Flint Ridge

Flint Ridge. . The history of American Indians in Licking County goes back 14,000 years, and countless generations of native people spent full and varied lives in this area. Probably the best known are those whom archaeologists identify as the Hopewell, who left their imprint in the form of monumental earthworks, including the Newark Earthworks located just 11 miles from here. , Flint - specifically, Vanport or Flint Ridge flint - contributed significantly to this rich human history. As you stand here today at Flint Ridge Ancient Quarries and Nature Preserve, you’re standing a few feet above a layer of flint 10-12 feet thick that stretches for 8 miles from east to west and for 3 miles from north to south. This flint deposit is so large that it actually shapes the landscape of Flint Ridge: First, it influences how and where trees grow and fall. Second, 14,000 years’ worth of quarrying by the people who originally lived changed the area’s ecology., This Quarter-Mile Trail Shares The Story Of Flint Ridge, Flint: “Ohio’s Gemstone,” But Why? , Vanport flint formed at the bottom of an ocean millions of years ago, and its unique properties made it a valuable source of material for crafting tools for ancient American Indians and early European settlers. Today, Vanport flint, with its rich and varied colors, is prized as Ohio’s state gemstone., Technology: Mining and Crafting Flint , The quarries and workshops at Flint Ridge are the traces of Ohio’s first industry. The flint was dug from the ground and shaped into many kinds of tools., The People of the Ridge , Studying flint tools found in this area - how they were made and how they were used - provides insight into the American Indian people who lived in central Ohio prior to European contact., Natural History: For Everything There is a Season , The ancient flint quarries have become vernal pools (temporary wetlands) that are now home to a variety of plants and animals. In addition, the presence of the flint layer just a few feet underneath the soil greatly influences the ways that trees in the area grow.