North by Northeast

River Bend Cave

Taking a Break During Excavation

Bone Hair Pin at Top

A Time to Remember
North by Northeast
By Ronnie Powell
There is a small cave situated in the base of a bluff overlooking the Niangua River not far above Moon Valley where I believe it had remained relatively undisturbed for perhaps several millenniums until about thirty years ago. People once lived and died in the secluded shelter, Native Americans the first explorers of the beautiful land we call America.
This cave faces roughly southwest in a bend of the river, well above flood stage. It is located deep within a fractured north edge of the bluff that continues on up the ridge. I discovered the opening by accident when climbing over the remnants of an overhang lying broken at the base of the limestone formation. From my vantage point I could see an opening and managed to access with little difficulty. When at last I hunkered down in the entrance I was surprised to discover evidence of a dig a short distance inside the cave.
After crawling further into the opening it was obvious digging had indeed occurred, covering much of the south floor. Next to the wall lay a broken sifting box, a rusted folding shovel and the remnants of a kerosene lantern. A small pick with a broken handle lay across a refuge pile containing a few beer cans and tinfoil. Fragments of earthen pottery lay in a neat pile near the wall with several chert fragments along with cigarette butts that appeared to have lain there quite sometime. A rather large pile of bones, some human lay further in. I strongly suspected the disturbance was a pothunter’s reckless dig.
There were no marked grids or organized excavation area, only haphazard random digging. I saw no fresh foot prints or cigarette butts lying in or outside the entrance and decided to stay awhile and probe the area at or near the north wall.
I began at the wall trying to determined the depth of the soil and found it shallow at no more than six or eight inches down to solid stone. It was during this preliminary probing I discovered a wall that was not originally a part of the bluff, but rather stones piled one on the other up to about four feet where it connected with a ledge or shelf. The width of the artificial wall measured five feet from a corner of the entrance perpendicular to the base of the ledge deepening my curiosity. It was quite evident a corner of the cave had been sealed off perhaps for many hundreds of years.
I began immediately removing the top stones from a tangle of web like roots, a slow process for I feared the wall might collapse. I soon discovered the wall had not been put up hurriedly, for each stone appeared to have been carefully chosen interlocking creating a stable structure.
With the aid of two reflector candle lanterns I continued on into the morning carefully removing each stone one at a time. The tangle of roots appeared to be very dense on the other side, suggesting an abundance of moisture inside the dark interior. When at last I had an opening large enough to peer inside I held a lantern close to the opening to try and get a better view but the roots were too thick. The noon hour had arrived and I decided to take a break.
Instinctively upon hearing a noise outside I peeked over the boulders, saw only a squirrel on the ground. I settled back with a cup of coffee and can of sardines to reflect on the morning’s work.
I resumed the work a short time later, cautiously cutting away some of the roots that appeared to be coming from the ledge inside the enclosure. This I confirmed several minutes later when discovering mud on the first level of the ledge. I sat the candle aside and peered upward into the darkness and could make out pin points of daylight coming from far above me. Time had eroded the walled off area allowing water to enter.
I began slicing away handfuls of roots and soon could see rather clearly inside the enclosure. Most of the floor area appeared dry, with the exception of a small corner directly below the ledge. I managed to squeeze my head, arms and shoulders inside and extended the candle lower to the floor. I could make out vague images through the shroud of roots, and focusing on a dark object lying directly below me next to the stone wall. Probing the roots, pushing them aside I sat the lantern down driving the shadows outside the circle of light to dance eerily among the roots.
It was during these moments of breaching the wall I also realized I had entered into another aspect of time. Next to the lantern lay the collapsed remains of a large earthen pot of a reddish hue. More astonishing, lying across the leg bones of a human skeleton was another smaller human skeleton, its skull slightly elevated, tilted a bit upward and surprisingly appeared intact. The adult rested in a semi sitting position against the base of the ledge. The skull drooped over the chest and the lower jaw hung by remnants of roots. Several cut bone beads were noted scattered down the entire upper portion of the adult. A long ornate bone hair pin lay across the right thigh bone of the adult. Much of the lower structure of the adult appeared black and badly decomposed due to years of eroding water. Neither skull bore any tell tale fractures or puncture holes to indicate injuries and it is my opinion both subjects were very young at time of death. The teeth in the adult skull were badly worn down and a few possibly abscessed at time of death. The juvenile would have stood approximately thirty inches tall and the adult about sixty inches. I am relatively certain the adult was female and have no idea as to the sex of the juvenile.
Lying around the adult I noted several hard clumps of black material and when broken open were stringy or leathery to the feel. I can only assume they were clothing or remnants or hair. I have no doubt the pair were Prehistory Indians, buried with loving care a long time ago.
The above details of the burial and artifacts were recorded during the removal of the two skeletal remains.
Unwilling to leave them in the tomb for the pothunters to salvage the skulls and few artifacts I made the decision to remove the bones and possessions and ultimately placed them in another location.
There was once a place at the base of a stone bluff where water flowed from a deep spring nurturing wild ferns. And there was a shelter deep within the bluff where buried within was the yellowed ancient bones of a mother and child, a broken aspect of a family. The trek back to the road was a lonely one, laden with haunting thoughts and speculations as to the life and death of the pair. I wondered if other human bones were taken from the site by the pothunters to find their way into morbid collections. Adios