ARCHEOLOOICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MIS.SOURI 73 



a much greater degree than any of the other osseous remains. It 

 gives the impression of having lain on the ground surface, exposed 

 to sun, rain, and other deteriorating agencies for a long time before 

 being covered with earth. Its general appearance is quite unlike that 

 of the deer bones found elsewhere on the site, and this, together with 

 the complete absence of horse trappings and other evidences of white 

 contact, casts doubt on the inclusive nature of the specimen. While 

 we have no record of its exact location or depth underground, I am 

 of the opinion that it was plowed or in some other manner turned 

 under in comparatively recent years and has no comiection with the 

 native peoples who dwelt on the terrace. 



It is probably safe to infer that the deer furnished the chief supply 

 of fresh meat and that it was both plentiful and easy to obtain. The 

 almost complete absence of bones of birds, mammals, and other forms 

 is rather striking in view of their relative abundance at the Renner 

 site on Line Creek where nearly identical climatic and similar surface 

 drainage conditions prevail. On its face, our evidence would suggest 

 that hunting, as opposed to horticulture, was relatively less important 

 at Steed-Kisker than at Eenner, but our investigations at both sites 

 were much too limited in scope to permit a definite judgment on this 

 score. If the inhabitants of the Steed-Kisker site relied to any con- 

 siderable extent on the products of the chase, as I believe they did, 

 it seems improbable that they would strip their kill in the field and 

 carry back to the village only the meat, hides, and other soft tissue. 

 I am inclined to suspect that acidic or other soil conditions may have 

 been responsible for the observed phenomena, so that such bones as 

 once existed in the pits and middens have been almost totally destroyed 

 in the years ensuing since their original deposition. Unfortunately, 

 we took no soil samples at either the Eenner or the Steed-Kisker site, 

 and in the absence of careful chemical analyses it is obviously futile to 

 speculate further. 



Two mussel shells of local fresh-water species identified as Amhlema 

 costata (Rafinesque) and Lampsilis siliquoidea (Barnes) were found 

 in pit 3. They may have been obtained from the Platte River, at some 

 point above the village where the bed is less heavily silted, or from 

 one of the smaller clear tributary creeks of the Platte or Missouri. 

 We do not know that the natives did or did not eat the fleshy parts, 

 but there is direct archeological evidence that crushed mussel shells 

 were customarily mixed with the clay used in pottery making. 



POTTERY 



In contrast to their scarcity on the surface, potsherds were relatively 

 abundant wherever our excavations touched pits, midden deposits, and 

 house remains. Sherds recovered totaled 2,332, of which 279 were rim 



497261—43 6 



