54 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1962 



mound pits. Artifact associations consist of small, triangular, side- 

 notched points, end scrapers, marine and fresh-water shell beads, and 

 a bipointed copper awl. 



Four mounds were excavated at the Side Hill site (39BF223). 

 The burial mound component there was essentially the same as at the 

 Sitting Crow site, but in addition there was evidence of cremation 

 in association with Triunan Plain Rim pottery. 



Only one mound was excavated at the Old Quarry site (39BF234). 

 It was found to contain a portion of a wooden log, a bison skull, and 

 concentrations of hematite on the mound floor. Two large, subfloor 

 pits were located near the mound center and each contained secondary 

 burials of seven to nine individuals. A single artifact, a largo un- 

 diagnostic body sherd, was recovered fi-om one pit. A bison skull 

 also was found in the same pit. 



While testing below the mounds at the Sitting Crow and Side 

 Hill sites, two, and possibly three, stratified, lithic components were 

 located. The deepest component was indicated by a zone of charcoal- 

 stained soil containing stone chips. The intermediate component 

 was in a light-colored soil zone and contained thin, triangular points 

 with concave bases, end scrapers, knives, worked and unworked chips, 

 bison bone fragments, and shallow basin-shaped firepits. The upper- 

 most lithic component is typologically similar to the McKean complex 

 represented at various sites in western South Dakota and eastern 

 Wyoming. 



During the last week of the field season, all the 46 mounds between 

 Fort Thompson and Campbell Creek were mapped. They range from 

 25 to 80 feet in diameter and from 1 to 4 feet in height. The tumuli 

 sometimes occur singly and in other instances are in groups. 



The second Smithsonian Institution field party at work at the 

 beginning of the year was directed by Dr. Warren W. Caldwell, 

 assisted by Eichard E. Jensen. With a crew of 11 men, they had 

 begun work on June 13 of the preceding year and continued through 

 August 22. The entire time was devoted to excavations at the Pretty 

 Head site (39LM232). This site is situated on the right bank of the 

 Missouri River in the lower portion of the Big Bend Reservoir area. 

 Two houses were completely excavated, a third was excavated except 

 for the heavy fill marking one comer, two midden areas were exten- 

 sively tested, a defensive moat was sectioned in several places, and 

 the old occupation surface between two houses was cleared. 



The site is rouglily a rectangular area of hillocks and depressions 

 capping the riverward edge of Terrace 1, which stands about 60 feet 

 above the summer stage of the Missouri River. A number of oval 

 depressions were arranged in irregular rows paralleling the cutbank 

 of the river. These proved to be the remains of houses, although 



