288 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



much more congenial company in the " Algonkian " culture of Iowa 

 than it docs with any known Nebraska culture. The ceramics of the 

 two are very similar, and the reed-thatched and possibly bark-walled 

 house of the Sterns Creek culture is fundamentally a woodland and 

 not a Plains type of dwelling. Material is not available to institute a 

 detailed comparison in regard to other artifact types. It might be 

 argued that the preponderance of worked bone and antler over flint 

 in the Sterns Creek culture diflferentiates it from the " Algonkian " 

 horizon in Iowa as summed up by Dr. Keyes. This is true, but it re- 

 mains to distinguish the specific " Algonkian " culture of western 

 Iowa from the more generalized pattern. When this is done, I strongly 

 suspect that the Sterns Creek culture will find complete parallels on 

 the east side of the Missouri River, whereas these seem to be lacking 

 in eastern Nebraska, where more investigation has already been 

 carried on. 



Since the Oneota and Mill Creek cultures center in northern and 

 western Iowa they are in geographical contact with the region of north- 

 eastern Nebraska which at present is practically unknown from the 

 archeological standpoint. It is thus impossible to institute valid cul- 

 tural comparisons between the two regions at the present time. Both 

 the Mill Creek and Oneota cultures, however, seem closer to the 

 Nebraska culture to the south and to the west of the Missouri than 

 they are to the " Algonkian " culture of Iowa. This is shown by the 

 similarity of ceramic forms and decorations and by the general range 

 of artifact types in all three of the former cultures. On the other 

 hand, the Nebraska and Oneota cultures differ in types of villages 

 (Oneota earth lodges have not yet been reported on), method of 

 burial, pottery tempering, and tobacco p\\)e forms and materials. The 

 Nebraska and Mill Creek cultures likewise differ in these regards, 

 except that grit pot-tempering material is employed by both. The 

 form and decoration of Mill Creek culture ceramics is less like the 

 Nebraska culture, on the other hand, than is the case with Oneota 

 culture ceramics. I am inclined to regard these three prehistoric 

 horizons as generically related and possibly of Siouan origin, but 

 the basis of this grouping is admittedly subjective. Last of all should 

 be mentioned the possibility that the true Oneota culture is represented 

 in the shell-temi>ered and roughly incised ])ottery of the Rulo site in 

 extreme southeastern Nebraska and perhaps elsewhere in the eastern 

 part of that State where shell-tempered pottery has been noted. It 

 is apparent that the clear delineation of these horizons should forge 

 strong links between tlie historic and prehistoric cultures of the 

 eastern woodlands and the central plains. Such research is certain to 



