34 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 76 



been dug behind or between them. By careful and persistent ques- 

 tioning it was established that skeletons had been found in two 

 places and a detached jaw in another. 



A human skull, which was ver}^ soft and fell to pieces when un- 

 covered, was found on, and slightly pressed into, the muck at a point 

 J 5 feet from the wall ; there were no other bones about it, though a 

 rough stone hammer, whose presence was probably accidental, lay 

 close by. A single human molar was lying among some ashes. 



These were the only human remains found during the work, ex- 

 cept two adult femurs of different individuals, and fragments of a 

 skull and some other bones from a child and from an infant, all of 

 which lay close to the wall where they had been thrown and slightly 

 covered by parties previously working here. 



As the depth of the wet material on the rock floor of the eastern 

 side of this cavern is unknown, interesting results might be obtained 

 by a careful examination of it; but this can not be made until a 

 ditch is dug through it of sufficient depth to drain it thoroughly. 



Slight investigation outside the entrance showed a large amount 

 of broken bones, pottery, and flint ; and this dump may contain even 

 more material than was found in an equal volume in the cavern. 

 But in addition to the rocks of all sizes broken off from the cliff, 

 there were also many which had rolled down from the hillside above ; 

 and all these were so interlaced with roots as to make digging very 

 difficult and unsatisfactory. Consequently further exploration at 

 this site was deemed undesirable. 



Pointed bone and antler implements from Gourd Creek Cave are 

 shown in plate 4. A shell knife, a bead from a fragment of sea shell, 

 and types of flint arrowheads appear in plate 5. 



There is a village site on Gourd Creek bottom, at the foot of Lost 

 Hill, and a little below the cave. Three small earth mounds are 

 plowed nearly level. 



A small village site is located on the east bank of Little Piney, 

 half a mile below Gourd Creek. 



In the bluff facing Little Piney, a mile below Gourd Creek, on 

 the opposite side, is a small, shallow cave with a low roof. AVater 

 cracks on the floor show that it is sometimes flooded. No signs of 

 use are apparent. 



On the hill over the cave just mentioned is a cairn, now destroyed. 



ONYX CAVE (9) 



Five miles southwest of Arlington, near the Boiling Spring in the 

 Gasconade, is Onyx Cave, so named because much workable stalag- 



