Oliver phase

The Oliver phase was a Late Woodland Native American culture that flourished from 1200 and 1450 CE along the east and west forks of the White River in central and southern Indiana.

The name was originally coined by archaeologist James B. Griffin in 1946 to describe a Late Woodland ceramic complex centered in Hamilton and Marion counties in the valley of the West Fork of the White River first extensively studied at the Bowen site.

[3] Their villages, like their neighbors to the southeast the Fort Ancient culture, were usually circular with wooden palisades, and earthen moats found in the Whittlesey tradition,[4] although they also lived in smaller farmsteads.

[3] The Bowen Site (12 MA 61) was located on the West Fork of the White River, a little to the northeast of Indianapolis, and was occupied at least twice by two similar but slightly different cultures.

Most items were globular, grit-tempered jars that showed a mixture of traits associated with both the Great Lakes Late Woodland Oneota and Fort Ancient cultures.