| Summary: | During August 1996, the author and a crew of three archeologists from the Midwest Archeological Center conducted an archeological survey of approximately 1,200 acres within the boundaries of Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. The survey focused on fee-owned land north of the Niobrara River. In this area, the crew located five new sites and revisited several previously recorded sites. The crew also recorded 11 isolated stone tools north of the Niobrara River and buried soils containing animal bones at three locations along the river. The southern portion of the 1996 survey area overlapped areas covered by Caven Clark in 1991, and all areas had been reconnoitered by Marvin Kay in 1975. In addition to the area north of the Niobrara River, two locations on the south side of the river were examined. One of these is the present location of the small structure known as the Bone Cabin Complex because of its prior use by crews conducting paleontological research. The second is a small area of fee-owned land adjacent to Nebraska Highway 29 considered to be one of the locations of a camp used by the Lakota chief Red Cloud during visits to the Agate Springs Ranch. Based on surface manifestations, the individual sites located in 1996 are likely to yield only limited information on past human occupation of the monument. However, taken as a group, the sites can be considered as contributing elements to a district if nominated for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
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