HRDLICKA] SKELETAL REMAINS 91 



time rodents did have access to these pieces, and as none of the speci 

 mens thus marked show weathering, they must have been reached by 

 animals burrowing in the mound. a The smaller fragments of bones 

 would thus certainly be dragged and displaced, and it is very likely 

 that some of them would eventually come to rest at much lower 

 levels than before. The results of the caving in of the burrows, 

 especially of the spacious chambers characteristic of the dwellings 

 of certain rodents, must also be considered in this connection. The 

 depth the bits of bone could thus reach would be limited only by the 

 depth of the burrowing, and that this may have reached in the fine 

 loess 1H feet, or even more, will not be denied. It is apparent that 

 this agency is sufficient to account for the presence of some, if not 

 of all, of the smaller bones at the lower levels. 



(d) The presence of knife marks on a number of the bones has an 

 important bearing on the question of relationship of the bones of 

 different layers to o&quot;ne another. These marks are seen, as has been 

 noted, on bones from the more superficial as well as on some from 

 the deeper layers. They are of similar character, occurring mostly 

 on the edges or margins of the bones and in nearly all cases are 

 restricted to the long bones and to the skull. Their similar location 

 on the skull namely, in the rear of the foramen magnum indicates 

 an identity of custom such as might develop, for instance, in the 

 not unusual practice of cleaning the bones before secondary burial. 

 This peculiar cutting is seen on skull no. 6, \vhich is described as 

 representing the ancient loess man, as well as on the child s skull, 

 which is regarded as the most recent, belonging to the topmost layers 

 above the baked earth, and also on one of the female skulls taken out 

 near the surface in the bank of the road. The advocates of great 

 antiquity will need to explain these coincidences. It is difficult to 

 imagine peoples, ages apart and in a locality subject, doubtless, to 

 changes of population, engaging in exactly the same very peculiar 

 and unusual practice of whittling away a particular portion of the 

 occipital. 6 



&quot;On March 14 the writer received from Professor Barbour several teeth, found with 

 a crushed skull in one of the blocks of &quot; undisturbed &quot; loess containing pieces of human 

 bones, at the depth of 5 feet. All these teeth were identified, with the aid of Dr. M. W. 

 Lyon, of the division of mammals, U. S. National Museum, as those of Geomys bursarius, 

 or the common modern pocket gopher. See in this connection Professor Blackman s 

 statement on p. 74. 



b Superficial cutting is present also, as described in another part of this paper, on the 

 left side of the vault of the Rock Bluff skull, from Illinois. Besides this instance, the 

 writer found practically identical cuttings in the occipital, back of the foramen magnum, 

 in the National Museum skull no. 243017, from a mound at the mouth of the Illinois river 

 (shows also cuts about the orbits) ; and in nos. 225252, 228876, 228877, 228878, 228880, 

 228881, 228882, 243223, and 243238, parts of Professor Montgomery s collection, from 

 mounds in North Dakota. None of these specimens have any claim to geological 

 antiquity. Some of the mounds explored by Professor Montgomery and from which the 

 above skulls are derived showed also the peculiarity of baked earth above the remains of 

 the skeletons. 



