66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 176 



individuals turned tliem one way and some another. Plate 15, /, shows 

 the partial erosion of the spur on the "D" side of the pipe, or right side. 

 Plate 15, A, illustrates a small-bowl fragment of a reddish clay pipe 

 that had the exterior bowl surface treated with an orange glaze. The 

 bowl was fluted and all indications point to white manufacture, but 

 whether it was a local product or an imported one is not known. No 

 other fragments of this or other similar pipes were recovered. 



CHINA AND EARTHENWARES 



Only an occasional piece of earthenware was found on the floor level 

 of the upper historic level. Material of this nature was not recovered 

 from the lower historic level. Most of the pieces were sherds that 

 did not have any identifying marks. Fortunately, a few had enough 

 diagnostic decorative motifs to make possible identification of the ware. 



Two kinds of 19th-century Staffordshire wares, the "molded shell" 

 rim of the variety manufactured during 1815 to 1820 and a molded 

 "woods" design manufactured during the 1815 to 1840 period, were 

 found. Two interesting sherds of the "shell" rim type were found in 

 the fill above the floor of the uppermost historic level. They had 

 been shaped into rough disks and rubbed down by historic Indians who 

 probably intended to use them as gaming pieces. 



The fragmentary lid of a Chinese porcelain ginger jar came from 

 this same level. Basically, its color is of a milk-white hue with 

 slightly darker blue bands of color forming the decoration on the 

 sides and top. Presumably this was not the usual type of ware traded 

 with the Indians of this period but formed part of the possessions of 

 the trader or persons living there. No age can be assigned to this 

 fragment. 



A single fragment of tortoise-shell ware was picked up from the 

 surface of the site. It has been identified by C. Malcolm Watkins, 

 curator of the Division of Cultural History of the United States 

 National Museum, as Rockingham ware of the variety manufactured 

 in Bennington, Vt., in 1849. According to the records, this ware 

 was first manufactured in England and later spread to America, 

 where it was made principally in New England. This sherd prob- 

 ably represents a later deposit upon the site after the trading post 

 was abandoned. It could have reached the La Barge post at about 

 the end of its occupancy, but it is not likely a dish less than 2 years 

 old had reached South Dakota at that time. It seems more reasonable 

 to conclude that it came from the adjacent military post of 1856. 



Sherds of stoneware vessels were more common than the better 

 class of chinaware or porcelain. Parts of jam jars, crocks, and 

 bottles are represented in the collection. FragTuents of vessels which 

 were glazed with a salt glaze on a stoneware base were also found. 



