The Utz Site, designated by the

Smithsonian trinomial A Smithsonian trinomial (formally the Smithsonian Institution Trinomial System, abbreviated SITS) is a unique identifier assigned to archaeological sites in many states in the United States. They are composed of one or two digits coding for the sta ...

23SA2, is a major Native American archaeological site in

Saline County, Missouri Saline County is located along the Missouri River in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,370. Its county seat is Marshall. The county was established November 25, 1820, and named for the region's salt sprin ...

, located on bluffs overlooking the Missouri River. Partially preserved in

Van Meter State Park Van Meter State Park is a public recreation area on the Missouri River in Saline County, Missouri. The state park consists of of hills, ravines, fresh water marsh, fens, and bottomland and upland forests A forest is an area of land dom ...

, it is the site of one of the largest early Contact Native villages in the region, which was occupied by the

Missouri tribe Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to th ...

from c. 15th to the late 18th centuries, and was probably their principal village area during their first contact with Europeans. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1964.

Description

The Utz Site is located in central Missouri, north of the city of

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

and south of

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. It is roughly in size. A small portion is in an outlying part of

, whose main feature is the so-called Old Fort; the rest is on private land. It is on a series of grassy hills, roughly south of the present course of the Missouri River. The site was first noted by French explorers, beginning with Pere Marquette, whose 1673 map placed "Messourit" Indians here. It appears to have been abandoned about 1728, around the time a French fort on the river to the north was also abandoned, as there is a distinct absence of European trade goods from after that time. The site has been known for some time, due in part to its proximity to the Old Fort's distinctive earthworks, and was first studied archaeologically in the 1940s. The ancestral people preceding the Missouri tribe, who also lived on the Utz site, are defined as

Oneota Oneota is a designation archaeologists use to refer to a cultural complex that existed in the eastern plains and Great Lakes area of what is now occupied by the United States from around AD 900 to around 1650 or 1700. Based on classification de ...

References

External links

Van Meter Park
{{National Register of Historic Places in Missouri National Historic Landmarks in Missouri Buildings and structures in Saline County, Missouri Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Saline County, Missouri

Description

See also

References

External links