" HRDLICKA] SKELETAL REMAINS 65 
A study of the lower end of the shell mound on its side next to the bay gave 
the following section : 
ah IEG ° SOs es 2 ee eee Several inches. 
3. Shells, numerous species, all of which are recent. fi 
PU OXON BU ie ae eis oO a ee a ae _ 4 feet. 
2. The base of the mound contains shells, many cf 
which are cemented together and filled with ferru- 
ginous sandstone; others are filled with greenish 
sand. All stages from the green sand to the fer- 
ruginous sandstone are represented. The layer is 
not uniformly developed, cccurring only in places_ G6 inches. 
1. Green sand to the water level in the bay___________ Thickness undetermined. 
A collection of shells was made from numbers 2 and 38 of the section and were 
determined by Dr. Win. H. Dall. 
All the species found in no. 2 were also found in no. 3, and all of them are 
recent. 
The geologic age of 2 and 2 is post-Pleistocene. Both from the contained 
fossils and stratigraphic relations they are younger than the Pleistocene of 
North creek. The material in which the fossil human remains were found 
in the old burial mound seems to correspond to the ferruginous layer at the 
base of the sheil mound, and can scarcely be older—that is, the human remains 
are post-Pleistocene in age. 
The fossilized condition of the human skeleton was considered of particular 
importance. A study of the processes at present going on at the base of the 
shell mound clearly shows that no importance can be attached to the ferruginous 
replacement of the bones. All stages in the transformation of the unconsoli- 
dated greenish sand filling the shells to a filling with sand cemented by limonite 
and the cementation of the whole by limonitic material can be seen. Numerous 
seepages or springs occur along the upper surface of the green sand bed. It 
is evident that this water contains considerable quantities 6f oxygen, and that it 
is transforming the green colored ferrous silicate into red or brown ferric oxide 
and silica. Ideal conditions are here realized for this transformation of one 
form of iron into another. 
The conclusions regarding the skeleton found at Osprey are: First, no 
importance can be attached to its state of fossilization; second, the strati- 
graphic relations of the skeleton are such as to indicate a post-Pleistocene, or, 
expressed in other words, a geologically recent age. 
The human bones found along the shore between 1 and 2 miles south of 
Osprey were calcareous but impregnated with minerals. The ferruginous 
material which has been described as from the lower end of the shell mound 
at Osprey is found southward, occurring discontinuously for several miles. 
‘The upper part of the bank along the beach is a sandy, often hummocky, soil. 
The iron near the water’s edge cements tegether pebbles, shells, or whatever 
happens to be there. The material whence the human bones were obtained is a 
lighter colored, more sandy incrustation over the ferruginous layer. There is 
nothing in the geological conditions under which they were found to indicate 
other than a geologically recent age. 
Between twenty-four and twenty-five years ago a skull was found in ferru- 
ginous material a short distance above the pier, at Hanson’s landing. The 
skull was, at least partially, replaced by ferruginous matter. The locality 
was studied geologically. The ferruginous material there is similar to that 
at Osprey. It underlies surface soil and sand, consists of sand bound together 
3453—No. 3838—07——5 
