Field Techniques In Archaeology

Anthropology 380, 6 credits
Dates: June 2 - July 11, 2003
Instructors: Dr. Dennis Toom and Michael A. Jackson

The Department of Anthropology, University of North Dakota, invites students to attend its Archaeological Field School in June and July, 2003. The course is being offered in cooperation with the National Park Service and the US Bureau of Reclamation. Current plans are for the field school to be conducted at two prehistoric sites in North Dakota: the Elbee Site (32ME408), located at the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, and the Beadmaker Site (32GT238), located at Heart Butte Reservoir.

Elbee Site (32ME408)

The first three weeks of the field school will be spent at the Elbee Site (32ME408), which is a part of the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Mercer County, North Dakota (see the map). This National Historic Site was established in 1974 to preserve over 50 archeological sites. The most notable of the sites are the large earthlodge villages which reflect the culture and agricultural lifestyle of Northern Plains Indians, primarily the Hidatsa and Mandan. Circular earthlodge depressions abound at the larger villages, where the largest earthlodge depressions reach up to 40 feet in diameter.

The Elbee Site is a multi-component site located along the Knife River. Excavations at the site in 1978 by UND revealed as many as eight cultural components, the most prominent being a Plains Village occupation dating to the period A.D. 1520-1630. Excavations revealed a circular earhlodge house feature, cache pits, and a dense accumulation of artifacts, including native pottery, lithics, and bone.

In 2003, we intend to excavate a series of test units and/or block units to investigate possible hearth and cache pit features at the site. A geophysical survey of the site was performed in September 2002 by the Midwest Archeological Center, National Park Service, Lincoln. The geophysical survey map contains a number of magnetic "spikes," which may represent potential feature locations. These magnetic anomalies will be the focus of our work at Elbee.

Beadmaker Site (32GT238)

We also plan to work at the Beadmaker site (32GT238) for about three weeks. The site is located at Heart Butte Reservoir Recreation Area, Grant County, North Dakota (see the map). This project area consists of approximately 6880 acres of federal property surrounding the Heart Butte dam and reservoir in northwestern Grant County. The main function the reservoir serves is for downstream flood control on the Heart and Missouri rivers. A secondary use of the reservoir is for recreation. The Beadmaker site is located about one mile west of the main body of the reservoir.

Beadmaker is a Late Prehistoric campsite that is buried in the floodplain of the Heart River. Recent UND test excavations at the site identified a single component that dates to the Late Prehistoric period, around A.D. 1600-1650. Our excavations identified hearth features, a bone concentration feature, and a dense artifact scatter composed of native pottery, stone tools (including 17 disc-shaped stone beads in various stages of manufacture), flaking debris, animal bone, modified bone and shell pieces, and more. Beadmaker is a campsite that probably relates to a protohistoric Mandan task group, who likely originated from one of their permanent villages on the Missouri River. They would have resided temporarily in the Heart Butte locality while exploiting a wide range of locally available lithic, animal, and plant resources.

In 2003, we intend to excavate a series of block units within the main occupation area at the site. This area is adjacent to the Heart River and is being actively eroded by the river. To locate buried features for excavation, a subsurface geophysical survey will be conducted along the river bank. Students will receive hands-on experience in the conduct of this magnetometer survey. Students will also receive training in other, more traditional areas of archeological research: the use of different kinds of field equipment and techniques for excavation and artifact recovery, site mapping, documentation, and record keeping. Use of modern electronic mapping techniques and instruments will be demonstrated, including a Sokkia total station and a Satloc global positioning system (GPS) receiver.

Other Plans and Activities

If current plans change, then we will most likely conduct part of the field school at the Flaming Arrow site (32ML4). The site is located on private land a few miles south of the city of Washburn, McLean County, North Dakota (see the map). A portion of one earthlodge depression feature, identified as House 1, was excavated by a crew of UND reseachers. The earthlodge is associated with a Late Prehistoric ceramic component that relates to the Awatixa Hidatsa. Oral tradition states that this site is the location of their first village on the Missouri River. Radiocarbon dates indicate the site was occupied sometime between A.D. 920-1230, which make it oldest dated village in the Knife-Heart region of the Middle Missouri subarea. If the opportunity arises to work at the Flaming Arrow site, we intend to complete the excavation of House 1.

Field trips are planned to archeological and other sites of interest in the Northern Plains. We may visit some or all of the following places:

• Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site - Historic and Prehistoric earthlodge villages
• Knife River Flint Quarries - Prehistory, Geology, Aerial Photo, Bismarck Tribune Article
• Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
• Fort Mandan - 1804-1805 winter post of the Lewis and Clark expedition
• Teddy Roosevelt National Park - Official site, Unofficial (but good) site
• Lake Sakakawea (Garrison Reservoir)
• On-A-Slant Mandan Village
• Various North Dakota State Historic Sites (Archeological and Historical) - Pictures and Descriptions
• North Cave Hills of South Dakota - Rock Art and Geology

Employment After the Field School

We are pleased to announce that there will be opportunities for summer employment in archaeology after the field school for individuals successfully completing the course. We should be able to offer students paid positions on other projects immediately after the conclusion of the field school.

Field School Credits and Cost

The field school will be offered as a regular six-week class from June 2nd through July 11th, 2003. Students will receive six semester hours of undergraduate credit in Anthropology 380, Field Techniques in Archaeology (one credit hour per week). The application deadline is April 15, 2003. Enrollment is limited so please apply early.

Costs of the field school include:

• a $25.00 admission fee (only applies to students new to UND)
• standard tuition and fees (see table below; rates subject to change without notice)
• special fee of $200.00 charged by the department to help defray living expenses (mainly transportation and food costs) while in the field

Local transportation, camping equipment (if needed), and all field equipment are provided. Food for basic meals is also provided from the special fee and other available funding without additional charge. Additional information regarding UND tuition and fees is available from the UND Business Office.

Application and Contact Information

For application forms and more information, contact Dr. Dennis L. Toom at 701-777-2437; or by e-mail (dennis_toom@und.nodak.edu). The application is available online as an *.html file. You can print out a copy and mail the completed application to the Archaeological Field School, Anthropology Research, University of North Dakota, PO Box 7094, Grand Forks, ND 58202-7094. You may request an application by writing to the above address; application forms are also available for general distribution in the Anthropology Department main office in Room 104 of Babcock Hall, on the UND campus in Grand Forks.

created 2003