The Phase I Archeological Research Program for the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Part III: Analysis of the Physical Remains

Summary

In 1974, the Congress of the United States authorized the establishment of the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site in Mercer County, North Dakota, to preserve archeological vestiges of the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians and to commemorate the cultural history and lifeways of those important native peoples of the Northern Plains. Starting in 1976, the National Park Service undertook an extensive program of archeological and ethnohistorical research designed to illuminate the archeological and historical resources of the newly - authorized park. This research, which was termed the Phase I research program for the park, was cooperatively carried out by the Service's Midwest Archeological Center and the Department of Anthropology of the University of North Dakota, as well as by researchers at other academic institutions in the United States, most notably the Department

of Anthropology of the University of Missouri Columbia.

This volume of the Midwest Archeological Center's Occasional Studies in Anthropology series reports the results of that decade-long research program. It is issued in four parts, each of which deals with a particular aspect of the research. Part I (Chapters 1-10) describes the overall program in general, particularly emphasizing the objectives and methodology employed in the research. Part II (Chapters 11-16) recapitulates a series of ethnohistorical studies that complements the archeological research and provides an ethnohistorical backdrop against which the archeological record of Hidatsa culture change can be interpreted. Part III (Chapters 17-21) summarizes the analysis of various classes of material remains recovered during the research program, principally the pottery, lithics, modified and unmodified fauna, and Euroamerican trade goods. Part IV (Chapters 22-27) broadly interprets the park's archeological record and offers a revised culture-historic taxonomy for what is proposed as the Knife region of the Middle Missouri subarea.

Most of the chapters contained in this volume were completed circa 1985-1986. Some effort has been made to update aspects of the data and conclusions offered in them by referencing certain key published and unpublished studies which have appeared since that time, but the lack of time and funds has precluded a comprehensive revision of the entire corpus of papers contained herein. Nevertheless, it is believed that this summary of the Knife River Indian Villages Phase I research program will be of substantial interest to Plains scholars and considerable utility in telling the story of the Hidatsa and Mandan Indians to the public.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Midwest Archeological Center Occasional Studies in Anthropology

Keywords

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Sponsor(s): United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Midwest Archeological Center

Submitted To(s): Rocky Mountain Region, National Park Service

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