INTRUSION OF BONE FRAGMENTS 251 



along some of the deeper seated roots, but not a trace of bone was dii^- 

 covered in this layer. 



Possible Mode of Intrusion op Bone Fragments into true Loess 



Fragments like those foxind by Professor Barbour certainly are not 

 widespread or common, and, if clearly coming from the loess layer, 

 were probably carried down through the numerous tubes, or canals, some 

 of which were undoubtedly formed by the decay of roots, and others prob- 

 ably by burrowing mammals, such as gophers. At a depth of 9^/2 f^et 

 such a canal was found tilled with dark, loose soil-like material, evidently 

 from one of the upper laj^ers. At 10 feet a tube 214 inches in diameter 

 contained a very little decayed root material and was partly tilled with 

 loose yellow loess. At a depth of nearly 11 feet a large tube, probably a 

 gopher hole, was traced obliquely for several feet. It was partly tilled 

 with light and loose material, dark-colored only in places. At 12 feet a 

 root cavity 2 inches in diameter was partly filled with decayed root mate- 

 rial and parti}' clean and open, without a trace of organic discoloration. 



Fresh, living roots were found to a depth of from 11 to 12 feet. 



All of these cavities were in otherwise undisturbed loess and coi;ld be 

 traced in part, or others similar to them could l)e found, in the looser 

 layers above. Small bone chips could easily have been carried down 

 either by water or by animals from the burial level. The section of a 

 gopher hole in freshly excavated loess, shown in plate 15, figure 2, demon- 

 strates that such excavations occur elsewhere in the loess. 



Burial Habits of Mound Builders 

 the lake okoboji movnd 



Professor Barljour also lays great stress on the fact that the bones of 

 the loM'cr layer were scattered, "water-worn," and in part gnawed by ani- 

 mals. The writer confesses a lack of experience with material of thar 

 kind, but the report of an experienced anthropologist, Dr D. J. H. Ward, 

 formerly of Iowa City, but now of Colorado, upon a similar case may be 

 of interest in this connection. 



Doctor Ward explored a moimd near lake Okoboji, Iowa, containing 

 numerous human remains. In his report^® he discusses three distinct 

 t^'pes of skulls and skeletons — one found at a depth of 6 feet, another at 

 a depth of about 4 feet, and a third at a depth of less than 2 feet, all in 

 the same mound. He says : 



"We have evidence of perhaps six different orders of burials. The bones 

 buried at the bottom were not buried with the flesh on them. Evidence points 



1* Proceedings of the Iowa Anthropological Association, vol. ii, 1905, pp. 14, 15. 

 XXV — Bull. Gbol. Soc. Am., Vol. 19, 1907 



