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Photo: Mchannon, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Boehnen Museum offers exhibits related to the thousand year old village. Included in the museum is a reconstructed lodge. Inside the museum is the "Shoppe Antiquary" which sells a variety of traditional, ceremonial, and contemporary Native American arts and crafts, and more. Outside the museum one can learn how to use and practice the atlatl spear thrower. Then follow the path to the Thomsen Center Archeodome which covers the on-going archeological dig. The dome also provides a teaching and research facility as well as some hands-on activities upstairs.
The Mitchell Site is a pre-contact Plains Village archaeological site in Mitchell, Davison County, South Dakota overlooking Lake Mitchell. Occupied approximately AD 1000-1150, 39DV2 is a type site of the Initial Middle Missouri tradition and contains the remains of a fortified agricultural village, including the remains of a fortified agricultural village, including lodge structures, storage and bison bone processing features, fortifications, and a large archaeological assemblage. The Mitchell Site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 because of its archaeological significance. Portions of the site are preserved beneath the Thomsen Center Archeodome, where archaeological excavation and research continue. The site and its collections are interpreted for the public by the Mitchell Indigenous Archaeological Site & Museum. Visitors can watch archaeologists uncover artifacts in the Thomsen Center Archeodome. The Boehnen Memorial Museum features a reconstructed lodge and many of the artifacts found at the site.
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The original palace was built in 1892 in order to display the fertility of South Dakota's soil. The current building is the third incarnation and was built in 1921. Each year a new mural designed by local artists related to life in South Dakota is created on the exterior of the palace. The murals are created from a lot of corn, grasses, grains, straw, oats, etc. Inside the palace there is a stage and arena for sporting events. Each year there is a Corn Palace Festival that takes place in front of the Corn Palace.