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 vertebræ
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.
[Illustration: PLATE 20
a, b, Skull from Miller's Cave, Pulaski County, Mo. (a, front; b,
profile). c, Part of skull of child from Miller's cave (front
view)]
[Illustration: PLATE 21
SKULL OF YOUNG WOMAN FROM MILLER'S CAVE a, Front; b, profile; c,
back]
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.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Clay pipe from Miller's Cave.]
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 3½ 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, scapulæ, right humerus, sacrum, and some of the vertebræ 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 15½ 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 2½ 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 4½ 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 tibiæ 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 vertebræ which may have belonged to
it, also some ribs, vertebræ, 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 vertebræ 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 14½ 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 scapulæ 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
4½ 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.
[Illustration: PLATE 22
SKULL OF CHILD FROM MILLER'S CAVE
a, Front; b, profile]
[Illustration: PLATE 23
DISEASED TIBIA OF ADULT AND DISEASED BONES OF CHILD FROM MILLER'S
CAVE]
[Illustration: PLATE 24
SKULL OF CHILD FROM MILLER'S CAVE
a, Front; b, profile]
[Illustration: PLATE 25
CACHE OF FLINTS FROM ASH BED IN MILLER'S CAVE]
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), 4½ 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
vertebræ, 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.