SEVENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT 17 



pits were 3 to 4^^ feet deep and contained from 6 to 14 secondary 

 human burials, the bones of several being coated with red pigment. 

 Artifacts were generally associated with a single individual in each 

 pit. They included side-notched projectile points, triangular knives, 

 bipointed drills, an obsidian end scraper, sandstone atlatl weights, a 

 catlinite object, cigar-shaped bone objects, tubular bone beads, bone 

 awls, a bone pendant, a bear canine pendant, shell pendants, and 

 worked human mandibles as well as those from dogs and beaver. This 

 mound group comprised burial tumuli of the Woodland period with 

 relationships to the east and southeast of the area. They probably date 

 from the period of 1,500 years ago and earlier. 



The Neuman party continued investigations in other burial-mound 

 sites along the right bank of the Missouri River between Mandan, 

 N. Dak., and Mobridge, S. Dak. Site 32M0207 is a group of three 

 mounds in Morton County, N. Dak., some 20 miles south of Mandan. 

 One of them was excavated but yielded only a single secondary hu- 

 man burial and no artifacts. The Schmidt site (32M020) is a group 

 of eight burial mounds 12 miles south of Mandan in Morton County. 

 One mound, 75 feet in diameter and 1.3 feet high, was excavated. It 

 contained a single secondary human burial in a rectangular, central, 

 timber-covered burial pit. Articulated bison bones lay near the 

 charred timbers that had covered the pit. The only artifacts recovered 

 were a few fragmentary stone tools from the surface near one of the 

 unexcavated mounds. The Swift Bird site (39DW233) is a group of 

 two burial mounds and three shallow, circular depressions. One of 

 the mounds, 70 feet in diameter and 3 feet high, was excavated. A 

 single primary burial lay on the mound floor. Artifacts associated 

 with the burial include dentalium beads, a tubular bone bead, and a 

 shell pendant in the shape of a thunderbird. It is of interest to note 

 that no pottery was found in association with any of these burial 

 mounds. The Neuman party completed the season's work on Septem- 

 ber 1, after 12 weeks in the field. 



The fourth Missouri Basin Project field party at work at the begin- 

 ning of the fiscal year was a crew of three, under the direction of G. 

 Hubert Smith, investigating historic sites in the Oahe Reservoir area. 

 Activities at the site of Fort Sully (39SL45) in Sully County consisted 

 of excavations of building foundations and refuse dumps and latrine 

 pits in several parts of the site. Pits dug near the hospital and the 

 barroom locations were particularly informative. The excavations 

 provided detailed outlines of some of the main structures of this mili- 

 tary post of the 1866-94 period. They also produced one of the largest 

 known collections, obtained under controlled conditions, of military 

 and civil objects of this period. Especially noteworthy is a large 

 array of glassware, including "art glass," hundreds of bottles, medical- 

 department glassware, and household glass. Many of these objects 



