The Archaeology of the Yakima ValleySmith, Harlan Ingersoll
History
The Archaeology of the Yakima Valley
Smith, Harlan Ingersoll
Yakima River Valley (Wash.) -- Antiquities
99-4319. Skull, a lower jaw, and a few broken bones which
were scattered among the rocks. The skull was found in
the west southwest part of the grave with the face down.
The lower jaw was found in the southern part of the grave
about 1 foot higher up in the rocks.
* * * * *
Grave No. 12. Bluff pebble grave. We examined a ring of
river boulders on the twenty-acre farm of Mr. James
McWhirter, a boy about fifteen years old, twelve miles up
the Naches River on the crest of the foothill terrace
north of the road, and overlooking the bottom along the
north side of the Naches River. This grave was about 150
feet high above the river by about half a mile from it.
At first it looked like a little underground house site
or a shallow cache pit. (Museum negative, no. 44441, 1-2
for general locality.) James, who called our attention to
the pile of boulders, said that some one threw off part
in an abandoned attempt to dig the grave. We thought the
grave practically undisturbed and it proved to have been
the least disturbed of any we had found up to this point.
The outside of the ring was 10 feet east and west by 5
feet north and south. The inside of the ring or the space
surrounded was 6 feet east and west by 4 feet north and
south. Probably this grave was a boulder heap, the aspect
of a ring being given by the removal of the stones, i.e.,
this central space may be where stones were thrown off.
River boulders were found from top to bottom. The
boulders varied in weight from about 7 to 30 pounds. Most
of them were disk-shaped but some were oval. Numbers
99-4320 and 202-8170, 1 were found in this grave.
99-4320. An adult skeleton was found 4 feet deep with the
head towards the west, resting on its occiput. The skull
which was broken, faced south by east, with the mouth
open. The knees were north; the body was on its left side
and flexed. Over the north side of the knees was an
elliptically-shaped piece of cedar burned on the upper
side. It was about 2 feet wide by 4 feet long. A few
fragments of the skeleton of a child were found in the
grave. All the bones in the grave were very soft and as
the ends were broken off we discarded all but the skull
and a few of the bones of the child. Two shell disks
(202-8170,1) were found about 6 inches apart near the
neck, one at the south shoulder, and one at the south
side of the skull of the adult.
202-8170. Pendant of disk shape made of oyster shell with
one perforation near the edge (Fig. 94).
202-8171 Pendant of disk shape made of shell with two
perforations near one edge (Fig. 93).
* * * * *
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