TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL MEBRTING. 79 
to 12 feet long containing apparently as much rock as could be drawn at two or 
three wagon-loads. Near each of these heaps is a quarry from which the rock 
forming the heap has been excavated. The quarry is from 1 to 3 feet deep, and 
usually 6 feet wide and 8 to 10 feet long. 
No marks of tools have been discovered on the rocks; but in some places there 
are traces of fire. The quantity of rock quarried is great. It has been estimated 
that it would take 100 men six months to loosen the rock from its original posi- 
tion. Now if we remember that probably none but the rudest implements were 
used in the work, we will conclude that the time occupied was long. Beside the 
hill described there are at least four others, within a radius of three miles, 
covered with the same kind of ruins, and other hills with traces of the same 
peculiarities have been found in the state near Maple City. : 
Concerning the uses to which the rocks and edifices were put, we can only 
conjecture. There are at least five local theories advanced by the people in the 
vicinity, viz.: First, they are the sites of ancient mines. Second, the rocks were 
used as fortifications by warring tribes, and there is one tradition that the Span- 
iards were besieged here by the Indians. Third, they were residences. Fourth, 
they were used as places of religious ceremony. Fifth, they were places of burial. 
The first four theories are hardly tenable for various causes: the fifth is pos- 
sible. We may conjecture that tribes, camped between the bluffs in the valley 
below, near a large spring now known as Big Spring, buried their dead on the 
hilltops as do certain tribes to-day, notably the Osages, and as generation after 
generation died more rock was needed to erect more tombs, and in the course of 
time the great quantity which is now exposed was quarried. Human bones are 
said to have been found among the rocks, but this is not authentic. 
Another theory, suggested by Dr. S. W. Williston, to whom this paper was 
shown, and which seems to the writer to be the most probable of all, is, that the 
ruins mark the sites of ancient flint quarries. The ledge on the top of the hill 
contains many flint nodules, sometimes nearly as large as a man’s head, and 
among the loose rock these nodules are conspicuous for their absence, although 
many flakes of flint as large as one’s hand may be found. This ledge is the fur- 
thest west of any flint-bearing ledge in the region; and probably the plains tribes 
from the west obtained their arrowheads and flint implements from this locality. 
This is further substantiated by the fact that the flint implements found in the 
prehistoric mounds at Arkansas City, some 20 miles northwest, contained fossil 
Fusilina cylindrica, which are characteristic of the flint mentioned. The edi- 
fices described above were probably temporary structures used by the workmen 
while engaged in quarrying. It is highly probable that systematic excavation 
would throw light on the subject. 
PREHISTORIC MOUNDS IN COWLEY COUNTY. 
By C. N. Gouxup, Winfield, Kan. Read before the Academy January 1, 1897. 
e 
For several years a number of people in and around Arkansas City have 
known of the presence of some so-called Indian mounds east of the city; but, 
until recently, no attempt has been made at systematic excavation. The mounds, 
about a dozen in number, are situated on the bluffs east of the Walnut river, and 
about a hundred feet above the stream. Looking west, a good view is obtained 
of the city, the Walnut valley, and the range of bluffs to the north and west. 
