Molstad Village

Molstad Village

Aerial view of the site
Location Western side of the Missouri River, 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Mobridge, South Dakota[1]
Coordinates 45°27′25″N 100°21′15″W / 45.45694°N 100.35417°W / 45.45694; -100.35417Coordinates: 45°27′25″N 100°21′15″W / 45.45694°N 100.35417°W / 45.45694; -100.35417
Area 9.9 acres (4.0 ha)
NRHP Reference # 66000713[2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 15, 1966
Designated NHL July 19, 1964[3]

Molstad Village, designated by the Smithsonian trinomial 39DW234, is an archaeological site in Dewey County, South Dakota, United States, near the city of Mobridge. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.[3] The site contains the remains of a small fortified Native America village, consisting of four circular earth lodges surrounded by a bastioned palisade. Evidence gathered at the site indicates it was occupied for a relatively brief period in the mid-1500s CE, and was assigned to the Chouteau aspect of Middle Missouri taxonomy, later known as the Extended Coalescent phase.[4]

Molstad Village was named after Irene and Oscar Molstad, on whose ranch the village was found. The land belonged to Irene Molstad, a member of the federally recognized Cheyenne River Sioux Nation. She and her husband Oscar operated a cattle ranch, and allowed Smithsonian Institution researches to camp on their land while investing archaeological sites in the area in advance of the creation of Lake Oahe. The Molstad village site was excavated by this team in 1962 under the direction of J. Jake Hoffman.[4] Finds at the site were important in enabling Hoffman to use pottery styles to establish a chronology of regional sites.[5]

See also

References

  1. Stephenson, Robert L. "The Potts Village Site (39CO19) Oahe Reservoir, North Central South Dakota". Missouri Archaeologist 33 Whole Volume (1971): 2.
  2. National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  3. 1 2 "Molstad Village". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
  4. 1 2 "Proceedings of the 20th Plains Conference". Plains Anthropologist (Volume 8, No. 20): 115–132. May 1963. JSTOR 25666514.
  5. Johnson, Craig (February 2003). "John Jacob Hoffman". Plains Anthropologist (Volume 48, No. 184): 69–73. JSTOR 25669812.


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