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Previously Unknown Sites in Jewell County Excavated By Kansas State Professor

Posted on: Thursday, 21 October 2004, 13:00 CDT

MANHATTAN, Kan., Oct. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Archaeological sites previously unknown to professional archaeologists have been discovered in Jewell County, Kan., by a Kansas State University professor. He said a local collector alerted him to the sites.

Brad Logan, research associate professor of anthropology, spent three weeks in September doing test excavations onn White Rock Creek's Lovewell Reservoir, an archaeological site that is usually underwater.

"When the reservoir is at its normal flood pool, these sites are all underwater," Logan said. "It's only when the water is released in late summer for irrigation that these sites are exposed."

Test excavations at the reservoir were done to determine whether sites have significant research potential. Logan said the research team found two of the three sites tested needed further excavations; they also discovered another site that needed more thorough excavation.

"This year, the lake was held down for dam maintenance, so we have to do this during the little window of opportunity when the lake is guaranteed to be down," he said. "They're only holding the reservoir until Nov. 1, then they'll let it fill again. Every time it fills, these sites get more eroded.

"For the three weeks that we were out there, we were doing excavations at three sites that belong to what we call the Late Prehistoric Period, which goes from about A.D. 900 to A.D. 1500," Logan said. "What's interesting about the sites is that, within that time period, they appear to belong to two different cultures. We know one is the Central Plains tradition and the other is possibly the White Rock culture."

Logan said the Central Plains are believed to be Caddoan- speaking peoples and were in the area earlier than the White Rock culture.

He said archaeologists have interpreted the White Rock culture to be a result of Siouan-speaking people drawn westward by bison around A.D. 1300.

"The thing about White Rock is that it does not span the entire Late Prehistoric Period," Logan said. "This is important, because what we want to know is the relationship between the White Rock and Central Plains."

Logan said he wants to find out if the two cultures were friendly or if they even met.

"That's why these sites are so interesting, because it's as if these people never lived at the same site, even within that relatively small area of 10 to 12 square miles along White Rock Creek that is now Lovewell Reservoir," Logan said. "If you look at the historic record, while the Caddoan-speaking people and Siouan- speaking people sometimes got along and had trade relationships, quite often their attitudes toward each other were more warlike. But so far we see no evidence of any relationship at all."

Logan said no students were involved in these excavations, because it had to be done while classes were in session. Instead, he worked with archaeologists from a private company out of Kansas City, Mo., Burns & McDonnell, Inc.

The Bureau of Reclamation owns the reservoir and provided funding for the excavations.

Logan has been doing fieldwork since 1975. He earned his doctorate in anthropology from the University of Kansas in 1985. He received his master of philosophy in anthropology from the University of Kansas in 1981 and his master of arts in anthropology from the University of Nevada-Reno in 1977. He earned a bachelor's in history and anthropology from the University of Kansas in 1974.

http://www.usnewswire.com

Source: U.S. Newswire

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