YOARK CAVE

Yoark Cave, a fourth of a mile east from Maxey's in a bluff facing south on the left bank of Roubidoux Creek, has an entrance 40 feet wide, 30 feet high, and is in daylight for 150 feet. Cave earth extends for 100 feet from the entrance, and apparently continues from this point under the gravel and clay which have washed from the interior.

It is on the land of A.L. Foote, having been in his family continuously since it was secured by Government patent. The name is derived from "Grandma Martha Yoark," who was among the earliest white settlers in the region. Her home was on the opposite side of the creek, in a pioneer log cabin, the last vestige of which, except the stones of the chimney, disappeared before the Civil War.

In the front portion many large rocks are lying on the surface of the clay floor and others are imbedded in it; probably still others are entirely covered. Farther back the clay is mixed with gravel washed from the interior. This deposit is never entirely dry and in rainy seasons is quite muddy. The difficulty of removing or digging under the rocks, added to the certainty that water would be encountered before the bottom is reached, render useless any effort at complete excavation. The amount of refuse on the surface, however, is a good indication that such researches as would be possible in the upper layers, among the rocks, would disclose a large quantity of aboriginal remains of comparatively modern date.

GRAVES AT LAUGHLIN'S (17)

On the Laughlin goat ranch, 6 miles southeast of Waynesville, a high narrow ridge level along the top and sloping abruptly on each side extends northward from the hills on the right side of Roubidoux Creek and terminates in a vertical cliff. Bedrock projects on the top and on both sides, and vegetation is so scanty that the crest is almost a "bald."

On the summit of this ridge are seven cairns, the first one only a few feet from the edge of the cliff, the last one about 300 feet back, near where the ground begins to ascend toward the plateau. They are small, none more than 3 feet high, and all have a depression in the top where the stones have been thrown out from the center toward the outside by relic seekers and rabbit hunters.

In three of them flat stones remaining in place at parts of the margin indicate that an irregular square inclosure was constructed around the bodies, as in those examined at Gourd Creek. Possibly this feature existed in all of them at the time of their construction, but there was no evidence that any of them had been walled up like those at Sugar Tree Camp or the Devil's Elbow. Views of their present conditions are shown in plate 14.

KERR CAVE (17)

Near the site of Kerr's Mill, on Roubidoux Creek, 5 miles south-east of Waynesville, is a cave at the foot of a bluff, the entrance 60 feet above the bottom of the hill. Viewed from the outside it has the appearance of a rock shelter 40 feet wide and 45 feet deep. Above most of it the stratum forming the roof is 15 feet high; near the front the successive overlying strata project in a hollow curve until at the face of the bluff the drop from the ledge to the talus immediately beneath it is fully 50 feet.

At one side, near the rear, is a passage 5 or 6 feet wide, not visible from the front, extending back into the hill. Although the cave is usually dry, clean gravel in this passage shows that sufficient water flows through at times to prevent earth from accumulating; further evidence of which fact is found in the mud cracks of the floor and the ferns growing amid the rocks, large and small, which cover it.

The place could never have been occupied except for temporary shelter, and there is no evidence that even this use was made of it.

SELL CAVE (18)

Half a mile directly south of Waynesville, on the farm of Dr. W.J. Sell, is a cave located in the northern end of a ridge entirely detached from the surrounding hills. The entrance, facing northeast, is halfway up the point of the ridge, overlooking a fertile bottom along Roubidoux Creek. From the top of the ledge over the entrance the hill has an easy upgrade for a fourth of a mile to the summit, which is at an elevation of 250 feet above the creek. On top of the hill is the site of an Indian village where some mortars, grinding stones, and numerous flints have been found.

The roof of the cave has partially fallen in at the entrance, forming a re-entrant curve 30 feet across and extending 11 feet inward; the large blocks from this, and from the stratum described later, were lying on and in the talus at the present front but did not extend to the red clay beneath. Some of the blocks could be reduced with a heavy sledge hammer to an extent that made it possible to roll them out of the way; but 24 of them had to be broken up with dynamite.

The talus at its thickest part has a depth of 6 feet; it extends down the hill on the outside and has washed back into the cave, gradually decreasing in quantity, to a distance of 50 feet. The roof, at the front, is 5 feet above the talus; the thickness of the ledge forming it is only 8 feet, the slope of the hill starting from this line. Owing to the restricted width of the ridge, on top, the entire area draining over the ledge measures only 70 feet in width above the entrance, and narrows irregularly to a breadth of 30 feet at an outcrop 120 feet up the hill, or with an approximate space of 6,000 square feet. On this small tract more than half the rock is bare, with scanty patches of soil and humus in the crevices and on flat places. At the present time the water which flows over the ledge during hard rains is scarcely turbid; consequently a period of several centuries was required for the debris to accumulate.

Fourteen feet back from the farthest-receding part of the curve of the roof at the front is the edge of a stratum 3 feet thick; the bottom of this was 3 feet above the talus immediately beneath it. This stratum is continuous, with a perceptible dip to the interior, as far as it can be seen.

The width of the cave at the mouth is 44 feet; 30 feet within it widens to 51 feet. A small amount of water making its way from the interior over the level floor collects in a little basin scooped out to receive it, and sinks into the floor near the inner foot of the talus 55 feet from the entrance. At this point the width of the cave is 36 feet; the height to the roof is 41/2 feet. As the floor beyond here is soft mud, the cavern was not followed farther.

Owing to the limited space between the floor and the roof it was necessary to remove the excavated earth to the outside. The water which flows from the hill and falls upon the talus during rains also had to be provided against. A trench 4 feet wide at the bottom, with sufficient slant to the sides to prevent them from falling in, was started 25 feet out from the entrance, on a level which gave it a depth of 61/2 feet at the highest point of the talus, thus carrying it a few inches into the clay which was the original floor of the cave. This depth also brought it well below the level of the little pool inside. When its greatest depth was reached the excavation was at once widened to 25 feet, thus reaching well toward the cliff on either side. Growing trees and large rocks made a greater width here impracticable.

In the talus were flint implements, none small enough for arrowheads, some well finished, others roughly made, a few being shown in plate 15; three sandstone mortars and fragments of four others; probably 100 cobblestones used as hammers and pestles, some of them pitted on the sides, a few showing marks of much use (pl. 16, A); a small, very solid piece of hematite worn round by use as a hammer; a small, imperfect tomahawk made of quartzite (pl. 16, B, a); many mussel shells, some used as knives and scrapers; animal bones, some of them worked into implements, including a perfect skiver (pl. 16, B, b); several pieces of hematite and limonite used as paint stones (pl. 16, B, c); many fragments of pottery, some of them worked into disks and perforated (pl. 16, B, d); occasionally small deposits of charcoal, ashes, and burned earth. The meager amount of artificial material, and its random distribution, as if one piece was lost here, another thrown there, throughout the talus from the present surface to the underlying clay would appear good evidence that the cave was never used as a place of permanent abode, but merely provided temporary refuge at intervals extending over a prolonged period.









None of the pottery was decorated in any way, though most of it was cord-marked; no piece was found which had a handle or a foot. Nearly half a bushel of pieces was found, fragments of many different vessels, with a range in thickness from one-eighth to three-fourths of an inch.

If all this talus were examined, much material might be found, but the result would not justify the labor.

Fifteen feet west from the east corner of the cave, 8 feet within the edge of the roof, 31/2 feet under the surface of the debris, which was a foot lower here than at the highest point, was a bundled or bunched skeleton; only small fragments of arm and leg bones, most of the lower jaw, a little of the upper jaw, and traces of skull were remaining. The bones were small but solid. They were packed tightly in the dark, wax-like clay, but there were no indications of a grave; the earth in contact with them could not be distinguished from that lying around them. The body had been crowded into the smallest possible space, with the head against a large stone. All the teeth were well preserved, some of them not at all worn. Small fragments of deer bones were found among the remains; these, also, were very soft and decayed.

In fact, all bones found, whether human or other, in this wet, tough, heavy earth were nearly destroyed, and such portions as remained had but little more consistency than the mud in which they were imbedded. Much care was necessary in order to get them out.

Sixteen feet from the entrance, 13 feet from the east wall, 41/2 feet down, 18 inches above bottom, were part of a large femur and a few fragments of other bones too small and crushed to identify.

Seven feet southwest of this femur, 14 inches lower, was a closely folded skeleton, the skull nearly north, the other bones toward the east wall. Some mussel shells, fragments of deer bones, and two flint knives were near the head. The body had been placed in a shallow hole dug in the talus as it existed at that time, some earth thrown over it, and small rocks piled on. The covering rocks were under 3 feet of detritus, washed in since they were placed there. Near the knees was a piece of antler, neatly perforated, with rounded ends, giving it the shape of a reniform bannerstone (fig. 8). This may have been an ornament, an arrow-shaft straightener, or the holder for a drill or a fire-stick. Near it was a polishing stone deeply worn on both sides (fig. 9).

Twenty-two feet within the reentrant curve at the front, 20 feet from the west wall, at the bottom of the talus, was a skeleton, the skull in small fragments, which, however, were held in place by the tough clay. The teeth were worn below the enamel in places; two well-worked flint knives and one rough one (fig. 10) were near it. The bones looked as if they had been thrown in, occupying only a small space; but probably a folded body had been laid in on the left side.

At 24 feet from the entrance, 17 feet from the west wall, in a hole dug to 20 inches below the present surface of the talus, were broken and spongy bones of an adult. Pelvis, feet, and leg bones were in confusion; the tibiae were reversed in position, but it may be that the body was laid on the back with the knees flexed and that the bones had fallen as they were found. This is probable, as each patella was where it belonged, and the body lay extended toward the southeast, as shown by the position of the skull. The humerus was about 12 inches long; all the bones were in small pieces. There were many mussel shells among and above the remains, over which earth and small rocks had been piled.



Two feet south of this skeleton and a few inches lower were the crushed and decayed bones of an old person with the head lying toward the east. The one tooth found (a molar) was worn entirely below the enamel except for a small space at the front; the dentine was polished until it resembled a piece of agate. Mr. De Lancey Gill first remarked the fact that wear of this character denotes that the individual did not gnaw bones, crack nuts, or indeed bite hard on any substance. If he had done so this thin shred of enamel would have broken off. Two large rocks which lay on the head and body seem to have been thus placed before the grave was filled with earth.



Near these bones were fragments indicating three other interments; the humerus of the last was perforated.

Other arm bones found showed the same olecranal perforation.

Twenty-one feet from the entrance, 19 feet from the east wall, was a skeleton, closely folded, on left side, head toward rear of cave. The teeth were worn flat. The bones were crushed by rocks laid on or above the body at the time of burial, as was the case with all the skeletons found in this part of the cave; probably timbers had been interposed.





Near the surface, 18 feet from the entrance, 14 feet from the east wall, were the right half of a skull and of a lower jaw; a few small, scattered pieces of skull were found near them. The teeth were much worn, some of them were decayed, and two had the roots swollen and distorted by ulceration. South of the skull were fragments of feet and leg bones, probably belonging with it. This interment was of much later date than the others.

Thirty-two feet from the front, 16 feet from the east wall, 21/2 feet below the surface, and a foot above the bottom of the talus, was a folded skeleton, on left side, head toward the interior of the cave, face directly upward. So much of the skull as could be recovered is shown in plate 17, a, b. The teeth were much worn, the bones broken, soft and spongy, falling away with the clay as it was removed from about them. The femur was about 171/2 inches long.



Wear of teeth among aboriginal people does not of necessity denote a great age for the individual. Grit from ashes and fine sand from mortars and pestles will cut away the enamel to a much greater extent than would result from the use of ordinary food.

The condition of the teeth mentioned, as well as of some from other localities, is shown in plates 18 and 19.

From the inner end of the ditch, or runway, at the entrance the excavation was carried back for 40 feet in a direct line; or making allowance for passing around a massive rock which was in a position where it could not be blasted, for 43 feet; the depth of the talus here was 3 feet.

On the east side the talus was removed to the wall, a distance of 28 feet from the edge of the trench, and the wall rock exposed for 22 feet, to the rear bank of the excavation.

* * * * *

All work, so far, had been carried on at a level a few inches below the bottom of the talus, which rested directly upon the floor of clay washed out from the interior of the cave.

Beginning next at the outer end of the trench, the entire space included in the first excavation was deepened by a little more than 6 feet, giving a new floor about 13 feet lower than the highest part of the talus. All the material thus removed showed that it was laid down by flowing water, sometimes so quiet as to deposit clay of impalpable fineness, sometimes with a velocity sufficient to carry stones weighing 3 or 4 pounds. The material varied—red clay, now jointed, was the topmost layer; below it, in patches and layers, were dark earth, resembling soil; clay of different shades of yellow, brown, red, and gray, sometimes almost blue; some of it uniform, some of it mingled, one or any or all of the different sorts in small compass; deposits of one sort filling sharply defined channels or potholes cut in some other sort; occasionally there was a slight admixture of sand. All included limestone pebbles, which were plentiful in some deposits but entirely absent from others, were weathered to a chalky consistency, the larger ones to a depth of perhaps half an inch, the smaller ones throughout. Scarcely any chert was included, although it is abundant on the hill; the few pieces seen were very small.

It took five weeks of steady work, with two men, to clear out the second level. In all this clay there was not the slightest trace of bone or other indication that living beings of any kind had existed either in the cave or in any place from which the clay had come.

At 24 feet from the eastern side of the trench, projections on the face of the east wall denoted that bed rock was not far away. A hole 8 feet across, at the rear of the excavation, reached sand with a slight admixture of clay a few inches under the level at which the work was being conducted; and 4 feet down, or 17 feet from the top of the talus, the rock was found. It was rough and furrowed, like a solid stratum that has been long exposed to atmospheric weathering.

Further exploration was useless. The sand results from disintegration of the Roubidoux sandstone belonging next above the limestone in which the cave was formed. None of this remains on the hill; it has all been carried away by erosion. There is not now any sink hole or crevice above the level of the cavern through which the sand could have made its way. Such an opening must have existed at one time, on the slope at one side or the other, or farther back where the hill is now cut off. In either case, erosion has carried away its walls and filled up the channel leading from it, and thus obliterated its site. To accomplish this would require a long time; enough to produce a considerable alteration in the topography, and so to predicate for the bottom deposits in the cave an antiquity far beyond the possible appearance of man in the region.

PHILLIPS CAVE

The Phillips Cave faces Roubidoux Creek near the Big Spring, a mile south of Waynesville. Access to the interior is possible only by crawling some distance on wet clay. Other caves in the same line of bluffs are either very small or almost inaccessible. No refuse appears about any of them.

BELL'S CAVE (18)

In the upper part of the bluff bordering Roubidoux Creek just west of Waynesville, on the farm of Robert A. Bell, are numerous caves, most of them quite small. One, much larger than any of the others, has an entrance 27 feet wide and 12 feet high. The floor is of earth mingled with small rocks, and rises gradually toward the rear until at 70 feet it almost reaches the roof, although the open space enlarges farther in. The width of the cave varies from 19 to 32 feet. Several large rocks have fallen from the roof and walls at a comparatively recent date, as they lie directly upon the earth or are only slightly imbedded in it.

Shells and flint flakes occur in small amount, but the cave is so difficult of access that it was probably but little used.

Some human bones, rooted out by hogs, were scattered over the floor; only a few remained, the hogs having chewed up most of them. Part of a femur belonged to a person about 18 or 20 years of age. A skull and part of a lower jaw, lying several feet apart but belonging to the same individual, were secured; they are shown in plate 17, c, d. Few of the teeth remained, though all had been in place at the time of interment.

CAMP-GROUND CAVE

This is three-fourths of a mile west from Waynesville. It is small, with a muddy bottom, and could never have been occupied.

BUCHER CAVE

Bucher Cave is 2 miles northeast of Waynesville. It has a small, low entrance, nearly closed by a pile of chert gravel mixed with some clay, which has been carried by surface water from the slope above.

GRAVES NEAR MCKENNAN'S

On a low spur, projecting about halfway up a high hill opposite McKennan's house, 21/2 miles northeast of Waynesville, are two of the ordinary stone graves or cairns, both small. One has been torn apart; the other is intact.

They are mentioned only because in the one which has not been disturbed the stones are sunken at the center, affording good evidence that timbers were placed over the corpse before the stones were piled up.

ROUBIDOUX CAVE (19)

In a vertical bluff overlooking the junction of Roubidoux Creek and the Gasconade River is a cavern with a high, wide entrance giving access to a large chamber which has several smaller but well-lighted rooms opening into it. There was formerly a considerable depth of earth on the rock bottom, but most of it has been taken out for fertilizer. What is left is dry near the entrance, but wet farther in. Although it would make an ideal Indian home, being easy of access and within a few rods of the two streams, there could be found no indications of such habitation; and owing to the small amount of earth remaining, the presence of many large rocks, and the close proximity of a large club house on the public highway immediately in front, no excavation is possible.

A cairn on the point of the cliff over this cave has been completely demolished.

RICHLAND CAVE (20)

There is a large cave at the head of a ravine a fourth of a mile below the bridge over the Gasconade River, on the Richland and Hanna road, 71/2 miles from Richland. The entrance is 70 feet wide and 40 feet high; daylight extends to a point 200 feet within, where the cave divides into two parts, both of which turn abruptly. Cave earth near the entrance on one side is scanty in quantity, damp and moldy; but beyond this it is dry, unevenly surfaced, and appears to have been somewhat disturbed. There is considerable refuse on and in the dry earth as far back as the inner end of the front chamber, and were it not for the many rocks, too large to be removed, which cover nearly the entire floor and would make excavation very difficult and incomplete, the deposits would probably repay investigation.

ROLLINS CAVES (19)

On the farm of Sam T. Rollins, 21/2 miles northwest of Waynesville, are two large caves.

The first, in a bluff facing the Gasconade, half a mile above the mouth of Roubidoux Creek, is 50 feet above the bottom of the hill. The entrance, toward the northeast, is 45 feet wide and 36 feet high. The sides are parallel for 45 feet; at that point the east wall abruptly recedes for 12 feet and then continues in a curving line for 120 feet farther, to an outlet in the side of a shallow ravine trending toward the west. This opening, 13 feet wide, is filled nearly to the top with debris which slopes steeply for 40 feet into the cave.

The west wall, at 45 feet, makes an outward curve to a branch which leads northwest for 25 feet and has an opening on the side of the hill 25 feet wide and 20 feet high; the talus at the front is 12 feet high and slopes steeply into the cave. Beyond this branch the west wall extends in a straight line to the small outlet at the ravine.

The floor of the cave has a gentle incline from the bottom of the debris in the rear to the main entrance.

No refuse could be found in the cave or around any of the three entrances; and the place would not be suitable for a shelter in winter as the wind, no matter from what direction, blows directly through it.

The second cave is near the foot of the hill, half a mile up the river from the first. A gentle slope in front leads to the bottom land along the stream. The entrance, toward the northwest, is 60 feet wide and 10 feet high. At 65 feet within is standing water; marks in a channel along the west wall show that at times there is an outflow with a depth of a foot or more. At the front is a great amount of talus partly fallen from the ledge forming the roof, partly washed down from the hillside; the outer slope is 20 feet high, the inner slope has a slight incline to the standing water. The entire deposit within the cave and in front of it is of tough, sticky clay. Many large rocks lie on the surface or slightly imbedded, and large trees grow on the talus. No indications of occupancy could be discovered.

MIX CAVE (21)

On the Mix farm, half a mile below the Gasconade bridge on the Waynesville and Crocker road, on the left (west) side, at the head of a ravine, is a cave with an entrance 75 feet wide and 20 feet high. Cave earth, apparently not more than 3 feet thick at any point, although it gradually rises to a level 6 feet higher than the floor at the mouth, extends back 80 feet; beyond this is water-soaked clay and gravel reaching 60 feet farther to a turn in the cave, making a distance of about 140 feet in daylight. There is a shallow channel 12 feet wide along the east wall from the gravel to the entrance; evidence that at times a volume of water of that width flows out of the cave. The cave earth is damp for several feet from the line of its contact with the clay, a certain indication that its lower portion is saturated.

Much refuse, including several mortars, is distributed over the floor, and it is especially apparent in the bed of the little stream; but fully half the surface is covered with rocks too large to be removed, and these, together with the water, will effectually prevent satisfactory excavation.

One of the mortars has a grinding cavity on one face 12 by 20 inches and 3 inches deep at the middle; on the other face, which has been pecked, apparently with a flint tool, to make it level and even, is also a cavity, but it is small and shallow, showing that this side of the stone was but little used.

DOUBLE CAVE (21)

On Walter Miller's farm, 11/2 miles below the Crocker and Waynesville bridge, on the left side of the river, is the "Double Cave," so called for the reason that it has two entrances. The one farthest down the river is more nearly in line with the general trend of the cavern. Its opening is 35 feet wide and 20 feet high. At 40 feet in from the mouth, on the left or up-river side, the two parts of the cavern unite, a triangular partition of the original limestone strata separating them up to the point of junction. Across the apex of the triangle the main cave is 50 feet wide; there is no vertical wall on the right (east) side along this portion, the roof sloping down gradually until it meets the earth floor; it may extend farther, making the cave that much wider at the bedrock bottom. The cave earth at its highest point is fully 10 feet higher than at the entrance; but this may not mean that it is 10 feet deeper, for there are indications that the rock floor also rises from the entrance toward the interior. Digging in the front part of the main cave—that is, in the portion behind the lower entrance—would be impracticable owing to the huge rocks, some of them lying on the floor, others deeply imbedded in the earth; consequently part of them, at least, fell while the cave was inhabited.

From the junction of the two branches the cave earth extends back 60 feet to clay and gravel washed down from the interior; there is ample light at this point, and for some distance beyond. In part, this gravel seems to overlie the loose earth; it is still depositing, and the manner in which the various materials intermingle and overlap at their meeting place indicates that the cave earth to some extent underlies the gravel and clay. This feature is worth investigating, as it might have a bearing upon the relative age of the cave deposits.

The entrance to the branch cave is 20 feet higher in the face of the bluff than that of the main cave, and consequently much above any water flowing from the interior; it is 20 feet wide by 15 feet high. Measured along the east wall, it is 40 feet from this entrance to the apex of the triangle separating the two parts of the cavern. The greatest width of the united caves, 70 feet, is just beyond this point. The earth floor in the branch, a fine-grained yellow earth apparently deposited by quiet or gently flowing water, is 3 feet higher than it is at the highest point farther back in the cave, and is 4 feet or more higher than the bedrock at the front. No direct communication is possible, in front, from one entrance to the other. The only means of transference is by passing through the caverns around the triangular partition, or by going down to the talus from one opening and then up to the other; though only a few feet of descent is necessary. There is an easy passage to and from the Gasconade, which flows at the foot of the bluff; and a good path in either direction to the top of the hill.

Very little refuse occurs, and the site is not worth examining.

RAILROAD CAVE

On railway property, north of the Gasconade River on the east of the Waynesville and Crocker road, is a noted cave which "runs clear through the hill," and can be entered from either end. From the descriptions given it certainly could never have been utilized as a dwelling place.

BAT, OR PAGE, CAVE

Bat Cave, so named because it formerly harbored immense numbers of bats, is on Robert Page's land, 41/2 miles from Crocker, near the Waynesville road. The entrance is 40 feet wide and 30 feet high. Cave earth extends for more than 200 feet in plain daylight; at this depth the cave separates into two branches, one directly over the other. The lower division continues into the hill on a level; the upper rises at a slight angle; neither is high enough to permit a man to stand erect.

The greatest width, a few rods from the front, is 55 feet. A drainage channel near one wall shows a considerable outflow in wet weather. In the low, vertical bank of this drain, gravel and small rocks are mingled with the earth in such quantity as to comprise more than half the mass. But this is probably due to the fact that a large quantity of earth, mostly, of course, from the upper part of the deposits, has been taken away for fertilizer. Neither in the bank of the little channel nor about the pits left by this digging is any refuse to be seen, and there is none about the entrance. So, in spite of its suitability for residential purposes and its favorable situation, it does not seem ever to have been utilized.

TUNNEL CAVE (22)

A fourth of a mile from the Bat Cave is a natural tunnel or underground passage which has its beginning in a deep sink hole half a mile away on the farther side of the hill. Into this depression pours all the water that comes through a ravine more than 4 miles long, receiving several tributaries on the way; thus draining several hundred acres of steep hillsides from which storm water runs off almost as quickly as from a roof. From the sink hole it passes into the upper end of the tunnel, an opening 10 feet high and 20 feet wide. Trash and drift around this inlet show that the water rises above its top.

The lower opening of the tunnel is a beautiful, regular arch, 100 feet wide and 50 feet high. For some distance in, the interior is so choked with huge rocks, which reach almost to the roof near one side at the front, that it resembles a great quarry. Gravel, sand, and driftwood, including a large log 15 feet long, are piled on these rocks to a height of 20 feet.

BROOKS CAVE

Brooks Cave, 11 miles southeast of Waynesville, has an entrance through a sink hole in a level field. It is small and dark for some distance back, and was never occupied.

Openings of this character are never the original mouths of caverns; they are due to the roof falling in at a point where it has become thin by wearing away from below.

RIDDLE CAVE

Riddle Cave is on John W. Schord's farm, near Wildwood. The entrance is through a sink, similar to that at Brooks Cave, and is due to the same causes. It could never have been occupied.

LANE'S CAVE

Somewhat more than a mile north of Big Piney post office is a cave known as Lane's Cave. Near it is a smaller cave; also a rock shelter. They are all small, high up in the cliff, hard to reach, and unsuitable for living in.

DRY CREEK CAVE

A cave on Dry Creek, north of Lane's Cave, is small and almost inaccessible. Never used.

HOUSE MOUNDS (23)

There is a group of house mounds, about 100 in number, close to the site of the "Ranch House," which formerly stood near "The Falls" 4 miles southwest from Big Piney. Two other groups, north of this one, carry the mounds for about 4 miles along a little valley, which extends north and south about midway between Big Piney and Bloodland. Most of the mounds, in all the groups, are on the slight slopes bordering either side of the little stream—which sometimes ceases to flow—but a few of them are on the narrow strip of level land along the banks.

There is another group south of Bloodland. They were not learned of in time to visit them.

RIDEN'S CAVE

A mile southeast of the steel bridge across Big Piney, on the Edenville road, is Riden's Cave, in a small ravine opening into another ravine. The entrance is 25 feet wide and 8 feet high, and the front chamber extends 30 feet to an abrupt turn. There are large rocks on the floor near the mouth and some cave earth and a small amount of refuse at the front. Apparently it was never occupied except as a temporary camp.

SALTPETER CAVE

Near Miller's Spring, 21/2 miles northeast of Big Piney, in a high bluff, is a large cave whose name is derived from the quantity of saltpeter collected from it in the early settlement of the country. Earth for leaching was removed to such an extent that bedrock is now exposed near the entrance and at several places within. In addition many large rocks cumber the floor, consequently excavations would not yield satisfactory results, although refuse still to be seen in the cave and in front of it shows that it was a place of aboriginal habitation.

MILLER'S CAVE (24)

Three miles northeast of Big Piney is a cavern which from its position, formation, and surroundings is particularly adapted to the requirements of primitive people in search of a permanent shelter. It is situated in a bluff rising from the left bank of Big Piney River, 200 feet above the level of that stream and half that distance below the summit of the hill of which the bluff forms the front. It lies in three different tracts of land, but the greater portion is on the farm of Daniel S. Miller, who lives a little more than half a mile away. For three generations it has been widely known as "Miller's Cave." It opens toward the southeast, the river at this point flowing north of east, and thus secures protection from the cold winds of winter, receives the greatest amount of light through the day, and has the advantage of sunshine at the season when this is most needed. Big Piney, like all streams in the Ozark region, is extremely crooked and its bed is a continuous succession of riffles and pools, or eddies as they are locally known. In front of the cave is one of these pools nearly a mile long and at lowest stages fully 15 feet deep in places; even now it yields an abundance of fish, turtles, frogs, and mussels, all of which are important items in the aboriginal dietary.

A fourth of a mile above the cave Big Piney makes an abrupt turn, coming to this point from the southeast. Here it receives the outflow from a large spring located at the foot of the hill, a fourth of a mile to the southward, which boils up in a pool 40 feet across and at its lowest stage discharges several thousand gallons every hour. Its volume responds quickly to a heavy rainfall and to the succeeding period of fair weather, although its level never passes above or below certain fixed points. A singular feature of this spring, one which has given it a wide reputation, is its rhythmic ebb and flow. With absolute regularity, regardless of atmospheric conditions, it swells for six hours, then subsides for an equal period, stages of high and low water occurring at the same hours every day. The extreme range of level is about a foot. Intermittent springs are not uncommon; but the regularity of this one is remarkable, particularly so as its action is not affected by changes in the volume. A dam was built below this spring by the father of Mr. Miller to furnish power for a mill; when the mill was not running the noise of the falling water, reenforced by the echoes from the hills around, could be heard a long distance and gave it the title of Roaring Spring. The Indians had a name for it which was interpreted by the whites as "Blowing Spring;" but as there are no unusual currents of air in the vicinity it is probable the proper translation would be "Breathing Spring," on account of its recurrent motion. The branch from this spring, following a course along the foot of the hill, is wide and shallow, though swift, and is nearly filled with a dense growth of long, moss-like vegetation which was greedily devoured by deer, herds of them being frequently seen in the water by early settlers.

From the mouth of the cave several hundred acres of fertile alluvial land can be seen along both banks of the river. In the bottom land lying nearest to the spring branch—which is itself entitled to be called a creek—and extending southward to Miller's residence, partly on an upper terrace, but mostly on the low land, was a village site on which were formerly many small mounds which from the description were undoubtedly house mounds. Mortars occur in numbers, while fragments of pottery and flint, as well as many unbroken implements, were formerly abundant to a depth of several inches. On the opposite side from the cavern, in the angle formed by the abrupt turn of the river, is another village site. A ditch, with an interior embankment about 6 feet high, formerly extended in a curved line across the point. This fortification was about 600 feet long, coming to the river bank at either end. In the part thus protected were many low, small mounds placed close together but quite irregularly. These were probably house mounds. No trace of any of this artificial work is now apparent except that a difference in color may be seen here and there when the soil is freshly turned, all the earthworks having been plowed and dragged level as interfering with cultivation. A great amount of broken pottery, flint implements, and fragments of animal bones has been uncovered here. In fact, the field is known locally as "the place where the Indians made their pottery." This site seems to have been occupied within historic times; after an unusual freshet some years ago, many "round musket-balls, such as belonged to the old-fashioned muzzle loaders"—"hundreds," or "two gallons," of them is the usual version—were picked up where the loose soil had washed off. There is a local tradition, long antedating the discovery of the bullets, that a "battle" was fought here between the French and the Indians.

On the hill over the cave are three cairns, but they have been so searched through that scarcely a stone remains in its proper place. There is also the site of a flint-working industry, a space 40 or 50 feet across being strewn with spalls, flakes, and chips.

When, in addition to the sustenance provided by deer and other large game, there is taken into consideration the great numbers of wild fowls which frequented the rugged hills and numerous streams; the multitude of small mammals which found security in the myriad cavities and crevices in the cliffs; the abundant food supply in the river; and the further fact that so many mortars and pestles meant the utilization of nuts and the cultivation of corn and no doubt of other foodstuffs as well; it is apparent that the problem of mere subsistence was one with which the natives had but little need to concern themselves. That full recognition was accorded to these advantages is amply attested by the great quantity of flints found everywhere in the vicinity, the numerous workshops on the hills and in the bottoms where the ground is thickly strewn with debris in every stage from the intact nodule or block to the finished implement, and the amount of refuse not only in this cavern, but in the Saltpeter Cave in the same bluff and in the Freeman or Ramsey Cave 3 miles down the river on the opposite side. Miller's Cave, however, possesses an additional advantage, one probably not to be found elsewhere. This is the absolute security of its inmates from the attack of an enemy. The mouth of the cave is in the face of a perpendicular bluff, the wall on either side so smooth that not even a squirrel can obtain a foothold. The upper stratum of the precipice projects to such an extent that a rope or a ladder let down from above would fall several feet beyond the outer edge of the floor. Below, there is a vertical drop of 30 feet to the top of the rough talus which is as steep as rocks and earth will lie. If an assailant, by approaching from either side, should reach the foot of this bluff he would offer a fair target for stones rolled or hurled down by defenders who are safely out of reach of missiles from any direction.

The only means of entrance is a small opening in the west wall, communicating with another cave. This is so restricted in size as to permit the passage of only one person at a time, and he must assume a crawling or crouching posture. This opening, which for distinction will be called the doorway, has its top, sides, and bottom coated with stalagmite formation; so it may once have been somewhat larger than at present. The limited amount of the deposit over the natural rock at either end of the orifice is evidence, however, that it could never have been high enough for a man to walk through without stooping, or wide enough for two persons to pass each other; consequently one man armed with a club or other weapon could easily guard it against any number who might attempt to enter.

The cavern from which this opening leads, and which will be called the outer cave, is close to and nearly parallel with the face of the bluff, and its course is therefore approximately east and west, forming nearly a right angle with the main cavern. It has a slight curve, so that the doorway is not visible to one who is approaching from the outside until he is within a few yards of it.

The outer cave has its beginning at a point where the bluff bends toward the north; that is, where there is a shallow reentrant curve, formed by the face of the cliff breaking away at this part and rolling down the hill; a considerable portion of this cave itself has been thus destroyed, as shown by another entrance into the bluff beyond. Much talus has accumulated in this cave, over which there is at present a fairly easy though winding and zigzag path to the entrance from the top of the hill, and a rough and difficult way from the bottom. It is a natural presumption that dwellers in the cavern had well-constructed though necessarily devious pathways of easy grade to both the top and the bottom of the hill; but owing to the loose nature of the debris on the outside slopes all trace of these, when abandoned or no longer kept in repair, would soon be obliterated by surface wash, landslides, and the roots of trees.

By the side of the upper trail, at the bottom of the sandstone ledge capping the hill, are many large blocks which have split off from this stratum. On the flat surface of two of these are about 25 figures, pecked into the stone apparently with a pointed flint implement. One of them measuring 61/2 by 30 inches, shown in figure 11, bears some resemblance to a flying bird. All the others are of uniform design, an oval or elliptical figure with a straight line or bar passing through an opening in one end. These vary from 4 to 18 inches in length; two of them are shown in figure 12. Owing to the rough weathering of the stones accurate tracings were not possible, but the illustrations give a fairly correct idea of the inscriptions as they originally appeared.





The front part of the outer cave is partially filled with large rocks, gravel, and clay, which have fallen or been washed in. A window-like opening on the right, or south, side admits additional light. Near the inner end the cave divides, one branch going to the southeast and opening in the face of the bluff, the other turning north and terminating abruptly near the doorway, which is worn through its rear wall. A rough diagram (fig. 13) with some measurements is appended to show this cavern's peculiar structure.

Feet. Width at mouth (A) 17 From mouth to "window" (B) 21 Width of window (B), which has a very irregular outline 3 From window to where cave divides (C) 39 From corner of divide (c) to opposite corner (H) 13 From corner (H) to rear wall 11 Greatest width, from (B) to (F) 22 Width from (C) to (G) 10 From north wall near (G) to face of bluff (D) 28 Height at mouth from talus to roof 8 Height from floor to roof between (C) and (G) 13 Lowest point in the cave (near C), below entrance (A) 7 Mouth, at (D), lower than floor at (C) 4

A small amount of refuse on the floor suggested use of the outer cave for residence or shelter; but excavations at several points uncovered bedrock, with very irregular surface, at depths of 6 inches to 2 feet, the earth containing very little refuse and no ashes. On the talus at the entrance, and also at the bottom of the bluff in which the caves open, is much refuse which the inmates threw out as rubbish.



The front chamber of the main cavern is quite regular in form, going straight back like a vault for 80 feet, then turning abruptly westward with a width of 47 feet, the west wall making almost a right angle at the corner. The east wall abuts squarely against the rear; a narrow crevice leads eastward from their junction, but as this was filled with water and mud no exploration in it was attempted.

The floor of the front chamber, from wall to wall, and from near the front to within 27 feet of the rear, was entirely of ashes, no earth being visible until the extremity of these at either end was reached. The floor of the western extension is covered with fine earth, washed in, which gradually increases in volume until it fills the cave to within a foot of the roof. It was not examined beyond this point.

Measurements show these dimensions:

Width of cave at mouth feet 64 Least width of cave, 24 feet from mouth do 45 Greatest width of cave, from doorway to branch in cave in eastern wall feet 74 Shortest distance from line of least width to line of greatest width, as given above feet 18 From mouth of cave to doorway do 51 Height of doorway inches 42 Width of doorway do 33 Length of floor of doorway do 56 Sec. From mouth of cave to top of slope of ashes at rear feet 84 From top to bottom of slope of ashes at rear do 16 From foot of ash slope to rear wall do 27 Extent of ashes in turn of cave along foot of wall beyond corner of west wall feet 22 Width of these ashes, from foot of wall to the pool of water do 22 Width of cave from corner of west wall to east wall do 56 From corner of west wall to rear of cave do 47 Height of extreme front from floor at edge of bluff to most projecting ledge above feet 35 Height from shelf or ledge near front of east wall to general level of roof feet 14 Height from ashes to roof at middle of cave do 10

Sec. This measure also represents the thinnest portion of the wall separating the main cave from the outer cave.

The walls were, as is usual in caverns, somewhat irregular, there being a narrow bench or shelf along each side near the front, while projections and indentations alternated from front to rear. There were numerous small holes and crevices, enlargements of seams and joints by percolating water at an early stage in the cave's history. These furnish homes for various wild animals, and nearly all of them contain bones, sticks, and trash taken in by ground hogs and wood rats which seem to find much pleasure in carrying such things from place to place.

The work of excavation began at the extreme front of the cave, where the original bottom, a mixture of sand, clay, and chert gravel, had been exposed through removal of the ashes by winds and driving rain. Almost immediately rocks, large and small, fallen from walls and roof, were encountered and interfered greatly with the digging. In the upper foot of the clay were streaks of sand and ashes, among which a mussel shell and a flint chip were found; and the top of the clay was quite uneven, appearing as if carried and thrown here, as perhaps some of it was early in the occupancy of the cave, with the object of making a more even or level floor farther back. But this admixture was only superficial; below it, the material had all the appearance of a running water deposit.

A ledge extended along the east wall for 40 feet, with a width of 12 to 14 feet; at the inner end it was about 4 feet below the general level of the floor. At 8 feet below its top a second ledge projected from it, sloping toward the center, slightly for 8 feet then more rapidly for 10 feet farther, where it merged into the bedrock. Then came level, nearly smooth rock for 18 feet, to the foot of the slope of the west wall, 14 feet out from that side of the cave. This was probably the original drainage channel.

By the gradual erosion of new channels through the limestone and the consequent abandonment of old ones, subterranean drainage is continually altering its direction and force. In this way caverns may be left entirely dry, with bare floors; or may, especially if they receive the drainage of sink holes, be partially or even entirely filled with debris thus carried in. Like others, Miller's Cave has undergone such changes. It was begun by clear water; enlarged by erosion and by breaking down of walls and roof; presently clay, sand, and gravel were carried in; finally the water no longer flowed through the front, but found its way out in some other direction. In time the deposits became sufficiently dry to afford a good site for camps and for permanent occupation. There is no way of ascertaining the rate at which these changes took place; it may have required many centuries to make an appreciable difference in appearance; or, on the other hand, the transition from one stage to the next may have been rapid.

Along the foot of the ledge from the east wall the clay was only a few inches deep; farther out on the ledge, and on the projection extending from it, were layers of red sand. Occasionally a small patch of it appeared along the western side. Probably it was washed in among the last of the natural deposits.

There was considerable chert gravel mixed with the clay, making excavation as difficult and laborious as digging up an old, much-traveled macadamized highway.

The surface of the ashes sloped upward rather rapidly for a distance of 29 feet from the front. Kitchen refuse, found in them from the start, contained many mussel shells; bones, including those of bear, deer, panther, turkey, and other large fowls, tortoise, turtle, fish, and various small mammals and birds; potsherds; broken flints, with the debris of chipping work; mortars, pestles, hammers, and mullers. Near the west wall, 14 feet from the mouth, imbedded in the ashes and a foot below their surface, was a well-preserved cranium, shown in plate 17, e, f. There were no other bones, not even the lower jaw; it seems to have been thrown here and covered with the dumped ashes.

At 18 feet from the mouth the rocks became larger and so numerous as to be almost in contact, projecting above the ashes and imbedded in the clay down to bedrock; they extended for 22 feet farther in and to within 14 feet of the west wall. The clay attained its highest level at the beginning of this pile of rocks, having an elevation of 9 feet above bedrock; it became lower toward the interior, with its surface everywhere rough and irregular.

The rocks were too large to be either moved or broken up, and owing to the condition of the roof an attempt to reduce them by blasting would have been attended with great danger, so they were perforce left in place and as much as possible of the clay between and under them dug away. Beyond those near the front, others, not reaching the top, were found one after another buried in the clay; owing to their constantly increasing number, and to the inward slope of the east wall, the limits of the excavation gradually narrowed, hampering the movements of the workmen, and it was necessary to handle the earth two or even three times to get it out of the way. There was growing risk, too, of the projecting rocks splitting off or breaking out of the clay matrix. As some of them weighed several tons, the danger became too imminent, and efforts to continue along the bedrock had to cease.

Two other attempts were made to get to the bottom; one at 40 feet from the mouth just beyond the large rocks on the surface, and one at 15 feet farther in. The last one started on an area 8 by 15 feet, which would have been ample if the sides could have been carried down even approximately straight. Neither of these efforts met with success, for the same reason that led to the abandonment of the first one.

From here to the end, examinations were confined to the deposit of ashes. The surface, except as it had been disturbed by relic hunters, was practically level from wall to wall, but the depth varied with the undulating top of the clay beneath. Where it was deepest, in the central portion about 50 to 75 feet from the mouth, the deposit had a thickness of 6 feet. From this it diminished to about 3 feet on the sides, with an occasional thinner patch on a narrow shelf formed by a ledge or a crevice. The average thickness was close to 41/2 feet, so the amount was not far from 800 cubic yards. This was composed entirely of ashes from small fires for cooking, heating, and lighting purposes, increased to a very limited extent by kitchen waste, and by discarded or mislaid wrought objects. It represented the combustion of many hundreds, perhaps of thousands, of cords of wood, all of which had to be carried in from the hilltop or slopes and passed through the constricted doorway. This labor would be a sufficient guarantee of economical use; we may be sure that no fuel was wasted. If proof were needed of such a self-evident proposition, it would be found in the almost complete absence of charcoal; here and there, but seldom, a small mass of it showed that a burning chunk, covered up, had smoldered until the inflammable portion was consumed. Bunches or handfuls of coarse grass or small weeds had undergone the same process. Perhaps these had been used as kindling.

In all the deeper parts the ashes had been dumped promiscuously, from fires made at other points; no camping fires seem to have been made along the middle of the cave until the depressions in the clay had been at least partially filled. The ashes in the upper 4 feet of the ash beds where these were deepest, and in nearly all the shallower portions, were stratified and usually level, though at the front and rear the strata followed the natural incline of the slopes. The first impression was that the ashes had been carefully spread out, or dragged, to make their surface even; but it was discovered, when shoveling some of them for the second time, that ashes may assume this appearance no matter how carelessly thrown. The ashes at the top, to a depth of 3 or 4 inches, were as fine as flour, and when shoveled back hung in clouds for hours at a time, to the great discomfort of the excavators, whose eyes, throats, and nasal passages were in a state of constant irritation. The stratified or laminated, hard-packed condition below the loose surface means, perhaps, that they were occasionally sprinkled and trampled by the occupants to prevent this trouble. Possibly they were covered with mats, skins, weeds, or leaves, in the parts where the inmates congregated. The loose, incoherent condition of the lower portions, which "shoveled like snow," may denote that only a few persons dwelt here at first, who found ample room on the higher ground near the doorway. However, all such attempts at explanations are not much better than mere guesswork, and we must be content with accepting the facts as we find them.

Where the ashes were white and packed hard, whether on the site of a fire or in thin layers where thrown, they contained very little extraneous material; whereas in the darker, more mixed material broken bones, potsherds, shells, and other refuse were abundant, while there was scarcely a cubic foot anywhere in which was not found a piece of flint or bone, sometimes several such objects, which had been intentionally altered from their natural condition.

Near the center of the cave was a curving pile, 6 by 2 feet, and several inches thick, of mussel shells of every size from less than an inch to above 5 inches in length; more than half of them were over 3 inches. None of them showed any marks of fire; some had both valves in position, as if they had never been opened, and a few of the larger of these had been filled with small shells and closed again. A few were broken, but most of them were entire. About 1,400 valves were in this pile, meaning that at least one-half of that number of mollusks were consumed.

The first interment was found at 46 feet from the front, 14 feet from the east wall. The folded skeleton of a very old person lay on the right side, head east, in loose ashes, on a large flat rock whose top was 30 inches below the surface. This rock had not been placed here, but had fallen from the ceiling; probably its existence was not known until it was uncovered in digging the grave. The skull still retained its shape, in part, being held in place by the ashes, but fell in pieces when this support was removed. A portion of it was gone; two fragments were found, several feet away, not near each other, one of which fits in the skull, and the other probably belongs with it also. The frontal bone is nearly half an inch thick; the sutures partially obliterated; the teeth worn down to the necks, some of them nearly to the bone; the forehead is low and receding. A restoration is seen in plate 20, a, b. In addition to the missing portions of the skull, most of the ribs, half of the lower jaw, and nearly all the dorsal vertebrae were absent, probably having been dragged away by ground hogs. The bones are all light and fragile. Lying above the skull, in contact with it but supported by the ashes on both sides, was half of a large mortar hollowed on both sides. Above the skeleton, and extending for several feet on every side, was an undisturbed stratum of closely packed ashes, 17 inches thick at the middle, which broke off under the pick in large clods; these, of course, had accumulated after the body was interred.

The spongy condition of these bones, in spite of the preservative action of the ashes, is evidence of the fact frequently noted, that with advancing age some change takes place which renders them less resistant to destructive influences. Bones of children only a few weeks old near this skeleton held their structure perfectly and were easily secured.

Ten feet east from the pile of mussel shells, at a slightly lower level, was nearly half a gallon of snail shells which had been boiled, probably in soup. With them were a few pieces of bones.

Scattered irregularly through the ashes were many cavities which somewhat resembled the "postholes" so common beneath the mounds in Ohio. Some were barely an inch in diameter and a foot deep; from this size they varied indefinitely to the largest, which was a little more than 3 feet deep, reaching from about a foot below the undisturbed layers just under the loose surface ashes to within about a foot of the bottom. "About" is used advisedly, because at this point neither the top nor the bottom of undisturbed material could be determined with certainty. The lower 2 feet of this cavity was uniformly 7 inches across; above this it slightly expanded, funnel-like, to a diameter of 8 inches at the top. The sides of this, as of all of them, large or small, were as smooth and hard as if made with a posthole digger or a boring tool. Strata of ashes, not changing their level or appearance in the least, were continuous around the margin. But the holes were not always straight; some of them changed direction as if due to a crooked post or stick. Nearly all of them were rounded, even hemispherical at top or bottom, or both, like the bottom of a pot. They were not molds, for nothing could have been taken out of them without changing or destroying its form. If they had contained any solid substance like a post it must have stood unchanged until the layers of ashes surrounded and covered it, and then must have so completely disappeared as to leave no trace of its existence. They were not formed by driving any object down, because in that case the bottom would not have been so regularly rounded and the ashes around the sides would have been more or less displaced. They were not due to burrowing animals. In fact, if there be imagined a nearly cylindrical mass of ice, straight or slightly crooked, with rounded ends, placed upright and retaining its position unmelted until completely buried, the appearance of these cavities will best be understood. Some of them were filled to the top with fine loose ashes which occasionally contained fragments of bone, shell, and pottery; sometimes they were nearly empty, with traces of decayed wood at the bottom, mingled with a little ashes and charcoal. In one was found a long, perfect bone perforator, shown at a in plate 30; in another near the corner of the west wall was found the pipe shown in figure 14. About 45 feet from the front near the east wall were four of them of different diameters and depths but all in a straight line within a space 2 feet long; these were in front of a crevice under an overhanging ledge where a man could not stand upright. Wigwams may have been erected in the cave, or at least skins stretched to prevent drafts or to confine the heat of fires in winter and perhaps to insure some degree of privacy if this were desired; but there are no present indications of such shelters unless these holes were to secure them; otherwise their purpose or object is still unsolved. They would probably not contain posts for hanging things on when the walls afforded so many small crevices and holes into which poles better adapted for such purposes could be thrust.





Other holes or depressions, shallow, saucer-shaped, or dish-shaped, some dug in the underlying clay, others at any level almost to the top of the ashes, were fire pits or cooking places, containing charcoal and ashes. Two such depressions were lined with a coating of gumbo half an inch thick, which, however, was not mixed with sand or shell. Pots may have been shaped in these. Occasionally a small mass of gumbo, never so much as a peck, sometimes as small as a pint measure, would be found loose in the ashes, seemingly thrown there at random. Two pieces were squeezed into a rough ball; one was patted or rolled into a flattened sphere with a rounded depression on one side. These were no doubt intended as material for making vessels, as was a roughly cylindrical mass of red clay and pounded shell as large as a quart cup—the "biscuit" of modern potters.

About the middle of the cave a saucer-shaped depression, 4 feet across and 10 inches deep at the center, had been dug in the red clay; ashes had been deposited to a depth of 2 feet over this space before the excavation of the hole was begun, and streaks of red clay lay at about this level all around the pit. Many rocks, large and small, apparently thrown in, were in this basin and above it. No fire had been made in it; nothing buried; and the upper layers of ashes extended across it unbroken. It forms another of the unsolved problems.



In the den of a burrowing animal smaller than a ground hog was the frontal bone and upper portion of the face of a child of 8 or 10 years; 12 teeth are cut and others can be seen. It is shown in plate 20, c. Part of a cervical vertebra lay at the top of the skull, and there were fragments of a few other bones.

The ulna of a child, broken off at the wrist, was near the doorway in a mass of refuse in a ground-hog burrow. For several feet in every direction around here the ashes were traversed by the tunnels and dens of these animals, some of them extending down into the clay.

Twenty-five feet east of the doorway, a foot below the highest layer of unbroken ashes, was the top and back of a thin skull.

Sixty feet from the front, 15 feet from the east wall, at a depth of 14 inches, was a partial skeleton, lying on the back. The right arm, folded, lay by the side; the left forearm across the pelvis. All bones from the atlas to the sacrum, except some bones of the hands and wrists and the left ulna, lay in such position as to show they had been interred with the flesh on, or at least while the cartilages held them together; but no trace of the skull—which had lain toward the west—or of any part of the legs or feet was present. Fragments of coarse cloth were adhering to the pelvis. The bones, which were almost like punk, were those of a young person, the caps of the long bones being separate from the shafts; but they were of good size, the humerus being 13 inches long. The left ulna (at least a left ulna) lay above where the face should have been, but some inches away, with one end near the surface. It is quite probable that ground hogs are responsible for the condition of this skeleton, and that some of the bones found scattered in the ashes belonged to it. About a foot under the bones, but not connected with the burial in any way, were three large pieces of a large pot.

Four feet east of this, a foot lower, was the skeleton of a baby, the humerus only 31/2 inches long. The bones rolled out with some loose ashes, and not all of them could be recovered.

Thirteen feet from the east wall, 16 feet from top of rear slope of the ashes, 4 feet below the surface was part of a skeleton. The bones lay on a damp, close-packed bed of ashes 6 inches thick. They were closely folded, the femurs and lower leg bones being in contact; the skull, scapulae, right humerus, sacrum, and some of the vertebrae were missing. Such bones as remained were in their proper positions, except that the sternum lay in the pelvis and the elbows at the knees. All of them were in a space only 18 by 22 inches, measuring to the outermost points. The situation of such bones as remained indicated that part of a skeleton had been buried after the flesh had decayed, or had been removed, but while the joints were still united, and covered with loose ashes, whose settling had caused some sagging of the stratified ashes, a foot in thickness, which lay above them, there being no evidence that they had been disturbed since they were placed here. All were as light as cork and, except the left tibia, which was 151/2 inches long, fell to pieces when taken up.

Eight feet east from the last skeleton was one of a very young infant, on left side, head toward the front of the cave. It was 21/2 feet below the surface, partly under a jutting portion of a large rock whose top was above the ashes. It lay on small angular rocks, with similar rocks over it.

Two feet west of this was the ulna of a child 10 years old.

Sixteen feet from the east wall, 10 feet from top of rear slope, 2 feet under surface was another infant's skeleton, lying on the back, head toward the mouth of the cave. The femur was only 41/2 inches long.

Fifteen feet from east wall, 8 feet from top of rear slope of ashes, a little more than a foot below the surface, was the closely folded skeleton of a woman between 20 and 25 years of age. It lay on the right side, with the head east. The bones were in perfect condition, even the coccyx being intact. All the teeth were present, solid, and symmetrically set. Unbroken strata of ashes a foot thick above this skeleton sagged somewhat owing to settling of loose ashes thrown around and over the body at time of burial. The skull is shown, front, profile, and back, in plate 21.

A few inches below these bones, with ashes intervening, were piled some bones of a child of about 8 years. The caps of the joints were not adherent, and some of the teeth had not come through the bone. The skull, which was intact, lay on left side, vertex north, ribs, arm bones, and feet bones lay on the top, at the back, and at the vertex, in contact with the skull and with one another. As there was no evidence that they had ever been disturbed by animals, it would appear that only the bones mentioned had been deposited; even the lower jaw was absent. They lay in a mass of kitchen refuse, shells, burned bones, charcoal, and ashes, the upper layers of which were curved as if the bones had been laid on a level area of this mixed material and the rest of it piled over them. Their position, and the small number of them, indicates that the flesh had been used as food. The skull is shown in plate 22.

Between this partial skeleton and the complete one above it, apparently thrown in with the refuse which covered and surrounded both, were fragments of two large pelvic bones which did not belong to either of them.

Directly below these burials, 3 feet under the surface, was part of an infant's skeleton, with five shell disk beads among the bones; the only instance in which ornaments were found with human bones. The skull and some other bones were present, but most of the remains had disappeared into the runway of a burrower.

At several places in the central parts of the cavern, at almost any level between the top and the bottom of the ashes, were human bones, singly or a few together, some of them apparently remains of interments, others carried to the points where found. Most of these scattered bones were of children or infants; but now and then larger ones were found, notably two large adult tibiae which were a foot apart. While a few of them may have been thrown in with the ashes, most of this confusion resulted from the activity of rodents, though some of it was due to desultory former investigations.

At one point was the perfect lower jaw of a child 8 or 10 years old; with it were a scapula and some vertebrae which may have belonged to it, also some ribs, vertebrae, and arm bones of an infant. Two or three of them bore marks of fire, especially an ulna of a child which was completely charred.

Four feet from east wall, 4 feet below surface, at the beginning of the slope to the rear, was the skeleton of a child less than 2 years old. It lay on left side, head east, legs bent, one arm folded with hand by head, the other along the body; just such a position as would be assumed by a sleeping infant. Some of the teeth were cut. All the bones were in place, though soft and brittle; above them was an unbroken stratum of ashes.

Four feet west of this, 2 feet higher, was the skeleton of a still younger child.

Sixteen feet from east wall, at the beginning of slope to rear, near the bottom of the ashes, was an adult's skeleton, extended on back, head west. Three rocks, weighing from 75 to 300 pounds, were placed over the body. Most of the bones had disappeared from decay; the middle third of one tibia was much enlarged by disease, as shown in plate 23.

Eleven feet east of this, 4 feet below surface, was an adult skeleton, folded, on right side, head toward rear of the cave. The bones were spongy and soft. Portions of the feet and legs, most of the pelvis, the left arm, and some of the vertebrae were present, but there was no trace of right arm, skull, or shoulders. A slab weighing 100 pounds or more was set on edge just where the head should have been. One tibia, the only bone with both ends remaining, measured 141/2 inches.

Near the wall, just beyond the break of the slope, was the entire skeleton of a dog so old that its teeth were rounded and smooth. It had been killed by a spear thrust entirely through its body, from the right side, both scapulae being penetrated; the holes are three-fourths of an inch in diameter. The skull of a fox was found near this, higher in the ashes.

Fifteen feet from east wall, halfway down the slope, 18 inches under surface, was the skeleton of an infant only a few days old. No trace of pelvis or right leg remained, though all the other bones were well preserved.

Twenty-four feet from east wall, at beginning of rear slope, was the complete skeleton of a young child, extended, on back, head toward rear of cave. The bones showed evidence of disease, as may be seen in plate 23. The skull is shown in plate 24.

Nineteen feet from east wall, 13 feet from foot of slope, was a hole 41/2 inches to 5 inches in diameter, 21 inches deep, extending into the loose dark earth underlying the ashes. The bottom of the hole was muddy, being at about the level of the standing water, and contained charred and decayed remains of oak wood. Ashes, in layers having the same slope as the surface, extended over it, proving the post (?) to have been burned some time before the cave was abandoned.









West of the doorway a ledge, projecting from 4 to 6 feet, extended to the west corner. It was covered 2 feet deep, or less, with ashes containing the usual refuse. Large rocks lay on this, or had fallen over it to the clay lying against its lower part, or into the ashes on the clay.

Near the west wall were four holes in an almost straight north-and-south line. The first (1), was 29 feet north of the doorway, 18 inches deep and 7 inches in diameter. In it was the clay pipe shown in figure 14. Number (2), 5 feet from (1), was 24 by 9 inches; No. (3) 2 feet from (2), was 26 by 7 inches; No. (4), 41/2 feet from (3), was 30 by 5 inches. Fourteen inches northwest of No. (1) was another hole, 15 by 3 inches. The description on a previous page as to character, appearance, and contents applies to all these holes; the ashes extended above all of them in continuous layers.

A little to the west of No. (1) was a small pile of crumbling fragments of sandstone and limestone used in boiling food.

Near No. (4), a foot under the surface, on the slope, 15 feet from the water, was a small pile of charcoal on which lay a human scapula, some vertebrae, fragments of ribs, most of a humerus, and most of a femur of a person not fully matured; they were of good size but the cap fell away from the humerus when it was moved. Some of them were without marks of fire, others were charred, while a few pieces were burned to cinder. As the mass was surrounded by clean ashes, it could not be determined whether the charcoal had been burned where found, or had been carried here. Whichever it was, the bones had been thrown on the pile.

Thirteen feet just north from the corner of the west wall was a hole 19 by 7 inches which differed from the others in that the bottom instead of being rounded was irregular, and deeper at one side; the top, however, showed the usual hemispherical contour.

Two feet from corner of west wall, almost under a point projecting from it, 4 feet below surface, was a cranium from which the upper jaw, one orbit, and part of the right parietal were missing; with it were a lower jaw, a clavicle, a sternum, the bones of the left arm, and some phalanges, all in good condition, except the ulna, which was broken. No other bones were present. The skull lay on right side, face toward the wall; the arm bones were on it, and the other bones by it. With and around them were some deer bones. The entire lot had the appearance of being thrown together here at one time, and it would seem that the flesh of all of them had been eaten.

Fourteen feet north from the corner, halfway down to the water, in the wet earth at the bottom, were human bones evidently placed here entire, but so decayed and broken that nothing could be ascertained except that it seemed a closely folded body or skeleton had been deposited. The teeth were worn down to the gums.

The refuse behind the corner of the west wall was cleared away as far as the conditions would permit. The amount of water at the rear of the cave varies with the rainfall; sometimes it almost disappears, again it may be fully 2 feet deep; but at all times the earth and ashes near it are saturated above its lowest level. Consequently, on account of the mud, excavations could not be carried fully to the end in either direction. As scarcely anything was found in the last few feet, this omission was not important.

The entire distance worked over, from the front margin to the line where no further advance could be made, at 14 feet from the water, was 91 feet. No spot that could be reached throughout this length was left undug.

The small openings in the west wall presented no features worthy of special mention; but those in the east wall yielded interesting results.

First of these was a small cave 39 feet from the main entrance. At the front its width was 11 feet; 6 feet within it narrowed to 4 feet. A hole on the north side ended at a crevice that led to a chamber higher up, from which, in turn, another crevice extended. All this space, even beyond the point to which a man could worm his way, was filled with fine earth and ashes containing much refuse. Worked objects were found at the greatest distance which could be reached.

A few feet within the entrance this minor cave divided into three parts. A crevice trending northward is too small to follow. The two others extend in a general easterly direction. The central branch, the left of the two, also closes within a few feet. Neither of these contained anything but natural earth. In the one to the right, 7 feet from the entrance, was a pocket on the south side, 18 inches wide, 30 inches high, and 4 feet deep; it was filled with ashes containing bone and shell, but no worked object except a flake scraper. At intervals, within the next few feet, were two mortars, a much used pestle, some bone awls, and flints, all of them in places where it was scarcely possible for a man to sit erect, as the tunnel-like cavity, circumscribed by solid rock, was nowhere as much as 4 feet in diameter. At its narrowest part it measured only 3 feet high and 18 inches wide.

At 20 feet the cave opens into a well-like enlargement, 5 by 6 feet, and 5 feet high. Bone and shell in small amounts were found here, and among them the skiver shown at d in plate 36.

From this well-like cavity three branches start; one continuing in a direct line east, one to the north, and one to the south. The east (middle) branch is only 24 inches high and 17 inches wide, with solid rock all around. It contained ashes, with a little refuse, as far as a man could reach.

The branch to the north is entered through an opening 3 feet high and 31 inches wide in a thin wall of the original rock, just within which it widens to nearly 7 feet, holding the same height of 3 feet. Within this doorway, on the red earth bottom, were a small mortar and a grinding stone worn by much use; both were stained with red paint. A foot farther in was part of a skiver; and 2 feet beyond this was a large knife of white chert almost as clear and compact as chalcedony, shown at a in plate 27. Ashes continued in the north tunnel for 26 feet from the entrance, beyond which no further progress was possible. Before this point was reached, the refuse which had been continually decreasing in amount no longer appeared.

The tunnel leading from the well toward the south is 19 inches high, 3 feet 9 inches wide. At 3 feet it branches; one fork, 2 feet high and 17 inches wide, turns eastward and curves to join the east branch from the well. The other branch continues south, but soon closes; in it were found a small piece of an adult's skull and the hip bone of a young child.

The floors in all the branches of the small cave were covered from 3 to 12 inches deep with a reddish mixture of sand and clay, on which were ashes filling the space above almost to the roof. In a few places refuse was found in this silt, of the same general character as that in the ashes, but in very small amount. This is not significant; such remains were dragged down by animals, which range everywhere. The two deposits are quite separated and distinct.

The clay and sand on the rock bottom came from disintegrated rock on top of the ground outside, or at any rate from some level higher than that where they are found now; but how ashes, shells, broken bone, and especially how worked objects came to be in places too contracted for a man to creep, and where they could be neither carried nor pushed, is not to be explained except on the hypothesis of a chamber above, whence they may have worked or may have been thrown down; but at no place, either in the cave or in the outside surface, could there be found any evidence of such communication.

Fifty-five feet from the mouth of the cave, in the east wall, is a crevice into whose lower portion extended the red clay of the cavern floor. It branched into various tortuous divisions, all of which were filled with ashes containing a large proportion of refuse. It appeared at first that all this had settled in, or been thrown in, from the main cavern; but one branch, having a very irregular outline, was in such situation and trended upward at such an angle that it could not have been filled from below. As in similar cases previously noted, however, no other opening to it was to be found. The smallest workman cleared it out to as great a distance as he could crawl and use a trowel, but did not succeed in reaching the end of the deposits.

At the bottom of the crevice were ground-hog burrows extending between loose rocks, under ledges, and into the red clay. All these were followed as far as they could be, and found to contain quantities of refuse. There was also a considerable amount of fine dark earth in the burrows, showing they have another outlet somewhere. Occasionally a mass thrown out by a shovel or a trowel contained more refuse than ashes. There was nearly everything which was found elsewhere in the cave, and almost every shovelful contained something worth preserving.

Near the rear of the cave erosion of the lower part of the eastern wall formed a rudely triangular recess or cavity 30 feet long by 7 feet deep at the widest part. The upper margin of this was below the surface of the ashes, so that its existence was not suspected until these had been removed from in front of it. The roof was 5 feet above the rock bottom, the entire space being filled with loose material. The upper 2 feet of this was clean ashes in which were great quantities of refuse, so much that it had all the appearance of a general dumping ground. Below this depth, patches of fine dark earth were mingled with the ashes and refuse. The latter continually decreased in quantity, until at a foot above the bottom they ceased altogether, the lower portion of the deposit consisting of nothing but earth. The pure ashes were slightly damp; and the moisture increased with the depth until at a foot above the bottom the earth was saturated and could no longer be removed with tools.

The refuse in the ashes consisted of animal bones, entire or in fragments; broken flints and pottery; mussel and snail shells; and numerous wrought objects. These continued, though in smaller amount, where the ashes were mingled with earth, though bones and shells were soft owing to the moisture, and could be removed only in fragments. Among them were the flint shown at a in plate 28, and the hematite ax, at a, plate 29. The latter was at the lowest level to which the ashes extended; perhaps its weight caused it to settle below the place at which it originally lay.

Near the middle of this chamber, 2 feet from the rear wall, lying at the bottom of the mixed ashes and earth, were 12 entire and 3 broken leaf-shaped blades; they were not closely piled, or arranged in any order, but seem to have been hastily or carelessly laid or thrown on a small space. Another was found a foot away. They are shown in plate 25.









Here and there among the refuse were found the upper jaw, with left orbit, of a young person; a fragment of an occiput, perhaps belonging with the above though not lying near it; fragments of the skull of a young child; half of an ulna of a child probably 12 years old; a small fragment of the lower jaw of an adult with one molar remaining in it, which has been burned until black. These fragments were all in such position and condition as to show they were not carried in by animals; were not disinterred from graves and placed here; were not in any way accidentally present; but had been gathered up with the refuse and thrown in as a part of it. The broken or burned condition of these, as well as of other human bones found at random among the ashes of the main cave, are presumptive evidence that dwellers here sometimes devoured the flesh of human beings; and the fact that a majority of such bones are those of children indicates that it was not eaten through a belief that the valor and skill of an enemy could be thus absorbed by the victor, but that it was used as food, like the flesh of any other animal. Such conclusion may not be justified; but the facts are not readily accounted for otherwise, except on the equally repulsive hypothesis that the inmates of the cave were brutally indifferent to the bodies or skeletal remains of their fellows.

Omitting this question from consideration, however, there is still ample evidence that the inhabitants of Miller's Cave were in a low state of savagery, or, if the phrase be preferred, in a very primitive stage of culture. There was a remarkable paucity of articles used as ornaments or for personal decoration, and the few that were found were simple and crude, being only rubbed stones or rough pieces of bones which were possibly intended for beads or pendants. The pottery, while strong and serviceable, was plain in form and devoid of any ornamentation or design except that a few pieces showed impressions such as would be made by scratching or pressing with the end of a small stick or bone. Nearly all of it was cord-marked, though some was smooth, one red piece appearing almost glazed. It varied much in thickness, hardness, and color. Most of it was dark gray, some red, occasionally a piece yellowish or nearly white; due to the different clays of which it was made. So far as observed it was tempered with shell. The shards were small, as if when a pot was broken the fragments were still further demolished. The curvature showed there was a wide range in size, from about a pint to 2 gallons or more.

Their mortars were natural blocks or slabs of sandstone, such as may be picked up by thousands in the immediate neighborhood, and showed no alteration of form beyond ordinary wear except that the rough faces of a few were pecked, apparently with a pointed flint tool, to make them less irregular. Some were flat and smooth from use with a muller or grinding stone; most of them were worked or hollowed on only one face; a few showed depressions on both sides; one had a few hemispherical indentations near the margin, like those observed in cup-stones.

Only one pestle was dressed into any of the forms which we are accustomed to associate with the name, and this was a truncated cone with rounded top, shown at b in plate 29. All the others were cobblestones from ravines or the river shore. A few had undergone no change in form; most of them were battered on the perimeter; a few had pitted sides; some had been used as pestles, mullers, or grinding stones until the surface was more or less smooth. All such stones are classed as "pestles," for convenience; they could have also been used as hammers, bone crushers, and in various other ways.

In all, 73 mortars were found; counting only those stones which bore marks of use as such. The largest one was at the bottom of the ashes, near the doorway. There were more than 100 pestles which bore evidence of much use; and probably as many more on which there was little or no sign of wear. As the cavern was not of sufficient size to provide living quarters for many families at any one time—10 or 12 at the most—the large number of these utensils may imply that the inmates would not use an object which had previously belonged to some one else.

Among the flint implements there was a wide range in the character of stone, the shape, and the degree of finish, although the variation in size was quite limited. Very few of them may be classed as either large or small. The longest, shown at a in plate 28, measured 51/2 inches; few were more than 4 or less than 2 inches. Tapering stems predominated. The principal forms are shown in plates 26-28. Only three arrowheads were found; but this was to be expected, as arrows would be used only out of doors. One of these of clear, fine-grained pink and white chert, shown at b in plate 28, so far surpasses in delicate finish any other specimen secured that it is probably exotic. The large number of cores, blocks, spalls, and flakes shows that many implements were made and repaired here. But, while a few specimens showed that their fabricators were masters of the chipping art, most of them were roughly finished. Some which are so little altered from the original form of the rough flake or spall that they would be classed as "rejects" if found about a flint workshop have a smoothness or "hand polish" which denotes much service. There is the possibility, of course, that hunting or traveling parties from some other part of the country may have availed themselves of the shelter, either when it was temporarily unoccupied, or as guests of those living in it; and that these, also, may have left some small articles when they departed. However this may have been, all the objects from the top to the bottom of the deposits, in dry ashes or in sticky mud, in crevices or branch caverns, on the red clay, the barren muck, or the bedrock—all, if we may except the few flints of superior workmanship—are identical in general character: That is to say, any object from any part of the deposited material had its practical duplicate at various other points on different levels.