Ill k \ \ A. \ \ SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 112 AN INTRODUCTION TO PAWNEE ARCHEOLOGY BY WALDO RUDOLPH WEDEL SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 112 AN INTRODUCTION TO PAWNEE ARCHEOLOGY BY WALDO RUDOLPH WEDEL UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1936 W sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. ----- - Price 30 cents LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL Smithsonian Institution, BuEEAu OF American Ethnology, Washington, D. C, July i, 1935. Sir: I have the honor to submit the accompanying manuscript, entitled " An Introduction to Pawnee Archeology ", by Waldo Rudolph Wedel, and to recommend that it be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Very respectfully yours, M. W. Stirling, Chief. Dr. C. G. Abbot, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. m CONTENTS Page Preface ix Introduction 1 Linguistic affiliations of the Pawnee 1 Origin of the name Pawnee 2 Names and general organization of the bands 3 Historic habitat and its geographical features 3 Historical background 7 Traditions 7 Documentary history 9 Archeology 23 Historic village sites • 23 Skidi Pawnee sites 25 Palmer site 25 Fullerton site 27 McClaine site 28 Genoa site 29 Grand Pawnee sites 29 Linwood site 29 Clarks site 31 Plum Creek site 32 Republican Pawnee sites 32 Kansas Monument site 33 Hill site 34 Horse Creek site 36 Cottonwood Creek site 37 Protohistoric sites 38 Schuyler site 39 Burkett site 40 Material culture. 42 Habitations 43 Earth lodge 43 Tipi; other types of shelter 60 Caches 52 Earthworks 54 Horse corrals 55 Foods : agriculture 57 Ceramics 62 Work in stone 74 Manos and metates 74 Anvil stones 75 Arrowpoiuts 75 Scrapers 76 Rubbing stones 76 Discoidal hammerstones 76 Pecking stones 76 V VI CONTENTS Material cultui-e—Continued. Work in stone—Continued. Page Balls 77 Grooved mauls and axes 77 Celts 78 Incised tablets ("molds") 78 Drills 79 Pestle 79 Crystals 79 "Whetstones" 79 Shaft polishers 80 Pipes 80 Work in bone and horn 81 Awls 81 Shaft straighteners 82 Picks 82 Hide scrapers 82 Paint brushes 82 Hide tanners 83 Beaming tools 83 Digging tools 83 Fleshing tools 84 Plume holders 84 Roach spreader 85 Chipping implements 85 Teeth 85 Corn shellers 86 Horn spoons 86 Work in sheU 86 Clamshells 86 Tubular beads 86 Work in wood 87 Mortars ._ 87 Bowls 88 Platters 88 Cradle board 88 Miscellaneous 89 Miscellaneous objects 89 Glass beads 89 Metal work 89 Weaving and textiles 90 Cloth and cordage 90 Matting 90 Basketry 91 Mortuary customs 91 Conclusions 94 Bibliography _ 103 Index 111 Explanation of plates 121 ILLUSTKATIONS 1. Modem Pawnee earth lodge and excavated historic house site. 2. Vegetable material and textiles from the Hill site (historic Pawnee). 3. Historic Pawnee vessels from various sites. 4. vessels, Complete probably Pawnee. i 5. Pawnee type rim sherds from various historic sites. 6. Selected rim sherds from Burkett site (protohistoric Pawnee). 7. Stonework from Hill site (historic Pawnee). 8. Pipes and mortuary offerings, various sites (histoi-ic Pawnee). 9. Bonework from historic Pawnee sites. 10. Bone tools from historic Pawnee sites. 11. Pawnee burials (historic sites). 12. Metal trade material from the Hill site (historic Pawnee). MAPS 1. Tribal map of the Central Plains about 1800. 2. Historic and protohistoric sites in the northern Pawnee area. Based on early maps and journals, and on archeological investigations. 3. Marquette's map, 1673-74. From the Jesuit Relations, volume LIX, page 108. 4. LeSeuer's map, 1701. From the South Dakota Historical Collections, vol- ume I, page 49. 5. Du Pratz's map of Louisiana, 1757. From Histoire de la Louisiane, tome premiere, page 138. 6. CoUot's map, 1796. From a Journey in North America, volume 1, page 281. 7. Du Lac's map of the Missouri, 1802. From Travels Through the Two Louisianas. 8. Lewis and Clark's map, 1804. From Travels to the Source of the Missouri River, volume 1. 9. Pike's map, 1806. From An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi, etc. 10. Long's map, 1819. From Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, atlas. TEXT FIGUEES Page 1. Cross section of a Pawnee earth lodge showing interior arrangement of posts and beams 44 2. Ground plan of historic Pawnee earth lodge, house 1, Hill site 47 3. Ground plan of historic Pawnee earth lodge. Hill site 49 4. Ground plan of historic Pawnee earth lodge. Hill site 50 5. Cross section of cache 1, Hill site 52 6. Plan of horse corral (?), Hill site 56 7. Rim types characteristic of Pawnee pottery 67 8. Incised rim designs of Pawnee type 68 9. Incised tablets ("molds") of stone from the Hill site (Hill collec- tion) 78 10. Incised tablets ("molds"), Linwood site 79 11. Tubular bone object, probably a plume holder, from Hill site (Hill collection) 84 12. Roach spreader from Hill site (Hill collection) 85 vu PKEFACE The Pawnee have been known to white men since, probably, 1541, and certainly since 1G73. They were the most numerous and power- ful of the tribes constituting the Caddoan linguistic stock and one of the most important of the entire Plains area. Since the earliest definite historic mention of them they have been resident in Ne- braska and the extreme northern portion of Kansas, particularly on the Loup, Platte, and Republican Rivers. As a tribe they were always friendly to the Europeans and later to the Americans, ren- dering invaluable aid as scouts in the Indian troubles on the Plains during the middle half of the nineteenth century; and that despite the half-hearted and tardy attentions that too often characterized the Government's relations with them. The tribe has been variously described by early explorers, mission- aries, fur traders, Army officers, and travelers, many of whom left very valuable and worth-while accounts concerning them in their native habitat in the Loup and Platte Valleys. In more recent years, on their reservation in Oklahoma, they have been studied by linguists and ethnologists, though much of this material is still unpublished. Of outstanding note among the available treatises in this field is the work of Dunbar in general ethnology, of Dorsey in mythology, of Grinnell in folk-tales, and of Murie in social and political organiza- tion. Archeological remains, surprisingly rich and numerous at many of the old village sites formerly occupied by the tribe, have received but little systematic attention up to the present, save for the excellent beginnings made by a few local collectors. Yet it is this latter, long-neglected field of research which must come to be more and more drawn upon for information regarding this fast-van- ishing tribe and its native culture. The primary purpose of this paper, as originally planned, was to present a purely objective preliminary report on the archeology of the Pawnee, drawing together all data at present available and re- cording it in systematic fashion. More or less inadvertently, the scope was broadened to include a review of the traditions dealing with the origin and early movements of the tribe, as well as a con- cise summary of the documentary history of the tribe from 1541 to 1876. To this were added brief notes on the environment of the group, and such other significant facts as may be helpful to an un- derstanding of the subject. The social, political, and religious phases X PREFACE of Pawnee culture, as well as their general ethnology, have been deliberately avoided, since most of these have been treated at length elsewhere. Finally, correlations have been made with other cultures of adjoining areas with a view to determining as far as possible where the roots of Pawnee culture lie. The principal source for the archeological data embodied in this paper is the Hill collection at the Hastings (Nebr.) Museum. This collection, gathered over a period of more than 18 years by Mr. A. T. Hill, Hastings business man and director of the Nebraska State His- torical Society Museum at Lincoln, is unequaled by any in the field of Pawnee archeology. Most of the specimens were secured from the Hill site, now the property of Mr. Hill, but there is in addition much comparative material from other historic Pawnee and prehistoric sites in central and southern Nebraska. Through the courtesy of Mr, Hill the writer was enabled to spend 2 weeks in a study of these exhibits, at which time the bulk of the information was obtained. The known Pawnee material recovered by the Nebraska Archaeologi- cal Survey, of which the writer was a member during the summer of 1930, has also been drawn upon. This was secured mainly from the Hill site and corroborates generally the facts reached through study of the Hill collections. Mention should also be made of the excellent collection of surface material in the possession of Mr. Alfred Ticha- cek, of Linwood, Nebr., all of which comes from the early Pawnee site near that town. On two different occasions access was had to these specimens for study purposes. In addition, small collections made by various amateur collectors and, as far as available, those of the Nebraska Historical Society, were also examined. The paper, intended as a basic approach to the study of prehistory in the Pawnee area, was originally completed in the spring of 1931. Lack of funds prevented publication at the time, however, and the rapid accumulation of new data from the region has made possible revision from time to time of the sections dealing with archeological details. Final revision was made in November 1935, bringing the paper so far as possible up to date in the light of researches made since its inception.