Near Huff in Morton County, North Dakota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Huff Indian Village Dates to AD 1443-1465
Huff Indian Village State Historic Site
Photographed By Connor Olson, September 27, 2019
1. Huff Indian Village Dates to AD 1443-1465 Marker
Inscription.
Huff Indian Village Dates to AD 1443-1465. Huff Indian Village State Historic Site. Only recently have we been able to accurately determine the age of Huff Village. Archeological deposits and the settlement layout suggests that the village was probably inhabited for only 20 years or so. Fourteen radiocarbon dates and several tree-ring dates failed to give consistent age results narrower than a century or two in duration. Six new radiocarbon assays were run in 2000, using new methods applied to individual fragments of charred corn and corncob. These dates are internally consistent and give a probable calendar age range from AD 1443 to AD 1465.
Archeologists, being human, often see what they expect to see in an archeological site. Houses at Huff Village are nearly all rectangular in form, and consequently are marked by an oblong or non-circular depression of the ground surface. Nonetheless, several maps of the site made between 1908 and 1919 depicted only circular house depressions at Huff Village. This was because all standing earthlodges known from eyewitness historic accounts were circular in shape, and rectangular houses had not yet been discovered by excavation in North Dakota. Later maps gave more accurate depictions. Huff Village, unlike most other known villages, shows a strong pattern in the arrangement of houses into tightly packed rows. Only the two most recent maps give an accurate depiction of this settlement plan.
Archeologists assign Huff Village to the Plains Village pattern, meaning peoples who resided primarily in large communities along the Missouri River and practiced a combination of farming and intensive bison hunting. Huff Village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a National Historic Landmark.
Picture captions: , Lower left: Early maps of Huff Village , Upper middle: Huff Village aerial showing planned arrangement of houses inside the fortification ditch , Lower middle: Speculative reconstruction of an early Plains Village rectangular lodge , Upper right: 3-D image of Huff Village in its setting on a Missouri River terrace , Lower right: Map of Huff Village showing the 1938-1939,1959, and 1960 excavations
Only recently have we been able to accurately determine the age of Huff Village. Archeological deposits and the settlement layout suggests that the village was probably inhabited for only 20 years or so. Fourteen radiocarbon dates and several tree-ring dates failed to give consistent age results narrower than a century or two in duration. Six new radiocarbon assays were run in 2000, using new methods applied to individual fragments of charred corn and corncob. These dates are internally consistent and give a probable calendar age range from AD 1443 to AD 1465.
Archeologists, being human, often see what they expect to see in an archeological site. Houses at Huff Village are nearly all rectangular in form, and consequently are marked by an oblong or non-circular depression of the ground surface. Nonetheless, several maps of the site made between 1908 and 1919 depicted only circular house depressions at Huff Village. This was because all standing earthlodges known from eyewitness historic accounts were circular in shape, and rectangular houses had not yet been discovered by excavation in North Dakota. Later maps gave more accurate depictions. Huff Village, unlike most other known villages, shows a strong pattern in the arrangement of houses into tightly packed rows. Only the two most recent maps give an accurate depiction of this settlement
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plan.
Archeologists assign Huff Village to the Plains Village pattern, meaning peoples who resided primarily in large communities along the Missouri River and practiced a combination of farming and intensive bison hunting. Huff Village is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated as a National Historic Landmark.
Picture captions: Lower left: Early maps of Huff Village Upper middle: Huff Village aerial showing planned arrangement of houses inside the fortification ditch Lower middle: Speculative reconstruction of an early Plains Village rectangular lodge Upper right: 3-D image of Huff Village in its setting on a Missouri River terrace Lower right: Map of Huff Village showing the 1938-1939,1959, and 1960 excavations
Erected by State Historical Society of North Dakota.
Location. 46° 37.121′ N, 100° 38.657′ W. Marker is near Huff, North Dakota, in Morton County. Marker can be reached from North Dakota Route 1806. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Mandan ND 58554, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 14 miles of this marker, measured as the crow
Credits. This page was last revised on August 8, 2020. It was originally submitted on August 7, 2020, by Connor Olson of Kewaskum, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 145 times since then and 8 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on August 7, 2020, by Connor Olson of Kewaskum, Wisconsin. • Mark Hilton was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A wide shot of the marker and its surroundings. • Can you help?
