220 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 189 



with a diameter of 3.7 cm., the other was 19.4 cm. long with a diameter 

 of 4.6 cm. 



FETISH OR TROPHY SKULL 



The skull of one of the Plains kit foxes {Vulpes velox) was found 

 in the midden of Feature 2 at a depth of 1.8 feet. This fragmentary 

 skull (pi. 38) is peculiar in that there are, at the present time, four 

 small round perforations with beveled edges occurring in the oc- 

 ciputal region penetrating the brain cavity. The diameter of these 

 openings is 4 mm. on the outside, tapering somewhat until they en- 

 tered the interior of the brain case. They were spaced so that they 

 covered this area rather well. The central perforation just touches 

 to the right of the sagital suture, two others are equidistant on 

 either side of this suture about 1.25 cm. distant, and the fourth open- 

 ing is just above the right auditory meatus. "Whether there ever was 

 a comparable opening above the left auditory meatus is not known, 

 since that portion of the skull is missing, but it would seem plausible 

 that such was the case. 



As we do not know exactly why this particular skull was treated 

 in this manner, we have assumed that there must have been some 

 religious ritual significance attached to it. We do know that the 

 Mandans and other Plains Indian groups utilized the skulls of bisons 

 and humans during certain ceremonies. Then, too, each man had 

 his own medicine bundle usually wrapped in some animal pelt. 

 Whether the skull of this particular fox was especially valued would 

 appear likely since so much work was performed on it. 



SCORED BIRD STERNUM 



A fragmentary sternum of Aquila chrysoelus canadensis (golden 

 eagle) was found in Feature 3, a cache pit, at a depth of 3.0 feet 

 from the present surface (pi. 37, B). Across the right keel and 

 along the posterior margins are numerous sharp and shallow incisions. 

 There is no definite pattern these scars take. It would appear that 

 they were the result of cutting away the heavy fleshy parts during 

 the term of a meal. Whether eagles were obtained just for their tail 

 feathers and the flesh eaten afterward is not known; but it would 

 seem very probable that the fleshy parts of the bird were consumed. 



WORKED TEETH 



The front half of the post-lingual surface of a split beaver's incisor, 

 recovered from the floor of the circular house, Feature 22, shows cut- 

 ting marks on the concave surface, the beveled cutting surface, and 

 a shallow cut at the base of the tooth. Similarly prepared beaver in- 

 cisor teeth were reported from the Dodd site in South Dakota, from 



