The first ever "ArcheoBlitz" was undertaken within the Northern Plains National Heritage Area at the Knife River Indian Village National Historic Site just north of Stanton in Mercer County, North Dakota. Check out the documentary short below from the May 5-7, 2016 events. 

The Dakota Territorial officer quarters of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Morton County, North Dakota.

The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn, McLean County, North Dakota.

A Mandan earth lodge at Knife River Indian Village National Historic Site, Stanton, Mercer County, North Dakota.

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Ongoing Projects

Dr. Mark Mitchell (r), principal investigator, explains to a visitor (l) the goals of the June 2015 archaeological investigation at Chief Looking's Village in the City of Bismarck, Burleigh County, North Dakota.

Interpretive signage that will be updated to explain the latest investigative findings at Chief Looking's Village.

Throughout the summers of 2016 and 2015, the Paleocultural Research Group (PCRG), a nonprofit research and education organization, teamed up with the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation, Colorado State University, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and the University of Arkansas to carry out an archaeological investigation of Chief Looking’s Village, a Mandan settlement located above Pioneer Park within the City of Bismarck. Chief Looking’s Village falls along the Bismarck Parks & Recreation District trail system, and overlooks the upper Missouri River.

The research team used traditional and state-of-the-art archaeological methods. Artifacts and scientific samples from this excavation are being analyzed in PCRG's Colorado lab. They will be returned to North Dakota’s expanded Heritage Center for permanent storage. The project’s findings will be presented to the public in 2016 and beyond. PCRG’s previous archaeological investigations in North Dakota informed Elizabeth Fenn’s 2015 Pulitzer Prize winning work, Encounters at the Heart of the World: A History of the Mandan People. 

For more information, contact Dr. Mark D. Mitchell directly at (303) 913-2435 or at Mark.Mitchell@Paleocultural.org

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Dr. Ken Kvamme (University of Arkansas) explains the process of magnetometry at Chief Looking's Village in June, 2015.

Volunteers and graduate and undergraduate students assembled for the archaeological investigation at Chief Looking's Village.

The History of the Northern Plains National Heritage Area
​On March 30, 2009, the Northern Plains National Heritage Area became a reality when the U.S. Congress designated the Northern Plains National Heritage Area and named the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation as its coordinating entity. This builds on and carries forward a legacy started when President Ronald Reagan signed the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Area into existence on August 24, 1984.