HRDLICKA] DISCOVERIES ATTRIBUTED TO EARLY MAN 43 
old- creek. A human corpse, however, is a Jarge object and more or 
less buoyant, according to its state of decomposition. It would not 
tend to sink into fairly compact older sand deposits, but would be 
rolled or would float until caught by some obstruction. Then it 
would be covered to greater or less extent by other floating objects, 
as weeds, branches, etc., and the moving sands next to the bottom, 
with some silt, would begin to pile up, especially on the side facing 
the current; but what height of water, amount of carried matter, 
and length of submergence would be necessary to cover the whole 
human body so that on recession of the waters it would no more 
become reexposed by the winds, by animals, or by other overflows? 
Was all or any of this possible on the Vero flats ? 
Although there are many happenings in nature which after a time 
we can not fully trace, yet it will probably be conceded that there 
is little likelihood of an accidental introduction of the skeleton under 
consideration into the stratum where it was found. And if not in 
cluded accidentally, it could have got there only by intentional burial. 
In examining the ground a few feet back of the spot where the 
bones lay it was seen that an aboriginal burial in the formations 
would even now be feasible, and conditions were surely not more un 
favorable a few hundred years ago. The fresh-water marl on the 
surface was hard only in places, in others it was of the consistency of 
fresh mortar ; but the whole layer is probably not old. Its consolida 
tion on exposure is rapid. There are harder &quot; rocks &quot; in Florida that 
cover recent human burials (see pis. 3-5). A formation such as this 
surely could not have excluded the possibility of an Indian interment. 
Below the marl are the easily worked upper sands, offering no dif 
ficulty for excavation; and still lower is the more or less toughened 
dark sand of layer No. 2, which even to-day could be penetrated with 
out great difficulty by a primitive man with a well-pointed bone or 
stick or antler (pi. 2, fig. 2). With patience, which the Indians sel 
dom lacked, it could even be scraped away by means of a shell or of 
fragments of pottery. As to depth, the Indians buried from close to 
the surface to as deep as 5 feet or more, but the large majority of their 
graves are found between the depths of 2 and 4 feet. The skeleton 
under discussion was at a depth of somewhat more than 2 feet. 
Second skeleton. As to the bones of Skeleton II, there are a num 
ber of interesting circumstances which deserve close attention. 
In the first place, three of the bones which fell out or were dug out 
of the bank and lay exposed for some time to the elements, became 
considerably bleached. The significance of this seemingly unim 
portant occurrence will be seen later. 
In the second place, considerable difficulty has developed regard 
ing the question of depth at which the skeleton lay. Dr. Sellards 
(p. 142) says that &quot; above the human skeleton 4 feet of alluvial mate- 
