23BN1 - King Hill Site in St. Joseph, Missouri
The King Hill Site (23BN1) is located in a residential area
of the city of St. Joseph, Missouri. The archaeological site is situated on top of a high, west facing bluff
overlooking the Missouri River Valley. It was excavated by members of the St. Joseph Chapter
of the Missouri Archaeological Society and the Summer Field School of the University of
Missouri - Columbia over a 10 day period in the summer of 1966 under a cooperative agreement
with the St. Joseph Museum. Work was continued in the fall of that year and into the next
by the St. Joseph Chapter. Additional work was conducted at the site by the University of Nebraska.
.........Images of the stone tools...........
............Images of the pottery
..........Images of the historic artifacts
Click to see color images of dig.................... ..Click here to see Black and White images of the dig
Pottery and limited trade goods in the upper levels indicate a late
Oneota, early historic occupation, possibly by the Kansa tribe, about AD 1700. The site was
placed on the National Register of Historic Sites in 1968 and a preliminary report was issued that same year.
In 1972 further excavations, funded by the National Science Foundation, were undertaken
by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Missouri Field School and the University of Nebraska
excavations were directed by Dr. Dale R. Henning" (Cutler and Blake 1982).
Click Here to see scanned images of the artifacts from the King Hill excavation
Click here for a short summary written in 1972 by Michael E. Ruppert
Plan showing excavations units from the 1966 and 1972 field seasons
Vertical Profile of the West Wall
Faceted piece of hematite. Length = 43.9 mm, with = 21.0 mm, thickness = 12.9 mm, and weight = 24.6 grams.
Collected from the surface of the site
by Mike Fisher.
Burnt corn cob; 12 row corn. Length = 20.6 mm, diameter = 19.6 mm, hollow of cob = 3.6 mm. Collected from the surface of the site
by Mike Fisher.
Burnt corn cobs in one of the museum displays.
Broken serrated shell tool (hoe?). Length = 97.3 mm, width = 29.2 mm, thickness = 5.0 mm, weight = 29.2 grams.
Collected rom the surface of the site by Mike Fisher.
Split large mammal (bison?) bone. Length = 136.6 mm, width = 26.2 mm, thickness = 4.4 mm, and weight = 40.9 grams.
Collected from the surface of the site by Mike Fisher.
Split large mammal (bison scapula?) bone. Length = 128.5 mm, width = 27.1 mm, thickness = 13.4 mm, weight = 31.4 grams.
Collected from the surface of the site by Mike Fisher.
Bone drilled and used to straighten wood arrow shafts. In one of the museum's displays.
Bison Scapula used as a hoe.
Antler tips interpreted as as projectile points. In one of the museum's displays.
Many thanks to Sarah Elder, curator of the St. Joseph Museums, for permission to work with the collection from King Hill site. Warm thanks to Michael Fisher, President Emeritus of the Missouri Archaeological Society, for discussing the site with me and
encouraging my interest in the archaeology of Northwest Missouri. Special thanks to Ettus Hiatt for editorial assistance in my webpages.
References:
Cutler, Hugh and Leonard Blake
1982 "Plant Remains from the King Hill Site (23BN1)
and comparisons with those from the Utz Site (23SA2)"
The Missouri Archaeologist, 43.
Vradenburg, Joseph A., and R. Eric Hollinger
1994 "Analysis of Human Skeletal Remains from the King Hill Oneota Site (23BN1). Missouri Archaeological Society Quarterly 11(2):14-22.
Website creasted in June 2004
Updated 26 December 2010