762 PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



plowed over for the last forty years or more. The plow has displaced 

 iuuumerable shells from their bed and thrown them upon the surface. 

 The ground is almost covered with the shells of the Unto. Intermingled 

 with these shells are numerous pieces of pottery, chert chips, the bones 

 of the deer, &c. The jaw-bone of the deer is found in great numbers. 

 The remains of two human skeletons had been recently turned out by the 

 plow, but in a fragmentary state. This location is a little below the 

 brow of the ridge. Lying on the beach human and animal bones occur 

 with the shells of the land tortoise. 



The point presenting the most satisfactory view for examination was 

 the brow of the bank, for along this line the deposit of shells had not been 

 disturbed by the plow. The bank presented first, a layer of vegetable 

 mold varying in thickness from 6 inches to 30. Then a layer of shells 

 ( Unio) ranging from 4 to G inches, containing pieces of pottery, bone 

 and stone implements, and the bones of various animals. Under this, 

 at different points, varying in depth from 12 inches to 25 were ash pits. 

 Then came a sandy formation lying over a stratum composed of sand, 

 gravel, and clay. 



Along this bank were made seven excavations ; the first was at the 

 eastern extremity. As the ridge here is so extremely narrow the face 

 of the bank was slightly cut away in order to discover whether the 

 shells occurred farther east along the neck. The shells here presented 

 a fair compactness of deposit, but on being handled their sharp edges 

 crumbled. This is also true of the other places examined. Farther 

 westward, immediately under the mold, and 4 inches below the sur- 

 face were found in conjunction, intermingled with the shells, several 

 pieces of pottery and an implement made of the antler of a deer. It 

 had been ground to a point and was probably highly polished. It does 

 not come to a point evenly, but presents two fiat sides. Numerous 

 split bones occurred .and the jaw, axis, and other bones belonging to the 

 deer [Cariacus virginiamis); a little west of the middle, 2 feet below the 

 surface was found a human skull, and with it a shell bead of the OUva. 

 It was lying on its left side, with its base toward the north and within 

 the bank a distance of 4 inches. Under it and partly around it was an 

 ash heap. All the bones of the face were in place when discovered, but 

 rajndly crumbled on exposure to the air. By great care the cranium 

 was saved almost entire. It is now in the Smithsonian Institution. The 

 entire skull was filled with vegetable mold, ver^' compact, and full of 

 rootlets, some of which still adhere to the sutures. On the removal of 

 the mold, within the skull and lying against the sagittal suture were a 

 pebble, a piece of charcoal, two finger bones, three sections of the verte- 

 bral column, a piece of the atlas, a part of the sphenoid bone, and i^ieces 

 of the ribs, also one of the teeth (bicuspid of the upper jaw) in the right 

 orbit. It may be a matter of interest to know how these bones came to be 

 displaced. The skull bore no traces of having been rolled or even dis- 

 placed since inhumation, save a twist in the lower jaw. If the skull had 



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