Neighborly Interaction
Excavations and preliminary analyses of the recovered materials from Wheeler indicated that site residents interacted with their downstream Mississippian neighbors in the Falls Region and perhaps even with those living in the Green River drainage further west.
Evidence of such downstream interaction included Mississippian-style pottery vessels, Mississippian-style ceramic surface treatments, and house construction techniques. An example of a Mississippian-style pottery vessel was a large, well-fired bowl with outslanting walls. This is a vessel form similar to those recovered from contemporary Mississippian sites in the Falls Region.
Possible interaction with Mississippian groups in the Green River drainage was reflected by the recovery of jars with check stamped exteriors. This surface treatment is common in the Green River drainage.
Although most of the structures at Wheeler were of the single-set post variety, one structure had been built using wall-trench construction techniques. No daub was recovered from the site (sun-baked clay walls are a hallmark of Mississippian wall-trench houses), but the use of wall-trenches clearly indicated that some degree of of interaction took place between Wheeler site residents and their Mississippian contemporaries.