Here, we consider the last decades of ceramic manufacture among the Pawnee in the Central Great Plains, using petrographic analysis to explore raw material availability and use at the Kitkahahki Town site (14RP1). Historical documents reveal tremendous regional pressures and conflicts in the Kitkahahki Town area during its occupation in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries—processes that could have altered or restricted the movement of women outside village boundaries. Contact-era Pawnee pottery from Kitkahahki Town exhibits atypical paste textures, atypical inclusions, or both. At least one potter used atypical materials available immediately adjacent to the village, which suggests that ceramic raw material collection was at least occasionally adjusted to reduce risk. Petrographic analysis contributes to our understanding of Indigenous communities in colonial settings, particularly to questions of technological change and landscape use when both were intensely negotiated and rapidly changing.

Hart and Lovis clearly hold different views than do I about how to view incongruities in age determinations on food residue as compared to those on context dates on other short-lived materials. I explain how I came to the conclusions I drew in my earlier study (Roper 2013a) and suggest that I am evaluating my results, and those of others, by looking for patterns in the incongruities, rather than individually explaining away incongruent dates. I also briefly review some work with a collaborator being undertaken to correct the obvious problem with age-offset dates on residue.

We report results of the geochemical analysis of three obsidian objects from two Early Archaic Logan Creek complex, sites in Nebraska, 25FT376 and 25GY12. These are the only obsidian artifacts of this age on the Central Plains and are the oldest geochemically analyzed obsidian specimens from the region. All are identified to the Malad, Idaho, source area. A brief discussion places the objects in a regional context.

The results of in situ shallow subsurface reflectance spectroscopy surveys at two late 18th – 19th century Native American sites in Kansas contribute to a growing literature on the chemical characterization of anthropogenic features at archaeological sites. Near infrared and visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy of known sub-soil features (hearths, storage pits, earthlodge walls, living surfaces, and defensive palisades) yielded characteristic signatures distinguishable from background spectra of adjacent locations. The spectra, obtained by insertion of a reflectance probe into the ground to depths up to 1 m at a series of locations, are further correlated with: electrical resistivity and magnetic gradiometry surveys; electrical conductivity and insertion force (soil compaction) contour plots; organic carbon, phosphorus, magnesium, and calcium spectra from analysis of core samples; and archaeological features recorded via excavation. The close spatial correlation of the spectroscopic data with known archaeological features supplements traditional topographic, surface, and subsurface geophysical survey methods by providing chemical information about ancient features and activity areas. The in situ recording of data has significant advantages over laboratory-based analyses.

Age offsets of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) assays on food residue taken from pottery vessels are well-documented in Europe and Asia in cultural contexts were freshwater aquatic products are attested, but are less well studied in North America. The present study examines a series of residue dates from the late prehistoric Central Plains of North America, comparing them with context dates run on annual plant remains. At least 13 of 23 assays are either incongruent with ages on annual plant remains, inconsistent among themselves within a site, or not credible for their cultural context. The conclusion is that food residue from ceramics does not produce consistently accurate dates. Some possible factors that may serve to introduce old carbon to residue samples are discussed. It also is noted that one's conclusions about the reliability of residue may be conditioned by the precision of the age determinations and by the goals of a specific chronology-building effort.

Abstract I report 16 new AMS age determinations on short-lived plant materials or ceramic residue from seven Central Plains tradition sites in Kansas and Nebraska. Before showing how these new dates contribute to improving the Central Plains tradition chronology, I assess the accuracy of the dates and provide comments on the effects of sample size on date accuracy, the use of small twigs for dating, and the reliability and accuracy of dates on ceramic residue. The new dates place these sites in the very late thirteenth or the fourteenth century. The new dates from sites in western Kansas and Nebraska, however, cannot yet be compared with previously obtained dates from nearby sites, since most of these previously obtained dates were on wood charcoal. New dates on short-lived remains from these sites are needed.

We report an additional 15 AMS age determinations on annual plants or ceramic residue from eight Central Plains tradition sites in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska. Age determinations are presented and problems with dating ceramic residue are discussed.

The Central Plains have not been included in recent coverage of issues related to the use of shell-tempered pottery in eastern North America. It has been known for over a century that this material does appear on the Central Plains. Its spatial and temporal distribution, however, are not well understood, and issues related to its presence and technology have only recently begun to receive needed attention. This paper reviews the status of what we know about the spatial and temporal distribution of shell-tempered pottery on the Central Plains by compiling data from many sources and visually portraying their patterning. Some factors affecting the distribution then are discussed, with particular attention given to firing and raw material properties. Vessel form and function, and decoration and its implications, also are briefly discussed.

We report 45 newly-obtained dates for selected Central Plains tradition sites. Of these, 39 dates are from sites assigned to the Smoky Hill phase of central and north-central Kansas; the other six are from sites assigned to the Steed-Kisker phase or south end of the Nebraska phase. All dates were assayed by AMS dating, and all were run on annual plants or residue from ceramics. Before assessing the chronology as reflected by these dates, we consider the advantages of using annual deposits rather than wood charcoal for dating and illustrate the practical effects for Central Plains tradition chronology by comparing the distribution of ages of previously-obtained age determinations on wood charcoal with the distribution of ages on annual plants. The analysis shows that dating annual plants produces a tighter and more objectively interpreted age distribution. The calibrated dates are then evaluated and the implications for Central Plains tradition chronology are discussed

Archaeological site 14RC410, assigned to the Little River focus of the Great Bend aspect, was partially excavated in 2005. The recovered assemblage gave the distinct impression that this was an early Little River focus site. Although more precise temporal placement was uncertain, it was possible that the site was just early enough that calibration of radiometric age determinations might avoid the calibration curve fluctuations that have made it difficult to make temporal distinctions within the Little River focus. Accordingly, 14 age determinations were obtained on corn or grass matting. Five of the dated samples apparently were modern contaminants; the other nine placed 14RC410 solidly in the 1400s, indeed making 14RC410 an early Little River focus component. This temporal placement allowed a partial tracing of the changes between 14RC410 and its predecessors, and between 14RC410 and later Little River focus sites.

Late prehistoric sites on the Central Plains contain both grit/grog- (mineral-) tempered pottery and shell-tempered pottery. This appearance of shell-tempered pottery around cal A.D. 1000 has traditionally been explained as a colonization from the Mississippi River valley with further dispersal via trade. As a result, very little is known about the role of this material in the region. We report the results of a provenance analysis of shell-tempered pottery from seven sites extending from the Missouri River valley to north-central Kansas. We use petrography and oxidation analysis to compare the shell-tempered pottery across these localities and the shell-tempered to the mineral-tempered pottery from each locality, and we compare mineral inclusions and clay characteristics in all pottery with published geological and pedological information for each locality. The results demonstrate that shell-tempered pottery was locally produced throughout at least a portion of the Central Plains. Differences in firing technology are apparent across the study area and may play a role in the distribution of shell-tempered pottery. Two other results are the identification of composite temper in a notable proportion of the sherds studied, and indications of from where on the landscape Central Plains potters were procuring their raw materials.

Lyman et al.’s recent history of graphic depictions of culture change attributes the first use of bar graphs to James Ford in 1935. Ford, though, was anticipated in 1915 by Frederick Sterns, working with pottery from 27 late prehistoric Nebraska phase lodge sites in eastern Nebraska. Sterns used both tabular data summaries and divided bar graphs to show ordered variation over space in vessel neck diameter, types of appendages, and type of decoration. Underlying this analysis was a conception of these dimensions as varying independently of one another. Geographic groups within the Nebraska phase therefore exhibit clinal variation and can be characterized by differing proportions of attributes. Sterns’s work never became very well-known as archaeologists on the Central Plains turned to typological analysis for organizing pottery assemblages.

Lyman et al.'s recent history of graphic depictions of culture change attributes the first use of bar graphs to James Ford in 1935. Ford, though, was anticipated in 1915 by, Frederick Sterns, working with pottery from 2 7 late prehistoric Nebraska phase lodge sites in eastern Nebraska. Sterns used both tabular data summaries and divided bar graphs to show ordered variation over space in vessel neck diameter, types of appendages, and type of decoration. Underlying this analysis was a conception of these dimensions as varying independently of one another. Geographic groups within the Nebraska phase therefore exhibit clinal variation and can be characterized by differing proportions of attributes. Sterns's work never became very well-known as archaeologists on the Central Plains turned to typological analysis for organizing pottery assemblages.

We report the results of a study applying instrumental neutron activation analysis (NAA) to pottery from eight sites assigned to the western part of the Central Plains tradition (Upper Republican and Smoky Hill phases) and six components identified as High Plains Upper Republican. Our purpose is to test the feasibility of using NAA to trace interactions among people of the Central Plains tradition and between the Central Plains tradition people and their counterparts on the High Plains. Results of the statistical analysis, which was performed using the chemical data for both newly sampled sites and previously studied sites (as reported by Cobry), suggest that NAA is a usable method for evaluating the movement of pottery for at least parts of the Central Plains tradition. Samples from four sites on Medicine Creek as well as the Albert Bell and LeBeau sites formed a single homogeneous group referred to as the Central Plains Reference Group. Samples from the other sites, however, formed distinct groups for each site and also reflected some interaction with their contemporaries. We discuss the implications of these results, some of the questions that remain, and the need for continued sampling.

Mark Mitchell's analysis of the legacy of the Missouri Basin Project (MBP) identified the direct historical approach as one discourse that shaped the MBP legacy. While that identification is certainly correct, the discussion is too limited in two ways. First, the use of the direct historical approach for tracing ethnicity was more limited than is generally recognized. Second, and more seriously, the rich documentary and ethnographic record of the Plains Village lifeway became a too readily used source of specific analogies for reading the archaeological record. Theory became irrelevant. Some of the numerous inaccuracies this produced are only recently being corrected.

During the excavations of the XIX century Meadowlark cemetery (Manhattan, Kansas, US), samples of sediments were taken from around five skeletons, and analyzed to detect intestinal parasites. No helminth eggs were found, but immunological ELISA tests for Entamoeba histolytica were positive in three samples. The immunological techniques have been successfully used in paleoparasitology to detect protozoan infections. Amoebiasis could have been a severe disease in the past, especially where poor sanitary conditions prevailed, and there is evidence that this cemetery may have been used in a situation where poor sanitary conditions may have prevailed. The presence of this protozoan in US during the late XIX century gives information on the health of the population and provides additional data on the parasite's evolution since its appearance in the New World.

The settlement pattern of the Great Bend aspect site group at Marion, Kansas includes both flood-plain and upland sites and has always been considered something of an enigma. Recent studies show that sites are linearly arranged and are strung along a natural levee and bluff edge where the bluff is near the river. Access to large expanses of soil suitable for cultivation with a bone hoe technology is the key to understanding the settlement pattern, however. The Marion group settlement pattern is similar to that of the Lower Walnut focus sites and both are reminiscent of Mississippian settlement patterns in the Southeast. The settlement pattern of the Little River focus sites is somewhat different and it is this group that poses the real Great Bend aspect settlement pattern enigma.

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