The Kansas Anthropologist Volume 27 2006
HAROLD REED AND THE KANSAS ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
Thomas R. Witty, Jr., Kansas State Archeologist 1960-1994
I had the benefit and enjoyment of having known and worked with Harold
and Margie Reed through 34 years at the Kansas State Historical Society.
I first met them in 1967 at a meeting of the Apache Chapter of the Kansas
Anthropological Association. They were new members and very enthusiastic
and wanted to be involved.
How and where Harold and Margie became involved has been well reviewed
in previous articles. However, from my viewpoint, two actions have and
will continue to have significant benefits for archeology in Kansas:
the creation of the Kansas Archeology Training Program and the Harold
and Margie Reed Publication Fund.
In 1974 Harold became president of the KAA. It was at this time that
Arkansas University was beginning an archeological training program
with amateurs. Harold wanted a program like that for the KAA. We talked
and I found myself in the role of “the immovable object being
acted upon by an irresistible force”: the Reeds.
That June we all went, his family and mine, to Arkansas. Their program
was a two-week dig with field lab and training classes. We were impressed
and decided that we wanted one of those! Our program would be almost
an exact copy. The Kansas Archeology Training Program would be held
the first two weeks in June each year. All participants had to be members
of the KAA. The first dig was in 1975, and there has been one every
year since!
The program has facilitated research into a variety of sites and cultures
not possible before. Archeologists and students from the University
of Kansas, Kansas State University, and Wichita State University have
taken part.
However, Harold’s most personal and very significant contribution
is the Harold and Margie Reed Publication Fund, which established an
annual grant for publication of KAA investigations. Fieldwork may take
weeks, but the analysis, writing, and production of graphs and illustrations
take months and too often fail to result in published documentation.
The fund assures that good research still in specimen boxes and file
cabinets will someday be analyzed and reported.
Many good people have been involved with the Kansas archeological program,
and Harold was one of the best.
NOMINATION OF HAROLD REED FOR THE KAA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
By Rose Marie Wallen
In January 2005 the members of the Mud Creek Chapter nominated Harold
Reed to receive the KAA Lifetime Achievement Award. Harold had been
an integral part of the chapter since its beginning in 1974 and was
a continuous presence at state KAA events since he joined in 1967. Certainly
Kansas archeology would not be what it is today without Harold Reed’s
interest and work. A version of this nomination was published previously
in the 2005 KAA Newsletter 17(4):10-12.
SMOKY HILL PHASE SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN THE SALINA AREA
By Donna C. Roper, Kansas State University
Harold Reed recorded 85 archeological sites in Kansas during a period
of approximately 40 years. Of these 85 sites, 28 were recorded within
an intensively surveyed 12-mi² area encompassing the Smoky Hill
and lower Saline river valleys in Saline County. Seventeen of these
sites are identifiable to the Smoky Hill phase. The central concern
of this paper is Smoky Hill phase settlement patterns. To this end,
the settlement pattern concept is briefly reviewed and a detailed discussion
of the environmental setting of the study area is presented. The settlement
pattern analysis then proceeds. First, the types of Smoky Hill phase
sites known within the study area are described. Recognized site types
include lodge sites, mortuary sites, and campsites. Then, the relations
of each site to others of the same type are analyzed, and some consideration
is given to the relations of sites to sites of other types. The distributions
of the lodge sites and the campsites to resource zones of the Smoky
Hill and lower Saline river valleys are analyzed. The study shows that
the Smoky Hill phase settlement pattern is more complex than we usually
envision and that social considerations probably played a role in Middle
Ceramic period settlement in this area.
HERE YESTERDAY, GONE TODAY, NO TOMORROW: MODERN AGRICULTURAL DESTRUCTION
OF SMOKY HILL PHASE HOUSE MOUNDS
By Mark A. Latham, Burns & McDonnell, Inc.
During fall 2003 and winter 2004 a search commenced for a Middle Ceramic
lodge site for the 2004 Kansas Archeology Training Program (KATP). During
this time numerous previously recorded Smoky Hill phase sites were visited
within Saline, Ottawa, and McPherson Counties, Kansas. These sites were
thought to or known to contain intact subsurface lodge floors; however,
after examining the sites, it was determined that most were destroyed
by cultivation and subsequent erosion within the last 20 to 30 years.
This paper gives a preliminary review of the impact that modern cultivation
has had on Smoky Hill phase lodge sites in Kansas based on information
gleaned from several sources and site visits. In essence, the lodge
construction style characteristic of the Smoky Hill phase—unlike
other Central Plains tradition phases that placed these lodge floors
at or near the ground surface—has exposed these features to modern
cultivation and ultimate destruction.
THE FORSBERG SITE (14SA420): A SMOKY HILL PHASE HABITATION SITE IN CENTRAL
KANSAS
By Mark A. Latham, Burns & McDonnell, Inc.
The Forsberg site (14SA420) is one of many Smoky Hill phase habitation
sites found along the Smoky Hill River of central Kansas. The site contained
at least three Smoky Hill phase lodges, which were excavated in the
1970s by Dr. George Taylor, Kansas Wesleyan College, Salina. Undergraduate
students and amateurs under the direction of Dr. Taylor excavated a
house each summer from 1974 to 1976. These summer field schools each
lasted less than three weeks, and much of the work was described as
“rushed and haphazard, and … much was left undone that is
necessary to do good archaeology” (Whiteacre 1978:2). Unfortunately,
Dr. Taylor died in February 1977 before he could analyze the artifacts
and develop a report on the site. This paper aims not only to describe
the results of three excavations but also to determine if the three
houses could have been contemporary.
14MP407, A GREAT BEND ASPECT SITE IN MCPHERSON COUNTY, KANSAS
By C. Tod Bevitt, R. C. Goodwin & Associates
Site 14MP407 is part of a cluster of Smoky Hill phase sites along the
Smoky Hill River near Lindsborg, Kansas. Unlike many Smoky Hill phase
habitation sites that have been subject to decades of tillage resulting
in the loss of former living surfaces and house floors, part of this
site remains well preserved in a pasture. Other areas of the site have
been subject to long-term cultivation. A geophysical survey was conducted
to identify anomalies with likely cultural associations. Numerous potential
features were identified, including three large anomalies that corresponded
with visible mounds in the pasture. Believed to represent the remains
of collapsed structures, one of these mounds was the focus of the 2004
Kansas Archeology Training Program field school. Throughout a period
of 16 days, the central mound area and several outlying anomalies were
investigated. As a result, portions of a Smoky Hill phase lodge, including
an intact house floor, were closely studied and documented.
A GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATION OF 14MP407, A SMOKY HILL PHASE ARCHEOLOGICAL
SITE IN MCPHERSON COUNTY, KANSAS
By David Maki, Archaeo-Physics LLC, Minneapolis, Minnesota
A geophysical investigation of 14MP407 was conducted in the spring
of 2004. A multi-method approach was utilized that included both magnetic
field gradient and electrical resistance survey. The investigation sought
to map buried archeological features prior to the 2004 Kansas Archeology
Training Program field school. The geophysical survey successfully mapped
several Central Plains tradition house features and numerous additional
features near these houses. These maps were used to target one house
and two additional features for excavation during the field school.
Several additional anomalies or anomalous patterns were identified near
houses but were not tested due to time and budget constraints. These
anomalies appear to represent features external to the houses, ancillary
structures, specialized activity areas, or footpaths; unfortunately,
The Kansas Anthropologist Volume
26 2005
A CADDOAN-STYLE SHERD FROM MARION COUNTY, KANSAS: SURPRISING RESULTS
FROM COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS
by Harold Reed (deceased), Salina, Kansas
Robert J. Hoard, Kansas Historical Society
Robert J. Speakman and Michael D. Glascock, University of Missouri
This is a report on a sherd that exhibits characteristics common to
pottery from the Caddoan region, recovered from a Great Bend aspect
site (14MN306) in Marion County, Kansas. The authors used neutron activation
analysis to determine the geographic source of the sherd but were surprised
to find that it does not compare to pottery from the Caddoan region
or any other region from which sherds have been analyzed by this method.
It is recommended that local pottery be analyzed to determine if the
Caddoan-style sherd is a copy produced by the Great Bend inhabitants
of 14MN306.
ADDENDUM TO AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GREAT BEND ASPECT-WICHITA ARCHEOLOGY
AND ETHNOHISTORY
by Marlin F. Hawley, Wisconsin Historical Society
This addendum to An Annotated Bibliography of Great Bend Aspect-Wichita
Archeology and Ethnohistory, published in The Kansas Anthropologist
(24:107-145) in 2003, includes items that were either overlooked or
published after it went to press.
A DEMONSTRATION OF PRIMITIVE ARCHERY FOR THE 2006 KATP FIELD SCHOOL
by Clint Thomas
A recent demonstration of stone-tipped arrows fired from handmade bows—equipment
similar to that used by prehistoric American Indians—showed that
stone projectile points are both effective and durable and that primitive
handmade bows produce adequate killing power. While heat treatment of
stone points may be an important factor in their manufacture, point
size is clearly the most important characteristic overall. Large points
do not have the penetrating power of small points, while medium-sized
points penetrate well and could inflect significant damage to the animal
target.
A PHASE II ARCHEOLOGICAL INVENTORY SURVEY OF APPROXIMATELY 600 ACRES
ALONG HOLLAND CREEK, DICKINSON COUNTY, KANSAS
by Christopher L. Beemer, Kansas State University
Between August 15 and October 20 of 2003, the author conducted a pedestrian
archeological survey on Holland Creek near Abilene in Dickinson County,
Kansas, as part of an independent research project through Kansas State
University. Nineteen previously unrecorded prehistoric sites were identified,
and five previously recorded sites were revisited. Of the 24 sites visited,
1 was recorded as Woodland, 1 as Late Prehistoric, 4 as unknown ceramic,
and 18 as unknown age.
ESTABLISHING ARCHEOLOGY AT THE Kansas Historical Society: ROSCOE HALL
WILMETH, 1957-1960
by Marlin F. Hawley, Wisconsin Historical Society
While archeological pursuits as part of the mission of the Kansas Historical
Society (KSHS) extend back into the 1880s, it was not until 1957 that
the institution employed a professionally trained archeologist on its
staff. From 1957 to mid-1960 Roscoe Hall Wilmeth, hired as an assistant
museum curator, initiated archeological investigations. During his three
and one-half years at the KSHS, he constructed museum displays on the
archeology and ethnology of Kansas’ Native American societies;
made contact with numerous amateurs and collectors; began an archeological
site inventory; organized old, donated collections; and conducted the
Society’s first professional surveys and excavations, some of
which were funded by the National Park Service. This paper reviews Wilmeth’s
activities at the KSHS using various published and unpublished sources,
the latter including his personal journals and other information supplied
by his widow, Verna Wilmeth, and correspondence and documents at the
KSHS and the Smithsonian Institution.
CERAMIC PERIOD COMPONENTS AT THE CLAUSSEN SITE, 14WB322, WABAUNSEE COUNTY,
KANSAS
by Donna C. Roper, Kansas State University
The 2003 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school directed part
of its effort to Ceramic period components at the Claussen site (14WB322)
in Wabaunsee County. This site lies along Mill Creek in a valley that
has received little systematic archeological attention since J. V. Brower’s
activities over a century ago. The studied components are buried in
a point bar deposit and were recognized by flakes, rock, shell, and
charcoal exposed in the eroding cutbank. As such exposures afford a
very meager glimpse of an occupation, the research design emphasized
testing two occupation areas to determine their size and overall nature.
Only a small amount of material was recovered from the northern of the
two areas. The occupation was during the Early or Middle Ceramic period
and represents a small temporary camp, but little was learned about
it. A larger excavation into the southern area exposed a pair of surface
hearths with associated scatters of chipped stone debitage, pottery,
and mussel shell, plus several tools and some animal bone. This occupation
represents a Middle Ceramic-period short-term encampment. Its closest
material culture similarities are to Smoky Hill phase sites in the Blue
River valley. Rapid burial after the occupation meant that the occupation
surface suffered little adverse effect after abandonment. Thus, the
activity structure and spatial organization are exceptionally clear.
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 10 Number 1&2 1989
THE CORONADO STONE FROM OAK MILLS, KANSAS
by John M. Peterson, Lawrence, Kansas
In July 1937, a limestone slab with letters and numbers carved on it
came to light. The slab was purported to prove that the Coronado expedition
into Kansas had reached the Missouri River in Atchison County, Kansas.
A distinguished group of historians and archeologists commented on the
find including Waldo Wedel, Kirke Mechem, Paul Wellman, Alexander Wetmore,
and Loren Eiseley before the Smithsonian Institution concluded that
the stone had no connection with Coronado.
ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY IN SOUTH-CENTRAL KANSAS
by Rain Vehik and Susan C. Vehik, University of Oklahoma
A survey of two proposed reservoirs in Sumner and Kingman counties,
Kansas, recorded several historic and prehistoric sites. The historic
sites are mainly related to early to middle 20th century farmsteads.
Most of the prehistoric sites date to the Middle Ceramic period (A.D.
I000-A.D. 1500), and seem to be of a short term nature associated with
limited activities related mostly to lithic production. A model developed
on the basis of soil groups was used to predict site locations.
ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE MAHAFFIE FARMSTEAD, OLATHE, KANSAS
by William B. Lees, Kansas Historical Society
In the summer of 1988, a volunteer archeology program was conducted
at the late 19th century Mahaffe farmstead in Olathe, Kansas. The Mahaffie
farmstead is operated as a city historical museum, and the summer's
archeology program was a joint venture of the City of Olathe and the
Kansas Historical Society. During the course of the 20-day dig, a total
of 160 individuals volunteered on the project. Two separate localities
were investigated: the suspected site of the original 1858 Mahaffie
dwelling and the site of an outbuilding for which no documentary record
has been identified. Excavations at the suspected dwelling site documented
structural remains, but do not conclusively support this as the original
dwelling. Excavations at the previously undocumented outbuilding showed
this to be an early, short-lived structure that may have served as a
smokehouse.
THE STEED-KISKER PHASE FROM THE MILLER SITE IN THE LOWER KANSAS RIVER
VALLEY
by Jim D. Feagins, Kansas City Museum
Members of the Kansas City Archaeological Society excavated portions
of the Miller site (14WY8) prior to the site's destruction by construction
activities. While the predominant component was the Kansas City Hopewell
complex, the site had evidence of historic, Nebo Hill phase, and Steed-Kisker
phase components as well. This article principally describes artifacts
produced by the late prehistoric Steed-Kisker phase people and their
cultural history is summarized and discussed.
Book Reviews
Human Evolution: An Introduction by Roger Lewin
Reviewed by Timothy Baugh
Views From the Apache Frontier Report on the Northern Provinces
of New Spain by Jose Cortes, edited by Elizabeth A. H. John
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Charles Lummis: Letters from the Southwest edited by James
W. Brykit
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 11 Number 1 1990
COMPARISON OF THE RELIGIOUS PRACTICES OF THE DOBE !KUNG AND THE AMERICAN
PENTECOSTAL CHURCH
by Pamela K. Thieme, Virginia Commonwealth University
Comparison is made between the religious practices of the Dobe !Kung
of South Africa and the American Pentecostal Church, which originated
in Kansas. Close similarities are shown to exist between Pentecostal
and !Kung religious practices and between Pentecostal worship services
and !Kung healing dances despite significant differences in parent group
social norms and economic practices. The similarities between Pentecostal
practices and those of certain traditional religions in Southern Africa
and South America may explain the acceptance of and strength of Pentecostalism
in these areas.
CEREMONIAL BIFACES FROM THE WHITEFORD ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE, 14SA1
by John D. Reynolds, Kansas Historical Society
Four chipped stone knives of western Kansas Niobrarite were discovered
during the initial investigation of the Whiteford Archeological site,
I4SAI, in the period from 1936 to 1941. A reanalysis of these biface
knives revealed that they are extraordinarily well crafted ceremonial
knives that were intentionally placed within the cemetery area by the
Smoky Hill people who inhabited this site in the period from ca. A.D.
1100 to 1400. These knives appear very similar to Niobrarite ceremonial
knives recovered from Harlan and/or Spiro phase sites in eastern Oklahoma.
The Spiro phase is considered to be the peak of social complexity and
cultural elaboration of the Caddoan tradition in the Arkansas valley
and the Harlan phase is directly
ancestral to this cultural florescence. The ceremonial bifaces from
the Whiteford site provide support for the theory that the presumably
Caddoan population called the Smoky Hill phase was intimately linked
to Middle Mississippian complexes to the east.
THE BOGAN SITE, 14GE1, AN HISTORIC PAWNEE VILLAGE
by James O. Marshall and Thomas A. Witty, Jr., Kansas Historical
Society
This article was originally prepared in 1967 but was never published.
It is the only report on one of two known Historic period Pawnee village
sites in Kansas. Investigations of this site were intended to delineate
the site area, conduct limited excavations, and recover a sample of
artifacts for research and display purposes. Excavations documented
the presence of a fortification around the village, and resulted in
the excavation of one house and the testing of one cache pit. The small
size of the village and small numbers of artifacts found allowed the
conclusion that this site was occupied for only a brief time.
Book Review
Beyond the Loom: Keys to Understanding Early Southwestern Weaving
by Ann Lane Hedlund
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 11 Number 2 1990
PALEOINDIAN MOBILITY AND UTILIZATION OF NIOBRARA OR SMOKY HILL JASPER
ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS
by Jack L. Hofman, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Archeological
Survey
A number of Paleoindian projectile points manufactured from Niobrara
jasper have been documented from western Oklahoma. These specimens represent
a small percentage of identified Paleoindian artifacts from the area,
but their occurrence provides some information relevant to the study
of Paleoindian land use, mobility, and interaction in the region. Clovis,
Folsom, Midland, and Plainview points of Niobrara are described here
and mention is made of Archaic and Late Prehistoric utilization of Niobrara
in the western Oklahoma region. Niobrara jasper Paleoindian points occur
in limited frequency, and its rare occurrence as debitage or in early
tool samples indicates that southwestern Oklahoma is on the periphery
of the region where this tool stone was intensively used.
TEST EXCAVATIONS AT LOVER'S LEAP, 14MY361, A MULTICOMPONENT ROCKSHELTER
ALONG THE VERDIGRIS RIVER IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS
by Kenneth L. Brown and Marie E. Brown, Office of Contract Archeology,
University of New Mexico
Test excavations were conducted at the Lover's Leap site (I4MY461),
a southeast facing rockshelter along the Verdigris River in extreme
southeast Kansas. A total of four 1xl m test pits were excavated and
quantities of lithic, ceramic, botanical, and faunal artifacts were
recovered. These materials indicate the presence of Late Archaic, Early
Ceramic (Cuesta and/or Greenwood), and Middle Ceramic (Pomona variant)
occupations.
NEW LIGHT ON "THE CORONADO STONE"
edited by William B. Lees
A letter in response to John Peterson's article on the "Coronado
Stone" (The Kansas Anthropologist Volume 10, Nos. 1 & 2) from
Ralph Steele's daughter, Merry Charlsen answers most of the questions
left unanswered in the original article. Included with the letter is
a newspaper article by Ralph Steele in which he tells the true story
of the hoax.
Book Reviews
The Ethics of Collecting Cultural Property: Whose Culture? Whose
Property? by Phyllis Mauch
Messenger Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Cheyennes and Horse Soldiers; the 1857 Expedition and the Battle
of Solomon's Fork by William Y. Chalfant; with a forward by Robert
M. Utley
Reviewed by William B. Lees
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 12 Number 1 1991
NOTES ON THE HELTON-HARREL BIFACE CACHE FROM SEWARD COUNTY, KANSAS
by Robert J. Mallouf, Texas Historical Commission and Virginia A.
Wulfkuhle, Kansas Historical Society
A prehistoric stone cache of Alibates agate was discovered in 1954
on the southern edge of the Cimarron River basin in southwestern Kansas.
The 5 cores and 29 bifacial preforms in the cache were probably made
at quarries in or near Alibates National Monument on the Canadian River
in Texas, some 175 km south of the cache site. Analysis indicates that
two lithic manufacturing techniques--the reduction of thin, flat cobbles
and the reduction of large, thick flakes--were employed in the making
of the bifacial preforms in the cache. A number of cache discoveries
in southwestern Kansas attest to the fact that Alibates agate was highly
prized for the production of stone tools by the region's prehistoric
inhabitants.
ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT A MULTICOMPONENT SITE IN NORTHEASTERN
KANSAS
by Marlin Hawley, Kansas Historical Society
Surface collecting, test excavations, and mechanical stripping were
employed to investigate site 14SH4. The site, located north of the Kansas
Museum of History, yielded artifacts attributable to the Middle/Late
Archaic (Logan Creek), Early Ceramic (Grasshopper Falls), Middle Ceramic
(Pomona), and Historic (ca. 1840-1860, Euroamerican and Potawatomi)
periods. The presence of obsidian suggests yet another occupation by
an as yet unidentified group.
Book Reviews
Mesoamerica's Ancient Cities by William M. Ferguson and Arthur
H. Rohn
Reviewed by John W. Hoopes
Mimbres Archaeology of the Upper Gila, New Mexico by Stephen
H Lekson
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 12 Number 2 1991
FLOYD SCHULTZ: AN EARLY AMATEUR ANTHROPOLOGIST IN KANSAS
by Marlin F. Hawley, Kansas Historical Society
Clay Center businessman and civic leader Floyd Schultz was active as
an amateur anthropologist from perhaps as early as the 1890s until the
time of his death in 1951. His archeological work focusing on north-
central Kansas and his ethnographic work among the Potawatomi have been
recognized by professionals as significant and lasting contributions.
In 1948 Schultz donated his well catalogued collections to the University
of Kansas where they remain an important research collection.
QUIXOTE AND REICHART: ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF GRASSHOPPER FALLS
PHASE HABITATION SITES IN THE PERRY LAKE PROJECT AREA,
NORTHEASTERN KANSAS
by Brad Logan, Museum of Anthropology, The University of Kansas and
Michael Fosha, Office of the State Archeologist, University of Iowa
Our understanding of the Grasshopper Falls phase of the Plains Woodland
period in the Central Plains has been derived from at least twelve excavated
sites in northeastern Kansas. All of these sites shared one unfortunate
characteristic--their deposits had been at least partly disturbed by
modem farming activities. Two sites of this phase, Reichart and Quixote,
have not been subjected to plowing. Limited investigations show these
sites to have abundant and varied cultural inventories with significant
research potential. Research problems derived from data obtained at
these and other sites of the phase and that can be addressed during
future investigation are presented.
Book Reviews
Archeological Investigations within the Central Little River Drainage
Basin, Cleveland and Pottawatomie Counties Oklahoma by Michael
C. Moore
Reviewed by Virginia A. Wulfkuhle
Archeological Survey of Clearcut Areas along Little River, McCurtain
and Pushmataha Counties,
Oklahoma by Larry Neal
Reviewed by Virginia A. Wulfkuhle
Archeology of the Mixed Grass Prairie, Phases II and III: Hay and
Cyclone Creeks Surveys and Predictive Modeling in the Quartermaster
Watershed by Michael C. Moore
Reviewed by Virginia A. Wulfkuhle
An Archeological Reconnaissance of the Wolf Creek Drainage Basin,
Ellis County, Oklahoma by Richard R. Drass and Christopher L. Turner
Reviewed by Virginia A. Wulfkuhle
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 13 Number 1 & 2 1992
SAMUEL WENDELL WILLISTON, KU YEARS: 1890-1902
by John D. Reynolds, Kansas Historical Society
Samuel Wendell Williston moved to Kansas as a youth in 1857. After
attending Kansas State Agricultural College and Yale University, he
was appointed as professor of geology and anatomy and dean of the medical
department at the University of Kansas. Although not an archeologist
by training, while at KU Williston was responsible for what, in retrospect,
are significant and lasting contributions to Kansas archeology which
included work at the El Cuartelejo pueblo site and the Twelve Mile Creek
Paleoindian site.
LOREN C. EISELEY, KU YEARS: 1937-1944
by Marlin F. Hawley, Kansas Historical Society
Known primarily as an essayist and poet, Loren C. Eiseley holds the
distinction of being the first
academically employed anthropologist/archeologist in Kansas. Hired in
1937, he taught in the sociology department and, during World War II,
instructed anatomy classes at the University of Kansas. He left Kansas
in I944. Although his career at the university was ultimately unremarkable,
he conducted the first test excavations of a probable Archaic site in
Kansas in 1937-38. With sociology chairman Carroll Clark he attempted
to secure Works Projects Administration funds for a large-scale multi-year
archeological project. Finally, after a year of post-doctoral research
at Columbia University, he made plans to undertake a thorough study
of skeletal remains at the Salina Burial Pit site. In every case his
plans were thwarted by the outbreak of World War II. Nonetheless, he
introduced archeology and physical anthropology courses at the University
of Kansas. By the time of his departure anthropology was well established
in the curriculum of
the university.
ALBERT C. SPAULDING, KU YEARS: 1946-1947
by Marlin F. Hawley, Kansas Historical Society
Albert C. Spaulding became the second professional archeologist in
Kansas when he accepted a position at the University of Kansas in 1946.
In addition to teaching in sociology, as had his predecessor, Loren
C. Eiseley, Spaulding also received a half-time appointment as assistant
curator of anthropology at the Museum of Natural History. Although Spaulding
stayed in Kansas only until July 1947, he accomplished a good deal of
research, touring southeastern and central Kansas to look at collections
and sites, testing a site in Labette County and initiating cooperation
between the University of Kansas and the Inter-Agency Archaeological
Salvage Program, better known as River Basin Surveys. His contacts with
a number of amateurs were amicable and led, in one instance, to a co-authored
paper published in American Antiquity in 1948. In July 1947, Spaulding
left Kansas to take a position at the University of Michigan.
CARLYLE S. SMITH, KU YEARS: 1947-1980
by Carlyle S. Smith, Research Professor Emeritus, University of Kansas
Carlyle S. Smith began his career on Long Island, New York. Through
his association with William
Duncan Strong at Columbia University he became interested in Plains
archeology and, in 1947, joined the faculty at the University of Kansas.
Before his retirement in 1980, he conducted extensive work in Kansas
and South Dakota as well as on Easter Island and the Marquesas. Dr.
Smith presented a brief overview of his career as a lecture in the plenary
session of the 10th Flint Hills Conference in Topeka, Kansas, in 1988.
The lecture was recorded on videotape and later transcribed and, in
1992, was edited and augmented by the author.
Book Reviews
The Life of a Fossil Hunter by Charles H. Sternberg
Reviewed by John D. Reynolds
Earth Water and Fire: The Prehistoric Pottery of Mesa Verde
by Norman T. Oppelt
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Ceramic Ethnoarchaeology by William A. Longacre, editor
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 14 Number 1 1993
A FEW NOTES ON KNIFE RIVER FLINT IN NORTHEAST KANSAS
by Milton Reichart, Valley Falls, Kansas
Four objects of probable Knife River flint indicate the rare presence
of that material in northeast Kansas. Two of those objects are artifacts;
two are not, It can by no means be resolved at this time whether the
agency responsible for their presence here was human or glacial, or
both.
NOTES ON THE LOCAL ENVIRONMENT AND A PRELIMINARY MODELED SITE CATCHMENT
FOR THE BOOTH SITE, 14CM406
by Ken Sherraden, U.S. Soil Conservation Service
The Booth site (14CM406) is one of two adjacent sites used to define
the provisional Wilmore complex. Based on information from the Bell
site, the Wilmore complex was assigned to the Middle Ceramic period.
Evidence from the Booth site indicates a Late Ceramic period occupation
as well. Local geology, soils, hydrology, climate, and biotic communities
are reviewed. Soils and habitat are used to develop a modeled site catchment
for the Booth site.
FARMSTEADS OF THE KANSAS SHAWNEE
by Rodney Staab, Kansas Historical Society
Shawnee from Missouri and Ohio occupied a reserve in eastern Kansas
between I827 and 1871. Most Shawnee lived on farmsteads which are poorly
known from documents and archeology. These farmsteads were occupied
by both conservative and progressive factions and are described using
a variety of historical sources. Speculation as to the nature of the
archeological remains of these sites is also offered.
14J055: AN EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY SITE IN THE FORMER SHAWNEE RESERVE
OF EASTERN KANSAS
by William B. Lees, Kansas Historical Society
Site 14J055 was discovered during a surface survey of a cultivated
field along the Kansas River in Johnson County, Kansas. Numerous early
historic artifacts such as ceramics, glass beads, buttons, and bottle
glass were scattered over the surface. Three probable architectural
features were also visible on the surface. A surface collection, limited
subsurface probing, and a scale map were used to document the site.
Analysis suggests this small site was occupied during the 1820s to as
late as the 1860s. During this period the site was within the Shawnee
reserve and an association with the Shawnee is almost certain. This
may be the site of a Shawnee farmstead or, conceivably, of a Chouteau
trading house for the Shawnee.
Book Review
Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 3 edited by Michael
B. Schiffer
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 14 Number 2 1993
THE KANSA VILLAGE ACCORDING TO LEWIS AND CLARK
by Robert L. Thompson and Milton Reichart
The town of Doniphan, Kansas, was long thought to have been the location
of the second old Kansa Indian village. The Lewis and Clark Journals
actually describe a place for this village downstream about one mile
farther, where there is a plain two miles long through which two streams,
Forth of July 1804 (Deer) Creek and Independence Creek flow to join
the Missouri River.
SHADOW GLEN A LATE POMONA VARIANT OCCUPATION IN THE LOWER KANSAS RIVER
BASIN
by Brad Logan, University of Kansas and John G. Hedden, University
of Iowa
Investigation of the Shadow Glen site (14J021), Johnson County, Kansas,
by the University of Kansas Museum of Anthropology and the Kansas Archaeological
Field School in 1990 revealed evidence of a late Pomona variant occupation
along Cedar Creek a tributary of the lower Kansas River in northeastern
Kansas. Data from the site, including features indicative of a pole-supported
structure, an ash concentration, associated lithic and ceramic artifacts,
floral and faunal remains and radiocarbon dates are described. Temporal,
geographical, and formal information from Shadow Glen enhance our knowledge
of this Plains Village complex and its relationship to other contemporaneous
cultures in the Central Plains.
ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT 14D0317, SOUTH LAWRENCE TRAFFICWAY,
DOUGLAS COUNTY, KANSAS
by Timothy Weston, Kansas Historical Society
Survey and test excavations were conducted by the Kansas Historical
Society at 14DO317 as part of planning for the South Lawrence Trafficway
in Douglas County, Kansas. Over 200 artifacts, including 27 tools, were
located on the surface. Four 1 x 1-m excavation units were placed in
the site area with reference to areas of high surface artifact density.
Excavation revealed that in all cases the cultural materials were confined
to the plow zone. Surface and excavated materials revealed the presence
of two occupations, Early Archaic Dalton and Late Prehistoric/Protohistoric.
Book Review
Principals of Geoarchaeology: A North American Perspective
by Michael R Waters
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 15 Number 1 1994
LOWER WALNUT GREAT BEND: INVESTIGATIONS OF SITES NEAR ARKANSAS CITY,
KANSAS BACKGROUND AND PRELIMINARY RESULTS
by Marlin F. Hawley, Kansas Historical Society and Cherie E. Haury,
Iowa City, Iowa
Recent investigations of sites in the vicinity of Arkansas City were
undertaken in conjunction with the proposed Arkansas City Bypass. The
sites, long the focus of speculation and investigations, represent the
remains of a vast Great Bend aspect (prehistoric/protohistoric Wichita
Indian) settlement, occupied perhaps from the early I300s to as late
as the mid-1700s. These investigations revealed the presence of intact,
subsurface cultural features (i.e., a post mold and trash-filled pits).
The work adds to the stock of knowledge of the Great Bend aspect in
the lower Walnut River and paves the way for extensive salvage- oriented
excavations in advance of bypass construction.
GEOARCHEOLOGY OF THE LOWER WALNUT RIVER VALLEY AT ARKANSAS CITY, KANSAS
by Rolfe D. Mandel, Kansas Historical Society
Geoarcheological investigations were conducted in the Walnut River
valley near Arkansas City, Kansas, as part of the Phase II testing of
late prehistoric sites along the proposed Arkansas City Bypass and levee.
These studies focused on the geomorphology, soils, and stratigraphy
at and near the archeological sites. In addition to yielding new information
about Holocene landscape evolution in the lower Walnut River valley,
the geoarcheological investigations provided a soil-stratigraphic framework
for the cultural deposits that were found in the project area. Geologic
potentials for buried archeological materials also were assessed.
NOTES ON GREAT BEND ASPECT CERAMIC VESSELS IN THE KSHS COLLECTIONS
by Frederick W. Scott, Kansas Historical Society
An inventory of reconstructed Great Bend aspect and antecedent Bluff
Creek and Pratt complex vessels in the Kansas Historical Society collections
produced a surprisingly large sample of 29 vessels. A data base of metric
and nonmetric attributes was collected from the sample. Preliminary
analysis and comparisons produced general agreement with existing typologies.
A few observations were made. One vessel has a previously unreported
brushed surface treatment. A complete red-filmed bottle form and an
angular shouldered bottle form were observed in the sample. In addition
to the amphora jar form, there is a broad jar form. In this sample the
larger jar forms tend to be shell-tempered Cowley ware. Using metric
attributes of vessel height, rim diameter, and capacities, no clear
pattern of vessel sizing could be discerned. There appears to be a continuum
of vessel sizes. More work needs to be done to tie ceramic trends into
the
Great Bend aspect sequence.
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 15 Number 2 1994
REMINISCENCES OF PLAINS ARCHEOLOGY, PRE AND POST WORLD WAR II
by Ralph Solecki, Texas A&M University
The author compares his field experiences in the Plains area, first
as a student with Works Progress Administration-directed excavations
before World War II and later as a field archeologist with the River
Basin Surveys, Smithsonian Institution. The late 1930's work essentially
focused on selected archeological sites of high promise, giving employment
to out-of-work farmers and townspeople. The 1950's campaigns, also federally
supported, on the other hand focused on sites endangered by dam construction
and flood control projects in the Missouri Basin.
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON LOREN EISELEY'S YEARS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
by Martin F. Hawley, Kansas Historical Society
Additional information on the career of Loren C. Eiseley, the first
professional anthropologist at the University of Kansas between the
years 1937 and 1944, is presented. Gleaned from the correspondence between
Eiseley and Waldo R. Wedel in the Waldo R. Wedel Collection, Smithsonian
Institution, the letters reveal details of archeological efforts at
the Spring Creek site, a previously unreported dig in Doniphan County,
as well as discussions on securing Works Projects Administration funds
for archeological field work. The letters also further document Eiseley's
ambitious plans to bring physical anthropology into the university's
curriculum.
FROM SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS TO NORTHWESTERN MISSOURI: RECENT ARCHEOLOGICAL
INVESTIGATIONS BY THE SAINT JOSEPH MUSEUM
by Jim D. Feagins, Saint Joseph Museum
This paper is an effort to summarize part of the more recent archeological
research conducted by the Saint Joseph Museum in the eastern Central
Plains along the Kansas- Missouri border. Data and interpretations from
Five projects concern various cultural resources, including Euroamerican
farmsteads, a fur trading post, a protohistoric Oneota (Kansa) village,
a prehistoric rock- and earth-filled mound and a number of Woodland
and Late Archaic habitation sites.
KANSAS FOLSOM EVIDENCE
by Jack L. Hofman, University of Kansas
Information on 33 Folsom projectile points and fragments from Kansas
is presented in this study. A critical evaluation of previous Folsom
point records is provided, as well as information on previously undocumented
specimens. Lithic materials represented by Kansas Folsom points include
sources from Colorado and Texas as well as Kansas. This report is intended
to encourage people to report fluted point finds to help build a data
base that will aid further study of the early prehistoric period in
the Kansas region.
Book Review
Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice by Mark J. Plotkin
Reviewed by Rose Marie Wallen
The Kansas Anthropologist Volume
16 Number 1 1995
FOUR SEASONS IN PRE-WAR KANSAS ARCHEOLOGY
by Richard G. Slattery
The author cites his experiences as a field party member on four archeological
surveys of Kansas and western Missouri during the years 1937-1940. These
expeditions were directed by Dr. Waldo R. Wedel, then Assistant Curator
of Archeology United States National Museum. The scientific reports
on all work conducted on these surveys are contained in U.S. National
Museum publications, Bulletin 183 (Wedel 1943) and Bulletin 174 (Wedel
1959). The author describes his experiences during the archeological
investigations and camp life in those days prior to World War II. The
sole purpose of this paper is to increase the historical record of archeology
within the areas of the prescribed field studies. No attempt to augment
the scientific record has been made nor implied.
KANSA PRESENCE IN THE UPPER KANSAS VALLEY, 1848-1867
by Rodney Staab, Kansas Historical Society
Although an 1846 treaty removed the Kansa tribe from the upper Kansas
valley to a new reservation in the Neosho valley, anecdotes from I855
to I867 recount the hunting activities of a small band of Kansa Indians,
probably led by one Shingawassa in the upper Kansas valley. Cooperative
trade relations with United States citizens and successful Kansa involvement
in the U.S. military during the Civil War era in this region culminated
with the last of many conflicts with Plains tribes (principally Kiowas,
Comanches, and Cheyennes), finally driving the Kansa back to the Neosho
valley by 1867. The article begins with a suggested analysis of an 1848-1849
map of the upper Kansas valley charted with the assistance of Kansa
Indians.
TRADEWARE IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS TRADITION: STEED-KISKER PRESENCE,
INFLUENCE, AND JOINING OF THE CENTRAL PLAINS TRADITION
by F. W. Scott, Kansas Historical Society
Survey of "tradewares" in ceramic assemblages of Central
Plains tradition sites in Nebraska, Smoky Hill, and Pomona phases yields
ceramics attributable to Steed-Kisker, Cahokia/lower Mississippi, and
the Caddoan area. The most prevalent ceramic cited as a tradeware is
the opposed diagonal jar, shown through petrographic analysis to be
manufactured from local clays and not a tradeware. A new type name is
proposed for the opposed diagonal jar form--Majors Opposed Diagonal.
The type dates after A.D. 1250 and most likely originated out of the
Steed-Kisker phase. While radiocarbon dating of the various phases shows
considerable overlap, cross dating of ceramics reveals otherwise.
AN AMATEUR'S REPORT ON PREHISTORIC SHORELINE SITES AT PERRY LAKE,
1986- 1991
by Daryl Walters
This is an amateur report on findings of a 1986-1991 survey of prehistoric
cultural resources in the lower Perry Lake region, carried out in cooperation
with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Kansas Historical Society.
After 1991 the project was a team effort with many people contributing.
These summarized findings might be helpful to anyone interested in the
general subject and in particular to those with special interest, experience,
or expertise in the Grasshopper Falls phase of the Plains Woodland period
in the Delaware valley.
Book Review
Sourcing Prehistoric Ceramics at Chodistaas Pueblo, Arizona: The
Circulation of People and Pots in the Grasshopper Region by Maria
Nieves Zedeno
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 16 Number 2 1995
THE MISSOURI RIVER BASIN SURVEYS: ARCHEOLOGY WITHOUT THE MIDDLE "A"
by W. Raymond Wood, University of Missouri-Columbia
Experiences with the Missouri River Basin Surveys program between 1919
and 1968 included work as a shovel hand, assistant archeologist, draftsman,
cooperator, collaborator, and as a member of the 1968 ad hoc committee
which recommended that the MRBS be absorbed into the National Park Service,
leading to the establishment of the Midwest Archeological Center in
1969.
RECENT INVESTIGATIONS AT THRESHING MACHINE CANYON (14TO105) ON THE
SMOKY HILL TRAIL
by John K. Peterson and Danial Watson, Nebraska Archaeological Survey
Archeological survey was recently performed at site 14TO105 (Threshing
Machine Canyon), Cedar Bluff Reservoir, Trego County, Kansas, on November
16-17, 1994. This work was undertaken by the University of Nebraska
State Museum in conjunction with the United States Bureau of Reclamation.
As evidenced by the rock inscriptions carved on the bluff walls, Threshing
Machine Canyon was visited as early as 1849 (quite possibly earlier)
and up to the present. The majority of the names, dates, etc. on the
bluff are from the "Pike's Peakers" in 1859 and from U.S.
cavalrymen (3rd Wisconsin and 13th Missouri) on the Butterfield Overland
Dispatch in 1865.
USING FLOTATION DATA TO UNDERSTAND THE PAST: QUARRY CREEK (14LV401),
KANSAS CITY HOPEWELL ENVIRONMENT AT FORT LEAVENWORTH
by John Romine
The analysis of flotation samples taken during an excavation gives
a world of information to the
archeologist. Working with the samples from the 1991 Kansas Archeological
Field School excavation at Quarry Creek (14LV401) on the Fort Leavenworth
Military Reservation increased the understanding of the importance of
these samples. A total of 317 samples was collected and sorted, The
entire fill from one feature, Feature 7, was floated and documented
by 10-cm levels along with the piece-plotted items at the same 10-cm
levels. The information taken from other features at the excavation
could be compared to Feature 7 for study.
RECOLLECTIONS OF A MISSOURI VALLEY SALVAGE ARCHEOLOGIST
by Wesley R. Hurt
The author directed salvage archeology projects in the Missouri Valley
in South Dakota from 1950 to 1962, except for the years 1956 and 1958,
when he was on excavation projects in Brazil. During those years the
University of South Dakota projects were directed by Roscoe Wilmeth
and George Agogino, who were visiting professors. The projects were
cosponsored by the University of South Dakota and the National Park
Service. The objectives of the excavations were to salvage information
on village sites that were to be flooded by construction of dams in
the Fort Randall and Oahe reservoirs.
Book Reviews
Evolutionary Archaeology: Methodological Issues by Patrice
A. Teltser
Reviewed by Chris Benison
William Becknell, Father of the Santa Fe Trade by Larry M.
Beachum
Reviewed by Verna Detrich
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 17 Number 1 1996
A LIMITED ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TURKEY CREEK DRAINAGE, DICKINSON
COUNTY, KANSAS
by Mud Creek Chapter, Kansas Anthropological Association
A limited pedestrian archeological survey of the Turkey Creek drainage
was conducted during October 1978, 1979, and 1980. The creek is a tributary
of the Smoky Hill River in central Kansas. The project was sponsored
by the Mud Creek Chapter of the Kansas Anthropological Association (KAA)
with statewide participation by members and the staff of the Archeology
Office of the Kansas Historical Society (KSHS).
Forty-nine prehistoric sites have been designated in the area covered
by this project. Eight were recorded by the University of Kansas (KU)
field crews in 1968 and two by KSHS archeologists in 1979. The remaining
39 sites were recorded as a result of the KAA surveys. Eight of the
previously recorded sites were revisited.
Evidence recovered in the investigation suggests that the drainage
has been occupied intermittently, but not continuously, since the Paleoindian
period, or ca. 10, 000 B.C., to the present. Most of the prehistoric
sites appear to represent Ceramic Period occupation, presumed to date
from about O to A.D. 1500. This report describes the recorded sites
and the recovered cultural material. General conclusions based on this
evidence are presented along with limited recommendations relative to
future investigation. Some of these sites merit no further work; others
require additional survey and subsurface testing to determine their
archeological significance.
Book Review
Paradigms of the Past: The Story of Missouri Archaeology by
Michael J. O'Brien
Reviewed by Chris Benison
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 17 Number 2 1996
COAL-OIL CANYON REVISITED: HISTORY OF INVESTIGATIONS, 1955-1996
by Janice A. McLean, University of Kansas
Avocational archeologists published the results of their preliminary
testing of the Coal-Oil Canyon site (14L0401), Logan County, Kansas,
in the first Bulletin of the Kansas Anthropological Association. Ambiguities
in the published report, combined with the lack of a subsequent publication
covering the excavation phase of the 1955-1960 investigation, have limited
recognition of Coal-Oil Canyon as a key site history of work conducted
at the site, new information
about the site investigations, recommendations for future work and updated
artifact inventories are included in this report.
COAL-OIL CANYON (14LO4O1): PROGRESS REPORT, AREA 7
by Peter W. Bowman, Wallace, Kansas
As a follow-up to the preliminary testing of the Coal-Oil Canyon site
in Logan County, Kansas, reported in Bulletin Number 1 of the Kansas
Anthropological Association (Bowman 1960), excavation of a test trench
in Area 7 was undertaken by amateur archeologists in August 1957 and
continued into 1961. This paper, completed January 23, 1961, contains
detailed methodological, stratigraphic, and interpretive information
about the Area 7 excavations.
AN APACHEAN POTTERY VESSEL FROM COAL-OIL CANYON
by Donna C. Roper, Kansas State University
A partially reconstructed micaceous pottery vessel from the Coal-Oil
Canyon site is described. It is
identified to the type Ocate Micaceous and is considered a vessel imported
from the Jicarilla Apache homeland in northern New Mexico. Some implications
of this assignment are discussed.
Book Reviews
Prehistory of the Central Mississippi Valley edited by Charles
H. McNutt
Reviewed by Chris Benison
Snapshots of the Past by Brian Fagan
Reviewed by Marlin Hawley
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 18 Number 1 1997
WHEN I WAS A LAD, I SERVED A TERM ..." MINOR ADVENTURES IN PLAINS
ARCHEOLOGY IN THE 1950S AND 1960S "
by Roger T. Grange, Jr., Professor Emeritus, University
of South Florida
Personal experiences in the upper Missouri and central Plains are described.
The author worked with Carlyle S. Smith of the University of Kansas
in 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1955 at sites in South Dakota. He directed
excavations at various sites in Nebraska while on the staff of the Nebraska
State Historical Society from 1955 to 1964.
HEAT TREATMENT AND INTENDED TOOL FUNCTION AS SEEN FROM SHARPS CREEK
by Susan E. Butler, University of Kansas
Heat treatment is an intentional process used as a preparation technique
for improving certain qualities in siliceous rock. John Reynolds of
the Kansas Historical Society has proposed that heat treatment can have
an effect on intended tool function. This paper addresses this hypothesis
statistically, using the lithic collection from the Sharps Creek site
in central Kansas.
THE STORY TOLD BY THE FLOTATION SAMPLES FROM FEATURE 454 AT THE SHARPS
CREEK EXCAVATIONS OF 1992-1993
by John Romine
The importance of flotation samples collected during the 1992 Kansas
Archeology Training Program field school at the Sharps Creek site (14MP408)
in northern McPherson County near the town of Lindsborg, Kansas, was
demonstrated by the recovery of evidence of Coronado's presence in the
area. A piece of a metal ring and broken pieces of a clay pipe were
found in the heavy fraction from two different storage pits. The light
fraction samples yielded more evidence of the daily activities of protohistoric
Wichita Indians during the time when Coronado visited the surrounding
countryside. At the end of the 1992 season, the field school cosponsors,
the Kansas Anthropological Association and the Kansas Historical Society,
agreed to continue the excavation in 1993, mainly because of the wealth
of information that was coming out of the storage pits and other features
and the need to assess the situation more thoroughly.
SUSIE WABNOSAH: A PRAIRIE POTAWATOMI WOMAN IN THE EARLY 1960s
by Faye A. Clifton with James A. Clifton, Western Michigan University
Between 1962 and 1966, intermittently, I worked with my husband, Jim,
interviewing Prairie Potawatomi women, usually in their homes on the
Prairie Band Reservation north of Topeka. One of the aims of my conversations
was to obtain life history information; another consisted of ethnographic
queries, mostly concerned with the experiences of Potawatomi women.
Here are the results of one such set of meetings in 1964, with Susan
Wabnosah, known to everyone as "Susie. " Born in 1910, Susie
was then 54, childless, and long married to James Wabnosah, always called
"Wild Bill" because of his distinctive baseball pitching style
as a youth. Because Bill was heavily involved in Potawatomi ritualism,
Susie was constantly associated with him as he conducted his extensive
ritual duties--and she, her own collateral responsibilities.
THE STATUS OF SIKSIKA BLACKFOOT WOMEN
by Lucien M. Hanks, Edited by Jane R. Hanks, North Bennington, Vermont
The data for this essay came from the Siksika Blackfoot of Gleichen,
Alberta, Canada. They were gathered during the summers of 1938, 1939,
and 1941 by Lucien and Jane Hanks, who pooled their notes. This essay
was completed in December 1942. Quotations, when verbatim, are sometimes
grammatically awkward. Joining the Hanks for one summer (1938) was the
social psychologist Abraham H. Maslow for work with these Blackfoot.
His study focused on the problem of deviancy.
The Hanks established bonds of warmth and trust with the Blackfoot.
Both were "adopted," Lucien by Little Light, who gave him
the name of "Bird Chief; " and Jane by Mrs. White-headed Chief;
who gave her the name of "Ambush Woman. " The respective eponyms
were individuals of note in tribal history. A final visit was made in
1951, this time with the Hanks' three children, all of whom were given
Blackfoot names.
LEWIS AND CLARK'S KANSA INDIAN VILLAGE AND OTHER SITES IN THE INDEPENDENCE
CREEK VALLEY
by Robert L. Thompson
Twenty-three previously unknown Indian sites, found in a large creek
valley of approximately 2 mi2, lead the author to believe that the complex
of sites is the Kansa (also spelled Kanza) Indian village visited by
Etienne Veniard de Bourgmont (also spelled Bourgmond) in 1724. If so,
that makes it the earliest documented Kansa Indian village in Kansas.
The physical evidence in the form of Indian artifacts, combined with
the description by Lewis and Clark in their Journal of 1804 and with
the 1839 maps of Joseph N. Nicole, marking the location of the village
at the junction of Independence Creek with the Missouri River, shows
that the village was located in the Independence Creek valley and not
at the Doniphan site, I to 2 MI farther up the Missouri River, as was
formerly thought.
Book Reviews
Petroglyphs of the Saline River Valley, Kansas by Nova Wells
Reviewed by Ralph J. Hartley
Source Material on the History and Ethnology of the Caddo Indians
by John R. Swanton
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Mythology of the Lenape: Guide and Texts by John Bierhorst
Reviewed by Rodney Staab
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 18 Number 2 1997
REMINISCENCES OF ARCHEOLOGY IN TEXAS 1947-1968
by Edward B. Jelks, Professor Emeritus, Illinois State University
A retrospection of archeological activities in Texas during the period
1947 to 1965 is presented as viewed through the experiences of the author,
with particular focus on the Texas River Basin Surveys
ACCIDENTAL PLAINS ARCHEOLOGIST: NEITHER COURAGE NOR NAIVETÉ?
by David M. Gradwohl, Iowa State University
A serendipitous opportunity to participate in "salvage" excavations
at a protohistoric Arikara Indian village, threatened by the construction
of Fort Randall Reservoir in South Dakota, propelled the author into
a career in Plains archeology. This reminiscence looks back on some
of the more memorable experiences in the author's professional pursuits
as wall as his good fortune in the mentors, colleagues, and students
with whom he has worked.
THE PALEOINDIAN LAIRD BISON BONE BED IN NORTHWESTERN KANSAS
by Jack L. Hofman and Jeannette M. Blackmar, University of Kansas
Initial test investigations were conducted at the Laird site (14SN2)
in northern Sherman County, Kansas, in 1995, following the discovery
of a Dalton-like projectile point eroding from a deposit of bison bone.
Excavation yielded a number of flakes and remains of at least two and
probably more bison, which appear to be in the channel of an ancient
arroyo.
JAMES H. HOWARD, ETHNOGRAPHER (1925-1982) OBSERVATIONS AND RECOLLECTIONS
OF A FRIEND
by Alan R. Woolworth, Minnesota Historical Society
James H. Howard's fascination with traditional American Indian life
started as a young age and continued throughout his career as an archeologist,
museum preparator, consultant on American Indian claims cases, museum
director, and university professor. Alan R. Woolworth wrote this tribute
to his friend and colleague in August 1991.
IN RESPONSE TO HANKS' "THE STATUS OF SIKSIKA BLACKFOOT WOMEN"
COMMENTS FROM BLACKFEET COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
edited by Alice B. Kehoe and Darrell R. Kipp
Darrell Kipp, director of the Piegan Institute on the Blackfeet Reservation
in Browning, Montana,
distributed to his Literature 290 students at Blackfeet Community College
as essay written by Lucien Hanks in 1942 and published in The Kansas
Anthropologist 18(1):45-58. The Students were instructed to analyze
the essay and respond in an essay of their own. All but one of the students
are Montana Piegan (Pikuni), allied with the Siksika and sharing language
and culture with that community; Susan Archambault is Assinibboine.
Here are the students' reactions to the half-century-old paper.
RESPONSE TO THE BLACKFEET COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
by Jane Richardson Hanks, North Bennington, Vermont
Book Reviews
The Howling Wolf and the History of Ledger Art by Joyce M.
Szabo
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Plains Indians A.D. 500-1500: The Archaeological Past of Historic
Groups edited by Karl H. Schlesier
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Ceramic Commodities and Common Containers: Production and Distribution
of White Mountain Red Ware in the Grasshopper Region, Arizona by
Daniela Triadan
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Plains Indian History and Culture: Essays on Continuity and Change
by John C. Ewers
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
People, Plants, and Landscapes: Studies in Paleoethnobotany
edited by Kristen J. Gremillion
Reviewed by Chris Benison
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 19 1998
WM. DUNCAN STRONG AND NEBRASKA ARCHEOLOGY IN THE 1930s
by Waldo R. Wedel, Smithsonian Institution
William Duncan Strong (1899-1962) taught at the University of Nebraska
from 1929 to 1931 and made a lasting impression on Nebraska and Plains
archeology. This paper, originally presented at the 50th Plains Anthropological
Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska, on November 12, 1992, offers a few
recollections, archeological and non-archeological, of Nebraska archeology
during Strong's brief stay in Nebraska. It recalls something of the
atmosphere in which archeology and certain other activities were carried
on and what Strong was up against.
CULTURAL RESOURCE INVESTIGATIONS AT THE LOWER CIMARRON (WAGON BED)
SPRING CAMP SITE (14GT101), GRANT COUNTY, KANSAS
by Christine Whitacre and Steven L. De Vore, Intermountain Support
Office - Denver, National Park Service
Lower Cimarron Spring (14GT101) was designated as a National Historic
Landmark (NHL) in 1 960 under the name Wagon Bed Springs. The present
project was conducted in order to better identify the actual boundary
of the NHL and to clarify the historic location of the spring. On August
6, 1998, us a result of this project, Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt
approved changing the name of the NHL to "Lower Cimarron Spring."
He also approved the expansion of the NHL boundary to include the historic
campground associated with the spring. Located in southwestern Kansas,
the Lower Cimarron Spring NHL is a historical archeological site that
encompasses approximately 195 acres in an agricultural area about 12
miles south of the farming community of Ulysses in Grant County, Kansas.
The site includes the Lower Cimarron Spring, which is now dry, its associated
campground, and several remnants of the Santa Fe Trail. The Cimarron
River formed a natural oundary for the historic camping area associated
with the spring, and archeological investigations have revealed a high
concentration of Santa Fe Trail-related artifacts within the site boundary.
FROM THE PLAINS AND BACK AGAIN
by James H. Gunnerson, University of Nebraska State Museum
The author traces his interest in Plains archeology from the time he
was 10 years old, through his college years in the 1940s and early 1950s
at the University of Nebraska, and to his subsequent graduate work at
Harvard. Midway through the latter he was diverted to Utah archeology
for six years. After completing his Ph.D. in 1963, he returned to Plains
archeology, first while at Northern Illinois University and finally
after returning to the University of Nebraska as museum director in
1974. During much of his professional career he has collaborated with
his wife, Dr Dolores (Dee) Gunnerson. Most of their research has focused
on the Apaches of the Plains.
SURFACE SURVEY IN THE CLINTON LAKE AREA
by Daryl Walters and John Peterson, Topeka and Lawrence, Kansas
This paper describes an amateur surface survey of prehistoric sites
in the Clinton Lake area. The
investigations were carried out over a five-year period from 1991 to
1996. Although the work was done by amateurs, close contact was maintained
with the Archeology Office of the Kansas Historical Society and the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers local office. A total of 27 sites were
relocated, and 7 new sites were recorded. The findings of this study
indicate extensive cultural occupations in the Early and Middle Ceramic
periods. There is some evidence of occupations in the Archaic period.
EXAMINATION OF SPACE AND SYMBOLISM IN THE PAWNEE EARTHLODGE
by Frederick W. Scott, Kansas Historical Society
The examination of the Pawnee earthlodge for the perception and use
of space in the structure by the culture has been conducted using the
available literature on the Pawnee. The examination has revealed various
themes in the evidence: religious symbolism is inherent in the structural
space, kinship and marriage patterns influence lodge residency, sex
and age set influence space division and its use in the lodge, and social
ranking influences the size and possibly the directional orientation
of the lodge. During this study problems were encountered concerning
the real and ideal of residence patterning, the ownership of a lodge,
and the importance of cosmological symbolism in the everyday life of
the lodge.
PREVIOUSLY UNREPORTED ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES IN SMOKY HILL TOWNSHIP,
McPHERSON COUNTY, KANSAS
by Doug Taylor, Farmington, New Mexico
The purpose of this study was to discover, describe, and map archeological
sites in McPherson County. The author conducted the field work during
the summer of 1988, when he was a part-time student at McPherson College
in McPherson, Kansas. He completed this paper to fulfill the requirements
of an Archeology Field Study class, instructed by Mrs. Catherine Goldsmith.
Book Reviews
Treasured Earth: Hattie Cosgrove's Mimbres Archaeology in the American
Southwest by Carolyn O'Bagy Davis
Reviewed by Marlin Hawley
Neanderthal: A Novel by John Darnton
Reviewed by Angie Paquette
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 20 1999
LIFE ON THE HIGH PLAINS BORDER: ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF THREE
LATE PREHISTORIC HABITATION SITES IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS
by C. Tod Bevitt, Wichita State University
This paper studies three Late Prehistoric (A.D. 1000-1500) habitation
sites in southwest Kansas through a reporting of fieldwork and analysis
of the materials recovered. It seeks to answer one question in particular:
Do these sites, which have been identified as components of the provisional
Wilmore complex, have the degree of similarity one would expect for
sites grouped under a common taxonomic term?
Fieldwork methods are reviewed, and the results of the individual
projects are discussed. Analysis encompasses all aspects of the assemblages:
ceramic and lithic artifacts and faunal and floral remains.
The result of this extensive analysis is that the three sites, while
bearing similarities on a broad scale, are distinct in important ways.
As a consequence, it is proposed that the Wilmore complex is no longer
a useful taxonomic term. While the research has rejected a narrow taxonomic
distinction for the three sites, it is proposed that a regional variant,
the Plains Border Variant, exists along the margin of the High Plains
and that the sites discussed here are components of that more general
taxonomic unit.
FAUNAL ANALYSIS OF THE BELL SITE (14CM407): IMPLICATIONS FOR WILMORE
COMPLEX SUBSISTENCE
by Joseph E. Beaver, University of Tulsa
The faunal assemblage from the Wilmore complex Bell site (14CM407)
is reported and analyzed. The collection is dominated by bison and deer
but also contains turtle, bird, and shellfish remains. Spatial, taphonomic,
economic, bison demographic, and seasonal analysis and their implications
for Wilmore complex subsistence patterns are presented. Particular attention
is paid to processing of' bison bones for marrow extraction. Also presented
is the bone tool assemblage. Comparisons are made to faunal assemblages
from other complexes, which may bear some similarities to the Wilmore
complex.
Book Reviews
At the Desert's Green Edge: An Ethnobotany of the Gila River Pima
by Amadeo M. Rea
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Surface Archaeology edited by Alan P. Sullivan III
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology
by Kenneth L. Feder Reviewed by Marlin F. Hawley
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 21 2000
THE HALLMAN SITE (14HP524), HARPER COUNTY, KANSAS: NEW LIGHT ON BLUFF
CREEK
by Marie H. Huhnke, Wichita State University
The Hallman site (14HP524) along with more than 40 other sites located
along Bluff Creek in south-central Kansas constitute the Bluff Creek
complex. Surface surveys and limited excavations have revealed projectile
points, scrapers, expediency tools, and some pottery that point to a
semi-sedentary culture, subsisting on hunting and some horticulture,
typical of Middle Ceramic phases. Previous analyses have linked the
Bluff Creek people to the south with Antelope Creek and Washita phases,
to the southeast with Mississippian peoples, and to the Central Plains.
Analysis of the Hallman site materials has shed light on a wide variety
of implements and tools consistent with other Bluff Creek sites and
also consistent with the model of the Bluff Creek complex as a northern
extension of a Southern Plains lifestyle. Both horticulture and bison
hunting were a substantial part of the Bluff Creek complex subsistence
strategy and suggest a more sedentary lifeway than originally believed.
FURTHER EXCAVATIONS OF A LIFE: FLOYD SCHULTZ REVISITED
by Marlin F Hawley, State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Clay Center, Kansas, businessman Floyd Schultz led a double life as
an amateur anthropologist excavating sites in the lower Republican River
valley and collecting material culture and filming activities on the
Potawatomi Reservation at Mayetta. The subject of several previous papers
(i.e., Hawley 1991a, 1991b, 1992, 1993), this paper adds detail on several
subjects: 1) his association with two directors of the Kansas Historical
Society, William Connelley and Kirke Mechem; 2) contact with George
Lamb, a Nebraska amateur archeologist and sometime assistant to A. T.
Hill, 3) botanical collection efforts on the Potawatomi Reservation,
and 4) his collaboration with Albert C. Spaulding. The paper is based
largely on primary source materials at the Kansas Historical Society
and the Smithsonian Institution.
NON-MOUND SCHULTZ PHASE BURIALS FROM THE ELLIOTT SITE, GEARY COUNTY,
KANSAS
by Donna C. Roper, Kansas State University
The collections from past excavations at the Elliott site in Geary
County contain fragmented human remains. These are here interpreted
to represent fragments of burials plowed out on this shallow site. A
case for associated funerary objects is strong, albeit circumstantial.
The burials are assigned to the Schultz phase and placed in time at
around A.D. 450-700. They are the only non-mound Schultz phase burials
encountered to date. Implications of the analysis for understanding
Schultz phase lifeways and mortuary behavior are discussed.
ARCHEOLOGY AT HARD CHIEF VILLAGE: AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY OF THE KANSA
INDIAN EXPERIENCE IN THE AMERICAN WEST, 1806- 1846
by James O. Marshall, Topeka, Kansas
This study is an addendum to previously published archeological reports
concerning excavations carried out at Hard Chief` village, 14SH301,
a historic Kansa Indian village. The excavators were members of the
Kansas Anthropological Association, participating in the 1987 Kansas
Archeology Training Program field school, sponsored by the Kansas Historical
Society. Added to the previous reports is a detailed description of
the recovered artifacts and an introductory historical review of events
and personalities that led to the establishment of the village and during
its occupation from 1830 to 1847. The presence of overlapping houses
tends to confirm historical documentation that Hard Chief abandoned
the site in 1844 and that another village, led by a chief identified
as Broken Thigh, existed there until 1847.
There were other occupants at the site, but they are only noted in
this report. The emphasis is on the Kansa Indian occupation. Some cord-roughened
pottery sherds and stone tools are identifiers of an earlier Woodland
culture known as the Grasshopper Falls phase. Other specimens are remnants
of modern farming activity.
THE AARON BLOCK PIPE FROM NORTHEASTERN KANSAS
by Alfred E. Johnson, University
of Kansas
A collection transferred from the Benedictine College Museum in Atchison,
Kansas, to the Museum of Anthropology at the University of Kansas included
a large sandstone effigy pipe. The pipe bears the name of a landowner
in the vicinity of Kickapoo, Kansas, whose land includes sites of the
Early Plains Village pattern. Similar pipes have been found in Steed-Kisker,
Pomona, and Nebraska culture sites in northeastern Kansas, suggesting
that the ritual activity represented by the pipe was widely shared.
Similarities are also evident with Mississippian pipes found in sites
to the East, especially sites affiliated with Cahokia and Spiro.
Book Reviews
Ants for Breakfast by James Skibo
Reviewed by Marlin F. Hawley
What Bones Tell Us by Jeffrey H. Schwartz
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Archaeology, A Very Short Introduction by Paul Bahn
Reviewed by Marlin F. Hawley
The Prehistory of Colorado and Adjacent Areas by Tammy Stone
Reviewed by Donna C. Roper
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 22 2001
EXPERIMENTS IN THE HEAT TREATMENT OF FLORENCE A CHERT: A PRELIMINARY
REPORT
by John D. Reynolds, Kansas Historical Society, and Harold Reed,
Greg Jackson, Salina, Kansas
The Archeology Office of the Kansas Historical Society investigated
portions of eight large Lower Walnut focus sites near Arkansas City,
Kansas. The presence of large quantities of Florence A or Kay County
chert, most in thermally altered form, on these sites attests to both
the importance of the stone itself and of heat treatment as an integral
part of its procurement and reduction into stone tools. Utilizing a
Lithic Technology class conducted as part of the 1994 Kansas Archeology
Training Program field school at the Killdeer site (14C0501), concurrent
exploratory investigations were made at 14C05, one of the large aboriginal
Florence A quarries. Some of the freshly quarried stone was then used
for experimental heat treating, both during and after the 1994 project.
These experiments suggest a feasible heat treating strategy and document
aspects of the physical and chemical changes that this chert undergoes
when it is subjected to
controlled heat in the 500? to 600? F (ca. 300? C) range for extended
periods. Several as yet unanswered questions are posed by the current
experiments.
CACHE OR TRASH? THE CHARACTERISTICS OF TWO LITHIC FEATURES FROM THE
BOOTH SITE (14CM406), COMANCHE COUNTY, KANSAS
by C. Tod Bevitt, Kansas Historical Society
Excavations conducted at the Booth site in 1989 recovered what were
then identified as two lithic caches composed primarily of Alibates
flakes. Caches may be generally described as stores of resources that
are hidden from view for the purpose of concealment and preservation
until such time as the materials are recovered by their owners.
In the context of habitation sites, the determination of the nature
of flake groups is difficult due to the presence of other cultural debris
but can be rewarding if the opportunity for analysis and cross comparison
presents itself. Additionally, the habitation site cache allows comparisons
with the general debris of the habitation.
This paper seeks to determine the validity of the cache designations
of two features through analysis of their respective settings within
the site and comparison of the characteristics of the individual lithic
specimens within each feature. Flake analysis also provides useful data
for determining the particular reduction strategy that created the flakes.
HILLTOP CAMPS
by Peter W. Bowman
A six-year archeological reconnaissance of the High Plains and Piedmont
physiographic regions of eastern Colorado was undertaken to identify
the relationships between site locations and certain topographic features.
The ultimate goal was to gain a better understanding of the setting
of the Herl site, a hilltop campsite in Greeley County, Kansas. A total
of 505 possible locations were checked, and 191 sites were recorded.
These were classified according to their topographic settings as Hilltop,
Valley, Blowout, Butte, or Pond and the resulting data were compared
with the findings of E. B. Renaud's Colorado High Plains survey. The
small and uneven sample revealed marked and consistent trends that reflected
the cultural factors in site location selection.
THE FINAL CONTEXT: KANSAS ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD SCHOOL INVESTIGATION
OF THE DB SITE, 1997
by Brad Logan, University of Kansas, Museum of Anthropology
DB (14LV1071) was a multi-component site on a loess·mantled
ridge that overlooks the Missouri River valley on the Fort Leavenworth
military reservation. Extensive excavations were done here from 1995
to 1996 to mitigate the effects of construction of a United States Disciplinary
Barracks. The last investigation of the site, subsequently destroyed
by prison construction, was undertaken by the Kansas Archaeological
Field School in 1997. The results of that work, which consisted of intensive
surface survey salvage mechanical stripping, and excavation of a 36-m2
block, are presented in this article and another by Daniel Pugh (herein).
The data provide additional support for the intermittent occupation
of this upland site during the Archaic, Woodland, and Late Prehistoric
periods. The data reflect the less frequent occurrence of camp activities
on the northwestern periphery of the site.
SPATIAL ANALYSES AND TESTS OF DISTURBANCE AT THE DB SITE, 14LV1071
by Daniel Pugh, University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology
The spatial distribution of artifacts from the DB site, a stratified,
multicomponent prehistoric site on the grounds of Fort Leavenworth,
is analyzed with particular attention to artifacts collected during
the 1997 KAFS field school. From this analysis, it appears that the
KAFS block was peripheral to the site's major Late Prehistoric activity
areas but that the overall stratigraphy previously noted remains throughout
the site. A set of tests also is performed to determine the extent and
nature of disturbance processes acting on this site.
FIVE SMOKY HILL PHASE HOUSES IN SALINE AND OTTAWA COUNTIES: THE WHITEFORD
EXCAVATIONS 1934-1945
by Donna C. Roper, Kansas State University
The Whiteford family of Salina is well known in Kansas for the excavation
and operation of the Indian Burial Pit, a Smoky Hill phase cemetery.
The Whitefords, however, excavated several other Smoky Hill phase sites
in the years 1934 to 1945, including five houses and one isolated burial.
In 1971 they donated all collections and records from those sites to
the Kansas Historical Society. The five houses and isolated burial are
here described. No architectural data are available for one house, and
its collection cannot be separated from a mixed aggregate of material,
An excellent floor plan and feature data are available for another house,
but the collection is not intact and was very small to begin with. Excellent
floor plans and feature data are available for the other three houses,
and their collections are intact or nearly so. Much valuable information
can be extracted from these houses and their collections. Some inter-house
comparisons are drawn, and adiscussion is presented of issues pertaining
to Smoky Hill phase and Central Plains culture history.
Book Reviews
Feast of the Dead: Aboriginal Ossuaries in Maryland by Dennis
C. Curry
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
American Muse: Anthropological Excursions into Art and Aesthetics
by Richard L. Anderson
Reviewed by Randall M. Thies
Death by Theory, A Tale of Mystery and Archaeological Theory
by Adrian Praet-Zellis
Reviewed by Marlin F. Hawley
Trails to Tiburón: The 1984 and 1895 Field Diaries of W
J McGee transcribed by Hazel McFeely Fontana
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 23 2002
PREFACE
by Laurel M. Udden, Minneapolis, Minnesota
This thematic issue, entitled "Johan August Udden and An Old Indian
Village, Revisited," opens with the comments of J. A. Udden's great
nephew.
INTRODUCTION
by Marlin F. Hawley, Wisconsin Historical Society
Volume 23 Editor Hawley provides the context for each commissioned
or reprinted journal article and acknowledges the contributions of the
authors
THE LIFE OF JOHAN AUGUST UDDEN, GEOLOGIST, TEACHER, INVENTOR: THROUGH
THE KANSAS YEARS
by James R. Underwood, Jr., Kansas State University
Johan August Udden, born in the village of Udd, Sweden in 1859, immigrated
with his family to the United States in 1861; they settled in a farming
community in Carver County, Minnesota. J. A. Udden attended Augustana
College and graduated in 1881, having completed a classical program
with emphasis in the natural sciences; he did not, however, have a formal
course in geology. He accepted a post in Lindsborg, Kansas, in the fall
of 1881 at Bethany Academy, later Bethany College, and remained there
until 1888, when he was invited to return to Augustana as the first
occupant of the Oscar II Chair of Natural History. He made the decision
during his stay at Bethany to make geology his career, and although
he did not publish his first scientific paper until after he returned
to Augustana, his early papers were based on observations made and materials
collected during his years in Kansas.
THE GEOLOGIC WORK OF J. A. UDDEN
by Richard C. Anderson, Augustana College
Udden's earliest geological studies were conducted in areas close to
home, the vicinity of Lindsborg, Kansas, and later, Rock Island, Illinois.
Most notable among his early work are his reports on the geology of
six counties in Iowa, published between 1899 and 1902; his report with
T. E. Savage on the geology of the Edgington and Milan Quadrangles in
Illinois; and his Belleville-Breese, Illinois, folio of the Geologic
Atlas of the United States with E. W. Shaw. These studies led Udden
to consider certain fundamental aspects of midwestern geology: the cyclic
nature of Pennsylvanian sedimentation, the configuration of the bedrock
surface beneath the glacial deposits, the origin of loess. He was among
the first to use well cuttings to determine subsurface geology and the
depth to bedrock. He collected wind-blown dust and analyzed its particle
size by sifting it through a series of screens, devising a logarithmic
scale to describe the particle sizes. From this he concluded that wind
was capable of producing the loess.
Udden began geological work in Texas during the summers of 1903 to
1905, while he was still teaching at Augustana College. In 1911 he joined
the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology and Technology, and in 1915 he
was appointed Director of the Bureau. In this position he advised the
regents of the University of Texas to drill for oil on the university
lands in west Texas, a decision that has brought great wealth to the
university. Udden was instrumental in the discovery and utilization
of Texas mineral resources, particularly quicksilver and potash. He
was a pioneer in the use of seismology to reveal subsurface geology.
According to one biographer, Udden ranks second only to Sam Houston
in the value of his service to the state of Texas.
"MORE'S THE PITY": THE SHORT ARCHEOLOGICAL CAREER OF J.
A. UDDEN
by Marlin F. Hawley, Wisconsin Historical Society
While at Bethany College in Kansas from 1881 to 1888, Johan A. Udden
conducted archeological
investigations at the Paint Creek site. In these excavations he was
not unique, as other would-be
archeologists investigated other sites throughout Kansas in this era.
A substantial collection of artifacts, including a fragment of chain
mail armor, resulted from the Paint Creek site excavations. The chain
mail pointed to contact between the site's inhabitants and Coronado
or some other Spanish entrada. The interest in the chain mail fragment
may have been what eventually spurred Udden to write his monograph,
An Old Indian Village, published in 1900. This monograph was in many
ways, especially in its attention to detail, ahead of its time. After
leaving Kansas in 1888, Udden conducted no further archeological research,
turning his attention to geology instead. He did maintain a general
interest in archeology, however.
TOPICS, THEMES, AND THEORIES IN LITTLE RIVER FOCUS ARCHEOLOGY: RESEARCH
AFTER UDDEN
by Susan C. Vehik, University of Oklahoma
Over 100 years ago J. A. Udden began research on the Paint Creek site
(14MP1). Today the Paint Creek site is included in the Little River
focus. Although minimal research was done on the Paint Creek site after
Udden, quite a bit of work took place at other Little River focus sites.
This essay discusses some of the issues that have confronted Little
River focus researchers over the years and comments upon possible future
research directions.
MEMORIES OF MY SOJOURN IN LINDSBORG
by J. A. Udden
Reprinted from The Smoky Valley in the After Years, edited by Ruth
Bergin Billdt and Elizabeth Jaderborg, pp. 80-84, Lindsborg News-Record,
Lindsborg, Kansas. Originally published in 1919 as Lindsborg Efter Femtio
Ar by Dr. Alfred Bergin, Augustana Book Concern, Rock Island, Illinois.
LIST OF PAPERS BY JOHAN A. UDDEN
by Marlin F. Hawley, Wisconsin Historical Society
The list of Udden's published papers presented here is based on Udden's
own privately printed 1924 compilation of his writings, as well as the
list of publications presented by Charles L. Baker in his 1933 "Memorial
of Johan August Udden" in the Bulletin of the Geological Society
of America 44:402-413, and by Monica Heiman in her 1963 biography, A
Pioneer Geologist, Biography of Johan August Udden. Udden's list omits
several entries included in the list by Heiman and vice versa. In a
few instances there are discrepancies between dates; generally, the
date chosen for this list defaults to Heiman's list. The intent is neither
a comprehensive bibliography for Dr. Udden nor a finding aid but rather
to give readers unfamiliar with his œuvre an idea of his of scientific
interests and output.
AN OLD INDIAN VILLAGE
by Johan August Udden
The 80-page monograph, published in 1900 by Augustana College, is reproduced
in facsimile form.
Book Review
Silver Horn: Master Illustrator of the Kiowas by Candace S.
Greene
Reviewed by Christine Garst
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 24 2003
"A COUNTRY FAR REMOVED FROM THE CIVILIZED WORLD:" THE 2001
KANSAS ARCHEOLOY TRAINING PROGRAM IN INDEPENDENCE CREEK
VALLEY, NORTHEASTERN KANSAS
by Brad Logan, Kansas State University
Over a two-week period in June 2001, the Kansas Anthropological Association
(KAA),
with the assistance of archeologists from the Kansas Historical Society,
conducted
the Kansas Archeology Training Program (KATP) in Atchison and Doniphan
counties in
northeastern Kansas. The program entailed surface surveys, shovel tests,
and limited test
excavations at selected sites in the Independence Creek watershed, a
tributary system of
the Missouri River. As a result of the program, 81 sites were investigated
in that area (7
others were recorded in other drainages in Doniphan County). In combination
with 35
previously recorded sites that were not investigated by the KATP participants,
the total
number of archeological sites in the watershed is now 116. These sites
include
components of the Archaic, Woodland, Late Prehistoric, Protohistoric,
and Historic
periods and occur in a variety of lowland and upland settings. This
article summarizes
the investigations done at KATP sites and their artifact assemblages.
Particular attention
is given to their suggested cultural-temporal affiliations and landscape
contexts as they
increase understanding of the human prehistory of the lower Missouri
Valley in
northeastern Kansas.
A NEBRASKA PHASE OCCUPATION AT THE LEARY SITE
by Jessica L. Middleton, Kansas State University
The Leary site (25RH1) in southeastern Nebraska until now has been
characterized as an
Oneota site, based on the ceramic assemblage excavated in 1935 and 1965.
This paper
describes a second component found at the site, a Nebraska phase of
the Central Plains
tradition component, based on analysis of 84 Nebraska phase rim sherds.
Analysis of 10
ceramic attributes, including temper, surface treatment, and rim form,
was used to
determine the presence of Nebraska phase ceramics at the Leary site.
THE 1970 EXCAVATION AT 14SA415: A SMOKY HILL PHASE LODGE
by Donna C. Roper, Kansas State University, and Harold Reed, Salina,
Kansas
Site 14SA415 is one of numerous Smoky Hill phase lodge sites in the
Salina area. A
1970 excavation on this site uncovered a single lodge and recovered
a large number of
ceramic, chipped stone, ground stone, and bone artifacts. The ceramics
are of particular
interest, for they share microstylistic commonalities with the pottery
from other nearby
sites, including several excavated lodges and the Indian Burial Pit,
and they contrast, in a
microstylistic sense, with Smoky Hill phase lodges in the Solomon River
valley. Newly
obtained radiocarbon dates reported here suggest that this is not a
matter of change over
time. Rather, the ceramic distribution patterns might suggest an identifiable
thirteenth-
century community in the present Salina area.
SANDSTONE CELTS?
by Harold Reed, Salina, Kansas
This paper proposes a function for Dakota sandstone celts and presents
the reasoning by
which the author arrived at the proposed function.
USE OF GEOPHYSICAL AND REMOTE SENSING TECHNOLOGY TO LOCATE AND DELINEATE
UNMARKED GRAVES IN KANSAS' CLAY-RICH SOILS
by Elizabeth R. Wilson-Agin, Emporia State University
Maplewood Memorial Lawn Cemetery in Emporia, Kansas, contains a tract
of land
documented as containing approximately 705 unmarked graves. In 1870
this area was set
aside as "Potter's Field" and used for burials of the underprivileged
and minorities. It
was sold to the Memorial Lawn Cemetery Association in 1928, and no more
burials were
recorded. In 2002-2003 research was carried out to determine the feasibility
of locating
unmarked graves in Potter's Field using geophysical technology, which
has proved to be
complex in Kansas' clay-rich soils. Positive identification of burials
with an
electromagnetic conductivity meter and kite aerial photography provided
conclusive
evidence that geophysical technology can be successful in finding not
only unmarked
graves but also archeological sites.
EARLY INVESTIGATIONS OF ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES IN THE LOWER WALNUT RIVER
VALLEY
by Marlin F. Hawley, Wisconsin Historical Society
The lower Walnut River valley in Kansas was the location of numerous
Native American
sites long before its settlement by Americans. The remains of these
villages and other
sites began to attract attention by the late 1870s and have since continued
to be of the
subject of investigation by natural scientists and later, as the goals
and methods of
archeology developed, by professionally trained archeologists. Using
stories from local
newspapers and other primary documents, together with unpublished materials,
this paper
reviews these early investigations from ca. 1870s to Waldo R. Wedel's
Smithsonian
Institution excavations in 1940.
AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GREAT BEND ASPECT –WICHITA ARCHEOLOGY
AND ETHNOHISTORY
by Marlin F. Hawley, Wisconsin Historical Society, and Donald J. Blakeslee,
Wichita State University
Investigations of sites now attributed to the Wichita and related peoples
have been
conducted for well over a century. In Kansas a major archeological contribution
began
with the systematic efforts of Waldo R. Wedel in 1934 and was followed
by additional
investigations of sites in central and south-central Kansas in 1940.
The results of
Wedel's work were presented in numerous papers and culminated with his
important
synthesis, An Introduction to Kansas Archeology. In these works Wedel
defined the
Great Bend aspect and two foci, cautiously inferentially linking the
archeological remains
to Coronado's Quivira and, thus, to the Wichita. Mildred M. Wedel meanwhile
pursued
the Wichita through extant historic Spanish, French, and American documentary
sources,
the results of which were presented in several elegant, thought-provoking
essays. In
recent years there has been a renaissance in Great Bend aspect-Wichita
studies with
renewed excavation, the long overdue study of existing collections,
and fresh
interpretations of data.
The following bibliography is comprised of references on Great Bend
aspect and Wichita
archeology, ethnohistory, history, and other aspects of Wichita culture
largely published
after 1967, the year that A Pilot Study of Wichita Archeology and Ethnohistory,
edited by
Robert E. Bell, Edward B. Jelks, and W. W. Newcomb, came out. Given
this cut-off
date, the intent in compiling this list was to make it as complete as
possible, particularly
with respect to archeological and ethnohistoric resources. At the same
time, the
bibliography has a Kansas focus, and thus some older Kansas-specific
items—that is,
items predating 1967 and, with one or two exceptions, not cited in the
pilot study—have
been included here. Numerous cultural resources management (CRM) reports
also have
been included, with the caveat that there are doubtless more of these
that could be added,
though admittedly many of these reports (whether included here or not)
will have varying
degrees of utility for Great Bend-Wichita researchers. Copies of reports
for compliance
projects in Kansas generally can be obtained for the cost of copying
from the State
Historic Preservation Office at the Kansas Historical Society. Finally,
while web-
based resources exist—The Handbook of Texas On-line, for instance—this
bibliography
is limited to less mutable, conventionally published documents. In the
end it is hoped
that this document will further the study of the Great Bend aspect and
the Wichita.
Book Reviews
Telling Stories the Kiowa Way by Gus Palmer, Jr.
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Plains Indian Rock Art by James D. Keyser and Michael A. Klassen
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
The Kansas Anthropologist
Volume 25 2004
A SOLOMON RIVER PHASE HABITATION SITE (14ML417):
RESULTS OF THE 1980 KATP FIELD SCHOOL
by Mark Latham, Burns & McDonnell, Inc.
This report describes the results of an archeological investigation
of a Solomon River phase house site in north-central Kansas. Site 14ML417
is situated on a terrace in a cultivated field overlooking Limestone
Creek, a major tributary of the Solomon River in Mitchell County. In
June 1980 an archeological investigation of the site was undertaken
by the Kansas Historical Society (KSHS) and the Kansas Anthropological
Association (KAA). A series of magnetometer tests indicated that there
was a strong possibility of buried features. The site was divided into
three arbitrary areas, and 358 m2 were excavated to a depth of 30 cm.
The excavation revealed a floor of an earthlodge with a radiocarbon
date of 850+50 B.P. (Beta 3334), with a calibrated age of 1160-1260
B.P. Evidence of a second lodge floor was found, but years of cultivation
and pipeline and road construction appear to have destroyed it.
CERAMIC ARTIFACTS FROM THE HALLMAN SITE (14HP524), A BLUFF CREEK COMPLEX
SITE IN HARPER COUNTY, KANSAS
by Shelly Berger, University of Kansas
The Hallman site (14HP524) is located along a tributary of Bluff Creek,
not far from the Oklahoma-Kansas border, and dates to around A.D. 1280.
This Middle Ceramic site exhibits influences from both the Central and
Southern Plains traditions; however, because only a few sites of the
Bluff Creek complex have been systematically investigated, the significance
of both the Hallman site and Bluff Creek complex is unclear.
This paper is a descriptive analysis of the ceramic assemblage from
the Hallman site with the intent of understanding its temporal and spatial
position in Central and Southern Plains archeology, as well as determining
the site’s relationship to contemporaneous archeological complexes.
Seriations were created to clarify the temporal positions of the Hallman
site and Bluff Creek complex relative to each other and to the surrounding
cultural groups. Other issues examined herein include intra-site sherd
distribution and site features to help establish how the site was used
and sherd refit locations to estimate how much disturbance had occurred
within the site itself. Recent archeological literature pertaining to
the Hallman site also was examined.
WATERWAY DISCOVERIES AT THE MALONE SITE (14RC5)
by Randall M. Thies, Kansas Historical Society
In 1996 earthmoving associated with waterway construction at a protohistoric
Great Bend aspect habitation site, known as the Malone Site (14RC5),
resulted in the discovery of several subterranean features, primarily
trash-filled storage pits. Kansas Historical Society archeologists investigated
those features, documented their locations for future researchers, and
gained a significant body of data pertaining to the occupation of the
site, most notably a radiocarbon date indicating that occupation occurred
sometime between A.D. 1432 and 1657.
FOSSIL FINDS AND ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES REPORTED IN MANHATTAN’S NEWSPAPERS
by Patricia J. O’Brien, Kansas State University
While engaged in research on other topics, references to late Pleistocene
faunal remains and archeological sites were gleaned from Manhattan-area
newspapers. The items were collected in this paper with the hope that
they might be useful in contemporary archeological research.
Book Reviews
The Western: The Greatest Texas Cattle Trail 1874-1886 by
Gary and Margaret Kraisinger
Reviewed by Mary Conrad
Pendejo Cave, edited by Richard S. MacNeish and Jane G. Libby
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Ishi’s Brain: In Search of America’s Last “Wild
Indian” by Orin Starn
Reviewed by Randall M. Thies
Before Lewis and Clark: The Story of the Chouteaus, the French
Dynasty that Ruled America’s Frontier by Shirley Christian
Reviewed by James O. Marshall
Laser Ablation-ICP-MS in Archaeological Research edited by
Robert J. Speakman and Hector Neff
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smithsonian Forensic
Scientist and the Legal Battle for America’s Oldest Skeletons
by Jeff Benedict
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
Ancient Burial Practices in the American Southwest: Archaeology,
Physical Anthropology, and Nature American Perspectives, edited
by Douglas R. Mitchell and Judy L. Brunson-Hadley
Reviewed by Jim D. Feagins
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