92 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BI-LL. 38 



No animal bones of any kind have been found in the excavation, 

 unless they are represented by one specimen which does not resemble 

 a normal human bone, but may be the proximal half of a human 

 clavicle," pathologically altered. What were mentioned in one of the 

 recent publications relating to these finds as " presumably the bones 

 of a young wolf, with epiphyses wanting," are the long bones of a 

 very young child. 



(e) The principal support for the notion of the great antiquity 

 of the deeper-lying remains from the Gilder mound is the low type 

 of several of the skulls, especially those numbered G and 8. The 

 particular features indicative of low type are a remarkably low 

 forehead and pronounced supra orbital ridges. The size of the crania, 

 as indicated by their external measurements, their form in general, 

 as well as in particular parts, and the thickness of their walls, show 

 considerable uniformity among themselves and present no excep- 

 tional features when compared with those of Indians. Notwithstand- 

 ing the low foreheads, the skulls do not impress one as those of 

 idiots or imbeciles, although the possibility that one or more of them 

 are remains of such defectives can not be excluded. Imbecility occurs 

 among probably all peoples. The writer is inclined to regard these 

 low-browed crania as examples of individual peculiarities. Their 

 special features, which are really exaggerations of definite sexual 

 characters, may indicate degeneration or they may possibly be rever- 

 sions. The fact that several of the same type are found in one 

 locality will be readily understood by those acquainted with the 

 principles of heredity; besides, it will be remembered that only one 

 of the skulls shows the inferior features in a very pronounced form. 

 Exceptional cases of this nature are known to occur among all 

 peoples with which we are acquainted; they are met with even 

 among civilized whites. Skulls with low foreheads and pronounced 

 ridges certainly do occur among the Indians, and it is very suggest- 

 ive that the majority of the crania of this type thus far observed 

 have been discovered in mounds of the general region in which are 

 located the present finds. This region extends, so far as we may 

 now judge, over portions of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, reaching 

 the Dakotas, and the burials from which they are derived have no 

 claim to geological antiquity. The better-known instances of these 

 finds are as follows: 



In The American Naturalist (xxm, 185-188, 1889), Clement L. 

 Webster reports in brief on the exploration of ancient mounds at 

 Floyd, Iowa. 6 The mounds were three in number and were sit- 



Another exception Is the pocket-gopher teeth mentioned In the footnote on p. 91. 



b Abstracts of this, as well as of the following Webster paper, may be found In 

 F. Starr's Summary of the Archeology of Iowa, Proceedings of the Davenport Academy 

 of Sciences, vi, 64, 78, 1895. 



