[1] Located southwest of Cleves in Hamilton County's Miami Township,[2] the district is composed of forty-six archaeological sites spread out over an area of 2,000 acres (810 ha).

[1] Thirty-four of these sites are located in the 1,000-acre (400 ha) Shawnee Lookout Park, which has been called one of the most beautiful parks in southwestern Ohio.

[3] The combination of river bottoms and wooded hillsides in Shawnee Lookout made it a highly attractive site for prehistoric settlement.

As a result, the lands included in the district have a long record of aboriginal residency: artifacts found in the district's sites span a range of ten thousand years.

[3] In recognition of the archaeological value of the sites composing the district, Shawnee Lookout was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.