fowke] ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 135 



pipes, including one " with a lot of stem holes," and fragments of 

 pottery. All these were on top of the earth or only a few inches 

 below it. Various excavators or relic hunters have failed to find 

 anything more. The cavity is quite small and difficult to reach, and 

 is undoubtedly a burial place for modern Indians. 



On both sides of the river here are immense shell heaps. The shell 

 is mingled with earth near the top, but below 2 or 3 feet the mass 

 is of clean shell to a depth, as exposed by the river, of at least 10 

 feet. The bottom of the deposit is not visible, being concealed by 

 mud piled against it in high water. The old ferryman says it is 20 

 feet deep. Although the shell piles are built up higher than the 

 bottom lands to the rear or on either side, they are submerged several 

 feet in great freshets. It is impossible to explain this fact otherwise 

 than by the assumption that the bed of the river has been elevated 

 in recent times, although there are no other indications apparent 

 that such is the case. 



Sheffields. — In the river bluff 2 miles above the Sheffield end of 

 the railway bridge is a crevice or joint which has been widened to 

 10 feet at the outlet by water percolating from the top of the bluff. 

 When discovered, a rock wall was piled across it near the entrance. 

 Behind this human bones were found with " pieces of pottery and 

 other things." They were close to the surface. Subsequent ex- 

 plorations have revealed nothing below them. It is plainly a burial 

 cave for Indians. The river now reaches at flood tide to within 10 

 feet of the floor. The earth covering the bones may have washed 

 over them, as there is some evidence farther back in the crevice that 

 surface material is still carried in from the rear, in very small 

 amounts, during rainy seasons. 



Rock Shelters. — Several very large rock houses exist on the south- 

 ern slope of the hill or " mountain " lying a mile to 2 miles south 

 of Pride, 7 miles w^est of Tuscumbia. Water drips from the roofs, 

 keeping the floors wet all the year and collecting in pools to which 

 stock resorts when the little creeks or brooks in the ravines become 

 dry. 



It is useless to search in this part of Alabama for caves presenting 

 indications that they may have been habitable, or the reverse, in ages 

 past. The native rock is a cherty or flinty limestone, crumbling 

 easily, and readily susceptible to changes from atmospheric in- 

 fluences, and especially so to the action of water. New subterranean 

 channels are continually developing, with consequent changes in 

 the interior of any cavern near them. 



JACKSON COUNTY 



IsBOLL Caves. — It was reported that habitable caves with spacious 

 rooms occur on the Isboll farms, near Limrock. They have en- 



