ARCHEOLOGICAL SALVAGE INVESTIGATIONS 
IN THE LOVEWELL RESERVOIR AREA, 
KANSAS * 
By Rozerr W. NeuMan 
INTRODUCTION 
Lovewell Reservoir is located on White Rock Creek in Jewell 
County, north-central Kansas. An earthfill dam is situated on the 
creek about 15 miles west of its confluence with the Republican River 
(legal designation E14 sec. 7, T. 2S., R. 6 W.). The dam, constructed 
by the Bureau of Reclamation, will create a lake about 9 miles long 
east to west and a little over a mile wide (see Lovewell Reservoir map, 
fig. 41). The maximum pool will cover 4,960 acres, while the normal 
pool level will flood 2,610 acres of land. 
Lying near the geographical center of the United States, the area of 
the reservoir undergoes a Continental climate. Winters are quite 
cold, and the summers are relatively warm. In Jewell County the 
mean temperature for January is 25.6° F.; for July it is 79° (Flora, 
1948). A prevailing low humidity alleviates some discomfort dur- 
ing temperature extremes. The average annual rainfall is 25.11 
inches. Most of the precipitation, 70 to 77 percent, comes in the 
early spring and summer when it is most effective for growing crops. 
The prevailing wind is southerly from April through November and 
from the north during all the remaining months. 
Physiographically, the reservoir lies in the Plains Border Region 
(Fenneman, 1931). Cretaceous formations give rise to eastward- 
facing escarpments which for the most part are naturally dissected 
and appear as broad, hilly belts. Bedrock exposures are rare, but 
outcrops of Carlisle Shale and Niobrara Chalk may be seen on the 
southern escarpments. The valley bottoms are covered with rich 
alluvium. To the north the land slopes up gently and extends onto 
low, rolling hills. 
The bottom land and adjacent areas to the north have been ex- 
tensively cultivated for at least 70 years, while the bluff tops and steep 
1 Submitted August 1958; slight revisions May 1961. 
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