192 BULLETIN 183, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



to the Colorado line. Along the immediate valley of the Missouri was 

 a related and contemporary but somewhat divergent manifestation 

 termed the Nebraska Culture (or aspect). Still other variants of this 

 prehistoric horticultural earthlodge-using pattern are found in east- 

 ern Kansas, but have not yet been analyzed. Earlier than any of these, 

 as shown by stratigraphic studies at several widely scattered points, 

 are small, often deeply buried sites referred to a little known variant 

 of the Woodland horizon. At present, this is believed to be the earliest 

 pottery-bearing culture stratum in the central Great Plains, but it is 

 not yet clear whether the subsistence economy was based primarily on 

 horticulture or on hunting and gathering.^* The Woodland, as also 

 the later materials in the trans-Missouri region, were apparently 

 derived from parent stocks to the east, and basically represent western 

 peripheral variants of the maize and pottery horizons of the Mississippi 

 Valley. Because cultural sequences have been established for the 

 region immediately north and west, comparison of the Platte County 

 remains will begin with plains horizons. 



To facilitate comparison, I have listed in table 11 the artifact types 

 and other culture elements revealed by our investigations at the Ren- 

 ner and Steed-Kisker sites. This includes practically all named items 

 considered in the foregoing descriptive sections of this report, where 

 additional details can be found concerning the nature of the various 

 entries. Wliere feasible I have sought to indicate the relative im- 

 portance of an element by indicating the number of observed occur- 

 rences. Where actual numbers are impractical, I have used a plus 

 sign ( + ) to show that the element is frequently present, a minus 

 sign ( — ) for infrequent occurrences, and a blank for no known 

 occurrences. Inventories for sites introduced for comparative pur- 

 poses have been handled in similar fashion. 



As pointed out in the resume above, there is little similarity in our 

 trait inventories for the Renner and Steed-Kisker sites. The re- 

 semblances, which may be disposed of here before we proceed to spe- 

 cific site comparisons on a wider basis, involve mainly the subsistence 

 patterns. The inhabitants of both villages practiced horticulture 

 based on maize. Other crops directly evidenced are beans at Renner, 

 pumpkins and sunflowers at Steed-Kisker. The mealing slab, muller, 

 and clam-shell hoe were found only at Steed-Kisker. Both groups 

 drew to a considerable extent on the locally available wild food re- 

 sources, among which were nuts and papaws as well as deer, turkey, 

 and other game. Also, both used underground storage pits and had 

 domestic dogs. So far as the above items are concerned, both Renner 



" See strong, 1935, p. 193 ; Hill and Kivett, 1941, p. 188 ; Hill, 1941, p. 7. For further 

 particulars concerning the nature and interrelationships of these and other archeological 

 manifestations in the central Great Plains see Wedel, 1940a, and references therein. 



