Wolf Plains

Archaeological site in Ohio, United States

United States historic place


Wolf Plains
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district

One of the mounds
39°22′30″N 82°7′27″W / 39.37500°N 82.12417°W / 39.37500; -82.12417
Area	2,300 acres (930 ha)
NRHP reference No.	74001399^[1]
Added to NRHP	May 31, 1974

The Wolf Plains Group is a Late Adena culture group of 30 earthworks including 22 conical mounds and nine circular enclosures.^[2] The Plains, originally known as Wolf's Plains, located a few miles to the northwest of Athens, is a relatively flat terrace in an area of hilly terrain in southeastern Ohio's Hocking River valley. The terrace was formed by glacial outwash coming down the Hocking River, which became dammed at The Plains and found a new outlet to the northeast, leaving the terrace in place.

Origins

The Wolf Plains Group was featured in Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis's landmark publication Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (1848).^[3] Their finished drawing was based on a sketch from 1836 by S. P. Hildreth, and contains some inaccuracies. Some of the clusters of mounds are rotated relative to their actual position, some are missing, and some are misplaced.^[4] The Wolf Plains Group was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 31, 1974; at that time, 25 earthworks remained in good enough condition to qualify as contributing properties.^[1] In 2008 The Archaeological Conservancy purchased the site of one of the remaining earthworks, the Dorr 2 Mound, using emergency POINT funds; and it plans to purchase more as funds become available.^[2]

Destruction of Earthworks

The majority of the remaining earthworks in the complex are privately owned and are threatened with destruction as The Plains community expands. The lack of stringent legal protections for these sites on private property exacerbates the risk of potential destruction and alteration of these ancient earthwork. Recent reports have highlighted inadvertent damage to the Adena mounds within the Wolf Plains Group due to development-related activities.^[5] This situation underscores the vulnerability of these archaeological sites and the need for heightened protection measures.

Awareness

Despite its historical significance, the awareness and integration of Wolf Plains' Adena culture heritage into local education and community consciousness face challenges. This gap in awareness has been noted by local historians and educators, underlining the need for more comprehensive educational initiatives.^[6] Local community groups and residents have shown a growing interest in promoting and preserving the Wolf Plains Group. Efforts such as organizing cultural festivals, enhancing educational materials, and proposing archaeological preserves are underway to protect and celebrate the region's rich Adena heritage. This includes the Indian Mound Festival,^[7] which was ran by the Plains Lions Club.

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ ^a ^b "The Archaeological Conservancy-2008 Annual Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 7, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
^ Ephraim George Squier; Edwin Hamilton Davis (1848). Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley. Smithsonian Institution. pp. 157–160.
^ Susan L. Woodward; Jerry N. McDonald (2002). Indian Mounds of the Middle Ohio Valley. McDonald and Woodward Publishing. p. 125. ISBN 0-939923-72-6.
^ Morris, Conor (April 3, 2019). "Native American mound on clearcut site apparently damaged". The Athens NEWS. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
^ Kight, Fred (March 13, 2019). "It's worth remembering: The Plains owns special legacy". The Athens NEWS. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
^ "The Plains Lions Club - Lions e-Clubhouse". www.e-clubhouse.org. Retrieved November 17, 2023.

External links

Adena Culture

List of Adena culture sites
Woodland period
Mound Builders
List of archaeological periods (North America)

Ohio sites

Kentucky sites

Biggs
Gaitskill
Jim King Mound
Mound Hill
Mount Horeb
Ramey
Round Hill

West Virginia sites

Camden Park Mound
Cotiga Mound
Cresap Mound
Criel
Goff Mound
Grave Creek
Lynden Reynolds Farm Mound
Neibert Mound
St. Albans Site
St Mary's Mound
Turkey Creek Mound

Indiana sites

Mounds State Park

Category

v t e Pre-Columbian North America
Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic
Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Beringian Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Avonlea Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek complex Caborn-Welborn Cades Pond Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Comondú Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites La Jolla Las Palmas Maritime Archaic Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Safety Harbor Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Suwannee Valley Tchefuncte Troyville Weeden Island
Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds Anzick site Bandelier National Monument Bastian Benson Blue Spring Shelter Bluefish Caves The Bluff Point Stoneworks Brewster Cahokia Candelaria Cave Casa Grande Chaco Canyon Coso Rock Art District Crystal River Cuarenta Casas Cueva de la Olla Cutler Eaker El Fin del Mundo El Vallecito Effigy Mounds Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Center Fort Juelson Four Mounds Gila Cliff Dwellings Glenwood Grimes Point Helen Blazes Holly Bluff Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Horr's Island Huápoca Key Marco Kimball Village Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Lake Jackson Mounds Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site L'Anse aux Meadows Lynch Quarry Site Marksville Marmes Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moaning Cavern Moorehead Circle Morrison Mounds Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena site Ocmulgee Mounds Old Stone Fort Orwell site Paquime Painted Bluff Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Plum Bayou Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Recapture Canyon River Styx Roberts Island Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Rosenstock Village Russell Cave Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Sierra de San Francisco Shell ring sites Spiro Mounds Stallings Island SunWatch Taos Pueblo Town Creek Indian Mound Turkey River Mounds Upward Sun River Velda Mound West Oak Forest Earthlodge Wickiup Hill Windover Winterville Wupatki
Human remains	Anzick-1 Arlington Springs Man Buhl Woman Kennewick Man La Brea Woman Leanderthal Lady Melbourne Man Minnesota Woman Peñon woman Spirit Cave mummy Vero man
Miscellaneous	Aridoamerica Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of North America Oasisamerica Piasa Projectile point Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Transoceanic contact Underwater panther Water glyphs
Related Genetic history Pre-Columbian era

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
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Lists by city	Akron Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus Dayton Sandusky
Other lists	Bridges Cuyahoga Valley National Park National Historic Landmarks
Keeper of the Register History of the National Register of Historic Places Property types Historic district Contributing property