FOWKE] ANTIQUITIES OF MISSOURI 61 
are elliptical in form, one about 50 by 20 feet, the other somewhat 
less. There is also a cairn on the point of the ridge. None of these 
were opened. 
Tue BurscHer Mounps (12) 
On the farm of Mr. George Buescher, who lives a mile northwest of 
Easley, are seven mounds on the crest of a long narrow ridge which 
caps the river bluffs. Three were explored. 
MOUND NO. 1 
This mound, 45 feet across and 6 feet high, was composed entirely of 
loamy surface earth. Nothing was found in the body of the structure 
except occasionally a flint chip or broken point, or a potsherd. Ten 
feet north of the center appeared a small cavity which contained 
three or four pebbles, two potsherds, and a few scraps of charcoal; 
these had evidently settled in or had been dragged there. 
At the center was a grave measuring 8} feet east and west, 4 feet 
north and south, and 2 feet 7 inches deep. This was lined with split 
wood or bark, on which lay an extended skeleton, on the back, with 
the head toward the west and the face turned to the right. The 
body also had been covered with bark. The bones of one foot lay 
near the right knee; there was an interval of at least a foot between 
the adjacent ends of a humerus and its radius; part of the sternum, 
one clavicle, and two ribs lay beyond the outer side of the right arm. 
Other bones were in their proper positions, though the skull was 
crushed flat. From the top of the skull to the end of the tibia was 5 
feet 9 inches. Two teeth could not be found; all the others were 
sound, solid, and but little worn. The last molars had not appeared, 
and there seemed to be no room for them. On the mouth lay a rec- 
tangular shell gorget 24 by 3} inches, having a hole at one end and 
another at one edge, for suspension. The presence of incised lines, 
nearly obliterated, on the convex surface, suggested decorative 
markings of some kind. Under the skull and among the cervical 
vertebrx were three cylindrical shell beads perforated from end to 
end, and particles of at least one other. 
About 3 feet north of the east end of this grave, lying on the yellow 
subsoil thrown out in digging it, were portions of teeth and leg bones 
of an elk—probably remains of a funeral feast; these were placed here 
after the grave was dug and before it was filled. Three feet farther 
north, in a hole a foot deep, were three roughly worked flint picks or 
digging tools, two of them having the points broken off. These tools 
were used, no doubt, in digging the grave; with them were a leg bone 
and broken jaw of a deer, and small scraps of mussel shell. 
