fowke] 



ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 



149 



Fig. 35.- 



-Cross section of Fort Deposit Cave at 

 175 feet. 



being quite irregular. On the gravel was dry clay, seamed and 

 fissured in all directions so that it fell out under the pick in clods 

 like angular pebbles from an inch to 3 or 4 inches across. This was 

 clearly the result of muddy water settling in a hole and thoroughly 

 evaporating. There was also some travertine in small lumps here 

 and there through the clay, and above it was a mass fully 2 feet 

 thick at one side of the 

 trench but running out be- 

 fore it reached the other 

 side. It was porous, almost 

 spongy, and seemed to be 

 the lime dust from the roof 

 and sides cemented by drip- 

 ping water. Above all this, 

 so far as the trench ex- 

 tended toward the sides of 

 the cave, was an inch to 4 

 inches of loose, dry, dark earth, which on the left dipped down to the 

 cla}^, thus replacing the travertine. 



At 175 feet the gravel had leveled down and was more or less 

 mixed with clay and sand. Above this was another " mudhole de- 

 posit " of clay which had thoroughly dried out and become checked 

 and cracked in all directions. On the right this was covered with 

 travertine slightly mixed with earth and clay ; on the left, above it and 

 also at one place within it, was a coarse gritty earth fallen from the 

 roof but not converted into a compact travertine. The section ap- 

 pears in figure 35. At 180 feet the trench 

 was carried to a depth of 6 feet. This ex- 

 posed a fine clay and sand, or silt, like that 

 deposited in the eddies of streams. Above 

 this was another deposit of " mudhole " 

 material which had thoroughly dried out, 

 checked and cracked in all directions so 

 that it formed angular masses of various 

 sizes, and had then become wet again so 

 that it was now soft and sticky. To the 

 left of this, on the silt also, was a small amount of the gravel. It 

 had the appearance common to a bank of such material on the side 

 of a little stream which has undermined and carried away part of it. 

 Clearly, these three formations were of an age that witnessed the 

 erosion of the cave. Next above them was a stratum of loose dark 

 earth similar to that noticed in the front part of the cavern; but 

 here were found no traces whatever of man's presence. Into the right 

 side of this stratum projected the wedge-like edge of a mass of 



Fig. 36. — Cross section of 

 Fort Deposit Cave at 180 

 feet. 



