pLp ^o I5T HOSTERMAN SITE — MILLER 147 



the occupation of the site. This layer was of uneven thickness and 

 varied from 0.5 foot to 2.5 feet in thickness, depending upon the con- 

 tour of the former surface and the presence of shallow pits, and below 

 this were patches of a former humus zone that was not entirely de- 

 stroyed by the former occupants of the site. Below this zone was 

 another thin layer of cultural material that was rather spotty in 

 deposition. 



The area within the protective moat measured 269 feet from the 

 inside, or eastern side, of the stockade trench to the brink of the bluff 

 on the west, and 340 feet north and south. 



Before starting the excavation a north-south line, y coordinate, 

 was established 9 degrees east of north, and an east- west line, x co- 

 ordinate, was run at right angles to it, bisecting the north-south line 

 at the 160-foot stake dividing the site into four quarters of almost 

 equal size. The site was then staked off in 10-foot squares. Square 

 designation was determined by the number of the stake in the upper 

 right-hand corner of each square. Thus, square 170 is determined by 

 having this number in the upper right-hand corner of the square. 



The coordinate position of each archeological feature was obtained 

 by scaling x and y coordinates of the approximate center of the 

 site. Each feature was then plotted to scale on a coordinate base chart 

 according to the square in which it appeared. 



An exploratory trench, 10 feet wide, was started at square 170 and 

 extended for a distance of 100 feet so as to intercept four of the de- 

 pressed areas in order to test their validity as house sites. At the same 

 time other men were placed in squares 180 and 190 (fig. 25). 



Along the east faces of squares 170, 180, and 190, we found the first 

 indication of cultural material at a depth of 1.0 foot below the root 

 system of the present sterile windblown grass-covered loess. Pro- 

 gressing westward this layer slowly decreased and the overburden 

 of sterile material became noticeably greater. The upper portion of 

 this cultural debris consisted mainly of small fragments of bone. 

 Sherds were derived from the top 0.2 foot of this deposit whereas the 

 number and size of the bone fragments increased as the distance down- 

 ward was increased. Entire bones were found at the base of this 

 level. Artifacts were few. A small unnotched isosceles triangular 

 projectile point and a badly decayed bear's jaw were recovered from 

 this bone layer. 



The main purpose of cutting this exploratory trench across the area 

 was to test the four depressions that were thought to be the remains 

 of dwellings. None of them proved to be such. They were either 

 cattle or bison wallows. The house structures uncovered were not 

 manifested in any way by surface indications. Other areas tested 

 where depressions occurred proved this contention. 



