The Mitchell Site, designated by the
Smithsonian trinomial
A Smithsonian trinomial (formally the Smithsonian Institution Trinomial System, abbreviated SITS) is a unique identifier assigned to archaeological sites in many states in the United States. They are composed of one or two digits coding for the sta ...
39DV2, is an important
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
in
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territ ...
,
Davison County, South Dakota. It was declared a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
in 1964.
[ At that time it was the only reliably dated site of the Lower James River Phase (Initial Variant).][ The site, sheltered under a dome, is managed by a nonprofit organization and is open to the public as Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village. Visitors can watch archaeologists uncover artifacts in the Thomsen Center Archeodome. The Boehnen Memorial Museum features a reconstructed lodge and many of the artifacts found at the site.
]
Description
The Mitchell Site is located north of downtown Mitchell, on the east side of Indian Village Road, on a point overlooking Lake Mitchell. The site contains what was once a village made of lodges surrounded by a ditch and timber palisade.
The people who once lived on the Mitchell site acquired their food from many different sources. The discovery of food processing tools and carbonized seeds suggest that these people were growing much of their food. Artifacts, such as hoes and squash knives are also good indicators that they were farmers. Various types of carbonized seeds and corn cobs show they were growing corn, beans, squash, sunflowers and tobacco.
Archaeological history
The site was first recorded archaeologically in 1922, when it was described as including 45 earth lodge sites, extending northward on a spur of land overlooking Firesteel Creek. The creek has since been dammed to form Lake Mitchell, and the area south of the surviving site elements has been landscaped as part of a golf course. The latter work in particular has compromised the ditches that originally surrounded the settlement. Two house depressions were excavated in 1938 by a crew funded by the Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
. A house excavated in 1971 showed evidence of having been destroyed by fire, but included remarkable detail on its architecture.
See also
* List of National Historic Landmarks in South Dakota
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Davison County, South Dakota
References
External links
Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village
- official site
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Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in South Dakota
Geography of Davison County, South Dakota
National Historic Landmarks in South Dakota
Museums in Davison County, South Dakota
Archaeological museums in South Dakota
National Register of Historic Places in Davison County, South Dakota