448 SOME ABORIGINAL SITES ON MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 
Those relying on rods alone, even in the absence of fire-places miss much pot- 
tery, and many skeletons (which often indicate the presence of pottery) which, 
softened by long exposure to damp, offer little resistance to pointed rods of steel, 
Nevertheless, the activities of former searchers are a distinct detriment to the 
archeologist seeking exact data, as no definite determination can be arrived at as 
to the average number of vessels placed with burials in any particular site, since, 
as we know, these seekers after pottery were accustomed, after ascertaining the 
position of vessels, to dig down to them and to effect their removal, leaving the 
skeletons behind. 
Our digging at Pecan Point occupied fourteen and one-half days of eight hours 
each, with a force of nine men to handle the spades and four men to supervise. 
The work was done in the northwestern part of the field, to which reference has 
been made, and the area searched extended from the northwest corner of the field, 
a distance of 162 paces along the northern side, and had a breadth of 89 paces at 
the western end, where the fence meets that of the northern side at a moderately : 
acute angle, and covered all that part of the field on which signs of aboriginal oc- 
cupancy were apparent. In addition, a small garden and some territory adjoining 
it, all of which were contiguous to the area already specified, were dug through by 
us, with considerable success. 
Search elsewhere in the field was not rewarded. 
Our quest consisted of sinking trial-holes at random, since inequalities of sur- 
face, which might have guided us had they been present, were no longer apparent, 
and prolonged drought had hardened the soil to such an extent that the use of 
sounding-rods was not effective. 
The soil in which burials were lay upon alluvial deposit and was composed of 
ground darkened by admixture of organic matter in which were ashes and dwelling- 
site debris. Fire-places at various depths were encountered at intervals. 
The depth of this made-ground varied in places. Тһе deepest burial found 
(which lay 4 feet 6 inches below the surface) was still in it. Often, however, the 
depth of this artificial soil did not exceed 3 feet. 
Three hundred and forty-nine burials were encountered at the Pecan Point site, 
as follows : 
Adults and adolescents, 257 
Infants and children, 58 
Disturbances' caused by interfering graves, in aboriginal times, and by recent 
cultivation and search, 34 
The forms of burial of the adults and of the adolescents were as follows: 
Extended on the back, adults, 227 ; adolescents, 21, 248 
Extended face down, adults, 4 ; adolescent, 1, 5 
Partly flexed on the right side, adolescent, 1 
1 In case of serious disturbances such as those noted here, no determination as to age was made. 
Slight disturbances, such as the loss to the skeleton of an arm or of a foot, were ignored in the classifi- 
cation. 
