NO. 2 SMITHSOXIAX EXPLORATIOXS, lyiS QQ 



A ery few of the caverns visited along' the upper Current and upper 

 Meramec Rivers are adapted for shelters, beings damp or with small 

 openings which shut off lig"ht from the interior : or difficult to reach ; 

 or at a distance from water. This is also true of the caverns along the 

 lower Osage and lower Gasconade. The best field for research, how- 

 ever, is situated in Phelps and Pulaski Counties, where scores of 

 caverns not only promise g;ood material, but also are of sufficient 

 depth to have stratification containing" the handiwork of successive 

 populations. 



Xo aboriginal l)urial places have been discovered in level bottom 

 lands, though many must certainly exist, when consideration is given 

 to the evidences of numerous villages and long periods of occupation. 



Cairns are found on nearly every ridge, especially on points which 

 overlook streams or valleys. Xearly all were the ordinary conical 

 or dome shape, formed by throwing stones over a grave, and are not 

 at all distinctive, resembling in this respect similar burial ])laces in 

 various parts of the country. Two types, modifications of a single 

 plan, were discovered, however, which have not been observed else- 

 where. The graves in these are indicated l\v stone walls forming an 

 enclosure as nearly square as the skill of the bviilders would permit. 

 In one form, only a single row of flat stones was laid, and the grave, 

 including a narrow space around the outside of the wall, was covered 

 with stones, so that the pile outwardly resembled the ordinary cairn. 

 In the other form this wall is carried up several rows, making a 

 structm-e like a cellar wall or the foundation of a house. The sjxice 

 within this was filled with stones thrown in loosely, but none were 

 placed against the outside. This latter type dift'ers from the earth- 

 covered stone vaults along the Missouri Ri\-cr where the inside of the 

 vault is laid uj) as evenly as possible, no attention being ])aid to the 

 outside : whereas, in the former, this feature is reversed. 



l-ll-:i.l)-\\'()KK AM().\(. 'I'llt: KIOWA 

 I'rom July to Octcjber inclusive. .Mr. |ain(-> Aldoiu'x-. ctliiKilogist. 

 coininued his field investigations of the I'cxolc cuh anil Kiuwa her- 

 aldr\- among the Kiowa and associated tribes of ( )klahiinia. 



The heraldry investigation relates ]iarticularly to the con feilerated 

 Kiowa and Kiowa .\paclic, and iiuoKc- a stmK of llu- origin, his- 

 tory, decoration. m_\ths, and ccrenionial regulations in conneelion 

 with the sJiirlfU and heraldic ti]iis tornierh existing in the two 

 tribes ( tlu-re being ;ip|)ro.\iniatel\ J^n ■-\\\c]i\> and 50 decorated 

 tif)is). with inc-idental attention to the tiilial sxstfuis of geni\ilog\', 

 hereditw and medii"ine, together with the warrior ori-anization ami 



