The William Young Site is an archaeological site in Morris County, Kansas, near the city of Council Grove. The site was inhabited between 3550 and 3050 BC and initially excavated in 1962. A drought in North America led most humans to abandon the Great Plains during this period, and the site provides evidence that some humans remained in the area.[2] It became the basis of what archaeologists named the Munkers Creek phase, a period of human habitation in the Flint Hills region marked by its stone tools.[3] Artifacts recovered from the William Young Site include distinctive triangular stone gouges and a clay effigy head, the oldest clay artifact found in Kansas.[4][5]

William Young Archeological Site
Nearest cityCouncil Grove, Kansas
Area3 acres (1.2 ha)
NRHP reference No.71000324[1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 24, 1971

The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 24, 1971.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. ^ "Excavations at the William Young Site, 14MO304". Kansas Memory. Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  3. ^ Banks, William E.; Wigand, Peter E. (May 2005). "Reassessment of Radiocarbon Age Determinations for the Munkers Creek Phase". Plains Anthropologist. 50 (194): 173–183. doi:10.1179/pan.2005.018. JSTOR 25670809. S2CID 161092804. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  4. ^ "Munkers Creek Gouges from the William Young Site, 14MO304". Kansas Memory. Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  5. ^ "Munkers Creek Ceramic Effigy from the William Young Site, 14MO304". Kansas Memory. Kansas Historical Society. Retrieved March 5, 2023.