26 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I26 



four shallow hearths were uncovered. The excavations yielded only 

 a few chips of chalcedony, chert, and quartzite; a fair quantity of 

 concretions, apparently from the local shales, and of other stones; 

 and a small number of bone fragments, some of which show the 

 effects of fire. None of these materials shows convincing evidence 

 of intentional modification or of use as tools, although a minute 

 smooth- surfaced, grit-tempered sherd, a small side-notched triangular 

 point of jasper, and a fragment of a chert blade were collected from 

 the surface. 



At site 24TL6, consisting of "tipi rings" and mounds of stone sus- 

 pected of covering burials, trenches carried through two of the latter 

 features uncovered a layer of charcoal nearly a foot beneath one of 

 them but no evidence of disturbance beneath the other. The signifi- 

 cance of this charcoal lens is in doubt, since no other evidence of 

 human activity was observed. The only artifact from the site is a 

 fragment of a chipped implement, probably a drill, collected from the 

 surface by a reconnaissance party in 1946. 



By far the most illuminating site investigated in the Tiber Reservoir 

 was unavailable for excavation until late in the summer because of 

 the earlier high level of the Marias River. Approximately a month, 

 partly with a considerably reduced crew, was spent on this extensive 

 occupational area, site 24TL26 (pi. 2). Exposed for a distance of 

 more than a thousand feet in a terrace just below the point at which 

 the river bends sharply away from the high valley wall, a rich cul- 

 tural deposit lies beneath alluvial overburden varying from 7 to 12 

 feet in thickness. The differences in depth appear to be the result of 

 varying distances of the exposures from the bluffs which border the 

 terrace in which the site occurs, since the overburden is greatest 

 adjacent to the uplands and becomes progressively less downstream. 

 Two excavation units were laid out in the shallower part of the site 

 to encompass hearth areas which were visible in the cut bank. Both 

 had an average width of approximately 10 feet and were 25 to 30 

 feet long, respectively. Excavation was carried to depths of 8 feet in 

 one and 8^ feet in the other. Near the bottom of both excavations 

 there was a continuous stratum half a foot thick containing hearths, 

 both simple and stone-lined ; charcoal ; ashes ; bones ; and pottery and 

 other artifacts. Above this stratum, especially at depths of approxi- 

 mately 4 to 6 feet, were discontinuous lenses containing evidences of 

 human occupation. These lenses in most instances apparently repre- 

 sented hearth areas and there was one group of six holes, perhaps 

 post molds, in a roughly circular arrangement around an area with 

 diameters of approximately 12 to 14 feet. Cultural materials were 



