pS. ?fo.' IsT TORONTO RESERVOIR AREA, KANS. — HOWARD 347 



petroglyphs, as Great Bend materials often occur with European trade 

 goods. Thin, cord-marked pottery identifies the next-oldest compo- 

 nent, Aksarben. Large, expanding-stem projectile points may indi- 

 cate a still earlier Woodland or Archaic occupation. 



Dry Creek Rockshelter (14W0224) 



This is a fairly large rockshelter in the valley of Dry Creek (fig. 59) . 

 This site, as well as site 14W0226, is outside the reservoir area proper, 

 but due to potential destruction by picnickers, was considered as a 

 part of the salvage project at the time of the 1957 excavations in the 

 Toronto Reservoir area. Low hills with grass cover and some scrub 

 pine and blackjack oak surround it. The area of occupation consists 

 of the entire floor of the shelter. Several petroglyphs are to be seen 

 on a slab of rock toward the front of the shelter (pi. 55, a) . The site 

 is quite disturbed, as it has been a favorite picnic spot for local people 

 since at least 1880. Apparently, many petroglyphs once present in 

 the shelter have been completely obliterated by initials, dates, and 

 other personal memorials left by visitors. 



Andreas' "History of the State of Kansas," published in 1883, men- 

 tions the shelter and some of the petroglyphs visible at that time. 

 Under the heading "A Prehistoric Cave," appears the following 

 description : 



This cave is situated about twelve miles north of Toronto, on Section 13, Town- 

 ship 24, Range 14. Its mouth is about fifty feet wide and ten feet high, and the 

 cave extends back about twenty feet. In the mouth of the cave lies a rock about 

 nine feet long by six feet wide, the surface of which is nearly horizontal, the rock 

 having evidently fallen from the roof of the cavern. On the surface of this rock 

 are cut numerous figures of various sizes and shapes, some of which are in- 

 describable. No system of regularity was observed by the inscribers, but 

 the different figures and groups of incisions are scattered promiscuously, often 

 overlapping and interlacing each other, as if done more for pastime than for 

 the purpose of leaving any record of events then occurring, to be read by future 

 generations. Some of the figures represent the human body, others parts of the 

 body, as the head, with a small hat on, and marks down the chin, which may 

 have been meant to represent the beard. One may have been designed to repre- 

 sent a little idol, another a bird's foot, another looks like a capital A, etc. 



Great interest is manifested in them by the people of Woodson County which is 

 doubtless altogether owing to the fact of their mysteriousness. The same interest 

 will probably always attach to them. There is but little reason to hope that 

 they will be so deciphered as to throw any light on the history of the past. 



These tracings, or figures, or hieroglyphics, as some call them, were discovered 

 about May 15, 1858, by Esquire Robert Daly, while out on a private hunting ex- 

 pedition. At the time of discovery, they were covered over with dirt and debris, 

 and partially overgrown with moss. Mr. Daly, who was one of the first settlers 

 in this part of the county, has resided in the vicinity ever since, and now lives 

 about one and a half miles south of this prehistoric cave. (Andreas, 1883, p. 

 1190.) 



