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Archeological investigations were carried out at two multicomponent archeological sites in the vicinity of Akers Ferry in Shannon County, Missouri, in September 1991. This work was conducted under a cooperative agreement between the National Park Service and the University of Missouri-Columbia and consisted of subsurface testing of previously recorded archeological sites in areas where planned developments in Ozark National Scenic Riverways would adversely impact their archeological integrity if there were significant cultural deposits present on them. The investigations reported herein were conducted at two sites.

The first, the Akers Pass site (23SH22), was determined to consist of a multicomponent prehistoric site yielding cultural materials from the Late Archaic substage to the Emergent Mississippi substage. Also discovered on the site were the significant remains of a circa 1830-1860 Euroamerican habitation which yielded abundant archeological materials.

The second site, the Dances with Grasshoppers site (23SH177), consisted of widely scattered remains of prehistoric occupations on a series of undulating landforms in Gladden Creek valley. It was a multicomponent site with evidence of habitation from the Early Archaic substage to the Emergent Mississippi substage. Subsurface testing revealed that prehistoric features exist below the plow zone.

Analysis of data and cultural materials from the two sites indicates that both are significant and have the potential to yield information on lifeways associated with past occupations of the Current River valley. It is recommended that if the sites cannot be avoided during planned construction activities, sufficient excavations be conducted on them to mitigate, through data recovery, any adverse impacts that might result from subsurface disturbance.