc-rar091208.php</a><br>
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