Archaelogists to discuss Buffington Island findings

Heidelberg College

For Immediate Release
May 24, 2000
Contact: Angie Souders, Associate Director of College Relations

TIFFIN, OH -- Heidelberg College archaeologists who surveyed the Buffington Island battlefield site a year ago will make public the results of their study during three meetings in June.

In May and June 1999, a crew from Heidelberg's Center for Historic and Military Archaeology conducted the survey on portions of the site of the Battle of Buffington Island in Meigs County. The project, “The Battle of Buffington Island: The End of Morgan's Trail,” was funded in part by a grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program.

Utilizing a remote sensing metal detection method, a large area of the Portland Bottom was surveyed and more than 400 artifacts were recovered and mapped. The information gained by this survey provides a more complete understanding of the battlefield, parts of which are threatened by gravel mining activity.

Archaeologists under the direction of Dr. G. Michael Pratt, the center's director and a professor of anthropology at Heidelberg, are set to discuss the results of the survey, interpret their findings and provide an update of preservation issues relating to the overall Buffington Island Battlefield site.

The schedule of public meetings is as follows:

• Thursday, June 1, 7-9 p.m., Meigs County High School, Pomeroy.

• Friday, June 2, 2-4 p.m., Ohio Historical Center Auditorium, Columbus.

• Monday, June 5, 2-4 p.m., Heidelberg College, Maumee Branch, Maumee.

Each meeting will include an illustrated presentation of the survey, results and interpretations by Pratt, and comments by Franco Ruffini, deputy Ohio Historic Preservation officer. The meetings are open to the public.

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