Plains Village Settlements in Central Oklahoma

Investigations at Plains Village sites in central and western Oklahoma have gone far toward delineating the lifestyles of early Southern Plains farmers. Yet, until recently, no systematic investigations had been conducted to determine the variety and distribution of these sites. A 1983 survey along the Washita River identified 48 prehistoric sites along a 15-mile stretch of the river. Analysis of the artifacts recovered from these sites shows that villagers intensively utilized the area for at least 600 years (ca. A.D. 1000-1600). Changes in artifact typology and lithic preferences are evident through time, and a population decrease may have occurred during the Protohistoric period. However, extensive alluviation in the valley prevents an accurate assessment of site densities and indicates that variations could be related to geomorphological processes rather than demographic changes. The settlement system does not appear to have changed through time. This system includes permanent or semipermanent villages containing as many as 20 houses; cemeteries near the villages; lithic workshops on the valley margins, generally within 200 or 300 m of the villages; and temporary hunting/gathering camps in the bottoms and uplands

Archaeology · Artifact (error · Geography · Human settlement · Period (music · Population · Prehistory · Radiocarbon dating · American Environmental and Regional History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Natural History · Demography · Geology

• Variation in the Washita River Phase of Central and Western Oklahoma

  Richard R Drass, Fern E Swenson•Plains Anthropologist•1986

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• Gravel sources of knappable alibates silicified dolomite

  Open Access•Don G Wyckoff•Geoarchaeology•1993

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• The Westfahl and Engle Bifaces

  Don G Wyckoff•Plains Anthropologist•1996

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• Calibration of radiocarbon dates

  Open Access•Jeffrey Klein, J C Lerman et al.•Radiocarbon•1982

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