. BAS. Sur. 
BN NO eT) STAR VILLAGE—METCALF 103 
reconnaissance team in 1950. This feature, which was inside a house 
ring, was filled with poorly compacted dark soil which contained a 
few flecks of charcoal. It was 3.7 feet in depth, and the bottom was 
covered with decayed fragments of bark. 
Stout (1908) noted that caches were not abundant, but that they 
were well marked, cisternlike depressions, having a neck about 2 feet 
in diameter and widening out below. At the time of his visit some 
of these features were still 4 feet deep with their bottle-shape well 
preserved, while others were two-thirds filled, evidently by slumping. 
ARTIFACTS 
Because of its short period of occupation the yield of artifacts from 
the site was small. Only a double handful of small sherds was re- 
covered. Worked stone was not abundant and trade objects were 
scarce. In all, 733 objects were recovered at this site. This figure 
includes not only the sherds, beads, tool and weapon fragments, orna- 
ments, ete., but also chips and stone fragments, shells, and broken 
bones, whether the latter were identifiable or not. Excavation of the 
various features resulted in uncovering an area of somewhat less than 
1,500 square yards—approximately 13,400 square feet. Since few of 
the excavations were more than a foot in depth, it is probable that not 
over 450 cubic yards of earth was moved. In terms of artifact admix- 
ture this means that, roughly, seven objects were found for each four 
cubic yards of earth moved, or between four and five objects for 
each truckload. 
Scarce as the trade material was, the high percentage of glass and 
metal objects in proportion to those of native origin is not surprising 
in view of the date of occupation and the fact that for the preceding 
quarter century the Arikara had lived beside the trading post at 
Fort Clark. The proportion of objects of aboriginal workmanship 
recovered from the site may still be misleadingly high. Most of 
the worked stone material recovered is deeply patinated, suggesting 
that it had lain there much longer than the 90 years which had elapsed 
since the site was used by the Arikara. Nearly all terraces along 
this section of the river have been utilized as campsites at various 
times by Indian groups and most of them yield a few artifacts when 
closely examined. At most of the terrace points in this area it 
would be a matter of surprise if excavations comparable in extent 
to those made at Star Village did not yield flint flakes, a few objects 
of chipped stone, and a few sherds. The wide distribution of these 
campsites, coupled with the shortness of the Arikara occupancy of 
Star Village, gives rise to the suspicion that much, if not all, of this 
type of material recovered there antedates the village. I suspect 
that had the village been occupied for several years, the proportion 
