ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN MISSOURI 111 



toms, was a superficially very promising mound (fig. 12, 2). Stones 

 protruded through the sod here and there, but aside from some appar- 

 ently minor pitting in the center there were no signs that it had ever 

 been entirely dug over. Its remarkable symmetry and the positive 

 assurances of the owner and others that it had never been seriously 

 investigated prompted us to stake it out carefully for detailed obser- 

 vations. 



Trenches run in from the periphery quickly disillusioned us. Still 

 in situ were flat-lying slabs forming a crescent 2 to 4 feet wide and 

 about 17 feet across the tips. A number of fire-reddened rocks were 

 noted, as well as bits of baked clay, charcoal, and a few scorched 

 human bones. The central portion of the area and the entire north 

 half of what may once have been a rough slab paving had been hope- 

 lessly destroyed. There was no evidence whatever of a central pit, 

 of smaller graves, or of a laid up wall. The only artifacts found 

 were a brown-glass arrowpoint, an oval flint knife, and one nonde- 

 script chipped flint, lying in a group just below the grass roots — 

 clearly planted as a hoax. 



Some time later it was learned that the mound had been opened at 

 least three times previously within the past 15 years ! We were able 

 to learn nothing, however, as to the materials or information thus 

 acquired. 



Pearl O. — This mound (fig. 12, o) measured about 30 feet in diameter 

 by 2y2 or 3 feet high. A luxuriant growth of weeds covered its entire 

 surface, partially obscuring an old pit dug into its highest part. A 

 few minutes' work showed that the digging had been confined to the 

 center of a stone-walled enclosure whose walls remained virtually 

 intact. The slopes and edges of the elevation were apparently un- 

 damaged. In consequence, the entire mound was staked out in 5-foot 

 squares and then completely excavated. 



The weeds and earth covering and immediately surrounding the 

 mound were cleared away over a circular area about 30 feet across. 

 Within this area were the remains of a squarish stone-walled chamber 

 against which large slabs had been piled on all sides. The chamber 

 and its surrounding walls covered an irregularly circular spot about 

 20 feet across. The absolute limits of the structure were obtained by 

 removing all topsoil for at least 3 feet away from the edge of the slabs 

 and to a depth of 12 inches below the surface on which they rested. 

 The outer edge of the slabs followed a rather ragged course, as though 

 some of the stones had long ago slipped or been thrown out of their 

 original positions. These were accordingly removed, with the results 

 shown in plate 34, a, h. Originally the outer limit of the burial struc- 

 ture was evidently the edge of the large steeply leaning slabs most 

 clearly shown at the bottom and right of the illustrations. 



