E'OWKE] ABCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 15 



pressure of the atmosphere outside creates a current of air in or 

 out which is Usually imperceptible but which penetrates to the deep- 

 est recesses and insures ventilation. 



In view of the very primitive conditions under which cave dwell- 

 ers lived, as denoted by the artificial objects which they left, and 

 the low mentality indicated by the skulls, Mr. W. H. Holmes sui^- 

 gests that a careful and extended study of these abodes may disclose 

 a culture lower than that prevailing among out-door dwellers in 

 the same localities. As no effort would be required to secure w^armth 

 and shelter, and as food was abundant and easily procured, the people 

 may never have advanced from savagery, or may have retrograded. 



None of these possibilities are taken into account when reporting 

 upon the caves described in the following pages; the information 

 offered is based entirely upon the present appearance of the places 

 mentioned. To attempt more would be merely offering guesses. 



If " Cave Man " — using this term to designate the predecessor of 

 any race or tribe known to history — ever existed in the Mississippi 

 Valley he would not find in any part of it natural features better 

 adapted for his requirements than in the Ozark hills. But, so far, 

 not the slightest trace of his presence has been revealed. Products 

 of human industry have been reported as occurring at great depths 

 under other conditions, even at the bottom of the loess; though in 

 all such cases there is some uncertainty as to the correctness of the 

 observations. No similar reports have been made in regard to any 

 cave yet explored. On the contrary, whatever may be the depth of 

 the deposit containing them, the artificial objects exhumed are uni- 

 form in character from top to bottom; the specimens found on the 

 clay or solid rock floor are of the same class as those barely covered 

 by the surface earth. Moreover, when they cease to appear they 

 cease absolutely ; the rock was s.wept bare, or the clay was deposited, 

 by the stream to which the cave owes its existence, and each is a 

 part of the original formation. In these circumstances habitation 

 would be out of the question. 



By careful search in the caves and rock-shelters of which the 

 Indian known to history availed himself, extensive and interesting 

 museum collections can be made. To find an earlier man it will be 

 necessary to investigate caverns which he found suitable for occu- 

 pancy and in which the accumulation of detritus, from whatever 

 source, has been sufficient to cover his remains so deeply that they 

 can not be confused with those of a later period; and it may be 

 necessary, also, to discover with them bones of extinct animals. Should 

 such a place exist, it is extremely probable that there will be no 

 outward indication of the fact. 



No examination of a cavern is complete or is to be deemed satis- 

 factory unless a depth is reached where the geological deposits are 



