Once described as a “full-blown” site unit intrusion from an unidentified source to the south and east, the origin of the Central Plains tradition now can be viewed as the cultural response to the intensification of farming.  From early cultivation of native squash during the Archaic period to the adoption of maize during Woodland times, Central Plains tradition farming included the growing of native crops (sunflower, marshelder, goosefoot, and little barley) and the introduced crops of maize, squash and beans.  Although not a food source, tobacco was also part of the domesticated suite of plants.  Agricultural tools, notably the bison scapula hoe, are very common while large storage pits capable of holding up to 40 bushels of grain, are associated with habitation sites.

Bison scapula hoe

Central Plains tradition subsistence originally was characterized in broad terms by a dominance of bison hunting and horticulture. Semi-annual communal bison hunts and a focus on maize agriculture were considered to be the primary economic adaptive systems. Current research has demonstrated that this dual economy is a gross over generalization. Floral and faunal remains instead suggest a rich and diverse farming, hunting, and gathering economy. 

Charred corn cobs

Differences among the sites are noted and often explained as a response to ecological settings and resource availability, attention to seasonally abundant foods, periodic climatic fluctuations, and prepared back-up strategies that could be used in times of stress. The attendant material culture changes reflect not the adoption of a cultural complex from an external source, but rather the technological and social adjustments to the demands of the new food production system. The transition also was marked by increased sedentism; the construction of planned, durable housing; and a greater investment in facilities, including private storage facilities. Communal burial sites have been recorded for the various complexes within the Central Plains tradition.

The basic residential unit was a rectangular to nearly square, or occasionally circular, pole-and-beam lodge with a single central hearth and cylindrical to bell-shaped cache pits. These lodges are referred to as earthlodges.  Prior to modern farming techniques, the remains of these earthlodges were visible as surface depressions, a fact that also made the sites easy targets for non-professional excavations. 

Today, it is difficult to locate Central Plains tradition sites with remaining integrity, increasing the research significance of curated materials. Some of the more systematic Central Plains tradition collections at Archaeology include the Budenbender (14PO4), Mugler (14CY1), Rush Creek (14GE127) and 14CY102 sites from Kansas, which represent the Smoky Hill phase.  The Steed-Kisker phase is represented by the Steed-Kisker (23PL13) and Cloverdale (23BN2) sites in Missouri.

Steed-Kisker ceramic design

Although populations assigned to these two phases exhibited similar adaptations, they produced very different pottery and selected different raw material for tool manufacture.  In particular, Steed-Kisker pottery is largely decorated and tempered with burned and crushed shell while Smoky Hill phase ceramics exhibit a higher proportion of cord-roughened surfaces and various rim and neck decorations.

Central Plains tradition arrow points