Plains Apache Archaeology: A Review

Abstract

A review of the literature on the Dismal River Aspect in the light of recent additional work at Plains Apache sites has led to more specific suggestions as to probable sources of various Dismal River traits. Most of the traits that appear to have been borrowed from sedentary neighbors seem to have an eastern Plains origin. Many trade items from the Southwest may have been secured from or through the Jicarilla Apaches. Frequency of some triJ, its at Dismal River sites form a gradient from north to south. Many problems remain unsolved.     

Rethinking the Dismal River Aspect and the plains Athapaskans,A.D. 1692-1768

Abstract

Shortly before A.D. 1650, two major and separate cultural traditions of Plains Apache of mixed horticultural-hunting economies evolved in the central High Plains, both with different origins. The “northern” aspect is identical with the Nebraska Sand Hills Athapaskans, or the “Dismal River proper,” and the result of immigration by people of the Fremont culture. The “Southern Aspect of Plains Apache Tradition,” extending from south of the Platte to the middle Pecos, developed as a response to changes stimulated and introduced by Pueblo farming in western Kansas, the core area of this aspect, after 1639. The history of both traditions and their transformations are described from 1692 to 1768. Archaeological sites in the central High Plains of the first half of this period reflect but an episode in the continuing culture of Plains Athapaskans of both traditions. Archaeological and historical information is used to elucidate the dynamics characteristic of the time and the area. The prehistory and history of a given area is viewed as a changing functional entity over time.     

Craniometric Relationships of Plains Populations: Historical and Evolutionary Implications

Abstract

Large skeletal samples from cemeteries in the Northern Plains near Mobridge, South Dakota have made possible the accurate determination of craniometric relationships between populations ancestoral to the historic Arikara. There is considerable change throughout the approximately 200 years represented, due primarily to gene flow from adjacent Siouan speaking groups. Arikara crania from the Northern Plains are seen to be morphologically similar to earlier crania further south, in particular St. Helena materials in northeastern Nebraska. This offers Support for the archaeological hypothesis that Coalescent Tradition cultures grew out of the Central Plains Tradition. Early crania from the Northern Plains are markedly different from those in the Central Plains and more similar to historic Mandan. The craniometric evidence argues for biological continuity rather than replacement in the Plains area.     

Hell Gap: Paleo-Indian Occupation on the High Plains

Abstract

A resume of archaeological investigations in the Hell Gap Valley of southeastern Wyoming is presented. This research produced a detailed sequence of Plains PaleoIndian occupation of this section of the High Plains. from about 9000 to 5500 B.C. Identifiable complexes recognized include Goshen, Midland, Folsom, Agate Basin, Hell Gap, Alberta, Cody, and Frederick. Materials recovered represent camping activities rather than the better known game kills, and add dimension to our knowledge of Plains Paleo-Indian cultures.     

Psoralea Esculent A as a Prairie Resource: An Ethnographic Appraisal

Abstract

The role of the prairie turnip, Psoralea esculenta Pursh, in the economy of Prairie and Plains cultures is examined through ethnographic and early eyewitness accounts. Results suggest that these economies were more reliant on vegetal resources than is often conceded, a conclusion in keeping with recent studies of hunter-gatherers. The concept of the upland prairies as an insignificant vegetal resource zone for prehistoric groups is questioned.     

The Pelland and Moe Site Blades: Paleo-Indian Culture History in the Upper Midwest

Abstract

Analysis of artifacts recovered from the Moe site located in northwestern North Dakota reveals the presence of 15 blades and three blade-like flakes, the majority of which are made of Knife River Flint and have been modified by retouch flaking. A comparison of the Moe specimens to those from the Pelland site in northern Minnesota, the only other site from the study area which contains blades of Paleo-Indian age, indicates that the Moe specimens are smaller in all dimensions. The Pelland specimens are made of Knife River Flint and have been modified by retouch flaking. Examination of the literature on Paleo-Indian sites from the Plains region indicates that blade production is more common in Plano cultures particularly Agate Basin and Plainview-Goshen than in earlier Clovis or Folsom cultures or later Cody cultures. It is suggested that the Pelland and Moe site blades are Plano in age and most likely Agate Basin or Plainview-Goshen in cultural affiliation. A model provided by Leo Pettipas (1976) is used to suggest an eastward movement of Plains Plano cultures using Knife River Flint across southern Manitoba, eastern North Dakota, and into western and northern Minnesota following the recession of Glacial Lake Agassiz.     

A Mathematical Theory of Horse Adoption on The North American Plains

Abstract

The horse complex and its subsequent influence on Plains culture is a major topic of Plains anthropology. Treatment of the topic has involved three trains of thoughts: 1) the process (form and rate) of horse adoption, 2) the spatial diffusion of the horse northward, and 3) the influence of the horse on Plains culture. This paper contributes to the study of the horse complex by focusing primarily on the adoption aspect of the problem and, secondarily, on the social implications for the plains area of the temporal regularity evident. The paper outlines a new theoretical explanation of the actual process of horse adoption-an S-curve hypothesis suggesting that adoption initially accelerated rapidly and then declined more slowly as all Plains tribes ultimately adopted the horse. We verify this hypothesis with documented empirical evidence on the adoption process derived from Ewers (1955). The empirical evidence and S-curve interpretation suggest: 1) two distinct groups of Plains tribes existed on the Plains, a southern and northern, separated by two webs of communication, 2) that this communication was frequent, and 3) that the two systems were well developed before the arrival of the horse.     

Avonlea Point Occurrence in Northern Montana and Canada

Abstract

This report is a follow up of the 1961 Kehoe-McCorquodale presentation in the Plains Anthrdpqlogist of the Avonlea point as a horizon marker for the Late Prehistoric Periood in the Northwestern Plains, Montana Avonlea data are discussed, compared and combined with Canadian data to develop an expanded picture of regional Avonlea “culture”. A critique of the kehoe-McCorquodale generalizations reinforces essential hypothesis and further clarifies Avonlea spatial and temporal parameters.     

The Mississippian Heartland and Its Plains Relationship*

Abstract

The Cahokia site near East St. Louis, Illinois, was a gateway on the northwestern frontier of the Mississippian heartland. Its exact relationship to other Middle Mississippi cultures and to cultures of the Plains and Upper Great Lakes ar ea is still not fully under stood. It is clear, nonetheless, that these relationships, when more completely known, will prove to be :inuch more complicated than any suggested in current literature.     

Cody Knives and the Cody Complex in Plains Prehistory: A reassessment

Abstract

Discovery of the oldest dated Cody Knife in the New World calls for a redefinition of the Cody Complex in High Plains prehistqw. Its greater antiquity plus its association with an earlier culture gives new insight into the developmental sequence of certain Paleo-Indian tools.     

A Plains Woodland Burial from the Badlands of Western Nebraska

Abstract

Late Plains Woodland burial from a badlands region of western Sioux County, Nebraska produced the nearly complete skeleton of a robust adult male. Burial practices and associated grave goods are typical for the Woodland culture. However, osteological analysis has revealed a pattern of physical characteristics for the human skeleton which shows no real affinity to known Woodland populations to the south and east. Rather, the traits resemble very closely those of the nearly contemporaneous Late Middle Period people of Wyoming, to the immediate west. This lends evidence in support of recent hypotheses regarding the spread of Woodland culture across the central and western Plains.     

Climate,Acculturation, And Costume A History Of Women’S Clothing Among The Indians Of The Southern Plains

Abstract

This paper accepts Clark Wissler’s dictum, offered as long ago as 1915, in his pioneer study of Plains Indian clothing, that for such perishable objects as costume “real historic data is usually available.” Applying a combination of evidence provided by dated, first-hand, written observations, early drawings and later photographs, as well as selected well documented specimens preserved in museum collections to a study of historic Southern Plains Indian women’s body costume one finds that south of the northern limit of 180 frost-free days the prevailing women’s attire prior to the mid-19th century was a skin skirt and a poncho of the same material. In warm weather the poncho was often omitted sometimes exposing a wearer’s profusely painted or tattooed mammae. By the 1820s some women of affluent families made their garments of trade cloth. By the 1850s a long, trade cloth dress, with kimono sleeves and inset gores was becoming fashionable. This garment, in turn, was superceded among women of status by a three piece skin dress after buckskin became relatively scarce. The two piece skin dress which Wissler proposed as the “plains style” was never typical of the tribes of the Southern Plains. Rather the evidence argues against culture area uniformity in women’s clothing, while suggesting that climate and acculturation resulting from white contact strongly influenced a variety of dress styles among the women of the plains tribes. Indeed the body garments worn by women on the Southern Plains prior to 1850 strikingly resemble those depicted on classic figurines from Vera Cruz, Mexico, while they differed totally from garments worn by women of Northern Plains tribes during early historic times.     

Toward a Cultural Understanding of Human Microevolution on the Great Plains

Abstract

In order to explain the patterns of similarities and differences among the Plains skeletal populations analyzed by physical anthropologists, the populations must be viewed in the context of the sociocultural systems whichproduced them. Close cooperationbetween physical anthropologists, archaeologists, ethnohistorians, and linguistsis needed if this is to be accomplished. This paper attempts to set the stage for such studies by sketching out some of the aspects of the Plains Indian cultural environment which affected population genetics, material culture, and communications systems. On this basis, an attempt is made to interpret the results of some of the other papers in this volume.     

High Plains wheat mosaic virus: An enigmatic disease of wheat and corn causing the High Plains disease

Brief historyIn 1993, severe mosaic and necrosis symptoms were observed on corn (maize) and wheat from several Great Plains states of the USA. Based on the geographical location of infections, the disease was named High Plains disease and the causal agent was tentatively named High Plains virus. Subsequently, researchers renamed this virus as maize red stripe virus and wheat mosaic virus to represent the host and symptom phenotype of the virus. After sequencing the genome of the pathogen, the causal agent of High Plains disease was officially named as High Plains wheat mosaic virus. Hence, High Plains virus, maize red stripe virus, wheat mosaic virus, and High Plains wheat mosaic virus (HPWMoV) are synonyms for the causal agent of High Plains disease.TaxonomyHigh Plains wheat mosaic virus is one of the 21 definitive species in the genus Emaravirus in the family Fimoviridae.VirionThe genomic RNAs are encapsidated in thread‐like nucleocapsids in double‐membrane 80–200 nm spherical or ovoid virions.Genome characterizationThe HPWMoV genome consists of eight single‐stranded negative‐sense RNA segments encoding a single open reading frame (ORF) in each genomic RNA segment. RNA 1 is 6,981‐nucleotide (nt) long, coding for a 2,272 amino acid protein of RNA‐dependent RNA polymerase. RNA 2 is 2,211‐nt long and codes for a 667 amino acid glycoprotein precursor. RNA 3 has two variants of 1,439‐ and 1,441‐nt length that code for 286 and 289 amino acid nucleocapsid proteins, respectively. RNA 4 is 1,682‐nt long, coding for a 364 amino acid protein. RNA 5 and RNA 6 are 1,715‐ and 1,752‐nt long, respectively, and code for 478 and 492 amino acid proteins, respectively. RNA 7 and RNA 8 are 1,434‐ and 1,339‐nt long, code for 305 and 176 amino acid proteins, respectively.Biological propertiesHPWMoV can infect wheat, corn (maize), barley, rye brome, oat, rye, green foxtail, yellow foxtail, and foxtail barley. HPWMoV is transmitted by the wheat curl mite and through corn seed.Disease managementGenetic resistance against HPWMoV in wheat is not available, but most commercial corn hybrids are resistant while sweet corn varieties remain susceptible. Even though corn hybrids are resistant to virus, it still serves as a green bridge host that enables mites to carry the virus from corn to new crop wheat in the autumn. The main management strategy for High Plains disease in wheat relies on the management of green bridge hosts. Cultural practices such as avoiding early planting can be used to avoid mite buildup and virus infections.     

Antler Tine Scraper Handles in the Central Plains

Abstract

In the perspectives of archaeology, it is evident that the widespread antler-handled fleshing adz used by most historic Plains Indian tribes was preceded in the region by other types of hafted skin-working tools. These, inferentially, varied in construction and materials from area to area, but were everywhere provided with planoconvex chipped stone blades - the familiar and omnipresent end scraper of the Plains. In early historic times in the Central Plains, curved antler handles with stone blades are thought from archaeological evidence to have been used not in adz fashion but with a pushing motion, away from the operator. The relative abundance, variety in size and form, and longevity as an artifact type of the plano-convex end scraper raises various questions that invite further inquiry.     

Recent Gully Formation In Prairie Areas Of The Northern. Great Plains*

Abstract

Modern gully formation in the Great Plains and Southwestern United States has been attributed variously to overgrazing, farming, and climatic change. Pre-settlement prairie fires in the Northern Great Plains burned the protective vegetation so that gradients of drainageways were adjusted to more sediment than they receive today when wild fires are uncommon. Gully cutting may be an adjustment of the gradient to new conditions. Erosion caused by overgrazing today may not be different from that caused by wild grazing animals in the pre-settlement period.     

Economic Aspects of Mandan/Hidatsa Giveaways

Abstract

This paper eKamines the giveaway ceremonies of the Mandan and Hidatsa of Ft. Berthold Reservation. The giveaway, the public distribution of goods, is an integral part of contemporary Plains Indian culture, yet its economic and social functions have only recently been described. This paper adds to the recent studies by describing some giveaways of the Mandan and Hidatsa and identifying some of the economic aspects of the giveaway.     

The Great Bend Aspect: A Multivariate Investigation Of Its Origins And Southern Plains Relationships

Abstract

The origins of the Great Bend aspect as well as its relations with a series of southern Plains sites are analyzed using ceramic attributes and multivariate statistics. Although the data is inadequate in certain areas the results suggest that in-situ development from earlier cultural groups is a more likely explanation than is a migration of peoples from the southern Plains.     

A Shoshonean Origin for the Plains Shield Bearing Warrior Motif

Abstract

The shield bearing warrior is a distinctive motif characteristic of the rock art of the Northwestern Plains. It also occurs commonly in the eastern Great Basin as an element of Fremont rock art. Detailed similarities between Plains and Great Basin shield figures suggest cultural relationships between the two areas. This has led some authors to propose that the motif originated in the Northwestern Plains and diffused to the Great Basin. Others argue that the motif spread from the Great Basin to the Plains. Relative dates recently obtained for shield figures at Northwestern Plains sites support the latter hypothesis. A Shoshonean origin for the Northwestern Plains shield figures is suggested by the dates, and the coincidence between the distribution of the motif, the distribution of diagnostic Shoshonean artifacts. and the ethnohistorically known range of the Plains Shoshone. It is suggested that the Shoshone borrowed the motif from the Fremont Culture during a period of interaction between the two groups.

The shield bearing warrior, a distinctive motif that depicts a pedestrian warrior whose body is represented by a large circular shield (Fig. 1), is frequently encountered in the rock art of the western United States. It is especially common at sites on the Northwestern Plains and in the eastern Great Basin (Fig. 2).     

The Rio Grande Complex and the Northern Plains

Abstract

The earliest component at the La Bolsa site in the Galisteo Basin of north-central New Mexico is an early manifestation of what is defined in this paper as the Quemado Phase of the proposed Rio Grande Complex. Relatively dated to about 7000 to 6000 years ago, this Proto-Archaic Phase is postulated to be ultimately rooted in the Agate Basin Complex of the northern Plains.