Obsidian Artifacts from the Ozark Area

Abstract

In a paper presented at the Ozark Prehistory II session at the Society for American Archaeology meeting in New Orleans in 1996, the author stated that available evidence suggested two possible movements of Plains oriented peoples into the Ozark area during prehistoric times. The first of these was during the Late Archaic, and is reflected in quantities of Hanna, Duncan, and McKean bifaces being found in western Ozark sites. All of these types were named by Wheeler for examples recovered from Late Archaic sites in Wyoming. Although Perino suggests that the northeastern Oklahoma examples are only similar and should be named something else, all three types are often found on the same site in a Late Archaic context. In addition, the specimens are morphologically the same as Plains examples. The second apparent influx of Plains oriented peoples into the western Ozark area was during the Late Prehistoric when what is referred to as the Neosho phase suddenly appears in the area. Such Plains traits as Harahey knives, snub nosed scrapers, triangular arrow points, bison bone artifacts, and distinctive punctate decorated shell tempered pottery are found at both village sites and bluff shelters. Archeologists have yet to relate the Neosho phase phenomena to a specific Plains antecedent population in a convincingg way.