NO. 2 SALVAGE PROGRAM, I95O-I95I — COOPER 7 



were functioning there, although the project office and a considerable 

 part of the research activities continued in the Laboratory of Anthro- 

 pology on the campus. 



The increased intensity of field activities in 1950 and 1951 resulted 

 in a much greater flow of specimens and records into the laboratory 

 than in former years. This fact, together with an attempt to make 

 the basic-site files more nearly complete than had previously been 

 possible with limited personnel, drastically increased the workload. 

 Thus, the number of reflex copies of field records made and incor- 

 porated in the files was almost 25,000. Most of these copies went 

 into a control file and a file that is available for use in the field or for 

 loan to qualified persons outside the organization. 



During this period 153,600 specimens were cleaned, cataloged, and 

 filed. Many of them required, in addition, such special attention as 

 treatment with preservatives or minor repairs to prevent their de- 

 terioration in storage or in handling during analysis. Restoration was 

 on a rather limited scale, partly because restorable pottery vessels or 

 other objects were not often recovered in the excavations and partly 

 because the time of qualified persons could not be spared for such 

 work. A number of partial restorations were made, however, and 

 two small vessels from mounds in the Fort Randall Reservoir and a 

 pot from a site in the Boysen Reservoir were completely restored. 



Animal bones recovered by excavation were identified by the pale- 

 ontologist in the Lincoln laboratory, but bones identified generally as 

 canine, fish, and bird were sent out for more specific identification by 

 specialists, as were molluscan, vegetal, and White trade materials. 

 Additions were made to the comparative collections of identified ani- 

 mal bones and molluscan remains previously begun. It is evident that 

 the large mass of documented animal bone accumulated from various 

 localities throughout the Missouri Basin and from different time 

 periods constitutes a valuable body of data relative to the problem of 

 faunal variations in time and space. This opinion is fortunately 

 shared by the director of the University of Nebraska State Museum, 

 Dr. C. Bertrand Schultz, and an agreement was reached that, when 

 proposed new storage space became available, the Museum would 

 accept those collections for permanent preservation. That the gener- 

 ally unexploited potential of such material for cultural interpretation 

 may be considerable is suggested by a study made by the paleontolo- 

 gist on the staff of the animal bones found in certain sites from the 

 standpoint of the butchering techniques employed by the inhabitants. 



The much-expanded excavation program during this period re- 

 sulted not only in a greatly increased quantity of specimens and 



