366 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1951 



of the various animal, bird, and fisli bones and vegetable products from 

 the middens should give a clear picture of the material culture of the 

 groups that lived there and undoubtedly will make a definite 

 contribution to the knowledge of the area. 



FORTIFIED VILLAGES 



A short distance downstream from the Dodd site on the same side of 

 the river in the construction area for the dam was another known as 

 the Phillips Ranch site. It consisted of the remains of a fortified 

 village, of which there Avere a number along the Missouri River in late 

 prehistoric and early historic times. The excavations there traced the 

 moat and palisade that enclosed the village, uncovered the floors of 10 

 earth lodges, cleared some 90 cache pits, and examined a large section 

 of the area lying between the houses and the surrounding ditch. The 

 houses had been circular in form and in many respects were similar to 

 those of the last period of occupation at the Dodd site. One of the 

 structures possibly was a "community house." It was 50 feet in diam- 

 eter, and the outer wall had consisted of a double row of posts instead 

 of the usual single row. The entrance was to the east, and on the oppo- 

 site side of the fire pit against the west wall there was an earth altar. 



The artifacts found at the village include a large number of pot- 

 sherds and numerous objects of bone, shell, stone, glass, and metal, and 

 a few fragments of basketry. In general it appears that the Phillips 

 Ranch village represents the stage following the last period at the 

 Dodd village and belongs to the final occupation of the region by the 

 sedentary peoples. When the data from the excavations have been 

 fully analyzed they should give a good picture of the early contact 

 l^eriod. As in the case of the Dodd site, it is evident that the basic 

 economy of the people was agricultural but that hunting contributed 

 an important part of the diet ; fish from the nearby river also seem to 

 have been utilized. Work at other fortified village sites in the Oahe 

 Reservoir and in the Fort Randall Reservoir area farther south has 

 been started but has not progressed sufficiently to warrant discussion 

 at this time. 



In addition to the excavation of village remains in the Missouri 

 Basin by parties representing the River Basin Surveys, the Univer- 

 sity of South Dakota carried on investigations in the Fort Randall 

 area at the Swanson site on the east side of the Missouri River north 

 of Chamberlain, at the Scalp Creek site on the south side of the Mis- 

 souri about 5 miles downstream from the Wheeler Bridge, and in the 

 Oahe Reservoir area at the Thomas Riggs site on the east bank of the 

 river approximately 10 miles above the site of the dam. The State 

 Historical Society of North Dakota investigated the remains of the 

 historic Fort Berthold Indian village in the Garrison Reservoir area, 



