Ill EXPLORATIONS ALONG THE MISSOURI RIVER BLUFFS 



IN KANSAS AND NEBRASKA 



VICINITY OF WHITE CLOUD, KANSAS 



About 4 miles southeast of White Cloud, Kansas, is the " Taylor 



Mound," from which Mark E. Zimmerman and AVilliam Park took 



56 skeletons, or portions of skeletons, in a space not more than 6 by 



20 feet. This was clearly an intrusive communal burial of skeletons 



carried from some other point and interred in the mound which owed 



its origin to persons who had piled it up at some previous time. The 



bones, which were not arranged in any order, were 30 inches beneath 



the present surface of the mound, but this does not mean they were 



no deeper originally, as the mound has been plowed for many years 



and is in a situation where it will easily wear down when cultivated. 



A few feet away, at a depth of 7 feet, other bones, or fragments 



-of bones, were found in a mass of burned clay. A cremation had 



taken place at some point away from the mound, and the resultant 



burned earth, with so much of the bone matter as was not destroyed 



by the fire, was carried here and buried. The depth in this instance 



is not significant; the earth is loose and very easily dug; besides, 



the grave pit was near the margin of the mound and earth had 



washed down over it from above. 



Some stones, carried from neighboring ravines, have been ex- 

 posed by the wear due to erosion from natural causes and from 

 cultivation. The main portion of the structure is still intact, and 

 it is- probable that no deposits belonging to it at the time of its con- 

 struction have been unearthed. A systematic exploration, showing 

 the original construction as well as the alterations resulting from 

 later burials, is much to be desired. 



While this is the largest mound in the vicinity, and is claimed to 

 be the largest mound in Kansas, it is not different except in size 

 from many others within a few miles. All of them are made of the 

 same earth as that which lies around them— a light, sandy loess 

 which is easily removed with a shovel, requiring no picking or other 

 loosening. In fact, it is almost as easy to dig as loose sand would be. 

 Sometimes there are flat limestones in or around the graves ; similar 

 slabs are found not far away in the ravines. 



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