St. Cloud State University theRepository at St. Cloud State Culminating Projects in Cultural Resource Department of Anthropology Management 5-2019 Honey or Vinegar: Oneota Interaction in the Central and Northeastern Plains Benjamin Shirar Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/crm_etds Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Shirar, Benjamin, "Honey or Vinegar: Oneota Interaction in the Central and Northeastern Plains" (2019). Culminating Projects in Cultural Resource Management. 25. https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/crm_etds/25 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Anthropology at theRepository at St. Cloud State. It has been accepted for inclusion in Culminating Projects in Cultural Resource Management by an authorized administrator of theRepository at St. Cloud State. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Honey or Vinegar: Oneota Interaction in the Central and Northeastern Plains by Benjamin Shirar A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of St. Cloud State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Cultural Resource Management Archaeology May, 2019 Thesis Committee: Mark Muñiz, Chair Robbie Mann John Doershuk Mark Anderson 2 Abstract Beginning AD 1150 and extending until European contact, the archaeological culture referred to as “Oneota” underwent an explosive spread across the American midcontinent. As Oneota ideas, people, or some combination thereof moved westward, they encountered people from other cultures. Along the western frontier of Oneota culture, evidence suggests that relations between Oneota and Plains indigenes took a variety of forms. To better understand how various environmental and cultural factors may have informed the decision-making process with regard to inter-group interaction, four sites along this western Oneota periphery were selected for analysis: Shea and Sprunk in eastern North Dakota, White Rock in north-central Kansas, and Dixon in northwest Iowa. The evidence for both inter-group contact and site function is evaluated and compared across these four sites, and ultimately synthesized with existing knowledge and theories of Oneota interaction. It is suggested that Oneota social relations may have been partially dependent on whether other groups were in competition for a similar resource base; this process allowed a relationship between Oneota and Psinomani peoples to flourish, while minimizing the possibility of positive relations with Central Plains Tradition peoples. This hypothesis offers directions for future research, including the extent of the relationship between Oneota and Psinomani peoples and the movement of commodities from western Oneota outposts to the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest regions often viewed as the Oneota heartland. 3 Acknowledgments Thanks are owed to many people for their time, effort, and support throughout writing this thesis. My advisor, Dr. Mark Muñiz, was enormously supportive throughout the process, from the first tentative steps of my proposal through wrestling with statistics, interpretive frameworks, and all points in between. Likewise, my committee members— Dr. John Doershuk, Dr. Rob Mann, and Mark Anderson—gave helpful feedback on a number of topics, from the loftiest theoretical issues to individual sentences. The mentorship of my various committee members extends back to my earliest archaeology experiences: Mark Anderson was there the first time I dug a hole and had to write down what came out of it, John Doershuk taught my field school, and Drs. Mann and Muñiz have been instrumental in developing my technical and theoretical understanding of archaeology, as well as formulating my own philosophy of resource management. My classmates have been constantly supportive and encouraging. Particular thanks to Lacy, Ian, and Rae for believing in me beyond the point of rationality. Warren, Stephen, and the rest of the Iowa OSA crew are also owed thanks for their often irreverent and always insightful input. Brad Logan, George Holley, Michael Michlovic, and Ron Schirmer helped me acquire the reference materials and site reports. Ernie Boszhardt and Dale Henning provided extremely helpful guidance regarding all things Oneota. I thank my brothers and sister, and my parents, for their unwavering support. Finally, my fiancée, Alicia, has weathered all the vicissitudes of partnering an archaeologist—from long stints in the field to shutting myself in the office for days on end to write—with unfailing good humor. My humblest thanks to all of these, as well as the many people I doubtless omitted. All errors, of course, are entirely my own. 4 Table of Contents Page List of Tables ........................................................................................................................ 6 List of Figures ....................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 9 Time and Space ................................................................................................ 11 Interpretive Framework ................................................................................... 13 2. Background and Literature Review ....................................................................... 16 Oneota Chronology .......................................................................................... 16 Oneota on the Northeastern Plains ................................................................... 22 Oneota on the Central Plains ............................................................................ 25 The Dixon Oneota Site and Western Oneota ................................................... 32 Additional Sources and Theoretical Approach ................................................ 36 3. Research Questions and Methodology ................................................................... 41 Quantitative Data ............................................................................................. 42 Lithic Artifacts ................................................................................................. 44 Ceramics .......................................................................................................... 44 Faunal Remains ................................................................................................ 45 Botanical Remains ........................................................................................... 45 Features ............................................................................................................ 47 Human Remains ............................................................................................... 47 Statistical Testing and Analyses ...................................................................... 48 5 Chapter Page Expectations and Interpretation ....................................................................... 48 4. Results .................................................................................................................... 50 Lithic Artifacts ................................................................................................. 50 Botanicals ......................................................................................................... 61 Faunal Remains ................................................................................................ 64 Ceramics .......................................................................................................... 71 Features ............................................................................................................ 79 Human Remains ............................................................................................... 82 5. Discussion .............................................................................................................. 85 6. Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 99 References ........................................................................................................................... 105 Appendices A. Botanical Data ........................................................................................................ 111 B. Faunal Data ............................................................................................................ 112 C. Ceramics ................................................................................................................ 115 D. Features .................................................................................................................. 117 6 List of Tables Table Page 4.1 General Statistics for the Shea Sprunk. White Rock, and Dixon Sites .................. 51 4.2 Shows the Frequency of Projectile Points, Knives, and End Scrapers Recovered from Each Site ............................................................................... 52 4.3 Shows the Frequency of Corner Notched, Side Notched, and Unnotched Triangular Projectile Points at Each Site ......................................................... 52 4.4 Adjusted Standardized Residuals for χ2 Tests on the Basis of Lithic Toolkit ........... 54 4.5 Adjusted Standardized Residuals for X2 Tests between Sites on the Basis