76 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1959 
sults obtained. Limited excavations there indicated five occupational 
layers and two well-defined, buried soils. At least two ceramic hori- 
zons are present, in the upper levels, one with simple-stamped or plain 
pottery, the other with cord-marked body sherds. Several additional 
occupations, in stratigraphically earlier positions, have yielded 
neither pottery nor other diagnostic artifacts. The great depth of 
deposit and the presence of buried soils may make possible a consid- 
erable refinement in the stratigraphy of late preceramic remains in 
the Big Bend Reservoir area. Geological investigations carried on 
by Alan H. Coogan in the area of the lower portion of this reservoir 
were intended to obtain information bearing upon chronology and 
the environmental sequence of the Medicine Crow, Aiken, and other 
early sites in the area. The possibilities for correlation of terrace, 
moraine, and other depositional features appear to be excellent. The 
Irving party disbanded on September 4 and returned to the Lincoln 
headquarters after 13 weeks in the field. 
The second River Basin Surveys party in the field in the Big Bend 
Reservoir area was a crew of 11 men under the direction of James 
J. F¥. Deetz. This party spent the entire season in excavation of the 
late (village occupation) components (areas B and C) of the Medi- 
cine Crow site (389BF2). The work was done in conjunction with 
that of the Irving party in an effort to provide a comprehensive pic- 
ture of the site as a whole. In all, 16 houses were completely exca- 
vated, and 4 were tested with varying intensity. Included within the 
houses were 16 cache pits. Eleven cache pits were excavated in the 
interhouse living areas. A single burial was recovered. Three well- 
defined components have been established for the ceramic period of 
this site and a fourth, less adequately outlined component is proposed. 
The Stanley Component (latest) is characterized by a predominance 
of Stanley Braced Rim pottery; circular houses, 25 to 30 feet in diam- 
eter with hard, light-colored floors; mortar pits; and absence of 
interior cache pits. Five domestic and four specialized house struc- 
tures are included in this component. The specialized houses were 
grouped about a “plaza” and included a ceremonial lodge, 50 feet in 
diameter, with an altar, plastered floor, and silled entrance. The 
Fort Thompson Component resembles that at the Oacoma site, but 
may be somewhat later. Talking Crow ware predominates. Houses 
range from 35 to 40 feet in diameter, have vaguely defined floors, 
in-floor caches, and lack mortar pits. Four such structures were 
excavated during the 1958 season. There were two cases of superim- 
position, with Stanley houses above Fort Thompson houses. A third, 
unnamed, component is represented by a series of large bell-shaped 
cache pits excavated in area C. These affiliate most closely with the 
Two Teeth site (89BF204) a short distance to the southeast. Talking 
