NO. lO NEBRASKA ARCHEOLOGY STRONG 183 



of these (" mound " i, fig. 24), and at a depth of 3 feet 6 inches a 

 human skull fragment was found. Work was stopped on account of 

 rain, but on April 2 the excavation was continued. The " mound " 

 consisted of an apparently natural rise or swelling about 45 feet long 

 from north to south and 40 feet wide from east to west (pi. 20, fig. i). 

 Like the three similar " mounds " to the east, it was on the narrow 

 top of the ridge bordering the river valley. Because of the slope 

 of the ridge on both sides, it was impossible to determine its height, 

 though there were slight depressions between the four elevations. A 

 square excavation (pi. 20, fig. 2), 12 feet on a side, was made in the 

 center of the mound to a depth of 5 feet 6 inches. Later four trenches 

 were run from each corner in a NW., NE., SE., and SW. direction, 

 and these were carried to the approximate edges of the slope. No soil 

 distinctions indicating the building of an artificial mound were ob- 

 served. Rather, there was a uniform surface layer averaging i foot 

 3 inches in thickness of dark humous soil ; below this to a depth of 

 approximately 4 feet the soil was of a light yellow color intermixed 

 with scant human skeletal fragments and cultural debris ; at the 4-foot 

 depth limy concretions were abundant, and below this the soil was 

 hard, unmixed yellow clay. The bones and cultural evidence were 

 somewhat concentrated toward the center of the excavated area, 

 but a few fragments occurred toward the edges of the pit and in the 

 trenches. 



In all, 12 fragments of human bone were recovered. These in- 

 cluded an astragalus, a patulla, several rib fragments, fragments of 

 long bones, and one portion of a zygomatic arch. One or two of the 

 bones appeared to have been slightly burned. The cultural evidence 

 consisted of a crude flint knife blade of small size, a flat retouched side 

 scraper, and two crude end scrapers of the small planoconvex type. 

 In addition two fragments of mussel shell, one lump of red burned 

 clay, and flakes of flint and red quartzite were recovered. No pot- 

 sherds were found. The small knife blade and the scrapers rather 

 suggest the Nebraska culture, but lacking this type of pottery in the 

 " mound ", positive cultural identification is impossible. However, of 

 the two cultures represented in the valley, a correlation between this 

 burial site and the Nebraska or " rectangular earth-lodge culture " 

 would seem the most probable. 



It is difficult to decide what sort of interment is represented here. 

 As stated, there were no indications that the site was an artificial 

 mound. Rather it would appear as though one of the natural eminences 

 on the ridge had been chosen for digging the pit in which fragmentary 

 human remains had been disposed of. So fragmentary and scattered 



