TheArzberger site,designated by archaeologists with theSmithsonian trinomial39HU6,is a majorarchaeological siteinHughes County,nearPierre, South Dakota.It was declared aNational Historic Landmarkin 1964.[3]It is a large fortified village, that is thetype sitefor the Initial Coalescent, a culture that flourished in the area c. 1200-1350 CE.[4]
Arzberger site | |
 Countryside at the site | |
| Location | Address restricted[2] |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Pierre, South Dakota |
| NRHP referenceNo. | 66000715[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | July 19, 1964[3] |
Site description
editThe Arzberger site is located on a terrace overlooking the east bank of theMissouri River,about 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Pierre. The site is that of a fortified village, which originally had a wooden stockade encircling an area of about 44 acres (18 ha). The stockade was fortified with 24 bastions, and there were 44 house structures inside it.[4]
Although the site is considered the type site for the Initial Coalescent, it appears temporally late in the sequence of sites now associated with that cultural phase, and may be one of its final outposts. Its people appear to have disappeared from the region not long afterward, supplanted by the Middle Missouri culture. It is not far from theCrow Creek Site,the scene of a major massacre in the 1300s.[4]
The site was first excavated in 1939 byWilliam Duncan StrongandAlbert Spaulding,at which time portions of the fortification ditch, one bastion, and four houses were excavated.[4]Of the houses excavated, two were typical circularearth lodge,while one was more rectangular in shape, a style more typically found inNorth Dakota.The houses included fire pits and cache pits, the latter found both inside and outside the structures. Pottery finds, according to Strong, were of a style that appears ancestral to both theArikarato the north and thePawneeto the south.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"National Register Information System".National Register of Historic Places.National Park Service.July 9, 2010.
- ^Federal and state laws and practices restrict general public access to information regarding the specific location of this resource. In some cases, this is to protectarcheological sitesfrom vandalism, while in other cases it is restricted at the request of the owner. See:Knoerl, John; Miller, Diane; Shrimpton, Rebecca H. (1990),Guidelines for Restricting Information about Historic and Prehistoric Resources,National Register Bulletin,National Park Service,U.S. Department of the Interior,OCLC20706997.
- ^ab"Arzberger Site".National Historic Landmark summary listing.National Park Service.RetrievedJune 14,2008.
- ^abcdGibbons, Guy, ed. (1998).Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia.p.34.ISBN9780815307259.
- ^Strong, William Duncan (August 1972). "From History to Prehistory on the Northern Great Plains".Plains Anthropologist.17(57): 353–394.JSTOR25667085.