ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MISSOURI 63 



insisted that the only known natural source of surface water was the 

 river. 



According to information supplied by long-time residents of Farley, 

 the terrace as well as the adjacent bottoms and hills were formerly 

 well timbered. Today nearly all cultivable ground has been logged 

 off, though here and there on the bottoms an occasional large oak or 

 €lm still stands. The hills retain remnants of the old forest cover, but 

 on the terrace wheat, corn, alfalfa, and other crops cover the site. 

 Its general appearance may be judged from plate 21, a, in which the 

 view is eastward across the site toward the Platte. 



The limits of occupation can be given in approximate terms only. 

 Almost no traces of aboriginal activity were found in the ditches 

 along the dirt road running in a northerly direction out of Farley 

 past the terrace and through the hills. About 600 yards from town a 

 side road on the half section line leads due east to and then along the 

 river bank. Wliere this cuts the lower slope of the hills there were 

 evidences of at least one earthlodge pit. From this it would appear 

 that habitations were scattered up the slopes where flat spots of suf- 

 ficient size were available. For the most part, however, the village 

 appears to have lain east of the first and south of the second of these 

 roads (fig. 7) . 



The site is unequally divided by a section and property lines. The 

 larger eastern portion, including also the burial hill, is owned by 

 William Kisker and farmed by his son Herman. The remainder be- 

 longs to Henry Wehe, of Farley, and is under lease to C. A. Steed. 

 Of the farmsteads shown in figure 7, only that occupied by Steed 

 actually lies on the old village area. Most or all of the individuals 

 named were aware of the presence of "relics" in their fields. Prior to 

 our work, however, there had been no digging whatever on the terrace, 

 and only a little random prospecting on the hill which proved to be 

 the burial ground. There appear to be no published records of the 

 remains prior to those resulting from our investigation (Wedel, 1939). 



When our work began, the presence of growing crops precluded a 

 satisfactory surface examination of any except a small fraction of the 

 site. A freshly cultivated cornfield west of the property line was care- 

 fully hunted over, revealing the presence of sherds, flints, and grass- 

 impressed clay on both sides of the gully running southeast from 

 the Steed farmstead. Persistent search on all likely spots disclosed 

 no subsurface indication of house floors, although the bits of roofing 

 clay indicated the former presence of earth lodges here or nearby. 

 Our efforts were finally rewarded with a group of trash-filled pits 

 and a small midden deposit lying on the sloping terrace front about 

 550 feet southeast of the farm buildings. These were between the 

 two west gullies, and between the 780- and 785-foot contours (fig. 8). 



