rOwWKE] THE STRATMAN CAVE 467 
accumulated within the cave must be of considerable depth, perhaps 
as much as 30 feet. There was no moisture in or about the entrance, 
although the floor was damp and drops of water hung to the roof 
at 40 or 50 feet within. 
Altogether, conditions seemed quite favorable for the preservation 
of traces of any human occupancy which may have existed here 
at any time in the past. 
The slope in front was covered with weeds and brush; but at places 
where the earth was exposed could be seen fragments of pottery and 
flints and many mussel shells. Within the cave itself, however, very 
little of such refuse was observable, owing to dust which had 
collected. 
Across the entrance was a ridge of débris washed down by rains 
from the hill above; the crest of this was 2 to 3 feet higher than the 
level floor farther in. 
A view of the front of the cavern is given in Plate 92, a. A close-up 
view, after the loose material had been removed, is given in Plate 
92, b. 
In order to find rock bottom, a trench was started on the outside 
slope at a point 30 feet from the entrance and 16 feet lower than 
the floor level. The earth was dark, almost black where wet, and 
very tenacious, resembling Missouri River “ gumbo” soil. Kitchen 
refuse was sparsely distributed through it. This depth was chosen 
merely for convenience; had it proven insufficient, additional excava- 
tion would have been made. But it was actually a little greater 
than necessary. Solid rock was reached at a level 14 feet below 
the floor, and at a distance of 13 feet out from the present edge of 
the cavern roof. Both the bottom and the roof once extended farther 
cut than at present, as shown by the large broken rocks encountered 
in the work. Being less exposed to destructive influences, the floor 
had receded less than the roof; erosion of the former ceased when it 
became covered with débris, while the wearing away of the latter 
has been continuous. 
But evidently the bottom was for a long time exposed to the air; 
for it is worn so smooth that the shovels slipped over it as over a 
wooden floor. 
The rock layers along this level had been laid down in shallow 
water, near a shore line; for not only were there no traces of fossils 
but sand was intermixed with the lime to such an extent that in 
places, after nearly all the lime had leached out, it held the original 
form of the stratum. Moreover, the stratum next beneath the upper 
one had the tessellate or mosaic structure seen in mud deposits where 
eracks, formed in drying, have been filled later and the entire mass 
hardened together. 
