MSU Archaeology Laboratory

The community of Hematite coalesced around iron production at Center Furnace, Trigg County, Kentucky, in the mid-nineteenth century.  Now in the U.S.D.A. Forest Service’s Land Between the Lakes, the site is interpreted for the public.  Informant’s recollections placed an African-American settlement in the lowlands on the north part of the town.  The 2008 MSU field school in archaeology began a survey in order to locate the African American settlement.  Preliminary survey with a fluxgate gradiometer indicated a number of possible targets, and excavation exposed a large trash-filled feature at one of the targets.  Field records and a preliminary report are posted.