Riv. BAS. Sor. a Sk 
an STAR VILLAGE—METCALF 87 
There was a great variation in the number of posts present in the 
outer ring and in their distances from each other. Although part of 
the relative discrepancy might be explained by assuming that not all 
post positions were found, this explanation does not entirely explain 
the situation. 
There is also a marked variation in the distance at which the butts 
of the leaners stood from the posts of the outer ring. Four houses, 
Features 1, 8, 5, and 8, varied but a few feet in the diameter of the 
outer post ring, but the leaner butts, or traces of them, were found at 
widely varying distances outside the ring, this distance bearing no 
relation to the diameter of the house. 
There were certain advantages in placing the butts of the leaners 
well away from the secondary posts. The longer slope would make 
it easier to cover the sides with earth; access to the top of the lodge 
would be rendered easier and a greater floor space, particularly storage 
space, would result from such practice. On the other hand, much 
more earth would be required to cover such leaners, and the resulting 
increase in weight would call for heavier leaners, which in turn would 
require heavier timbers at the tops of the outer support posts where 
the leaners rested. It seems most probable that the distance at which 
the butts of the leaners stood from the secondary posts reflects differ- 
ences in the height of the outer posts, since this would allow the butts 
to be placed at some distance from the outer foundation ring and still 
rise steeply if the top stood at a good height from the ground. 
In 1932 William Duncan Strong carried on excavations at the 
Leavenworth site in South Dakota, which was occupied by the Arikara 
during the first quarter of the 19th century. The one published floor 
plan of a house from this site shows a centrally located fireplace, four 
central support posts, and 15 posts in the outer ring (Strong, 1940, p. 
367). Although the hearth is rather better centered than was usual 
at Star Village, the same irregularity in the distances at which the 
central posts are placed from the hearth is present. The center posts, 
like those at Star Village, stand approximately midway between the 
hearth and the outer ring of posts. Leaner butts stood at an even 
greater distance from the outer post ring than did those at Star 
Village. 
The greatest difference is found in the entrance details at the two 
sites. At Star Village the entrances seem to have been framed by one 
pair of posts at the outer end of the vestibule. Presumably rafters ex- 
tended from these to one pair of posts in the outer support ring of the 
house. In general] the length and width of the vestibule was approx!- 
mately equal. This seems to have been the Mandan and Hidatsa prac- 
tice and fits well with the remains found at Rock Village (832ME15) 
