Masters Theses

Date of Award

6-1982

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Anthropology

Major Professor

Paul W. Parmalee

Committee Members

Walter E. Elippel, Gerald F. Schroedl, Carl R. Falk

Abstract

The Schmidt site is a late prehistoric Central Plains Tradition settlement in central Nebraska. The basic question addressed in this study is: What was the seasonal settlement-subsistence pattern of the Schmidt site inhabitants? As a source of ideas pertaining to this question information on the seasonal subsistence activities of the historic Pawnee, Omaha and Ponca Indians was consulted. A general model of seasonal subsistence activity among Central Plains horticulturalists, which stresses the Pawnee pattern, is developed. The model specifies spring and fall occupation of villages with complete abandonment for communal bison hunting during summer and winter.

The long term stability of this seasonal pattern was a result of a relatively short growing season (100-140 days) and the summer and winter availability of a gregarious, mobile, critical animal resource (bison). It is hypothesized that the modeled seasonal pattern resulted among horticulturalists whenever these two conditions were met. These conditions should apply to Central Plains Tradition complexes. Therefore, seasonal evidence from the Schmidt site should indicate that it was occupied only during the fall and spring.

Evidence bearing on the seasonal activities of peoples who occupied Central Plains Tradition sites is scant. In this study faunal remains are used to address the question of Schmidt site seasonality. A quantitative procedure for assessing seasonality from catfish pectoral spines is developed and applied to a sample of spines from the Schmidt site. The presence of migratory bird remains and age-at-death estimates based on tooth eruption and wear in deer and bison mandibles are also considered. Seasonal evidence from the Schmidt site is consistent with the implication of the hypothesis. Further assessments of Schmidt site seasonality are presently unavailable, due to a lack of additional reliable procedures for assessing seasonality. Adequate testing of the hypothesis will require consideration of seasonal settlement-subsistence patterns among horticulturalists both in and beyond the Central Plains.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS