SKELETAL REMAINS 75 



accumulations of fine loess, modified in contour by the action of 

 wind and rain. The southern portion of one of the most prominent 

 of these elevations, known as Long s hill, consists (in the part nearer 

 to Florence) of a ridge about (&amp;gt;00 yards long, running parallel 

 with the Missouri. This ridge is covered with timber of recent 

 growth, the original forest having been cut by contractors for the 

 Union Pacific railroad. Geologically the ridge is composed of car 

 boniferous strata forming the base, on which rest from 10 to 15 feet 

 of glacial drift containing Sioux quartzite and granitic bowlders; 

 above this is about 150 feet of fine light -buff loess (Barbour). A 

 wagon road, which has been waslied out until it forms quite a deep 

 ravine, runs along the whole length of the ridge, rising gradually to 

 its crest. Near the southern end of this crest is seen a small eleva 

 tion, which might easily pass for a natural feature of the hill; its 

 center originally could not have been more than 2 or 3 feet above the 

 line of the crest, and, Avhile its circular form is appreciable, its outer 

 boundaries are so indistinct that measurements of its diameter can 

 not be more than approximations. This is the Gilder mound. A 

 few yards to the north is visible another low dune-like swell, pos 

 sibly also an artificial mound ; some years ago another low elevation, 

 about 250 yards north of this, was dug into and yielded human bones, 

 and about the same distance still farther in the same direction, three 

 imperfect human skulls were found by Mr. Gilder in the west bank 

 of the road, w r ithin less than 2 feet of the surface. 



The structure of the Gilder mound, which was examined so far 

 as the partially frozen condition of the ground permitted, is as fol 

 lows: The whole knoll is covered to a depth of 10 inches with dark 

 surface soil, which contains roots and other vegetable matter. 

 Beneath this is the loess, apparently entirely free from coarse mate 

 rial. The color of this deposit is deeper in its upper portion, fading- 

 out gradually to the characteristic yellowish hue. of the dry loess 

 beneath. The darker color above is due in part to moisture, in part 

 to a thin admixture of ashes and occasional minute bits of charcoal. 

 The signs of fire are most noticeable toward the center of the mound, 

 where they extend to a depth of nearly 3 feet. An effort was made 

 to ascertain whether there is a bed of baked earth beneath the super 

 ficial layer, as reported by Mr. Gilder, but without success, on account 

 of the frozen condition of the ground. It was plain, however, that 

 at no point had the baking progressed so far as to render the earth 

 impervious to water. No definite line of separation between the supe 

 rior and the inferior levels in the mound was observed, and there 

 is no perceptible difference in the density or structure of the loess at 

 different levels; in fact, the exposed surfaces, being everywhere 

 smoothed by the shovel or trowel, showed no trace of structure what 

 ever. Two large rodent burrows, one running very deep, were 



