1995 Excavations in progress at the Ray Long Site
The Ray Long site (39FA65) is situated on the northeast margin of
the valley of Horsehead Creek, a northwest draining tributary of the Cheyenne
River. The site lies on the northeast trending edge of a broad terrace that
slopes to the southwest. The minor valley of a southwest-draining, ephemeral
stream tributary to Horsehead Creek borders the site on the northwest. The
broad terrace on which the site is situated is underlain by nearly horizontal
bedrock composed of the Pierre Shale of Upper Cretaceous age. In the vicinity
of the site the Pierre Shale is overlain by 2-6 m of Quaternary sediment,
most of which is derived from the Pierre Shale. Today the land is located
within the Angostura Recreation area. The reservoir has created cutbanks,
primarily along the west side, which are actively eroding.
Wheeler's recently published manuscript entitled "Archeological Investigations in Three Reservoir Areas in South Dakota and Wyoming. Part I Angostura Reservoir" provides a description of the Smithsonian Institution River Basin Survey excavations accomplished at this site between 1948 and 1950.
In 1985, Bob Alex, then State Archaeologist, and Jim Haug, then Assistant
State Archaeologist, accompanied Bureau of Reclamation archeologist Linda
Ward-Williams on a trip to the Ray Long site. A charcoal sample was recovered,
apparently from an eroding hearth on the west edge of Wheeler's bulldozed
trenches at Area B. A date of 8130+-600 B.C. (Beta-13077) was obtained.
In 1985, the Ray Long site was reexamined (Hannus 1986) for the purpose
of determining site size and integrity. A pedestrian survey of the site
recovered three Angostura point fragments. The 1985 examination conducted
by Hannus focused on Area B of the Ray Long site where six backhoe trenches
were cut to evaluate the buried deposits. Two of the trenches produced features
(charcoal concentrations), and radiocarbon dates were obtained from four
features in one trench (Trench F). These dates ranged from 9050+-310 B.C.
to 7000+-140 B.C.
Investigations begun in 1985 in the Angostura Reservoir area continued
under an agreement between the State Archaeological Research Center and
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Under this agreement, a crew led by Jim
Haug returned to the Ray Long site (39FA65) to conduct further test excavations.
The 1992 investigations served as a follow-up and expansion of the
1985 investigations. The primary focus in 1992 was the geomorphology of
the Ray Long site.
The 1995 field crew
Illustration of Clovis point base recovered during the 1995 excavations