McKean Site

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The McKean Site is an archaeological site located in Crook County, Wyoming. It was investigated by the Missouri River Basin Survey of the Smithsonian Institution in 1951. Extensive excavations were conducted at the site in 1951 and 1952. Large quantities of lithic artifacts were recovered, predominantly from two cultural levels which are now designated as Middle Plains Archaic. More than a hundred projective points recovered from these levels became type specimens for the McKean Lanceolate, Duncan, and Hanna point types.

In subsequent years, the McKean Complex became an important subject of controversy in Plains archaeology. Numerous papers, articles, and reports discussed the temporal and cultural significance of the site. There was little argument that these artifacts were diagnostic markers of the Middle Plains Archaic Period. However, there was a great deal of debate over whether the distinct types, which co-occurred in some sites and not in others, represented distinct temporal periods or distinct ethnic groups.

The site is also widely recognized as important in the development of professional archaeology in the Northwest Plains as well as the adjacent regions. This site was a significant element in the careers of William Mulloy and Richard P. Wheeler, important pioneers in the archaeology of the Northwest Plains and other regions, and world renowned archaeologists who figured prominently in the early formulation of typologies and chronologies in the Plains region.

The McKean Site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[edit] References

Mulloy, W.T. 1953. A Preliminary Historical Outline for the Northwestern Plains. Chicago: Ill. University of Chicago.
Mulloy, W.T. 1954. The McKean Site in Northeastern Wyoming. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 10:432-460.
Smithsonian Institution, and R.P. Wheeler. 1951. Appraisal of the Archeological and Paleontological Resources of the Keyhole Reservoir, Crook County, Wyoming. Washington, D.C.: The Smithsonian Institution.
Wheeler, R.P. 1995. Archeological Investigations in Three Reservoir Areas in South Dakota and Wyoming. Lincoln, Neb.: J & L Reprint Co.