
Delving into the limestone depths of Missouri’s Ozark region, this early‑century field report follows a team of explorers as they map hidden chambers, document their finds, and sketch the rugged terrain above. The narrative is peppered with vivid descriptions of bone and antler tools, chipped flints, and fragmented pottery recovered from caves such as Goat Bluff and Miller’s. Detailed plates and maps accompany the text, allowing listeners to picture the delicate process of uncovering ancient human remains and the everyday objects that once filled prehistoric lives.
Beyond Missouri, the work expands to river bluffs in Kansas and Nebraska, isolated house mounds, and even the stone temples of Molokai, Hawaii. By juxtaposing Midwestern cave sites with Polynesian ceremonial structures, the author highlights both regional diversity and surprising parallels in early American cultures. The account captures the spirit of discovery and the meticulous scientific methods that shaped archaeology in the 1920s, offering a compelling glimpse into the foundations of our understanding of ancient peoples.
Language
en
Duration
~8 hours (502K characters)
Series
Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 76
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Robert Connal, Jeannie Howse, Alicia Williams, Bruce Albrecht and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr)
Release date
2006-07-28
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1855–1933
A field archaeologist and ethnologist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this writer is remembered for careful studies of Native American earthworks, cave sites, and artifacts in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. His work helped document important archaeological sites in Missouri, Virginia, Kentucky, and beyond.
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