Adrienne Mayor’s (2005) volume, Fossil Legends of the First Americans, has sparked the interest of archaeologists in vertebrate and invertebrate fossils and other natural curios that occur in museum collections across the world. An interesting example is a steinkern or fossil bivalve shell pipe bowl from an unknown Ohio location. The specimen was donated to the State Historical Society of North Dakota by a private collector in the 1930s.

Derived from German, steinkern translates to “stone kernel.” These internal cast fossils are formed by “…consolidated mud or sediment that filled the hollow interior of a fossil shell (such as a bivalve shell) or other structure. Also, the fossil thus formed after the dissolution of the mold.” ^[1]

Three Views of a Fossil Bivalve Shell Pipe Bowl (#3684, Grassick Collection). Photographs by Meagan G. Schoenfelder, SHSND.

The pipe bowl has been smoothed along the rim while retaining its exterior natural finish characteristic of the bivalve shell periostracum (outermost layer of the shell). A small, circular, straight-sided draft hole is located near the beak on the hinge line of the fossil shell that corresponds with the bowl heel to accommodate the insertion of a small-bore stem. Dark residue or cake occurs on the rim and in the chamber.

Pipe bowl decorations may involve a variety of design elements, including animate and inanimate representations, depending on the stone, clay, or wood materials used to craft the object.

Typically, fossils are not the domain of archaeologists, as they do not lend insight to the human past. But this object is an excellent example of how paleontology and archaeology can occasionally converge. The eminent paleontologist Theodore E. White aptly characterized the significance of fossils for archaeology and paleontology nearly seventy years ago, “No historical resume of paleontology in the Missouri Basin, however brief, would be complete without mention of the fragments of fossil bone and leaves found by archeologists in the Indian village sites. Apparently these fragments were brought into camp as curiosities. Occasionally the fossils were used as ornaments … The data on the uses made of fossils by the Indians … should be collated.” ^[2]

Fossil ornaments and other curios (e.g., fossil snail beads and concretion bowls) occur in regional archaeological assemblages. I am not aware of similar steinkern examples akin to the one described here from sites in North Dakota. I continue to research how fossils were integrated in the lives and cultures of people in the past.

¹Dictionary of Geological Terms, Third edition, Robert L. Bates and Julia A. Jackson, eds., Anchor Books, New York, NY, 1984, page 384.

²A Preliminary Appraisal of the Paleontological Resources of Certain Basins and Reservoirs in the Missouri River Basin, Theodore E. White, August 1948, page 2. Manuscript on file, Archaeology and Historic Preservation Division, State Historical Society of North Dakota, Bismarck, ND.

Number “22” launched me into the world of archaeology.

Let me explain.

It was Sunday, July 30, 2006, day #7 of a nine-day archaeological project at a place called Beacon Island in northwestern North Dakota.

In those seven days, I had progressed to the point where I was trusted with a trowel, a kneeling pad and my very own archaeological “unit.” The unit was my very own 1 meter by 1 meter square of potential discovery.

It had been very hot, 112 degrees a couple of days before, and just about the same that Sunday afternoon. It was an exciting week but the heat, the baloney sandwiches, and the lack of a long shower was beginning to take a toll on my enthusiasm.

About 2:30 that afternoon, the very distinct sound of metal hitting stone resonated in my sunburned brain. I quickly realized that the sound didn’t come from my trowel, but from the unit immediately to my left. A University of Chicago field school student had discovered a piece of Knife River Flint that would fuel my imagination.

Beacon Island was the site of a brief (one-or two-day) event that took place roughly 12,000 years prior to that hot Sunday afternoon. I wrote of Beacon Island in one of my previous blogs so I won’t retell the entire story. In short, a band of Paleoindian hunters surrounded a herd of twenty-nine or so Bison antiquus, killed them, butchered them, cooked some of the meat, prepared some of the rest for transport, sharpened their tools, and moved on.

Something they left behind that day would, 12,000 years later, become number “22.”

After the completion of the project, the PaleoCultural Research Group (PCRG) issued the official report of the Beacon Island survey. The 275-page report detailed every aspect of the study. On page 144 of the report, the following appears:

“All but one of the projectile points from Beacon Island are morphologically and technologically consistent with points from the Hell Gap and Agate Basin sites…The lone exception is the base of what can be called a Goshen point…This specimen is made from KRF (Knife River Flint) and is relatively broad and flat…Given its position in the bone bed there is no doubt that this point was among the weapons used in the kill.”^[1]

The flint projectile point “…was among the weapons used in the kill,” and I was the second person in 12,000 years to view it “in situ” at Beacon Island.

I followed the Goshen^[2] point, along with the rest of the artifacts uncovered during the project, to the archaeology lab at the State Historical Society of North Dakota (SHSND.) I, along with other volunteers, spent the winter of 2006-2007 sorting and consolidating the bone, stone, shell, pottery and other material from Beacon Island. By that time, I was firmly hooked on the archaeology of North Dakota.

The little Knife River Flint projectile point discovered that hot July day disappeared into the artifact collections of the SHSND for a couple of years, awaiting its designated spot in the display cases of the Innovation Gallery: Early Peoples at the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum. It had been photographed, assigned a museum catalog number (2007.1.13), and packed away, ready to become a part of the permanent Beacon Island exhibit.

The Goshen point reappeared in 2014, identified as number “22” in the glass Beacon Island exhibit case.

Since the discovery of number “22,” I have had the opportunity to volunteer on a number of North Dakota archaeological projects and serve as president of the North Dakota Archaeological Association. Each project is unique and brings to light a variety of interesting artifacts, each with its own story. None, though, hold the personal fascination for me that little number “22” holds.

I stop and visit number “22” every time I am in the Early Peoples gallery. I still get a couple of goosebumps, mixed with a little nostalgia, every time I view it. It will always be “my” artifact, the little piece of Knife River Flint that got me involved in and fascinated with the field of archaeology, and which links me to a fellow human being 12,000 years in the past.

Stop by and see number “22” for yourself when you visit the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum. Let it tell you the story of the 12,000 years between the time it was used to kill a Bison antiquus until it reappeared at the hands of an archaeology student at Beacon Island and opened a new field of study for me.

Learn more about Beacon Island in "From the Field to the Museum." This video is part of the Making Archaeology Public Project, which was created to honor the 50th Anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

North Dakota Studies and the Communications and Education Division support the state’s social studies teachers in many ways. The North Dakota Studies program at the State Historical Society (SHSND) produces curriculum and other resources for students, teachers, and lifelong learners. To ensure those materials are easily available to teachers, North Dakota Studies maintains a website (ndstudies.gov) where all of its classroom support materials can be found.

Curator of Education Erik Holland coordinates workshops for teachers every summer on a variety of historical, cultural, geographical, and scientific topics. This June’s professional development workshop is titled Commemorate - Educate - Motivate. The three-day, one-credit workshop features commemoration of the anniversaries of the National Park Service, the Pulitzer Prize, the Historic Preservation Act, and Shakespeare’s life.

North Dakota Studies also works with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to identify the North Dakota History Teacher of the Year. Teachers can be nominated by their principal, superintendent, or colleagues. The nominated teacher submits lesson plans, samples of student work, and a short essay on teaching philosophy to demonstrate how he or she leads and encourages students in their studies. The winner receives $1,000 and a variety of classroom resources from Gilder Lehrman. The state winner also competes for National History Teacher of the Year. The 2015 North Dakota winner was Ellen Ista of Kindred Elementary School. This year’s winner will be named soon.

North Dakota Studies program director Neil Howe presented the North Dakota Gilder Lehrman History Teacher of the Year award to Ellen Ista of Kindred Elementary School in 2015. Photo courtesy Neil Howe.

North Dakota Studies Program Coordinator Neil Howe publishes a newsletter three times during the school year which features information on current and upcoming events, curricular materials, and short articles on North Dakota history, geography, or culture. The newsletter is mailed to every social studies teacher in North Dakota.

North Dakota Studies and the Communications and Education Division provide broad support for social studies teachers across the state. The materials, workshops, and information prepare teachers for their highly important task of educating the state’s children.

231,134 – Number of people who visited the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum in 2015. What an amazing response!

65,000+ - Number of square feet of exhibit space managed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota across the state. How many of our interpretive centers and historic sites have you visited?

In 2008 Fort Abercrombie State Historic Site opened a new interpretive center and permanent exhibit.

8,000+ - Weight in pounds of Dakota the Dinomummy, which staff has moved five times. Prior to the last move, however, preparation work by the North Dakota Geological Survey removed 3,000 pounds of stone matrix, for which our backs are eternally grateful.

925 – Number of objects on display in the Inspiration Gallery. The tallest, at more than 23 feet, is the 1942 wind generator. The International Boundary Marker, acquired in 1905, has been in the State Museum collections longer than any other item.

The tallest object on display is often overshadowed by one the most popular – the interactive tractor!

128 – Number of plastic potatoes that were found when moving offices in 2015. Those with especially good memories may recall a dozen or so of these potatoes being on display next to the John Deere tractor in the ND Heritage Center before the Expansion. Apparently there were some left over…

5 – Words per second that an average museum visitor reads. Exhibit writing aims to hit that sweet spot where all the essential information is conveyed, but done quickly enough that visitors stay engaged and do not walk away.

5 – Number of national awards the State Historical Society has won since 1999 for the exhibits: Early Peoples, Encountering Fort Totten; How Does Your Garden Grow? Gardening in North Dakota; No Two Horns: A Gallery of Art and Exploits; and Scared Beauty: Quillwork of Plains Women

3  –  Number of full-time staff in the Exhibits Department for the State Historical Society of North Dakota

The Exhibits Department bravely faces all exhibit-related challenges; even dinosaurs.

Crowdfunding is a not a new concept. This practice has become more popular lately since the advent of the internet and social media but has been around in various forms for centuries. The idea is to fund a project with small donations from a large number of people, rather than fund it from large donations from a small number of people. The concept is used to raise money for virtually any product or idea that can garner support, including scientific research.

Mosasaur skeletons within the North Dakota State Fossil Collection.

Recently the North Dakota Geological Survey has partnered with a researcher from Texas to study the mosasaurs in the North Dakota State Fossil Collection. Mosasaurs are not dinosaurs but a type of swimming reptile closely related to the Komodo Dragon found in Indonesia today. Mosasaurs lived at the same time as dinosaurs, ruling the oceans while dinosaurs ruled the land. The mosasaur specimens found in the ND State Fossil Collection are all from rocks called the Pierre Formation and are approximately 80 million years old. These rocks were deposited in North Dakota at a time when a shallow sea called the Western Interior Seaway connected the Gulf of Mexico to the Hudson Bay. Currently there are six partial skeletons of mosasaurs in the ND State Fossil Collection and some other unassociated fragments of bones. Study of these specimens would help shed light on the kinds of mosasaurs living in ND at this time as well as putting North Dakota’s underwater world into a more regional context. Our paleontologists with the North Dakota Geological Survey are not specialists with these types of animals, so outsourcing the research is the best way to get the work accomplished.

We hope that you are as excited as we are to learn what the mosasaurs in our collection have to tell us. When this crowdfunded study is complete, we plan to share that information with you through an online open-access journal and our website. Stay tuned!

1. The kitty litter was purchased at a Bismarck store by Jenny Yearous. When Jenny emptied the bag she noticed that it was made from a woven-like plastic material. Jenny had previously used this style of bag to make tote bags. This tote bag is scheduled to be displayed in the Governors Gallery of the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum this summer as a representation of “green” recycling. Jenny has also made colorful tote bags using recycled bird seed bags and cat food bags.

2015.00068.00001, donated by Jenny Yearous

2. The Etch-A-Sketch was introduced in 1960 and was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, NY, in 1998. In 2003 the Toy Industry Association named Etch-A-Sketch to its Century of Toys List.

This Etch-A-Sketch was given to Linda Norderhaug of Bowman, ND, as a child. She kept it in the original box. Linda was Miss North Dakota Teenager in 1973 and Miss North Dakota USA Universe in 1976.

2016.00004, donated by Linda Norderhaug

3. The flight suit was worn by Glenn Thoreson and was used on flight combat strikes during the Vietnam War. Dr. Thoreson was a US Air Force physician, flight surgeon, and fighter pilot from 1967-1969. According to a letter accompanying his medal, he received the Airman’s Medal after “rushing to an area where an aircraft crashed upon takeoff. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, Captain Thoreson, despite hazard of exploding fuel cells and high explosives, unhesitatingly entered the area near the flaming aircraft and persevered in his humanitarian efforts until he succeeded in removing one of the injured firemen to a place of safety.” He grew up in Mayville and eventually returned home to practice primary care medicine at Mayville Clinic for 36 years.

Along with this museum artifact, State Archives has photographs, oral history, and scans of a scrapbook documenting his life. The archives also have footage from a WDAY-TV (Fargo) video about Dr. Thoreson receiving the Airman’s Medal.