18 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



survey, could not be found because of the deep snow cover. Further 

 work will be necessary before recommendations can be made for the 

 salvage of archeological remains in that reservoir area. 



Missouri Basin. — The Missouri Basin project, as in previous years^ 

 continued under the general direction of Dr. Waldo R. Wedel and 

 was based on the field headquarters at Lincoln, Nebr. During the 

 fiscal year 12 new reservoir basins were surveyed for archeological 

 remains ; two areas only briefly examined in former seasons were revis- 

 ited and subjected to intensive reconnaissance; while comprehensive 

 excavations were carried on at one location. In addition to those activ- 

 ities and certain paleontological investigations, laboratory and oflice 

 work were carried on throughout the year. 



As the fiscal year opened, three archeological units and one paleonto- 

 logical unit were engaged in field work. The largest project was the 

 excavation program at Medicine Creek, Nebr., under the field direction 

 of M. F. Kivett, archeologist, with George Metcalf as assistant. The 

 work was made possible through an agreement with the Bureau of 

 Reclamation under which the Bureau provided labor and power equip- 

 ment while the River Basin Surveys provided the technical supervision 

 and maintained the scientific records. This project terminated on 

 August 20, having produced a large body of data and artifacts for 

 several inadequately known prehistoric culture horizons. Aside from 

 the scientific returns of the operation, it is important to note that the 

 applicability of power machinery to the excavation of aboriginal village 

 sites under careful technical supervision was amply demonstrated. 

 The findings add much new information to that previously obtained 

 elsewhere in the Central Plains through the small-scale samphng of 

 many sites. 



A second unit under J. T. Hughes, archeologist, with J. M. Shippee 

 as assistant, was at work in Angostura Reservoir, South Dakota. In- 

 tensive survey there added numerous sites to those recorded during 

 preliminary reconnaissance in 1946 ; and also disclosed the presence of at 

 least one site that may have an antiquity of several thousand years. 

 Because of the extreme scarcity of data from this early period, and the 

 usual difficulty of working such sites, it is imperative that further 

 excavation be carried on there. From September 15 to 30 Hughes 

 and Shippee carried on prehminary reconnaissance at the Edgemont 

 and Keyhole Projects in Wyoming, and at the Pactola and Johnson 

 Siding Reservoir basins in South Dakota. At Edgemont 28 sites were 

 recorded, while 29 were noted at Keyhole. Only one was noted at 

 Pactola and none at Johnson Siding. 



A third unit under Paul L. Cooper carried on excavations at the 

 Heart Butte Reservoir basin, North Dakota, through the month of 

 July, and then transferred its activities to the proposed lower Oahe 



