38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I26 



a number of simple-stamped body sherds and a fabric-marked sherd 

 in the 25BD207 collection. On the basis of the relatively scanty evi- 

 dence available, it appears that these two sites are closely related to 

 the Lynch site (25BD1), partially excavated in 1936 by the Univer- 

 sity of Nebraska Laboratory of Anthropology but not yet compre- 

 hensively reported in print. Of the remaining sites, all of which 

 yielded few specimens, two, and perhaps three, are probably related 

 to sites 25BD201 and 25BD207. Another has pottery which resembles 

 at least in a general way certain of the ceramics from the Loseke 

 Creek sites, in Platte County, Nebr., excavated by the Nebraska State 

 Historical Society (Kivett, 1952, pp. 52-55); from the Eagle Creek 

 site, in Holt County, Nebr., excavated by the University of Nebraska 

 (Hill and Kivett, 1940, p. 240) ; and from the Scalp Creek site in 

 Gregory County, S. Dak. (Hurt, 1952, pp. 25-27, and Appendix 

 VHI). The pottery in question has rims that are decorated on 

 their outer surfaces with series of horizontal lines either incised or 

 impressed with a single cord. The sherds are too few and too small 

 to permit assigning them to a pottery complex with any confidence. 

 Only stone specimens were found on the remaining site and these 

 were few and nondiagnostic of specific cultural entities. 



Sparks Reservoir site. — The potential Sparks Reservoir site is on 

 the Niobrara River near the eastern boundary of Cherry County. It 

 is in an area characterized by fairly heavy tree growth on the bottom 

 lands and more scattered timber on the slopes. Only the most accessi- 

 ble parts of the reservoir area were covered by the reconnaissance, 

 which resulted in the recording of seven archeological locations, all 

 probably camp sites. A few minute sherds, simple-stamped and incised 

 and apparently related to the pottery from a site in the Merritt Reser- 

 voir area, discussed above, were found on one of the sites ; the collec- 

 tions of artifacts from the other sites suggest lithic complexes. Most 

 of the 12-mile stretch of the valley to be affected by the reservoir 

 remains to be examined. 



Thacher Reservoir site. — The potential Thacher Reservoir, near 

 Valentine, Nebr., will flood approximately 11 miles of the Nio- 

 brara River valley and the lower 4 miles of Minnechaduza Creek. 

 Both the valley floor and the slopes in this area support stands of tim- 

 ber. Two sites were recorded during the brief and incomplete recon- 

 naissance. Both are lithic camp sites but one includes, in addition, 

 evidence of an early White settlement. The specimens recovered from 

 these sites are too few and nondescript to permit any suggestion as to 

 their cultural affinities. 



