pS. ?fo^' 2^3T' McNARY RESERVOIR — SHINER 159 



however, people have generally considered that in spite of outside 

 influences Plateau culture maintained a "personality" of its own. 



Among the recent tendencies in American research is the inquiry 

 into time depths in culture areas. Since data are available on time 

 and space distribution of material culture in the area, it follows that 

 an examination of prehistoric culture in the Plateau would be a rea- 

 sonable study. Thus, the problem can be posed, "Was the Plateau 

 in prehistoric times a Culture Area, or was it peripheral to another 

 area or areas?" The approach to this problem can be stated briefly. 

 It will be to develop the local sequence in the region in which Kiver 

 Basin Surveys concentrated its work and to expand the picture to 

 the Plateau in general. It involves detailed reporting of the results 

 of River Basin archeology and comparisons with available materials 

 from other sources. From the local sequence and comparisons im- 

 portant conclusions can be drawn. 



The procedure is to present a physiographic and ethnographic 

 background for a general picture of the Plateau before going into 

 details. A brief history of significant contributions to Plateau eth- 

 nography and archeology is followed by a summary of the part the 

 River Basin Surveys played in its program of research. The dis- 

 cussion must then become specific before summing up and conclusions 

 are reached. The thesis is that the Plateau in prehistoric times was 

 more justifiably a separate culture area than it was in the early his- 

 torical period with which Wissler was dealing. 



Two of the McNary sites, the burial site 45-BN-3 and the pit 

 house village 45-BN-53, were excavated and reported on by Douglas 

 Osborne. The interpretation of these two sites was used by Osborne 

 for his doctoral dissertation that also included a thorough study of 

 the historic period. In view of Osborne's concern with the historic 

 period in the McNary Reservoir, the present study touches lightly 

 on that period. The material culture of the historic period is dis- 

 cussed only in the sense that it is a continuation of what went before. 



In the following physical description of the Plateau no exact limits 

 are placed on the area. Exact limits cannot be set because the 

 physical area described is that which corresponds to the cultural 

 Plateau, and the boimdaries of Plateau culture were not sharp lines. 

 The consideration of the Plateau Area in the present discussion is 

 mainly directed to that portion which lies within the United States. 

 Investigations, both archeological and ethnological, have been made 

 in Canada, but nearly all of them were made either a long time ago 

 or so recently that they have not yet been published. Thus, while 

 it must be recognized that the Plateau Area extends far north of 

 the Canadian-United States border, little can be done at the present 

 time to describe and analyze the culture of that portion of the Plateau. 



