Par, No. 26), SMALL SITES ABOUT FORT BERTHOLD—METCALF 41 
sherds show a thickness range of from 3 to 10 mm., with 47 percent 
measuring 5 to 6 mm. in thickness and 69 percent measuring 5 to 7 
mm. ‘This group has an average thickness of 5.54 mm. The nine 
check-stamped sherds have a thickness range of 3 to 6.5 mm. with a 
mean of 4.44 mm. Seven of the nine measure 4 to 5.5 mm. in thickness. 
The 20 smooth sherds have a thickness range of 3 to 9 mm., with 
a mean of 5.45 and with 55 percent measuring 5 to 6 mm. As a 
group, without reference to surface treatment, the body sherds average 
5.48 mm. in thickness, with extremes of 3 to 10 mm., 48 percent measure 
5 to 6 mm., and 67 percent measure 5 to 7mm. The thickest of the 
body sherds appear to be from the basal portion of vessels, and a 
few sherds suggest that in some cases the shoulder area comes next 
in thickness. 
Rims average thicker than body sherds. The 23 rim sherds were 
measured below the thickened lips and showed a range of from 4 
to 9 mm., with an average thickness of 6.86 mm. Ten sherds formed 
a group measuring 6 to 7 mm., and four had a thickness of 9 mm. 
Little regarding the shape of vessels can be deduced from the hand- 
ful of sherds recovered at this site. two body sherds suggest pots 
with sharp, angular shoulders, rounding bases, and very sloping 
upper bodies. A few sherds from Rock Village (82ME15) suggest 
a vessel of this shape, and a restored vessel of similar form came 
from the Nightwalkers Butte in the Bull Pasture site (382ML39), 
while a third has been reported from the Hagen site in Montana 
(Mulloy, 1942, p. 17, fig. 8). 
The rims rise from a constricted neck which is a simple line of 
juncture between rim and body. Since many of the rims are broken 
at or just above the neck, it is not possible to determine whether 
they most commonly rose straight or whether they flared outward 
to some extent. There is no general tendency toward curvature of 
the rims in the sample recovered, although two rims suggest the 
S-shaped form found at the Double Ditch Mandan site (Will and 
Spinden, 1906, p. 175; pl. 89, b-e) and Hidatsa sites (Strong, 1940, 
p. 365), and which were also present at the Hagen site (Mulloy, 1942, 
p. 18). Commonly the rims were thickest at the lip with a wedge- 
shaped profile due to the pressure used in flattening that feature. In 
a few cases the rim has been folded back on itself and welded, pro- 
ducing a rounded collar on the rim immediately below the lip, a 
trait found commonly at Rock Village and at 32M1L39, and which 
seems to be a common form from the late Hidatsa sites near Stanton, 
N. Dak. The collar of each of these three rims is decorated. Two 
show parallel, diagonal line decoration which in one case was made 
with a finely dentate tool or a roulette (pl. 7,¢c). Both have flat, un- 
decorated lips. The third collared rim has a round lip, and the 
