ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MISSOURI 81 



contrary opinions of several zoologists, I therefore am inclined to 

 view the specimen from the Steed-Kisker site as an artifact, though 



1 have no suitable suggestions as to its possible function. 



A broken fragment of deer rib, possibly plowed out of a refuse 

 pit or midden, was found on the surface. One end has been cut off 

 neatly, the other broken. The total length is 165 mm. 



A small flattish fragment of polished bone from pit 2, 13 mm. 

 long by 7.5 mm. wide, is rounded off and thinned at one end. At the 

 other end it has been broken off across a conically drilled hole about 



2 mm. in diameter. Possibly this was the butt of a needle, but any 

 identification can only be regarded as a guess. 



Pit 10 yielded 4 segments of soft cancellous bone (rib or antler ?), 

 totaling 165 mm. in length. In cross section they are flattened ellip- 

 tically, 7 mm. wide by 5 mm. thick. At one end the artifact widens 

 gradually into a thin flat squared-off spatulate form 9 mm. wide; 

 the other end is missing. Its use is unknown. 



Scattered about in the debris of pit 1 were a few scraps of human 

 bone. Much deteriorated, these included part of a male mandible, 

 with the teeth and upper part of the ramus missing, and several 

 small bits of skull. Knife scars or other evidences of human indus- 

 try are absent. There is no way of determining whether these were 

 the remains of a trophy skull, or of satisfactorily accounting other- 

 wise for their presence in a trash pit. 



Two objects of worked antler are known to be from the site. A 

 curved cylindrical rubbing tool (pi. 25, g) 106 mm. long was unearthed 

 by Mr. Shippee in a shallow pit on the terrace slope close to our pits 

 1 to 6A. The swelling at the base of the antler has been rubbed down 

 but not wholly removed, and along the convex surface of the shaft 

 traces of the rough horn exterior still remain. The ends are rounded 

 off, and the base, as well as the surface generally, has been worn 

 smooth. The second specimen, taken by us from pit 1, is evidently a 

 handle (pi. 25, /). Tapering in form and rubbed smooth, it has a 

 broken tip, while the larger end has been cut off square. The can- 

 cellous tissue has been removed to a depth of about 40 mm. The socket 

 is of a size and shape that, perhaps by design, will take nearly any 

 of the smaller planoconvex end scrapers found at the site. These, even 

 without glue, fit snugly so as to leave the wider working end of the 

 flint free for use. It is quite possible that the specimen was originally 

 designed as the handle for a scraper or knife. It is 116 mm. long; 

 at the larger socketed end it has a width of 29 mm. and a thickness 

 of 17 mm. 



The only shell artifact was a broken hoe from pit 3 (pi. 28, a) . The 

 shell has been identified as Proptera alata m^gaptera (Rafinesque), 

 a fresh-water mussel native to the locality. The posterior margin 

 has been broken or worn away to an undetermined distance, so that 



