upper portion of
the deposit extended fire beds, burned earth, ashes, shells, broken
pottery, and occasionally a fragment of bone. (See fig. 25.)

[Illustration: FIG. 23.--Cross section of Fort Deposit Cave at 18
feet.]

At 24 feet it was found that what had been taken for a solid floor in
the last section represented was only a large flat rock which had
fallen into the crevice and wedged tightly. When this was passed the
yellow earth reappeared, at a slightly lower level.

[Illustration: FIG. 24.--Cross section of Fort Deposit Cave at 20
feet.]

[Illustration: FIG. 25.--Cross section of Fort Deposit Cave at 22
feet.]

At 26 feet the yellow earth became mixed with red. It was excavated to
a depth of 5 feet in the endeavor to discover the reason for this. As
there was not the slightest trace of ashes or charcoal, the red
admixture must be a natural result of staining by iron in some form
and not due to heat. Above the yellow was the usual stratum of dark
earth, containing culinary debris. In the central portion of this was
a mass, sufficient to fill a wheelbarrow, of angular, unburnt
fragments of limestone from 3 to 15 pounds in weight. On the surface
of the dark earth were some ten or twelve fire beds, reaching from
wall to wall, the edges overlapping and interlacing in so confusing a
manner that the exact number could not be made out. (See fig. 26.) At
this stage it appeared that the crevice, or at least its upper part,
had been filled by river floods and a slight ridge of sand thrown
across the mouth of the cave. The Indians, it seems, occupied both
this ridge and the lower area behind it, throwing debris to the rear
to fill up the depression instead of carrying it all to the outside.
It is equally possible, however, that this waste was brought from
points farther back and thrown here to fill and level the floor. These
heavy fire beds came to an end at about 28 feet on the right and 29
feet on the left. A section at 28 feet is given in figure 27. At their
inner margin, among the ordinary refuse characteristic of such
deposits, were many fragments of human bones, including ulnas of two
individuals, one much larger than the other. They plainly indicated
cannibalism, as they were broken when thrown here. Besides the ulnas,
there are pieces of ribs, scapula, tibia, and feet.

[Illustration: FIG. 26.--Cross section of Fort Deposit Cave at 26
feet.]

At 29 feet the underlying yellow earth became c