The survey and excavation of the Clampitt site (12-Lr-329) was carried out in conjunction with the Indiana University Field School in Archaeology. The project took place over two field seasons. The first season of excavation took place from May 7 to June 14, l991 and the second season from May 12 to June 19, 1992. Work was directed by the author with the assistance of four graduate students in archaeology: Stephen Ball, Bret Ruby, Leslie Bush (Indiana University) and Robert McCullough (Southern Illinois University-Carbondale). The regular staff was aided by three undergraduate interns in archaeology: Amy Bailey, Tammy Christenberry (1991 season) and Christopher Andres (1992 season). Twenty-nine field school students from Indiana University- Bloomington and three students from Indiana University /Purdue University-lndianapolis participated in all aspects of the survey and excavation.
The work at the Clampitt site was an outgrowth of the author's 1990-91 study of late prehistoric settlement patterns in the East Fork White River Valley (Redmond 1991). The latter project documented an intensive occupation by a late prehistoric (ca. A.D. 1000-1500), horticultural population which can be included within the Oliver phase culture of central Indiana (Dorwin 1971).
The term "Oliver" was initially used to describe a unique Late prehistoric (post A.D. 1000) ceramic complex that was centered in the valley of the West Fork of the White River in Hamilton and Marion counties Indiana (Griffin 1946; Helman 1950; Dorvin 1971). Pottery consisted of globular, grit-tempered jars that exhibited a mixture of Great Lakes Late Woodland and Fort Ancient stylistic attributes. Salvage excavations at the Bowen site in Marion County produced a large sample of Oliver vessels which has been used to define the material cultural aspects of the phase (Dorwin 1971; McCullough 1991). The Bowen site excavation also produced evidence of a subsistence system that combined the hunting and gathering of wild plant and animal foods with maize horticulture. Non-systematic, areal surveys identified numerous Oliver phase village sites in the upper West Fork White River valley (Householder 1941; 1945) and, based on the model of the Bowen site, these settlements were assumed to be circular to oval in shape and about one to two acres in size.
The 199-91 survey (Redmond 1991) determined that the Oliver settlement system in the East Fork White River Valley was composed of nucleated villages, small habitation sites, and seasonal extractive camps. The analysis of site distributions and environmental data indicated that Oliver phase villages were intentionally located on alluvial floodplain ridges and elevated terraces consisting of well-drained sandy loam soils. These settlements were situated within one kilometer of tributary streams and served as central places for most domestic and food production activities (Redmond 1991). In terms of both material culture and patterns of settlement-subsistence behavior, the Oliver phase most closely resembled contemporary Fort Ancient Tradition cultures in the central Ohio Valley (see Griffin 1966; Essenpreis 1978, 1982; Graybill 1981).