The Madisonville Site

Side A: The Madisonville site is the largest and most thoroughly studied village of the late Fort Ancient culture (AD 1450 – 1670). Artifacts were so abundant here that local residents called this site the “pottery field.” Between 1879 and 1911, a generation of Harvard archaeologists trained at this site. Dr. Charles Metz, assisted by Harvard University’s Frederic Ward Putnam, excavated the remains of numerous houses, storage pits, and burials. The presence of glass beads and bits from iron kettles indicates these villagers may have been among the first native Ohioans to learn of the coming of Europeans to America. Mariemont street names Cachepit, Midden, Flintpoint, and Hammerstone, are reminders of these earlier residents. The pavilion was designed by the noted town planner John Nolen in 1921, but not constructed and dedicated until 2001. Side B: Same