SKELETAL REMAIN^ 73 



marked by numerous Worinian ossicles, and in one case with a largo triangular 

 interparietal between the occipital and parietal bones. 



&quot; In the calvaria. the two mo: t conspicuous elements are the enormously de 

 veloped superciliary ridges and the low arch of the crown. 



&quot; The parietal diameter or maximum breadth of the skull reached 140 to 150 

 mm. The cephalic index could not be calculated with full accuracy on account 

 of the imperfections of the specimens, but in one case was estimated as 79 and 

 in a second was somewhat less. In two of the skulls from the higher level of 

 the mound, the cephalic index was 71 and 78, while their maximum breadth was 

 183 and 341 mm., which serves to indicate the prominent differences in form 

 between the two groups of calvaria. In the skulls of the upper layer, more 

 over, the bone is very much thinner and has an entirely different appearance 

 and texture. 



&quot;All in all the skeletons of the lower layer show many points in common with 

 primitive types of the human race. In some particulars these primitive char 

 acters agree with those of the mound-builders, and yet points of difference are 

 also observable. Compared w r ith the tribes of Indians which inhabited this 

 region immediately before the coming of the Caucasian, these remains show- 

 radical differences.&quot; 



BARKOUR, Science, January 18, 1907. &quot; Long s hill ... is a hill of erosion, 

 and no discoverable land slip has complicated its simple geology. On its sum 

 mit is Gilder s mound, in the superficial layer of w T hich were found mound- 

 builder remains and in the deeper layer eight skulls and many bones of a still 

 more primitive type.&quot; 



The upper layer, in which the two &quot; mound-builders &quot; skulls were discovered, 

 &quot; has a thickness of 1\ feet. Below it was an undisturbed layer of unmistak 

 able loess and in it numberless fragments of human bones and an occasional 

 animal bone, loess shells, and stray angular pebbles. 



&quot; In brief, the conclusion is that in the case of the upper bone layer there was 

 a burial ; in the lower, deposition. Those in the loess doubtless antedate 

 the hill itself, while those in the upper layer are subsequent to it. That archaic 

 burial could have taken place in loess without detection is altogether improb 

 able. Of necessity there \vould result a mixture of black with light soil and a 

 breaking up of the lithologic structure. Where these bones occur, the loess 

 structure and color is perfectly preserved, and it contains characteristic vertical 

 lime-tubes, concretions, and shells, precisely as is customary. Out of the evi 

 dence at hand the writer concludes that bones of this layer \vere strictly syn 

 chronous with the loess formation in which they were found, in substantiation 

 of which comes the fragmental nature of all of the bones, their waterworn condi 

 tion, their range of distribution, and disassociation of parts. 



&quot; One would scarcely think of such conditions being possible in the case of 

 human burial ; besides, it is improbable that a primitive people would dig graves 

 to a depth of 12 feet&quot; 



As to the age of the supposed loess man, Professor Barbour says : &quot; The chief 

 point is the evidence that human remains have been found in the loess, and 

 whether this is the very oldest or newest loess seems a secondary considera 

 tion. The loess here is not leached of lime salts, but is actively effervescent at 

 all levels, arguing for recency of deposition. All recognize the chronological 

 diversity in the loess formation, and whether Long s hill is in the main loess 

 body, as we believe it to be, or in a much more recent one does not materially 

 affect the relation of the bones to some stage of glaciation, the precise glacial 

 or interglacial age being as yet undetermined. 



&quot; The loess in question rests on Kansan drift, and though as young as the later 

 Wisconsin sheet or younger, it is nevertheless old.&quot; 



