Fort Randall Reservoir Archeology, Geology, History

The beginnings of a new way of life appeared in the eastern parts of the plains, probably during the early centuries of the Christian era. People began to settle down in small, semi-permanent communities located along the major rivers and their tributaries. These Indians, referred to in archeological literature as Plains Woodland peoples, made a simple but technologically satisfactory kind of pottery, introduced new kinds of tools into the area, had a number of distinctive mortuary practices, and may have known the fundamentals of corn, bean, and squash horticulture. If these crops, which were to be of primary importance to later occupants of the Fort Randall and adjacent areas, were grown at all, they were used only on occasion to supplement the usual diet of meat and wild food plants. Nonetheless, the beginnings of permanent villages, of agriculture, and of the manufacture of pottery can be traced to this period.

Woodland burial mound at the White Swan Site, Fort Randall Reservoir. Photo — Missouri Basin Project, Smithsonian Institution

Excavations at the Scalp Creek and Ellis Creek Sites, in the southern part of the Fort Randall Reservoir, have disclosed a series of occupation levels and a small burial mound attributable to Woodland groups. Other mound sites, near Wheeler Bridge and near White Swan, also are included within the Woodland Complex and traces of comparable occupations have been found at other sites within the Reservoir.

No formally arranged villages of permanent houses have been found for the Plains Woodland period. Dwellings are apparently marked only by stained floor areas, roughly oval, with diameters of from 10 to 30 feet, and associated with the molds of decayed posts, ashes, and burned earth. Remains of these houses, characteristically faint, indicate a light and unenduring structure, probably skin- or brush-covered shelters.

Superimposed levels of sparse midden deposit suggest that these sites were frequently reoccupied by small groups, rather than occupied intensively by a large group at any single time. Large quantities of bone in the trash piles indicate that bison hunting continued to be very important, just as it had been in earlier periods. While hunting buffalo on the High Plains, the Woodland people doubtlessly met with other hunting groups that were still following the older way of life.

Projectile points from Woodland sites in The Fort Randall Reservoir. Photo — Missouri Basin Project, Smithsonian Institution

Shell beads, a necklace of dog teeth, and a cord-paddled potsherd from the Woodland occupation of the Fort Randall area. Photo — Missouri Basin Project, Smithsonian Institution

The bow and arrow were probably in general use by this time. The greater frequency of grinding slabs, digging tools, hoes, and underground storage pits all reflect an increased dependency upon plant foods. Corn, beans, and squash were known during this period to Hopewellian peoples living near present-day Kansas City, and a few grains of corn have been preserved in a Plains Woodland site in Nebraska. No plant remains or specific evidence of domestic crops have been recovered, however, within the Fort Randall Reservoir area. Fish and mussels may have been added to the diet when possible, and, mussel shells were used to manufacture simple spoons, scrapers, and ornaments.

Scraping tools of stone and bone, stone knives, and bone awls suggest that hide-working was of considerable importance. From the bison these people probably obtained not only food, but thongs, sinew, and hide for clothing as well, and they may have used hide to fashion containers, for the coverings of dwellings, and for many other purposes.

Axes, celts, knives, drills, and grooved pieces of sandstone indicate that wood-working was also important. The grooved sandstone objects were probably used to smooth or "sand" wooden arrow shafts.

As has been mentioned, the Woodland people were the first manufacturers of pottery in the eastern Plains. The predominant vessel form was a tall, elongate jar, with either a rounded or a semi-pointed base. The pottery had a fairly coarse texture, and vessel exteriors were finished by paddling with a flat object wrapped with cords or thongs. While one hand held the paddle, the other hand remained inside the vessel to brace its walls against the impact of the paddle. Usually, a rounded object called an anvil was held in the hand for this purpose. Simple geometric decorations were applied to the lip and upper rim of the vessels by incising, punching, or impressing the soft clay with suitable tools.

A reconstructed pottery vessel from a Woodland site in the Fort Randall area. Photo — Missouri Basin Project, Smithsonian Institution

The Plains Woodland pottery from the Fort Randall area shows many similarities to pottery found in comparable sites in Kansas and Nebraska to the south, and in Iowa and Minnesota to the east. This general kind of pottery, in turn, is derived from earlier types found widely throughout the eastern United States.

At least some of the Plains Woodland Indians found a final resting place in the low, dome-shaped burial mounds in the Fort Randall region. Usually a single, flexed burial was placed beneath the center of the mound. Additional burials were often interred below or within the mound fill. Some burials represent direct interments (primary burials), while others represent a redeposition of bones, as from a "bundle burial" (secondary burials). Both customs were used by the Plains Woodland peoples, but the significance of the different types of burial is not known. The use of burial mounds is another characteristic indicating strong influence upon Plains peoples from cultures of the eastern United States. Indeed, the ceramic and mortuary evidence suggests that these early hunters and gatherers were originally immigrants from some as yet undetermined area farther east.