THOMAS.) 



HUT RINGS. 41 



center of one of the circles, thousli no sncli traces were seen in others 

 that were examined here and ai>on Medicine Bntte. The animal fig- 

 nves on each of these sites are poorly situated, and in each case there 

 are circles that almost tonch them. Indeed, their position with refer- 

 ence to the latter is such as to make them seem incidental to the prior 

 location of tlie tepees. If they were intended as objects of veneration 

 and worship, as has been conjectured, there are sites in the immediate 

 vicinity of each better adapted for such purposes — sites where the 

 archeologist more naturally expects to find them. 



HUT RINGS. 



Many old village sites, resembling each other in every res^iect, are to 

 be seen on either side of the Missouri river from the mouth of the 

 Niobrai'a to about 10 miles above IJisnuirck. Unlike the house sites of 

 this type in southeast Missouri and Illinois no mounds accompany them, 

 though kitchen-middens, resembling mouiuls, are seen among those 

 farther up the river. Two of these village sites were examined by the 

 agent of this Bureau near the town of Pierre, South Dakota. They 

 occupied the second terrace of the river and were indicated by numerous 

 basin-shaped depressions, sometimes, esijecially in the larger cases, 

 with a distinct rim or bank around the edge. They are, at picsent, 

 from 1 to 2 feet deep and 75 feet in diameter. Occasionally one is seen 

 fully 4 feet deep and 75 feet in diameter. In some instances the en 

 trance was indic^ated by a graded depression leading outward. At 

 least lifty such hut rings were counted on each of these sites. It was 

 apparent, however, that originally there were many more, for many had 

 disappeared before the encroachments of the town. Numerous signs of 

 former occupation abound, and refuse heaps are seen about alm(jst 

 every depression. Some of these refuse heaps were examined and 

 found to consist chiefly of river loess, and to contain invariably much 

 fragmentary pottery, discarded stone implements, and the broken bones 

 of the buffalo and other food animals. Indications of fire were dis- 

 covered in the center of the depressions or house sites. The ornamen- 

 tation of the pottery is, as a rule, similar to that of the Maudans, except 

 that it appears to be a trifle ruder. The characteristic incised lines of 

 the Mandan pottery are constantly met with. The tempering material 

 employed is also the same, it being a fine silicious sand. Quite a large 

 group of these renjaius is to be seen farther down the river at the month 

 of Ohappelle creek, accompanied by tlie remains of an earthen inclosure. 

 It was situated on the edge of the bank of the creek near its junction 

 with the river. A distinct outside ilitch was apparent on the side un- 

 protected by the bank. It had a single entrance way and the interior 

 was well filled uj) with house sites of the above description. Tlie num- 

 ber of these depressions within and without the fort indicate a much 

 larger population than is known of any of the villages of the Missouri 

 when first visited by whites. Another very large group, similar to these 



