HRDLICKA] SKELETAL REMAINS ® 
accumulations of fine loess, modified in contour by the action of 
wind and rain. The southern portion of one of the most prominent 
of these elevations, known as Long’s hill, consists (in the part nearer 
to Florence) of a ridge about 600 yards long, running parallel 
with the Missouri. This ridge is covered with timber of recent 
erowth, the original forest having been cut by contractors for the 
Union Pacific railroad. Geologically the ridge is composed of car- 
boniferous strata forming the base, on which rest from 10 to 15 feet 
of glacial drift containing Sioux quartzite and granitic bowlders; 
above this is about 150 feet of fine light-buff loess (Barbour). A 
wagon road, which has been washed out until it forms quite a deep 
ravine, runs along the whole length of the ridge, rising gradually to 
its crest. Near the southern end of this crest is seen a small eleva- 
tion, which might easily pass for a natural feature of the hill; its 
center originally could not have been more than 2 or 3 feet above the 
line of the crest, and, while its circular form is appreciable, its outer 
boundaries are so indistinct that measurements of its diameter can 
not be more than approximations. This is the Gilder mound. A 
few yards to the north is visible another low dune-like swell, pos- 
sibly also an artificial mound; some years ago another low elevation, 
about 250 yards north of this, was dug into and yielded human bones, 
and about the same distance still farther in the same direction, three 
imperfect human skulls were found by Mr. Gilder in the west bank 
of the road, within less than 2 feet of the surface. 
The structure of the Gilder mound, which was examined so far 
as the partially frozen condition of the ground permitted, is as fol- 
lows: The whole knoll is covered to a depth of 10 inches with dark 
surface soil, which contains roots and other vegetable matter. 
Beneath this is the loess, apparently entirely free from coarse mate- 
rial. The color of this deposit is deeper in its upper portion, fading 
out gradually to the characteristic yellowish hue of the dry loess 
beneath. The darker color above is due in part to moisture, in part 
to a thin admixture of ashes and occasional minute bits of charcoal. 
The signs of fire are most noticeable toward the center of the mound, 
where they extend to a depth of nearly 3 feet. An effort was made 
to ascertain whether there is a bed of baked earth beneath the super- 
ficial layer, as reported by Mr. Gilder, but without success, on account 
of the frozen condition of the ground. It was plain, however, that 
at no point had the baking progressed so ir as to render the earth 
impervious to water. No definite line of separation between the supe- 
rior and the inferior levels in the mound was observed, and there 
is no perceptible difference in the density or structure of the loess at 
different levels; in fact, the exposed surfaces, being everywhere 
smoothed by the shovel or trowel, showed no trace of structure what- 
ever. “Two large rodent burrows, one running very deep, were 
