2QO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



west, the lower Mississippi area, and the mound region centering in 

 Ohio. Not only would the upper Missouri River historic, protohis- 

 toric, and prehistoric sites, if properly and systematically worked, yield 

 almost complete data on the early culture and history of some six or 

 seven important North American tribes (see George F. Will, 1924, 

 p. 301), but such work would cast a flood of light on many obscure 

 problems in regions well to the south and east. Yet this highly im- 

 portant archeological area is at present represented by a single major 

 monograph and that only partially based on actual excavation."" 



It is therefore impossible to establish anything but the most super- 

 ficial correlations between this and adjacent areas in the present state 

 of our knowledge. On the other hand, there is every reason to believe 

 that such important problems as the extent and age of the Caddoan 

 movement to the north, the various Siouan movements to the north 

 and west, and the manner in which Algonkian tribes like the Arapaho 

 and Cheyenne shifted from a horticultural woodland to a hunting 

 plains culture, etc., may only be answered when the prehistory of the 

 upper Missouri region is known. All that can be mentioned at the 

 present time are a few highlights on the area which seem to offer 

 extremely promising leads for future research."" 



Numerous small conical mounds occur in eastern South Dakota and 

 extend into North Dakota, where effigy mounds are also abundant. 

 Very few of these mounds have been found west of the Missouri, 

 though they extend north a considerable distance into Manitoba and 

 Saskatchewan. (Montgomery, 1908.) In many cases these mounds are 

 marked by burned clay at the base and contain disarticulated human 

 remains. In this burial complex and to a certain extent in the some- 

 what scarce pottery and the other artifact types which they contain, 

 these mounds rather suggest the Nebraska culture. Along the Missouri 

 River and its tributaries in South Dakota are some 100 or more large 

 village sites and a great number of such villages are also to be found 

 in North Dakota. Particularly interesting are the elaborate forti- 

 fications which mark many of these clearly delineated historic and 

 prehistoric villages. "*" In general, the southern villages are regarded 

 as Arikara and the northern villages as Mandan in origin, although 



""Will, G. F., and Spindeii, H. J., The Mandans, a study of their culture, 

 archaeology and language, 1906. Reference should also be made to the excellent 

 survey report of G. F. Will, 1924. 



"* The following comments are for the most part based on the verbal reports 

 of W. H. Over, George F. Will, and Dana Wright at the Vermillion Conference, 

 August 31 — September 1, 1931. 



""Will, 1924, shows maps of several of these. 



