ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS IX MISSOURI 145 



skulls were found 3 feet deep. With the exception of one more 

 skull in the outer portion of the mound no more burials were found. 



"A thick, grit-tempered, square-lipped vessel with pointed base 

 was found 6 inches from the surface, sitting upright in the topsoil. 

 It was 25 feet from the nearest burial. . . ." 



The vessel just mentioned is illustrated in plate 41, a (see also 

 Wedel, 1938, pi. 7A). It is 12 cm. in diameter and 8.8 cm. deep; the 

 sides are 6-7 mm. in thickness. The paste is gray with gritty in- 

 clusions, which are visible on the surface. Color varies from gray 

 at the bottom to brown or dun on the sides. The rim is square, the 

 lip flat and undecorated. The exterior, immediately below the lip, 

 bears short vertical impressions made with a cord-wrapped stick or 

 cylinder. Below these are four horizontal lines of indentations, made 

 with a roulette, and then comes a broad shallow groove. A series of bi- 

 sected circles, each about 3.2 cm. in diameter, encircles the vessel at 

 its greatest diameter; the circles are divided by two broad shallow 

 parallel grooves between which are two lines of indentations. Above 

 and below the circles are two or three lines of roulette marks, and 

 shorter series of indentations occur between the circles. Below the 

 circles short bands of indentations, each composed of four to six 

 lines, run obliquely toward the base on the lower part of the pot 

 which is otherwise plain. 



Other objects from the mound included red and yellow ochre, 

 hematite, pieces of pumice, scrapers, knives, three expanded base 

 drills, 12 points (mostly stemmed), a crinoid stem, and grit-tem- 

 pered sherds. 



The mound described above appears to be the only one on the ridge, 

 but broken and worked stone is scattered along the summit for some 

 distance to the north. The polished biperforate gorget shown in 

 plate 41, 5, was found by Walter Larsen in his garden immediately 

 west of and directly overlooking the Renner village site. Made of 

 altered diorite, with a mottled greenish color, it is 20 cm. long, 6.3 cm. 

 wide, and 1 cm. thick. Except for the fact that evidences of aboriginal 

 human activity occur in some abundance at this point one might suspect 

 that the gorget was lost by passing natives. There are no traditions 

 of a former mound on the spot, and I know of no direct evidence that a 

 burial ground exists, or formerly existed, here. Possibly excavation 

 would cast further light on this question. 



AVONDALE MOUNDS 



Four miles east and slightly south of the Renner site, in Clay County, 

 a high ridge runs southward along the right bank of Rock Creek 

 toward its junction with the Missouri. The creek, though short, has 

 a pleasant little valley well able under primitive conditions to provide 



