60 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I26 



The pottery of the eariier component appears to comprise a new 

 complex at least for the immediate vicinity of the Missouri River. 

 Much of it is characterized by straight, outsloping rims which often 

 meet the body of the vessel at a sharp angle. The juncture of rim and 

 body on the interior is often an especially abrupt angle. Handles ap- 

 pear to be absent. Some of the vessels represented by sherds of this 

 sort are undecorated or, in a few instances, have short incised or im- 

 pressed lines at the outer edge of the lip, but an apparently large pro- 

 portion bear incised decorations on the exterior of the rim. On most 

 if not all of these decorated vessels there is a series of short diagonal 

 or vertical lines incised or impressed on the rim immediately adjacent 

 to the lip. The rim beneath the narrow band formed by these lines 

 is characteristically filled simply by a series of horizontal lines extend- 

 ing continuously around the vessel or by a similar series crossed by 

 single or paired diagonal lines which are either continuous rectilinear 

 meanders or are separated by varying distances where they approach 

 the lip and neck. Variations include the omission of the horizontal 

 lines beneath the diagonals and the occasional filling of the upper 

 triangles with oblique lines. Where the space below the diagonals is 

 left plain, the meander extends only part of the way up the rim and 

 is topped by a series of continuous horizontal lines. At least many 

 of these sherds appear to be indistinguishable from Great Oasis 

 ceramics as described by Wilford (1945). 



Also found in Area B was a fair quantity of pottery at least some 

 of which closely resembles in form and design that just described 

 except that the decoration is applied by impressing with single cords 

 rather than by incising. It is as yet uncertain whether a time differ- 

 ence within the site suggested by the superposition of certain features 

 can be correlated with these pottery differences. Also of interest in 

 this connection is the presence of a minor quantity of cord-marked 

 pottery with collared, incised rims. 



The Hitchell site (39CH45), also near the mouth of Platte Creek, 

 was briefly investigated during the latter part of the 195 1 season. 

 Depressions were visible in that part of the site still in native grass, 

 and occupational debris was present on the surface of the cultivated 

 portion. Excavation was carried out in three of the depressions and 

 three trenches were dug in the cultivated area. Fireplaces and post 

 molds were found beneath the depressions, but a well-defined pattern- 

 ing of posts was not apparent. The posts appeared to be unusually 

 small, and no evidence of the conventional earth-lodge entrance was 

 found. Some sort of a light structure without an earth covering 

 seems indicated. Artifacts associated with these structures suggest a 



