j;0. lO NEBRASKA ARCHEOLOGY STRONG 139 



but its thin floor layer and sterility combined with the great number of 

 roots and the hard soil made further excavation at this time 

 impracticable. 



DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD 



No aboriginal burial ground was found in connection with this 

 village. However, in house 2 several fragments of hviman bone were 

 encountered. These included two fragments of humerus and two 

 phalanges in the floor layer on the southeast side of the house. They 

 suggest that disarticulated human bodies were kept in the lodges prior 

 to burial or else, though less probable, that these were trophy bones 

 of enemies or evidences of cannibalism. In excavating house 3 a few 

 more fragments of human bone were found, but these were so super- 

 ficial (5-13 inches below the surface) that they may not have been 

 of aboriginal provenience. It is probable that either ossuaries or 

 crematory pits exist near this village, but none has been reported. 



HOUSE SITE NEAR ROCK BLUFFS ( HOUSE 5) 



In 191 1 a prehistoric house site on the western edge of the town 

 limits of Rock Blufifs was excavated by Dr. G. H. Gilmore. The 

 material saved from this site he presented to the Archeological 

 Survey of the University of Nebraska in May 1930. Since the material 

 came from the vicinity and closely approximates that obtained in house 

 2,. it is described at this time. 



The site was a shallow depression some 35 feet in diameter located 

 in the woods on a low ridge west of a little rreek, locally known as 

 Keg Creek (fig. 13, H5). The digging was somewhat haphazard, 

 and aside from the fact that most of the artifacts occurred in a black 

 floor layer about 3 feet deep and in one cache pit 6 feet deep, there 

 is little else on record. Dr. Gilmore, who worked with us in house 2, 

 stated that conditions in house 5 were very similar. 



Pottery 



Only such pottery as seemed to be restorable was saved by Dr. 

 Gilmore. In all, there are 67 sherds, 15 of rims, and 52 of body 

 portions. Of the rim sherds 7 are cord-marked, 8 plain, and of the 

 body sherds 12 are cord-marked and 40 plain. The paste, tempering, 

 and surface finish are identical with these characteristics in the 

 pottery described from house 2. Some sherds show unusually clear 

 cord marks extending in a vertical direction over the vessel and for 

 the most part horizontal to each other. Other sherds show a criss- 



