fields. Aerial photographs were also taken of a Mississippi site being excavated 
along the Kaskaskia River, east of St. Louis. Here also similar striations showed up in 
the photographs, but here it was possible to excavate and learn positively what caused 
the curious regular streaks in the photographs. Fowler’s interpretation appears to be 
vindicated. Excavations showed that there were “‘definite rows of dark soil about 80 
cm. to 1 m. in width and spaced at intervals of about 2.5 to 3.0 m.” Furthermore, these 
and other excavations indicated that there was a very light (almost white) subsoil. 
It appears that the garden beds were formed by piling up the top soil into rows. This 
exposed the light subsoil, and it is for this reason the ridges were still apparent in the 
aerial photographs (Fowler, American Antiquity 34:4, 371). The furrows of modern 
plowing are not this widely spaced. It appears probable that large hoes would be 
very helpful in piling up such ridges. 
Another possible use for the large, unnotched ‘‘spades”’ or hoes could have been in 
house construction. Houses of most Mississippi Indians were made by placing poles 
which formed the sides into a narrow trench and then backfilling, instead of making 
individual holes for each post. The implements shown in Plates 35 and 36 appear to 
be ideal for this purpose. Dr. Warren Wittry, who conducted extensive highway salvage 
excavations near the great Cahokia Mound in 1960 and 1961, said that when “spades” 
were found in that operation they were often in the wall trench of a house (personal 
communication). 
“Spades” of all of the shapes shown in Plates 35 and 36 have been found in the St. Louis 
area, though the shape of those in Plate 35 appear to be more prevalent. The flare- 
bitted forms in Plate 36 are the more popular style as one gets farther south near the 
mouth of the Ohio River. 
It will be noted that the “spade” on the left hand side of Plate 35 once belonged to 
William McAdams, a newspaper publisher of Alton, Illinois, who had an active 
interest in the archaeology of the area. He was also well known as a public spirited 
citizen, and the scenic McAdams highway along the Mississippi from Alton to Grafton 
as been named for him. The object then passed into the hands of John Francis 
Snyder, the man who excavated the figurines shown in Plate 14. Incidently, Snyder 
was born in a farm house on the Lunsford-Pulcher site, mentioned above. The object 
On the right hand side of the plate also once belonged to him. 
