pip. ^0.' 2^5Y' JOHN H. KERR RESERVOIR BASIN — MILLER 215 



This young man of about 25 years must have died shortly after 

 receiving this wound, for there was no bony growth around the point 

 of entrance. Had he lived any length of time after receiving the 

 wound, such a growth would have been built up around the projectile 

 point. 



A clay pipe was found resting upon the bridge of the nose. The 

 outer lip of the stem rested upon the bridge and paralleled the nose 

 so that the pipe bowl came almost to the tip of the nose. This elbow 

 pipe was dark brown in color and contained a portion of the dottle. 



The head of the skeleton rested upon a fairly angular broken quartz 

 cobblestone, a most unusual headrest for a skeleton. 



Burial No. 75. — This grave was occupied by a badly decomposed 

 male skeleton, age 25-35. With the few remaining bone fragments 

 and where bone once was, we found quite a number of different snail 

 shells : Triodopsis aXholahris (Say) , Mesomplinx cwpreus (Rafinesque) , 

 Mesodon thyrosdus (Say), Haplotrema conarium (Say), Triodopsis 

 fallow (Say), Anguispia alternata (Say), and Flaw alia minuscula 

 {Binnay). We cannot explain their presence, for they were not 

 found in the gTave fill. Since they do occur where the human bones 

 once were, they apparently fed for calcium on bones rather than for 

 other substances from the fleshy tissues. 



Burial No. 76. — The same grouping of snail shells was found in con- 

 junction with the poorly preserved adult male remains of this grave. 

 This was the deepest grave in the site. The skeletal remains were 

 partially within the water zone. It is inconceivable that any group 

 of snails could detect a body so deeply buried, that they could work 

 their way through a dry sandy soil to this depth, and that they could 

 maneuver so as to feed upon the bony substance. Therefore, the 

 grave, with its extended occupant, must have been open long enough 

 for the flesh to become mellow, thus exposing some of the bones which 

 attracted the snails. Presumably, after the snails entered, the grave 

 was completely filled, trapping them in position. 



Just above the right shoulder w^ere a number of serrate-edged pro- 

 jectile points, all pointing in the same direction and bunched so that 

 some were lying upon each other. We conjectured that these points 

 were once hafted and somehow attached to the upper arm to indicate 

 a badge of office (fig. 50), or that a sheaf of arrows was placed in 

 this position when the body was introduced into the gi'ave. Five of 

 these points are made of quartz while the other two were fashioned 

 from chert. All are almost identical as to size, shape, and chipping. 

 That none of the edges appear to show any wear suggests that these 

 particular points were either made for this occasion, indicating a 

 ceremonial burial, or were objects of personal adornment. 



Around and near the body were a number of broken quartz and 

 chert stones. These were intentionally inserted into the grave along 



