GEOARCHAEOLOGY OF THE FALLS OF THE OHIO RIVER: QUATERANRY LANDFORMS BELOW, ABOVE, AND AT THE FALLS

At the narrowest point in the lower part of its valley, the Ohio channel falls 7.3 m (24 ft) through the 4.8 km (3 mi) length of the rapids between Louisville, KY and New Albany, IN. Here a resistant limestone bedrock ridge can be found, exposed during the Wisconsin glacial maximum, known as the Falls of the Ohio. These are the only falls on the Ohio River. After the retreat of the glacial ice from the region stopped the major glaciofluvial input to the Ohio River, the channel itself changed from a braided to its current meandering pattern. Below and above the Falls area a ridge and swale topography characterizes the late Pleistocene to Late Holocene alluvial landforms and records the shifting pattern of the channel. Geoarchaeological and geomorphological investigations undertaken recently within the Falls of the Ohio region of the river, at the Clarksville (12CL2), Riverpark (15JF597/598), and Shippingport (15JF702) sites, have provided insight into the development of the landscape in this region and the responses of the prehistoric cultural groups who occupied it. The influence the Falls had on the development of the physical and cultural landscape of the region directly above and below it will be explored. Texture, elevation, and temporal comparison of alluvial landform from below and above the falls highlight similarities and difference across the late Quaternary. The exploration of these landscapes helps to expand on the regional synthesis for the understanding of the prehistoric cultural deposits they hold.