Who were the inhabitants of the site, and when were they there?

This question can be answered with the use of different dating methods, such as radiocarbon dating, and/or the analysis of diagnostic artifacts. Diagnostics are artifacts such as projectile points or ceramic vessels that vary widely in style through time and space. Different styles appear to represent different groups of people and different time periods. Modern studies of style support the idea that different social groups have different styles of dress, tools, and household gear. Differences in time for different styles have been supported by radiocarbon dates and other dating methods. The oldest point types at the DB site are from the Paleoindian period and date to about 10,000-9,000 years ago. Paleoindian people specialized in hunting bison at the end of the Ice Age. Other point styles suggest that people continued to visit the site during the Archaic period (6000-500 B.C.). Archaic people hunted and foraged wild animals and plants, and occupied sites like DB for relatively short periods. Points dating to the period 500 B.C.-A.D. 900 are sparse. The next major period of occupation seems to be in the Late Prehistoric, after about A.D. 900.

Pottery is first found in the Central Plains after 2000 B.C., but no early pottery has been identified at the DB site. Only one ceramic sherd from the site might belong to the time period 500 B.C.-A.D. 900. The remainder of the sherds belong to the Late Prehistoric "Steed-Kisker phase," which is radiocarbon dated here in the 1300s.

One of the most interesting findings of the DB project was additional evidence of contact between Indians of the modern Kansas City and St. Louis areas. It now appears that some relations (trade, intermarriage, migration, and/or the exchange of ideas or technology) were maintained between these areas from about 5500 to 600 years ago.

What were they doing at the site?

It is difficult to say exactly what individual groups of people did at specific times because of the way the site formed. Site formation was studied by looking at the stratigraphy (layers in a site). Ideally, the earliest occupations leave material behind that gets buried by soil. The next group comes along and leaves their material on the new surface, which then gets buried as well. Each layer belongs to a particular event or time period, with the older material in the bottom layer and the younger in the top.

During the early time periods at the DB site, material was not buried for long periods of time. Objects sat on the surface for years and years, piling up as more people visited the site over the centuries. Hearthstones were kicked around, charcoal was scattered, and old tools were moved, reused, or taken. The lower layers of the site, therefore, are the result not only of individual camping or other activities, but of hundreds of years of traffic.

Around 2400 years ago, the site began to be covered by a thick layer of windblown sediment. The Late Prehistoric people who came to the site lived and worked on top of this layer. This occupation may have lasted only one or a few seasons. While some of the Late Prehistoric artifacts have moved down because of rodent burrows and cracks in the soil, these layers of the site still lend themselves better to reconstruction. Figure 4 displays some of the activity areas found in the top excavated layer.

More general statements about activities in all time periods are based on the types of artifacts found.

Abraders made of sandstone and scoria (a pumice-like rock) were used to smooth arrow shafts and to roughen the edges of a block of chert for flintknapping. Evidence for flintknapping at the site includes not only these abraders but piles of debitage (the stone pieces and fragments that result from knapping a block of chert).

Hematite was ground, probably for use as pigment, and one large piece was shaped, polished, and decorated with Xs and other lines (Fig. 5). This implies that religous or ceremonial activities may also have been conducted at this site. Chipped stone scrapers (Fig. 6) may have been used for hide-working, and drills may have been used for a number of jobs, including the preparation of clothing and jewelry. Axes (Fig. 7) were used for chopping down trees and for woodworking.