HUMAN RELICS OF LANSING, KANSAS 747 



the age of the Lansing skeleton more exactly than is above indi- 

 cated. That it dates from glacial time, at some remote point in 

 the complex history of that age, is about all that can be affirmed 

 from the present state of knowledge of the drift deposits." 



On September 20 the locality was visited by Professors 

 Samuel Calvin, W. H. Holmes, Erasmus Haworth, R. D. Salis- 

 bury, W. C. Hoad, Dr. G. A. Dorsey, Messrs. M. C. Long, F. R. 

 Feitshaus, Martin, R. T. Chamberlin, and the writer. This visit 

 was made at the request of Dr. Haworth and other geologists. 

 A second visit was made on October 26 at the request of Pro- 

 fessor Holmes and Mr. Gerard Fowke to inspect the excavations 

 which the latter had made under the direction of the former. 

 Mr. Long, Mr. S. J. Hare, and Dr. Haworth joined in this 

 inspection. The Messrs. Concannon tendered all necessary 

 privileges, as well as aid and hospitality. The following dis- 

 cussion is based on the data collected in these visits. 



PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. 



While the development of the science of river action in most 

 of its phases is one of the gratifying achievements of recent 

 decades, it is still to be confessed that a certain few of its aspects 

 are among the laggard features of our science, and, as it happens, 

 these are the ones most critically involved in the interpretation 

 of the Lansing remains. It may not be amiss, therefore, at the 

 outset to consider academically these special phases of fluvial 

 action so far as essential to the present discussion. 



1. Scour- and- fill. — One of these scantily appreciated subjects 

 is the great depth and important function of scour-and-fill in 

 certain of our large rivers. In this action both erosive and 

 depositional work proceed simultaneously . It is well recognized 

 that erosion and deposition may take place simultaneously in the 

 stream bed and upon the flood plain, but the great depths and 

 wide extent to which certain river bottoms are scoured out and 

 promptly refilled is not always realized, nor the quick and con- 

 stant reversals of this action. This is true especially of powerful 

 rivers that flow upon a deep bed of loose material, as is the case 

 with most of the large rivers whose bottoms were built up by 



