Site 39Lm219 In The Big Bend Reservoir,South Dakota

Abstract

Site 39LM219, an earth-lodge village located in the neck of the Big Bend of the Missouri River in Lyman County, South Dakota, is assigned to the Chouteau Aspect and is presumed to date at about A. D. 1700. Probably the site is part of the Crazy Bull Site previously described in this journal.     

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 Peterson Site (39Lm215) An Earth Lodge Village In The Big Bend Reservoir,South Dakota

Abstract

One circular earth lodge and an interhouse test trench were excavated at the Peterson Site by the Smithsonian Institution, Missouri Basin Projec;t in 1958 prior to the flooding of the area by the Big Bend Reservoir. Surface features indicated that the site was an unfortified village of about 40 lodges. The artifact inventory suggests that the village, which has been tentatively assigned to the Fort Thompson Focus, was probably occupied during the mid-18th century.     

The Gillette Site (39ST23), Oahe Reservoir,South Dakota

Abstract

Fieldwork at the Gillette Site primarily cons is ted of the partial excavation ofthreecircular houses, across section of a fortification ditch, and the removal of a buriaL The latest occupation, Component A, is identified as a manifestation of the Stanley or Snake Butte focus, dating from about 1700 to 1800 A. D. Component B represents a circular house tradition probably belonging to an earlier period in the Coalescent Tradition than does Component A. The limited data from Component C implies a village occupation of an indeterminate cultural affiliation earlier than Component B.     

The Fox Island Site (39DW230), Dewey County,South Dakota

Abstract

An examination of this site on the west bank of the Missouri River in north-central South Dakota has revealed an unfortified settlement of approximately 30 earthlodges. The settlement pattern and artifact inventory indicate that the Fox Island site is an Extended Coalescent village that appears to be a descendant of the complex defined at Mols, tad Village.     

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 Meander Site (39Lm20L) In Fort Randall Reservoir,South Dakota

Abstract

The Meander Site (39LM20l) is located on the left bank of the White River in Lyman County, South Dakota, about eight miles above the junction of the White and Missouri rivers. Test excavations at the site were conducted in 1953 by Harold A. Hus cher of the Smithsonian Institution, River BasinSurveys. Though few in number, the artifacts recovered indicate the occupation belongs to the Chouteau Aspect. Ceramic analysis suggests the site was occupied at a time somewhat prior to the occupation of the Crazy Bull Site (Frantz 1962).     

A Human Skeleton from the Gillette Site (39ST23), Stanley County,South Dakota

Abstract

A skeleton excavated from a refuse area at the Gillette Site proved to be that of an adult male of advanced age.     

Architectural Features of Houses at the Mitchell Site (39Dv2), Eastern South Dakota

Abstract

While gathering economic and environmental data from the Mitchell site in 1971, one house and part of anotherwere excavated. The more completely excavated structure had burned, and provided evidence for a number of architectural features. This house was a rectangular structure with walls of wattle and daub construction and a roof composed of poles overlain by willows and grass. Both houses were constructed in pits, cut into a deeply buried, black “fossil” soil which appears to represent the prairie soil at the time the site was initially occupied. The surface of this fossil soil was buriedabout three feet below the modern surface by a mantle of mixed soil and midden debris. Profiles from the burned house indicate that the thick mantle of mixed soil and midden was the result of banking the walls of the house with quantities of soil and habitation debris.     

Intracemetery Morphological Variation in Arikara Crania From The Sully Site (39SL4), Sully County,South Dakota

Abstract

Canonical analysis is used to examine intracemetery variation in cranial morphology in the Sully site Arikara skeletal collection. The site included four spatially distinct burial areas. lnterarea morphological differences in the crania are shown to relate to the multicomponent nature of the associated village. The proposed temporal relationships based on archaeological data are supported by the cranial evidence.     

Blue Blanket Island (39WW9) an Historic Contact Site in the Oahe Reservoir Near Mobridge,South Dakota

Abstract

The Blue Blanket Island site (39WW9), a small, fortified, proto-historic Indian village on an island in the Missouri River, in Walworth County, South Dakota, was partially excavated by a River Basin Surveys crew in August 1961. One centrally located earthlodge, sections of the fortification, storage pits, and middens were excavated. Artifacts were scanty but architectural details were informative. The lodge was 18 sided with a short entry wayto the south (river side) and leaner posts of split cedar. The palisade was of split posts and the ditch was wide and shallow. The site appears to have been an Arikara village of short duration, probably occupied during the 1780’s and 1790’s. The abandoned remains of this village were noted by Lewis and Clark in 1804.     

An Analysis of the Survey Collection from the Pascal Creek Site (39ARl:07), Armstrong County,South Dakota1

Abstract

Descr·iptive analysis of a limited survey collection, including primarily ceramics, reveals the Pascal Creek Site to be an 18th century settlement resembling contemporary villages along the Missouri River in central South Dakota affiliated with the Snake Butte Focus.     

An Analysis Of Four Survey Collections From Armstrong County,South Dakota 39Ar2 (No Heart Creek Site), 39Ar4, 39Ar5 And 39Ar 7

Abstract

The materials collected from four sites on the Little Bend of the Missouri River are described and analyzed. In the conclusion, these manifestations, referred to as the No Heart Creek complex, are compared to seven other sites along the river in north.-central South Dakota. The sites are related to the Le Compte Focus and are characterized by a distinetive settlement pattern.     

Two human Skeletons from 39LM227, A Mound near The stricker Site,lyman County,south Dakota

Abstract

Two burials from a mound in central South Dakota are considered to be Arikara from a group ancestral to the Arikara, on the basis of observations and measurements.     

Archeological Investigations At The McKensey Village (39Ar201) Oahe Reservoir,Central South Dakota

Abstract

The McKensey Site, on the north or right bank of the Missouri River just upstream from the mouth of No Heart Creek, was composed of seventeen house depressions that appeared to be arranged in regular rows or “blocks”. Most of one house was excavated by a Smithsonian Institution field party during the summer of 1960. The structure was of the longrectangular type but it was atypical in that it was quite long in relation to its width and in the presence of a wide, transverse bench at the rear, The associated artifacts were related to the general Thomas Riggs pattern but the site cannot be placed in either the Thomas Riggs focus or the Huff focus,     

Investigation of the Swift Bird House (39DW233) in the Oahe Reservoir,South Dakota

Abstract

The Swift Bird House (39DW233) is a prehistoric structure of indeterminate characteristics. The associated artifacts are directed to a Northern Plains horticulture and hunting complex. A tenuous relationship to the Anoka Focus and a possible occupation date of about A. D. 1500 is suggested for the site     

An Assessment Of The Radiocarbon Dates For The Helb Site, 39Ca208, South Dakota

Abstract

Eleven radiocarbon dates from the Helb site (39CA208) in north-central South Dakota are presented and interpreted by techniques recently advanced by other authors. The results appear to substantiate two occupations of the site, one in the mid-eleventh century A.D. and anotherin the early or middle portion of the sixteenth century A.D.     

An Analysis Of Ceramics from the Gettysburg Site, 39PO209, Potter County,South Dakota

Abstract

Ceramics recovered from the Gettysburg Site during the summers of 1964, 1965, and 1966 are described and analyzed. A comparison is made with ceramic collections from 19 other sites in the Middle Missouri Valley. Concluding comments demonstrate the relationship of the Gettysburg Site to sites of the Extended Coalescent Horizon.     

An early Indian cranium from the Medicine Crow site, (39BF2), Buffalo County,South Dakota

Artifacts of Paleoindians have been found in most if not all of the Plains states; however, documented human skeletal remains from this early period are rare. The Medicine Crow cranium dates by stratigraphy and by the amount of absorbed alpha and beta radiation at between 5,000 and 2,000 B.C. This places this young adult male in the Archaic period and represents the earliest documented human skeletal material from South Dakota. It compares favorably in age with other well documented human skeletons from the Plains area, such as Lansing Man (Kansas) (3579 B.C.). Metrically, (with a cranial index of 76.7) and morphologically the Medicine Crow cranium falls well within the range of other early or middle Archaic skeletons.