THE DIRECT-HISTORICAL APPROACH IN PAWNEE 

 ARCHEOLOGY 



By WALDO R. WEDEL 



Assistant Curator of Archeology, U. S. National Museum 



(With Six Plates) 



When the University of Nebraska Archeological Survey was 

 established in 1929, its then director, Dr. W. D. Strong, envisaged 

 two primary objectives. The first was a prehminary survey of the 

 State, including both surface reconnaissance and sampling excava- 

 tions, designed to give a general bird's-eye view of the area as a 

 whole. With this was combined a second aim, namely, an effort to 

 locate and work such sites as could be definitely identified with villages 

 visited and recorded by the early white explorers in eastern Nebraska. 

 It was believed that by isolating and clearly defining the archeological 

 characteristics of the historic peoples a whole series of sites could 

 soon be removed from the category of unknowns ; and furthermore, 

 that a comparison of materials so identified with earlier remains in 

 the region might open lines of attack which would permit the 

 establishing of a time sequence extending "from the known historic 

 into the unknown prehistoric." Toward this second objective a 

 serious beginning had already been made by A. T. Hill, of Hastings, 

 Nebr., who since 1922 had accumulated a considerable quantity of 

 archeological materials from sites identified as Pawnee through criti- 

 cal study of early nineteenth century maps and narratives. This 

 collection, as well as numerous valuable historical leads, was 

 promptly made available to Dr. Strong and his coworkers, and it 

 became the starting point for the study of Pawnee archeology. In 

 this paper it is proposed to review very briefly the methods and some 

 results of this approach to prehistory in the Pawnee area. 



It was not chance alone that prompted selection of the Pawnee for 

 the first systematic attempt at isolating a historic archeological com- 

 plex in Nebraska. Aside from Hill's pioneer labors, consideration 

 was given to the fact that this tribe was one of the largest, best known, 

 and most powerful in the entire Plains area. Among the semi- 

 sedentary so-called village tribes of the Missouri valley, including 

 both Caddoan and Siouan groups, probably none shows evidence 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 97, no. 7. 



