SECRETARY'S REPORT 91 



pit, were the partially articulated skeletons of at least six bison. The 

 second mound was much the same as the first. However, the burial 

 pit did not contain more than 12 individuals, and there were no human 

 remains above. 



Artifact materials from the two mounds included a few cord- 

 paddled pottery cherds, rentalium, busycon and olivella ornaments, an 

 antler pin, worked antler butts and tines, bone awls, beads, serrated 

 fleshers, beaver incisors, stone projectile points, matting, pigments, 

 and a considerable variety of other materials. On the basis of burial 

 pattern and the artifacts excavated, the Grover Hand Mounds show 

 a very close relationship to the neighboring Swift Bird Mounds 

 (39DW233) and to the Boundary and Baldhill Mound sites in North 

 Dakota. 



At the end of July the Neuman party shifted to the Stelzer site 

 (39DW2.1:2) to continue excavations begun during 1963. This site 

 is a large camp area only a short distance from the Grover Hand 

 Mounds. The occupation level, less than 1^ feet below the present 

 surface, is characterized by scattered midden heaps, small firepits, and 

 circular pits filled with detritus. There were also 17 randomly dis- 

 tributed bison long bones stuck vertically into the occupation surface. 

 Artifacts from the Stelzer site, particularly projectile points and pot- 

 tery, are closely comparable to those from the adjacent mound sites. 

 There seems to be good evidence here for the first direct relationship 

 between burial mounds and a habitation site in the northern Plains. 



The party concluded work on August 23 after 74 days in the field. 

 Subsequently, Neuman and a single crewman visited previously unre- 

 ported mound sites along the Sheyenne River in Barnes County, N. 

 Dak., and another above Wolfe Creek in the James River Valley, S. 

 Dak. 



A second party of seven men, under the leadership of Oscar L. 

 Mallory, conducted test excavations at a large group of sites in Dewey 

 County, along the right bank of the Missouri a short distance upstream 

 from the mouth of the Moreau River. Site 39DW231, a small village 

 on a terrace spur defended by two ditches, was tested extensively. A 

 midden area, part of a circular house, and sections of the defensive 

 system were exposed. Present evidence suggests that the principal 

 occupation falls within the Chouteau Aspect and appears to be related 

 to the Potts (39CD19) and No Heart (39AR1) villages of northern 

 South Dakota. 



A second fortified village, 39DW1, situated at the mouth of the 

 Moreau River, was also tested. It differs from 39DW231 in that it 

 lay on a higher terrace and was completely surrounded by a defensive 

 ditch. The ceramic collections have much m common but apparently 

 differences are such that they cannot be related on the focus level. 



