2008 Bryson Paddock Field School


	OKLAHOMA ARCHEOLOGY

Oklahoma State University

Summer 2008 Archeological Field School

In June 2008, OSU and OU will conduct an Archeological Field School at the Bryson-Paddock site (under the sponsorship of Oklahoma State University and the Oklahoma Archeological Survey, University of Oklahoma). The site is in north-central Oklahoma along the Arkansas River near Kaw Lake. Bryson-Paddock is an 18th century Wichita village that was visited by French traders. It is one of the earliest Wichita sites that had extensive contact with Europeans. Excavations have been conducted at this village and a nearby, sister village in 1926, 1974/1975, 2003/2004 and 2006/2007. The site is noted for mounds containing trash that includes metal and glass trade materials as well as native artifacts and features such as house patterns, hearths, and pits.

Remote sensing (magnetometer and electrical resistivity and conductivity) of several areas of the village have identified promising locations for further investigation. These findings include a fortification and associated features that will be targeted for intensive excavation during the June 2008 field school. Students will conduct excavations to test a number of features discovered during remote sensing. We will also conduct additional gradiometer surveys at the village to better define the fortification and other features. Students will also train on a laser mapping station during the field school

Looking east at Bryson-Paddock 2003 excavations and across Arkansas River area.

Archaeologists in Oklahoma have identified a small number of 17th and 18th century villages in the state where they believe intensive contact occurred between European and Native American peoples. To date, however, none of these sites have been thoroughly examined. The Bryson-Paddock (34KA5) site is located on a bluff overlooking the Arkansas River near Newkirk, Oklahoma. An earlier generation of archaeologists and historians determined that Bryson-Paddock served as one of 3 or 4 major ports-of-trade where Wichita Indians met French trappers/traders from the Arkansas Post near the junction of the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers. For a number of years in the early to mid 18th century French entrepreneurs traded with the Wichita bringing European trade goods to Oklahoma and moving large quantities of meat and hides to New Orleans with some eventually shipped to Europe. Reports of French traders among the Wichita also spurred Spanish expeditions into the region, since the latter saw their own colonial ambitions threatened. French and Spanish explorers documented their encounters with the Wichita: The Bryson-Paddock site and its sister-site, Deer Creek (34KA3), came to be called “Ferdinandina” in Spanish and French documents (Wedel 1988). Thus, the Wichita came to be central players in the European struggle for the Southern Plains. Excavations at Bryson-Paddock together with archival research will help us to better understand these complex historical relations..

Sample of artifacts from 2003 testing at the Bryson-Paddock Site

While the importance of the Bryson-Paddock site has long been recognized (e.g., Thoburn and Wright 1929; Wedel 1988; Bell 1984), prior work there did little in terms of addressing many important issues. Was Bryson-Paddock a Wichita encampment visited by the French or a fortified French trading post where Wichita brought bison and deer hides to trade? How extensive were the Wichita fortifications and did they build other earthen features at this village? For how long was the site inhabited? In terms of chronology, how did its occupation relate to similar Wichita occupations in Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas? Finally, and perhaps most importantly, how did this trading partnership impact the culture and society of the Wichita? The current project thus represents a special opportunity to address many of the longstanding questions about early Wichita-French-Spanish interaction and to make a significant contribution to the early history of Oklahoma. The research is designed to evaluate the activities that occurred at this large site and identify the extent of French residence at the village as well as the impact of extensive European contact on 18th century Wichita culture.

Students enrolled in the field school will gain experience in excavation techniques, surveying, remote sensing, and lab processing. Participants will also learn mapping techniques with a total mapping station. Other lessons will include archeological photography, profiling, flotation, and soil identification. Lectures will be presented on Southern Plains Village prehistory and early Wichita archeology. Field trips may be scheduled for nearby archeological sites.

References

Bell, Robert E.
1984 "Protohistoric Wichita." In Prehistory of Oklahoma, edited by Robert E. Bell, pp. 363-378. Academic Press, Orlando.

Drass, Richard, Susan Vehik, Stephen Perkins, and Dave Maki
2003 "Archeological Investigations at Bryson-Paddock, 34KA5: An 18th-Century Wichita/French Contact Village." Paper presented at the 61st Plains Anthropological Conference, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Hartley, John D. and A. Francie Miller
1977 Archaeological Investigations at the Bryson-Paddock Site; An Early Contact Period Site on the Southern Plains. University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma River Basin Survey, Archaeological Site Report 42.

Thoburn, J.B. and M.H. Wright
1929 Oklahoma, A History of the State and Its People, 2 vols. Lewis Historical Publishing Co.

Wedel, Mildred M.
1988 "The Deer Creek Site, Oklahoma: A Wichita Village Sometimes Called Ferdinandina, An Ethnohistorians View." In The Wichita Indians 1541-1750: Ethnohistorical Essays. Reprints in Anthropology Vol. 38:164-176.

Camping/Meals

The field school will be based at a camp adjacent to Kaw Lake. Students should bring their own tents and camping equipment. The camp ground has water, showers, and bathrooms. Students will be responsible for their own breakfast and lunch. Joint evening meals will be prepared with each student contributing weekly for the cost of this meal.

Equipment

Students should bring equipment for excavations. Field equipment should include a minimum of the following:

1 trowel (get one with a solid welded handle) usually a Marshalltown size 5 either square or pointed. These can be found at many hardware stores among masons tools.)

1 three or five meter metric tape or rule (we recommend retractable metal tapes (you usually can find these with both metric and English measurements, make sure you get one with metric measurements - centimeters)

2 brushes -- one small, about 1 to 2 inches, and one larger.

1 line level to attach to string -- these can be found at hardware stores

1 tool box to hold equipment -- these can vary from old army ammunition boxes or small tool boxes to backpacks.

Other Recommended Equipment:

Work Gloves -- these are handy for screening and digging

A small file for sharpening your trowel

Small dental probes or picks

Bamboo picks -- these can be made by splitting bamboo and sharpening one end to a rounded point. They need only be a few inches long.

String -- Nylon is recommended

Don’t forget suntan lotion, bug spray, etc.

Enrollment for the 2008 Field School Begins February 1st.
Contact: OSU Arts & Sciences Outreach Office (213 LSE, OSU, Stillwater, 74078)
Email: ellen.sowell@okstate.edu
or Call: 405-744-5647
Cost: $1170.00 (Tuition + Fees); $40.00 (application fee) + evening meals (cost to be determined)

QUESTIONS?
Please Contact One of the Field School Co-Directors:
Richard Drass, Oklahoma Archeological Survey, rdrass@ou.edu
Stephen Perkins, Asst. Professor of Anthropology, OSU, stephen.perkins@okstate.edu

Contacts:

Oklahoma State University

Dr. Stephen Perkins
Sociology Department
006 CLB
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078-4062
or email at stephen.perkins@okstate.edu

University of Oklahoma

Dr. Richard Drass
Oklahoma Archeological Survey
University of Oklahoma
111 E. Chesapeake
Norman, OK 73019
or email at rdrass@ou.edu

Dr. Susan Vehik
Anthropology Department
University of Oklahoma
Dale Hall Tower Rm 521
Norman, OK 73019
or email at SVehik@ou.edu

More information about the Bryson-Paddock site on the web:

View a Powerpoint presentation about the Bryson-Paddock site

Glass Trade Beads from Bryon-Paddock

New Remote Sensing Results from Bryson-Paddock

Horse bone from Bryson-Paddock

The Bryson-Paddock/Deer Creek sites

OKLAHOMA ARCHEOLOGY

Oklahoma State University

Summer 2008 Archeological Field School