Published in Volume 47, Number 5, Pages 12-16, 

Oklahoma Anthropological Society Newsletter, September 1999

34RM448, Thurmond Ranch #27  

A Late Prehistoric Campsite  

on the Dempsey Divide

J. Peter Thurmond and Amy E. Picarella

The first author recorded archaeological site 34RM448 in August of 1984, prior to the performance of repair work on the primary spillway pipe of Upper Washita Conservation District flood control dam Sergeant Major #4 (known locally as the City Lake), about four miles southwest of Cheyenne. Artifacts were observed eroding from about 15 cm below the surface, along 25 m of the streamside edge of a left bank alluvial terrace of Sergeant Major Creek, immediately downstream of the dam. The top of this terrace stands about three meters above the modern creek. It appears that much of the terrace, and an indeterminate amount of the site, was removed during the construction of the dam in the late 1940s.

All visible artifacts and faunal material (only 30 specimens altogether) were collected when the site was recorded in 1984. No diagnostic artifacts were recovered, and so this site was not included in the published synthesis of the archaeology of the Dempsey Divide (Thurmond 1991). However, given the shallow depth of burial of the site, it was recorded as "probably Late Prehistoric".

Sergeant Major Creek was selected in 1998 by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (the old Soil Conservation Service) as the site of a $750,000 national pilot project for the rehabilitation of the some 10,000 upland flood control dams that have been built around the country since 1948. The first dams built were those in the Sergeant Major Creek drainage basin, and their designed life expectancy was 50 years. NRCS archaeologist Amy Picarella and I revisited 34RM448 in January of 1999. We wanted to be certain that the NRCS was aware of the proximity of this site to the SM-4 dam in its planning for any renovation work. We collected the 39 artifacts, bone and shell fragments visible on the terrace talus, and this time recovered a sufficient number of diagnostics to make a reliable chronological classification of the site. This is the first Late Prehistoric component of any substance documented within the Thurmond Ranch survey area to date, in a sample of some 170 sites. The only other Late Prehistoric sites recorded on the ranch, 34RM442 and 34RM449, are both virtually isolated finds. The uplands of the Dempsey Divide were apparently not heavily used in Late Prehistoric times. A description of the collections from 34RM448 follows.

Quartermaster Plain pottery. Three small body sherds assignable to this type as described by Flynn (1984) were recovered in 1999 (specimens 34RM448-2-1, 2-2 and 2-3). The sherds range from 13 to 25 mm in maximum dimension, and all are 5 mm thick. Their Munsell color is 7.5YR5/4, brown. The interior and exterior surfaces are moderately well smoothed. The core is 7.5YR2.5/1, black. All are tempered with finely ground fossiliferous shale of the Cretaceous Kiowa Formation (c.f. Moore 1988), and likely represent a single vessel.

Fresno triangular arrow points. Two arrow points of this type (Suhm and Jelks 1962) were collected. 34RM448-2-5 is complete, measures 18x11x3 mm, weighs 0.5 gm, and was made from a flake of Ogallala quartzite. 34RM448-2-6 is the proximal third of a heat-treated Alibates point, with an extant length of 12 mm, width of 13 mm, thickness of 3mm, and remaining weight of 0.5 gm. The point was probably 2.5-3.0 cm in length before breakage, the cause of which is indeterminate. Both points have concave bases.

Biface. About two thirds of a subtriangular biface, 34RM448-2-4, presumably an arrow point preform, made from a mostly decorticate flake of chert from the local gravels. Extant length 22 mm, width 20 mm, thickness 6 mm, remaining weight 3.1 gm. The biface broke across the long axis in the process of reduction.

Unifacial Tools. 34RM448-1-7 is a scraper prepared from a decorticate flake of unheated Alibates, measures 37x23x8 mm, and weighs 6.1 gm. It has been retouched along all of its edges, and is roughly triangular in outline. The strongly (8 mm) convex, 23 mm long distal edge forms a moderately steep (49°) working edge. Lateral edge angles range from 38 to 42°. The left lateral edge is convex (4 mm), the right concave (3 mm).The distal and both lateral edges exhibit intense, minute shatter, overlain by fairly heavy abrasion, suggesting the working of relatively durable materials. This may have been a hand held tool used for working hardwood, bone and/or antler.

34RM448-1-18 is a thick, mostly corticate flake of Ogallala quartzite, 40x29x18 mm, 24.0 gm. 13 mm of one lateral edge has been retouched into a 54° concave working edge with a concavity depth of 3 mm. The most convex 20 mm of the other lateral edge, projecting 3 mm, has been retouched into a 60° angle working edge. Both retouched edges are fairly heavily abraded, and this is hard, dense material.

34RM448-1-24 is a partially decorticate flake of heated Ogallala quartzite, 38x22x6 mm, 4.4 gm. A 17 mm convex span of lateral edge, projecting 2 mm, has been retouched into a 31° working edge, which is heavily abraded. The adjacent flake edges are moderately abraded.

34RM448-1-26 is a decorticate flake of unheated Alibates, 25x22x3 mm, 1.6 gm. One 16 mm long straight lateral edge has been retouched to a 33° angle, and is moderately abraded on its dorsal surface.

34RM448-2-14 is a mostly decorticate flake fragment of a banded gray chert from the local Ogallala Formation gravels. Both lateral edges, at 17 and 20° angles, exhibit discontinuous shatter overlain by moderate abrasion.

34RM448-2-15 is a decorticate flake of Tecovas jasper, 19x17x3 mm, 1.7 gm. One 19 mm convex edge, projecting 4 mm, edge angle 36°, exhibits intense shatter on the dorsal face.

34RM448-2-26 is a mostly decorticate flake of Ogallala quartzite, 54x38x14 mm, 27.1 gm. 27 mm of one undulating lateral edge, angle 47°, exhibits discontinuous shatter on the dorsal face.

Faunal Material. 34RM448-1-8 is a fragment of a deer ulna (Odocoileus sp.). 34RM448-1-10, 2-7 and 2-8 are long bone diaphysis fragments of a thickness (3-5 mm) and texture suggestive of deer. 34RM448-1-9 is a 7 mm thick, coarse-textured long bone diaphysis fragment, possibly Bison. 34RM1-6 and 2-9 are freshwater mussel shell fragments.

Lithic Debitage. Summarized in tabular format as follows: