\i. 1:1 \l MNS '.! 



time rodent-. <li<l li;i\r ;i.'c- l> lilt--.' piece-, and a^ none (if tin- -|)6Ci- 

 men> lliil^ marked -how \\ealhcring. they luu.-t have ta-en readied by 

 animal-* burrowing in the mound." Tin- -mallei- fragment- of tame- 

 \\<idd tlm- certainly U- dragged and di-placed, and it is very likely 

 that -me of them \\ould eventually come to rest at much lower 

 levels than In-fore. The results of the caving in of the IUIITOWS. 

 e-peciall\ of tin- -.parlous chamlM>rs charact eristic of the dwellings 

 of certain rodent-., must also IKJ considered in this connection. The 

 depth the hits of tame could thus reach would ta limited only by the 

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

 loc-s 11.1 feet, or even more, will not ta denied. It is apparent that 

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

 of all. of the smaller tames at the lower levels. 



(d) The presence of knife marks on a numta>r of the tames has an 

 important tawing on the question of relationship of the tames of 

 different layers to one another. These marks are seen, as has tarn 

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

 the deejMT 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 tames 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. (i, which is descrita'd 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 jK'oples, ages apart and in a locality subject, doubtless, to 

 changes of population, engaging in exactly the same very ]>eeuliar 

 and unusual practice of whittling away a particular |M>rtion of the 

 occipital.'' 



On March 14 the writer received from Professor Harbour several teeth, found with 

 a crushed skull In one of the blocks of " innlKim i.-,l " loess containing pieces of human 

 IN, in-, at the depth of .'.; feet. All these teeth were Identified, with the aid of Ir. M. W. 

 I. you. of the division of mammals, 1 . H. National Musi-inn, a thoxe of Oromyn bur<ir(u, 

 or the common modern pocket gopher. See In this connection I'rofegnor Itlacknutn'g 

 siali-mi-nt on p. 74. 



k Snperllclal cutting IH present alno. an described In another part of this paper, on the 

 left -n|.- <>f the vault of the Kock Bluff .skull, from Illinois. Beside* this Instance, the 

 wrlii-r found practically Identic-ill cultliiKH In the occipital, hack of the foramen magnum, 

 In tin- National Museum skull no. L'4:IO17. from a mound at the mouth of the Illinois river 

 '-.h.iws aU<i mis about the orbits) : and In nos. S'Jol'Sl*. I!28h70. L'L'8877, ^28878, 22888O, 

 _ ::_ J3. and L'43238. parts of Professor Montgomery'* collertlon, from 

 tniiiinils In North (inkotn. None of these specimens have any claim to geological 

 nnlii|iilty. Soini- of tin- 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. 



