University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Anthropology Department Theses and Dissertations Anthropology, Department of 9-10-1954 The Lynch Site, 25BD1 Mary Louise Freed University of Nebraska - Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthrotheses Part of the Anthropology Commons Freed, Mary Louise, "The Lynch Site, 25BD1" (1954). Anthropology Department Theses and Dissertations. 1. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthrotheses/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Department Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE LYNCH SITE, 25BDI Mary Louise Freed A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College in the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Department of Anthropology Under the Supervision of Dr. John L. Champe Lincoln, Nebraska September 10, 1954 FOREWORD This report was begun in the spring of 1950; the laboratory analysis of the material was completed in July 1950. There was opportunity to continue the work in 1952. My father, R. B. Callen and my aunt, Miss Ruth Callen, made possible the work done in 1954 which includes most of the writing, a review of the pottery analysis and restudy of the excavation maps. My husband has typed the major part of the draft manu- script and aided in other ways. Personal help and suggestions were given by George Metcalf, Alvin Wolfe, Dolores Gunnerson, Mary Klehl and Bernard Moskowitz. Mary Louise Freed August 1, 1954 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Purpose Method of Study Study Materials THE LYNCH SITE Site Description Local Topography Geography of Region Geological Formations of Region Climate EXCAVATIONS AND FIELD WORK Excavations of 1936 Jehorek area Stewart area Trench S1 Trench S3 Reconnaissance MATERIAL CULTURE Work in Stone Chipped stone Knives Scrapers Gravers Drills Projectile points iii Celts Chipped flakes Ground Stone and Miscellaneous Hematite Sandstone blocks Abraders Miscellaneous pieces Unworked fragments Work in Bone Knives Rib Tools Hoes Ulnae Ant1er and horn Jawbone Awls Bobbin Faunal and Vegetal Remains Vegetal Faunal and Molluscan Ceramics Analysis of Pottery Temper Texture Surface finish Hardness Thickness Color Form Body Shoulder Neck Rim Lip Handles and Lugs Decoration Placement Preparation Techniques Design elements Design motifs Classification of Pottery Pipes Hard Clay Caches and Pits Evidence of Structures Summary of Material Culture Relationships Problems DISCUSSION OF PROBLEMS Classification and Relationship Complexes of Like Material Culture Site 25BD2 Site 25BD4 Summary Relationship to Plains Manifestations Aksarben Aspect Oneota Aspect Lower Loup Focus Manifestations of the Middle Missouri Other Manifestations Summary Chronology and Dating Review of Statements by other workers Summary and Conclusions SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER WORK BIEGIOGRAPHY APPENDIX A, Publicity in 1936 APPENDIX B, Check list of Boyd Focus traits EXPLANATION OF PLATES PLATES MAPS FIGURES TABLES PLATES VIEWS OF SITE 25BD1 EXCAVATIONS ON 25~~1 TRENCHES S1 AND S3 THE NORTHERN END OF TRENCH S3 TRENCKES OF THE STEWART AREA CONCENTRATIONS OF MATERIAL AT 25~~1 UPPER REPUBLICAN POT FROM 25BD1 BRACED RIMS, FORMS A AND B, FROM 25BD1 BRACED RIMS, FORMS A AND B, FROM 25BD1 DIRECT RIMS FROM 25BD1 DIRECT RIMS FROM 25BD1 FLAZBD AND OTHER RIMS FROM 25BD1 CERAMIC SPECIMENS FROM 25BD1 INCISED SHOULDER AREA SHERDS FROM 25~~1 INCISED AND PAINTED SHERDS FROM 25BDl POT FROM 25BD1 DECORATED IN THE ONEOTA TRADITION ONEOTA POTTERY FROM 25BD1 POTTERY AND CHIPPED STONE FROM 25BD1 CHIPPED STONE ARTIFACTS FROM 25~~1 DRILLS, GRAVERS AND POINTS FROM 25BD1 BONE ARTIFACTS FROM 25BD1 POTTERY FROM 25BD2 CHIPPED STONE ARTIFACTS FROM 25BD2 SPECIMENS FROM 25BD4 SITE 25BD1 IN 1950 WHISKEY CREEK VALLEY vii MAPS 1, LOCATION OF BOYD COUNTY 2. SITES OF BOYD COUNTY 3. AREAS OF SITE 25BD1 4. TOPOGRAPHY OF SITE 25BD1 5. APPROXIMATE FELATIONSHIP OF TRENCHES S1 AND S3 FIGURES 1. SECTIONS FROM THE PROFILE OF J1 HOUSE PIT, S3, MAP AND PROFILE PROFILE, S1-20-22 PROFILE, S3, SECTIONS 0 AND -1 KEY, FIGURES 5-14 CONTENTS OF HOUSEPIT, S3 BASIN PIT, S1, C, PROFILE AND CONTENTS CACHE PIT, S1, 1, PROFILE AND CONTENTS CACHE PITJ 31, 2, PROFILE AND CONTENTS CACHE PIT,' S1, 3, PROFIIX AND CONTENTS CACHE PIT, S1, 10, PROFILE AND CONTENTS CACHE PIT, S1, 13, PROFILE AND CONTENTS CACHE PIT, S3, 14, PROFILE AND CONTENTS CACHE PIT, S3, 17, OUTLIXVE AND CONTENTS 4. CACHE PIT, 93, 20, PROFILE AND CONTENTS 15. BRACED RIM PROFILES 16. DIRFCT RIM PROFILES 17. RIM PROFILES, 25BD1 viii TABLES GENERAL STRATIGRAPHY OF NORTHEAST NEBRASKA CACHE PITS 25~~1 PITS "BASINS" 25BD1 POSTMOLDS, 25BD1 PROJECTILE POINTS, TYPE AND MATERIAL PROJECTILE POINTS, TYPE AND LOCATION PROJECTILE POINTS, LOCATION AND MATERIAL BONE SPECIMENS BODY SHERD HARDNESS BODY SHERD THICKMESS RIM FORMS TEMPER AND RIM FORMS KINDS OF HANDLES AND LUGS APPENDAGES ASSOCIATED WITH RIM FORMS DESIGN ELEMENTS LYNCH WARE RIM TYPES DESCRIPTION OF RESTORED VESSELS THE LYNCH SITE, 25BDl One of the aims of anthropology is the study of the growth and change of oultures, The data on which the realization of this aim depends include reports upon single archeological sites or the ethnographies of a group of people. These data, however, are of little value as long as each report remains a unique entity, hanging in time and space. For the atudy of culture growth and change each must be seen in its proper perspective against Lhe known total of history. This archeological report presents pertinent material for the study of some of these historical phenomena In the Central Plains, The excavations of the Lynch site, 25BD1, were made in 1936 by the University of Nebraska Archeological Survey and the materials recovered are avrailable in the Laboratory of Anthropology of the University of Nebraska. There was newspaper and radio publicity in 1936 and the site has had brief mention in technical reports, The purpose of this paper is threefold, First, to present a report of the excavations of 1936 reconstructed from site records, Second, to present the results of the laboratory analysis of the artifacts, Third, to discuss the relationships between 25BDl and the established manifestations of the Central Plains, and, so far as possible, to the important Middle Mlssouri sites now being investigated by the River Basin Surveys, Smithsonian Institution, and their co- operating agencies. The first section of this report gives a description of the Liynch site, its location and situation including a brief survey of the regional geography, the geological formations and the climate, The second section is a report of the field work carried on by the excavators. Section three is an analysis and description of the material remains recovered in 1936, All of the material culture will be disoussed but the ceramic remains provide the greater part of the available data for the section, The fourth section of this paper will relate the archeo- logical complex of the Lynch site to other cultural manifes- tations of the area. The possible time of occupation of the Lych site will be discussed, The resolution of these problems will lead to other problems in central Plains archeology, As an aid for future workers Zn Plains archeology suggestions as to work in the field and in the laboratory which indicate methods of working on these problems form the concluding section of this report, Method of Study The work was started by determining what materials were available from' the 1936 excavations at 25BD1, This itemiza- tion showed that the site records and artifact inventory were incomplete but that the artifacts should be described and that they might show relationships to other manifestations. A group of charts in the Laboratory of Anthropology'files was identified as maps, elevations and profile sections of some of the excavation units, After the maps were identified tracings and blueprints made from them prior to thia study could be identified and reassembled, The pottery analysis was done first. Repairs and recon- struction~were made as the work progressed, This analysis consisted of repeatedly sorting the sherds into groups alike in all of several respects, Records were kept of these groupings, Rim sherds were worked with first, These were grouped according to form, deooration and tempering material. Close comparison of the rim sherds in the groups, and matching those which appeared to come from the same vessel although they could not be fitted together made it possible to esti- mate the number of vessels represented by the rim sherds, Calculations were made for each set of figures. The body sherds were sorted according to temper, surface finish, color and decoration, The designs of the decorations were studied. After the identification of Lynch temper this was also a sorting criterion. Samples of body sherds were tested for hardness and measured for thickness, These meas- urements are the basis f6r statistical ~comparisons. The restored vessels were compared with the groups of rim sherds and to each other, The worked bone specimens were repaired and grouped according to like forms, recorded and measured. The stone work was grouped by form and material. Much of the stone work was hard to classify because of the non- descript character of the workmanship, The different stone materials which were used seem to furnish information for the study. Other items, including pipes, vegetal and faunal mate- rials were examined and described, All these materials were then sorted as to provenience so that the physical relationships of the artifacts could be recognized, A chart was prepared from these data and was used in writing this paper, This chart is on file in the Laboratory of Anthropology since it could not be satisfac- torily reproduced.