Sheriden Cave is a

Paleo-Indian Paleo-Indians were the first peoples who entered and subsequently inhabited the Americas towards the end of the Late Pleistocene period. The prefix ''paleo-'' comes from . The term ''Paleo-Indians'' applies specifically to the lithic period in ...

archaeological site from the late

Ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

Wyandot County, Ohio Wyandot County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,900. Its county seat is Upper Sandusky. It was named for the Wyandot Indians, who lived here before and aft ...

, United States. Glacial deposits sealed off the cave more than 10,000 years ago. Sheriden Cave is a

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

on a dolomite ridge that crosses Hancock and Wyandot Counties. It is associated with the Indian Trail Caverns that opened in 1927. Sheriden Cave was discovered in 1989. The cave is unique because in addition to stone tools, there were also bone tools, remains of extinct animals, and organic matter found in the cave.

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

of artifacts indicate that they were used 11,000 and 12,000 years ago.

Excavation

By 1995, the opening to the cave was exposed by a bulldozer. There was an initial study of the site due to the

paleontological Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

remains, but a 1995 discovery found evidence of human occupation of the cave. Kenneth Tankersley of

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

led the excavation of the site, with his colleagues and the support of the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

, beginning about 1997 and for about three years.

Findings

Rare bone spear points, a

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

hide-scraper, and a fluted spear point were found in the cave, radiocarbon dated to 11,000 and 12,000 years ago. The artifacts found include

Clovis culture The Clovis culture is an archaeological culture from the Paleoindian period of North America, spanning around 13,050 to 12,750 years Before Present (BP). The type site is Blackwater Draw locality No. 1 near Clovis, New Mexico, where stone too ...

material. Along with the artifacts were remains of the now-extinct

Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...

epoch animals, including the giant short-faced bear, stag moose, flat-headed peccary, and the giant beaver. The material in the cave was well-preserved, with organic material like gourds and human feces. There was also a layer of wood charcoal. Because well-preserved material from the Paleo-Indian period is unique in the eastern United States, little is known about how Paleo-Indians lived. This site is important to understanding how early humans lived in Ohio and how that compares to other early people who crossed the

Bering Strait The Bering Strait ( , ; ) is a strait between the Pacific and Arctic oceans, separating the Chukchi Peninsula of the Russian Far East from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. The present Russia–United States maritime boundary is at 168° 58' ...

to enter the Americas. Life restoration cervalces scotti

archaeology professor Ken Tankersley found that people occupied the cave about 11,500 years ago, at a time where there was significant climate and environmental change. A historic marker marks the area near the cave, where the entrance is fenced off. Other Paleo-Indian sites in Ohio include Paleo Crossing site in Medina County, Nobles Pond site in Stark County, and the Welling site in Coshocton County.

References

* Redmond, B. G. 2000. Sheriden Cave: Opening the Time Capsule. Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Explorer Magazine, Spring 2000, pp. 4–6, 14. * Redmond, B.G. and K.B. Tankersley. 2005. Evidence of Early Paleoindian Bone Modification and Use at the Sheriden Cave Site (33WY252), Wyandot County, Ohio. American Antiquity 70(3):503-526. * Redmond, B.G. 2005. Sheriden Cave, Wyandot County: Opening a Time Capsule. In Ohio Archaeology: An Illustrated Chronicle of Ohio's Ancient American Indian Cultures, by Bradley T. Lepper, pp. 48–49. Orange Frazer Press, Wilmington, Ohio and Voyageur Media Group, Inc. * Redmond, B.G. 2007. Bone Points from Sheriden Cave. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Explorer Magazine, Spring 2007, p. 7. * Tankersley, K.B. and B.G. Redmond. 1999. Radiocarbon Dating of a Paleoindian Projectile Point from Sheriden Cave, Ohio. Current Research in the Pleistocene. 16: 76–77. * Tankersley, K. B. and B. G. Redmond. 2000. Ice Age Ohio: A Deep Cave Yields Evidence of Paleoindians, Climate Change, and the Demise of the Megamammals. Archaeology, November/December 2000, pp. 42–46. * Tankersley, K. B., B. G. Redmond, and T. E. Grove. 2002. Radiocarbon Dates Associated with a Single-beveled Bone Projectile Point from Sheriden Cave, Ohio. Current Research in the Pleistocene 18:62-64. * Waters, Michael R., Thomas W. Stafford, Brian G. Redmond, and Kenneth B. Tankersley. (2009) "The Age of the Paleoindian Assemblage at Sheriden Cave, Ohio." ''American Antiquity'' 74(1): 107–11. doi:10.2307/25470540.

External links

Indian Trail Caverns and Sheriden Cave
(video) {{Native Americans in Ohio Archaeological sites in Ohio Pre-Columbian archaeological sites Pre-statehood history of Ohio Paleo-Indian period Wyandot County, Ohio Late Pleistocene Geology of Ohio 10th millennium BC

Excavation

Findings

References

Further reading

External links