16 AXnL\I. BOXES. 



made. Possibly the g'round was Iniilt up for the jiur- 

 pose of keeping- the niii-off away during rains. If such 

 was the ease, additions must have been made from time 

 to time, for discarded household articles ai-e found in 

 the lower part of the heaps as well as in the tipper. 

 Evidently the mounds were not completed all at once. 

 The bones found in the ujjper part are not as far ad- 

 vanced in decay as those found near the bottom. In- 

 deed it seems possible that the mounds may have been 

 built up from wind-blown dirt and sand settling in 

 dwellino's Avhieli ^vere left vacant durino- some season 

 by a nomadic ti'il)e whic-h occupied them during only a 

 part of the year. 



ANIMAL BONES. 



The abundant presence of animal bones testifies that 

 the people who lived here secured a great part of their 

 sustenance by hunting-. The meat of the. bison must 

 have been their staple food. The long bones of this 

 animal have almost always been broken. Evidently the 

 marrow was eaten. Considering the g-reat number of 

 these long bones there was a noticeable scarcitv of skulls. 

 ribs, and vertebras. This circumstance may be taken 

 to indicate that the hunters were in the habit of leaving 

 in the field such parts of the bison as did not furnish 

 the most suitable food. Bones of the antelope, the wolf, 

 the wild-cat. the skunk, and the wild turkey were also 

 observed, as well as the vertebras of various fishes, and 

 the valves of common river clams. 



