42 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I26 



feet above the river (pi. 6, 6). A narrow strip of timbered bottom 

 land intervenes between the stream and the present edge of the site, 

 which has been scarped by erosion. An indeterminate portion of the 

 site has disappeared, for lodges and other features are now partially- 

 destroyed at the terrace border. Shallow depressions and other sur- 

 face irregularities suggest the presence of 35 to 40 closely spaced 

 earth lodges within the confines of the occupied area, which is bounded 

 by the steep bank along the edge of the terrace and by the remains of 

 an artificial ditch. Expansion of the village is attested by evidence 

 that the course of the ditch had been altered during the occupation to 

 enclose probably 10 lodges in addition to those within the original 

 fortified area. Although little cultural material is visible on the 

 sodded surface, examination of the cut bank and test pits dug by the 

 survey party in 1947 had revealed the presence of abundant refuse 

 within the village level. The work in 1950 and 195 1 resulted in the 

 excavation of 13 earth lodges and 60 cache pits, as well as a number 

 of such features as borrow pits, sweat lodges, and structures of 

 uncertain function, and included numerous test trenches in addi- 

 tional lodges, across the defensive works, and in the general village 

 area. Among the test trenches was one, 282 feet long by 5 feet wide, 

 extending entirely across the site ; in addition, the face of the eroded 

 terrace was trimmed and examined. The tests revealed that, except 

 where the occupants had altered the surface by excavation, refuse 

 attributable to the village was confined to a zone just beneath the sur- 

 face to a depth of approximately a foot. At a depth of about 5 feet, 

 however, evidences of an earlier, much less intensive occupation were 

 consistently found in the deepest trenches. No extensive excavation 

 of this deeper horizon was undertaken after its detection in 1951, but 

 the limited evidence indicated a nonceramic occupation. 



The houses, apparently always constructed on the surface, were 

 circular and averaged slightly more than 40 feet in diameter (pi. 6, b). 

 All had 4 center posts and 9 to 16 outer support posts, and frequently 

 there was evidence of leaner posts at the peripheries of the struc- 

 tures. The central fireplaces were always basin-shaped depressions 

 in the lodge floors, but in six instances sandstone slabs were associated 

 with them. Four of the pits had either the sides alone or the sides and 

 bottom lined with slabs (pi. 7, c), while in two cases slabs were laid 

 upon the lodge floor surrounding the hearth. The entrances, which 

 lacked any consistent orientation, were characterized by walls consist- 

 ing of puncheons set in trenches (pi. 6, b), a feature described 

 by Wilson (1934, p. 369) for Hidatsa earth lodges. Features found 

 within the houses included sweat lodges, fire-screen trenches, and 



