Publications in Salvage Archeology, 1: The Fire Heart Creek Site

The Fire Heart Creek site report by Donald J. Lehmer, is the first publication in the Smithsonian venture, Publications in Salvage Archeology, which was designed to report the results of investigation carried out under the federal archaeological salvage program. This series, published by the River Basin Survey of the Smithsonian Institution, included a total of 13 reports issued between 1966 and 1969.

The Fire Heart Creek site is located on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, on the west bank of the Missouri River approximately nine miles south af the town of Fort Yates, North Dakota. The site is situated an the edge of the first terrace above the Missouri River floodplain, and is bounded on the south by the steep-sided channel of Fire Heart Creek. The present channel of the Missouri River lies well over a mile and a half to the east, across the level floodplain area known as Black Foot Button. The river channel has undoubtedly meandered back and forth across the floodplain a number of times, and it seems likely that it lay much closer to the site during the time of the Indian occupation.

唐纳德·J·莱默（Donald J. Lehmer）撰写的《火心溪遗址报告》，是史密森学会（Smithsonian Institution）旗下《抢救考古学出版物（Publications in Salvage Archeology）》系列的首份刊物，该系列专为汇报联邦考古抢救项目下开展的调查成果而设立。该系列由史密森学会流域考古调查（River Basin Survey）负责出版，共计收录1966年至1969年间发布的13份报告。

火心溪遗址坐落于北达科他州扬特堡（Fort Yates）镇以南约9英里处的斯坦丁罗克印第安保留地（Standing Rock Indian Reservation）密苏里河西岸。该遗址位于密苏里河泛滥平原上方的一级阶地边缘，南侧以沟壑陡峭的火心溪河道为界。如今的密苏里河主河道位于东侧逾1.5英里外，横跨被称为“黑足巴顿（Black Foot Button）”的平坦泛滥平原区域。毋庸置疑，密苏里河河道曾多次在泛滥平原上来回摆动，在印第安人占据该区域的时期，河道距离遗址的位置应当比现在近得多。