The Blaine Site - South Dakota State Historical Society

2.1. THE BLACK HILLS ENVIRONMENT 15
although these may have functioned symbolically, as well (Sundstrom 1990).
Granite from the central zone was also used for groundstone tools, especially
handstones.
Ethnographic records describe the acquisition of lodgepoles from the central
Black Hills (cf. DeMallie 1984:155). One of three local pine species, lodgepole
pine (Pinus contorta), is reported to have been preferred for this use, as its common
name suggests. Although lodgepole pine is now limited to a few isolated
stands, botanical data suggest it had a more widespread distribution prehistorically.
It is not known whether wood for shelters was acquired from the Black
Hills in prehistoric times.
Archaeological data suggest that wood may have been more important as
fuel than as a building material. Numerous large hearth/roasting pit complexes
have been discovered in ecotone areas in and around the Black Hills. Winter
habitations with large or numerous interior hearths have also been recognized.
This suggests that some food processing stations and cold season habitations
were sited specifically in regard to firewood sources.
The presence of specialized hafting/shafting sites in the Hogback and interior
Black Hills (Tratebas 1986) indicates the exploitation of local woody species
for tool shafts. Ethnographic sources suggest that green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)
may have been a preferred species for shafts (Gilmore 1977). Wood was
also needed for atlatls, digging sticks, throwing sticks, thrusting spear points,
and other tools. Bows recovered from archaeological sites in the northern plains
are made of juniper, chokecherry, or skunkbrush (Frison 1991). The Black Hills
contains a wide variety of hard and softwoods, which could have been adapted
to many purposes.
The Black Hills area includes grasslands/forest ecotones in four settings:
the interface between the outer Hogback and the grasslands surrounding the
Black Hills; the largely unforested Red Valley; high meadows; and high-altitude
prairies or “balds.” With the exception of the Red Valley, these ecotone zones
tend to contain large, repeatedly occupied, multicomponent sites with numerous
hearths and diverse tool assemblages. The meadow sites appear to be seasonal
base camps or secondary camps. The sites in the outer Hogback and at the edge
of the balds are large, periodically reused hearth or fire pit complexes. These
appear to have functioned primarily as plant food processing stations. The sites
appear to have been deliberately placed in areas where storable plant foods and
firewood were both abundant.
Ecotone zones also may have attracted game. Deer and wapiti favor the high
altitude meadows and balds, while the Red Valley was a major wintering ground
for bison and pronghorn. Archaeological research suggests that the large balds
supported small herds of bison (Buechler 1984; Saunders et al. 1994). Such
areas may have provided an optimal mix of game, edible plants, shelter, and
wood.
The Black Hills also offers a resource advantage in the form of seasonally
successive food resources. This resource advantage is a function of the microclimatology
of mountainous areas. Simply put, plants mature later at higher
elevations, due to the altitudinal temperature differential. This allows a longer