pip. ?k)^' 2lY' JOHN H. KERR RESERVOIR BASIN — ^MILLER 51 



journal it would receive very little comment and would be accepted as 

 routine findings. The projectile point was — 



found underneath the right scapula of the largest skeleton, embedded in the 

 matrix, but touching the bone itself. The skeleton was lying upon the right 

 side. The exact locality of the bone bed is about one-half mile north of the 

 Smoky Hill River on Twelve Mile Creek in Logan County, Kansas, twelve miles 

 east of Russell Springs and eighteen miles south of Monument Station on the 

 Union Pacific railroad, in Township 14, Range 33 West. 



A number of students of Early Man have disparaged the works of 

 J. D. Figgins (1927) , but it was he who first drew the attention of the 

 scientific field to the original Folsom finds near Folsom, N. Mex. 

 These finds were indorsed by Barnum Brown, Howard, Roberts, and 

 others and paved the way to the real study of Early Man in the New 

 World. Without the report of these accidental finds by a western 

 Negro cowhand, even this important site would have gone unnoticed. 

 Nearly all great scientific discoveries were accidents, and this was no 

 exception. 



In the last few years another important Early Man find was made 

 in the vicinity of Natural Bridge, Va. In excavating the base upon 

 which a motel was to be built, a series of 12 skeletons were uncov- 

 ered — 7 in one row and 5 in another. All were extended and lying 

 somewhat on their right sides, right hands under jaws, left hands 

 down to their sides, heads to the north, and facing to the west. Asso- 

 ciated with these skeletons were two Eden-like fluted points. The 

 larger point, dimensions unknown, lay alongside the shoulder of the 

 westernmost skeleton in the top row and the smaller point occupied a 

 similar position in the bottom row. Beyond the heads of the top 

 row of skeletons were small piles of limestone nodules whose func- 

 tions and purposes were unknown. 



This find was made in 1951 by D. W. Martin and was reported to 

 the Smithsonian Institution in 1954. The writer immediately inves- 

 tigated this find only to come up with a blank. All bodies were de- 

 stroyed as part of the fill beneath the motel and the buildings were 

 constructed over the spot. The two projectile points were either mis- 

 laid or lost, for they have not been seen since. The only tangible re- 

 mains were in the form of one of the limestone nodules that rested 

 beyond the top row of skeletons. From what the writer could gather, 

 all bodies appeared to have occupied a common grave, as they were 

 almost touching one another. Most of the bones were crumbly but 

 some of the skulls were reported to be fairly well preserved. Thus 

 was lost to science one of the most important finds of Early Man in 

 Virginia and the eastern section of the United States. As far as the 

 writer knows this is the only known burial of makers of Eden-like 

 projectile points in the East or elsewhere. 



