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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (March 21, 1901)
'Cbe Conservative * u timber , ninny three and even four stories high and neatly thatched , " shows an other typo of structure. After one has read all these descrip tions , meagre as they are , and has tramped over the ancient sites thus des cribed for a few years he gets a pretty fair idea of how they must have looked when first seen by the adventurous Spaniards three hundred and fifty years ago. Whether they were in the bloom of their beauty , on the decline in mag nificence , or still growing in their per fection of architectural splendor , is a matter of conjecture to the student of today. Construction of Lodges. One naturally reads much between the lines in these voluminous Spanish accounts , written as they were by men who jotted the points as they happened to observe them and not in a systematic or logical way. Many little tilings ore told which leads one to an opinion for which he cannot give the best of reasons at all times. I believe the aborigines heaped earth about their permanent lodges for protection in this cold climate. Now the Spaniards did not say so , but the remains of the lodges wherever they are seen in this part of the state have that appearance. These lodges were evidently not "mud huts , " as some would have us believe ; if they were , clay would have been used as the black soil would not have answered the pur pose. One of the groups of lodges explored was situated on a very sandy ridge and the soil here would not make a plaster that would stand drying. There are no indications of clay in any of the sites explored. They doubtless built their fire in the center and let the smoke escape at the highest point of the roof. We get this idea from the facts recorded of all abor iginal races of whatever country we may be studying ; the Zuni remains in New Mexico show this to be the custom there , although but few writers mention it as their observation at the time the Spaniards were visiting them or exter minating them , as you please. These lodges were doubtless made of both straw and skins , whichever was the most convenient , placed over a structure of poles and branches of trees ; earth was heaped on the outside as a proteo- ' tion against cold in winter. The lodges differed , even in the same village , as one clan , or totem , or family would naturally bo more skillful than others in building ; the villages varied as they became more or less permanent ; that this is true may be observed by the lodge circles. Some are larger than others and some of the smaller ones show the largest banks around the edges. But after three hundred years of erosion and thirty of cultivation , one must have sharp eyes to notice these differences ; the site would doubtless be passed over by even an experienced archaeologist without being noticed were it not for the numerous pot-shards and chipped flints found there. The subject of lodge circles is an im portant one and can not be exhaustively liondled in one article. The subject is a new one in this state where so little has been done in archaeology , although Ne braska is one of the richest fields in the Mississippi valley. Much light has been shed on this field by Hon. J. V. Brewer , who has done so much in the Kansas field. The two states occupy the same field of archaeology and , in many in stances , what is true of one is true of the other , so one may gather many points from a careful reading of his works which apply alike to the archaeology elegy of both states. Nebraska as a Field for Study by Archae ologists. The geographical location of the Ne braska field is such that the subject will be a difficult one ; students will be in clined to confound the remains left by the various nomadic tribes with the re mains of the permanent inhabitants , who were themselves semi-nomadic and followed the buffalo every autumn for their supply of meat and robes. ( That these permanent inhabitants domesti cated the buffalo in an early day is a mooted question. I do not believe the evidence is sufficient to justify an opinion either way ; however , I am in clined to doubt a theory until it is proven ) . Careful , diligent search and a careful systematizing of the remains will , in time , give a very satisfactory summary of the ethnology of Nebraska. It will take years of study , exploration and classification of the relics left to ac complish this even under the most favor able circumstances , but what state is more worthy ? What subject can add more to the scientific kilowledge of the human race and do more to give us a broad , charitable comprehensive view of the human family ? Why send our scholars to Egypt and Troy , to Babylon and Pompeii , when a race of human beings left relics as inter esting , and who knows but as ancient , as the wonderful tablets of Tapar : In time we hope to shed more light on this subject of lodge circles , but enough is known now to convince one that there is much more to learn and this is often in itself a good education. The mills are numerous and consist of flat rooks , usually igneous , which naturally offered a surface suitable for aueather mill stone and a somewhat smaller stone which could be held in the hand for an upper mill stone. I have a few stones from the Rooa site which wore probably the upper stones , but no large , igneous rooks that could have been used for the lower stones have been found. There are rumors of largo limestones K t found hero in an early day , which the old settlers say were hollowed out as if by constant grinding. The limestones are very hard and would have answered the purpose very well. Owing to the quarries , almost within the confines of ; he village , these rocks were doubtless used as mills. Constant climatic changes effect the surface of these rocks , and as ; he mills were loft on the surface , they have either deteriorated with time or were removed for building purposes in an early day. Some eight miles farther up the creek I have discovered a large rock that has been used as a mill. This gives me the idea that another village site may be discovered near the rock. Primitive Milling. These mills were used to grind corn. The meat taken during the fall hunt was cut into very thin slices , Castaneda says no thicker than a leaf , and dried in the sun ; it was then ground to a powder and stored in the intestines of the buffalo after they had been carefully cleaned and dried. In this way the food supply could be easily carried and would keep for a long time. It was prepared for food by placing a handful of this meat-meal in a pot of water over a fire and it would swell up and form a sort of soup which was very savory. The mills were used for the double pur pose of preparing meat and grinding corn. Mention is also made of herbs being ground for food or for medicine. The mills are numerous throughout the state and some have been found which have been chipped very nicely into rect angular forms having a raised edge all around to keep the grain in place ; most of them , however , are simply flat rocks with a slanting surface. Coming now to the last division of my article , the places of burial , I must say at the start that I know little if any more of this point than when I first be gan the study of Nebraska Indians ten years ago. At none of the village sites have we been able to find a single bone of an ancient Indian ; a few remains of more recent interments have been found near these sites but one can easily note that the bones are of a recent Sioux or Pawnee. How these ancient people disposed of their dead is a mystery as deep as the direction from which they came to populate these beautiful sun-kissed hills and smiling valleys. The various theories proposed as a probable solution to the mystery are better not repeated ; they are only theories and until we can find conclu sive evidence of the manner of disposing of the dead it is better to frankly- admit that we do not know. This leaves the subject open for investigation and some day it will bo solved , while if this theory or that theory is given credence the most feasible one will gradually be accepted and an error ( probably ) will
