A Middle Archaic Burial from East Central Kansas

In late 2001, investigators excavated a solitary Middle Archaic burial from the Plains-Prairie border in east-central Kansas. The burial was contained in a dissected colluvial apron at the foot of the valley wall, in a soil horizon that began accumulating around 9000 B.P. Burial goods include deer b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	American antiquity Vol. 69; no. 4; pp. 717 - 739
Main Authors:	Hoard, Robert J., Banks, William E., Mandel, Rolfe D., Finnegan, Michael, Epperson, Jennifer E.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	New York, US Cambridge University Press 01-10-2004 Society for American Archaeology
Subjects:	Anthropology Archaeological sites Archaeological surveys Bone industry Bones Buried soils Cemeteries Drills Europe Foot France Generalities Limestones Methodology and general studies Morphology Mounds Palaeolithic and mesolithic Paleoanthropology Prehistory and protohistory Projectiles Radiocarbon dating Sedimentary soils Typology, technology and attribute analysis American culture Late Middle Archaic Asia United States of America Nord America Kansas France East Floor Wall Notch Drill Point Deer Foot Burial Knife Use-wear trace Analysis Morphology Soil Bone Age
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Summary:	In late 2001, investigators excavated a solitary Middle Archaic burial from the Plains-Prairie border in east-central Kansas. The burial was contained in a dissected colluvial apron at the foot of the valley wall, in a soil horizon that began accumulating around 9000 B.P. Burial goods include deer bone, a drill, and a side-notched projectile point/knife, the morphology of which is consistent with side-notched Middle Archaic points of the North American Central Plains and Midwest. Use-wear analysis shows that the stone tools were used before being placed with the burial and were not manufactured specifically as burial goods. A radiocarbon assay of the deer bone in direct association with the burial yielded a radiocarbon age of 6160 ± 35 B.P. This is one of only a few burials older than 5,000 years in the region. Comparison of this burial to other coeval regional burials shows similarities in burial practices.
ISSN:	0002-7316 2325-5064
DOI:	10.2307/4128445