80 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, I26 



level, previously destroyed at this point by construction. It is prob- 

 able that several burials had been destroyed by the contractor's ma- 

 chinery, and the remnants of a single bundle burial were found in 

 place. Associated grave goods were absent. The few sherds from 

 this level appear to be assignable to the Harlan Cord Roughened 

 type, the dominant pottery of the Keith focus, previously defined 

 by Kivett. A few sherds found on the disturbed surface are not at 

 present assignable to a complex, but have attributes found in pottery 

 of Woodland sites and others suggestive of Upper Republican wares. 



At 25HK13 (Massacre Canyon site) rather extensive excavations 

 revealed a zone of very black soil underlying a sterile loesslike deposit 

 as much as i^ feet thick. Only four hearths, all simple fireplaces on 

 the original living surface and all suggesting rather brief use, were un- 

 covered. Pits were also limited in number. Kivett has suggested that 

 the larger of two oval basins, 8.5 feet long and 7 feet wide, may rep- 

 resent the remains of a light, temporary structure and that the other, 

 smaller one may be a central excavation in such a feature. His sug- 

 gestion is based on their similarity to basins, usually larger, found in 

 Woodland sites in Frontier and Valley Counties. These latter fea- 

 tures have central fireplaces, however, and may indicate seasonal 

 differences. Six burials, in circular or oval pits, usually the latter, 

 were uncovered, in addition to a few scattered fragmentary bones of 

 a young child. Five of these were single flexed skeletons, while the 

 sixth represented a more complex interment. In the case of this latter, 

 the bones of an individual, mainly scattered but some in articulation, 

 lay on and near the floor of the pit. Over these bones was a yellow clay 

 layer upon which was a burned zone containing charred bones. Grave 

 accompaniments were in the main confined to the two undisturbed 

 child burials. They consisted mostly of disk beads of shell and tubular 

 beads of bone. 



Despite the general impression of an intensive occupation of the 

 site, artifacts, including pottery, were not abundant. The some 85 

 sherds appear to represent not more than seven or eight vessels. All 

 except a group apparently from a single pot have many of the attri- 

 butes of Harlan Cord Roughened pottery but are sufficiently different 

 to suggest they represent a distinct, as yet undefined type. The ves- 

 sel of which the remaining sherds were a part had been smoothed 

 after cord marking and the interior surface was apparently fabric- 

 impressed. The rim, which flares from a slightly constricted neck, 

 bears a series of oblique oval impressions immediately below the lip. 

 Kivett has suggested it resembles pottery found thus far in minor 

 amounts in southeastern Nebraska. Among the other artifacts recov- 



