Crazy Bull Site (39LM220), Big Bend Reservoir,South Dakota

Abstract

The Crazy Bull site (39LM220), is an, earth lodge village situated in the neck of the Big Bend of the Missouri River, Lyman County, South Dakota, One-half of a circular earth lodge and a midden area were excavated in July, 1959, by Warren Caldwell of the Smithsonjan Institution, River Basin Surveys. Iona Ware, Talking Crow Straight Rim, and Cadotte Collared pottery made up most of the rim sherd sample, Brass fragments in the house fill indicate a late occupation for the site, Due to a close ceramic relationship with the Spain site, the Crazy Bull site was assigned to the Chouteau Aspect.     

The Fire Cloud Site (39BF237), Buffalo County,South Dakota

Abstract

A bottle-necked cache pit was excavated near Old Fort Thompson, Buffalo County, South Dakota in June of 1955 by a University of Kansas field party as part of a non-reservoir salvage project.

The site is interesting due to the presence of three variants of Talking Crow Straight Rim pottery apparently unreported up to this time. These consist of a square orifice vessel, a vessel incorporating what most closely resembles Stanley Tool Impressed incised lip decoration, and a vessel bearing three bands of differing design motifs on the lip and upper rim exterior.

This site is tentatively assigned to the Fort Thompson focus of the Pahuk aspect. It probably dates to the first half of the 18th century.     

Archaeology of the Mcclure Site (39Hu7) and the Protohistoric Period in the Big Bend Region of South Dakota

Abstract

The McClure site is an Arikara village in central South Dakota dating from the Protohistoric period at the end of the 17th Century. The settlement consisted of at least 35 earth lodges, was unfortified, and was located below the bluffs on the Missouri River bottoms a few feet above the floodplain. Excavations in two houses, one of them a specialized small lodge, produced artifacts typical of the Felicia phase of the Big Bend region, including ceramics largely assignable to the lona and Talking Crow ware categories, but with a small element of Stanley ware. Because of the location of McClure in the Bad River district around the decade A.D. 1690-1700 and other factors, it is thought to have played some role in the emerging Bad River Phase     

The Black Partizan Site (39Lm218), Big Bend Reservoir: South Dakota: A Preliminary Report

Abstract

The Black partizan Site, a large fortified village situated in the constricted neck of the Big Bend of the Missouri River, Lymar County, South Dakota, was excavated by field parties of the Missouri Basin Project, Smithsonian Institution, during the field seasons of 1957 and 1958.

In total, 15 structures or areas designated as features were investigated. These included 3 midden areas, concentrations of cache pits, sectional cuts through the defensive ditch, and a bastion strong point. Four large circular houses were investigated, 2 in an area just outside of the fortified perimeter and 2 within the village proper. An additional house, probably square, and another of indeterminate outline were also excavated from the latter area.

The artifact collection is large and varied, but to date, only the ceramic sample has been examined in detail. Slightly less than 17,000 sherds were excavated, of which 2400 were rim sections- the latter have been tentatively classified as follows: Russel Ware (plain, diagonal, horizontal incising), Campbell Creek Ware, Talking Crow Ware, Arzberger, and other collared rims. On the basis of ceramics and architectural remains, components related to both the Campbell Creek and Fort Thompson Foci are surely present. A further occupation, poorly defined as yet, seems to equate to Talking Crow C.     

The Archaeology Of The Breeden Site

Abstract

The Breeden Site cultural sequence reenforcesthe general culture history already established for the Bad-Cheyenne Region and the more inclusive Middle Missouri Tradition. House remains and the bulk of the ceramic materials from the site indicate habitation of the area by peoples of the Initial Middle Missouri Variant and the PostContact Coalescent Variant.Component A at the Breeden Site and the Monroe and Anderson components at the Dodd Site exhibit a complex of diagnosticcultural traits significant enough to define a new phase - the Anderson Phase. A temporal span of approximately A.D. 950to 1250 is suggested for the phase. Component B of the Breeden Site, an early manifestation of the Post-Contract Coalescent Variant, is closely associated with components of the Felicia Phase and the putative Talking Crow Phase. Breeden Component B probably represents an upriver movement of Coalescent peoples from the Big Bend area, eventually being assimilated into the Arikara populations of the Bad River Phase within the Bad-Cheyenne Region.     

Daugherty Cave,Wyoming

Abstract

Daugherty Cave is a double component site in the Big Horn Basin of northern Wyoming. The earlier level is representative of a widespread Late Middle Prehistoric Period occupation. The surface material is believed to represent the Late Prehistoric Period, Crow Indian occupation of the area. The site produced considerable amounts of perishable material.     

Ceramics From the Highwalker Site: a Study of Late Prehistoric Period Cultural Systematics on the Northwestern Plains

Abstract

The Highwalker site is a two component prehistoric encampment located in the Pine Parklands region of southeastern Montana. The Late Prehistoric period occupation represents a briefly used, special purpose site occupied by a Native American group primarily engaged in the final butchering of bison and the processing of its by-products. Two radiocarbon samples date the Late Prehistoric period occupation between A.D. 1000 and A.D. 1100. Ceramics recovered from this component shed some light on the debate concerning “Crow Pottery” and Late Prehistoric period cultural systematics. The ceramics represent the earliest known representatives of a localized Powder River Basin pottery tradition which appears to be related to Extended Middle Missouri Tradition ceramics. These nomadic Powder River Basin ceramic-using groups maintained contact with the Middle Missouri village farmers and were influenced by their pottery technology. Later when the ethnographically known Crow moved into the area, the Powder River Basin hunting groups either were amalgamated into Crow society or were driven from the area.     

Notes On the Crow-Hidatsa Schism

Abstract

Three lines of evidence bearing on the Crow-Hidatsa separation provide different dates for that separation, but dates which are consistent with the following generalizations: (1) The Crow began to diverge linguistically from the various Hidatsa groups no less than five centuries ago, and perhaps even earlier. (2) The Crow movement onto the Northwestern Plains was accomplished gradually, perhaps by band-by-band movement, rather than as one precipitous migration away from the Hidatsa. (3) Archaeological evidence from sites of the Mandan/Hidatsa continuum in the Missouri Valley suggest that the Hagen site, at least, probably dates at about A.D. 1675 – although alternative explanations for related sites suggest that the Crow moved into the Northwestern Plains several centuries earlier. (4) Ethnohistorical data suggest that the Crow separation dates from the mid-1700s. Rather than dating the initial separation of the two groups, the ethnohistorical data probably reflect the final severing of ties with the Hidatsa – a separation made final by the adoption of the horse.     

Crow Pottery In Northern Wyoming

Abstract

Mandan Tradition ceramics in northern Wyoming and adjacent areas of Montana and South Dakota have been attributed to the Crow Indians. A decade of excavation and collection of this pottery suggests it may have first appeared around the beginning of the 16th Century and lasted well into the 18th Century although these dates are tentative. Several restorable vessels provide a better knowledge of the range and shapes and design elements.     

Factor Analysis as a Technique for Exploring Patterned Variability in Archaeological Remains

Abstract

The utility of factor analysis for exploring underlying patterns of variation in a data-set was assessed by means of a factor analytic arrangement of provenience units from the Medicine Crow Site (39BF2), South Dakota, based on similarities in the formal qualities of the ceramic vessels contamed within each provenience. Results indicate that two patterns, interpreted as relating to temporal and spatial variation at Medicine Crow, may be Isolated.     

Inferring History From Crania: Biological Distance Comparisons Of Mill Creek And Early Middle Missouri Tradition Crania With Mandan And Arikara Population Samples

Abstract

Craniometric data are used to compare available human crania from Mill Creek and early Middle Missouri Tradition sites with a pooled Mandan sample and Coalescent Tradition samples from Crow Creek, Mobridge and Rygh(inferred proto-Arikara). Discriminant functions are computed for the reference samples, and test cases are classified according to their proximity to each population centroid. With one exception, early Middle Missouri Tradition site crania compare most favorably with Mandan. Mill Creek site specimens are unlike the Mandan, most closely resembling early Coalescent samples.     

A Cache Of Scrapers Near Crow Butte,Nebraska

Abstract

A cache of scrapers and other, possibly associated artifacts found near Crow Butte in northwestern Nebraska is of undetermined affiliation but probably can be placed in the pre-ceramic period.     

The Ashland Bottoms Site (14RY603):

Abstract

The Ashland Bottoms site (14RY603) is a multi-component habitation consisting of a turn of the 20th century American corncrib superimposed upon a Kansas City Hopewell occupation. The ceramics suggest the site is late Kansas City Hopewell dating c. 300-500 A.D. while the artifact assemblage indicate it was a specialized, limited activity site, probably a bison and meat/hide processing base camp. Whether the Kansas City Hopewell population is resident in the Manhattan area or seasonally came into the region from Kansas City cannot be completely ascertained on the present data, but there is a strong possibility these people were permanent residents.     

A Human Skeleton From The Pryor Creek Burial, 24YL404, Yellowstone County,Montana

Abstract

An adult human skeleton, found associated with artifacts of both Indian and White manufacture near Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana, is thought on the basis of cranial measurements and morphological features to be a prehistoric Crow Indian.     

Predators and nest success of Sky Larks Alauda arvensis in large arable fields in the Czech Republic

Capsule Nest failure owing to a range of predators was high, but the level and specificity of nest depredation cannot be generalised.

Aims To determine fates and predators of Sky Lark nests in conventionally managed arable fields in the Czech Republic.

Methods Sky Lark nests in large fields (mainly Maize, Sugar Beet and Opium Poppy) were monitored by means of continuous video surveillance.

Results Primary nest fates of 42 active nests were fledging (13), depredation (22), desertion (5), nestling death (1), and flooding (1). The overall nest success (Mayfield estimate) was 17% (all mortality factors considered) or 27% (only depredation). Depredation events were caused by Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus (11), Hooded Crow Corvus cornix (4), Stone Marten Martes foina (3), Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus (2), Red Fox Vulpes vulpes (2), Hedgehog Erinaceus sp. (2) and Eurasian Jackdaw Corvus monedula (1). Successful nests were only slightly more away from field edge than depredated nests; nests taken by birds tended to be closer to field edge than those depredated by mammals. The possible reasons for the absence of a clear edge effect include comparatively large field parcels (about 50 ha) and location of nests far from field edge (median = 195 m).

Conclusion Nest survival and composition of nest predators are site‐specific and contingent upon the study method and may not be simply generalised.     

Museums and Collections

Abstract

Certain quill techniques and buckskin shirts of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara; and the Crow are discussed Described are the plaited technique, its distribution, Manufacture, variation of style, pattern, and the type of clothing upon which it appeared. Attention is drawn to specific examples in European collections. The same type of information is covered for the quill-wrapped horse hair technique and quill decorated shirts.     

Re-Telling One’S Own: Storytelling Among The ApaaloocŚKe (Crow Indians)

Abstract

The following article suggests the role oral literature and storytelling has in contributing to the learning and perpetuation of the cultural identity of the contemporary Apsaalooke (Crow Indians). The stories not only describe the world view of the Apsaalooke, presenting it to the listeners, but given the manner language is understood and applied and the techniques of storytelling, they engage the listeners in a participation in the events and characters of the narrative. During the telling of a story, the world-view themes are thus experientially participated in by the listeners.     

The ghost of Christmas past: health effects of poverty in London in 1896 and 1991

ObjectivesTo compare the extent to which late 20th century patterns of mortality in London are predicted by contemporary patterns of poverty and by late 19th century patterns of poverty. To test the hypothesis that the pattern of mortality from causes known to be related to deprivation in early life can be better predicted by the distribution of poverty in the late 19th century than by that in the late 20th century.DesignData from Charles Booth''s survey of inner London in 1896 were digitised and matched to contemporary local government wards. Ward level indices of relative poverty were derived from Booth''s survey and the 1991 UK census of population. All deaths which took place within the surveyed area between 1991 and 1995 were identified and assigned to contemporary local government wards. Standardised mortality ratios for various causes of death were calculated for each ward for all ages, under age 65, and over age 65. Simple correlation and partial correlation analysis were used to estimate the contribution of the indices of poverty from 1896 and 1991 in predicting ward level mortality ratios in the early 1990s.SettingInner London.ResultsFor many causes of death in London, measures of deprivation made around 1896 and 1991 both contributed strongly to predicting the current spatial distribution. Contemporary mortality from diseases which are known to be related to deprivation in early life (stomach cancer, stroke, lung cancer) is predicted more strongly by the distribution of poverty in 1896 than that in 1991. In addition, all cause mortality among people aged over 65 was slightly more strongly related to the geography of poverty in the late 19th century than to its contemporary distribution.ConclusionsContemporary patterns of some diseases have their roots in the past. The fundamental relation between spatial patterns of social deprivation and spatial patterns of mortality is so robust that a century of change in inner London has failed to disrupt it.     

Nest site selection and patterns of nest re-use in the Hooded Crow Corvus cornix

Capsule: Hooded Crows Corvus cornix selected nesting trees based on species, height, grouping and distance from an occupied house. Nest re-use was common and pairs that re-used old nests produced more fledglings than those that built a new nest.

Aims: To determine the features of trees that influenced whether they were used by Hooded Crows as nest sites, to establish what factors influenced nest re-use between years and to explore potential costs or benefits of nest re-use.

Methods: In a large area of Orkney, Scotland, the features of trees that contained a Hooded Crow nest were compared to those of trees where nests were absent. Patterns of nest re-use between years were examined in relation to the availability of alternative sites, previous nesting success and the number of equivalent options to the tree used previously within 200?m of this site.

Results: Hooded Crows favoured spruce and pine trees as nest sites, above the most locally abundant tree species, elder and willow. Preference for trees increased with tree height, local tree density and distance from occupied houses. Over half of the crows studied re-used an old nest when one was available and crows that re-used an old nest fledged more offspring than those that built a new nest. The likelihood of a new nest being built increased as the number of potential locations to build increased. Territories where a nest survived the winter were more likely to be reoccupied the following year than those where nests fell, while territories with fewer trees around the old site were most likely to be abandoned, suggesting that those were territories of lower quality.

Conclusions: Hooded Crows displayed strong preferences for nest sites that might favour nesting success by offering concealment, shelter and protection from ground-based predators. Nest re-use was common, especially when alternative sites were scarce, and appeared to facilitate greater reproductive output.     

Assortative versus selective mating: Is the distinction worthwhile?

Abstract

The study examines the distinction between assortative and selective mating made by Lewontin, Kirk, and Crow in 1968 and finds it unproductive. Not only has the difference been ignored on many occasions even as it was invoked, but maintaining it obscures several useful properties of both nonrandom mating schemes and some formally equivalent systems such as fertility selection. The elucidation of these similarities could have accelerated the work of population biologists.