PLATE 17: Skull from Sell cave. a, Front; b, profile
PLATE 17: Skull from Bell's cave, near Waynesville. c, Front; d, profile
[ToList]PLATE 17: Skull from Miller's cave. e, Front; f, profile
THREE SKULLS FROM PULASKI COUNTY, MO.
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, 3½ feet under the surface of the débris, 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.