mount of recently decayed humus may be held by rocks
and roots. Halfway between the center and the north wall was the top
of an adult skull, with three fragments of long bones. These, which
were much gnawed by rodents, were in black earth, evidently the former
home of some burrowing animal.

A foot north of the infant's skull were small remnants of an adult's
skull, probably belonging with the piece first found. There were also
some scraps of animal bones, much gnawed.

CAIRN (2)

This measured from 16 to 18 feet across to the outer edge of the loose
stones, and about 30 inches high. Under the top rocks was a rough wall
similar to that in Cairn (1), but all the sides were nearly straight.
The outline is given in figure 2. The outside measurements, across the
center, were 15 feet each way. There were more stones in this wall
than in the first; mostly there were two, and in some places three,
superposed.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Outline of Cairn (2), at Lost Hill, Phelps
County, Mo.]

Extending from north to south across the middle of the vault was a row
of large slabs standing on edge with their tops leaning toward the
east. Their inclination varied from nearly horizontal to nearly
vertical; so it would appear that they were not placed thus
intentionally but had settled irregularly. Probably they had formed
the covering of a pen or vault, of poles or timbers, in which a body
had been placed.

Close to these inclined slabs, near the north wall of the vault, was
the effigy pipe shown in figure 3. It is made of a fine-grained
sandstone and seems intended to represent a buzzard with an
exaggerated tail, though the beak is more like that of a crow. This
specimen lay between two flat rocks which were separated by a little
earth and gravel, but there were no traces of bone with it or near it.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Pipe from Cairn (2).]

At a slightly lower level than the pipe were several flat stones
standing at various angles. When these were removed there were found
fragmentary remains of at least three adults, lying in confusion, as
if only the folded dismembered skeletons had been placed here. They
lay on a floor of slabs which, in turn, rested upon undisturbed
gravel.

The facts observed are difficult to interpret, as the original order
was so broken up; but it would seem that as a preliminary to the
burial of bodies or skeletons, the superficial earth had been scraped
away and a rough stone floor l