Julia Grasso was one of our Summer 2013 interns. Below you will find her final report on her research into the Cattle Oiler site here at Natural History. Don't miss the delicious cornbread recipe at the end of the post!
What did the village Indians of the upper Middle Missouri have in their kitchen arsenal? How did they prepare and consume their food? I explored these and other questions in my research, conducted during my internship under Dr. Rogers’ direction. I attempted to understand the foodways and domestic life of the Middle Missouri Indians who occupied the Cattle Oiler site (39ST224) in Stanley County, South Dakota, by measuring and analyzing the rim sherds found onsite.
My research began with somewhat elementary simplicity: rectangles and circles. I hypothesized that there was variation between the ceramic assemblage of rectangular and circular houses, both present at Cattle Oiler. In addition to the obvious geometric contrast, this difference indicates chronological and cultural variation at the site (for more info on site history, see previous Cattle Oiler post). Rectangular houses are typical of Initial Middle Missouri (IMM) groups, while circular houses are associated with later Extended Middle Missouri (EMM) groups (Meyer 1977:5-6). Occupying the area in AD 1000 to 1100, IMM groups precede EMM settlers, who settled the Big Bend Reservoir in AD 1200 to 1300 (Johnson 2007:168, 185). I was interested in how these chronological and cultural differences might be represented in the material culture.
My approach in answering these questions is considered an old wrench in the archaeologist’s toolbox: rim sherd analysis. A rim sherd is a valuable piece of information. The rim is the area between the neck and lip of a vessel, usually offset by the curve or angle from the neck wall (Rice 1977:214)
Images differentiating the lip and rim of variously shaped vessels (Rice 1987, 214).
For example, we all have had clumsy moments in the kitchen, perhaps shattering a favorite coffee cup. The next time that you are less than graceful in the kitchen, take a look at the sherds, or broken pieces of pottery, resulting from your mishap. These vessel (or coffee cup) fragments hold information useful in calculating the size and shape of a complete vessel (1977:222)
Image by Julia Grasso. Exterior of rim sherd, Specimen 13, Field Number 1904, Cattle Oiler Site (39ST224); Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.
As mentioned in a previous post, knowing the sizes of vessels in a ceramic assemblage allows researchers to better understand the foodways of native groups. I calculated the diameter of the vessel opening by fitting the curve of a rim sherd to the curve on the standard diameter measurement template, which is segmented into 5% intervals and marked off in centimeter units (Rice 1987:222)
Julia learning to measure sherds with pottery from the Island of Nevis using the same template used for this research.
For the measurements, I selected rim sherds found in similarly formed cache pits, or storage pits, that were associated with Houses 1 and 2 (Features 7 and 112), the only circular houses at Cattle Oiler, and House 4 (Feature 39), a fully excavated rectangular house. Remarkably, House 4 contained over 60% of the total pottery remains found at the site. In my analysis, I supplemented the rim sherd data with ethnographic accounts of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara, all of whom are the descendants present along the Missouri River in the Initial or Extended Middle Missouri phases. For my analysis, I grouped the data from the only two circular houses on the site to achieve a larger sample size and create an average for the rim sherds associated with circular structures at Cattle Oiler.
Image of Feature 7 or House 1 from the Cattle Oiler site (39ST224) (Moerman and Jones 1966, 26).
Features 8-39-85 from the Cattle Oiler site (39ST224) (Moerman and Jones 1966).
Although the data from my preliminary study did not yield statistically significant differences in the mean rim diameters, I discovered interesting parallels between the vessel sizes of rectangular and circular house structures. The results of my data analysis suggest that while some modest variation did exist between houses, both groups utilized relatively similar ceramics. The average vessel size for the circular houses is 19.7cm; whereas, the average vessel size found in the rectangular house is smaller at 18.4cm (see statistical chart below). The trend toward smaller rim sherd sizes in rectangular houses suggests that occupants of rectangular houses may have used generally smaller vessels; whereas, settlers of circular houses preferred larger vessels in food preparation or consumption.
Statistical results of the rim sherd measurements from circular Houses 1 and 2 (Features 7 and 112) and the rectangular House 4 (Feature 39) from the Cattle Oiler site (39ST224).
However, the average vessel size does not account for the overall distribution of the data. As displayed in the Golden Gate Bridge-like distribution curve of the bar graph below, the rim sherd measurements in both house types peak around smaller sized vessels (11-16cm), dip to middle sized pots (17-23cm), increase again around 24 and 28cm, and taper back down where larger sizes are present. This familiar shaped distribution suggests that while rectangular houses tend to smaller shaped vessels and circular houses to larger shaped pots, ultimately, both groups have similar use patterns of various shaped ceramics.
Graph of the distribution of the varying sizes of rim sherds associated with Houses 1 and 2 (Features 7 and 112) and House 4 (Feature 39) from the Cattle Oiler site (39ST224).
Although a normal distribution is not always expected in household analysis, there are several reasons why larger pots appear in the data. Firstly, the larger measurements for House 1, a circular structure, were among the 55% of rim sherds that measured below 10% of the total vessel. As the percentage of the rim sherd decreases, the accuracy of the measurement decreases. It is possible that, because the rim sherds are so small (i.e., represent less than 10% of the complete vessel rim), my measurements were biased toward a larger result for the circular houses. However, my measurements represent my best assessment. During my data collection, I consulted with researcher Meghan Mulkerin and experienced archaeologist Dr. Jim Krakker, who provided training and some comparative measurements.
Another explanation for the presence of a few large pots in the data is that it is not unusual to find larger sized bowls or vessels in a stocked kitchen. For example, consider your own kitchen. You may have several similarly sized plates, bowls, and cups, but you may also have the one large serving bowl for the annual office potluck or an extra-large serving plate for Super Bowl Sunday treats. It is possible that the kitchen utensils of Middle Missouri native groups were similarly varied, and they may have stocked larger vessels for storing large amounts of food or serving a larger group of people. All these options should be taken into account when interpreting the data.
As a preliminary study, my research into the foodways of Plains Village Indians via rim sherd analysis may be expanded through comparative material analysis. The similarities in the ceramic assemblage at Cattle Oiler suggest a potential for cultural interaction between IMM and EMM groups and provides insight into their domestic culture and foodways. Special thanks to Dr. Rogers, Dr. Krakker, and Meghan Mulkerin who guided me through my research.
And now... a Hidatsa recipe for you to try in your own, modern kitchen.
Green Corn Bread (also called naktsi’ or “buried-in-ashes-and-baked”)
A beautiful photo of green corn from A Kihei Garden's blog post, "Growing Heirloom Corn" Feb. 14, 2011.
Instructions:
Remove kernels from fresh corn green corn cobs. Save the corn husks. You can substitute green corn for soft white or yellow corn.
Place shelled kernels in a mortar and pound until coarsely ground.
Lay the corn husks side-by-side, overlapping one another, until you have a 10 inch wide sheet. Arrange a second row transversely over the first. Continue until you have at least 4 to five husk layers. Place 2 or 3 husks to the side.
Pour the shelled corn pulp onto husk sheet and pat down, forming a 6 to 8 inch square loaf, an inch or two thick.
Fold the ends of the uppermost and subsequent layers over the top of the loaf until fully covered. Split 2 to 3 remaining husks into strips and tie around the loaf.
Bake for 2 hours inside a cavity, about a hand deep, of live coals and ashes; rake some coals over loaf (or bake 30 minutes in the oven at 350°F). Cool and enjoy!
Adapted from Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden (Waheenee 1987, 38, 39).
Indian Children Husking Corn, Standing Rock Agency, ca. 1947. Department of the Interior. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Standing Rock Agency (09/17/1947-). ARC Identifier 285838, Series: Photographs, compiled ca. 1930 - ca. 1949. Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793 - 1999. National Archives.
Bibliography
Jennings, Jesse D. 1985. River Basin Surveys: Origins, Operations, and Results, 1945-1969. American Antiquity 50(2): 281–296.
Johnson, Craig M. 2007. A Chronology of Middle Missouri Plains Village Sites. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology 47. Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press.
Jones, David T. 1969. Investigations at the Cattle Oiler Site, 39ST224, Big Bend Reservoir, South Dakota. Revised version of Moerman and Jones, 1966.
Meyer, Roy W. 1977 . The Village Indians of the Upper Missouri: The Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln.
Moerman, Daniel E., and David T. Jones. 1966. Investigations at the Cattle Oiler Site, 39ST224, Big Bend Reservoir, South Dakota.
Rice, Prudence M. 1987 Pottery Analysis: A sourcebook. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Snyder, Lynn M, Deborah Hull-Walski, Thomas D. Thiessen, and Myra J. Giesen. 2000. Postwar Partners in Archaeology: the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service, and the River Basin Surveys in the Missouri River Basin (145-1969). CRM 1: 17–20.
Wedel, Waldo R. 1967. Salvage Archaeology in the Missouri River Basin. Science 156(3775): 589–597.
Waheenee. 1987. Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden: Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians. Borealis. Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul.
~By Julia Grasso, Intern.