Baffles and Stockades

Entryway Construction at Southern Plains Fortifications, A.D. 1500–1850

Bibliographic Data

ID11073188
AuthorsRichard R Drass (0000-0001-8990-3115, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, corresponding author), Susan C Vehik (0000-0003-0096-3491, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK), Stephen M Perkins (0000-0003-2139-0143, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK)
Year2019
Volume44
Issue8
Pages565-580
Publication date2019-11-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Field Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0093-4690 • E-ISSN: 2042-4582
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00934690.2019.1662274
OpenAlexW2979240625
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited22

Southern Plains archaeologists have for years reported piecemeal data suggesting that ancestors of the Wichita Indians periodically built fortifications. Since 2003, we have conducted archaeological and geophysical investigations at multiple Late Prehistoric and European contact era fortified Wichita sites occupied between about a.d. 1500 and a.d. 1811. We seek to better understand the areal extent, timing, and structural changes associated with facilities that appear to have functioned as redoubts (Drass, Perkins, and Vehik 2018). In this article, we focus on how the Wichita constructed and secured fortification entryways. Given the inherent vulnerability of entryways, architects across the globe have designed a variety of defensive configurations to confound attackers. For the Wichita, the introduction of horses and guns beginning in the 1600s magnified these challenges. Our findings indicate that baffled gates, often paired with fenced extended entryways, facilitated quick entry by defenders and dependents while serving as impediments to hostile intruders

Archaeology · Baffle · Geography · American Environmental and Regional History · Archaeology and Natural History · Engineering · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies