pip. No^' 2?]'"' McNARY RESERVOIR — SHINER 221 



could represent a utilization of the site after the main occupation 

 had ended. However, the general character of the assemblage of 

 trade materials suggests that the houses were occupied after white 

 men were living in the vicinity. There were four glass trade beads 

 in house pit 59, and all were of the type foimd at Wallula, which are 

 believed to be from Fort Walla Walla. 



Scattered about the terrace were four or five piles of medium- to 

 large-sized rocks. Excavation revealed nothing beneath them and no 

 structure associated with them. Piling up rocks was one of a number 

 of tasks given to boys who were in training for the spirit quest (Spier 

 and Sapir, 1930). The custom was based on the idea that the spirit 

 quest was not only a very serious affair, but one which required care- 

 ful preparation. Thus, small boys were given tasks which were diffi- 

 cult as well as frightening in order to test their strength and their 

 courage. They would be sent out alone on a dark night to some 

 remote spot to leave some object or pile up stones to show that they 

 had been there. This may be an explanation for the rock piles. 



BURIAL CUSTOMS 



Several test pits were excavated in the steep bank at the river's 

 edge in hope of finding an over-the-bank dump. In one of the test 

 pits, however, a complete burial was found. The remains were of a 

 male somewhat over 50 years of age who had been interred without 

 any burial furniture. All metrical measurements and morphological 

 observations fell within the expected ranges, and no anomalies or 

 pathological conditions could be seen. The teeth were in extremely 

 poor condition, which would be expected for an individual of that 

 age. Erosion of the bank also washed out a stone bowl that was 

 practically identical with those recovered at the Wallula site. 



ECONOMY 



A complete analysis of the animal bones was not available at the 

 time of this writing. Osborne, however, reported the presence of 

 horse and bison bones in considerable numbers and the absence of 

 antelope bones (Osborne, 1953, p. 262). Bones of fish and deer were 

 recovered in quantity, as is usual in McNary sites. In addition to 

 the bones, the artifacts showed that both hunting and fishing were 

 important. Net weights and projectile points were found in the 

 houses, and were eroding from the riverbank. Data on foods ob- 

 tained by gathering are always difficult to recover and other than 

 one stone bowl none were found at site 45-BN-6. The stone bowl 

 may have been used as a small mortar for grinding seeds and berries. 



