NO. lO NEBRASKA ARCHEOLOGY STRONG 19^ 



one of the NBa2 (with two side and one basal notch) and the other 

 of the NBc type. Both are rather crudely retouched and have a rather 

 thick midrib. Sterns mentions no other chipped artifacts and reports 

 that flint chips are rare in these lower strata. We found no arrow- 

 points and few chipped artifacts of any kind. The largest of the 

 latter is a crude " pick " broken at one end and roughly retouched to 

 a point at the other (pi. i8, fig. 2, c). It is 18.5 cm long by 6.5 cm in 

 greatest width and is of a very poor grade of chert. Its crudity and 

 size give it a certain resemblance to the Chellean pick of the European 

 paleolithic. Its function in the present culture is uncertain. The only 

 other definite artifact of chipped stone recovered in our excavations 

 was a rather crude " knife ", 80 mm long, and retouched on one side 

 (pi. 7, fig. 2, /). In addition, three crudely retouched flakes of gray 

 flint were preserved. These may have been used as simple flake 

 knives. Various flint and chert cores and flakes were noted, but, 

 as Sterns states, they are relatively rare. Flint chipping was evidently 

 of little importance in the Sterns Creek culture. This discrepancy in 

 techniques is striking in a people who ground stone and made good 

 pottery. 



Work in Bone 



Bone artifacts from the lower strata are very abundant and of good 

 workmanship. Bone needles, rare or missing at most sites in Nebraska, 

 are common here. Five of these are figured (pi. 18, fig. 2, c, d, f, g, h), 

 as well as three broken points of ground bone (pi. 18, fig. 2, I, in, n) 

 which may have been the pointed parts of needles or of plain awls. 

 Two curved needles were found. The first of these (pi. 18, fig. 2, c) 

 is unusual, since the fragments of the eye are on the larger end ; also 

 it is evenly notched along two edges. Whether these notches were 

 decorative or of value in grasping the needle is uncertain. Certainly 

 they would seem to have been of negative value in the matter of 

 penetration. The other curved needle has a delicate eye, but the 

 point is broken oiT (pi. 18, fig. 2, /). Like the above specimen, it is 

 also made from the rib bone of a small animal but has been fire- 

 hardened or tempered to a rich brown color. The two long, straight, 

 complete needles (pi. 18, fig. 2, d, g) are respectively 140 and 130 mm 

 in length. Both are fire-tempered and brown, but the lower specimen 

 is made of bird bone, the upper of animal bone. The upper needle is 

 therefore heavier and is decorated on one side by two sets of three 

 diagonal notches. These may have served as ownership marks or as 

 an aid in gripping the artifact. Besides those figured, one other butt 

 end of a bird-bone needle and a section of brown, partly worked bird 



