Dismal River culture
Encyclopedia
The Dismal River culture refers to a set of cultural attributes first seen in the Dismal River
area of Nebraska in the 1930s by archaeologists William Duncan Strong
, Waldo Rudolph Wedel
and A. T. Hill
. Also known as Dismal River aspect and Dismal River complex, dated between 1650-1750 A.D., is different than other prehistoric Central Plains
and Woodland
traditions of the western Plains.
, Kansas
, Colorado
and South Dakota
. 18 sites were located in Hayes
, Hooker
, Cherry
, Thomas
and Lincoln
counties in the Sand Hills
of Nebraska.
Notable sites include:
Other village cultures of the Western Plains include the Apishapa Phase, Purgatoire Phase and Upper Purgatoire Complex.
The Apache evolved from the Athapascan
who migrated onto the North America
n continent through the current state of Alaska
and northwestern Canada
. There are two theories about how the Apache ancestors migrated into the Plains and southwestern United States. They may have traveled through the mountains, staying in a climate that they were accustomed to, or they may have migrated along the plains. Their descendents, the Navajo and Apache, speak Athabaskan languages
.
The Apache bands generally attributed to the Dismal River culture are the Paloma and Quartelejo (also Cuartelejo) Apache people. Jicarilla Apache
pottery has also been found in some of the Dismal River complex sites.
Some of the people joined the Kiowa in the Black Hills
of South Dakota
. Due to pressure from the Comanche
from the west and Pawnee and French
from the east, the remaining people of Dismal River culture migrated south where they later joined the Lipan Apache and Jicarilla Apache
nations.
There have been no sites found to date of the period in which the Southern Athabaskans
were nomad
ic, starting about 1500 A.D.
s, were built slightly underground or on level ground, about 25 feet (7.6 m) in diameter. The structures were supported by wooden posts and covered with hides or other materials. In the center of their homes were hearths. Bell-shaped baking pits were found in the villages, which sometimes contained remains of human burial.
, using small side-notched, triangular or unnotched projectile point
s made of stone.
They supplemented their diet with cultivated corn
and squash and gathered nuts
and berries
. Stones and bones were used for tools and they made pottery
, called Dismal River pottery, which was distinctly gray-black. Much of the pottery were plain bowls, but there were also olla
s, or jars, that were stamped with simple designs and had lips that were punctuated or incised.
Dismal River (Nebraska)
The Dismal River is a winding river in the state of Nebraska. It is formed by the confluence of two forks, one of which has its origins in Grant County and the other in Hooker County. The forks meet near Nebraska Highway 97 between Mullen and Tryon. From here the Dismal River flows...
area of Nebraska in the 1930s by archaeologists William Duncan Strong
William Duncan Strong
William Duncan Strong was an American archaeologist and anthropologist noted for his application of the direct historical approach to the study of indigenous peoples of North and South America....
, Waldo Rudolph Wedel
Waldo Rudolph Wedel
Waldo Rudolph Wedel was an American archaeologist and a central figure in the study of the prehistory of the Great Plains. He was born in Newton, Kansas to a family of Mennonites. In 1939 he married Mildred Mott, a fellow archaeologist and ethnohistorian...
and A. T. Hill
A. T. Hill
Asa Thomas Hill , generally known as A. T. Hill, was an American businessman and archaeologist. His work on sites in and around Nebraska, with such collaborators as William Duncan Strong and Waldo Wedel, was instrumental in the development of Great Plains archaeology.-Early life and career:Hill...
. Also known as Dismal River aspect and Dismal River complex, dated between 1650-1750 A.D., is different than other prehistoric Central Plains
Great Plains
The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
and Woodland
Woodland period
The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures was from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic header for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the...
traditions of the western Plains.
Western Plains
Dismal River culture sites have been found in NebraskaNebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. 18 sites were located in Hayes
Hayes County, Nebraska
-History:Hayes County was formed in 1877. It was named after President Rutherford B. Hayes.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,068 people, 430 households, and 312 families residing in the county. The population density was 2 people per square mile . There were 526 housing units...
, Hooker
Hooker County, Nebraska
-History:Hooker County was formed in 1889. It was named after General Joseph Hooker.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 783 people, 335 households, and 220 families residing in the county. The population density was 1 person per square mile . There were 440 housing units at an...
, Cherry
Cherry County, Nebraska
Cherry County is unusual in being split between two time zones, Mountain Time and Central Time. The lines between the two runs roughly north to south along the eastern third of the county. Cherry County is also the location of the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge, the Fort Niobrara National...
, Thomas
Thomas County, Nebraska
-History:Thomas County was formed in 1887. It was named after General George H. Thomas.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 729 people, 325 households, and 216 families residing in the county. The population density was 1 person per square mile . There were 446 housing units at an...
and Lincoln
Lincoln County, Nebraska
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 34,632 people, 14,076 households, and 9,444 families residing in the county. The population density was 14 people per square mile . There are 15,438 housing units in Lincoln....
counties in the Sand Hills
Sand Hills (Nebraska)
The Sand Hills, often written Sandhills, is a region of mixed-grass prairie on grass-stabilized sand dunes in north-central Nebraska, covering just over one quarter of the state...
of Nebraska.
Notable sites include:
- The first Dismal River location, the Lovitt site, in southwestern Nebraska.
- Findings at an archaeological siteArchaeological siteAn archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
at Scott County State Park in KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
that ties the PlainsGreat PlainsThe Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
Apache to the Dismal River culture.
Other village cultures of the Western Plains include the Apishapa Phase, Purgatoire Phase and Upper Purgatoire Complex.
Apache
Athabaskan languages
Athabaskan or Athabascan is a large group of indigenous peoples of North America, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family...
who migrated onto the North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n continent through the current state of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
and northwestern Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. There are two theories about how the Apache ancestors migrated into the Plains and southwestern United States. They may have traveled through the mountains, staying in a climate that they were accustomed to, or they may have migrated along the plains. Their descendents, the Navajo and Apache, speak Athabaskan languages
Athabaskan languages
Athabaskan or Athabascan is a large group of indigenous peoples of North America, located in two main Southern and Northern groups in western North America, and of their language family...
.
The Apache bands generally attributed to the Dismal River culture are the Paloma and Quartelejo (also Cuartelejo) Apache people. Jicarilla Apache
Jicarilla Apache
Jicarilla Apache refers to the members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation currently living in New Mexico and speaking a Southern Athabaskan language...
pottery has also been found in some of the Dismal River complex sites.
Some of the people joined the Kiowa in the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
of South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. Due to pressure from the Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
from the west and Pawnee and French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
from the east, the remaining people of Dismal River culture migrated south where they later joined the Lipan Apache and Jicarilla Apache
Jicarilla Apache
Jicarilla Apache refers to the members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation currently living in New Mexico and speaking a Southern Athabaskan language...
nations.
There have been no sites found to date of the period in which the Southern Athabaskans
Southern Athabaskan languages
Southern Athabaskan is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the North American Southwest with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas...
were nomad
Nomad
Nomadic people , commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but...
ic, starting about 1500 A.D.
Architecture
Dismal River villages generally had 15-20 structures and were located near streams. Round houses, shaped like hoganHogan
A hogan is the primary traditional home of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house...
s, were built slightly underground or on level ground, about 25 feet (7.6 m) in diameter. The structures were supported by wooden posts and covered with hides or other materials. In the center of their homes were hearths. Bell-shaped baking pits were found in the villages, which sometimes contained remains of human burial.
Culture
The people of the Dismal River culture hunted, primarily bisonBison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
, using small side-notched, triangular or unnotched projectile point
Projectile point
In archaeological terms, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a projectile, such as a spear, dart, or arrow, or perhaps used as a knife....
s made of stone.
They supplemented their diet with cultivated corn
Corn
Corn is the name used in the United States, Canada, and Australia for the grain maize.In much of the English-speaking world, the term "corn" is a generic term for cereal crops, such as* Barley* Oats* Wheat* Rye- Places :...
and squash and gathered nuts
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
and berries
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
. Stones and bones were used for tools and they made pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, called Dismal River pottery, which was distinctly gray-black. Much of the pottery were plain bowls, but there were also olla
Olla
An Olla is a ceramic jar, often unglazed, used for cooking stews or soups, for the storage of water or dry foods, or for other purposes. Ollas have a short wide neck and a wider belly, resembling beanpots or handis.-History:...
s, or jars, that were stamped with simple designs and had lips that were punctuated or incised.
See also
- Dismal River culture sites
- Cedar Point VillageCedar Point VillageCedar Point Village is an archaeological site located in Elbert County, Colorado near Limon. It is a prehistoric residential site with artifacts of the Dismal River culture and likely inhabited by early Apachean people....
, near Limon, east of Denver, Colorado - Franktown CaveFranktown CaveFranktown Cave, located southwest of the town of Franktown in Douglas County, Colorado, was a prehistoric rock shelter between about 6,400 BC and AD 1725. Excavations at the site unearthed a remarkable number of perishable items, including corn, plant material and clothing...
, south of Denver, Colorado
- Cedar Point Village
- Jicarilla ApacheJicarilla ApacheJicarilla Apache refers to the members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation currently living in New Mexico and speaking a Southern Athabaskan language...
- List of prehistoric sites in Colorado
- Plains ApachePlains ApacheThe Plains Apache are a Southern Athabaskan group that traditionally live on the Southern Plains of North America and today are centered in Southwestern Oklahoma...
- Prehistory of ColoradoPrehistory of ColoradoPrehistory of Colorado provides an overview of the activities that occurred prior to Colorado's recorded history. Colorado experienced cataclysmic geological events over billions of years. The way the events occurred in Colorado, though, shaped our land and ecosystems...