Our Gardens are in Bloom!
With recent rains, Audrey’s Garden is looking as beautiful as ever!
With the recent influx of rain, we have seen an explosion of life in Audrey’s Garden. From Wood Lilly to Wild Geranium to Meadow Garlic to Milkweed, our plants have bloomed beautifully. With that comes pollinators, birds, bunnies, and more - all of which help us in our goal to foster an active, healthy, native ecosystem here at the Mitchell Site.
Archaeology Day at the Village a Success!
Archaeology Day at the Mitchell Site was a huge success!
More than 200 visitors participated in Archaeology Day 2025 at the Village on June 14th. Attendees got the opportunity to watch stone tools being made, visit with archaeologists, engage in atlatl throwing, and more. Along with the numerous tourists that were part of the crowd, we had great community engagement-with lots of Mitchellites coming to support us and have a great time!
Meet our new Archaeologist!
Introducing Connor Bates, the latest addition to our team at the Mitchell Site.
We want to introduce the newest member of our team-Connor Bates, an Archaeology student from Augustana who is cataloguing the multitude of artifacts found here for our master database. Come visit and watch him sort through and document a backlog of lithic, ceramic, and biologic material-he is passionate about his job and loves to talk to visitors about any question they might have!
Listen to Dr. Hannus Discuss the Mitchell Site
Dr. Hannus discussed the Mitchell Site on a recent podcast episode of SDPB.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting has recently released a podcast episode featuring the Mitchell Site’s head archaeologist, Dr. Adrien Hannus. In it, he discusses the achievements of the site’s inhabitants, the value of understanding these achievements, and other work he has participated in around South Dakota to further this goal. Listen here: https://www.sdpb.org/podcast/history-605/2024-03-25/history-605-s-4-ep-2-archeology-at-the-indian-village-near-mitchell
New Exhibit Installed in Archeodome
New native plant exhibit installed in the Archeodome!
What a way to start off our blog!
Jerry Gerry, who was part of the founding committee establishing our site in 1978 and has served as a board member since, is also a master woodworker. Over the past few months, he has constructed a beautiful display case with the assistance and input of Dr. Adrien Hannus, our site’s lead archaeologist. It shows off native plants and their multifaceted uses by the indigenous people of the past and present - including those at our site 1,000 years ago.