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Archaeology in Indiana - the Early Years - Timeline

10,000-8,000 B.C.
Paleoindians live in what is now Ind. (Outline,1).

8,000-6,000 B.C.
Early Archaic Indians live in what is now Ind. (Outline,1).

6,000-3,500 B.C.
Middle Archaic Indians live in what is now Ind. (Outline, 2).

3,5000-1,500 B.C.
Late Archaic Indians live in what is now Ind. (Outline, 2).

1,500-700 B.C.
Terminal Late Archaic Indians live in what is now Ind. (Outline, 2).

700-200 B.C.
Early Woodland Indians live in what is now Ind. (Outline, 3).

200 B.C.-500 A.D.
Middle Woodland Indians live in what is now Ind. (Outline, 3).

500-1,000 A.D.
Late Woodland Indians live in what is now Ind. (Outline, 4).

1,000-1,700 A.D.
Mississippian Indians live in what is now Ind. (Outline, 4).

1592
Ruins of Roman city of Pompeii discovered (Grun, 263).

1641-1701
Iroquois wars with French and Huron tribes; at this time, historic Indian groups documented in what is now Ind. (Barnhart and Riker, 59-60).

1679
LaSalle enters what is now northern Ind. (Barnhart and Riker, 62).

1700
Wea settle on Wabash River (Barnhart and Riker, 66).

1700s
Early Miami establish settlement (now Fort Wayne) (Barnhart and Riker, 66).

1717
Fort Ouiatenon established (now Lafayette) (Barnhart and Riker, 72).

1721
Fort Miamis established (now Fort Wayne) (Barnhart and Riker, 74-75).

1732
Post Vincennes established (now Vincennes) (Barnhart and Riker, 80).

1754
French and Indian War begins (Barnhart and Riker, 121).

1763
Pontiac's War (Barnhart and Riker, 141-43).

1763
Treaty of Paris; ending French and Indian War; British control Ind. area (Barnhart and Riker, 127).

1776
Declaration of Independence; American Revolution begins (Grun, 360 ).

1783
Treaty of Paris ends American Revolution (Grun, 362).

1787
Congress establishes Northwest Territory with Northwest Ordinance (Barnhart and Riker, 266-68).

1800-1816
Ohio River settlements and towns develop in Ind. Territory (Chronology, 2).

1808-1815
Extensive excavations at ancient Roman city of Pompeii (Grun, 379).

1816
Ind. becomes a state; first constitution; capital at Corydon (Barnhart and Riker, 444,462).

1820s
Early archaeological interest in Ind. prehistory begins with Charles Alexander Lesueur, Posey Co. (Vail,12-13).

1820s-1830s
Ind. road construction begins (Chronology, 2).

1822
Mexican archaeological ruins explored (Hellemans, 282).

1822
Rosetta Stone translated; 1st time Egyptian hieroglyphics deciphered (Hellemans, 282).

1830s
Ind. canal and railroad construction begins (Chronology, 2).

1837
First Ind. state geologist, David Dale Owen, appointed by governor; geological survey ordered (see Report of A Geological Reconnaissance of Indiana, 1837) (Acts,1937, 108).

1839
Mayan archaeological ruins discovered in Central America (Hellemans, 304).

1843
Ancient Assyrian sculpture near Khorsabad, Iraq excavated (Hellemans, 310).

1845
Nineveh, ancient capital of Assyria, excavated (Hellemans, 312).

1846
Prehistoric Indian mounds explored in the Mississippi River Valley (Hellemans, 314).

1850
Mysterious statues discovered in Central America (Hellemans, 318).

1850-1851
Indiana's 2nd constitution written and adopted (Carmony, 408, 450).

1859
Ind. General Assembly authorizes State Board of Agriculture to make geological survey of state (Acts, 1859, p. 112).

1860
Mammoth tooth found with engraved sketch of mammoth (Hellemans and Bunch, 330).

1861-1865
U.S. Civil War (Grun, 424, 428).

1862
Papyrus dating circa 1,550 B.C. summarizes surgical practices written in 2,500 B.C. (Hellemans and Bunch, 332).

1865
Edward Burnett Taylor, England, publishes Early History of Mankind (Hellemans and Bunch, 336).

1873
Ancient city of Troy discovered in Turkey (Hellemans and Bunch, 346).

1874
American, William Henry Jackson, 1st known non-Native American to explore cliff homes, Mesa Verde, Colo. (Hellemans and Bunch, 346).

1877
Peru Illustrated; Incidents of Travel and Exploration in the Land of the Incas, published (Hellemans and Bunch, 350).

1880
Wheeled toys found on Mount Popo-catepetl, Mexico; 1st evidence of wheels in pre-Columbian New World (Hellemans and Bunch, 354).

1881
Royal tomb near Luxor entered; contains mum-mies of famous rulers of Egypt (Hellemans and Bunch, 356).

1881
Ind. General Assembly creates Department of Geology and Natural History to combine geological and scientific survey of state and develop its natural resources (Phillips,182).

1883
Flinders Petrie, England, publishes The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh, revealing precision of Great Pyramid's alignment (Hellemans and Bunch, 358).

1887
Egyptian pyra-mid of Senurset II excavation begins (Helle-mans and Bunch, 366).

1888
Cliff Palace, largest of Mesa Verde cliff dwellings, discovered; contains about 200 ruins and 23 kivas used for religious ceremonies (Hellemans and Bunch, 368).

1893
Native American mummies (basketmakers) discovered in Utah (Hellemans and Bunch, 374).

1898
Spanish-American War (Grun, 450).

1900
Great palace of Knossos, central site of Minoan civilization, discovered in Crete; 2nd Minoan palace, Phaistos, discovered in Crete (Hellemans and Bunch, 394).

1902
Tablets with 1st known set of laws discovered at Susa, ancient capital of Elam (now western Iran) (Hellemans and Bunch, 400).

1914-1918
World War I (Grun, 466, 472).

1915
Third great Minoan palace, Mallia, excavated in Crete (Helle-mans and Bunch, 426).

1919
Ind. General Assembly creates Department of Conservation (Phillips, 185).

1922
Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon discover tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamen (Grun, 480 C).

1924
Indiana Historical Commission (later Indiana Historical Bureau) publishes 1st archaeological survey on Lawrence Co.

1926
Indiana Historical Society establishes archaeology section (Kellar, 16).

1926-1927
Albee Mound, Sullivan Co., 1st modern excav-ation in Ind. funded primarily by Indiana Historical Society (Kellar, 16).

1930
Mounds State Park, Madison Co., established; 1st Ind. state park to preserve major archaeological site (Smith, 7, 20).

1931
Indiana Historical Society hires Glenn A. Black, 1st full-time archaeologist employed in Ind. (Kellar, 17).

1937
Indiana Historical Society publishes Eli Lilly's classic Prehistoric Antiquities of Indiana.

1937
Indiana Historical Society begins publication of Prehistory Research Series.

1940
Carbon-14 discovered; used in dating ancient sites (Hellemans and Bunch, 482).

1940-1945
World War II (Grun, 516, 522).

1947
Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in cave, Khirbet Qumran (Hellemans and Bunch, 500).

1952
Linear B, one of the ancient languages of Crete, deciphered (Hellemans and Bunch, 512).

1953-1955
McKinley site, Hamilton Co. excavated; reveals variety of cultural materials beginning with Early Archaic (Glenn A. Black Laboratory Web site).

1954
Archaeologists discover 2 chambers at base of Great Pyramid of Khufu, Egypt (Hellemans and Bunch, 518).

1959
Primitive computer found in Mediterranean Sea built circa 65 B.C.; used to calculate planet positions (Hellemans and Bunch, 532).

1965
Ind. General Assembly creates Department of Natural Resources to succeed Department of Conservation (IDNR Web site, 2).

1966
Congress passes National Historic Preservation Act.

1966
Angel Mounds 1st Ind. archaeological site listed in National Register of Historic Places; also a National Historic Landmark (IDNR, DHPA).