Riy. BAS. Sur. coe 
Par. No. 27] STAR VILLAGE—METCALF 105 
Ridges and grooves appear to be vertically placed. After the stamp- 
ing had taken place, the surfaces were polished, often to such an ex- 
tent as almost to erase the stamp impressions (pl. 12, g, s). A few 
sherds that appear to be from the upper bodies and necks show traces 
of striae which may be the result of wiping with a stiff brush, perhaps 
a bundle of grass or a corncob. However, the smoothing process was 
carried to such lengths on these sherds that this wiping is only sug- 
gested (pl. 12, v). Interior surfaces are well smoothed and under a 
low-powered lens often show fine cracks. On both surfaces the finish- 
ing process has resulted in drawing the finer particles of clay to the 
surface and producing a burnished appearance. 
The sherds are so small that little can be determined regarding 
vessel shape, but the curve of the rim sherds suggests a vessel of be- 
tween 1 and 2 gallons capacity. 
The rim sherds have gray exterior and black interior surfaces. 
Both surfaces are well smoothed but not burnished. The lip is flat, 
rounding slightly at the margin. A rim flaring slightly outward for 
half its height and then rising vertically is indicated, and the upper 
half has been slightly thickened. Decoration consists of a row of 
finger-nail impressions immediately below the lip. ‘The nail was 
pressed into the paste and pushed forward, raising a small quantity 
of the paste and producing an oblong depression bordered at one side 
by the small ridge of displaced paste. Before the nail impressions 
were made, the exterior was marked by a row of short, diagonal inci- 
sions, each of which was almost obliterated by the nail impressions 
(pl.12,2,7). 
None of these sherds suggests a markedly decadent industry, and I 
am inclined to believe that they date before the village occupation of 
the terrace. In comparison with the sherds from the upper level of 
the Dodd site and those from the Phillips Ranch, Buffalo Pasture, and 
Cheyenne River sites, which are almost certainly Arikara, I can see 
only the most vague and general resemblance. Sherds from the Leav- 
enworth site closely resemble those from the four sites mentioned 
above, and if more work proves these sherds from Star Village to be 
of Arikara origin and to date from 1862, then a great change had oc- 
curred in the ceramic tradition of the group in the two generations 
which had elapsed since they had left the last South Dakota site. 
One small rim sherd and three body sherds which have been ex- 
cluded from the above description remain to be mentioned. For the 
rim sherd the exact find-spot within the site is, unfortunately, un- 
known; the body sherds came from Feature 8. All undoubtedly be- 
long to the Stanley series (Lehmer, 1954, pp. 42-45). The rim sherd 
probably belongs to the Stanley Wavy Rim type since, although very 
small (pl. 12,2), enough remains to suggest “the characteristic wavy or 
sinuous effect... [of] ... the lip and rim when seen from above” 
597967—63——10 
