Notes on the Indian burial mounds of eastern North Carolina

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N OTES

ON THE

Indian Bui^ial (Qounds

OF

GASTEI^N nOI^TH (©AI^OLINA.

J. A. HOLMES.

So far as is known to me, no account of the Indian burial mounds,
which are to be found in portions of Eastern North Carohna, have,
as yet, been published. This fact is considered a sufficient reason
for the publication of the following notes concerning a few of these
mounds which have been examined in Duplin and a few other coun-
ties in the region under consideration.

It is expected that the examination of other mounds will be
carried on during the present year, and it is considered advisable
to postpone generalized statements concerning them until these
additional examinations have been completed. It may be stated,
however, of the mounds that have been examined already, that
they are quite different from and of much less interest, so far as eon-
tents are concerned, than those of Caldwell and other counties of the
western section of the State. As will be seen from the following
notes, they are generally low and rarely rising to more than three
feet abov^e the surrounding surface, with generally circular bases
varying in diameter from 15 to 40 feet; and ihey contain little more
than the bones of human (presumably Indian) skeletons, arranged
in no special order. They h ive been generally built on somewhat
elevated, dry, sandy places, out of a soil similar to that by which
they are surrounded. No evidence of an excavation below the gen-
eral surface has as yet been observed. In the process of burial,
the bones or bodies seem to have been laid on the surface or above,
and covered up with soil taken from the vicinity of the mound.
In every case that has come under my own observation charcoal
has been found at the bottom of the mound.

Mound No. 1 — Duplin county, located at Kenansville, about one-
half mile southwest from the courthouse, on a somewhat elevated.

dry, sandy ridge. In form, its base is nearly circular, 35 feet in
diameter ; height 3 feet. The soil of the mound is like that which
surrounds it, with no evidence of stratification. The excavation
was made by beginning on one side of the mound and cutting a
trench 35 feet long, and to a depth nearly 2 feet below the general
surface of the soil, (5 feet below top of mound) and removing all
the soil of the mound by cutting new trenches and filling up the old
ones. In this way all the soil of the mound and for two feet below
its base was carefully examined. The soil below the base of the
mound did not appear to have been disturbed at the time the mound
vpas built. The contents of the mound included fragments of char-
coal, a few small fragments of pottery, a hand-full of small shells,
and parts of sixty human skeletons. No implements of any kind
were found. Small pieces of charcoal were scattered about in dif-
ferent portions of the mound, but the larger portion of the charcoal
was found at one place 3 or 4 feet square near one side of the mound.
At this place the soil was colored dark, and seemed to be mixed with
ashes. There were here with the charcoal, fragments of bones,
some of which were dark colored, and may have been burned; but
they were so nearly decomposed that I was unable to satisfy myself
as to this point. I could detect no evidence of burning in case of
the bones in other portions of the mound. Fragments of pottery
were few in number, small in size, and scattered about in different
parts of the mound. They were generally scratched and cross-
scrated on one side, but no definite figures could be made out. The
shell "beads" were small in size — 10 to 12 mm. in length. They
are the Marginella roscida of Redfield, a small gasteropod which is
said to be now living along the coasts of this State. The specimens,
about 75 in number, were all found together, lying in a bunch near
the skull and breast bonesof a skeleton. The apex of each one had
been ground off obliquely so as to leave an opening passing through
the shell from the apex to the anterior canal — probably for the pur-
pose of stringing them.

The skeletons of this mound were generally much softened from
decay — many of the harder bones falling to pieces on being handled,
while many of the smaller and softer bones were beyond recogni-
tion. They were distributed through nearly every portion of the
mound, from side to side, and from the* base to the top surface,
without, so far as was discovered, any definite order as to their ar-
rangement. None were found below the level of the surface of the
soil outside the mound. In a few eases the skeletons occurred singly,
with none others within several feet ; while in other cases several

3

were found in actual contact with one another; and in one portion
of the mound, near the outer edge, as many as twenty-one skeletons
were found placed witliin the space of six feet square. Here, in the
case last mentioned, several of tlie skeletons lay side by side, others
on top of these, parallel to them, while still others lay on top of
and across the first. When one skeleton was located above another,
in some cases the two were in actual contact, in other cases they
were separated by a foot more of soil.

As to the position of the parts of the individual skeletons, this
could not be fully settled in the present case, on account of the de-
cayed condition of many of the bones. The following arrangement
of the parts, however, was found to be true of nearly every skele-
ton exhumed : Tlie bones lay in a horizontal position or nearly so.
Those of the lower limbs were bent upon themselves at the knee, so
that the thigh bone (femur) and the bones of the leg (tibia and
fibula) lay parallel to one another; the bones of the foot and ankles
being found with or near the hip bones. The knee cap or patella,
g3nerally lying at its proper place, indicated that there must have been
very little disturbance of the majority of the skeletons after their
burial. The bones of the upper limbs, also, were see;' ingly bent
upon themselves at the elbow ; thos** of the fore-arm (humerus) gen-
erally lying quite or nearly side by side with the bones of the thigh
and leg; the elbow Joint pointing toward the hip bones, while the
bones of the two arms below the elbow Joint (radius and ulna) were
in many cases crossed, as it were, in front of the body. The ribs
and vertebrae lay along by the side of, on top of, and between the
bones of the upper and lower limbs; generally too far decayed to
indicate their proper order or position. The skulls generally lay
directly above or near the hip bones, in a variety of positions ; in
some cases the side, right or left, while in other cases the top of the
skull, the base or front was downward.

But two of the crania (A and B of the following table) obtained
from this mound were sufficiently well preserved for measurement;
and both of these, as shown by the teeth, are skulls of adults. C
of this table is the skull of an adult taken from mound No. 2.
below.

Crania.

Length.

Breadth.

Height.

j
Index of Index of
Breadth. Height.

t

Facial
Angle.

A
B
C

193 mm.
172 mm.
180 mm.

151 mm.
133 mm.
137 mm.

144 mm.
136 mm.
147 mm.

.746
.772
.761

•746
.790
.816

74°
66°
630

The skeletons were too much decomposed to permit the distin-
guishing of the sexes of the individuals to whom they belonged ;
but the size of the crania (adults) and other bones seem to indicate
that a portion of the skeletons were those of women. One small
cranium found was evidently that of a child — the second and third
p.air of incisor teeth appearing beyond the gums.

Mound No. 2, located If miles east of Hallsville, Duplin county,
on a somewhat elevated, dry, sandy region. Base of mound nearly
circular, 22 feet in diameter; height, 3 feet, surface rounded over
the top. Soil similar to that which surrounds the mound— light
sandy. Excavations of one-half of the mound exposed portions of
eight skeletons, fragments of charcoal and pottery, arranged in
much the same way as described above in ease of mound No. 1. The
bones being badly decomposed, and the mound being thoroughly
penetrated by the roots of trees growing ove; it, the excavation
was stopped. No implements or weapons of any and were found.
There was no evidence of any excavation having been made below
the general surface, in the building of the mound, but, rather evi-
dence to the contrary. The third cranium (C) of the above table
was taken from this mou^id.

Mound No. 3, located in a dry sandy and rather elevated place
about one-third of a mile east of Hallsville, Duplin county. In size
and shape, this mound resembles those already mentioned. Base
circular, 81 feet in diameter ; height 2^ feet. No excavation was
made, other than what was sufficient to ascertain that the mound
contained bones of human skeletons.

Mound No. 4, Duplin county, located in a rather level sandy
region, about one mile from Sarecta P. O., on the property of Branch
Williams. Base of mound circular, 35 feet in diameter; height 2^
feet. Soil sandy, like that which surrounds it. Around the mound,
extending out for a distance varying from 5 to 10 yards, there was a
depression, w ieh, in addition to the similarity of soils mentioned
above, affords ground for the conjecture that here, as in a number
of other cases, it is probable the mound was built by the throwing
on the soil from its immediate vicinity. Only a partial excavation
was made, with the result of finding human bones, and a few small
fragments of charcoal and pottery.

Since the above mounds were visited, I have obtained information
as to the localities of mounds similar to those described, in the east-
ern, southern and western portions of Duplin county; and I can
hardly doubt but that a closer examination of this region will prove

them to be more numerous than they are now generally supposed
to be.

In Sampson county, the localities of several mounds have been
noted; but one of these, however, so far as I am informed, has been
examined with care. This one (Mound No. 5), examined by Messrs.
Phillips and Murphy of the Clinton School, is located about 2-k miles
west of Clinton (Sampson county), on the eastern exposure of a
small hill. In general characters it resembles tlie mounds already
described. Base circular, 40 feet in diameter ; height 3J feet ; soil
sandy loam, resembling that surrounding the mound. Contents con-
sisted of small fragments of charcoal, two bunches of small shell
"beads," and the parts of 16 human skeletons. These skeletons
were, not distributed uniformly throughout the portion of the mound
examined. At one place there were 9, at another 6, and at a third
place 5 skeletons, lying close to, and in some cases on top of one
another. In this point as in the position of the parts of the skele-
tons ("doubled-up") this mound resembles those described above.
The bones were generally soft from decay. The small shells were
found in bunches under two skulls; they are of the same kind (Mar-
ginella roscida, Redfleld) as those from Mound No. 1, and their ends
were ground off in the same way. No bones were found below the
surface level, and there was no evidence of excavations having been
made below this point. No stone in plements of any kind were
found in the mound. One-half this mound was examined.

In Robeson and Cumbeiiand counties several mounds have be^n
examined; and for information concerning these, lam indebted to
Mr. Hamilton McMillan, of Dora, Robeson county. Five mounds
are reported as having been examined in Robeson county, averaging
60 feet in circumference, and 2 feet high, all located on elevate d,
dry ridges, near swamps or water-courses; and all contained bones
of human skeletons. One of these mounds, located about two miles
east of Red Springs, examined by Mr. McMillan, in 1882, contained
about 50 skeletons. Many of these bones near the surface of the
mound, in Mr. McMillan's opinion, had been partly burned — those
nearer the bottom were in a better state of preservation. There w^as an
"entire absence of skulls and teeth" from this mound — a somewhat
remarkable fact. A broken stone "celt" was found among the re-
mains ; buf. with this one unimportant exception, no mention has
been made of implements having been found.

In addition to the above, Mr. D. Sinclair, of Plain View, Robeson
county, has informed me that he has seen four mounds in the south-
ern portion of this county — two near Brooklyn P. O., and two be-

6

tween Leesville and Fair Bluff, about five miles from the latter
place.

In Cumberland county, two mounds are reported by Mr. McMil-
lan as having been examined. One of these loccated about ten miles
south of Fayetteville, was found to contain the crumbled bones of
a single person, lying in an east and west direction. There was also
found in this mound a fragment rock rich in silver ore. The other
mound, located ten miles southwest from Fayetteville, near Rock-
flsh Creek, was examined by Mr. McMillan in 1860, and found to
contain a " large number of skeletons," — "bones were well preserved
and, without exception, those of adults." The mound was located
on a high sandy ridge, its base about 20 feet in diameter ; height 2^
feet.

In Wake county one mound has been reported as being located
on the northeast and several on the southwest side of the Neuse
River, about seven miles east from Raleigh ; and from the former it
is stated that large numbers o stone implements have been removed.
But I have been unable to examine these or to obtain any definite
information concerning them. One mound in this county, examined
in 1882 by Mr. W. S. Primrose, of Raleigh, is worthy of mention
in this connection, as it resembles in general characters the mounds
of Duplin county. This mound is located about ten miles south of
Raleigh, orj a small plateau covered with an original growth of pines.
Base of mound circular, about 14 feet in diameter ; Ireight 2 feet.
The contents of the mound consisted of small fragment of charcoal,
and the bones of 10 or 12 human skeletons, much decayed, and, ar-
ranged, so far as could be determined, without any reference to order
or regularity. No weapons or implements of any kind were found.

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