author
H. C. Shetrone
1876–1954
An early American archaeologist and museum leader, he helped bring the ancient earthworks of Ohio to a wide public audience through clear, accessible writing. His books introduced many readers to the cultures behind the region’s mounds and burial sites.
1 Audiobook
Primer of Ohio Archaeology: The Mound Builders and the Indians
by H. C. Shetrone
About the author
Born in Fairfield County, Ohio, Henry Clyde Shetrone became one of the best-known interpreters of Ohio archaeology in the first half of the twentieth century. Archival material from the Ohio History Connection notes that he first developed a serious interest in archaeology while working as a reporter and covering discoveries by William C. Mills, who later hired him as an assistant in 1913.
Shetrone went on to serve in major museum leadership roles with the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, including as curator and later director. He is especially remembered for writing about the ancient earthworks and mound sites of the Ohio Valley in a way that reached both specialists and general readers.
His best-known books include The Mound-Builders and Primer of Ohio Archaeology. Even now, his work stands as part of the early effort to explain the archaeological record of the eastern United States to the public in plain, engaging terms.