532 THE MOUND BUILDERS IN MISSOURI. 



Quite near this grave and a little south are a series of depressions and 

 hillocks, five or six each in continuous line, alternating as if the earth from 

 each depression formed the next hillock. 



These are ten to twelve feet in diameter and in the cen-ter, being the low- 

 est point, about eighteen inches deep. These were not noticeable upon my 

 first visit, but the timber having been cleared off last winter, they can now 

 be plainly seen. 



The surface has been recently ploughed, but I was unable to discover 

 any indications here more than elsewhere that the}^ had been the site of hu- 

 man habitations. 



A few rods south within the timber another large grave was found, and 

 about one-eighth of an acre has been dug over, and large trees underniined 

 and thrown down to secure the pottery which was buried here long years 

 before these trees had life. 



A few isolated graves, where from one to six bodies were -deposited, have 

 been found in the field, but the four mentioned are the principal ones dis- 

 covered in this vicinity, and each contained several hundred bodies. 



A general description of the forms of burial and deposit may be applied 

 to all the graves I have seen in Missouri. The largest deposits have been 

 found rather in the level plain or in elevations varying from 18 inches to -4 

 feet high (with one exception.) In ma^y instances the elevation is so slight 

 and irregular as scarcely to be noticed. The graves were found to be from 

 18 inches to 4 feet deep. In all instances the bodies were buried in a hori- 

 zontal position, but in nothing like regular order. Sometimes in going 

 down 4 feet we would find 4 to 5 skeletons at different levels, and all lying 

 in different directions. The bones were generally so much decomposed that 

 they could be saved only by the greatest care. Sometimes we could not lift 

 them before they would crumble to dust. Some were so far decomposed 

 that only a colored line in the earth was distinguishable. Yet the pottery 

 which was almost invariably deposited near the head of each individual re- 

 mained complete. I was able to preserve a few skulls in a very good state 

 of preservation by carefully drying them in the sun immediately after tak- 

 ing them from the earth and later dipping them in a solution of common 

 glue. These are widely different in form, but the most noticeable irregu- 

 larity is a depression upon the back side, sometimes from left to right, some- 

 times in the opposite direction. My first impression was that this flattening 

 process was during lifetime, but upon a more extended observation I came 

 to believe it was done by the weight of the earth, when the bone was soft- 

 ened by long continued moisture. 



Two days ago I opened several of the stone graves in this vicinity and 

 noticed the same depression in each instance, the principal difference here 

 being that the depression was greater and in some instances the skull was 

 entirely crushed. Here the earth is less yielding than the sandy soil of 

 Missouri and in some instances these stone graves have a stone floor— I im- 

 agine that certain conditions of the soil were better calculated to preserve 



