Talking Crow (SITS 39BF3) is an archaeological site near Fort Thompson in Buffalo County, South Dakota, United States. It is an earth lodge village used by both the Arikara and Dakota, in multiple occupation phases between about AD 600 and 1950. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 2003.
Talking Crow Archeological Site | |
 Vicinity of the Talking Crow site | |
| Location | Address restricted[2] Buffalo County, South Dakota, United States |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Fort Thompson |
| Area | 12.3 acres (5.0 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 03000505[1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 2, 2003 |
Location
editTalking Crow is located about 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Fort Thompson in Buffalo County, South Dakota. It is on the banks of Campbell Creek near its confluence with the Missouri River, on the west side of State Highway 47. It is situated on a high bluff overlooking the river.[3][4]
History
editArchaeologist Carlyle Smith first noted the site during a 1938 survey.[5] The first excavations at the site were carried out between 1950 and 1952 by the University of Kansas.[6] These excavations yielded over 56,000 pottery sherds.[7] It was first described by archaeologist Carlyle Smith in 1951, who identified the occupation as historical Arikara.[8]
The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 2, 2003.[9]
Site
editThe site is a fortified earth lodge village that was occupied by various groups over several centuries. It was first inhabited during the Plains Woodland period around AD 600, during the Initial Coalescent Variant around 1425–1450, during the Extended Coalescent Variant about 1725–1750, and then post-European contact by the Dakota around 1865–1950.[4] Smith speculated that the Coalescent occupations were by Arikara.[10]
The exact number of houses at the site is undetermined; during the 1950s excavations, at least 22 houses were unearthed.[3] By 1980, 12 houses had been entirely excavated, 15 others identified, and several others noted by visible depressions in the ground.[4] The total population during the Initial Coalescent period is estimated around 200. Its residents likely engaged in agriculture as well as bison hunting and lived at the site year-round.[11]
Fortifications
editThe village is surrounded by a fortification ditch, which varies between 10 ft (3.0 m) to 20 ft (6.1 m) wide, and partially lined by a wooden stockade and raised earth mound. As with most villages settled in the Initial Coalestent period, Talking Crow is situated in a highly-defensible area; its position high on a bluff overlooking the flood plain would have provided a good vantage point of its environs.[4]
Due to its proximity to the contemporary Crow Creek site, some archaeologists speculate that the Talking Crow inhabitants could have participated in the massacre there; however, some researchers believe this unlikely due to Talking Crow's much smaller size, rendering its residents unable to overwhelm the approximately 1,500 at Crow Creek. Other researchers believe Talking Crow was not settled at the exact time of the massacre.[12]
Pottery
editSeveral pottery types have been identified at the Talking Crow site, the main two being the eponymous Talking Crow and Campbell Creek.[7]
Some of the sherds contain the only known drawings of living beings from Great Plains archaeological sites. The human figures have the same "small featureless dome-shaped heads and stick-like appendages" common among Great Plains artwork.[7] Other animal representations include a possible salamander, the head of a snake, and a bear paw print.[13]
See also
editReferences
editCitations
edit- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
- ^ Federal and state laws and practices restrict general public access to information regarding the specific location of this resource. In some cases, this is to protect archeological sites from vandalism, while in other cases it is restricted at the request of the owner. See: Knoerl, John; Miller, Diane; Shrimpton, Rebecca H. (1990), Guidelines for Restricting Information about Historic and Prehistoric Resources, National Register Bulletin, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, OCLC 20706997.
- ^ a b Smith 1951, p. 32.
- ^ a b c d Fox 1980, p. 6.
- ^ Johnson 1996, p. 63.
- ^ Neuman 1961, p. 198.
- ^ a b c Maierhauser 1981, p. 323.
- ^ Smith 1951.
- ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Talking Crow Archeological Site". National Park Service. Retrieved April 20, 2024. With accompanying pictures
- ^ Smith 1963, p. 495.
- ^ Vehik 2018, p. 208.
- ^ Vehik 2018, pp. 207–208.
- ^ Maierhauser 1981, p. 324.
Bibliography
edit- Fox, Greg (1980). "A Review of the Initial Coalescent Variant". Nebraska Anthropologist. 5 (148): 1–17. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
- Johnson, Afred E. (1996). "Obituary: Carlyle Sheeve Smith 1915–1993". American Antiquity. 61 (1): 62–67. JSTOR 282300. Retrieved April 21, 2024 – via JSTOR.
- Maierhauser, Joe (1981). "Representational Art on Pottery from the Talking Crow Site (39BF3)". Plains Anthropologist. 26 (94): 323–325. Retrieved April 20, 2024 – via JSTOR.
- Neuman, Robert W. (1961). "Salvage Archaeology at a Site Near Fort Thompson, South Dakota". Plains Anthropologist. 6 (13): 189–200. Retrieved April 20, 2024 – via JSTOR.
- Smith, Carlyle S. (1951). "Pottery Types from the Talking Crow Site, Fort Randall Reservoir, South Dakota". Plains Archeological Conference News Letter. 4 (3): 30–41. Retrieved April 20, 2024 – via JSTOR.
- Smith, Carlyle S. (1963). "Time Perspective within the Coalescent Tradition in South Dakota". American Antiquity. 28 (4): 489–495. doi:10.2307/278558. Retrieved April 20, 2024 – via JSTOR.
- Vehik, Susan C. (2018). "Chapter 7: Why Fortify?: Force-to-Force Ratios and Fortification on the Southern Plains". Archaeological Perspectives on Warfare on the Great Plains. pp. 190–210. Retrieved April 20, 2024 – via JSTOR.
