242 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



parently prehistoric Nebraska vttlage is unknown. Flint work was 

 abundant here, numerous end scrapers, side scrapers, knives (both 

 well worked and extremely crude), and T-shaped drills being reported. 



One of the largest streams flowing from the north and west into 

 the Republican River is Medicine Creek, which extends from north- 

 west Furnas County through Frontier County into Lincoln County, 

 almost reaching to the North Platte (map, fig. i, site 18). This stream 

 valley was followed by a much-used war trail during the Indian wars 

 and abounds in evidence of prehistoric occupation as well. During the 

 summer of 193 1 the writer, guided by A. T. Hill, visited many of these 

 sites, following up the valley from south to north. The valley of Medi- 

 cine Creek has since been systematically investigated by Hill and 

 W'edel (Wedel, 1934. and 1935, I) and its outstanding culture, a 

 variant of the Upper Republican, described in detail. Characteristic 

 Medicine Creek rim sherds (pi. 21, fig. 2, a-d) are figured in the 

 present paper. In the light of the fuller data obtained by Hill and 

 Wedel, the earlier surveys by myself and by others are superseded. 

 Mr. Eiseley, however, has found fragments of worked steatite in sites 

 near Cambridge, Nebr. Tliis calls to mind a cylindrical, steatite bowl 

 (27.5 cm in diameter) plowed up by C. W. Malroy near Cambridge 

 in 1902. The specimen is now in the Hill collection at the Hastings 

 (Nebr.) Museum. Harlan I. Smith (1910, p. 518) reports soapstone 

 vessels from southern Wyoming, but artifacts of this material are 

 rare or unknown in other sites reported from Nebraska. 



Following up the Medicine to the North Platte River, we come to 

 another interesting region where rock shelters, blow-outs, and open 

 sites occur. Several rock shelters here have been excavated by 

 Dr. E. H. Hell, and reports on this work will be forthcoming. Another 

 variant of the Upper Republican culture, similar to that from the 

 upper level on Signal Butte, occurs in this region, hence it has been 

 included in the map (fig. i, site 19). Since a further report on this 

 area based on excavation is in preparation by Bell there is no need 

 of giving the results of my preliminary surveys. Renaud (1934 a) 

 has already published the results of his archeological survey of 

 western Nebraska. 



In November 1932 an aboriginal site near the town of Butte, in 

 Boyd County (map. fig. i, site 31) was called to public attention by 

 workmen digging a sand pit. Located on Ponca Creek, in the little- 

 worked northeastern corner of Nebraska, the cultural remains so far 

 unearthed at the site and preserved in local collections seem to be 

 exceptionally interesting. On hearing of the find Dr. E. H. Bell, 

 Director of the University of Nebraska Archeological Survey, sent 



