Riv. BAs. Sor. A 
aa TIBER RESERVOIR BASIN—MILLER 243 
METHODOLOGY 
Our procedure was first, to walk up and down the banks of the 
Marias River along the edges of the site to see if any habitational 
or other features were evident. Wherever such were found, a section 
paralleling the river bank was set apart to be excavated, following 
natural strata, down and into the undisturbed subsoil. Each section 
was given a numerical designation and its position was plotted on a 
map of the site showing the western bank of the river (see fig. 39). 
The Marias River at this point runs roughly north and south. Seven 
sections were excavated along 605 feet of the river bank. The size of 
each section was determined to a certain extent by what was to be 
seen in the river’s bank, as well as by the manifestations uncovered 
in the digging. 
The deposits at the Galata site were composed of banded alluvial 
and aeolian layers varying in hardness and, in color, from a yellow 
through a light gray to a dark gray. They ranged from 0.2 to 1.0 
foot in thickness. Some layers were more compact than others, and 
in a number of instances the existence of cracks was noted, indicating 
that the clays had been previously exposed to sun and weathering 
action which caused them to shrink and crack apart. These cracks 
were usually filled with the same color clay as that of the super- 
imposed stratum, resulting in sufficient color differentiation to make 
the feature quite noticeable. Soil samples were taken to provide 
evidence of this difference and to furnish material for pedological 
and palynological studies which might give some indication as to 
weather conditions and to the flora present at the time each stratum 
was deposited (pl. 37, a, b). 
Most of the cultural material was found within a single stratum 
6 inches thick, which ranged in depth from a few feet to 8 feet at the 
deepest. This variation was the result of slope wash, alluviation, 
and wind action from the contiguous hills which abutted the site. 
In fact, the site as a whole showed very little depth of archeological 
deposit, suggesting only short periods of occupancy. 
THE SECTIONS 
Section 1.—Section 1, a trench measuring 8 feet in length, slightly 
over 5 feet in width, and 5 feet in depth. It penetrated well into 
sterile subsoil. Many strata of the overall site were observed to be 
much narrower in this section than in those to the south. 
At a depth of 1.8 feet from the present surface two potsherds (F.S. 
1520, 1521), Feature 15, were found sticking out of the river bank. 
They were incorporated in a dark-gray stratum (0.2 foot in thickness) 
which in turn overlay a heavy sand stratum. Upon investigation, this 
stratum proved not to contain any other cultura] remains, nor did 
