Postulated Late Prehistoric Human Population Movements in the Central Plains: A Critical Review

Hypotheses which concern human migration within and without the Central Subarea of the Great Plains during the Late Prehistoric period are examined. The popular notion that peoples from central Nebraska migrated to the Panhandle region of Texas-Oklahoma is shown to be suspect if not false. The idea that peoples inhabiting the Missouri River trench in Nebraska were slowly migrating northwesterly finds support. Finally, evidence concerning postulated migrations of ancestral Pawnee and Arikara into the Missouri trench in South Dakota is reviewed, with two hypotheses emerging