62 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1958 
Arikara during the period 1600-1750. The other occupation or occu- 
pations were somewhat earlier. Among the unusual materials re- 
covered were several catlinite pipes, an ornament of turquoise, a piece 
of obsidian, and several ornaments made from marine shells. The 
burials will provide a good series for study, and the field party was 
particularly fortunate to have William M. Bass ITI, physical anthro- 
pologist of the River Basin Surveys staff, present to assist in the 
excavation of the burial areas. This party returned to the Lincoln 
headquarters on September 14, after 13 weeks in the field. 
The second River Basin Surveys party in the Oahe Reservoir area, 
comprising a crew of seven, was directed by Charles H. McNutt. At 
the beginning of the year they were camped with Dr. Stephenson’s 
party near Fort Sully and were excavating in the nearby C. B. Smith 
site (39SL29) on the left bank of the Missouri River in Sully County, 
S. Dak. They uncovered major sections of 2 large circular earth lodges, 
10 cache pits, and 17 other features, and tested 2 extensive midden 
areas. ‘This proved to be a moderately large earth-lodge village site 
of about the early 17th century. After the completion of work there, 
the party moved to the nearby Sully School site (39SL7) and exca- 
vated 2 houses, 12 cache pits, and 9 other features, tested one midden 
area, and trenched a portion of the fortification ditch and palisade. 
One of the houses had been a long, rectangular structure with an entry 
ramp to the south, while the other was a large circular structure. The 
two occupations thus indicated suggest that one belonged to a period 
approximating that of the C. B. Smith site, while the other was con- 
siderably earlier—perhaps between A.D. 1200 and 1400. The fortifi- 
cation ditch and palisade apparently surrounded the later period 
occupation. In addition to the excavations at those two sites, the 
McNutt party investigated two lesser sites in the vicinity. One, 
39SL9, was a small occupation area with a few surface remains. Test- 
ing there gave no promise of significant returns for intensive digging 
and no further work was attempted. The other, 39SL10, was a burial 
site along the edge of the present river bank. Stream cutting had 
destroyed all but the last vestiges of it, and there was little to salvage. 
The party disbanded and returned to the Lincoln headquarters on 
September 14, after 18 weeks of work. 
The third River Basin Surveys party in the Oahe Reservoir area 
was directed by Dr. Waldo R. Wedel, who was detailed to the River 
Basin Surveys for the summer by the department of anthropology of 
the U.S. National Museum. Dr. Wedel and a crew of nine worked 
near the Old Fort Bennett area on the right bank of the Missouri River 
in Stanley County, S. Dak. The party conducted intensive excavations 
in site 839ST203, where it uncovered two large circular earth lodges 
dating around the 17th century and two large long-rectangular houses 
of a much earlier period, perhaps the 14th or 15th centuries. The 
