I I I \i. 1:1 M \IN- >' 



through the formation have IM-.-H regarded a^ evidence that they 

 \\en- deposited i out em |Mraiieoii^|y with that formation (loe>>) ami. 

 hence, that they are of great age. antedating the shaping of the hill 

 it.-elf. Kight line. however, we an- run fronted with a |M*rplexin;r 

 dilemma. If thr-i- fragments found more than ' feet l-lo\\ the 

 Mirface air admitted to proceed from the remains de|M>sited alxive 

 the '> foot level and just l>elow the haked earth the remains of 

 |M>ople of the low foreheads, we must then almndon the assumption 

 that they are as ancient as the deposits of loess immediately alxMit 

 them, and also the idea that these deposits have remained nndisturl>ed 

 >ince their formation. On the other hand, should the fragments he 

 regarded as distinct in origin from the skeletons found l>etween the 

 loot and (5-foot levels, as they must be if the formations have re- 

 mained HIM I i-t url >!. the problem takes on a new phase, and we must 

 account for several distinct deposits of human remains within or 

 beneath the mound. In that case the inferior tyjx' of some of the 

 skulls from the layer just l>elow the baked earth can have no lxaring 

 on the antiquity of the fragments deejxT down. Furthermore, the 

 higher fragments found IxMicath the (5-foot level could scarcely then 

 be regarded as of the same origin as the lower ones, for the reason 

 that the distance between these two groups of pieces is far greater 

 than that between the higher-lying fragments and the superimposed 

 skeletons. 



The fact that the lx>nes between the 2 i -foot and <-f<x>t levels were 

 mixed and broken and parts were missing may lx diflicult to explain, 

 but similar conditions are common in mound burials as well as in other 

 burials, and are especially to lx expected where the excavation has 

 not been conducted from the beginning with the utmost care. Inequal- 

 ities in decay, natural movements of the earth, the burrowing and 

 direct dragging by rodents, the penetration of roots, and occasional 

 unrecorded disturbances of the soil produce remarkable results of 

 this nature. Whole limbs, or the entire head, and sometimes a large 

 part of the Ixxly, may thus disappear, or the remains may be 

 broken, teeth lost, and the lx>nes scattered. There must have l>een a 

 similar occurrence even with the uppermost or intrusive burials, for of 

 one of the Ixxlies, that of a child, which is regarded as the most recent, 

 there is only the incomplete skull, while but little more was found of 

 the other two bodies inhumed alx>ve the fire-hardened earth. The 

 fact that there is no break or horizon of separation in the deposits 

 between the lx>ncs of the principal deposit and those below, and that 

 larger fragments were discovered only in the proximity of these 

 main burials. >peak< much for the common origin of all the specimens 

 under consideration. That some slivers could have been so displaced 

 M to lie actually U-yond the limits of the mound does not seem 

 improhaltle. 



