138 BULLETIN 18 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



sides rose sharply to a height of 9-10 feet. On the basis of previous 

 visits, Sliippee states that the summit was more or less flattened over 

 an area about 25 or 30 feet across; near its center were traces of 

 sporadic digging done many years ago by present residents of 

 Smithville. 



Owing to the slipshod methods of recent excavation and to slipoff, 

 no satisfactory profile extending entirely across the mound could be 

 obtained. Near the crest at time of our observations, which is prob- 

 ably past the original midline, the uppermost 30-40 inches consisted 

 of a fine gray homogeneous soil stained by decayed grass, tree roots, 

 and other vegetation (fig. 17, I). Below this, differing markedly in 

 color and texture but not set off by a clearly defined cleavage surface, 

 was a layer of tough compact yellow-brown joint clay, averaging 36 

 inches or more in thickness (fig. 17, II). This graded downward into 

 another stratum, about 36 inches thick, of dark-gray compact earth 

 through which were scattered fragments of charcoal, burnt clay, and 

 flint chips (fig. 17, III). Here the color was much darker than that 



Figure 17. — Cross section of Shepherd mound near Smithville, Mo.: I-III, Soil strata; 



1-4, burials; see also p. 138. 



near the mound surface, owing in part to a higher moisture content 

 and in part to an apparently heavier concentration of organic matter. 

 Here and there we noted differentiated pockets and small lenses of 

 soil, evidently the result of "loading." I am inclined to suspect that 

 the original surface of the hilltop was perhaps represented by the 

 lower part of this zone, though we were not able to distinguish either 

 an earlier sod line or a clearly marked prepared base. None of the 

 mound dirt was recognized as of valley bottom type; presumably it 

 was scraped up from the hilltop and along the ridge extending toward 

 the south. Clean undisturbed and unmixed light colored subsoil was 

 encountered at a depth of 9 or 10 feet below the summit of the mound. 

 At the south end of the profile, where all the strata curved evenly 

 downward, a discontinuous line of slabs was noted along the contact 

 between layers II and III. These were traced for about 15 feet or 

 slightly more but were not in evidence below the mound crest nor in 

 what we could see of the north side. From the abundance of stones 

 of comparable size and form in the backdirt, it seems evident that 

 they had formerly extended some little distance west of the line as 

 we saw it. Whether they formed a sheathing over a special burial 



