294 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



respond to the general Plains archeological area as postulated by 

 Wissler/" whereas central and eastern Nebraska must either fall into 

 his Missouri Valley area or else form a new prehistoric type. This 

 much is already certain, that the western high plains and mountain 

 border areas reveal abundant evidence of purely nomadic hunting 

 cultures, whereas the river and stream valleys of the central loess 

 plains abound in sites marked by earth lodges and numerous ceramic 

 remains. Such a condition of affairs suggests that, at least in later 

 prehistoric times, the strictly hunting peoples were mainly on the 

 margins of the plains, whereas the sedentary type of culture had a 

 much greater extension to the west along the numerous tributaries of 

 the Missouri River. 



CONCLUSION 



The present venture into the archeology of one State in the central 

 plains area reveals two outstanding features : first, the small amount 

 of scientific archeological work yet accomplished in the central part 

 of the United States, and second, the surprising amount of work there 

 is to be done as well as the breadth and depth of the prehistoric scene 

 that is opening up. Dimly seen at the bottom of the time scale are 

 evidences of early hunters, in some cases associated with extinct 

 animals, presumably in early Recent or late Pleistocene times. Thus 

 the hypothesis of early man in the Plains region is being verified, 

 though the earliest evidence is still somewhat obscure both as to the 

 exact time and the type of the cultures involved. Somewhat later, 

 in western Nebraska, a related hunting culture is more clearly revealed 

 in the lowest stratum at Signal Butte. As was expected, the dawn 

 of the prehistoric period so far as our present knowledge extends 

 finds man intimately related to the great bison herds of the region. 

 On hypothetical grounds it was the presence of such herds from 

 Pleistocene times on that favored the Great Plains as a place to find 

 traces of very early New World hunters. It is this long-awaited 

 evidence that is now coming to light. 



The next type of evidence revealed by archeology has not been pre- 

 dicted by theorists. This is the early appearance of semi-horticultural 

 peoples in the region of the central Plains. Strange to say, it is a 



'"Clark Wissler, 1922, pp. 271-272. Characterized as a barren area influenced 

 on all sides by adjacent cultures. Although pointing out that actual field explora- 

 tion may change this picture, Wissler states that tipi rings, quarry sites, 

 scattered stone alignments, pictographs, and simple bone and stone artifacts 

 seem to typify the whole area, but that permanent habitation sites and pottery 

 are generally lacking. 



