FOWKE] ANTIQUITIES OF MISSOURI 3 
the removal of several hundred cubic feet of earth which is in its 
natural position—a great waste of time and labor, but one that can 
not be avoided. On the other hand, this method sometimes shows 
that material which has every appearance of undisturbed loess 
forms part of the artificial structure. Very erroneous estimates of 
the age of skeletal or other remains may result from failure to distin- 
guish earth in situ from earth which has been deposited by human 
agency.? 
In all cases where the deposited earth is very hard it is possible that 
it was taken from the original situation while wet, or at least damp, 
and consequently much easier to dig. Its present compactness may 
frequently be only the natural result of laborers walking about upon 
it while engaged in the task of piling it up. If grave pits or other 
cavities were required in the subsoil at a time when the ground was 
harder than usual, the workers could lighten their task by carrying 
water and pouring it over the area on which they were engaged. In 
a very dry season it is not possible to excavate with primitive tools 
the tough native clay in which some of these graves are found. 
No special importance attaches to points of the compass as 
given in the descriptions. As most of the mounds were erected on 
narrow, winding ridges, their outlines and relative positions are 
determined by the topography only, no attention being paid by the 
builders to cardinal points. 
The interior faces of the walls in nearly every vault opened had an 
outward slope, making the vaults larger at top than at bottom. 
This method of construction was probably intentional, the purpose 
being to prevent the wall from falling inward, the backing of earth 
and stone built up concurrently holding it from falling outward. 
But the walls noticed in some of the mounds opposite Kansas City 
prove that the builders could lay them up vertical when they desired 
to do so. 
No effort was made to break joints or to interlock at corners; 
when a stone was ready, it was placed where needed, regardless of 
the position of the stones below. These characteristics appeared in 
all the vaults examined; the builders seemingly never learned how 
to strengthen the structure by arranging the courses differently. 
But as the vaults were to be covered immediately and never again 
used, it mattered little how they were put up. If these people had 
erected stone houses for purposes of shelter, probably they would 
have learned in time the advantages of both the technical features 
above mentioned. 
a Nearly all the bones unearthed were so decayed and fragile that it was impossible to remove them 
intact. Many of them were less cohesive than the earth in which they were embedded. This state- 
ment is applicable even to the skulls and long bones. It was necessary to saturate many of them with 
glue in order to remove them in even tolerable condition. This explains why no perfect osteological 
remains were recovered. 
