40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Butn. 185 
32WI12 (map 1).—Hundreds of tipi rings and many stone mounds 
are present on the high ridges overlooking Muddy Creek, north of Wil- 
liston, N. Dak., in sec. 22, 23, 15, 16, 17, T. 153 N., R. 101 W. A coulee 
which is present in this area has the bottom cut by a rather deep ravine. 
The sides of the coulee are steep and break sharply just above the 
bottom, the sides of the break being covered with dense thickets. Sur- 
prisingly enough, since the stone rings are the only signs of habitations, 
this tree- and brush-grown slope shows many midden deposits ranging 
from 6 to 36 inches in thickness. In 1947 one of these midden areas in 
the south half of sec. 16 was tested (pl. 6), and the small excavation 
yielded 23 rim sherds and 100 body sherds as well as other artifacts. 
Although there are occasional variations, the sherds are sufficiently 
homogenous in details of tempering, texture, color, surface treatment, 
and decoration to be classified as a single ware. In color it is generally 
dark on both exterior and interior surfaces, the cores always so. Oc- 
casional sherds are gray, this shade being more common on exterior 
than on interior surfaces. The mottling of some sherds suggests that 
in some instances complete vessels would show firing clouds. An oc- 
casional sherd has a hard, black encrustation of soot on the exterior 
surface. 
The ware is sparsely tempered with fine, angular particles of 
pounded stone, apparently granite, evenly distributed throughout the 
paste. The paste is moderately compact and well worked, and fresh 
breaks have an appearance ranging from slightly granular to mod- 
erately laminated, the latter condition being most common. Breaks 
are sharp and clean. No tendency to crumble and no splitting of 
sherds was noted. 
No trace of coiling could be found, and vessels were presumably 
shaped by the paddle and anvil method. Of the 100 body sherds, 
71 have simple-stamped exterior surfaces, with ridges and grooves 
produced by the use of a grooved or throng-wrapped paddle (pl. 7, j, 
k, l,m). Nine sherds show impressions very much resembling check- 
stamping, but they may indicate a second blow with a paddle held 
at a right-angle to the first (p1. 7,9, 4,2). After the paddling process, 
a certain amount of burnishing took place, which in a few cases has 
produced a rather high gloss. Twenty sherds have a smooth exterior 
surface, but since the burnishing action which followed the shaping 
process has almost completely erased the stamp imprint on many 
of the 71 sherds in the first group, it seems probable that all were 
originally stamped. Most sherds show a pseudoslip caused by the 
floating of the finer clay particles to the surface during the stamping 
or polishing treatment. 
There is considerable variation in the thickness of individual sherds 
and often of the same sherd, a single large example showing a varia- 
tion of 5.5 mm. between the opposite margins. The 71 simple-stamped 
