NO. 2 MISSOURI VALLEY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM WEDEL 29 



preliminary examination, they are almost all single-occupation sites ; 

 the one certain exception, a stratified cave deposit, was excavated. 



Forty-nine sites may be described as camps and occupational areas. 

 They vary somewhat in character of the remains present, in manner 

 of their occurrence, and in topographic location. In general, they are 

 marked by compact to scattered clusters of fire-blackened stones, 

 sometimes occurring in shallow pits and intermixed with bits of char- 

 coal, and surrounded by stone chips, flakes, spalls, occasional grinding 

 stones, chipped artifacts, bone fragments, and similar debris of former 

 human activity. There is no indication of structures, such as tipi 

 rings, about the hearths, which suggests the use of brush or other 

 highly perishable shelters. On some sites debris is relatively 

 abundant; others yield almost none of it. Many of these sites occur 

 in hollows among the sand dunes beside intermittent streams, (pi. 

 4, fig. 2). 



An interesting group of sites includes thin detrital areas situated in 

 the lee of eroded sandstone outcrops on terraces and low hills over- 

 looking stream valleys. Here there are no stone-hearth clusters or 

 traces of structures ; burned stones are scarce ; and the remains 

 consist of chipped and broken stone, occasional projectile points, 

 knives, scrapers, or other tools, and weathered bone fragments. 

 Whether these remains are to be attributed to peoples other than those 

 who dwelt in the dune areas, or alternatively indicate some sort of 

 seasonal shift of residence, is not now apparent. Presence of an 

 occasional glass bead or iron fragment suggests that these sandstone 

 outcrops were used as shelters by tribes of the historic period, as 

 probably by others long before. 



Other remains may be briefly noted. Six tipi-ring sites have been 

 found; at some, stone clusters in the center of the rings indicate the 

 former fireplaces. Stonework and other aboriginal debris is uniformly 

 scarce. Native quarries and workshop sites to the number of seven 

 were located in and near the reservoir area, where quartzite cobbles 

 or other stone materials suitable for tool making were readily avail- 

 able. At six locations there are human (pi. 5, fig. i) and animal 

 representations pecked into the face of sandstone outcrops ; their age 

 and the tribal identity of their makers are unknown. Two rock- 

 covered burials were found in sinkholes in sedimentary rock outcrops, 

 both with the skull missing. There were no accompanying artifacts, 

 and the tribal or cultural identity of the deceased remains uncertain. 



Particularly noteworthy among the numerous Indian sites at Boysen 

 is Birdshead Cave (site 48FR54), situated near the base of the Owl 

 Creek Mountains. Within this cave (pi. 5, fig. 2), tests disclosed the 



