55 *J?o ■ is}' ^^^^ BRAVE SITE — WOOD AND WOOLWORTH 63 



along this immense tract of land is truly striking. If cultural simi- 

 larity implies contemporaneity they cannot be widely separated in 

 time. The hypothesis that the downriver sites are the older is appeal- 

 ing, and it has the virtue of the support of the Mandan migration 

 traditions (Bowers, 1950, pp. 156-163) claiming a downstream origin 

 for that group. The village sites of this complex are confined, so far 

 as we are now aware, to the valley of the Missouri Eiver. It is prob- 

 able that surveys along major tributaries west of the Missouri would 

 reveal hunting campsites of these villages. 



Until such time as radiocarbon, tree ring, or other dating methods 

 can be applied to material from Paul Brave, it is necessary to estimate 

 its age on the basis of comparative data. The tree-ring studies car- 

 ried out by Will (1946, 1948), in conjunction with the analysis of 

 pottery traits, village patterns, and house forms (Will and Hecker, 

 1944) suggest a terminal date for the site. The lack of a fortifying 

 ditch suggests the site is earlier in time than the Huff site, for which 

 site the cutting dates of 11 timbers are A.D. 1458-1543 (Will, 1946, p. 

 16) . A radiocarbon date of A.D. 1228 dz 200 has been released for the 

 Thomas Riggs site by the Missouri Basin Chronology Program 

 (Radiocarbon Laboratory, Michigan Memorial-Phoenix Project, Uni- 

 versity of Michigan, sample M-838). The similarity in the invento- 

 ries of the Thomas Riggs and the Paul Brave sites implies approximate 

 contemporaneity. Sites in North Dakota here regarded as components 

 of the Thomas Riggs Focus have been variously estimated to date 

 about A.D. 1250-1300 (Howard, 1962), A.D. 1350-1450 (Hewes, 1949 

 a, p. 23) , and A.D. 1200-1300 (Will, 1946, p. 17) . If the radiocarbon 

 date for Thomas Riggs is accurate, and the postulated upstream 

 movement valid, it is our impression that Paul Brave and adjacent 

 sites date between about A.D. 1300 and 1400. 



LITERATURE CITED 



Bowers, Alfeed W. 



A history of the Mandan and Hidatsa. MS., Ph. D. dissertation, 



Univ. Chicago, 1948. 

 1950. Mandan social and ceremonial organization. Univ. Chicago Press. 

 Champe, John L. 



1948. Review: The upper Missouri River Valley aboriginal culture in North 

 Dakota, by George F. Will and Thad. C. Hecker. Amer. Antiq., vol. 

 13, No. 3, pp. 261-262. 

 Davis, E. Mott. 



1956. Archeological survey of the Big Sandy Reservoir area, southwestern 

 Wyoming. Notebook No. 2, Lab. Anthrop., Univ. Nebraska. 

 Fenenga, Franklin. 



1953. The weights of chipped stone points : a clue to their functions. South- 

 west Jour. Anthrop., vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 309-323. 



