Staff from the State Archeology Office (SAO), a program of the Nebraska State Historical Society (NSHS), were in Gosper County the week of April 29 for an archeological survey. Staff were surveying the route of a proposed canal that would become part of the Tri-County Canal System. The proposed project had federal involvement and so NSHS was contracted to conduct a cultural resources survey for the project as part of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).
During the survey, the crew came across a very light scatter of Native American artifacts in a cornfield overlooking Elwood Reservoir. A few pieces of fire-cracked rock, a few pieces of chipped stone debris, and one projectile point fragment were found. It might not seem like a lot and indeed the total number of artifacts was just seven, but the projectile point base had a story to tell. The base was from a Table Rock atlatl dart. It dates from the Late Archaic period about 3000-4000 years ago. Archaic sites of any kind in Nebraska are fairly rare, as there are just over 400 archeological sites with an archaic component in the state. The new site in Gosper County would be the first recorded Table Rock site. The site likely represents a short duration, perhaps as little as one day, camp where hunters had a campfire and sharpened and broke at least one dart point. The site is not significant as defined in the NHPA and no further work will be done there, but because of one little broken artifact, our knowledge of Nebraska’s past has been enriched.
