pLp. N^o/ S^sT HOSTERMAN SITE — MILLER 153 



The arrangement of the posts inside the house and the entranceway 

 would suggest that some sort of baffle or screen must have been put 

 up to shield the occupants from the chilly north winds of winter. 

 Wliile working at the site we noticed that the prevailmg winds were 

 out of the north and south rather than from either the east or west. 

 Whether there is a change during the winter months is not known, but 

 there must be some correlation between the wind direction and the 

 placement of the entranceways. Then, too, the Missouri River is to 

 the west of the site. Perhaps these two factors may have determined 

 the placement of entranceways. 



Circular houses were characterized by being more or less round in 

 outline and sunk into pits that now occur from 1.8 feet to 2.8 feet 

 below the present ground level. There was no sign of plastering on 

 any of the walls, and the floors were firmed simply by trampling the 

 bottom of the pit. In cross-sectioning the floors we found that no 

 surfacing material was brought in to cover the floors. Despite ex- 

 tensive search we failed to find the entranceways into the circular 

 houses, especially in Feature 22. Houses in comparable sites normally 

 have definite passageways leading into them. They were constructed 

 at right angles to the line of wall posts and were walled and roofed 

 with the posts set into well-defined holes. Entrance floors usually 

 rose somewhat at the end away from the house. 



There was some variation in the number of central roof supports. 

 One of the circular houses had four, which appears to be the conven- 

 tional number in the Plains, and another had five. There was also 

 considerable variation in the construction of the superstructure of the 

 individual house. The number and size of the poles that went into 

 the superstructure could vary considerably in their placement. 



The main firepits were always located at the center of the house floor 

 and were basin shaped. The floor area around these fire basins nearly 

 always was burned as much as the walls of the firepit. From this con- 

 dition it would appear that no one ever took the time to clean out the 

 pit once a fire was started. Ashes were allowed to accumulate, be- 

 coming firmly packed as time went on. As the basin became filled 

 and fires kept burning over it, the heat of the fire spread over the 

 floor area surrounding the pit, changing the physical structure of the 

 clay floor. Such evidence throws insight into the character of the 

 Indian housewife. She was either too busy with her other chores to 

 take the time to carry out the ashes or it was customary to leave them. 



Small hearth areas were found scattered around the perimeter of the 

 floor, probably representing individual cooking fires that were built 

 to supplement the heat given off by the central firepit. It would 

 appear that each house furnished shelter for more than one family. 



