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Whistling Elk - South Dakota

 

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Whistling Elk Village (39HU242), South Dakota Geophysical Survey 1998-1999

Whistling Elk is a large (170 x 110m), fortified, Initial Coalescent village of the Plains Village pattern in Hughes County, SD dating to the early AD 1300s. It is located on the north bank of the Missouri River about 30 km east of Pierre, South Dakota and is on a loess plain/river terrace. The 1.8 ha site is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is buried under nearly a meter of sediments with no surface expression of cultural features visible aside from vegetation markings that occasionally appear in aerial photographs. Most of the village area was designated a natural wildlife refuge in the1960s by the Army Corps of Engineers (CoE) when this section of the river was

impounded to form Lake Sharpe, one of the many reservoirs on the Missouri. The lake's erosion of the site has recently resulted in a CoE bank stabilization program along its shoreline.

Little is known about Whistling Elk aside from excavations of two prehistoric houses performed at the eroding embankment by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln during the late 1970s. These excavations showed that the houses were burned, probably during an attack because the floors contained numerous utilitarian artifacts and burned foodstuffs (maize, beans) in storage bins. The excavations reported a depth to cultural features at the cut-bank of 0.8-1 m. Radiocarbon dates clustered in the early AD 1300s.The results of the electrical resistivity survey covered an area of approximately 17,000 sqm. Cultural features, nearly a meter deep, tend to exhibit high resistivity due to differing electrical properties of the eolian sediments that in- filled house and fortification depressions after the site's abandonment. The electromagnetic conductivity survey covered an area of approximately 16,600 sq m. The theoretical inverse of resistivity, cultural features exhibited low conductivity. The magnetic gradiometry survey covered an area of approximately 16,200 sq m. Cultural features tend to exhibit higher magnetic responses due to the presence of hearths and burned features like houses. The northwest quadrant of this village was not surveyed by conductivity or magnetic methods owing to the presence of a steel wire and post fence.

A particularly exciting find was the discovery of a "Big House," an unusually large house (10 m wide) possibly used for ceremonial purposes. The geophysics revealed its square form, exterior entryway facing southeast, the central hearth, and at least three of the central support posts, all classic features of Initial Coalescent houses. The magnetic data also indicated extensive burning along its walls. The University of North Dakota archaeological field school, directed by Dennis Toom, performed test excavations in the Big House. These excavations confirmed the locus of the hearth, a major support post, and the presence of intensive burning. The floor contained bison bone and numerous artifacts, including a complete pot. Depth to the floor was 98 cm.

Resistivity Data The resistivity data clearly define numerous houses and the fortification ditches, including nine bastion loops. The conductivity data are less clear, possibly owing to peaks ensitivity near a depth of 40 cm, somewhat above the cultural features. One consequence is that historic plow marks, above the cultural levels, are readily apparent and illustrate two distinct fields (one plowed east-west and the other north-south). Several houses not clearly defined by the resistivity data are better revealed by conductivity methods. The magnetic information, while appearing very noisy at a global scale due to historic iron debris and a plow mark response, offer a wealth of information at larger scales. Portions of a burned palisade are discernable as well as interior house features like hearths and post holes, as illustrated in the "Big House." In all of the data sets the berm constructed by the CoE for bank stabilization is readily apparent, and the steel wire and post fence impacts all of the data sets due to the sensitivity to ferrous metals of magnetic and conductivity methods and a vegetation response measured by resistivity (a dense tangle of weeds near the fence probably lowered ground moisture thereby raising resistivity in this area). Some of the noise seen in the northwest quadrant of the resistivity and conductivity data is due to an unusually high density of rodent activity in this area. The somewhat washed-out response to the north of the fence line seen in the resistivity data is probably due to the fact that this field has been under continuous cultivation and, indeed, was under oats during our survey (we were allowed survey of this field after the oats were cut). An extra 30 years of continuous plowing and probably a different moisture regime may be responsible for the weaker signature seen.

The discovery and definition of an inner fortification system with bastion loops and an increased density of houses within (partially due to the superpositioning of later houses over earlier ones) supports the inference, made by the 1970s excavators, of an attack on this village. It is quite possible that Whistling Elk was reoccupied by survivors and consolidated into a tighter, more defensible settlement, a circumstance seen in other villages in the region.

We believe this project clearly demonstrates some of the benefits of archeogeophysical survey. The structure of a prehistoric settlement is clearly revealed offering a detailed, and probably unprecedented, look at the layout of an entire Initial Coalescent village. The form of fortifications, the spacing of bastion loops, and the arrangement of houses within are indicated. In some cases house form and even interior features are revealed. Of particular importance is the discovery of an inner village with its own fortification system that may suggest a reoccupation and consolidation of the village after an attack. The unusually large Big House was also revealed by the remote sensing methods that were able to pinpoint features with sufficient accuracy for excavators to place a trench exactly between its wall and the central hearth!

Electrical Resistivity/Resistance Survey

Instrument: Geoscan Research RM-15; Sampling Interval: 0.5 x 1 m; Prospecting Depth: 1 m; Area Surveyed: 17,000 sq m; Date of Survey: July 1998; Land Cover Type: Open mowed grass/weeds.

Electrical Resistivity Tomography Survey

Instrument: Geoscan Research RM-15 & MPX-15 Multiplexer; Sampling Interval: 0.5 x0.5 m; Prospecting Depth: 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5, 2.0 m; Area Surveyed: 200 sq m; Date of Survey: July 1999; Land Cover Type: Open mowed grass/weeds.

Electromagnetic Conductivity Survey

Instrument: Geonics, Ltd., EM-38; Sampling Interval: 0.5 x 1 m; Prospecting Depth: to1.5 m; Area Surveyed: 16,600 sq m; Date of Survey: July 1998; Land Cover Type: Open mowed grass/weeds.

Magnetic Gradiometry Survey

Instrument: Geoscan Research FM-36; Sampling Interval: 0.25 x 1 m; Prospecting Depth: 1-1.5 m; Area Surveyed: 16,200 sq m; Date of Survey: July, 1998; Land Cover Type: Open mowed grass/weeds.

Ground Penetrating Radar Survey

Instrument: GSSI SIR-2000, with 400 MHz antenna; Sampling Interval: 0.02 x 0.5 m; Prospecting Depth: about 2 m; Area Surveyed: 75 sq m; Date of Survey: July, 1999; Land Cover Type: Open mowed grass/weeds.

Ten 15 m ground penetrating radar transects were run over a 5 m length of the fortification ditch at Whistling Elk Village, SD, each separated by 50 cm.