NO. 2 SALVAGE PROGRAM, I95O-I95I — COOPER 57 



struction was necessary at the time of reoccupation. Such reconstruc- 

 tion would account for the presence of the superimposed structures 

 and of machine-cut nails. There appears to be nothing among the 

 artifact materials which would be incompatible with this hypothesis. 

 Unfortunately, neither the contemporary accounts of Fort Lookout 

 trading post nor the archeological remains materially illuminate the 

 problem from the architectural point of view. 



The associations of the remains of a well-defined structure (pi. 9, a) 

 are uncertain. Vertical posts, set close together in a trench on two 

 sides and one end and more widely spaced in individual holes on the 

 other end, enclosed a rectangular area 35 feet long and 27 feet wide. 

 Three interior post molds suggest roof supports. There was no well- 

 defined fireplace, but there was a fairly large, circular burned area 

 near the center of the enclosure. A gap near a corner on one long 

 side may represent an entrance. Many butts of posts, mostly cotton- 

 wood, remained in place and all had flat bases as though they had been 

 sawed. It is reported to have underlain the other historic features, 

 and it was partially superimposed upon a circle of post molds asso- 

 ciated with a deeper cultural deposit. 



Separated by 6 inches of sterile earth from the base of the deposit 

 attributed to the trading post was evidence of a prehistoric Indian 

 occupation with which were associated irregular shallow pits and 

 numerous post holes. In two instances post holes were arranged in 

 such fashion as to suggest the former presence of small circular struc- 

 tures, 18 feet and 19 feet in diameter, respectively. A fireplace was 

 found near the center of one of the circles and there were traces of 

 burned earth in the central portion of the other. In neither case was 

 there evidence for interior support posts. Other post molds on the 

 same level possibly show the location of racks to hold supplies or for 

 drying hides. Beneath this horizon and separated from it by a sterile 

 deposit 4 inches thick, were traces of an earlier occupation consisting 

 of a compacted surface suggesting a house floor, a number of pits, 

 and a quantity of refuse material. 



Since the artifacts and illustrations of them are not available, the 

 brief discussion here of the materials recovered from the two pre- 

 historic horizons is based entirely on the descriptions in a manuscript 

 on site 39LM57 prepared by Miller. Both occupations are attributed 

 to a single cultural complex, which Miller believes is closely related 

 to the Upper Republican aspect of the central Plains. Stone artifacts 

 include notched and unnotched triangular points, end scrapers, mis- 

 cellaneous knives and scrapers, gravers, and drills of quartzite, chal- 

 cedony, jasper, chert, and flint, as well as a number of ground-stone 



