36 



EXPLORATIONS OF INDIAN GRAVES. 



ground, the ribs in some instances being placed together, as reported by Dr. Eothrock, 

 in the form of arches. Selecting what appeared to be a favorable place, 20 feet from 

 the edge of the cliff, fronting the estero shown in the sketch, a trench was commenced 

 running due north and south. Two feet below the surface the first indications of 

 burials were reached, quantities of broken bones being met with at every stroke of the 

 spade, interspersed with pieces of whales' bones and decaying redwood. At a depth of 

 5 feet the first entire skeleton was found in position, and near it several others were 

 subsequently uncovered; in all of them the head fronted northward, the face was down- 

 ward, and the lower limbs were extended. Over the femur of one of the skeletons was 

 a flat plate of steatite, a sort of soapstone, 12 or 14 inches square, with a hole in one 

 end, which we called a "tortilla-stone," its probable use having been for cooking cakes, 

 or tortillas, or else for heating water, the hole in the eud serving to withdraw it from 

 the fire when thoroughly heated. In rear of the skeleton, and to one side of the plate, 

 was an olla, or jar, of steatite, broken, but containing some fine glass beads and human 

 teeth, and behind this a stone pestle of symmetrical shape, about 3 feet iu length, of a 









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hard species of sandstone, and another plate of steatite, and two large ollas of over 

 five gallons capacity, their mouths or apertures fronting north, and just above was a 

 single cranium facing the cliff, face downward, and on top of it a single femur. Con- 

 tinuing the excavations toward the cliff, a small sandstone mortar was exhumed con- 

 taining a mass of red paint, and in its immediate vicinity a large number of beads of 

 glass and shell with ornaments made from the lamina of the abalone shell, which is 

 common to this coast, being found in great abundance on the islands some 20 miles 

 distant. Digging still farther, other skeletons were found in similar positions, but in 

 many instances the lower limbs were flexed upon the body, while in a few cases the 

 lingers of the right hand were in the mouth. One skeleton was that of a child, near 

 which were found beads, ornaments, tortilla-stones, and two more ollas, one of which 

 contained portions of the cranium of a child. This skeleton had apparently been 

 wrapped in a kind of grass matting, as small portions were found attached to the bones 

 and scattered near by. In the olla containing the head-bones of the child were a great 

 number of small black seeds, smaller than mustard-seed, which were recognized by one 



