5/23/2020 | Annie and Abel Van Meter State Park | Miami, MO
This program has been canceled.
Join us at Missouri's American Indian Cultural Center on Saturday, May 23 for a presentation by archaeologist Jack Ray. Ray has completed his archaeological investigation of the Sugar Potato Site here at Annie and Abel Van Meter State Park and will share his findings.
The Sugar Potato site is located on an alluvial fan at the base of the Pinnacles, an eroded upland area that borders the Missouri River flood plain in Saline County. The lower slopes of the ridges in this area contain residual deposits of high-quality Burlington chert, which were quarried for more than 2,000 years. Deep excavations at the Sugar Potato site in 2015 and 2017 revealed a series of six stratified lithic-reduction workshops; however, excavations ended at a depth of 3.7 meters (12.1 feet) after reaching the water table.
A final return to the site in August of 2019 attempted to reach the base of the cultural deposits. A hydraulic coring rig was used to extract a core that extended more than 6.5 meters below the surface. The implications of that deep core and an update on-site interpretation will be presented.
This event is free and open to the public.
Presentation Time: 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Associated activities
- Interpretive Programs