River Basin Surveys Papers, No. 3: The Woodruff Ossuary, a Prehistoric Burial Site in Phillips County, Kansas

The River Basin Surveys concept marks a nationwide acceptance by archaeologists of a leading role in the conservationist movement. If one agrees that an increment of archaeological knowledge has value, then it follows that every time a site is excavated ahead of inundation the act is one of preservation of a national as well as an intellectual resource. Beginning in 1945, the River Basin Survey Papers describe inter-agency salvage archaeological projects in thirteen states which include Oregon, New Mexico, Kansas, Texas, Georgia, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Virginia, Washington, California, and North Carolina. The River Basin Surveys Papers were published between 1953 and 1967 and include 39 individual reports.