Phase I Archeological Research Program for the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site: Part I: Objectives, Methods, and Summaries of Baseline Studies

204 Pages·1993·9.5 MB·English

by  Thiessen, Thomas

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I
THE PHASE ARCHEOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
I
FOR THE KNIFE RIVER INDIAN VILLAGES
NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
^' *V
PARTI: OBJECTIVES, METHODS, C
AND SUMMARIES OF BASELINE STUDIES
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS
I
DEPOSITORY ITEM
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DEC 5 2000
MIDWEST ARCHEOLOGICAL CENTER
CLEMSON
LIBRARY

THE PHASE ARCHEOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROGRAM FORTHE
I
KNIFE RIVER INDIAN VILLAGES NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE,
PART OBJECTIVES, METHODS, AND
I:
SUMMARIES OF BASELINE STUDIES
Edited by
Thomas D. Thiessen
Midwest Archeological Center
Occasional Studies in Anthropology
No. 27
Series Editor
F. A. Calabrese
Produced for the Rocky Mountain Region, National Park Service
United States Department ofthe Interior
National Park Service
Midwest Archeological Center
Lincoln, Nebraska
1993
Second Printing
October 2000
TABLEOFCONTENTS
TableofContents i
ListofTables iii
ListofFigures v
ListofAbbreviationsUsed vi
Preface vii
A
1. HistoryandOverviewofthe Knife River IndianVillagesNationalHistoric Site Phase I ResearchProgram,
byF. A. Calabrese
Introduction 1
Administrative Background 1
The Cooperative Relationshipwith the UniversityofNorthDakota 3
Archeological Objectives 8
ResearchSubprograms 9
Conclusion 18
ReferencesCited 20
2. Archeological Study Previous to the KNRI Program,
byStanleyA. Ahler
Introduction 27
GeneralOverviewofPrevious Studies 27
Culture-Historic Schemes for the Upper Knife-Heart Region 32
ReferencesCited 42
3. The Archeological Research Designfor the KNRI,
byStanleyA. Ahler
Discussion 47
References Cited 50
4. The KNRI Archeological InventorySubprogram,
byStanleyA. Ahler
Introduction 51
Methods andProcedures 51
SummaryofCulture-Historic andDescriptive/FunctionalClassifications 55
ReferencesCited 67
5. The KNRI Phase I ExcavationSubprogram,
byStanleyA. Ahler
Introduction 71
i
Procedures 71
ProblemOrientedTesting 73
TestingforEvaluation 76
Salvage Excavations 77
AssessmentofProblemOrientedObjectives 79
SumaryofCulturalComponents at ExcavatedSites 89
References Cited 91
6. The KNRI ControlledSurface CollectionSubprogram,
byStanleyA. Ahler
Discussion 95
References Cited 100
7. AnalysisofExistingCollections,
byStanleyA. Ahler
Introduction 103
The Comparative Collections 104
References Cited Ill
8. The KNRI Phase I Chronometric Subprogram,
byStanleyA. Ahler andHerbert Haas
Introduction 115
Radiocarbon Dating 116
Thermoluminescence Dating 139
Obsidian Hydration Dating 149
Archeomagnetic Dating 151
Summary andComparisonofRadiocarbonandThermoluminescence Dating 153
References Cited 161
9. Aerial Photography andMappingat the KNRI,
byThomas D. Thiessen
Introduction 167
ImageryandSite Maps ExistingPrior to 1976 167
Aerial Photography and Photogrammetric Mappingin the KNRI, 1976-1978 169
InterpretationofResults 173
References Cited 174
10. The KNRI MagnetometerSurvey andMappingSubprogram,
by Robert K. Nickel
History 177
UnderlyingPrinciples 178
KNRI Magnetic SurveyMethodology 180
Results 182
References Cited 185
LISTOFTABLES
Table Page
1.1. Archeologicalinvestigations atKnife River IndianVillagesNationalHistoric Site, 1976-1988 5
2.1. Outline ofthe Will andHecker (1944) culture-historic sequence as itapplies to PlainsVillage sites in
the upper Knife-Heartregion 33
2.2. Outline ofthe Bowers (1948) culture-historicscheme as it applies to PlainsVillage sites in the upper
Knife-HeartandGarrisonregions 34
2.3. Outline ofthe Lehmer (1971) culture-historicclassificationas it applies to PlainsVillage sites in the
upper Knife-HeartandGarrisonregions 37
2.4. Outline ofthe Wood (1980a) culture-historic classificationasitapplies to PlainsVillage sites inthe
upperKnife-Heart andGarrisonregions 39
2.5. Summaryofprevious taxonomicclassificationsofmajorPlainsVillage traditionsites in the upper
Knife-Heart andGarrisonregions, NorthDakota 40
4.1. Summaryofthe culture-historicclassificationofsitesrecordedin the Knife River IndianVillages
NationalHistoric Site 56
4.2. Summaryofthe descriptive/functionalclassificationofsites recordedin the Knife River IndianVillages
National Historic Site 57
5.1. SummarydataonPhase I archeologicalexcavations atsitesinthe KNRI since 1976 72
5.2. Generalsummaryofartifacts recoveredinNPS-sponsoredexcavationprograms at archeological sites
inthe KNRI 80
5.3. Quantificationofselected artifactclassesrecoveredbywaterscreened, fine-meshrecoveryforsites
excavatedin the Phase I KNRI archeologicalprogram 81
5.4. Densityincounts (n) orweight (kg) percubicmeterforselectedgeneralartifactclassesrecoveredby
waterscreen, fine-meshproceduresinKNRI excavatedsites 82
5.5. Cost analysis for Phase I excavation, analysis, andreportingforsitesinthe KNRI 83
5.6. Comparisonofrecoveredartifactdensityinwaterscreenedexcavationsampleswithlaboratorycosts
and totalcostson acubicmeterbasisforKNRI excavatedsites 85
5.7. Summaryofculturalcomponents andperiodsofoccupationrecognizedatexcavatedsites in the KNRI 90
6.1. Artifactinventoryfor totalcontrolledsurface collections atsiteswithin the KNRI 96
ui
Table Page
6.2. Artifactinventory forselective controlledsurface collections at sites within the KNRI 99
7.1. Inventoryofexistingartifactcollections fromsitesoutside the KNRI whichhavebeenincluded in the
KNRI Phase I analysis program 104
8.1. Summaryinformationonradiocarbondates fromgeologiccontexts inthe upperKnife-Heartregionof
the Missouri Rivervalley 118
8.2. Summaryofradiocarbondatesfromarcheologicalcomponents inthe upperKnife-Heartregionand
fromother sites usedin this study, arrangedfromsouthto northalongthe Missouri River 119
8.3. Summarydataoncorrectedradiocarbondates fromPlainsVillage components inthe upperKnife-
Heartregion andother areas 131
8.4. Sequential arrangementofupperKnife-Heartregion analyticbatchesbasedoncorrected twosigma
range midpoint dates 139
8.5. Summaryofresults ofthermoluminescence datingforpotteryfromsites in the KNRI and the upper
Knife-Heartregion 141
8.6. Summaryofpooledmean thermoluminescence dates for archeologicalsites in the KNRI, organizedby
analytic batches 147
8.7. Summaryofpooledmean thermoluminescence dates forarcheologicalsitesinthe KNRI, insequence
bybatchaccording to increasingage 148
8.8. Summaryinformationonobsidianhydrationdatingresults forKNRI samples 150
8.9. Summaryofchronometric datinginformationandbestestimates ofactualchronologies foranalytic
batches fordated PlainsVillage sitesrelevant to the KNRI program 154
9.1. Maps ofKNRI archeologicalsites producedprior to 1976 168
9.2. Non-NPS-sponsoredaerialphotographs takenofthe Knife River IndianVillages NationalHistoric Site,
1938-1976 170
9.3. Aerialphotographs takenofthe Knife RiverIndianVillagesHistoric Site, 1976-1988 171
9.4. Maps producedfor the Knife RiverIndianVillagesNationalHistoricSite Phase I researchprogram,
1976-1978 172
10.1 Magnetic surveycoverage ofKNRI listedbysite 182
IV
LISTOF FIGURES
Figure Page
4.1. Distributionofallknownarcheologicalandhistoricsitesinthe KNRI 54
4.2. Distributionofsiteswithpre-PlainsVillage periodcomponentsinthe KNRI 59
4.3. DistributionofsiteswithScatteredVillage complexorNailatiphase components in the KNRI 61
4-4. Distributionofmajorvillages andchronologicallyrelatedcomponents atothersites organizedby
descriptive/functionalgroupings, KNRI 63
4.5. DistributionofsiteswithEuroamericantraditioncomponents in the KNRI 66
7.1. Plains Village andothersitesinthe upperKnife-Heartregionand the Garrisonregionwhich are
discussedin the KNRI comparative analysis program 107
8.1. Pooledmeanradiocarbonandthermoluminescence datesfor analyticbatches frommajorvillage sites
in the KNRI, withrangesplottedat twosigma 156
8.2. Pooledmeanradiocarbonandthermoluminescence datesbyanalyticbatchforarcheologicalsites in
the upperKnife-Heartregionandelsewhere usedin the KNRI comparative study, withranges plotted
at two sigma. ContinuedinFigure 8.3 157
8.3. Pooledmeanradiocarbonandthermoluminescence datesbyanalyticbatchfor archeologicalsites in
the upperKnife-Heartregionandelsewhere usedin the KNRI comparative study, withranges plotted
A
at twosigma. continuationfromFigure 8.2 158
LISTOFABBREVIATIONS USED
The followingabbreviations/acronymns appear in the fourpartsofthisvolume:
BP before the present (calculatedfromAD 1950)
C-14: carbon-14, orradiocarbon
IASP InteragencyArcheologicalSalvage Program
KNRI Knife RiverIndianVillagesNational Historic Site
KRF Knife RiverFlint
MWAC
MidwestArcheologicalCenter
MNI minimumnumberofindividuals
NARS NationalArchives and Records Service
NISP numberofidentifiedspecimens
NPS National ParkService
RCYBP radiocarbonyearsbefore present (calculatedfromAD 1950)
SHSND State HistoricalSocietyofNorth Dakota
SIRBS Smithsonian InstitutionRiverBasinSurveys
SMU
SouthernMethodistUniversity
TL thermoluminescence
TRSS Tongue RiverSilicifiedSediment
UGA
UniversityofGeorgia
UND
UniversityofNorth Dakota
WU
WashingtonUniversity
vi