Riv. Bas. Sor. aatal! 
Pap. No. 26] SMALL SITES ABOUT FORT BERTHOLD—METCALF 19 
LEGEND 
e@ POST HOLES 
SITE 32MEI6 
FEATURE 12 
= TRENCH 
° $ 0 20 
FEET 
T395 
RSP 9-6-1954 
Ficure 3.—Floor plan of Arikara ceremonial lodge (Feature 12) at Star Village, 32ME16. 
site, much larger than the others, was said to mark the position of 
the ceremonial lodge or “dance lodge” as it was called locally. 
Excavation here revealed the floor of a structure varying from 75 
to 77 feet in diameter (fig. 3). No fireplace was present, possibly 
owing to the short time the structure was in use. Four centerposts, 
1.2 to 1.9 feet in diameter and set to a depth of 1.3 to 1.6 feet, formed 
the central foundation and enclosed an area approximately 20 feet 
square, with the rear pair of posts some 2 feet farther apart than 
those in front. Twenty postholes ranging from a foot to 1.7 feet 
in diameter, and with the same range in depth, formed a rather irreg- 
