NO. 2 MISSOURI VALLEY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM — V^EDEL 23 



and glass suggests recency of occupation, but there is so little asso- 

 ciated cultural material that no assignment of the sites to a known 

 historic or other group or groups is now possible. 



Indicative of a more settled mode of life are several sites similar 

 to the ruined villages found in such impressive numbers farther down- 

 river. These are not plentiful, but they occur both below and above 

 the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation ; others are reported to exist, as 

 might be expected, within the Reservation boundaries. Circular de- 

 pressions mark the sites of former earth-covered lodges, or of under- 

 ground storage pits. Refuse is more plentiful on these sites, and 

 includes broken pottery, worked stone, animal bones, etc. At least 

 one such site, the Rock Village (32ME15) on the right bank just 

 above the abandoned town of Expansion, appears to have been sur- 

 rounded by a protective ditch. One of the circular depressions here 

 was tested, disclosing a slab-lined fireplace 10 inches below the sur- 

 face. Materials seem to be rather plentiful on the surface; those 

 recovered include only articles of native workmanship — pottery, 

 worked stone, steatite vessel fragments, animal bones, and a grooved 

 maul. Pottery appears to be in the Mandan-Hidatsa tradition. North 

 Dakota workers have suggested a pre- 1850 Hidatsa origin for the 

 site (pi. 4, fig. i). 



Of more recent date is another earth-lodge village (32MZ1), oppo- 

 site the mouth of Little Knife River. Known as the Crow Flies High 

 village, it is believed to have been occupied between 1868 and 1893 

 by the Hidatsa. Metal, glass, and other recent materials were plenti- 

 ful, but there was little of native origin. 



Most of the sites located and recorded by the Kivett party consist 

 of artifact- and refuse-bearing strata covered by a few inches to 

 several feet of wind-blown soil (pi. 3, fig, i). Such locations, of 

 course, are not usually apparent on the ground surface, and must be 

 searched for along cut banks and eroded areas bordering the stream 

 courses. They are marked by outcrops of burnt earth, ashes, charcoal, 

 occasional hearths, flint chips, animal bone, and sometimes stone or 

 bone artifacts. At least one site in McLean County (32ML9) was 

 found to be stratified. On the surface were a few small smooth and 

 simple-stamped pottery fragments ; at a depth of 6 to 12 inches was 

 a mixture of burnt earth, chips, bone, and thick, coarsely tempered 

 potsherds with deep, broad cord impressions. Again, in a site in 

 Mountrail County (32MN9), smooth and simple-stamped sherds 

 occurred from the surface to a depth of 8 inches ; a single projectile 

 point was small, triangular, and side-notched. At 12 inches was found 

 a second culture-bearing zone approximately 4 inches thick. This 



