Ball, Stephen, Dianne Senkel, and Shawn French (Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology,
Indiana University, Bloomington)
HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE ANGEL SITE: MATHIAS ANGEL'S FARMSTEAD
During the late spring of 1989, the Indiana University Glenn A. Black Laboratory
of Archaeology field school uncovered debris from an early 19th century Euro-american
farmstead during excavations at Angel Mounds State Park Historic Site in Vanderburgh
County, Indiana. A small area of the site southwest of Mound A was selected for
archaeological test excavations after geomagnetic and soil resistivity surveys
showed significant anomalies. A large amount of historical debris was recovered
and a cistern was partially excavated. Analysis of 3128 ceramic sherds indicated
that a relatively poor household lived in this portion of the site dunng the mid-1800s.
Analysis of bottle shapes and manufacturing techniques of the glass remains confirm
a date of occupation in the mid-1800s. Two coins dating to 1851 and 1869 were
recovered. Archival research indicated that the area of the excavation had been
the site of Mathias Angel's (1819-1899) farmstead.
Mathias Angel emigrated to Vanderburgh County with his parents in the early 1820s
from Surrey County, North Carolina. The farmstead was built sometime in the 1830s
or 40s, on land owned by the Lane family. It was not until 1852 that Mathias Angel
purchased the property from Simon Lane. Mathias Angel and his family lived on
the farmstead until his death in 1899. The property remained within the family
until the farmstead was salvaged for building materials in the early 1900s. The
movement of the Angel family into Indiana was part of a larger migration into
the Old Northwest from the Upland South that occurred during that period. The
settlement pattern of Mathias Angel and his brothers followed the typical Upland
South model. They settled in adjacent farmsteads, reflecting the importance of
the extended kin group as a communal labor unit. Mathias's varied occupations
during his life (farmer, grocer, flat boater) also reflected the diversified subsistance
base common among Upland South settlers. Emigrants from the Upland South formed
the majority of early settlers in southern Indiana. [return to 1989 abstracts menu][continue to next]