River Basin Surveys Papers, No. 32: Archeological Salvage Investigations In the Lovewell Reservoir Area, Kansas

Summary

Lovewell Reservoir is located on White Rock Creek in Jewell County, north-central Kansas. An earthfill dam is situated on the creek about 15 miles west of its confluence with the Republican River (legal designation E1/2 sec. 7, T. 2 S., R. 6 W.). The dam, constructed by the Bureau of Reclamation, will create a lake about 9 miles long east to west and a little over a mile wide (see Lovewell Reservoir map, fig. 41). The maximum pool will cover 4,960 acres, while the normal pool level will flood 2,610 acres of land. Lying near the geographical center of the United States, the area of the reservoir undergoes a Continental climate.

Previous archeological investigations in Lovewell Reservoir were undertaken in 1935 by George Lamb, who conducted a preliminary survey of the White Rock and Warne sites. A more intensive investigation was carried out by Paul Cooper and George Lamb at the White Rock site in 1937 under the sponsorship of the Nebraska State Historical Society. A complete report of their excavations has been published in a master’s thesis by Mary Kiehl Rusco (1960). In 1951 Franklin Fenenga conducted a survey of the entire reservoir for the Missouri River Basin Surveys. Material collected from these past investigations has been compared and considered in the compilation of this report.

During the summer of 1956 the author directed a 10-man archeological field party of the River Basin Surveys, Smithsonian Institution. A temporary field headquarters was established within the \ presently flooded Lovewell Reservoir from June 12 to August 18, and extensive excavations were conducted at one burial mound and three prehistoric occupational sites. Surface surveys were carried on and material was collected at all other known archeological sites in the reservoir area. This work was a segment of the Inter-Agency Archeological Program for the recovery of archeological and paleontological remains in areas to be flooded by the construction of dams.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• River Basin Surveys Papers, 1 - 39   •
• National Archeological Database (NADB)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Sponsor(s): Bureau of Reclamation

Record Identifiers

River Basin Surveys Papers(s): 32

NADB document id number(s): 5170017; 2203487

NADB citation id number(s): 000000167590; 000000162171

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