68 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



skeletal remains from the Schuyler site have not yet been fully 

 reported on. 



Considering the relationship of this older culture to that of the his- 

 toric Pawnee we find that the former contains just one-half of the 

 peculiarly characteristic Pawnee artifact types, namely, a more abun- 

 dant, richer, but rather similar ceramic type, large flat side scrapers 

 (quartzite), grooved mauls, catlinite elbow pipes, bison rib shaft 

 straighteners, and toothed fleshers of bone (the latter rare in proto- 

 historic sites, however). Besides these, the two cultures share many 

 common artifact types such as chipped celts and hoes, hammer stones, 

 rubbing stones, pecking stones, shaft polishers, bone awls, bone and 

 antler picks, bone beads, and scapula hoes. Of the more unique arti- 

 facts, both phases of culture possess perforated or polished quartz 

 crystals and decorated animal remains. On the other hand, the proto- 

 historic culture is particularly characterized by tiny triangular arrow- 

 points, flaked stone knives, an abundance of short end scrapers, 

 T-shaped chipped stone drills, platform and clay pipes, and fragmen- 

 tary antler or bone bracelets. Moreover, the protohistoric sites are 

 much richer in every respect, except Caucasian artifacts, than are the 

 historic Pawnee sites. When the protohistoric interments have been 

 excavated, the greater richness of such sites may be even more strik- 

 ingly emphasized. There is evident a strong linkage between the two 

 cultural phases, but the earlier horizon is the more elaborate and con- 

 tains many native artifact types that had already disappeared prior to 

 the advent of American explorers in the Pawnee territory. 



PREHISTORIC SITES RECENTLY EXCAVATED IN NEBRASKA 



So far we have been considering the general problems of our im- 

 mediate region, its historical and environmental background, and the 

 previous archeological research therein accomplished. In addition, 

 the concrete outlines of one of the major historic cultures of the 

 State, namely, the evidences of Pawnee occupation, have been sketched 

 in. It remains to present the new evidence on prehistoric archeology. 



The following sections deal with scattered prehistoric sites in 

 south-central, central, and extreme western Nebraska (see map, fig. i 

 and table 4, p. 246) . These were excavated in an attempt to outline 

 major cultures within the State as suggested by earlier excavations, 

 examination of local collections, and reconnaissance work by members 

 of the survey parties. Rather than spend all available resources on a 

 complete surface survey of the State, the writer attempted a less ambi- 

 tious survey coupled with actual excavation in chosen sites that gave 



