NO. 2 MISSOURI VALLEY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM — WEDEL 35 



elsewhere, alluvial deposits derived from coulees heading in the 

 bordering bluffs seem indicated. Unfortunately, there is at present 

 no way to judge the rate of this deposition. That no great length of 

 time is necessarily involved is suggested by the finding of blue glass 

 beads and trade iron associated with an ash-filled hearth at site 

 24TL17, about 10 miles southeast of Shelby, on a habitation level 

 buried beneath 12 to 18 inches of river silts on which stands a scatter- 

 ing grove of large cottonwoods. Despite the rather impressive depth 

 of overburden, it is possible that the rate of deposition in many cases 

 may have been high. Few artifacts were recovered in the survey op- 

 erations at these sites. That many, perhaps most, are prehistoric, is 

 probable; that any now known can be regarded as paleo-Indian is 

 very doubtful. 



Surface sites on the river terraces consist characteristically of 

 clusters of fire-cracked stones, generally not associated with tipi rings, 

 but with small quantities of worked stone and rejectage scattered in 

 the general vicinity. Many of the hearths are partially buried, and 

 one is tempted to wonder whether, given the proper combination of 

 topographic and climatic factors, these sites would not resemble the 

 buried ones in most particulars. Here the artifact inventory from the 

 two kinds of sites may well be definitive ; but such inventories can 

 be made only after far more intensive investigations than have so far 

 been practicable. 



Tipi-ring sites occur in great numbers in the Tiber area. They seem 

 to be most common on the plateau-like bluff tops overlooking the river 

 valley (pi. 7, fig. 2), and are less frequently met with on the terraces. 

 Associated with some of these are small piles of stone, usually circular 

 in outline and about 5 feet in diameter. Tests in two of these piles 

 disclosed small unidentifiable fragments of bone beneath them, but no 

 satisfactory evidence that the underlying soil had ever been disturbed. 

 Their purpose remains conjectural. It is possible that the tipi rings 

 and associated remains are relatively late ; very little stonework occurs 

 with them and the stones composing the circles usually lie on or very 

 near the ground surface. No metal or glass objects were noted on 

 these sites. 



No pottery-bearing sites were noted by the River Basin Surveys 

 field party at Tiber ; and such remains appear to be absent generally 

 from the area. 



A site of very considerable interest is a bison kill, 24LT22, located 

 about 5 miles from the proposed dam site and somewhat above full 

 pool level. It is in a shallow forked draw, where the animals were 

 apparently ambushed, perhaps with the aid of log or brush barricades 



