92 



BULLETIN 183, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



corpses represent persons who lived at a little distance from the 

 principal settlement. Also, there remains the chance that pestilence, 

 hunger, or warfare might have stepped up the mortality. With so 

 many uncontrolled factors involved, it is obvious that the results of 

 arithmetical exercises like the above can still be regarded as little 

 more than guesses. If I were to venture a further guess, I would 

 say that most or all of the observed hilltop burials were probably 

 laid down in 50 years or less, and that they represent a burying place 

 utilized by a number of small communities scattered over the nearby 

 valley terraces. 



To return from conjectures to facts, we may note that table 8 

 summarizes the pertinent field data concerning the burials. In the 

 absence of specially trained observers, entries in the column headed 

 "Sex" are probably not to be regarded as entirely trustworthy, except 

 in those few instances where verification or correction in the labora- 

 tory has been possible. Otherwise these data furnish the basis for 

 the generalizations set forth in the preceding pages. 



Table 8. — Datd on bininls at Steed-Kisker site. Abbreviations : Ext., extended; 

 sup., supine; senvi-fl., semiflexed; indet. or I, indeterminate ; W, icest; N, riorth; 

 E, east; 8, south; M, male; F, female; Ad, adult; Ch, child 



