36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL, 33 
Most of the skulls and other bones examined were readily recog- 
nized as those of Indians, and the so-called ‘ gasometer ” skull could 
be referred to no other people. There were also a few morphologi- 
cally insignificant fragments, the identity of which remained doubt- 
ful,“ but there were, in addition, two crania which, on account of their 
peculiar features, could not possibly be referred to the Delawares 
(Lenape) or to any other known American aborigines. These were 
the so-called Burlington County skull and another skull found on 
the site of the Riverview cemetery. These specimens proved to be 
of so much interest that the writer feels justified in repeating here 
their full history and the results of his examination. 
Tuer Burtincron County SKULL 
This specimen was presented to the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, 
in 1879, by Dr. Charles C. Abbott, of Trenton, who at that time was 
actively interested in the archeology of the valley. The skull was 
discovered accidentally in a field near a small settlement known as 
Sykesville. It had rolled out of the bank of a brook running 
through a field. The geology of the locality is cretaceous, and here 
the green sand marls and stratified clay and sand are overlaid by 
the “ southern-drift,” as the white pebbles and yellow sand are called. 
Above is a rich alluvial deposit, but this is not a uniform covering, 
the drift often being exposed over considerable areas. It was in this 
drift, unassociated with other bones, that the skull lay. 
Tue Riverview CEMETERY SKULL 
This specimen, now also in the Peabody Museum, was procured in 
1887 by Mr. Volk, whose account of the find is as follows: 
A man with whom I was acquainted, employed in digging graves in the 
Riverview cemetery, told me of a skull he had found in a new plot in which 
no burials had been made before. On my arrival at the cemetery he showed 
me the place; it was an elevated part of the ground, and now there is one grave 
there. The man told me that when he dug that grave he struck with his 
spade, at the depth of about 8 feet, a human skull. There were no other bones 
there, but he noticed a few black lines in the soil. 
The workman gave the skull to Mr. Volk, who in turn gave it to 
the Peabody Museum. On examining the deposits as disclosed in 
the grave, Mr. Volk found from “6 to 10 inches of black soil, about 
18 inches of yellow drift, and then stratified sand and gravel. This 
skull, according to the information of the man who found it, was 
in the apparently undisturbed sand and gravel.” 
“See original publication in Bulletin of American Museum of Natural History, Xvt, 
23-62, 1902. See the same paper for bibliography. 
