Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 48.djvu/732

660 extended, and everywhere were the telltale fragments of shell and. abalone.

In the space of the present article it is impossible to more than call attention to a few of the finds made, illustrating the everyday history of these unknown people. The sand in places was littered with fragments of stone vessels which had been broken probably by some vandal. Some of these jars weighed nearly twenty pounds, others more, and were of all sizes, from small vessels, intended as paint or color jars, to vessels which would hold several quarts of water. Here were discoidal stones exactly like those taken from the kitchen middens of Europe, flint arrow and spear heads, beads of shell and bone, scrapers and awls of bone, and rings and other ornaments cut from the pearly abalone.

The most interesting find was made in the center of the dune, where, in sinking a trench, a skeleton was found in so peculiar a



position that the entire party gathered about and aided in the excavation. It was lying on its face, the head to the east, the arms raised over the head as though the man had fallen on his knees, or had been buried in a bent position. The bones were of a deep tan color, and about them was not the slightest vestige of clothing. The sand was carefully worked out, and after an hour's labor the skeleton was seen in perfect relief against it. Then began the detachment of the bones, each one being taken out separately and carefully laid aside to dry; in this way the perfect skeleton was secured.

Of many skeletons discovered by the writer on these islands, this was the first with which some of the possessions of the native had not been buried; as a rule, mortars and pestles, beads, weapons, and other property of the deceased were buried with him.

When the skeleton was almost exposed, an interesting find was made about five feet behind it. When first found it was supposed to be another skeleton, but careful digging with a