The Archaeology of the Kansas Monument Site

Judith A. Boughter, author of The Pawnee Nation, An Annotated Research Bibliography, called The Archaeology of the Kansas Monument Site an “Outstanding study of the artifacts recovered from the Republic County site …”

This is the first detailed analysis and synthesis of archaeological materials from the Kansas Monument Site, 14RP1, an early historic period Pawnee Kitkehakhi Band village on the Republican River in Kansas. Archaeologists and historians have investigated and debated this large earthlodge site for more than 100 years. Originally questions revolved around whether this was the village visited by Zebulon Pike in 1806. In the mid-20th Century archaeologists excavated portions of the site trying to settle the question of when it was occupied. Today archaeologists are again excavating the site using the latest techniques to glean information about its inhabitants. The Archaeology of the Kansas Monument Site, based on the original 1949 excavations, established a baseline for today's investigators. With the use of statistical analysis and detailed artifact study, Roberts resolves the question of 14RP1's dating and explains the significance of the site within the context of Pawnee material culture change as a result of the fur trade. Widely cited by scholars, The Archaeology of the Kansas Monument Site has been out of print since 1978. The 2014 edition, reissued by the author, makes this important volume available once again to scholars, students, amateurs and anyone interested in the Pawnee or Great Plains archaeology.