l82 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



else a successive occupation. In an addenda to his dissertation ( 1915 a, 

 handwritten note at end of thesis) Sterns adds that, having at that 

 time just examined some (protohistoric) Pawnee pottery, he thought 

 these aberrant sherds from the surface of the Walker Gilmore site 

 might be of Pawnee origin. This discussion would take us too far 

 afield for present purposes but is introduced at this time to show 

 our agreement with Sterns that although the bulk of the surface 

 pottery from the Walker Gilmore site pertains to the Nebraska or 

 " rectangular earth-lodge culture " (i. e.. the Rock Bluff Cemetery 

 and Gates site type), there is a small percentage which shows dif- 

 ferent affiliations. 



Sterns mentions celts and shaft polishers from the surface, all of 

 the " rectangular house culture " type. Dr. G. H. Gilmore found a 

 fine polished grooved ax of hard green stone here some years ago 

 (pi. 17, fig. 2, b). It has a flat butt and a smoothly polished but bat- 

 tered edge. The groove extends around three sides of the specimen, 

 which is 12.5 cm long by 7.8 cm wide. The grooved ax is extremely 

 rare in any of the cultures so far distinguished in Nebraska, and al- 

 though such specimens are often found on the surface, they are not 

 as yet diagnostic of any known horizon. Our own small surface col- 

 lection, besides the pottery, contains little other than a few broken 

 flint implements which are too fragmentary for classification. Sum- 

 ming up, the occupation of the present surface of the Walker Gilmore 

 site by the Nebraska culture people is evidenced by the occurrence 

 there of broken pottery fragments and a few other artifacts pertaining 

 to this culture, besides a considerable amount of charcoal, broken bone, 

 shell and stone fragments, all presumably turned up by the plow. 

 So far no actual house pits have been located in the flat, although it 

 seems quite possible that the lower levels of such house pits may still 

 exist below the plow line. Judging from the not overly abundant cul- 

 tural debris on the surface, I doubt that there were ever very many of 

 these earth lodges on the flat, and locating them in cornfields plowed 

 since 1857 would be extremely difficult. 



DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD (NEBRASKA CULTURE?) 



No positive evidence is on record concerning the mode of burial of 

 either the Nebraska culture or the Sterns Creek culture people at 

 the Walker Gilmore site. To the best of my knowledge no human 

 remains have been found either on the surface or in the deep ash 

 beds. However, on February 14, 1931, a series of four rather abrupt 

 rises or " mounds " were noted on the sharp ridge to the southeast 

 of Sterns Creek (fig. 24). The next week-end a pit was sunk in one 



