358 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1951 



received with some incredulity by arclieologists because it suggested 

 that the Scottsbluff Yuma-type point was much older than most had 

 supposed since it was found in other localities whose dates are con- 

 siderably younger. Undoubtedly some implement forms persisted 

 over long periods of time but in the present instance the span seemed 

 too long. Subsequently, however, it was learned that the sample of 

 charcoal tested came from log fragments found one to two feet below 

 the level of the cultural material. Hence the artifacts must be an 

 undetermined number of years younger than the announced date. 



Excavations in camp sites were made in a number of reservoir areas. 

 In most cases the information obtained was not as extensive as might 

 be desired but does reveal something of the mode of life and habits of 

 the people who formerly occupied them. The scarcity of material at 

 such locations is probably attributable to the fact that only temporary 

 shelters — perhaps brush or other highly jperishable structures — were 

 used and there are no traces of dwellings or habitations. In most 

 cases such an area is characterized by unprepared basin-shaped 

 hearths containing charcoal and ashes, midden deposits with chopped 

 and broken animal bones, chipped-stone debris, and other refuse. Oc- 

 casionally potsherds and even restorable vessels are found, but they 

 are not so common as at the sites of more permanent villages. Be- 

 cause such camping places were occupied only for short periods, or 

 intermittently, by hunting parties, the amount of material left is 

 small in comparison with that usually found where substantial vil- 

 lages were erected. Several sites of that type were examined in the 

 Angostura Reservoir basin in South Dakota and in the Boysen Reser- 

 voir area in Wyoming. Most of them appeared to belong to late 

 prehistoric times, but in one instance in the Boysen basin an early 

 contact period was represented, as trade beads and bits of iron were 

 present. No correlations have been made as yet with Indian tribes 

 known to have been in that portion of the Plains, but when studies 

 are completed it may be possible to attribute at least some of the sites 

 to a particular group. The cultural material from them gives a 

 good idea of the kinds of tools and implements being made just before 

 or at the time when the first white men reached the area. Further- 

 more, the information is a contribution because prior to the River 

 Basin Surveys no systematic investigations had been made in the 

 Angostura and Boysen regions. 



Associated with or adjacent to some of the camping sites are fea- 

 tures that usually are referred to as tipi rings. The latter are indica- 

 ted by circles of stones on the surface of the ground. The general 

 supposition is that the stones were used to hold down the edges 

 of skin tents or tipis. There has been disagreement over that inter- 

 pretation, however, as some ethnologists insist that the later Indians 



