pS.^0.' m' DEMERY SITE — ^WOOLWORTH AND WOOD 125 



pieces of cobs, roots, stalks, husks, and leaves were especially plentiful 

 in Feature 65 in House 3. A fragment of braided cornhusk from 

 Feature 65 suggests the treatment of ripened corn in which the ears 

 were husked and braided into long strings. The kernels from Feature 

 67 in House 3 resemble ethnological specimens which were picked 

 green, roasted on the cob, shelled and dried; those from Feature 65 

 seem to have been brought to maturity. The size and the internal 

 structure of a bean from Feature 67 resembles red beans of the variety 

 collected by Oscar H. Will on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North 

 Dakota (descendants of which are in the collections of the State His- 

 torical Society). The charred, peeled roots of Pomme blanche, or 

 Tipsina {Psoralea esculenta Marsh) were in Feature 65 in House 3, 

 and in Feature 94 of House 4. Gilmore (1919, p. 92) states that these 

 roots were dug in June or in early July. 



A few items of material culture were also preserved by charring. 

 Perhaps the most significant and interesting of these is a piece of 

 basketry (fig. 20, a). The elements are woven under- three-over- 

 tliree, creating a diagonal pattern known as twilled plaiting. Gil- 

 more, in discussing Arikara baskets made from the inner bark of black 

 willow and boxelder, illustrates two baskets which were apparently 

 woven in the same manner as the Demery fragment (1925, pp. 89-95, 

 figs. 41-42) . A piece of peeled wood underlying the basketry may be 

 part of a post foundation ; if this is the case, the original basket was 

 about the size of the sdtwa, a large Arikara work basket that stood 

 knee high (Gilmore, 1925, p. 94) . The elements in the Demery speci- 

 men are similar in size and form to those in Arikara workbaskets in 

 the State Historical Society collections. 



A piece of wood, rectangular in cross section, is cut and slotted in 

 the same manner as a bone knife handle, and is probably correctly 

 identified as a wooden knife handle. A second piece of wood, rounded 

 on one end and bearing a deep notch, is from the same pit. The 

 growth rings are identical in both cross sections, and the pieces 

 obviously belong together: the object is tentatively restored (fig. 

 20, c). 



A final perishable specimen is a fragmentary buckskin bag from 

 Feature 65. It was originally 150 mm. or more long and 100 mm. or 

 more deep. It was made by folding a rectangular piece of hide back 

 upon itself, piercing the edges, and lacing it together. Since the top 

 is now gone there is no way to determine how it was closed ; since it 

 was found lying flat, it was probably closed by a flap rather than by 

 a drawstring. It was empty when found save for a few ounces of 

 sterile earth, and the surface of the bag indicated that it carried no 

 decoration that involved piercing the hide. 



