American Indian History of Central Kentucky

After laying to rest common myths about Kentucky’s ancient Native peoples, Dr. Gwynn Henderson from the Kentucky Archaeological Survey will review high points in central Kentucky's Native history prior to the arrival of non-Native people.

Information drawn from researching artifacts and archaeological sites scattered across central Kentucky will provide the foundation for describing Native lifeways (subsistence and technology, exchange, and domestic and ritual activities), and how they changed through time. Particular attention will be paid to archaeological sites in Fayette County. Central Kentucky’s Native history is the story of adaptive, resilient, creative peoples whose descendants still live in our state.

[Image: An artist's drawing, informed by archaeological research, of a central Kentucky Native American farming village circa AD 1300. Drawing by Susan A. Walton; used with permission, Kentucky Archaeological Survey.]