A metric study of the Dennis Warner Mound and its relationship to Plains prehistory

Abstract

This thesis is a site report and summary of the laboratory analysis of the Dennis Warner Mound material. Dennis Warner Mound is an important site because it has yielded the remains of twelve fairly complete individuals plus some scattered bones. The skeletal analysis is the main focus of this thesis. During the first half of this century, skeletons recovered from Northern Plains sites in both Canada and the United States were often lost, undescribed or only cursorily described. In the last 20 years, the study of skeletal biology has increased but the Woodland Burial Mounds of the Nontheastern Plains have been neglected in favor of the historic and protohistoric sites of the middle Missouri. While the knowledge of other areas grows, Woodland skeletal discoveries remain virtually undescribed (Williams, 1985). The lack of comparative skeletal data is a major obstacle in understanding the relationships of Plains peoples and the placement of the Dennis Warner population. This lack of data makes the analysis of sites such as this all the more important because it helps to fill the informational void and gives us a more complete picture of Plains prehistory.