NO. 2 SALVAGE PROGRAM, I95O-I95I — COOPER 43 



cache pits, as well as numerous posts which probably were associated 

 with beds and other miscellaneous minor structures. There was abun- 

 dant evidence that several of the lodges had burned, but in many 

 instances unburned post remnants testified to destruction by less sud- 

 den means. Cache pits were found both inside and outside of the 

 lodges, the locations of the outside ones frequently being marked by 

 depressions on the surface. There was a marked absence of stylization 

 as far as size and shape are concerned. A considerable number were 

 cylindrical, while the walls of others expanded to varying extents. 

 The large, deep, cistern-shaped pits so characteristic of the later vil- 

 lages of the central Plains were lacking or exceedingly rare in Rock 

 Village. 



As indicated previously, there was evidence for expansion of the 

 village at some time during its occupation. A segment of the original 

 ditch was abandoned and a new segment was excavated to enclose a 

 larger area. The sequential relationship of the two segments is estab- 

 lished by the fact that the inner one is overlain by one or more lodges 

 and by the refuse with which it is filled. Perhaps at a still later time 

 the ditch was extended to enclose a single house at the northeast end 

 of the site. Test trenches across the ditches revealed considerable 

 variation in width and depth but they were nowhere very wide or 

 deep; widths of 2.\ to 4^ feet and depths oi 2. \.o 2,\ feet seem indi- 

 cated. Post molds in alignment outside the abandoned portion of the 

 ditch suggest a palisade, and there was clear evidence of such a fea- 

 ture situated at distances of 2 to 3 feet outside the outer, and later, 

 segment. The latter consisted of posts set close together in a trench 

 approximately half a foot wide and a foot deep. 



Refuse was relatively abundant in cache pits, borrow pits, the aban- 

 doned ditch, and on the village surface. While materials of White 

 provenience occurred in considerable quantities, the main reliance of 

 the inhabitants was still on artifacts of native manufacture. Few of 

 the metal objects were tools, although there is evidence of the use of 

 heavy metal implements, probably axes, for shaping many of the bone 

 artifacts and for cutting timbers. No metal axes or hoes were found, 

 but there are a few knives or knife parts in the collection. Most of 

 the metal objects were projectile points, tinklers, and scraps of brass 

 and iron, objects which are of little aid in the problem of dating. 

 Other materials of White origin include rather numerous glass beads 

 and some clay pipes of European manufacture. On the basis of an 

 examination of all the trade materials, Glenn Black has "guess-dated" 

 the site as 1800 to 1850 plus. This statement and the presence of two 

 percussion caps of a type which Carlyle S. Smith, of the University 



