48 BUKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 66 



dihisociation and scattering, finally becoming incorporated in the 

 stratum then in the process of formation. The facts strongly indi- 

 cate, on the other hand, that the remains were buried while the flesh 

 still covered the bones ; that the burial included the whole body ; and 

 that the dissociation and fragmentation occurred later owing to 

 movements, stresses, root action, and other agencies operating on or 

 within the deposits inclosing the body. Taking into consideration 

 the nature of the elastic and still only partially decomposed ma- 

 terials that form layer 3, in the lower part of which in all proba- 

 bility the burial was made, we are justified in accepting not only as 

 a possibility but as a certainty the view that considerable settling 

 and other movements must have taken place in this stratum, to which 

 must be added the settling following on the decay of the soft parts 

 of the corpse itself. Roots of trees doubtless always abounded in 

 layer 3, as they do to-day, and these are capable of producing con- 

 siderable displacements of objects in their vicinity, above all if torn 

 out of the ground when a tree is uprooted. Those who have wide 

 experience in excavating for skeletal remains knoAV how often these 

 show disturbance even under more favorable conditions for their 

 preservation in position than in the instance here dealt with. 



A sudden accidental burial of the individual represented by Skele- 

 ton II can be even more readily excluded than was the case with 

 Skeleton I. The muck overlying the bones, although marshy, was of 

 a consistency which would not have allowed the sinking in it of a 

 human body. A more conclusive proof of an artificial rather than 

 an accidental burial, however, lies in the fact that the remains when 

 found were distributed in an inclined plane, not in a horizontal posi- 

 tion. With an Indian burial this would be natural, with an acci- 

 dental inclosure very improbable. 



The presence of several small bones in what appeared to have been 

 a remaining elevation or ridge of the eroded stratum No. 2 can be 

 explained only by the assumption of their introduction into the 

 stratum subsequent to its deposition. This may have happened 

 during the burial or subsequently. If these bones and the remaining 

 parts of the skeleton after being found had been exposed by the 

 excavators from above as well as from the side, conditions would 

 have been seen much more clearly and the explanation would have 

 been made easier. 



There was some hope that the quality of the sand in the various 

 bones might throw light on their original derivation, and to test this 

 four of the specimens were examined, tAvo from the base of stratum 

 3 and two from the elevated part attributed to stratum 2. Differ- 

 ences were actually found, but these were of unexpected nature. One 

 bone from each locality showed the presence of coarse sand with 

 relatively large, rounded granules, while the other bone from each 



