Fort Randall Reservoir Archeology, Geology, History

More than 1000 years ago — probably during the A.D. 800's — large, permanent villages first appeared in the Fort Randall area. The Indians living in these communities raised corn, squash, and possibly beans, and were skillful hunters as well. These farmer-hunters were extremely efficient in exploiting their environment, utilizing the resources of both the rich river bottoms and of the dry upland plains.

Abandoned sites of the early villages are marked by concentrations' of broken pottery, stone artifacts and flakes, splintered bison bones, and other remains. At many of the villages, oval depressions, sometimes as much as 50-60 feet in length, can be observed. Such depressions, rarely more than two feet deep, mark the locations of ancient houses which have collapsed and are in the process of being filled and obliterated by the passage of time.

Much of our information concerning this period in the Fort Randall area is derived from excavations at the Swanson and Crow Creek Sites but small collections made from other sites throughout the reservoir have provided additional data, particularly with regard to the extent and intensity of occupation.

Aerial view of the Crow Creek Site, Fort Randall Reservoir. Circular depressions (foreground) filled with dark vegetation mark buried houses. A fortification ditch or moat (middle distance), with projecting bastions encloses much of the site. Photo — Missouri Basin Project, Smithsonian Institution

Villages might contain as many as 20 houses, each from 20 to 30 feet wide and up to 50 feet long. House floors were excavated to a depth of at least a foot below the then-existing soil surface, with a short entry ramp projecting from one end of the depression. The long side walls of the houses were very substantial, having been constructed on a frame of upright poles set deeply in the ground. The rear wall, opposite the entrance, was not of such heavy construction, and was probably a temporary partition of brush and branches. Such a wall could be moved closer or farther from the entry, to decrease or expand the size of the house to suit the number of occupants. It is of interest that the famous Long House of the Iroquois Indians had such a "weak" or movable end wall for this purpose. One or two circular fireplaces were dug into the earth floor along the central axis of the house; these were used both for cooking and for warming the interior. Additional hearths and at least one or two underground storage pits are sometimes found. The ridgepole was supported by large posts set along the mid-line of the house. The exact type of roof construction has not as yet been determined but a gabled form seems likely. These houses were large enough to accommodate 10 to 15 people and were probably occupied by large familial groups. Some of the villages of this period were surrounded by a ditch and a timber palisade. Houses are sometimes oriented in a single direction and seem to be arranged in irregular rows.

Completed excavation of a rectangular house. The large pits are under ground storage caches; smaller holes, some still with rotted posts in them, represent the wall lines and roof supports. The man is kneeling behind the main firepit; another is seen to the rear. Photo — Missouri Basin Project, Smithsonian Institution

The dual dependence of the early villagers upon domestic plants and bison has been mentioned. Plant remains have been preserved in some instances and bison bone, being less subject to decay, is found in abundance. Occasional fishhooks, fish bones, and mussel shells show that at least a limited amount of food was obtained from the rivers.

Many kinds of tools, some found in relatively large numbers, provide further evidence of this mixed economy. Large, sub-surface pits, both inside the houses and scattered throughout the village area, were probably used for storing garden produce and meat. Hoes made from bison shoulder blades are common, and other bone tools suitable for digging have been found.

A bone hide-flesher, pottery fragments, a stone celt or ungrooved axe, a lenticular knife, a projectile point, and a bone awl from an early village in the Fort Randall Reservoir. Photo — Missouri Basin Project, Smithsonian Institution

Scraping, cutting, and piercing tools of stone and bone, comparable to examples found in the Plains Woodland sites, indicate the continued and perhaps increasing importance of hide working. The stone axe and grooved sandstone shaft-sander were still used in wood working, as were many stone blades, knives, and scrapers.

Pottery was made by the techniques employed in earlier times, but now vessel forms and different decorative styles were popular. At the very end of this period some groups began to use a grooved paddle to finish vessel exteriors in place of the cord-wrapped paddle of earlier times. This finishing technique became characteristic of the rectangular house sites north of the Fort Randall area, but was adopted to only a limited extent in the latter region.

Cord-roughened vessel from an Early Village site. Photo — Missouri Basin Project, Smithsonian Institution

Very little is known of the burial customs of the early villagers. In some instances, interments have been found in pits at some distance from the village area. It is not known whether this practice was characteristic of all these peoples, or whether other methods were also used to dispose of the dead.

The remains of more than ten such early villages have been found scattered throughout the Fort Randall area. Many more probably existed, but are now either completely destroyed by erosion or cannot be specifically identified from the small samples of speciments collected.

We have seen that the tools and manufactures of the early villages differed from those of the Plains Woodland Indians with respect to their quantity and greater elaboration. The establishment of permanent villages would have been conducive to such changes, for tool assemblages would no longer be limited to what a single family could carry with them as they roamed in search of wild food and game. In addition, the intensive occupations of these village sites have provided richer deposits of cultural debris than are to be found on the sparsely occupied Plains Woodland sites.

The presence of the early villages in the Fort Randall area suggests both a growth of the local Woodland population and immigration from some different but culturally related area. Either or both of these factors may have been at work.

The initial appearance of the Early Village Period has been estimated as of about 800 years after the time of Christ. Radiocarbon dates show that the late rectangular house sites north of the Fort Randall area were occupied until at least 1300 A.D. It seems probable that the early villages of the Fort Randall area were abandoned somewhat earlier.