The Kansas State Historical Society is seeking a Principal Investigator
to lead excavations, analyze material, and produce a report on results
of investigations at the Pawnee Indian Village (14RP1) to be conducted
in Summer, 2008. Laboratory analysis of previously-excavated material
would begin January 1, 2008.
Please visit the Kansas Department of Administration website for
instructions for submitting a proposal:
http://www.da.ks.gov/purch/RFQ/default.asp
Scroll down to the date 12/20/2007 in the left column and look for bid
number 10931.
General information is below. Deadline is 2:00 PM, December 20, 2007
*Request for Quotes*
*Principal Investigator, Archeological Excavation, Analysis, and Report*
*Archaeological Site 14RP1*
The Kansas State Historical Society (KSHS) is requesting bids for a
Principal Investigator to carry out tasks related to archeological
investigations of a ca. 1750-1825 Pawnee village site, 14RP1, near
Republic, Kansas. Information about the site, references to published
material, information on publication venues and associated programs are
available upon request and recommended for anyone making a proposal.
Required work and deliverables:
* Describe and conduct a preliminary analysis of previously
excavated material beginning January 1, 2008, completing a
descriptive report by June 30, 2008. These artifacts are
cataloged and have a volume of approximately 28.25 cubic feet (see
Table1).
* Create a brochure highlighting excavation results to be
distributed to site visitors, created in conjunction with KSHS staff
* Deliver at least one talk for the general public about the site
excavation
* Lead field school excavations of portions of a house and other
features at 14RP1 between May 31 and June 15, 2008. The
excavations will be carried out as part of the 2008 Kansas
Archeology Training Program field school
(http://www.kshs.org/resource/katphome.htm)
* Describe and analyze excavated material from the 2008 field season
* Write one short article (about 1500 words) in /Kansas
Preservation/ (http://www.kshs.org/resource/kpnews.htm) for the
general public about the site excavation
* Write a substantial article detailing and interpreting the results
of the excavation in /The Kansas Anthropologist/
* Provide a technical report of 2008 investigations by August 15, 2009
The Kansas State Historical Society will provide:
o Access to collections from the site, either on-site or via loan
o Transportation while in the field
o Field support and equipment (does not include lodging or per
diem for Principal Investigator while in the field)
o A minimum of 3000 volunteer and professional person hours for
excavation between the dates of May 31 and June 15, 2008
o Transportation of collections from the site to the Kansas State
Historical Society
o Assistance with site and artifact photographs for presentations
and publications
o Assistance in acquiring previous field records and publications
o Editorial assistance for publications
_______________________________________________
*Research Design, 14RP1, 2008 Fieldwork and 1960s Collection*
Kansas State Historical Society**
* *
Background
14RP1 (Kansas Monument site, Pike's Pawnee Village, Pawnee Indian
Village) is a National Landmark. Once thought to be a site visited by
Zebulon Pike in 1806, this is now known to be incorrect, as that is the
Hill site in Nebraska. Nevertheless, a large stone monument erected at
14RP1 in 1901 declares it to be the Pike village.
The Kansas Historical Society owns about six acres of the site.
Possibly one third to one half of the site is in a privately-owned wheat
field to the south and has been heavily impacted by farming and looting.
The state-owned area contains surface evidence of 22 houses, numerous
storage pits and barrow areas, and portions of a fortification (Figure
1, removed for posting on HISTARCH). Professional archeologists have
excavated eleven houses. Carlyle Smith (1950 a, b) excavated Houses 1
and 2. Kansas State Archeologist Thomas Witty excavated Houses 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 22, and 23 along with several pit features and some burials
between 1965 and 1967 (Witty 1968). The excavated and in-place remains
of House 5 serve as the basis for the central display in the Pawnee
Indian Village Museum. Witty also excavated houses 24 and 25 in advance
of destruction from roadwork in 1968.
There are few reports of these excavations. Smith (1950a, b) and Witty
(1968) provide brief reports of their work. Grange (1968) includes
14RP1 sherds in his seriation of Pawnee pottery, and Roberts (1978)
includes all classes of artifacts from Houses 1 and 2, but includes only
the pottery from Houses 3-7 and 24-25 in his 1978 thesis.
Houses exist---or used to exist---south of the state owned property;
Smith put a trench through one. These houses are in a field that has
been under cultivation for decades. While this part of the site is
endangered if not destroyed, the landowner will not allow archeological
excavation. Oral history is that the southern end of the portion of the
site now owned by the state was being plowed when local resident
Elizabeth Johnson made the farmer stop in an effort to protect the
site. It was Ms. Johnson who donated the six acre portion of the site
now owned by the state to the people of Kansas. No house depressions
are visible in the state-owned part of the site that reportedly was
plowed. However, a geophysical survey of the site conducted in 2007
reveals the presence of at least one house in the reportedly plowed area
(Figure 2, removed for posting on HISTARCH, but see
http://www.archaeophysics.com/pawnee/index.html). Recent probing
revealed a hearth in the center of this anomaly, further indicating the
probability of a previously unknown house. Two other anomalies also may
be houses but are not as clear.
House depressions are clearly visible in the northern portion of the
state-owned part of the site. Some of these have been excavated and
restored; others have not been excavated. As part of the interpretation
of the site for the public, a sidewalk that passes among the house
depressions with descriptive signs. The detection of the previously
unknown house presents an opportunity to excavate a house on this
well-known but under-documented site without disturbing the public
education value of the rest of the site.
*Proposed Fieldwork*
The Kansas State Historical Society and the Kansas Anthropological
Association intend to excavate a portion of the newly discovered house
identified by geophysical survey. This fieldwork will utilize current
data recovery techniques and will guarantee publication of data on a
Pawnee village site, data that currently is in short quantity.
Furthermore, we plan to enter into a contract with a professional
archeologist to analyze and publish the results of the fieldwork and to
provide, at minimum, a thorough description of the material recovered by
the Kansas State Historical Society excavations of Houses 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
22, 23, 24, and 25, which entails about 29 cubic feet of material. A
summary of this material is shown in Table 1.
In short, this important site has not had proper post-excavation
analysis or publication. At the least, the previously-excavated
material from the site needs a descriptive report. Furthermore, it is
desirable to carry out further fieldwork using techniques that ensure
recovery of significant small objects (macrofloral remains, small faunal
remains, seed beads) and possibly other materials such as
archaeomagnetic dating samples. To accomplish these goals, we plan to
use an opportunity for new excavation as an incentive to get earlier
work published while generating new data that can be used to enhance our
understanding of Pawnee archeology and site interpretation for the
public. A research strategy provides guidance for this work.
*Research Strategy*
Basic field procedures
We intend to excavate a portion of the newly discovered house and test
the other anomalies that appear to be houses. Specifically, we will
excavate selected portions of the north half of the newly discovered
house, capturing part of the hearth, the entry, the altar if present,
and enough of the wall and center posts to understand the house's
construction method and size. A grid will be established; excavation
units will be oriented to the grid. Minimally, all fill would be dry
screened thorough quarter-inch hardware mesh, and samples would be taken
from features and selected excavation units for flotation or
sixteenth-inch water screening. Samples for flotation and water
screening will be selected by the Principal Investigator in consultation
with KSHS archeologists. Features and significant artifacts will be
mapped in place using a total station. Excavations will be carried out
by volunteers, some trained, others not, but all given instruction and
guidance by professional archaeologists. This will take place as the
2008 Kansas Archeology Training Program field school.
Human burials
Human burials are associated with this site, but the locations of
previously discovered burials are a significant distance away from the
proposed excavation location. We will make all conscious efforts to
avoid any and all human burials during our excavations. In the unlikely
event that human remains are discovered, work in the immediate vicinity
will stop, the remains will be protected in place, and as per the Kansas
Unmarked burial Sites Preservation Act (KSA 75-2741 to 75-2741), local
law enforcement officers and the Kansas Unmarked Burial Sites
Preservation Board will be notified, as will the Pawnee Nation.
Temporal issues
Dates between 1750 and 1830 have been proposed for the occupation of
14RP1 (Grange 1968, Roberts 1978, Smith 1950a, Wedel 1936, 1959). Wedel
stated that the site was abandoned by AD 1802 (Wedel 1936:33). Roberts
(1978:67-86) carried out a seriation of ceramic types to compare types
both between features at 14RP1 and among other Pawnee sites. He saw
evidence of an early (AD 1750-1800) occupation based on ceramic
seriation and trade goods (Roberts 1978:161) and a late (AD 1804-1825)
occupation based solely on ceramic serration. Roper (2006:240-242)
provides documentary evidence that supports two occupations within these
general time periods as well.
Variation in house types includes benched and unbenched houses. Benched
houses have wall posts outside the house floor excavation; unbenched
houses have wall posts within the excavated house pits. Roberts
(1978:161) argues that these two houses types are contemporaneous,
though this is based solely on the ceramic mean formula of his ceramic
seriation.
/Proposed methods./ Archaeomagnetic samples may provide, minimally,
information on whether features are contemporaneous. Two
archaeomagnetic samples from Houses 3 and 21 already have been subject
to analysis; exact dates could not be assigned (site file, 14RP1,
Kansas State Historical Society). The two samples also are not
identical, which suggests that the two features from which the samples
were derived may not be contemporaneous. New excavation may allow for
analysis of a third sample, and recent advances in the development of
the historic geomagnetic curve for the Midcontinent (Lengyel 2004) may
allow for better temporal data using this technique.
Trade goods also have potential to provide minimum dates for individual
features. The potential of these artifacts for dating purposes and
other research goals are described more fully below.
Subsistence
There is little comprehensive subsistence data from Pawnee sites.
Ethnographic records indicate a lifestyle of gardening and equestrian
hunting. Wedel (1936:61-62) listed faunal remains from the Hill site
(25WT1) in Nebraska. Faunal recovery methods were inconsistent in the
early 20^th century and no analysis has been undertaken to evaluate
basic faunal information such as primary prey species, age, sex, and
season within which species were taken, butchering units and patterns as
determined by MNI and NISP calculations. While masses of maize have been
recovered, seeds of tobacco and smaller native domesticates may not have
been recovered in numbers that represent their relative contribution to
the diet, if they were recovered at all.
/Proposed methods./ Quarter-inch dry screening of unit fill and
sixteenth-inch water screening of selected samples will provide a high
level of recovery for faunal material. Faunal analysis will include a
report on the species, age, sex, natural and cultural modification and
proportions of recovered prey species. This analysis will inform
discussions regarding niche exploitation and seasonality, and may also
reflect changes in prey acquisition patterns as a result of European
contact. Flotation of selected samples will be used to recover botanical
remains. Analysis will include evaluation of species used, their
relative importance, and varieties of domesticates, particularly maize.
Contact with Old World Populations---Trade Goods
Ethnographic records and previous archeological investigations are clear
in stating that the Pawnee were in contact with Old World populations.
Research using data from 14RP1 can inform discussions about the sources
of these artifacts and about the volume and speed of the adoption of
trade goods. Specific issues to be addressed include:
* Which trade goods were adopted, and in what cases were older
technologies retained
* The proportion of trade goods and aboriginal artifacts within and
among functional classes (storage, weapons, ornaments). Do these
vary by sex roles and indicate differential access to trade goods
by sex?
* The nations of origin of trade goods, and what this tells us about
the relations of the Pawnee with Old World populations
* Comparison of changes seen at 14RP1 compared to the rate of change
seen at other Pawnee sites
* Pawnee remanufacture of trade items, such as re-creation of glass
beads, manufacture of arrow points from other metal items, and
native production of gun flints
* Difference in type and proportion of trade goods among houses and
among house types (those with and without alters, benched and
unbenched houses, houses of different sizes) possibly indicating
difference in status or roles of inhabitants of different houses
An important element to be addressed is the determination of whether or
not the site represents two discrete occupations. If so, comparison of
the 2008 field investigations will be compared to earlier investigations
at the site to evaluate the nature of culture change as a result of
escalating contact with European traders.
Structure of Pawnee Society
Pawnee sites are much more common in Nebraska than in Kansas, and many
more Nebraska Pawnee sites have been excavated, though, like 14RP1, few
have benefited from adequate analysis and publication. Comparison of a
Kansas Pawnee site, on the southern edge of the Pawnee territory, to the
Nebraska Pawnee sites has potential to elucidate variation in pottery
styles, trade relationships, and other traits. Furthermore, Roper
(2006:245-247) raises the possibility of separate origins for the Skiri
and the South Bands of the Pawnee, with the South Bands originating in
central Kansas and being more closely related to the Great Bend aspect
(ancestral Wichita) than to the Arikara. In this light, comparison of
the aboriginal material culture of 14RP1 with contemporaneous Great Bend
aspect sites, especially Little River focus sites, might be useful.
*Other Possible Studies:*
* Analysis of house timbers to determine preferred wood types and
possible utility in dendrochronological dating
* Evaluation of textiles, including plant fiber matting, if recovered
* Analysis of pipestone using X-ray florescence to determine if true
catlinite or glacially-transported pipestone was used
* Analysis if toolstone sources as it relates to potential hunting
areas or trade partners (Holen 1983)
Curation
The Kansas State Historical Society will curate the collection resulting
from the 2008 excavation.
References
Grange, Roger T.
1968 Pawnee and Lower Loup Pottery. Nebraska State Historical
Society Publications in Anthropology No. 3.
Holen, Stephen R.
1983 Lower Loup Lithic Procurement Strategy at the Gray Site, 25CXI.
M.A. thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Lengyel, Stacey N.
2004 Archaeomagnetic Research in the US Midcontinent. Dissertation,
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.
Roberts, Ricky L.
1978 The Archaeology of the Kansas Monument Site: A Study in
Historical Archaeology on the Great Plains. Masters thesis, Department
of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence.
Roper, Donna C.
2006 The Pawnee in Kansas: Ethnohistory and Archaeology. In Kansas
Archaeology, edited by Robert J. Hoard and William E. Banks. University
Press of Kansas, Lawrence, pp. 233-247.
Smith, Carlyle
1950a European Trade Material from the Kansas Monument Site. Plains
Archaeological Conference News Letter 3:2-9.
1950b The Pottery from the Kansas Monument Site. Plains Archaeological
Conference News Letter 3:4:7-9.
Wedel, Waldo W.
1936 An Introduction to Kansas Archeology. Bureau of American
Ethnology Bulletin No. 174. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
Witty, Thomas A.
1968 The Pawnee Indian Village Museum Project. Kansas Anthropological
Association Newsletter 13:5:1-6.
Figure 1. (Removed) State-owned portion of 14RP1 showing house
depressions and pit features.
Figure 2. (Removed) 14RP1: Probable house, previously unknown,
detected by geophysical survey. More details at
http://www.archaeophysics.com/pawnee/index.html.
Table 1. Cultural material from 14RP1 curated at the Kansas Historical
Society.
*Artifact Class***
*Cubic feet***
Ground stone
3
Wood/charcoal/posts/14C samples
3.75
Corn/beans/organics
4.25
Ceramics (not trade goods)
1
Stone---considered unmodified but some is modified
1
Chipped stone
0.25
Shell
0.5
Metal
1
Burned earth/daub
0.25
Bone: Unidentified, identified, modified*
12.5
Mixed materials (Donations, surface collections)
0.75
*Total ***
*28.25***
* Three boxes have only 1 or two large tools; most bone is large pieces
in good shape
--
Robert J. Hoard, PhD
State Archeologist, Kansas Historical Society
6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099, USA
v: 785.272.8681 x269 f: 785.272.8682 [log in to unmask]
Kansas Archaeology, edited by R. J. Hoard & W. E. Banks
is available at http://www.kshs.org/store/home.php
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