66 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL. 33 
by the brown oxide of iron, and occurs noncontinuously just above the water's 
edge. There is no evidence to suggest its not being a recent formation. All 
the conditions under which this skull was found seem to be identical with those 
under which the one at Osprey occurred. Therefore I am of the opinion that 
the Hanson skull occurs in a geologically recent formation. 
CONCLUSIONS AS TO THE AGE OF THE HUMAN REMAINS 
1. No importance can be attached to the fossilized condition of the human 
remains found at any one of the three localities studied. 
2. At Osprey, where paleontologic and stratigraphic evidence is available, the 
evidence is in favor of the human remains being geologically recent. 
3. Positive paleontologic and stratigraphic evidence is absent at the locality 
between 1 and 2 miles south of Osprey and at Hanson’s landing. In each 
locality, however, there is no evidence to favor the remains being geologically 
as old even as Pleistocene. 
4. All of the positive evidence and the conditions under which these fossilized 
human bones were found in Florida favor the opinion that man geologically is a 
recent immigrant into that area. 
XVI.—MOUND CRANIA (FLORIDA) 
On further exploration of the Osprey region it was found that it 
had been well peopled by the Indian tribes up to comparatively recent 
times. <A large artificial shell mound (see figure 8) occurs near the 
shore just north of Mr. Webb’s property, not very far from the North 
Osprey find of fossil human bones. On the mainland near the South 
Osprey find was a small earth-and-sand mound contaiming ashes. On 
Caseys key, whigg lies opposite the Osprey promontory and about 
three-quarters of a mile distant, is another large artificial platform- 
like shell heap, and a little south of this were discovered on digging 
many pieces of human bones and even entire bones, apparently quite 
recent, representing probably a secondary multiple Indian burial. 
Finally, 6 or 7 miles south of Osprey, near Laurel, occurs a large sand 
mound which contained many Indian burials; similar mounds north 
of Osprey were learned of, especially about Sarasota and on a key 
opposite Sarasota. A skull which the writer recovered from the 
Laurel mound is in form much like the Osprey skull; and the bones 
from the Casey Key burial are in general much similar to the fossils 
of North Osprey. 
XVIIL—THE NEBRASKA “LOESS MAN” 
After having concluded the above review of the older discoveries 
of human remains in North America to which considerable antiquity 
has been attributed, the writer was fortunately afforded the oppor- 
tunity of making detailed studies of the most recent example of finds 
of that class—the so-called Nebraska “loess man.” The following 
pages embody the resuits of these investigations. 
