pip. N*^" 2^3Y' McNARY RESERVOIR — SHINER 227 



Whereas the occupation of site 4:5-BN-3, together with the graves 

 and their furniture, seems to be a climax of aboriginal culture, site 

 45-BN-6 appears to show a decline. Site 45-BN-6 is certainly later 

 than the occupation at 45-BN-3. The types of European trade mate- 

 rial and the existence of horse bones indicate a late site. There is 

 evidence that the village existed in 1812 and may have lasted until 

 the middle of the 19th centuiy. 



The material culture of 45-BN-6 was more utilitarian than that of 

 earlier sites, and most of the artifacts were of chipped stone. They 

 included the usual array found at the other sites except for the better 

 made artifacts such as pestles, mallets, celts, pipes, and the like. The 

 presence of iron, galvanized iron, glass, and leather suggests that 

 artifacts of European origin were beginning to replace some of the 

 aboriginal tools. By this time, white civilization was probably ex- 

 ercising its usual influence on native culture, and the latter was 

 rapidly deteriorating. 



In order to show at a glance how certain artifacts appeared and 

 disappeared in the McNary region, charts were prepared. These are 

 somewhat simplified and conventionalized, but reflect the stratigraphy 

 found b}^ Kiver Basin Surveys excavations. Figure 31 shows the 

 time distribution of chipped-stone artifacts, and figure 32 does the 

 same for ground-stone and bone. The position of each artifact ver- 

 tically is an indication of the relative time that it appears in the 

 McNary region. In most cases, the relative order of appearance of 

 artifacts is better known than the order of their disappearance. 



There are only two points in time that are definite: the time of 

 the ash fall and the calendar year 1805. The reference to the ash 

 fall as a point in time does not mean that we are able to give it a 

 calendar date, but rather that it is an event that happened at one 

 point in time and can be recognized at several different localities. 

 The indefinite point in time is the beginning of the late prehistoric 

 period. From all evidence discussed so far, this point would appear 

 to be closer to 1805 than to the time of the ash fall. 



The artifact drawings are not to scale since they included specimens 

 from less than 1 inch to specimens as large as 15 inches in size. 



Figures 33 to 40 give the areal distribution of certain artifacts. 

 Only artifacts from documented excavations are shown, since amateur 

 collectors so often forget where they find their relics. Only artifacts 

 from the late prehistoric period are shown in these figures. The 

 earlier periods are poorly documented in the Plateau. 



