Plains Indian Studies - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

176 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY
the requirements of particular construction projects)
have produced data sets that vary both in
quantity and quality. The shift of focus from
tradition to locality-specific studies emphasizing
the cultural and ecological setting obviates, to
some extent, many of the problems involved in
the broader synthetic approaches.
A second important advantage of establishing
the locality as the primary unit of analysis lies in
the researcher's detailed familiarity with previous
work conducted in a given area, which expedites
the process of reassessing and refining earlier
research. Virtually every locality of the Central
Plains has a long history of excavations and excavators,
and uncritical acceptance of early work
can provide misleading results. For example, in
the 1930s, Ellison Orr identified some of the
lodges in the Glenwood locality as circular rather
than square in outline. Since all of the lodges
visited by the early explorers in the Missouri
valley were circular in form, the presence of circular
lodges in Glenwood, in addition to the
traditional square form, would provide strong
support for a lengthy sequence of occupation. In
discussing the archeological evidence for changes
in lodge form, Wedel (1934:174) observed:
In the Pawnee area of Nebraska, archaeological research has
shown that this form [circular lodges] characterizes protohistoric
and historic sites. Rectangular lodge remains have
not been found to date in any but prehistoric villages. That
the two types are fundamentally related there seems to be
very little doubt .... Occasionally, as at Sweetwater in the
South Loup drainage, the two are found together, suggesting
a gradual transition from the earlier rectangular to the later
historic circular type.
The circular lodges reported by Orr in Glenwood
were noted by Ives (1955:2) and Anderson
(1961:18) and were included as part of the inventory
of Nebraska phase lodges in an early draft of
Blakeslee and Caldwell's (1979) publication. An
analysis of unpublished correspondence (Hotopp,
1978a: 104-110, 1978b: 123-128) demonstrated
that the reported circular lodge form at Glenwood
was due to excavation errors by Orr rather than
to a valid type for the locality. Once an erroneous
interpretation becomes part of the literature,
however, its uncritical acceptance perpetuates
problems in future analysis. Correcting and refining
can best be conducted by researchers who are
intimately familiar with the history of previous
work in a locality.
Finally, focusing on small scale locality-specific
problems promotes a better understanding of cultural
processes and intralocality variability. As
studies of locality-specific questions are completed,
the results can be translated into hypotheses
to be tested in other localities. This type
of study requires a substantial commitment of
time and resources by investigators. Ideally, the
results of working from the particular to the
general will result in a deeper understanding of
the ecological and cultural adaptations of this
prehistoric culture.
The Glenwood Locality
As defined by Anderson (1961:4), the Glenwood
locality extends approximately 4 miles (6.4
km) into the loess bluffs and about 9 miles (14.5
km) along the Missouri River in Mills County,
Iowa. Mills County is bounded on the west by
the Missouri River, where the floodplain is currently
about 4 miles (6.4 km) wide on the Iowa
side. The floodplain terminates in a series of
abruptly rising loess bluffs that are extensively
dissected by erosion. In his description of the
geology of Mills and Fremont counties, Udden
(1902:167-168) noted the distinctive character of
the bluffs contiguous with the Missouri River
floodplain:
The average thickness of the loess is estimated at about sixty
feet [18 m], but in the bluffs of the Missouri River and for
two miles east [3.2 km], it frequently attains a thickness of a
hundred feet [30 m] and is occasionally 150 feet [45.7 km].
This marked thickening causes an ill defined ridge along the
west border of the uplands in some places but it has been so
greatly affected by erosion that it now exists merely as a
skeleton of divides among labyrinths of gullies and ravines.
The majority of earth lodges in the Glenwood
locality are situated along two southwesterly flowing
drainages and their tributaries (Figure 29).
The westernmost watershed is Pony Creek, which
drains a 15.9-square-mile (41-km^) area with an
average floodplain of approximately 200 feet (61