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Author title.

Title for subject entry.

LIBRARY CATALOGUE SLIPS.

Smithsonian institution. Bureau of ethnology.

Twelfth annual report | of the | Bureau of ethnology | to the |
secretary of the Smithsonian institution | 1890-91 | by | J. W.
Powell | director | [Vignette] |

Washington | government printing office | 1894

8°. xlviii, 742 pp. 42 pl.

Powell (Jolin Wesiey).

Twelfth annual report | of the | Bureau of ethnology | to the |
secretary of the Smithsonian institution | 1890-91-| by | J. W.
Powell | director | [Vignette] |

Washington | government printing oftice | 1894

8°. xlviii, 742 pp. 42 pl.

[SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. Bureau of ethnology.)

Twelfth annual report | of the | Bureau of ethnology | to the |
secretary of the Smithsonian institution | 1890-91 | by | J. W.
Powell | director | [Vignette] |

Washington | government printing office | 1894

8°. xlviii, 742 pp. 42 pl.

[SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. Bureau of ethnology.)

pesos, Coker

we ; Jao v X. ‘Y AA MaS

LAD \V Vn

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

TO THE

SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

agaiial INSTitg aS
A Siig
K *

Na uw
Lai ‘=

Sve aaee al

BY

dis W. POWs 1.1,

DIRECTOR

WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1894

BE Rt ERO ek ANS Mr PA

SMITHSONIAN InNstiTUuTION, BuREAU oF ETHNOLOGY,
Washington, D. C, July 1, 1891.

Sir: I have the honor to submit my twelfth annual report
as Director of the Bureau of Ethnology.

The first part consists of an explanation of the plan of the
Bureau and its operations during the fiscal year 1890-91; the
second part comprises an extended paper on the mound explo-
rations of the Bureau of Ethnology, giving an example of the
methods and results of the work of the Bureau relating to the
important branch of archeology indicated.

I desire to express my thanks for your earnest support and
your wise counsel relating to the work under my charge.

I am, with respect, your obedient servant,

Hon. 8. P. Laneney,

Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Ilr

CONTE NTS:

REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR.

Page.

Ibo e NK NON SS Abs Ae otocip ge hee ras ree Serie nese ta ee nee Cen Goa oe Sa ep SS ea rae XXI
LOST GL 5 Gi8 eh Se eee CLS ea eer eee Ae ene nee SEES a Eee a ec ie eee ae XXII
A CHEOLOP LC field nwiOR Ke seme eater neta eee sae ei eee ere see ae XXIII
Rieseatebesibye Murs View. ELOUMEGS = 35.52 pm me aja ae are ee ee XXIII

Work olin, Gerard owkGe- 2-2... 2 so seisiec aes = sic sericea oe eels XXVII

\ionle ont iu te alrite leh iol Gh ener eee ao ere Sher sso eeaaseooeos XXVIL
Wiorkiof Mir @osmoss Mind 6letiet fs senna cm foo see see oes eas ce XXVUI
Ganeraltheldewonkks ese aac mete see ete ails = SUN ee toe oie aes ios See ciae. XXIX
NwonksomMrs eM CAuStevensOle set cote cieea cei ciincmee tacoma oe ro: 0.8

VOTING fi rave ye) sO TO ON rates oe pe teen 8 Serafina es cine ins cee SSKIEK:
Wiorkvote\ir ee) ain Cs VLOOHO Ne cman se craieiierecie cise actye ane ae eee BOON

OMG E WOLKE coe nose sane nse muneten a= Mes Ss clemieasenigia eee cis aes sSlecis cee the XXXI
WiOnkrontieDINectOnans tease Soe oa Beate soe eee eee XXXI
WronkcotiCols Garrick Mallenye--ss-eceses cons Seas -eemeasee sees ce XXXII

Wonk: ofiMan-whterry pW. blenshaw a2) soon eee ene =a XXXII

Wiork oti rOr- © Vise ROMAB espinal eee ete cnce aes Saaaat XXXII

Won kio fers Wis thw OMNES? oe eee See cca y: teats ere aie eee ee XXXIII
Workiotineva i OwennOrseyy =. cecesn to sclecrcsoe cence seeet cee XX XIII
WiorkofinPAl berths: GausChe tn caee a-ere seria cesses sees - XXXIV

\ QVCO LG} MND Sea) eer eB Koy ctr 0 oe ee oo Peter i cle ees ree XXXIV
Wiork‘of Mr. dames) Mooney. 2.~ << see2.sc-e ese 29 aco sen ase eee XXXV

VOL Gunn ils ESTs Ory Lew lhnve ro eceeebodereceHe ateeesceconesoset XXXV

WVOCK On Mina) s Negbeiklewabhooos 2-8 seescee 4 esr cece s seman XXX V
Worlksof Mrs. Meatildai@ Stevenson .- 42-5. -cer. ses. s2eeee eee cee XXXVI
Wionksotevin' CosmosyMindel eft 2 - ess 2c -= eect a tein Se eiciecie cele XXXVII
Niorkot Mi Jeremiah Curtin +. =a. sesce. freee eee eee ae ees XXXVII

Mork sof Vir De Jac OyavVie Glee a= ter ene eee aces mer see ae XXXVII
AIMIMIS LTA vive! WOLKece auch os aes s a0 eoeten ines cote name ree ns Se, ROOK VIN
PICHON ema tena ee ne eee ae ey sack ae eec meccinee aie aot aces asec XXXVIII
Accompanying paper on the mound explorations of the Bureau ...-..----- XXXIX
BAMANClial Stabe Mente. sf 5.ac cass see oe war oni ea cies sas gost Seco ee eeeee XLVIII

ACCOMPANYING PAPER.

REPORT ON THE MOUND EXPLORATIONS OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY, BY CYRUS

THOMAS.
Page.
Outline onanisipapetee. os cavaeasecete saree sisass eee tee eeoe Se aescweeameewe 17
LETHE) eV: aes soe: Selec eee Pee at Re IO a Soe Ginnie eee SSIs es eee mre 19
UNO UNC TOMS erasers ne Ser eat eta ee Se eae ae Ine ee SP ee iei= cersiciee cieiee 27

vi REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

TONE Woy ser none) «2 Sat Ba eee ones our cobs aebds cocsase age cba Soe aoo cto owes
Manitobiajand the Dakotas’. ---2--- === =- 22 ee = tee eee ee eee ee
IWPAGRIR) - oes oosh one sno Jae pee ome a eiseS Seen eset e sen sore sncosseces

PUP CRU OOM GOULI Ta yi tra ase aie
LSE FROMM NIN aa Sao ose oes ado se eos SSS SsSsseSssos essence ss
WARIO 002 soBnp oo erasers Sco ceaso6 Joon abe Sein coon Sucks SeeR onot as25so25
AO COUN Ye eat ee mle
(Chih ato UConn se Sogeea sao ccs bony secede Sts de SoCo oe SSS sadoes
IWS UO EEE COUT yt ea ee eee
(Comba nefe vias ica s Gop cqscS one she Seon ae SS op soe cee SS SSSsee ssc
RING Ofori (Oni A Ba ean Keen y Soe oes ehooc ees seccos zeenisos: cones:
LEN CACUET Ieee Woe oo 5 Re oes ae Socer aco Sesactiser os -eeeosiss cose
ING ACOA Esa chase oner soe aScelteactssscie aghaen ae soo Sete asosace
Wi ose nes S58 jodeos~ aus Se Seecedeseecs JatesamerSae s2esc0 sesh escedo see
J MUTE CON RS emisos 5 Mabe Sooo san seu en spew asec seoos
Clayton coumtyer. oe ee = see ae Se eee Ole eer ee ee
LOA jokes) (VowroNIy | a= Sam See eSB See so sbos Meoceonanean Sse esos soe sacs
\iveyaell ty Gib e se aes bos bases ose soe sec pooeeereeses sae
Vial Been O UI Cy eee ee he ean
TG: COUNE Yes a= sro ee wis Ce eae Bae ee Rn ee eae tere lero
NW byiver penne Shek eee bac ence nec eee aees pon eceoe Joo sees cant ese
AGIs IDE MNES CUM Ny seo Sas Seno sasooeses soos Ses sosete esha sekoasy oes
LEM KGW Nil hice Sea see pao Seaes snc HSS ae a secmeasbey saeco sesaase
BROW Oy COMI) ee ee ee ee = et ea oe
Aas COUN Gy oe een ee ea ae eee ile See Becin ees See
CallhouniGouniiyes-se=e ee ea e ee en eeee ree
Madison and Sts Clain counties: <2 s222 eee soe = canes anne eae
Rand olip hi couultiyse ets. ae at ere

VACKSONICOUMDY = ee er cere eres So en Sian ee eeae eee ee

IN Gren GP Oo Fi ones Hes Sees sone seed a Soo son es sede Seer sesaooSs55~4
WinioniGi hiya. Sonhs soon sso see eaos sens asSns ease sce sana Sesagocbeed
aiwrenCe.couniby, memset ate cies eee team eee ale ee Cee ee eee ee
WINER CT 68 Seen os So oa see oenn 3s socmab ooto Boot seem ausacdeweet esa ss:
Glarkicounthy; 3-mp-ee 22 ee aoe epee eel eee eee eee oe eee
MG NWASY GOULD UY. = sees in ols eateeimin oie slanara teen = pent ome ene eee
St.Louis: countyiccs<s-2 eeoso- 52 vaseoae esas eels see er eadsndecemees
Cape) Girardeauicounby--=- s25-cs-e eee ae eee aaa eee eee
Ls UhMyEC GON, So sbecGoconeissas oooS Santon Sea roc etoobacacsesmass cz
Shodd ard) COMMLy esa. cera mates ay eee Ee eae be ete a ns ae rear iete
Scott ands Mississip piscounties e=—— == see eee eee ee eo ee
LSAT CORN edanaenao SHodeeneae sh eset sate ease casdee sosandeas
JAvKcanSas:: 2c.e0.he Le ene fe ce ccc see ig Sree Saw oe ee ee En el = ere
(CHEM EON ny Sen s5 soso soos ondacct som oases nance aene sa enesaceseq sens
Greene) COUN Dy aaa we een asi ae ete or a er
Craighead county - <2 52222652 sae ane es eee anager ene ae Seneee eee
Poinsett county..-2.202-20+ <2 aaa as ove sces oe eee ae ace Sueweo ee eee
Mississippi (county =225 —sniins.. seen see ae ee eee
Independence: county 2. -- = sae Se eee eee ee EO ir ase
JRC ICS OVUM C OMELA Leet ta
Crittendencounty -2 25. 3 sna eae ie ieee oe eee ae eee
St;, Francis County. .sss2- s.este8 oa ee ae fo See eee
Arkansas, county:s. 3255. 2 2c25 se Sonics snscis ae hiss oats eee ee cee
TL@@ | COWIE Ye mo sate tea sn tet a eRe
Monroetounity.cscren= cece. aoe eee eee eee ee tere

83
93
94
98
99
99
108

CONTENTS.

Field operations—Continued.
Arkansas—Continued.
IMemMN NS) QUEL S soa. Sha ooe ates Osea Song sacar onec or Bondise Cope Sede este
Weshakcountyec- asec ne cae eae ee eee omer nmr sesiacncces cos
TE WCOUDLY one oe = Sem ane se ne yenae onlays abe Seca Sere Se atelmee wie are Saar
Wincoln county: q= sc: ve sec tence ec one~ cose se eee os aocenewsesee
AGATE CONN RG ELS San gceSu paog ESE Tes sco oS ean oseesabenee ca uduanosc
Pulaskitcountyee 2-6-2 sera seen cece ces sten Aeceeeeme ee sane a sceeeeic =
SEUNG CONT Hy See Goce geitins Comet Soto one aeracisbed bese secolsoebenbecsee
Glinkscoun tye cease Cee nee eee ace ieee Sco eee
Onachitaicountiye-seeeas se seseeteaee eee. Sees ee eee are wake cee
MLOUISI ANA oes i= oe seme see aise aso Se ce case selec as ereaes sacle Seco aeacaee
Mississippl= ii. .2-2-222-222-8 Soars Mee Seine Sess eeeene cote es eveEdetens
@oahomarcoum by pects sear eee e a ee See ences eee ne aes Scie
SunMowericounbyaasoo ene asco = tee = ao aee seca ee eee eeia= =
NV se Gin CLO TMG OUD Ay teeta sect eteeate eat creme ae elem com ate
Yazoo county. .-.--.----- ino Pao BSenig nee pS ares Gsae GUC Ss poosdepopoce
AdamsiCOuBtye!-- === Jo ccce es esses casa nise se nneeesesnasee bens s cae
Unions COUN yer esate heen ae streets eA ote ae eee nats Aaeeiora
Westennich CNNeSSC Gras am er < seemee sata ete Se see eit en ceteeare eo einteeel ai
Mauderdalercountiye-2-¢r 225 2--eass sc sce ss ctescecescencceateees eee
ObLON COUN byes sae ee aac bee eters aan se eee coae es cpte seseeen saci
aT OY Griacienctotopansen. Hoes SoeRso SUDO es par Sanbp er GOSS EObercocscone
PAN A) DIN lee are rye sar Scola eit eee eee laisse ee eee iain elels acleleienin town etsieta.
Imanderdaleicounty sce s=22eras2mseea-sseeosl ese ~ Soe toe ckcsee secics oo
WiACISONE COMME We em esa sate tea ce cere ete me Mee See cna ee otae se tleipine
Marshall counby see aeas oe aoe coe< ceee eee ews bess ees ce eee cst ees
LOUNGE COUMLY = om aoe cic Soe se oeee oboe se ee saicis hewlews ots ee iene
SULIT U TOY IN Serge bem oo Oc mo EEE Sone Bor oles agar Coup Sb saoheetinds
Bilmorevcounbyeca- ere some seamen ee eee te a Se ere ene eee foe aims
Glarkes county sencacsaa sense aes ae se estes seccee oeecc seen eeecani==ee
anDOUT COUN cere eee a Senne Sas sae e aaa = ee aa oe eee elseris ome
Montromenry COUN = a-ceen = = 2 secs ceiee os oe ecles ec ceeeae cls cisto akin
(Ralladeracconuntyce= sass ta- = sas sae eee Se cceeee ae eae anes eae
JOLereomacOUNb Vere ese caer s Ce Seen eset ameeren eset maces
Georriatsnssoe nee fees eae he ose ears Sane eeees caacanpemeesanesaaaeae
BALtOw. COUNTY: 2-2 S2see ee cn ssitee s Soa see Seca gs eee Maer saeccens cee
Evabershamicounbyja- saeco cisat baer o-oo sic ean ee kes ee eae niess cans
BNI ELtRCOUNTY a5 sac acts = aeese oo see eee aa: crt ses eee eei= aia Serva
RiChMmOonds COMUNE YAS soe cease ee aS em Sess te oe Settee res rete ene
Souls @anolumare Spe ce ep seme a aaa ae acre ee ersict cieie iar ateralere ree
Kershaw (istiictsams =o ces ncet seis ae eeeee ce ane oe sbiaeeraw defaiasenta= sas

Wont @ano MNase. cere ene On sae ne cee pe eNeee sa ees occas ciniaig Sis
Caldwellscounty issu -soses cece re eae eee Seat meio eee aes eons 2
Burkesand Walkestcountiesss--- sees ceear ee aes sonst ee ee = oe eee Se
Lay Wood COUN LY san cas ces nce oe abe ee eee ence aes ec eem ane es
ibnncombelandEendersonscoumblesss seems eee- essere = Seen

ihastorny Renn essees sta see sonia ee aein eee Seer Semen se cine se astewe Sesiere
Sullivan county a2osa2 sae so see eee ee ane oe Donen seer seuss
Cartencountive. ss. cea tees so teas ces eene ee esos ae Sane tateam ics e oe
Pockercounty. oo 0 coke seco on ce rere ee ae ote cence sence csace =
eirersonnCOUNbY =<. mice sa swale eae creme at ene aces sane Gemmteseeiaes
RG ATION COUN iy seer ate me cictelere ov ccacinete ee metae inate eave cia stearate nines rels

vil

Vill REPORT OF THE BUREAU

Field operations—Continned.
Eastern Tennessee—Continued.

OF ETHNOLOGY.

Blountrand?Monroecounties. =-- 422 esse ae eee er ee eee eee

Loudon county - -
Meigs county ---
Rhea county ..--
West Virginia--.. --
Fayette county -
Kanawha county

Knox county - -- -
Hocking county -
Franklin county
Brown county. --

Coshocton county ----=---.2---.-< smefe sein Sane Soe ena se aeeae eo

Licking county -
Perry county... -
Ross county ----

Pike coumtyeccseete sae sot Lea sto eee

Pennsylvania -....--

Valley of the Mononpalielas. <> ten serac on jase see eee ee eee

Warren county. -
New York
Madison county -

Chautanqua ‘county se. <5 «222 Sicko eer ceemene aaee et nce seeeeeeee

Niagara county .
Wyoming county

Livingston county

Michigan

Archeologic areas ‘and distribution of types:-.----.----.-.2--.---2----s2--n ===
Primanysarcheol Op resections teres cpr cte ae) eal tan

Archeologic districts
The northern section

of the mound area

The Huron-Iroquois
The Illinois district

GUStRICTY phe espe ane Gee wine CREED oe ee

The Ohio distric
The Appalachian

beets tek eat. contsheete tac c ee tienes See ener cee Sees
Gistriet si. 2228s ato estes ha ela eae ee eee

The; Central or Meniessesudistrittessas- 4. sae see cee eee eee eee

The Mound-builders. - - - -
General observations
Different opinions
Objections answered
Other objections ans
Inscribed tablets... .

The historical evidence

WOTEC scjto cee Biss See clone ae 2 ce ete eee ios Rete eee ete

A comparison of the works of the Mound-builders with those of the Indians.

Architecture of the Mound-builders

Fortifications, et

Page.
366
390
404
406
407

659
660
667

CONTENTS. Ix

The Mound-builders—Continned. Page.
Similanitynn, burial(customs\2e- - asses eee ne anes os ssa s sobs ceceae cs 671
General resemblance in habits, customs, art, etc........-...-------..---- 680
Links connecting the Indians directly with the Mound-builders-..---.-.-. 688
The Etowah mound—Stone graves -...---.:...-2-..--.-2-2-.-------- 688

Engraved shells, stone pipes, copper articles, stone images........-.. 701
Evidences of tribal divisions—Subsequent use of mounds by Indians.--.- 706
Evidence of contact with modern European civilization found in the

MNOUNGS? ore Selves Sicis oats aCe elas Stas Foie aoa toes = newiceel sa vets bea 710
(Chas OO METKOUERT 64 Ske ce deb dane fat Soko Bone Home bee ABCA Hee eae eames 713
Othenmetals sas oo ss aeere tise nee on ar aeeisueeaaoce stynec lessees 712

WthewMuskokagiribessesessccca- seek ce cetien ease atoe ene eee emis ee ace oe e5 2 748

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.
Piate I. Plan of the Vilas and Flucke groups, Crawford county, Wisconsin. 72
II. Plat of White’s group, Vernon county, Wisconsin .---........---.- 82
ILI. Elephant mound and surroundings, Grant county, Wisconsin. .-.-. 94
IV. Plat of Rice lake group, Barron county, Wisconsin....-......-.-.- 96
V. Ancient works near New Albin, Allamakee county, Iowa-.....-..-. 102
VI. Map of Cahokia group, Madison county, Illinois --.--............. 134
VII. Map of the western part of Madison county, Illinois ...-.......... 136
VIII. Ancient works on Boulware’s place, Clarke county, Missouri....-. 168
IX. The De Soto mound, Jefferson county, and the Knapp mounds,
Polaskivcounty, /Atkansas= ==. --c5sc dee eeas es sense sence oe 242
X. Plat of the Knapp mounds, Pulaska county, Arkansas..........-.. 244
XI. Plat of the Carson mounds, Coahoma county, Mississippi---....--- 254
XII. Mound b, Carson group, Coahoma county, Mississippi. -.--.....-.-. 256
XIII. Mound d, Carson group, Coahoma county, Mississippi-.........--- 258
XIV. Selsertown group, Adams county, Mississippi,and platform and
mounds of the Selsertown group.----=.--2.-----.-25.<2----s.2--- 264
XV. View of the large mound, Etowah group...-.-.--.-.-.------.---.- 294
XVI. Plan of the large mound, Etowah group’.......-..-.-.-.-.-------- 298
XVII. Figured copper plate from mound c, Etowah group (human figure). 304
XVIII. Figured copper plate from mound ce, Etowah group (bird figure) .. 306
NDR Loutmom Holly wood: monndiGeorriasse--- eee 252 ses see cee eee e 318
Reke Mapjlofimound distribitionis..- = ses 4—--+— 5) 2s. S252 22 seecee: (In pocket. )
XXI. Observatory Circle, near Newark, Ohio. -.-....-....---.-.s2----e 320
XXII. Fair Ground Circle, near Newark, Ohio.......-......2..-2...---2- 322
XXIII. High Bank Circle, near Chillicothe, Ohio.-..-.-.................. 324
XXIV. Pipes from Hollywood mound, Georgia ...................-.-.---- 328
XXYV. Plat of the valley of the Little Tennessee River, Blount and Mon-
TOGCOUNUIOS NE RUESSCO aoe fanreeiis apne nae ne coe ee ae Cee 366
XXVI. Copy of Timberlake’s map of Overhill Cherokee towns.-.......---. 368
XXVII. Plat of group near Charleston, Kanawha county, West Virginia... 414
XXVIII. Plan and sections of the Staats mound, Knox county, Ohio..-...-- 440
XXIX. Cemetery mound, Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio .._...-...... 444
XXX, Newark works, Licking county, Ohio -.....-....-........--..---- 458
SKI Hains Ground) (Circle, Newark, Ohio=----24-+25--«-2s.22-2-52------ 460
XXXII. Observatory Circle, Newark, Ohio..-...........-.-.-.---- Sees cBac 462
XOXO Octacon) Ne war kau Nilo) cama sseeeee eee eee tase se sae eee Se 464
MOKeMUVE CO gUaro Nowak OULOM-e: pee ces as seo te saa as eto eee ees 466
XXXV. Square of Hopeton works, Ross county, Ohio --..--......-...-.-.- 472
XXXVI. Circle of Hopeton works, Ross county, Ohio..................-.--- 474
XXXVII. Circle of High Bank works, Ross county, Ohio -....--..-.......-- 476
XXXVIII. Octagon of High Bank works, Ross county, Ohio-....-.......-..-- 478
XXXIX. Square of Liberty tawnship works, Ross county, Ohio.-.........-- 482
XL. Square of Baum works, Ross county, Ohio -.....---..--.-.....-.-- 484
XLI. Plat of the ‘Angel mounds,” near Evansville, Indiana.........--. 558
Mua Copy of Plate Xa, ““Brewis) Nagration, asece. joe ss octeseesien neues. 652

XII

Fic.

REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

. Elongate mound, Souris river, Manitoba......-..-..----..--.--- aaa
. Elongate mounds, Souris river, Manitoba........--...--.-----------
. Turtle figure, Hughes county, South Dakota..............--....----

Inclosures and mounds, Pipestone county, Minnesota..---...--..----

. Mound vault, Houston County. Minnesotacessmeone eee eee a
. Mound group near Madison, Wisconsin. ..-..:---------+------.--.--
. Walled vault in mound Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin--..--.----..----
. Bird mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
. Section of mound and pit, Paairie du Chien, Wisconsin.-........----
. Silver locket from mound, Prairie du Cnien, Wisconsin ..---..-.-----
. Bracelet of silver from mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.---. ----
. Silver brooch from mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin-.--.--------
. Silver cross from mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin .--.----------
. Earthworks near Eastman Crawford county, Wisconsin ..---.-.----
. Plat of southwestern part of Crawford county, Wisconsin ---....----
. Mounds on NE. i Sec. 24, T. 8 N., R. 6 W., Wisconsin...-...---.----
. Mound ground at Hazen Corners, Crawford county, Wisconsin. -----
. Bird effigies at Hazen Corners, Crawford county, Wisconsin...-----
. Quadruped effigy on See. 36, T. 8, R. 6 W., Wisconsin.----..---------
. Group of bird effigies, See. 35, T. 8 N., R. 6 W., Wisconsin.-..------
, Bird effigy, Sec: .ap;) 15) Ne, kts 6 Wie, pWVUSCONSING Se se ene oe
. Mounds on Slaumer’s land, Crawford county, Wisconsin........----
. Courtois group near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. ----....---.------
. Mound No. 6, Courtois group, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin..---. ----

25. Plan of mound No. 16, Courtois group, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin-.

26. Mound No. 20 (section), Courtois group, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. -
7. Douseman mound (plan), Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin --....---------
. Douseman mound (section), Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin-.---.--.----
. The Polander group, Sec. 14, T.9N., R.6 W., Crawford county, Wiscon-

AEN 5 SS cron no ano ae onl tome a ele ee ae a ile oe ee be al nolo viele lolol ©

. Mound No. 3 (section), Polander group, Crawford county, Wisconsin. -
. Mound No. 16 (horizontal section), Polander group ---.-.------------
. Plan of the Armstrong group, near Lynxville, Wisconsin ..---.-.-.-
. Plan of the Sue Coulee group, Crawford county, Wisconsin... ..---.

Copper spindles frem the Sue Coulee group Crawford county... ----

. Mound group near Battle island, Vernon county, Wisconsin -.-. --.-
. Plan of mound No. 4, Battle island, Vernon county, Wisconsin. -- ---
. Copper plate from mound No. 6, White group (N. M. 88336) .....----
» Nectlion of moundUNo; 10) Wihitelprotprs == -- ste cece sae seee = se eee
. Obsidian implement from mound No. 10.-White group.-.-...---..----
FPot fromanound Now, WiNibe (or OU sek a eeame clea eee ee
. Effigy mounds near Cassville, Grant county, Wisconsin.----.-.------
. Lines of works near Cassville, Grant county, Wisconsin..-.-.-.-.----
. Mound group Wyalusing, Grant county, Wisconsin ...--.....-------
. Elephant mound, according to Middleton’s survey in 1884......--.--
45.
. Inclosure near Sheboygan, Sheboygan county, Wisconsin. ----..-----
“_MonndiNo: tdhicelakeiproup \.o. eer. us eee ee ee eee eee ere
. Cireular inclosure near New Albin, Allamakee county, Ilowa-.... ----
. Inclosure on Hay’s farm, near New Albin, Allamakee county, Iowa--
. Walled mound, Fish group, Allamakee county, Iowa----------------
. Group near Peru, Dubuque county, Iowa-...--..-.-..---------------
52.
. Diagram of Indian battle ground, Wapello county, Iowa.-----------
; Mound! croup; Dunlevth; MWlinois =’. 22 oe. sae song re

Elephant mound, after Warner’s figure --.......-----...:-.---------

Stone gorget, Dubuque county, Ilowa.-....-:-...--..----.----.-----

VG.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Vault MOUNCdUNG4, wOuUunierti Wim OI8': oe cecsesetece see. 2- cee
. Section of mound No. 16, Dunleith, Illinois -....-..........-...:..-.
wManltimmound=No: 16; Dunlerth, MWhinois--:-.2-<---.2.-2-- 2-4. 22-.
aoWelchieroup, brown county. dilinois *-. 2-2-2. 2222-n22)..2-52-e- See

. Mound No. 4, See. 34, T. 10 5., R. 2 W., Calhoun county, Ilinois. ....
. Group of mounds on Sec. 31, T. 10 8., R. 2 W., Calhoun county Il...
2. Vertical section of mound No. 8, NE. } Sec. 31, T. 10S., R. 2 W., Illinois
3. Vertical section of mound on SE. 4 Sec. 15, T.10S., R. 2 W., Illinois.
. Vertical section of mound No. 1, NW. 4 See. 2., 7.9 S.;R.2 W., Mlinois.
. Vertical section of mound No, 1, NE. } See. 27,T108., R. 2 W., Hlinois.
. Wood river mounds, Madison county, Illinois. -.....-........4.....
. Stone graves on Mill tract, Randolph county, Illinois .......-.....--
. The De Frenne stone graves, Randolph connty, Illinois ...-... 2... _.
. Stone graves on bluff, Randolph county, Illinois ...-....-......-..--
. Hut rings near the bank of Big Mary river, Illinois ---...........-..
PELOWwiromaackson COUMtY, MlIMOIs yo eae ee eri Sew cows see case ces
2. Vorel sroup, Jackson coumby, LiINOIs's. <2. << esas seen = sce sees ole
Spooleshapediqnuamentomcopper. sees s-.2c- = eee ee oe ae ee
. Sehlimpert mounds, Jackson county, Illinois ............--.........
. Section of mound on Schlimpert’s place, Jackson county, Illinois. --.
. Mounds on Hale’s place, Jackson county, Illinois --.........-...--..
. Skull.from mound on Hale’s place (side view) -.-....-.-.-..--------
. Skull from mound on Hale’s place (front view) .----.----.-.---.----
» Bone plate from mound on Hale’s*place ...-.--2-:--%.----.-----.---
- Catholic medal from mound on Hale’s place -----.....2.-..----------

- Round pond mounds, Union county, Illinois.........-.....-..---.-..
. Copper plate bearing dancing figures, Union county, Illinols ........
77 Mound croup, Clarkercounty, Missouri -/.2--.-22-.--22.-se--52-34--
. The Ben Proffer mound, Cape Girardeau county, Missouri -..-....---
. The Witting mounds, Cape Girardeau county, Missouri ....-.....-..
. The Peter Bess settlement, Bollinger county, Missouri .........._---
. The Lakeville settlement, Stoddard county, Missouri ..........-...-

MNLONe pipe, Wakevallersettlement-. = 2. sss2-- 2 22-62-22. ene
. County line settlement, Stoddard county, Missouri ................--
. The Rich woods mounds, Stoddard county, Missouri -......-..------
. Plan of mounds, Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6, Rich woods mounds ..........--.
. Section of mound No. 3 and adjunets, Rich woods mounds ......_.---
. Pin Hook ridge mounds, Mississippi county --.-..-...-.--.---..-.---
. Baker’s mound, Mississippi county, Missouri ...-..-.---..-.-.-.--.-..
. Beckwith’s fort, Mississippi county, Missouri ..._..-.........-.-----
» Lmage vessel trom Beck with’s ranch\- 2-2 ---- 2-2 2=23-J242.--- 2-2 5---
bowl tronmubeekwitihis fontiaosaes see seas ae eels a= ocean ses see e es nae
. Water vessel from Beckwit’s ranch, Mississippi county, Missouri ---.
. Water vessel from Beekwith’s fort, Mississippi county, Missouri .---
. Gourd-shaped vessel from Beckwith’s ranch, Mississippi county -----
- Owl image vessel from Beckwith’sranch -..-..-...1..--.-...---.----
. Fish-shaped vessel from Beckwith’s ranch -...-.--..--..---.---.----
Mileyers MOUNd Scot county, MISSOURI... 242 <= -2-45e5> sacs cee
. Mound group near Harviell, Butler county, Missouri -..........-.--.
WEOWEerSuory, Butler counby,, MIsSOUDI- .-2-..cc-s: cen cieece o-oo soe

XIV

Fig. 109.
110.
ibe
112.
Ss
11.
115.
116.
lal
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125:
126.
127.
128.
129.
130.
131.
132.
133.

134.
135.
136.
137.
138.
139.
140.
141.
142.
143.
144,
145.

146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151.
152.
153.
154.
155.
156.
157.
158.
159.
160.

REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

Page
Section of mound in Power's fort, Butler connty, Missouri --.-...--. 196
Effect of earthquake of 1811 on mound, Green county, Arkansas.... 199
Webb group, Craighead county, Arkamsas -....-...---.------------ 201
Monnds at Tyronza station, Poinsett county, Arkansas...--..-.---- 204
Section of mound No.8, Tyronza station, Poinsett county, Arkansas.. 205
Section of mound No. 12, Tyronza station, Poinsett county, Arkansa. 205
Section of mounds, Tyronza station -----2--------------2-s-5-5-2 206
Clay casts of ear of maize or Indian corn -<_--+..--2-----<-2---.--- 207
Clay; floor ofa threezroom houses cee... a= a eae ae eee 208
Mode of lathing houses by Mound-builders .........--.---.-------- 209
The Miller mounds, Poinsett county, Arkansas ....-......--------- 209
Vertical section of mound No. 1, Miller group, Poinsett county ---. - 210
Mound No. 9, Miljer group, Poinsett county, Arkamsas....-...----- 210
Plan:of mound Now) Millerioronup-esso5 s25= see eee ee 211
Plantofmound sorta) Millen eons eee ee eee eee 212
Plat of Thornton group, Poinsett county, Arkansas .-...------.----- 213
Plat of Taylor shanty group, Poinsett county, Arkansas ....-.--... 214
Mound No.) Raylorshantysoroups-eec ee =e eee eee 215
Section of mound No. 2, Taylor shanty group-...-..---.------------ 215
Section of mound No. 4, Taylor shanty group.--..--..-.---------.-- 217
Plat of Pecan point works, Mississippi county, Arkamsas --.-.--.--- 220
Image vassel, Pecan point, Mississippi county, Arkansas. .----.--.- 221
Vessel ftom Jackson mound, Mississippi coanty, Arkansas --.-.---.- - 223
The Sherman mound, Mississippi county, Arkansas--...-.-.----.---- 223
Engraved shell (Busycon perversum) from mound, Independence

COW Ys) AT eS BS eet ee eats ee ate ne ar eee a ee 224
Stone spool from mound, Jackson county, Arkansas--....---.------- 225
Bradley mounds, Crittenden county, Arkansas. .----...------------ 226
House site, St. Francis county, Arkansas -...-..--.---------------- 229
Plan of Menard mounds, Arkansas county, Arkansas. .------------- 230
Image pipe, Monroe county, Arkansas. ..--..-=.-.----------------- 233
Image pipe, Monroe ceunty, Arkansas....--...---.-.-.-5 -2---5--.- 234
Imago pipe, Monroe county, Arkansas. .---...---..---------.------ 235
Image pipe, Monroe county, Arkansas..-...--....-.-.-------.-.--- 235
Plan of Old Town works, Phillips county, Arkansas .....--..-.---- 236
Pottery vessel from Old Town works -...-...------:----.---------- 237
Mound (No.3, Ofd) Town wiorkca a 2 teen ne oe ee re eee ae 238
Ground plan and elevation of the Barney mound, Phillips county,

AT amBa8s 3.- Siete ese goa ae yey ee ne ae a tate aoe 238
Roger’s mound, Phillips county, Arkansas...--...----.----.-----.- 239
Mound near Arkansas City, Desha county, Arkansas. -....-.-..---. -- 240
Old French fort, Desha county, Arkansas...-.....--.----.-2---+--- 241
The Taylor mounds, Drew county, Arkansas -..--..--..--------.--- 242
Stone implement from Knapp group’..---.-...-.-.----=----------- 245
The Hughes mound, Saline county, Arkansas -.-...-..-------------- 246
An ornamented water bottle, Clark connty, Arkansas...-..---..--- 248
Flat-bottomed jar, Clark county, Arkansas ......-.---.------------ 248
Monnd group near Camden, Arkansas --..-.-.---.-----=--------:-- 249
Plat of Troyville mounds, Catahoula parish, Louisiana ---..--.-.---- 251
View of mound No. 6, Troyville mounds, Catahoula parish. ---. ---- 252
wh 3)S lags ieee icons 3 ots Sees ace tree PSI ie nen ae eee re Omitted.
Clarksdale works, Coahoma county, Mississippi --.---.------------- 256
Section of mound No. 1, Clarksdale works.--.-.......+------------ 257

Vessel in form of a shell, Sunflower county, Mississippi------.----- 259

Fig. 161.
162.
163.
164.
165.
166.
167.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Avondale mounds, Washington county, Mississippi. .-.---.-.---.----
Outline of mound No, 1, Champlin group, Yazoo county, Mississippi-
Vertical section of mound No. 1, Champlin group, Yazoo county ----
Image vessel from Champlin mound, Mississippi ---.-.----.--------
Mound group in Union county, Mississippi-------.----.------------
Plan of mound No. 1, group in Union county, Mississippi--.----.----
Sections Jong south trench, mound No. 1, Union county, Missis-

BIPPUE oe averse neoia sas elaains Says selec ome e kb eatsseee ee aseectap eset

. Section along south trench, mound No. 1, Union county, Missis-

BUD Pile seeter satis oe ee orem Olen eat eats oe late oe a Sa alaycle wate De

. Section along the northeast trench, mound No. 1, Union county... .
. Section along the northeast trench, mound No. 1, Union county ---.
. Section along the north trench, mound No. 1, Union county---- -.---
. Section along the north trench, mound No. 1, Union county... ----
. Silver plate with Spanish coat of arms; mound, Union county... .-.
. Fireplace in mound, Lauderdale, Tennessee-.-.---.----------------
. Image vessel from mound, Obion county, Tennessee.----.----------
. O’Byam’s fort, Hickman county, Kentucky -........----.-..-.-----
Peon deNO sl OLB yas Orbs ales ajoee tas ate secon ects a eaes
. Plat of Tally mounds, Jefferson county, Alabama ...--.-..----.---.
: Mound No. 2, Tally group.(plan and section) -.-.-...---.--..---.------
. Plat of Etowah group, copy of Jones’s plat, No. 1....--..----------
. Plat of Etowah group, copy of Whittlesey’s figure No. 1-...-.-.---.
. Plat of the Etowah: group (original)... .-2.---2/s--------es--4-5-
saree Mound of the Bio wal STOUPs ost) n= ecient ee asin ese len
. Vertical section of mound c, Etowah group...--..-.-..---.--------
. Plan of burials in mound ec, Etowah group-...-.-..----..-----------
. Figured copper plate from mound c, Etowah group..-...---..-----
. Copper badge from mound c, Etowah group......-.----------------
. Copper ornament or badge from mound c, Etowah group.....----.-
, Engraved shell, mound c, Etowah group.-...--2.-------------------
. Engraved shell, mound ¢, Etowah group...-.--..--.--...------------
SBUshtrom! Htow ab Mounds ss. ae) o see ose saese a ieee eee ee
. Copper plate with bird figure; mound near Peoria, Illinois.-..----.
. Section of the Rembert group, Elbert county, Georgia.........-...-.-
. Plan of mound No.1, Rembert proup.:-----=--2--- ses 25-2 ese4---2
. Vertical section, mound No. 1, Rembert group. -.-.-...-.-.---.----
. Upper horizontal section of Hollywood mound, Georgia...-..---. --
. Fragment of European pottery, Hollywood mound, Georgia. --..--.
. Lower horizontal section of Hollywood mound, Georgia-. ---.-----.
: Pot from Hollywood mound, Georgia-....-.....--..--------.------

. Bracelet of shell and copper beads, Nelson Triangle... .-.-...-----
mlronicelt fromm Nelson hnlanglesses --aeve—~ sie eae see et ciae ace
wbartior iron blade, Nelson Triangle22-. .-2-- 22 saee-ess eee ee

SVs

Page.
260
261
262
263
268
269

270

XVI

Fia.

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REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

. ENgrayvedishell, Nelsont Uriangle22e-e. o-oo aa eee ene ene
. Engraved shell, Nelson Triangle ..-...-..---.----.---------=.-----
. Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina ..-.....-.-----------..- ---
. Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina .-.--...---..----...---.----
. Pipe, Caldwell county; North Carolina ---------------.-22.2.----=-
. Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina ....2.2..---2.5.=.-2-=.-----
. Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina ...:-.....--......-----------
, Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina ...--..---...-.--..-2..-----
. Plan of W. D. Jones mound, Caldwell county, North Carolina. .---.
. R. T. Lenoir burial pit (plan), Caldwell county, North Carolina...
. Ancient burial ground, Wilkes county, North Carolina.--.~...------
. Clay hearth (or fire-bed), Wilkes county, North Carolina .-.--.-.-.-
. Bogus article, Haywood county, North Carolina.......-...-..------
. Bogus article, Haywood county, North Carolina......--..---.---.--
. Bogus articles, Haywood county, North Carolina ..--...----.------
. Big mound, Haywood county, North Carolina..........-...---.----
. Section of Connor mound, Hendercon county, North Carolina ...---
. Plan of mounds on the Holston river, Sullivan county, Tennessee --
. Copper spindle from mound, Sullivan county, Tennessee .-..-..----
. Plan of burials in mound, Sullivan county, Tennessee.-.--....---.--
. Stone pipe from mound, Sullivan county, Tennessee ...--..--------
. Plat showing ancient graves near Kingsport, Tennessee---.--..-.--
. Section of grave No.1, near Kingsport, Tennessee.-.---.-.---..-----
. Section of grave No. 3, near Kingsport, Tennessce......-...--------
. Section of mound on Fain’s island, Jefferson county, Tennessee. --- -
. Plat of mound groups on Long island, Roane county, Tennessee --- -
. Diagram of mound No. 3, Long island, Roane county, Tennessee... -
. Image from mound No. 3, Long island, Roane county, Tennessee ---
. Diagram of the Hagler mound, Roane county, Tennessee -----------
2. Diagram of the Hardin mound, Blount county, Tennessee ---. .-----
. Plat of the McMurray mounds, Blount county, Tennessee ....-..----
. Diagram of McMurray mound, No.2 --...--..-----------------------
smechion oie Mama ysMounds NOrmd = s)he tee ee tee
» Diagram: of McMurray mound, "Nondis2: 22-22 -22522 255-52 4-2 eee
. Plat of Latimore and MeSpaddin mounds (Citico group), Monroe

county, Nenne@sse@y- se -=— eee a eee eee ale oe ene eee

248. Vertical section, mound No. 1, Latimore group -.---..-----.-.-------
249. Vertical section of the Citico mound (MecSpaddin, No. 4) ....-------
250. Plan of burials in the Citico mound (MeSpaddin, No. 4) ..---..----
251. Moccasin-shaped pot, Citien mound... +.....--.--..---..----..-----
252. Copper rattle or hawk’s bell, Citico mound .--.... -...-.-----..-----
253%, Bonemecd le, Citicomoungdsaeee seen as nae aera eee eee eee
254. Plat of the Bacon and McGee mounds, Blount and Monroe counties.

SE@NMESSEC aera nial aha Sioa ee are ne apa a ee eee eee
2555 Plan‘of burials/in MeGee mound Noy 2) 5222 ose] seeps ae ee
256. Plat of the Toco mounds, Monroe county, Tennessee---.------------
257. Vertical section of the Big Toco mound, Monroe county, Tennessee

. Plan of burials in the Big Toco mound, Monroe county, Tennessee...
} Bonelimplement, Bis Tocomound 22-2 === oes eee ene
Boneimplement, bic) Locoamopnd)-..-=s see eae eee ae
stone pipe, bie Loco mound Jo.cs4eece = ee cee eee eee
2. Ornamented shell, Big Toco mound .....--.-....----.--------------
. Stoneamplement, Bis Loco mound) - 22-22 e ean ae ee ee laa
5 Hetoip dase iefeonepe Gl Be peo neers bon enon sobsins epee ae Sc sais cette

ILLUSTRATIONS. XVII
Page.
Fig. 265. Vertical section of Callaway mound, Monroe county, Tennessee.... 385
266. Diagram of Callaway mound, Monroe county, Tennessee......._... 385
267. Water vessel, Callaway mound .!............-. ics -2---- eee... 386
268. Water vessel, Callaway mound..............-..----.-.---------... 387
269. Plat of the Niles ferry mounds, Monroe county, Tennessee..._.._._. 388
270. Group two miles below Niles ferry _............-..--....--...-.... 389
271. Plat of mounds on the Click farm, Monroe county, Tennessee.____. 390
272. Horizontal section, Bat creek mound No. 3, Loudon county, Tennes-
Beer see ars te an catch innetapan ee alysis eas oe ee ee eo. 393
273. Engraved stone from Bat creek mound No.3, Loudon county, Ten-
MIGREREL) pic Sac a S606 sarc! Ia Se 5 SC See Sas ae ree ee tee ee 394
274. Mounds on John Jackson’s farm, Loudon county, Tennessee... _... 395
275. Mounds on John Jackson’s farm, Loudon county, Tennessee... ___- 396
276. The Lenoir mounds, Loudon County, Mennessee.s <=) <2 22<2. 502 2S ne 397
277. Plan of burials in mound No. 1, Lenoir group ...............__..... 398
278. Diagram of mound No. 2, Lenoir ORO Mme ee eee ete ae ene 399
279. Plan of burials in mound No. 2, Lenoir group........-...-......... 400
280. Vertical section of mound No. 2, Lenoir MOU P iar see tse 400
281. Horizontal plan of mound No. 2, Lenoir PLOUP Ome se ctae yas sees 401
282. Ornamental pot, mound No.2, Lenoir group....................... 401
283. Shell ornament, mound No. 2, Lenoir CRON Diente See ee eee a 402
284. Shell ornament, mound No. 2, Lenoir PLOW eeeaee as zens estes 402
Be meine, MOU UNO; 27 Henan CnOUpee ae eee ses. ot ie ee 403
286. Plan of burials in mound No. 1, Frazier group, Rhea county, Tennes-
BO Oe a plieimel arias) nie nites iene alee aoe coe mee gale Beet ee 406
287. Huddleson’s Circle, Fayette county, West WAGES TEA ae eee ee ae 407
288. Singular stone heaps, Fayette county, West Virginia ....._....... 408
289. Stone heap with two cavities, Fayette county, West Virginia...... 409
290. Section of stone heap with triangular cavity, Fayette county, West
Ml Tb av Ti eo NUS ae BAe att aly le ROE tt Mi a ied Teele 409
291. Enlarged plan of mound No. 1, and inclosure a, Kanawha county,
DVCSUNVarelaames SOE ee a el Senne Poe ie ae 415
292. Section of mound No. 1, Kanawha county, West Virginia ......_... 416
293. Spring Hill inclosure on enlarged scale, Kanawha county, West Vir-
(IDOE Se Pie tae ok ae Pate ee eee AC ay FETA ane ne aie 419
294. Inclosure G, Kanawha COND Ly AVES Gu Vilar nae eee a 421
295. Inclosure I, Kanawha county, West Mirginias <2 sesso 6 ee 422
296. Inclosure L, Kanawha county, West VAG PM a2 sha ee 423
297. Inclosure K, Kanawha COUDEY A Vest, Vir Ini aera ese eno eras 424
298. A section of mound No. 21, Kanawha county, West Virginia. ...__.. 425
299. Copper bracelet from mound No. 21, Kanawha county, West Virginia 426
300. Copper gorget, mound No. 21, Kanawha county, West Virginia .... 426
301. Steatite pipe from Kanawha county, West Virginia...............- 427
302. Section of mound No. 31, Kanawha county, West Virginia......_... 432
303. Mound group, 1 mile west of Barboursyille, West Virginia. ......_- 438
304. Section of the Hawn mound, Knox Conniiy | ONO === see re. ae 441
305. Plat and section of the area about the Staats mound, Knox county,
ONG) ot See sae 5 te cues oases se Ses cle eae meen ROWE OR el ae 442
306. Plan of Cemetery mound, Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio..___. 444
307. Section of Cemetery mound, Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio.... 445
308. Works on the Davis place, Hocking county, Ohio...-..........-.--. 447
309, Plan of the large work, Davis place, Hocking county, Ohio....___. 448
310. Ancient works near Dublin, Franklin county, Ohio............._.. 450
* 311. Group of mounds, Brown County. ON oa Ss ree sae on 453
12 ETH II

XVII REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

Page.

FIG. 312. Stone grave, Brown county, Ohio: oe oe = ee tee ote teeta are 455,
313. Section of a stone grave, Brown county, Ohio.........--.-.-------. 456
3146 Moundsinéar brownsville: Ohio 6 - sasee oa oe eee eee ae ee eer eon 458
315. Small inclosure, Newark group, Licking county, Ohio...--..-..---.-- 460
316. Levels along parallels at Newark, Ohio............-..--+----------. 467
317. Ancient inclosure, Licking county, Ohio...-.---..--.----.----+--=-- 468
318. Stone fort on Flint ridge, Licking county, Ohio........-.....--.---- 469
319. Stone fort near Glenford, Perry county, Ohio.........-...-.---.---- 470
320. Section of the Cryder mound, near Adelphi, Ross county, Ohio... --- 471
321. Small circle, Liberty township works, Ross county, Ohio.....-.-.... 480
322. Pyramidal mound, Baum works, Ross county, Ohio.-........--.--.-- 485
323. Bone implement point from Baum works .......-...---.------------ 487
3245 Circle A, Sealitownship -worke.. - 22-222 seston so seem cia 490
325. Copy of Moorehead’s station 241, Pl. vi-.....---.:-.---:.--.---.---- 492
326. The Serpent mound, Adams county, Ohio.......-...--..------------ 493
327. Mound and graves near Monongahela city, Pennsylvania... --.. - ER sbe 496
328. Section of Irvineton mound, Warren county, Pennsylvania.......-.. 500
329. Pieces of silver from Irvineton mound, Warren county, Pennsylvania. 501
330. Inclosure near Pittsfield, Warren county, Pennsylvania-...-..-.---.. 502
331. Ancient fort on Atwell farm, Madison county, New York.......-.---- 504
332. Seat of ancient Onondaga town, Madison county, New York...-.---- 505
333. Old fort near Ellington, Chautauqua county, New York...-..-..----- 507
334. Inclosure near Ellington, Chautauqua county, New York --.--.--.-- 509
335. Inclosure on Dunn farm, Wyoming county, New York.....--..------ 514
336. Rifle river fort No. 2, Ogemaw county, Michigan.-...-...----.------ 517
Joi Mapior the Huron=lroquois.districtses--e.- 2s. aes see eee 541
338. Elevation of large mound, Angel group..---...-.-..--..------------ 557
339. Plat of large mound, Angel group.-..-----------..----------------- 558
340 cheivillape: Of SCCObaIs. 2" ater aera saan em te ie ne eee tee 621
341. Interior of house of Virginia Indians.........-..--.:.-...----------- 623
342, Section of mound 11, Cook farm group, Davenport, Iowa.-----.----- 636
343. Village of Pomeiock, from Brevis Narratio......-...---------------- 669

swipe from: Wine intas = tos. se aseie eels cee alta PERE Sond aabden se 706

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

BUREAU OF HTHNOLOGY

By J. W. Powexu, Director

INTRODUCTION.

The prosecution of ethnologic researches among the North
American Indians, in accordance with act of Congress, was
continued during the fiscal year 1890-91.

The general plan on which the work was prosecuted in
former years, and which has been explained in earlier reports,
was continued in operation. A noteworthy feature of this plan
is that the ethnologists who, as authors, prepare the publica-
tions of the Bureau, personally gather the material for them in
the field, supplementing this material by a study of all the con-
nected literature and by a subsequent comparison of all ascer-
tained facts. The continuance of the work for a number of
years by the same zealous observers and students, who freely
interchange their information and opinions, has resulted in their
training with the acuteness of specialists, corrected and gener-
alized by the knowledge obtained from other authorities on the
same or related specialties.

General lines of investigation were adopted by the Director
and the details were intrusted to selected persons skilled
in their pursuits, the results of whose labors are published
from time to time in the manner prescribed by law. A_ brief
statement of the work on which each of these special stu-
dents was engaged during the year, with its condensed result,

XXI

XXII REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

is presented below. This, however, does not specify in detail
all of the studies undertaken or services rendered by them,
as particular lines of research have sometimes been tempora-
rily suspended, in order immediately to accomplish objects
regarded as of paramount importance for the time.

The present opportunity is embraced to invite again the
assistance of explorers, writers, and students who are not and
may not desire to be officially connected with this Bureau.
Their contributions, whether in the shape of suggestions or of
extended communications, will always be gratefully acknowl-
edged and carefully considered, and if published in whole or
in part, either in the series of reports, monographs, or bulletins,
they will receive proper credit.

The items which form the subject of the present report are
embraced in two principal divisions. The first relates to the
work prosecuted in the field, and the second to the office work,
which consists largely of the preparation for publication of the
results of the field work, complemented and extended by study
of the literature of the several subjects, and by correspond-
ence relating to them.

It is with profound pleasure that attention is called to this
abstract of the work of the officers of the Bureau during the
term of a single year. By long training, by great zeal, and by
deep scientific insight, these gentlemen are now able to accom-
plish results far beyond the expectations entertained when the
Bureau was originally organized. The researches in this field
have passed beyond the elementary stage, and the significance
of the data being rapidly gathered becomes more and more
apparent.

FIELD WORK.

At the close of the last fiscal year the specific exploration of
the mound area of the United States ceased, except so far as it
was found necessary to verify surveys and supply omissions.
A large part of the results of this specific work, which had been
continued for several past years, appears in the present volume.
A plan of general archeologic field work was practically initi-
ated by systematic explorations of the tide-water region in

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XXIII

the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and of the Ohio
valley, which determined, among other points of interest, that
the ascription of great antiquity to forms of stone implements
of America, which have been hitherto classed with European
paleoliths in age as well as in fabrication, was not substantiated
by the ascertained facts.

Careful exploration of the Verde valley in Arizona followed
that previously made in other parts of the large southwestern
region of the United States in which the presence of many ex-
tensive ruins had given rise to fanciful theories. The data as
classified and discussed show that the hypothesis of a vanished
race enjoying high civilization, proposed to account for the
architecture of the ruined structures, is unnecessary.

The close attention hitherto given to Indian languages was
continued, in recognition of the fact that some of them are fast
passing beyond the possibility of record and study, and that
the ethnic classification of all of the Indian tribes can be made
accurate only through the determination of their linguistic
divisions and connections. The study of aboriginal mythology
and religious practices was also continued, with special atten-
tion to the ghost dances and “ Messiah religion,” which have
produced important consequences bearing on the problem of
proper national dealing with the Indians. The misconception
of Indian religious philosophy, which in fact presents rather
apparent than actual antagonism to civilization as it is in the
stage commonly traversed toward higher culture, has ocea-
sioned needless loss of life and treasure.

The field work of the year is divided into (1) archeology
and (2) general field studies, the latter being directed chiefly
to religion, technology, and linguistics.

ARCHEOLOGIC FIELD WORK.

RESEARCHES BY MR. W. H. HOLMES.

As previously announced, general exploration of the mound
region was discontinued and archeologic field work was placed
in the charge of Mr. William H. Holmes. During the summer
of 1890 he began the work of archeologic exploration in the

XXIV REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

Atlantic coast states. The ancient quarries of quartzite bowl-
ders and of steatite within the District of Columbia were
explored and extensive excavations were made. This work was
continued throughout July, and in August a quarry site near
the new U.S. Naval Observatory, on a ridge overlooking Rock
creek valley, was examined. The phenomena observed on
this site were practically identical with those of Piney branch,
described in the Eleventh Annual Report. A large area of
bowlder beds of the Potomac formation, two or three acres
in extent, had been worked over to the depth of several feet by
the aboriginal quarrymen, and all available bowlders had been
utilized in the manufacture of leaf-shaped blades. These were
probably blanks, subsequently specialized as spear heads,
arrow points, perforators, and related instruments.

In August Mr. Holmes proceeded to the Mississipi valley
for the purpose of reexamining some mound groups not
previously explored with sufficient care. He spent a week in
Grant county, Wisconsin, mapping the remarkable groups of
effigy mounds for which that region is noted. Subsequently
he visited Pulaski county, Arkansas, and made a survey of
the Knapp mounds at Toltee station, whence he passed to the
vicinity of Hot Springs, Arkansas, to examine the ancient
novaculite quarries near that place. Apparently the early
inhabitants had quarried this rock extensively, and had used
it in the manufacture of spear heads, arrow points, and other
articles. The pittings were on a large scale, surpassing even
those of the District of Columbia quarries. These works have
generally been attributed by white settlers to Spanish gold-
hunters of an early period.

In September and October Mr. Holmes resumed his explora-
tions in the District of Columbia and extended the work into
the valley of the Potomac between Point of Rocks and Cum-
berland, Maryland, and into the Ohio valley as far as Alle-
gheny. <A visit was next made to the eastern shore of the
Chesapeake, and a very interesting Indian village site on
Choptank river, 2 miles below Cambridge, was examined. An
ancient community of oyster dredgers was once established on
a bluff about 20 feet above tide level. Subsequently this site

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XXV

was buried tothe depth of 20 feet by wind-driven sand, and more
recently the waves have encroached on the land, exposing
a section of the bluff and its buried village site. The most
important feature of this exposure was the section of an ossuary
or burial pit 12 feet in diameter and 5 feet deep, which had
been dug at the village site and filled with a mass of dis-
connected human bones, all of which were in an advanced
state of decay. These remains were not accompanied by ob-
jects of art.

In April Mr. Holmes made a journey to Bartow county,
Georgia, and to Coahoma county, Mississippi, to make detailed
observations on the great groups of mounds in these coun-
ties. The principal mound in Bartow county belongs to the
group known as the Etowah mounds, and is a splendid example
of the work of the builders. In shape the great structure
is a four-sided truncated pyramid, not wholly symmetric.
It is 63 feet high, and measures about 175 feet across the
nearly level top. The measurements of the four sides of the
base are 380, 330, 360, and 350 feet. The slopes are steep,
reaching in places 45 degrees, and are broken by two decided
eccentricities of configuration. On the south a terrace from
40 to 50 feet wide slopes to the level of the base of the mound
on the east, and ends in a nearly level platform about 45 feet
square at the western end. The platform is about 20 feet
lower than the mound, and does not appear to have had means
of communication with its summit. This irregular terrace has
been called a roadway, but it has more the character of an
unfinished addition to the original mound. The other eccen-
tricity is a graded way extending eastward from the summit
of the mound, and which to all appearances is the real road-
way to the summit. This way is 20 or more feet in width,
though somewhat broken down by erosion, and has a slope of
only 21 degrees. The great Etowah mound was doubtless
the stronghold of the village, and its top was probably inclosed
by a stockade.

The Carson mounds in Coahoma county, Mississippi, form a.
group of unusual interest. There are four mounds of large
size, two of them being oblong and having twin summits. The

XXVI REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

highest has an elevation of 25 feet. Scattered about these
large mounds are nearly a hundred smaller ones from
1 to 6 feet in height and from 10 to 200 feet in diameter,
most of which, as the refuse indicates, represent house sites.
The house floors were of clay, well smoothed on the upper
surface, and the walls and possibly the coverings were also of
clay, supported by a framework of canes. The clay in many
cases has been baked, but whether from design in building or
through the burning of the structure surmounting the mound °
is not easily determined. There are numerous large pits about
the border of the site, from which the earth used in building
the mounds was apparently obtained. The area covered by
the village is three-fourths of a mile by half a mile.

In the spring of 1891 Mr. Holmes began a systematic
exploration of the tide-water region in Maryland and Virginia,
which included a study of the art remains and of the phe-
nomena of shell banks and village sites, as well as the map-
ping of all sites which have interest to the historian and the
archeologist. In this work he was assisted by Mr. William
Dinwiddie, and for a short period by Mr. Gerard Fowke.

Through documentary evidence it is known that the tide-
water region was occupied by tribes of Algonquin stock be-
longing to the Powhatan confederacy. So thorough was their
occupation of this country that along the water courses nearly
every available site bears evidence of it and, in the salt and
brackish sections of the water courses, shell banks (the kitchen-
middens of this people) cover the shores in almost continuous
lines. The sites were so numerous that a careful study of all
was found to be impracticable, and it was decided to select
for detailed examination a small number which are typical.
On the Potomae the following localities were chosen for
special study: The vicinity of Little falls at the head of
tide water; the site of Smith’s town of “Nacotchtank,” now
Anacostia; “Chapowamsie” island, atthe mouth of the creek
of that name; the site of the village of ‘‘Patawomeck,” on
Potomac creek; the great shell mounds of Pope creek and
the oyster-dredging stations about the mouth of Wicomico
river. Many sites on the western shore of Chesapeake bay and

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XXVII

on Patuxent river, also many village sites along the James,
most of them mentioned and located by Capt. John Smith,
were visited and examined. These include ‘‘Chesapeack,” on
Lynnhaven bay, Virginia; ‘Nandsamund,” on Chuckatuck
creek, west of Norfolk; Jamestown island; ‘‘Chawopo,”
““Paspahegh,” and “Quiyoughcohanock,” near Clearmont;
““Weanock,” on Eppes island, opposite City Point; and ‘‘ Pow-
hatan,” just below Richmond. The art remains procured
from these historic James river sites are identical in nearly
every respect with the Potomac and Chesapeake relics, a fact
which bears strongly on the question of the unity of the
art products and the identity of the peoples of the tide-water
country.

WORK OF MR. GERARD FOWKE.

Mr. Gerard Fowke entered upon his duties as assistant
archeologist on May 1,1891. He began at once the explora-
tion of James river valley, and at the close of the year was
making excavations in an ancient cemetery near Gala, Alle-
gheny county, Virginia. The object of that work, aside from
the usual archeologic exploration, was to determine from art
products the western limits of areas occupied by the Algonquin
tribes and the eastern limits of the various groups of peoples
belonging further westward.

WORK OF MR. HENRY L. REYNOLDS.

Mr. Henry L. Reynolds was the only one of the former
assistants in the Mound Division retained on the archeo-
logic field work. He was engaged during the early part of
the last fiscal year in making examinations and’ resurveys of
certain ancient works in Ohio, and in the spring of 1891 was
sent to South Carolina to examine several important works in
that state. Owing to severe illness, which terminated in his
death (on April 17, 1891) while in the field, this last trip was
not productive of scientific results. By the death of Mr. Rey-
nolds the Bureau has lost a skillful and industrious member,
and archeology an enthusiastic student. For some time pre-

XXVIII REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

vious to his last trip, in addition to his other duties as assistant
to Prof. Thomas, he was engaged in preparing a paper on
the prehistoric metallic articles of the mound area.

WORK OF MR. COSMOS MINDELEFF.

Late in November Mr. Cosmos Mindeleff was directed to
proceed to the Casa Grande, on Gila river in Arizona, and to
examine that ruin with a view to its preservation as provided
for by act of Congress; also to prepare plans and specifications
and make contracts for the work. He was further directed to
make an examination of the valley of Rio Verde, and collect
data for a report on the archeology of that region. Owing to
unforeseen delays the contracts for the Casa Grande work were
not executed until May 15, 1891, and were not approved by
the Secretary of the Interior until late in June. Subse-
quently the time for the completion of the work was extended
two months.

During his stay in the vicinity of the Casa Grande, Mr.
Mindeleff made surveys of this structure and of the extensive
ruin of which it forms a part, together with photographs,
detailed plans, sketches, and notes, with a view to a detailed
report. Among other results of his examination he found that
the ruin of this imposing structure is now standing to within a
very few feet of its height when built and occupied. |

Pending the execution and approval of the contracts for the
Casa Grande work, Mr. Mindeleff made an examination of
the valley of Rio Verde from its mouth to Camp Verde and
beyond. This region had never been thoroughly examined,
and it had been supposed that it would be found as rich in
archeologic remains as the region about Camp Verde. Such,
however, proved not to be the case. A chain of settlements was
found extending from Camp Verde southward nearly to Fort
McDowell, but the ruins are not so numerous as in the region
immediately about Camp Verde. About 10 miles below the
latter locality an extensive and well-preserved group of cavate
dwellings was found.

Throughout the whole Verde valley the buildings, now in
ruins, were constructed of slabs of calcareous rock, or of

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XXIX

river bowlders, or of both, and in construction, location, and
ground plans are affiliated with the northern type rather than
with the southern type, of which the best example is the Casa
Grande on Gila river. Data for a report on the ruins in the
valley of Rio Verde, and on the irrigating ditches and the
horticultural systems there pursued, were collected and have
been prepared for publication. Mr. Mindeleff remained in the
field until after the close of the fiscal year.

GENERAL FIELD WORK.
WORK OF MRS. STEVENSON.

Mrs. Matilda C. Stevenson remained at the Pueblo of Sia,
New Mexico, from July 1 to September 15, 1890. She was
diligently engaged in completing her studies of the customs
and mythology of the Sia Indians, desribed in the Eleventh
Annual Report of this Bureau. She made their cosmogony
and the rites of their secret cult societies special subjects of
investigation, with the view of acquiring a clearer understand-
ing of their mythology and religious practices. The data thus
obtained are incorporated in Mrs. Stevenson’s memoir on the
Sia in the last report of the Bureau.

WORK OF DR. W. J. HOFFMAN.

Dr. W. J. Hotiman in July visited the Menomoni reservation
at Keshena, the Objibwa reservation at Lac Court Oreille,
Wisconsin, the Ojibwa reservation at La Pointe, and the Ottawa
Indians at Petoskey, Michigan. At Keshena he attended the
annual ceremony of the Mita’wit, or Grand Medicine Society,
an order professing the powers of prophesy, the exorcism of
demons, the cure of disease, and the ability to confer success
in the chase. The ritual of initiation embraces the dramatiza-
tion of the Menomoni cosmogony, the reception by the Indians
from the Great Manito of the power of warding off disease and
hunger, and the instruction to candidates as to the proper mode
of so living as to gain admission into the realm presided over
by Naqpote (the wolt ), whois brotherof Manabush, the mediator
between the Menomoniand the Great Manito. The initiation

XXX REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

ceremonies are preceded by a mortuary ritual, lasting one entire
night, in honor of the deceased member, whose place is filled
later on by the initiation of a substitute.

Investigations were made of the Menomoni ceremony to
compare it with a similar ritual found among the Ojibwa. — It
appears that the Menomoni practices are offshoots from the
Ojibwa, and that where the Ojibwa shamans repeat certain
phrases in an archaic form of language as handed down to
them, the Menomoni employ Ojibwa words and phrases, per-
haps to mystify the hearers, or, perhaps, because the ritual
was obtained from the Ojibwa in that form. The mode of
manufacture of the several kinds of mats made by the Menom-
oni was also examined, and typical specimens were secured.

On the completion of his work at the above reservations, Dr.
Hoffman proceeded to La Pointe to inquire of the Ojibwa
shamans concerning certain sacred birch-bark charts employed
by them in the initiation of candidates into their society,
and also to secure additional information relative to the expla-
nation of pictographic cosmogony records. He then visited
the Ottawa Indians on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan,

near Mackinaw, to ascertain whether the ceremonies of the
Grand Medicine Society are still practiced by them. This.

body of Indians profess to have discontinued these rites, but
assert that a band of the Ottawa, living farther southward, near
Grand Traverse, adhere to the primitive belief and conduct
annual ceremonies.

WORK OF MR. JAMES MOONEY.

Mr. James Mooney made a short visit in July to the moun-
tain region of North Carolina and Tennessee, the former home
of the Cherokees, for the purpose of collecting additional facts
for a monograph on that tribe. In connection with the same
work he had intended to visit the Cherokee nation in Indian
territory during the following winter, but in the meantime the
“Messiah religion” had begun to attract so much attention
that he was directed to investigate that subject also at the
same time, as well as to gather more material bearing on the
linguistic affinities of the Kiowa tribe He left Washington

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XXXI

on December 22, and proceeding at once to the Cheyenne and
Arapaho reservation in Indian territory, where the ghost
dances were in full operation, remained for several weeks study-
ing the dances, making photographs, and collecting the songs
used. This last was the most important part of the study, as
most of the Messiah religion is embodied in songs, many of
which go to the root of Indian mythology. That religion is
a remodeling of aboriginal beliefs as influenced by the ideas
of Christianity lately imbibed from the white man, to be used
for the utter confounding of the white man himself. It is in
no sense a warlike movement. It is somewhat remarkable
that the ghost songs in use by the various tribes are almost all
in the language of the Arapahoes, the members of that tribe
being the most active propagators of the new religion and
their language being peculiarly adapted to music.

He then proceeded to the Kiowa reservation, where lin-
guistic and other materials were obtained by which it may
become possible finally to classify that hitherto isolated tribe.
Additional ghost-dance material was also collected. After
revisiting the Cherokee nation, where several weeks were
devoted to gathering information, especially in regard to the
Indian geography of upper Georgia, he returned to Washing-
ton early in April.

In accordance with arrangements for the World’s Columbian
Exposition it was decided to make a tribal exhibit from one of
‘the more primitive prairie tribes. The Kiowas were selected
for the purpose and the work was assigned to Mr. Mooney,
who then returned to their reservation. During May and
June he collected a large variety of articles illustrative of the
home life, arts, dress, and ceremonials of the tribe, and was
still in the field at the close of the fiscal year.

OFFICE WORK.

The Drrecror during the year devoted all the time he
could spare from other official duties to the completion of
a work on the linguistic families of North America. His
effort to classify the North American languages so that the
classification shall be of scientific value as well as of practical

e

XXXII REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

use, has been explained at length in previous reports. Such a
classification, when properly made, will constitute an indispen-
sable preliminary to all accurate ethnologic work relating to
this continent. The essay, with an accompanying linguistic
chart, was substituted for another paper in the long delayed
Seventh Annual Report of this Bureau.

Col. Garrick Mauery, U.S. A., during the year, when not
occupied in special and occasional duties designated by the
Director, was engaged in arranging for publication the mate-
rial gathered by him during several previous years on the gen-
eral theme of picture-writing. That title was used to embrace
all modes of expressing and communicating thoughts and facts
in a permanent form without reference to sound. Such modes
of expression being at one time, if not still, independent of oral
language, the study of their history, evolution, and practice
may assist in the solution of some ethnic aud psychic prob-
lems, and may verify or modify some theories of anthropologic
import. In the scheme of arrangement for publication the
objective exhibition of mental concepts by the North American
Indians has been classified with proper predominance, as it
has exceeded in interest all others known which have not
passed beyond the boundaries separating ideograms and
emblems from syllabaries and alphabets. In order to promote
explanation and comparison, however, copies and descriptions
of a large number of petroglyphs and .other forms of picto-
graphs found in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and in many
islands, were collated. With the same object, still more earnest
attention was directed to the synoptic presentation of illustra-
tions from Mexico, Central America, and South America as being
presumably more closely connected than is the eastern hemi-
sphere with the similar developments found in the present area
of the United States, whether inscribed on rocks with author-
ship generally unknown or actually in current use among many
of the Indian tribes. This work was incorporated in the Tenth
Annual Report of this Bureau.

Mr. Henry W. Hensnaw throughout the entire year devoted
his time to administrative work and to continuing the prepara-
tion of the Dictionary of Indian Tribes already described.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. ~ XXXIIT

Prof. Cyrus THomas was engaged during the year chiefly
in the preparation of his report on the exploration of the
mound area of the United States, which appears in the present
volume, and in other office work necessary in connection with
the publication of a bulletin entitled ‘Catalogue of Prehistoric
Works East of the Rocky Mountains,” printed during the
fiscal year though not issued until after its close. He was
also occupied in the preparation of maps for that bulletin and of
illustrations for his general report. It was intended at first
that the whole of that report should occupy two volumes as a
part of the series of Contributions to North American Ethnol-
ogy, but it was found convenient to divide it between the
present volume and the bulletin mentioned. As this change
of plan necessitated some modifications in the manuscript, the
opportunity was embraced to incorporate additional data
obtained through recent observations and correspondence.

Mr. W: H. Houtmes included in his office work the prepara-
tion of papers on pottery, shell, textile fabrics, pipes, and other
productions of the mound-building tribes, and the writing of
reports on the numerous explorations made during the year.
These reports have been brought up to date and are on file.
He has adopted the policy of preparing reports on field work
for file as the work proceeds, and his assistants are expected at
the close of each separate piece of exploration or unit of study
to make a report relating to it of a sufficiently finished nature
to serve the purposes of record and reference in case of their
disability or separation from the office.

Rey. J. Owen Dorsey prepared the index to his monograph,
“The (legiha Language—Myths, Stories, and Letters,” and read
the proof sheets of the second part of that volume, which has
since been published as Vol. v1 of Contributions to North
American Ethnology. He resumed his work on the (egiha—
English dictionary, inserting many new words occurring in the
texts, and referring to each new word by page and line. He
devoted considerable time to the tribal synonymy of the
Athapascan, Caddoan, Kusan, Siouan, Takilman, and Yakonan
families; comparing authorities, writing historical sketches of
the tribes, gentes, and villages of these linguistic families, and

12 ETH——1IT1

XXXIV REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

rearranging all the material in order to make it ready for print-
ing. From December, 1890, to March, 1891, with the aid of a
Kwapa delegate in Washington, he collected much information
respecting the Kwapa (or Quapaw) tribe, a people closely related
to the Omaha and Ponka, from whom they separated prior to
1540. After March, 1891, he elnborated that material, which
consists of about 150 personal names, arranged according to
sex and gens, with the meaning of the name whenever attain-
able, together with over 3,500 entries for a Kwapa-English
dictionary, and several epistles and myths with grammatic and
sociologic notes. This material was found to be of great assist-
ance to him in the preparation of the @egiha-English dictionary
and other papers. ,

He also prepared for publication the following papers: A
study of Siouan cults, illustrated with numerous sketches col-
ored by Indians, which is incorporated in the Eleventh Annual
Report; Omaha and Ponka letters, containing the (@egiha
epistles, which could not be published in Contributions to
North American Ethnology, Vol. v1; an illustrated paper on
Omaha dwellings, furniture, and implements; and a paper on
the social organization of the Siouan tribes.

Mr. Auger 8. Garscuer during the fiscal year was en-
gaged in office work only. After completing the manuscript
of the Ethnographic Sketch of his work, “The Klamath Indians
of Southwestern Oregon,” which was published during the year
as Vol. 1, Part 1, of Contributions to North American Ethnology,
he read the proof of it, which occupied him until October, 1890.
Later he was engaged in extracting, copying, and carding the
vocabularies and other matter collected by him during the past
ten years concerning the Tonkawe, the Hitchiti, the Shawano,
Powhatan, and Creek Indians. A large number of personal,
tribal, and local names of Indian origin were collected and _
partly explained in the intervals of the above work.

Dr. W. J. Horrman continued the arrangement and classifi-
cation of material relating to the society of shamans of the
Ojibwa Indians, which, together with numerous illustrations,
was prepared for publication, and forms part of the Seventh
Annual Report of the Bureau. Dr. Hoffman was also engaged

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XXXV

in the arrangement of the data and sketches relating to the
pictography and gesture language of the North American
Indians, obtained by him during previous field seasons, to be
incorporated in the works of Col. Mallery on those topics.

Mr. James Mooney devoted the earlier part of the fiscal
year to the elaboration of ‘his Cherokee material, the first
results of which, under the title of ‘‘Sacred Formulas of the
Cherokees,” has appeared in the Seventh Annual Report of
the Bureau. He also prepared a short descriptive catalogue
of his previous ethnologic collections from the Cherokee and
began work on a paper indicating that the southern Atlantic
states were formerly occupied by a number of Siouan tribes,
if, indeed, that region was not the original home of the Siouan
stock. In connection with this investigation, a closer study
of the linguistic material from the Catawban tribes of Carolina
confirms the statement, which has already been published by
this Bureau, that they belong to the Siouan family. Mr.
Mooney also at intervals assisted in work on the Dictionary of
ae Synonymy.

. JAMES C. Pruuine continued his bibliographic work
Pica the fiscal year. At the date of the last report he
was engaged in reading proof of the bibliography of the
Algonquian languages. The volume has been published, com-
prising 614 pages and 82 full-page illustrations, chiefly fac-
similes of the title-pages of rare books, syllabaries, and other
interesting bibliographic features. Among the speciat articles
in it is one relating to the labors of the ‘ Apostle” Eliot among
the Indians of Massachusetts, and more especially to his
linguistic work. As this author was the earliest and the most
noted of those engaged in this line of research, considerable
space was devoted to him and his labors, and it was thought
proper to issue the article in separateform. It is noted below
under the heading of publications. Mr. Pilling has terminated
his connection with the U. S. Geological a and is now

associated exclusively with the enmene of Ethnology, his ap-
pointment taking effect May 1, 1891. ;
Mr. J. N. B. Hewrrr has continued his work on the Tuskarora
dictionary, the Tuskarora—English part being well advanced

XXXVI REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

and the English-Tuskarora part commenced. Much material
for the compilation of a complete grammar of the Tuskarora—
Troquoian tongue was added to that previously acquired.
For this object such anomalous, redundant, and defective verbs:
as have been recorded in the dictionary have been conjugated
in all the derivative forms of which they are susceptible, a -
difficult but instructive task. Several regular verbs have also
been conjugated to develop all their known derivative forms.
The number of possible derivative forms of a regular verb in
the several conjugations is estimated by Mr. Hewitt to reach
between 2,800 and 3,000. This enumeration is of interest, first,
because it has been asserted by students of Indian languages that
the number of possible derivative forms of an American Indian
verb is infinite, and, secondly, because it has been estimated
that a Greek verb so conjugated would be represented, by
about 1,300 forms.

He also paid special attention to grammatic gender. There
are in the Tuskarora-Iroquoian tongue three genders, which he
names the anthropic, the zoic, and the azoic, which are ex-
pressed through the prefix pronouns only. In the anthropic
gender alone sex distinctions are found, and hence there are
masculine and feminine pronouns therein; but in the zoic and
azoic genders, sex is not indicated. Hence, by the prefix pro-
nouns, the objects of discourse are naturally classified into
three genders.

Mr. Hewitt continued making translations from the old
French writers, Perrot, Lafitau, La Potherie, and others, of the
notices and accounts of the beliefs, rites and ceremonies, super-
stitions, and mythic tales of the Lroquoian peoples. These were
collated as aids in explaining and elaborating the matter col-
lected in the field by him personally. By adding their testi-
mony to the evidence of etymology he forms.the opinion that
the Iroquoian cosmogony or genesis-myth originates in the
personification of the elements, powers, processes, and the liv-
ing creatures of the visible and sensible world.
~ Mrs. Matinpa C. Stevenson was engaged from the later
part of September, 1890, to June 30, 1891, in preparing for
publication the material collected at the pueblo of Sia, New

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XXXVII

Mexico, during the preceding spring and summer, which is
published in the Eleventh Annual Report of this series.

Mr. Cosmos Miypeverr during’ the first five months of the
fiscal year was occupied on the card catalogue of ruins
referred to in the last annual report and in the compilation and
preparation of maps showing the distribution of ruins in the
southwestern part of the United States. This work was tem-
porarily discontinued late in November, when he was ordered
into the field as set forth in preceding paragraphs.

He also has remained in charge of the modeling room.
Its force during the year was devoted exclusively to the ‘“dupli-
cate series,” reference to which has been made.in previous
reports, and no new work was undertaken. Five models were
added to the series, ranging in size from 16 square feet to 250
square feet, and comprising the following subjects: Mummy
eave cliff ruin, Arizona; Pueblo of Walpi, Arizona; Pueblo
of Sechumovi, Arizona; Ruin of Penasco Blanco, New Mexico;
and Pit of Nelson mound. This series is nearing completion,
and the Bureau now has material sufficient to form the nu-
cleus of an exhibit, such as it is often called upon to make,
without disturbing its series of original models now deposited
in the National Museum. It has also a small number of mod-
els which can be drawn upon to supply the demand for such
material for the purpose of exchange with colleges and other
educational and scientific institutions.

Mr. JEREMIAH CuRTIN was occupied with office work exclu-
sively during the year. From July 1, 1890, until February
1, 1891, he arranged and copied vocabularies which he had
previously collected in California, namely: Hupa, Ehnikan,
Weitspekan, Wintu, Yana, and Palaihnihan. He devoted the
later months of the year to classifymg and copying a large
number of myths which he had collected among the Hupa,
Ehnikan,and Wintu Indians. These myths are for the greater
part connected with medicine, though some are creation myths
and myths relating to religion and the origin of various tribal
customs and usages.

Mr. De Lancy W. Guu continued in charge of the work of
preparing and editing the illustrations for publications of the

XXXVIII REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

Bureau. The work done for the year ending June 30, 1891,
was as follows:

-

Drawings of objects and ethnologic specimens and miscellaneous

diagrams Sis 2S. . 2s Se, SS So Se eee 422
Ancient ruins, earthworks, and landscape drawings .......--- 153
IMaiDS Gare obi ois 2a FS oes Hi eS a ee eee yaa a 47

.
Potals 2's: 222 ty sts he ad Se ee ee eee eee 602

These drawings were prepared from field surveys and
sketches, from photographs, and from the collections brought
in by the members of the Bureau.

The photographic work remains under the able manage-
ment of Mr. J. K. Hillers. Photographic negatives were
- secured from sittings of Indians representing the following
tribes, viz, Sac and Fox, Seneca, Creek, and Cherokee. From
these negatives 129 prints were furnished.

ApwinisrRaTivE Worx.—Until April 30, 1891, Mr. James C.
Pilling was chief clerk of the Geological Survey and performed
similar functions for the Bureau of Ethnology; after Mr.
Pilling’s resignation from the Geological Survey took effect,
his successor, Mr. H. C. Rizer, beginning with May 1, con-
tinued to perform the duties of chief clerk of the Bureau of
Ethnology. Mr. John D. McChesney, the chief disbursing
clerk of the Geological Survey, continued to make disburse-
ments and transact the fiscal business for the Bureau through-
out the year. The duties of these officers have been performed
in an eminently satisfactory manner, without compensation
from the Bureau. Mr. W. A. Croffut, editor of the Geological
Survey, has remained in charge of the editorial work of the
Bureau, an exacting service which he also has performed for
several years without compensation from the Bureau. In this
work he has been efficiently aided by Mr. George M. Wood.

PUBLICATIONS.

The publications issued during the year are:

(1) Contributions to North American Ethnology, Volume
u, Part 1. The Klamath Indians of Southeastern Oregon, by
Albert Samuel Gatschet, a quarto volume of evii+711 pages

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XXXIX

and map. This part includes an ethnographic sketch of the
Klamath people, texts of the Klamath language with explana-
tory notes, and a grammar of the Klamath language. The
second part comprises the Klamath-English and English-
Klamath dictionaries. It was in type at the end of the last
fiscal year, but was not then received from the Public Printer.

(2) Bibliographic notes on Eliot’s Indian Bible and on his
other translations and works in the Indian language of Massa-
chusetts. This is an abstract from a Bibliography of the
Algonquian Languages, by Jaines Constantine Pilling, and
forms pages 127-184 of the Algonquian Bibliography, which
has since been issued. As separately issued these ‘ Notes”
constitute a royal octavo pamphlet of 58 separately numberea
pages. ‘Two hundred and fifty copies were printed and issued

ACCOMPANYING PAPER ON THE MOUND EXPLO-
RATIONS OF THE BUREAU.

In 1858, 1859, and 1860 the present Director of the Bureau
of Ethnology was engaged in examining prehistoric mounds
in Ohio, Indiana, Hlinois, and Missouri. At that time it was
the prevailing opinion among archeologists that the mounds
and other. aboriginal earthworks of the eastern half of the
United States are vestiges of a people more ancient and more
advanced in culture than the tribes of Indians- that occupied
the continent at the time of the discovery by Columbus.
Sharing these opinions, he began the preparation of a catalogue
of mound-builders’ arts, in the progress of which work many
mounds were visited and a few excavated, and the catalogue
grew from observations thus made in the field and from the
examination of collections in various parts of the country. In
the fall of 1859 certain mounds on the shore of Lake Peoria,
in Illinois, were examined and skeletons were found in one of
the largest, and with them works of art of various materials,
especially of stone and pottery. At the bottom, with some
articles of pottery, shells, stone implements, etc., an ornament
was found made of copper skillfully cut in imitation of a
spread eagle, with head turned to one side. Lying by the side
of this were a few glass beads. These challenged attention,

XL REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

and the question was necessarily presented to him, Did these
ancient people have the art of making glass? Subsequently
the copper ornament was more carefully examined, and it ap-
peared. to be made of rolled sheet copper, or if the sheet was
made by hammering this was so deftly accomplished that
every vestige of the process had disappeared, leaving only flat
surfaces on both sides, with a uniform thickness of metal. If
these articles were the work of the mound-builders in pre-
Columbian times, then the people must have possessed arts
more advanced than those shown by the mound arts previously
studied. Thus a suspicion arose as to the correctness of the
prevailing opinion.

National events interrupted the investigation, and carried
the investigator into other fields of activity; but while cam-
paigning in Missouri, Tennessee, and Mississippi, in 1861-64
he discovered and examlned many other groups’ of mounds.
In these new fields, also, most of the works of art unearthed
were of stone, bone, shell, and pottery, but in excavating a
mound with stone graves, near Nashville, Tennessee, more
glass beads were discovered and also an iron knife, very much
rusted, which was afterward lost. At the time of this find his
former suspicion became a hypothesis that the mounds from
which the glass, copper, and iron articles were taken were con-
structed subsequent to the advent of the white man on this
continent, and that the contents gave evidence of barter
between the civilized and savage races.

When the Bureau of Ethnology was first organized the
energies of its members were devoted exclusively to the study
of the North American Indians, and the general subject of
archeology was neglected, it being the dominant purpose and
preference of the Director to investigate the languages, arts,
institutions, and mythologies of extant tribes rather than pre-
historic antiquities; but certain archeologists, by petition,
asked Congress to so enlarge the scope of the Bureau as to
include a study of the archeology of the United States, and
thereupon, when the next appropriation was made, in Febru-
ary, 1881, the act of Congress was modified by including the
italicized words in the following extract:

-

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XLI

“Add to the paragraph appropriating $25,000 for con-
tinuing ethnological, researches among the North American
Indians the following:

‘¢« Five thousand dollars of which shall be expended in continuing
archeological investigation relating to mound-builders and prehistoric.
mounds.’ ” :

This change in the statute was a surprise to the Director, as
he had not been informed that such a movement was on foot.
In compliance with the terms of the statute the work of inves-
tigating the mounds of the eastern half of the United States
was at once organized, and Mr. Wills de Haas was placed in
charge, as he was one of the men who ‘had interested himself
to have the investigation enlarged. Subsequently, in 1881,
Mr. de Haas resigned, and Prof. Cyrus Thomas was put in
charge of the work, which he has ever since continued. The
new line of tesearches thus inaugurated has led to the publica-
tion of a number of papers in the reports of the Bureau, and
now one more comprehensive than any of the rest is presented.
by Prof. Thomas—a treatise which will be of interest, as it
“seems to disprove the attractive theory that the ancient tumuli
of the eastern half of the United States are the remains of a
people more highly cultured than the tribes of who were In-
dians found by the white man, and who had vanished from the
country anterior to the Columbian discovery. The problems
raised in the mind of the present Director many years ago
seem to have reached a solution.

It is difficult to exaggerate the prevalence of this romantic
fallacy, or the force with which the hypothetic ‘lost races” had
taken possession of the imaginations of men. For more than
a century the ghosts of a vanished nation have ambuscaded
in the vast solitudes of the continent, and the forest-covered
mounds have been usually regarded as the mysterious sep-
ulchers of its kings and nobles. It was an alluring conjecture -
that a powerful people, superior to the Indians, once occupied
the valley of the Ohio and the Appalachian ranges, their empire
stretching from Hudson bay to the Gulf, with its flanks on
the western prairies and the eastern ocean; a people with a
confederated government, a chief ruler, a great central capital,

XLII REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

a highly developed religion, with homes and husbandry and
advanced textile, fictile, and ductile arts, with a language, per-.
haps with letters, all swept away before an invasion of copper-
hued Huns from some unknown region of the earth, prior to,
the landing of Columbus. These hypothetic semicivilized
autochthons, imagined to have been thus rudely exterminated
or expelled, have been variously identified by ethnologists
with the ancestors of the Aztecs or the Toltecs, the Mayas, the
Colhuas, the Chichimees, or the Pueblos, who have left no
sign of their existence save the rude and feeble fortifications
into which they fled from their foes, and the silent and obscure
elevations in which their nobles found interment. *

Only about a hundred years have passed since scientific men
became fully aware of these remarkable antiquities. They
were first discussed by Dr. Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Presi-
dent Ezra Stiles of Yale College, Noah Webster, and their
contemporaries, who advanced various theories to account for
the origin of the mounds. | Franklin and Webster were inclined
to attribute to De Soto and other Spanish explorers the few
that had been found and deseribed, but Webster afterward
abandoned this theory and ascribed the mounds to the Indians.
Dr. Benjamin 8. Barton, in 1797, set forth the conclusion that
the mounds were not built by the living Indians or their pre-
decessors, but by a people of higher cultivation, with established
law and order and a well disciplined police. His work, “‘New
Views on the Origin of the Tribes of America,” seems, in fact,
to have been the first publication of the theory of the “lost
races.”

At the beginning of this century the students of American
archeology received two important accessions, Rey. 'T. M. Har-
ris, of Massachusetts, and Bishop Madison, of Virginia. Both
of them traveled extensively in the mound region, and both
were of scientific tastes and habits of mind. Bishop Madison
saw in these antiquities no evidence of an art higher than or
of tendencies different from those of existing Indians, while Dr.
Harris thought that they evinced proofs of skill and culture
implying the hand of a superior race and the influence of a
higher civilization.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XLIII

Since the days of Harris and Madison the discussion of this
-subject has gone forward on the lines which their differences
defined. Those who hold that the Indians did not build the
mounds are far from agreeing as to who did build them. Many,
like Mr. John T. Short, author of “The North Americans of
Antiquity,” follow Harris in the direction of the Toltecs, who,
it is assumed, occupied the Mississippi basin prior to their
appearance in the valley of Anahuac on the summit of the
mountains of Mexico. Wilson, in his ‘‘ Prehistoric Man,” argues,
on the contrary, that the Toltecs came from the south, and that
the Aztecs went from the north after building our mysterious
mounds: Dawson, in his ‘‘ Fossil Man,” holds that the mounds
were built by the Tallegwi, a primitive people reconstructed
from the traditions of the Delawares; Lewis H. Morgan ex-
pressed the opinion that the makers of the mounds were
related to the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico; Squier and Davis,
who, in their ‘Ancient Monuments,” exercised a world-wide
influence on this question partly because their conclusions
were published under the powerful authority of the Smith-
sonian Institution, set forth their views as follows:

“We may venture to suggest that the facts thus far col-
lected point to a connection more or less intimate between the
race of the mounds and the semicivilized nations which for-
merly had their seats among the Sierras of Mexico, upon the
plains of Central America and Peru, and who erected the
imposing structures which from their number, vastness, and
mysterious significance, invest the central portion of the con-
tinent with an interest not less absorbing than that which
attaches to the valley of the Nile.”

But the assumption that the mounds scattered irregularly
over the face of this country from Florida to the Red River
of the North were the work of a lost and nameless race, and
that the deposits of Indian remains within them were the result
.of “intrusive burials,” has been losing ground before recent
evidence accumulated by archeologists. The spade and pick,
in the hands of patient and sagacious investigators, have every
year brought to light facts tending more Baal more strongly to
prove fat. the mounds: aticcsa mortuary and domiciliar y>

XLIV REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

which have excited so much curiosity and become the subject
of so many hypotheses, were constructed by the historic Indians
of our land and their lineal ancestors.

It is just to say that Schooleraft, Gallatin, Lewis Cass, and
Sir John Lubbock were all along inclined to attribute these
ancient works to the Indians, and this opinion has also been
entertained by Samuel G. Drake, Lucien Carr, Gen. M. F
Force, Thruston, and (notably) Dr. J. H. MeCulloh.

Dr. W. H. Dall, in his translation of the Marquis de Nadail-
lac’s ‘Prehistoric America,” says: ‘The Mound-builders were
no more nor less than the immediate predecessors in blood and
culture of the Indians described by De Soto’s chronicler and
other early explorers—the Indians who inhabited the region of
the mounds at the time of their discovery by civilized man.”

Yet, notwithstanding the ability and distinction of some of
the advocates of this view and the reasonableness and cogency
of their arguments, it is to be remarked that the theory that
the mounds and other remains of antiquity are referable to
mythical vanished races has always been the most popular,
and to-day the followers of Bishop Madison are far less
numerous than the followers of Dr. Harris.

In the hope of adding enough evidence to that already in.
sight to enable ethnologists to reach the solution of the problem,
the researches recorded in this volume were undertaken.

The demonstration of the fallacy of Harris’s fascinating
theory, long cherished and fully accepted by most ethnologists
and explorers, has a far wider scope than simply correcting
the current conception of pre-Columbian conditions; it enables
us to obtain a more accurate view of the historic Indians them-
selves and to form some idea of the culture-status of their
ancestry and of the lines of environment through which they
have descended; to unify and expand the field of vision and to
make useful investigations along a symmetric and homoge-
neous ethnic plane instead of wasting time in chimerical and
sentimental speculations concerning the unknown.

The mounds in which the dead were deposited are the most
important among aboriginal relics, for they indicate, both in

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XLV

construction and in contents, something of the art, religion, and
sociology of their occupants and builders. Articles found with
the skeletons, such as implements, ornaments, and fetiches,
many of them still in good preservation, are full of biographic
and ethnic significance *concerning the beliefs, habits, pur-
poses, social condition and life history of long buried men and
of the survivors who paid them funeral rites.

These artificial mounds scattered throughout the United
States are of many types. They are-made of different mate-
rials. They are evidently designed for different purposes—
mortuary, military, social. They are constructed in different
forms. They evince different degrees of art. They have
diverse contents, which apparently vary with the varying ends
in view and the various possessions available.

Now as these tumuli are unnumbered and may fairly be
said to be innumerable, it is obviously impossible that every
mound can be scientifically examined and a complete correla-
tion and coordination thus established. If it can be shown
that some of the mounds and some of the other antiquities of
all the different types and classes were made by Indians, or
even by people having the same habits, beliefs, and culture-
status as the Indians, the inference is justifiable that all are
the work of the same race or one closely allied in culture. In
fact, such an inference from such data is irresistible. Prof.
Thomas has made, in the paper herewith presented, a com-
prehensive accumulation of these significant facts which seems
to overwhelm all a priori theories of a ‘lost race” and to
demonstrate inductively that all of these mounds were built by
the people known to have built some of them or by other peo-
ple of similar characteristics and of the same grade of culture.

The explorations recorded in this paper were conducted in
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, lowa, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New

York, North Dakota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and West

Virginia, and excavations have been made in more than 130
counties. More than 2,000 mounds have been explored,
including every known form, from the circular tumulus of the

XLVI REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

north to the large truncated pyramid of the south, the stone
‘airn, the house site, ete., stratified and unstratified; and the
collaborators of the Bureau of Ethnology have collected an
immense treasury of pottery, celts, pipes, gorgets, flint and
bone implements, discoidal stones, copper articles, engraved
shells and toys, and ornaments of many kinds, which will be
invaluable to students of ethnology.

Incidentally, as strongly pointing to the conclusions to
which the explorations lead, Dr. Thomas introduces a summa-
tion of testimony tending to show that the ruined cities of
Palenque, Copan, and Uxntal were founded and built not by
an extinct ancient race but by the ancestors of the sturdy
Mayas who still possess Central America, and that the
deserted pueblos and cliff-dwellings of New Mexico and Ari-
zona are referable to the ancestors of the sedentary tribes who

still cluster on the arid plains and mesas of that section. If

this be true it follows as a corollary that they could not have
constructed the mounds of eastern America in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries.

The ultimate conclusions resulting from the explorations
chronicled in this volume may briefly be stated as follows :

1. Nothing found in the mounds justifies the opinion that
they are uniformly of great antiquity.

2. The mound-builders comprised a number of tribes bear-
ing about the same relations and having about the same cul-
ture-status as the Indian tribes inhabiting the corresponding
area when it was first visited by Europeans.

3. The custom of removing the flesh before burial prevailed
extensively among the northern mound-builders, and was not
uncommon in the south.

4. None of the mounds were built for religious or sacred
purposes, but some religious ceremony was often performed
at the burial, involving the use of fire, perhaps in cremation.
There is no evidence that human sacrifice was practiced.

5. In some southern districts, especially in the bottom lands
of the lower Mississippi, it was customary to erect dwellings
on low mounds, apparently artificial, and, when deaths oc-

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT. XLVII

eurred, to bury the remains in the earthen floors, burn the
houses, and heap mounds over the sites while the embers yet
smoldered. These residences appear to have been constructed
by setting upright sticks in the ground and wattling them by
interweaving canes or twigs, then plastering these rude walls
with clay and thatching the roofs exactly as described by the
early French explorers of the region.

6. The contents of the mounds examined reyeal in the
builders a people who had attained about the same status in
warfare, domestic customs, social conditions, and arts, as the
Indians of the same neighborhood when first visited by white
men. -

. The construction of similar mounds over the dead has
been practiced extensively in many localities since the com-
ing of Europeans, as is demonstrated by the finding of silver
nals iron implements and religious emblems among the bones
and ashes of the ‘abandoned hearths.

8. The explorations of the Bureau exhibit the fact that the
mounds of the eastern portion of the United States can not be
distinguished from those of the western portion as belonging
to a higher grade of culture, while there is abundant evidence
that the western mounds have in part been erected and used
by the Indians in historic times. The present Director has him-
self seen two burial mounds in process of construction—one in
Utah, on the banks of the Santa Clara, near the town of St.
George, constructed by a tribe of the Shoshonean family; the
other built by the Wintun Indians in the valley of Pitt river,
near the fish-hatching station on that stream. The evidence
in favor of the Indian origin of the western structures has
been so great and the facts have been so well known that
writers have rarely attributed them to prehistoric peoples.

5. The explorations of the Bureau herein recorded justify
the conclusion that works of certain kinds and localities are
attributable to specific tribes known to history. This makes
it possible for the archeologist to determine, to a limited
extent, certain lines of migration. For example, it seems to be
proved that the Cherokees were mound-builders, and that they
built most of the mounds of eastern Tennessee and western

XLVIII REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

North Carolina, and probably those of the Kanawha valley of
West Virginia. To the Shawnees may be ascribed the box
or cist graves of stone and accompanying mounds in Kentucky,
Tennessee, and northern Georgia. The stone graves in the
valley of the Delaware are referable to the Delawares. There
are facts enough to corroborate the inference that the ancient
works in northern Mississippi were built chiefly by the Chicka-
saws; those in the region of Flint river, in southern Georgia,
by the Uchees; and a large portion of all those of the Gulf
states by the Muskoki group.

10. Finally, the links of evidence connecting the Indians
and mound-builders are so numerous and well established as
to justify archeologists in assuming that they were one and
the same people.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Classification of expenditures made from the appropriation for North American Eth-
* nology, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1891.

Amount of appropriation, 1890-'91, (act approved August 30, 1890) -......-......-.---...-. $40, 000. 00
July 1, 1890, balance from previous appropriations. .....-.......-..-..---..-------+--++---- 12, 033. 08
SRO GALE wate cee cee Sassen Sse aor eng tee so se ste tO aiSas Sates soe oe 52, 033. 08
Expenses. | Amount. | Expenses. Amount.

SeOrviees)\=.-25-5-80=.5 ooo ee see eae $33, 710. 23 || Illustrations for reports ........-.--- $840. 35
Traveling expenses. --..-....---.--..- 2,354.76 || Office furniture ---.......---.----.--- 439. 96
Transportation of property. ..-.-.------ 290. 20 || Office supplies and repairs....-----.. 193. 41
Field subsistence.....- Rese ent 15:16" || Specimens 228 ey he 174.10
Field supplies ----- Boh ee ann ee eee 310.71 || Bonded railroad accounts forwarded
Field supplies for distribution to In- to United States Treasury for set- -

GH NIR sa oS seo aeeeme sce esecese st 93.54] tlement. ..--..----------------2-.- 42.70
Mieldimaterializo so: = oe aee eee ee .30 || Balance on hand to meet outstanding
Laboratory material .--.--.-----.----- 32. 26 liabilities - .....-....--------------- 12, 774, 24
Books for library -----..-------------- 352. 16 || Totala eee | 52, 033. 08
Stationery and drawing material..... 309. 00

7

ACCOMPANYING PAPER.

i

12 weA——1.

Ree EOE

ON THE

MOUND HXPLORATIONS

OF THE

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

BY

CYRUS THOMAS.

CONTEN ES:

Page

Outline Opis papers messes a- cee eee ole ease wie inla mretnlw ae Siete Seal on ays seteiniafe al 17
PHGIENGG -ao odned ceces Sco saesesoe see apedocon eso9 Seeo Beet essa esa eesoeo Sesssee 12
TRG NG aoe = oe Seqsnag socoe dosed area cke Seemed cere sesee se cbae Ss SSeeise 27
ISTO GL Ga E! copace Sat oco CebaeS Daasies eae ness ean Go> sods enbarmeteoecseseee 33
Manitopaand chep Da kObasie ase. -teee os = weet see c ance ewe scene some 35
MIME Oy Gono ko bdoe toes Sade cose Mees oss aretsoqoaboroes cHber oem ese" 42

LEY MOE COUN ee eos ae cee soba age ee soar mam asad Sede bosacsogoe cone 42
R@WEOa COMO eanadad cascade ochecee sano 4 aco tee con nest embed S6ce5 45
WOM, 6. se Sop Se dod coe see eeeehe see Sso Se ceecaescoenss see cee tere roses 47
IDE E COMM Mie cosriot See coer been tegtbosweticesgenedse cece See ee 47

(COR OGL CO Wtn Rye oo tibs + son monroe Serle RSamaner menoeececices sacbesene 47

. Wertnoni county aos: a<seicin =e = eon inei= woe aoe See aee eae ee 77
(CE QOL RY, sce ckeH ecco not GeO DSBS Seen eae se DeGtEeEnOe ea eens ssose 83

SING OSA Caieing As asad soascauotesonmecan earacupene ace soseepedcede 93

[GnRH COI) Cos odamecde atone Hmonodsc SU deEas5 Ios 4 eee core uste 4 sabe 94
Rockwcouminyy == 22 sare cco ce ee ae ane eee ae ee ene awit a epee 98

LO les 88 soot ae wac ces Soe nOneee> hE Ss OSS SnSs Ben IOR SS d= MeSees = ee naGer om 99
ANA RISGOP COMIN toe orate eee aoe iain npn ni ol eee aoe ae mer 99

Clee yGOME COUN Yee is erate eats See ino ee teen oe at ea rare eee 108
Dn ECON NEE aac RANE Sao neous = anc tae atisentee Caee ss soce Sedeer 108
WispelloiconMity.e seis sam sees cents a ane nee Sam tena ona aye 110

\YRIT HR GGUEN N SecpGonse5 Sone Ono One CODES Doo a BEOOE CBSE Ua rs coseee 112

IWS CUTRNA, onecas boneek Bers = Seer = secSse Seed sees Ss se Se ese SeSdece eS 112

IMRUGYES- SoS Be Sek Sage BEEF Ce ORAS Oe Bae eS Serer se Ses, sa ey se aauiall (ig
POO ML) Miva OSS COUN UY ore ate ate at sal a ote Sain ol eae ieee a = ciolsce a= 112

Puke caunibyscaas eee ose tea eee Sees Sane mae seats tee ae oet eecae 117

BIOWM COUMLY sc sees = se says a eee eee chee Soe e ne eee 118

JAC AS: COED see cea cee nate TS AOE SAREE Se Aa Se aa Re Ae tae ee 120
Callonmuce tin tiy see ae arta ene Seo aoe mere eee eiaelen cree See 121
IMadTeOnramdis te lair CO UN GLO ete teat) stata = ia mee ae foe a) eee te ret 131
Rand ON MDICOUN DY ee sek. 2 Wiese eye clase sions ne sea idee mete 134
ACKSOUUCOUN GY we acs ate qe aiscert onto cre tia eat Se (Sates ce epee as 141

Pe AIG Oly COUN G Vee = stn eee tel para ear alate eine ae etait oe AS,
MUMOMCOUMEY 2. clothe eee ae tee een eee eae eee eee Wy DD

Lawrencercounty: =o. 2220 san ee = ye ees co eer cee eae e sone 163
WES OM bod bag Sepneocsco sess nesademor ase Rene ao est esaes cae aed Hes sapere 163
Cais COUN anagem rope eae ee eee ee ee eS eee eae 163
MOWASs COUNTY Samra sete ae es ee Some wean eae eae tees oo LO
Sie GUIS COUNL Yee. can See see scene Sees oe San aloe stare senaore 167
Cape Girardeau county ......---..-.--.---.- ppibe 2eqS seoS See ee nsee S 168
Babi yerenC@Wiiny. Sa osbRBURo sso stir ese oys5eme ao Hebe see conn 170
SOM CaO RcOuUNltyier se sie sean ta ial ee teil ne chase a ere eee 172
Scouband: Mississippi COUNTIES. -.- se. cele n= ee po cee eens 183
IS ELOTL CO OUTE Vay aeta yee atte mn a ots Rae te cee eae Se ee we ee are 193

Tennessee

Kentucky
Alabama

Georgia

Florida

CONTENTS.

Field operations—continued.
Arkansas

(COERCION) Gob ee ose eSoe sot] HsecEs Goon cas SHS eonp masse tice.
Greenercounty 2a. 2 steer cr essteroe sete lees ioe ie nee ee ee

Cram heat Gouniye. -. =e ee nea tee eee ee eee eee eee

Poinsett. county ...--..------ Bie See eno Sco ee seer ase ne eceecisa ean:

Mississippi:county -%. 2-2-5 22 see see Pe eae mea ena torre >

Independence’county.. soe son see a ae eee eee eee ae ee aes

JacksoniCounby .< 5-0 esac toes aaa ea nae see aes ceeine s -eeeeae see

Crittendenioounty 2. e.2eanesi3 see elena eC one eee
St.cEraneis county 5% =~ o-50-oe see eee eee eae Phe etnns See oe
Arkansas County <-- 520-2 - 3a see ce pee ech ery Deed eet Oy
eecOunby Suc ne. S22 ec pe tacee a tenes tees eae Se guee anne See eee
Monroe/county: 22 a... 2 RS Fase eee See eee Soe oe eee ee
Phillips; county. .2 505. s252\scc cece asec cs stone see eee eee eee ae
Deshaicountyen ke se lacie cach Sete en meee tia eee me re eers
Drew COUMtY ao tn'-- omcisoaeie sy Sree em inate esas Pee aan wee SI Re Hee
Dincoln-county 205 2-S2 ase bee ec cate goo es eae ace tee eae
Jetterson county 22. .oeee nance Boe = ae nhaae bene tee oases acts
Pulaskiccounty: 2 3 sssocaen estos owe eee eee Aaa ase eeeeeaeee
Salinescounby =o. s2-50 26 oe nase nae OS eee SEER CBee a ae ee eee
Clarkicounty 4. 22c- joss Jo sean eee dae ee eee eee ee ae eee

Ouachitaicaumitiy sac se sane ae eae a eer =e eet o ae eee Cee
Louisiana
Mississippi

Coahomaicountly!s2 i.e eee sae ohne cence tee eee oe ase eae
StintLower County 2. soc sces ee tele ae eo Se eae ee eer Ne
Washineton coumbys. 22. ake cee «oi < Jaen oe eoee eke sheen Sone eee
WMazOoxCOunbye .<.2cjarcis mete Sa etc rie ciate oe She stores Rote etal ee et
Adamsccountby Ale et soe nate Bt oso ares ee ee Spee e roe a ee
Union county essa seers ree Reet ees ee ea eee ee

hauderdalecounty..--5-ss-s vest esse oes chee oe, ees Oe eee
Obion county 22. .c2s8es5 aes sees oops oe SUE Sees see nee eee ere

Lauderdale county. 57 p26 core cots < oe teen See oe eee a sere eee
Madison! county2<$5: «a. obese pateiee a ee aS ioe wee nee oe ee ee
Mame tial eo tinit yet « = 5. ahe eee leet oe io eae ee ae et

Blount: countiye<ascicccecsno- ck teense eee Bae ee eee eee eae

Sumber county oe a= oc. se eee ee eee ener ate ei eee ee
Mlmore county 2/5 26.2 - Sas ee ee see en oe eee = eee ees
Clarke county, 5 estes es oo oe Be ae ae ne aoe ae ere eres
Barbour’ county <2 2. fete ose eee Se Ee ee no ee eee lee yews
Monit. OMEN ya CO UD Tye ee rasa ee eae
Tallademarcoumtiy sec oe stan se Societys Ae Sone eee ees ee ene
Jemerson County. v2- = sceneces re eae oe ae Soe eee een eee a oa

Bartow county =<. > . dee eee eek Cot eee sane eee ea eeeae ee
Habersham: county sci 205 Saye oseoe ste aa eee ire ee eee ee
Elberticdunty: 32252. 2son. cece aaa tes Sas ee oe ee oe
Richmond County <3. 2: ee eee cinco i Se Ee Se ee ee

South Carolina ccc. 22. coe. cb ceee oes so Bee EER ce ne = ee = ae

Korshaw Gistrictia: - as .2ne nck aca oo aise eee Se ee eee Scie es

tae,

CONTENTS.

Field operations—continued.

Notth Canolinaigeeseate===)-Wiem alae eeireliewiclnauiran(anulsiociesee
Caldwellicoun trios sere eres anaes a ee eactons cen sae eee
Bunkejandawalkes: COUNMES = <ncsacoasenueee o-1escaan aces een eo teoeek
Hay WOOd COUN Gye na camometa es tame a acisla sen ine nein ee teen eee a cae
Buncombe and Henderson counties ....2.........-----.--------------

DESI MIGIMGEEER 2 Soe bageeee oO Coon OE Cer eonconnes HecomsoQ terse as Scbiaoseiase
ULV ANN COUMbY stole = eta aa 3 Sat a snioe iO sieens aoeiaeeoe cecioae eee ce oe
Car tercounty a: enn acsaciaSainiaaseoels cae ce scones Sheers sens Geese tec eS
Cooker couniiymerer a err see eee seme aie maeelecee et eeecieeeyt ya antes Soe
DeirersOn COUN Gy yeemmn ey weleidwe soe one ae See See see a eee eos
ERO AT SC OUI Viger eye ecient ane = pee te he eet SN ot Ee Se

. Blount, Monroe, and Loudon counties ..........-..----....---..----.
OUCONIC ORME yee eae ce aac emne ee eee eee ee a ee Ree a el
IMGT SS eC ih yar ee ene nee ae eRe SOR aoe Ses sag sane eee
LRG CEN Sco Gis Sere cba OG SESE ES AED Dc SEE Eee a Be senine SUE Sea oe ae se

West Virginiay-2-2 52 2--~ -=2--- nPedeceerne - Aa carpe step reset AeEee see
DENGUE COUN, Se5gc cosso sen sdesSos5uor es 2ee cae SEES oe 5S eqeeeMoe see
Ramnaiw lal COURDYIsels sera nesta ae ate aa cet oe oe ae ate Gperete hayes
BUM aM COUNGY ge ncaa ase eae alae a2 eee ae ee Je Fonasssere
Mason county. -....---. SSoL Stan Sdii et Oseeeerccecces chee sae se eebMsoe
(CHS OULCH INA ASS So Shor ce eee sooo temo RoE naan ae a cine ene encde

Oli) popecont seed Gor oe see: Pea: Secs osecberuapaeseeebane Lots Epooeer
TO RAC OUT saree Se oe Sas minh area enema coe oe ese e eee ea
La Gy STO ORIN 9 35.55 soe noe po dede 22 Sbouls Woeoe - BOO aaRRes ea receecese abae
ran G nC OWING yom eee ine hots = See iat <iaapmre ise se es ines
Lvl) Coin np Rae Sees tho thereat eesdon sors sec aceeeepdeleey sapeaaeeee
Coshoclons COUN Wecea see riace oe: Snes See eae nari Seen arose
ick eye nn bypaisee tars cei eisas = <r sae ae ORR area Se lo ce aie
RErrysCOUNb Yi me = 2 ae looted ns eee see eas ee ee ets
LOBED COUN UYies mess praeeee mate saa macy ee one waive nema eee eee ES
IPT Oi COMMU Yas Meee Re Roms ce ROS eee See neh oe Jee eae

ISG Shahi eee Sonim Serer Ac JOC e eS Se BP > oS Sen eS aid ie hee ee eta
VATED COUNTY aaa sen tae S tae oe ee re aoe tae Sache eae

ING yay OT ites settee eee eae aE = Fe ee ee ae oe Sta ee
Madisonpcoiutye cee. enon sees ace eae ee re tte eke 2
Chantauquarcounty cess + ade e se ease aes Preece eee es ee es
INT OUT COUIU YS ware em sraiaian ey tae te ete hey (om eee LE
Vi N GRINS COUMLO RP eles Hesgae Bea Ssenoes ooo meso node Benes nec omeee
AIM eS LONACOULG ype oeeserta cle a hereto taps ee iy ena Je aoe ae peel

IMIIGHIG AN he am tacts moa) ee en einer nero - owes ans Leaeasnen ae ates oe

Archeological areas and distribution of types

PrMmaryneal CHOOLOPIC a) BECtIONS ems sd-= oso eae eae yore = kee see

Archeological districts of the mound are:

The northern section

The Huron-Iroquois district
The Illinois district
be ONTOS tel Clee er eee a AO eee Se Sears See ees
The Appalachian district.......-. Soh Rete cet hooters arma che ears aS
The Central or Tennessee district
The southern section

8 CONTENTS.

Page.
‘The Mound=pulldersone-aasee sree eer (eee her en = =a een pass see ear ee eaten 595.
General) observations.2.3 222 coe s- cose sects te ane e niet weasels ee eeeee 595.
Different OPINIONS aaa ee eee ee ee here ees le eee eee eer ere 597
Objections ans weredss~ ose ee reer == sear eae e eee ee eee eer eee 610
Other objections answered se - ste se eames eee eee ae ae 625
TAO NGA Gee oneeSses coon sedes sone Ssesso-s27ac Sezbes ceosae Jenecece 632
Mheishaletabletse--. sseceee ee aero ene ee E ree eme =e oases eee 638
iMheihistoricallievidence@rscs sa. re -heeee sees ee ere eae a eee eee 645
A comparison of the works of the Mound-builders with those of the Indians. 659
Architecture of the Mound-builders ..........---..-.---...---------- 660:
Hortificablons .ObC (sees aan ee cee eee ee ee eter 667
Similarity, In) burial customs 3. - 426.5 2s oss eee Slee Jae epee eee 671
General resemblances in habits, customs, art, etc...---..-..-------------- 680:
Links connecting the Indians directly with the Mound-builders---..------ 688
The Etowah mound—Stone graves ......---.-----------------=------- 688
Engraved shells—Stone pipes—Copper articles—Stone images... -.-- 701
Evidences of tribal divisions—Subsequent use of mounds by Indians... --- 706
Evidence of contact with modern European civilization found in the
HOON HU eaneiouo nese a se nosoLesoo Sea Suo Rens aceeMerosebosneseeoccoonse » T0MY
Gopperiarticles)--- 22-0. 8a 5- Sem Fame a nailer 710
(Qing eG ceake poboce Hoo seeebce Seepac sano os Asse babbanssésagennc 713
The Muskokistribesii22 S222 5 Socescias cscae se pees eee eee re een ees 718
(Cement l MOS ATE INCRE So Sos Soqensocs soedaq Cases ern acad scosengs6Se5 S605 722

[DGS TRACTION S:

Page.
Piate I. Plan of the Vilas and Flucke groups, Crawford county, Wisconsin. 72
II. Plat of White’s group, Vernon county, Wisconsin... .........-..-- 82
III. Elephant mound and surroundings, Grant county, Wisconsin.... 94
IV. Plat of Rice lake group, Barron county, Wisconsin....-.-....-.-- 96
V. Ancient works near New Albin, Allamakee county, Iowa... ------ 102
VI. Map of Cahokia group, Madison county, Illinois.-......-.--.---- 134
VII. Map of the western part of Madison county, Illinois. ....-....--.- 136
VIII. Ancient works on Boulware’s place, Clarke county, Missouri. -.-. 168
IX. The De Soto mound, Jefferson county, and the Knapp mounds,
Pulaskr county, Arkcansas- © --1--in-0 2p ene mccseemecece-cestee 242
X. Plat of the Knapp mounds, Pulaski bonnie ; iesaeee ee to a 244
XI. Plat of the Carson mounds, Coahoma county, Mississippi ----.-... 254
XII. Mound 4, Carson group, Coahoma county, Mississippi --.-.--...---- 256
XIII. Mound d, Carson group, Coahoma county, Mississippi .-.---...-.. 258
XIV. Selsertown group, Adams county, Mississippi, and platform and
Mounds Of ths) Selserio wm PTOUPe = see seme ecm =o ase Seeieisel 264
XV. View of the large mound, Etowah group .-.-..-.----.-.----------- 294
XVI. Plan of the large mound, Etowah group ...-...-----.-----..----- 298
XVII. Figured copper plate cron mound ¢, Etowah group feces figure). 304
XVIII. Figured copper plate from mound c, Etowah group (bird figure).. 306
XIX. Pot from Hollywood mound, Georgia. -.-......--251-------------- 318
XX. Map of mound distribution ..---. ics Be ee ce ae ee (In pocket.)
XXI. Observatory Circle, near Newark, Ohio ......--...-.....-...---.- 320
XXII. Fair Ground Circle, near Newark, Ohio ......-.-......-....-.---- 322
XXIII. High Bank Circle, near Chillicothe, Ohio......-.......-..-------- 24.
XXIV. Pipes from’ Hollywood mound, Georgia. ..-:.....-..---.--...----- 32)
XXV. Plat of the valley of the Little Tennessee river, Blount and Mon-
TOON COUN TICS,» LT CUNESSCO eee cat Secrest re gases aries cere 366
XXVI. Copy of Timberlake’s map of Overhill Cherokee towns --..-...-.--.- 368
XXVII. Plat of group near Charleston, Kanawhacounty, West Virginia... 414
XXVIII. Plan and sections of the Staats mound, Knox county, Ohio. ....--.. 440
XXIX. Cemetery mound, Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio... --....----- 444
XXX. Newark works, Licking county, Ohio ...-....--....-------------- 458
MM, Hair Ground Circle Newark, OHIO =. 7. -sene occ - 22 o-eeoe see 460
XXXII. Observatory Circle, Newark, Ohio -...-,...----.:-:----------+= 462
XXXII Octagon; Newark, Ohio --2422/_<-25---2s5-------- See Sai 464
XROMLV Care; Newark OHION is 4 pet aeeers arta ome sencisiseane Soc ee esas sc 466
XXXV. Square of Hopeton works, Ross county, Ohio ..-.--..-.-...------ 472
XXXVI. Circle of Hopeton works, Ross county, Ohio.........--.--.------ ATL
XXXVII. Circle of High Bank works, Ross county, Ohio ..-...-----.---.-- 476
XXXVIII. Octagon of High Bank works, Ross county, Ohio ....-.-.....---- 478
XXXIX. Square of Liberty township works, Ross county, Ohio..-.-.....-.. 482
XL. Square of Baum works, Ross county, Ohio .....--..--.--.-------- 484
XLI. Plat of the “Angel mounds,” near Evansville, Indiana. ......-.--- 558
MLE CopyofPlatenkd, “Brevis Narratio (2. s----22- -s<0ceaecete caeaa= 652

10

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ILLUSTRATIONS,

. Elongate mound, Souris river, Manitoba ....-..-...-..--------------
. Elongate mounds, Souris river, Manitoba.-.-..---..--.--------------
. Turtle figure, Hughes county, South Dakota ------ Peete esate eens
. Inclosures and mounds, Pipestone connty, Minnesota -...-.-.-------
. Mound vault, Houston county, Minnesota ........----.--------------

Mound group near Madison, Wisconsin.-.--...-----.----..-----------

. Walled vault in mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin ---....-----.----
. Bird mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin .......-----.----.---------
. Section of mound and pit, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin ...-.-.---.----
. Silver locket from mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin ---....---.----
. Bracelet of silver from mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin ..--.--.----
. Silver brooch from mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin -..-.-..--------
. Silver cross from mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin -..-.----.------
. Earthworks near Eastman, Crawford county, Wisconsin ...--..------
. Plat of southwest part of Crawford county, Wisconsin..-..----.-----
. Mounds on northeast quarter of Sec. 24, T.8 N., R.6 W., Wisconsin -.
. Mound group at Hazen Corners, Crawford county, Wisconsin -.-.-.- -
. Bird effigies at Hazen Corners, Crawford county, Wisconsin.....--.---
. Quadruped effigy on Sec. 36, T.8, R.6 W., Wisconsin .--..-----.------
. Group of bird effigies, Sec. 35, T.8 N., R.6 W., Wisconsin ...---.------
. Bird effigy, Sec. 35, T.8 N., R.6 W., om. LIU Dee eceeta sees
. Mounds on Slaumer’s land, C parton county, inebnant te he oases
. Courtois group near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin .----..-------------
. Mound No. 6, Courtois group, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin...--.-.----
. Plan of mound No. 16, Courtois group, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin -- -
. Mound No. 20 (section), Courtois group, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. .
. Douseman mound (plan), Prairie du Chien - She eRe ee eS
. Douseman mound (section), Prairie du C mea Re eaeeue
. The Polander group, Sec. 14, T. 9, R. 6 W., Cr: awitord hapiiee Wwiteonein
. Mound No. 3 (section), Polander group, Crawford county, Wisconsin. -

. Mound No. 16 (horizontal section), Polander group ..---.---.--------
. Plan of the Armstrong group, near Lynxville, Crawford county -.---
3. Plan of the Sue Coulee group, Crawford county, Wisconsin--....----
. Copper spindles from the Sue Coulee group, Crawford county--..----
. Mound group near Battle island, Vernon county, Wisconsin -.-------
. Plan of mound No. 4, Battle island, Vernon county, Wisconsin.-.. .---
. Copper plate from mound No. 6, White’s group (N. M. 88336) -.---. ----
. Section of mound No. 10, White’s group-........--------------------
. Obsidian implement from mound No. 10, White’s group ----.---------
| Pot from mound No. 11, White's group.--------—---. === 22. = ---- <== en
. Effigy mounds near Cassville, Grant county, Wisconsin ..-...--------
. Lines of works near Cassville, Grant county, Wisconsin ---..--------
. Mound group near Wyalusing, Grant county, Wisconsin ..--...------
. Elephant mound, according to Middleton’s survey in 1884 ..-.-..-.----
. Elephant mound, after Warner’s figure. ..---..----------------------
. Inclosure near Sheboygan, Sheboygan county, Wisconsin -...-------
> MoundiN onl Rice lalke:cronip rn .jjeen. eee ese) e eet ee
. Circular inclosure near New Albin, Allamakee county, Iowa -------.-
49,
. Walled mound, Fish group, Allamakee county, Iowa .---.-----------
. Group near Peru, Dubuque county, Iowa --.----.--------------------
. Stone gorget, Dubuque county, lowa..-----.--------------------------
53.
54,

Inclosure on Hays’s farm, near New Albin, Allamakee county, Iowa...

Diagram of Indian battle ground, Wapello county, Iowa -...--..----
Mound group, Dunleith, Illinois 2...........--.-------.-----------=-

Page.

36

49

52

2
a

59

64
65

66

Fic. 55. Vault in mound No.4, Dunleith, Dlinois .........-...--.--..--------
Section of mound No, 16, Dunleith, Illinois ....-..--...----...--.---
Vault inmound No: 16; Dunieith: Mlinots 2225... 2.222220... cect
Welch group, Brown ‘county, [linois -.. .< 22 .5.2.--.2 2-2. ene eee
Mound No. 1, sec. 34, T. 10, R. 2, Calhoun county, Illinois ---...-..----
Mound No. 4, see. 34, T. 10, R. 2, Calhoun county, Illinois -.--. --...----
Group of mounds on sec. 31, T. 10, R.2 W., Calhoun county, Illinois. --
Vertical section of mound No. 8, NE. see. 31, T. 10, R. 2 W., Illinois. - --
Vertical section of mound on SE. see. 15, T. 10, R.2 W., Illinois ....--
. Vertical section of mound No. 1, NW. sec. 2, T.9, R.2 W., Illinois... .--
. Vertical section of mound No.1, NE. see. 27, T. 10, R.2 W., Illinois ...-
. Wood river mounds, Madison county, Illinois ...--...--..-----------
. Stone graves on Mill Tract, Randolph county, Illinois. --.-...-...---
. The De Beane stone graves, Randolph county, TOTS Seer

56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.

90.

91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
SE
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

. Hut rings near the eee of Big Mary r riv os LAN CISS Sane eh sate try
leottrom JacksonicountysMlinmols( 2-2-2632 s= seem sae ee 2225 = ==
2. Vogel group, Jackson county, Illinois - ..-..----.-----..------------
. Spool-shaped ornament of copper ...---..-..-..--------------------
. Schlimpert mounds, Jackson county, Illinois ---...-----.-----------
. Section of mounds on Schlimpert’s place, Jackson county, Illinois. - -
. Mounds on Hale’s place, Jackson county, Mlinois - .-..-----.---..----
. Skull from mound on Hale’s place (side view) -.-.-.---------.------
. Skull from mound on Hale’s place (front view). .-------.------------
9. Bone plate from mound on Hale’s place. .-...-.-.----.--------------
. Catholic fredal from mound on Hale’s place . .-...---.---..---------
PP SLOne PTAV.e ODM 1018 PACA a= eteciale a eel ieee ela
. Plat of works on Linn’s place, Union county, Illinois... .----..-..---
. Mound A, Linn group (vertical outline) ...-.-- Se oe te ree ea
. Round Pond mounds, Union county, Illinois -....--..-.--.---..----
. Copper plate bearing dancing figures, Uaion county, Ilinois-----.--
. Mound group, Clarke county, Missouri... .-..--.----.-----.---.-----
. The Ben Profter monnd, Cape Girardeau county, Missouri.-.---..----
. The Witting mounds, Cape Girardeau county, Missouri---------.----
. The Peter Bess settlement, Bollinger county, Missouri. .---.---.----
The Lakeville settlement, Stoddard county, Missouri. ..------------
Stone pipe, Lakeville settlement. ...............-------------------
County line settlement, Stoddard county, Missouri -...---.-.-------
The Rich woods mounds, Stoddard county, Missouri .---.-.-.----- ---
Plan of mounds, No. 3 to No. 6, Rich woods mounds ..---.-.---------
Section of mound No. 3, and adjuncts, Rich woods mounds. .-.. .-----
Pin Hook ridge mounds, Mississippi county, Missouri ---.-.---------
Baker’s mound, Mississippi county, Missouri. .---.-.---.------------
Beckwith’s fort, Mississippi county, Missouri... ---.-.----------------
Image vessel from Beckwith’s ranch -...-.-.-.-.--------5----------
Bow lstromeBec ks walthiget ote ee eect tees eet certs an ia eet a) iain aterm
Water vessel from Beckwith’s ranch, Mississippi county, Missouri - --
Water vessel from Beckwith’s fort, Mississippi county, Missouri... - -
Gourd-shaped vessel from Beckwith’s ranch, Mississippi county. - - --
Owl image vessel from Beckwith’s ranch. ..-....-------------------
Fish-shaped vessel from Beckwith’s ranch... .--.-- -- Sa psede ae eey ee
Meyer’s mound, Scott county, Missouri - oa Re enn cies Soe sees
Mound group near Harviell, Butler ane 3 :Eoeenyont ete ae A
Power’s fort, Butler county, Missouri .......-------------.----------

11

Page.
115

12

F1G. 109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
128.
129.
130.
131.
132.
133.

134.
135.
136.
137.
138.
139.
140.
141.
142.
143.
144.
145.

146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151.
152.
153.
154.
155.
156.
157.
158.
159.
160.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page
Section of mound in Power’s fort, Butler county, Missouri.........-. 196
Effect of earthquake of 1811 on mound, Green county, Arkansas ....-. 199
Webb group, Craighead county, Arkansas .-.......-....------------ 201
Mounds at Tyronza station, Poinsett county, Arkansas...--.--..-.-- 204
Section of mound No.8, Tyronza station, Poinsett county, Arkansas... 205
Section of mound No. 12, Tyronza station, Poinsett county, Arkansas. 205
Section of mounds, Tyronza station ..-.2/..---...2--------------«<- 206
Clay casts of ear of maize or Indian corn ...--.--..----..----------- 207
Clay, floor ofa three-roomvhonuselss-s-2 n= = see eee ee see eee 208
Mode of lathing houses by Mound-builders -...........--..---..---- 209
The Miller mounds, Poinsett county, Arkansas ......---.-..--.------ 209
Vertical section of mound No.1, Miller group, Poinsett county ..-.-- 210
Mound No. 9, Miller group, Poinsett county, Arkansas-.....-.--.----- 210
Plan of mound No; 11, Miller proup: + -222 .22= t2~ v2 sees 24s ce lo 545 211
Plan of mound -No=l2; Millersroup =e. - 9-- seo setae en eee ae eee 212
Plat of Thornton group, Poinsett county, Arkansas -....----...----- 213
Plat of Taylor Shanty group, Poinsett county, Arkansas .......----- 214
Mound! No.1) Taylor Shanty group) 222. =~ sees eee ie 215
Section of mound No. 2, Taylor Shanty group .....-.-..-.---.------- 215
Section of mound No.4, Taylor Shanty group.....-....--.---.------ 217
Plat of Pecan point works, Mississippi county, Arkansas...--..----- 220
Image vessel, Pecan point, Mississippi county, Arkansas. .-......-.-- 221
Vessel from Jackson mound, Mississippi county, Arkansas ......-.-.. 223
The Sherman mound, Mississippi county, Arkansas ....-...--..----- 223
Engraved shell (Busycon perversum) from mound, Independence
county, ArKansass = -22ce sama fee ania ee ee emia ates Sealer ot aie see * 228
Stone spool from mound, Jackson county, Arkansas. --..--.----.---- 225
Bradley mounds, Crittenden county, Arkansas ......--...---...----- 226
House site, St. Francis county, Arkansas..-......------------------- 229
Plan of Menard mounds, Arkansas county, Arkansas .-..-....--.-.-. 230
Image pipe, Monroe county, Arkansas -.......-..-----.--.-+-------- 233
Image pipe, Monroe county, Arkansas ......--------.--------------- 234
Image pipe, Monroe county, Arkansas ...-...-...--------- Myce 235
Image pipe, Monroe county, Arkansas ..-.-..----..--2-..--.--..---- 235
Plan of Old Town works, Phillips county, Arkansas.-.....-.-.------- 236
Pottery vessel from Old Town works. -.--.2...-----=-------.-=----.. 237
Monrid Nos3,Old Town OrkSin as sre sie alae ae ee pana eee 238
Ground plan and elevation of tae Barney mound, Phillips county,
PORE NN ENS Bacio was O Seen oe MIDS S Se CADRE OE > Hasan sr senee Sabos sacs 238
Roger’s mound, Phillips county, Arkansas .....-..-...--..---.------ 239
Mound near Arkansas City, Desha county, Atkansas -...--.-.-.-..---- 240
Old French fort, Desha county, Arkansas ....---..+---.------------ 241
The Taylor mounds, Drew county, Arkansas. .......-----------.---- 242
Stone implement from Knapp group...-..--..----.-----------------> 245
The Hughes mound, Saline county, Arkansas -.-...----.------------ 246
An ornamented water bottle, Clark county, Arkansas .....-.--.------ 248
Flat-bottomed jar, Clark county, Arkansas . ..-.-.-------.-.-.------ 248
Mound group near Camden, Arkansas .....--..-..-.-----.----.-s--- 249
Plat of Troyville mounds, Catahoula parish, Louisiana-.----..-.--.---- 251
View of mound No. 6, Troyville mounds, Catahoula parish----...-.---- 252
Excavation No: 10, Carson"froup.-- =~ 2. Joos a seen se ara Omitted.
Clarksdale works, Coahoma county, Mississippi ------ -------------- 256
Section of mound No. 1, Clarksdale works .-....---.---.---.---.---- 257

Vessel in form of a shell, Sunflower county, Mississippi-.------------ 259

FiG. 161.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Avondale mounds, Washington county, Mississippi -........-.-.----

162. Outline of mound No. 1, Champlin group, Yazoo county, Mississippi-
163. Vertical section of mound No, 1, Champlin group, Mississippi -- --.-
164. Image vessel from Champlin mound, Mississippi--...-.-...-.-------
165. Mound group in Union county, Mississippi .-...---....-...----.----
166. Plan of mound No. 1, group in Union county, Mississippi -.----. ----
167. Sections along south trench, mound No. 1, Union county, Missis-

BUD Diese nate ae eee ae Se Re eR LR ee ssn See doce
168. Section along south trench, mound No. 1, Union county, Missis-

AUD lusei pao te se ate eae eee oe aCe omnes Park waco teee ose cece es
169. Section along the northeast trench, mound No. 1, Union county... --
170. Section along the northeast trench, mound No. 1, Union county.----
171. Section along the north trench, mound No. 1, Union county -...----
172. Section along the north trench, mound No. 1, Unien county-.....----
178. Silver plate with Spanish coat of arms; mound, Union county ....-.
174. Fireplace in mound, Lauderdale, Tennessee ..........-.-.----------
175. An image vessel from mound, Obion county, Tennessee ....-....----
176. O’Byam’s fort, Hickman county, Kentucky.......-......5...---..--
iii Mound’ Nom. Ob yam’ srt Ortas sere sem ase ay mice eee ce alee aoe eee
178. Plat of Tally mounds, Jefferson county, Alabama................---

. Mound No. 2, Tally group (plan and section) ......-........---.----
. Plat of Etowah group, copy of Jones’s plat, No. 1 .........--.------
. Plat of Etowah group, copy of Whittlesey’s figure No. 1 -.....--..-.
Ze Plat Ofte Mtowahy sroup(OLipinal)y sess 2-2. esses -n- 2222s eee se
‘ barregmound of the ttowalt proups.4----.c-.----5-cee so-2 eee sae aes
. Vertical section of mound c, Etowah group..-...--.----------.------
. Plan of burials in mound c, Etowah group ...--..------------------
3. Figured copper plate from mound c, Etowah group....-.....-------
. Copper badge from mound c, Etowah group.........-...----------,
. Copper ornament or badge from mound ec, Etowah group .-.-.-.-..----
. Engraved shell, mound c, Etowah group -.....-....-..---.---.--s00
. Engraved shell, mound c, Etowah group’.....-..-.------------+<-.-
pebustfromibco wally mounds a2 ss6 ses se ce eee acess oe ehe see be aees ae
. Copper plate with bird figure, mound near Peoria, Ilinois......_--.
. Section of the Rembert group, Elbert county, Georgia....-...-.---.
alan ofmound Noel hembert)etoup:-s2c--ssosceee== soos seecie ace ee
5. Vertical section, mound No. 1, Rembert group..--..--..-...--------
. Upper horizontal section of Hollywood mound, Georgia ....-..-.---
. Fragment of European pottery, Hollywood mound, Georgia--..-----
. Lower horizontal section of Holly wood mound, Georgia ...-...-----
. Pot from Hollywood mound, Georgia (135197) ..-.........-.-.------
. A painted vessel from Hollywood mound, Georgia ...-......---.----
LOL trOMEHOllywoodemounds, Geormiae seee oa eon ones eee eee ae
. Shell beads from Hollywood mound, Georgia. ...-.. shoes tess
. Copper article from Hollywood mound, Georgia ...-....----.-------
4, Shell beads from Hollywood mound, Georgia.........-....---------
7 bipedromsbollywoodimound, (Georgia esses se = ees = eee see ee eee
. Fragment of porcelain from Hollywood mound, Georgia -.-.--..--.-
. T. F. Nelson mound, Caldwell county, North Carolina -.........-..-
. T, F. Nelson Triangle, Caldwell county, North Carolina...........--
Copper cylinder, Nelsoniminian olen secmet nae ace aac ac eee emcee see
. Bracelet of shell and copper beads, Nelson Triangle..-..-.. Seageeeeoe
roueelt iron NelsonVErianel @iaa-nese. eee te aee senna neem eee ae ae
hartoLiron, blade; Nelsour lvianGlel | sae ssert aaa cine sees cies Saee

336
336
337

14 ILLUSTRATIONS.

2 Page.
Fig; 213. Engraved shell, Nelson Trianeter 9 a ss Se aoe seeeceee 338
214. Engraved shell, Nelson Mrianglevs 2-2. -22 =a... as anne eee es oe 339
215. Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina ..--.. Looe eae 339
216. Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina-.--..........-.-.-------<.-- 340
217. Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina-.-.-...--..2..----.--------- 340
218: Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina: -.--.22-:----.------ /2------ 341
219. Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolima_-.-..2-2..2-222:----<--.---- 341
220. Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina...-........-.-..-..--1..---- 341
221. Plan of W. D. Jones mound, Caldwell county, North Carolina... ... 342
222, R. T. Lenoir burial pit (plan), Caldwell county, North Carolina.-.-.. 343
223. Ancient burial ground, Wilkes county, North Carolina..........-.- 345
224. Clay hearth (or fire-bed), Wilkes county, North Carolina ........-.- 346
225. Bogus article, Haywood county, North Carolina..........-...-..---- 347
226. Bogus article, Haywood county, North Carolina .........-......---- 348
227. Bogus articles, Haywood county, North Carolina. ...........-..---- 349
228. Big mound, Haywood county, North Carolina................------ 350
229. Section of Connor mound, Henderson county, North Carolina ..--.. 350
230. Plan of mounds on the Holston river, Sullivan county, Tennessee... 351
231. Copper spindle from mound, Sullivan county, Tennessee..---...---- 352
232. Plan of burials in mound, Sullivan county, Tennessee. ..---- inate 353.
233. Stone pipe from mound, Sullivan county, Tennessee......-.-.-.---- 354
234. Plat showing ancient graves near Kingsport, Tennessee.--.-..-.---- 355
235. Section of grave No. 1, near Kingsport, Tennessee.......-...-.---- 356
236. Section of grave No. 3, near Kingsport, Tennessee........--..------ 356
237. Section of mound on Fain’s island, Jefferson county, Tennessee. ---- 358
238. Plat of groups on Long island, Roane county, Tennessee... --..----- 359
239. Diagram of mound No. 3, Long island, Roane county, Tennessee .-. 360
240. Image from mound No. 3, Long island, Roane county, Tennessee.... 361
241. Diagram of the Hagler mound, Roane county, Tennessee -.-...-. ---- 364
242. Diagram of the Hardin mound, “'ount county, Tennessee ..-.-..---- 367
243. Plat of the McMurray mounds, } wnt county, Tennessee ...--.--.-. 368
244. Diagram of McMurray mound, Ne 2 ...--........----...---..------ 369
245) Seetion.of McMurray smound,No.Sr 22 cose ae oo oe 22 Sa elena em ee 369
246. Diagram of McMurray mound, No. 3--.----- beotorn ase 370

247. Plat of Latimore and McSpaddin aeemate Gatco) group), Monroo
COUM bY; -MENNESSCE. aan oe ere lela cere a ae eae eet eae ee 372
248. Vertical section, mound No.1, Latimore group.---..--..------------ 372
249, Vertical section of the Citico mound (McSpaddin, No. 4)..---...---. 374
250. Plan of burials in the Citico mound (MeSpaddin, No. 4)-.--.-------.- 375
251. Moccasin-shaped pot, Citico mound -. -.-..-..---..----------------- 376
252. Copper rattle or hawk’s bell, Citico mound ...-------..---.---.---- 376
2ho-e bone meddle Citic; MOlWRO sees = sae sean oe pee net ane aera 377

254. Plat of the Bacon and McGee mounds, Blount and Monroe counties,
MDD Thiet) "(2)\ae aOR soa TORSO Mae CS AAOS AOS erQRNOCc >SSCeoOSIAS 377
2bo. Planvof. bunials:inicGee mound Noyeesee een eee eet neat 378
256. Plat of the Toco mounds, Monroe county, Tennessee.--.------------ 379
257. Vertical section of the Big Toco mound, Monroe county, Tennessee. 380
258. Plan of burials in the Big Toco monnd, Monroe county, Tennessee... 381
259; Bone implement, Big Loco mound)s--- 2. see eee eee eee 382
260. Bone implement, Big Toco mound......-....----------------------- 382
261; Stone,pipe, Isp toca mounds: seer ee ae ase eee eee ee lee 383
262. -Ornamented shell, Big Toco mound .----. -.-2.- ---- -<see-- = --- === 383
263. Stone implement, Big Toco mound ..........-..-......------------3 383
264>5Pot,. Big Tocommound 2-22-25 eee teen eee eee tenes eee nies ston as 384

Fi. 265.
266.
267.
268.
269.
270.
271.
272,

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Vertical section of Callaway mound, Monroe county, Tennessee ----
Diagram of Callaway mound, Monroe county, Tennessee.......----.
Wrateriwvessel; Callaway mound ccs aese tas -seeioea ieee cteeee oats
Water vessel, ‘Callaway mound =. _=...- i. --- -2s.2.---22-22eenc+eee
Plat of the Niles ferry mounds, Monroe county, Tennessee... --.- .-.-
Group iwo miles below, Nilesiterrysaas2.- ce-eicee es Joana eee ae ==
Plat of mounds on the Click farm, Monroe county, Tennessee . -..--
Horizontal section, Bat creek mound No. 3, Loudon county, Tennes-

BOO ae roan ate a am ners = sare Smee eee he ta crete toe camer ee ecnees

. Engraved stone fcomn Bat creek mound No. 3, Loudon county, Ten-

WEE ecg Arista Siig mice sore Seo Ors One SOC S0 Osea Gre p= Scie

. Mounds on John Jackson’s farm, Loudon county, Tennessee... ----
. Mounds on John Jackson’s farm, Loudon county, Tennessee.... .._-
. The Lenoir mounds, London county, Tennessee .......-..------.---
. Plan of burials in mound No. 1, Lenoir group .-....-.-..----..-----
. Diagram of mound No. 2, Lenoir group .-..--..-.--.---.------------
. Plan of burials in mound No. 2, Lenoir group --..........-.-.------
. Vertical section of mound No. 2, Lenoir group..-.-.:...--.--------
. Horizontal plan of mound No. 2, Lenoir group ..---.-..---.-.-.----
. Ornamental pot, mound No. 2, Lenoir group.-.....----..--.-..-----
. Shell ornament, mound No. 2, Lenoir group -......---.-------------
. Shell ornament, mound No. 2, Lenoir group....-..-.......----------
Pipe yMmoundING.2) benoir Proup 22-2 22-02-0ase5.6- cece ees ene
. Plan of burials in mound No. 1, Frazier group, Rhea county, Tennes-

. Huddleson’s Circle, Fayette county, West Virginia. ............._.-
. Singular stone heaps, Fayette county, West Virginia ...-....-...--
9. Stone heap with two cavities, Fayette county, West Virginia .....--
. Section of stone heap with triangular cavity, Fayette county, West

AVAIL Tas ery one tte Sct = S See oe ete tinea ees et ee ea A Pe

. Enlarged plan of mound No, 1, and inclosure a, Kanawha county,

NCS DN GHETTO, Beas Mer cinta dae a aC eon es eee

. Section of mound No, 1, Kanawha county, West Virginia .-.......-
. Spring Hill inclosure on enlarged scale, Kanawha county, West Vir-

- Inclosure G, Kanawha county, West Virginia...............-..-...
3. Inclosurel, Kanawha county, West Virginia ...........-....-.-..-
. Inclosure L, Kanawha county, West Virginia. ..-.....--...-...--..
. Inclosure K, Kanawha county, West Virginia
. A section of mound No. 21, Kanawha county, West Virginia-

. Copper bracelet from ayia No. 21, Kanawhacounty, West Vi irginia
. Copper gorget, mound No, 21, ee ha county, West Virginia - ----

. Steatite pipe from Kanawha a WiESh) VAT eIni a see ee eeeee
2, Section of mound No. 31, Kanawha county, West Virginia.-.-.....-
. Mound group, 1 mile west of Barboursyille, West Virginia -......--
. Section of the Hawn mound, Knox county, Ohio
. Plat and section of the area about the Staats mound, Knox county,

Ohio

. Plan of Cemetery mound, Mt. Vernon, Knox county, Ohio... ..----
. Section of the Cemetery mound, Mt. Vernon, Knox county, Ohio --.
. Works on the Davis place, Hocking county, Ohio ..............---.
. Plan of the large work, Davis place, Hocking county, Ohio -.....--
. Ancient works near Dublin, Franklin county, Ohio -..........-.---
“Group of:mounds; Brown county, (Ohio 5-....5s-2- }scces<as--20=2---

16

Fig. 312.
sale!
314.
315.
316.
317.
318.
319.
320.
321.
322.
323.

324.
325.
326.
327.
328.
329,
330.
331.
332.
333.
334.
335.
336.
337.
338,
339.
340,
341.
342.
343.
344.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

Stone grave, Brown county, Ohio... = -- 2. 2.2. cece coc ccc coe ccn cone 455
Section of a stone grave, Brown county, Ohio..-......-.. Specs eee 456
Mounds near Brownsville, Licking county, Ohio -.......-.-.-..---- 458
Small inclosure, Newark group, Licking county, Ohio......-...---- 460
Levels along parallels at Newark, Ohio ..---.-.-.--..---.---------- 467
Ancient inclosure, Wicking county, Oboe se s-sase6 =. sea eee ee 468
Stone fort on Flint ridge, Licking county, Ohio ...........-...---- 469
Stone fort near Glenford, Perry county, Ohio .......----..----- sere tO)
Section of the Cryder mound, near Adelphi, Ross county, Ohio ----- 471
Small circle, Liberty Township works, Ross county, Ohio .....-.---- 480
Pyramidal mound, Baum works, Ross county, Ohio ....-...---.---- 485
Bone implement point, pyramidal mound, Baum works, Ross county,

ODORS seas ee 2 ese = meee ee aero eee Bee oe aoet Cee eamceees 487
Circle A, Seal township works, Pike county, Ohio .......-.....-.-.- 490
Copy of Moorehead’s station 241, Pl. vi -...--..:...-.-1------s.---- 492
The Serpent mound, Adams county, Ohio -...-.....---...----.----- 493
Mound and graves near Monongahela City, Pa....-.-.-.:.--------- 496
Section of Irvineton mound, Warren county, Pa .........---------- 500
Pieces of silver from Irvineton mound, Warren county, Pa.--.--..- 501
Inclosure near Pittsfield, Warren county, Pa....--..--.....-----.-- 502
Ancient fort on Atwell farm, Madison county, N. Y.--..--..-------- 504
Seat of ancient Onondaga town, Madison county, N. Y.-..--------- 505
Old fort near Ellington, Chautauqua county, N.Y .-..------------- 507
Inclosure near Ellington, Chautauqua county, N.Y ...--..--------- 509
Inclosure on Dunn farm, Wyoming county, N. Y...--..--.-.--------- 514
Rifle river fort No. 2, Ogemaw county, Michigan -....-..--.-.-.----- = 517
Map of the uron=lroquo1s GistniCte- ees = see eee ea 541
Elevation of the large mound, “Angel” group..-...---.---.-------- 557
Plat of the large mound, ‘‘Angel” group..-.-..--=.----.-«--------- 558
The village of Sécotan, -s2-s3- 222 <-eniesce neers Sonne seeee ete es os 621
Interior, of houseof Vireinia sin dian ees arte tae eee ie eee ae 623
Section of mound 11, Cook farm group, Davenport, Iowa. ..-..-. ---- 636
Village. of Pomeiock ]2. 22 2.230. op 223 Si eee eee poate nee 669

Tei eeiabkoent Ways cong ge seaamss ocd sao b Saas ss0S sooo onemeaaaaeS 706

OUTEINE OF PRIS RAPER:

For the benefit of those who desire to learn the more important conclusions reached
in this treatise, without the necessity of a thorough examination of the entire re-
port, an outline of them is here presented :

(1) That the mound-builders of the area designated consisted of a number of tribes
or peoples bearing about the same relations to one another and occupying about the
same culture-status as did the Indian tribes inhabiting this country when first visited
by Europeans.

(2) That the archeological districts as determined by the investigations of the
mounds and other ancient remains conform, in a general way, to the areas occupied
by the different Indian tribes or groups of cognate tribes.

(3) That each tribe adopted several different methods of burial, these differences
depending to some extent upon the relative position, social standing, and occupation
of the individuals.

(4) The custom of removing the flesh before final burial prevailed very extensively
among the mound-builders of the northern districts, and was not uncommon among
those of the southern districts. .

(5) Very often some kind of religious ceremony was performed at the burial in
which fire played a conspicuous part. Notwithstanding the common belief to the
contrary, there is no evidence whatever that human sacrifice in the true sense was
practiced. It is possible that cremation may have been practiced to a limited
extent.

(6) In some of the southern districts, especially those of the valley of the lower
Mississippi, where the bottoms are much depressed, it was the custom to erect dwell-
ings on low mounds apparently constructed for this purpose, and, when deaths oc-
curred,to bury the remains in the floor of these dwellings, burn the houses, and heap
mounds over them before they were entirely consumed, or while the embers were yet
smoldering. The houses in these districts appear to have been constructed of up-
right posts set in the ground, lathed with cane or twigs, and plastered with clay,
having the roofs thatched precisely as described by the early French explorers.

(7) The links directly connecting the Indians and mound-builders are so numerous
and well established that archeologists are justified in accepting the theory that
they are one and the same people.

(8) The statements of the early navigators and explorers as to the habits, customs,
social condition and art, of the Indians when first visited hy Europeans are largely
confirmed by discoveries in the mounds and other ancient works of our country.
This is especially true as regards the discoveries made by this bureau in Arkansas,
Georgia, and other southern states. They bear out, even to details, the statements
of the chroniclers of De Soto’s expedition and of the early French explorers of the
valley of the lower Mississippi.

(9) The evidence obtained appears to be sufficient to justify the conclusion that
particular works, and the works of certain localities, are attributable to particular
tribes known to history; thereby enabling the archeologist to determine in some
cases, to a limited extent, the lines of migration. For example, the proof is appar-
ently conclusive that the Cherokees were mound-builders and that to them are to be

1 a 17

18 OUTLINE OF THIS PAPER.

attributed most of the mounds of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina; it
also renders it probable that they were the authors of most of the ancient works of
the Kanawha valley in West Virginia. There are also strong indications that the
Tallegwi of tradition were Cherokees and the authors of some of the principal works
of Ohio. The proof is equally conclusive that to the Shawnees are to be attributed
the box-shaped stone graves, and the mounds and other works directly connected with
them, in the region south of the Ohio, especially those works of Kentucky, Tennessee,
and northern Georgia, and possibly also some of the mounds and stone graves in the
vicinity of Cincinnati. The stone graves in the valley of the Delaware and most of
those in Ohio are attributable to the Delawares. There are sufficient reasons for be-
lieving that the ancient works in northern Mississippi were built chiefly by the
Chickasaws, and those in the region of Flint River, southern Georgia, by the Uchees,
and that a large portion of those of the Gulf states were built by the Muskokee
tribes.

(10) The testimony of the mounds is very decidedly against the theory that the
mound-builders were Mayas or Mexicans who were driven out of this region by the
pressure of Indian hordes and migrated to the valley of Anahuac or plains of Yuea-
tan. Itis also as decidedly against Morgan’s theory that they were related to the
Pueblo tribes of New Mexico. It likewise gives a decided negative to the suggestion
that the builders of the Ohio works were pushed south into the Gulf states and incor-
porated into the Muskokee group.

(11) Although much the larger portion of the ancient monuments of our country
belong to prehistoric times, and some of them, possibly, to the distant past, yet the
evidence of contact with European civilization is found in so many mounds where it
can not be attributed to intrusive burial and in such widely separated localities,
that it must be conceded that many of them were built subsequent to the discovery
of the continent by Europeans.

PREFACE.

As the following report is based almost exclusively upon the results
of explorations carried on by the Bureau of Ethnology since 1881, it
seems desirable to set forth briefly the plan adopted and the methods
pursued.

During the first season the archeological work of the Bureau was as-
signed to Dr. Willis De Haas, but no definite and comprehensive plan
of operations was adopted. In 1882 the Director organized a small divi-
sion in the Bureau to which he assigned the work of investigating the
mounds and other ancient monuments in the United States east of the
Rocky mountains. This division was placed under my charge with
Dr. Edward Palmer, of Washington city; Col. P. W. Norris, of Norris,
Michigan, and Mr. James D. Middleton, of Carbondale, Llinois, as regu-
lar field assistants. Subsequently Dr. Palmer left the division, and
Mr. John P. Rogan, of Bristol, Tennessee, was engaged in his place.
The division suffered the misfortune of being deprived of the valuable
services of Col. Norris by death, in January, 1885, while he was en-
gaged in exploration. His enthusiasm for the work kept him in the
field, although he was suffering from the disease which finally proved
fatal. Mr. J. W. Emmert, who had been temporarily employed, was
then engaged as a regular assistant.

The following-named gentlemen have also been engaged for short
periods in special fields: Mr. F. S. Earle and Mr. L. H. Thing, of Cob-
den, Illinois; Mr. William McAdams, of Otterville, Illinois; Rev. J. P.
McLean, of Hamilton, Ohio; Mr. Gerard Fowke, of New Madison, Ohio;
Rey. Stephen D. Peet, of Clinton, Wisconsin; Mr. Henry L. Reynolds,
of Washington City, and Rev. W. M. Beauchamp, of Baldwinsville,
New York. Mr. Rogan and Mr. Emmert having retired from the work,
Mr. Fowke and Mr. Reynolds were appointed regular assistants.

The results of the explorations and field work of the division and a
discussion of results with special reference to the authors of the ancient
monuments of the area explored are given in the present volume.
Special papers relating to the collections made will be presented in
future reports or bulletins.

In attempting to formulate a systematic plan for a work of such
magnitude as the exploration of the mounds, great difficulties were

19

20 PREFACE.

encountered. The region occupied is vast, and the works are scat-
tered over it in great numbers, not by hundreds only, but by thou-
sands. It was ‘at once perceived that to attempt a systematic and
thorough examination of them all, or even of a large number of them,
including surveys and mapping, would involve many years of labor and
the expenditure of a very large amount of money. Neither the force
nor the money necessary for a work of such vast magnitude was avail-
able, for the lines of research undertaken by the Bureau of Ethnology
are necessarily many, and none may be unduly pushed at the expense
of the others. On the other hand, to attempt the thorough investiga-
tion of the mounds of any single district to the neglect of the area as
a whole, could result only in a failure to comprehend the more impor-
tant problems connected with the mounds and their builders. More-
over, it should not for a moment be forgotten that the mounds are fast
being leveled by the encroachments of agriculture and under the stim-
ulus of commercial enterprise. Archeologic relies of all kinds have
attained a new value in recent years because of the great increase in
the number of private collectors. Those who gather specimens merely
for sale rarely preserve any datain connection with them, and, although
relics gathered in this haphazard manner have a certain value as
examples of aboriginal art or as mere curiosities, their scientific value
is comparatively small. As a consequence of the leveling of the
mounds by the plow and their despoiling by the relic hunter, oppor-
tunities for acquiring a clear insight into the character and methods of
mound-building and into the purpose of their builders, are rapidly
diminishing.

Chiefly for the above reasons a plan was adopted which comprises
the advantage of thoroughness in the case of single mounds and single
groups, and yet permits the work to be carried over a large area. No
attempt has been made to exhaust the local problems of mound-build-
ing by a complete examination of the works of any given section.
Nevertheless, such mounds and groups as are believed to be typical of
their class have been examined with care and thoroughness. By the
method of a careful examination of typical structures in the various
districts it is thought that the end aimed at has been secured—that is,
the collection of data necessary to an understanding of the more gen-
eral and important problems relating to the mounds and the mound
builders. The exhaustive examination of many single groups and the
study of local problems is left to the future. It is hoped that this
important work may be undertaken largely by local societies whose
resources, when inadequate, may be supplemented by state aid.

The questions relating to prehistoric America are not to be answered
by the study of its ancient monuments alone, but also by the study of
the languages, customs, arts, beliefs, traditions, and folklore of the
aborigines. If any of these monuments are the work of an extinct

PREFACE. 2A

people, this fact can be satisfactorily determined only by a comprehen-
sive study of the subject; if all are attributable to the races found
occupying the continent at the time of its discovery, the necessity for a
broad scientific method is equally apparent.

The most important question to be settled is, ‘‘ Were the mounds
built by the Indians?” If a careful examination and study of the
antiquities should result in deciding it satisfactorily in the affirmative,
then the questions relating to the objects and uses of these ancient
works would be merged into the study of the customs and arts of the
Indians. There would then be no more blind groping by archeologists
for the thread to lead them out of the mysterious labyrinth. The chain
which links together the historic and prehistoric ages of our continent
would be complete; the thousand and one wild theories and romances
would be permanently disposed of; and the relations of all the lines of
investigation to one another being known, they would aid in the solu.
tion of many of the problems which hitherto have seemed involved in
complete obscurity. Should the result of the examination give a decided
negative answer to the question, one broad field would be closed
and investigation limited in the future to other lines. In either case a
great step toward the ultimate solution of the problem would be taken
and the investigations restricted within comparatively narrow limits.

The director of the Bureau of Ethnology was desirous, therefore, that
this important question, the origin of the mounds, should if possible be
definitely settled, as it is the pivot on which all the other problems
must turn. By following the plan adopted and using proper care to
note the facts ascertained, without bias, not only would the facts bear-
ing on this important question be ascertained, but the data would be
preserved for the use of archeological students without prejudice to
any theory.

Premising that accuracy as to details and statements, without regard
to their bearing on any special theory, has been considered the chief
and all-important point to be kept constantly in view in all the opera-
tions of the division, the methods of work pursued (except during the
first year, when want of experience caused some of the details of accu-
rate work to be omitted), have been substantially as follows:

First, a full and correct description of the groups examined, giving
the topography of the immediate locality, the form, characters, and
dimensions of the works and their relations to one another was written
out. accompanied by diagrams and figures illustrating these descrip-
tions.

Asarule each mound explored was measured before being excavated,
and, if it varied from the ordinary conical type, a figure of it was made.
As the exploration proceeded the character and thickness of the strata
and the exact positions of the skeletons and relics found in them were
noted in a memorandum book. In many cases where there was prom-

22 PREFACE.

ise of important finds, outline figures, both of the horizontal and verti-
cal sections, were drawn on which the positions of the skeletons and
relics were marked as found.

Every effort possible was made at the time or collection to obtain all
the facts in reference to each specimen. The assistants made full
notes in the field and attached a number to each specimen before pack-
ingand shipping. Descriptive lists, with corresponding numbers, were
forwarded with each shipment. All collections thus made were sent
direct to the Bureau of Ethnology, and there, after being opened, exam-
ined and compared with the field catalogue, the numbers of the Bureau
series were attached, and the collections forwarded to the National
Museum, where the Museum numbers were placed upon them. After
this a comparison was made, in most cases by the collectors themselves,
to see that the memoranda, numbers, and articles agreed and were
given correctly. The final catalogues contain not only the collector’s,
Bureau, and Museum numbers, which form checks upon one another,
but also the name of the article, the locality, the collector’s name, and
remarks indicating the conditions under which each was found. These
particulars are, of course, incomplete for specimens purchased and
donated.

As an illustration, the heading of the columns and one line from
the general catalogue are given here:

Col- |

lec- Bureau) Smithso- 7
tor’'s| num- | nian | Raeiot Locality. Collector. Remarks.
mune: ber. | number. * F |

er. |

a1 (Peed ee a

- | a |

398 6832 116021 | Boat-shaped | Lenoir group, Lou-) John W. Emmert. | From mound No. 2,
| pot. don county, | by skeleton No. 49.
| Tennessee. |

Two copies of this catalogue were made, one to be retained by the
Bureau, the other to be transmitted with the specimens to the Secre-
tary of the Smithsonian Institution, for use in the National Museum.

Although the specimens are included in the general collection of the
National Museum, they are so carefully marked and numbered that by
reference to the catalogue any article can easily be found and the pre-
cise locality ascertained from which it was obtained, with the attend-
ant circumstances. In order to accomplish this, the collections made
by the Bureau were retained until this accuracy was assured and the
duplicate catalogues made out and compared. By reference to the fol-
lowing report all the particulars known regarding them may be learned,
also all the facts in reference to the works from which they were
obtained.

The number of specimens collected by the division since its orgapiza-
tion is not Jess than 40,000. Among those procured by the field assist-
ants, which constitute by far the most valuable portion, will be found

PREFACE. 23

not only almost every variety of material, form, and ornamentation
hitherto obtained in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains,
but alsomany new and interesting kinds.

The chief value of the work to archeologists, however, it is believed
will be found in the descriptions of the mounds explored and groups
examined and surveyed. In order that students of American archeol-
ogy may have as complete illustrations as possible of groups and forms,
not only are figures given but in numerous instances the complete field
notes of surveys and measurements are added.

The sections in which operations have chiefly been carried on are as
follows: Southwestern Wisconsin and the adjoining sections of Minne-
sota, lowa, and Illinois; the northeastern and southeastern parts of
Missouri; the western part of southern Illinois; the eastern part of
Arkansas; certain points in northern and western Mississippi; the
Kanawha Valley of West Virginia; eastern Tennessee, western North
Carolina, and northern Georgia. Some work has also been done in
northern Florida, New York, Ohio, the Wabash valley, Kentucky,
western Tennessee, Alabama, southwestern Georgia, and the Dakotas.
Hundreds of groups have been examined and in most cases surveyed,
platted, and described. Over 2,000 mounds have been explored, includ-
ing almost every known type of form, from the low, diminutive, circular
burial tumulus of the north to the huge truncated earthen pyramid of
the south, the embankment, the stone cairn, the house site, ete. Every
variety of construction hitherto known, as well as a number decidedly
different in detail, have been examined. Some of the latter are very
interesting and furnish important data. Particular attention has been
paid to the mode of construction and methods of burial in the ordinary
conical tumuli, because these furnish valuable evidence in regard to the
customs of the builders and aid in determining the different archeolog-
ical districts. Many ancient graves and cemeteries and also several
caches and cave deposits have been explored.

Perhaps the most important portion of the collection from an archeo
logical view is the pottery, of which some 1,500 specimens have been
obtained, including most of the known varieties and several that are
new in form and ornamentation. It is believed that this collection will
be found to contain most, if not all, of the hitherto known types of tex-
tile impressions and some that are unusual. As the history of each
specimen is known and its genuineness unquestioned, the collection
will be of great value to antiquarians.

An unusually large number of polished and pecked celts has been
secured, including every known pattern and variety yet found in the
area investigated. Special value attaches to this collection of celts
from the fact that it has been obtained mostly from mounds and hence
affords a means of comparing true mound specimens with surface finds.

The number of stone pipes obtained is proportionally great, includ-
ing a large percentage of the usual forms and some new ones. But the

24. PREFACE.

most important fact in relation to this part of the collection is, that it
so supplements other collections that the archeologist is enabled to
trace the evolution of the comparatively modern and historic form from
the “Monitor,” or supposed earliest mound pipe. Moreover the record
of localities whence the pipes have been taken may indicate the geo-
graphical line of this evolution.

A number of copper articles, including nearly all the types hitherto
known, are in the collection. In addition to these, among the new
forms are specimens of two new types decidedly the most important
yet discovered. These were obtained from both mounds and stone
graves.

The collection of engraved shells obtained from mounds probably
exceeds any other in the country in number, variety, and importance.

The specimens of textile fabrics and remnants of matting, though
not numerous, are important and valuable. Among these is a large
and well-preserved specimen of each class found in a cave deposit
where the burial could not have taken place more than a hundred
years ago; yet they are of precisely the pattern and stitch found in the
mounds and impressed on typical mound pottery. With the cloth and
matting were also the bone implements used in weaving the former.

The collection of chipped flint implements, stone axes, discoidal
stones, gorgets, etc., is large. Among the stone articles are parts of
three well-made stone images which must have been nearly one-half
life size. Bone implements, shell, etc., are in fair proportion.

As it was important that the explorations should be carried on dur-
ing the winter as well as the summer, it was found advantageous to
work in the northern sections in the summer and move southward as
the cold advanced. Each assistant at the close of the working year
made a report of his operations during that time. These reports would
have been incorporated as furnished, but, as in most cases they related
to different sections investigated during the same -year, this would
have prevented a systematic presentation of results, and hence the idea
was abandoned, and the data obtained have been arranged geograph-
ically by states and counties. This method, however, is subject to the
objection that county lines are liable to frequent changes and seldom
correspond with the natural lines which influenced primitive settle-
ment. Notwithstanding this objection, the fact that these political
divisions afford the only means of defining localities on the maps of the
present day has governed in selecting the method for this report.

Mounds are frequently described and illustrations introduced which
are seemingly unimportant. The object of this will be apparent to every
archeologist, for seemingly unimportant works afford the student a
means of comparison and furnish him with valuable negative evidence
which otherwise would not be available. Moreover, in the preparation
of the report, I have proceeded upon the theory that no fact should be

PREFACE. 25

omitted, however trivial it may now appear, as a time may come when
it will supply needed evidence in archeological investigations.

The geographical order in which the report is arranged is as follows:
First, the Mississippi valley proper, commencing with Minnesota and
Wisconsin and proceeding southward; next, the Gulf States from Mis-
sissippi eastward, after which follows the Appalachian district, includ
ing North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and West Virginia, then Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan.

The territory over which the explorations have been carried is large,
and, from necessity, no one section has been exhaustively examined for
reasons given above. Suflice it to say that the chief object kept con-
stantly in view was the search for types. But this included types of
form, of modes of construction and internal arrangement, of methods of
burial, of contents, and of indications of uses, ete.

The illustrations are original with a few exceptions. Those which
are copied are chiefly from previous publications of this Bureau. A
few, however, are from the annual reports of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, the electrotypes being kindly loaned for this purpose.

Before concluding this preface I wish to acknowledge the many favors
the division has received both in prosecuting the field work and in pre-
paring the report. We have been kindly received in all portions of the
country to which our operations have extended, the citizens always
showing a commendable desire to encourage our work and to give us
all the information possible. Here and there permission to explore
mounds has been refused, but such refusal has generally been based on
valid reasons.

To the assistants who have carried on operations in the field I extend
thanks for the zeal and faithfulness with which their work was per-
formed. Iam also indebted to Mr. W. H. Holmes, Rev. W. M. Beaun-
champ, and Mr, Gerard Fowke; and also to Mr. Reynolds for val-
uable papers, and to Mr. James D. Middleton for the plats and results
of the surveys made by him of works in Ohio and elsewhere.

It is proper to state here that only a partial study of the articles col-
lected has as yet been made. Papers by specialists, describing and
discussing them, are being prepared and will appear hereafter.

(Qe Ite

REPORT ON THE MOUND EXPLORATIONS OF THE
BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

By Cyrus THOMAS.

INTRODUCTION.

Before introducing the report of field work it will not be amiss to call
attention to the various kinds of ancient monuments found in the area
over which the explorations extended.

It is somewhat strange that, notwithstanding the large number of
works devoted wholly or partly to the antiquities of our country, which
have appeared since the publication of the “‘ Ancient Monuments,” by
Messrs. Squier and Davis, no attempt has been made to rectify their
imperfect and faulty classification. Their division of these antiquities
into “ Constructions of Earth,” ‘‘ Constructions of Stone,” and “ Minor
Vestiges of Art,” is sufficient for practical purposes so far as if goes,
and the same may be said of the division of the first class into “ En-
closures” and “Mounds.” but their further classification into ‘“ En-
closures for Defense,” “Sacred and Miscellaneous Enclosures,” ‘Mounds
of Sacrifice,” “Temple Mounds,” ete., is unfortunate, as it is based
on supposed uses instead of real character, and has served to graft
into our archeological literature certain conclusions in regard to the
uses and purposes of these various works that, in some cases at least,
are not justified by the evidence. For example, there is not a particle of
evidence that any inclosure was formed for religious or “sacred” uses,
or that any mound was built for “sacrificial” purposes in any true or
legitimate sense of the term. Yet author after author, down to the
present time, has adopted this classification without protest. It is only
in some very recent works that objections to it begin to appear.

Failure to correct this faulty classification is doubtless due to the dif-
ficulties which lie in the way of satisfactorily grouping the variety of
forms presented and to our imperfect knowledge of the uses and
objects of these works. Nadaillac, after alluding to the various forms,
remarks that “ these facts will show how very difficult, not to say im-
possible, is any classification,”!-a statement which anyone who

1Preh. Amer. French Edn. p.90-Engl. Edn. p. 87 ae
27

28 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

attempts a systematic arrangement will be disposed to accept as true.
Any attempt in this direction must be, to a large extent, arbitrary and
a tentative arrangement. Nothing more than this is claimed for the
classification here presented, which is limited to the works of the area
now under consideration. Were it not for the absolute necessity of
grouping under designated heads in order to simplify the work, no
attempt in this direction would be made at this time.

It is undoubtedly desirable to adopt some arrangement agreeing
with the European classification if this be possible, but a comparison of
European antiquities with those of North America will soon satisfy
any one of its impracticability. The chronological arrangement into
four classes, to wit, Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron, is con-
ceded to be inapplicable to America, Evidences of the two stone ages
may possibly yet be found, and a copper age be substituted for the
bronze, but the likeness will extend no farther. I may add that, per-
sonally, I doubt very much if this classification into ages has been of
any advantage to archeology.

As the first step, all antiquities of this region are considered as be-
longing to three general divisions:

(1) Monunents, or local antiquities.—Those antiquities that are fixed
or stationary, which necessarily pertain to a given locality or place, as
earthworks, stoneworks, cave dwellings, mines, quarries, ete.

(2) Movable antiquities, or relics and remains.—Those which have no
necessary connection with a given place or locality, such as implements,
ornaments, and other minor vestiges of art; also human and animal
remains, ete.

(3) Paleographic objects—Inscriptions, picture writings, symbols, ete.,
whether on fixed stones or transportable articles.

Although this arrangement is confessedly an arbitrary one, it is
adopted because it appears to be a practical working system by
which the lines of distinction are somewhat rigidly drawn. Moreover,
it is adapted to the two methods of investigation and study, viz, in the
field and in the museum.

THE FIXED OR LOCAL ANTIQUITIES.

The fixed or local antiquities of the section under consideration con-
sist chiefly of earthworks, stoneworks, cave deposits, mines and quar-
ries, and might be classed under these heads but for the fact that some
belong partly to one class and partly to another; for example, while
most mounds are built entirely of earth, some consist wholly of stone
and others are partly stone and partly earth; then there are other
local antiquities which can not be properly classed under either of these
headings. The nearest approach, therefore, which can be made to a
satisfactory classification is te group the individual monuments accord-
ing to types of form and external characters, reference being made to
uses only where these are obvious.

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS DEFINED. 29

The variety of ancient works so far as form and modes of construction
are concerned, is almost endless, but all may be included, in a general
way, under the following primary headings, viz, Mounds, Refuse Heaps,
Mural Works (such as inclosures, embankments, etc.), Excavations,
Graves and Cemeteries, Garden Beds, Surface Figures, Hearths or
Camp Sites, Hut Rings or House Sites, and Ancient Trails. Besides
these as belonging to separate heads are Mines and Quarries, Cave
Deposits, and Petroglyphs.

MOUNDS.

The term “mound,” as used throughout this report, is limited to the
artificial tumulus and is not intended to include walls, embankments,
refuse heaps, or other works not usually classed as “mounds” in this
country, though the lines of distinction between the examples which
approximate each other in form are apparently arbitrary.

The tumuli or mounds are the most common and most numerous of
the tixed works, being found throughout the region under consideration,
and, in fact, constituting the larger portion of most of the groups.
The forms are so varied that it would tax the imagination to devise one
that is not represented. There is probably one exception and a some-
what remarkable one, as it is that which enters into the idea of a true
pyramid. The form alluded to is the pyramid with true successive
stages. There has been, it is believed. no mound found in the United
States east of the Rocky Mountains, with successive stages running
entirely around the structure. In other words, the form figured by
Pidgeon in the frontispiece to his ‘“Decoodah” as the type of the
“ancient American battle mound,” is without a representative in the
United States.

Although so varied, they may for convenience be arranged in four
classes, as follows: Conical tumuli, elongate mounds, pyramidal mounds,

and effigy mounds.
CONICAL TUMULI.

Under this head are placed all those rounded, artificial heaps or hil-
locks which seem to have been cast up with some special object in view—
that is to say, are not such mere accumulations of rubbish as the refuse
heaps. The form is usually that of a low, broad, round-topped cone,
but as at present found, is, in consequence of wear by the plow and
the elements, often that of an irregular heap distinguished from the
refuse heap only by internal evidences.

Mounds of this type are the most common of our ancient monuments,
being found throughout the region under consideration, sometimes iso-
lated, but more usually in association with other works. There are, in
fact, few groups of ancient works to be found where mounds of this
kind are entirely wanting.

They vary in size from a slight, scarcely perceptible swell in the sur-
face of the ground to elevations 80 or 90 feet high, and trom 6 or 8 feet

30 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

to 300 feet in diameter at the base. Asa general rule the burial mounds
are of this form. ;

The term “ conical,” although used in its widest and most general
sense, is scarcely broad enough to include all tumuli that are referred
to this class. The circular or nearly circular base is the usual form,
but oval and pear-shaped mounds, especially the former, are not rare.
Some two or three of a crescent shape have been observed, but these
are exceptional cases. There are also some irregular forms which must
be placed in this class if we would avoid multiplying divisions in our
classification to an unwarranted extent. These are mostly irregular
heaps, similar to “refuse heaps,” but which, as internal evidence shows,
can not be properly placed in the latter category.

As the further subdivision of the class must be determined chiefly,
if not wholly, by what the interior of the works presents, this part of
the subject will be left for a subsequent chapter. However. it may be
stated here that no attempt has been made to divide the conical tumuli
into any further subclasses than burial mounds, and those not designed
for burial purposes.

ELONGATE OR WALL MOUNDS.

This division is intended to include those singular elongate works
which seem to be confined strictly to the effigy-mound district. The
only characteristic which distinguishes them from the conical type is
their wall-like form; in fact many of them, as may be seen by referring
to Dr. Lapham’s “Antiquities of Wisconsin,” might very properly be
salled walls. This wall-like form is apparent even where the length
is not great compared with the width; in other words, they seldom
assume the oval shape. The width varies from 20 to 40 feet; the length
from 50 to 900 feet, though the height seldom, if ever, exceeds 4 feet.
They appear to be simple lines of earth cast up from the adjoining
surface, and are seldom used for burial purposes, and even in these few
cases it is evident the burial in them was a subsequent thought, their
construction having no reference to this use. The object in building
them is yet an unsolved riddle.

PYRAMIDAL MOUNDS.

The typical form of this class is the truncated, quadrangular pyra-
mid. In some examples these are so reduced in height, compared with
extent, as to assume the appearance of mere earthen platforms; others
have a terrace extending outward from one or two sides. Although
the mounds of this class are usually four-sided, some are circular or
rounded, and a few pentagonal, but all are flat on top. The wearing
by the plow and the elements has in most cases destroyed the sharp
outlines of the original form, so that it is difficult, sometimes, to deter-
mine this satisfactorily. In such cases the statements of the early
observers become important. But few works of this class are found
in the northern districts.

THOMAS. ] INCLOSURES AND WALLS. 31

EFFIGY MOUNDS.

These are the singular earthen structures designed to represent ani-
mal figures, the human form, or some inanimate object. They are lim-
ited almost exclusively to the Wisconsin district, the only known excep-
tions being two or three in Ohio and two in Georgia. It is more than
probable that most of those to which the name ‘“ Man-mound” has been
applied are really bird effigies.

Although not belonging strictly to the mound class in the restricted
sense, yet, aS being nearest allied thereto, we may arrange here the
refuse heaps and house sites.

REFUSE HEAPS.

Although the ancient heaps of rubbish in America are composed
chiefly of marine and fresh-water shells, the more comprehensive term
refuse heap is given here, as under it may be placed not only the accu-
mulations of shells but other heaps known as kitchen-middens and open-
air workshops or accumulations of flint chips. The heap is distin-
guished from the mound by the fact that the former is a mere accumu-
lation of rubbish, while the latter is constructed with a specific design
in view.

HOUSE SITES AND HUT RINGS.

The works to which the latter of these names is applied are usually
small rings or circles of earth from 15 to 50 feet in diameter, the inclosed
area being more or less depressed. This name is given them because
it is now conceded that they are the remains of circular houses or wig-
wams. In Arkansas and some other southern sections these rings ap-
pear to be replaced by low, flattened, mostly circular mounds in which
are found the indications or remains of houses which in most cases appear
to have been consumed by fire. To these and other similar remains,
though not covered by mounds, the name “house sites” has been applied.

CAIRNS.

With the exception of two or three effigies and the accumulations of

flint chips the only stone mounds found in the United States east of the

Rocky Mountains are of the conical type. The term “cairn” is some-
times applied to the smaller and more regular ones, though ‘‘mound”
is the word usually employed in this country in referring to them.

INCLOSURES, WALLS, ETC.

The works included in this class are inclosures, usually formed by a
more or less complete surrounding wall of earth or stone; lines of walls,
sometimes single, sometimes in pairs forming parallels; embankments,
and other mural works.

32 “MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

INCLOSURES.

In this class are included some of the most important and most inter-
esting ancient monuments of our country. In form they are circular,
square, oblong, oval, octagonal, or irregular. Those which approach
regularity in figure and symmetry in their parts are either circular,
square, or octagonal, and with a few exceptions are found in Ohio and
in the immediately adjoinining sections of Kentucky and Indiana, and
in West Virginia.

Of the irregular in form there are several types; some, especially
those located on level ground where the space is ample, are irregularly
circular and in most cases are flanked bya ditch. This formis common
in the region bordering the northern lakes; others, often of stone or
stone and earth combined, are found on elevated points, the figure
being determined by the boundaries or character of the area inclosed.
Inclosures of this type are frequently incomplete, a steep bluff, river,
or lake shore forming one or two of the sides.

In this class are included a few works where there is in reality no
wall, a ditch or line of picket holes alone marking the boundary.

ry WALLS AND EMBANKMEN'S.

Double or parallel lines of walls are in most, if not all, cases connected
with other works. Single lines of wall are mostly those of earth or stone
built across the neck of some projecting bluff or promontory or across
some peninsula formed by the bend of a river or curve in a lake shore.
These are evidently works thrown up for defensive purposes, often to
protect a temporary or permanent village.

EXCAVATIONS.

This term is usually applied to those basin-shaped or irregular, arti-
ficial depressions often observed in connection with the more extensive
groups. Itis apparent in many cases that they have been dug with no
other object in view than to obtain dirt with which to build a mound
or construct a wall. But in other cases they have evidently been made
for some specific purpose.

CANALS AND DITCHES.

Indications of what may be properly designated as ‘‘ ancient canals”
have been discovered at a few points, mostly in the south.

Ditches are seldom found except in connection with inclosures or de-
fensive works. Yet, a few instances occur where they seem to replace
the walls of inclosures, one of the most important groups of the South
being thus surrounded.

PITS AND CACHES.

Pits as a matter of course are excavations and in a strictly system-
atic arrangement should be placed under that head, nevertheless zs the

THOMAS. ] GRAVES AND CEMETERIES. 33

present object is to indicate the various works by the terms which have
come into use in this country, they are given separately. They are fun-
nel-shaped or deep, cup-shaped excavations, the depth being greater in
proportion to the diameter than the ordinary basin-shaped excavations.
Those works, to which the term is applied, appear to be of two classes:
First, the holes or pits made in digging for flint, which are usually
known locally as “Indian diggings,” and which, as a matter of course,
are irregular as to form and size; second, the regularly formed pits of
but a few feet in diameter and depth, and used chiefly as places for
secreting food and other articles, and hence often called ‘‘caches.”

GRAVES AND CEMETERIES.

The ancient graves of the area under consideration in this report are
of various types, nevertheless there are one or two of these which form
such important factors in discussing the question of the origin and
builders of our ancient monuments that it is proper they should be
mentioned here.

One of the most common and mostimportant types is the “ box-shaped
stone grave” or cist. This is in the form of an oblong box, constructed
of unhewn stone slabs. Graves of this kind are found isolated, in
groups forming cemeteries and also in mounds.

Stone graves of other forms occur usually in mounds, but as these
will be noticed hereafter it is unnecessary to describe them here.

The term “cemetery” is, of course, used in its ordinary sense.

GARDEN BEDS.

These are certain surface indications, found chiefly in Michigan and
Wisconsin, leading to the conclusion that the limited areas covered
were formerly under cultivation. These indications are generally low,
parallel ridges, as though made in planting corn in drills. They aver-
age about 4 feet in width, and the depth of the space between them a
few (6 to 8) inches. They are generally arranged in beds or plats.

OTHER FEATURES.

Fire beds or hearths are nothing more than the indications of local
fires, found in mounds and inthe ground. Camp-sites are usually indi-
cated by marks of fire and other signs of temporary camps found near
the surface of the ground.

Ancient trails are sufficiently indicated by the name.

Surface figures are outline figures of the human or animal form or of
some object formed on the surface of the ground with pebbles or bones.

Cave deposits are sutficiently indicated by the name.

So far as ascertained the ancient mines of this country were limited
to those of copper, flint, and other stone and mica,

12 ETH——3

r%

FIELD OPERATIONS.

MANITOBA AND THE DAKOTAS.

Within the area embraced by the province of Manitoba and the two
states of Dakota five distinct types of prehistoric works have been
observed. First, the mounds of the Red river valley, extending from
Grand Forks, North Dakota, down to Selkirk, Manitoba. Secondly, the
mounds along the Souris river in Manitoba and North Dakota, and in
Benson, Ramsey, and Walsh counties, North Dakota. Thirdly, the
mounds along the Big Sioux river in southeast Dakota and Lowa asso-
ciated with bowlder circles. Fourthly, the bowlder circles found upon
the highest lands of the Missouri and James rivers and their tribu-
taries, associated with bowlder outlines of animals. Fifthly, the house
sites in the form of basin-shaped depressions found along the Missouri
river from the mouth of the Niobrara to 10 miles north of Bismarck.

Of the first class, namely, the mounds bordering the Red river of
the North, there are but few, scarcely more than twenty now visible.
Those visited by the Bureau agent were in the vicinity of Grand Rap-
ids, North Dakota, St. Andrews, and East Selkirk, Manitoba. All had
been explored. They occur singly rather than in groups. The soil of
which they are composed appears to be that of the surrounding land.
They are conical in form, and none at present exceed nine feet in diam-
eter, though originally, before they were cultivated and excavated, they
were doubtless higher. Human burials were found in all.

SOURIS RIVER MOUNDS.

Along the Souris river, in southwestern Manitoba and south of the
"i ?
junction of the South Antler, numerous mounds were discovered. They
extend over an extensive area up the river, and it is not improbable that
they may be found following the stream across the border into Dakota.
>

Ni, ihe

ANNONA A A AAR q
&

7 EER HR Ry

Fic. 1,—Elongate mound, Souris river, Manitoba.

They occur in large groups, are conical in form, and range from 1 to 5

feet in height and from 30 to 40 feet in diameter. In their midst were

seen the two forms of elongate mounds, one as shown in Fig. 1, the

other the ordinary oblong form. As the discovery of these mounds was

incidental, and our assistant carried no instruments upon the trip, no
35

36 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

survey of any of the groups could be made. The elongate mounds or
embankments range from 1 to 24 feet high and from 100 to 300 feet
long. In the form showing expansions or mounds at the ends, no per-
ceptible difference was noticed between the height of the mounds at
the ends and the bank between them. They are composed of gravelly
soil and in size are, as a rule, quite low and broad. Seven of these
peculiar mounds were noticed just south of the junction of the South
Antler, within 1 mile of Sourisford post-office. Two or more of this
form sometimes occur either in an imbricated position or at right
angles to one another, as in Fig. 2. Their positions and appearance
are such as to preclude the idea that they were used for defense.

TMM TA
Zydeco

Manno rico HEN MY
P77 LL URC Wy SI

\
a
\ x 1 Vp
N\ C TM on TN
Zu UO SS
N 3 “Ss

=
Zayw

Fic. 2.—Elongate mounds, Souris river, Manitoba.

Some are situated along the brink of the precipitous river bluff, while
others lie farther inward upon the prairie level. The mounds or expan-
sions at the extremities of one were dug into but without any result.

Mounds of this character were also seen down the Souris river across
the South Antler. Large numbers of them lie between that stream
and the junction of the North Antler, 15 miles distant. They range
from 2 to 8 feet in height. The larger ones had been explored by set-
tlers. One, 5 feet high, situated near the left bluff of the South Antler,
was composed throughout of the gravelly prairie soil, intermingled con-
siderably with buffalo bones. The bones of four skeletons were found
in acontused condition in a pit dug in the original surface of the ground.
A catlinite pipe of the tubular variety, curving towards the base, and
many pieces of broken pottery were found with them. These pottery
fragments are ornamented with straight incisions, and are composed
of a mixture of clay tempered with fine sand or pulverized granite.

In another, 8 feet high, composed, like the last, of the gravelly prairie
soil, the bodies or bones of five skeletons were found buried beneath

THOMAS. | SOURIS RIVER MOUNDS. 37

the original surface. They appeared to have been originally placed in
a sitting posture in a circle facing one another. The bones bore no
signs of decay. The decayed remains of timbers were found just above
them. Five catlinite pipes of the tubular variety, a polished sandstone
tablet engraved on one side with the rude figure of a turtle, and two
small clay cups about the size of an ordinary finger bowl, accompanied
the skeletons. The pottery has an incised spiral ornamentation extend-
ing all around the bowl and a corrugated rim. The composition is a
mixture of clay with fine sand or pulverized granite. Quite a fresh
piece of bark, apparently bearing the marks of a steel knife along
one edge, was also found accompanying these remains.

In front of the residence of Mr. Amos Snyder and near the junction
of the North Antler with the Souris there is a mound 34 feet high.
This, not having been previously disturbed, was examined by Mr. Rey-
nolds. He found the mound composed throughout of the uppermost
prairie soil, very compact and hard, and the remains of a single skele-
ton on the original surface of the ground. The bones, which were
extremely well preserved, were disarticulated and piled together, as
though interred after having been denuded of the flesh, and the cranium
placed on top. Fragments of buffalo bones and pottery, similar in type
to that above described, except that some of it was ornamented with
straight parallel incisions, were found mingled among the earth. Also,
three fine specimens of arrow heads of a light grayish flint and a por-
tion of some polished implement of bone, ornamented with straight
incised lines which appear to have been produced with a sharp steel
knife.

Another mound, 4 feet high, about 50 rods westward from the last,
was opened the same day. A trench 3 feet wide was cut through it to
the original surface, but no burial remains were found. Many broken
buffalo bones, and pieces of pottery similar in deseription to those
found in the other mounds, were intermingled in the earth throughout.
A cross trench was abandoned for lack of time.

Other mounds similar to these in appearance were seen on the oppo-
site or right bank of the Souris river on the Rumball farm, 3 miles
from Sourisford post-office. One situated near the dwelling is 3 feet
high and 30 feet in diameter. It appeared to be composed, like those
just described, of the soil of the surrounding land. Not far from the
dwelling were also four oblong mounds, similar in form to that shown
in Fig. 1. One of them measured 225 feet long and 24 feet broad.
Their height is scarcely more than 1 foot above the surrounding level.

While at Grand Forks, North Dakota, it was learned from Prof.
Henry Montgomery that elongate, conical, and connected mounds,
resembling these in character, and containing specimens of the types
found in the mounds of this region, exist in Benson, Ramsey, and Walsh
counties, North Dakota.

38 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

SIOUX RIVER MOUNDS.

Along the Big Sioux river, within 10 miles south of Sioux Falls, and
principally where the river forms the boundary line between Minne-
haha county, South Dakota, and Lyon county, Iowa, there are said to
be about 275 mounds. Many of these our assistant visited. They
were found situated on both sides of the river in clusters or groups
upon the highest points of the river hills, or upon the broad terraces
of the valleys. One of the groups visited demands special attention.
It is situated in the extreme northwest corner of Lyon county, Iowa,
and comprises about 50 mounds of the simple conical type, averaging
about 4 feet in height. In the midst of the mounds, at times touching
the skirt of them, are seen stone rings, circular and oblong, made with
the granite bowlders of the prairie. It is evident that these mark the
site of an old village, the circles and oblong outlines indicating the
positions of the lodges, the skin coverings of which were held down
by stones, With probably one or two exceptions every circle or oblong
form presents a break, namely, a place about 3 or 4 feet wide where the
continuity of the figure is broken by the absence of stones. This
appears to have been the entrance, and in most instances it is at the
southeast, or the point most protected from the cold northwest winds.
They average about 30 feet in diameter. The number of lodges consti-
tuting the original village could not be counted, since about half of the
group lies in a field, the original prairie sod of which has been disturbed
by the plow of the settler and the stones utilized by him upon his farm.
In the undisturbed portion they outnumber the mounds about three to
one. The mounds are so intermingled with the stone figures as to show
that the two were constructed by the same people. In some instances,
where the stone circles nearly touch the skirt of a mound, the wash
from the latter has covered the stones upon that side while those on
the other side are fully exposed. This seems to indicatethat the mounds
had been constructed after the circles or lodges had been placed. These
boulders are, as a rule, half imbedded in the prairie sod, but this fact
does not necessarily imply great antiquity. Investigations had been
made among these mounds by Mr. F. W. Pettigrew, of Sioux Falls, but
the result did not indicate that they were used for burial.

About half a mile up the valley, on the same river terrace, there is
another large village site consisting of mounds and circles similar in all
respects to those just described. Each of these groups is upon a most
beautiftl and expansive terrace peculiarly adapted for a permanent vil-
lage. Groups of mounds, fewer in number and smaller in size, are to
be seen in the vicinity upon the most commanding points of the river
heights, and in these human interments have been discovered. These
may therefore be considered as the burial places of this people.

About 100 rods to the south of the village remains above described
there is an irregular earthen inclosure somewhat octagonal in outline,

THOMAS. ] BOWLDER CIRCLES. 39

formed by throwing up the dirt from the inside. At one point it inter-
sects a low mound, seated upon the original surface, in which the owner
of the land discovered a skeleton. The inclosure embraces about 10
acres, but no survey could be made at the time it was visited on account
of the high corn crop that covered it. The group of mounds and stone
circles above described has been accurately surveyed by Mr. F. W. Pet-
tigrew, of Sioux Falls.

BOWLDER CIRCLES.

In addition to the bowlder circles above described there are some of
another class, which, from all accounts, appear to be quite common
throughout the Dakota country. They differ from the others in that
they are unaccompanied by mounds, and average as a rule only
17 feet in diameter. The bowlders are much smaller and are scat-
tered about irregularly instead of approximating a perfect circle like
the others. They are, however, like these, half imbedded in the soil.
Formerly they were doubtless much more common, but now they are
found principally, if not altogether, upon the highest ridges or buttes
overlooking the valleys. Those visited by the Bureau agent were sit-
uated on Medicine Butte, near Blunt, South Dakota, and Snake Butte,
6 miles up the Missouri river from Pierre, South Dakota. They occupy
the most commanding points of the buttes. In fact their locations are
the very best in all those regions for grand, extensive views. No relics
of any description are found about them, and everything seems to point
to temporary occupation only. Their positions and character indicate
that they are the sites of old teepees, and this is confirmed by the tes-
timony of all the old Indians and “squaw men” who were questioned
as to their origin. In former times, they say, bowlders were the chief
means by which the Indians held down the skins of their lodges, and
even now it is resorted to in some of their temporary camps. Each of
these groups of stone circles is accompanied by the outline figure of an
animal, made with such small bowlders as are available upon the site,
and similar to those composing the circles about them. Like the lat-
ter, they are half embedded in the ground. The figure accompanying
the group upon Medicine Butte is a snake outlined with two rows of
bowlders. These boulders vary in size, those of the body being larger
than those of the tail, and that forming the nose or mouth larger than
those forming the head. The curvature of the body, the head, and the
eyes are all well defined. A sketch of this snake figure is given with
others of the same type by Mr. T. H. Lewis in the American Anthro-
pologist, vol. 9. His description is full and accurate. The figure ac
companying the group on Snake butte above Pierre is that of a turtle,
the figure of which, with dimensions as ascertained by our assistant, is
given herewith (Fig. 3). It is 15 feet in length, and 7 feet across the
body, and is composed of 83 stones varying somewhat in size, though
not as much so as those forming the snake above described. A num-

40 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

ber of smaller stones, as seen in the figure, ran from the neck through
the body, which probably was intended to represent the “ life line,” thus
giving the figure a mythical significance. This effigy lay in a direction
S. 38° E. and was situated not far from the bluff of the Missouri river,
to which it lay parallel. Tepee remains, or stone circles, are to be

yO

v 4 8
ES eee
Vv

Fic. 3.—Turtle figure, Hughes county, South Dakota.

seen between it and the edge of the bluff, and on the other side, to the
east, commencing about 150 feet to the south, is a long line of bowlders
of similar description, which extend northerly fully 200 rods. In some
places these stones are compact and set closely together, but towards
each end they thin out by becoming farther and farther apart. At the
north end this line terminates in a small heap of stones. This was
torn down, and the earth beneath dug into, but without result. There
are about 35 stone circles in this group, and the turtle figure lies in
the midst of them, as does also the line of bowlders just described.
They are seen on both sides of it to a certain distance. Some are also
to be seen upon the high crest of the butte. These circles are of the
same dimensions as those seen on Medicine butte, but the stones did
not seem to be so deeply buried, in fact, they were as much above the
surface as could be expected. Ashes were found upon digging in the

THOMAS. ] HUT RINGS. 41

center of one of the circles, though no such traces were seen in others
that were examined here and upon Medicine Butte. The animal fig-
ures on each of these sites are poorly situated, and in each case there
are circles that almost touch them. Indeed, their position with refer-
ence to the latter is such as to make them seem incidental to the prior
location of the tepees. If they were intended as objects of veneration
and worship, as has been conjectured, there are sites in the immediate
vicinity of each better adapted for such purposes—sites where the
archeologist more naturally expects to find them.

HUT RINGS.

Many old village sites, resembling each other in every respect, are to
be seen on either side of the Missouri river from the mouth of the
Niobrara to about 10 miles above Bismarck. Unlike the house sites of
this type in southeast Missouri and Ilinois no mounds accompany them,
though kitchen-middens, resembling mounds, are seen among those
farther up the river. Two of these village sites were examined by the
agent of this Bureau near the town of Pierre, South Dakota. They
occupied the second terrace of the river and were indicated by numerous
basin-shaped depressions, sometimes, especially in the larger cases,
with a distinct rim or bank around the edge. They are, at present,
from 1 to 2 feet deep and 75 feet in diameter. Occasionally one is seen
fully 4 feet deep and 75 feet in diameter. In some instances the en
trance was indicated by a graded depression leading outward. At
least fifty such hut rings were counted on each of these sites. It was
apparent, however, that originally there were many more, for many had
disappeared before the encroachmentsof the town. Numerous signs of
former occupation abound, and refuse heaps are seen about almost
every depression. Some of these refuse heaps were examined and
found to consist chiefly of river loess, and to contain invariably much
fragmentary pottery, discarded stone implements, and the broken bones
of the buffalo and other food animals. Indications of fire were dis-
covered in the center of the depressions or house sites. The ornamen-
tation of the pottery is, as a rule, similar to that of the Mandans, except
that it appears to be a trifle ruder. The characteristic incised lines of
the Mandan pottery are constantly met with. The tempering material
employed is also the same, it being a fine silicious sand. Quite a large
group of these remains is to be seen farther down the river at the mouth
of Chappelle creek, accompanied by the remains of an earthen inclosure.
It was situated on the edge of the bank of the creek near its junction
with the river. A distinct outside ditch was apparent on the side un-
protected by the bank. It had a single entrance way and the interior
was well filled up with house sites of the above description. The num-
ber of these depressions within and without the fort indicate a much
larger population than-is known of any of the villages of the Missouri
when first visited by whites. Another very large group, similar to these

42 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

in every respect, is, according to Mr. J. C. Collester, of Redfield, South
Dakota, to be seen at the mouth of the Moreauriver. These are doubt-
less the remains of the Arikara village that was visited by Lewis and
Clarke in their passage up the Missouri in 1802. The houses of the
Arikaras were described by these explorers as circular dome-like strue-
tures, the floor of which was about 5 feet below the level of the sur-
rounding land. but in house-building, asin the manufacture of pottery
and other things, the customs of the Arikaras, though somewhat ruder,
resembied those of the Mandans, and the similar remains farther up the
river may therefore be due to that people. Some are probably the re-
mains of the Mandan villages described by Lewis and Clarke in 1802,
and by Catlin in 1833.

MINNESOTA.

The only explorations made in this state on behalf of the Bureau
were at and about the noted Pipestone quarry in Pipestone county and
in the extreme southeastern county.

PIPESTONE COUNTY.

The only group known in this county is that in the vicinity of the
sacred Pipestone quarry.

A sketch and description of the locality as it formerly appeared, to-
gether with an account of the Indian traditions relating to it, may be
found in Catlin’s “* North American Indians.”' These works consist of
low mounds and an irregular inclosure in the vicinity of Pipestone.

One of these mounds, which for convenience is designated No. 1, is
of the usual low conical form, 28 feet in diameter and 3 feet high. An
exploration revealed nothing but the dark, adhesive soil of which it
was chiefly composed, and stone fragments, a few of which were catlin-
ite, bearing traces of tool marks. No bones, ashes, or charcoal were
observed. Possibly it was nothing more than a refuse heap.

No. 2 is the mound represented in Catlin’s sketch ? of which he gives
the history, and which, according to his statement, was built two years
before his visit, probably in 1836 or 1837. He does not give the diam-
eter, but estimates the height at 10 feet. Nicollet saw and noted it in
1838. Col. Norris noticed it in 1857, when, although apparently undis-
turbed, it was but little over 6 feet in height. When he saw it again
in 1877 it bore the marks of having been opened, and he then learned
that a cranium and some of the weapons and trinkets deposited with
the Indians buried had been unearthed and carried off. He found a
perforated bear’s claw and some glass beads among the angular frag-
ments of rock lying in the excavation. Making a thorough excavation
when he visited it in 1882 on behalf of the Bureau, he found near the
center some decayed fragments of wood, one of them apparently the

1Vol. 2, p. 144. * North American Indians, Vol. 2, p. 164, Pl. 270,

THOMAS. | PIPESTONE COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 43

short, thick, perforated stock or handle of an Indian whip. With the
dirt of the mound were mingled many fragments of stone.

No. 3, composed of earth and angular fragments of stone, was prob-
ably a refuse heap from the diggings.

Nos. 4 and 5, similar to No. 3.

No. 6 isa conical tumulus on the bank of the creek about a hundred
yards above the falls, and is 6 feet high. Projecting through the sod
was a stone slab 2 feet long, nearly as wide, and 9 inches thick, stand-
ing nearly perpendicular in the center; beneath it, lying flat, was
another of similar form and size. Beneath the latter was a pile of
broken stones, mostly of smaller sizes, among which were pieces of
pipestone, badly decayed fragments of human and coyote bones, but no

‘entire skeleton. In this were found charcoal and ashes, the only
instance of their presence in any of the mounds at this place. They
were underneath the pile of stones. A small stone drill was found
with them.

No. 7, which is nearer the cliff than No. 6, is about 30 feet in diame-
ter and 4 feet high. It was but little else than a pile of angular stones.

No. 8 is simply a bastion-like enlargement of the large circular
earthwork at one of its numerous angles (see No. 8, Fig. 4), about 4
feet high. Nothing was found in it, not even the angular stones so
common in the other mounds.

No. 9 is a circular mound inside the earthwork, 20 feet in diameter
and 4 feet high. In this was found a single skeleton lying at full
length upon the right side, head north, on the original surface of the
ground. It was covered with a layer or pile of stones about 2 feet
thick, and was so much decayed that the bones and even the teeth
erumbled to dust when exposed to the air. No implements or orna-
ments were found with it except a flint lance head, some arrow points,
and two or three rude scrapers which were near the breast.

No. 10 is merely an enlargement of the west horn of one of the circu-
lar works lying east of the large inciosure, of which more particular
mention is made hereafter. Its diameter was found to be 20 feet;
height, 3 feet. Nothing of interest was found in it.

CIRCULAR AND CRESCENT EARTHWORKS.

These interesting works are situated about 2 miles a little north of
east from the quarry; a plan of them is given in Fig. 4. It is not cer-
tain that Catlin saw these works, although they are situated near the
great war trail from Flandreau and the pipestone quarry to the Minne-
sota (formerly St. Peters) river. Nicollet, however, noted them in
1838, and makes special mention of two circular inclosures, or ‘‘ camps,”
as he calls them, estimating the circumference of one at 2,000 feet."

The shape of this inclosure, which appears to be the only complete
one in the locality is shown at a. The circumference, according to

1 Senate Report No. 237, 26th Congress, 2d session, p. 14.

44 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Col. Norris’s measurement, is 2,386 feet, the wall varying in height from
a few inches to 4 feet. It has two well-marked and distinct openings,
or gateways, one at the north, the other at the southeast, besides
smaller and less evident ones. In the southern half is mound No. 9,
heretofore mentioned.

The crescent-shaped embankments, which are roughly sketched in
the figure, are about half a mile east of the large inclosure. They are
simply earth embankments of slight elevation and are possibly parts of
unfinished works.

Smoath Prairie

Sey

Fic. 4.—Inclosures and mounds, Pipestone county, Minnesota.

Nicollet’s statement in regard to the works is as follows:

After having reconnoitered distinct marks of a buffalo path, we unexpectedly fell
upon a circular breastwork of about 2,000 feet in circumference and sufficiently ele-
vated to protect the bodies of those who are defending themselves within. The
principal entrance is still marked by the places where the chiefs or principal person-
ages of the nation had their lodges, the situation of these always indicating not
only the main access to the camp but also the direction whence the enemy was
advancing.

Two miles further on, accordingly, we met with another camp of a similar charac-
ter. As the system of defense was on neither side more complicated than just
described, it would seem that they had been erected during a long talk the result of
which might lead to a war; whilst the small number of tumuli that are found
within the breastwork would seem to imply that both parties remained in presence
for some time, though there was no important battle fought.

The Sioux have lost the reminiscences of these camps, and merely conjecture that
they were occupied during the settlement of difficulties between the Tetons and
Yanktons.

Col. Norris thinks he saw in 1842 the second inclosure mentioned by
Nicollet, but did not find it in 1882,

THOMAS. HOUSTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA. 45
HOUSTON COUNTY.

The extreme southeast corner of this county, which is also the south-
east point of the State, is just north of the town of New Albin, Iowa,
at the confluence of Winnebago creek with the Mississippi river.
About 1 mile north of this point, upon the summit of a cliff rising
vertically 400 or 500 feet from the eastern or Mississippi valley side,
and barely accessible for a pedestrian up the steep and somewhat rocky
slopes on the south, west, and north sides, three mounds were found
and excavated, with the following results:

No. 1, about 30 feet in diameter and 6 feet high, of the usual conical
form, on the summit of the cliff, had already been opened sufficiently to
remove therefrom the skeleton of an Indian warrior, together with his
gun, hatchet, ete. The excavation which had been made was still
partly open, and extending downward only about half the depth of the
mound. Digging down about a foot farther into the hard, light-col
ored earth, apparently a mixture of clay and ashes, a stone slab was
encountered something over 2 feet long, something less in width, and 5
inches thick, of the same kind of rock as that found in the cliff.
This was lying flat upon others of various sizes, which were placed
edgewise, so as to forman oblong cist or coffin, but so small that its
contents, the decayed bones of an adult, were nearly in a heap, as
though the skeleton had been folded and deposited after the flesh was
removed. No implements or other vestiges of art were found.

Yj

YZ

si
qe: iD ap

Fic. 5.—Mound vault, Houston county, Minnesota.

No. 2. This interesting mound, situated about 50 feet south and
somewhat down the slope from No. 1, is circular, about 25 feet in diam-
eter and 6 feet high. An excavation had been made in the top to the
covering or top slabs of astone vault or chamber which further explo-
ration showed the mound to contain. The form of this vault is shown
in Fig. 5. It was about 6 feet in diameter throughout, and before it
was disturbed probably reached nearly or quite to the top of the
mound. Some of the top rocks had been thrown down, and, with some
small human bones, were lying on the slope of the mound. The floor
of the inner area was filled to the depth of about 2 feet with charcoal,
ashes, and split bones of animals, among which were found two roughly
chipped scrapers or skinners. This accumulation had not been dis-
turbed by those who made the first partial opening above. and who, as
was learned, had unearthed the skeleton of an Indian child, with some
modern beads and other trinkets.

46 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

No. 3 is situated about 100 feet north bat much below No. 1, and is
about 20 feet in diameter and 4 feet high. Nothing whatever of inter-
est was found in it.

Nothing was observed in relation to these works differing from the
usual conical mounds found in this region except the peculiar com-

Any
F 3 Me

i

ang aN

Fic. 6.—Mound group near Madison, Wisconsin.

manding position they occupy and the walled structure in No.2. Of
the numerous bluffs in this region no other affords such a clear and
extensive view of the surrounding country as this. An unobstructed
view of the Mississippi for a considerable distance above and below,
also up the Little Lowa, Winnebago, and other streams, is here ob-
tained. From this position can be seen the mouth of Root river on the
west, and on the east the deep-gorged Badaxe, and the last battlefield
on which Black Hawk fought. It must therefore have always been a
favorite lookout point or station

THOMAS. | EARTHWORKS IN WISCONSIN. 47

Mound No. 2 seems to have been purposely built upon the sunny
slope of the cliff just below the summit, so as to be sheltered from the
cold northwest winds and partly also from observation, while its oc-
cupants had a nearly unobstructed field for observation and signals.
Unlike the other mounds near it which were opened, it was composed
wholly of the rock and soil taken from around it. Possibly it may
have been used as a sentry post or signal station. The charcoal, ashes,
and split bones of animals were doubtless the remains of the feasts
and fires of the watchmen; the burial of a child in the mound was
intrusive and by modern Indians. Nota fragment of pottery was found
at this locality, although within 10 miles of the pottery circle in Iowa,
which will be noticed hereafter.

WISCONSIN.

The explorations in this State were confined chiefly to the southwest-
ern counties, though brief visits were made to some other localities,
where a few mounds were opened and some interesting groups sketched.

DANE COUNTY.

One group near Madison, which does not appear to have been no-
ticed by other explorers, was examined. This is situated about 2 miles
southeast of the capital and just beyond the mounds near Lake Win-
gra, described by Dr. Lapham. The works consist chiefly of earthen
circles and ovals, which in some cases surround excavations, and are
shown in the annexed Fig. 6. As will be observed, with the exception
of No. 8, which is a low mound, situated a short distance southwest of
No. 7, they are in a single straight line running northwest and south-
east. No. 1 is a double excavation, one portion oval, the other in the
form of a horseshoe and surrounded by a ring of earth 1 foot high;
depth of excavation from 3 to 6 feet. Nos. 2, 6, and 7 are low mounds,
but the others, which are rings of earth, are about 5 feet high on the
outside and 4 feet on the inside, the surface of the inner area being
raised about a foot above the surrounding level. The respective diame-
ters are as follows: No. 2, 32 feet; No. 5, 34 feet; No. 4, 36 feet (great-
est diameter); No. 5, 28 feet; No. 6, 26 feet; No. 7, 28 feet. No. lis 45
feet long. No, 4 is not a complete circle, having a wide opening toward
the southwest.

These are certainly not the work of the white man, as they present
nothing in common with his habits or customs. They appear now just
as they did in 1844, except that some of those in the field at the north-
west end of the row have since been nearly obliterated by the plow.

CRAWFORD COUNTY.

The first group of mounds of this county noticed here is found on the
bluff just above the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers,
and about 5 miles southeast of Prairie du Chien, ‘he bluffs at this

48 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

point form a sharp promontory jutting out toward the west, with remark-
ably steep and partially precipitous sides on the south and west, rising
about 150 feet above the general level. This is capped by a sharp
sandy ridge, rising in the central portion another hundred feet. On
the crest of this ridge are four mounds, which may be numbered 1, 2, 3,
and 4. Between 1 and 3 is a somewhat broad and flattened depres.
sion, in which mound No. 2 is situated. The ridge beyond the point
gradually descends toward the east, becoming broadened and flattened

as it recedes. On this portion there are 10 small circular mounds in a
single line.

Fic. 7.—Walled vault in mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
,

Mound No. 1 (Fig. 7) was opened in 1876 by Judge Bronson, who
found at the base of it some six or eight skeletons lying stretched out
horizontally, and covered by a dry, light colored mortar, which had run
between and ineased the bones and even filled some of the crania. As
only the southern portion had been opened, the remainder was carefully

ae ae |

=
=
SS

ITAA ATO

1 2
\ eee -

HR unannee .

Penns mel

rae Saeed ares

Fig. 8.—Bird mound, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

explored. The dried mortar was very hard and difficult to dig through,
but the pick soon struck some flat limestone rocks, which, when
fully exposed, were found to be parts of a rough wall about 5 feet high,
from the natural surface of the ground, and 8 feet long. In the oppo-
site side of the mound, about 12 feet from this and parallel to it, was
another similar wall.

The ends of these walls are shown in Fig. 8. Between them on the
natural surface had been placed side by side a number of skeletons

THOMAS. | MOUNDS AT PRAIRIE DU CHIEN. 49

lying flat and lengthwise, parallel with the walls. The headsof these
are indicated by the row of little circles at the bottom. Immediately
over these was the layer of mortar; next above this, between the walls
and also over the vault forming the body of the mound, was a layer of
very hard, light-colored clay mixed with ashes, but no charcoal. The
top covering was of sand and soil to the depth of 18 inches. Before it
was disturbed this mound was about 35 feet in diameter and 6 feet
high. There was no evidence of fire, but much tending to show that
the builders intended to incase the skeletons in a water-tight covering
of mortar, which, when originally placed there, must have been suffi-
ciently soft to run into all the interstices between the skeletons, these
all being filled, as were also some of the crania.

On the depression of the ridge heretofore mentioned, between mounds
1 and 3,is mound No. 2. This is an effigy representing a bird (see Fig.
8), the dimensions of which are as follows: Length of body, 42 feet, or
total length, including the head and neck, 60 feet; of each wing, 42 feet;
greatest width of body, 18 feet, and greatest elevation 3 feet. Several
pits dug in it proved it to have been constructed wholly of the yellow

a, 2,

%, >

LEER
ORAS. 8

Fic. 9.—Section of mound and pit, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

sand and soil of the ridge. No bones or relics of any kind were found
init. The indications lead to the belief that it was carved out of the
ridge, rather than thrown up, the wings still forming the crest from
which the head and body slope gradually in opposite directions.
Mound No.3 (Fig. 9) is a few paces to the west of No. 2 and on
slightly higher ground. This was also partially explored by Judge
Bronson in 1876, and, with the further examination by the Bureau
agent, gave the following results: First, a covering of soil and sand a
foot or more in depth (No. 5), next a layer (No. 4) of calcined human
bones nearly 2 feet in depth, without order, mingled with charcoal,
ashes, and reddish brown mortar (clay and sand), burned as hard as a
brick. Immediately below this was a layer (No. 3) 1 foot thick of mor-
tar consisting largely of sand burned to a brick-red color. Below this
in the layer marked 2 were found the skeletons of 15 or 16 individuals
without any arrangement, mingled with which were charcoal, firebrands,
and ashes. The bones were charred and portions of them glazed
with melted sand. The mass appears to have been first covered with
12 ETH——4

50 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

soft mortar, which filled the spaces, and the burning done afterward.
Seattered through the mass were lumps of clay apparently molded in
the hands, which the fire had converted into rude bricks. The bottom
of this layer corresponded with the original surface of the ground.
Further excavation to the depth of 2 or 3 feet revealed a circular pit in
the original soil (marked 1 in the figure) about 6 feet in diameter, the
bottom of which was covered an inch deep with fine chocolate-colored
dust. The strangest fact regarding this pit is that, although the inter-
mediate filling between the 1-foot depth at the bottom and the layer
above (the bottom of the mound proper) was similar in appearance to the
ordinary soil of the ridge, yet the under portion of it remained arched
over the 1-foot space beneath. It was probably hardened by the fierce
fire above.

Eleven paces west of this mound, situate | on the brow of the bluff,
is No. 4, only 12 feet in diameter and 4 feet high. This mound, like
the others, was built up chiefly of very hard material resembling mor-
tar. In it was a single skeleton lying on its right side; placed in the
form of a circle on the left hip were 140 shell beads. The left arm lay
extended along the upper side; the knees were drawn up at right
angles to the body. Although now so dry and hard, the mortar at
some former time had made its way into and filled the skull and fitted
neatly around the bones which were all well preserved and had not
been disturbed since they were first placed there. Around the neck
were 12 shell beads and 5 small perforated sea shells.

On the lower, broadened portion of the ridge, in its eastern exten-
sion, as before remarked, is a row of ten small circular mounds, which |
vary in height from 2 to 4 feet and in diameter from 19 to 32 feet. In
addition to these there are also here two elongate mounds or embank-
ments in a line with eaeh other, their nearer ends being about 3 paces
apart. The longest of these is 192 feet in length, the other 45 feet.
Two of the circular ones were opened, in both of which were found
some indications of their having been used for burial purposes, but in
one only were any bones obtained. No relics of any kind were discoy-

‘ered. From the larger ones which had been previously opened a nun-
ber of stone and copper implements were obtained.

A short distance to the northwest of the foregoing group are traces
of many circular mounds, some long earthworks, and effigy mounds.
In fact nearly the whole area of the valley of Prairie du Chien town-
ship appears to have been once literally dotted over with ancient
works. Many of these are effigy mounds representing deer, bears,
rabbits, ete., apparently in droves, sometimes with and sometimes
without other works intermingled. But in all cases the effigies are
heading southwest, trending with the general course of the river in
this section.

At the upper end of the prairie are a number of effigy mounds and
long works as yet but little injured, while others in the fields are

THOMAS. | RELICS WITH INTRUSIVE BURIALS. 51

nearly obliterated. Some of these have been opened and various relies
obtained, mostly those accompanying intrusive burials.

The greater number of a row of large circular mounds, situated on a
high bottom between the old bayou and the river, have been removed
to make way for buildings, railroad tracks, ete., this being the only
part of the immediate area which is not overflowed when the water is
very high. Many articles of stone, copper, iron, and silver were found,
but mainly from intrusive burials, though obtained at or beneath the
base.

One large mound, 70 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, was still unex-
plored. This wasopened. It had been considerably detaced, especially
on the western side. According to tradition it was a noted burial place
of the Indians, which was certainly confirmed by the result. The
surface or top layer was composed mainly of sand
and alluvial earth to the depth of some 3 or 4 feet.
Scattered through this in almost every part of the
mound were found human skeletons in various
stages of decay and in different positions, but mostly
stretched horizontally on the back. Mixed with
these remains were fragments of blankets, clothing,
and human hair; one copper kettle, three copper
bracelets, one silver locket, shown in Fig. 10; ten
silver bracelets similar to the one shown in Fig. 11,
one haying the word ‘ Montreal” stamped on it; and
another the letters “A. B.;” two silver ear-rings; six
silver brooches similar to Fig. 12; one copper finger
ring; one double silver cross (Fig. 13); one knife 4,, 10 saver locket
handle; one battered bullet, and one carved wooden from mound, Prairie
pipe similar to those at present in use. In fact, the — @™ CMem Wisconsin.
top layer to the depth of 3 or 4 feet seemed to be packed as full of skel-
etons as possible without doubling them, and even that had been re-
sorted to in some cases.

Fic. 11.—Bracelet of silver from mound, Fie. 12.—Silver brooch from mound,
Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

Carrying the trench down to the original surface of the ground there
was found, near the center, at the bottom, a single skeleton of an adult,

52 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

in the last stages of decay, and with it a stone skinner, stone drill,
scraper, fragments of river shells, and fragments of a mammoth’s tooth.
The earth below the thick up-
per layer was mixed with clay
and ashes or some other sub-
stance evidently different from
the surrounding soil, but not
so hard as the mortar-like ma-
terial found in the mounds on
the bluff.

The main road from Prairie
du Chien to Eastman follows
chiefly the old trail along the
crest of the divide between the
drainage of the Kickapoo and
Mississippi rivers. Along this
are a number of effigy mounds;
some of them in cultivated
fields, but the larger number in
the forest, the trees upon them
being of the same size as those
on the surrounding ground.
Most of these, which are in part
referred to in Mr. Strong’s notes
and figures,' were surveyed and
platted. A plat of the south-
west part of Crawford county
showing the location of the
groups inentioned is given in
Fig. 14.

The first group measured is
situated about a quarter of a mile north of Eastman, on Sec. 18, T. 8 N.,
R.5 W. These mounds lie west of the road, partly in the woods and

FiG. 13.—Silver cross from mound, Prairie du Chien. Wis.

Fic, 15,—Earthworks near Eastman, Crawford county, Wisconsin.

partly in the field. The group is in fact a series or chain of low, small
circular tumuli extending in a nearly straight line northwest and south-
east, connected together by embankments as shown in Fig. 15. They
are on the top of the ridge.

! Smithsonian Report of 1877, pp. 239-246.

THOMAS. |

CRAWFORD COUNTY, WISCONSIN.

53

FiG. 14.—Plat of southwest part of Crawford county, Wisconsin.

54 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Commencing with mound No. 1, at the southern end of the line, the
direction and distances from center to center and the diameters and
heights are as follows:

Number | Diameter, | Diameter,

of mound. Course. | Distance. month sad gaat and Height. |
Feet. | Feet. Feet. Feet.
jel bee [phe eee 22 25 3
1 to 2..| N.37°W..| 55 18 22 3
2 to 3..| N.380W..| . 55 19 23 3
3 to4..).N.25°W..| 56 | 18 22 24
4 to 5..| N.36° W..| ° 56 23 24 |
5 to 6..| N.319W..| 56 22 25 Sonal
6 to 7..| N.34°W..| 56 20 21 2 |
7 to 8..| N.439W..| 53 23 27 2 |
8 to 9..|N.36°W..| 56 20 18 14
9to10..|N.360°W..| 57 | 23 25 2
10to1l..| N.399W..| 58 =| 27 25 2
11t012..} N.30° W..| 57 22 18 1

In the same section, at the village of EKastman (or Batavia), are the
remains of two bird-shaped mounds, both on top of the watershed and
both heading southward.

Fic. 16.—Mounds on northeast quarter of Sec. 24, T. 8 N., R. 6 W., Wisconsin.

About 2 miles from Eastman, in the direetion of Prairie du Chien,
just east of the Black River road, on See. 24, T. 8 N., R.6 W., are three
effigy mounds and one long mound, shown in Fig. 16. They are situ-

THOMAS. ] MOUND GROUP AT HAZEN CORNERS. 55

ated in a little strip of woods near the crest, but on the western slope
of the watershed and near the head of a coulee or ravine.

This is the group which Mr. Strong represents in his Figs. 12, 13, and
14! The two effigies representing quadrupeds (bears) are headed to-
ward the south, while the other (probably representing some swallow-
tailed bird) is headed eastward; the long mound runs northeast and

MouNb9 ON FARM OF BG THOMAS,

Eastman Townsuip, Crawroro Co

ISCONSIN
so
ee Fr

ones near

Fig. 17.—Mound group at Hazen Corners, Crawford county, Wisconsin.

southwest. The dimensions of these are as follows: The total length
of each of the quadruped figures is about 80 feet, greatest height about
2 feet. The expansion of the wings of the bird from tip to tip is 267
feet; length of the body from top of the head to the tip of the longer
branch of the tail, 110 feet; height of the center of the body, 3 feet.

1 Smithsonian Report, 1877, p. 244.

56 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

As will be seen by reference to Mr. Strong’s figures, these measure-
ments differ considerably from his. This is due in part, but to no great.
extent, to the wearing down and consequent expansion since the date
of his examination.

The length of the long mound is 120 feet, average width 15 feet, and
height from 12 to 15 inches.

HAZEN CORNERS GROUP.

The next group surveyed is situated on Mr. B. G. Thomas’s farm,
Sec. 36, T. 8 N., R. 6 W., at what is known as Hazen Corners. The
mounds are on the crest of the
ridge heretofore mentioned and
on both sides of the Black River
road, 9 miles from Prairie du Chien.

This is the group represented in
Mr. Strong’s Fig. 4. It is mostly
covered with a growth of small
trees, which confirms Mrs. Thom-
as’s statement that when her fam-
ily first came to this place the ridge
here was almost bare of trees.

The main ridge runs a little east
of north before reaching this point,
but here it curves and -branches,
one branchrunning north, the other
eastward. A few of the mounds
are on the crest, the rest on the
southern slope of the ridge that
runs eastward and on the eastern
slope of the main ridge close to the
junction of the branches.

The group consists of 24 mounds,
1 quadruped, 5 birds, 13 long and 7
round mounds, all of which, except
two of the birds, are shown in the
diagram (Fig. 17); the latter are
shown in Fig. 18.

The dimensions of mound No. 1
(quadruped) are as follows: Total
length, 98 feet; width over the
shoulder to the fore foot, 41 feet;
width of body between the legs, 27
feet; width of fore leg near the
body, 23 feet; width of the hind leg
near the body, 17 feet; distance between the legs at the body, 32 feet;
height at highest point, 3 feet. The natural curves of the animal’s
body are remarkably true to nature.

8
.)
2
3
a
x
’
:
8
4
q

Fic. 18.—Bird effigies at Hazen Corners, Crawford county, Wisconsin.

THOMAS. |

MOUND GROUP AT HAZEN CORNERS.

57

The following table gives the dimensions (length and width of the

long and diameter of the round mounds) of those numbered 2 to 21.

Diameter

Width. Height.* Remarks.

The dimensions of bird mound (2

the end of the north wing:

Feet.
RUELOs Dine S Fee cee eae aie cer eisseee esis aa 84
DIGONC, econ eas toss feo oe soe tee 44
CHOl Deane ates oo tes esos es eae nese 27
(AO)Y) Seale Ae ic ene: Seacie eeeee 100
CHOW sete Pa pai ie seer eee ees 34
CRU ONG bees sete et eh oe ee rae eae 74
UP GOW 26 ase basses tase cbsemee asen 108
ahONE Ee ose cism aca cette oie Se Si 228
(WAS Sees Sareea mem or os Sera ccc 23
COT i ee te oe Oe een eae 16
CULOVRA aa conn e see nae te cieeee 15
PihOuisees 2 ecto as en a2 sao Soaks Se ee 20
CAROWIG see fae et rs win a ok ee a 26
CO $y ao ois ein oie eis eueeme cee eo eee 36
COM.) bad Se ee ee OER ABE 5 ents 29

No. | or length.
Feet. Feet. Feet.
faa | 90 13 to 18 | 3
3 93 15 to 15 4
4 50 14 to 18 24 This is the measure-
ment of the part re-
maining.
5 CIN aa earn 3
6 Biaegh|| gees 24
ea 28 ie ia 4
8 102 15 to 19 | 3
| 9 Cie Ne heer eae
10 110 14 to 17 |- aac
11 166 18 to 19 | 2
12 je Beco see | 2
13 Pi |e ae ieee eas
14 Diy aeeere ea | 24
15 | 136 | IL to 17 | 3
16 138 14 to 18 3
17 74 | 12to16 4
187)| 0, 10 | 13 to18 2
19 | 173 | 18t022 24
20 155 13 to 18 | Dell
21 180 16to23| 3

* Approximate.

2) are as follows, commencing with

Width of north wing at tip--...---- 8
Width of north wing between tip
ANON CHINV Clee vores aes ieee = 15
Width of north wing at curve -.----. 18
Width of north wing at body ------ - 35
Width of body and tail.....-...---- 15
Width of body at h tol....-.....-.. 17
Widthrofimeck we ctorbier. ote ae 18
Width of head, p to q..--.-..---.-.- 15
Width of south wing at body,k tol. 32
Width of south wing at curve,mtoo. 19
Width of south wing between curve
Ginalinga) Clive soc ecm mes- Spee ecoe ace 14
Width of south wing at tip -------- 4

This effigy lies with head down hill, and the washing from the ridge
has filled in between the body and the wings until they are probably

lower and narrower than when they were first built.

The outline of

the south wing is filled with this washing for a distance of 38 feet, and

hence its dimensions here could not be accurately determined.

It and

58 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the mounds numbered 17, 18, and 19 stand on the lowest ground of
any of the group. It is about 3 feet high at the point ¢ if the measure-
ment is taken from the surface about the head, but only about a foot
and a half if taken under the right wing. The surface of the wings
and body is rough and rounded, the slopes to the surface of the ground
abrupt to the east and gradual to the west. The wings taper and
decreak&e in height to the tips, but the body keeps its height and form.

Mound No, 25 (Fig. 18) is alsoin the form of a bird with outstretched
wings. It lies to the southwest of 22, on top of the ridge, with the head
lying crosswise of the highest point.

Mound No. 24 is close to the right or east, on the high part of the
ridge, extending in the same direction as 25.

The outlines of both are clear and the slopes to the surface abrupt.
The wings curve and taper and decrease in height to their tips, while
the bodies of both preserve their height and form. They are covered
by a thick growth of young trees. The dimensions of No. 23 are as fol-
lows, commencing at the end of the left wing:

Feet Feet.
ObORO lo eaten aia eae sence aaa eae 94 | Width of left wing at tip........... 9
DtiOhO Se see ec ee ee eee 37 | Width of left wing midway between
OjLONd eee tin gne oe oe asec os a eiae See ae 56 ip anda cniview sere see eee 18
ULOVE Poa sss Ae Benes ces pce gseee 90 | Width of left wing at body-----.-.-- 25
OLOsfl so Sees see ea aeerecisear eee 37 | Width of body at tail ...--.-.-..-.- 31
CHONG basen = ene ae Do eee 72 | Width of body ath to l.......-..... 29
Uf tO Gian = sa ce sess ose nano 109 | Width of neck ati to k.........-..- 25
GOES: Ae.2 oan eas outa tease Sete 240 | Width of head at end ...........--- 24
CilOUias eee Mod ae eens Sees 22 | Width of right wing at body -..---- 30
COWS 28s eo istodte, 2a Pais asim sce lace 23 | Width of right wing at curve .----. 25
OHO a2 =~ sade ea o semen e eee 28 | Width of right wing midway be-
GihOsle cose cease Sat seeemeee mee ee 25 tween curve and tip....-.---...-. 18
OrhOUt es. sae a eee ees 44 | Width of wing at tip...-..-....---- 7
OUOKO Rear ings ae toms ae ee ee 56 | ;

The measurements of mound 24, also commencing with the left wing,
are as follows:

Feet. Feet
(OUD 1) Soelnad-toe coos nee saa aose Sass OE GUO 0) a= ale ne as Siena nae 46
BRbORC See ese ae te Loe Ne cee sas ote 35 | Width of left wing at tip-...-...--- 6
OC COTO S ei sep cenlee See ee ee eee sere 45 Width of left wing midway between
TUAW. = Soh eons Seadiasos SSbonAeS ee ot 95 La) Chabal Ae ase Be oeeeeeiae 18
DINO) | ens Inineaa Slenoe datmeaas aacic 39 | Width of left wing at bend......... 21
CHONG ante mye Salam ee eee ee 71 | Width of left wing at body. -------- 25
of hong pase sos eS BS pe ees - 110 | Width of body at tail ........-.-.-- 23
@ tO on se ne eee cee oace eee LOU. |e Wad bhior bod ya iinole sesso ce 29
CLO a iS. = ce eae eee eee 265s Wik CG Obs X16 Caeser meget aaa eee 27
ObO4 ce oases o- See sen aeenns Sees 23: Wadthiof heads 4 5-...5 02 aes == 23
CHOI So eS See ead Reena ee eee 22 | Width of right wing at body..----. 25
CHOI US. eee aba ee ee ee ee 24 Width of right wing at bend ...__-. 23

OSLO UTE en seta ea al a nee eee 35 Width of right wing at tip......--. 6

THOMAS. ] FOX-SHAPED EFFIGY. 59

The nearest spring is some 300 or 400 yards northeast of the group
at the foot of the ridge.

Three of the round mounds of this group were explored, in each of
which were found skeletons much decayed. In two of them no speci-
mens, but in the other, on the original surface of the ground at the
center, a small stone celt, some pieces of melted lead, and a regularly
formed gunflint. These articles were close together and about 2 feet
from the skeleton.

Trenches were also cut through the long mounds, which showed that
the first 10 or 12 inches were of the ordinary vegetable mold, but the
remainder to the original surface, of yellow clay. In one or two places
small pieces of charcoal were observed, but nothing indicating burial.
The result was the same in all the trenches.

Fia. 19.—Quadruped effigy on See. 36, T.8 N., R.6 W., Wisconsin.

Northward of this group some 400 yards there is a mound in the
form of a quadruped, probably a fox (Fig. 19), partly in the woods and
partly in the field on the west side of the road. It is built on the crest
of the ridge with the head to the south. The outlines of the body are
clear, but those of the head are somewhat indistinct. It gradually
decreases in height from the head, where it is about 18 inches, to the
end of the tail and Jegs. It is in the same section as the mounds at
Hazen Corners. The nearest water is the spring before mentioned.

The ridge slopes to the east and west from the mound and also falls
slightly to the north and south. A partial exploration has been made,
but nothing save a good sized rock was dug out of it.

60

MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The measurements of this mound are as follows:
Feet.

Length of nose to end of tail, a toe.. 145 |
Length of body, h to n-.-
Length of tail, n to e...- -
Length of fore leg..-.. -.-.
Length of hind leg ------

Width of fore leg at body, h to k -..-

Width of fore leg at end.

Width of hind leg at body, J to n.-.-

Width of hind leg at end

62

Feet.

Width of tail at body -....-........ 17
Width of tail atend ......-.-....... 3
Width of body at fore leg, k top -.... 21
| Width of body between legs -......- 19
Width of body at hind legs....-.... 20

Distance between legs at body, ktol 31
Distance between legs attoes,itom. 50
Tip of nose to fore leg, a toi........ 64

The tail is pointed and the ends of the legs are round.

MOUNDS ON SECTION 35, T. 8 N., R. 6 W.

About a mile southward of Hazen Corners on the Blake river road

Prairie du Chien g mitea

Fic. 20.—Group of bird effigies, Sec. 35, T. 8 N., R. 6 W., Wisconsin.

is a group of four
bird-shaped and
one long mound
situated on the
NE. of sec. 25, T. 8
N., R.6 W.,at the
cross roads. The
effigy mounds are
west of the road
and the long one
is east of it. They
are all situated on
the northern slope
of the ridge not far
from the top; the
heads of the effigy
mounds are, as
usual, to the south
and up the hill.
Three of these ef-
figies are of about
the same form, the
only difference be-
tween No. 3 and
the others being in
the shape of the
wings, which
stretch nearly at
right angles with
the body instead
of curving like the
others. Their
bodies are shorter

than those at Hazen Corners; otherwise there is but little difference.

THOMAS.] BIRD EFFIGIES. 61

The tops of all the mounds in this group are rounded and the slopes
abrupt. Like the others they gradually narrow and descend to the tips
of the wings.

No. 1 (Fig. 20) is about 3 feet high; No. 2, 34 feet; No. 3, 24 feet;
No. 4 (Fig. 21) 24 feet, and No. 5 (Fig. 20) (the long mound), 2 feet.

Fic. 21.—Bird effigy, Sec. 35, T, 8 N., R. 6 W., Wisconsin.

The dimensions of No. 1, commencing with the tip of the left wing,
are as follows:

Feet. Feet
WING) 40.552 -Gsos sede cose SyasouEEeeR: 82 | Width of left wing at tip .-......-.. 7
(1K) @) Sauenedcedes ales sees gesesoanes 28 Width of left wing midway between
COU Scaateateeoraranes asso soagcaee 27 bendkanditipis 2-2-2 eee ees - 21
GEUONE pear serene oar = eae o 59 | Width of left wing at body....--.-.. 26
NIG) Gh bans Sees ee wes SES er SOEAeEUSDoS 161 Width of body immediately under the
Cio eas bork any Bebe aueseegs sees 25 WALES = ==: Siac prem tee aes sieiaetaenia 25
O10 0) passes bShe bos seer easeeesenes Sonu Widthvot tall. aso.tee 5 e-ccst gei= 6s 20
TP UDG <-s0 s3Ss8eaeecaaead sauees sees 81 | Width of head at the front ........- 18
QO [Peo 0e Boo -e sans Sedee doce paar 21. Width of right wing at body ..---.. 23
CUD Dles weet ba ee aeeapeaoaenaaee 20 Width of right wing at bend ...-..- 21
OU Nis SSS Heep ote Eeeeeseae anon 21 | Width of right wing between bend
(CD Ue tees oS Qo sus eo sasee see u speee 17 and tip seek esas te ae eee tose a= = 17
OMY Mae # nade sean soebeneeeEococosece 24 | Width of right wing at tip ---..---- 8
ODD cae Sop cane Mebee teaseed saseose 37 | Width of left wing at bend ....t-... 22
CIO S25 Son Secea ee aete Ben Soseeone 36 |

In No. 2, they are as follows:

Feet. | Feet.
"OE ea ede a A Roa Title h ey ea, epee ee ee 69
UD Bossocei-Aa0se Senor RereEsoe eee AO Mostothie sas 2 2p 225 xe = sie See as = Se. 18
OMOVUSOY Basen, tee Gn eases ZSOINGP it) COs sneer Base We Ree Saeeoue soomrene 29
CHG Guess bis een Reece sae GA CshONG pa? rae Cece posse ecisas a= seine eve 22
GNUO Giese yee ean ae eee ee PAU MN MORO ree he rie BB Stee enter Pa 18
ONG) Pore cbaeeest anes wagebebaas sale ISR WOtbOums sa tre e ee aces a nae 34

62
Feet.
COUN pre se eadeseine saeere ae oman 54
Width of left wing at tip. --.-...-.--- 5
Width of left wing between tip and
[DOTGE steers cea eee eee 2 AT
Width of left wing at road. ....-.-. 18
Width of left wing at body ...-...-- 23
Width of body at butt of wings--.. 41
In No. 3, they are as follows:
Feet.
GU Desa Meee een sa eT 121
bstovets Fo. Jas Soon see oe cee eces 98
D COVE FS esas cee eee eeee 28
DaONG ea marcha mee ee ee ee 56
LN iets Se Se Ls Sea IP eet eo cae 18
iLO Ng eae I a ee eee ae ee 21
O60! Wiss b- a eee Sek, owb scheme eee 17
DOW GoD EA ste DB a eae eee 20
Width of left wing at tip --..------ 4
Width of left wing between tip and
DOdyeeo..< Sante eae ene ee al

Of No. 4, the measurements are:

CO1b Cae ao. ot ate toe See ee 88
UROL SES So Sa Se ie pe eee 36
CULOIAE Ee sasha = es sbics aa ee Seer 39
QO Ra Nae eine cee Sse Sone oe 83
DON CRs rages eile tetas Ute tee tesa ees 214
CGOM Se re sesinean eae gee Sate ee ee eee 24
PEUON Gum n Ans ast eee ae a ee eee 61
COs ere aan csp ce ins ee ecceae ee 22
ElOitico eae eee reese meee Boe 20
ChbOU, ceet enice Stee cee ee ae See 23
Cnt. Ue See ate eee tee eee 25
CLO ete ert Oe en eet 44
COV obete ene s Sz eee Seem cae eee 35
CLOT ee ee ee ee ee 44

MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Feet
Width of body at tail .............. 23
Width of right wing at body...--.- 18
Width of right wing at road ....-.. 12

Width of right wing between bend

andtip 22se sts = secon. -a-seses weer 15
Width of right wing at tip. .--..--. 6
Feet.
Width of body at butt of wings ..-. 25
Width of body near the end -....--. 26
Widithvof leads. ee sa ee P een 20
Width of right wing at body ....--- 25
Width of right wing between body
OMe bP See cere aoe eee eee ee 16
Width of right wing at tip -...-...-- 5
UOTE 0 SRE a SoC EAS omar MS Doce See 219
Feet.
Width of left wing at tip...-....-.-. tf
Width of left wing between tip and
hen sts = 3226 26h. tte eos cos ase 18
Width of left wing at bend....-..-. 24
Width of left wing at body....-....- 30
Width of body at butt of wings.... 30
Width of body at tail .-...........- 22
Width of neck at butt of wings --.. 25
Width of head at front:-....-. 2... 17
Width of right wing at body ...-... 28
Width of right wing at bend......- 23
Width of right wing between bend
and tip’ 2-2 2966-52845 Sa ee 17
Width of right wing at tip......... 5

No. 5, the long mound, is 152 feet long and 19 feet wide at the

north end, 22

in the middle, and 20 at the south end.

The tips of the wings, the heads, and tails of the efiigy mounds and
the ends of the long mound are rounded.
These mounds do not appear to be included in those mentioned in

Mr. Strong’s paper.

MOUNDS ON SLAUMER’S LAND.

This is a small group consisting of but two mounds, an efligy, anda

long mound.

They are situated west of the Black river road, just north

(10 or 15 rods) of the line between Prairie du Chien and Hastman town-
ships, on SW. 4 Sec. 35, T. 8 N., R. 6 W., on the top of the ridge in the

woods.

The ridge slopes from them to the east and west.

The group

THOMAS. COURTOIS GROUP. “f'63

is Shown in Fig. 22. No. 1 (the long one) is 142 feet long, 21 feet wide
at the north end, 20 in the middle, and 13 at thesouthend. It is about
2 feet high and extends northwest and southeast.

No. 2, the effigy, 410 feet

south and a little west of No.
1, is about 3 feet high, the top
round, and the surface tolerably
even, with highest point on the
back; the slopes to the east ab- ’
rupt. It measures from—
Feet. /
Ait Oe MES ane aaa ae 75 é
tO eee ate es eee ee a 38 8
BUD Sasscecsoapeeuredeestoetes ch aes

|

dtoe : == 2 7
CHIOM aio ats esa ve sa aitet Se ane 36 C«di
Git Asse 5006 spas SSaB eas eases 70 z
SLO een eee Meo oe et ee re 106
COU te SOS Re ee So te 22 8
ChUO tea ee neta acisieh es = 20 2
(11 (Oe en 24 5
BEE creer at sake ceetiaees 26 4
(CUD) Ufone oS SSeS sabes Seer ear oS 49 Ey
CHO teem see eae eae ne eee 42. &
(ARO eee 2 Rae ete © PO ce ae es Ae 45 @
Width of left wing at tip....... ase e
Width of left wing between tip Et 3

ADOC DON Mesa seco eo Lge x
Width of left wing at bend ____- 21 & 5
Width of left wing at body.... - 23. 4 E
Width of body at end........... 20 3 :
Width of body at butt of wings. 30 ~ ;
Width of neck atbuttof wings. 28 i
Width of head from p to q.-.--. 31 2
Width of head at end...--.-...- 14 :
Width of right wing at body ... 24
Width of right wing at bend -.. 21
Width of right wing between

pend :andyhip: esses 2eas 19
Width of right wing at tip ----. 7

Expanse of wings, from a to e... 200
The ends of the wings and body are roughly semicircular,
THE COURTOIS GROUP.

About 3 miles north of Prairie du Chien is a group of ordinary con-
ical mounds situated on Sec. 12, T. 7 N., R. 7 W., the general plan of
which is seen in Fig 23. The mounds numbered 1 to 9 are on a long,
narrow, sandy swell, about 70 or 80 feet wide, which runs north and
south, and is just high enough to place them out of reach of the high
water of the Mississippi; the others, numbered 10 to 33, are in the
adjoining fields.

64 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

No. 1. Cireular in outline, rounded on top, 60 feet in diameter at the
base and 3 feet high. Made of black sandy loam.

No. 2. An oblong, flat-topped mound; length, 60 feet; width, 35 feet,
and height, 3 feet. As it was occupied in early times by the house of
a Frenchman, and looks as though it had been plowed or graded down,
the present form is
probably not the ori-
ginal one.

No. 4. Similar in
size and form to No.
1; 5feet high, A par-
tial examination of
this mound had pre-
viously been made,
when some specimens
were found, but no
particulars could be
learned in regard to
them. It consisted of
three layers; first, a
top layer, 24 ft. thick,
of black sandy loam;
next a thin stratum
of silver sand, and a
bottom layer, 2 feet
thick, of dark muck,
slightly mixed with
sandy loam. The re-
examination revealed
nothing save a few
fresh-water shells.

No. 5. Conical, 40
feet in diameter and
34 feet high, had pre-
viously been opened
by a trench through
itfrom north to south.

A further examina-
tion brought to light
some badly decayed human bones, which had been partially disturbed
by the previous explorers, but enough remained in position to show
that the bodies, or skeletons, had been folded when buried. These lay
on the gravelly substratum of the ridge; hence it is presumed that
the thin surface soil had been removed before burial. Nothing more,
save a few decayed shells scattered here and there through the mound,
was observed.

ies

3
tol pa ICO

Prairie du Chien

Q
z
S
Q

Fig. 23.—Courtois group, near Prairie du Chien, Wis.

COURTOIS

THOMAS. ] COURTOIS GROUP. 65

No. 6, Similar in size and form to No. 1; 4 feet high and composed
throughout of dark sandy loam, similar to the surrounding surface soil.
The plan of this mound, showing the relative positions of the skeletons
and articles discovered, is given in Fig. 24.

In the western side (at /), about
2 feet below the surface, was a
small deposit of fresh-water shells,
but so far decayed that no speci-
mens were saved. At e a folded
adult skeleton was discovered, with
head south and face west; under
it lay a small stone perforator and
above it a small arrow head. The
bones were broken and very soft
and the skull was crushed flat;
from the indications it would seem
that they had been broken before F'6- 24.—Mound No. 6, Courtois group, Prairie du
eae Chien, Wis.

At d the original surface of the ridge had been excavated to the
depth of a foot and over an area about 12 feet in diameter. In this
layer were some 6 or 7 adult skeletons, all folded, with the heads in
various directions, but all so soft and badly decayed that none of the
skulls could be saved. At g, near the eastern side, at the depth of 2
feet, was part of an iron knife blade.

Nos. 3, 7, 8, and 10 were found to consist of dark loam throughout,
but furnished no specimens or any evidence of having been used as
burial places.

No. 16 is a very small and insignificant mound, scarcely exceeding 20
feet in diameter and not more than a
foot in height, though it has evidently
been considerably worn down by the
eteeasowreet plow. Nevertheless it is important as
presenting the characteristics of a
somewhat peculiar class of mounds
quite common in this State, but seldom
met with elsewhere; for this reason
the figures and details are given more
fully than would otherwise be required.

Circular in form, as shown by the
plan given in Fig. 25, low, rounded,
Fie Pies eae Pel ag cy Marat but somewhat flattish, it was con-

ee 5h structed of material similar to the sur-

rounding soil, and of the same cliaracter throughout, without any indi-

cations whatever of stratification. A circular, basin-shaped excayva-

tion had first been made in the ground to the gravel, in this case to the

depth of 2 feet. The boundary of this excavated portion is indicated
by the dotted circle.
12 ETH——5)

66 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Four skeletons were found at the points indicated in the figure, all
lying horizontally at full length; 2 side by side near the center on
the gravel, with heads south and faces up; 1 at the north side on
the gravel, with head west and face northeast, and the other on the
south side, with head to the east. No implements or ornaments of any
kind were observed. It is probable that tumuli of this character are
the burial places of the common people.

No. 17 was similar in every respect to No. 16 except that the excava-
tion was only to the depth of 1 foot, and that in it were 8 folded skele-
tons in no regular order, heads being in all directions. On the margin
of the excavation and rather above the natural surface of the ground
was a broken skull.

No. 18, 20 feet in diameter and 2 feet high, unstratified, was com-
posed of earth similar to the surrounding soil. There were no indica-
tions that the original surface had been hollowed out in this case, as in
most of the others of the group, nevertheless 2 broken skulls were
found a little south of the center at the depth of 3 feet, hence 1 foot
below the original surface. A few feet northwest of the center, scarcely
a foot below the surface of the mound, were 3 folded skeletons, and in
the center another lying at full length, head west and face up, The
height of the mound had been reduced by plowing.

<a

ESTES
og
Fic. 26.—Mound No. 20 (section), Courtois group, Prairie du Chien, Wis.

No. 19, 25 feet in diameter and 2 feet high, was similar to No. 18.
Broken human bones were found in this tumulus to the depth of
6 inches, and 3 folded skeletons at different depths in no regular
order of burial. But, what is somewhat singular, the skull in each
case had been disconnected from and placed on top of the bundled
bones of the skeleton.

No. 20, 70 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. This mound, as will
be seen by the section shown in Fig. 26, was stratified as follows: Top
layer of soil, 18 inches; next a hard mortar-like substance, or clay
mixed with ashes, 24 feet; below this a layer of black, sticky, wet
earth, 1 foot, and a bottom layer of sand 1 foot thick, extending to the
gravel 1 foot below the original surface of the ground. On the west
side, in the top layer, at the depth of from 9 to 12 inches, were 6
folded skeletons, and at the head of each a single sandstone of con-
siderable size. Other human bones occurred in the same layer at a
depth of from 6 to 9 inches,! which had been disturbed by the plow.
In this layer was also a small pile of lead ore, on it some burned

' The measurements indicating the depth of skeletons and articles are always to be understood to
the upper surface thereof from the top of the mound.

THOMAS. | COURTOIS GROUP. 67

bones, and on these a folded skeleton with the head west, a lance head
by one shoulder, and a stone implement near by.

Near the center, in the hardpan or mortar-like layer (No. 2) immedi-
ately under layer No. 1, was a folded skeleton with head east. By the
head was a broken clay vessel. Directly under this, in layer No. 3,
was a broken clay pot. At the west side, in the bottom or sand layer,
was an extended skeleton, head east. Under the body a spearhead,
and under the head a few copper beads. Some copper beads were also
found around the ankles.

No, 21. Sixty feet in diameter and 3 feet high. The first stroke of
the spade brought to light broken human bones, which Jay close to the
surface and appeared to have been disturbed by the plow, as they
were not in regular order. Near the center, a foot down, lay a folded
skeleton with head west, and by it a broken pot. A little to the east
of the last, and 3 feet down, was another skeleton stretched at full
length, with the head and face up. Under the head were a few copper
beads. South of this, and at the same depth, was a small copper orna-
ment, and a short distance southeast of the center, also at the same
depth, a fine lance head.

No. 22. Sixty feet in diameter and 5 feet high. First foot, soil; the
rest black, mucky earth, with a slight admixture of sand. At the depth
of 2 feet were seven skeletons, with heads in various directions, some
stretched out with the faces up, others folded, also other bones. At
the center, about 3 feet down, were a few rib bones, apparently the
remains of a skeleton, over which lay a copper plate. At the same
depth, a little south of the center, three silver beads were discovered.

Although the excavation in this case, as in the rest of the mounds,
was carried down into the gravel beneath, nothing was found below the
depth indicated.

No. 26. Sixty feet in diameter and 5 feet high. Composed of earth
similar to the surrounding soil. Near the center, 2 feet down, were two
folded skeletons, with the heads northeast. At the heads were two
pots, one with the mouth up, the other on its side, and in it a lump of
lead ore. Under one of the skulls were two perforated bear’s teeth.
Several soft sandstones were found in the southwest portion, and under
them some very soft human bones, the remains of a body buried here.

Southeast of the mound, and almost adjoining it, is a long, narrow,
pear-shaped pile of dirt (not shown in the plat) about 40 feet long, 10
feet wide at the widest point and 2 feet high. A broad trench across
the middle revealed nothing except the fact that it was composed of
earth similar to the surrounding soil.

No, 23. A small mound 15 feet in diameter, 1 foot high, and of the
same type as No.16. In the excavation originally made in the natural
surface was a single skeleton stretched at full length, head southeast
and face up and near by it a broken pot.

68 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The surface of the field around the mounds is uneven and looks as
though the latter had been heaped up with dirt taken from about them,
leaving irregular depressions.

THE DOUSEMAN MOUND.

A mound of the usual conical form, about a mile and a half north of
Prairie du Chien, 75 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, situated on the
land of Mr. H. L. Douse-
man, was opened with the
following result: It was
composed throughout of a
black sandy Joa, like the
surface soil of the field in
which it stands, the mate-
rial probably coming from
what seems to be an artifi-
cial depression immediate-
ly southeast of it. The an-
nexed figure (Fig. 27) is a
horizontal plan showing
the relative positions of the
skeletons and other things
discovered therein. Fig. 28
is avertical section. About
¥ic. 27.—Douseman mound (plan), Prairie du Chien, Wis. 6 feet east of the center (at

b), and 2 feet below the sur-
face, was a regularly built, solid, oblong pile of small rough sandstone
and limestone fragments 2 feet long east and west, 18 inches wide, and
15 inches high. Under it were portions of a human skeleton, but the
skull was wanting; the bones were very soft and badly decayed.

fo BEY
2 YY fr e LY TZ >

Fig. 28.—Douseman mound (section), Prairie du Chien, Wis.

North of the center, atc, 2 feet below the surface, was another pile of
similar dimensions, but oval and hollow. At d was a third of similar
size and form, and at ea fourth. These three were regularly built of
soft, coarse-grained sandstones, which bear indications of fire, though
no charcoal or ashes were on or about them. No bones were seen in
or under either of these three piles or little vaults. Quite a number of
shell beads were found some 10 or 12 inches below the surface, imme-
diately under which was a folded skeleton f, head south, face west. Re-
mains of two other skeletons were found, one in the center at g, at the
base of the mound. This was so completely decayed that fragments of

THOMAS. | THE VILAS MOUNDS. ‘69

the skull only were left. The other, ath, 2 feet below the surface,
was similarly decayed.

THE VILAS MOUNDS.

This group, shown in Plate I, is a large one, containing 56 mounds,
and is situated on the area bounded by the Mississippi and Wisconsin
rivers and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, on Sees. 7
and 8, T. 6 N., R. 6 W., about 3 miles south of Prairie du Chien. They
stand on the high sandy bank of the Wisconsin river, ina growth of
small trees, some of them being flush with the brink, some on a small
table land 10 or 15 feet higher than the others, and the rest on the gen-
eral level of the prairie, all above high water.

The river banks are about 40 feet higher than the usual water level,
the slopes steep, the surface where most of the mounds are situated
comparatively flat, but to the northwest it rises in a small table some
10 or 15 feet higher than the prairie that borders on the Mississippi
river, and commands an extensive view of the bottoms. The soil is
sandy and easy to work, although not deep nor very productive. The
trees appear to be of recent growth.

No. 48, 8. 77° E. of 49, 62 feet long, extends east and west, and was
intended to represent some kind of a quadruped, probably a bear.
The eastern end at the time of examination was covered by a heavy
growth of corn, and has been so plowed down that its form could not
be fully ascertained.

Nos. 23, 24, and 33 were carefully excavated, but furnished no indi-
cations of having been used for burial purposes; nor were ashes, char-
coal, or relics of any kind found in them; yet under each there was an
excavation to the depth of a foot or more. They were composed of
dark, sandy soil. Others were examined, but nothing discovered.

THE POLANDER GROUP,

This group is about a mile up the Mississippi river from Lynxville,
Crawford county, on Lot 2, Sec. 14, 7. 9 N., R. 6 W., at the mouth of a
deep, narrow ravine.

The mounds are located partly on top of a narrow bench that runs
around the foot of the bluff to the northwest and partly on its western
slope. One of them is in the bed of a small creek (now dry) that
drains the ravine. A plan of the group is given in Fig. 29. They are
mostly simple conical heaps of earth, although there are some long
ones in the group. ‘Two of the large ones, close to the foot of the slope,
are connected by a long, low embankment, like those found on the
Souris river in Manitoba. The majority of them are small and low.
The bank upon which they stand is probably 75 feet higher than the
road that runs close to its foot on the west side. The bench is covered
by a growth of trees, which the owner says have grown up within the
last twenty-seven years.

70 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Mound No. 3, situated on the western slope of the bench, is conical
in form, about 45 feet in diameter and 7 feet high. Commencing at
the top, there was first a thin layer of vegetable mold 2 inches in
thickness (a, Fig. 30); next a layer, mostly of clay, slightly mixed with
sand, which had probably washed from the blufts, 34 feet thick (c);
below this a layer of clay, very hard, 18 inches (d); then a layer (b)
ot loose, fine, dry dust, which gave out a peculiar odor; and lastly,

corresponding to

vill j, = the original sur-
‘ call Wy face of the ground,
Zp a thinlayer, appar-

ently composed of
decayed vegetable
matter (e). Be-
neath this was an
excavation about
1 foot in depth, 8
feet wide, and 12
feet long. Owing
to the slope on
which the mound
was placed, this
had been eut into
so as to make a
level bed, on which
the bodies were
deposited. Here
were twelve skel-
etons—ten of ad-
ults and two of

hiny tas"
h

{i AW 3

J\\y ui \W\

\\
py ee

\\ ind Wy av
inhygyee

Fic. 29.—The Polander group, Sec, 14, T. 9N., R. 6 W., Crawford county, Wis.

2} XY oie ANS j
Sees" oe W's children. The two
Ze si + 3 5
mi eee z3 children were in
2 ni \
: HARI } the northeast cor-
Se ‘) i ner of the pit; the
Be bones were in con-

fusion. Three of
theadultskeletons
were in the middle
ofthe platform; the bones were disarticulated, but those of each skeleton
formed into a bundle. Two skulls and a few of the bones of the body
were found between the children and the other three, one of the skulls
lying on top of the other. Inthe south end of the pit were three skulls
in fragments and the remains of five skeletons in a confused heap. A
single skull, but no other bones with it, was found in connection with
a few flat stones in the hard clay layer at the depth of 2 feet.

Mound 9, 26 feet in diameter and between 2 and 3 feet high, stood on

8

THOMAS.) THE POLANDER GROUP. Gill

the same slope as the preceding and, like it, had an excavation in the
original surface of the ground, but much smaller, the length being only
4 feet, the width a little less, and the depth 1 foot. A foot from the top,
near the center of the mound, lay a bundled skeleton, apparently an
intrusive burial. Nothing was discovered in the pit except what were
supposed to be decayed remains of two bundled skeletons.

Mound 8, one of the smaller tumuli of the group, presented some
marked variations from those described. The diameter was scarcely
20 feet and height 5 feet. In the central portion, 2 feet distant from
each other, were two stone graves, oval in outline, each 34 feet long by
3 feet wide, built up of cobblestones, and had probably been closed
over dome-fashion at the top, though this portion had apparently fallen
in. Over these, covering the tops about 6 inches and filling the spaces
between and each side of them, was a layer of surface soil, and cover-
ing this a single layer of loose sandstones about 6 inches thick. In
one grave were two bundled skeletons; in the other, three.

Fic. 30.—Mound No. 3 (section), Polander group, Crawford county, Wis.

Mound 6, circular, 23 feet in diameter and 3 feet high, was con-
structed as follows: Commencing at the top, there was first a layer, 2
inches thick, of vegetable mold, then a foot of surface soil; next asin-
gle layer of rough stones of various sizes; next a layer of earth 1 foot
thick. Immediately under the layer of stones, nearly in the center of
the mound, were two folded or bundled skeletons, lying on some loose
stones. These stones were found to be part of a wall lining a pit in
the original soil. This pit was 4 feet long by 5 feet broad between the
walls, which were of a single thickness of cobblestones, the sides
somewhat flaring, the corners nearly square, 18 inches deep, and sides
lined entirely around with stones. Lying on the bottom were the skele-
tons of three adults and one child, all folded.

In mound No. 1 nothing was found save three good-sized stones. In
No. 17 were three folded skeletons. In 29 there was a pile of stones
somewhat in the form of an inverted cone, measuring 10 feet across the
upturned base and tapering to a point at the depth of 3 feet; a few
coals lay on the upper surface. At the bottom of the mound, on the
original surface of the ground, were a copper drill and an arrow poiut.

Trenches were cut across the long mounds, but nothing observed,
except that they were formed of loose surface soil.

No. 4 measured 26 feet in diameter and 3 feet high. In the center
was a kind of vault formed by a circular stone wall 6 feet in diameter
from outside to outside, and 4 feet inside, built in a pit dug in the orig-

hie MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

inal surface to the depth of a foot or 18 inches. In this vault or grave
was a Skeleton very weil preserved, doubled up and lying on the right
side, at the depth of 4 feet from the top of the mound. The vault was
covered very carefully with flat limestones like those of which the wall
was built. No implements, ornaments, or relics of auy kind were found.
No. 11 was about the same size as No. 4. Lying on the natural sur-
face of the ground near the center were four large flat stones, placed
so as to form a square. These bore distinct evidences of having been
burned. In the area between them lay a single skeleton, folded and
placed on its side. There were coals and ashes immediately about and
on the stones, but none in direct contact with the skeleton.
Mound No. 12 was like No. 4 throughout, with stone vault and single
skeleton, differing only in the fact that the skeleton was stretched out
horizontally and that the covering
of stones over the vault was less
complete.

No. 16, though a small mound
only 17 feet in diameter and 23 feet
high, presented some interesting
features. It also contained an
incomplete stone vault (Fig. 31),
which, though only about 34 feet

9 A wide, and of the form shown in the
figure, extended from the top of
the mound down a foot or more
below the natural surface of the
ground. This contained a single
skeleton in a half upright position,
the head being only about 2 feet
below the surface of the mound
while the feet were down some 34 or 4 feet below the surface, or nearly
2 feet lower than the head. The head was southwest, the feet north-
east. Near the right hip was a discoidal stone. There were no traces
of coals or ashes in this mound.
No. 30 contained neither stones, vault, nor skeleton, the only things
found in it were a few badly decayed Unio shells near the bottom.

F1G. 31.—Mound No. 16 (horizontal section), Po-
lander group.

THE FLUCKE MOUNDS.

This group, shown on plat (Pl. 1) in connection with the Vilas
group, is on the farm of Mr. Joseph Fliicke, 2 miles south of Prairie du
Chien, and in the vicinity of the Vilas group. It contains twelve cir-
cular mounds, the relative positions of which are shown in the figure.
Of these, numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 were opened with the following
result:

No. 1, 65 feet in diameter and 6 feet high, was composed of dark,
sandy soil throughout, except near the bottom, where there were some

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT

@6 he
o7
el
@s
FLUCKE GROUP
SAS
Scale.

PLAN OF THE VILAS AND FLUCKE GROUPS, CRAWFORD COUNTY, WISCONSIN.

PL.

‘THOMAS.] THE FLUCKE GROUP. 73

very thin layers of black earth, but these were of limited extent,
not reaching across the mound, and not exceeding 2 inches in thickness.
Beneath: the central portion was an excavation in the natural soil,
about 12 feet in diameter and extending down to the yellow sand, a
depth of something over a foot. On the bottom of this excavation
were three skeletons, all lying in a horizontal position. No.1, on the
back, head east, elbows out and hands turned towards the head; near
each hand was a fine, large obsidian spearhead, one of which is 9
inches long. Near the head, on each side, were two spool-shaped arti-
cles of copper. From the position in which these were found, relative
to the head, it is presumed they had been used as ear ornaments.
Skeleton 2 was lying close to and on the north side of No. 1, the bones
much decayed; norelics with it. No. 3 lay with thehead northeast. The
bones were partially burnt and charred from the head to the hips and
more or less covered throughout with charcoal and ashes. The skull
was crushed to pieces and charred until it was black; near it were sev-
eral large copper beads, or perhaps ear pendants, made of sheet cop-
per rolled into the form of long cones, varying in length from three-
fourths of an inch to an inch and a half.

Mound 2 stands on the same elevation as No. 1. It measured about
60 feet in diameter, and a little less than 6 feet high. This, like the
other, had beneath it a slight excavation in the natural soil. In this
were the bones (except the skull) of an adult, in a close, compact bun-
dle; with them were some of the teeth, but no part of the skull. The
flesh had evidently been removed before burial here. Near by was a
single arrowhead, the only article found in the mound.

Mounds 3 and 4, each 3 feet high, and respectively 42 and 36 feet in
diameter, were similar in construction to 1 and 2, with the usual exca-
vation beneath, but without any evidences of burial in them.

No. 5, a beautiful mound measuring 68 feet in diameter and 7 feet
high, stands on the same elevation as 1 and 2. In the center was a
circular or inverted conical mass of yellow sand and gravel, extending
from the top of the mound to the depth of 3 feet. In this mass were
the much decayed bones of a child. One side of the skull was colored
by copper; a small copper bracelet made of two pieces of slender copper
wire twisted together and a coil of copper wire were found with the
bones. As these are evidently of European manufacture this may
have been an intrusive burial. At the bottom of the mound, in an
excavation in the original surface, were other human bones, but so
decayed that it was impossible to tell whether they belonged to one or
two bodies.

THE ARMSTRONG GROUP.

This group, which is situated near the Mississippi, one-fourth of a
mile below Lynxville, at the mouth of a deep and narrow ravine, and
consists of eleven round mounds and one effigy, is represented in
Fig. 32.

74 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Mound No. 11, somewhat oval in form, measured 48 feet in diameter
from north to south, 33 feet from east to west, and a little over 4 feet high.
Near the center was a skeleton lying on a circular platform of stones.
This platform or layer of stones was about 5 feet in diameter and
rested on the original surface of the gound. The skeleton was so far
decomposed that it was impossible to determine precisely its position.

No. 12 occupies the lowest point in the group and is only about
200 yards from the river’s edge, on a level about 20 feet above the usual
water mark. It measured only 26 feet in diameter and 4 in height, and
was composed almost wholly of stones, packed so tightly that it was

>

»:
yy
wy
IM ly
eC o/h
HyMmay

S
We

HUTS
a H wy

Fic. 32.—Plan of the Armstrong group, near Lynxville, Crawford county, Wis.

difficult toremove them. The stones being removed to the depth of 24
feet, a layer of dark earth was reached, though still filled with stones.
At the bottom of this layer, which extended downward 18 inches, was
a mass of human bones so closely packed that but little earth was mixed
with them. They occupied a space about 6 feet in diameter and rested
on a platform or layer of stones which extended under the larger portion
ofthe mound. As there were nine skulls, there were at least nine individ-
uals or rather skeletons buried here. Among the bones were two bear’s
teeth, a few bone articles, some fragments of pottery, a piece of deer’s
horn, and the claw of some bird.

On top of the high bluff immediately back of this group is another
larger group of mounds, some of which are effigies.

MOUND IN PRAIRIE DU CHIEN.

This mound, which is situated just below Old Fort Crawford, and meas-
ures 60 feet in diameter and nearly 5 feet in height, is noticed here on
account of the excavation beneath it. This was 12 feet in diameter,

THOMAS. ] THE SUE COULEE GROUP. 13:

extending 5 feet below the original surface of the ground, and was filled
with dark, sandy earth similar to that of which the mound was com-
posed. No specimens of any kind, charcoal, ashes, or indications of
burial were discovered.

SUE COULEE GROUP.

This group, a plat of which is given at A in Fig. 33, is situated near
the Mississippi river at the mouth of the ravine known as “Sue Coulee.”
It consists of eighteen beautiful round mounds, standing on a level
bench or table, some 30 feet high, which runs back to the bluff. They
have been plowed over for about sixteen years. Several of them had
been partially explored previous to the visit of an employé of this Bu-
reau, but nothing could be learned of the result.

At B, Fig. 33, is shown a cross section of Sue Coulee at a—b; 1 is the
creek channel; 2, the table or bench on which the mounds are located;
3, the bluff on the south
side; and 4, the bluff on
the north side.

Mound 1, 42 feet in di-
ameter and 5 feet high,
was composed of yellow,
sandy soil similar to that
of the surrounding sur-
face, unstratified and no
excavation beneath it.
Near the center on the
original surface were ten mn
skeletons all piled to- <a THAIN
getlier, with their heads ING 7 fs Fi TINS
in almost every direction,
the leg and arm bones
crossing one another. Lp
Some stones were lying Ty
immediately on them. }
Among them was a very
large flint spear-head

and some bear teeth.
Mound 4, 44 feet in di- FIG, 33.—Plan of the Sue ee group, Crawford county,

Bh et
IN

— "
gee

ameter and 4 feet high,
was composed of the same yellow, sandy soil as No. 1. In the center,
lying on the natural surface, were three skeletons, two of them side by
side, heads east, the third with the head northeast, the feet of the latter
touching the feet of the other two, and all stretched at full length in a
horizontal position. They were covered with stones as those in No. 1.
Mound 9, but 30 feet in diameter and 24 feet high, was composed of
darker earth than those already mentioned. A single skeleton, very

76

MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

much decayed, probably of a comparatively young person, was found
lying on the natural surface of the ground near the center of the mound.
Some scattering pieces of charcoal were observed, but no stones.

Fic. 34.—Copper spin-
dles from the Sue
Coulee group, Craw-
ford county, Wis.

Mound 12, 48 feet in diameter and 8 feet high, was
composed throughout of the yellow earth heretofore
mentioned, but the portion extending from the depth
of 3 to 5 feet was packed very hard and tight, much
more so than that above or below it. No articles or
indications of burial were observed.

No. 16 is the middle one of the row (see Fig. 33) of
five mounds running parallel to and on the side next
the Mississippi. It measured 45 feet in diameter and
4 feet in height. In the central portion, at the bot-
tom, were eleven skeletons close together, with the
heads in every direction; no implements or orna-
ments accompanied them, but at some distance from
them, and about a foot above the level at which the
skeletons lay, was a large broken pot. At the bottom
a pit had been dug to the depth of 3 feetin the natu-
ral soil, in which were four skeletons, two lying with
heads southeast and the other two, one a child, with
heads northwest. Near the head of the former lay a
copper plate. This is 10? inches in length and 23
inches in width at the widest part, a thin sheet less
than one-twentieth of an inch thick, but slightly un-
even. Near each end, on one side, are four rows of
small, circular indentations (some of them entirely
through), which must have been made with a metallie
instrument, as is evident from the raised points on
the opposite side of the plate. This lay just below
the skull and near the under jaw. Near the hand of
the same skeleton were two long, slender, square
copper drills or spindles, one about 9 inches long and
one-fourth of an inch thick, pointed at one end and
chisel-shaped at the other; the other 7 inches long
and pointed at both ends, shown in Fig. 34. Near
the head of one of these skeletons was a thin, eup-
shaped ornament of copper, probably part of an ear-
pendant.

Mound 7, which stands on the highest ground of any of the group, is
quite symmetrical, 60 feet in diameter and 8 feet high, and, with the
exception of a column running down in the center, it consisted of

yellow, sandy soil.

The column, circular in outline, 5 to 6 feet in diam-

eter, and composed of loose dark earth, extended from the highest
central point to the original surface of the ground. The yellow earth
immediately surrounding it was very hard.

THOMAS. MOUNDS OF VERNON COUNTY, WISCONSIN. ce

In this column, at the depth of 5 feet from the top, lay a mass of
human bones about 2 feet thick which spread over the entire circuit
of the pit. Although but slightly decayed, they were mostly broken
into pieces; even the skulls were in fragments, and all were heaped
together in such confusion that it was impossible to determine the
number of individuals represented, but there could not have been less
than 10 or 12.

Immediately below them a small copper spindle was discovered simi-
lar to those already mentioned, and some split bear teeth with holes
through them. At the bottom of the mound was a complete skeleton,
lying at full length on the original surface, face up, head east, and
arms by its side. Near the left hand lay a fine copper ax, weighing 1
pound 9 ounces, a little over 9 inches in length. By the side of this
was a large round implement of chipped obsidian, and near the right
hand were 67 small copper beads, a bear tooth, and the jaw bone and
some teeth of a small quadruped.

The respective distances of the mounds of this group from one another,
measuring from center to center, are as follows: From 1 to 2, 365 feet;
from 2 to 3, 88 feet; from 3 to 5, 88 feet; from 5 to 4, 210 feet; from 5
to 6, 55 feet; from 6 to 7, 238 feet; from 7 to 8, 105 feet; from 8 to 9,
108 feet; from 9 to 10, 112 feet; from 7 to 12, 200 feet; from 12 to 11,
180 feet; from 12 to 13, 90 feet; from 15 to 15, 95 feet; from 15 to 14,
65 feet; from 15 to 16, 101 feet; from 16 to 17, 80 feet; and from 17 to
18, 85 feet.

During the grading of a street that runs by Old Fort Crawford in
Prairie du Chien, in a rise near the fort, a number of skeletons were
unearthed. One of these had been buried in a small canoe about 9
feet long. Most of the skeletons lay with the head to the southeast;
with some were brass or copper kettles with iron bails; on the arm
bone of some were bracelets made of thick copper wire. Among the
articles found was a fine catlinite pipe and one or two other stone
pipes. -

VERNON COUNTY.

There are several mounds on the foot hills or lower benches of the
bluffs in See. 15, T. 11 N., R. 7 W., in the extreme southwest corner of
the county. The bluffs are very high and steep with a narrow ‘strip
of land between them and the Mississippi river, sloping, but not too
steep to cultivate, the soil being very productive. A diagram showing
the relative positions of those examined is given in Fig. 35.

No. 1,40 feet in diameter and 5 feet high ', unstratified. Nearthe cen-
ter, a foot and a half below the surface of the mound, was an irregular
layer of burned sandstones, some flat and others irregular in form.
Immediately beneath these lay some partially burned human bones,

' When no reference is made to the form it is to be understood that the mounds are of the simple
conical type.

78 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

and near them a single chipped stone hoe. A little northwest of the
center, at thé depth of 5 feet and apparently resting on the natural
surface of the ground, were the remains of five folded skeletons, heads
north and faces west. Under one of these was a single perforated
bear-tooth. The skeletons had been covered with a mortar-like sub-
stance which was dry and very hard.

No. 2, 100 feet northwest of No. 1 (measuring from base to base), 75
feet in diameter and 7 feet high. This was composed throughout
(except the surface layer) of blue clay mixed with sand, very hard and
tough. Large sandstones, weighing {from 10 to 100 pounds, oceurred
at all depths, but not placed with any regularity or according to any
perceptible plan. At the depth of 8 feet, and hence slightly below the
original surface of the ground and alittle southwest of the center, were

Fia. 35.—Mound group near Battle island, Vernon county, Wis.

six folded skeletons, lying on the bottom with the heads east and faces
north. As soon as they were uncovered the bones fell to pieces so that
not even the skulls could be saved. The dirt immediately around them
was wet and sticky.

No. 3, 60 feet north of No. 2, 40 feet in diameter and 34 feet high.
The top layer, 14 feet in depth, consisted of black, rich loam, the re-
mainder of blue clay. The original soil had evidently been removed to
the depth of a foot or more—in one portion to the depth of 2 feet—
before burial. On the north side, not far from the margin, the clay, for a
considerable space, was very hard and dry, immediately beneath which
were some four or five folded skeletons, with heads, so far as could be
determined, in various directions. Near the southeast margin, at the
depth of 6 feet, lay six other skeletons at full length with heads in
different directions. Under one of them were three bears’ teeth. The
owner in a previous examination found near the center, at the depth of
15 or 18 inches, a long string of glass beads.

THOMAS.] WHITE’S GROUP. 7

No. 4, 300 feet north of No. 3, 65 feet in diameter and 4 feet high.
At the depth of 4 feet eight skeletons were lying at full length on the
natural surface of the ground, with heads east and faces up. They lay
on the natural slope of the bench, so that the heads were higher than
the feet. Their relative positions are given in Fig. 36 (a horizontal
section of the mound), the larger figures indicating adult skeletons
and the small one that of a child. Under the one at the northern end
of the row were several bear
teeth, and near them and at
the same depth lay the under
jaw of some animal. At the
head of each skeleton was a
large, irregular piece of sand-
stone. The composition of this
tumulus was chiefly a mixture
of sand and light yellow clay
unstratified.

No. 5, 30 feet northwest of
No. 4, was 80 feet in diameter,
5 feet high, and more flattened
on topthan is usual with tunuli
of this type. On the northern
side, at a depth of 3 feet, two
folded skeletons were discov- Fic. 36.—Plan of Mound No. 4, Battle island, Vernon
ered, under one of which were county, Wisconsin.
several copperbeads, and under
all bears’ teeth. About the center and near the bottom was a single
skeleton also folded and under the head were several bears’ teeth. In
the southern side, at the depth of 5 feet, a single very fine lance head
was discovered; no bones were near it.

No. 6, 125 feet northwest of No. 5, 85 feet in diameter and 4 feet high,
was composed of rich black earth interspersed with sandstones. Near
the center, at the bottom, lay a single badly-decayed skeleton, over
which was heaped an irregular pile of sandstones of various sizes.

No. 7, 20 yards northwest of No. 6, 50 feet in diameter and 54 feet
high, consisted chiefly of dry, yellow clay. In the northern side at the
depth of 5 feet were three or four much decayed skeletons, apparently
folded, with heads east and faces north and in the southern portion at
the depth of 2 feet the fragments of a stone pipe. Under the latter
was an irregular pile of burned sandstones; but no ashes or coals
were discovered, from which fact it is inferred that the stones were
placed here after having been subjected to fire.

WHITE’S GROUP.

In the northwest corner of the county, in Sec. 28, T. 14 N., R. 7 W.,
on land owned by Mr. H. White, is a group of small circular mounds

80 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

extending in a nearly straight line along the margin of the sandy level
known locally as ‘Sand Prairie,” where it descends to the lower bot-
tom lands of Raccoon river. This level extends to the bluffs about a
half mile distant, which are here very high and steep. A plan of the
group is given in P]. 11, from which it will be seen that it contains 22
mounds of various sizes.

No. 1 of this group, 35 feet in diameter and 53 feet high, was composed
throughout of black, sandy soil similar to that around it. Six inches
below the surface, at the center, fragments of a red earthenware vessel
were found, but so rotten that they fell to pieces on being handled. A
little north of the center, at the bottom, lying on the natural sand
stratum, were the remains of four skeletons, heads north. Another
skeleton was found in the southern side at the same depth, folded,
head south, face east; over the skull was a small lance head.

No. 2, immediately north of No.1, touching it at the base, was 45 feet
in diameter and 3 feet high. It was composed throughout of earth
similar to the surrounding soil. Five skeletons were found at various
depths, from 2 to 4 feet. Some were lying at full length, others folded
with heads in various directions, but were all so soft that none could
be saved.

No.3, 160 feet north of No. 2, 40 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, was
not stratified. The skeleton of a child was lying near the center at the
depth of 18 inches, head west. Under the head was a brass ornament
wrapped in cotton cloth, and about the position of the breast the frag-
ments of another metallic ornament, also a few glass beads. This skele-
ton had evidently been incased in a wooden coffin of some kind, but
whether of bark or boards could not be determined. In the southwest-
ern side the skeleton of an adult was discovered at the same depth,
folded, with head south. Nothing else was observed, save a few frag-
ments of pottery near the surface.

No. 4, about 100 feet northeast of No. 3, measured 50 feet in diameter
and 4 feet high, unstratified. Nothing was discovered in this mound.

No. 6, 160 feet northwest of No. 5, oblong, 50 feet in diameter north
and south, and 4 feet high, was composed of black, sandy soil from the
fields. In the northern side, at the depth of 2 feet, were ten skeletons,
some folded and others stretched out on their backs, heads in every
direction. <A little west of the center, at the depth of 4 feet, two more
were found ‘folded, with the heads west. On the skull of each of these
was a thick copper plate, apparently beaten out of native copper with
rude implements. The larger, over the southern skull, represented in
Fig. 37, is 8 inches long by 44 inches wide. About 6 inches above it
was a fine large lance head. The other plate is nearly square, 44 inches
by 44 inches. The bones were so rotten and soft, except immediately
under the copper plates, that none of them could be preserved. Fresh-
water shells were scattered through the mound at various depths.

THOMAS. ] WHITE’S GROUP. 81

In No. 7, 25 feet in diameter and 3 feet high, nothing was discovered
save a single skeleton near the northern edge, a foot below the surface,
and a few fragments of pottery near the head.

No. 8, diameter, 65 feet; height, 6 feet; unstratified; disclosed
nothing.

No. 9, diameter, 60 feet; height, 5 feet; unstratified; contained
nothing worthy of notice.

Fic. 37.—Copper plate from Mound No. 6, White’s group (No. 88336, National Museum).

No. 10, 50 feet in diameter and 44 feet high. A vertical section
of this mound is shown in Fig. 38. The top layer, 2 feet thick, consisted
of black, loose, sandy loam similar to the surrounding soil of the field.
Six skeletons were lying in this near the center, some folded, others
stretched at full length, heads in different directions. The next or
lower layer, 3 feet thick, and extending downward slightly below the
original surface, consisted of red clay very largely mixed with sand.
Skeletons were found in this at various depths. A little south of the
center the original soil, below layer No. 2, had been hollowed out to the

Fic. 38.—Section of Mound No. 10, White’s group.

gravel. This excavation was about 7 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 1 foot
deep. In it were the remains of a single adult skeleton, stretched at
full length, face up, and covered with a layer of hard black muck. The
bones were nearly all gone, but their forms and positions could be
traced. Under the skull was a fine lance head, and about 2 feet south,
in the same excavation, a magnificent chipped implement of obsidian,
represented in Fig. 39.
12 ETH——6

82 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

“

No. 11, touching No. 10 at the northeast, 50 feet in diameter and 4
feet high, was composed chiefly of a dark, sandy soil, about 10 feet of the
central portion being of yellow clay and sand mixed. In the southern
portion, at the depth of 2 feet, were two very soft, folded skeletons,
heads west. A little southwest of the center, at the depth of 3 feet, a
few human bones were found incased in hard, black muck or mortar-
like substance, and immediately under them some copper beads. Near
the center, at about the same depth, was a folded skeleton, with the

Fic. 39.—Obsidian implement from Mound No. 10, White’s group.

head northeast, also incased in the hard, black muck. By the skull was
a broken earthen pot and a bottle-shaped vase, short neck and flat bot-
tom. The broken pot, which has been partially restored and is repre-
sented in Fig. 40, is equal, if not superior in the quality of the ware, to
any mound pottery discovered in the Mississippi valley. A jasper
lance head was discovered a little north of the center near the base.
The other mounds of the group, which are small, simple tumuli of the
conical type, were not opened. Their sizes are as follows:

| |
No. | Diameter. Height. | No. Diameter. Height.

Feet. Feet. Feet. Feet.
12 45 4 | 17 50 4
13 35 18 35 2
14 25 3 | 19 20 2
15 20 2 20 50 by 35 4
16 50 4} | 21 40 3h

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. II

tivated Fiela
cul s

Line _netween Sections 21 and 26.

Peete,

:

Cultivated

Whites house

PLAT OF WHITE’S GROUP, VERNON COUNTY, WISCONSIN.

| ‘ # se ve sene hand Bs i;

La Crosse, Il mites

THOMAS.) GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN. 83

About half a mile south of No.1 of this group, on Sec. 33, same
township, stands an isolated mound of the same type, which, upon
opening, proved to be unstratified, as most of the others already men-
tioned. Diameter about 50 feet and height 7 feet. On the west side a
few soft and badly decayed human bones were discovered at the depth

Fic. 40.—Pot from Mound No. 11, White's group.

of 2 feet. On the east side similar bones were found at the depth of 4
feet, and on the southwest, at the same depth, the fragment of a large
sea shell (Buszycon perversum).

GRANT COUNTY.

On the bluffs north of Sinepy creek are the remnants of two groups
or lines of mounds. These were visited in 1880 by Col. Norris, and in
1890 a second visit was made. Such portions of the groups as have
been subject to cultivation have entirely disappeared. On the narrow
promontory overlooking the river is a row of small conical mounds, com-
posed largely of rough stones from the adjoining bluff. Five of these
mounds were opened in 1880. All contained human bones, which in
two cases were charred.

Many of the bones in these mounds were disconnected and often
broken as though deposited after the flesh had been removed, probably
after exposure of the bodies on scaffolds or after previous burial.

On a second promontory, east of the first, across a deep ravine, is a
group of works consisting of two effigy mounds and one oblong mound.

84 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Other oblong mounds, said to have been situated to the north of these,
have been obliterated by the plow. The most southern of the effigy
mounds would seem never to have been finished. The body is represented
by a well-rounded ridge, and the head and forelegs are present, but only
a trace of one of the hind legs appears. These mounds are in a forest
and have not been disturbed by the whites. The other animal figure
is somewhat larger, the body being 90 feet long. The legs are unusually
long, the length from the toes to the back line being upwards of 40 feet.
The head is merely a heavy rounded projection, and the tail is so ob-
scure as to be barely traceable.

WORKS NEAR CASSVILLE.

About 1 mile south of Cassville the road traverses a bench or level
bottom, which is seldom overflowed, extending from the bluffs to a
bayou, a distance of nearly 1 mile. Near this road on one side, when
visited in 1880, were two lines of works, consisting of effigy, circular,
and elongate mounds, and on the other a single row of circular mounds.
These, except 1 and 2, are shown in their respective forms and positions
in Fig. 41.

No. | Length. | Height. Shape. Remarks.
|
Feet. Feet.
1 10 by 20 | 3 | Oblong .-----.- | Ordinary earth mound.
2 10 by 30 Sudo wd | Opened; nothing found.
3 90 4 | Effigy ..--.. -.| Probably represents an elk. |
4 90 Alle. dObss caesar Do.
* 1 BARE ea Pen | Circular .....-
Vi} fegocsctcsad bec cenescs fics: (ily) aeeesece,
7 150 | 5 | Effigy .--..-.. Lizard; head and body 90 feet, tail 60 feet.
8 45 | 3 | Oblong -.----- Ordinary earth mound.
9 72 by 84 4} Effigy ------.- | A well-formed bird.
10 20 | 2 | Circular ...--- Opened; nothing found.
11 | 120 by 84 4 Effigy .--..--. Probably an eagle.
|

Nos. 12 to 15 are small circular and oval mounds on the eastern side
of the road in a line south of the Eagle’s head; Nos. 16 to 28 the row
of circular mounds on the west side of the road. The latter vary in
diameter from 15 to 40 feet and in height from 3 to 5 feet. Quite a
number of these had previously been opened, and, as was ascertained,
presented evidences of intrusive burials.

Excavations were made in a number of the mounds of this and adja
cent groups, but nothing was discovered save human bones in the
last stages of decay.

This locality was revisited in 1890, when slight traces of these works
were seen. The railroad had been carried directly through the group
and an immense gravel pit now occupies the site. About three-fourths
of one of the bird figures remain and some shapeless hillocks mark the
line of conical mounds.

THOMAS. } WORKS NEAR CASSVILLE. 85

Stone cairns containing fragments of decaying human bones were
found on top of the adjacent bluff; and upon the bank of the bayou near
Cassville is a circular mound 40 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, in the
base of which, beneath the hard earth, were four skeletons of adults in
a much better state of preservation.

Fic, 41.—Effigy mounds near Cassville, Grant county, Wisconsin.

The large Dewey farm, now owned by Gen. Newberry, extending
from 1 to 3 miles north of Cassville, is literally dotted over with mounds
and other works. This was a favorite haunt of the modern Indians,
who used these earthen structures as depositories for their dead, hence
intrusive burials are very common here. In a number explored, of
which only the bottom central core remained undisturbed, nothing was
found except decaying human bones and very rude stone implements.

A remarkable series of mounds is situated upon the bluffs about 3

$6 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

miles north of Cassville. These, remarks Mr. Holmes, may be taken
as an illustration of the earthworks of this region. The bluffs are
here upwards of 300 feet in height and are very abrupt on the margins
overlooking the river. The horizontal beds of massive magnesian lime-
stone outcrop along the
brink, giving a series of
gray escarped promon-
tories, between which
are notch-like recesses
cutby thedrainage. The

WZ, steep faces of the bluff
Ni -ZAY are without timber, but
: the recesses and the up-
per surfaces are covered
with forests; this, to-
gether with the dense
growth of underbrush,
make exploration ex-
tremely difficult.

Between Muddy creek,
which comes out of the
bluffs at right angles
to the river escarpment
and the Sandy, a rivulet
emerging three-fourths
of a mile farther south,
there is a tongue of the
plateau divided into sev-
eral parts at the outer
end and connected by a
narrow ridge with the
main plateau. This out-
standing mass is a mile
in length and at the
widest part not more
than one-fourth of a
mile wide. Mounds are
found upon the main crest as well as upon most of the spurs. This
distribution in groups was determined apparently by the topography,
as will be seen by reference to the accompanying map. (Fig. 42.)

The main lines of works occupy the crest of the principal ridge,
which borders Muddy creek on the south. Beginning at the outer
point we follow the curved ridge encountering first six oblong mounds
of the usual character, then a conical mound standing somewhat alone,
and beyond this a series of eight conical mounds connected into a chain
by low ridges. Traversing a distance of about 700 feet a second chain-

i

STN

yi{
Ww m\\\

\

ND
\\

\

Fic. 42.—Lines of works near Cassville, Grant county, Wisconsin.

iW
HM

|
Ih

/\\\

Iti

ANA

\)
\\

CZ
Hf

= G ii a
NUNN
i? uh 4

ms

aS
fn)

THOMAS. ] WORKS NEAR WYALUSING. 87

group is encountered, and at the eastern extremity of this lies the only
effigy mound of the system so far as observed. East of this a broken
series of obleng and chain mounds continues indefinitely. On the
southern spurs of the promontory are three additional groups of con-
ical and oblong mounds following the crests of the ridges and termi-
nating near the escarped points.

All of these works are in an excellent state of preservation. A few
have been dug into by relic hunters. The two isolated conical mounds
are of average size, being about 25 feet in diameter and between 3 and
4 feet high. The oblong mounds are straight even ridges, ranging from
80 to 125 feet in length and from 10 to 20 in width, and in height rarely
exceeding 34 feet.

The chain mounds are of particular interest. They have been built
with much care and are wonderfully preserved. The cones average
less than 20 feet in diameter and are from 2 to 4 feet in height. The
distance from center to center varies from 30 to 40 feet and the con-
necting ridges of earth are about 16 feet wide and from 2 to 3 feet
high.

The most noteworthy member of the series is the effigy mound. It
is perhaps more suggestive of the puma than of any other quadruped.
This work is well preserved, but the loose vegetable mold of which
it is composed does not admit of the preservation of more than a gen-
eralized form, no matter to what extent the individuality of the original
shape was developed.

The full length of the figure may be given as 144 feet, although the
tail is very indistinct toward the extremity. The head is toward the
east and exhibits no other feature than a slight projection for the nose.
The characters of the animal have received proper attention. The body
is full and rounded and the extremities fall off gradually in width and
height. The curves of the back and legs are well rendered, and the
whole conception is presented with sufficient spirit. The distance from
the toes to the back line is 36 feet. The body, at the point of greatest
relief, is not over 54 feet high.

The mounds of this group appear to be composed mainly of vegetable
mold obtained on the spot.

The conical mound, situated upon the very brow of the bluff, is 25 feet
in diameter and 4 feet high. A broad trench carried through it revealed
only the decayed bones of a child, extended at full length beneath the
central core of hard, dry earth. Pits sunk in the oblong mounds
brought nothing to light. A number of circular mounds on the adja-
cent bluffs was also opened, but nothing save decayed human bones
was found in them.

WORKS NEAR WYALUSING.

Four excellent illustrations of the remarkable mound groups of Wis-
consin are to be seen near Wyalusing, a station on the Burlington and

88 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Northern Railroad. The village of Wyalusing is picturesquely situ-
ated on a narrow strip of alluvial land between the Mississippi river
and the bluff, which here rises abruptly in a single step to the height
of 350 feet. These bluffs, as those elsewhere in Grant county, are the
margin of a plateau which extends eastward from the escarpment.
The margin of this plateau is cut by numerous streams and is for the
most part too rugged for cultivation. In the marginal region the
ridges separating the streams are often narrow, but have rounded
and somewhat level crests, which were favorite resorts of the mound
builders.

Upon the steep timbered bluff that rises above the village of Wya-
lusing is found a line of earthworks following the crest of a nearly
straight ridge. The principal work of the group is an animal effigy, a
quadruped. It is of large size and is in an excellent state of preser-
vation. Singularly enough it does not occupy the crest of the ridge
which runs parallel to the river, but lies in a shallow depression in the
slope between the crest and the margin of the steep bluff overlooking
the village. The head is toward the south and the legs extend down
the gentle slope toward the river. The form is perfectly preserved,
the body is well rounded and the outline is everywhere distinct. So
perfect is the preservation that the extension representing the ears or
horns shows a slight parting at the outer end, and the two legs of each
pair are separated by a shallow depression throughout their entire
length. The feeling for correct form possessed by the builders even
in this rude method of realization is indicated by the outline which
defines the forehead, by the curves of the back and belly, and of the
gambrel joints of the legs, as well as by the relief which expresses
something of the rotundity and relative prominence of the parts.
What additional details of form have been effaced by the lapse of
time can not be determined.

The length of the work from the forehead to rump is 115 feet; the
length of the head is 47 feet; the distance from the feet to the back,
representing the full height of the figure, is 50 feet; the width of the
body is 28 feet, and the width of the legs about 20 feet. The relief
does not exceed 34 feet at any point, the ears, nose, and legs not
exceeding half that.

Some years ago Mr. D. W. Derby, an enthusiastic collector of mound
relics, dug into the body of this effigy about the locality of the heart,
and found human bones and an earthen vessel about the size of the
crown of an ordinary hat. The vessel had a flat bottom, but was so
fragile from decay that no part of it could be preserved.

Running approximately parallel with the greatest length of the ani-
mal figure and occupying the crest of the ridge is a row of oblong
mounds. These vary from a straight line to accommodate themselves to
the crest, and in orientation vary from 8. 25° E.to 8.15 W. The largest
one is 100 feet in length and the shortest 60 feet. The width averages

THOMAS. ] WORKS NEAR WYALUSING. 89

about 20 feet and the height is in no case greater than 34 feet. On the
rounded surface of the north end of the ridge is a number of small
circular depressions that may represent old dwelling sites; others are
seen on a level space about 100 feet north of the animal figure. The
ridge terminates at the north in a rounded point and at the south in
a long narrow one, and is con-
nected with the chain of ridges
on the east by a broad saddle;
along this, and extending for an
indefinite distance, is an almost
continuous series of mounds most-
~ ly of the oblong type. In the older
cultivated fields only traces of the
works are found, but in the new
ground, and in the wooded areas,
the forms are fully preserved.
There is no telling what was the
original extent of these wonderful
lines of mounds, or what their
connection with the other series,
the remnants of which are found
on nearly every part of the bluffs
where tillage has not destroyed
them.

A second group of more than
usual interest is located upon the
promontory that overlooks the
village on the north. This prom-
ontory extends to the northward,
as a narrow ridge with an uneven
erest, to the residence of Mr.
Derby and beyond. Its trend is
parallel with the river, from which
it rises at an angle of 40 degrees
or more. On the opposite side it
falls off with abruptness to a
little stream which runs to the
southward and passes out at the
north end of the village. From
the railroad bridge at the cross- Fig. 43.—Mound group near Wyalusing, Grant
( county, Wisconsin.
ing of the stream we ascend the
point of the promontory by a series of slopes and cliffs to the height of
about 200 feet; beyond this point the ridge extends to the northward
and is narrow, and for about one-quarter of a mile nearly horizontal.

Upon the level crest, which is forest covered, are four mounds; at
the south are two conical mounds and at the north two mounds repre-

90 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

senting animals, distributed as shown in Fig. 43. All are in an excel
lent state of preservation save where recent excavations conducted by
Mr. Derby have mutilated them. The southern mound was conical in
shape and about 20 feet in diameter and 6 feet high. When Mr. Derby
began his excavatious the eastern half of the cone was covered with
rough stone slabs obtained from the vicinity. In digging into the cen-
ter of the mound four stones as large as a human head were found near
the surface. At the depth of a foot a circle of stones was encountered,
having a diameter of 4 feet; at a depth of about 2 feet the top of a cis-
tern, 34 feet in diameter, of welllaid stones, was uncovered. This was
3 feet deep and had been built upon the surface of the limestones of
the bluff. The well was filled with black earth, in which were found
seven oblong shell beads, a copper celt of ordinary shape, and a red
pipestone, platform pipe; outside of the well a flake of flint was found,
and some curious lines of colored sand were observed. These seemed
to radiate roughly from the center of the mound and were followed to
the circumference by the explorers. Wide trenches were carried across
the mound from east to west and from north to south.

The second mound was much like the first and is still perfect, save
for the sinking of a pit in the center. Nothing of interest was found.
The present diameter is over 30 feet in the line of the ridge and some-
what less across it. The height is 6 feet.

A little over 100 feet to the north of this mound is the first animal
mound. The creature, possibly a bear, is represented as lying upon its
side with the head to the south and the feet to the east. The body is a
neatly rounded ridge 70 feet long and nearly 25 feet wide, and has a
relief of nearly 4 feet. The head is about 30 feet long, the projection
representing the ears being very slightly indicated and difficult to
define. The low ridge representing the forelegs is straight, while that
for the hinder ones is bent, thus defining the gambrel joint. The dis-
tance from the toes to the back line is a little less than 40 feet. This
figure is of the most frequently occurring type of effigy works.

The other effigy mound, 150 feet to the north, is of a form somewhat
unusual. It is spread out upon the ridge, after the fashion of a lizard
or alligator. The head is toward the south, and is merely a rounded
projection of the body embankment. The tail at the opposite end is
upwards of 35 teet long, but is very attenuated and indistinct toward
the tip. The body is a rounded ridge 34 feet high and less than 20
feet wide, and the legs, extended to the right and left, are low embank-
ments of earth, the forelegs being bent forward and the hinder ones
backward, as shown in the illustration.

Passing north along this ridge, another series of mounds is encoun-
tered. The first member is an oblong mound, about three-fourths of a
mile beyond the residence of Mr. Derby. This is followed by a series
of works in which are oblong, conical, and animal mounds, some of
which are almost obliterated by the plow.

THOMAS. | THE ELEPHANT MOUND. 91

On the crest of the bluff, north of the last mentioned mounds and
just south of the Wisconsin river, is a continuous straight line of
mounds, all of which, except two, are elongate, embankment-like struc-
tures, giving to the line the appearance of an interrupted wall. Of the
two exceptions one is oval and the other is an effigy mound, probably
intended to represent an elk. Several of these mounds were opened,
but in none, except the third from the south end of the line, was any-
thing found. This is somewhat oval, 24 feet in diameter, and 4 feet
high. In the center was a rude, irregular stone coffin or vault of flat
sandstones, so arranged around the single skeleton that a large one
sufficed to cover it from animals. The bones were in the last stages of
decomposition.

The top of this bluff, for the distance of half a mile, is literally coy-
ered with these works, which are uniformly placed so near the brink of
the descent to the Mississippi as to present a clear cut outline, except
where the view is obstructed by trees. As the position is a command-
ing one, and as very few of the works were intended or used for burial
purposes, it is difficult to conceive of any other object the builders could
have had in view in their construction than that of defense. But how
they were made available for this purpose without encircling any area
or without closing the numerous openings is difficult to understand.

On the NW. 4 of Sec. 20, T. 6 N., R. 6 W., about 1 mile east of the
works just mentioned, is another group of considerable interest. This
consists of one continuous line of circular and effigy mounds, number-
ing 36 in all.

THE ELEPHANT MOUND.

This effigy, of which so much has been said and written, is situated
on the southeast quarter of See. 21, T. 5 N., R. 6 W.,in Bloomington
township, 4 miles south of Wyalusing: It lies on the right side, head
south, in a depression between two drift sand ridges, in what is known
as the Cincinnati bottom. This bottom extends from the bluff on one
side to a large bayou on the other, and is just above the overflows of
the Mississippi. Although the mound has been under cultivation for
five years, the outlines are yet distinct. “‘ By a hasty measurement,”
says Col. Norris, who incidentally visited it while engaged by the Bureau
in the northwest, ‘I made its entire length to the front of the head 135
feet, the width across the body from 55 to 60 feet, the height varying
from 3 to6 feet. I made a rude sketch of it on the spot with pencil, for
the purpose of showing the so-called trunk as I sawit. There is a
depression some 4 or 5 feet deep between the trunk and breast, and a
kind of slight platform or apron-like extension on the upper or back
part of the head, from 2 to 3 feet high, or half as high as the rest of
the head. Whether the resemblance to an elephant, which arises
almost wholly from the proboscis-like extension to the head, is due to
intentional work done by the builders or has resulted from the drift-
ing of the loose, sandy soil, of which it is mainly composed, is a ques-

92 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

tion difficult to decide. I can only say that I represent it as I found
it.” This sketch, which is not reproduced here, shows the trunk some-
what distinctly as curved inward toward the fore legs. It is very
doubtful whether this should be considered a part of the effigy. If
both Mr. Warner and Col. Norris show correctly what they saw, the
trunk was evidently a shifting line of sand.

Fic. 44.—Elephant mound, according to Middleton's survey in 1884.

In November, 1884, Mr. Middleton was directed to call to his assist-
ance a civil engineer and make a regular and careful survey of this
mound for the purpose of modeling it for the New Orleans Exposition.
This was very carefully done, and the result is shown in outline in Fig.
44, His report in reference to it, as seen at that time, is as follows:

“The ‘ Elephant mound’ is located on the southeast quarter of Sec.
21,T.5 N., R. 6 W., Bloomington township, in a long rectangular
depression or rather cul de sac as shown in Pl. 111, the level of which
is a few feet only above high water. The immediate spot on which it
stands is a little higher than the general level around it. For 200
yards north the surface is even, with a slight rise to the foot of the
bank. This bank is about 20 feet higher than the mound level. Going
east along line a b (PI. 111) the ground at first dips slightly, but rises
a little as it approaches the foot of the bank, which is here about 30
feet above the mound level. South towards ¢ the surface is flat for
more than 600 yards. The bank onthe west is about the same height
as that on the east. About 200 yards south is an effigy mound, a bird
with outspread wings, head south. Near by there are a number of
round mounds placed in a line and two or three long mounds.

‘‘ Plowing over it for a number of years has considerably reduced
the height of the elephant effigy, and has rendered the outlines of por-
tions of the head and back somewhat indistinct, but the body between
the legs is quite plain. It is gently rounded on the surface, the high-

THOMAS.] MANITOWOC AND SHEBOYGAN MOUNDS. 93

est points being at the hip, where it is nearly 4 feet high. Entire
length, 140 feet; width across the body to the farther end of the hind
leg, 72 feet; across the body between the legs, 55 feet; across the body
and fore leg, 77 feet; across the neck, 40 feet; length of head from back
to nozzle, 60 feet; width of hind leg at the body, 32 feet; at the foot,
15 feet; length of hind leg, 22 feet; across the fore leg at the body, 28
feet; at the foot 15 feet; length of fore leg, 28 feet.”

Fig. 45.—Elephant mound, after Warner's figure.

Fig. 45 is another view of this mound, which is an exact copy, re-
duced to half size, of the original manuscript pencil sketch by Jared
Warner, from which the figure in the Smithsonian Report for 1872 was
made.

SHEBOYGAN COUNTY.
MANITOWOC AND SHEBOYGAN MOUNDS.

There are some scattering mounds on the hills bordering the Sheboy-
gan marshes on the north. These are usually isolated, simple conical
tumuli, though some are in irregular groups on elevated situations.

The only one opened (the rest had been previously explored) was
situated on a sandy ridge half a mile north of the marsh and 100 feet
above it. It was about 50 feet in diameter at the base and 5 feet high.
After passing through 18 inches of surface soil the central mass was
struck, which appeared to be composed of earth mingled with firebeds,
charcoal, ashes, and loose stones. Near the center of this mass, at the
bottom of the mound, a large human skeleton in a sitting posture was
discovered, apparently holding between its hands and knees a large
clay vessel, unfortunately in fragments. These were covered over by
an irregular layer of flat bowlders. Nothing else worthy of notice was
found.

About 2 miles west of this, on a bluff overlooking the marsh, was
another mound of similar form and slightly larger, which had been pre-
viously opened by Mr. Hoissen of Sheboygan. It was found literally

94 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

filled, tothe depth of 24 feet, with human skeletons, many of which were
well preserved and evidently those of modern Indians, as with them
were the usual modern weap-
ons and ornaments. Beneath
these was a mass of rounded
bowlders aggregating several
wagon loads, below which were
some 40 or 50 skeletons in a
sitting posture, m a circle,
around and facing a very large
seashell. This specimen, which
with the other articles taken
from this mound isin Mr. Hois-
sen’s collection, measures 21
inches in length and 29 in cir-
cumference at its greatest
girth.
Fic. 46.—Inclosure near Sheboygan, Sheboygan county Just south of the outlet of
pyszqonsin- the marsh is a small, oval in-
closure, with an opening at one end of some 4 or 5 feet. It consists of a
single wall 3 feet high and a ditch about two feet deep (shown in Fig. 46).

ty =»
Ree
A\\\t! Wy
wailing, Z
4,

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ESS
SY

S
Sy
Ss

BARRON COUNTY.
THE RICE LAKE MOUNDS.

The only explorations in this county were around Rice lake. This
group, a plat of which is given in PI. Iv, is situated at Rice lake
village, on sec. 16, T. 35 N., R. 11 W., about half a mile above Red
Cedar river. The land at this point is somewhat broken, and the
area occupied by the group is cut by a small ravine that runs northeast
to the lake. Some of the mounds are on gravely knolls, a few in the
ravine, some on the slope up to the level which runs back to a ridge a
quarter of a mile distant and some on this level. The location was well
chosen for hunting, fishing, and procuring a supply of food, as game
and fish are still abundant and wild rice formerly grew on the lake.

The group consists of fifty-one mounds, chiefly of the ordinary coni-
cal form. There are no effigies or long slender embankments init. Two
of the long type, however, were found at the other end of the village.

The construction varies so little that few only will be described as
samples of the rest, No. 1, for instance, as representing Nos. 24, 26, 35,
39, 46, and 45. This stands in the bottom of a ravine about 10 feet
above the water level and about 500 feet from the shore of the lake;
diameter, 28 feet; height, 4 feet. The construction, as shown in figure
47, was as follows, commencing at the top: First, a layer of dark vege-
table mold (a), 2 inches thick which had formed since the mound was
abandoned, next, a layer (b) of sandy loam with a slight admixture of
clay; third, the core (c), forming the central and remaining portion of

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ELEPHANT MOUND AND SURROUNDINGS, GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN.

THOMAS.] THE RICE LAKE MOUNDS. 95

the structure and resting on the original surface of the gully. This
consisted of clay mixed with sand and was very hard. It appeared to
be composed of small, rounded masses about 16 to 18 inches in diame-
ter and 6 to 10 inches thick, doubtless representing the loads deposited
by the builders. Lying on the original surface of the ground, under-
neath the core, were two skeletons (1 and 2) bundled, as was the case
with nearly all found in this group. The bundling was done by plac-
ing the long bones together as closely as possible around the ribs, the
vertebral bones being placed here and there so as to render the bundle
as compact as possible. Close to these were the charred remains of
another skeleton (3) pressed into a layer scarcely exceeding an inch in
thickness, but, as there were no signs of fire, ashes, or coals on the sur-
face beneath, burning must have taken place before burial. As all the
skeletons were under the core, and the small masses heretofore men-
tioned showed no signs of disturbance, they must have been buried at
one time.

Mound 24 measured but 22 feet in diameter and 3 in height. It dif-
fered from No. 1 only in containing four skeletons, none of them charred.

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Fia. 47.—Mound No. 1, Rice lake group.

Mound 26, but 25 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, contained four
skeletons of the original burial and three of intrusive burial, as did also
No. 35.

In No. 46 there had been seven original burials, at the base of the
core, as usual, one of a child,—no intrusive burials.

No. 8, oval in outline, 36 feet long, 26 feet wide, and 5 feet high,
differed from the others, as it lacked the core and layer of sandy loam,
With the exception of the top layer of vegetable mold it consisted of
yellowish clay mixed with sand, probably taken from the immediately
surrounding surface. Six skeletons were found in it; the first, 3 feet
south of the apex and at a depth of 2 feet. No. 2 a foot and a half
south of the first. These two appeared to have been buried at the
same time, or nearly so, and most likely were intrusive burials. No. 3
was at the bottom, on the original surface, under No. 1; No. 4 a foot
northeast of 3; No. 5 two feet east of the last; and No. 6 a foot north
of No. 5. The last four skeletons were probably the first interments
in the mound, and appear to have been buried about the same time
from the fact that they were bundled, and the bones clean and white,
although so soft as to fall in pieces when exposed to the atmosphere.

Mound No. 11, standing east of No. 8, is also oblong, 35 feet long,

96 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

and 23 feet wide. The construction the same as the preceeding. There
had been five original and five intrusive burials, the latter in the cen-
ter at the depth of 3 feet, the others at the bottom of the mound,
in the north end. All of the skeletons were bundled, those near the
surface being in. a better state of preservation than those in the bot-
tom. A large pine stump was standing over the latter, the roots of
which had broken them up to a considerable extent.

Mound 42, standing in the ravine, measured 27 feet in diameter and
4 feet high. The construction was found to be similar to that of No,
1; first, the thin layer of vegetable mold; then sandy loam and the
clay core; but here was a pit in the original soil, rectangular in
form, 3 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1 in depth, the sides and ends flar-
ing. In this mound there had been three intrusive and two original
burials. Two skeletons of the former were in the southwest part, at the
depth of 2 feet; the third in the center at the depth of 4 feet, a cut
having been made in the top of the core to receive it. The material of
the layer over it had a disturbed appearance; indicating that these
were intrusive burials.

Two other skeletons were found on the bottom of the pit, bundled as
usual. The bones of these two are larger than those of any of the
other skeletons of this group. Mounds numbered 41, 47, and 48 were
so Similar in every respect to 42 as to need no further notice.

Mound 49 stands on the lower margin of the gravelly ridge south of
the gully, 20 or 25 feet above the water level of the lake; its diameter
being 26 feet and height 5 feet. It was found to consist, except the top
layer, of an unstratified mass of dark brown loam with a considerable
mixture of sand and gravel, having the same appearance as the soil of
the ridge on which it stands; an occasional lump of clay, similar to the
load masses heretofore spoken of, was observed. Under this main layer
or body of the mound, near the center, was an oval pit, diameters 2 and
24 feet, and 1 foot in depth. This mound furnished evidence as usual
of both intrusive and original burials. The original burials were two
adults in the pit; these, as also the skeletons of the intrusive burials,
being bundled, an indication that the two peoples who buried here be-
longed to the same race. Mounds 28 and 36 were similar throughout
to No. 49.

GROUP ON SEC. 10, T.35 N., R.11 W.

These mounds, which are on the opposite side of the lake from the
preceding, are all of the round or conical type and are located on a
point of land some 25 feet above and overlooking the lake and the other
village just described. No. 8, one of the largest of the group, meas-
ured 45 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. Commencing at the top, the
first 3 feet was a layer of sandy loam; the remainder was a hard core
of clay mixed with sand, made up of small masses, like those heretofore
described. The latter rested on a layer, about an inch thick, of what

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THOMAS. ] THE RICE LAKE MOUNDS. OF

seemed to be the decayed vegetable material of the original surface of
the ground. A skeleton was discovered southeast of the center, only
3 inches below the surface, bundled. Fragments of askull were found
near the center at the depth of 2 feet. Here there were evidences that
a grave had been dug in the mound after it had been completed, and a
body buried in bark wrappings, but all save these fragments of the
skull had completely decayed. A third was at the same depth. Four
feet east of the center was another at the depth of 3 feet, but the skull
in this case was wanting from the bundle. In the apex of the central
core, in which a cut had been made for its reception, was a fifth at a
depth of 34 feet from the tap and 6 inches in the core. No skeletons
were found in the lower part of the mound, though at two points the
earth was similar in character to that which results from decayed bodies
and probably marked burial places. At the bottom of the mound,
south of the center, was the only relic obtained, a copper drill or spin-
die, similar to that shown in Fig. 34; this is 74 inches long, a little over
one-fourth of an inch square, and pointed at each end. When found it
was upright.

Mound 12, situated west of No. 8, in a thicket, measured 32 feet
in diameter and 34 in height. The upper layer consisted of loose sandy
loam, like the surrounding surface. Theremainder, of sand and clay, very
hard, rested on the original surface of the ground. Under this was a
pit, length 7 feet, width at one end 4 feet, at the other 545, depth 2 feet,
its walls perpendicular and bottom flat. Three bundled skeletons, the
only ones found in the mound, were in this pit. With one were a few
copper beads.

Mound 14, standing 120 feet from the lake shore, measured but 26 feet
in diameter and a little over 3 feet in height. The construction was
similar to that of No.8; first a layer of sandy loam, 1 foot thick, then
the core, 2 feet thick; but in this case there was, immediately below
the second layer, a stratum of charcoal 4 inches thick, covering an area
6 feet in diameter, and immediately below it a layer of burned earth 3
inches thick and covering the same area. Underneath this, on the
original surface, were the remains of three bundled skeletons partially
burned. The remains of two logs, which had been nearly consumed by
fire, could be traced in the layer of burnedearth. They must have been
about 6 feet long and 4 or 5 inches in diameter. They were parallel,
within a foot of each other, and had evidently been laid on the earth
covering the skeletons, but there were no indications of a wooden vault.
The evidence seemed conclusive that the fire had been kindled here
after the skeletons and logs were in place. The first skeleton was in
the center under the two burned logs, and the indications were that it
had been wrapped in birch bark, parts of which, although both wrap-
pings and bones were charred, were obtained. The other two skeletons
were north and west of this central one, and one of them showed but
little of the effects of the fire, while the other was nearly consumed.

12 ETH 7

98 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Southward, outside of this burned area, but under the core or layer,
were two other skeletons, waich seemed to have been buried at the same
time as the other three.

ROCK COUNTY.

In 1886 Rey. 8S. D. Peet explored an effigy mound, probably repre-
senting a turtle, in the group near the waterworks at Beloit. The
results of this examination he reports in substance as follows:

This mound was found by measurement to be 80 feet long, the length
of the body and tail being equal, each 40 feet; the width of the body
across the middle 15 feet, and across the ends 30 feet.

Other parties had taken off the top before his examination. A broad
trench running through the middle, lengthwise, was carried down to
the original surface of the ground. Here he found 8 skeletons, bun-
dled, lying on the original surface of the mound. The dirt over them
showed evidences of fire, but was not baked. The particulars, which
resemble closely those observed in another effigy of the same kind
belonging to the same group opened by Prof. S. Eaton, may be summar-
ized as follows: First, the mound consisted of black loam; second, the
earth was packed tightly about the bones; third, no gravel was found
above the skeletons, but the original gravel of the bluff was immedi-
ately below them, indicating that the top soil had been removed before
burial; fourth, the bodies were laid on the surface and the material of
the mound, scraped from the surrounding area, thrown over them; fifth,
the bodies or skeletons were evidently not interred in an extended posi-
tion, for the bones of each individual were folded or heaped together,
pieces of the skull in some instances resting upon them; they were
probably ‘“‘bundled” skeletons, buried after the flesh had been removed ;
sixth, there were no implements or ornaments of any kind with them;
seventh, some of the bones were tolerably well preserved, others much
decayed; and eighth, all of the skeletons were those of adults.

The bones of each skeleton were in a separate pile or bundle, those
of the lower extremities being dvuubled up along the trunk, but the
skull in most cases placed on top. It is, therefore, evident that the
burial had taken place after the flesh had been removed, probably by
exposure on platforms or scaffolds—a custom which seems to have been
followed by the mound-building clans of this section. Under one body
there was a small layer of stones. These stones were burned, smoked,
and cracked, as if they had been subjected to great heat. Two or three
pieces of dirt were taken out which were flat on one side, as though
the dirt had been wet and packed down upon bark and then left to dry
out, or, possibly, a fire had been kindled upon it, so as to take the color
out of it. It was difficult to tell where the fire had been placed. Pieces
of coal were scattered through the dirt and some of the bones showed
signs of fire, though it was apparent that the bodies could not have
been cremated.

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——

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THOMAS. } WORKS IN ALLAMAKEE COUNTY, IOWA. 99
IOWA.

The explorations made in this state on behalf of the Bureau were
confined to the counties bordering on or adjacent to the Mississippi
river, and chiefly in the extreme northeastern section.

Some of the works of this section evidently belong to the same type
as those of Wisconsin, effigy or figure mounds being found in one or
two of the extreme northeastern counties of the state, showing that
the tribes which reared the singular structures in Wisconsin were not
limited geographically by the Mississippi, although they extended
beyond it but a short distance and over a comparatively small area.

As we proceed southward a change in the mode of construction and
in other respects becomes apparent, indicating the presence of different
tribes; yet there is sufficient resemblance in the two classes of works
to indicate ethnic relationship, or at least that they belong to the same
culture state.

ALLAMAKEE COUNTY.

This northeastern county of the state is bordered on the east by tne
Mississippi river, and much of it watered by the Little Iowa and its
branches, all of which have worn deep channels through the Potsdam
sandstone, which, whether remaining as castellated cliffs 300 or 400
feet high or rounded off to bold bluffs or terraced slopes, results in giv-
ing the charming contour and sheltered valleys of a mountain region.

POTTERY CIRCLE AND OTHER WORKS.

About 7 miles above New Albin, on the Little lowa river, is an exten-
sive group of earthworks, consisting of inclosures, lines of small mounds,
excavations, etc., situated on the farm of Mr. H. P. Lane, and repre-
sented in Pl. vy. The largest work is an inclosure, marked A, and
shown on a larger scale in Fig. 48, to which the name “ pottery
circle” has been applied. It is situated on the margin of a bluff
overlooking the Little Lowa river and an intervening bog beyond, prob-
ably the former channel of the river. It is almost exactly circular in
form with clear indications of straight stretches (not shown in the
figure), as though somewhat polygonal, the curve being broken on the
eastern side, where it touches the brink of the bluff, is there made to
conform to the line of the latter. The ends at the southeast overlap
each other for a short distance, leaving at this point an entrance way,
the only one to the inclosure. A ditch runs around the inside from
the entrance on the south to where the wall strikes the bluff on the
north, but is wanting along the bluff side and overlapping portion.
The north and south diameter, measuring from center to center of the
wall, is 251 feet; from east to west, 235 feet; the entire outer circum-
ference, 807 feet; the length of the straight portion along the bluff,

100 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

100 feet, and of the overlapping portion at the entrance, 45 feet. The
wall is quite uniform in size, about 4 feet high and from 25 to 27 in
width, and the ditch about 8 or 10 feet wide and from i to 3 feet deep.
The entrance is 16 feet wide, but there seems to have been no ditch
along this portion. On the north, adjoining the wall on the outside

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and extending along it for about 100 feet, is an excavation, Fig. 48
(see plan and section), 35 feet wide at the widest point and 35 deep.
As this ground, including the circle, has been under cultivation for
fifteen years, it would be supposed that the height of the wall is con-
siderably less than originally, but this is doubtful. On the contrary, it
is probable it was originally about 20 feet wide and not more than 3

a |

THOMAS. ] EARTHWORKS AT NEW ALBIN. 101

feet high, composed mainly of yellowish-brown clay, obtained, in part
at least, from the ditch, but that, during occupaney, the accumulation
of numerous bones of animals used for food, stone chips, river shells,
broken pottery, and dirt, and since abandonment the accumulation of
sand, drifted by the winds from the crumbling sandstone butte over-
looking it, have not only filled the ditch, but elevated the whole inte-
rior area and the wall 2 feet or more. This accumulation of sand is so
great and so uniform over the adjacent plateau that fifteen years of cul-
tivation has not reached the clay of the original natural surface, nor
has it unearthed or penetrated to the bones, pottery fragments, and
other refuse matter covering the original surface in the circle.

Three trenches 4 feet wide were dug through this wall from side to
side and down to the original soil. The first was run through the
northern portion opposite the large excavation. Here was found, first
a layer of sand about 1 foot thick; next, an accumulation of refuse
material mixed with earth, forming a layer from 1 to 2 feet thick; and
below this the original clay embankment 2 feet thick, resting on the
original surface. A section of the ditch, embankment, and excavation
at this point is shown in Fig. 48. The dotted line a b indicates the
natural surface; No. 1, the original clay layer ot the embankment or
wall; No. 2, the layer of earth and refuse material with which the ditch
is filled; and No. 3, the top layer of sand.

In No. 2 were found charcoal, ashes, fragments of pottery, fractured
bones, ete.

Trench No. 2, opened through the west side, gave a similar result.
No. 3, in the southern part,across the lap of the walls and entrance
way, varied in showing less clay and no distinct ditch.

A broad belt of the inner area on the east side next the bluff wall
was excavated and carefully examined. It was found to consist of the
same kind of accumulations as No, 2 in the first trench, except that
here the shells were more numerous and there were many burnt stones.

SQUARE KARTHWORK.

D, Pl. v, is situated at the southwest corner of the plateau, on the
margin of the bluff, facing west. ” It consistsof a wall from 12 to 15 feet
broad and 2 to 4 feet high, along three sides of a nearly regular par-
allelogram. The length of the wall on the south is 175 feet, that on
the east 150, with traces of a ditch on the outside; that on the north,
200 feet.

About 30 feet east of the northeast corner, which is the highest point
adjacent to the work, and above the inclosed area, is an excavation now
about 3 feet in depth.

Within this square inclosure are three small mounds, which were
opened with the following results:

No. 1,30 feet long by 20 wide and 4 high, was found to consist of atop
layer of loose sand 1 foot thick, the remainder of hard yellowish clay.

102 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

In the latter were several flat sandstone fragments, and beneath them,
on the original surface of the ground, a much decayed human skeleton,
with a few stone chips, Unio shells, and fragments of pottery.

No. 2, 18 feet in diameter and 3 feet high, was mainly a loose cairn
of sandstones, covering traces of human bones, charcoal, and ashes.

No. 3, 15 feet in diameter and 3 feet high, a stone pile or cairn coy-
ered with earth and heaped over a mass of charred bones, charcoal,
ashes, and some fragments of pottery.

This inclosure is about half a mile from the pottery circle, and, like
it, well situated for defense, but not so well constructed and apparently

more ancient.
THE OBLONG WORK.

This is an oblong inclosure, situated south of the group just men-
tioned, and just across an impassable slough, and is the one marked E
in Pl. v. Itis on asloping terrace at the foot of a bluff, which rises
abruptly behind it to the height of 200 feet. The end walls run from
this bluff to the margin of the slough, where there is also another
descent. Along this margin runs a connecting wall some 300 feet in
length. The wall at the west end is 160 feet long; that at the east end
175. The height varies from 1 to 3 feet and the width from 10 to 15
feet. On the outside of each end wall is a washout, possibly marking
the ditches from which the dirt to form the walls was taken.

MOUNDS.

Extending southward from the pottery circle to the bluff bank that
margins the slough, a distance of about half a mile, and expanding at
the southern end to an equal extent, is a dry, undulating plateau, On
the eastern half of this area are six parallel lines of mounds running
northeast and southwest (marked B in Pl. v ), mostly circular in form,
varying in diameter from 15 to 40 feet and in height from 2 to 6 feet.
A few, as indicated in the figure, are oblong, varying in length from 50
to 100 feet. The number in the group exceeds 100.

An examination revealed the fact that, in addition to the mounds,
much of the area between them was used as a burying place, and that
scattered here and there between the graves were charcoal and ashes,
stone chips, shells, ete. Both in the mounds and these graves there
was a compact layer of hard, light-colored earth, having much the
appearance of lime mortar, probably clay and ashes mixed together,
which had undergone the action of fire. As the burials in these inter-
mediate spots were seldom over 18 inches deep, the only soil above the
hard layer which covered them was the sterile sand from the sandy
butte marked C on the plate, while the mounds were uniformly covered
with a layer of richest soil, although below this and covering the skel-
etons was the layer of hard, light colored earth.

A trench cut through the oblong mound of this group (No. 1)
revealed near the center an oblong pile of loose sandstones, beneath

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THOMAS. ] EARTHWORKS AT NEW ALBIN. 103

which was found a crypt or rude stone coffin about 6 feet long and 18
inches wide, formed by first placing flat sandstones on the natural clay
surface of the ground, then other slabs edgewise at the sides and ends,
and a covering of similar stones. Within this, extended at full length,
with the head nearly west, was the skeleton of an adult, but too much
decayed for preservation. With it were some stone chips, rude stone
serapers or Skinners, a Unio shell, and some fragments of pottery sim-
ilar to those found in the pottery circle.

THE SAND BUTTE.

This prominent feature of the area (marked Cin Pl. v), which, by
the eroding influence of wind and rain, has covered the plateau to the
depth of a foot or more with sand since the works were constructed, is
about 100 feet high at its northern end and 150 at the southern extrem-

‘ity. On the narrow crest are three small cireular mounds, in which
were found human bones, fragments of pottery, etc. The same com-
pact earth as found elsewhere was also encountered in these, showing
them to be the work of the same people.

WALLED VAULT,

In the side of the eastern bluff, about half way down from the top,
is a somewhat singular work (marked F). This is a room or vault
about 11 feet square, excavated in the face of the bluff and roughly
walled up with flat sandstones. Although many of these stones are
too large to be handled by an ordinary man, they were evidently
brought by some means from the sand butte, and several are still on
the top of the bluff above the vault. The back and most of the end
walls are sustained by the bank, standing from 4 to 6 feet high, but the
front, although built of the larger pieces, especially about the door-
way, is only about half as high. A careful examination of the interior
revealed nothing but charcoal, ashes, and decaying firebrands, which
might possibly have resulted from the burning of a timber roof.
The regularity with which the walls were built, and the square corners,
aside from all other indications, suggest that this is of comparatively
recent date, and the work of a different people from those who con-
structed the circle and mounds of the plateau. It was probably made
by some white or half-breed trapper within the past two centuries.

Among the results of the exploration of this interesting group may
be noted the following: That, although human skeletons and bones
were found in great numbers in the mounds and under the surface
of the plateau, none were found within the pottery circle or nearer than
200 yards of it. Those found were sometimes mingled promiscuously
with charcoal and ashes, but were usually whole skeletons, frequently,
but not always, lying horizontally near the natural surface of the
ground, without any apparent system, except that they were uniformly
covered with from 1 to 5 feet of very hard earth, seemingly mixed with

104 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

ashes or something of a similar nature and color, giving this covering
the appearance of dried lime or mortar.

Fragments of pottery were found in abundance in the circle, in the
mounds, in the washouts, and in fact at almost every point in the area
covered by the group. Judging by the fragments, for not a single
entire vessel was obtained, the prevailing forms were the ordinary
earthen pot with ears, and a flask or gourd-shaped vase with a rather
broad and shortneck. The latter were the larger ones and were usually
too thin for use in cooking, or even for holding liquids. The paste of
which this pottery was made had evidently been mixed with pounded
shells. The only ornamentation observed consisted in the varied forms
given the handles or ears, and indentations or scratched lines.

Nearly all the implements found were of stone, exceedingly rude,
being little Ise than stone flakes with one sharp edge, many of which
appear to have been resharpened and used as knives, scrapers, and
skinners. Some had been worked into moderately fair perforators or
drills for making holes in horn, bone, or shell, specimens of all these
with holes having been found.

The immense quantity of charred and fractured bones, not only of
fishes, birds, and the smaller quadrupeds, such as the rabbit and fox, but
also of the bear, wolf, elk, and deer, shows that the occupants of this
place lived chiefly by the chase, and hence must have used the bow and
arrow and spear; yet, strange to say, less than a dozen arrow or spear
heads were found, and these so rude as scarcely to deserve the name.
A single true chipped celt, three sandstones with mortar-shaped cavi-
ties, and a few mullers or flat stones used for grinding or some sim-
ilar purpose, were obtained. The specimens of other materials obtained
consist of fragments of horn, evidently cut around by some rude instru-
ment and then broken off at about a finger’s length and possibly
intended to be shaped into more perfect implements, or probably
handles for knives. Several horn and bone punches and awls were
also found, and among them one that is barbed, and another with a per-
foration through the larger end. .

ANCIENT INCLOSURE ON HAYS’S FARM.

On the farm of Mr. A. D. Hays, 2 miles southwest of New Albin, is
the circular inclosure shown in Fig. 49. This is situated on the lower
bluff just above the point where the Little Iowa river enters the Mis-
sissippi. The bluff here is about 100 feet higher than the bottoms
which border these streams, and continues along the Mississippi for
some distance at about the same height, with small circular mounds
scattered over its surface; but the plateau slopes gradually to the mar-
gin of a deep ravine which enters the Little lowa upon the western
side. This area, including the circle, has been under cultivation for
twenty-one years; but, notwithstanding the wear, the lines of the works
were distinctly traceable throughout.

THOMAS. ] INCLOSURE ON HAYS’S FARM. 105

The circle consists of three parallel ditches and two mtermediate
earthen walls. The inside ditch (before the works were disturbed) was
probably 5 or 6 feet deep and 12 feet wide; the inner wall the same
width; the middle ditch 4 feet deep and a little over 12 feet wide; and
finally, the outer ditch 4 feet deep and about the same width as the
wall. As will be seen from the figure, the inclosure is circular, with a

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break on the side where it strikes the southern margin of the bluff
overlooking the slough that runs into the Little Iowa river. The cir-
cumference of the circle, exclusive of the break, is 996 feet, and the
extent of the break along the bluff 225 feet. At the southeast an
embankment some 10 or 12 feet wide and from 3 to 5 feet high runs
down the crest of a narrow spur about 150 feet, gradually tavering to a

106 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

point. The slope on which this work is situated, like that at the pot-
tery circle, is considerable, but very smooth and even. The location is
a good one for defense and was in all probability selected by the ancient
people who erected the works on this account.

The most singular parts of the works at this place are three stone
structures, to which the name “ furnaces” has been applied by the peo-
ple of this locality. One of these was fornd in a small mound within
the inclosure (marked A in Fig. 49) and two not in mounds, outside
and about 80 or 90 paces from the northwestern part of the circie.
Light traces of those outside of the wall remain, while of that in the
inclosed mound only about 1 foot of the wall was visible. But Mr.
Hays, who has owned and occupied the land for twenty-one years and
since it was first opened for cultivation, gave the following information
in regard to them: The one in mound A, and the other, not shown in
the figure, were each 18 feet long, each formed of two parallel walls
about 3 feet high and 3 feet apart, composed of flat sandstones (yet to
be seen close by), roughly laid up, and gradually drawn in near the top
until one layer would cover the opening left in the top near that end.
The inner stones stood fire well, as shown by the indications on them.

Mound A in the circle is 24 feet in diameter, and now only about 1
foot high. Fragments of pottery, stone chips, Unio shells, and pieces
of bone are still abundant in and about the work, and especially among
the stones in the mound.

FISH’S MOUNDS.

These are situated on the lands owned by Mr. Fish, near the Missis-
sippi river, a short distance below the point where the Little Lowa joins
it. Those of one group are placed along the crest of a ridge running
parallel with the river, and about one-fourth of a mile therefrom. They
number about 30; circular in form, and varying from 20 to 40 feet in
diameter. One singular feature was observed; those on the higher
and sandy ground having a core of clay about the same size and form
as those on the firm clay portion of the ridge, though to the latter a
layer of several feet of sand was added, making them appear much
larger and more recent than the others; yet upon opening the two
classes, the contents, consisting of decaying human bones, fragments
of pottery, and rude stone implements, showed no perceptible difter-
ences.

In one of the mounds opened two skeletons were found, lying hori-
zountally side by side, facing each other. They were at the base of the
hard clay core, which seemed to have formed a perfect roof, while the
sand, upon a sharp ridge, formed the flooring, thus protecting them
from moisture and preserving them longer from decay than where less
favorably situated; the skulls were obtained almost uninjured.

Many mounds similar to these were found along the foothills of these
rocky bluffs.

THOMAS. ] FISH’S CAVE. 107

Upon the terrace below these mounds, where the railroad track has
been graded lengthwise, was a line of comparatively large mounds, the
remaining portions of which show that, although from 6 to 15 feet
high, and composed mainly of sand similar to that around them, they
had a hard central core of clay mixed with ashes, from 2 to 4 feet high,
under which was generally found at least one skeleton. Several stone
hatchets, arrow and spear heads, and a few copper chisels, were found
by the first explorers. One of the mounds, 32 feet in diameter and 8
feet high, contained a walled circular vault, represented in Fig. 50;
this, like the stonework in the furnaces, did not have the true arch,
but, as the main portion of it, which still remains standing shows, it
was built of flat stones, and gradually lessened in diameter as it rose,

a-

Fig. 50.—Walled mound, Fish group, Allamakee county, Iowa.

being covered at the top by a single stone. It contained a single adult
skeleton in a squatting posture, with which was a small earthen vase
of the usual globular form.

FISH’S CAVE.

This is simply a fissure in the vertical face of the sandstone bluff
facing the Mississippi, about 6 miles south of New Albin, which by the
action of the river or other means has been enlarged to a cave or rock
house 40 or 50 feet long and 12 feet high. The elevation is so little
above the Mississippi that it must be at least partially flooded during
high water. The walls and ceiling are literally covered with rude etch-
ings, representing quadrupeds, birds, turtles, bird tracks, totems, and
symbolic or fanciful objects. These figures range in length from 2 or
3 inches to 2 or 3 feet, and proportionally in width, and are cut into
the soft rock from one-fourth to a full inch in depth, the width of the
lines exceeding their depth. The width of these lines appears to have
been increased by a crumbling process which must have gone on for a
time after they were cut, but was checked by the formation of a dark-
colored and hard crust over the surface, which now protects them.!
The floor was covered to the depth of 2 feet with a mass of refuse mate-
rial consisting of fish and other animal bones, fragments of pottery and
stcne, charcoal, and ashes mingled with dirt.

'A tracing of the figures was made and handed to Col. Garrick Mallery, for use in
his study of Sign Language.

108 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

CLAYTON COUNTY.

The ancient remains of this county are chiefly effigy mounds or em-
blematic works similar in character to those found in Wisconsin, and
evidently attributable to the authors of those singular structures. So far
as could be ascertained, these works are only found on the west side of the
Mississippi, between Yellow river on the north and the Maquoketa on the
south and westward, a distance of some ten or twelve miles. As will
be seen by reference to a map of this region, this small belt is directly
opposite that portion of Wisconsin which seems to have been the chief
home of the effigy mound-builders, where, as well as in this small por-
tion of Iowa, they have left enduring evidences of a dense population
or long occupancy, as the bluffs, the terraces, and even higher bottoms
of the river subject to occasional overflow are alike dotted over with
effigies and the usual accompanying small cireular mounds and lines of

earthworks.
ELKPORT EFFIGY.

This is situated on a bluff overlooking Turkey river near Elkport,
about 10 miles west of the Mississippi, and is 120 feet long, nearly one-
half its length consisting of an extremely elongated tail, which is in
strong contrast with the short legs. It is probably intended to represent
the otter. The greatest height of the body is 5 feet, the main portions
of the extremities from 2 to 3 feet, but the tail tapers to a point.

There are many other interesting works along Turkey river and
upon high bluffs above McGregor, notably effigies of antlered elks,
uniformly in lines or groups heading southward. Unfortunately the
sketches made of these were so defaced by subsequent exposure to a
heavy rain as to render them valueless for reproduction.

Near the town of Clayton is another group of these works, which con-
sists of an extended line of effigy and circular mounds.

DUBUQUE COUNTY.

Near the town of Peru, immediately south of the mouth of Maquoketa
creek, situated on a dry, sandy bench or terrace some 20 feet or more
above a bayou which makes out from the Mississippi, is a group,
mostly of small circular tumuli. As the relative positions may possi-
bly furnish some aid to the archeologist in studying their several uses,
a sketch of the group is given in Fig. 51. Fifty years ago, according
to the old settlers, this ground was covered with a heavy growth of
timber, which was removed for the purpose of cultivation; but the
larger portion having afterwards been abandoned, most of the mounds
are again covered with a young forest growth. A number were opened,
but only detached portions of a skeleton were found, as a skull in one,
a leg, arm, or other part in another, four or five adjacent ones appar-
ently aggregating one entire skeleton. Some of these bones are
charred and all are much decayed, indicating great age. Otherwise

a

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS OF DUBUQUE COUNTY, IOWA. 109

nothing peculiar was observed in this greup, except the arrangement
of the mounds, which is shown in the sketch. Nos. 34, 35, 36, and 37

Fic. 51.—Group near Peru, Dubuque county, Iowa.

are four oblong mounds, vary-
ing in length from 40 to 110
feet, and from 14 to 4 feet in
height. The inner portions
were found to be of hard, com-
pact earth, as is usual in this
region.

EAGLE POINT GROUP.

This group is about 3 miles
above Dubuque on the bluffs
and terrace fronting the Mis-
sissippi. The larger number
of the mounds—about 70—
all of which, except two ob-
long ones, are small and con-
ical, are on a level terrace
about 50 feet above high-
water mark. On a bluff im-
mediately west of these is a
single embankment or mound
about 300 feet long, 20 feet
broad, and 3 feet high; and
on Eagle point proper, imme-
diately north, which is the
point of a bluff some 200 feet
high overlooking the river,
are several low circular and
two long mounds and a stone
cairn.

Eleven of the small circular
mounds on the terrace were
opened thoroughly, but noth-
ing found in them except
some charcoal, stone chips,
and fragments of pottery.

In an excavation made in the center of the long mound on the west-
ern bluff two decayed skeletons were found. Near the breast of one of
them were a blue stone gorget (shown in Fig. 52) and five rude stone
scrapers; with the other, thirty-one fresh-water pearls, perforated and

used as beads.

An excavation was made in one of the long mounds on the point, and
also in one of the circular ones. Both were found to be composed of a

110 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

very hard cement or prepared earth, which could be broken up only
with the pick, when it crumbled like dry lime mortar, and was found
to be traversed throughout with flattened horizontal cavities. These
cavities were lined with a peculiar black felt-like substance, specimens
of which were earefully preserved. There is scarcely a doubt that
these cavities mark the spaces occupied by a body or bodies buried
here, and it is possible that this felt-like substance is the remnant of
the fleshy portion of the bodies.. An examination for the purpose of
deciding this point will be made and reported hereafter.

WAPELLO COUNTY.

The diagram of the area between Eldon and Iowaville along the Des
Moines river, shown in Fig. 53, is constructed from a careful examina-
tion of the ground
and the statements
of Mr. J. H. Jordan,
who has resided
here since the close
of the Black Hawk
war, and was the In-
dian agent to the
Sacsand Foxes from
the time of their re-
moval thither after
the war until Black
Hawk’s death, Sept.
15, 1838. Between
the two points
named stretches the
noted Iowa bottom,
which is at least 2
miles wide at the
middle, about which
pointformerly stood
theold agency; near
thesame pointisthe
present residence of
Mr.- Jordan. The

Fic. 52.—Stone gorget, Dubuque county, Iowa. position of Black

Hawk’s grave, the

race tracks, the mounds of the Iowas, the mounds of the Pottowata-

mies, and the place where the scaffolds for their dead stood are also
indicated on the plat.

This valley had long been a famous haunt for the Indians, but at the
time of Mr. Jordan’s first acquaintance with it was in possession of the
Iowas, whose main village was around the point where his house stands.

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS NEAR IOWAVILLE. 1314

The race course consisted of three parallel hard-beaten tracks nearly a
mile in length, where the greater portion of the lowa warriors were
engaged in sport when surprised by Black Hawk and a large portion
of them slaughtered, in 1830. After Black Hawk and his warriors had
departed with their plunder the remaining Iowas returned and buried

%
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A
Ap,

B,

»

WASIAWIS\®
Ng WSMA\SW"

Ni

Fic. 53.—Diagram of Indian battle ground, Wapello county, Iowa.

their dead in little mounds of sod and earth from 2 to 4 feet high at
the point indicated in the diagram,

After the Black Hawk war the remnant of the lowas, by a treaty,
formally ceded their rights in this valley to the Sacs and Foxes. Here
this noted chief was buried, in accordance with his dying request, in
a full military suit given him by President Jackson, together with the
various memorials received by him from the whites, and the trophies

1a MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

won from the Indians. He was placed on his back on a puncheon
slanting at a low angle to the ground, where his feet were sustained
by another, and covered with several inches of sod. Then a roof-shaped
covering of slabs or puncheons, one end elevated and the other lowered,
was placed above. Over all was thrown a covering of earth and sod
to the depth of a foot or more, and the whole surrounded by a line of
pickets some 8 or 10 feet high. The subsequent stealing of his bones
and their return to his triends have been recorded by the historian and
poet, and need not be repeated here.

VAN BUREN COUNTY.
MOUNDS NEAR DOUD.

These mounds are some 18 in number, circular in form, of rather
small size, and placed in a nearly straight line upon the very crest of
a remarkably straight and sharp ridge, 30 or 40 feet higher than the
plateau upon which the town is built.

One denoted No. 1, about 25 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, had
been previously opened by Mr. Doud, and yielded two gray disks each
4 inches in diameter, a grooved stone axe and stone chips.

No. 7, about 20 feet in diameter and 3} feet high, was explored and
found, as usual, to contain a core of hard earth, but nothing else.

No. 12, diameter 25 feet and height 4 feet, was found to contain, be-
neath the hard core and lying on the original surface of the ground,
decayed human bones and three fragments of dark colored pottery.

No. 14, opened, nothing found.

No. 15, same size as No.12. In this, beneath a very hard core and
lying horizontally on the original surface with head north, were the
remains (scarcely more than traces) of a human skeleton.

LEE COUNTY.

Upon the bluffs near the junction of the Des Moines river with the
Mississippi were many circular mounds, most of which have been opened
and numerous articles mostly of intrusive burials obtained therefrom.
Several were opened by the Bureau agent, but nothing found in them
save decayed human bones, fragments of pottery and stone chips.

ILLINOIS.
JOE DAVIESS COUNTY.

Overlooking the city of East Dubuque (Dunleith) is a line of bluffs
whose grassy slopes and summits are dotted over with ancient mounds
of unusual symmetry, some of them above the usual size for this section
of the country. The relative positions of these mounds to one another,
to the bluffs, and tothe river are shown in the diagram (Fig. 54).

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS AT DUNLEITH. 113

The following list gives the respective sizes and a brief statement of
the results of the explorations made in them, They are all of the usual
conical form:

No. | Diameter. | Height. Remarks.
Feet. | Feet.
1 12 | 3 | Stone cairn. Coals, ashes, etc.
2 42 5 | Human bones.
3 43 | 4| Nothing found.
4 46 | 8 | Contained a stone crypt.
5 7 12 | Large skeleton, copper ornaments, ete.
6 40 8 | Opened, but result unknown.
7| 40 4| Do.
8 32 | 5 | Human bones.
9 34 4 Opened, but result unknown.
10 20 | 3 | Nothing found.
11 25 % | Result unknown.
12 60 9 | Vault and human bones.
13 45 4 | Reopened, result given hcreafter.
14 25 3 | Skeletons.
15 45 | 6 | Bones.
16 65 10 | Vault found.
17 50 8 | Opened, result unknown.
| |

Nos. 18 to 26, inclusive, form a line of nearly connected mounds, from
30 to 50 feet in diameter and 4 to 7 feet high.

A section of the bluff through the line of mounds No. 15 to No. 17 is
shown in the lower part of Fig. 54, in which is seen the general slope
of the upper area.

No. 5, the largest of the group was carefully examined. Two feet
below the surface, near the apex, was a skeleton, doubtless an intrusive
Indian burial. Near the original surface of the ground, several feet
north of the center, were the much decayed skeletons of some 6 or 8
persons, of every size, from the infant to the adult. They were placed
horizontally at full length, with the heads toward the south. <A few
perforated Unio shells and some rude stone skinners and scrapers were
found with them. Near the original surface, 10 or 12 feet from the
center, on the lower side, lying at full length upon its back, was one of
the largest skeletons discovered by the Bureau agents, the length as
proved by actual measurement being between 7 and 8 feet. It was all
clearly traceable, but crumbled to pieces immediately after removal
from the hard earth in which it was encased. With this were three
thin, crescent-shaped pieces of roughly hammered, native copper,
respectively 6, 8, and 10 inches in length, with small holes along the
convex margin; a number of elongate copper beads ‘made by rolling
together thin sheets; .and a chert lance-head over 11 inches long.
Around the neck was a series of bear teeth, which doubtless formed a
necklace; there were also several upon the wrists. Lying across the
thighs were dozens of small copper beads, which perhaps once adorned

12 ETH——8

114 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the fringe of a hunting shirt. These were formed by rolling slender
wire-like strips into small rings.

A partial exploration of No. 4 was made in 1857, revealing masses of
burned earth and charred human bones mingled with charcoal and
ashes. A further examination revealed, on the lower side, the end of a.

ps
iS

ws
y

Vertical Section or dotted line a-a

Fx. 54.—Mound group, Dunleith, Illinois,

double line of flat stones set on edge, about a foot apart at the bottom
and adjusted so as to meet at the top in aroof-shaped arch or drain (for
which it was probably intended). This extended inward nearly on a.
level, almost to the center, at which point it was about 3 feet beneath
the original surface of the ground. Here a skeleton was discovered in
avault or grave which had been dug in the ground before the mound

THOMAS. ] MOUND NO. 4 AT DUNLEITH. 115

was castup. Over that portion below the waist and the dislocated
right arm, which was drawn below the waist, were placed flat stones
so arranged by leaning as to support each other and prevent pressure
on the body; no traces of fire were on them, yet when the upper por-
tions were reached, although extended in a natural position, they were
but charred remains, scarcely traceable amid the charcoal and ashes
of a fire that had nearly consumed them.

It was apparent that a grave had first been dug, the right arm of the
skeleton dislocated and placed beside it below the waist, and this part
covered; then the remainder burned to a cinder and over all a mound
raised, which covered, in addition thereto, a pile of charred human
bones, charcoal and ashes. The mound, vault, and drain are repre-
sented in Fig. 55. (1, outline of the mound; 2, the vault, and 3, the
drain.)

A partial examination was made of mound No. 13 in 1857, showing it
to be similar to the preceding, so far as then explored. Further explo-
ration brought to light a cirele of stone slabs 10 feet in diameter, set on

mY a ea Reg
ta Min am han <= 4 ee
| i Hs :

ane ai ees

ttaihda i

RE
fa a i ie

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Fic 55.—Vault in Mound No, 4, Dunleith, Illinois.

edge at the natural surface of the ground. Within this circle, at the
depth of 3 feet, were five skeletons, two of adults, two of children, and
one of an infant. They were all lying horizontally side by side, heads
south, the adults at the outside and the children between them.

No. 15, except a roof or arched stratum 2 feet thick of prepared earth
or mortar, so firm as to retain its form for several feet unsupported,
was found to be an ossuary or heap of human bones in a promiscuous
mass, many of them decayed. Only an ankle bone which had reunited
after being broken was saved.

The most interesting feature of the group was found in No. 16, a
symmetrical mound 65 feet in diameter and 10 feet high.

The first 6 feet from the top consisted of hard gray earth, seemingly
a mortar-like composition, which required the use of the pick. This
covered a vault built in part of stone and in part of round logs. When
fully uncovered this was found te be a rectangular crypt, inside meas-
urement showing it to be 13 feet long and 7 feet wide. The four
straight, surrounding walls were built of small unhewn stones to the

116 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

height of 3 feet and a foot or more in thickness. Three feet from each
end was a cross wall or partition of like character, thus leaving a cen-
tral chamber 7 feet square, and a narrow cell at each end about 2 feet
wide and 7 feet long. This had been entirely covered with a single
layer of round logs, varying in diameter from 6 to 12 inches, laid close
together side by side across the width of the vault, the ends resting
upon and extending to uneven lengths beyond the side walls.

i

ie
i a mi Ih
a

Fic. 56.—Section of Mound No. 16, Dunleith. Illinois.

In the central chamber were 11 skeletons, 6 adults, 4 children of dif-
ferent sizes, and 1 infant, the last evidently buried in the arms of one
of the adults, presumably its mother. They had all apparently been
interred at one time as they were found arranged in a cirele in a sitting
posture, with backs against the walls. In the center of the space
around which they were grouped was a fine large shell, Busycon per-
versum, which had been converted into a drinking cup by removing
the columella. Scattered around this
were quite a number of pieces of bro-
ken pottery.

The end cells, walled off as hereto-
fore stated, were nearly filled with a
fine chocolate-colored dust, which,
when first uncovered, gave out such
a sickening odor that it was found
necessary to suspend operations until
the next day in order to give it time
Fic. 57.—Vault in Mound No. 16, Dunleith, to escape. This dust may be the

Tiindis. ashes resulting from burning the
fleshy portions of the individuals buried in the central chamber. A
bottle of it was saved for future examination.

A vertical section of the mound and vault, lengthwise of the latter, is
shown in Fig. 56. In this can be seen the end and partition wails of
the vault, the cells, the skeletons, the ends of the logs forming the cover
and the hard central mass of the mound. Fig. 57 shows the plan of
the vault, the positions of the skeletons, and the projecting ends of the
logs on one side. The covering consisted of oak logs, nearly all of which
had been peeled and some of the larger ones somewhat squared by slab-
bing oft the sides before being put in place. The slabs and bark thus
removed, together with reeds and twigs, had been laid over the logs

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS OF PIKE COUNTY. 7

to fill the crevices. It was not possible to decide from the indications
what kind of implement had been used in peeling and slabbing the logs.
The larger logs extended a foot or more, irregularly, beyond the side
walls. Over the whole vault had been spread layer after layer of mor-
tar-like material evidently containing lime or ashes, a foot or more of
ordinary soil, forming the outer or top layer, completing the mound.

No. 12 was opened some years ago by Dr. Campbell, who found in it
a vault similar in character to the one described.

PIKE COUNTY.

On the spur of the ridge upon which the Welch mounds of Brown
county, hereafter noticed, are situated, and about midway between
them and Chambersburg, in Pike county, isa group of circular mounds,
possibly the work of another people than those who built the effigies.

They are mainly on the farm of Mr. W. A. Hume, who assisted in
opening eight of them, of which but two are specially noticed here.

The first was 5 feet high and but 25 in diameter, of true conical form.
It was composed of the usual hard “burial earth” throughout, with
nothing of interest at the bottom; but near the top, scarcely covered
with earth, was found the skeleton of an adult, doubtless an Indian
intrusive burial.

The other, situated on the point of a commanding bluff, was also
conical in form, 50 feet in diameter and 8 feet high. The outer layer
consisted of sandy soil, 2 feet thick, filled with slightly decayed
skeletons, probably Indians of intrusive burials. The earth of the
main portion of this mound was a very fine yellowish sand which shoy-
eled like ashes and was everywhere, to the depth of from 2 to 4 feet, as
full of human skeletons as could well be stowed away in it, even to two
and three tiers. Among these were a number of bones not together as
skeletons, but mingled in confusion and probably from scaffolds or
other localities. Excepting one, which was rather more than 7 feet
long, these skeletons appeared to be of medium size and many of them
much decayed. Some feet beneath all these was a single skeleton of
ordinary size, much decayed, and with it a bone and skull of some quad-
ruped.

The other mounds of the group are circular, varying in diameter
from 30 to 50 feet and in height from 4 to 8 feet. In the six opened the
only things found were the bones of intrusive burials near the top and
sides, with a few arrow points and rude, chipped stone implements,
probably scrapers.

From a line of ancient fire beds and kitchen heaps along a rivulet
that runs into McGee creek, near these mounds, some pieces of bones,
a number of rude stone implements and fragments of pottery were
obtained.

118

MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

BROWN COUNTY.

THE WELCH GROUP.

This group, of which a plan is given in Fig. 58, is on the farm of Mr.
Edward Welch, 3 miles west of Perry Springs station, Wabash and

MN.

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Fig. 58.—Welch group, Brown county, Illinois.

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St. Louis Railroad, on a
narrow ridge some 200
feet above the bottom
lands. It consists of six
mounds (Nos. 1 to 6 in the
plan) and a number of
small saucer-shaped ba-
sins surrounded by low,
earthen ridges, doubtless
the sites of ancient dwell-
ings or wigwams. The
latter are indicated on the
plan by small circles.

Mound No. 2, about 100
feet in diameter and 8 feet
high, had a very marked
depression in the top. A
pit 6 feet square carried
down to the natural sur-
face brought to light three
fire beds at different
depths. Numerous frag-
ments of pottery, stone
chips, pieces of sand-
stone, which had been
used as tool-sharpeners,
and a flat sandstone
nearly 2 feet square, on
one side of which were sev-
eral long, deep grooves,
probably made in sharp-
ening tools, were also
found.

No. 6 was also opened,
but only disclosed the
fact that it consisted of
an outer layer of soil 1

foot thick and the remainder, soil, clay, stone chips, and fragments of

pottery commingled.

As the land was in wheat at the time of examination, permission to
make further excavations in the mounds was refused.

THOMAS.] ANCIENT WORKS NEAR LA GRANGE. 119

The dwelling sites vary considerably in size, some being as much as
70 feet in diameter, and some of them 3 feet deep in the center after fifty
years of cultivation.

Mound No. 4 is oblong in form, the longer diameter 165 feet and the
shorter 90, height 15 feet; regularly truncated, with flat top, the length
on top about 100 feet.

ANCIENT WORKS NEAR LAGRANGE.

These works are on the top of the bluff facing the Illinois river,
just below the mouth of Crooked creek. The principal area occupied
is the top of a spur flanked by a ravine on each side and extending
back from the river with a level plateau. At the back, where the side
bluffs cease to form a sufficient natural defense, an embankment has
been thrown up. This extends across the area from one ravine to the
other, measuring 597 feet in length, leaving a slope of 48 feet toa
ditch 30 feet wide and 8 or 10 feet below the level of the plateau beyond.
Immediately within the wall was evidently the main village, as here
are numerous saucer-Shaped depressious or hut rings, and between
these and the margin of the bluff in a nearly straight line are three
mounds, one oblong, the others circular. With or without palisades the
place must have been easily defended in this direction.

The only other assailable part of the bluff is a sloping ridge extend-
ing down toward the river on the left. This is fortified by an earthen
wall, breast high, which follows the windings of the crest and which has
a mound-like enlargement at each turn or change of slope.

The length of the nearly level area from the rear wall to the oblong
mound or embankment is 492 feet; thence to the mound which is
on the very edge of the bluff the slope is marked and the distance is
315 feet. There are other mounds outside of the fort on the point of a
spur across the ravine to the right.

A considerable collection of stone implements, mostly in fragments,
was made at this place, gathered from the surface. Onty four mounds
were examined, as the remaining ones had been opened by others, who
found a number of fine stone hatchets, pipes, arrowheads, gorgets, etc.,
mostly at the tops of the mounds. The dwelling sites are from 30 to
50 feet in diameter and from 1 to 3 feet deep.

The four mounds opened yielded only human bones and a few frag-
ments of stone implements.

In one, diameter 50 feet, height 15 feet, lay a human skeleton at the
bottom, much decayed.

In the second, diameter 40 feet, height 10 feet, were decaying bones,
stone chips, and fragments of pottery.

No. 3, diameter 60 feet, height 15 feet, full of bones.

No. 4, diameter 50 feet, height 15 feet, many bones.

As all the human bones found in the last were near the surface, at
the top or sides, they are presumably those of modern Indians, and the
mounds may have been built for other than burial purposes. But those

120 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

upon the bluff to the right are probably all burial mounds. They are
mainly of very hard prepared earth, and one of those explored was
certainly a depository of skeletons removed from elsewhere. :

Upon the level bottom between the bluff and a lake or bayou con-
necting with the Illinois river, and about 2 miles south of Lagrange, is
a small group of mounds, very interesting from the fact that here we
see-the pyramidal form so common in the south, but so rare in this
northern region.

The dimensions of these mounds are as follows (the numbers are
given merely as means of designating them):

No. 1, circular; diameter, 100 feet; height, 5 feet.

No. 2, rectangular; base, 198 by 117 feet; top, 111 by 30 feet; height,
30 feet; regularly truncated; top level.

No. 3, rectangular; base, 165 by 82 feet; top, 105 by 30 feet; height,
24 feet; regularly truncated; top level.

No. 4, circular; diameter, 96 feet; height, 15 feet.

No. 5, circular; diameter, 33 feet; height, 6 feet.

The size, form, appearance, and surroundings of these mounds seem-
ingly indicate that they are the work of southern mound-builders.

The neighboring bluffs are covered with the ordinary cireular mounds,
20 to 60 feet in diameter and 4 to 8 feet high. The tops of these had
already been rifled of the intrusive burials of Indian skeletons, stone,
and occasionally iron implements and other modern articles. Further
exploration of the‘hard central core of many of them revealed only
decaying human bones and unimportant articles. But those on the
bottom are of a very different type from those on the bluffs, and prob-
ably are the work of a different people. The bottom on which these
stand is subject to occasional overflows. Many acres of a dry, sloping
terrace 2 miles south of this point are strewn with the finest lance and
arrow heads and other stone implements found in the valley of the Ili-
nois river. Fragments of a better quality of pottery were also abun-
dant, but no entire vessels were found.

ADAMS COUNTY.

Upon the east bank of the Mississippi opposite Canton, Missouri, is
an irregular line of mounds, nearly allof which are circular and vary
in diameter from 30 to 120 feet, and in height trom4 to 10 feet. Two
of these were opened with the following result:

No. 1, about 100 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, was composed of,
first, a layer of soil 2 feet thick, the remainder of compact earth so hard
as to require the use of the pick. At a depth of 1 foot in the latter, or
3 feet from the top, was a much-decayed skeleton of ordinary size lying
horizontally with the head toward the west, about which were some
fragments of pottery. Nothing else of interest was found.

No. 2,60 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, was of similar construction,
but nothing was found in it.

THOMAS. } ANCIENT WORKS—CALHOUN COUNTY. 121

INDIAN GRAVE PRAIRIE,

About 5 miles southeast of the preceding on the western shore of a
small lake is a spot known as “Indian Grave prairie,” which in former
times was a favorite haunt of the Indians. It is a circular area contain-
ing some 50 acres, rising about 5 feet above the surrounding lands, with
a steep descent all around the margin, and is now a part of the levee.
Mr. KR. R. Thorn, who now oceupies aud cultivates it, says there is
neither trace nor tradition of timber having ever grown upon it, but
that he has found abundant evidence of long-continued oceupaney prior
to its possession by white men.

Excavations made in several oval-topped mounds brought to light
nothing except the fact that they were composed mainly of sand like the
surrounding soil, although decayed human Dones are said to have been
found in some of them.

Three or four feet in depth of the bank fronting the lake is, in fact, a
refuse heap mixed with charcoal, ashes, stone chips, and other evidences
of long occupancy. However, a single bone awl and some pieces of
pottery were the only articles obtained by the Bureau assistant.

A small image of pottery, found while plowing near one of the mounds
on this area, is in possession of one of the residents.

CALHOUN COUNTY.

This county is a long narrow belt of land lying between the Illinois and
Mississippirivers immediately above their junction. It consists chiefly of
an elevated ridge from 250 to 300 feet high, flanked on each side by
rich alluvial bottoms bordering the two rivers, its sides being cut by
numerous deep ravines. The upland is irregular and broken, some of
it too much so for cultivation, though the soil is rich.

Mounds are comparatively numerous over this area, the larger por-
tion being found on the uplands.

The first group examined was one consisting of four mounds situated
on the NW. 4, Sec. 34,T.108.,R.2W. These are placed along the top
of a spur of the ridge, about 250 feet above the bottoms; the immediate
position being flanked on the east and west by deep ravines. The fol-
lowing table shows the respective sizes of the tumuli and their courses
and distances from one another, commencing with No. 1 at the north-
west end of the series and measuring from center to center:

| No. of |

coven earings. Distance. Diameter. Height. |
Feet. | Feet.
55 by 35 | 4
$. 47 15 by 16 1
S. 75° 40 6 |
| 3 to4 ) S.579 30' E.... 103 39 by 29 | 6 |
4to5 | S.45°E....... 94 28 by 20 4 |
| 5to6 | Ss my 71| 38by 22 3k |
6to7 | $.25°R....... 100 | 61 by 34 6 |
tose Sislounees = 120| 34 by 28 4 |

122 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The construction of No. 1, which stands on the highest point oceu-
pied by the group, proved to be very simple. Passing through the
vegetable mold Fig. 59, c, some 3 inches thick, a layer of earth d was
reached which formed the mass of the mound, and was similar in char-
acter to the soil of the surrounding surface of the ridge. Under this
was a pile of stones ) resting on the original surface,
except where excavated, the area covered measuring
13 by 9 feet. Below this at g was an excavation in the
original soil, 7 feet long by 2 feet wide, and a little more
than a foot deep. In the bottom of this grave was a
single badly decayed skeleton lying at full length on
its back. Over it was earth mixed with stones, which
filled the grave. There were no indications that bark
or any other wrapping had been used.

Mound No. 2 was in fact nothing more than a single
layer of stones covering an area of about 16 feet in di-
ameter, placed here doubtless to shield from the wild
beasts the half dozen bodies or skeletons buried beneath
them. On top of the stones was a fire bed, showing
that a fire had been built immediately after the stones
were placed, as it lay on the stones but not on the mold
which covered them.

Mound No. 4 was found to consist—after passing
through the vegetable mold (e)—chiefly of yellow clay
from the surrounding surface. This was interrupted
only by two small heaps of stone, as shown in Fig. 60
(plan and section), f indicating the clay layer and g and
h the stone heaps; mis an excavation in the original
surface. In this grave, which was but little more than
6 inches deep, was a single skeleton, resting on the
right side, head northwest. There were no indications
of wrappings or other covering than earth.

Mound No. 5, which stands on the edge of the ridge,
had been partially opened before. Its construction was
\ similar to that of No. 1, except that the stone heap was
S

is)

Fic, 59.—Mound No.1, Sec. 34, T. 10, R. 2, Calhoun county, Ilnois.

smaller, and the form and arrangement of the grave be-

neath different. This grave was nearly 6 feet by 5, and
18 inches deep. Slabs of limestone were set on edge around the sides.
It contained a single skeleton, resting on the left side, accompanied by
a shell needle, and surrounded by a quantity of light ash-like sub-
stance almost filling the grave. The bones were slightly decayed and
the skull was crushed.

The next g¥oup examined is situated on the SE. 4 See. 29, T. 10 S.,
R. 2 W., on the main ridge, probably 300 feet higher than the river bot-
toms. This consists of 12 mounds, two of which were excavated with
the following results:

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS OF CALHOUN COUNTY. 123

Mound No. 1, between 3 and 4 feet high, diameters 531 and 22 feet,
is oval in outline and somewhat flattened. It proved to be a simple
heap of earth covering a single grave or slight excavation, in which
jay a single skeleton at full length on the back.

Mound No. 2 of this group presented the same method of construc-
tion as No. 1.

In Fig. 61 is presented the plat of a group on the NE. 4 See. 31, T.
10 S., R. 2 W., the land of Mr. William I. Wilkinson. It consists of
twelve mounds, situated on the top of a ridge some 200 feet above the
river bottoms. They are all of the ordinary conical type, varying in
diameter from 20 to 50 feet, and in height from 2 to 5 feet, as will be
seen by reference to the following table (measurements from base to
base).

No. | Bearing. |Distance.| Diameter. | Height.
z |
Feet Feet. | Feet.
Lil ooeeweeestletecteesees| 33 by 30
1to 2| N.50°W.. 40| 30 by 26 34
2to 3 | N.553°W. 41| 30 by 30 3
3to 4| N.gdoW.. 62| 33 by 31 3h
4to 5 | N.804° W. Adee B2iby 20)|eeoeeene 2
3 5to 6 | N.814° W. A140 |) 45iby 37 |e. sees
6to 7 | N.62°W.. 10 28 by 21 4
Tto 8| N.414°W. 130 50 by 20 |..........
8to 9 | N.34° W.. 66 40 by 23 5
9to 10 | N.3439 W. 95 50 by 32 5
6 to 11 | N.629 W.. 55 35 by 24 3
7to12 | N.41°W.. 62 20 by 20 2

No.2 ie 40 fect how edge of ridge.

No. 2, 3 feet high, was nothing but a simple heap of earth covering
five skeletons, two of which were bundled, the others stretched at full
length. These lay at different depths, from 1 to 3 feet, those at the
latter depth being on the original surface of the ground. There was
no excavation or grave beneath this mound. A Unio shell and two
chipped implements were found with two of the skeletons.

Mounds Nos. 3, 4, 5, 9, and 11 were of the same type, the only differ-
ence being that some of them contained but one skeleton, while others
contained two or four.

No. 7, standing near the edge of the ridge, presented some slight
variations from the six mentioned. In this, which was 4 feet high, was
found, at the depth of a few inches, a dark sticky mass about 2 feet in
diameter and 1 foot thick, seemingly of burned animal matter, which con-
tained fragments of burned human bones, charcoal, and ashes. Under
this was a layer of burned earth some 10 or 11 feet in diameter. Lower
down and nearer the margin of the mound was another similar, but
smaller, dark mass also mixed with burned human bones and charcoal.
A single skeleton rested on the original surface, near the southwest

124 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

edge of the tumulus. Two bird-shaped stone pipes (Nos. 134766 and
134767) were taken from the layer of burnt earth and three chipped
implements were also found in the same layer.

No. 8, a section of which is shown in Fig. 62, also presents some vari-
ations worthy of notice. In this figure, e is the surface accumulation of
vegetable mold, 3 inches thick; / the yellow clay body of the mound,
2 feet thick; h a mass of burned clay; k a layer about 2 inches thick
of dark, greasy earth; m an excavation in the original soil. The clay
mass h had been burned to a brick red, and in the center was as hard
asa brick. The grave was about 6 feet long by 24 in width, and con-

Fic. 60.—Mound No. 4, See. 34, T. 10, R. 2, Calhoun county, Illinois.

tained the skeleton, probably of a female, lying on its back at full
length. Immediately under the southwest end of the burned clay
mass were the charred remains of three skeletons; and at g fragments
of charred animal and human bones.

A mound on the NE. 4 See. 15, T. 10 8., R. 2 W., standing on the
brink of a bluff, presented the following features: It measured a little
over 4 feet high and 30 feet in diameter, and was composed entirely of
clay from the surface of the ridge immediately to the west, as was
apparent from an excavation at this point some 2 feet deep. Contrary
to the rule, this contained no covering of vegetable mold. The north-
ern, eastern, and southern margins were strengthened by flat stones
(see Fig. 63), probably to prevent washing, as the surface of the ridge
sloped rapidly away in these directions.

The important feature of the mound was the number of skeletons

e.

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS OF CALHOUN COUNTY. 125

found scattered through it, most of them intrusive and at various depths.
The mode of burial was somewhat different from the usual custom in
this region, though resembling that in mound No. 2 of the first group
mentioned. The first three were in the eastern side at the depth of 12
inches, lying at full length; the fourth at the depth of 9 inches, the

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bones of which had been charred before burial; the fifth at the depth
of 6 inches, bundled, lying on one flat stone and covered by another. At
another point were three skeletons, at the depth of 9 inches, one of them
at full length, the other two bundled. Tour other skeletons, atthe depth
of a foot, were lying at full length on one layer of stones and covered by
another. Nine others were scattered through the mound at various
depths, some between stones and most of them bundled.

126 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Underneath the mound were two excavations in the original soil,
the one marked a being but 24 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 18 inches deep.
In this were the bones of a single skeleton, but in such confusion as to
make it evident they were buried after the flesh had been removed.
The other excavation, b, 7 feet long by 25 wide and 25 feet deep, contained
a single male skeleton lying at full length, face up and head south. The
bottom of the grave under this skeleton was covered with decayed
vegetable matter to the depth of 2 or 3 inches.

Several relics were found in this tumulus, all with the skeletons.
These were as follows: Two arrow points, a banner stone (134776); a
broken pot (134772) with the skeleton in grave b; a stone celt (134775),
a shell, a lot of bone beads (134770); a piece of lead ore (134773); and a.
grooved stone axe (134771).

The next group examined, consisting of twenty mounds, is in the
northwest quarter of Sec. 2, T. 9 8., R. 2 W., located along the narrow
erest of a ridge rising from 125 to 300 feet above the Illinois river.
The distance from 1 to 20 (at the opposite ends of the line), following
the bend, is above three-sevenths of a mile. The following table gives
the courses and distances of the mounds from one another, measuring
from center to center, and the size of each:

| Number. Direction. Distance. | Diameters. | Height.
| Feet. Feet. | Feet.
| | eerie eee | eee ees 65 by 45 5
1to 2 | N.21°33/W... 86 | 25 by 20 14
| 2to 3| N.93°39°W... 313 | 31 by 27 2
3to 4 | N.5° 02H... 74; 39 by 32 4
4to 5|N.34°10/B.... 93 55 5
5 to 6} N.19° 33/E.... 45 17 3
Cito ne 7) Nivopeeseenee= 30 | 20 by 17 1
7 to 8 | N.14° 05'E 149 | 57 by 19 3h
8 to sta. a| N.2°03/H..... PH ee ee Seamer | eanceceor
| Sta. @ to 9) B.-..........- 49 40 by 25 i
| Sta. a to 10 | N. 2° 40'B..... 143} 44 vy 30 5
| 10 to 11 | N.2031'W.... 103 | 38 by 30 6
11 to 12 | N. 25° 23'W... 58 | 26 by 16 2
12 to 13 | N.18° 37'W... 72 | 26 by 21 | 2
13 to 4) N,17° 22-W... 95| 31 by 22 3h
| 14 to 15 | N.24° 29'W... 42| 32 by 24 3
15 to 16 | N.26°53/W... 98 | 22 by 20 2
16 to 17 | N.220.50/W... 99 | 50 by 40 7
17 to 18 | N.18° W ..... 86 | 23 by 14 2
| 18 to. 19 | N.28° W.....- 190 | 24 by 15 24
| 19 to 20 |N.38° 087W...| 149) 59 by 45 9

|

No. 1 stands on the southern end of the ridge, occupying the full
width of the top, which is here about 125 feet above the river. The
structure, positions of skeletons, etc., are shown in Fig. 64, in which
are presented vertical sections both of the length and width.

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS OF CALHOUN COUNTY. 27

In these, e is the surface sod, 2 inches thick; the remainder, f, down
to the natural ground, consisted of yellow clay taken from the top of
the ridge; g-g, the line of the original surface; Nos. 1 to 10 skeletons, h,
a small fire bed, and k, a flat stone resting on it. Skeleton 1, 6 inches
below the sod, lay at full length, face up, head south; 2 and 3, at full
length, faces up, heads northeast, at the depth of 10 inches; 4, on the
original surface of the ridge, stretched out, head northwest, face toward
the river. The bones in this case were more decayed than those fur-
ther up in the mound; and near by was the fire bed, h also on the
original surface. This was small. measuring but 2 feet in diameter,

Fia. 62.—Vertical section of Mound No. 8, NE. } See. 31, T.10, R.2 W., Illinois.

and not more than 2 inches thick; it was covered by a flat stone, k,
which bore no indications of fire. No. 5, a skeleton at the depth of 9
inches, face up, head southwest; 6, at the depth of 15 inches, head
southwest, face down, an unusual position; 7, at a depth of 3 feet,
bones in a heap with the skull on top, the heap resting on the natural
surface. No 8, but 3 inches below the sod, at full length, face up, head
southwest; 9 and 10, at the depth of 10 inches, heads northeast.

Most of the burials in this mound seem to have been intrusive or
made at different periods. A few shell beads with skeleton No. 1 were
the only relics found.

Fic. 63.—Vertical section of mound on SE. 3 See. 15, T. 10, R. 2 W., Illinois.

Mounds 2 and 5 were constructed much like No. 1; the former con-
taining no skeletons; the latter, which had been partially opened be-
fore, containing several skeletons, three of which remained. These
were intrusive, all at full length, faces up.

Mound 6 was similar in construction to the preceding. Under the
northern end and resting on the natural surface of the ridge was a
fire bed some 6 inches thick and 3 feet in diameter, of charcoal, ashes,
and burned human bones. Judging by all the indications Mr. Middie-
ton, the explorer, concluded that the body or skeleton of a medium-
sized person had been placed on the surface of the ridge, face up, head

128 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

eastward, and a fire kindled over the middle portion, consuming the
larger bones. The skull does not seem to have been affected by heat.
Another fact worthy of notice is that the earth immediately over the
bones showed no indications of fire.

Tn the southern end of the mound lay another skeleton at full length
on the surface of the ridge, with the head south.

Mound 7 was not thoroughly explored because of a large hickory tree
standing on it. The construction so far as it could be made cut was as
follows: 2 inches of sod, then the body of clay as usual; below this,
resting on the surface of the ridge, was a layer of thoroughly burnt
clay stretching nearly across the mound; this was covered with coals
and ashes to the depth of 2 inches. Under this layer of burnt clay
were the charred remains of a skeleton. The indications were that the
body in this case had been buried in the flesh.

Fic. 64.—Vertical section of Mound No.1, NW. See. 2, T. 9, R. 2 W., Illinois.

Another group examined is situated on the W. $ of Sec. 2 and E. $
of Sec. 3, T.9 S., R. 2 W. This consists of 5 mounds varying in diam-
eter from 30 to 60 feet and in height from 3 to 6 feet; on the crest of a
ridge as usual.

All except one had been previously explored, and in one of them a
box-shaped stone grave found.

No. 4, the smallest of the group, the one which had not been dis-
turbed consisted of a top layer of vegetable mold and a body of clay
as usual. Resting on the surface of the ridge near the center was
a pile of flat limestones, which were probably brought from the
eastern end of the ridge near by. This pile covered a space 12 feet
in diameter, being 24 feet high in the center. The spaces were filled
with decayed vegetable material, and the outer stones bore indications
of weathering as though the pile had remained uncovered for some
time after it was built. At the northern base of the heap, partly sur-
rounded by it, was a box-shaped stone grave 5feet long and 2 feet wide.
It was complete, having stones both at bottom and top, though the latter
had fallen in. In it were two skeletons apparently of young persons,
on their backs, but faces turned towards each other, heads east. They
were surrounded by decayed vegetabie or animal matter. Immedi-

SS

THOMAS. ] GROUP NEAR HARDIN, CALHOUN COUNTY. 129

ately east of the center of the mound and partially covered by the
stone pile was a decayed skeleton lying at length on its back, head to
the south. ,

There are a number of groups on the western side of the county in
the vicinity of Hamburg, most of which have been explored; one, how-
ever, appears to have been overlooked. This is located on the NW. 4
Sec. 1, T. 10 8., R. 3 W., on the crest of a ridge some 200 feet or more
above the river level, and consists of six mounds.

The dimensions of these are as follows: No.1, diameters 61 by 23 feet;
height, 4 feet. No. 2, diameters, 50 by 34 feet; height, 5 feet. No. 3,
diameters, 66 by 37 feet; height, 6 feet. No.4, diameter, 25 feet; height,
4 feet. No.5, diameters, 60 by 35 feet; height, 6 feet. No. 6, diame-
ters, 57 by 30 feet; height, 3 feet.

In No. 4 nothing was observed of interest except a small fire-bed on
the natural surface of the ridge under the center of the mound. There
were no indications of burials.

The construction and contents of No. 5 were as follows: A layer of
vegetable mold 3 inches thick; then 2 feet of clay surface soil very hard
and difficult to work; under this, conforming to the shape of the mound
and resting on the surface of the ridge, was a layer of earth about 9
feet in diameter. This covered a mass of burnt clay 5 feet long, 3 feet
wide, and 18 inches thick, which had been burned to a brick red and
was in fragments. At the south end was a small heap of ashes which
- had probably been raked off the fire beds, and in the same locality
but at the depth of 18 inches, was a skeleton resting at full length
face up, in or under a small fire-bed. Judging from the indications,
clay had been placed over the middle part of the body on which a fire
had been kindled. As the bones were not charred it is probable the
flesh had not been removed before burial. In the northern part, at the
depth of 3 feet, was another badly decayed skeleton.

Mixed in the fire bed were a number of charred human bones; parts
of two skeletons, apparently intrusive burials, were found in the upper
layer.

Another group situated a short distance north of Hardin on the NE.
4 See. 27, T. 10 8., R. 2 W., stands on the margin of a bluff, about 200
feet above the Illinois river. Directly in front of the mounds the bluff
breaks down perpendiculariy for about 40 feet.

The dimensions are as follows:

No. Diameters. | Height.
Feet. Feet.
1 | 93by100 | 19 |
dia |he dT iby, 2659 Bye
3 93 by 84 i |
4 25 by 21 ered
5 | by 15 Ber of

12 ETH 9

130 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

No. 1, the only one of the group explored, proved to be very inter-
esting. As will be seen by reference to Fig. 65, showing a vertical
section, it is located on the very brink of the precipice.

The upper portion (a) to the depth of 14 feet was a single layer com-
posed chiefly of yellow clay obtained from the surrounding surface of
the bluff. Near the center, at the depth of 4 feet, was a horizontal
bed (b) of hard, gray earth—apparently muck from the river, 8 inches
thick and covering an area about 20 feet in diameter, and three feet
lower another bed (c) of burnt clay about the same thickness and
extent as the preceding. Although particles of charcoal were mixed
through the latter no ashes were observed on or about it.

At the depth of 14 feet the top of what seems to have been the nucleus
or original mound was reached, over which the heavy mass of clay had
been cast at some subsequent period. Over this lay a thin covering of

-

Fic, 65.—Vertical section of Mound No. 1, NE. Sec. 27, T. 10, R. 2 W., Illinois.

white, ash-like material (//) not more than 2 inches thick and extending
on all sides to the original base. This rested, for the most part, on a
single layer of stones (qq), the latter lacking several feet of extending
to the outer margin. Examining carefully the stones which formed
this layer, evidences of weathering on the upper side were distinctly
visible, showing that the mound must have remained undisturbed at
this height for a considerable length of time. The thin stratum of ash-
like material seems to confirm this view as the decayed stems of grass
found near the outer margin show that it was produced by burning a
covering of grass which had probably grown over it. The dark spots
(d and e) indicate two small fire beds resting on the layer of stones.
Removing the stones and cutting a trench through the low, broad
original mound or nucleus to the natural surface of the bluff, the con-
struction was found to be as shown in the figure. By z is indicated
an oval basin, 10 by 15 feet, lined throughout with a layer of stones (m),
similar to those above. It was filled with the yellow surface soil of the
ridge and covered with the layer of stones gg. The stones below also
bore distinct marks of weathering, and were covered with a thin layer

re

THOMAS. ] ALTAR MOUND. 131

of a white material like ashes mixed with decayed leaves and grass.
Under these stones and resting on the natural surface of the ridge was
a thin layer of decayed vegetable matter (r). The slopes i 7 surround-
ing the basin were of yellow clay similar to that of the thick upper
layer of the mound. The dark spots h and k indicate small fire beds.

Partly under and partly in the bottom layer of decayed vegetable
matter and exactly in the center of the mound was a single skeleton (0)
lying on the back at full length, the feet to the south, but the head was
wanting. Nota tooth or particle of the jaw or skull was to be found,
though careful search was made. As all the other bones were well
preserved and comparatively sound, except that the pelvis and some of
the ribs were broken, it is presumed that the head must have been
removed before burial. This is the second instance observed in which
the head had been thus removed. The first was noticed at Pecan
Point, Arkansas.

Six feet south of the center of the mound was a small deposit of
burned bones lying on the natural surface of the bluff. Seven feet
west of the center, lying on the original soil, were the remains of an
infant (s), which had been doubled up until the knees touched the
chin, wrapped in a grass covering, and placed upon its left side.

A seashell (Busycon perversum) from which the columella had been
removed, converting it into a drinking cup, which was at the right
shoulder of the skeleton, and a fragment apparently of another similar
shell, were the only relics found in the mound, The latter was in a
stone box or cist 25 feet square and 1 foot deep, resting on the natural
surface of the ridge. Not a fragment of bone was found in this box.

Another singular feature observed consisted of three small pits (n, »,
xv) under the eastern base of the upper layer. These were three holes,
from 15 to 18 inches in diameter and 1 foot deep. One of them con-
tained particles of rotten wood. There were several intrusive burials
in the thick upper clay layer which presented nothing of special inter-
est.

It would seem from the facts and figure given that we have in this
tumulus a specimen of the Ohio “altar mound” type, as what we have
called the nucleus or original mound is in fact one of the so-called
“altars” of the type described by Messrs. Squier and Davis.

MADISON AND ST. CLAIR COUNTIES.

On the line separating these two counties is the celebrated Cahokia
group, which includes the giant structure known as the Cahokia or
Monk’s mound.

In the fall of 1882 Mr. William McAdams was engaged by this Bureau
to make an exploration and preliminary survey of this interesting re-
gion, but his work was suddenly cut short at the end of a month by
severe winter weather.

132 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The first mounds visited were those on Wood river where it emerges
from the highlands and enters the bottom. This bottom, which extends
southward from Alton along the Mississippi, is generally known as the
“American bottom.” Many small mounds are found on the bluffs in
this vicinity, as shown in the accompanying map. (Fig.66.) An oval-
shaped one some 5 feet in height, situated on the sloping bluff between
the forks of the stream, was of a yellowish clay much more compact
and tenacious than the loess of the bluff. At the depth of 5 or 6 feet
were the crumbling bones of a human skeleton. The body had evi-
dently been buried extended, with the face upward. With the bones
were some ashes, but none of the bones showed any indications of
having been burned. No relics of stone or other material were found.

a

Town. 5. Range 9.
MADISON Co., ILLS,

Fe Sveolgg

F1G. 66.—W ood river mounds, Madison county, Illinois.

An adjoining mound on the west and of nearly the same size was
opened, but presented nothing materially different from the first. Sub-
sequently, however, in a small mound on the bluff above the railroad
track, on the west side of Wood river, a human skeleton was discovered,
at the depth of about 2 feet, much decayed; the skull, however, was
preserved.

On this bluff there had been, in times not very remote, numerous
burials without the erection of mounds. Some of the bones were but a
few inches beneath the surface of the ground.

The next excavation of any importance was made in a mound on the
bluff in St. Clair county, near the line between St. Clair and Madison

THOMAS.] CAHOKIA MOUNDS. 133

counties and nearly east of the Great Cahokia mound. This was con-
ical in shape and formed a landmark for some distance around. At
the depth of about 3 feet the earth, which was a yellowish clay, became
dry and very hard and quite different in character from the loess of the
bluff on which the mound stands. At the depth of about 12 feet a
layer of ashes, nearly an inch thick, was disclosed, and a foot below
this another layer of ashes a foot or morein thickness. Excepting some
thin, flat pieces of sandstone there were no relics nor other remains, not
even a portion of bone. Below the ashes the earth showed the effect
of heat for a few inches, but seemed to be the undisturbed surface of
the bluff.

Near this mound the projecting point of the bluff has been changed
to form a flat circular platform that might, in times past, have served
for some aboriginal purpose, possibly an outlook or signal station, as
it occupies one of the highest points and overlooks the whole plain of
the Cahokia. Numerous excavations in this vicinity revealed the fact
that at one time the top of the bluff had been a burying place, and
from a small elevation in the loess, that might originally have been a
mound of some dimensions—for the place is under cultivation—a toler-
ably well-preserved skull was obtained. There were three entire skel-
etons in the mound, the skulls of two being crushed.

These burials were made by laying the bodies on their sides or backs,
with the limbs straight. The form of the skull seems to be a common
one on the bluff, but, as the explorer thinks, somewhat different from
those found by him in the bottom or low lands. No relics of any kind
were found with these bones.

It is worthy of note that nearly all the relics found at the Cahokia
group of mounds have been taken from the low ground between the
mounds. The remarkable find of pottery, implements, and shells made
by Mr. McAdams in the winter of 1881 was in the low land a short dis-
tance from the northeast corner of the great mound. The articles were
nearly all taken from a square rod of ground. This has been to some
extent Dr. Patrick’s experience in making his fine collection of pottery.

The real burial place of the builders of the Cabokia mounds probably
is yet to be discovered.

The bank of Cahokia creek during the occupation of the mounds was
evidently more to the south than its present line along the eastern part
of the group. The old bank is still plainly visible, as shown in Pl.
vi. The low land between this old bank and the creek is now cov-
ered with forest trees. All along this bank, which forms the edge of
the plateau on which the mounds stand, are abundant evidences of
occupation in remote times. In digging 2 or 3 feet at almost any point
along this bank indications of fireplaces are found, with numerous river
shells, broken pottery, and kitchen refuse. As all the arable ground
about the mound has been in cultivation many years, it is quite possi-
ble that some of the burial places, which are usually quite shallow, have

134 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

been destroyed, as pieces of human bones are very common in the
plowed fields.

The location, forms, and heights of the various mounds of the Cahokia
group as given in theannexed diagram (PI. v1) are from Mr. McAdams’s
survey and are believed to be strictly correct. The figures on or by
the mounds indicate the height.

The next excavations were made in the mounds at Mitchell, on Long
lake. The principal digging was done in the base of the large mound
through which the railroad tracks run. Bones and sea shells had been
discovered here by some workmen in digging a trench through the base
of the mound between two railroad tracks for the purpose of laying a
water pipe to the lake. This ditch was reopened, then widened out, and
the spot fully explored. There seemed to have been 4 or 5 skeletons of
adults, which lay east and west. A great number of whorls of sea
shells had been buried with them, probably taken out in forming drink-
ing cups or water vessels. These shells are from a few inches to a foot
or more in length and belong mostly to the genus Busycon.

The mound from which these shells were taken was nearly square in
shape, 100 paces on each of its sides, 25 or 30 feet in height, with a flat,
level summit. It is now, with the exception of a small portion in the
center between two railroad tracks, obliterated, a part only of the base
remaining.

In removing the western side of the mound a few years ago, to make
a road across Long lake, many human remains were found and, with
them, implements of stone, bone, and copper. The mound was composed
principally of black dirt or soil, and wherever excavations were made
in the base, at the depth of 3 or 4 feet, the original under soil of the
surrounding prairie, a yellowish sandy loam, was reached. This is the
mound from which Mr. Henry R. Howland obtained the copper articles
described and figured in his paper in the bulletin of the Buffalo Acad-
emy of Sciences, 1877.

In addition to the maps already given, Mr. McAdams prepared a map
of the western part of Madison county, including one range of sections
in the northern part of St. Clair county, showing the location and rel-
ative positions of the various groups of mounds named. This map is
shown (on a reduced scale) in Pl]. vil.

RANDOLPH COUNTY.
STONE GRAVES ON THE MILL TRACT.

These are situated about half a mile north of Prairie du Rocher, on
a long ridge that runs in a westerly direction nearly across the nar-
row bottom of a small creek that flows through the village. This
ridge, which is about 25 feet higher than the bottom land, descends
gradually from the hills to the west, having a steep slope on each side.
The soil is yellow, tenacious clay. The graves were on the rounded top,

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VI

Ses “SE q

5
e

nas and. Collinsville Road

MAP OF CAHOKIA GROUP, MADISON COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

THOMAS. ] STONE GRAVES, RANDOLPH COUNTY. 135

some little distance back of the point. All were of the usual box shape
and all but one more than 6 feet long; some of them were so near the
surface as to leave the tops exposed. The position of the head of the
skeleton could easily be determined in all but three of them before the
cover was removed, by the form of the grave, as the cists were wider at
one end than the other, and somewhat coffin-shaped. They usually
‘measured from 2 to 25 feet in width at the head, but only a foot or even
less at the other end, the depth from a foot to 18 inches. In fact, it
seems that in some cases the body must have been placed in position
and the side and end stones fitted to it. In these cases slabs of lime-
stone were first placed in the bottom of the excavation, as the pieces
forming the sides and ends rested edgewise on these, usually two pieces

4,
14 ySisy Ay,
ROA

i \

Fic. 67._Stone graves on Mill tract, Randolph county, Illinois.

to a side and one at each end. Where the two pieces at the sides
joined, there was a smaller piece thrust at right angles between them,
the main projection being outward. The cover consisted of a single
layer of these slabs, in some instances without breaking the joints, in
others overlapping each other. In other cases the pieces forming the
walls and ends appear to have been put into position before the bot-
tom was lined. In some of them a single slab formed one side; if
more than one slab was used, they either overlapped or another was
added to strengthen the joint. The stones were obtained from the
hillside a few rods farther up the ridge.

The bodies buried in these graves were covered to a depth of 2 or 3
inches with the yellow clay of the ridge; the covering over the graves
consisted of limestone. The respective positions are shown in Fig. 67.

136 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The positions of the bodies in the graves were as follows:

Grave No. 1: Skeleton on the back at full length, head to the
south, face up.

Grave No. 3: Skeleton on the back at fulllength. A small earthen
pot was buried with it, but was so soft when found that it couid not
be moved before it had crumbled to pieces.

Grave No. 4: Skeleton at full length on the back, head to the east,
but face turned over toward the south.

Grave No. 6: Skeleton bundled, but the skull in the east side of the
cist with the face up.

Grave No. 7: Skeleton at full length on the back, head south, but
face turned toward the west.

Graves Nos. 8 and 9: Skeletons at full length on the back, faces up,
heads to the south.

Graves Nos. 11 and 2: Skeletons at full length on the back, heads
east.

With the exception of that in grave No. 6, the bodies appear to
have been buried without removing the flesh.

THE DE FRENNE STONE GRAVES.

These graves are just outside of the limits of the village of Prairie
du Rocher, on the steep peint of a ridge of dry, yellow clay, which ter-
minates at the junction of the two branches of the creek, about half a
mile below the graves previously mentioned. The ridge at this point
is about 30 feet higher than the road which runs along the side of the
creek.

Although a plan of the cemetery and a section of the ridge was
obtaimed, as shown in Fig. 68, the respective positions of only a part
of the skeletons can be given, as several of the graves had been opened
by other parties. All the cists were built in the same manner as those
heretofore described, and differed from them only in having the head
and foot of the same width, and a few of them also contained more
than one skeleton. Five of them—Nos. 21, 22, 23, 26, and 28—were
graves of infants. The largest of these, No. 21, was only 15 inches
long; the smallest, No. 26, only 9 inches long, 5 inches wide, and 4
inches deep (inside measurement in all cases). Mrs. Morude, an old
Belgian lady, who lives here, informed Mr. Middleton that when they
were grading for the foundation of their house she saw skulls with
the hair still hanging to them taken from these graves. It is there-
fore more than probable, and, in fact, is generally understood by the
old settlers of this section, who derived the information from their
parents, that these are the graves of the Kaskaskia and other Indians
who resided here when this part of Illinois began to be settled by the
whites.

At the point of the hill the graves were but slightly covered with
earth. In some instances this covering was not more than 6 inches

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. VII
Ane |
ANT \ \\\

Rahges 6.6 9. Zz

(between

cahokta

Line.

SSS Z A LZ Se. -
——— } » —<_.

MAP OF THE WESTERN PART OF-MADISON COUNTY ILLINOIS.

Homas.] STONE GRAVES, RANDOLPH COUNTY. — 137

deep, but toward the back part of the cemetery it reached a depth cf
4 feet. This was probably due in part to washings.

In grave No. 1 the skeleton lay at full length on its back, head west.
The skull was saved in good condition.

Grave No. 2: There were two skeletons in this grave, heads west,
both at full length on the back. Both skulls were saved.

Grave No. 4: Skeleton at full length on the back, head west.

Grave No. 6: This proved to be the largest grave in the cemetery
measuring 6 fect in length, 5 in width, and 18 inches in depth (inside
measurements to be understood in all cases). As seen by reference to
the diagram (Fig. 68), this grave oceupies a central position in the

K
aii
i

Fic. 68.—The De Frenne stone graves, Randolph county, Hlinois.

cemetery. It contained five skeletons, four of adults and one of an
infant; one of the larger was that of a female. They all lay at full
length on their backs, faces up, and heads north.

Grave No. 7: This contained two adult skeletons, both at full length,
on their backs, heads east, but faces turned toward each other. Both
skulls were secured in good condition. A clay muller was found with
the skeleton on the north side and a stone muller with the other.

Grave No. 9: The skeleton, apparently of a female, at full length,
face up. With it were four bone implements, one a tube, one an awl or

138 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

perforator, one stone chisel, one stone drill, a shell ornament, a stone
implement, the fragment of an unusually fine flint knife, some green
paint, red paint, lead ore, and a chipped celt.

Grave No. 10: Skeleton at full length on the back, face up, head east.

Grave No. 14: Skeleton at full length on the right side, head east,
face north. With it were six bone implements, some shell spoons, and
two shell pendants, the last from the sides of the head.

Grave No. 16: Skeleton at full length on the back, face up, head
west. With it were two earthen bowls by the head, and a single shell
bead in the right hand.

Garaye No. 18: The skeleton in this grave appeared to be that of a half-
grown person. It was, as usual, at full length on the back, head east,
face north. With it was a single quartz crystal, apparently from the
region of Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Graves Nos. 21, 22, 23: The skeletons in these graves all lay on
their backs with heads east. A pot and shell spoon were found by the
right cheek of the one in No. 23. The pot stood upright, with the spoon
in it.

Grave No. 24: A single skeleton occupied this grave. It was, as
usual, at full length on the back, head northwest. Two pots were by
the head, one on each side, in an upright position.

Grave No. 27: In this grave there were two skeletons, at full length,
heads northeast. Nine bone implements were found with them.

Grave No. 29: A single skeleton and with it a pot.

Grave No. 31: A single skeleton and with it a piece of lead ore.

No particulars were ascertained in reference to other graves which
had been opened by other parties, except that all the skeletons were
lying at full length, as those mentioned.

STONE GRAVES ON THE BLUFF.

These are situated on the bluff, just within the Randolph county line,
at the mouth of the first large ravine on the road from Glasgow to
Prairie du Rocher. They are probably the graves mentioned by Dr.
Wislizenus.'

They are located more than 100 feet above the bottom lands, on the
point of a narrow steep spur. The cliffs immediately south of them
are perpendicular. Their respective positions, with sections of the
spur, are shown in Fig. 69.

As all but three of these graves had been opened previous to the
visit of the Bureau agent, and nothing peculiar was observed, a detailed
description is deemed unnecessary. In one of the three which was
undisturbed the skeleton was bundled, in the other two they lay at
full length, heads east, faces up. The skull of the bundled skeleton
was in the east end of the grave.

1 Trans. St. Louis Acad. Sci., Vol. I, p. 66.

THOMAS. ] STONE GRAVES AT ROCKWOOD. 139

Southeast of Prairie du Rocher, on the bluffs, is another cemetery of
stone graves situated much as the one last mentioned, and near by is
a fine spring. These had all been examined by previous explorers.
The arrangement was found to be much like the last, one large grave
with the others around it.

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Fic. 69.—Stone graves on bluff, Randolph county, Illinois.

STONE GRAVES AT ROCKWOOD.

These are situated close to the village of Rockwood on the land of Mr.
Reed, on a high bench or terrace that stands about 75 feet above the
bottom lands.

The larger portion of them had been explored; some had been carried
down by a caving of the bank near which they were placed and others
removed to make way for foundations of houses. This must have been
a very extensive cemetery, as the area over which the remaining graves
extend is comparatively large. The surface, which was level originally,
seems to have been rounded up somewhat, as though intended for a
low, broad mound, but so much excavating had been done that no posi-
tive conclusion could be reached on this point.

140 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The graves were of the usual box shape, and all those which remained,
except one, measured 5 feet or more in length. The small one, which
had not been disturbed, was 2 feet square and 18 inches deep, but in
place of bones were four uninjured earthen pots.

In addition to the works mentioned, the following antiquities are
found in this county:

MOUNDS.

At Rockwood; at Prairie du Rocher; 3 miles south of Prairie du
Rocher, on the Simpson place; on the Mudd place; above Old Lafay-

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Fic. 70.—Hut rings near the bank of Big Mary river, Ilinois.

ette on the Kaskaskia river; at Chester; 3 miles south of Sparta, along
Big Mary river, and at Evansville.

STONE GRAVES.

At the Bluff ferry; 1 mile south of Rockwood; on the West fork of
Degognia creek, 14 miles from the bridge near the Brown farm; 7 miles
west of Sparta; 3 miles southeast of Sparta; on Henderson’s place on
Nine-mile creek west of Sparta; on William Cox’s old place on the
Kaskaskia river below the Mobile and Ohio railroad bridge, and on the
Widow Boyd’s place, 5 miles south of Baldwin.

THOMAS. ] SORRELS MOUND, JACKSON COUNTY. 141
VILLAGE SITES.

Three miles southeast of Sparta, on the left bank of Big Mary river,
near the stone graves and mounds mentioned above, are the hut rings
shown in Fig. 70. These are situated upon a flat-topped ridge about
30 feet higher than the creek bottoms. They are low, with the usual
depression in the center, but the outlines are rather indistinct. Mr.
Gault, of Sparta, who has long resided here, states that when he first
moved to this section the Indians lived in houses or wigwams which,
when decayed, left such remains as these. They hollowed out a shal-
low circular cavity in the surface soil, then, standing poles around the
margin of this basin, brought them together at the top, and having cov-
ered them with bark or other material—in other words, having con-
structed wigwams of the usual circular form—covered them in whole
or in part, especially the lower portion, with earth. He also said that
after a camp was abandoned and the wood rotted away it left these
rings of earth. Another of these camping places is situated 8 miles
west of Sparta.

JACKSON COUNTY.
THE SORRELS MOUND.

This is situated 1 mile directly north of Carbondale, on the upper
level bordering a small creek, at the margin or break where the land
descends to the lower level and has been in constant cultivation for 15
or 20 years. It is now nearly circular in outline, a little over 150 feet
in diameter, 3 feet high, and composed throughout of dark sandy loam,
with a slight admixture of clay, similar to that of the surrounding sur-
face of the ground, without any indications of stratification.

Two skeletons were discovered in the central portion at the depth
of 24 feet and about 10 feet apart. Both were closely folded and lying
on the side, one with the head north, the other with the head south-
west. Judging from the manner in which they were folded it was evi-
dent they were buried after the flesh had been removed, as it would
have been impossible to press the bones so closely together with the
flesh on them, nor could they have assumed this condition in conse-
quence of the decay of the flesh and the pressure of the earth.

Considerable pottery in fragments and varying in quality was found
in and on the mound. Some of the pieces in the mound were so situ-
ated in relation to one another as to indicate that the vessels of which
they had formed parts had been intentionally broken before they were
buried. Most of the pottery found in the mound was very rude and
coarse, made of materials not well pulverized and but slightly burned.
By putting the pieces together one of the vessels proved to be a small
jar with a flat bottom and, although the form gives it a decidedly modern
appearance, it is probably the rudest piece of pottery in the National
Museum. It bears on the outside marks of the grass with which it was

142 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

surrounded before being burned. The chief interest which attaches to
this rude specimen ‘shown in Fig. 71) is its close resemblance in form
and material to an undoubted specimen of Iroquois pottery in the
National Museum and its marked contrast with the pottery usually
found in this part of the immediate valley of the Mississippi. One
other vessel of similar character and closely resembling it was obtained
by Mr. Perrine from a mound in Union county, and another similar in
form butof better quality was found
by Dr. Palmer in eastern Arkan-
sas; it is believed that these are
the only ones of this type which
have been found in the immediate
valley of the Mississippi. The two
found in southern Illinois are made
of dark-colored clay, very slightly
mixed with pulverized shells.

On the surface of the mound
were many small pieces of pottery
which had probably been turned
up by the plow, some of them
undoubtedly attributable to the
mound-builders. These were of
much better quality than those
tound near the skeletons, showing
some attempt at ornamentation;
some bearing traces of the red coloring often observed in southern
mound pottery.

Arrowheads, fragments of flint and greenstone implements, nodules
of red and yellow paint, two bone awls, part of the carapace of a tor-
toise, Unio shells common in the streams of this section, and fragments
of deer’s horn, were also found.

Fig. 71.—Pot from Jackson county, Tlinois,

MOUNDS NEAR AVA.

Two of these, small and circular, were discovered on the land of Mr.
Henry Thompson, 5 miles southeast of Ava. One of them, about 3
feet high and 20 feet in diameter, contained two empty box-shaped
stone graves of the usual form, but without cover or bottom. They
measured 3 feet in length and 24in width. Inthe other mounds nothing
was found except a pile of stones thrown together without order or
arrangement. They probably formed a stone grave which had been
disturbed, as the mound had previously been opened.

On the bank of Rattlesnake creek, a short distance from the preced-
ing, another small conical mound, which was thoroughly explored,
revealed nothing except a small piece of charcoal. An ancient grave
close by was excavated with a similar result.

Three small circular mounds on Mr. Dempsey Williamson’s place were

le,

THOMAS.] VOGEL GROUP. 143

next examined. These are similar in size and form to those above
mentioned, each being about 25 feet in diameter and 3 feet high. In
one two empty stone graves without covering or bottom were found.
They were about 10 inches below the surface, one of them 2 feet 3
inches long by 2 feet wide and 16 inches deep. In the other was a
single stone grave 2 feet 5 inches long, 20 inches wide, and 15 inches
deep. This, like the others, was empty. In the third nothing was dis-
covered but some flat stones.

That these graves formerly contained human bones can not be
doubted, but whether they were removed by explorers of modern
times or not could not be determined. Though of such small size, it
does not follow that they were used as depositories of children only, as
itis not uncommon to find in the stone graves of southern Illinois
adult skeletons crowded into as small a space as indicated by the
measurements above given.

THE VOGEL GROUP.

This group, consisting of eleven mounds, is situated on the farm of
Mr. Henry Vogel, about 3 miles from the following, both groups being
in the Mississippi bottom near Fountain bluff. The relation of these
mounds to each other is shown in Fig. 72.

The largest of the group, No. 1, is 12 feet high and 190 feet long by
130 wide. A trench 15 feet long and 4 feet wide, through the central
portion, was carried down 12 feet, to the original surface. Considerable
broken pottery and also a number of animal bones, most of them split
and broken, were found between 8 and 11 feet from the top. At the
depth of 11 feet was a bed of ashes mixed with earth and charcoal. In
this fragments of pottery and bones were more abundant than elsewhere.

The surrounding land, which is subject to frequent overflows, is com-
posed of a black waxy soil to the depth of 2 feet, and below this of sand.
The mound was built entirely of this stiff waxy soil; at the depth of 12
feet the sand was reached. A wild-cherry tree 6 feet 3 inches in cir-
cumference, stands on the east end. On No. 2, which is 200 feet in cir-
cumference and 4 feet high, there is a walnut stump 9 feet 6 inches
in circumference.

No. 3, about 150 feet southwest of No. 1, is 4 feet high and 120 feet
long by 75 in width.

No. 4 is 250 feet in circumference and 6 feet high. In this a trench
22 feet long was dug through the center. For most of the length it
was carried down to a depth of 9 feet, or 3 feet below the original sur-
face of the ground. Human bones in considerable numbers were found
at various depths from 6 inches down to 6 feet. Below this no human
bones were observed, but at the depth of 9 feet some animal bones were
obtained. As many as 12 skeletons were unearthed, but only 1 whole
skull was obtained,

144 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

At the depth of 3 feet, and lying by a skeleton, were the spool-shaped
copper ornaments shown in Fig. 73. At the depth of 54 feet, imme-
diately under a root about 2 inches in diameter, a small earthen pot
was discovered near a skeleton. At the same depth, near the feet of

Fic. 72.Vogel group, Jackson county, Mlinois.

another skeleton, were the skull and teeth of some large animal.

At the depth of 6 feet, by the knee of a large skeleton, was a lozenge- ?
shaped gorget of slatestone 4 inches long and 14 inches wide in the

middle. Under the head of this skeleton was a whole shell and some

pieces; also a small curiously-wrought stone which was probably an

ear ornament, as it was at the side of the head. The skull of the skele-

ton, though damaged, was saved.

THOMAS. } THE SCHLIMPERT MOUNDS. 145

Fragments of pottery, also a few shells (Unios), were scattered
through the mound at various depths. The earth in this mound was
more sandy than that of those in the field, and was in alternate layers
of black soil and sand.

Mound No. 5 is a little north of west from No. 4, the bases of the two
approaching within 10 feet of each other. This is about 180 feet in cir
cumference and something over 5 feet high. On the southern part
stands a walnut stump 16 feet in circumference, and on the north side
an ash 7 feet in circumference. Two trenches were carried down
about a foot below the original surface of the ground. At one point, 54
feet below the surface, a skeleton lay immediately beneath roots from
both trees. One of the roots from the walnut, although 12 feet from
the stump, was 4 inches in diameter. At another point, at the depth
of 4 feet, were two small flint implements, and a foot below this some

Fic. 73.—Spool-shaped ornament of copper.

human teeth, but no bones, though by looking carefully at the earth
indications of the other parts of the skeleton, which had decayed,
were discovered.

GROUP ON SCHLIMPERT’S PLACE,

These mounds are situated on Mr. Joseph Sehlimpert’s land—the W.
4 of the NW. 4 of See. 22, in Fountain Bluff township—and are located
in reference to each other as shown in theannexed plat (Fig. 74). The
soil around them is of a black waxy character, from 1 foot to 18 inches
in depth, underlaid by sand. They lie near a slough which borders the
farm on the north side, as shown in the plat. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, and 7
are mounds, No: 8 a sink or excavation, and No.9 a platform or terrace.

No. 6, circular in form, is 60 feet in diameter, a little over 4 feet high,
and has growing on it several trees, the largest a hackberry 7 feet in
circumference. It was excavated to and slightly below the original
surface of the ground, but nothing was found except a few small sand-
stones. The interesting feature of this mound is its internal structure,
which will be understood by reference to the vertical section shown in
Fig. 75.

In the first place a central core of sand ¢ appears to have been
thrown up 40 feet in diameter at the top (1 to 2), and about 4 feet high.
Around this apparently in order to secure it, was placed a ring of the
black waxy soil (bb), so as properly to round it off. The V-shaped de-
pression in the top (d) measured 3 feet in diameter at the top and ex-

12 ETH——10

146 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

tended downward about 2 feet. It was filled with a mass of hard
white sand. Over the whole was a layer of sand about 1 foot thick.

The structure of this mound is suggestive of the so-called “altar
mounds” of Ohio. Squier and Davis speak in one place of an altar or
altar-shaped mass of sand found in a mound.!

WW

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uly
OH]
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Fic. 74.—Schlimpert mounds, Jackson county, Illinois.

No. 7, 60 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, was composed almost
wholly of the black waxy soil, with here and there small masses of
sand. Nothing was found in it.

No. 4 was composed entirely of sand except the top layer; nothing
was found in it.

THOMAS. ] MOUND WITH A SAND CORE. 147

No. 5, a small mound, was composed wholly of sand; No. 2, of the
black waxy soil; No. 1, the largest of the group and somewhat oval in
form—longest diameter, 110 feet; shortest, 100 feet, about 8 feet high—
bore a strong resemblance in its construction to No. 6.

The central portion of the last was filled with black waxy soil mixed
with sand containing particles of wood coal. The diameter of this por-
tion was 44 feet. A few flint implements such as spear heads and
arrow points were obtained from the surface of this mound.

A very interesting feature of this group is the platform or low, flat,
rectangular mound, marked No. 9 ou the plat. This is about 100 feet
long, 50 feet wide, and 2 feet high. It is quite level on top and stands
on the edge of a low bench, so that the eastern side is somewhat higher
than the western. The sides run a little west of north.

A short distance northeast of mound No. 4 is a circular sink (No. 8
on the plat), about 80 feet in diameter and 14 feet deep, which appears
to be an artificial excavation.

\\\\\

Fig. 75.—Section of mound on Schlimpert’s place, Jackson county, Illinois.

Some small mounds on Big Muddy river, in Sec. 22, T. 10 8., R. 3 W.,
were also examined.

No. 1 is about 75 feet in diameter, 4 feet high, and flat on top. At
the depth of 4 feet, on the natural surface of the ground, but at dif-
ferent points, were two skeletons of adults extended, with the heads
west and faces up. Several layers of stone were placed over them, in
fact the mound, to the depth of 3 feet, was composed in great part of
flat stones, some of which would weigh probably 150 pounds. The only
relic found in this mound was a broken flint implement.

No. 2, a quarter of a mile south of No. 1, although only 3 feet high
and of the same diameter as the preceding, was largely occupied by
stone graves.

Grave No. 1, 25 feet long and 9 inches wide, contained the badly
decayed bones of a child.

Grave No. 2, 3 feet long and 10 inches wide, also contained the bones
of a child; badly decayed.

Grave No. 3, 34 feet long and 1 foot wide, was occupied by the bones
of an adult. There was no stone layer in the bottom of this cist.

Grave No. 4 was 6 feet long and 1 foot wide; No. 5, 4 feet long and 1
foot wide; No. 6, same size as No. 5, and No. 7, 24 feet long and 1 foot
wide; each contained the bones of a single adult,

148 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

ALEXANDER COUNTY.
WORKS ON HALE’S PLACE.

About half a mile below the little village of Mill Creek, Union county
(but just across the county line), a long ridge extending southeast ter-
minates in the low ground in the angle at the junction of Cooper with
Mill creek. On the top of this ridge, at its lower terminus, are two or
three low mounds and many stone graves, some of which had been pre-
viously opened and pottery, beads, and other articles taken from them.
These appear to bein the midst of, or rather on, an immense refuse

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Fic. 76.—Mounds on Hale’s place, Jackson county, Hlinois.

heap; in fact, the whole top of the ridge appears to be covered to a
depth of from 3 to 6 feet with an accumulation of flint chips, broken
deer bones, broken pottery, mussel shells, ete. Charcoal, burned lime-
stone, and other evidences of fire are plentifully scattered throughout
the mass. The locality would probably be better described as a
“kitchen heap,” averaging 4 or 5 feet in depth and covering several
acres.

The works and the grounds are shown in the annexed diagram (Fig.
76). The line aa running across the ridge marks the boundary line at

|

THOMAS. ] WORKS ON HALE’S PLACE. 149

this point between Union and Alexander counties; and Mill creek bb the
boundary line between Alexander and Pulaski counties. The remains
are, therefore, at the point where these three counties meet, but in
Alexander. The line e e represents the fence which separates the land
of Mr. Hale on the right (Sec. 5, T. 14 S., R. 1 W.) from that owned by
Mr. Hileman on the left. The boundary of the refuse heap is desig-
nated by the heavy shadings, the mounds by the Figs. 1,2, and 3. No.
1 is nearly square and some 6 or 8 feet high; on it Mr. Hileman has
built his dwelling house. No. 3 is a small pile of flint chips. No. 2 is
irregular in outline, as shown in the figure, and about 4 feet high.
Permission was granted to make excavations on the east side of the
fence only.

Mound No. 2, as before stated, is about 4 feet high. Its length was
found to be about 100 feet and average width 40 feet. The direction
of the length is a little west of north. The surface was covered with
loose flat stones thrown out by former explorers who had made a par-
tail examination. A trench about 5 feet wide was carried obliquely
across the middle directly east and west. Scattered through the soil to
the depth of 5 or 6 inches were flint chips, fragments of stone and pot-
tery and bits of bones. Lying lengthwise with the ditch, about 6 feet
from the east end, was an open stone grave or cist, the side stones
reaching to the surface of the mound but still in place. This we called
by way of distinetion ‘“Grave No.1.” It was 34 feet long and 14 inches
wide (inside measurement). The top had been removed, The sides
and ends were of limestone slabs from 1 to 2 feet long by 1 to 14 wide
and from 1 to 2 inches thick. The contents of the grave had been
removed by previous explorers.

Immediately west of this, and 1 foot below the surface, were four
large, roughly worked flint implements.

No. 2, immediately east of No. 1, had been partially rifled, but some
bits of a skull and other bones and some small fragments of pottery
were found in it. Below the bottom layer of stone, which was still in
place, was a layer of charcoal and other evidences of fire; the char-
coal stratum rested on a layer of rich black dirt about 10 inches thick,
which lay on the yellow clay 2 feet below the surface. In this were
some Unio and turtle shells and bits of pottery.

No. 3, immediately west of No. 1, was near the surface, but had been
rifled.

No. 4, by the side of No. 3, but at a lower level, 6 feet long, 1 foot
wide by 7 inches deep at the foot, and 14 inches wide by 12 deep at
the head, had the boxing stones all in place, those of the cover laid on
like shingles, beginning at the foot. This contained a single skeleton,
stretched full length on the back, feet to the east; the head was sup-
ported on deer horns. The skull was secured entire as were also most
of the long bones. Two roughly dressed flints were found near the
head, and in the same locality a small perforated bone.

150 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

No. 5, above and just west of No. 4, and near the surface, measured
but 2 feet and 10 inches in length. It had been disturbed and, besides
the dirt, contained nothing but some small bones.

No. 6 lay obliquely across the trench; the feet of the skeleton toward
the southeast at the surface of the ground and uncovered. The bones
were much decayed. Length of the grave, 632 feet.

No. 7, just west of No. 6, parallel to it, and less than 6inches from it,
was 7 feet long; width, from 12 to 16 inches.

No.8 lay with head resting below the feet of Nos. 6 and 7; length, 6
feet 9 inches. It was covered with several layers of thin flat stones,
the lowest of which rested directly on the bones; skeleton at full length
lying on the back. The skull was crushed by the weight of the stones
that lay upon it. A few waterworn pebbles were noticed in this grave
and also in No. 7. Signs of fire were observed immediately under the
layer of stones forming the bottom, indicating that a fire had been
kindled here and the stones afterward laid on the ashes. Some bits of
charcoal were mixed with the dirt in nearly all the graves.

No. 9, immediately north of the east end of No. 8, formed in part by
the same side stones and covered by the same slabs, was evidently the
grave of an infant, being but 24 feet long by 14 inches wide. The bones
were mostly decayed. Near the head in a triangular cavity between
two stones was a quantity of peculiar pinkish material which contained
bits of lead ore. At the foot were four or five roughly worked flints
and as many smaller ones at the head.

No. 10 was on the north side of No. 9, and very near it, and measured
23 feet in length by 9 in width. A few infant bones were found in it,
but mostly decayed. Under these were two rough flints.

No. 11, near the surface, contained the bones of a child that had not
lost its first teeth.

No. 12, also near the surface, contained an adult skeleton lying on
the back with feet to the south; the skull was broken. A small pot,
with handle on one side, stood near the back of the head.

No. 15 was the grave of an infant, being 24 feet long and 8 inches
wide. This was under No. 5 and on the same level as No. 14.

No. 14.—This was immediately below No. 8, the sides almost corre-
sponding with the latter, and on the same level as No. 13, that is to
say, 3 feet below the surface. Length, 5 feet 8 inches. Two fragments
of fossil wood, placed near the neck of the skeleton, were the only ob-
jects found.

Below this grave was black soil several inches thick, and then yellow
clay. The latter lay 4 feet below the surface of the mound. The size
of this grave and the small rounded skull render it probable that this
was the resting place of a woman.

Nos. 15 and 16.—No 16 was on the same level as No. 14, but lay with
its foot toward the head of the latter. It contained the remains of an
adult. No. 15 lay in the same direction as and immediately above No.

‘nied

THOMAS. ] STONE GRAVES ON HALE’S PLACE. 151

16. It also contained the well-preserved skeleton of an adult, the skull
of which was secured. ;

No. 20, near the surface was 6 feet long and 16 inches wide at the
head. This grave contained two skeletons the bones of which were
very well preserved; they were lying side by side, the head of one a
few inches nearer the end than that of the other. <A quantity of red
paint had been deposited near the chin of the one nearest the end while
some flat, cireular beads, made of mussel shells, placed between their
breasts.

Fic. 77.—Skull from mound on Hale's place (side view).

From about the foot of grave No. 20, trench No. 1 was carried through
a kitchen heap consisting of an immense number of flint chips, showing
charcoal, burned limestone, broken bones of animals, broken pottery,
ete. This was 24 feet deep here and rested on yellow clay. In a pros-
pect hole sunk just west of the foot of grave No. 20, the clay proved
to be only a layer less than a foot thick, resting on a layer of pure char-
coal. There were no flints in either of these layers, but some broken
bones, deer horns, and pottery were found in the charcoal stratum. A
short distance west of this prospect hole, about 18 inches below the sur-
face, the trench cut through some human bones that were not inclosed

152 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

in stone cists; the femora and shin bones were lying side by side and
some fragments of the skull and lower jaw bones with them.

About 12 feet west of pit No.1, in another prospect pit, the flint
layer was from 14 to 2 feet thick and contained fewer bones and pot-
tery; at a depth of about 5 feet were some pockets of charcoal but no
continuous layer.

A few graves were found immediately south of trench No. 1, from one
of which, that of a child, were obtained some univalve shells that had
been perforated and worn around the neck. This small grave, only 23

Fira. 78.—Skull from mound on Hale's place (front view).

inches long by 6 inches wide, contained some bits of a heavy mineral,
perhaps pulverized lead ore.

Another child’s grave contained a single gasteropod shell at the
chin, another the skeletons of two children; the skull of the lower one
of these two skeletons was filled with pure light-colored sand, the only
sand seen in the mound.

Trench No. 5 was run from near the northeast corner of the mound.
Graves 1 and 2 of this trench had been disturbed.

In grave 5 about a foot- below the surface, the skeleton was well pre-
served. Tlere a number of shell beads were obtained which had been

THOMAS.] STONE GRAVES ON HALE’S PLACE. 153

worn around the waist. A skull and some other bones were found in
the same grave at the feet of this skeleton.

No. 4 lay directly below No. 3. From this was obtained a nearly
perfect skull. It is small and the front narrow. (See Figs. 77 and 78.)
This grave was one of the lowest tier, as it rested on the natural clay,

No. 5 was also in the bottom layer. Near the head of the skeleton
which this contained were two wooden trinkets in the form of elongate
beads perforated lengthwise. They are about 1 inch long and half an
inch thick and bear copper stains, rendering it probable they were
originally covered with a thin plate of this metal. Their position near
the head probably justifies the belief that they were used as ear pend-
ants.

No. 6 was on the same level as No. 5, and close by the side of it.
There were no indications that this grave had been disturbed, yet the
skull was standing upright facing the feet, aud
directly in front of it, lying across the skeleton,
were the femora and shin-bones. The lower
jaw had been dislocated, and placed at the left
side of the skull. The other bones were in their
proper position. A long bone needle was stick-
ing up above the jaw, and some flakes of copper
marked with flutings or ridges, like a piece taken
from this mound by Mr. Bankstone, were found
scattered through the dirt. On the bottom of
the grave, to the left of the skull and under the
lower jaw, were the remains of some woven bark
matting stained with copper, and near the elbow
of the right arm was an oblong bead of wood

Fic. 79.—Bone plate from

coated with oxide of copper similar to those stesiiayilionn TEtsHTa | kee
heretofore mentioned.

No. 7 was near the surface of the mound. From it was obtained a
very perfect skull and other bones; one femur is curiously deformed.
No implements or ornaments accompanied the skeleton.

No.8 was about 1 foot below the surface with top open. This small
grave, which was only 18 inches long and 12 inches wide, contained the
bones of a single skeleton closely packed. The lower jaw, however,
was missing. The skull was marked on both sides with copper stains.

Trench No. 4 was run from near the southeast end of the mound,
revealing two or three disturbed graves. In one of these was a skull
with jaws open; in another the feet were lying in the wrong direction,
the only case of the kind noticed. Near the head stood a small mug in
the shape of some animal. Some thin plates of bone or turtle shell,
each about 2 inches long, 14 inches wide, very thin, a little cup-shaped,
and drilled with four or more holes (see Fig. 79), were found lying
closeiy packed together in a separate stone grave or box hardly a foot
long. There was nothing else in the box,

154 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

In a grave a little to the west of this trench, near the surface, lay
a Skeleton stretched at full length. The skull was small and curiously
flattened at the back and lying face down.

The northwestern end of this mound is its highest point, but there
were no burials in this portion. From the dirt thrown out of one of
these graves was obtained the Catholic medal shown in Fig. 80.

Subsequently to the exam-
ination of the works on the Hale
place above referred to, some
further explorations were made
in the large mound, which was
not completely worked over by
the agent who first visited it.
Two additional trenches were
carried through it, running
north and south. These re-
vealed the fact that the south
AGED Gabi pln medal frm mand oa Hiei ed Wikes wider was cOnpasedmoteneiieg
matter, mostly flint chips, with some fragments of pottery, bones, deer
horns, etc. Inthis part there were no stone graves.

In a child’s grave in the upper tier near the center of the mound was
a small pot placed by the head of the skel-
eton. In the same part of the mound, 3
feet below the surface and immediately
beneath a small walnut tree, was a stone
coffin 7 feet long, of the usual width, which
contained three skeletons. The heads of
two of the skeletons had been separated
from the bodies to which they belonged
and laid side by side at the end of the cof-
fin, and the other bones placed at the
sides near the foot. The head of the third
skeleton lay on the other skulls. (See Fig.
81.) The head of this coffin, like most of
the others in the mound, was toward the
west. The three skulls were saved. One
of them is somewhat broken, but was pre-
served because of a singular protuberance
on the top. In this coffin were some yellow
paint, Unio shells, and two round stones,
all lying near the upper skull.

Several other graves were explored—all in fact which had not been
previously disturbed, but nothing found except skeletons and a few
river shells.

Fic. 81.—Stone grave on Hale’s place.

INDIAN DIGGINGS.

Not far from the little town of Mill Creek, and situated on Sees. 35
and 36, T, 15 8., R. 2 W. are the so-called Indian Diggings. These

THOMAS. ] WORKS ON LINN’S PLACE. 155

consist of numerous pits which have been dug at some distant day
along the sides and on the tops of narrow ridges in quarrying the flint
or chert found here. They are now partially filled up and covered by
the forest growth no way differing from that about them, Scattered
all over the ground in the vicinity of these pits are immense numbers
of flint or chert nodules, nearly all of which are broken; two only were
discovered that were unbroken. Several large flint implements were
also found.

There are several places in this neighborhood where the flint taken
from these pits was manufactured into implements, as large beds of
flint chips of the same stone occur in which are many unfinished tools
some of them showing good workmanship.

In the same neighborhood as the preceding, on See. 30, T. 138., R. 1
W., a number of stone graves were found and explored, but presented
nothing different from those already described. However, a discovery
was made here which deserves notice.

In the immediate vicinity, in fact but a few feet from some of the
graves, a stone pavement was discovered about a foot below the sur-
face of the ground. When fully exposed by removal of the earth this
proved to be level, nearly circular, and about 9 feet in diameter. It
was composed of flat pieces of limestone so neatly and closely fitted
together that it was difficult to find a place where the steel prod could
be thrust down between them. These showed the effect of fire, some
of them crumbling into lime when disturbed; mingled with and scat-
tered through the earth which covered them were ashes, charcoal, and
charred fragments of human bones. In this earth was also discovered
a small clay pot. The graves and pavement are not in or near a mound,
but on the highest point of a hill and in a cultivated field.

A number of rude stone implements werefound on the surface of the
ground. There is also one point on the farm where these discoveries
were made, where the surface is covered with flint chips to such an
extent that itis difficult to plow it. As the flint diggings are near by,
it is probable that stone implements were manufactured here, many
unfinished and imperfect specimens being seattered over the ground.

UNION COUNTY.
ANCIENT WORKS ON LINN’S PLACE,

The first published notice of these interesting works was given by
Mr. T. M. Perrine, of Anna, Illinois, in the Smithsonian Report for
1872.)

They are situated in the southwest part of Union county (See. 30,
T.138., R. 2 W.), on'the bottom land of the Mississippi, a mile or more
from this river. The immediate spot upon which they are located is a
portion of the upper level of the bottom land, which is here some 10 or
12 feet above the swamp land which surrounds it on the west and

1 Pp. 418-420.

156 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

northwest. Thisarea, however, was overflowed in the great rise of 1844,
and also in 1882, the large mound hereafter described being the only
part not under water. A creek runs along the east and northeast, sep-
arating the area from the bluff. The soilis a rich deep alluvium, under-
laid by sand, with neither rock nor gravel in place.

Referring to the annexed plat (Fig. 82) made by Prof. Hull from a

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Fic. 82.—Plat of works on Linn's place, Union county, Illinois.

careful survey taken by him during our visit, we see that a wall, start-
ing on the west side of the creek at the east end of the inclosure, runs
thence southward to the bend, a distance of 400 feet, where it curves
southwestward 126 feet. From this point if runs almost directly west
to the corner 1,168 feet; thence north 1,036 feet to the northwest cor-
ner, thence east to the bank of the creek 569 feet, embracing in these
boundaries about 28 acres,

THOMAS. ] WORKS ON LINN’S PLACE. 157

The portion of the wall in the field, where it is much worn down, is
not more than 2 feet high, while that part north of the fence and in the
woods is from 4 to 5 feet high with indications of a ditch along the in-
side, though nothing of the kind is observable in the field. The width
in the field varies from 20 to 25 feet, but is somewhat
less in the woodland where not so much worn down. b
On this part there are a number of oak trees from 1 to
2 feet or more in diameter.

A rough outline figure of the large mound (marked a
in the plat) as seen from the east at a distance of about
300 yards is shown in Fig. 83. The little rise at cis a
low flat mound composed chiefly of fragments of lime-
stone partly calcined, situated a few yards immediately
south of the large mound. The length of the eastern
side of the large mound, from 1 to 2, is 160 feet; the
height at a is 13 feet; at b 1145 feet and at m 12 feet.
These letters, a, b, and m, also mark the places where
pits were sunk during the first examination. The cir-
cumference of the base is 544 feet.

Ata, the highest point, a pit about 4 feet wide and
10 feet long was sunk to the depth of 10 feet; some
pieces of burnt clay, small fragments of human bones
and flakes of flint were found scattered irregularly
through it for the first 5 feet, but below this only sand.

Three other pits were sunk in the depressed portion
(b). In the first, at the depth of 3 feet, a bed of light,
dry ashes was discovered, nearly a foot thick but only
a few feet in extent horizontally. In this were two
rather large fragments of pottery, one inside of the
other, as though they had been so placed originally.
At the depth of 4 feet a pot with ears was found,
mouth upward, It still retained, in part, its original
reddish-brown color.

Below this was a layer of sand similar to that found
in pit a Near the surface were some small irregular
pieces of burnt clay. In the second pit, some 3 feet
northwest of the first, nothing of interest was found until a depth of
4 feet was reached. At this point a considerable quantity of charred
grass and ashes was observed.

In the third of these three pits a number of rather large irregular
pieces of burned clay, similar to that already mentioned, were found
near the surface. About 3 feet from the surface lay a flat rock of con-
siderable size. A foot below this a layer of burned clay was encoun-
tered, the upper surface of which was as smooth and even as pottery.
This proved to be part of an arch, the central portion of which had
been broken and thrown down.

‘oUTTJNO [voseA ‘dnois uury ‘y punoyy—'eg “py

158 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

As the pit sunk by Mr. Perrine was very near this point there can
be no doubt that this was a portion of the arch he speaks of. He also
speaks of a wall of stone. This was not found, unless the large stone
mentioned formed a part of it.

This arch or dome of clay had evidently been spread over the surface
of the mound when it had reached a height of 5 or 6 feet and over this
dry grass and brush had been spread and burned. A large quantity
of the charred grass and bits of wood-coal were found around the mar-
gin of this arch as far as explored, making it apparent that the fire had
been extinguished probably by throwing dirt upon it before the grass
and brush were entirely consumed. Immediately below the arch we
came upon a thick loose bed of ashes.

In another pit the strata were as follows: First, a layer of earth with
particles of charcoal mixed through it, 3 feet 8 inches; next, a layer of
burnt sand and clay with evidences of straw having been used, 3
inches; then another layer of earth 1 foot 10 inches; then a second
layer of burnt sand and clay 4 inches thick, with indications of straw;
next, a layer of sand 5 inches; then a third layer of burnt sand and clay
3 inches (similar to the others); a layer of sand, 3 feet; and last a layer
of ashes, 3 inches.

But few things were found during these excavations; still they are of
some importance in our efforts to learn the method and object of build-
ing this mound. They consist of burnt straw, grass, and charcoal found
on the upper side of each layer of burnt clay, the clay itself showing
evidence of having gtass mixed withit. Possibly this admixture may
have resulted from tramping the grass into the soft clay while spread-
ing it over the surface previous to firing it.

Fragments of burnt, cherty limestone, similar to that composing the
little mound at the south end, marked ¢in Fig. 85, were found all through
the second trench. Numerous fragments of pottery and several trag-
ments of human bones; irregular pieces of burnt clay resembling brick;
a few fragments of river shells (Unio); and some rude flint implements
were also found. Among the ashes at the bottom were some fragments
of bone and pottery; one of the pieces of bone was found in the concave
side of a large fragment of pottery. At another point in the same layer
were fragments of pottery, bones, and shells.

Firmly imbedded in the middle layer of burnt clay, was a broken
pot and with it were pieces of bone. Three feet from the surface and
above the upper layer of clay, another broken pot was obtained; this
was filled with ashes, firmly packed and mixed with particles of char-
coal. Under the second layer of clay was a small pot filled with sand
with a thin layer of ashes on thetop. At one point between the upper
and middle layers of clay was a small bed of ashes mixed with frag-
ments of pottery, animal bones, and a piece of shell. In a small bed
of ashes under the middle layer of clay were potsherds and some
broken and split bones.

THOMAS.] MOUNDS ON ROUND POND. 159

At a point between the upper and middle layers of clay, with frag-
ments of pottery, pieces of bone and charcoal, was discovered a piece
of charred wood.

Mound }, about 450 feet east of a, of the form shown in the plat, is
190 feet long by 66 in width, and 5 feet high. Two pits were dug in
this and a few detached pieces of human bones found.

Mound ¢ is 100 feet in diameter and 9 feet high; d, a little smaller
and 6 feet high; e, about 150 feet in diameter and a little over 4 feet
high; f and g are circular excavations outside of the wall; the for-
mer 120 feet in diameter and 5 feet deep; the latter with the longer
diameter 154 feet; depth, 7 feet. Excavations made in the bottom of
these indicate that they were artificially lined with a coating of stiff
clay. At s is another sink, apparently artificial, but now partially
filled with mold of decaying vegetation, leaves, ete.

The “hut rings” or small circular depressions surrounded by slight
earthen rings, indicated in Fig. 82 by little circles, are scattered irregu-
larly over the wooded portion of the inclosure, the number exceeding
100. They vary in diameter from 20 to 50 feet, and in depth from 1 to
3 feet and are often but a few feet apart.

MOUND ON RUNNING LAKE,

This mound, or rather remnant of a mound, is near Running lake in
the southwestern part of Union county. <A part of it had been removed
for filling purposes on the line of the Mobile and Ohio railroad, which
runs near it. It appears to have been about 9 feet high, and 60 feet in
diameter and composed of sand, with the exception of 2 feet of top soil.
At one point, about 2 feet below the surface, the leg bones of a single
individual were found; no other bones were with them; at another and
about the same depth were the bones of two feet and a deer’s horn.
Some pots and other implements were obtained from it by parties who
had previously examined it. The parts of the skeleton found scattered
through the mound appear to have been separated previous to burial.

MOUNDS ON ROUND POND.

These mounds are situated by the side of the public highway near
the Reynolds place 2 miles from the Mississippi river and on the bank
of a little lake known as Round pond. Two of them are so close to-
gether that one appears partially to overlap the other as shown in the
accompanying sketch (Fig. 84).

No.1 is 40 feet in diameter, 6 feet high, and of the usual conical form.
Two trenches near the nriddle carried down to the original surface
showed it to be composed entirely of sand except the top layer of soil
1} feet thick, but no bones or remains of any kind were observed.
The top had been nearly covered with graves, but they were empty,
having been rifled of their contents by previous explorers.

160 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

No. 2 is only about 25 feet in diameter and 35 feet high, and, like the
other, is composed entirely of sand, except the top layer. On the west
side, near the middle, were two empty stone graves (¢ ¢), each 7 feet
long, 18 inches wide, and about 1 foot in depth, covered with a thin
layer of soil. In the road where it crosses the connecting portions
of the two mounds were
three stone graves (a @
a). These, like the two
in the mound, lay east
and west, but weremuch
smaller, being only 20
inches long, 16 inches
wide, and 15 inches
deep, and were at the
surface of the ground.
Two were empty, but
in the other was a skel-
eton doubled up, the
skull and trunk lying
on the left side, the
lower jaw touching the
west end of the grave; the trunk was bent double, the backbone touch-
ing the south side. Although confined in this narrow space, this was
the skeleton of an adult.

A few flint specimens were picked up from the surface of the ground
about the mounds. ,

¥Fia. 84.—Round pond mounds, Union county, Ilinois.

ANCIENT GRAVES.

These box-shaped stone cists are on a spur of the bluffs which bound
the Mississippi bottoms in the NW. 4 See. 16, T.138., R. 2 W. This
spur is about 400 feet high, has steep sides and a narrow top.

Grave ‘No. 1, 2 feet under the surface, lay northeast and southwest;
length, 6 feet; width, 2 feet; depth, 1 foot; bottom formed of two flat
stones; each side of five similar stones and each end of two; the cover
was in three layers, each formed of two rather thick flat stones. In
the grave were two skeletons, an adult and a child, stretched at full
length, faces up, and heads southwest. Under the skull of the adult
were a bone needle and two stoneimplements. At the feet was a long-
necked bottle-shaped vase. These remains were covered with very dry,
yellow earth which well-nigh filled the grave.

No. 2, 10 feet north of No. 1, was of the same size and form, but the
top in this case had fallen in. It was 3 feet under the surface, lay east
and west, and contained oue skeleton, at full length upon its back,
head west, bones comparatively sound. Under and near the skull
were a Sinal], circular, shell ornament, bone awl, bone needle, and bone
punch. Two small pieces of thin copper plate were discovered, but
were so corroded and fragile that they fell into minute particles when

THOMAS. } STONE GRAVES IN UNION COUNTY. 161

handled. This grave was very dry, and nearly full of a loose, dry,
yellowish earth.

Four other stone graves were opened in section 20, same township
and range. These were on a stony bench, east of the bottom, about 30
feet high. They were of the same form and size as the others, but
were only about 6 inches under the surface. These graves contained
nothing but rotten bones.

Another ancient cemetery is situated on the brow of a high, abrupt
hill, NW.4Sec. 16, T. 10 8., R. 2 W., at the foot of which is the ‘‘ Upper
Bluff lake.” The graves are of stone, similar to those mentioned.
Quite a number had been previously opened by Mr. T. M. Perrine.

Grave No. 1 contained the skeleton of an adult, extended, face up,
head west. The cover to the coffin, which had not been disturbed,
was 2 feet below the surface.

In this grave were one discoidal stone, one shell, and several pieces
of copper plates. One of the latter, badly corroded, bears the impressed
figure of a bird, similar to that
shown further on in Pl, xv111, but
wanting the head; the other,
bearing dancing figures, is fortu-
nately but slightly corroded; it
measures 6 by 64 inches, and is
shown in Fig. 85. The latter
plate was lying flat on the bottom
rock of the grave at the left of
the skull immediately above the
shoulder.

No. 2, only 2 feet long, was evi-
dently the grave of a child, as
indicated by the skeleton. In it
was an earthen bowl. Fie. 85.—Copper plate bearing dancing figures,

No. 3 contained all the bones ae Rai Orne
of a full-sized adult, but they were piled together in a coffin only 2
feet long. Most of them were quite firm, but the skull was broken.
With them was an earthenware pot with two handles or ears.

No. 4 was the grave of a child and contained, besides the skeleton,
two earthern vessels, one a small dish, at the head, the other, a bowl,
at the feet. Over this grave stands a black oak 9 feet in circumfer-
ence which has evidently grown there since the grave was made, as
some of the largest roots ran into it. Immediately under the trunk
was another grave which was partially explored through the large hol-
low of the base. From it was obtained a broken dish. Upon one of
the graves had been piled as much as a wagonload of stones. This
was a few feet down the slope of the hill, and contained three skeletons
and one long-necked water vessel.

In the majority of the graves opened at this place the skulls were

12 ETH—11

162 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

broken. Although most of the stone coffins were from 5 to 7 feet long
and the skeletons in them lying at full length, others did not exceed 2
feet in length and 1 in width. In the latter the bones were in a con-
fused heap, showing that the flesh must have been removed before
burial.

In section 29, same township, on land belonging to Mr. Joseph Hind-
man, is another cemetery of stone graves. It is on a bench about 50
feet above the creek bottom. Fifteen of these graves were examined.
The bones in most of them were comparatively firm and well preserved.

Grave No. 1, 2 feet 3 inches long and 18 inches wide, contained all
the bones of an adult and a water vessel.

No. 2 contained only a few badly decayed bones.

No. 3, 24 feet long and 15 inches wide, contained all the bones of an
adult, rather firm but the skull broken.

No. 4, 2 feet long, 18 inches wide, and 15 inches deep, contained the
bones of an adult.

No. 5, 64 feet long and 15 inches wide, contained a single, extended
skeleton, head west, face up.

No. 7, 2 feet 4 inches long, 2 feet wide, and 15 inches deep, was filled
with bones, apparently of three adults, as there were three skulls; they
were piled in without order.

In grave No. 9, 55 feet long and only 15 inches wide, were two ex-
tended skeletons, quite firm, the skulls of which were secured.

Nos. 6, 8, and 10 contained only badly decayed bones.

No. 12, 54 feet long, 18 inches wide, contained one skeleton, extended,
head west. Bones firm, but skull broken; by the latter stood a small
water jar.

No. 13 was of the same length as No. 12, but only 1 foot wide (inside
measurement in all cases); skeleton extended and bones badly decayed.

No. 14, length 44 feet, contained the skeleton of a child, extended;
near the skull a small water jar and a bowl.

No. 15, 6 feet long, 16 inches wide, contained a single skeleton,
extended, head west, face up.

The graves here were not so deep in the ground as those in section
16, the tops of some of them being only 6 inches below the surface and
the deepest only 18 inches.

In the cemetery situated on the NW. } Sec. 16, T. 13S., R. 2 W.
is a circular stone grave south of the black oak tree. This grave, about
5 feet in diameter, was formed by standing on end short slabs of stone
around the cirele. The sides of the grave were slightly flaring. There
are some reasons for believing that this pertains to an earlier period
than the other graves, though nothing positive on this point could be
ascertained.

The graves on the Hindman place are only about half a mile from the
Linn mounds, those on the Hileman farm about 2 miles from them, and

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS IN LAWRENCE COUNTY. 163

those on the hill 3 miles. It is possible, theretore, that the people who
lived at the Linn farm and built the mounds and other works there
buried their dead at one or more of those places.

LAWRENCE COUNTY.

It was ascertained by the Bureau agent that some of the supposed
mounds on the bluff or ridge opposite Vincennes, in which skeletons
have been found are natural hillocks but used as burying grounds by
the aborigines.

BROWN’S MILL MOUNDS.

These are on Embarrass river 6 miles west of Vincennes, on the farm
of Dr. F. R. Austin. There are but two in the group, one 4 and the
other 6 feet high. Excavations to the base revealed nothing but sand,
though stone implements and fragments of pottery have been plowed
up here, some of which were obtained.

MOUNDS NEAR RUSSELLVILLE.

These are situated near the bank of the Wabasl-about a mile south-
east of the town on the farm of Mr. William Wise. One had been
opened a short time before the Bureau investigation and a skeleton
found at the depth of 2 feet; a flat rock was lying over it, but no
relics of any kind with it. Two others formerly stood near it, but have
been remoyed. According to local information several skeletons were
found at the bottom and with them two iron tomahawks, sume pipes,
some shells and glass beads, and parts of three pairs of beaded buck-
skin moccasins.

Another mound on the Lawrenceville road, about 3 miles southeast
of Russellville, had also been opened and several skeletons found about
2 feet below the surface, with heads outward and feet toward the center.
No articles of any kind were with them.

Near the town of Russellville formerly stood several mounds, but
they were excavated in repairing the road. In these were found arrow-
heads, a silver breast ornament, two iron tomahawks, a crescent-shaped
earring, two stone turtles, two copper kettles, a brass ring, and several
skeletons, all at the bottom of the mound.

MISSOURI.
CLARK COUNTY.

Between Fox river and Sugar creek a sharp dividing ridge, about
100 feet high, extends for a distance of nearly 2 miles, in a northwest-
erly direction, from where these streams debouch to the open bottoms
of the Mississippi.

At an abrupt turn to the east, near the middle, there is a bold point
much higher, capped by an ancient mound which is surmounted by a

164 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

station of the U.S. Coast Survey. This is one of a line of circular
mounds scattered irregularly along the crest of this ridge, as shown in
the accompanying diagram (Fig. 86). These range in size from 15 to
50 feet in diameter at the
base and from 2 to 6 feet
high. The entire ridge is
now covered with scatter-
ing large red and white
oaks and dense thickets.

The following circular
mounds, numbering from
the south end of the line,
were opened:

No. 1, 30 feet base, 3 feet
high, in which were found
only fragments of rude pot-
tery.

No. 2, very small; noth-
ing found in it.

No. 3, diameter 35 feet,
height 5 feet. In the cen-
tral part of this was a box-
shaped stone coffin, or cist,
2 feet wide and 7 feet long.
This was covered by stone
slabs, as usual, and then
with enough rougher ones
to form a heap over it.
Over this was hard earth
which filled the interstices
as though it had been a
mortar when placed there.
Over all was a foot or more
of yellowish earth similar
to that forming the ridge.
In the coffin was the skel-
etonof an adult, lying hori-
zontally on the back, but
too much decayed for re-
moval. No stone imple-
ments or other articles of
any kind were with it.

No. 4, a trifle smaller than No. 3, was opened by running a trench
from the eastern side. For a distance of 15 or 16 feet only ordinary
earth was encountered, with which the whole mound to the depth of 2
feet appeared to be covered; then a layer of rough stones, charcoal,

ws

Ze

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p, Clarke county, Missouri.

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Fie. 86.—Mound grou

To

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS IN CLARK COUNTY. 165

and ashes, with bones intermixed. In fact, the indications were that
one or more bodies (or the bones) had been burned in a fire upon the

‘natural surface of the earth near the center; the coals and brands then

covered with rough stones thrown on without system to the depth of
3 feet over a space 10 or 12 feet in diameter, and these covered with
hard, light-colored earth. Only fragments of charred human bones
and rude pottery and stone chips were found commingled with the
charcoal and ashes of the fire.

Several of the next (and larger) mounds had been previously opened
by other parties.

Nos. 16, 23, 25, and 26 were excavated, but nothing of interest was
obtained from them. All except the last (No. 26) had a hard core in
the center at the base, but this (No. 26) was composed wholly of ordi-
nary earth similar to that about it, and was easily spaded to the bot-
oe ANCIENT WORKS ON J. N. BOULWARE’S PLACE.

These are in Clark county, but near the line between it and Lewis
county, and on the land of Mr. John N. Boulware, 10 miles north of
Canton. Ordinary circular mounds are found scattered along the bluffs
and terraces of the Mississippi for 7 miles southward from those here-
tefore mentioned near Fox river, to the group on Mr. Boulware’s place.
This group is on a bench or terrace, from 20 to 40 feet above the open
bottoms of the Mississippi, and extending less than half a mile there-
from to the bluffs, which rise nearly 100 feet higher. Of these, fifty-one
are in a woods pasturefrom which the undergrowth has been removed,
affording a fine opportunity for exploration. A diagram of this group
is given in Pl. vi.

No. 4 was opened, and in it, near the top, were found the much
decayed fragments of a human skeleton and some broken pottery encir-
cled by a row of flat stones, set up edgewise and covered by others
lying flat above them. Beneath these was a layer of very hard, light-
colored earth, scattered through which were fragments of charred
human bones, pottery, charcoal, and stone chips.

No. 5 was examined, but nothing was found except a core of hard
earth having the appearance of dried mortar, in which were patches of
soft charcoal, fragments of pottery, and flakes of stone.

The road runs near No. 50, and has cut away the eastern portion. A
trench through the remainder brought to light the femora of an ordi-
nary sized skeleton, but no trace of the other portions could be found.
With this were some rude stone scrapers, fragments of pottery, char-
coal, and ashes.

No. 46 is about 60 feet in diameter and 6 feet high, conical and unu-
sually symmetrical. A trench 6 feet wide was carried entirely across
it. The exterior layer, scarcely a foot thick, consisted of ordinary
top soil; the remainder was unmistakably composed of dried mor-
tar, in which fragments of charred human bones, small rounded pieces

166 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

of pottery, stone scrapers, and fleshers were commingled with charcoal
and ashes.

As all the mounds opened here presented this somewhat singular -

feature, a very careful examination was made of this mortar-like sub-
stance. It was found that there was a difference between different por-

tions in the same mound, sufficiently marked to trace the separate

masses. This would indicate that the mounds had been built by suc-
cessive deposits of mortar thus mixed with charred bones, etc., not in
strata, but in masses.

All the facts seem to indicate that the builders of these mounds
burned their dead, and that possibly each family mixed together the
charred remains, ashes, etc., forming one of these masses, 1 or 2 bush-
els in amount, and then deposited it with others to form the central
part of the mound.

The following is a list of the mounds of this group, showing the size
and form of each:

No. | Diameter. | Shape. Height. Remarks.

| | Bins SL eae ta
Feet. Ft. In.
1 33 | Circular -- 30}
2 30 |....do..... 30)
3 42) mstlojee et SG
4 Abi\Sae-00) 25-8 4 6 | Dug; human skeleton, fragments of pottery, etc.
5 54 |---.do----- 2 0 | Dug; hard earth like dried mortar.
6 AGy|te ecu. ae 5 0 | Dug; very hard light-colored earth; no remains.
7 Abl| aan Ole see 4 0 Dug; no remains in the hard earth.
8 Atal Reeci).ses 2 6
9 307|5-5-€0.ce- nO!
10 SOR sasedote tees 256)
ll GUN cee Oheemate 6 0) Dug; fragments of human bones and round pieces of pot-
tery in a matrix of dried morvar.
12 2D nein Ovo eiaas PU} :
13 PAV at ene AG
14 PAN Sc ten gee LG
15| 20by15| Oblong...) 1 6|
16} 75 by 20 | Wall-
shaped __| 2 0|
17 35 | Circular -.| 300
18 15 1 6
19 15 16
20 54 5 0|
21 20 2 0
22 60 5 0 |
23 | 66 |. 6 0
24 35 3 0}
25 50 | 5 0
26 50 |. 5 0 Dug; only fragments of charcoal,ashes, small rounded
pieces of bones and pottery.
27 by Ped Oeene = 2 0|
28 BO ee -G0) name 2 0
29 Of) Some seen 1 6|
30 | 20 |...do .....- £76"

THOMAS.] “SALT KETTLE POTTERY.” 167
= = ——— — =
No. | Diameter. Shape. | Height Remarks.
|
Feet. \ Be. In:
31 20 | Cireular..| 1 6
32 20 AiO Se>5 1 6
33 20) Se O meee 2 0)
34 21 300! Fei 1 Gi]
35 (5: |Sedom=etes | teil
36 23 |...do......| 1 6|
37 23 |...do ite 6:
38 22 -do 201
39 20 |...do ... 20]
40 | 15by11| Oblong.... 2 0 |
41 25 | Circular .., 2 0)
42 25 2 0
43 45 5 0
44 40 |. 4 0 | Dug; dried mortar in appearance.
45 20 |. ager a
46 60 |. | 6 0 | Dug; see description.
47 40 |. | 4 0 | Dug; found only fragments of human bones, and pottery.
48 30 Nt cesay 6
49 50 5 0
50 60 5 0 | Dug; found human bones.
51 45 4 0
OU ees ees oe oe POG msn sc | ace aat ‘These four mounds are on the Mississippi bottoms, eulti-
vated over for fifty years and much flattened but said
to have resembled No. 51 in size and form.
HBillee se Seka le Ba CO s~ seein pies a
ee pease bias ete |i OTe ae rs aes errs
Fi) | ee 3h Sas oc S(O Gaal eS oeesssig6

Excavation, 75 by 100 feet, 5 feet deep; nearly full of water.

LEWIS COUNTY.

The only work examined in this county was a mound 2 miles north
of Canton on the point of a bluff facing the Mississippi bottom. It is
‘oblong, the longer diameter being 46 feet and the shorter 32 feet;
A trench through the middle resulted in bringing to
light decayed human bones commingled with charcoal, ashes, a few frag-
ments of rude pottery, and stone chips. These were upon the natural
surface near the center, covered, first with nearly 3 feet of hard earth,
over this earth similar to the surrounding soil. An oak tree 3 feet in
diameter was growing on the northern slope.

The character of this mound and its contents connect it with those of
Clarke county.

height, 6 feet.

ST.

LOUIS COUNTY.

“SALT-KETTLE POTTERY.”

This is found near the Clifton Springs, 4 miles south of Kirkwood
and about 16 miles southwest of St. Louis.

Following a country road between the low rounded bluffs of a wind-
ing valley, we cross the brook twice within a distance of 400 yards, and
upon the point of a terrace, between these crossings, we find numerous

168 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

fragments of pottery fully an inch thick, being the heaviest ancient
pottery yet discovered in this country. As may be seen by the form of
specimens collected, the vessels were of unusually large size. No entire
vessels, however, have been found, but the fragments show that they
were low and shallow, like a salt pan or kettle, and destitute of ears or
handles.

As its popular name, ‘“Salt-kettle pottery,” indicates, it is generally

supposed to have been used in making salt.
A careful examina-

tion of the pottery was
made and the channel
of the brook enlarged
and deepened above
and below, and a large
drain made through
the lowland beyond it,
without discovering a
fragment of the pot-
tery or of the charcoal
or ashes of any ancient
fires. As no indica-
tions of a change in
the location of these
springs or of the qual-
ity of their waters,
which are as near sul-
phur as salt, were
found, it is very doubt-
ful whether the pot-
tery was ever used for

Ola field

Fic. 87.—The Ben Proffer mound, Cape Girardeau county, Missouri. salt-making purposes

here or elsewhere, as
it was too heavy to carry without canoes, which could not have been
used at this locality, or horses and wagons, which the pottery makers
did not possess. Besides this, no traces of salt are observed on the
fragments seen, and according to Prof. Collett, none has ever been
found on them by chemical analysis. It is stated that at various local-
ities in this valley, including one not remote from this point, erypts or
rude stone coffins containing human skeletons, weapons, and orna-
ments of considerable interest have been found, but none were ob-
served by the Bureau agent.

CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY.

THE BEN PROFFER MOUNDS.

These are situated partly on the end of a high ridge, at the point
where Bird creek unites with Whitewater river, and partly on the
river bottom, as shown in Fig. 87. Z

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL, VIII

PTS Z :
ie 4

AVA,

31
a
p30 ‘
He 22 ~
S 23 8
wv 8
«
Sy 5
es
“tL Aa
Fence

Excavation.

Ny 26
a“,

VILA

ANCIENT WORKS ON BOULWARE’S PLACE, CLARKE COUNTY, MISSOURI.

THOMAS. | THE BEN PROFFER MOUNDS. 169

No. 1, the largest, occupies a commanding position overlooking the
valleys of both streams. Though not large, being only about 35 feet
in diameter and 5 feet high, it is quite a conspicuous object, and has
some local notoriety. It is rounded with steep slopes that contrast
strongly with the low flat outline of the small mounds of the valley
below (ata a). A number of chert stones were observed embedded in
its surface. No. 2 is forty paces from No. 1 in an open field; it is 30
feetin diameter by 2 in height. There are two piles of stone on it, but
these were probably placed there recently to get them out of the way of
the plow. Flint chips are scattered around it in considerable numbers.

Wheat Feld

Fic. 88.—The Witting mounds, Cape Girardeau county, Missouri.

Nos. 3 and 4 are quite small and near to No.1. The mounds in the bot-
tom at @ a are circular, quite small, low, and flattened on top. They
are probably the sites or foundations of former dwellings or wigwams.

THE WITTING MOUNDS.

These compose a small group on the farm of Mr. August Witting, 5
miles west of Jackson, and seem to differ somewhat from the ordinary
type. Their position is also peculiar, as they are near the top of the
divide between Cane and Bird creeks and on the north slope of the hill,
the only instance of this kind noticed. Their relative positions are
shown in Fig. 88. Some two years ago a trench was dug through No.

170 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

1, but no specimens or remains, except some broken stones, were found.
A few sandstones and chert fragments are still lying in the trench.

The following measurements, though made in haste and without
strict accuracy, are probably of sufficient value to be recorded here:

No. 1: 40 feet in diameter, 44 feet high.

No. 2: 55 feet northwest of No. 1; 35 feet diameter, 2} feet high.

No. 3: 85 feet north of No. 1, and same distance from No. 2; 30 feet diameter, 2
feet high.

No. 4: 55 feet north and a little west of No. 3; 25 feet diameter, 2 feet high.

No. 5: 55 feet northeast of No. 4; 35 feet diameter, 24 feet high.

No. 6: 80 paces southwest of No. 1; 20 feet diameter, 14 feet high.

No. 7: 70 paces west of No. 6: 20 feet diameter, 2 feet high.

BOLLINGER COUNTY.

This county lies west of Cape Girardeau county, and like the latter
is nearly all high land, but the southern end extends a short distance
into the swamps. In the southeast corner is one of the inclosed “set-
tlements,” which is here named after the owner of the land.

THE PETER BESS SETTLEMENT.

This is situated 5 miles west of Lakeville, on the western bank of
the Castor river, near where the line of the Cape Girardeau and State-
Line railway crosses that stream. The “settlement,” as these groups
are locally named, is a small one, the embankment inclosing only about
12 acres. With the exception of a small strip on the east side, it has
been under cultivation for forty years, so that the rings or residence
sites have long since been obliterated. The wall extends entirely
around the inclosure, excepting a small space at the northeast corner,
where it is open toward the stream. A plat of it is given in Fig. 89,
on which 1, 2, 3, ete., indicate mounds, a a embankments, and ¢ ¢ places
where human bones were exposed.

From the direction of the current of the river it seems quite possible
that the wall once entirely surrounded the area, but that the northeast
corner has been washed away. In the strip of woods on the eastern
side the wall is a little over 3 feet high. In the field it is considerably
worn down by the plow, but the line of it can still be easily traced.
The land inside of it is fully 2 feet higher than that outside, and is so
much richer that the owner says it yields 75 bushels of corn per acre
in favorable seasons, while that outside yields but 50. Frequent traces
of burned earth and ashes are seen in the fields, and great quantities
of broken pottery are scattered about. Where the land slopes a little,
in the northeast and southeast corner (at ¢ ¢), fragments of human
bones have been washed out in considerable numbers. The large
mound, No. 1, is situated a Jittle north of the center of the inclosure.
It is 150 feet across and about 10 feet high, nearly circular, but has
been worn so much by forty years’ tillage that its original outline can
not be satisfactorily determined. An old log house and some out-

THOMAS. ] THE PETER BESS ‘‘SETTLEMENT.” 171

buildings occupy the nearly level top. In digging post holes some
bones and pottery were found, but no excavations have been made in
it deeper than 2 or 3 feet.

Mound No. 2, near the east wall, is circular in outline, 75 feet across,
and 6 feet high. It has never been explored.

Nos. 3 and 6 are quite small. A few stones have been plowed up on
No. 3. In the same field, some little distance south of the inclosure,
are two small mounds, Nos. 4 and 5, Mr. Bess stated that a few years

MAM TO
DT

Fic. 89.—The Peter Bess settlement, Bollinger county, Missouri.

ago, while plowing over No. 4, his plow struck something and on dig-
ging down he found two stone coffins, each containing a skeleton. In
one of them he found a gourd-shaped vessel, ornamented with red
stripes and filled with lead ore so pure that he afterwards made bullets
from a part of it. An examination of this mound confirmed Mr. Bess’s
Statement, as the disturbed remains of the stone cists were found.
These were of the box-shaped type. Portions of a skeleton, including
a well-preserved lower jaw and a few bits of painted pottery, were
also discovered here.

a LY (Pe MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
STODDARD COUNTY.

Although this county lies wholly within what is known as the “swamp
region,” the central portion of it consists of a high clay ridge or table-
land which may be considered a spur from the Ozarks. This table-
land is separated from the bluffs of Cape Girardeau and Bollinger
counties to the north by a strip of lowland known as the Mingo swamp.
During high water a portion of the overflow from the Castor reaches
the Whitewater through this swamp.

The county is bordered on the east by the Whitewater or Little river,
which flows through an extensive tract of low, sandy swamp, which in
places is as much as 20 miles wide. It is known to the people of
Stoddard and Dunklin counties as the “ East swamp,” and the Bureau
agent heard no other name for it. Mr. Potter, in his report,! refers to
it as “West swamp” and “ West lake” in his description of New
Madrid and Sikeston ridge. This is confusing, since the name of ‘‘ West
swamp” is given to a similar tract along the St. Francis, which forms
the western boundary of the county.

A little south of Dexter city the clay hills come to an end, and the
divide between the East and the West swamps consists only of a low,
sandy ridge. Under the local names of the “ Rich woods” and the
‘West prairie” this extends in a southerly direction to the state line.
Through Dunklin county it is crossed by sloughs that impede travel
during wet weather. The swamps in this county consist of parallel
sloughs of no great depth, with low, sandy ridges between them, which
are for the most part above overflow. They are crossed at intervals
by lower places that are covered during high water, thus converting
the higher portions into islands. A good many farms have been
cleared up on these ridges, so that the swamps support a scattered pop-
ulation. The sloughs are filled with a heavy growth of cypress (Taxo-
dium distichum) and Tupelo gum (Nyssa uniflora). On the ridges the
timber is principally different species of oak and hickory and sweet
gum (Liquidamber styraciflua).

Earthworks of different kinds are very numerous throughout this
county. Two settlements were examined during the preliminary visit,
one near Lakeville, in the northern part, and the other in the extreme
south, on the county line.

Groups of small mounds are to be found along most of the little
streams among the hills. Several were observed on the low ridges in
the East swamp, south of the railroad.

What is said to be the most extensive system of mounds in south-
east Missouri is found 7 miles south of Dexter city, on that portion of
the sandy divide between the swamps, which is known as the “Rich
woods.” There seems to have been, as is shown further on, no wall or
ditch here, and there are few circular depressions or lodge sites.

1 Contributions to the Archaeology of Missouri (1880) pp. 5-8,

ae

THOMAS. ] LAKEVILLE ‘‘SETTLEMENT.” 173
THE LAKEVILLE SETTLEMENT.

This settlement or group of works, which is shown in Fig. 90, is
located 2 miles southwest of the village of Lakeville, on a narrow but
rather high east-and-west ridge, between two cypress swamps. It
consists of aninclosing wall, and includes mounds and hut rings. The
inclosure is oblong, but when complete was probably rectangular; it
extends, however, at each end into fields which have been cultivated so
long that the traces of it are lost here. The central portion (that shown
in the figure), extending east and west about 360 yards, is still covered
by heavy timber and a thick growth of underbrush and briers. Here
the walls and other works are uninjured.

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Fic, 90.—The Lakeville settlement, Stoddard county, Missouri.

A wall extends along each flank of the ridge facing the swamp that
borders the latter on either side. They are 200 paces apart and run
nearly parallel to each other in an east-and-west direetion. Slight
enlargements at irregular intervals are seen, and there are a few short
breaks, but these may have been made by rainwater which had accu-
mulated on the inside. Whether these two lines were once connected
by cross-end walls, can not now be determined, but it seems quite
probable that such was the case. These walls, measured on the out-
side, average about 3 feet in height, varying but little in this respect;
but the inside has been so filled up by the garbage and débris of the
village or otherwise that this portion is now within 1 foot of the top
of the wall. ;

174 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

‘

Nearly the whole space between the walls is occupied by the hut-
rings or circular depressions.
They are of the usual size, 20 to
50 feet across, and 1 to 3 feet deep.
In all that were excavated, beds
of ashes, containing broken pot-
tery, burned clay, bits of bone,
mussel and turtle shells, etc., were
found at the depth of from 6
inches to 1 foot. In one of these,
near the southwest corner of the
wooded portion, the sandstone
pipe shown in Fig. 91 was discov- |
ered. Fic. 91.—Stone pipe, Lakeville settlement.

SETTLEMENT AT THE COUNTY LINE.

This settlement, shown in Fig. 92, on which a a denote the county
line between Stoddard and Dunklin counties, is situated in an oak
opening on West prairie, 500 yards east of the Dexter and Malden
road. It borders on Hast swamp and is surrounded on the other three
sides by a ditch (b b)
that averages 10 feet
wide and 3 feet deep.
The dirt seems to have
been thrown out about
equally on each side, but
there is nothing that can
be called a wall or an em-
bankment. The inclos-
ure is 330 yards long by
220 in width, and con-
tains about 15 acres.
Nearly the whole of this
space is occupied by cir-
cular depressions or hut-
rings of the usual size
and appearance, contain-
ing the usual amount of

ile ashes, broken pottery,
Fic. 92.—County line settlement, Stoddard county, Missouri. bones, ete. There are

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500 yds

no mounds ‘in the inclosure, but just outside, near the northwest cor-
ner, is a low, circular one about 4 feet high and 100 or more feet in
diameter.

4
.

Ae «i

THOMAS. ] THE RICH WOODS MOUNDS. 175
RICH WOODS MOUNDS.

These mounds, shown in Fig. 93, are located 7 miles south of Dexter
city on the road leading from that place to Malden, and are doubtless
the ones referred to in the Summary of Correspondence, Smithsonian
Report, 1879, as re-
ported by Mr. Q. C.
Smith.

The low sandy ridge,
known as the Rich
Woods, is here between
land2miles wide. The
surface, which is quite
level, stands generally
about 15 feet above the
ordinary water line of
the swamp and is com-
posed chiefly of sand.
The swamp bordering it
on the east is known
here as East swamp.
The margin of the gen-
eral level, which breaks
abruptly down, as is
usual with the banks of
Western rivers, is some-
whatirregular, as shown
in the figure, the inden-
tations being numerous,
yet the general course is
almost directly north
and south. The mounds
are principally located
along or near the mar-
gin, the distance be-
tween the extreme
northern one of the
group and the most
southern being about
1,600 yards, or a little less than 1 mile, and the greatest width of the
belt occupied, about 500 yards.

All of the mounds except No. 1 stand on the upper or general level.

Fic. 93.—The Rich Woods mounds, Stoddard county, Missouri.

-Nos. 1, 2, and 3, near the central part of the group, are large, varying

in height from 20 to 26 feet, obscurely pentangular in outline and flat-
tened on top. No.3 forms, with 4, what may be called a composite
mound. This appears to be the case also with 15 and 16 and with 23,

176 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

94, and 25, which will be described further on. No. 6 is oval in shape,
the diameter 266 by 110 and the height nearly 8 feet. There are some
indications that it was formerly connected at its northern extremity
with the double mound 3 and 4 by a graded way, though there are hut
rings there now. Between this and No. 1 the ground suddenly descends
to the lower level, as is seen by the abrupt bend in the hachured line
marking the margin, which here makes a sudden turn to the west.

No. 7, which lies directly west of No. 2, is the longest tumulus of the
group, irregularly oblong in form, the diameters being 340 and 200 feet
and height 15 feet, the top flat. The south end is irregularly pointed,
but this condition may have resulted wholly or in part from washing, as
the surface has been in cultivation for several years and was for some
years the location of a schoolhouse. At the north end is an apron 6 feet
high, extending northward about 60 feet. This is irregularly rounded
at the extremity. It is possible, and, in fact, probable, that this was
a regular oblong mound, with a rectangular apron, aS are many mounds
in eastern Arkansas. The top is perfectly level. No. 8, west of 7, is
cireular, flat on top, and about 7 feet high.

No. 9, immediately north of 7, is peculiar in form, being a regular
crescent, as Shown in the plat, the distance between the tips of the
horns about 75 feet, height 6 feet. Nos. 10, 11, 12, and 14 are circular
mounds, ranging from 8 to 12 feet high. Nos. 13, 17, 18, 19, 31, 32, 33,
20, 28, 29, 30, 26, 27,34 are small, circular mounds, varying from 1 to 4 feet
in height. The shape of 22 is peculiar. It appears as if a broad ditch
had been dug from the east side to the center. A large oak stump in
the middle of this supposed ditch shows that it is certainly not a recent
excavation. Possibly the mound was for some reason thrown up in
this form. The figure is too small to bring out the evident difference
between this and the crescent.

No. 21, near the road, is of the ordinary conical form, 45 feet in
diameter and 5 feet high.

No. 15, about 230 paces northeast of 14, is a large, oblong, flat-topped
mound, the length east and west 170 feet and width 110 feet, height
nearly 11 feet. There is a graded way running east from this and cury-
ing south to mound 16, which is circular and 6 feet high.

Mounds 23 and 24 are oval in outline and of considerable size, the
former measuring 223 by 180 feet and 8 feet high, the latter 213 by 112
feet and 9 feet high. The line between their approximate ends is some-
what higher than the surface of the surrounding area, and may be the
remains of a connecting graded way.

No. 3, the tallest of the entire group, is fully 25 feet high. It is con-
ical in form and very steep, except on the side toward the ramp. This
elevated way or ramp, commencing on the side some distance below the
summit, descends regularly eastward to No. 4, which appears to be a
landing or halting place rather than a true mound, and is, in fact, but

—_ =

THOMAS. ] THE RICH WOODS MOUNDS. WET

an enlargement of the ramp or way at this point, with a flat or level
top. This ramp seems to have extended to No. 5, and, as before stated,
to No. 6, forming here a grand platform. The hut rings which are so
scattered around and over this immediate area are probably the
remains of a subsequent occupancy to that by the builders of the
mounds. Mound 6 presents more the appearance of an elongated plat-

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i SB ry fate Bin

S
S

Fic. 94.—Plan of Mounds Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6, Rich Woods mounds.

form than a true mound. <A plan of these four mounds and the graded
way, prepared from a careful survey, is given in Fig. 94, and a section
of 3, 4, and 5 in Fig. 95.

As the surface of the area occupied is comparatively level it was
thought best to make the survey of the group dependent upon one
base and one auxiliary line. These in the reduction of the plat have
been omitted. The base runs north and south, east of the group along
the margin of the swamp, and makes three bends, on account of the
changes in the direction of the margin of the upland and the obstruc-

12 ETH——12

178

ids.

Fig. 95.—Section of Mound No. 8 and adjuncts, Rich Woods mo

)

MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

tions which would have to be encountered in
the attempt to run a single straight line. The
auxiliary line runs westward from station 46 on
the chief base. The stations on these lines are
numbered from 35 to 58, respectively, No. 36 be-
ing taken as the starting point, 35 simply in-
dicating an after northern extension to connect
with mound 18. The positions of the mounds
nearest these bases are indicated by lines run-
ning at right angles therefrom. The other
mounds more distant are located by courses
and distances from those determined by means
of the base lines.

Measurements are in all cases to the center
of the mound, hut ring, or other work, unless
otherwise expressly mentioned. The various
measurements made are shown in the following
tables.

Table 1 contains the measurements of the
chief base line; 1, those of the auxiliary line;
111, the positions of the mounds by the offsets
from the base line; Iv, the positions of the
mounds by offsets from the auxiliary line; v,
the positions of the mounds as determined by
lines from one to the other; vi, the courses and
distances locating the hut rings; vu, the posi-
tions of the excavations; Vill, the sizes of the
mounds; Ix, the diameter of the hut rings; and
x, the sizes of the excavations. In order to
make a plat of the group, start from the center
of Mound 17 and run a line 57 feet N. 88° 30’ E.
This will locate Station 36, from which all the

other stations and mounds can be determined.

TABLE I.—BASE LINE.

Station. Bearing. Distance.| Remarks. |
Feet

A as ae ee OS fine ee Northern end of line offset for mound 17. }

36 to 37 - 373 | Offset for mound 15.
| 37 to 38 -| 8. 137 | Offset for mound 16. |
| 38 to 39 .| §.19 22’ .... 349 | Bend in line. |
| 89 to 40 .| S.4° 00’ B..... 414 | Offset for mound 12. |
| 40 to 41 .| S.4° 00 E..... 86 | Bend in line.

41 to 42 .| S.23° 49’ E....| 59 | Offset for mound 11.

42 to 43 .| $.230 49’ E....| 83 | Offset for hut-ring 59.

| S.28° oz...

| 43 to 44°.)

91 | Offset for mound 5.

rein.

Bec

THOMAS. }

THE RICH WOODS MOUNDS.

TABLE 1.—BASE LINE—Continued.

Les)

Station. Bearing. Distance. Remarks.
= —
| Feet.

44 to 45 .| S.23°49' BE... 204 | Offset for mound 6.

45 to 46 .| §.230 49’ B.... 416 | Beginning of auxiliary line.

46 to 47 .| S$. 23949’ E.... 71 | Offset for mound 1.

47 to 48 _| S.23° 49’ E__.. 24.) Bend in line.

48 to 49 .| S.0° 45’ W.... 289 | Offset for mound 21.

49 to 50 -| S.0° 45’/ W.... 238 | Offset for mound 22.

50 to 51 -| §.0° 45’ W.... 336 | Offset for mound 27.

51 to 52 .| $.0° 45’ W.... 130 | Offset for mound 28.

52 to 53 -| 5.09 45’ W.... 477 | Offset for mound 29.

53 to 54 -| S.0° 45’ W.... 35 | Southern end of line.

TaBLE IT.—AUXILIARY LINE.

46 to 55 .| S.84° 49’ W... 263 | Offset for mound 20.

55 to 56 -| S.84° 49’ W-...) 302 | Offset for mound 2.

56 to 57 -| §.849 49 W.. 581 | Offset for mound 7.

DYUTOVOR | Wikseetace ane 434 | Offset for mound 8.

TABLE ILI.—OFFSETS TO MOUNDS ALONG THE BASE LINE.
| ; i a =
| 36 to 17 -| S, 889 38’ W... 57 Tostation on mound.

37 to 15 .| S. 88° 38’ W... 105 | To station on eastern end of mound.
38 to 16 -| S$. 88° 38’ W... 40 | To station on mound.

40 to 12 -| S. 86° 00’ W... 197 Do.

42 to 11 -| S$. 86° 00’ W... 101 Do.

43 to 59 -| S. 86° 00' W-_-- 57 To station in hut-ring,

44 to 5 ..| S.86° 00’ W... 75 | To station on mound.

45 to 6 ..| S. 86° 00/ W... 66 To station on northern end of mound.
47 to1 ..| S.86° 00’ W-... 84 | To station on mound.

49 to 21 .| S.66° 11’ W... 84 | Do.

50 to 22 -| S.66° 11’ W...| 131 | Do.

5] to 27 .| S.66°11' W... 140 | Do-

52 to 28 | S.66° 11’ W. -. 99 Do.

53 to 29 .| S.669 11’ W... 11) Do.

TaBLe [V.—OFFSETS TO MOUNDS

ALONG THE AUXILIARY LINE.

55 to 20 -
56 to 2 ..
57 to7 ..
58 to 8 ..

Si? 1B ==.
Neo Wik. =
ENG Oo UW) 2s

125 | To station on mound.
79 Do.

46 Do.

61

TABLE V.—BEARINGS AND DISTANCES FROM MOUND TO MOUND.

Tto9...
9 to 10 ..
12 to 13 -
12 to 14 .
29 to 30 |
27 to 23 .|

N.3° 00’ W ..
N, 28° 35’ BE...
N. 56° 29' W ..

N. 56° 29’ W ..
S.54° 30’ W-..
N. 66° 00' W ..

416 | To station on mound.
227 Do.
147 Do.
343 Do.
338 Do.
307 Do.

180 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

TABLE V._BEARINGS AND DISTANCES FROM MOUND TO MOUND—Continued.

Station. Bearing. Distanse:| Remarks.
5 vane [rok Bho :
|
| Feet. |
23 to 24 .| §.49° 50’ W... 253 | tho atanlononpa ata
24 to 26 .| S.54° 29 W... 226 | Do.
24 to 25 .| §.4°55' W.... 190 | Do.
15 to 32 .| N.220 15’ W .. 214 | Do.
15 to 31 .| N.75° 45/ W .. 312 Do.
15 to33 .| §.70015' W...| 510 | Do.
15 to18 .) N.14° 15 W .. 9:5 | Do.
5to 4.| S.39°40' W.. 1354 Do.
4to 3 .| S.84°00° W... 1524 Do.
24 to 34 _| S\88° 00! W-... 150 Do.

TaBLE VI._BEARINGS AND DISTANCES FROM THE MOUNDS AND HUT RINGS TO
THE HUT RINGS.

11 to 60 -| S. 22°30’ W--.- 44 | To station in hut-ring.
60 to 61 -| S.0° 45’ W.... 274 Do.
60 to 62 .| §.19° 15’ E.... 88 | Do.
60 to 63 .| S.40° 00’ E ... 66 Do.
62 to 64 -| §.529 00’ W... 41 Do.
62 to 65 .) S.25° 00’ W-... 61 Do.
62 to 66 -| S. 19° 30’ E.... 35. | Do.
5 to 67 .| S.17° 16’ W... 60 Do.
5 to 68 -| S.0° 44’ E..... 834 Do.
5 to 69 _| S.1° 28/ W..-. inGye |) Do.
5 to 70 -| S.2° 16! Be... 143 > Do.
4to71 .| N.80° 19’ W .. 30 Do.
‘TABLE VII._BEARINGS AND DISTANCES OF THE EXCAVATIONS FROM THE MOUNDS
29 to a ..| S. 864° W ...-. 140 | To station in excavation.
30 tob ..| S.693° W..--. 120)| . Do:

TABLE VITI.—SIZES OF THE MOUNDS.

No. | Diameter. | Height. Remarks.
Feet.
1 150 20
2 | 150 by 140 20
3) 185 26 | Slopes steep.
4 | 150 by 140 |..-...----
5 B49 |e ae ee |
6 266 by 109 74 | Extends north and south. |
| ie Has apron about 6 feet high at northern end
F [eeeeiby oon ab extending 60 feet from base northward.
8 | 134 by 114 64 | Crescent-shaped.
Mises seth 6
| 10 130 by 125 10
11| 44by 48 5

12| 60 by 65

‘THOMAS. ] THE RICH WOODS MOUNDS. 181

TaBLe VIII.—SIZES OF THE MOUNDS—Continued.

| No. | Diameter. | Height. Remarks.
| Feet.
13, 50 by 40 1
14 | 124 by 96 | 5 |
15 | 109 by 171 104 {Extends east and west.
16 | 75 | 6
17 | 100 by 69 | 4 | Extends northwest and southeast.
18 60 by 65 | 3 | Cireular.
19 (GON ane rr Estimated.
20 | 40 by 35 3 | Cireular.
21 | 45 | 5 Do.
2D | | ene eee oe 5h
23 | 181 by 223 | 8 | Extends east and west.
24 | 213 by 112 | 9 | Extends north and south.
25) G5 by 60 | 5 | Cireular.
26 | 78 3h Do.
| 27 | 40 | 4 Do.
28 50 | 4 Do.
29) 6Lby 40 3 Do.
| 30) 60 by 56 | 34 Do.
| 31 | 100 by 110) 3 Do.
32) TO by 65 3h Do. |
33 100 aa Do.
34 | 60 24 Do.

TaBLeE 1X.--DIAMETER OF THE HUT RINGS.

| No. | Diameter. | No. | Diameter. | No. | Diameter. |

60 | 22by29 | 64 | 27 || 68 28 |

61 | 28) 65 24 || 69 24 |
62 29 || 66 21 || 70 25
| |
67 27 71 34 |

TaBLE X.—SIZES OF THE EXCAVATIONS.

| Excavations. Diameter. | Depth. | Remarks.
|

| Extends northeast and southwest.

Circular.

Bigepien ee 3 70 by 35 | 4
eae eee | 55 34
|

The first examination of this interesting group on behalf of the Bu-
reau was made by Mr. Earle during his visit to this part of the state.
Subsequently I visited them in company with Mr. Karle and Dr. Robert
Allyn, president of the Southern Illinois Normal University. I found
Mr. Earle’s description and the plat he furnished quite correct, though
the latter has been replaced by the more accurate survey made by Mr.
Middleton; but descriptions and plats, though critically correct, fail
to convey a true conception of this magnificent group.

Exploring No. 1 (Fig. 93), which by a careful remeasurement was
ascertained to be 150 feet in diameter at the base and 20 feet high, we

182 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

found it to consist of an external layer of surface soil, varying in depth
from 2 to 3 feet, and aninner core of hard clay. This inner core, which
evidently constituted the original mound, consisted of dry compact
clay so hard that an ax was used to cut it. It was almost as dry as
powder and of an ash-gray color, having here and there as we de-
scended the appearance of being slightly mixed with ashes. At the
depth of 5 feet a broken pot-shaped jar, of ware similar to that usual
to this region, was discovered. At this point a few ashes and some
slight indications of fire were noticed. The same dry hard clay con-
tinued to the bottom of the pit (which was carried down to the depth
of 17 feet), except one thin layer of sand about 6 inches thick at the
depth of 10 feet. Other pits dug in the sides and near the base re-
vealed ample evidence of fire, indicating that after the central core was
completed a quantity of brush and leaves had been burned over it, the
coals and ashes sliding down, as it is quite steep, so that near the base
a layer of charcoal several inches thick was formed. <A thin layer of
surface soil must have been thrown over it while burning, as consider-
able quantities of charred leaves were found mixed with the charcoal.
In one of the pits some human bones were discovered before reaching
the clay, doubtless an intrusive burial.

This mound, as will be seen by reference to the plat, is outside of the
hachured line which represents the edge or break of the general level,
and is some 6 feet lower and on the same level as the road and not more
than 6 or 7 feet above the usual water level of the swamp.

Pits were sunk in No. 22 to the original surface without finding any-
thing of interest save some fragments of pottery. The height of this
mound was found to be a little over 5 feet, and the composition, after
passing through the surface soil, a uniform mixture of yellow clay and
sand. On this mound is an oak stump 2 feet in diameter.

No, 21 was examined with similar results, except that in it were found
some small pieces of burned clay, flint chips, and traces of charcoal.

No. 26 and a small tumulus west of it were found to consist wholly of
sandy clay. A few fragments of human bones, small pieces of pottery,
and some flint chips were discovered in them.

An opening was made in the large mound No. 15 in a depression near
the center where the height is between 9 and 10 feet. The pit was
carried down to the original surface of the ground through yellow sandy
clay. Nothing of interest was obtained.

No. 32, a low mound but little more than 3 feet high, was, like most of
the others, built of a mixture of sand and clay. It contained human
bones and fragments of pottery, which were scattered irregularly through
it. The ground was damp and soft, and most of the bones were soft,
falling to pieces when any attempt was made to lift them up. We were
unable to trace out a single complete skeleton or to find a whole vessel,

Nos. 29, 30, and 31 were also explored, but nothing of special interest
was observed in them, the construction being the same and of similar
material as those already referred to.

THOMAS. ] MOUND NO. 6. 183

No. 6 was subsequently partially explored. A trench was carried
down only to the depth of 5 feet. Nothing was found in it at a greater
depth from the surface than 35 feet. Near the foot of the mound and
2 feet below the surface was a skeleton with the bones rather firm;
probably an intrusive burial, as they are not uncommon in this partic-
war locality. This was extended, head south; near it was a Unio shell.
About 2 feet west of this skeleton and lying parallel with it was
another of smaller size, probably of a female; bones firm, but the skull
broken when found. Near the skull was a bottle-shaped water vessel.
Other vessels were found at different points and at the depth of only 1
or 2 feet.

About 2 feet down on the top and side of the mound were lumps
of burnt clay, which appear to be fragments of plastering with which
the walls of a dwelling or other house had been coated. As further
evidence of this is the following fact, given in the words of the last ex-
plorer: “In the top of the mound, in a small circular depression, I dug
down about 2 feet, when I came to a sort of platform of burntclay. It
seemed to be made of irregularly shaped pieces, one side being smooth
and the other rough. And what was peculiar, the smooth side was
down. I did not dig enough to ascertain the extent of the platform.”

It is easy enough to account for the smooth side being down if we
suppose it to have been (as we shall hereafter see there is reason for
believing) plastering from the walls of a house, for when the building
was burned it would not be unlikely that the stiff and thick coat of
plastering should fall over in a sheet and that pieces of it should roll
down the side of the mound.

Numerous other objects were discovered in this mound, as pieces of
Unio shells, some of which had holes bored through them, and were ap-
parently unfinished beads ; many fragments of pottery scattered promis-
cuously through the outer layer, and quite a number of animal bones,
from the skull of a deer down to the delicate bones of very Small birds.

Permission could not be obtained to make further exploration in this
interesting and important group, nor to complete the excavation of the
mounds partially examined.

SCOTT AND MISSISSIPPI COUNTIES.

In 1879 and 1880 the people in the neighborhood of Charleston, Mis-
sissippi county, discovered that the pottery, in which the mounds of
this region seem to have been unusually rich, had a considerable com-
mercial value. A regular mining fever at once broke out and spread
so rapidly that in some instances as many as twenty-five or thirty men,
women, and children could be seen digging for pottery in one field at the
same time.

The specimens obtained were taken to Charleston and sold to the
merchants, who in turn sold them to various museums, scientific insti-
tutions, and relic hunters. It is said that this trade brought to town
several thousand dollars.

184 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Some 10 or 12 miles southwest of the battlefield of Belmont is one of
the peculiar sand ridges of this swampy region, called Pin Hook ridge.
This extends 5 or 6 miles north and south, and is less than a mile in
width; both of its tapering ends hook round in a westerly direction, as
shown in Fig. 96. There is abundant evidence here that the entire
ridge was long inhabited by a somewhat agricultural people, with sta-
tionary houses, who constructed numerous and high mounds, which are
now the only place of refuge for the present inhabitants and their stock
from the frequent overflows of the Mississippi. About one-half of the
ridge is under cultivation ; the remainder is covered by a native forest
of oak, ash, gum, and other trees, which are as large upon these mounds
and residence circles as elsewhere.

BAKER’S MOUND.

This (No. 2 on the diagram) is situated nearly a mile southwest of
Beckwith’s Fort (marked No. 1, in Fig. 96), and hereafter more fully

Le wl! Aa

a
i thet ; Pa

Yhap

AYLI
Verb Uy

ies y RIT we g
ecm ‘ial ty, Pellet WE Ll Sp) 4 bay
WS re Pare ie pe er ae
;

Fig. 96.—Pin Hook Ridge mounds, Mississippi county, Missouri.

described; it is circular in form, about 50 feet in diameter and 4 feet
high. The peculiar feature of this mound is the mode of its construc-
tion, which is shown in Fig. 97; The lower stratum, marked No. 2,
consists of bluish swamp muck mixed with ashes, which, as a matter of
course, When deposited was soft and pliable as dough, though now so
hard as to require the use of a pick to penetrate it. Instead of the top’s
being leveled as usual, it was depressed in the middle, so as to form a
saucer-shaped basin, the rim on the south side being higher than on
the opposite side, as the mound stands ona natural slope. This was
filled with sandy loam (No. 1) and rounded over, completing the mound.
Near the upper part of this sandy layer Mr. Baker, who had pre-
viously opened it, found two skeletons, placed horizontally, with heads

THOAMS.] BAKER’S MOUND. 185

north, below which was a layer of decayed skeletons, and with them a
number of vessels of pottery of forms usual to this region. Several of
these vessels which
were discovered in
this first excavation
were fractured; yet
Mr. Baker obtained
thirty uninjured
specimens. Further
exeayation in the
hard bottom layer re-
vealed the parts of
several skeletons, a Fic. 97.—Baker’s mound, Mississippi county, Missouri.
number of broken

vessels, and also one small pot or cup with scalloped rim, and one bot-
tle-shaped water vessel, which were obtained whole. A few rude stone
serapers were also found.

GUM TREE MOUND.

This is situated nearly to the east of the preceding, is circular in
form, 60 feet in diameter, and 8 feet high. [tis No. 3, of Fig. 96, and
stands on the crest of a low
ridge fronting upon a cypress
swamp. It was found to con-
sist of five or six distinet lay-
ers, as follows, counting from
the bottom upwards: Layer
No.1, 30 inches of clear white
sand, probably the natural
crest of the ridge. No. 2, 16
inches of dark colored, hard
clay, through which were seat-
tered fire-beds, charcoal,
ashes, stone chips, fragments
of pottery, and split animal
bones. No.3, 12 inches of yel-
low sand, containing but few
relics of any kind. No. 4, 8
inches of hard gray mortar, doubtless made of blue muck and ashes
mixed and covered with kitchen refuse similar to that found in No. 2,
No. 5,18 inches of loose gray sand, containing few relics; but all the
central portion of this layer had been previously examined by others
who found it and the top layer (No. 6) literally filled with decayed
human bones and a number of whole and broken vessels of clay.

Fic. 98.—Beckwith’s fort, Mississippi county, Missouri.

186 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

BECKWITH’S FORT.

Half a mile north of the last mentioned mound, and upon the highest
point of the bank fronting Pin Hook bayou, is a remarkable earthen
inclosure (marked 1, in Fig. 96), to which the name Bevkwith’s fort is
given, after that of the owner. An enlarged view of this work is
given in Fig. 98.

As will be seen by reference to this figure, the inclosure is nearly a
semicircle in form, with the open base facing the swamp or bayou.
The length of this open base from point to point of the wall (m to 2)
is 1,041 feet, and the circumference along the wall from m around to n,
2,700 feet. The location was wisely chosen, as it is the only point within
anarea of many miles square where the natural surface of the ground
was not covered by the great flood of 1882. The bank facing the
swamp is here quite steep and fully 30 feet high.

Mounds Nos. 1, 5, and 6, and some small burial mounds not shown
in the figure, are so nearly in a line as to form a strong breastwork
along this front, except about 200 feet opposite mound No. 2, where
there is no embankment, mound, nor the marks of ancient dwellings;
thus, as is usual in this kind of fort, leaving an open court adjoining
one side of the great flat-topped mound.

The height and width of the wall vary at different points, in some
places being as low as 2 feet, while at others it is fully 8 feet high; in
some places it is not more than 15 feet wide, while at others it is 30 or
more.

Running close along the outside of the wall is a ditch varying in
width from 20 to 40 feet, and in depth from 4 to 8 feet, except where
filled up by floods and frosts, especially the former, some of which may
have broken through the walls to the great interior excavation. The
area within the inclosure is almost entirely occupied by earthworks of
one kind or another, those marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 being mounds,
those marked a, b, and ¢ being excavations, and the numerous small
circles scattered over it the little saucer-shaped depressions supposed
to be house sites or hut rings.

Mound No. 1 is situated in the extreme northern corner, where the
wall ends on the bank next the swamp or bayou. It is 120 feet long
from northwest to southeast, 100 feet broad, and about 10 feet high at
the highest point. The central portion of the top had been lowered,
either originally or subsequently, by a circular depression about 15 feet
in diameter and 2 feet deep. Permission to excavate could not be
obtained.

Mound No. 2, or the so-called Temple mound, is situated almost
directly south of No. 1 and near the central portion of the area. Its
northern base comes directly to the margin of the great excavation a,
while but a short distance away, a little to the northeast, is the small
crescent excavation b, The dimensions, as nearly as could be ascer-
tained, are as follows: Length on top (northeast and southwest), 165

THOMAS.] BECKWITH’S FORT. 187

feet; width, 105 feet; height, about 25 feet. Near each end, on the flat
top, is a saucer-shaped depression 3 to 4 feet deep, reaching to a heavy
deposit (in each) of charcoal, ashes, bones, ete., resting upon a layer of
earth 3 or 4 inches thick, burned as hard as* brick. Permission
could not be obtained to make further excavations in this mound.

Mound No. 3 is circular, 75 feet in diameter and 8 feet high, having
a saucer-Shaped depression on the top, and below this a fire-bed, char-
coal, ashes, ete., as usual.

No. 4 is almost circular at the base, but square on the top, which is
flat, each side measuring 30 feet. It is 15 feet high, the sides very
steep and each bearing with the cardinal points. It was doubtless
originally a regularly truncated pyramidal mound, the washings hav-
ing rounded the base.

No. 5 is an oval mound with sloping sides, 10 feet high and 90 feet
across the top, which is flat. It was composed, in part at least, of
black swamp mud and blue clay and had in it several fire-beds, beds
of clay burned brick red, stone chips, Unio shells, and fragments of
pottery.

No. 6 is 75 by 100 feet a* base, 8 feet high, and now surmounted by
the log house of the colored man who cultivates this portion of the
extensive Beckwith plantation.

Between 5 and 6 is a long low mound not marked on the diagram,
the surface of which was strewn with fragments of human bones, pot-
tery, and stone chips.

Excavation @ is somewhat pear-shaped, the large end being near the
northeast corner and the curved side running along the northern wall
for fully 1,000 feet. The width at the widest part is 320 feet and the
greatest depth 10 feet, but the depth decreases with the width toward
the southwest point. The most of it is now a bushy swamp, though the
larger end is an open pond never dry.

Excavation ) is small, the length along the convex side not exceed-
ing 200 feet, narrow and crescent shaped. It lies just beyond the eastern
end of the large excavation, one of its horns touching the latter.

Excavation ¢ is in the southwestern part of the area, and now a rect-
angular swamp, 300 feet long by 100 wide, 8 feet deep at the greatest
depth, and seldom dry.

HOUSE SITES OR HUT RINGS.

These almost literally cover the remainder of the area, the only open
space of any considerable size being the 200 feet square just east of the
large mound (No. 2, Fig. 98). They are not confined to the natural
level of the inclosure, as some are found on the level tops of the mounds.
They are circular in ferm, varying from 30 to 50 feet in diameter,
measuring to the tops of their rims, which are raised slightly above the
natural level. The depth of the depression at the center is from 2 to
3 feet. Near the center, somewhat covered with earth, are usually found

188 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the baked earth, chareoal, and ashes of ancient fires, and around these
and beneath the rims split bones and fresh-water shells. Often mingled
with this refuse material are rude stone implements and fragments of
pottery.

The similarity in the size, form, and general appearance of these de-
pressions and earthen rings to those of the earth lodges of the aban-
doned Mandan towns along the Missouri river, leaves no doubt that they
mark the dwelling sites of the people who formerly occupied this lo-
cality.

Upon the top of the great mound, fully 35 feet above the bed of the
adjacent excavation, stands a white oak tree 4 feet in diameter; also

Fic. 99.—Image vessel from Beckwith's ranch. Fic. 100,—Bowl from Beckwith’s fort.

the stumps of several others, little if any smaller. On the wall back
of the excavation is another white oak 16 feet 9 inches in circumference,
4 feet from the ground, also a sassafras 30 inches in diameter at breast
height, and other trees of similar dimensions. The annual growth-rings
of several white oak and ash stumps on No. 6 and other mounds near
the house, were counted and ranged in number from 350 to 500 each.
The following is a list of the whole or nearly whole clay vessels obtained
from various openings made in the mounds and elsewhere on Pin Hook
ridge:

1 image vessel (Fig. 100.) 1 double-headed vessel.

1 water vessel with human head. 1 pot (already mentioned. )

1 water vessel with eagle head. 1 bow! with lip (Fig. 102.)

3 water vessels with hooded heads, Eleven others of various forms.

1 flat open lamp.

THOMAS. ] BECKWITH’S RANCH. 189
BECKWITH’S RANCH,

Although the ancient works at this place are less than 2 miles from
the inclosure and other works just described, they are differently

FiG. 101.—Water vessel from Beckwith’s ranch, Mississippi county, Missouri.

occupied and appear to have been differently constructed. The area
of the site is least subject to overflow of any in this region except the
“Fort,” but there is no trace of wall or ditch, nor is there a pyramidal

Fic. 102.—Water vessel from Beckwith’s fort, Mississippi county, Missouri.

mound in the group, the only works here being low, flattish, circular
mounds and long oval ones, resembling so closely the low, natural swells

190 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

of the level area as to require a practical investigation to determine
whether they are natural or artificial. They appear to belong to two
classes, those used for dwelling sites and those used for burial pur-
poses, the former being the higher and the color of the surface layer
darker than that of the other class. This darker color of the surface
layer is probably due to the fact that immediately below it are found
fire-beds with burnt earth, charcoal, ashes, and the bones of animals,
(mostly split). There are seldom any human skeletons or entire vessels
of pottery in the mounds of this class though the earth is filled with
fragments of broken vessels. In these tumuli, which are so close

Fic. 103.—Gourd-shaped vessel trom Beckwith’s ranch, Mississippi county, Missouri.

together as sometimes to form an almost continuous ridge, are often
found two or three, and sometimes even four, fire-beds in succession, at
ditterent depths, ranging from 1 to 4 feet down to the natural surface.

The skeletons, among which were a number of clay vessels, were of.
medium size, lying at full length horizontally upon the back or side,
without any apparent regularity as to direction, except so far as was
necessary to avoid overlapping, which was seldom done in the same
layer. The vessels were invariably placed by the side of or over the
skull, which was often found indented or crushed. Many, and in places
a majority or all, of the skeletons of a layer were without an accompany-

5 i ae aa

THOMAS. ] POTTERY FROM BECKWITH’S RANCH. isl

ing entire vessel, but seldom without the fragments of a broken one
where the entire one was wanting.

As arule, but one vessel was found to a skeleton, though occasionally
two and even three were observed; but when this was the case they
were of different forms and evidently intended for different purposes.
Thus, if a long-necked water cooler was found on one side of the skull,
the vessel on the other side, if any, would be a cup or basin or other
food dish, and if a third were present it would be an effigy or orna-
mented vessel placed at the crown or above it. No fire-beds, charcoal,
or split bones of animals were found among the skeletons.

Fic. 104.—Owl image vessel from Beckwith’s ranch.

The mounds of this class were often so low as to be scarcely apparent.
Indeed, it is evident that the, people who once occupied this locality
buried their dead about 2 feet deep in the natural earth, and that the
elevation of portions of their cemetery is the result of subsequent
burials on the same site, as in such cases we found two or three layers
of skeletons.

At this place some 45 or 50 whole vessels were found of which the
following were obtained for the Bureau, the owner of the place, Col.
Beckwith, who assisted in the work, retaining the rest:

1 water vessel, female image (Fig. 99).

1 long-necked water vessel with three legs (Fig. 101).

1 water vessel, female image.

192 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

1 gourd-shaped vessel avith animal head (Fig. 103).
1 owl image (Fig. 104). .

1 fish-shaped bowl (Fig. 105, a and b).

1 vessel with animal head.

1 vessel with human head.

1 bowl with human head.

Fic, 105.—Fish-shaped vessel from Beckwith’s ranch. a, view; 6, plan

1 shell-shaped bowl.
1 pottery ornament.
1 pottery ornament.
Seventeen other vessels, besides 5 pottery mullers and some stone implements.

MEYERS MOUNDS.

These, 2 in number. are situated on the county road from Cairo, Ili-
nois, by way of Bird’s Point, to Charleston, about midway between the

se

iia ait et

al

tHOMAS.| THE MEYERS MOUNDS. 193

two points. They are on the highest ground in that immediate section
and fronting a cypress Swamp. One is double or terraced, and the
other much lower and oval in outline. The latter is 75 feet long, 50
feet broad, and 10 feet high, sides straight, but the ends rounded and
flat on top, where Mr. John Meyers, the owner, has placed his dwelling
house. The large one (Fig. 106) consists of a higher portion or main
part, which is pyramidal in
form, 50 feet square on the level
top, and 25 feet high, and a
level terrace 63 feet long, 50
feet broad, and 15 feet high,
extending northward.

A regular ancient cemetery
which had been worked over by
previous explorers, was found
about 100 yards east of the
main works. The area around
the large mound, to the extent
of several acres, except a sinall Wee ahl\Wwwmts
spot on the north side near the
swamp, was formerly thickly
covered over with small cireu-
lar depressions or house sites, but these are now mostly obliterated by
cultivation.

Several low mounds in the vicinity had been so thoroughly upturned
as to be now barely traceable. As a matter of course nothing was
found in these but the fragments left by others; but in excavations
made in other parts of the farm several vessels and images of pottery
of the character and designs common in this section were obtained.
No indications of a surrounding wall were observed.

PLAN

SECTION

Fic. 106.—Meyers’ mound, Scott county, Missouri

BUTLER COUNTY.

Along the railroad from St. Louis to [ron mountain few mounds were
observed, but from there to Poplar bluff they are numerous on the low
valley lands, almost always cireular in form, from 30 to 50 feet in diam
eter, and from 3 to 4 feet high. So far as they have been opened, little
else has been found in them than decaying human bones, often com-
mingled with charcoal and ashes, and occasionally fragments of pot-
tery.

Four of this class found on the bottoms of Big Black river, about 2
miles above Poplar bluff, were explored. They, like many others of
similar appearance, are on land subject to overflow at ordinary high
water. All are circular and some of them very flat, those excavated
being the highest and situated in the midst of a dense growth of
swamp oak, ash, elm, and other timber growing on the mounds the
same as elsewhere.

12 ETH 13

194 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Mound No. 1 measured but 25 feet in diameter and 4 feet in height.
Nothing was found in it except a hard, central, or inner core of light-
colored clay which, when thrown out, appeared like dry mortar mixed
with charcoal, ashes, and stone chips. No traces of bones or indica-
tions of burial were observed.

No. 2, 30 feet in diameter, 4 feet high; resembled No. 1 in internal
arrangement and contents.

No. 3, 40 feet in diameter and 4 feet high; gave the same results as
1 and 2.

No. 4, similar in size, differed from the others only in the fact that
at the bottom, in the center, was found a buskel or more of charcoal
and ashes.

In Fig. 107 is presented a group of this character near Harviell,
which is given as a type of the groups of this class of mounds which

wy
Wis,
Wm,

Tis?

Fic. 107,—Mound group near Harviell, Butler county, Missouri.

literally dot all the land in this region except the cypress swamps.
They are uniformly circular, seldom exceeding 50 feet in diameter, or
4 feet in height. :

The seven of this group marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, and 7 and quite a
number of other groups were excavated, the uniform result being to
find the main portion composed of very hard clay with charcoal and
ashes mixed in greater or less quantities and frequently, but not always,
fragments of very rude pottery and rude stone scrapers or skinners.

POWER’S FORT.

This is an ancient inclosure, connected with other works on the farm
ot Mr. Power, on alow ridge which runs between Little Black river

ie

EY

THOMAS.] POWER’S FORT. 195

and Cypress swamp, near the Ripley county line. A plat of the group
is given in Fig. 108, from which it will be seen that it consists of a quad-
rangular (nearly square) inclosure with embankments or walls on three
sides, and an outside ditch along the entire length of the walls, an
excavation at each western corner outside, and four mounds on the
interior area. The western wall, which runs exactly north and south,
is 750 feet long and, as it is still covered by the original forest growth,

fT
Pee tt
Bs oe :

Seen
5 “en ny nt

\\
\

a
»
Pd
FA wy
fh

I); Vy
WM WZ

WI.

ul

1.

Shy NUN \S ¥

mS iN

coi Aon
“INN

yy Ny \ Nt
iy iy TaN ASS ae iy 1S Rogen IN
any Hil

PE

Fic. 108.--Power's fort, Butler county, Missouri,

f A 14\\, A
K!

is quite distinct. The ditch, which runs along the outside is also very
distinct, being from 3 to 5 feet deep and about twice as wide. The
northern and southern walls and ditches in the cultivated area are
almost obliterated; still they can be traced throughout from where they
connect at the corners with the western wall, to the undisturbed
extremities near the swamp. The northern line measures 762 feet and
the southern 744.

196 MOUND EXPLORATIONS,

The excavation connecting with the ditch near the southwest corner
(a) is about 150 feet long, 100 feet wide and 15 feet deep at the lowest
point. The excavation at the northwest corner ()) is somewhat longer,
rather narrower, and not quite so deep, but both always contain water,

The four mounds in the inclosure are located as indicated at 1. 2, :
and 4, No. 1, which is the largest, being nearly 150 feet long, north and
south, 120 feet broad at base, and 20 feet high. The
length and width have evidently been increased and
the height lowered by the continued cultivation of
fifty years. A thorough examination of this was
made and the construction found to be somewhat
peculiar, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 109,
which shows a vertical section through the length.

The bottom layer (1) is a circular platform about
100 feet in diameter and 2 feet high, formed of yel-

Missouri.

low sand similar to the original surface beneath and
= around it.
E The next layer, marked 2, is only 6 inches thick
& and consists of dark blue, adhesive clay, or muck,
2 from the swamp; Which has become very hard. It

was strewn with burnt earth, charcoal, ashes, frag-
ments of split bones and pottery, stone chips and
Unio shells. The next layer (3) is 8 feet thick at the
central point of what appears to have been the orig-
inal mound, of which it was the top stratum. But
itis not uniform, and, although showing no distinct
strata, was not all formed at one time, as in it there
_were, at different depths, at least three distinct fire-
beds of burnt earth and heavy accumulations of
ashes, charcoal, and charred animal bones.

In this layer, a little south of the center, were
found the charred fragments of long poles and small
logs, all lying horizontally, and also a post (@), prob-
ably of locust wood, 6 inches in diameter and 5 feet
long, still erect, but the upper end shortened by fire
and the lower end haggled off by some rude imple-

109.—Section of mound in Power's fort,

Fie.

ment.

The layer marked 4 is an addition to the original
plan, At this stage the occupants or builders, for
some reason, made an addition to the original mound, extending it
northward some 40 feet, apparently in this wise: the lower layer was
built on the north end precisely as in the original mound and of the
same height; then the layer corresponding to No. 2 of the original
mound, which is No. 4 in the figure, was built up of bluish clay irregu-
larly mixed with fire-beds, ashes, charcoal, yellow sand, and calcined
bones to the height of No. 38 and somewhat overtopping it. Having

THOMAS. ] POWER’S FORT. 197

thus obtained the desired form, layer No. 5, 6 feet thick, chiefly of dark
swamp-muck, was heaped over the original mound and addition. But
this layer was probably formed by additions made to it-from time to
time, as it presents considerable variety in the appearance of the ma-
terial and also contains large masses of yellow sand, charcoal, ashes,
fragments of pottery, and charred bones, among which were found the
head of adeer and of an elk, with portions of the charred horns still
attached. Many rude stone knives, scrapers, and perforators, a few
rude lance-heads and fragments of a better class of pottery were scat-
tered through it. Northwest of the center, in this layer, were some
charred timbers lying horizontally and one post (b) standing erect, re-
sembling the timber post found in No. 3,

The external layer, 4 feet thick, and of a heterogeneous character,
was apparently formed of various sized masses of bluish clay, yellow
sand, and charcoal combined.

Mound No. 2 is much smaller than No. 1, not exceeding 100 feet in
diameter and 6 feet in height, and is flat on top. It consisted of four
layers, the first or upper stratum of sandy soil, 2 feet thick, mixed with
fragments of pottery; the second, about the same thickness, chiefly
yellow sand, with patches of blue clay, charcoal, ashes, fragments of
pottery, and human bones mostly unbroken but soft as pulp; the third,
6 inches thick, was made up of blue clay and fragments of pottery;
and the fourth, 18 inches thick, of yellow sand, well filled with decayed
human bones, though some of them were plump and soft. Scattered
among them were charcoal and ashes.

Mound No. 3, also flat on top, 80 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, was
without regular layers; but the base was found to be composed chiefly
of yellow sand, containing fire-beds, patches of bones, charcoal, ashes,
fragments of pottery, etc.

Mound No. 4 resembled No. 5 in form, size, composition, and contents.
Fragments of pottery, stone chips, lance-heads, scrapers, and _ perfor-
ators were scattered over the area of the inclosure, and at one point
there was an almost solid deposit of them.

Mound No, 5, standing outside the inclosure in a grove of large oak
timber and dense underbrush, is 40 feet in diameter and 8 feet high,
circular and symmetrical in form. An opening 6 feet in diameter and 5
feet deep had been made in the top so long ago that oak saplings have
since grown up in it. Further excavation revealed nothing but. the
fact that it was composed of four parallel, horizontal’ strata, the first
or top one of yellow sand 1 foot thick, the second, 1 foot of dark muck,
the third, 4 feet of yellow sand, and the bottom, 1 foot of dark muck.

‘As a general rule throughout this part of the Report ‘‘horizontal” when applied
to strata is to be understood in the strict sense of the term and as implying that the
stratuni does not conform to the curve or contour of the mound.

198 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

ARKANSAS.

Although explorations were made in other parts of this state, much
the larger portion of the ancient works referred to are im the north-
eastern part, or, in other words, the lands bordering the Mississippi and
lower Arkansas and the area drained by the White and St. Francis
rivers. This area, if extended southward so as to include Desha and
Chicot counties, is known as the Mississippi alluvial region of Arkansas.
With the exception of Crowley’s ridge, which breaks its monotonous
uniformity, it consists chiefly of broad bottom lands interrupted in
places by swamps, sloughs and wet prairies, through which, or separat-
ing which, are generally low, broad swells or ridges (as they are called,
though of but few feet in height) of rich sandy loam heavily timbered.

Crowley’s ridge, which runs through Green, Craighead, Poinsett, and
St. Francis counties, forming the divide between the waters of White
and St. Francis rivers, terminates in Phillips county just below the city
of Helena. The top, throughout its entire extent in Arkansas, is com-
posed for the most part of siliceous clay and marl of quaternary date,
usually resting on a bed of waterworn gravel. Numerous springs of
good cool water flow from beneath this gravel bed along the eastern foot
of the ridge near Helena. Most of the bottom lands are overflowed
during high water.

CLAY COUNTY.

This, the extreme northeastern county of the state, is comparatively
level and is drained by the St. Francis river on the east, Cache river
in the center, and Black river on the west. These rivers are bordered
by low, flat, bottom Jands heavily timbered and subject to overflow.
Between Black and Cache rivers is a low ridge, which extends south-
westward through several counties. Between the Cache and St. Fran-
cis rivers is a still more prominent and wider elevation, which is the
beginning of Crowley’s ridge.

The only group of mounds examined in this county is situated in the
immediate vicinity of Corning, the county seat, on a sandy ridge that
rises some 20 feet above the cypress swamp flanking it on the east.

A few of these were measured and opened with the following results:

No. 1, oblong, measured 90 feet in length by 65 in width at the base
and 9 feet high. About20 feet of the north end had been removed by
the townspeople. The only things of interest observed were fire beds
of swamp muck, charcoal, ashes, stone chips, and a few charred bones.
An examination of the remaining portion revealed nothing additional
except the indications of long-continued occupancy and the fact that it
had been built up by successive layers.

No. 2, oblong, 40 by 35 feet at base and 5 feet high, was explored
with similar results.

No. 3 measured 100 by 80 feet at base, but the height could not be
determined, as it had been partially removed for grading the railroad

THOMAS. ] EFFECT OF AN EARTHQUAKE. 199

track. From the number of decayed human bones and fragments of
pottery found in the remaining portion, it is supposed to be the prin-
cipal burial place of the mound-builders who occupied the village
located here.

The small circular mounds were composed chiefly of sandy soil simi-
lar to that of the surrounding surface, but the fire beds, burned clay,
stone chips, and bones discovered in them render it evident that they
had been used as dwelling sites and that the custom of burying in the
floor of the cabin had been followed here to some extent.

GREENE COUNTY.

The topographical features of this county are very similar to those
of Clay county, its eastern boundary being the St. Francis river, which
through this and the two counties south is a continuous lake-like
swamp, being the section knownas the “ Sunken lands of the St. Fran-
cis.” The western portion consists of the flat Cache river lands,
partly black sandy levels and
partly wet post-oak flats. Be-
tween the lowlands of the two ex-
tremes and occupying a large por-
tion of the area, is Crowley’s
ridge, with its sandy lands.

On the plantation of Mr. Rob-
ert Law, 9 miles east of Para-
gould, fronting the cypress bor-
ders of the St. Francis lake, is
a group of interesting mounds.
Thev are chiefly in a forest of oak, Fic. 110.—Effeet: ef earthquake of 1811 on mound,
ash, gum, and other heavy timber. Groen prenunby, Avaaneas:

The spot they occupy is in the “Sunken land region,” or that section
so terribly shaken by the great earthquake of 1811.

At this particular locality the sand ridge and cypress swamp seem
still to retain their original relative elevations, but the ridge is so eut
up with trenches, narrow ridges, sink holes, and ‘“blow-outs” of fine
sand as to render the original size and even number of these mounds
very uncertain. There are some indications of a surrounding wall,
though not sufficient to justify the positive statement that there ever
was one.

The largest mound, which is flat on top, measured 120 feet long by
72 feet broad on top, 192 by 145 at the base and 25 feet high. Several —
medium-sized trees are still standing on it,and there is evidence of
larger ones having been overturned, possibly during the earthquake,
or by some previous or subsequent severe windstorm. Be this as it
may, the effects of the earthquake are still visible in this artificial
structure, after a lapse of eighty years, in two very distinet and
peculiar fissures, as shown in Fig. 110. These are from 4 to 6 feet deep

IY
: TN

200 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

and fully as wide, partially disclosing the character of the mound, per-
mission to explore it being refused by the owner.

THE BABCOCK MOUNDS.

The small group bearing this name consists of but two mounds, sit-
uated in See. 36, T. 16 N., R. 2 E., of the fifth principal meridian, in the
southeast corner of the county on a low ridge between Cache river and
a cypress Swamp. ,

Mound 1 is of the ordinary round or conical form, 65 feet in diameter
and 7 feet high, composed chiefly of earth similar to the surrounding
soil. About halfway down from the top was found a thin layer of
burnt clay reaching from 2 feet east of the middle to the western
margin, which did not conform horizontally to the curve of the mound,
but to the level of the ground on which the mound stands. <A few
inches above this layer were two small denosits of burnt clay. It is
doubtful whether they were burnt where they were found, there being
no coals or ashes about them and the earth in contact with them show-
ing no indications of heat. They were scarcely more than a foot square
and 3 inches thick.

Two skeletons found were probably intrusive burials, as they were
placed only 12 and 16 inches below the surface. The most interesting
thing observed in this simple, ordinary mound was the size of some of
the supposed “load masses.” Near the bottom, in the central part,
the clayey portion increased and the mottled appearance, supposed by
mound explorers to be due to the deposits of individual loads, became
quite distinct and some of these masses were apparently too heavy
loads for even two persons, as they were 3 feet across the face and from
a foot to 20 inches thick.

The other mound had already been opened.

CRAIGHEAD COUNTY

The topographical features of this county are much the same as
those of Greene, the only important difference being that its area em-
braces a larger proportion of the lowlands of “the St. Francis valley.

According to Col. Norris, who visited the northeast part of the county,
the entire region along this part of the St. Francis lake is so cut up
with sink holes, ‘“blow-outs,” sand hillocks, aud trenches (trending
northeast and southwest), the effect of earthquakes, that the ancient
works are scarcely traceable except in certain favored localities. One
of these he found at Carpenter’s landing on the St. Francis lake, 12
miles east of Brooklyn. Even this sandy ridge is much marred by the
effects of the earthquake but there are unmistakable evidences that
this locality was occupied in former times by a large mound-buildei’s
village and cemetery. A long line of circular and oblong mounds—
some nearly square and flat on top—is still traceable in what is now a
swamp back of the ridge.

THOMAS.] THE WEBB GROUP. 201

Several of these, much shattered by the earthquake, were examined
and others uninjured were opened. All were formed of irregular layers
of swamp muck on which were fire-beds, charcoal, ashes, fragments of
pottery, and charred animal bones, as is usual in this region.

In a conical mound on the ridge, at the depth of 3 feet from the top,
was the skeleton of a child not more than 3 feet long, and by the side
of the skull a dark scallop-rimmed basin, and close to it another vessel,
light colored. At the bottom, onthe natural surface of the ground, was
a fire-bed. The main body of the mound was composed of gray loam,
such as that of the soil around it, but the top was covered with a layer
of soft, yellow sand, 20 inches thick at the center, and thinning out
each way.

A small circular mound, 25 feet in diameter and 7 feet high, found on
Cane island in St. Francis lake, was explored. This had arather mod-

cs

a

ZZ

5)
i

Fic. 111.—Webb group, Craighead county, Arkansas.

ern appearance and had evidently been built up at intervals. Passing
through a top stratum of gray, sandy soil, something over a foot thick,
the explorer reached a layer of charcoal and ashes about 6 inches thick,
covering an area of about 6 feet in diameter, in which were the charred
fragments of animal bones. Next below this was a layer, 2 feet thick,
of sand so loose as to shovel like ashes. This lay on a fire-bed of similar
size, and at least a foot in depth of charcoal, in which were decayed
firebrands. This was, in fact, a coalpit in which were several bushels
of excellent charcoal, but little ashes and no bones. About a foot or
so below this was another similar charcoal bed. Not a particle of clay,
mud, or a piece of stone or pottery was seen in any part of the mound.

The group shown in Fig. 111 is situated in the southern part of the
county, on Sec. 16, T, 13 N., R. 5 E., on the land of Mr. Jasper Webb,
about 10 miles southeast of Jonesboro.

202 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

No. 1, the largest of the group, is 85 feet long by 75 broad on the
flat top and 13 feet high; but being oceupied as a graveyard could not
be explored.

No. 2, conical in form, measured about 150 feet in diameter at the
base and very nearly 20 feet high. It was examined but revealed noth-
ing of interest.

No. 3, conical in form, 65 feet in diameter and 74 feet high, contained
four skeletons, but so far decayed that they could only be partially traced.
One was near the center at a depth of 5 feet, another on the west side
3 feet below the surface. Two feet and a half below the latter was a
broken pot with some badly decayed shells in it. Pottery was discov-
ered at all depths froin 6 inches to 64 feet below the surface and in all
conditions from unbroken vessels to those in fragments. All the whole
vessels were sitting right side up and in most cases near the surface;
those lower down were generally in fragments. Some parts of the
mound appeared to be entirely barren of specimens while in other parts
several were found near together. In one place on the south side, in a
space of 3 feet square by 2 feet deep, were five pots. Thirty-four speci-
mens of the Bureau collection are from this mound.

Mound No. 4 was but partially explored, the work being stopped by
water rising in the trenches. In this were two skeletons and a number
of clay vessels. With one of the skeletons were six pots.

None of the specimens found in this mound were buried more than
2 feet deep and some of them were within 6 inches of the surface. This
tumulus is situated close to a slough and is surrounded by water in
times of great freshets.

There are a few places near these mounds elevated about a foot above
the surrounding land. One near mound No.1 was examined and at
the depth of a foot charcoal and fragments of very firm pottery were
discovered; but further examination was stopped by the water which
rose in the trenches.

Mound No. 5 (not shown in the figure), circular, rounded on top, 40
feet in diameter and 25 feet high, was composed entirely of sand and
unstratified. Although it stands on low, wet ground, graves had been
dug in the natural soil, or excavations made before it was built, as re-
mains and specimens were found at the depth of 43 feet below the sur-
face of the mound.

Comparatively few human bones were discovered aud these so badly
decayed that none of them could be saved, but the number of pottery
vessels was unusually large, over forty being found in the mound.
Usually these vessels were in groups or nests; that is to say, from two
to four would be found together, though occasionally one would be by
itself; and as a general thing the mouths were up. The ware is through-
out of very inferior quality, usually thin and imperfectly burned. It
consists of cooking pots, some with ears and some without, and some
showing evidences of usage; long-necked water bottles, gourd-shaped

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS AT TYRONZA STATION. 203

water vessels; bowls, one large with a flaring rim; dipper or skillet-
shaped vessel with short handles; two clay pipes, ete.

A limestone celt, lance head, and arrow point were the only stone
implements discovered in it. Some coals and ashes, rough, burned
stones, and lumps of burned clay were observed.

POINSETT COUNTY.

The topography of this county is throughout similar in every respect
to that of Craighead county which lies immediately north of it. It
has the same dividing ridge, the same low flat belt and the same bound-
ing streams.

TYRONZA STATION.

This is a mere siding about 1 mile east of the point where the Kan-
sas City, Springfield, and Memphis railroad crosses the Tyronza river,
constructed as a means of access to a large and valuable gravel bed
underlying the sandy ridge, which is something less than a mile wide
at this point and between 3 and 4 miles long. Although the summit of
this ridge is from 10 to 15 feet above the swamp around it, only the
tops of the larger and higher ancient mounds upon it remain above
the water during the heavy overflows of the Mississippiriver. Fig.
112 shows the relative positions of the mounds and their relation to
the railroad.

The following list gives the numbers, the shape, diameter at the
base, and the height of each of the mounds shown in the figure and
remarks in regard to the contents of those explored.

No. | Shape. Diameter. Height. Remarks.

"eet. Feet.

1 | Circular... - 120 12. Flat-topped. Long occupied by a house.

7 eae, -(i Oeste 100 8 Used as a cemetery by the whites.

SM ie ier 70 5 ones and fragments of pottery.

7 es Ceres 60 5 Do.

53 en dOmes. cae 100 6 Ancient fire-bed, ashes, and bones.

6 | Oblong ..-.-. 100 by 40 3 Found nothing.

7 | Circular .... 16) 5 Two tiers of fire-beds and ashes.

SH omti thes scqace 80 5 Opened thoroughly, finding the burned clay and plaster
for the floor and walls of a dwelling 12 by 13 feet.

| Fig. 113 shows vertical section.

9 |. BEC Oneyeerreteie 100 6 Cut away by the railroad men; dotted with red fire-beds,
black earth above them filled with human bones and
pottery.

LOR em n@ Ove ae a 60 34 | Charred remains of a dwelling seemingly about 12 feet

| | square.

HSE eet. O Fee = 60 3 | Partly ent away by railroad men. Fire-beds, charcoal,
ashes, and pottery.

PAE od its cee 90 4 | Ruins of dwelling; Fig. 114 shows a vertical section.

5B Ears (te eee 40 2 | Fire-bed and clay burned to a brick red.

AN ert Oty are 50 eal Do

Hon |osee Oren. a= 100 | 4 Do.

UG) ocak) pa cee = 80 | 7 | Inthe woods contained three tiers of fire-beds and in the
upper, 2 feet from the surface, one skeleton and pot.

in| ante sO) oe ca 120 | 9 | Contained two fire-beds, ashes, and bones.

204. MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Three other similar mounds were seen in the woods but not excavated.
Fig. 115 is a representation of the face of the cut made by the rail-
road in the gravel pit; or, in other words, a vertical section of the ridge
to the depth of from 5 to 6 feet below the normal surface; also of the
mounds on the line of the section. The length of the section shown in

r

4

1Z

oe

Sai
a

WY

war 2

WW, N= =

Sy Mii
SNS
. ae S
Gi

Fie. 112.—Mounds at Tyronza station, Poinsett county, Arkansas.

the figure is 1,100 feet. The heights, distances, and in fact all the fig-
ures given are from actual careful measurements.

It will be seen from this, that not only were the mounds occupied as
dwelling sites, but that the entire ridge, so far as the cut for the rail-
road extends, and to the depth of from 2 to 3 feet, has, scattered
through it, burnt clay beds which in Arkansas are sure marks of house
sites. The short, heavy, black, horizontal dashes mark the locations of

THOMAS. ] MOUNDS AT TYRONZA STATION. 205

fire-beds or indications of fire, as beds of ashes, charcoal, ete.; the
cross-hatched, or shaded, short, horizontal dashes represent the burnt
clay beds, some of which forined the hard floors of dwellings and some
the fragments of plastered walls which have fallen over when the dwell-
ing was burned, as appears to have been the case in most instances.
The positions and relations of these beds, as shown in the figure, make
it evident that upon the site of one burned dwelling another was usually
constructed, not infrequently a third, and sometimes even a fourth,
the remains of each being underlaid and usually overlaid in part by very
dark, adhesive clay or muck from the adjacent excavations which are
found in the swamp as well as upon the ridge, and contain water and
occasionally fish.

Fic. 113.—Section of Mound No. 8, Tyronza station, Poinsett county, Arkansas.

The peculiar black color of these beds is chiefly in consequence of the
large proportion of charcoal with which they are mixed, some of it
doubtless the fine particles of burned grass and reed matting with
which the cabins appear to have been thatched. In and immediately
beneath these are found the deposits of human skeletons, pottery and
other relics.

In mound A (Fig. 115), and at the second red clay bed from the top
was found a water vessel which is neatly ornamented with red figures,
and in the next bed below an image vessel.

On the bottom hearth of mound B was a layer of what had the
appearance of hand-molded brick, well burned, and as red and hard
as modern brick. These bricks, as a matter of course, were irregular
in form and proportion, but seemed to have been intentionally formed

Fic. 114.—Section of Mound No. 12, Tyronza station, Poinsett county, Arkansas.

before burning. Upon this floor, commingled with the burned plaster,
which had formed the walls of the dwelling and which still showed the
sasts of cane, brush, and grass, were found balls or rounded masses of
burned clay, containing the remarkably clear and distinct casts of small
ears of maize (Fig. 116). This is judged from the casts to be the variety
known in the South as the “gourd seed corn,” which has the outer end
of the grain very thin. Of these A is the original clay with the grain
impressions in it; B is a cast of another piece showing the reverse of
the impressions.

Mound No. 8 is circular, 80 feet in diameter at the base, 5 feet high,
and quite flat on top. It contained two beds of burned clay, indicating
two successive dwellings.

206

MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

In No. 12, a vertical section of which is shown in Fig. 114, were
found the ruins of a dwelling, the plan of which, so far as it could be
made out, is given in Fig. 117. There seems to have been three rooms
(a, band d), each as nearly square as the builders were capable of making

1000

qoo

800

700

600

400

300

200

Fia, 115.—Section of mounds, Ty

it, the floor consisting of a layer of clay, burned
when formed. The floor of room @ was in pieces,
somewhat as represented in the figure.

The floor of room b was smooth clay, hardened and
partially burned. The sizes of these rooms were as
follows: a, 11 feet 6 inches front by 12 feet 2 inches

-back; b, 11 feet 7 inches front by U1 feet 9 inches

back; d, 12 feet 3 inches front, the part remaining, 6
feet back, but showing indications of about 6 feet
more, making the. depth about 12 feet.

The black dots along the lines of the walls indicate
the upright posts which supported the roof and to
which the reed lathing for holding the plastering
was attached. Remains of a sufficient number of
these posts were found to show how far apart they
were placed, which appears to have been a little less
than 2 feet.

From the burned fragments of the walls found it
would seem that the cane lathing was worked in be-
tween the posts, as shown in Fig. 118, and was held
in position by interwoven twigs until the plaster was
applied, both inside and out. The semicircular fig-
ures (¢ cc) are Supposed to represent fireplaces. The
back room (d) may or may not have been square.

As will be seen further on, the floor of another
dwelling, somewhat similar in form to the one here
shown, was discovered at another point (see Fig. 136).

In digging away the gravel bank numerous skele-
tons were discovered, usually in a deposit of swamp
mud, charcoal, and ashes, either immediately beneath
or just above the layer of the hearth and burned plas-
tering of the ancient dwellings. All the indications
go to confirm the theory that the dead were interred
in a deposit of clay, swamp mud, or charcoal and

ashes, or a mixture of them, either in or immediately beneath the dwell-
ings, which were then burned over them. Frequently several skeletons
of different sizes were found in these places as though members of a
family; but whether they were all interred at one time or were buried
there one at a time, as they died, is not clear, as the evidence seems to
point to both methods, and perhaps both were practiced. But there
can be no doubt that it was a custom among the mound-builders of
this section to spread a layer of fresh earth upon the charred remains

THOMAS. ] MOUND-BUILDERS’ DWELLINGS. 207

° 9

of one dwelling, often while yet smouldering, to the depth of 1, 2, or 3
feet, and subsequently use it as the site of another dwelling, and some-
times even a third, thus
increasing the height of
the mound; each lay-
er becoming the burial
place of some, at least,
of the occupants of the
dwellings destroyed.
In this way many, if not
most of the smaller and
medium-sized tumuli of
this region, then as now
subject to overflow,
have been builtup. A
great majority. of the
mounds of this charac-
ter in this region are
now and always were
subject to overflow; but
no instance is known
where the large, flat-
topped mound of a
group is not now above
all ordinary floods. A1-
though the latter also
contain fire beds, these
are not so common as
in the smaller ones,
from which we may per-
haps justly conclude
that the people realiz-
ing their situation,
built up more rapidly
one large central
mound above the floods as a site for several dwellings or a large com-
munal house, as well as a refuge for the villagers in times of floods.

Fic. 116.—Clay casts of ear of maize, or Indian corn.

MILLER MOUNDS,

This group, which is shown in Fig. 119, is situated in Sec. 10, T. 10
N., R. 6 E. on Jand owned by Mr. William Dayis on the west side of the
St. Francis river.

The large mound, No. 1 (probably in part a natural formation) and
part of the surrounding lands are under cultivation; the rest of the
group is yet in the forest, which consists of oak, pecan, cottonwood,
hackberry, haw, gum, and hickory trees and seattering stalks of cane.

208 : MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The bottom land is a black, sticky soil, very rich, producing fine crops
of cotton, corn, and tobacco. Mounds 1, 2, and 3 remain uncovered
during overflows, the rest being submerged to the depth of 3 or 4 feet
or more. Quantities of potsherds, broken stone implements, burned
clay, bones, and arrowheads are plowed up every season and are
scattered over the surface of the large mound and fields.

Mound No. 1, if in fact it be throughout an artificial structure, is long,
flat-topped, though not level, and irregular in form, the greatest length
being about 900 feet and the greatest width about 225 feet. The height
varies from 4 feet at
the northern end to 12
at the southern (see
vertical section, Fig.
120).

At m(Fig.119) there
is a considerable de-
pression, as though it
had not been filled up
at this point or had
been washed out, this
portion being raised
only 2 feet. On the
surface at ¢ and d are
two small mounds
about 3 feet high and
20 feet in diameter,
composed of hard
clay. The soil is
sandy and quite
rich.

Although designated a mound, this may be in part a natural formar
tion, possibly the remnant of a former ridge which has been swept away
by the overflows; but that the height has been artificially increased at
the southern end can not be doubted, though permission to dig here
was not granted, as this dwelling and other houses were located here.

No. 2, near the north end of No. 1, is about 110 feet in diameter and
18 feet high; conical and symmetrical. The surface layer proved to be
a sandy soil and quite different from that of the woodland in which it
stands, which is black and sticky. Several large trees are growing on
the sides and near the top.

No. 3 is 60 yards from No. 2, oval and flat on top; diameter north
and south, 105 feet, east and west 75 feet, and height 12 feet.

No. 4 is about 50 yards east of No. 3, 25 feet in diameter, 3 feet high,
and circular. In this littke mound was a mingled mass of human bones
in every conceivable position, covering an area of about 10 feet in
diameter, All the skulls were soft and in pieces. Among the bones

ya ie 7 J
~ \

Fic. 117.—Clay floor-of a three room house.

‘THOMAS. ] j THE MILLER MOUNDS. : 209

were several whole earthen vessels and numerous fragments of pottery
This is the only one of the group examined in which neither charcoal
nor ashes were found. : a
No. 5 is 40 yards southwest of No. 3, diameter 20: feet, height 2 feet.
No. 6 is 70 yards west of No. 3, diameter 40 feet, height 3 feet. About
2 inches of the top consisted. of vegetable soil. Under this was a
layer of burnt clay extending across the mound, but not reaching the

—-. os -— &_—__

9 = (Aa) (VIN
io) eee = Sey! Seah SS : All A hiylh

SS — : se ;

aaa
a
‘ah — | = = oe

Fig. 118.—Mode of lathing houses by Mound-builders.

margins, This was not in a compact layer, but consisted of broken
fragments bearing the imprint of grass and twigs and in some places
the casts of splitcane. In most cases the smooth side was down. The
layer conformed to the surface of the ground and not to the curve of the
mound, and in the central portion was :
slightly depressed. Below this, as far as ton L
the excavation extended (water stopping
the work) was dark muck. lnmediately a es
below the burnt clay were four small ash \
beds on the same level. On and immedi- Gs ie phe
ately below the large layer of burnt clay ae \ > é fy
were several whole earthern vessels, two | 4% 5) a :
water bottles, two pots, and three bowls, ; /
and in the clay bed a large number of frag-
ments of pottery. tite F

No. 7, 100 yards west of No. 2, stands on -
low, wet ground with water all around it;
diameter 60 feet, height 5 feet. After pass-
ing through a top layer of vegetable mold
some 2 or 3 inches thick ai unusually heavy
layer of burnt clay, some 15 feet in diame-
ter, was reached, which, in the center,
measured 18 inches thick, but thinning out
toward the margin, where it consisted of F'-119.—The Miller mounds, Poin.
scattering fragments. The middle portion age vias re
of the underside curved slightly upward, where it pressed upon a layer
of ashes immediately below it. This layer of clay had the appearance
of having been made by laying down irregularly shaped chunks of burnt

12 ETH 14

210 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

clay, some of them very bard, and filling in between them with smaller
pieces. Although not solid, it seems that it was intended it should be
as compact and smooth on top as it could be made with such material-

Under this was a layer of ashes some 2 or 3 inches thick; below
this, dark muck or sticky clay. Other small ash beds were also found-
Hight pots were found in the large burnt clay layer, two of them at
the bottom of the layer by the side of an adult skeleton which lay in a
horizontal position. —

No, 8, 35 yards south of No. 7, measured only 20 feet in diameter and
2 feet in height. This, like the preceding, Was composed chiefly of the

olf a SS eee

Fic. 120.— Vertical section of mound No. 1, Miller group, Poinsett county, Arkansas.

black, sticky soil or muck of the swamp areas around the group. A
trench across it revealed nothing except a layer of burnt clay, about 6
inches thick, occupying about two-thirds of the area of the mound

No.9 is only about 15 feet southwest of No. 8, diameter 30 feet,
height, 4 feet; cireular, and flat on top; a large pecan tree stands on

. the northeast slope. The top
layer, 6 inches thick, consisted
of loose, sandy soil, followed by
a layer of burnt clay, quite hard,
9 inches thick; the rest of the
mound to the original surface of
the ground consisted of black
muck.

Fig. 121 is a plat of this mound
showing the relative positions
of the articles found in it: 1, a
chipped celt at the depth' of 6
inches; 2, a folded skeleton,
head east, at the depth of 6
inches, and by the side of it a
pot; 3, another skeleton at the

HG eee gee - See ae Poinsett depth of 9 inches, and by its side

AGE Esa a bowl; 4, a clay disk at the
depth of 6 inches; 5 and 6, two folded skeletons, depth 24 feet, heads
west; 7 and 8, two folded skeletons, depth 18 inches, heads east, with
a bowl by the side of one and a jug by the other; 9 and 10, folded skele-
tons witli jug and pot; 11, a pottery disk at the depth of 2 feet; 12, stone
disk at 18 inches; 13, 14, and 15, folded skeletons, heads southeast,
depth 23 feet, by them a three-legged jug, a bowl and pot; 16 and 17, a ~
jug and bow] at the deptlr of 34 feet, no skeletons with them; 18, a single
bowl, very small, depth 1 foot. A bone punch was also found here.

1 Measurements of depth are always to the upper side of the article mentioned as it lies in the mound.

THOMAS. ] MOUND NO. 11, MILLER’S GROUP. 211

Some of the clay vessels were quite soft at the time they were found,
but the larger number were strong, well made, and of comparatively
good material. Fragments of pottery, broken stone, clay, ashes and
charcoal were found at various depths. The bones of the skeletons
were soft and fell to pieces as soon as they were uncovered.

No. 10, a small, circular mound, 3 feet high, was.made up of several
irregular layers as follows: First a top layer of soil 3 inches thick; be-
low this a layer of burnt clay similar to that of the other mounds,
about 5 inches thick; next, a foot of soil similar to that of the surround-
ing surface; and the remainder, to the original surface of the ground,
a mixture of ashes, burnt clay, and soil. At the center of this was a
considerable bed of ashes occupying its entire thickness, in which lay
a single skeleton and with it four pots, two of them under the head of
the skeleton.

No. 11, 20 feet west of No. 10; diameter 35 feet, height 54 feet; circular.

A broad trench was cut through it, carrying away the larger portion
to the original earth. In Fig. 122 the positions of the articles found
are marked. After passing through a
very thin layer of surface soil a bed of
hard-burned earth 4 inches thick was
reached which covered the greater por-
tion of the mound; the remainder con-
sisted of black muck from the bottom
lands around; at the depth of 54 feet,
or 2 feet below the original surface of
the ground, was a layer of ashes and
charcoal. Quantities of broken mussel
shells, charcoal, potsherds and chunks of ©
burned clay were found at various rie. 122Plan of mound No. 11, Miller
depths. \ p group.

At 1 lay a very soft folded skeleton, head north, 2 feet below the
surface; by the head a single earthen pot. Pots 2 and 3, and a bowl
(4), were all immediately under the usual layer of burned earth. Nos.
5 and 6—clay pipes—were discovered at the depth of 24 feet; 8, a pot,
at the depth of 2 feet; a clay pipe (not shown in the figure) at the
depth of 18 inches.

Several pieces of burned clay bearing the impressions of split canes
were secured. These probably were pieces of plastering from the walls
of a dwelling which stood here and was destroyed by fire. The layer
of burned earth or-clay mentioned was quite hard. It was full of the
impressions of grass and twigs, and looked as though grass and clay
had been mixed together. Some small trees, varying from 6 inchés to
a foot in diameter, stood on the top and sides of the mound.

No. 12, 25 feet southwest of No. 11, diameter 25 feet, height, 3 feet;
circular; was composed of black, sticky muck, except a layer of burned
clay 9 inches thick which covered the top.

-

PAP - MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Fig. 1283 shows the positions of the following articles found in it.
Nos. 1 and 2, pots at the depth of 9 inches, or immediately under the
bed of burned clay; 3, clay disk, depth, 9 inches; 4, a folded skeleton,
head north, depth, 1 foot, with a pot on each side of it; 5, a pot, depéh,
2 feet; 6, a soft skeleton and
a pot; depth, 2 feet; 7, 4
broken bow! at the depth of
24 feet; 8,a bowl at a depth
of 2 feet; 9, 10, 11, three
skeletons, heads in different
directions, at the depth of 2
feet; 12, a clay pipe immedi-
ately under the top layer of
burned clay.

Most of the pottery in this
mound was very soft, hence
it was only with great care
that the vessels could be
taken out whole. The bones
were so wet and soft that
they went to pieces when
handled. Several small,

hardwood trees, such as hackberry, hickory, pecan and walnut, grew

on the mound, but none exceeded 6 or 8 inches in diameter. Soft mus-
sel shells, chunks of burned clay, charcoal, burned stones, ashes and
- fragments of charred cane were found at various depths.

Fic. 123.—Plan of Mound No. 12, Miller group.

rTHORNTON GROUP. é \d

This group is situated in T. 11 N., R. 6 E., on the east bank of Little
river, about 3 miles above its junction with the St. Francis.
The bottom land on which the mounds stand, although under culti-

« vation, is low and subject to overflow. The plan of the group is given

in Fig. 124. :

Fragments of pottery, broken stone implements, mussel shells, stone
chips, broken bones, and chunks of burned clay are scattered over a
portion of the ground. A clay pipe was the only whole article that re-

“warded a careful search of the surface.

Owing to continued rains and abundance of water but two mounds
of the above group were examined and very little of interest found in
them.

The following list gives the respective sizes and forms of the mounds
of this group: 2 ;

No. 1. Seventy-five feet long north and south, 65 feet wide, and 2 —
feet high. z

No. 2. Ninety feet long north and south an 40 feet east and west.

No, 3. Thirty feet in diameter and 2 feet high-

THOMAS. ] TAYLOR SHANTY GROUP. . 213

No. 4, 25 feet across the widest point and 2 feet high.

No. 5, apparently double, 75 feet long north and south, 35 feet across
at the widest point, and 3 feet high.

No. 6, 50 feet long east and west, 30 feet wide, and 2 feet high.

No. 7, which is but 20 feet in diameter and 2 feet high, was opened
and found to consist throughout of sandy soil like that in the field
around it. It was full of ashes, charcoal, burned clay, broken mussel
shelis, fragments of pottery, and stone chips. <A soft, folded skeleton,
with head north, was found on the northern side at the depth of 18
inches; under it was a discoidal
stone. <A few large fragmeyts
ot pottery, very soft, were at the
center near the surface. The
clay pipe heretofore mentioned
was found on the surface of this
mound.

No. 8, diameter 35 feet and:
height 2 feet, is situated in a
depression, and at the time of
examination was surrounded by
water.

In No. 9, which, is 25 feet in
diameter and 5 feet high, was a
_ folded skeleton at the depth of 1
foot, with head south; no relics
of any kind with it.

“THE TAYLOR SHANTY GROUP.

This group, shown in Fig. 125,
is situated in the southern part
of T.11.N., R.6 E., on the right
bank of the St. Francis river,
about 3 miles below where the
Kansas City, Fort Scott and
Memphis railroad crosses this
stream. This part of the county
lies within the bounds of what
are known as the “Sunken lands
of the St. Francis river;” hence Wie. 124.—Plat of Thornton group, Poinsett county,
_ the present condition is proba- ee
bly quite different from what it was previous to 1811, though it must
have aboynded in swamps,and sloughs as far back as the time of De
Soto’s visit.. The land on which the mounds stand is subject to over-
flow, and in 1882, 1883, and 1884 was inundated to the depth of 10 or
12 feet, only the tops of the highest mounds remaining uncovered.

Mound No. 1, shown on a larger scale in Fig. 126, is at this time but

Ree gs

214 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

aremnant of what it was, the overflow and wash of the St. Francis
river having worn away a considerable portion of it. The length at
present is 150 feet, greatest width 75, and height 6 feet, the top flat.
On this were two small mounds shown at @ and b, each about 26 feet
in diameter and 2 feet high. Trenches 20 feet wide were dug through

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Fic. 125.—Plat of Taylor Shanty group, Poinsett county, Arkansas.

these small mounds to the depth of 5 feet. In that (e¢ d) running
through the little mound a, seven skeletong of adults were found, all
extended and lying on their backs, and with each (save two) were two
earthen vessels lying near the skulls, in most cases a bowl and jar.
With one of the exceptional cases was one vessel; with the other, three.
At-one point two skeletons were lying close together side by side, but

THOMAS. | MOUND NO. 1. 215

with the feet of one to the head of the other. Shells and animal bones
were observed; of the latter those of the deer were the most common.
Burnt clay and ashes were scattered through the earth, but not in beds.

In the trench (e /) running through mound ) were also several skele-
tons, alldying horizontally, at full length, each with one or more earthen
vessels close by it; with one ;
there were four, two at the
knees and two at the head. In
one of the pots found in this
trench were a number of small
animal bones. At the depth of
2 feet was a bed of burnt clay
and immediately beneath it a
bed of charcoal and ashes, in
which was found a single clay
pipe.

Mound No. 2 lies a few feet
north of No. 1, and is somewhat
oval in outline; north and south
diameter, 41 feet; east and west
diameter, 58 feet; and height,
5 feet. It was covered with a
dense growth of cane, ‘and a
large tree had grown on the top
near the center, but, having
fallen, its trunk lay buried in
the top of the mound and was covered with vegetable mold to the depth
of 2 inches.

The construction of this mound as shown in Fig. 127, which repre-
sents an east and west cross section, is as follows, commencing at the
top: First, a top layer of soil, a, 3 inches thick; next, a layer of burnt
clay, >, 15 inches thick in the central portion and thinning out to the
margins, smooth on top, but rough beneath, with the usual indications

Fic. 126.—Mound No. 1, Taylor Shanty group.

FiG, 127.—Section of mound No. 2, Taylor Shanty group.

of admixture with straw and twigs. Immediately under this was a
continuous layer of ‘ashes and charcoal (c), equal in extent to the layer.
of burnt clay above it and about 2 inches thick. The remains of partly
burned cane were found mixed through it; also fragments of pottery
and.burned stones. Under this were layers of burnt clay, e and f, 8
inches thick, placed as shown in the figure, with a thin layer of ashes

216 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

= .

between their overlapping edges. - There were no indications of grass
or twigs in the clay of these layers, as in that of the upper one, dD.
Beneath these was another horizontal and continuous layer of fine coal
and ashes, g, about 2 inches thick. This had the appearance of burnt
cane, as fragments of cane partially burned were found in it:. Under
this was still another layer of burnt clay (h) equal in extent to those
above it and, like them, horizontal. Its upper side was comparatively
smooth and flat. In the central portion it was rather more than a foot
thick, but thinning out toward the margins. This had been cut at m
in a north and south direction for the purpose of burying a single indi-
vidual, whose skeleton was found immediately below at 2. This layer
appears to have been solid, and contained no indications of grass or
weeds. Near the northern edge, at d, were a small bed of gray ashes,
quite a quantity of ‘coals, fragments of pottery and stones, and among
them human bones ‘slightly discolored by the ashes, but not burned.
This deposit was some 4 or 5 inches thick, covering an area about 6
feet in diameter and lying chiefly in the layer g. Immediately under
this burnt clay was a layer (7) of gray, waxy soil about 1 foot thick,
horizontal,'! extending over “the area of the mound, and of nearly uni-
form thickness throughout. On the south side’of the mound in this
layer, at n, Was a small bed of ashes. Next and last, resting on the
original surface of the ground, was another layer of burnt clay (0)
some 7 inches thick in the center. This, to all appearances, had been
burned where it lay; nevertheless it was in fragments, and indications
of grass and twigs to a very limited extent were observed in it. It is
possible, therefore, that it may have been plastering from a house.

Skeletons and fragments thereof were found as follows: Bones (3) in
the ash heap at d; skeleton lying at full length (1) in the layer of earth
i; with this was a red-striped earthen bowl close to the head. No. 2

-was in the same layer as No.1, but judging by the indications was
buried subsequent to it, as the latter lay immediately under the undis-
turbed portion of the clay layer (h), while 2 was under the opening which
had evidently been made in the clay layer for its reception. This
burial had taken place previous to the deposit of the layer of ashes, g,
as this had not been disturbed. By the side of the latter, near the
head, stood a water bottle and a bowl containing shell beads. Three
skeletons (4, 5, and 6) lay at the bottom, on the original surface of the
ground. By No. 4was an earthen canteen; by 5, a red and white striped
water bottle; and by 6, a bowl.

A wide mouthed water bottle and some human bones were discovered
near the surface of the mound at.7, but these appear to have been
brought up from some deeper position by the roots of the tree men-
tioned when it fell. A spoon-shaped clay vessel was buried in the ashes
at d, and seattered through the dirt of the mound were fragments of

‘Horizontal, when used in this connection, implies that the bed or stratum Sclins) not correspond with
the curve or vertical contour of the mound, but is level, or horizontal.

.

THOMAS. | MOUND NO. 4. ~ 217

-
“pottery, fresh-water shells, and animal bones, chiefly of the deer and
raccoon.

Mound 84 is a small circular tumulus, standing near No. 2 onthe west,
14 feet in diameter and 2 feet high. Being nearly covered by water
it was not explored.

Mound 4 is about’ 60 feet from the margin of No. 2; diameter 66 feet,
height nearly 6 feet. The construction was- as follows, commencing
at the bottom and going up: The line a a@ in Fig.
128 indicates the original surface of ground; b, a
layer of burnt clay, which lay chiefly on the right
side, extending only a short distance to the left of
the center, averaging about 5 inches in thickness.
The, impressions of grass and weeds were very
abundant in it. The top was much smoother than
the underside. The soil immediately beneath
showed, to the depth of 2 or 3 inches, the effect of
heat, from which it would seem that the clay was
burnt-on the spot where it lay. ,

Overlapping the northern end of this layer was a
bed of ashes and coals (c) a little beyond the cen-
ter of the mound. This covered an area about 6
feet in diameter and was about 10 inches thick

' where deepest. Over this was a nearly horizontal
layer (d) of clean surface soil, stretching entirely
across the mound. On this lay a thin stratum (e)
of burnt cane, but little more than an inch thick,
on which, or rather in which, not far from the cen-
ter, were the remains of a few fires, marked by the
ash bed (f). Over the layer of burnt cane (e) was
a thick layer of surface soil, marked: g, including
and covering the bed of ashes (/). Over this was
a second layer of black, loose soil (4), 13 inches
thick, in which at 7, lay a small bed of burnt clay,
occupying an area about 5 feet in diameter, cov-
ered by a layer of ashes extending somewhat be-
yond its margins. Next above was another layer of
burnt clay (1), 15 inches thick in the central portion,
but thinning out to the margins, as shown,in the
figure, and covering an area of36 by 27 feet. This
was composed of chunks of btirnt clay that ap-
peared to have been placed on top of the mound, and the crevices filed
up with smaller fragments.

Three skeletons were found in this mound; first (1), that of a person
under medium size in the layer of soil (g), immediately on the stratum of
burnt cane. It lay at full length face up, head east; the bones were
very soft and the skull was much flattened, but not crushed. N ear the
head stood two clay vessels, a water bottle, aed abowl. Under the skull

Y

NN

‘dnoad Ayuryg aopfuy, ‘fp ‘ON punout Jo WOI99g—'gZI “D1

218 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

and part of the neck was a kind of pillow of burnt clay 13 inches long,
10 wide, and 3 thick. Although showing the form, the moisture had so
affected it that it crumbled on exposure. The corners were rounded and
the form was appropriate to the use to which it was applied.

The second skeleton (2) was in the bottom of the mound on the origi-
nal surface of the ground and partly covered by the ash bed c, though
not charred. It lay extended, face up and head southeast, resting on a
clay pillow similar to that already described. Near the right shoulder
was a water bottle and close to it a bowl. The bottle stood erect and
was about two-thirds full of water, which had probably soaked in during
an overflow.

The third skeleton (3) was in the southern part of the mound in the
ash bed (f), and, though resting on the layer of burnt cane, the bones
were not charred. It lay horizontally, the head resting on a clay pil--
low, as the others, and near it stood a water bottle and bowl; with these
was also a chipped celt. z

Mound 5 stands-25 feet north of 4, measuring from base to base, and
is similar in size and form to 3. On it isa black walnut stump, 16 feet
in circumference. No. 6, 35 feet east of No. 2, is circular; diameter 26
feet, height 3 feet. No. 7, 45 feet west of 4, is somewhat oval; diameter
52 and 61 feet, height 6 feet. Although neither of these three was
explored, burnt clay was observed near the surface of each.

No. 8 is 127 feet north of 7; diameter 50 feet; height about 3 feet.
Two feet below the surface was a water bottle in the form of a fish, and
near ita bowl. Nothing else was observed, except a few fresh-water
shells, fragments of pottery, and a few coals.

The positions and sizes of the remaining mounds. of the group, which
were lot excavated, are given in the following table:

]

No. Position. : Form. ‘Diameter. | Height. |
| Feet. | Feet.
9 | 100 feet northwest of No. 8...-.-- |) Circular-—- --2=-- 55 1
10 | 200 feet northwest of No.9.....-- =|be2 JU) Race sse sae a5 30 2
| 11 | 93 feet northeast of No.9 ......------ (Double) oblong ..; 83 by 30 24 |
12 | 90 feet north of No.11.......-...------ Oblong :...-.--+.- | 95 by 25 | 3h .|
13 145 feet southwest of No. 7----.------- Cirenlare.- ee =a | 35 | se ||
14 | 25 feet south of No.138 ...----.-.....- Nearly square .-..) 150 by 112 6 |
| 15 |.75 feet south of No.13............-.--- | Oblong .--..----.- | 87 by 44 5
16 | 125 feet south of No.15.........------ | Circular ...-.-.--- | Part only. 3
17 | 80 feet east of No. 15 ....-.--..-.---..- Lmadtinescnate= see 10 1
18 | 15 feet west of No. 16........-.-.--+--. Rye doweeeseet oe 30 34 |
peso pes atthe = |

Other mounds which presented little of interest may be briefly men-
tioned as follows:

-One in Sec. 9, T. 12 N., R. 2 E., conical, 60 feet in diameter and 24 feet
high, except the southeast quarter, which was raised a foot higher.
Under the latter portion at the depth of 3 feet, was a single skeleton
lying at full length, face up, head east: Fragments of pottery, shells,
ashes, coals, ‘bones, stones and burned earth were scattered through it.

“ ritomtas. PECAN POINT, MISSISSIPPI COUNTY. 219

One on Sec. 35, T. 12 N., R. 2 E., conical, 35 feet in diameter and 4
feet high, was situated on low wet land. Two folded skeletons occurred
at the depth of 2 feet, and the usual amount of fragments of pottery,
shells, coals, ete.

One in SW. 4 Sec. 26, T. 12 N., R.2 E., 75 feet in diameter, 43 feet high,
circular and nearly flaton top. Near the center, at a depth of 24 feet,
lay a bed of ashes covering an area about 5 feet in diameter. A. lit-
tle to the north of this bed, at the same depth, were four folded skele-
tons, without order as to direction, and a little north of them another
fire bed, to the right of which at the depth of 3 feet, was another skele-
ton, lying at full length, head west. Shells, stones, bones, fragments
of pottery, etc., were scattered through it.

One near the preceding, 25 feet in diameter and nearly 5 feet high,
composed of dark brown loam, similar to the soil around it, contained
‘only the usual mixture of shells, coals, ashes, ete. This and the one
preceding it are subject to overflow, and like many of the others, prob-
ably most of the low circular ones were house sites. .

A conical and unusually steep mound on the SW. 4See. 32, T. 11 N.,
hk. 4 E., which had been partially explored, was examined. It was com-
posed of the sandy soil of the bottom land on which it stands, and
covered with a layer of dark vegetable mold, about 9 inches thick. Two
large poplars (tulip trees), each about 3 feet in diameter, stand on the
northern slope. A folded skeleton, accompanied by three clay pots,
was found near the apex at a depth, of 1 foot under an old stump, and
another at the depth of 9 inches, accompanied by three pots. Burned
human bones occurred at three points, two at a depth of 2 feet and
one at the depth of 5-feet. Fragments of pottery, stones, and mussel
shells were scattered through the earth. In the center, at the base, was
a hard layer of sand, several feet in extent and 2 feet deep. Under it
lay five folded skeletons, all placed in the-same direction.

A third mound in the same locality, about 200 yards from the last
and similar in form and size, was partially explored. A badly decayed
skeleton, with head west and accompanied by a small water jug, was
discovered at a depth of 18 inches, and another at a depth of 2 feet, by
which stood a pot and bowl. Another pot and another bow] were also
found.

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY.

This county, which is bounded on the east by the Mississippi river
and on the west by the Tyronza and Little rivers, is low and flat
throughout, and the northern, middle, and western portions much cut
up by lakes, bayous, and cypress swamps.

PECAN POINT.

This is one of the most elevated points which the Mississippi, in its
many bends and windings, has left as a part of its west bank along

920 . MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

this portion of its course; yet it is but a high bank. Nearly a mile
northwest of the present landing at this place is an oblong, oval-topped
mound, 150 feet long, north and south, by 80 broad at the base and 15
feet high. This is on the southern bank of a bayou where the river
probably ran when it was built. As it is covered with modern graves
of negroes and whites no excavations were allowed to be made in it.
The people of the neighborhood state that in digging graves they bring
up the remains of as many people as they bury.

But the chief point of interest at this place is the old cemetery or
burying ground of the ancient mound-builders, which lies immediately
east of the mound mainly along the slough.

A plat of the locality is given in Fig. 129; m indicating the mound,
and the space ¢, surrounded by the dotted line, the cemetery.

Although many individuals are buried in mounds, and, in this sec-
tion, in the dwelling sites, yet it is evident from the indications of long

: ——————
@ surat

~ Burial Place /

SS ones

/

Cultivated Field

~ MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Fic. 129.—Plat of Pecan” point works, Mississippi county, Arkansas.

occupancy and a numerous population, in many localities, that a large
portion of the dead must have been buried elsewhere. Occasionally
these burying grounds can be found. Inthe present case the cemetery
furnishes the chief evidence that there was formerly an extensive vil-
lage here. It is possible the mounds and other works may have been
swept away by the Mississippi changing its bed; possibly they never
existed. F

The usual mode of burial here was horizontalsat full length upon
the back or side, in a bark coffin placed from 1 to 3 feet below the sur-
face. There are, however, excepttons to this mode, as some are placed
with the face down, some with the legs drawn up, or, in other words,
folded, some in a sitting or squatting posture; but this last is usually
where a group of various sizes, as of a family, are found huddled to-
gether around some rare and highly prized object. There is no uni-
formity as to the direction in which they were placed, either in regard
to the points of the compass or their relation to one another. It was

THOMAS. } ; FULL FACE VESSELS. 221

under circumstances of this kind that the vessels representing the
human head, one of which, shown in Fig. 130, was found here.
Usually in the graves of the horizontal skeletons there was found
-with each a pot, bowl, or jug near the head, at the feet, or by,the hips;
often two and sometimes all three with one skeleton, but it was seldom
that two vessels of the same kind or intended for the same use were
with one skeleton. The human headed vessels were not together, but
adjacent to each other, and, although the large one (shown in Fig. 130)
was encircled by skeletons, none was nearer than 2 or 3 feet of it. In
some places there were as many as three or four tiers of burials, the
lower tiers being considerably deeper than the average mentioned.

Fic. 130.—Image vessel, Pecan point, Mississippi county, Arkansas.

Scattered through this cemetery -were fire-beds,-ashes, charcoal,
burned stones, and mussel shells from 6 inches to 2 feet below the sur-
face. The fire beds -were layers of burned earth from 6 inches to a
foot thick and usually about 10 feet in diameter, with ashes and char-
coal on and under them. Skeletons without accompany ing relics were
sometimes found near these fire beds. 3

Figures of some. of the interesting and rare forms of clay eau
- obtained at this place have been published.

In the central portion of this county, back of Osceola, there is a
group of mounds on Frenchman’s bayou, 6 miles west of Golden Lake
post-office. :

These are all of the simple, ordinary, conical type, the highest not

222 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

exceeding 8 feet elevation. The plow and previous explorers had cut
them to pieces and all the valuable specimens had been removed. A
large number of pieces of clay, burnt to a brick-like substance, were ob-
served together with ashes, animal bones and mussel shells, indicating
that most of them were house sites.

JACKSON MOUNDS.

These are situated on the farm of Mé. B. F. Jackson, on the Little
river cut-off, about 16 miles northwest of Osceola. -

No. 1, oval in form, 4 feet high, and the longest diameter 60 feet, was
partially occupied by the graves of three. white persons, but permission
to dig so as not to disturb these was obtained. Three pits were carried
to the original surface. The first passed through a top layer of black
surface soil 25 feet thick, then a layer of burnt clay 10 inches thick, and

_ below this a layer of charcoal and ashes 6 inches deep. Here, associ-
ated with the charcoal and ashes, was a skeleton, with pots at each side
of the head. .

In the second pit the results were much the same, except that in this,
below the skeleton a hard floor of well-burnt clay was encountered,
which was covered with 2 feet of ashes, in which were some specimens
of pottery, but no skeleton or bones.

In the third the layers passed through were as the first, but no skel-
eton was found.

The other mound (there were but two mou::ds in the group) was some-
what higher than No. 1, but so occupied by modern graves that no ex-
amination of it could be made.

About 30 yards from this, immediately under the aaivtace of the
ground, commences a level floor of hard clay, which, so far as examined,
was burned to a brick red, and varied from 6 inches to nearly 2 feet
in thickness. This layer extended more or less continuously over an
area almost or quite 300 feet square. As a part of if is covered by a
dwelling and outbuildings, and permission to examine only certain
portions was given, it was not possible to determine the extent of the
spaces thus continuously covered. Breaking through this at the points
where digging was allowed, the Bureau explorer discovered, in each
case at the depth of from 1 to 3 feet, skeletons and pottery. In one
place two skeletons of adults were found a few feet apart, and close
by one of a child. With each adult skeleton were five pots, and with
the child one pot and two toy vessels; all were more or less embedded
in ashes, but the bones were not charred.

Several separate house sites were found in which ashes and broken
pottery occurred. One of the vessels found here is represented in Fig.
131. This was beneath the clay floor. :

Mr. R. B. Evans visited this county on his archeological tour in 1881,
in behalf of the Chicago Times. He describes a mound on the land of
a Mr. Sherman, at the head of Young’s lake, midway between Osceola

- THOMAS. | THE JACKSON AND SHERMAN MOUNDS. 223

“

and Pitman’s landing. The special reasons for calling attention to it
here are because of the reference made by Mr. Evans to the supposed
brick discovered in it, and the peculiar form of the mound, shown in
Fig. 132, copied from the Times of April 9, 1881, which, as will be seen
elsewhere, is almost identical with one observed by Col. Norris .in
Phillips county, Arkansas (see Fig. 145). i

Fic, 131.—Vessel from Jackson mounds, Mississippi county. Arkansas.

The dimensions given are as follows: Altitude of the first terrace
11 feet, width 129 feet, length 158 feet; altitude of second terrace 3 feet _
7 inches, width 60 feet, length 93 feet; altitude of third terrace 6 feet,
width 63 feet, length 78 feet. aes

Fic. 182.—The Sherman mound, Mississippi county, Arkansas.

Digging into the top he found, near the surface, fragments of burned
clay, which increased in amount a little farther down, where they formed
a layer apparently over the upper terrace. These lumps of burned
clay, which he supposed to be brick, are evidently the fragments of
plaster from the walls ofa dwelling, as they were, in some cases, marked
with the fluting elsewhere mentioned as occurring in the mounds of
Arkansas.

224 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

INDEPENDENCE COUNTY.

The surface of this county is broken and hilly, and is crossed from
the northwest to the southeast by White river. The Oil Trough bot-
tom in the southwest part, where the mounds mentioned are situated,
is a rich alluvial tract lying along the west side of White river.

Fic. 133,—Engraved shell (Busycon perversum) from mound, Independence county, Arkansas.

The only works reported in this county are two mounds near Akron
and 9 miles northwest of Jacksonport.

THOMAS. ] ARKANSAS. 225

The first of these is about 300 feet in diameter, 7 feet high and cir-
cular in outline. It is covered over with the graves of the townspeople
to its very skirts, and hence could not be disturbed. It was ascer-
tained, however, that in digging the graves numerous articles had been
found, among them a very fine specimen of Busycon perversum, engraved,
which was obtained from Mr. M. A. Mull, of Jacksonport, for the Na-
tional Museum, and is shown in Fig. 133. A figure or image of some
kind made of clay was taken out at the saine time and sold to Messrs.
Dodd, Brown & Co., of St. Louis, Mo.; also a number of shell beads
which were obtained by the Bureau.

The second mound is much smaller, being only about 4 feet high and
50 feet in diameter. One foot below the surface a 6-inch stratum of
burnt clay was encountered, then 5 inches of ashes and charcoal. The
base was composed of clay and sand. Only a few broken vessels and
some fragments of pottery were obtained.

JACKSON COUNTY.

On the farm of Mr. Rindman, a mile and a half north of Jacksonport,
on a narrow strip of land bordering a slough, are evidences of an ancient
settlement. These consist of three small mounds and patches of burned
clay, or “ brick-like substance,” as the explorer terms it, immediately
under the surface of the surrounding soil.
An examination of this burnt clay showed it
to be in patches, forming a layer from 6 to 10
inches thick, much of it bearing the impres-
sions of grass, roots, and cane; occasionally
mud-daubers’ nests, burnt as hard as a brick, ssc
were found still sticking to it, from which it Fra. 134.—Stone spool from mound,

_is evident that it had formed the plastering —-7*°K8e" county, Arkansas,
of dwellings.

The mounds varied from 15 to 25 feet in diameter, and from 18 to 36
inches in height. In one, at the bottom, was a hard burnt clay floor,
very smooth, covered with ashes; in another, some broken pots with
ashes, and in the third only ashes.

“One mile east of Jacksonport, on the banks of White river, there
stood, until last'year, a mound, but it was carried away by the flood,
which also washed off the top soil from the land for a considerable
space around it, revealing fragments of pottery, bones, stone imple-
ments, and much burnt clay scattered about in patches.

In a mound, 5 feet high and about 30 feet in“diameter, 6 miles south
of Newport, on the farm of Mr. G. R. Stevens, two skeletons were found
lying in opposite directions, face down, and with them two small stone
spools, one of which is shown in Fig. 134, marked with copper stains;
also a shell pin, and a clay pipe.

12 ETH 15

226 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
CRITTENDEN. COUNTY.

The topographical features of this county are similar to those of
Mississippi county, which joins it on the north. The works in it which
were examined are situated 1 mile from Oldham (formerly Bradley’s
landing), near the Mississippi river, on land belonging to the Bradley

Fra. 135.—Bradley mounds, Crittenden county, Arkansas.

estate. A view of part of the group is given in Fig. 135. Unfortu-
nately the explorer’s report on these interesting works is very brief.
The land is not now subject to overflow, but an examination of the
portion outside of the field shows that a stream formerly ran here and
that then it was probably subject to occasional inundation, as, where it

THOMAS. ] ARKANSAS. 227

has not been disturbed by the plow, the strata of sand and vegetable
remains are quite distinct. The Mississippi is one-fourth of a mile dis-
tant; this land seems therefore to have been made since the river ran
by the field. The old river bed is probably the former channel of the
Wappanoke creek which now runs some distance back of the field in
which the mounds are situated. Many of the trees on this land are
5 feet in diameter and 80 feet high. The human and other remains
found in this field are from 3 to 5 feet deep. The mounds occupy the
highest point and the greater the distance from them the deeper are
the remains, as would be the case with deposits made by overflows.

The mounds had already been worked over, so attention was turned
to the house sites scattered over the area around them. A number of
these had also been previously examined, but several remained undis-
turbed. As an almost universal rule, after removing a foot or two of
top soil, a layer of burnt clay in a broken or fragmentary condition
would be found, sometimes with impressions of grass or twigs, which
easily crumbled but was often hard and stamped apparently with an
implement made of split reeds of comparatively large size. This layer
was in places a foot thick and frequently burned to a brick red or.even
to clinkers.

Below this, at a depth of 3 to 5 feet from the surface, were more or
less ashes, and often 6 inches of charred grass, immediately covering
skeletons. The latter were found lying in all directions, some with the
face up, others with it down, and others on the side. With these were
vessels of clay, in some cases one, Sometimes more.

From the excavations made here about seventy whole vessels and
numerous fragments were obtained; also rubbing stones, hammer
stones, celts, cupped stones, horn and bone implements, etc.

ST. FRANCIS COUNTY.

The surface of this county is quite level, with the exception of Crow-
ley’s ridge, which runs through the western portion north and south.
Kast of the ridge is the broad region of alluvial lands of the White
and Mississippi rivers.

About 4 miles southeast of Forest city, and near Crow creek, some
singular remains were discovered, called by the people of the neighbor-
hood the ‘Old Brick House,” or ‘“ Fort,” from the quantity of brick-
like material or burnt clay found there. These appear to be house sites.
There are three of them, rectangular in form, the larger one 30 feet
long by 10 feet wide, consisting of a floor of burned clay 8 inches thick.
The outer edges consisted of broken fragments forming ridges and pre-
senting the appearance of being the remnants of a clay wall which had
fallen down during the destruction of a building by fire. The area
occupied is about 2 feet higher than the surrounding level. Immedi-
ately below the clay floor was a layer of ashes 6 inches thick, and below

228 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

this black loam. Some large trees are growing on these sites, one a
poplar (tulip tree)! 3 feet in diameter and 100 feet high.

The other squares have been more or less obliterated by a roadway
made through them. Some years ago a large oak on one of them was
blown down, revealing the bones of a skeleton, some pottery, and a pipe.

Near by is a mound 10 feet high, oblong in shape and flat on top, the
width of the upper surface 36 feet. It consisted of three strata, the
first or top layer of soil about 10 inches thick; next a layer of yellow
clay 1 foot thick, and the remainder, to the bottom, white clay. No
relics or evidences of its having been used for burial purposes were
observed.

CROOK’S MOUND.

This is situated on the farm of Capt. W. J. Crook, 10 miles southeast
of Forest city and near the bank of Tunic creek. It is oval in form,
408 feet long, 150 feet wide, and 15 feet high, flat on top.

Thorough examination was not allowed by the owner, as it is the
only retreat for his farm stock in time of high water. Three small pits
revealed the fact that the first or top layer of loam was about 1 foot
thick; next below this a layer of ashes of variable depth; the remainder,
to the base, consisted of clay. It had been very deeply plowed and a
skeleton or two and some pots taken out.

LAKE ANDERSON MOUNDS.

This group of mounds is on the bank of Lake Anderson or Mud lake,
some 2 miles northeast of Forest city. The largest one is oblong in
form, flat on top, with unusually steep sides; height, 12 feet; width on
top, 30 feet. Permission to excavate it was refu-~ed because of the own-
er’s wish to utilize it in times of freshets. Two small circular mounds
on the immediate bank of the lake were composed of loam, clay, ashes,
and burnt, brick-like material, mingled in a confused mass by the tramp-
ing of cattle in times of high water.

A short distance from these were patches of burnt clay, slightly
raised above the natural surface of the ground. But they had been so
badly cut up by the passage of vehicles, the public road crossing di-
rectly over them, that nothing satisfactory could be ascertained in
reference to their original form or condition.

REMAINS ON THE ROBERT ANDERSON FARM.

These are on the bank of the St. Francis river, 2 miles northeast of
those last mentioned.

At this place, on the immediate bank of the St. Francis river, is a
projecting point, which was formerly much larger, but has been cut
away by the river until but a few feet of the projecting portion remain.
During this process of wearing away, many skeletons, much pottery,
and numerous stone implements have been washed out. The point now

1In the South the name ‘ poplar”’ is universally applied to the tulip tree—Liriodendron tulipifera.

THOMAS.) ARKANSAS. 229

presents the appearance shown in Fig. 156, the squares indicating the
remains of houses. In this, 1 is the St. Francis river; 2, 2, parts of the
floors of two rooms or houses, the rest having been washed away; 3, a
complete square or house floor. These squares are composed, as usual,
of a layer of brick-like substance, with the impressions of grass and
twigs init. The edges are all higher and have a thicker layer of this
material than the inner areas. The surface soil has been washed away,
leaving these hard floors naked. This layer of. burnt clay, except at
the edges, is usually about 8 inches thick. Immediately beneath it is
a layer of charcoal and ashes, of about the same thickness, and beneath
this black loam. No. 4 in the figure indicates the public road, and 5, a
small clear space between the square and the river.

Two small cireular mounds near by were partially examined. Per-
mission for further work in them could not be obtained. In one were

Fic. 136.—Honse site, St. Francis county, Arkansas.

found burnt clay and ashes commingled, the body of the mound below
this consisting of sand. The other contained no burnt clay or ashes, the
top layer, 3 feet thick, being black loam, the remainder yellow clay.

ARKANSAS COUNTY.

One of the most remarkable mounds in this state is that called “the
Menard hill” (a, Fig. 137, which is a plat of the group), on the farm of
Mr. N. Menard, 7 miles west of Arkansas post. Its peculiarity con-
sists in its unusual steepness, being, according to Dr. Palmer’s measure-
ment, 50 feet high and only 150 feet in diameter at the base. It is
flanked by two wings, indicated at ) and ¢. The larger of these wings
is 150 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 20 feet high; the smaller is 75 feet
long and 7 feet high.

A slight examination of the main mound, carried down only to the
depth of 10 feet, showed that it was composed of a mixture of sandy

230 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

loam, decayed vegetable matter and clay, but there can be seareely a
doubt that the central core is hard clay which has preserved its form.

An opening was made in the larger wing near the top. After pass-
ing through a top layer of sandy loam 6 inches thick, a layer of burnt
clay of the same thickness was reached. Immediately below this was a
layer of burnt matting 3 inches thick, scattered through which were
grains of parched corn. In an opening previously made on the oppo-

\\ ti Wife 5
\\ul \
\ \\ HH WY

S

WH I
Sw)

we AAW
. iN =

Fig. 137.—Plan of Menard mounds, Arkansas county, Arkansas.

site side of the same wing a thick layer of burnt clay was encountered
and a number of broken pots were found.

The small flat-topped mounds ddd, none of which are more than 2
feet high, are probably house sites. They consisted of a top layer of
soil, next a layer of burnt clay, and below this ashes, in which were
skeletons and pottery. It was in these house sites that Dr. Palmer

‘THOMAS. ] ARKANSAS. 231

made the large find of pottery previous to his connection with the
Bureau of Ethnology.

As Dr. Palmer’s report of his previous work has not been published,
I copy from it his remarks in regard to this group:

I found that this mound (the Menard hill) had been previously dug into, and i
learned that a metal cross was found 4 feet below the surface. A field of 20 acres
surrounds it, in which are numerous remains of ancient dwellings. In these, ashes
were discovered under a layer of burnt clay, which I presume formed the roofing of
the dwellings. Close to (under) the ashes a skeleton was usually found with from
one to three pieces of pottery by the side of the skull.”

The most important result of the exploration was finding the remains of a large
house. About 2 feet under the surface was a thick layer of burnt clay, which prob-
ably formed the roof. In tracing out the circumference a hard clay floor was found
beneath, and between the two several inches of ashes, but no skeletons. There were
a great many pieces of broken dishes so situated as to lead one to believe they were
on top of the house at the time it was burned. When restored most of these ves-
sels proved to be basin-shaped bowls.

LEE COUNTY.

The topographical features of this county are very similar to those of
St. Francis county, which joins it on the north.

GREER’S MOUND.

This is a very regular, oblong truncated or flat-topped mound, situ-
ated upon the point of a second or upper terrace of the L’Anguille
river 2 miles above its confluence with the St. Francis. It is reetangu-
lar, measuring on the top 87 feet in length and 51 feet in width and is 30
feet high; the slope of the sides is very steep, being about 45°.

A shaft sunk init near one end some years ago revealed, as is stated
by the parties who made the exploration, the stump of a small tree and
a stake 4 or 5 feet long near the bottom, the former growing in the
natural soil. Layers of swamp mud and fire beds were found atirregu-
lar distances through the whole depth.

Permission to inake further exploration was not obtained.

ANCIENT DWELLING SITES AND CEMETERIES.

A careful examination was made of the bluffs and valleys both of the
L’Anguille and St. Francis rivers above their confluence for a distance
of fully 20 miles, from which it was found that scarcely a terrace or
hillock was without evidences of ancient occupancy, such as brick-red
fire-beds, charcoal, ashes, etc., indicating camps or dwellings.

For more than fifty years the Priest and Forest farms, where these
evidences appear in greatest abundance, have been noted for the
amount of ancient pottery of superior quality frequently unearthed in
cultivating the land and recently by relic hunters. Quite a number of
whole vessels of this pottery were obtained by the Bureau.

232 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

There is usually sufficient space between the bluffs and the irregular
line of hillocks, which slope off from them to the lower bottoms, for a
roadway. The upper or highest portion of each hillock seems to have
been occupied as a dwelling place until the accumulation of dark earth,
fire-beds, and refuse material has reached a depth of from 2 to 10 feet,
which gradually thins out with the slope in all directions. Shafts and
trenches in these disclosed the fact that the material is in irregular
layers or patches, in which are intermingled charcoal, charred bones of
animals, as wellas many split bones not charred, also the never absent
stone chips, rude scrapers, and other implements. Occasionally one or
more human skeletons are found, always beneath a fire-bed and
usually accompanied by pottery. These are generally in low, oblong
mounds, where the peculiar color of the earth indicates their presence,
and the uppermost ones are at a slight distance below the surface.
There are often two or three tiers of skeletons, apparently deposited
without any other system than simply to avoid overlapping and so as
to arrange them parallel with each other and at full length.

The crania, which are not crushed, vary greatly, both in size and
form, but are usually of the brachycephalic type. Occasionally one is
found which shows very distinctly the effects of artificial compression
of the front.

Many of the skeletons observed had only fragments of pottery by the
side of the cranium; some had a vessel, usually a water bottle; others
a cup, bowl, or other open-mouthed vessel, and, perhaps, in addition, a
human or animal effigy.

Col. Norris, who made the explorations in this locality, says that he
“rarely found more than three vessels with one skeleton, and one of
them was always a water bottle. They were usually, but not always,
found in the proper position to contain water, food, or other presents
for the dead. I found a number of the bottles closed with stoppers
made of clay, some of the latter in the form of mullers, and others
simply rounded off and made to fit; but no relic of any kind in these
bottles; while, on the contrary, polishing stones, shells, bones of birds,
and red paint were frequently found in cups, basins, and other open-
mouthed vessels. Although so similar in general form and finish, there
are often such marked peculiarities in the finish, color, or ornamentation
of vessels of neighboring villages but a mile or two apart as to enable
a close observer to readily distinguish them. For instance, the Forest
and Priest farms extend less than 2 miles each, yet any person, by close
observation could soon learn to distinguish the pottery found at one
extremity from that obtained at the other.”

At one point the skull of a skeleton was found crushed beneath ten
platters, seven of which were placed edgewise above it on one side and
three, slightly differing in form, ou the other. Most of them, however,
fell to pieces on being removed.

7

THOMAS. ] ARKANSAS. 233
MONROE COUNTY.

No explorations were made in this county, but two large stone pipes
were obtained, shown in Figs. 138, 139, 140, and 141, which are reported
to have been found in the upper part of a large truncated mound near
Clarendon.

The former (Figs. 138-140) is of quartzite, smoothed and partially pol-
ished, 8 inches high to the top of the head, 7 inches long and 3 inches
thick. It represents a kneeling, naked individual; Fig. 138 is a side
view; Fig. 139 a front view, and Fig. 140 a view of the top of the head
showing the carving. The latter (Fig. 141) is of a species of white

Fia. 138.—Image pipe, Monroe county, Arkansas.

marble, polished, 4 inches high, 43 long and 24 thick, a squatting figure
with pipe bowl in the lap. There is no doubt as to their authenticity
and that they were obtained as reported.

PHILLIPS COUNTY.

Several miles of the lower portion of the St. Francis river valley are
included in this county. In portions of this stretch, especially opposite
Phillips bayou, the river, in cutting into the high bottom, is constantly
unearthing ancient pottery and human bones, many of the latter being

.

234 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

in such a state of preservation as to indicate that they, as well as many
found on the west side above the bayou, pertain to a comparatively
modern period. It is even stated by some of the oldest settlers of the
locality that when first occupied by the whites it was not an unusual
thing to plow up fragments of bark boxes or coffins, together with

bones and pottery.
OLD TOWN WORKS.

These are situated on a sandy ridge between the Mississippi river
and Old Town lake, at the point where they make their nearest ap-
proach to each other and near the
ancient outlet of the latter, which is
now closed by the levee. They con-
sist of earthen walls or embank-
ments, mounds, and the saucer-
shaped depressions supposed to be
house sites, as shown in Fig. 142.
The works to the left, marked a, con-
sist of an inclosing wall surrounding
a@ space somewhat in the form of a
quadrant of a circle; a large, trun-
eated, pyramidal mound with ter-
race (No. 3 in the figure) and other
smaller conical or oval mounds and
numerous saucer-shaped house sites.
Those at the right must have been
very extensive, but have been to a
large extent removed for the pur-
pose of forming the levee. ,

The preservation of the wall
around the western works is largely
due to the fact that it has, in part,
been utilized as a portion of the
levee.

No. 1, at the right and forming a
part of the group marked J, is the
remnant of a wall which extended from the old bank of the river 400
feet diagonally toward the head of the former outlet of the lake and
terminated in a small rectangular inclosure 15 by 30 feet.

Whether this wall and inclosure are wholly the work of aborigines
or partly of the whites is a question the Bureau assistant was unable
to decide, but thought the latter view possible, judging from the size
and rectangular form of the work. According to local tradition they
were built by Moscosa and the remnant of De Soto’s army while pre-
paring their brigantines for the descent of the Mississippi river.

Much of mound No. 2 has been removed for levee purposes, but
traces of the edges still remaining prove it to have been 600 feet long

Fic. 139.—Image pipe, Monroe county, Ark.

THOMAS. | ARKANSAS. 235

and about 200 broad at its greatest width and ovalin form. Its height,
however, was only some 8 or 10 feet. It appeared from information
obtained that it contained from one to three tiers of skeletons and that
several hundred vessels of clay have at different times been taken
from it. From the excavations made by the Bureau assistant in the
remnants it was ascertained that it was built of the surrounding soil,
with the usual admixture of fire-beds, charcoal and ashes. Several
skeletons were unearthed and some vessels obtained, one of which is
shown in Fig. 143. These skeletons were uniformly buried at full length
upon their backs or sides without regard to the cardinal points and a
number of them in bark coffins, which were unmistakably of cypress and
in no way differing from others found near the surface and supposed to
be intrusive burials of modern Indians. In one of these was a water bot-
tle close by the side of the skull.

Fic. 140.—Image pipe, Monroe Fic. 141.—Image pipe, Monroe county, Arkansas.
county, Arkansas.

Mound No. 3, in the large inclosure (a), is a truncated pyramid, nearly
square, 96 feet long by 86 in width at the base; the first or lower plat-
form is 4 feet high, and forms a terrace 36 feet wide on two connecting
sides of the mound proper; this rises 8 feet above this terrace, and is
50 by 60 feet at its base and 20 by 30 feet on the flat top. It is shown
in Fig. 144 restored (a the elevation and } the ground plan). Eweavya-
tions were made, but nothing of interest was revealed.

There was, as usual, a space fronting this mound destitute of the
circular house sites. Excavations in the house sites revealed the usual
fire-bed, charcoal, and fragments of pottery.

BARNEY MOUND.

This singular and interesting’ earthwork is shown in Fig. 145, a
the ground plan and } the elevation. As will be seen, it consists
of an oval platform constricted near the middle so as to appear like two
conjoined, unequal circles, the larger of which is surmounted by an oval

236 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

truncated mound. The platform averages throughout about 15 feet
high, the diameter of the smaller end being about 200 feet and of the
larger 338 feet. The mound rises about 20 feet above the platform or
terrace and is flat on top, its larger diameter here being 108 feet.
The whole is entirely surround-
ed, as shown in the figure, by
a ditch varying in depth from 10
to 15 feet and in width from 50
to 75 feet.

Excavations made at points
on the summit and sides, both
of the mound proper and plat-
form, brought to light patches
or beds of clay burnt to a brick
red.

ROGER’S MOUNDS

This is the name given to a
group a mile distant from the
Barney mound, just described.
The mounds are all of the ordi-
nary conical or oval form, except
the largest one of the group,
which is flat on top and sur-
mounted near one end by an-
other small hemispherical
mound, as shown in Fig. 146.
This is oval in outline, the
longer diameter (at the base)
247 feet, and the shorter nearly
200 feet; height of the platform
or terrace 20 feet, the longer
diameter on the top 150 feet,and
the shorter 90. The little mound
on the top is about 50 feet in
diameter, 5feet high, and round-
ed off in the ordinary form. On
the terrace are the ruins of a
modern house and barn overgrown by brush and small trees. A very
heavy fire-bed was found immediately below the surface of the upper
mound; others were also found at various points on the terrace and on
the sides of the main mound. .

Near the surface of another mound, the next in size, was a bed
of clay burned to a brick red, and so hard that it could not be cut
with a spade, but had to be undermined and taken out in blocks like
irregular bricks. A portion of this was removed and an excavation

fy
Iss
¢
N

OLD TOWN

Ainatants RMA RE, BMGT ats srasamnnscntarens tes tern Tete rann cts

Fie. 142.—Plan of Old Town works, Phillips county, Arkansas.

THOMAS.] ARKANSAS. 237

made through charcoal, ashes, and flakes of mortar burned to a bright
brick red, but retaining the casts of the stems of grass and cane. Two
feet below this was another fire-bed.

DESHA COUNTY.

This county, which lies along the Mississippi and includes the mouths
of Arkansas and White rivers, is embraced in the Mississippi alluvial
region of the state.

Fig. 147 represents a mound situated on a level bottom 1 mile north
of Arkansas city. It is 108 feet long, 72 feet wide on top, and 12 feet
high. There is a slope of about 35 feet at the east end, produced by a

Fig. 143.—Pottery vessel from Old Town works.

slide which carried down some of the upper level. During the over-
flow of 1882, which was of unusual height, the top of this mound was
never less than 5 feet above the water. It has, on this account, been
utilized as a burying ground by the citizens of Arkansas City, where
they bring their dead in boats in times of overflow.

A conical mound at Walnut lake station, 40 feet in diameter and 8
feet high, was composed wholly of sandy loam. Fig. 148 represents
an ancient fort on what is known as the “Turner Place.” It is near
the Arkansas river, which formerly ran within 400 yards of this forti-
‘fication. Although evidently constructed by whites its history is
unknown to the people of that section, who have the usual tradition of
its being the work of De Soto and his army. It was probably built

238 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

by the French to protect a trading post. As confirmatory of this
theory there is a ridge near by on which are found the indications of
houses such as were built by the whites.

Fic. 144.—Mound No. 3, Old Town works.

Trees a foot through were cut from it twenty-two years ago; but Dr.
Palmer was informed by Mr. Bezzell, who lives near by, that thirty-six
years ago the trees now growing on the new-made lands along the river
some of which are 3 feet in diameter, were small saplings.

if,

M\\\

Fic. 145.—Ground plan and elevation of the Barney mound, Phillips county, Arkansas.

The fort is square, measuring 150 yards from side to side. On the
west side extends a graded or covered pathway a distance of 250 yards,
ending near the former bank of the river. The height of the wall of the*
fort is at present 4 feet. In one corner, as shown in the figure, is a hole
6 feet deep supposed to be the site of. the magazine.

aA

THOMAS. } ARKANSAS. 239

The articles picked up here from time to time and found in the pro-
cess of cultivating the soil belong both to the days of the first settle-
ment of the county and to very modern times. They are thimbles,
pipes, broken dishes, parts of pistols and guns, pieces of silver coin,
probably used as gun-sights, a Chinese coin, a toy pistol of stone, arti- .
cles of Indian origin, stone bullet molds, etc. The remains of an old
forge were uncovered here a few years ago.

THE WYENN MOUNDS.

This is a group of mounds situated on the bank of Mound lake, 16
miles from the present mouth of the Arkansas river. The large one is
18 feet high, oval in form, flat on top, and 130 feet long, exclusive of
the apron-like appendage at one end, which is 140 feet long, 60 feet
wide, and 3 feet high. As this is used as a graveyard it could not be
explored nor was permission granted to examine the others which are
small and of the usual conical form.

ee pee

Fic, 146.—Roger’s mound, Phillips county, Arkansas.

CHOCTAW MOUND.

This is a small circular mound, 10 feet high and 40 feet in diameter,
situated at the junction of Choctaw bayou and Walnut lake. It was
found by excavation to consist of a top layer of sandy loam 1 foot thick
and the remainder, to the base, of hard tough clay. No charcoal, ashes,
or other evidences of occupancy or use, save a few fragments of pottery,
were discovered in it.

Near this point there are evidences of two ancient trails running in
different directions. -

DREW COUNTY.
THE TAYLOR MOUNDS.

This interesting group is located on the land of Dr. J. M. Taylor, 4
miles west of Winchester railroad station. A view showing the larger
portion of the group is given in Fig. 149. It consists of several com-
paratively large mounds, of the usual conical form, several small
mounds, and numerous slight elevations which are supposed to be
house sites. There is one large mound, with flat top and terrace, not
shown in the figure, which is 30 feet high. The others range from 5 to
14 feet in height.

Along the left margin of the field, not shown in the figure, is a row
of what are believed to be artifical ponds made by removing the dirt
for the mounds.

240 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The mounds and house sites had been opened and rifled of their
treasures previous to the visit of the Bureau agent; but he was for-
tunate in obtaining from the owner of the property, Dr. Taylor, several
fine specimens of pottery taken out of them. Some of these have been
figured by Mr. Holmes.

Fig. 147.—Mound near Arkansas city, Desha county, Arkansas.

THE TILLER MOUND.

This mound, of the ordinary conical form, 9 feet high and rather less
than 50 feet in diameter, is situated on the farm of Mr. J. T. Tiller, 24
miles southwest of Winchester station. It was found, by the thorough
excavation made, to be composed of sandy soil similar to that of
the surrounding ground, with a single, heavy layer of human bones,
pottery, etc., closely packed in a confused mass. This layer was struck

THOMAS. ] ; ARKANSAS. 241

at the depth of 1 foot from the surface of the mound and proved to be
something over 2 feet thick in the center but thinner toward the mar-
gins.

The skeletons lay in every direction and without any noticeable order;
in many cases the bones of one body lay across those of another. It
was difficult, m fact impossible in some cases, to trace the different
skeletons. Fifty-eight skulls were observed and sufticient bones to cor-
respond therewith. The pots and other vessels of clay were scattered
irregularly through the deposit, but always near to and apparently
associated with some cranium. Near one head were four pots, close by
another two pots and a pipe, and one or more by others. Several mus-
sel shells were obtained, generally near the heads, and two turtle shells

Fic. 148.—Old French Fort Desha, Arkansas.

were discovered inside of a pot, but no burnt clay, charcoal, or ashes
were found in orabout the mound. Twenty-three whole vessels, a num-
ber of pipes, shells, animal bones, etc., were obtained here.

LINCOLN COUNTY

A mound on the farm of Mr. Felix Smith, and another on the farm
of Mr. J. D. Adams, both in R. 7 W., were examined and found to be
composed of a top layer of loam and the rest of hard, stiff clay. No
burnt clay, charcoal, BEERS, fragments of pottery, or bones were ob-
served in either. One was 7 feet high and 90 feet in diameter, the other
20 feet high and 90 feet in diameter.

Another group of small, conical mounds is situated near Heckatoo, in
which burnt clay or brick-like material was observed, usually about 18

2 ETH——16

242 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

inches under the soil. Broken pottery and some rude stone implements
were also found; but a thorough examination was not allowed, as the
field was covered with cotton.

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

A mound on land belonging to the estate of Mr. Snuggs, 1 mile south
of Garrettson’s landing,
was explored. This was
composed wholly of sand
except the thin layer of
surface soil. No speci-
men of any kind nor any
indications of life or use
were discovered in it, yet
its form and appearance
were such as to show
clearly that it was artifi-
cial. Height, 10 feet;
diameter, 40 feet.

A group of three fine
conical’ mounds, some-
thing over a mile north
of Linwood station, was
visited, but as they were
covered with graves per-
mission to excavate them
could not be obtained.
The average height is
about 15 feet, the three
being very nearly of the
same size and form.

A short distance from
these, on the Houson
farm, are two other tu-
muli of similar form, one
25 and the other 30 feet
high, but being also cov-
ered with graves, dig-
ging was prohibited.

Excavations for the
graves do not appear to have brought to light any pottery, bones, or
burnt clay.

Fig. 149.—The Taylor mounds, Drew county, Arkansas.

THE CLAYTON MOUNDS.

This group, situated on the lands of Hon. Powell Clayton, in Sec. 36
T.658., R. 7 W., and 16 miles southeast of Pine Bluff, consists.of four

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. IX

THE DE SOTO MOUND, JEFFERSON COUNTY, ARKANSAS.

THE KNAPP MOUNDS, PULASKI COUNTY, ARKANSAS.

THOMAS. | ARKANSAS. 243

mounds. The most interesting of these is oblong in shape, rectangu-
lar, 125 feet long exclusive of the terrace or apron-like extension, 65
feet broad, and 30 feet high, and resembles the following, shown in
Plate 1x. It is used by the neighborhood as a burying ground, and
hence could not be disturbed.

THE DE SOTO MOUND.

The mound, which is shown in PI. 1x, is on the land of Mr. H. G.
De Priest, 13 miles southeast of Pine Bluff and 25 miles northwest of
the Clayton mound, which it resembles in form but exceeds in magni-
tude. It is 60 feet high at the west end, but somewhat less at the end
to which the terrace is attached; the top, which is flat, as represented
in the figure, is 144 feet long by 110 in width (exclusive of the terrace) ;
back of the mound (from the house) is a large excavation, now a pond,
from which the earth was taken for its construction. A part of the top
is planted in forest trees; the rest is in cultivation.

it is known in this locality as the ‘‘De Soto mound” from current
tradition that this distinguished explorer camped here for some time.

PULASKI COUNTY.
THE KNAPP MOUNDS.

These works form, without doubt, the most interesting group in the
state, and, in fact, one of the most important in the United States. A
plat of the group and surrounding wall is given in Pl. x, and a sketch
in Pl. 1x. They are situated on the farm of Mr. Gilbert Knapp and
directly on the east bank of Mound lake, a crescent-shaped bayou, 16
miles southeast of Little Rock.

As seen by reference to the plat, the area inclosed by the wall is
oblong, or somewhat oval, the length north and south about 170 rods,
and width eastand west, 80 to 85 rods, containing 85 acres. The wall
appears to have formed the defense on three sides, the lake being
relied on for protection on the fourth.

The lake is 3 miles long and about one-fourth of a mile wide. The
field,in which the group is situated, is from 2 to6 or 8 feet above
average water level, and has been under cultivation for more than thirty
years. The surrounding earthen wall reaches 5 or 6 feet in height
where best preserved, but where most reduced by cultivation is about
obliterated. It is a little over a mile in length and starts at the very
margin of the lakeon the south, circles around the field, and comes
to the lake again on the north side. It is broken in three places, as
shown on the plan. In two places deep trenches, probably of artificial
origin, pass through the wall. They contain water for the greater part
of the year. The other opening is not complete and may have been
cut for a roadway by the whites. The curve of the northern half of
the wall is very even, but near the middle portion there is a slight re-

244 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

verse curve some hundreds of feet in length and the southern segment
is quite uneven. /

In 1844, the period of the greatest overflow known in this section,
these mounds were clear of the water, and it is said that many people
came here for safety, bringing their household effects and stock with
them.

The largest mound (a, Pl. x.) is 48 feet high, 280 feet long from - -

north to south, and 150 feet wide. The nearly level summit is about 50
feet wide by 90 long. The whole surface is densely covered by forest
trees and undergrowth. The slopes are even and rather steep, about
35 or 40 degrees. It stands in front, a little to the right, in Plate rx.
Permission was given by the owner to sink a shaft into this mound.
After descending 10 feet the clay became so hard that the work was
abandoned. The first 2 feet passed through consisted of vegetable
mold, in which were some animal bones and fragments of pottery; then
8 feet of sandy loam mixed with clay, the proportion of clay increasing
until at this depth it became wholly clay, exceedingly hard and tough.
A tunnel was carried in the side for 10 feet with a like result. No
brick-like substance was found in it anywhere.

Mound b, the second in size, is oblong and slightly rectangular in
outline. The slopes are gentle, save where interfered with by the plow,
which has encroached upon the base at the sides and ends. The base
measures about 175 by 200 feet, and the height is 38 feet. A shaft 8
feet square and 10 feet deep was sunk in the top, showing the first 2
feet to be a black, waxy clay or muck, and the rest of the distance
a yellow, greasy clay. Nothing was observed except two fine quartz
erystals 2 feet beneath the surface and some fragments of pottery.
The top is about 80 by 100 feet in extent, and has been used as a
garden for a number of years. Fifty feet from the base is a shallow
depression about 260 feet long and 150 in width which is now over-
grown with trees and underbrush. This contains water during a part
of the year and may have been excavated by the ancient inhabitants
to contain a water supply.

Mounds ¢, d, and e lie to the southeast of the largeone. The largest
of these (c) is 12 feet high, about 100 feet long and 90 feet broad at the
base. A shaft 11 feet deep was made in the center of it. For the first
4 feet it passed through sandy loam, with here and there a piece of
pottery and an animal bone; at the depth of 5 feet, in yellow sand
which continued for 3 feet, was a broken pot; at a depth of 7 feet the
sand became very wet and continued so to the bottom. Nothing else
was found.

Mound d is 5 feet high, about 100 feet long, and 75 feet wide at the
base. In four places were patches of burnt clay, doubtless the remains
of former dwellings; in five other places were deposits of ashes and
human bones, but no burnt clay. These were generally 14 or 2 feet
below the point reached by the plow in cultivating the soil. In these

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THOMAS. ] ARKANSAS. 245

places a few stone implements were obtained, one of which is shown
in Fig. 150; also a small Catholic medal of copper. Ten other mounds,
in most cases very much reduced by the plow, were observed. The cir-
cular mounds range from 2 to 10 feet in height, and from 25 to 100 feet
in diameter, and the oblong ones are from 40 to 350 feet in length. All
bear evidence of having been used as residence sites, as pottery, stone
tools and the refuse of chipped stonework are found associated with

them.
THIBAULT MOUNDS.

On the farm of Mr. J. K. Thibault, 8 miles southeast of Little Rock,
are a number of small mounds averaging only about a foot and a half
in height and 18 feet in diameter. These belong to the class “house

Fic. 150.—Stone implement from Knapp group.

sites,” as examination showed that, under a top layer of soil 1 foot thick,
a layer of burnt clay was always to be found; immediately beneath this
a layer of ashes with which human remains and pottery were usually
associated.

They had been partially rifled of their contents by the owner of the
ground, who, however, kindly donated most of the specimens to the
Bureau, some of which are represented in Mr. Holmes’s papers.

*

SALINE COUNTY.

On the farm‘of Mr. J. D. Chidester, 3 miles southeast of Benton, is a
space of about 10 acres covered with house sites in which are the usual
layers of burnt clay, ashes, human bones, ete. They however had
already been explored.

246 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
HUGHES MOUND,

This work, a sketch of which is given in Fig. 151, is situated on the
farm of Mr. George Hughes, 3 miles southwest of Benton and within
100 yards of Saline river, though the bank was formerly within 50 feet
of it. Some low mounds, probably house sites, formerly surrounded it,
but they have been removed. In these were skeletons, pottery and
stone implements under ashes and burnt clay.

Fic. 151.—The Hughes mound, Saline county, Arkansas.

—

The large work yet remaining consists of two parts, the mound
proper, which is somewhat circular and a wing or extension on one side.
The former is 25 feet high, flat on top, 124 feet in diameter at the base
and 34 on the top. The wing, which runs northeast, is about 120 feet
long, 80 feet broad at the point where it joins the mound and 54 at the
northeast end, the height varying from 10 to 12 feet.

THOMAS. ] ARKANSAS. 247

A shaft, 10 feet deep, in the center of the mound reached the hard
core without bringing to light any relics, clay, ashes or bones. At
several places on the top and sides of the wing, layers of burnt clay were
found at the depth of 2 feet from the surface and, under each, a layer
of ashes and charcoal. At four points charcoal and ashes occurred,
but without the layer of burnt clay. No human remains or indica-
tions of them were observed.

CLARK COUNTY,
WORKS ON SALINE BAYOU.

According to tradition, when this section was first*visited by the
white settlers, the Indians were discovered here making salt. They were
driven away by the whites, who, for many years, made salt here, and
during the war the Confederate government utilized the saline waters
for the same purpose.

There are numerous salt wells and remains of evaporators and also
several round mounds of small size. Those explored were very similar
to one another; in each was a top layer of soil, then a layer of burnt
clay, and beneath this, ashes. One, about 3 feet high, consisted of a
top layer of loam 2 feet thick, then 4 inches of burnt clay, and beneath
this 5 or 6 inches of ashes. In the last were parts of a skeleton and a
bowl.

The strata in another mound, about 4 feet high, were as follows: Top
layer, 2 feet of black soil; next, 5 inches of burnt clay, and below this,
8 or 9 inches of ashes, resting on a hard clay floor 14 inches thick and
5 feet in diameter. Specimens of this floor were obtained.

THE TRIGGS MOUND. .

This is a small mound on the farm of Mr. W. A. Triggs, 4 miles north-
west of Arkadelphia, on the bank of Caddo creek. It was partially
washed away by the overflow of the creek, bringing to light two layers
of burnt clay, ashes, and human bones, together with pottery and stone
implements. The Bureauagent was fortunate enough to find it in this
condition, and before the things had been carried away. Among the
specimens of pottery found here are the following:

Fig. 152, an ornamented water-bottle, one of the finest specimens of the kind ever
obtained,

Fig. 153, a flat-bottomed jar of unusual shape, partly broken.

Another mound on the same farm was examined. This was 9 feet
high with a wing on one side 6 feet high, and another on the opposite
side4 feet high. Three excavations in the main portion showed it to be
composed entirely of loam, without a trace of fire, burial or relies of any
kind. Two feet under the surface of the wings were traces of ashes
and burnt clay.

Two others opened were composed entirely of ashes and yellow clay;
no relics.

248 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
OUACHITA COUNTY.

The only explorations made in this county were of some groups near
Camden.

About 3 miles north of Camden, in See. 9, T. 13 S., R. 17 W., on the
Piles plantation, is a group consisting of one large and two small
mounds. It formerly contained another, which has been dug away to
aid in filling a railroad embankment. The plantation on which they
are situated has been in cultivation for thirty years or more. The soil
is a reddish, sandy loam, not very productive, and subject to occasional

Fic. 152,—An ornamented water bottle, Clark county, Fia. 153.—Flat-bottomed jar, Clark
Arkansas. county, Arkansas,

overflows. Broken bones, small pieces of pottery, broken stone imple-
ments, and mussel shells lie scattered over the surface. A few pitted
stones, a number of arrowheads, a pestle or two, and a stone celt were
also found on the surface.

A plat of the group and its immediate surroundings is shown in Fig.
154. As will be seen by this, the largest of the three mounds stands
on the bank of a small slough. It is oblong, and nearly flat on top, 12
feet high, length on the top, east and west, 70 feet, and width 60 feet.
Abutting against it on the east end is a long, apron-like extension run-
ning out for 175 feet, 100 feet wide, and 4 feet high. Both mound and
terrace are composed of sandy loam, but the latter is much harder and

THOMAS. } ARKANSAS. ; 249

firmer than the former. As the mound is used at the present time for a
burying place, permission was granted to sink only a single shaft in it,
which revealed nothing worthy ot notice.

Mound No. 2, situated about 200 yards south of the large mound (No.
1), is circular in form, 2 feet high, and 25 feet in diameter. A thorough

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py

Fic, 154.—Mound group near Camden, Arkansas.

excavation showed that the upper portion to the depth of 14 inches con-
sisted of sand similar to that of the surrounding surface, and the remain-
der to the depth of 9 inches, of rich black loam. In the latter were three
much decayed skeletons, the head of one toward the east, that of an-
other north, and that of the third west. No relics of any kind were

250 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

observed, though some fragments of pottery were picked up from the
surface, which had probably been turned out by the plow.

No. 3, about the same size as No, 2, though carefully explored, re-
vealed nothing worthy of notice.

Another conical mound near this group, 35 feet in diameter and 34
feet high, was also examined. It was composed of loose, black loam,
through which were scattered fragments of pottery and mussel shells.
In the south side, at a depth of 24 feet, was a fire bed about 10 feet in
diameter and 6 inches thick. This was covered with ashes, charcoal,
fragments of pottery, and mussel shells. In the south side, at the
depth of 3 feet, was a single skeleton, by which lay a broken clay pipe.
An oak tree, 3 feet in diameter, stands on this mound.

About 150 feet east of the last mound is a small cireular tumulus
with a flat top. This was composed throughout of very hard, dry, yel-
low clay, but contained no indications of burial, no evidences of fire, nor
relic of any kind. This is somewhat remarkable, as the form and ma-
terial render it more than probable, judging by what has been ascer-
tained in regard to the mounds of this state, that it was built for a
house site, and hence, according to the rule, should have contained fire-
beds and ashes. Possibly it was the site of a baracao or storehouse, or
was built for a house site, but not used.

LOUISIANA.

The explorations in this state were confined to Washita, Catahoula,
and Tensas parishes.
THE PARGOUD GROUP.

This group, located in Washita parish, consists of two mounds situ-
ated on a point of land between Washita river and Chauvin bayou.
The larger one, about 28 feet high and flat on top, has had the sides
cut away to obtain material for repairing the road that runs by its base.
From this (as permission to explore it was refused) it was ascertained
that it consists of several strata; first, a top layer, 2 feet thick, of black
sandy soil, next 15 inches of yellow sand and black loam intermixed ;
then 18 inches of black sandy loam; next 2 feet of yellow sand, and
below this, yellow sand and black loam intermixed. In the last were
some pieces of pottery. The layers on the opposite side differed some-
what from the order and thickness given, though the material was the
same.

The smaller mound is conical in form and only 6 feet high.

Evidences of house sites were found in the surrounding area, such as
beds of burnt clay and ashes.

TROYVILLE MOUNDS, CATAHOULA PARISH.
This interesting group, a plat of whichis given in Fig. 155, is located
at the junction of the Tensas, Washita, and Little rivers, where the
three unite to form Black river, and consists, as shown in the plat, of

THOMAS. | LOUISIANA, 251

six mounds, an inclosing wall or embankment, and artificial ponds and
canals.

The wall which incloses the area on the south and west is very
nearly or quite 1 mile in length, and at the points where least disturbed
from 7 to 8 feet high and 20 to 25 feet wide. The inclosed area contains
about 100 acres.

Thelarge mound (1), whichis near the center of the inclosure and about

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300 yards from Black river, was originally about 250 feet long, 160
feet wide at base, and probably 60 feet high, though persons who saw it
before it was disturbed say it was 75 feet high, with a nearly sharp
summit. At present it is so gashed and mutilated, having been used
during the war as a place for rifle pits, that its original form can
scarcely be made out. It is now 45 feet high, 270 feet long, and 180
feet wide. The top can be seen back of the house in Fig. 156. From the

252 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

gashes in the side, one of which is 25 feet deep, it could be seen that it
was composed chiefly of red and yellowish clay. In one of these cuts
was exposed a layer of charred cane 1 foot thick extending back into
the mound.

Fig. 156 shows mound 6. This is 15 feet high, 90 feet long, and 75
feet wide. Two excavations made in it proved it to be composed of a
very hard, greasy
clay.

Mound No. 5 is
200 feet long, 90
feet wide, and 8
feet high, and coy-
ered with modern
graves. In dig-
ging these, skele-
tons and pottery
are frequently
thrown out.

Mound No, 4 is
nearly destroyed,
but according to
local information
was originally 20
feet high.

Mounds 2 and 3
are also nearly
destroyed. Num-
bers 8, 8,8, 8 indi-
cate four artificial
ponds which were,
and to a certain
extent are still,
connected with
each other and
with the bayou on
the southwest by
canals which are
still from 10 to 12
feet wide and 5 feet
deep. :

As the bayou connects with the river 3 miles below, it is apparent
that canoes could reach the inclosure by this route.

Two conical mounds, one 12 and the other 7 feet high, are situated on
the plantation of Mrs. Brisco, in Tensas parish, 4 miles southeast of St.
Joseph; but as they are occupied, one as a graveyard and the other
as a rain-water cistern, they could not be excavated.

Fic, 156.—View of mound No. 6, Troyville mounds, Catahoula parish.

THOMAS.] MISSISSIPPI. 253

MISSISSIPPI.
COAHOMA COUNTY.

Col. P. W. Norris, who visited this section of the state, thinks that
at some former period the Mississippi river ran 6 or 8 miles southward
from Friars point, and then returned to where the present channel cuts
across the bend westward toward Old Town. Along the eastern bank of
the old channel, on the plantation of the Carson brothers, 6 miles
south of Friars point, is an interesting group of mounds and earth-
works. The illustrations are by Mr. Holmes, who subsequently visited
the group.

The general plan of these works is shown in Pl. xt. In the north-
west is an inclosure surrounded by an earthen wall and a ditch. Nos.
ato fare mounds. There arealso several excavations. The area em-
braced in the plat is about 1 mile east and west and something over half
a nile north and south.

The inclosure fronts west for a distance of 738 feet on a cypress
swamp, probably an open bayou or one channel of the Mississippi
when these works were constructed. It isin the form of a parallelo-
gram, the wall on three sides measuring 1,173 feet long, and embrac-
ing an area of about 5 acres. This wall is from 15 to 30 feet wide at
the base, and from 3 to 5 feet high. A ditch is distinctly traceable
along the whole length of the outside, but it is not exhibited on the
plate.

Within this area, a little northwest of the center, is a circular mound
(a), 192 feet in diameter at the base, 15 feet high, and 66 feet across the
nearly flat top. There appears to have been originally a platform some
5 or 6 feet high, on which the mound proper was built. Several exca-
vations made in the top and on the sides showed that it was composed
of earth from the bottom land, probably obtained from the excavation
near the southeast corner of the inclosure. A number of fire-beds of
burnt clay were found near the summit and at different elevations
throughout the mound. Charcoal, ashes, and fragments of pottery
and stone were also discovered, but no bones. It is probable, there-
fore, that these spots mark the sites of houses.

Some slight elevations noticed within the inclosure were not ex-
plored but are shown on the plate.

Just outside of the southwest corner is an artificial excavation
about 100 feet in diameter, but now partially filled and converted into a
bog.

Mound 0, shown in detail in Pl. x11,is double. There are at the bot-
tom indications of anoval platform, probably 10 feet high, with a length
of 240 feet at the base. On this, two truncated cones, which occupy the
entire length, but not the entire width of the platform, rise jointly for
18 feet, and above the union rise separately 8 feet higher. The entire

254 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

height of the mound from the natural surface of the land is therefore
36 feet. The cones are level on top, the one being 42 feet in diameter
at this point and the other 48. On this mound, near the top of the
northern cone, stands a thrifty black oak, 5 feet in diameter.

Little excavating was done in this mound and nothing of interest
found, except the ever present fire-beds of burnt clay, stone chips, and
fragments of pottery.

Mound ¢ is oval and rounded on top, 210 feet long, 150 broad at the
base, and 16 feet high. This mound and several smaller ones near
it are so nearly masses of fire-beds, burnt clay, fragments of stone and
pottery, together with more or less charcoal and ashes, as to indicate
clearly that they are the sites of ancient dwellings thus elevated by
accumulation of material during long continued occupancy.

Mound d, Pl. x11, the finest of the group, is roughly pentangular and
very symmetrical, level on the top, 25 feet high (including the platform),
310 feet in diameter at the base, and 210 feet across the top. Besides
the broad, sloping platform, 5 feet high, on which the mound rests, there
is near by, almost adjoining, a small mound which, as in many other
groups, forms a kind of appendage to the large one. This is about 100
feet long, 75 feet wide, and 8 feet high, rounded on top.

Not only are beds of hard burned clay (the fragments of which show
the casts of cane and grass running through it) abundant upon the
surface and sides of the mound, but are also found in the wells and
cisterns and in other excavations made in digging cellars and for the
foundations of buildings. It is evident from this that it was used as a
dwelling place or as a location for a temple or some other public build-
ing.

Mound e is double and similar in almost every respect to b. The
platform is 5 feet high and 120 by 80 feet on top. Near the top of
one cone is a red oak tree, 4 feet in diameter, and near the top of the
other a-black oak, 6 feet in diameter. In the depression between the
two cones a partially decayed skeleton was found in digging a grave
for a person now interred there. This skeleton was under a bed of
burnt clay, and other similar beds are found near the surface of the
sides and summit.

Mound / is oval, rounded on top, 150 feet long by 75 feet wide and
between 5 and 6 feet high, differing but little from several others not
shown on the plat. A thorough examination of this mound revealed
the fact that from base to summit it was composed of burnt clay, mud,
or alluvial earth in irregular layers formed of Jumps or little masses
burned to a brick red or actually melted into slag. Much of the top of
this mound is a deposit resembling mud or clay plastering, from which
the sustaining canes and timbers had been burned out, leaving their
casts. It seems evident, therefore, that mud-walled and perhaps par-
titioned dwellings, stood here which were destroyed by fire.

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THOMAS. | MISSISSIPPI. 255
EXCAVATIONS,

The places from which a part at least of the dirt was taken that was
used to form the mounds are shown by the unevenness of the surface
of the ground immediately aroundthem. But there areseveral excava-
tions which must have furnished a large portion of the material for this
purpose. They are still so deep as to form swamps, bogs, or open
ponds, some of the last being well stocked with fish.

During all the excavations made and digging done by the present
proprietors, who have made all the improvements there are on the
plantation, but few skeletons have been unearthed and no whole vessels
of pottery found. Still, it is possible that more extensive explorations
of the small mounds may reveal these, but the owner will not allow them
to be disturbed.

The solid material of which the mounds are composed, together with
their numerous fire beds or patches of burnt clay, are so well calculated
to withstand the erosion of the elements in a region but little subject
to frosts, that the lapse of time has had but little effect upon their appear-
ance. Still, the rounding off of the parts not protected by fire-beds,
the boggy character of the excavations, and the considerable accumula-
tion of soil upon the works suggest that the town of the mound-builders
located here was upon the bank of the Mississippi when this river flowed
in its ancient channel, but was abandoned when it changed its bed.

The more recent works at Old Town, built apparently by people hay-
ing the same customs, seem to favor this supposition.

THE DICKERSON MOUNDS,

On the Dickerson farin, 4 miles east of Friars point, is another interest-
ing group of mounds. These are situated on the dry, gravelly bank of
the Sunflower river. There is no inclosure, but several fields of the farm
are literally strewn with stone chips and fragments of ancient pottery,
and upon long oval hillocks are found numerous fragments of human
bones. aS

The Suntlower is here scarcely a creek during low water and its
gravelly banks are high above the floods; yet the mounds are mostly
oblong or oval and flat on top, like those found on the bottoms subject
to overflows. They are built as usual of the material from adjacent
ground, which, being gravel instead of clay or mud, rendered the out-
lines of the beds of burned clay distributed through them more distinct
than usual. Most of them seem to have been the sites of dwellings, the
same as those upon the bottoms; yet on the intermediate areas are
saucer-Shaped depressions, indicating that the earth lodge so common
farther north had been in use here.

Of the numerous mounds explored only one was found to be a true
cemetery of the ancient inhabitants. This was, as usual, one of the
least conspicuous of the group. The first tier of skeletons was barely

256 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

covered and the vessels, which are usually a little higher than the skele-
tons, were broken into fragments, only one whole one being found in
this tier. The next tier was about 2 feet below the first and the bones
more decayed. Relatively fewer vessels were found and these so badly
broken that but two bowls were obtained entire. The third tier was
2 feet below the second, or 5 feet from the top, and slightly below the
original surface of the ground.

As less than a hundred skeletons were found here, there are doubt-
less other burying places in this group, but there are so many modern
burials in these mounds that it was impossible to sink a pit without
disturbing the skeletons of whites and negroes.

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Fic. 158.—Clarksdale works, Coahoma county, Mississippi.

At Clarksdale on the Sunflower river, is a group consisting of
an inclosure and six mounds. The plan of these works is presented in
Fig.158. At B is a semicircular inclosure fronting the river, the sur-
rounding earthen wall partially obliterated by the plow, though suffi-
cient remains to trace satisfactorily the line. The length following the
curve, as ascertained by pacing, is 2,004 feet; the height’ where least
disturbed is from 3 to 5 feet. Nos. 1, 2,3, 4,5, and 7 are mounds; No.
6 a wash-out, revealing a cemetery; No. 8, house sites, and in the south-
west corner at the end of the wall an excavation.

The largest and most interesting of the mounds is No. 1 (Fig. 159),
situated within the inclosure and directly on the bank of the river, so
that the slope of the west side of the mound is continuous with the
slope of the bank. It is rectangular in form, consisting first of a plat-

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL, XII

MOUND 6, CARSON GROUP, COAHOMA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI.

THOMAS.] MISSISSIPPI. 257

form 5 feet high, which forms the base, projecting as a narrow terrace
on all the sides except that next the river.

Above this rises the mound proper, 20 feet high, 153 feet long at the
base, and nearly 100 feet wide. The top is flat and level and on it now
stands the village church, but formerly there stood on it a little conical
mound 5 feet high and 25 feet in diameter, consisting as is stated
almost wholly of burnt clay,
charcoal,ashes, and fragments
of pottery, beneath which were
found a fine scallop-edged,
double-eared pot and a skele-
ton. Every observable por-
tion of this mound bears evi-
dence that the mode of con-
struction and doubtless the
use made of it were the same
as of those at Carson’s plan-
tation, though this group is
apparently less ancient.

The other four mounds (2,
3, 4, and 5) are small, and of
the ordinary conical form; No.
7 is but slightly elevated, and
scarcely deserves to be called
a mound.

No. 4, though the smallest
of the group, proved to be in
some respects the most inter-
esting. It is circular, 20 feet
in diameter, and 3 feet high,
and little more than a heap of
ashes. A trench through it
showed that it consisted of
ashes, charcoal, and charred
animal bones, also abundant
stone chips and fragments of
pottery, but no entire vessels.
There was still sufficient
strength in the ashes to
roughen the hands, affect the color of the boots, and be detected by
the sense of smell; but this, though less frequent, is not unusual in the
heavy fire beds of this region.

. Human bones having been found in grading a roadway through the
low, gravelly banks of a washout at No. 6 (Fig. 158), trenches were cut
in both banks. Human bones, so hard as to be cut with difficulty by
the spade, were found throughout the 50 feet in length of the trench,

12 ETH——17

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258 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

both above and below the road (a, a, a), but the heaviest deposit was
above the road on the north side, where they formed nearly a solid layer
of skeletons scarcely a foot below the surface. So many entire skele-
tons were traceable that itis evident it was not a deposit of bones from
seattolds, but a burial of bodies en masse with little regard to regu-
larity. No weapons, charcoal, ashes, or pottery were found with them,
and, although tradition gives us no information in regard to them, it is
probable that the burials were comparatively modern.

Mound 7, close to the burial place mentioned, was also a depository
of the dead, differing from the former more in character and contents
than in apparent age. The main portion of this low, dark colored
mound or slightly elevated space was covered by a residence and
small garden, but along a few feet of its vacant northern edge some ex-
cavations were made. The skeletons were nearly 3 feet below the
surface in a single tier, lying horizontally, but without uniformity as to
direction. Except the better preservation of the skeletons, the mode
of burial and accompaniments and everything found in this mound were
in all respects similar to the Old Town burials. But the pottery, of
which only two entire vessels were obtained, like that from Dickerson’s
mound, is lighter colored and thinner than usual.

A coarse clay pipe, donated by Myr. John Clarke, the owner of this
property, was found in an extensive line of house sites marked by
patches of burnt clay at No. 8 (Fig. 158). In the excavations made
among these house sites a small stone mortar, a rude celt, and two very
fine ones, also many fragments of pottery, a number of fleshers and
scrapers were obtained.

The largest excavation at this place is situated at the southwest cor-
ner of the inclosure. From this, in all probability, was obtained the
material for building the large mound (No. 1).

During the researches made through portions of the counties of
Coahoma, Bolivar, and Sunflower, for a distance of some 30 miles
south of Clarksdale, a large number of ancient dwelling sites were
found, having the appearance, before being disturbed, of low, flattish
mounds. Many were opened and uniformly found to be mere heaps or
patches of burnt clay, ashes, and the dirt accumulated during occu-
pancy, covered by a thin layer of top soil.

SUNFLOWER COUNTY.

Not far from the shoals of Sunflower river, and in the midst of a cane-
brake, a mound of considerable size was discovered. The dimensions,
as nearly as could be determined, are as follows: Length, 125 feet ;
greatest width, about 100 feet; and height to the summit of its cone,
25 feet. The apex is near the eastern end, and is surmounted by a
white oak 6 feet in diameter.

Along the steep side of the eastern end was the outcropping of a
bed of burnt clay in small masses or lumps, and below it some very

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. Xill

MOUND d,, CARSON GROUP, COAHOMA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI.

o

THOMAS, ] MISSISSIPPI. 259

hght colored fragments of pottery. Almost the first spadeful of earth
revealed decaying fragments of human bones. Tracing these horizon-
tally under the roots of the oak and under the clay bed, a skull was
reached, resting on a broken platter-shaped vessel, and by the side of
it a pot with a scalloped edge, a broken water bottle with female head
on the top of the neck, a pottery tube, and a dipper in the form of a
shell s.own in Fig. 160, The portion of the platter which had been
broken out to allow room for the neck of the bottle was wanting.
Another excavation was made in the top of the terrace near the
middle of the mound. After cutting through a layer of brick-red chunks
of burnt clay some 4 or 5 inches thick, a layer of dark colored earth
something over a foot in depth was reached. Immediately beneath this

F1G. i60.—Vessel in form of a shell, Sunflower county, Mississippi.

was a medium-sized human skeleton lying horizontally on its right side.
Near the skull were a broken water vessel and fragments of other ves-
sels. S

WASHINGTON COUNTY.

THE AVONDALE MOUNDS.

This group, which is shown in Fig. 161, is located on the plantation of
Mrs. P. J. Sterling, 14 miles east of Stoneville and 9 miles from Gran-
ville. The land on which they are built is a rich, level bottom, subject
to overflows.

The mounds, as shown in the figure, are arranged somewhat in a
semicircle. The largest, which is used as a graveyard by the whites, is
30 feet high, flat on top, and oval in form, nearly 200 feet long and about
175 broad. To the west of it is a depression of about 3 acres, from
which it is probable the material was taken to build this mound. The
second is 15 feet high and is covered with graves of colored people.

Numerous fragments of pottery and lumps of burnt clay, containing
impressions of cane and grass, were found near the surface of the small
mounds.

260 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Cutting a trench through No. 4 (the one at the extreme left of the
figure), there wasreached first, a layer of sandy loam 18inches thick, then
2 feet of burnt clay, next a layer of charcoal and ashes 18 inches thick,
and thence to the base hard clay. No human bones or evidences of
burial were observed.

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Fic. 161.—Avondale mounds, Washington county, Mississippi.

YAZOO COUNTY.
THE CHAMPLIN MOUNDS.

This group, consisting of four mounds, is situated about the center of
the county, 2 miles north of Yazoo City and 2 miles east of Yazoo river.
The mounds stand on low, swampy land, about half a mile from the
hills, and during the flood of 1882 were surrounded by water, One of

Sone MISSISSIPPI. 261

them is an irregular oval of comparatively large size, the other three
are conical and smaller.

The large inound is of the form shown in Figs. 162 and 163, the first
giving the contour of the base, the other a vertical section through the
middle, lengthwise. The dimensions were found by careful measure-
ments to be as follows: Length at base, from north to south, 106 feet;
width of base at a a (Fig. 162), 50 feet; at b b, 36 feet; at dd, 38 feet;
height at a (Fig. 163), 14 feet; at b, 8 feet, and at d,11 feet. It was
explored thoroughly down to the

original surface, and found to $
be composed throughout of tark
earth, similar to the surrounding

soil of this swamp region, yet
there are no excavations or de-
pressions immediately around it
from which the earth for building
it could have been taken.

In the southern portion, at the
depth of 3 feet 6 inches, were
three adult skeletons about on
the same level (No. J, Fig. 163),
all extended at full length. One
lay with face up and head north;
about the neck and wrists were a
number of shell beads. Another
lay also with face up, but head to
the west; close by the head was
a nicely polished celt. The other
lay on the left side, with the head
north; by the head was a polished
celt and immediately in front of
the face a small water bottle.

At 2, an adult skeleton lay ex-
tended on the left side, with head
south. The earth immediately
around it was burned hard, the
bones also showing signs of fire.
Mixed with this burned earth
was a considerable quantity of charcoal and ashes.

At 3, same depth as 2, was the skeleton of a very young child. No
relics were found with this or 2.

At the bottom of the mound, at the point marked 4, were the remains
of six skeletons. These had doubtless been buried after the flesh was
removed, as the bones of each had been taken apart and placed in a
heap, the parts of one skeleton forming one heap. Among the rib

Fic. 162.—Outline of mound No. 1, Champlin group
Yazoo county, Mississippi.

262 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

bones of one were a few beads made of minute shells. Nothing was
found with either of the other five.

Immediately under the surface of the mound at 5 was a single pol-
ished celt. At 6,3 feet from the top, lay an adult skeleton extended on
the back, head east; no relics were found with it. At 7, on the same
level, was another adult skeleton lying in the same position as the last
mentioned; on the breast was a polished celt. At
8 were the bones of another, separated and placed
in a heap, as those previously mentioned, witha num-
ber of shell beads scattered among them. These
were at the depth of #8 inches. At 9 lay the skel-
eton of an adult, at the depth of 3 feet, extended on
the back, head west; nothing with it.

No. 10 indicates the position of an adult skeleton
at a depth of 4 feet 6 inches. This was also ex-
teaded on the back, with the head east. The earth
about it was unusually hard, making it impossible
to get the bones out in good condition, yet the skull
is sufficient to show the form, which indicates
frontal pressure and backward elongation to an
unusual extent.

No. 11, three adult skeletons extended, with faces
up and heads east. These were lying side by side
at the bottom of the mound on the natural surface of
the ground, and immediately over them a covering
of bark, apparently of the red oak. This consisted
of a single layer of wide pieces. Nothing else was
found with them.

In the northern end of the mound, immediately
under the surface at the highest point, 12, was a
small, red clay vessel (Fig. 164), The earth of this.
northern portion, to the depth ef 3 feet, contained
the remains of several skeletons (13), both of adults
and children, which were so far decayed that their
respective positions could not be determined; nor in
fact was it possible to ascertain the exact number
of them. Scattered among the bones were several
celts, different lots of beads, and one small pot.

No. 14 indicates the position of two adult skele-
tons, at a depth of 4 feet, one extended on the right side, head north,
the bones of the other separated and placed in a pile. Around the
neck of the former were a number of shell beads.

No. 15 was the skeleton of an adult, at a depth of 9 feet, extended
on the right side, head east; nothing with it.

Nos. 17 and 18, two skeletons of adults found at a depth of 10 feet;
bones separated and placed in piles. No relics with them.

Fia. 163.—Vertical section of mound No. 1, Champlin group, Yazoo county, Mississippi.

THOMAS.] MISSISSIPPI. 263

None of the burials in this mound were in inclosures or coffins of any
kind, except the two instances where bark covering was used, as already
mentioned.

All the skeletons referred to as having no relics buried with them
had the heads compressed in the manner described. The others, those
with ornaments or implements accompanying them, had heads of the
usual type. Although this fact seems to indieate that individuals of
two different tribes were buried here, it seems evident that they be-
longed to the same era, as there were no indications that the mound
had been disturbed after it was completed.

Mound No. 2 stands 1,300 feet east of the large one and is a regular
cone, 58 feet in diameter and 13 feet high. The main body was com-
posed of dark swamp soil like that of the
surrounding land, but at the bottom was
a central, conical core of yellow clay, 12
feet in diameter and 3 feet high. The
nearest point where the clay of which it
is composed could have been obtained
is half a mile away. About 3 feet be-
neath the apex were a few human teeth
and slight traces of other bones, with
which were associated a few beads made
of deer horn. Immediately below the
surface, on one side, an ornamented water
bottle was discovered. On the top of the
central clay core lay a small bed of coals
and ashes some 2 or 3 feet in diameter,
which contained a number of burned
mussel shells.

Mound No. 3, about 700 feet from No. 2, is oval in outline, rounded
on top, 35 feet long north and south, 27 feet wide, and 3 feet high. This
was not explored.

No. 4, which is 275 feet due south of No. 3, is similar in form and
size to the latter. It was explored and found to be composed through-
out of dark, swamp soil. Nothing was discovered except a few coals.

FG. 164,—Image vessel from Champlin
mound, Mississippi.

ADAMS COUNTY.

The only mounds examined in this county are those forming the
noted Selsertown group. Dr. Palmer made a hasty visit to them in 1884;
subsequently, in 1887, Mr. Middleton made a careful survey of them.
The description and figures here given are from Mr. Middleton’s report.

These works, a general plan of which is shown in PI. xtv, 1, consist at
present of a large, circular, flat topped mound, and three others of
smaller dimensions, standing upon an elevated platform, a little over
20 feet high and 5 or 6 acres in extent. They are situated in the hill
country of the northern part of the county and some 6 or7 miles from
the Mississippi bottom.

264 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The topographical features of this section are similar to those of other
counties bordering on this portion of the river, consisting of the bot-
toms along the Mississippi and thé uplands which extend back from
these and form the general surface of the state. The western border
of these uplands, where they join the bottoms, terminates in somewhat
abrupt descents to which the term “bluffs” has been applied. In Adams
county the bottoms are from 1 to 3 miles wide north of Natchez, which
is the only portion of the county it is necessary to refer to. About a mile
above Natchez the Mississippi river, bending eastward, strikes the foot
of the bluffs, hugs them for a short distance below, and again recedes.

The general level of the uplands, some 200 or 250 feet above the
bottoms, is broken by the valleys of numerous creeks and their
branches, through which the water of the upper area finds its way to
the Mississippi. Among the smaller streams of this immediate section
is one known locally as Dunbare creek, which runs westward to the
Mississippi. The country about the headwaters of this creek, where
the little streams which form its branches have cut ravines, is some-
what rough and broken up into ridges, spurs, and knolls. It is here that
the works mentioned are situated, about a mile northwest of the site
of the old village of Selsertown, 7 miles a little west of north from
Washington, and 2 miles northwest of the railroad station (Stanton).

As will be observed by reference to Pl. xtv, 1, the platform, or oblong
elevation on which the mounds stand, is located on a rather narrow
ridge which, starting from the higher level on the east, slopes down-
ward gradually but irregularly toward the west, fading out in an
expansion on the lower level of the creek valley a little southwest of
the platform. On the north is the valley of a small creek running
westward; on the south is another narrow valley or ravine in which is
a small branch of Dunbare creek, running southwest. This ridge, as
will be seen by reference to the figure, is quite irregular as to its sur-
face, course, and form. Coming westward from the eastern extremity
the line of highest elevation bends southward by h, terminating appar-
ently in a spur, which was not followed out.

Following the line of the road, the descent—i to k, from the upper
level h to the lower level g, of the ridge—is about 40 feet and somewhat
abrupt. From k to the platform, the top of the ridge, with the excep-
tion of the rise at f, is nearly level lengthwise—that is to say, along
the line of the road. The rise at f is an elongate oval knoll, from 12
to 15 feet high, and of the comparative size shown in the figure. As it
is beyond all question a natural formation, no special measurement of
it was made.

At the point occupied by the platform there is a sudden bend and ex-
pansion of the ridge, though the crest is near the south margin, the line
running inside (north) of, but near, the southern edge of the platform.

Although the term “platform” has been used here to indicate this
somewhat remarkable elevation on which the mounds are placed, Mr.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XIV

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SELSERTOWN MOUND GROUP, ADAMS COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI.

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PLATFORM AND MOUNDS OF THE SELSERTOWN GROUP.

THOMAS. ] MISSISSIPPI. 265

Middleton and Dr. Palmer express the opimion very confidently that
it is chiefly a natural formation. This is based upon the following
facts: The sudden beud and enlargement of the ridge at this point;
the fact that natural knolls, or mound-like elevations, are not uncom-
mon on the ridges of this section, as for example, the one near by at
J; and the evidence obtained by excavating, which, so far as it was
carried, sustains this view. They think it quite probable that the orig-
inal form was artificially modified, so as to make the top more uniformly
level and the margins more abrupt than they were formed by nature.

At the eastern end of this platform, descending northward, is an old
washout or gully. The surface contour, running east and west, across
the platform, the mounds, and this gully from J to m is shown in the
section at A, and that running north and south from p to q at B; a
section of the ridge at r to s is shown at C.

The shape and present condition of the platform and the mounds on
it are shown in Pl. xty, 2. The extreme length from base to base varies
but slightly from 700 feet; the greatest width, which is near the west
end, is about 530 feet; width at the east end, 330 feet. The extreme
length of the surface area is about 590 feet; the width near the west
end, 400 feet. The height varies from 21 to 45 feet, the northern and
northwestern portion standing higher above the base’or general slope of
the ridge than the southern and eastern. The surface is comparatively
level, though there are some depressions in the central portion, from
which it is probable dirt was taken to be used in building the mounds.

Although the base has a somewhat regular outline, the margin of the
upper surface is so cut and gashed by sharp gulleys and indentations
as to give scarcely any indications of its original form.

The surface has been under cultivation for many years, but the slopes
of the sides are covered with thick growths of cane, locust, sedge, and
briars. The soil, which is similar to that of the surrounding area, con-
sists of loam and red clay, mixed somewhat with sand, which, though
apparently adhesive, wears away rapidly under the action of water
where the surface is abraded and the vegetation removed. The two
chief gullies, the one at the northwest corner and the other near the
southeast corner, which have evidently been formed by washing, are
probably largely due to the fact that they are the lines of drainage and
are the points long used as the places of ascent and descent for per-
sons, teams, and stock.

There are at present four mounds on this elevated area, though,
according to Squier and Davis', there were formerly eleven. Of the
four which remain, one is placed, as these authors state, about the
middle of each end, that is, at the east and west margins. The
other two are placed near the middle of the north and south sides. Of
the other seven, no satisfactory traces were found by Mr. Middleton,
but Dr. Palmer, who visited them three years before, thought he saw

1Anc. Mon., p. 118.

266 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

indications of other structures at points around the margin, but was
inclined to the opinion that these were house sites, as fragments of pot-
tery and pieces of burnt clay, often with fluted impressions made by
split reeds, were found in abundance at such points. But neither
found any traces of a central mound, and the disposition of those
which remain would indicate that this central space was left unoccupied.
The wearing of the mound seems also to forbid the idea of a central
tumulus, as it was here the surface water seemed to collect.

The surface of the platform is strewn with fragments of pottery. On
and about the smaller mounds down the northern slope, especially in
the gullies or washouts, probably brought down from the top, are num-
erous fragments of burnt clay. This burnt clay is not in the form of
bricks, nor at any point arranged in or used to form a wall. That on
the slopes and in the gullies on the north side has certainly been
brought down from the upper surface. It is mostly of a brick-red color
and bears impressions of the split cane stamp, of which mention has here-
tofore been made. These have probably been taken for the impressions
of fingers, an error which would have been easily corrected by obsery-
ing that the curvature is outward instead of inward, as would have been
the case if made by the fingers. Running through it, on what was the
inner side, are the"impressions of twigs and grass stems. It is inevery
respect similar to that observed in Arkansas, and is evidently the clay
which formed the plastering of the houses, as mentioned by the French
explorers, which, at the destruction of the houses by fire, was burned
to the condition in which it is now found.

The largest of the four mounds, the one to which writers have gener-
ally referred, is that marked e at the western end of the platform. It
is nearly circular in form, truncated but somewhat rounded on top, the
slopes tolerably steep. The diameter at the base is 145 feet; the diam-
eter of the top averages 72 feet (the upper surface being somewhat oval) ;
height, 31 feet. It has been partially explored, but the result is not
known with certainty. The last examination was made on behalf of
Dr. Joseph Jones, of New Orleans, but it does not appear that he was
at any time present while the excavation was going on. The depth
reached was only 15 or 16 feet. This mound has, at some former time,
been under cultivation, but owing, perhaps, to its steepness has been
abandoned to briars and locust trees.

The next largest mound is the one inarked /, at the eastern extremity
of the platform. It is somewhat irregular in form but approaches in
outline a semi-oval, the base resting on the margin of the platform,
with which the eastern side of the mound forms a continuous slope. It
is possible that cultivation of its surface and wearing away at the east-
ern end has somewhat changed the original form. The top is flat but
irregular, the height varying from 5 to 8 feet. The diameter of the
base east and west is.110 feet; the greatest diameter north and south,
near the east margin, is about 3 feet less.

THOMAS.] MISSISSIPPI. 267

The other two mounds (g and h), situated near the middle of the
north and south margins are circular, quite small, the one marked g
measuring but 38 feet in diameter and 2 feet high; the other, marked h,
22 feet in diameter and 14 feet high. Both have been under cultiva-
tion, which has brought to light a layer of burnt clay near the top of
each, showing them to be of the same type as the low domiciliary
mounds of Arkansas.

UNION COUNTY.

The group of mounds here figured (Fig. 165) is located in the southern
part of Union County, Mississippi, on the SEK. 4 of Sec. 12, and NE, 4
of Sec. 13, T. 8 8., R. 2 E.

There are fourteen mounds belonging to the group, twelve of which
are together, the other two (not shown) being one east and the other
west, about half a mile from the large mound, which is the most prom-
inent of the group.

The general level of the field is about 50 feet above the creek bot-
toms to the north and south, which are overflowed at every hard rain.

Before the soil had been cultivated an embankment could be traced
around the twelve central mounds which was about 2 feet high and 10
feet across at the base, with a ditch on the outside entirely around.
The ditch was mostly and in some places entirely filled up. At pres-
ent no trace of it remains and the embankinent can be seen only for a
few rods on the west and north sides, where it has not been plowed
over. It was cut through in several places and showed no trace of
wood, This, however, is not positive evidence that no palisades ex-
isted, for it may have been washed down farther than the posts would
have been sunk, the area being much worn by drains. The earth form-
ing it is the same as the surrounding soil, and was probably thrown
inward from the ditch.

Before the land was cleared timber as large as can be found in the
country grew up to the ditch on the outside while inside that limit noth-
ing grew but brush and small trees. The largest one on the embank-
ment, cut in 1842, showed by its growth-rings that it was 52 years old.
This would giye a period of not more than a century in which timber
has been growing on the mounds.

Dense canebrakes still exist within a few miles, which no doubt
abounded in game, and in the creeks near at hand large fishes are
caught in considerable numbers. The soil in this field, though now
about worn out by careless tillage, was formerly very fertile.

A pond of 5 or 6 acres begins at the western line of the é¢mbankment.
The earth put into the larger mound was probably taken from this point,
as all the different sorts of earth used in the mounds are to be found in
the field or adjacent swamps.

The line of the wall is shown as it was traced out by Mr. Parks, the
first permanent settler of the country, and may not be correct, espe-

€

268 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

cially on the southern line.

100 feet farther south, or else the line should change its direction at
some point as it does on the northern side. As laid down here it runs
over mounds 8 and 10. From the contour of the ground it is probable
that the bearing should be a little more to the south from both the

The southeast corner should be at least

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i
hs ee

1
Th GM Ul nv

iS z= LAWN eS
SNe oN

Fig. 165.—Mound group in Union county, Mississippi

southeast and the southwest corners, and that the change in direction

should take place south of mound 10,

Beginning at the northwest corner its sides measure from station to

2 s
station as numbered 792, 957, 1,930, 1,505, and 1,937 feet.
2

THOMAS. | MISSISSIPPI. 269

In the space inclosed by mounds 3, 4, and 9 is a cemetery, as shown
by the bones and numerous fragments of pottery plowed up. Some
arrow-points, beads, and a number of pitted stones were found scattered
about on the surface. The arrow-points are all small and chipped from
water-worn pebbles of jasper, which occur in considerable quantities.
With one skeleton exhumed here were found an iron pipe, some silver
ornaments, copper beads, wrought nails, and a piece of glass.

The large mound is a flat-topped quadrilateral, with the longer axis
nearly north and south. At the bottom, the sides, beginning with the
southeast, measure 153, 210,177 and 234 feet; on the top 87, 124, 94
and 119 feet. From these measurements it will be seen that the slope
of the sides is not uniform
and that they are quite dif-
ficult to ascend. On the
northeast side is a graded

vay, 20 feet wide at the top
and running out 45 feet from
the base. This figure (20
feet) probably represents its
original width on top along
the whole length, though it
is now much worn down.
The height of the mound is
27 feet.

The numbers of the small
mounds refer, for the first
eight, to the order in which
they were opened. In every
case the dirt was removed
down to the original soil ; S. peau
and far enough outwardly Fic. 166.—Plan of eee in Union county,
to make it certain that the
limit of the mound was reached. Trenches, varying in width from 6
to 10 feet, were carried to the center, then run to the edge in another
direction and space cleared out about the center sufficient to show that
nothing of interest remained. ‘‘Surface” refers to the original soil
beneath the mound, and “center” to the line directly down from the
highest point. All the mounds except the first have been plowed over
until they are probably 3 to 5 feet lower than when built.

Mound 1, located nearly west of the large mound, was the most
prominent of the smaller ones. The first trench in this was made from
the south side. (See Figs. 166, showing plan of trenches, and 167,
and 168 showing sections of south trench.)

Sixteen feet from the center, resting on the surface, was a mass of
loose, cloddy dirt measuring 34 by 2 feet and extending 34 feet up. It
was such a condition as would result from a small coffin’s decaying and

<=
°
c
o
&
»
<=
pe)
2
°
”

270 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

letting the earth above it fall in, though careful search failed to show
any traces of wood. On the bottom were found a skull, lying face
upward, some bones of the arm and neck, and the head of a femur, all

oa lt

Mien tit i‘

iS a a

i oy Hl

f rae |
A nt ) | iN
a | i DM
i rs mau i a ) | | | |
ee tee
Hl ai ae PHI ee 0h toe.

V/ —Y Y

Fic. 167,—Sections along south trench, mound No, 1, Union county, Mississippi.

so badly decayed as to crumble almost at a touch. The teeth showed
that it had been a person not over middle age. Very fine particles of
galenite were adhering to the skull and to the earth in contact with it.

’
I
|
|

ag We ree

\ a ul
eat os il Ne A
erie AN a4 Aina
AD =a yee i Hit HH Hi

ea MN eters ae a

Yj MWWWWWw0 Y/ ff Yj

Fic. 168.—Section along south trench, mound No, 1, Union county, Mississippi.

A munber of shell beads, some the entire shells of a small marine species
others cut from a large shell and drilled, lay with the skull. The frontal
bone was saved; it showed no depression at the root of the nose, and

THOMASY MISSISSIPPI. 271

one orbit was lower than the other, probably the result of an injury.
The small size of the burial place, the position of the bones and the
galenite sticking to the skull go to show that only the skeleton had
been buried.

Lying west of these bones, in the hard dirt, was a scapula belonging
to a larger person than the last, along with other bones too badly de-
cayed and broken to tell what they were; also a few shell beads. At
10 feet from the center and 4 feet from the surface was a small pile of
ashes with the dirt slightly burnt below, showing that a fire had been
made when the mound had reached that stage and afterwards covered
up before the place had been disturbed. Three feet above the surface
at the center, in hard dirt, was a badly decayed skull of an old person,
and one cervical vertebra. Lying on the original surface at the center
were some fragments of thick, red pottery and a small amount of
charcoal. Six inches above the bottom a thin seam of red clay was
continuous for 3 or 4 feet around the center.

Een

HR
Mi HEI

Fic. 169.—Section along the northeast trench, mound No. 1, Union county.

The next trench was run in from the northeast (see Figs. 169 and 170).
Twenty-one feet from the center there was a depression of 6 inches where
soil had been removed down to underlying red clay which was so hard
as to be difficult to loosen with a pick. In this clay two holes, marked
(a, Fig. 170, and b, Fig. 169), had been dug 6 feet apart, one north of the
other. Hach was a foot across and 3 feet deep, rounded at the bottom,
and filled with a shiny gray ooze. In the one to the south was found a
piece of skull bone, in the northern one nothing but the soft mud or
slime. Fourteen feet from the center were two similar holes, one 14
inches across and 3 feet deep, the other 3 feet south of it of thesame depth
and 18 inches across. One is shown at c, Fig. 169. No traces of bones
were found in these. They were filled with the same gray dirt as the

AUR MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

first two, though it was not quiteso wet. The dirt for 2 or 3 feet above
all these holes was much looser than that at the sides, as if something
had been placed over them which afterward gave way. Eleven feet
from the center the surface rose to its natural place, making a step of
11 inches, showing that the depression was not carried on a level.

On the south side of this trench, 5 feet from the surface, were three
graves, 11, 7, and 4 feet, respectively, from the center. Each was filled
with loose dark dirt and surrounded by a mass of very hard clay, which
showed no marks of burning, but seems rather to have been packed
wet and allowed to dry before being covered over. In the first, which
was 2 feet long and 18 inches across, no signs of bones appeared; in
the second were the bones of fhe right forearm and the lower extrem-
ities, which were in their proper position and lay with the feet toward
the southwest. Under the head of the right femur was a piece of rib,

i

A go. |
oe 7 a a :

ie

M4
on

Ese

wii al
foe co J Mg ei

Vi; i Sea cs sea nesTulloa
VT 3
$

Fic. 170.—Section along the northeast trench, mound No. 1, Union county.

and under the middle of it the right half of a lower jaw, with the wis
dom tooth just through the bone. The femur measured 17 inches and
the tibia was not flattened. A few drilled shell beads, some large,
others small, were found with the bones of the arm.

In the last grave were traces of wood, probably the remains of bark
wrapping, which fell to dust on being touched. This grave lay toward
the southeast, intersecting the second one at about 4 feet from the edge
of the trench. Each was 2 feet across.

The peculiar arrangement of the dirt in this mound led the explorer
to run another trench from between the north and northwest. (Figs.
171 and172.) Eighteen feet from the center, 2 feet from the surface, were
some small fragments of bones and a few human teeth. Fifteen feet
from the center, on the same level, were fragments of a skull and teeth,
all too decayed for handling. <A foot above these were the bones of

ae
49
Lh
- oe

THOMAS.] MISSISSIPPI. 273

the arm and leg of another person broken up and laid in a pile.
Twelve feet from the center, 4 feet from the surface, were fragments of
a very thin skull with particles of galenite adhering to them. Eight
feet from the center was a hole sunk a foot into the original soil and
filled with loose black dirt and ashes, in which were traces of unburnt
wood, From this hole a layer of unmixed ashes from 1 to 6 inches in
thickness reached 6 feet to the south and west, sometimes on the sur-
face and again several inches above it. Five feet from the center, 84
feet from the surface, was the outer whorl of a conch shell.

A trench was next run in from the west. Eighteen feet from the cen-
ter was a layer of ashes, 6 feet in diameter, 18 inches from the surface
at its middle point and curved upward toward every side, or, in other
words, dished. Lying on this was the lower part of the skeleton of a
medium-sized man, with the feet toward the north. No bones of the

Af ne
oo a [D
ge Ce ai E Es,

nt a

HHA _ 7 cH HH 7,

Fic. 171.—Section along the north trench, mound No. 1, Union county.

pelvis or parts above were found, although the leg bones were well pre-
served. Three feet above the surface the skeleton of a large, strongly-
built man lay extended at full length with the face up, the head
toward the east and about six feet from the center. Theskull was ob-
tained almost entire. Under it were thirteen water-worn quartz peb-
bles. The femur measured 184 inches. There was no elay or hard dirt
packed around the frame nor any evidence that a fire had been made
where it Jay, although the leg bones had fine charcoal sticking to them.
The humerus was perforated near the elbow.

The arrangement of the dirt in this mound indicates that the origi-
nal mound was much smaller than it is now and that the skeleton em.
bedded in the ashes was at the center. Afterward the mound was added
to on the eastern side. A glance at the sections figured makes this
plain.

12 ETH——18

274 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The lenticular masses show that the dirt had been carried in
baskets or skins and thrown in without any attempt at stratification in
the older part of the mound. These masses were from 12 to 18 inches
across and from 4 to 6 inches thick. The lower side, as they lay in the
mound, was always darker in color than the upper side. Occasionally
a little charcoal or a fragment of bone or pottery occurred in the
mound.

Nothing was found in mound 2 exeept a small piece of pottery of
very neat design that had probably been dumped in with the dirt.
This mound was made up of soil lying close at hand and the dirt was
in layers of regular thickness, as though it had been spread when
deposited. On the southeast edge was a layer of mingled dirt and
charcoal, 64 feet across, from 2 to 4 inches in thickness; a large amount
of broken pottery was found scattered through it, but no ashes, ‘Fhis
lay partly a foot below the top of the ground and partly on the surface,

Iyists os
SA an rl
_ Oy oy a

‘

iis

Mh mil Me
Hi a oul
rt

Manin
siti ai H
a a

{| H tt
a HEMT eee

Fia. 172.—Section along the north trench, mound No. 1, Union county.

Ata distance of 75 feet west of the center of mound 3 was a fire-
place, on the original surface, covered with a foot of dirt that had
washed down from the mound. The mingled ashes, charcoal, and dirt
measured 5 feet across and 15 inches thick at the middle, running out
to a thin edge and packed very hard. Along with pieces of pottery and
animal bones was a piece of iron that had apparently been a brace for a
saddle bow. This was 8 inches under the top of the ashes and below
most of the pottery found.

Sixty feet from the center appeared a layer of gray clay, from 1 to 3
inches thick. It was continuous under as much of the mound as was
removed. In the trench on the west side was found one blade of a pair
of scissors. Three feet above the surface at the center was an ash bed
6 inches thick in the middle, 6 feet in diameter, enrving upward or dish-
shaped and running to an edge on every side. It rested directly upon

THOMAS.] MISSISSIPPI. 275

dirt that had been dumped like that in the first mound, and was in very
thin layers as though many successive deposits had been made and
spread out. Within aninch of the bottom was a small piece of green-
ish glass, apparently broken from a glass bottle. Resting upon the
ashes, though of less extent, was a mass 12 inches thick of charcoal,
dirt, ashes, and broken pottery, in which lay an iron knife and a
thin silver plate stamped with the Spanish coat of arms, Fig. 173.
At the top was a thin Jayer of charcoal where a fire had been extin-
guished; this was at a lower point than had ever been reached by the
plow. There was a want of conformity between this mass and the sur-
rounding dirt, which shows it may have been of later origin; that the
mound had been opened after its completion and afterward restored to
its former shape; but the bed of ashes was undoubtedly as old as the
mound itself, so that, although the iron knife and silver plate offer no
positive proof as to age, the piece of glass is strong evidence that the
mound was constructed after its builders had dealings with the whites.
It may be remarked here that this group is located in the area occupied
by the Chickasaws.

At about 40 feet from the center the dirt began
to show the same arrangement of dumping as was
seen in mound 1.

Mound 4 was made throughout of a heavy gray
clay, such as forms the ground to the north of it.
The embankment ran, according to local belief,
directly over this mound; it was, therefore, closely
examined for any signs of palisades, but without
success; nor is there now the slightest indication
here of either wall or ditch. A small amount
of mingled dirt and charcoal appeared at what
seemed to be the center of the mound, but this was
evidently thrown in at the time it was built to help Fis. 173—Silver plate, with
fill up. Spanish coat of arms;

mound, Union county.

Mound 5, not shown in the figure, is outside the
inclosure to the east. A wide trench through it exposed thirteen skulls
with a few fragments of other bones. They were all within 10 feet of
the center and arranged in three layers, the first on the surface, the
second nearly 2 feet above, and the third at about the same distance
above that. The skulls belonged to persons of different ages, from the
child whose first teeth were beginning to appear, to the aged individ-
ual whose teeth were worn to the gums. With the oldest was a burnt
clay pipe, the only relic found in the mound. The bones were put in
without regard to position; a skull and a rib, for example, or a femur
and a jawbone lying together. The mound was of the same dirt as the
surrounding soil, except a deposit! of gray clay a foot thick and 3 feet
across at the center, about half of it lying below the original surface.
Only one skull found here was in a condition to be preserved; all, how-
ever, were of one shape and that very like the modern Indian skull.

276 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Mound 6, like mound 4, was on the supposed line of embankment.
No trace of wood in the mound or of a ditch outside could be seen. It
was formed of dirt gathered close around. Probably mounds 4 and 6
were at a break in the embankment forming a passageway through it.

Mound 7 showed at 55 feet east of the center a layer of gray clay,
nowhere more than an inch in thickness, which ran 18 feet, then gave
way for 9 feet to a layer of black soil, after which it reappeared and was
found under all the remaining part excavated. The dirt showed the
same marks of dumping as in mounds Land 3, and is of different colors,
though all from around the mound. More charcoal and burnt dirt was
found in this than in any other mound opened, but it seems to have been
thrown in simply because it was convenient, being scattered here and
there in small patches.

Thirty-five feet from the center and 3 feet from the surface in mingled
ashes, dirt, and charcoal, with a few decayed bones, were a number of
fragments of pottery, pieces of one vessel which was broken before
being covered. The whole was inclosed in very hard clay. It does not
seem to have been a grave, but rather a place used for cooking.

Twenty-one feet from the center and 5 feet from the surface was a
tibia lying east and west; 5 feet west of it was askull. Both were too
soft to be removed. No bones were found between them, but both
belonged to one individual whose body had been placed in a bed of gray
sand and surrounded by ashes, charcoal, swamp mud, and burnt clay.
It seems to have been an intrusive burial. Two feet southwest of the
skull was a decayed femur; no other bones were with it.

All the dirt about the center of this mound was very wet and heavy,
and was brought from the swamp to the northeast. The arrangement
and material of the mound show that dirt had been carried in from
different places at the same time. Occasionally a layer of one material
could be traced 3 or 4 feet, and then be lost in some other.

Mound 8 was built partly on the slope of the ravine to the west. A
layer of gray clay, averaging 4 inches in thickness, had been spread on
the surface and the mound built upon it. The bottom of the mound on
the western side sloped upward toward the center, following the inclina-
tion of the surface. Twenty-four feet from the center began a deposit
of sticky mud from the creek bottom, which measured 2 feet in thick-
ness at the center. The remainder of the mound was composed of about
equal parts of this bottom mud and the soil near by, dumped in without
any order or regularity. At the center, near the top of the mound, was
a deposit of yellow sand 3 feet across in very thin curved layers, about
4 inches thick at the middle and curving to an edge at the sides.
Under this was a hole a foot across and the same in depth, having a
bottom of hard blue clay and filled with ashes, black dirt, and charcoal.

Near the center were some shreds of a coarse woven cloth. Six feet
north of the center, in the original soil, was a hole 18 inches across and
14 inches deep, the sides burnt hard as brick, filled with-charcoal and

THOMAS. } MISSISSIPPI. 277

dirt. Seven feet northeast of the center was a similar but smaller hole.
The gray layer at the bottom was undisturbed over both these spots,
showing that the mound was built after this part of the field had been
occupied.

The swamp mud ran out at 30 feet north and northeast of the center.
Twenty-two feet from the center, toward the north, a deposit of gray
clay, varying from a few inches to 4 feet in thickness, began and reached
nearly to the edge of the mound. The dumped dirt ended at 60 feet
from the center.

The field being in cultivation, none of the other mounds could be
opened, except one, and there was nothing about that to indicate that
it would repay investigation.

If the large mound be considered a place of residence, the most prob-
able theory, it is not plain what use was made of the smaller ones. It
is evident that those within the inclosure, with the exception of the
first one opened, were not intended or used for burial purposes.

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

The courses and distances of the line of wall, as traced and located
by the old settlers, are as follows, commencing at station 1, the north-
west corner:

epi | Bearing. Distance.
| Feet.
TR Bel | Sues Re a 792
2 to}3, =| Savdou Reese 957
3to4..| $.7045'W . : 1, 930
4to5..| N.77945'W . 1,505
ito) s|WNaleumeee sss 1, 937

The smaller mounds were located by bearings from the center of the
farge mound, but the distances to all except 11 and 12 were measured
from the south corner; for 11 and 12 the measurements were from the
north corner. Mounds 5 and 13 are not shown on the plat.

Mound! Bearing. | Distance. Diameter. | Height. |
| Feet. | Feet. | Feet.

i eed! | N.88°W .... 352 | 6 14
2....<| S.10J°R..... 165 100 4
Bue | S.344°R..... 1056 120 6
qaoe | S.53,°R..... 891 54 2
Bee ane|ESaSOCe. ees Smile, | 50 4
(aes S.58°W..... 792 28 3
7...-.| S. 66,°R....<| 330 | 120 7
Sees. S. 23°R...... 1,155 120 6
9. | Seon 693 150 7
LOWES S. 940K... 2... 990 160 8
11.....) N.24,°W - J. 891 120 | 4
1 ee N. 249K ..... 561 90 | 3
Doe N.70°W....| 4mile.| Plowed |---.......

| level. | |

278 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Pond, N. 75° W. Dirt for the large mound was probably taken from
the excavation which begins at the wall.

The passageway or ramp that extends from the top of the large mound
to the ground is at the middle of the northeast side, beginning 79 feet
from the east corner, and on the line of the base of the mound is 46 feet
wide. It is 20 feet wide at the top of the mound, and extends outward
45 feet from the base of the mound, with the corners at the bottom so
rounded that they are 20 feet within the lines of the sides.

Figs. 167 (A and F) and 168 show the sides and end of the south
trench; Fig. 167 A, the left or west side of the trench, and F, the north
end; Fig. 168, the right or east side. In these 1 is surface soil; 2, gray
clay; 3, red clay; 4, red soil in lumps or masses; @, position of skull; },
position of pottery, and h, grave going a foot into the wall.

Figs. 169 and 170 show the sides of the northeast trench, same mound;
Fig. 169, side toward northwest; and Fig. 170, side toward southeast.
The numbers indicate the strata as follows: No. 1, red, top soil mixed
with clay; 2, yellow, bluish, and gray clays and dark soil mingled in con-
fusion; 3, gray clay from the swamp; 4, red soil in lens-shaped masses;
5, dark soil in lens-shaped masses. a indicates a grave sunk in the
original soil to the depth of 3 feet, filled with shining gray mud and
containing part of a human skull; } and ¢ similar pits. H, O, L, three
graves 5 feet above the original surface extending southward.

Figs. 171 and 172 represent the sections of the northwest trench, same
mound; Fig. 171, east side; Fig.172, west side. The numbers indicate
the layers as follows: 1, top soil; 2, gray clay; 3, red clay; 4, red soil
in lumps or small masses; 5, black soil in lumps or small masses.

TENNESSEE.
LAUDERDALE COUNTY.

On the farin of Mr. Marley, 8 miles northwest of Ripley, are a number
of small mounds, most of which had been dug over thoroughly. Only
onesmalloneremained undisturbed.
In this was found an old walled
fireplace, circular in form, 3 feet high
and about 1 foot thick, the inside
halffullofashes. Back of this (out-
side) was a semicircular wall, also
of burnt clay, 3 feet high and about
1 foot thick. The annexed figure
(174) gives an idea of the form and
relation of these walls. The com-
plete circle A represents the wall
around the fireplace, and B the semt-
circular outer wall, which was on the
north side and originally may have been higher, as it reached the sur-
face of the ground, The little circles C C are two very smooth circular
appendages or lumps of burnt clay on the wall. Close to this fireplace
were two broken dishes mixed with the burnt clay.

Fic. 174.—Fireplace in mound, Lauderdale, Tenn.

THOMAS.] : TENNESSEE. 279

OBION COUNTY.
REELFOOT LAKE MOUNDS.

Around Reelfoot lake are several groups of mounds, mostly of small
size. About half a mile southwest of Idlewilde four low mounds, not
exceeding 2 feet in height, were examined. Below the top soil was a
layer several inches thick of ashes and charcoal, in which were mussel
shells, bones of birds, fishes, and quadrupeds; also, stone implements
and fragments of pottery, but no burnt clay.

At the crossing, on the northwest bor-
der, another group of somewhat larger
mounds was visited, but only one could
be opened; it was composed entirely of
clay and contained no relies.

A small group on Grassy island was
also examined. One of these, circular in
form and 8 feet high, was thoroughly ex-
plored, yielding arich return for the labor
spent upon it. It consisted chiefly of
dark vegetable mold without any indica-
tions of layers. Fifteen skeletons were
unearthed; eight of them were unac-
companied by anything except ashes and
charcoal. By the others, vessels and im-
plements were discovered as_ follows:
By one, a stone spade and two pots; by
another, two pots; by another, a drinking
vessel in the form of a kneeling female,
shown in Fig. 175, and two pots, one in-
side of the other; by the fourth, three pots; and by three others, one
pot each. Another vessel was found embedded in a mass of ashes 24
feet thick, in which were also bird, fish, and quadruped bones, more or
less charred. Several stone implements were also found seattered
through the mound.

Another mound of this group, 6 feet high, was excavated and found
to consist entirely of sandy loam. Nothing was discovered in it.

Two other mounds on the opposite shore of the lake, conical in form
and about 7 feet high, yielded a similar result.

Fia. 175.—Image vessel from mound,
Obion county, Tennessee.

KENTUCKY.

While nearly all of southeastern Missouri below Cairo is level and
subject to overflow during great floods, the bottoms on the Kentucky
side opposite are usually narrow and the river skirted or directly
flanked by bluffs, mainly of yellow clay, rising from 100 to 400 feet
above it. These are cut by many creeks and rivulets, thus forming

280 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

numerous headlands, easily rendered defensible, anumber of which are
occupied by ancient earthworks. Of the five of these visited the most

interesting is in Hickman county, about 3 miles west of Oakton, and
known locally as O’Byam’s Fort.

ee

ANN

2 Ze ~~
43% SS
= = TI

i

‘is Creed

Fic. 176.—O’Byam’s fort, Hickman county, Kentucky.

This work, illustrated in Fig. 176, is, as is usual in this region, upon
the best position for defense in that immediate section, being located on
the extreme point of a bluff some 50 feet high and almost vertical at
its southern end. It consists of an inclosing wall and ditch, mounds,
excavations, and hut rings.

The length of the wall and ditch from a around to bd, following the

THOMAS.] KENTUCKY. 281

irregular curve, is very nearly 600 paces, or about 1,800 feet. There is
no wallalong the steep bluff facing east and south. Of these outlines the
southern end is so steep as to render ascent impracticable; the eastern
slope is almost equally so; the northern line was well defended by em-
bankment and ditch, and for the remainder of the circuit the embank-
ment follows the edge of the high bottom, including in the line the iso-
lated hillock ¢. Mound 3, in the.extreme southeast corner, is in a fine
position for observation and to prevent any attempted ascent at this
corner, the most accessible point on the unwalled line of the bluffs.

The best, if not the only, ford of O’Byam’s creek in this vicinity is a
rock or gravel bar where the road crosses at the lower end of the
biuff. eee .

In the plan of these works (Fig. 176), 1, 2, and 3 are mounds within
the inclosure and 4 a mound outside; c, a natural mound or little hil-
lock; d, a cemetery, and eee ee excavations. The small circles, which
continue northward
beyond the wall, are
small saucer-shaped
depressions marking
the sites of ancient
dwellings.

Mound No. 1, as
shown upon the plan
ofthe works, extends
fully halfway across L |
a narrow portion of Fic. 177.—Mound No. 1, O'Byam’s fort.
the bluff, and is a
true flat-topped or truncated mound (Fig. 177) in all respects similar in
appearance to and possibly of the same age and built by the same peo-
ple as those across the Mississippi, which are now the only refuge of
white men and their stock during floods. But as this and the other
mounds on this side of the river are on high places, beyond the reach
of the greatest flood, the object in view in building them could not have
been to escape inundation.

It is very nearly a true circle 78 feet in diameter on the top and so
steep on all sides that, although 23 feet high, it has a base of only 125
feet and has been covered and surrounded by a heavy growth of oak,
ash, and other timber. It stands on the margin of the upper level.
A number of white persons have been buried on the summit, so that
entensive explorations could not be made; nevertheless enough was
ascertained to prove it to be composed chiefly of yellow clay, but in
successive layers and containing fire-beds of clay burnt to a brick-red
color. These fire-beds differed from those usually seen, in that, while
some were made of irregularly shaped little masses, approximately the
size of an ordinary brick, and well burned before being laid down, each
mass leaving an impression in the earth when removed, others were red

282 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

upon the top only, the color gradually diminishing toward the under
side as though burned by long-continued fires. The masses were proba-
bly the broken plastering of upright walls, while the other layers
were parts of the hard clay floor. Charcoal, ashes, and the charred
bones of animals were found with these fire-beds.

HUT RINGS,

With the exception of a small open court south of No. 1 the entire
area of that portion of the inclosure or fort upon the bluff, much of
the bottom, and also of the adjacent bluffs on the north and east, are
literally covered by these small, circular depressions surrounded by
earthen rings, indicating a considerable population.

Pits were dug in many of these, but only the usual fire-beds,
charcoal, ashes, fragments of pottery, broken animal bones, and rude
stone implements were found.

EXCAVATIONS.

The excavations for the mounds in this place are within the inclo-
sure and on the side of the bluff, those near mound No. 1 being as
clearly defined and as unmistakable as though but of recent date.

CEMETERY.

Mound No. 2 is said to have been once used for burial purposes,
but the skeletons and accompanying relics have been removed to
make place for graves of modern times. At d, near mound 3, was
found a small elevation, less than 30 feet square; which had not been
disturbed, and proved to be a true ancient cemetery. There was but
one tier of skeletons in it, at the depth of 2 feet from the surface. Only
11 were found, lying in all directions and without any apparent sys-
tem, except that they were not doubled upon each other. All
seemed to be skeletons of adults. Some vessels were with them, but
never more than one with a skeleton. Among the specimens discoy-
ered here was a clay rubber or muller.

Mound No. 2 is oblong, 80 by 50 feet and 5 feet high. No. 3, nearly
round, 50 by 40 feet and 4 feet high, was opened, but nothing was found
init. No. 4, cireular, 60 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, was opened
and found to be composed of yellow clay and soil mixed; no relics or
specimens in it.

On what are known as MeCard’s bluffs, 3 miles below O’Byam’s Fort,
is another group of low mounds, fire-beds, fragments of stone imple-
ments, broken pottery, and other evidences of an ancient village, but
there is no inclosing wall.

PECULIAR CONICAL MOUNDS,

Here and there among the ancient works of this region are certain
conical mounds, sometimes in groups or irregular lines and on the high

THOMAS. ] ALABAMA. 283

ridges, which differ so materially from those already mentioned as to
lead to the belief that they are the work of a different people. They
range in size from 30 to 80 feet in diameter and from 4 to 10 feet in
height, but are all true circular mounds and more than usually sym-
metrical in form. By excavations made in them it was ascertained
that they are composed almost entirely of fine, soft, molding sand, un-
stratified and without any intermixture of clay or other material; nor
were there any fire-beds, ashes, charcoal, or vestiges of art, or indica-
tions of burial in them, save here and there an occasional rude stone
scraper.

While the material of the other mounds of this region is evidently
from the earth immediately about them, these circular mounds are
formed of a very fine molding sand from some unknown source.

A few mounds were observed in Ballard county about 5 miles above
Cairo, but no special examination of them was made.

ALABAMA.
LAUDERDALE COUNTY.

This, the extreme northwestern county of the state, is bounded along
its entire southern margin by the Tennessee river. The works described
are situated on or near the north bank of this river.

STAFFORD MOUND.

This is an elongate oval mound, located a little over a mile south
of Florence on the farm of Mr. 8. C. Stafford, some 35 or 40 yards from
the river bank. It is § feet high, flat on top, the length on top, north
and south, 85 feet, and at the base about 125 feet; width about half
the length.

A trench 10 feet wide and 15 feet long was dug in the northern end,
the remainder of the upper portion having been much disturbed. When
the trench had been extended southward the distance of 15 feet a layer
of burnt clay was encountered at the depth of 2 feet, the 2-foot layer
above it consisting of sandy soil. Immediately under the clay was a
layer of ashes. Immediately under this was the much-decayed skele-
ton of a half-grown person lying on its side. At the back of the head
was a wide-necked, bottle-shaped water vessel, tipped sidewise; by the
side of it lay a stone disk which had apparently been used as a cover
to the vessel. At each side of the head stood a small pot. Here
the clay layer was between 4 and 5 inches thick and below this was a
layer of ashes and charcoal 3 inches thick. The charcoal in this layer
was burned from small sticks and brush. A few inches from the head
of the skeleton mentioned was a piece of charred wood firmly fixed in
the earth, apparently the remains of a post. A few inches from the
skeleton at the outer edge of the burnt clay, on the east side, were

284 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

pieces of pottery somewhat resembling tile. The soil being removed,
it was found that the clay bed and layer of ashes gave out toward the
northwest, at the end of 74 feet in this direction. About 4 feet south
of the skeleton mentioned was a hearth of burnt clay, on which was a
thick layer of ashes. This hearth was in the form of an irregular
square, 24 feet in diameter and 2 inches thick; near by were a few
fresh-water shells. A few inches over 7 feet south of the skeleton and
at the same depth the much-decayed skeleton of a child, face down
and head northward, with a pot at each side of the head. Here was
another corner of the clay bed. By working westward along the edge
for the distance of a little over 7 feet another skeleton was found nearly
turned to dust; by it was only one pot, and near it another fireplace
like the one before described. All the corners of what appeared to
have been the floor of a house were worked out; then the middle of
the square, which contained nothing but the top soil, the clay bed, and
ash layer were removed to the sandy loam of the base. When the
trench had been extended southward to a point about 32 feet from the
south end a layer of burnt cane 24 feet below the surface of the mound,
but little more than an inch thick, was discovered, covering an area
about 6 feet in diameter. The canes were in very small pieces. Near
the middle of the mound, at the depth of 8 feet and apparently on the
original surface of the ground, was a burnt-clay hearth or fireplace,
about 24 feet in diameter, circular in form, and covered with a layer
of ashes. Two cylindrical pieces of charcoal about 3 inches in diameter
were found in the earth just outside of the fireplace on the west side,
probably the remains of posts. Twenty feet from the south end, at the
depth of 64 feet, was a layer of ashes, charred grass, and sticks, about
2 inches thick and covering a circular space about 6 feet in diameter.
Scattered through the earth of the mound were fragments of pottery,
animal bones, flint chips, and a few stone implements. The mound is
overflowed by the greater freshets of the Tennessee river.

DOUGLASS MOUNDS.

Near lock No. 10 of the Mussel Shoals canal survey, about 12 miles
east of Florence, are two mounds on the Douglass farm. They are
about half a mile from the river on an elevated hill overlooking the
valley. The two are about 50 feet apart, each 30 or 35 feet in diameter,
3 feet high, and composed throughout of red clay, which extends some-
what below the original surface of the ground. Here and there just
below the surface of one were rude flint hoes, arrow points, and lance
heads; near the surface of the other were four large rude stone imple-
ments. No skeletons, burnt clay, ashes, or charcoal were found in
either. j

The country immediately about the Mussel Shoals was oceupied by
Cherokees when the first whites settled here. This area has long been

THOMAS. | ALABAMA. 285

noted for the number of worked and partially worked flint implements
which have been found scattered over it. As the stone from which
they are manufactured is found at this place, this will doubtless
account for their abundance here.

MADISON COUNTY,

Near Whitesburg, on the north bank of the Tennessee river, is a long,
narrow shell heap, between 400 and 500 yards in length and about 5 or
4 feet high; at present it is only a few yards in width, but was probably
wider in former times, as a portion on the river side appears to have
been carried away by the freshets.

The residents of the place say that many skeletons, stone implements,
and pottery vessels have been washed out of it. Three badly decayed
skeletons were found at one point about 18 inches below the surface;
near by were ashes and some broken stones, as though marking the
site of a temporary fireplace or camp fire. <A thick layer of shells coy-
ered these skeletons. Another skeleton was discovered at the depth
of 3 feet, and near it ashes and broken stones, as in the other case; a
third lay only 6 or 8 inches below the surface; a fourth near the river
had been partly washed away; a broken pot stood by the side of it.

Numerous pieces of pottery, arrowheads, stone implements, and a
copper bead were scattered among the mussel shells. Not only has
this bank been disturbed by floods, but at one time large buildings
stood on it, which were carried away by high water.

The fact that a portion of the shells forming this heap bear the marks
of fire suggested the thought that they had been heated by the Indians
to compel them to open. A great number of split, water-worn stones
were scattered through the bank to the depth of 3 feet, sometimes
loosely and without order, but frequently in such relation as to indicate
an intentional arrangement; in this case they were accompanied by
ashes, as though marking the places where fires had been built for
cooking purposes.

MARSHALL COUNTY.

About 1 mile west of Guntersville is a cave known as Hampton cave.
Its floor is covered to the depth of 4 feet with fragments of human
bones, earth, ashes, and broken stones. This fragmentary condition of
the deposits is chiefly due to the fact that they have been repeatedly
turned over by treasure-hunters. Much of this deposit has been hauled
away in sacks for fertilizing the land. The number of dead deposited
here must have been very great, for, nothwithstanding so much has
been removed, there is yet a depth of 4 feet, chiefly of broken human
bones. <A fine specimen of the copper, spool-shaped ornament sup-
posed to have been worn in the ear was obtained here by Mr. James
P. Whitman, who kindly presented it to the bureau.

286 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

BLOUNT COUNTY.

A eaye in this county containing human remains is worthy of notice.
The remains in this case were deposited in troughs, or canoe-shaped
coftins, differing in this respect from any that have been mentioned.
This, which is known as Cramp’s cave, is 15 miles south of Blountville.
In the back part is a large crevice, where it is stated the bodies were
deposited in the coffins. The place is certainly well adapted for secur-
ity from wild animals, as a few stones would suffice to close this room
or crevice; moreover, it is much the driest portion of the cave. Per-
sons who saw the remains at the time they were found state that they
were in a good state of preservation; that the troughs were covered
with matting made of bark or cane and bound around with withes or
bark. Among the things found with them were wooden bowls and
trays. Portions of one or two of these troughs were forwarded to and
received by the Smithsonian Institution. Although the place had been
thoroughly worked over the Bureau agent succeeded, after careful
search, in finding part of a wooden bowl and some pieces of a trough.
The troughs or coffins were evidently sections of hollow trees or had
been hollowed out.

SUMTER COUNTY.

CEDAR HUMMOCK GROUP.

In See. 5, T. 17 N., R. 1 E., of Stephen’s meridian, in what is known
locally as “Cedar hummock,” with a creek on the west and a slough on
the east, is a group of seven mounds. The hummock land on which
they stand is about 10 feet above low water. The mounds are circular,
from 35 to 50 feet in diameter and from 2 to 4 feet high. The brown
sand of which they are chiefly composed has been taken from the soil
immediately around them, leaving depressions which are yet distinct.

In one of the three smaller mounds, at the depth of 2 feet, a small
quantity of ashes was found, and with them fragments of animal bones;
with these exceptions, nothing but the brown sand was observed in the
smaller mounds.

In one of the four larger, at the depth of one foot, was a single skeleton,
and by the thigh a stone implement; in another, at the depth of 3 feet,
was a single skeleton resting on a thin layer of charcoal and ashes, and
by it a few pieces of broken pottery; the third presented precisely the
same particulars as the second; in the fourth, at the depth of 2 feet,
lay a single skeleton.

These skeletons were invariably in the center of the mound, lying at
full length, but the heads in different directions, one toward the south-
west, another toward the northeast, and two toward the northwest.

ELMORE COUNTY.

Six miles north of Montgomery is Jackson lake, in which there is an
island surmounted, on one side, by a mound of considerable size. This

THOMAS. ] ALABAMA. 287

island is subject to overflow, but the top of the mound stands at all
times high above the water. The length of the upper surface along
the lake side is 130 feet; on this side the height, measuring down the
steep slope, is 50 feet, while on the opposite side it is but 12 feet
perpendicular. Growing on the upper surface are some large trees,
among which are two poplars (tulip), one 34 and the other 44 feet in
diameter, and a pine 3 feet in diameter.

A pit 8 feet square sunk in the center through sandy soil, reached,
at the depth of 5 feet, a quantity of ashes, near which were four skulls;
two on each side. The larger bones of the four skeletons appear te
have been laid across each other very irregularly. With these remains
were some shell beads, shell pins, and a piece of copper. Some frag-
ments of pottery were scattered through the earth covering the bodies.

MOUNDS AND HOUSE REMAINS NEAR COOSA RIVER.

On the west bank of the Coosa river, about a mile above where it is
joined by the Tallapoosa, are numerous evidences of a former aborigi-
nal village. These consist of fire beds marking the location of houses
or wigwams, human remains, animal bones, fragments of pottery, ete.
Many of these remains have been brought to light by the falling away
of the bank occasioned by the encroachment of the river.

The adjoining field not being plowed to the river bank leaves a strip
of land undisturbed, in which the indications of dwellings, consisting
chiefly of clay or fire-beds, usually about 5 feet across, and ashes, are
most apparent.

The first one of these examined was about a foot below the surface.
Here, in the earth and ashes, were numerous pieces of pottery, mostly
parts of a very flat dish of unusual form, many mussel shells, animal
bones, piece of a gun barrel, a glass bead, iron nails, knife blade, pieces
of brass, and copper ornaments. It is evident, therefore, that this is the
site of a comparatively modern Indian village.

The second was some 30 feet from the first and 18 inches below the
surface. This, being at the bank, was partly washed away, only a part
of a fire-bed and of a skeleton being left. On the one arm bone that
remained was a brass bracelet made of drawn wire. This skeleton lay
near the ashes, as usual.

A third and fourth were also examined with similar results, charred
cobs and corn, pieces of pottery, animal bones, brass bracelets, ete.,
being found. There areno mounds here.

PARKER MOUNDS.

These are situated on the bank of the Coosa river, near its junction
with the Tallapoosa.

One of them, about 50 feet in diameter and 2 feet high, which had
been plowed over for years, contained two skeletons, which lay at the
depth of less than a foot below the surface and about 5 feet apart, one

288 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

with the head south and the other with the head west. On the breast
of the smaller, which was that of a child, lay a small shell gorget; with
the other were several bone implements. The mound throughout was
composed of sand mixed with ashes.

The other mound, some 400 yards southwest of the first, is about 60
feet in diameter and 8 feet high. The first two feet from the top were
chiefly sand, the remainder, to the bottom, clay. No ashes, coals, ves-
tiges of art, or bones were found in it.

OLD FORT JACKSON WORKS.

These are also near the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers
and mark the site of one of the oldest Creek towns of which we have
any account. It is also the site of a victory gained by Gen. Jackson
over these Indians. It was here that the old French fort, Toulouse,
stood. After its abandonment and decay, Fort Jackson was built on
the same spot. The banks of both rivers are caving in rapidly, so that
now the space between them does not exceed 300 yards; in fact, most
of the site of the fort has been washed away. The mound still remains
and also some of the old house sites, supposed to be the work of the
Creek Indians.

The earth to the north, south, and east of the mound was found upon
examination to be full of fire-beds or remains of houses, and the same was
probably true of the western area, which has been washed away.

At the west end the mound is 125 feet across and nearly or quite 45
feet high; the east side is lower, and has a long slope extending about
95 feet to the base. It has been examined at various times by curiosity-
hunters, and several articles of European manufacture obtained. As
the owner was absent during the visit of the Bureau agent, permission
to make further exploration in it was refused.

To the southeast and north is a field of three acres, which has been
cultivated for many years and is thickly strewn over with fragments of
pottery, charcoal, pieces of human bones, mussel shells, and fragments
of burnt clay, evidently turned up from the fire beds or house remains
which lie below the surface. A few, however, were discovered which
lay below the reach of the plow. One of these was found undis-
turbed at the depth of 3 feet below the surface. Here was a much de-
cayed skeleton lying at full length with the head toward the west; and
by it stood a large earthen pot, in which were a few shell beads, and
a mussel shell. A quantity of ashes also lay near the head. <At
another point, 2 feet below the surface, probably marking the site of
another house, there was a layer of ashes 1 foot thick, in and near which
were fragments of pottery, animal bones (deer and fish), and mussel
shells. Another of these remains, at the depth of 3 feet, was marked
by a similar pile of ashes, by which lay a skeleton with the head toward
the east. Near it was a brass kettle containing glass beads, brass
buckles, brass rings made from wire, and bell buttons. Another, one

THOMAS. ] ALABAMA. 289

foot below the surface, yielded arrowheads, celts, stone disks, pottery
disks, smoothing stones, fragments of clay pipes, long shell beads, and
small glass beads. Among the ruins of another, 18 inches below the
surface, was a single skeleton with the head west; near it, on one side,
a pile of ashes, and on the other two large pots, one over the other, and
in the lower one some animal bones, fragments of a turtle shell, mussel
shells, and shell beads; here were also found two shell gorgets, four
shell pins, some shell and glass beads mixed together, charred berries,
shell spoons, charred seeds, lumps of blue coloring material, two celts,
part of a brass plate, a bone punch, ete. At another point the remains
presented the following series: After removing 10 inches of soil, a layer
of burnt clay 5 inches thick was reached, then aclay hearth. This
heartlr was on a thick layer of ashes. The burnt-clay layers in these
remains varied from 5 to 10 inches in thickness. In some they were
entirely wanting, ashes only being present.

CLARKE COUNTY.

Four and a half miles east of Gainestown, on the north bank of the
Alabama river, in Sec. 2, 7.5 N., R. 4 E. of Stephen’s Meridian, is
French’s landing, the supposed site of old Fort Mauvilla. Not a ves-
tige of the old fort now remains and the mound that once stood here
has been carried into the river, and the so-called “burying ground”
has nearly all disappeared, a strip only about 20 feet wide remaining.

At one place a foot below the surface in the break of the bank, where
the wearing away is going on, were three skeletons in compact bundles,
which must have been buried after the flesh had rotted off or been re-
moved from the bones. At another point, about 30 feet distant from
those mentioned, were two other similar deposits at the same depth
and arranged in the same way. Fragments of pottery occurred here
and there in the soil.

BARBOUR COUNTY.

The following and some of the previous notices are given simply be-
cause they may possibly aid in locating some of the old Indian villages.

At the St. Francis bend of the Chattahoochee river, 3 miles northeast
of Eufaula, is an elevated bank of sandy soil on which it is said an old
Creek town was once located. Although partially washed away by the
river, there are sufficient remains of fire-beds, fragments of pottery,
human bones, aud stone implements to confirm the tradition.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Nine miles southwest of the city of Montgomery and situated on the
bank of the Alabama river is a group of five mounds. One of these,
8 feet high and 50 feet in diameter, was composed entirely of clay, in
which, at the depth of 2 feet, lay a single skeleton; no vestiges of

12 ETH——19

290 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

art with it. Another, considerably smaller, was composed wholly of
brown sand, scattered through which were some fragments of pottery
and broken animal bones. The third, about 60 feet in diameter and
nearly 10 feet high, was covered to the depth of a foot with brown sand.
The remainder was sharp, yellow, river sand; nothing was found in it.
The fourth, which is slightly larger than the third, was covered with a
layer of brown sand 18 inches thick, the remainder of clay to the base.
In the clay, at the depth of 2 feet, lay a single skeleton. Nothing else
was discovered.
TALLADEGA COUNTY.

Four miles southeast of Talladega is Cragdale, on the bank of Talla-
dega creek, the site of a former Creek settlement. Dr. W. Taylor
says that when he came to this place with his father, he being then
but a boy, many of the Indian houses were still standing. He also
says that it was a custom of these Indians to bury in the corners of
their houses, not more than 18 inches or 2 feet below the floor; that he
had frequently examined these deposits and found with the bones shell
beads, carved shell ornaments, pottery, and sometimes as many as
three skeletons in a place, and occasionally as many as three corners
thus occupied. He also says the Creeks frequently used mussel-shells
for spoons.

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

Near Jonesboro is a small group of mounds on the plantation of Mr.
N. D. Talley, Sec. 8, T. 19 8., R. 4 W., of the Huntsville meridian. The
valley of the small creek that flows along the northern and eastern
sides of the field in which the group is located is quite wide at this
point, the round, knob-like hills which form its boundary standing at
quite a distance from the mounds.

The surface of the field immediately around the mounds is compara-
tively flat, pitching in a steep bank to the water, a few feet north of
mound No.1. (Fig.178.) Northeast of this mound the surface has the
appearance of haying been dug or more probably washed out by the
creek. East of mound 3 is what might be called the first bottom land,
about 4 feet lower than the surface of the field. This point is above the
overflow of the small creek, while farther down the valley the land is
frequently inundated and had been under water a short time previous
to examination.

A plat of the group is given in Fig. 178. No. 1, is an oblong mound,
measuring 30 feet east and west, and about 4 feet high at the highest
point. A few small pine and hackberry trees have grown on the sides
since it was built. It is made of the same red, sandy soil as that found
in the field in which it stands. Only afew coals and a shovelful of
ashes were found in it, which had probably been thrown there at the
time it was built and may have been scraped up from the surface of
the field with the rest of the material for the mound, but in hunting the

THOMAS. | ALABAMA. 291

field over for any specimen that might have been washed out or plowed
up no ash beds were seen, nor did any of the tenants of the land remem-
ber plowing through such beds.

Z

Fig. 178.—Plat of Tally mounds, Jefferson county, Alabama.

@wef-.--4------- jaw ee- ew weee em aee--=-}--}

PLAN.

ONAN UTA

SECTION ON LINE @&=,
Fia. 179.—Mound No. 2, Tally group (plan and section).

No. 2 (shown in Fig. 179) has the appearance of an oval platform
with a small mound on one end of it. The longer diameter of the base

292 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

of the platform is about 140 feet, the greatest width 100 feet, and the
height 5 feet. The height of the upper mound, which is on the smaller
end of the platform, is 7 feet, the diameter of the flattened top 30 feet.
Its western slope is continuous with that of the platform. The figure
shows the ground plan and the section through a b. The upper mound
has been considerably torn up by treasure hunters, but scattered over
the top was a large quantity of burnt clay, much of which bore the
impression of a stamp made apparently of split cane.” A trench length-
wise through the platform showed that the top layer consisted of
4 feet of red, sandy soil, evidently taken from the surface of the sur-
rounding field; the remainder, to the original surface of the ground, of
pure river sand. The upper mound was composed of sandy soil down
to the platform, and hence it is reasonable to conclude that it was
built at the same time the upper layer was placed on the platform. No
bones, ashes, charcoal, or vestiges of art were observed in any part.

No. 3 is a circular mound, about 110 feet in diameter at the base and
60 feet across the top, which is flat; height, 8 feet. A trench across it
through the center showed that it was constructed of sandy soil from
the surrounding field. In the central portion, about half way down,
was a layer of clear river sand 3 inches thick and about 5 feet in
diameter. Nothing else was found in it.

GEORGIA.

The ancient works of this state, so far as known and examined, have
been so thoroughly and ably described by Col. C. C. Jones, in his
“Antiquities of the Southern Indians” and in his other works, that it is
unnecessary to allude to any except such as received special attention
by the Bureau of Ethnology.

BARTOW COUNTY.
ETOWAH GROUP.

This deservedly celebrated group, situated close to the north bank of
Etowah river, on the farm of Mr. G. H. Tumlin, 3 miles southeast of
Cartersville, has been repeatedly described and figured; in fact, as I
shall attempt hereafter to show, there is good reason for believing that
it includes one of the mounds specially mentioned by the chroniclers of
De Soto’s expedition.

As the group, its several works, and the relics which have been
found in and about the mounds are of great archeological interest, and
possibly furnish the key to some troublesome historical questions and
archeological puzzles, I will give in this connection some of the descrip-
tions by other writers, that the reader may have all the facts before
him and thus be enabled to draw his own conclusions in reference to the
questions which are suggested by these remains.

a

THOMAS. ] : GEORGIA. * 293

The first published notice of these works (unless they are referred to
by the chroniclers of De Soto’s expedition) is that by Rev. Elias Cor
nelius,! and is as follows:

I have but one more article of curiosity to mention under this division. It is one
of those artificial mounds which occur so frequently in the western country. I have
seen many of them and read of more, but never of one of such dimension as that
which I am now to describe.

It is situated in the interior of the Cherokee Nation, on the north side of the
Etowee, vulgarly called the Hightower river, one of the branches of the Koosee. It
stands upon astrip of alluvial land calledriver bottom. I visited it in company with
eight Indian chiefs. The first object which excited attention was an excavation
about 20 feet wide and in some parts 10 feet deep. Its course is nearly that of a
semicircle, the extremities extending towards the river, which forms a small elbow.
I had not time to examine it minutely. An Indian said it extended each way to the
river, and had several unexcavated parts, which served for passages to the area
which it incloses. Tomy surprise I found no enbankment or either side of it. But
I did not long doubt to what place the earth had been removed; for I had scarcely
proceeded 200 yards when, through the thick forest trees, a stupenduous pile met
the eye, whose dimensions were in full proportion to the intrenchment. I had at the
time no means of taking an accurate admeasurement. To supply my deficiency 1
cut a long vine, which was preserved until I had an opportunity of ascertaining its
exact length. In this manner I found the distance from the margin of the summit
to the base to be 111 feet. And, judging from the degree of its declivity, the per-
pendicular height can not be less than 75 feet. The circumference of the base,
including the feet of three parapets, measured 1,114 feet. One of these parapets
extends from the base to the summit, and can be ascended, though with difficulty,
on horseback. ‘The other two, after rising 30 or 40 feet, terminate in a kind of
triangular platform. Its top is level and, at the time I visited it, was so completely
covered with weeds, bushes, and trees of most luxuriant growth that I could not
examine it as well as I wished. Its diameter, I judged, must be 150 feet. On its
sides and summit are many large trees of the same description and of equal dimen-
sions with those around it. One beech tree near the top measured 10 feet 9 inches in
circumference. The earth on one side of the tree was 3} feet lower than on the
opposite side. This fact will give a good idea of the degree of the mound’s declivity.
An oak, which was lying down on one of the parapets, measured at the distance of
6 feet from the butt, without the bark, 12 feet 4 inches in cireumference. At a short
distance to the southeast is another mound, in ascending which I took 30 steps. Its
top is encircled by a breastwork 3 feet high, intersected through the middle with
another elevation of a similar kind. A little farther is another mound, which I had
not time to examine.

On these great works of art the Indians gazed with as much curiosity as any white
man. I inquired-of the oldest chief if the natives had any tradition respecting them,
to which he answered in the negative. I then requested each to say what he sup-
posed was their origin. Neither could tell, though all agreed in saying, ‘“ they were
never put up by our people.” It seems probable they were erected by another race
who once inhabited the country. Thatsuch arace existed is now generally admitted.
Who they were and what were the causes of their degeneracy or of their extermina-
tion no circumstances have yetexplained. But this is no reason why we should not,
as in a hundred other instances, infer that existence of the cause from its effect,
without any previous knowledge of its history.

In regard to the objects which these mounds were designed to answer, it is ob-
vious they were not always the same. Some were intended as receptacles for the
dead. These are small and are distinguished by containing human bones. Some

1Silliman’s American Journal of Science and Art, Ist Ser., Vol. 1 (1818), pp. 322-324.

294 ° MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

may have been designed as sites for public buildings, whether of a civil or religious
kind, and others no doubt were constructed for the purposes of war. Of this last
description is the Etowee mound. In proof of its suitableness for such a purpose I
need only mention that the Cherokees, in their late wars with the Creeks, secured
its smmmit by pickets and occupied it as a place of protection for hundreds of their
women and children. Gladly would I have spent a day in examing it more minutely,
but my companions,
unable to appreciate
my motives, grew im-
patient, and I was
obliged to withdraw
and leave a more per-
fect observation and
description to some
one else.

This account is
particularly valu-
able, as it relates
to the condition
and appearance of
these works before
they were dis-
turbed by the
plow. We also
find in this ac-
count some items
of interest which
had disappeared
before the works
‘were visited and
described by the
more modern ob-
servers.

The description
by Col.C.C. Jones!
is the best we find
hitherto pub-
lished. I there-
fore give it here in
full, together with
a reproduction of
his illustration
Fic. 180.—Plat of Etowah group, copy of Jones’s plat No. 1. (Fig. 180) :

Mig

=

i
iY

by

Wy

Viewed as a whole, this group is the most remarkable within the confines of this
state. These mounds are situated in the midst of a beautiful and fertile valley.
They oceupy a central position in an area of some 50 acres, bounded on the south and
east by the Etowah river, and on the north and west by a large ditch or artificial

1Antiquities of the Southern Indians, p. 136.

"dNOYUD HVMOLS ‘GNNOW 39Yv7 SHL JO MIA

ASOIONHI3S 3O NW3aHnNe

AX “Td 14Od3Y TWONNV HisTaML

THOMAS.) GEORGIA. 295

canal, which at its lower end communicates directly with the river. This moat (G
G, Pl. 1), at present, varies in depth from 5 to 25 feet, and in width from 20 to 75 feet.
No parapets or earth walls appear upon its edges. Along its line are two reservoirs
(D D) of about an acre each, possessing an average depth of not less than 20 feet,
and its upper end expands into an artificial pond (P) elliptical in form and somewhat
deeper than the excavations mentioned.

Within the inclosure formed by this moat and the river are seven mounds. Three
of them are preeminent in size, the one designated in the accompanying plan (PI. 1)
by the letter A far surpassing the others both in its proportions and in the degree
of interest which attaches to it.

To the eye of the observer, as it rests for the first time upon its towering form, it
seems a monument of the past ages, venerable in its antiquity, solemn, silent, and
yet not voiceless—a remarkable exhibition of the power and industry of a former
race. With its erection, the modern hunter tribes, so far as our information extends,
had naught to do. Composed of earth, simple, yet impressive in form, it seems cal-
culated for an almost endless duration. The soil, gravel, and smaller stones taken
from the moat and the reservoirs were expended in the construction of these tumuli.
The surface of the ground, for a considerable distance around the northern bases,
was then removed and placed upon their summits. Viewed from the north,the val-
ley dips toward the mounds so that they appear to lift themselves from out a basin.

The central tumulus rises about 65 feet above the level of the valley. It is en-
tirely artificial, consisting wholly of the earth taken from the moat and the excava-
tions, in connection with the soil collected around its base. It has received no
assistance whatever from any natural hill or elevation.

In general outline it may be regarded as quadrangular, if we disregard a slight
angle to the south. That taken into account, its farm is pentagonal, with summit
admeasurements as follows: Length of the northern side, 150 feet; length of eastern
side, 160 feet; Length of southeastern side, 100 feet; length of southern side, 90 feet,
and length of western side, 100 feet. Measured east and west, its longest apex dia-
meter is 225 feet; measured north and south it falls a little short, being about 220
feet. On its summit this tumulus is nearly level. Shorn of the luxuriant vegetation
and tall forest trees, which at one time crowned it on every side, the outlines of this
mound stand in bold relief. Its angles are still sharply defined. The established
approach to the top is from the east. Its ascent was accomplished through the in-
tervention of terraces rising one above the other—inclined planes leading from the
one to the other. These terraces are 65 feet in width, and extend from the mound
toward the southeast. Near the eastern angle, a pathway leads to the top; but it
does not appear to have been intended for very general use. May it not have been
designed for the priesthood alone, while assembled upon the broad terraces the wor-
shipers gave solemn heed to the religious ceremonies performed upon the eastern
summit of this ancient temple?

East of this large central mound—and so near that their flanks meet and mingle—
stands a smaller mound, about 35 feet high, originally quadrangular, now nearly
circular in form, and with a summit diameter of 100 feet. From its western slope is
an easy and immediate communication with the terraces of the central tumulus.
This mound is designated in the accompanying plate by the letter B. Two hundred
and fifty feet in a westerly direction from this mound, and distant some 60 feet in a
southerly direction from it, is the third (C) and the last of this immediate group.
Pentagonal in form, it possesses an altitude of 23 feet. It is uniformly level at the
top, and its apex diameters, measured at right angles, were, respectively, 92 and
68 feet.

East of this group, and within the inelosure, is a chain of four sepulchral mounds,
(F F F F), ovoidal in shape. Little individual interest attaches to them. Nothing,
aside from their location in the vicinity of these larger tumuli and their being within
the area formed by the canal and the river, distinguishes them from numerous earth

296 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

mounds scattered here and there through the length and breadth of the Etowah and
Oostenaula valleys. ;

The artificial elevation E, lying northwest of the central group, is remarkable for
its “uperficial area, and is completely surrounded by the moat which at that point
divides with a view to its inclosure. The slope of the sides of these tumuli is just
such as would be assumed by gradual accretions of earth successively deposited in
small quantities from above.

The summits of these mounds, and the cireumjacent valley for miles, have been
completely denuded of the original growth which overspread them in rich profusion.
The con8equence is, these remarkable remains can be readily and carefully noted.

Without commenting at present upon this description, I give Col.

Charles Whittlesey’s account as found in the Smithsonian Report for
1881,! together with his illustration No. 1. (See Fig. 181.)

Fic. 181.—Plat of Etowah group, copy of Whittlesey’s figure No. 1,

THE GREAT MOUND ON THE ETOWAH RIVER, GEORGIA,

Not having seen a detailed description of this mound I made a visit to it in behalf
of the Western Reserve Historical Society, in May, 1871. It stands upon the north
bank of the Etowah. about 2 miles below where it is crossed by the Chattanooga and
Atlanta railway, near Cartersville. Its form, size, and elevation are singular and
imposing. It oceupies the easterly point or angle of a large and luxuriant river
bottom, a part of which is subject to inundations. The soil is a deep, rich, black
loam covering several hundred acres, which has been cultivated in corn and cotton
since the Cherokees left it, about forty years since.

I was compelled, by bad weather, to make the survey in haste. The bearings were
taken with a prismatic compass, the distances measured by pacing, and the elevations
obtained with a pocket level. They are, therefore, subject to the corrections of future
surveyors. Its base covers a space of about 3 acres, and stands at a level of 23 feet
above low water in the river. In great floods the water approaches near the mound
on the west, but has not been known to reach it. The body of the mound has an
irregular figure, as shown in the plan. It is longest on the meridian, its diameter in

1 Pp, 624-627.

THOMAS.) GEORGIA. 297

that direction being about 270 feet. On the top is u nearly level area of about an
acre, the average height of which is 50 feet above the base. A broad ramp or graded
way (1) winds upward from the plain, around the south face of the mound, to the area
on the top.

Like some of the pyramids of Egypt it has two smaller ones as tenders: one on
the south, C; another to the southeast, B; each about 100 feet distant, their bases
nearly square, and of neariy equal dimensions. If they were not in the shadow of
the great mound they would attract attention for their size and regularity. The
ground at B is 3 feet higher than at C. All of them are truncated. The mound C
is nota perfectly regular figure, but approaches a square with one side broken into
three lines. Its height above base is 18 feet. The bearing of its western side is
north 10 degrees west, and the length on the ground 47 paces, having been somewhat
spread out by plowing around the foot. On the east is a ramp, with a slope of 1 to
2 degrees, which allows of ready ascent by persons on foot.

The slopes of all the mounds are very steep and quite perfect, in some places still
standing at an angle of 45 degrees. B is a regular truncated pyramid, with a square
base about 106 feet on a side, two of the faces bearing 5 degrees west of the merid-
ian. Its elevation is 22 feet. There isno ramp or place of ascent which is less steep
than the general slopes. Towards the southeast corner of the surface of B is a
sunken place, as though a vault had fallen in.

The proprietor has managed to cultivate the summits of all the mounds, regarding
the group in the light of a continual injury by the loss of several acres of ground.
Most of the material of the mounds is the rich black mold of the bottom land, with
occasional lumps of red clay. The soil on their sides and summits produces corn,
cotton, grass, vines, and bushes in fullluxuriance. The perimeter of the base of the
great mound is 534-paces. As the ground had beenrecently plowed and was soaked
with a deluge of rain, a pace will represent little more than 2 feet. I give the cir-
cumference provisionally at 370 yards. The area on the top is like the base, oblong
north and south, but its figure is more regular. Its perimeter is 231 paces.

From the center of the pyramid C a line on the magnetic meridian passes a few
feet to the west of the center of the platform on the summit of A. Its sides are
nowhere washed or gullied by rains. Prior to the clearing of the land, large trees
flourished on the top and on the slopes. Iestimate its mass to contain 117,000 cubic
yards, which is about four-fifths of the Prussian earth-monument on the field of
Waterloo,

At the base the ramp is 50 feet broad, growing narrower as you ascend. It curves
to the right, and reaches the area on the top near its southwest corner. Twenty-
five years since, before it was injured by cultivation, visitors could easily ride to
the summit on horseback along the ramp. From this spot the view of the rich valley
of the Etowah towards the west, and of the picturesque hills which border it on
either side, is one of surpassing beauty.

About 300 yards to the north rises the second terrace of the valley, composed of
red clay and gravel. Near the foot of it are the remains of a ditch, inclosing this
group of mounds in an are of a circle, at a distance of about 200 yards. The western
end rests on the river, below the mounds, into which the high waters back up a con-
siderable distance.

It has been principally filled up by cultivation. The owner of the premises says
there was originally an embankment along the edge of the ditch on the side of the
pyramids, but other old settlers say there was none. If the last statement is cor-
rect, a part of the earth composing the mounds can be accounted for by the ditch.

Its length is about one-fourth of a mile, and it does not extend to the river, above
the mounds. Near the upper end are two oblong, irregular pits, 12 to 15 feet deep,
from which a part of the earth of the mounds may have been taken. ‘The diameter
of the pits varies from 150 to 200 feet, and the breadth from 60 to 70. The ditch is
reputed to have been 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep. Two hundred yards to the

298 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

northeast of A are the remains of four low mounds within the ditch near the large
pits. Five hundred yards to the northwest, on the edge of the second terrace, is a
mound which is yet 8 feet high, although it has been industriously plowed over
more than thirty years.

The place chosen by the mound-builders in this case for the location
of their village is, as usual, one adapted to easy cultivation and withal
one of real beauty.

The river, which reaches the base of the hills above and below, here
makes a bend to the south, while the line of hills curves toward the
north, leaving a broad, fertile bottom some 3 miles long east and west
and a mile or more in breadth. The mounds are visible from the hills
throughout the entire circuit, rendering it easy to give notice of the
approach of an enemy from any quarter on this side of the river.

There is little doubt, therefore, that while one object in view in
selecting this locality was to obtain land close at hand suitable for cul-
tivation, another was, as intimated by Rey. Elias Cornelius, security
and means of defense against the attacks of enemies. The general plan
of the works, from an examination and survey made in person, assisted
by Mr. Rogan, in 1885, is given in Fig. 182. It will be seen from this
figure that the works at present consist of a broad, surrounding ditch,
flanked at two points by large excavations, six included and one out-
side mound, though it is apparent from the descriptions of previous
visitors heretotore given and what is hereafter stated that these are not
all the works which formed parts of this extensive village.

The ditch, starting at n, on the east, 310 feet from the river and 1,140
feet from the nearest point of the large mound, runs northwest, gradu-
ally curving westward and southward so as to form an almost complete
semicircle, and striking the river below at p, about 870 feet from the
nearest point of the large mound. The distance from m to p direct is
about 775 yards, and the length of the ditch from x to p, following the
curve, about 1,060 yards. The greatest width of the area, that is, from
the river to the margin of the large excavation 7, is about 450 yards,
the area inclosed being about 56 acres. Whether the ditch ever
reached the river on the east can not be determined from present ind1-
cations. There is still a slight depression, or swale, south of the termi-
nation, shown at n, but this does not reach the bank. Nevertheless,
the plan of the works seems to require connection with the river at this
point, and that this was the case may be assumed. It is probable that
there was here a bridge or arrangement for crossing the ditch, and also
that it was quite narrow here to prevent the too rapid influx of water
from the river. <A crossing point appears to have been at w, where the
ditch enters the large reservoir or basin. The dotted lines in the plat
(Fig. 182) along the break at 7 indicate the portion filled up by the pres-
ent and preceding owners in order to make a crossing for a road at
this point. As it approaches the large excavation r, it suddenly ex-
pands and increases in depth, being at the cross section 1-2, 95 feet wide

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XVI

TATA

a
bili!
AN

\\s

a \
Le 7

ANIKI
\ eo
nes :
ae
pe tae SS ARTA

i \

\

WN
\ \
\ :
\\
3.

2 Z a y

47.

\
iii
ii mee

PLAN OF THE LARGE MOUND ETOWAH GROUP.

THOMAS.] GEORGIA. 299

and 14 feet deep. At the point of connection with the excavation, 2, it
suddenly narrows to 12 or 14 feet, and the depth is not more than half
of what it is a few feet above. It is evident that a dam was thrown
across at this point, as some of the stones used were still in place when
I examined it, and quite a number had fallen down into the large exca-

a

(Hi
Vii,
gs

|
Mh

Oo oO 0 300 400 500 800 700 800
tt md 400 77

Fig. 182.—Plat of the Etowah group (original).

vation. It is probable that this was connected with a fish-trap of some
kind, and that advantage was also taken of the near approach of the
sides to throw a wooden bridge across the ditch.

The large excavation (7) embraces an area of about 3 acres; it is not
uniform in depth; in fact, a considerable portion of the central area is

300 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

but slightly excavated and but little lower than the original surround-
ing surface; the remainder is about the same depth as the expanded
portion of the ditch immediately above. The portion of the ditch ex-
tending from this basin to the outlet of the other, marked /, has never
been plowed over and has suffered but little change from its original
condition; here it is about 40 feet wide and 15 feet deep. The excava-
tion / is correctly represented in the figure; it is over 14 acres in extent
and is 17 feet deep at the deepest point, the eastern side, where the
bank or margin is almost perpendicular, a fact which seems to forbid
the idea of great antiquity. The remainder of the ditch to the river
has been plowed over and hence its sides are much worn down; never-
theless the depth is some 8 or 10 feet, and the width at « y 68 feet.
The distance from s to p is 1,070 feet. Its entrance to the river has
been closed by the present owner to keep out the backwater. There
are no indications at any point that there ever was an embankment on
either side, the material taken out having doubtless been used in build-
ing the mounds. East and north of the large mound is a considerable
depression from which, in all probability, additional material was ob-

Fic. 183.—Large mound of the Etowah group.

tained. The outer margin of this depression is indicated by the shaded
line. As the small mounds d, e, and / are in this depression, it is prob-
able they were built subsequent to the construction of the larger ones.

The large mound, a.—This is truly a grand and remarkable structure,
being exceeded in size in the United States, judging by the cubical
contents, ouly by the great Cahokia mound. All the descriptions of it
which I have seen fail to note the important fact that the broad road-
way which ascends it on the south side does not reach the top, falling
short in this respect by 20 feet perpendicular and about 30 feet slant
height. This fact is apparent from the views of it given in our Fig.
185 and Pl. xv, the latter from a photograph.

A careful survey of it was made in 1884 by Mr. Victor Mindeleff for
the purpose of preparing a model for the Exposition at New Orleans.
A plat drawn to an exact scale, with heights, measurements, etc., is
given in Pl. xvi. From this it will be seen that the highest point, ¢,
is 664 feet, assuming the northwest corner, which is Mr. Mindeleff’s
zero, aS the base. But from personal inspection and what has been
discovered in regard to the other two mounds near it, Pam satisfied the

THOMAS. ] GEORGIA. 301

original surface of the ground was somewhat higher than that around
it to the north and east as it now appears. The level at the southwest,
which is 3 feet higher than the northwest corner, is probably very near
that of the original surface of the ground. Assuming this as the base,
and taking the average of the heights of the top, the true elevation is
found to be 61 feet. The length of the slope a little north of the south-
west corner, which is very steep, forming an angle of 45 degrees, is 86
feet; this gives.within a few inches the same result as the preceding
caleulation. The slope here is considerably steeper than at any other
point and indicates that the body of the mound is largely composed of
clay, a question which could easily be determined by digging; but per-
mission to do this has not as yet been obtained. The longest diameter,
including the roadway (a to b, Pl. Xv1), is 380 feet; the diameter at
right angles to this (from ¢ to d) is 330 feet, and the area of the base a
little less than 3 acres. The lengths of the sides of the top, which is
somewhat quadrilateral, are as follows: From k (northwest corner) to 1
(southwest corner), 180 feet; from / to m, 170 feet; from m to n, 176
feet; and from n to k, 164 feet; the offset at p from the line connecting
mand n is about 15 feet. The area of the top is, therefore, about seven-
tenths of an acre. The length of the roadway along the slope from ¢
to b, Fig. 183), is 205 feet, the width varying from 37 to 56 feet; the
height at its upper terminus (b, Fig. 183) above the base is a few inches
over 40 feet. There is at the upper terminus a level space which formed
the uppermost of the terraces into which this roadway was originally
divided, of which some indications yet remain.

From these dimensions it is easy to calculate with approximate cer-
tainty the cubical contents of the mound, which we find to be, including
the roadway, about 4,500,000 cubic feet, or 159,200 cubic yards. It
therefore exceeds slightly in volume the entire wall of Fort Ancient, in
Ohio,' and exceeds Col. Whittlesey’s calculation by about 42,000 cubic
yards.

The ramp, or straight, steep roadway on the east, terminating at d
(Fig. 185), is not very apparent at present, though it is evident that
the slope here has been lengthened intentionally, and that an addition
has been made to this side for some definite purpose; but it must have
been too steep for any other purpose than descent. Possibly it was an
earlier roadway than that on the south, which was abandoned and
partially removed when the latter was built.

Mound e.—AlIthough this mound is described by Col. Whittlesey as
somewhat square, with aroadway on the east side, I find the outline to be
more rounded and but slight indications of the eastward extension.
The circumference of the base is 375 feet, and the average diameter of
the nearly flat top exactly 60 feet; the height, measured from the sur-
rounding surface of the ground, is about 18 feet, but the true height

1 Science, vol. 8, 1886, p. 540.

302 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

above the original surface was found, when it was excavated, to be
only 15 feet.

In excavating this mound Mr. Rogan, who did this part of the work,
ran a trench 6 feet wide in from the south side, going through the hard
clay slope until he struck the inher circle, whence he continued widen-
ing until he had gone over the entire area within the surrounding slope,
carrying the excavation down at all points to the original surface.

Continuing the excavation in this way until a complete exploration of
the mound had been made, the construction was found to be as repre-
sented in Fig. 184, which shows a vertical section. The entire surround-
ing slope was of hard, tough, red clay, which could not have been
obtained nearer than half a mile; the cylindrical core, 60 feet in diam-
eter, and extending down to the original surface of the ground, was
composed of three horizontal layers, the bottom layer, No. 1, 10 feet
thick, of rich, dark, and rather loose loam; the next, No. 2, 4 feet,
thick, beaten (or tramped) clay, so tough and hard that it was diffi-
cult to penetrate it even with a pick; and the uppermost, No.3, of sand
and surface soil, between 1 and 2 feet thick.

Fia. 184.—Vertical section of mound c, Etowah group.

Nothing was found in the layer of clay, No. 2, except a rude clay
pipe, some small shell beads, a piece of mica, and a chunkee stone.
The burials were all in the lower layer (No. 1), of dark, rich loam, and
chiefly in stone cists or coffins of the usual box shape, formed of stone
slabs, and distributed horizontally, as shown in Fig. 185, which is a plan
of this lower bed.

Grave a, a stone sepulcher, 24 feet wide, 8 feet long, and 2 feet deep,
was formed by placing steatite slabs on edge at the sides and ends, and _
others across the top. The bottom consisted simply of earth hardened
by fire. It contained the remains of a single skeleton, lying on its
back, with the head east. The frame was heavy and about 7 feet long,
The head rested on a thin copper plate ornamented with impressed
figures; but the skull was crushed and the plate injured by fallen
Slabs. Under the copper were the remains of a skin of some kind, and
under this coarse matting, apparently of split cane. The skin and
matting were both so rotten that they could be secured only in-frag-
ments. At the left of the feet were two clay vessels, one a water bottle
and the other a very small vase. On the right of the feet were some

THOMAS. ] GEORGIA. 303

mussel and sea shells and immediately under the feet two conch shells
(Busycon perversum) partially filled with small shell beads. Around
each ankle was astrand of similar beads. The bones and most of the
shells were so far decomposed that they could not be saved.

Grave b, a stone sepulcher, 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 14 feet deep,
differed from a only in size and the fact that the bottom was covered
with stone slabs. The skeleton was extended on the back, head east.
On the forehead was a thin plate of copper, the only article found.

Grave ¢c, also a stone sepulcher, 34 feet long, 14 feet wide, and 14 feet
deep, the bottom being formed of burnt earth. Although extending
east and west, as Shown in Fig. 185. the bones had probably been dis-
connected and interred without regard to order, the head being found
in the northeast corner with face to the wall, and the remaining por-
tions of the skeleton in a promiscuous heap. Yet there was no indica-
tion of disturbance after bur-
ial, as the coffin was intact.
Placed in the heap of bones
was a thin plate of copper
that had been formed by
uniting and riveting to-
gether smaller sections.
(See Pl. xv.) Some of the
bones found in this grave
were saved.

Grave d, a small sepulcher
only 14 feet square by 1 foot
deep, contained the remains
of an infant; also a few small
shell beads. The slabs form-
ing the sides and bottom of
this grave bore very distinct
marks of fire.

Grave e consisted simply of a headstone and footstone, with the
skeleton ofa very small child between them; head east. On the wrists
were some very small shell beads. The earth on the north and south
sides had been hardened in order to form the walls, a strong indication
that the mound had been built up to this height and a pit dug in it.

Grave f, also a stone sepulcher, was 6 feet long, 5 feet wide, and
14 feet deep, with a stone bottom. Skeleton with the head north.
There were several pieces of copper about the head, which, together
with the skeleton, were wrapped in a skin. The head rested on a large
conch shell (Busycon perversum), and this on the remains of a coarse
mat. Shell beads were found around the neck and also around each
wrist and ankle. On the right was a small cup and on the breast an
engraved shell. The copper had preserved a portion of the hair, which
was saved; portions of the skin and matting were also secured. Im-

Fic. 185.—Plan of burials in mound ¢, Etowah group.

304 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

mediately under ) was another stone grave or coffin, 3 feet long, 14 feet
wide and deep, extending north and south. The head of the skeleton
was toward the north, but the feet were doubled back under the frame
in order to get it in the allotted space. The only things found with
this skeleton were some beads around the neck.

Atgthe remains ofa child
were found without any
stones about them. Some
shell beads were around the
neck and wrist, and an en-
graved shell on the breast.

Grave h was a stone cist
1$ feet square and 1 foot
deep, stone slabs on the
four sides and top, but the
bottom consisted simply of
earth hardened by fire. This
contained only a trace of
bones and presented indi-
cations of at least partial
cremation, as all around the
slabs, outside and inside,
was a solid mass of charcoal,
and the earth was burned
to the depth of a foot.

Grave i, a stone cist 44
feet long, 14 feet wide and
deep; bottom of earth; con-
tained the remains of a
skeleton resting on the back,
head north, and feet doubled
back so as to come within
the coffin. On the breast
was a thin plate of copper,
5 inches square, with a hole
through the center. Beads
were found around the
wrists, and rather more than

Fic. 186.—Figured copper plate from mound ¢ a quart about the neck.
Etowah group. . .
Atj were the remains of
a small child, without stone surroundings; under the head was a piece
of copper, and about the neck and wrists a number of shell beads.

These graves were not on the same level, the top of some being but 2
feet below the clay bed (No. 2), while others were from 2 to 3 feet lower.
All the articles alluded to as obtained in this mound were forwarded at
once to the Bureau of Ethnology, and are now in the National Museum.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XVII

FIGURED COPPER PLATE FROM MOUND c, ETOWAH GROUP (HUMAN FIGURE).

THOMAS. | GEORGIA. 305

Examining them somewhat carefully since their reception, I find there
are really more copper plates among them than at first supposed.
Those which were not too much broken to determine the exact form and
size are as follows:

(1) A human figure with wings, represented in Pl. xvi. This is 17
inches long and 9 inches wide. A portion of the lower part, as shown
by the figure, is wanting, probably some 3 or 4 inches. There is a break
across the middle, but not sufficient to interfere with tracing out the
design. A crown piece of the head ornament is also wanting. This
plate was found in grave a.

(2) Also a human figure, found in the same grave; is shown in Fig.
186. Length, 16 inches; width, 74 inches.

(3) Figure of a bird (P1. xvi). This is imperfect, as part of the head
and of theouter margin of the wings are
wanting. Length, 134 inches; width,
74 inches. This plate shows indubita-
ble evidence of having been formed of
smaller pieces welded together, as the
overlapping portions can be easily
traced. It has also undergone repairs;
a fracture, commencing on the left and
running irregularly halfway across the
body, has been mended by placing a
strip of copper along it on the back
and riveting it to the main plate; a
small piece has also been riveted to
the head, and the head to the body;
several other pieces are attached in
the same way. The rivets are small
and the work neatly done. This was
found in grave ¢. Fic. TCS badge from mound e,

. Etowah group.

(4) An ornament or badge of some
kind found in grave b is shown in Fig. 187. The two crescent-shaped
pieces are entirely plain except some slightly impressed lines on the
portion connecting them with the central stem. This central stem
throughout its entire length and to the width of six-tenths of an inch is
raised, and cross strips placed at various points along the under side,
for the purpose of inserting a strip of bone, a part of which yet remains
in it and is seen in the figure where the oblique strips meet. The most
important and interesting fact presented by this specimen is the evi-
dence it furnishes that the workman who formed it made use of me-
tallic tools, as the cutting in this case could not possibly have been
done with anything except a metallic implement. A single glance at
it is sufficient to satisfy any one of the truth of this assertion. Length
of the stem, 9 inches; width across the crescents, 74 inches.

12 ETH 20

306 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

(5) Part of an ornament similar to No.4. These plates, especially
No. 4, appear to be enlarged patterns of that seen behind the head in

Pl. xvi.

(6) An ornament or badge, shown in Fig. 188, found under the head

Fic. 188.—Copper ornament or badge from

mound c, Etowah group.

of the skeleton in grave a. It is imper-
fect, a narrow strip across the middle
and a portion of the tip being missing.
As shown in the figure, it measures
around the outer border 19 inches, and
across the broad end 34 inches. The
six holes at the larger end, in which the
remains of strings can be detected, indi-
cate that it was, when in use, attached
to some portion of the dress or fastened
on a staff.

(7) A fragment from the larger end of
a piece similar to the preceding. At-
tached to this is a piece of cloth.

In addition to the foregoing there are
a number of small fragments, probably

broken from these plates or parts of others; but so far I have been un-
able to fit them to their proper places.
An examination of the supposed skin shows beyond question that it

is animal matter and prob-
ably part of a tanned deer
hide. The matting appears
to be made of split canes.

The shell represented in
Fig. 189 is the one obtained
in grave g. The oneshown
in Fig. 190 is that found in
grave f.

In one of the low mounds
was subsequently found the

bust shown in Fig. 191. |

It has been carved from a
coarse marble, and shows
considerable art. The face
had been split off, but with-
out injury. The length of
the fragment shown in the
figure is 11 inches.

I shall not attempt, at
present, to speculate upon

Fic. 189.—-Engraved shell, mound c, Etowah group.

these singular specimens of art further than to call attention to one or
two facts which appear to bear upon their age and distribution.
We notice the fact, which is apparent to every one who inspects the

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XVIII

FIGURED COPPER PLATE FROM MOUND c, ETOWAH GROUP (BIRD FIGURE).

t

ene ee pene

tore lly a Baal ‘oa a! 73

THOMAS.] GEORGIA. 307

figures, that in all their leading features the designs are suggestive
of Mexican or Central American work; yet a close inspection brings
to light one or two features which are anomalies in Mexican or Central
American designs; as, for example, in Pl. xvi1 and Fig. 186, where the
wings are represented as rising from the back of the shoulders.
Although we can find numerous figures of winged individuals in
Mexican designs (they are unknown in Central American), they always
carry with them the idea that the individual is partly or completely
clothed in the skin of the bird. This is partly carried out in the cop-
per plate, as is seen by the bird bill over the head; the eye being that

Fic. 180.—Engraved shell, mound c, Etowah group.

of the bird and not of the man. But when the wings are observed it
is at once seen that the artist had in mind the angel figure with wings
rising from the back of the shoulders—an idea wholly foreign to Mexi-
can art.

Another fact worthy of note in regard to the two chief plates repre-
senting human figures is that there is a combination of Central Ameri-
can and Mexican designs; the graceful limbs and the ornaments of the
arms, legs, waist, and the headdress are Central American, while the
rest, with the exception possibly of what is carried in the right hand,
is Mexican, :

308 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

That these plates are not wholly the work of the Indians found in-
habiting the southern sections of the United States, or of their direct
ancestors, is admitted. That they were not made by an aboriginal
artisan of Central America or Mexico of ante-Columbian times, I think
is probable if not from the designs themselves, from the apparent evi-
dence that the work was done in part with hard metallic tools.

(2) Plates like those of this collection have been found, so far as I can
ascertain, only in northern Georgia and northern and southern linois.
The bird figure represented in Fig. 192, obtained by Maj. Powell,
Director of the U. S. Geological Survey, from a mound near Peoria,
Illinois, is introduced here for comparison with the bird figures found
in the Etowah mound.

Fic. 191.—Bust from Etowah mounds.

Another was obtained from an ordinary stone grave in Union
county, Iinois, by Mr. Thing, while engaged by the Bureau of Eth-
nology. From a similar grave at the same place he also obtained the
plate represented in Fig. 85. Fragments of another similar plate were
taken by Mr. Earle from a stone grave in a mound in Alexander county,
Illinois. All these specimens were received by the Bureau of Ethnol-
ogy, and are now in the National Museum.

I can not enter at present into a discussion of the questions raised by
the discovery of these engraved shells, nor is it necessary that I should
do so, as Mr. W. H. Holmes has discussed somewhat fully these de-
signs in the Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology and
I have ventured in “The Story of a Mound of the Shawnees in pre-

(THOMAS. ! GEORGIA AND ILLINOIS. 309

Columbian times,” to suggest a possible explanation of their presence
in the interior regions. I may add that these figured coyper plates and
engraved shells present a problem very difficult to solve, as is evident
from the following facts:

(1) A number of the designs bear too strong resemblance to those of
Mexico and Central America to warrant us in supposing this similarity
to be accidental. (2) The fact that some of them were found in con-
nection with articles of Kuropean manufacture is unquestionable. (3)
The indications of European workmanship are too evident to be over-
looked. (4) The evidence that some of the engraved shells can be
traced to the Indians is well-nigh conclusive.

Mound b.—This was examined by sinking a shaft 12 feet square in
the center to the original soil, which was reached at the depth of 19
feet from the top. Nothing was found indicating burials. The top
layer to the depth of 2 feet consisted
chiefly of white sand; next, 9 feet of red
clay; then, 2 feet more of white sand:
and, lastly, 6 feet of dark sandy loam
to the original surface of the ground.

About the center of the shaft were
the remains of four posts, two being
parallel with the other two. They were
2 feet apart one way and 6 feet the
other; that is to say, they stood at the
corners of a parallelogram 2 feet wide
and 6 feet long, and were in a compar-
atively sound condition, about 6 inches
in diameter and extended 4 feet below
the surface of the mound. They were
probably the remains of some compar-
atively modern structure. The plow '% 192-—Conper plate with bird figure;
had taken off the tops to the depth of ea enter Nea
severalinches. In the lower sand stratum the breast bone of a turkey
and several bones of a bear were discovered.

Here and there throughout the 9-foot stratum were patches of dark
red clay from 18 inches to 2 feet in diameter, that had been hardened by
fire. The dimensions of this mound, which is in the form of a truncated
four-sided pyramid, quite regular and steep, are as follows: The longer
diameter of the base 130 feet, the shorter 120 feet; the longer diameter
of the level top 90 feet, the shorter 81 feet; the height in the center 19
feet, though if measured from the surrounding surface this would be in-
creased by some 3 or 4 feet.

Subsequently a thorough examination was made of mound g, which
stands about 450 yards north of the large mound and, as will be seen
by reference to the plat (Fig. 182), outside of and some distance beyond
the ditch. It is a low, conical tumulus, rounded on top, 192 feet in cir-
cumference at the base and 44 feet high.

310 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The construction of the mound, commencing at the bottom and going
upward, is as follows: First, a layer 2 feet thick of dark red clay rest-
ing on the original surface of the ground; mixed and scattered through
this layer was a considerable quantity of pure charcoal, also water-
worn bowlders, all thoroughly burned; next above and lying on this a
2-inch stratum of river sand which had been burned, and, lastly, the
remainder of the mound was finished up with clay of a deep red color
without any admixture of ashes or charcoal, though the bottom portion,
which rested immediately on the sand, presented some indications of
heat. This layer was so hard that it was difficult to penetrate it.

Tn the 2-inch sand stratum were two small pieces of very distinctly
glazed pottery and lying at the bottom of the mound, on the natural
surface of the ground, a piece of unglazed, ornamented pottery and a
broken clay pipe.

The bright red clay of this mound is similar to that in the land
around it, while the darker variety is like that found a quarter of a
mnile away.

An examination was also made of the strip of land on the east side
of the mounds and along the north bank of the Etowah river. This
land, it is proper to remark, has been under cultivation for many years.
This examination was made by sinking pits, from 5 to 7 feet square
and from 2 to 44 feet deep, at various places over the area, carrying
them down in all cases to what appeared to be the second and undis-
turbed natural layer.

The variation in the depth of thetop layer is due in part to overflows
from the river, the soil in some places having been washed out and
deposits made in other places by this agency. But the examination
made shows this layer over the entire area, to be, in the main, one
vast refuse heap, as it is composed of sandy loam, ashes, red clay, frag-
ments of pottery, charcoal, and other refuse matter. In some places
the appearance of the red clay shows that it has been dropped here
in “‘ batches” of a half bushel or less; in other places it is in a con-
tinuous mass, forming a layer; moreover, it must be borne in mind that
it does not belong here, but was brought from a distance of nearly or
quite half a mile, the nearest point where it could be obtained.

This made earth is literally full of mussel shells, terrapin shells, animal
bones, small fragments of pottery, with patches of charcoal and ashes
scattered through the mass. The pottery and animal bones were broken
into minute fragments. Among the animal bones (no human bones
were found here) are many of the bear and hundreds of the turkey.
Waterworn bowlders were also found seattered through this deposit
and in every case showed very distinctly the action of fire.

In some instances the charcoal found was in cylindrical pieces 3 or 4
inches long, but never more than 3 inchesin diameter. These were evi-
dently sections of pine saplings. In the bottom of one of the shafts
were two post holes sunk into the natural soil beneath to the depth of

THOMAS.) GEORGIA. Salil

18 inches. These holes, which were 16 inches in diameter, had perfectly
smooth sides and were filled with pure sand. The two were 12 inches
apart.

At the bottom of another shaft, 4 feet below the present surface of
the ground, were discovered some partially burned corncobs. These
were in a little heap and completely surrounded by charcoal, which has
doubtless assisted in their preservation.

This refuse layer extends some distance west of the three mounds.

Mound d.—This is located about 150 yards due east of the large
mound and is one of those marked F in Jones’s figure. It is circular in
form, the diameter of the base about 50 feet, and, although it shows ex-
ternally a height of only 4 feet above the surrounding ground, by exca-
vation it was found to be in fact 9 feet high above the original surface
on which it was built, the land around it having been raised by deposits
from overflows and débris. The excavation was carried to the bottom,
5 teet below the present surface of the ground, there being no indication
that a pithad been dug. At the depth of about 14 inches below the top
of the mound a layer of partially burned clay from 2 to 3 inches thick
was reached, the smooth side down. The impressions of twigs and grass
could beseenrunning through it. This rested on a layer of packed ashes
8 inches thick, which was literally filled mith mussel shells and animal
bones, but so burned and packed that it was difficult to drive a pick

- through the mass. Next below this was a stratum in which were pieces
of charcoal, next a layer of dark red clay 2 feet thick, and lastly a
bottom layer, 2 feet thick, of rich loam. This last layer was crowded
with fragments of pottery and decayed animal bones, among which was
noticed the head of a squirrel. Here were found one bone implement
and some pieces of mica.

Mound e.—One hundred feet north of the preceding is another mound,
oval in form and round topped, 60 by 80 feet in diameter and 6 feet high
above the surrounding ground, but in fact 10 feet high above the
original surface on which it was built. The stratification, commencing
at the bottom and going upwards, was found to be as follows: First, a
layer 1 foot thick of dark red clay resting on the original surface, inter-
mixed with which was charcoal; then 1 foot of muck and charcoal;
next, 2 feet of bright red clay; then 2 inches of sand; next, 1 foot of
charcoal and ashes; then 3 feet of bright red clay; next, 1 foot of clay
burned almost as hard as a brick; and lastly, a top layer of soil 6 inches
thick. In the bottom layer were a number of fragments of pottery,
and in the 1-foot layer of charcoal and ashes a piece of a polished celt
and a small worked stone, The 3-foot stratum of bright red clay could
not be distinguished from a natural deposit; in fact would have been
taken as such but for the layer of charcoal and ashes below it. The
burned clay layer was so hard that it could scarcely be broken up with
a pick. The mound showed evidences of heat throughout. No traces
of human or animal bones were noticed in it.

312 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
THE PARROT MOUND.

This single mound is located near the north bank of Etowah river,
34 miles west of Cartersville, on a level bottom under cultivation. It
is oval in form, rounded on top, its longest diameter (east and west), at
base, being 65 feet and greatest width 48 feet; height, 8 feet. It con-
sisted chiefly of pure yellow clay; first a top layer 5 feet thick of soft
clay; then a layer from 1 to 2 inches thick of pure sand, and below this
to the natural surface yellow clay. No relies or indications of fire were
seen,

THE EDWARDS MOUND.

This is situated on the south side of Etowah river, directly opposite
the Tumlin mounds. Itisona level bottom, 100 feet from the river, oval
in form, 80 feet long at base, by 55 in width, 8 feet high, and flat on
top.

An excavation of this mound showed the surrounding slope to be
constructed entirely of yellow clay and distinet from the central portion,
resembling in this respect mound No. 5, of the Tumlin group. The
central portion was made by filling in with sand and red and yellow
clay, with here and there a small batch of gravel; but wherever the
gravel occurred the earth was burnt around it, and it also showed the
action of fire. No human or other remains were observed.

THE LEAP MOUND.

This is 3 miles west of Cartersville and within a few feet of the Cher-
okee railroad, on bottom land about 35 or 40 feet above low-water mark.
It is oval in form and flat on top; circumference of the base, 240 feet;
longer diameter of the top, 53 feet; shorter diameter, 35 feet; height,
44 feet. In the construction of this mound it appears that the original
surface of the ground was first leveled and on this a layer, consisting
of red clay, sand, and ashes, 18 inches thick, was placed; then it was
finished off with yellow clay to the top.

In addition to the preceding the following mounds in this county
were examined, but, presenting nothing novel or very interesting, will
be very briefly noticed:

THE BEN AKERMAN MOUND.

This is situated on the farm of Mr. Benj. Akerman, 7 miles west of
Cartersville, on the east side of Etowah river. It stands on the margin
of a terrace overlooking the narrow valley of the river, is of the ordinary
conical form, diameter 38 to 40 feet, height 4 feet, but it has been plowed
over for several years. The stratification was as follows: A top layer
of soil an inch or two in thickness; then, below this, a layer 3 feet thick
of dark red clay, with spots here and there through it of charcoal, ashes,
and burned clay and sand, or, in other words, small fire beds; below
this, a foot and a half of bright red unburned clay; and last, resting on

~

tHoMAS. GEORGIA. 313

the original soil, a layer, about an inch thick, of mussel shells. In the
thick layer of dark clay, near the center, was a single limestone slab
standing onend; immediately over this the clay was thoroughly burned.
It is perhaps worthy of notice that this clay had the appearance of havy-
ing been sun-dried before being burned; from which it is inferred that
a portion of the top was added sometime after the main body of the
mound was built, and that the stone was planted at this time. At the
bottom of this thick layer, in the center, was about a quart of charred
corn (maize) and ccrn-cobs. Nothing else was found.

THE CONYERS MOUND.

This is situated on the farm of Mr. Conyers, in the southeastern part
of the county, on Euharlee creek, is Somewhat oval, the longer diameter,
98 feet, shorter 68; height, 7 feet. The stratification was as follows:
First, a top layer 6 inches thick, of soil; next, a layer, 44 feet thick, of
red clay mixed with dark soil, with charcoal and ashes scattered
through it. In the top of this layer, at the center, was a curious basin-
shaped fire-bed, 12 inches deep at the center and 2 feet in diameter.
The next layer, 6 inches thick, consisted of pure white sand, and, last,
a layer, 14 feet thick, of loam resting on the original surface of the
ground. No indications of burial or articles were observed.

THE ROWLAND MOUNDS.

These are located on the south bank of Etowah river, about 3 miles
southeast of Cartersville. The group consists of three mounds and a
cemetery; the largest is somewhat irregular in form, the longer diame-
ter 150 feet, the shorter 140, the whole height 20 feet, but the height
of the artificial portion 15 feet, rounded on the top. One-half of this
was dug away; but finding neither specimens nor skeletons, no further
investigations were made, but the strata being more numerous than
usual are considered of sufficient interest to be mentioned here. First,
a top layer, 6 inches, of soil; then, 34 feet of yellow clay mixed with
sand; then, one foot of sand and ashes; next, 2 feet of sand; then, 1
foot of ashes; then, 3 feet of yellow clay; next, 1 foot of sand and ashes;
and lastly, resting on the natural earth, a uniform level layer of red
clay, 3 feet thick. The whole rested on a natural elevation about 5
feet high. This elevation probably extended, when the mound was
built, over the entire bottom, but has been worn away by frequent
overflows. An occasional fragment of pottery was found here and there
in the different strata, but no other relics were observed. The rather
heavy layers of sand and ashes indicate that the mound was built by
successive additions made at widely separated periods.

The cemetery lies to the east of the mound near the bank of the river.
A somewhat careful exploration of this was made, but it was found
that a considerable portion of it had been washed away by the frequent

314 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

overflows. This conclusion is based upon the fact that a portion of the
area has been washed out to the depth of 2 to 24 feet, leaving exposed
layers of stones like those found under skeletons in the remaining
graves, and numerous fragments of human bones.

At one point were three skeletons lying extended side by side on
their backs, heads east. They lay at a depth of 24 feet under the sur-
face, and rested on a single layer of water-worn bowlders which formed
the bottom of the grave. The stones had the appearance of having
been heated and then dipped into cold water. At the head of the grave
was a medium-sized bowl. Resting on the faces was an iron boring
implement and hammer; around the neck of the middle skeleton were
the remains of a strand of small shell beads. Between the skeletons
were found a broken soapstone pipe, a piece of mica, and fragments of
pottery.

At another point was a single skeleton, doubled up and resting on
the left side. This was 2% feet below the surface, resting on a layer of
stones similar to those in the other grave.

Not far distant, on the farm of Mr. Lewis Sams, three other mounds
were examined, with the following results: No. 1, circular in form and
round on top, circumference of base 152 feet, and height 5 feet, was
found to be simply a mass of yellow sand with shells mixed through it.
Part of a human upper jaw was found, but this was probably acciden-
tally put in while building, as there were no indications of burial. At
the bottom in the center was a bed of charcoal 6 inches deep and 2
feet in diameter.

No. 2, circular and flat on top; circumference of the base, 142 feet;
diameter of the top, 12 feet; height, 3 feet. Built entirely of sand,
without stratification, but with shells intermixed, no ashes, coals, relics,
or remains in it.

No. 3, circular and round on top; circumference of base, 111 feet;
height, 5 feet; composed entirely of sand.

HABERSHAM COUNTY.

But one mound in this county was examined. This is situated on the
farm of Mr. Patton Jarrett, in the western part of the county, on the
south bank of Tugalo river, one-fourth of a mile above the mouth of
Toccoa creek. It is conical in form, the base almost exactly circular,
precisely 100 feet in diameter, and a little over 14 feet high. The owner
would permit no further examination than could be made by sinking
one shaft. Nothing further than the stratification was ascertained,
which is as follows: (1) top layer, 24 feet of soil similar to that of the
surrounding surface, but with a quantity of charcoal scattered through
it; (2) a layer 1 inch thick of charcoal; (3) 6 inches of dark clay or
muck; (4) 2 feet of sandy loam; (5) 6 inches of bright red, very hard,
Clay, apparently sun-dried; (6) 4 feet of dark, rich loam, with a little
charcoal scattered through it; (7) 6 inches of dark clay or muck; (8) 6

THOMAS. } GEORGIA. 315

inches of sandy loam; (9) 2 feet of dark, rich loam; and, lastly, resting
on the original surface, 2 feet of river sand. In the sixth and ninth
layers were a few fragments of pottery.

ELBERT COUNTY.
THE REMBERT MOUNDS.

These mounds were visited by Bartram in 1773, who thus describes
them:

These wonderful labors of the ancients stand in a level plain very near the bank
of the river; now 20 or 30 yards from it; they consist of conical mounts of earth
and four square terraces. The great mount is in the form of a cone about 40 or 50 feet
high, and the circumference of its base 200 or 300 yards, entirely composed of the
loamy rich earth of the low grounds; the top or apex is flat; a spiral path or track
leading from the ground up to the top is still visible, where now grows a large, beau-
tiful spreading, red cedar. There appear four niches excavated out of the sides of
this hill, at different heights from the base, fronting the four cardinal points. These
niches or sentry boxes are entered into from the winding path and seem to have
been meant for resting places or lookouts. The circumjacent level grounds are
cleared and planted with Indian corn at present and I think the proprietor of the
lands, who accompanied us to this place, said that the mount itself yielded above
100 bushels in one season. !

In 1848 George White (author of White’s Statistics of Georgia) vis-
ited this group, in regard to which he remarks as follows:

The large mound corresponds exactly with Bartram’s description of it, with this
exception, that the sides and summit are covered witha growth of cane and several
large trees. Thesmaller mounds have been almost destroyed. Capt. Rembert has
excavated the smaller mounds and found human skeletons, jars, pipes, beads, breast-
plates, stone hammers, hatchets, arrowheads, etc. Some of these are now in our
possession and are really objects of curiosity.”

If these descriptions were correct at the time they were made, very
decided changes have taken place in the appearance of the works since
then. The group, consisting of 2 mounds, is situated on the farm of
Mr. Z. A. Tate, near the bank of the Savannah river, 4 miles above the
mouth of Broad river. They stand on the level bottom, one 130 and
the other 320 feet from the bank of the river. This bottom extends
several miles north and south, and three-fourths of a mile back from
the river to the hills. As will be seen by reference to Fig. 195, which
shows a section, north and south, of the area, there are 2 “ washouts”
flanking these mounds. The one on the north (a), commencing at the
river, extends a fourth of a mile back in a southwest direction, covering
an area of 7 or 8 acres. This approaches within about 200 feet of the
large mound (b). The one on the south (c) also commences at the river
and extends back southeastward only a few hundred feet beyond the
mounds and runs within a few feet of them. These excavations are
denominated “ washouts” because the present owner of the land, Mr.
Tate, remembers when they were made by high water. Nevertheless,

1“ Travels,” pp. 324 to 325. 2 Statistics of Georgia, p. 230.

316

MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

judging from present appearances, there are reasons for believing that

6

s

the original soil, as itis much like the surrounding soil, and that a part

Fig. 193.—Section of the Rempert group, Elbert county, Georgia.

at least a portion of the earth used in the construc-
tion of the mounds was obtained here, leaving depres-
sions, and that, during high water, when the land was
overflowed, as is frequently the case, channels were
washed out from them to the river. The south mar-
gin of the southern ‘ washout” is fully 4 feet higher
than the land on which the mounds stand.

Mound No. 1.—This, which is much the larger of
the two, stands 130 feet from the river bank, and is,
exclusive of the ramp or projection, an exact circle
151 feet in diameter, nearly flat on top, and 30 feet
high at the highest point (north side), but only 27
feet near the south side. The diameter of the top is
about 70 feet. The plan of the ramp or rather exten-
sion, as it seems to be, is shown in Fig. 194. The
vertical outline of the mound, with a section of the
shaft, is presented in Fig. 195. The right or south-
ern end of this shows the slope of the extension.
This has an average width on top of 20 feet.

The mound is covered with trees such as sugar-
berry, walnut, hickory, and oak. One sugarberry is .
6 feet in circumference (at stump height); a walnut,
5 feet; a hickory, 34 feet; and an oak, 10 feet. The
shaft was carried down to the bottom. The first foot
was of soil (), then 7 feet of dark sandy loam ()), next
14 feet of thoroughly burned yellowish clay and sand
(c), with a large percentage of ashes. This layer had
the appearance of having been put down and packed
while wet and then burned; it was so hard that it
was difficult to break it. Next 3 feet of black earth,
also packed (d); then 84 feet of pure sand (e); and
last, resting on the original surface, 6 feet of hard
bluish muck (f). All of these layers, except the bot-
tom one, had charcoal, mica, fragments of pottery,
and animal bones seattered through them, but the
last were so far decomposed that none of them could
be saved.

As fragments of pottery and animal bones were
found in spots, together with ashes and other indica-
tions of fire, it is probable these were fire beds where
cooking had been done. A1l that portion of the shaft
below the layer of burned clay was so very dry that
when turned up it would crumble to dust. It is pos-
sible that the bottom layer of blue “muck” is partly

THOMAS. | GEORGIA. 317

of the surrounding surface has been washed away since the mound was
built.

Mound No. 2 (not shown in the figure) stands about 40 feet west of
the base of No.1. It is oblong in form, 58 feet long north and south,
41 feet wide, and 6 feet high. A large shaft had been sunk in the
middle by some previous explorer, hence investigations were confined
to the eastern and western sides, which presented one or two peculiari-
ties. With the exception of the top layer of soil, 1 foot thick, the
remainder on the east side con-
sisted of river sand, with particles
of charcoal and vegetable matter
mixed through it, while on the west
it was composed of small masses
of red clay and dark earth. In
this, at the depth of 24 feet, were *
the bones of a single adult skeleton.

These were packed together in a

space 2 feet square and 18 inches

deep; the skull was placed face Claas

down and all the other bones piled
about it. Immediately over the
bones was a layer of red clay 2 inches thick, burned hard. Resting on
this layer were the remains of a pretty thoroughly burned fire. A few
fragments of pottery and a small clay pipe were found.

Fig. 194.—Plan of mound No. 1, Rembert group.

RICHMOND COUNTY.

While this report was being prepared Mr. Henry L. Reynolds, one
of my assistants, was sent to certain points in Georgia and South Caro-
lina to make examination of some works to which my attention had
been called. The result of this examination is given in the following
report, made by him. This includes the Hollywood mound of Rich-
mond county, Georgia, which proved to be of unusual interest, and the
McDowell mound, Kershaw county, South Carolina.

THE HOLLYWOOD MOUND.

There are two mounds situated in a bend of the Savannah river,
in Richmond county, Georgia, 3 miles east from Hollywood, a small
flag station on the Georgia Central railroad about 10 miles below
Augusta and 5 miles above Silver bluff. This latter, which is on the
South Carolina side, seems to me, after a special investigation of this
question, to be the most probable site of the ancient town of Cuti-
‘fachiqui, where De Soto and his army were so generously entertained.

The mounds are situated on the lowest river land, which is annually
subject to inundation. The overflows of the Savannah are very destruc-
tive, particularly at this point. Cattle are drowned, the rich riparian

318 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

crops are destroyed, and the farmers impoverished. At such times
these mounds are the only land visible above a broad expanse of water,
and it is this fact which has given rise to the tradition among the peo-
ple of the vicinity that they were thrown up by some former owner of
the property to serve as places of refuge for his cattle during these
inundatious. A quarter of a mile to the north of the mounds near the
river bank is an extensive shell heap, com-
posed chiefly of the shells of Unio. Upon
the larger of the two mounds a simple barn
has been erected. This mound appears to
have been originally of the pyramidal type,
but since its surface has suffered so greatly
from the cattle that have been penned in
upon it and the washing occasioned by floods,
its original character, as well as whatever
smaller physical features it may have pre-
sented, is now almost entirely lost.

Mound No. 2, the one excavated, is in an
adjoining field, the property of a gentleman
of Augusta, Georgia. It is 280 feet due north
of No.1, is conical in form, 10 feet high, and
70 feet in diameter. Though originally sur-
mounted by a small log barn, which a former
flood removed to a point at its base, the
mound had evidently remained unmolested
since that time, for several small cottonwood
trees, as well as considerable underbrush,
were growing upon it.

The excavation was conducted as follows:
First two trenches, each 10 feet wide, were
cut crosswise through the center, one north
and south, the other east and west. These
were carried down to the bottom, and in
some places to the original pure micaceous
soil that underlies the mixed loam of the
surrounding field. The segments that re-
mained were then cut down several feet: be-
yond the radius that covered the interments
found in the trenches. In this manner the
mound was thoroughly excavated and all its buried contents exposed.

The mound is stratified, or, in other words, constituted of two difter-
ent kinds of soil, the upper being strictly sandy micaceous loam, 3 feet
thick; the lower a hard, compact vegetable earth, taken from what is
commonly called in the south “ crawfish land.” This rested at the bot-
tom upon 9 inches of a very black and rich vegetable mold, permeated
throughout with innumerable small pieces of burnt pottery, charcoal,

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TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XIX

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

POT FROM HOLLYWoop MOUND, GEORGIA.

THOMAS. | GEORGIA. 319

shell, mica, chipped flint, and charred and decayed bones too small for
identification. The surface of this black mold appeared to be the origi-
nal surface upon which the mound was built.

All the interments lay within the lower division of the mound. The
absence of burial in the upper division, the different character of the
earth, and the presence of fragmentary pottery (N. M.! 135278-84)
unlike that found in the subsoil, seems to indicate a subsequent addi-
tion. It also seoms to indicate that the original builders or others who
succeeded them were disposed to utilize these their old tombs for some
purpose in connection with floods, for this additional earth seems to
have been cast upon the mound to increase its elevation.

It will also be seen from the sectional diagram that there were two
general series of interments which comprise the find, or rather the im-
portant contents of the mound. The lowermost of these contained
specimens either resting on the black mold at the bottom or within a
foot and a half above it, and the upper from a foot to 2 feet below the
line separating the two strata, or from 4 to 5 feet below the surface of
the mound. Fire played some part in the ceremony of burial, for hearth
remains of burnt earth and ashes were seen with each series of burials.
These burials were made before the subdivision was finally completed ;
in other words, they were not intrusive, for there was no disturbance
of the soil above them.

Scattered indiscriminately throughout the soil composing the upper
division of the mound were the following artieles: One stone chisel (N.
M. 135271), one stone celt, eight small pieces of white and blue glazed
European crockery (N.- M. 135279), many small fragments of Indian
ware, and five pieces of old-fashioned rudely wrought iron nails much
oxidized (N. M. 135280). These appeared to have been thrown up with
the earth in the construction of this part of the mound.

In the subsoil the hearth A (Fig. 196, which shows a horizontal sec-
tion) was first discovered almost touching the line of division. It was
of reddish burnt earth, covered with pure wood ashes and a small quan-
tity of charcoal. It was 5 feet in diameter, 2 feet thick, and rested at
the bottom on fine sand. Adjoining it on the southeast lay a large
culinary pot (N. M. 135205), indicated on the diagram (Fig. 196) as No.
1, the rim being 10 inches below the line dividing the lower from the
upper strata and 3 feet 10 inches below the surface of the mound.
Decomposed animal matter was found in the bottom mingled with
scattered particles of black and white ashes. One foot and a half east
from pot No.1, on the same level, lay another pot, 2 (N. M. 135209),
having inside of it another pot (N. M. 135208). In consequence of their
inferior composition, badly decayed condition, and the pressure of the
hard superincumbent earth, these vessels were so badly injured that
they fell apart when taken out. Almost alongside of the last, on the
same level, lay another, 3 (N. M. 135211), inside of which was an

1“N,M." in this connection signifies ‘‘ National Museum" number.

320 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

inverted pot (N. M. 135210). Decayed animal matter, a few bone
beads, a fragment of the tooth of some animal, and some scattering
charcoal cinders were found in the bottom. In the earth alongside of
these pots was found a piece of iron (N. M. 135275). Directly south
of pot No. 1, on the same level, 6 feet distant, lay another pot, 4 (N. M.
135212). In the earth surrounding it were found pieces of white
European porcelain (N. M. 135279, Fig. 197). East of this last, 6 feet
distant, lay & small pot, 5 (N. M. 135198). The rims of these two pots
appeared to be about on the same level. Not far from pot No. 5
were the decayed remains of a repoussé figured copper plate (N. M.
135226) so thin and brittle that it was with difficulty that it could

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be handled without breaking. Alongside were the faint indications of
human burial, as seen in small pieces of decayed bone and human
teeth. Between these last and those indicated by the figures 1, 2, 3
was a scant line of decayed bone, so scant and decayed that it was
impossible to tell whether or not it was human. Traces of fire were
seen about these bones. North of these traces of bone, and immediately
under the line of pots Nos. 1, 2, 3, were three small upright timber
molds, varying from 1 to 14 feet long. No traces of the timbers
remained. Apparently lying on the dividing line between the two
strata, 14 feet northwest of the center, was the fragment of an old
drawing knife (N. M. 135261). A rude old iron nail, very much ox-

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OBSERVATORY CIRCLE. NEAR NEWARK. O.
Scale, 150 feet to linch, or 1°1800
Contour Interval 1 foot
Surveyed in 1891

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dized, was found on the surface of the subsoil, 3 feet deep and 12 feet
southwest of the center. Another rude though sharp-pointed ancient
iron nail was found not far from the last, but 8 inches below the sur-
face of the subsoil. -A small piece of green glass was found 3 inches
below the surface of the subsoil, in the =
southeast segment and east of the hearth.
Resting on the sand thatseemed to stretch
over the entire area beneath these pots —
and the fire bed between them were the
pots indicated by Nos. 6 (Pl. xtx, N. M.
135192) and 7 (N. M. 135200). A large :
bowl (N. M. 135199) was found inside of b> al

pot No. 6, and by the side of the two ves- #16. 197.—Fragment of European pottery,
sels, at the bottom, were the scanty re- Bo eanreod snaund, eorets.
mains of some fabric. Two feet 8 inches from the surface of the mound
were the remains of decayed timber, which ran down about 14 feet to
the east of the pot at 6, almost touching its eastern rim. It is not un-

FG. 198.—Lower horizontal section of Hollywood mound, Georgia.

likely that this was the remnant of some post planted on the surface
of the mound by some of its white owners.

Alongside of the northwestern edge of the hearth A was a line of
decayed bones, which, from thesmall pieces of skull and two or three
teeth that remained, were found to be human. Though in the very

12 ETH 21

322 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

last stages of decay, the remains were so remarkably meager as to
give the impression that all the bones of the body could not have been
buried. The soil about all the bones found in this upper layer was
absolutely free from any trace of animal or vegetable matter, which leads
to the opinion that the bones were buried after having been denuded
of flesh. A pot, No. 8 (N. M. 135193), lay close to the skull remains
thus found. Like pots 1, 6, and 8, it had a small hole in the bottom,
but had another sounder pot (N. M. 135200) placed within it. Seven
and a half feet to the northeast of the fire bed, on a level apparently
5 inches lower than that ofthe pots heretofore described, lay pot No. 16
N.M.135213. Near it to the northeast were the remains of human bones
(No. 10),

Fig. 199.—Pot from Hollywood mound, Georgia (135197). .

In the lower division, as in that last described, all the articles
seemed to be clustered about a hearth (B Fig. 198, which shows a
lower horizontal section) and on the same general level. Here most of
the human remains were found, but, like those in the upper burial, only
the merest traces were observed. The conditions of this locality are
very conducive to decay. Decayed and meager as they were, sufficient
evidence was had in the case of each skeleton to show that it was
human, such as the presence of teeth and certain identifiable bones.

The hearth B, which in some places was 10 feet in diameter, was sit-
uated wholly southwest of the center. Its composition was peculiar.
It consisted of four layers of pure white ashes each one-half inch thick,
separated by red burnt earth averaging an inch in thickness. Ashes

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formed the bottom as well as the topmost layer. The hearth rested on
the curious black mold at the bottom. This black mold did not pene-
trate to the north and east border of the mound, but lay only over an
area of which this hearth was the center.

Southwest of the hearth B and in connection with the remains of
skeleton No. 2 was pot 9 (N. M. 135197), a bottle standing on a tripod
of human heads, shown in Fig. 199. As traces of fire were noticed ~
above this pot and skeleton, there seems to have been more than one
ceremony attendant upon the burial of these articles. The pot 10 (N.

Fic. 200.—A painted vessel from Hollywood mound, Georgia.

M. 135194), which was found at the foot of this skeleton, seemed to have
had originally a wooden cover, for in the earth taken from the top some
small traces of decayed wood were noticed, and in the earth about it
lay a clay pipe (N. M. 135223). Northeast of pot No. 9, and also near
the fire bed, was a long-neck jar, 11 (N. M. 135295). (See Fig. 200.)
At its western base lay the pipes (N. M. 135216, 135218, 135219,
135220, 135221, 135222), five typical forms of which are shown in Pl.
XXIV. Pipe3a and 3b (135216) was carved from soapstone; the remainder
are of clay. Adjoining these articles on the northeast and on the same

324 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

level were pots 12, 13, and 14 (N. M. 135196, 135204, 137215), and 6
inches below the former lay a copper ax head (N. M. 135228) wrapped
in cloth and ineased in bark.

Fic. 201.—Pot from Hollywood mound, Georgia

Three or 4 feet west of these, lying against each other, were two other
pots, 16 and 17 (N. M. 135202, 135203). No. 16 (Fig. 201) was found lying
on its side upon the black mold at the bottom, and beneath it, as if the

Fic. 202.—Shell heads from Hollywood mound, Georgia.
pot were placed on top of them, were the fragments of thin and very brit-
tle plates of copper (N. M. 135227), bearing. Mexican figures in relief, some
flakes of mica, and decayed pieces of unidentified shells. The copper

F 1G. 203.—Copper article from Hollywood mound, Georgia.

had been originally first wrapped in some kind of leather, then in fine,
rush matting, and the whole incased in bark. Beneath No. 17, which
was also lying on its side, was a beautiful biconcave disk of quartz

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.

HIGH BANK CIRCLE. NEAR CHILLICOTHE. ©
Scale, 150 feet to Linch, or 1: 1800
Contour Interval 1 foot
Surveyed in 189]

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT. PL. XXiil

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(N.M.155260), Beneath this last, 3 or 4 inches deeper, and lying on the
black mold at the bottom, were two copper celts (N. M. 135229) wrapped
in cloth together and incased on both sides in bark. Accompanying
this were several large pieces of mica, There were scarcely more than
a handful of decayed bones in connection with these objects, identifiable
only by the help of a few human teeth.

About the neck bones of skeleton 3, which lay 15 feet northwest of

Fic. 204.—Shell beads from Hollywood mound, Georgia

the center, were found % lot of shell beads (N. M. 135247, Fig. 202),
and below these, a foot to the south, another lot of shell beads (N. M.
135242), a lot of perforated shell disks (N. M. 135248), the copper-
sheathed ornament of wood (N. M. 135256) shown in Fig. 205, and a
lump of galenite.

Immediately north of the remains last described, on the same level
and about 15 feet northwest of the center, lay the bones and teeth of

Fic. 205.—Pipe from Hollywood mound, Georgia

what seemed to be another skeleton (No. 8). With it were found the
lot of shell beads (N. M. 135233) shown in Fig. 204, a copper ax or
celt incased in wood (N. M. 135232), the decayed remains of the colu-
mella of the Busycon perversum, and a lump of soggy glauconite. ;

Nothing was found with skeleton No. 9, which lay southwest of the
fire bed and near to skeleton 2 on the south, except a pipe (N. M.
135224).

326 “MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Skeleton No. 5 lay about 23 feet west of the center, almost on the
black mold at the bottom, and near its head were found a pipe (N. M.
135217), representing the head of an owl (Fig. 205); one
decayed shell ornament, three stone celts, five discoidal
stones, an anomalous stone implement, and a lump of
glauconite. The apparent remains of another human
burial were seen to the east of the hearth (skeleton No.
6), and near the teeth was discovered a well-shaped stone
Fic. 206.—Fragment celt.

BR ee A pipe (N. M. 135225) was found in the earth two feet
ERs to the south of hearth B.

The piece of blue porcelain (N. M. 135279) shown in Fig. 206 was
found 4 feet southwest of the center and 6 feet beneath the surface of
the mound.

SOUTH CAROLINA.

KERSHAW DISTRICT.
McDOWELL MOUND No. 1>

The Wateree river is at present washing away the western end of a
large mound situated on its left bank on the McDowell farm, 4 miles
southwest from Camden, South Carolina. Itis a large, oblong struc-
ture, which, after repeated plowings and floods is now reduced to 10
feet in height. Its major axis is 154 feet, and minor axis 115 feet.
Three smaller mounds are yet to be seen almost adjoining it on the
north and east, all of which it is said, were, formerly encircled by a low
earthen wall, no trace of which, however, is now visible.

In exploring it a trench 10 to 15 feet wide and 60 feet long was run
lengthwise through the mound in a northwest and southeast direction,
which was connected also with a north and south trench 15 feet wide,
coming from near its southern edge towards the center.

This mound was not used as a place of burial, the scattered frag-
ments of human bones that were found being rather accidentally
thrown up with the earth than remains of deliberate interments. The
investigation has not succeeded in demonstrating the use for which
it was constructed: possibly it was a domiciliary mound.

Sone fragmentary human bones, Unio shells, and the bones of deer
were found scattered indiscriminately here and there through the earth
at a depth of from 1 to 2 feet. They manifested but little sign of
decay. A foot and a half below the surface, 3 feet east of the center,
were the remains of a hearth or fire-bed about 9 feet in diameter. A
Similar fire-bed 4 feet in diameter lay at the same depth 15feet south of
the center. In the south trench, 6 feet from the center and 3 feet
deep, was a small fire-bed, alongside of which were small piles of shells
and charred corncobs. The molds left by four posts which had decayed
away were met with a short distance east of the center 14 feet below

.

‘THOMAS. ] SOUTH CAROLINA. 327

the surface. The two northernmost ran down perpendicularly 44 feet,
and at the base of the southernmost, 5 feet deep, was a pile of burnt
corncobs 14 feet in diameter and 3 inches deep. Other smaller piles
of these charred corncobs were found here and there through the mound
at various depths, the deepest*being 8 feet. No other feature of inter-
est could be discovered in connection with them. West of the northern
post hole, near its base, had been placed a small rude pot of the texture
similar to the fragments found in the vicinity. It was found crushed
jn completely, with a few black coals and conch shells within it.
Four feet to the northeast of this, on the same level, lay a pile of six-
teen shells (N. M. 135763). Two small pieces of human bones were
also found in the vicinity.

Twenty-five feet south of the center, at a depth of 5 feet, a large fire-
bed resting on sand was encountered, directly beneath which, in vertical
succession, were three others, the lowermost being 84 feetdeep. A pile
of charred corncobs and a pile of shells were found adjoining these
hearths on the north at the depth of 6 feet. All the shells found thus
in piles in this mound were of the same kind and uniform in size. In
the earth directly over these fire-beds were found a piece of perforated
sheet copper (N. M. 135761) and a broken pipe (N. M. 135759). Forty-
two feet east of the center, at a depth of 4 feet, four post holes were in
a line north and south, but they could not be traced deeper than froma
foot to a foot and a half. Immediately below the center, 9 feet deep,
there was a pile of wood ashes mixed with black coals, 14 feet in
diameter. Near by lay a small pottery disk and a small piece of bone
from a human arm.

McDOWELL MOUND No. 2.

This is a small mound lying about 50 rods northeast of the one last
described. It has been so materially reduced by the plow and the fre-
quent floods of the river that it is at present only 2 feet high. A trench
was carried through it north and south, 4 feet deep and 11 feet wide, but
nothing was found except the remains of a perpendicular post, 1 foot in
diameter, a little to the south of the center. The post was indicated by
the charcoal in the mold and about 2 feet of decayed wood at the bot-
tom. It appeared to be either of cottonwood or sassafras. Scattered
promiscuously through the earth of this mound were fragments of pot-
tery similar to that taken from mound No. 1. A small discoidal stone
was found.

FLORIDA.

Some work was done in this state by Mr. Rogan, but nothing deemed
worthy of notice was observed except the construction and contents of
two mounds, which are briefly described as follows:

The Job Smith mound, situated in the extreme southern part of
Alachua county and 1 mile north of Watcahootee, on cleared hummock

328 ' MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

land and surrounded on all sides by hummocks, was composed entirely
of sand. A considerable amount of charcoal was found seattered
irregularly through it, but there were no indications of stratification.
It is circular in form, a little less than 3 feet high, and about 42 feet in
diameter. °

In the north half six skeletons were found at the bottom, all extended,
heads west, and each lying on the right side. They had evidently been
laid on the surface of the ground and the mound heaped over them.
Around or about the head of each was a small quantity of red paint. The
bones were so far decayed that they crumbled to pieces on attempting to
remove them. The skeleton lying nearest the center, though not above
the ordinary height, was an exceedingly stout and large-boned frame.
No implements or vestiges of art of any kind were observed.

Another mound near the center of Alachua county, 3 miles southeast
of Gainesville, situated on a high hummock on the land of Mrs. Peter
G. Snowdon, was examined. This was composed of white sand, with
small quantities of charcoal and ashes scattered here and there through
it. Trees of considerable size were growing on it, one a hickory 18
inches in diameter. The mound was circular, but flat on top, 43 feet
high, and 71 feet in diameter. Close to the base, along the north side,
ran a trench from which the material of which it was built was probably
taken.

Exploration brought to light the fact that a level platform about 1
foot high had first been formed,on which skeletons were placed and the

-mound then built over them.

Thirty-seven skeletons, or rather the parts of thirty-seven skeletons,
pieces of pottery, and a few decomposed conch shells (Busycon perver-
sum) were discovered. The condition in which the bones were found
showed that all the bodies, or possibly the skeletons after the flesh had
been removed, had been buried in the following singular manner: The
head was first taken off and placed in an upright position and the rest
of the body or frame then disjointed and placed around and upon it.
One of the skulls had a hole through it which might have been made
by an ordinary rifle ball. It had entered the center of the top of the
head and passed out immediately behind the right ear. The hole
through which it entered was uot ragged, but clean cut. The fragments
of pottery were so placed as to make it clear that the vessels had been
broken before burial.

ST. JOHNS AND VOLUSIA COUNTIES.

The following interesting account of some mounds in these counties
has been kindly furnished the Bureau by Dr. W. H. Dall, from notes
made during a trip to Florida in 1885 :

MOUNDS AT SATSUMA AND ENTERPRISE.

‘‘ Having an opportunity during my absence of visiting the celebrated
shell mound at Old Enterprise, on Lake Monroe, I availed myself of it

BUREAU OF ETHNOL7GY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXIV

PIPES FROM HOLLYWOOD MOUND, GEORGIA.

THOMAS. | - FLORIDA. 329

F :
in order to satisfy my curiosity in regard to certain points connected
with its construction. In this examination I developed certain facts
which seem worthy of being put on record, as they will, to some extent,
modify the inference in regard to the construction of these mounds
which might be drawn from the admirable monograph of Wyman.

“Tt will be understood, of course, that my remarks relate only to
the particular mounds “SETA Ihave examined, though perhaps they
may prove of wider application. ;

“The present state of the mound at Old Tatras is one of dilapi-
dation. It is situated on land belonging to the De Bary estate and is
fenced in, but the material is used in fertilizing orange groves and
making shell walks, and, by the owners, or with their permission,
probably two-thirds of the mound have been carted away. The work
of destruction at all events gives an excellent section of the mound
down to its very foundations, and, however deplorable it may be on
other grounds, was certainly a great help to me in determining its
structure. :

- “The mound is smaller than Wyman’s frontispiece would lead one
to believe, a misconception which has been brought about unintention-
ally by the artist, and which might have been remedied by putting a
human figure in the foreground. Though it has extended about 150
feet along the lake shore, its width at right angles to that direction
could not have exceeded 50 feet and was probably less. The margins
were originally so steep as to be difficult to scale, except by the path
intended for ascent, but only a few yards of the original slope now
remain, and this will soon be dug away. The mound is situated just to
the eastward of the point where a considerable stream enters the lake,
forming the outlet of the beautiful Green Sulphur spring which lies a
few rods inland. North of the mound a triangular piece of swamp ex-
tends from near the stream, which its apex nearly reaches, to a little
bay 400 or 500 yards to the eastward, where the base of the triangle
may be a hundred yards in breadth or more. It is too soft to cross,
and full of saw palmetto, reeds, etc., growing in hummocks separated
by water and semifluid mud. This swamp is being cleared and drained
and will soon cease to exist, but, as the mound originally stood, must
have nearly isolated it from firm ground and formed an excellent defense
against attack from that direction. Moreover, in this swamp lived the
mollusks whose shells have been so important in the construction of
the mound.

“ Westward from the mound and northwestward from the swamp lies
an orange grove and some woods; the land gradually rising from the
lake. The soil is composed of a layer 2 or 3 feet thick of beach sand,
humus, and an admixture of muddy matter derived from the swamp,
which was once more extensive in this direction. The surface of the
ground is covered with shells from the mound, which have arrived
there in three ways. Some have been carted over and spread about as
a fertilizer; much has been washed along the shore by storms and

330 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

thrown up by the waves on the banks, and some of the shells, particu-
larly the more perfect ones, are so round and light that they have sim-
ply been blown by the wind from the sides of the mound, scattered for
a mile or two over the surface near the sandy beach, but: not carried
inland further than open spaces would permit a brisk breeze to blow.

“ Deep trenches have been dug in the orange grove to drain the
ground between the rows of trees. Into these trenches a certain num-
ber of the shells from the surface have been blown or have fallen.
Beside these, however, at a depth of 2 or 3 feet from the surface is a
layer of mud full of shells of all sorts, and which appears to be a west-
ward extension of the present swamp. This marl and mud appeared
to be about 2 feet thick in most places and rested on a hard eolian
sandstone resembling the phosphatic rock of western Floridain appear- .
ance, but much younger in age, full of recent land shells, and in which
Pourtales and Wyman both found human bones imbedded at Rock
island in Lake Monroe.

‘Behind the sand of the beach a little lagoon was originally formed,
in which gradually accumulated the mud from decaying vegetation
brought down by the streams or growing on the spot. Here flourished
the Unies, Viviparas, etc., and in time formed a bed of mud and marl.
Upon this the wind blew sand from the beach, and in this way the dry
land has grown. The marl in position is rather soft, but when well
drained it becomes very hard, almost forming a stone. The shells in
it are just as they died, large and small, mostly in good condition,
except the Unios, which are more perishable than the univalves, and
always less perfect. The Viviparas are thin and light, but very strong,
and a layer of them will sustain a weight of 150 pounds without break-
ing. Owing to the air they contain they are very buoyant, and a com-
pact layer 4 inches thick spread over the soft mud of the swamp will
sustain the weight of a man, a fact which I personally tested. Besides
the whole shells, there is a large amount of broken and decayed shelly
matter. The large Ampullarias are very fragile and may have been
broken up, but at all events are very rare in the marl. I saw no per-
fect ones. ;

“The shore and bottom of the lake near the mound, and as far as
could be observed into the deep water, are composed of clear sharp
sand, affording no food or resting place for mollusks, and neither dead
nor living ones are found in it, except such as may have been washed
from the mound. The mound itself probably stands partly on the
original sea beach and partly on the swamp.

“The way in which its materials have been scattered about prevented
the attainment of certainty in the matter, but the above suggestion
accords with what was observed. About two-thirds of the mound has
been dug away nearly to the level of the beach. In 1848 the bluft,
where the storms had washed away the lakeward slope, was 15 feet
high. The summit of the mound was about 5 feet higher, and on itan

THOMAS. | FLORIDA. ; 331

early settler built a small house, which at one time served to accommo-
date the occasional traveler. All traces of this are now gone and, in
fact, the part of the mound on which it stood is believed to have been
entirely dug away. The nearly vertical face from which excavations
have been made offers an excellent means of inspecting the structure
of the mound. The sides and base are buried in a talus almost exclu-
Sively composed of Vivipara georgiana, Lea, which have weathered out
of the general mass, and owing to their form and strength have re-
sisted decay. To the casual visitor this talus would give the idea that
the mound was composed of clear Vivipara shells, which would be a
very erroneous notion. After clearing away the talus it was evident
that the body of the mound is formed of mud and marl resembling
that previously described as underlying the orange grove and which I
am convinced was brought to the spot from the swamp to build the
mound. Land from the beach would be liable to be washed or blown
away at any time and the marl was but a few yards away. The main
mass, especially toward the base of the mound, is composed of this
material unstratified, and by the percolation of lime water rendered
almost as hard as stone. At about half the height of the mound slight
indications of stratification are apparent; here and there small layers
of clean shells, Vivipara or Ampullaria, are visible, an inch or two
thick anda yard or two long in section, as if the shells from a repast
had been thrown out. Bits of charcoal, occasional fish, and other
bones are more abundant as we ascend. I did not succeed in finding a
Single artificial article of aboriginal origin in all the exposed area and
talus after a careful search. About 25 feet below the surface,in the
compact material, I found one or two pieces of glass which had been
subjected to the action of fire, and which by age had become beauti-
fully iridescent. It had been originally quite thin and of pale green-
ish color, like that used for cheap looking glasses, such as are used in
Indian trade. It may, however, have been a relic of the early white
settlers before referred to, though the depth to which it was buried is
adverse to this idea.

“T collected of the rough material composing the mound, about 4 feet
below the surface, enough to fill a box such as holds 100 cigars. This
weighed about 54 pounds, and 43 pounds of it were broken up, the con-
tained shells were sorted and identified, with the following result, the
identifiable shells of each species being counted:

ACIS ROR Liat) i Op UGE yo olen conten ane Bae ce seme sae Cse Sa) a854 seenee 313
MELA CLOU MNENStA WIGOA tS seers om cepa ae = ate ee ee oe ess Bae ue ae: 109
PATRMECOLA ABD LINO tree eae eee aa se ere ee he tee ee 1
Uncosouckteys,lueal (valves) sass ses eeapeesee vas eee ole ee ee 30
URROS ALY. OS) onion oe ee ae ee ee na hee ant Bee
A ETU ACOLATIS ) SRY cae cette ee ae eae ee See Sowers a ahiale 4
Glamoinarinuncata®, Saver srg foarte ny oma os dene dae sions ;

Hele (Rolyguna iauniformis, ld ss. 2 22 see 2k wees oe seme e 1

ZONES MUNUSCULGY BINNCY). cna n)s o-eeitse eae ae oes s/s dee ores see ee 18

332 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
LONE: GOON EU DRY tances em easinae eee 2a = ee eee ee eee eee 1
LOnitEs \COnulUs)) ChENSING, SAY aes ee = eee eee ee ee 1
Pupa contractd, Say) . 223225 so- cee s 226 sae ses ees ease es 2
YEU) AOU abet \ PERE SHaeelS sees ao Ne Some Stas oe eS HUBS o.ossapn 14

“Total, 13 spegies and 495 specimens of mollusks, besides a fragment
of marine shell (a Cardiwm) too small to identify, several: fish scales,
two pieces of fish bones, and one piece vf mammalian bone unidentifi-
able.- The shells tabulated all live in the vicinity at the present time, ,
but are not abundant, owing to the drying up of the swamp or other
causes. At suitable localities about the lake they are believed to be
abundant as ever at the proper season, i. e., midsummer. Of all the
above mentioned, only the Vivipara and Unio have ever been consid-
ered edible. Most of them are far too minute for food. The Ampul-
larias (A. depressa, Say), which, as before stated, are not disseminated
through the mass, but found assembled in small patches, were there-
fore probably gathered elsewhere, perhaps at no great distance, and
those in the mound are doubtless only relics of dinners. The assem-
blage is just what we might expect in a fluvial marl, and a similar assem-
blage would doubtless be found in a similar mass of the marl from the
orange grove. 4 .

‘¢My conclusion, therefore, is that the mound was artificially con-
structed as a post of observation (for which it is otherwise peculiarly
well situated), a dwelling site, fortification against attack or flood, or
for some other purpose requiring a dry or elevated site. That the build-
ing up, after high-water mark was passed, was intermittent, and the
materials supplemented by kitchen midden matters and that the gradual
elevation continued until about the time it was abandoned.

“The theory that it is solely derived from the relics of dinners, ete.,
seems untenable for the following reasons: (1) The character of the -
main mass of which it is composed as above described; (2) the original
steepness of the sides, too great to have been the unintentional result
of throwing out small quantities of empty shells; (3) the improbability
that the builders would squat in a marsh or on a beach subject to over-
flow until their refuse had built them*a dry site in spite of themselves;
(4) the small area of the top, which renders it highly improbable that
the dinner refuse of all who could sit on it could have made such a
mound in many centuries; (5) and lastly, the fact that a material simi-
lar to that of which the mound is composed is close at hand and offers
no difficulties to anyone desiring to get it. I should add that Mr. Le
Baron, an engineer who contributed to the Smithsonian Report of 1882
an interesting list of mounds observed by him in Florida, came, on
other grounds, to a similar conclusion with regard to this mound.

THE SATSUMA MOUND.

“This mound is situated on the bank of the St. Johns river, about 20
miles south of Palatka, near a small, new settlement called Satsuma.

‘THOMAS. ] ; NORTH CAROLINA. 333

I did not visit it, but examined a large scow load of material brought
from it to Palatka for shell walks, ete. I was informed that it was
about 25 feet high and 100 feet long along the bank, with a swamp
behind it.

“An examination of the material showed a similar assemblage ot spe-
cies, many of which could not have been gathered for food or any prac-
tical use. The consolidated material was also like that at Enterprise,
and I was led to suspect from these facts that the Satsuma mound
might have been like the former, artificially constructed of mud from
an adjacent swamp.

“The question having been recently discussed as to the use by exist-
ing residents of Florida of the fresh-water shells of the region for food
and it having been incidentally stated by Wyman that the Florida
‘“erackers” eat the Paludina ( Vivipara), and Unio, I made careful inqui-
ries among this class of people during my stay and found that none of
them had ever heard of eating Vivipara and only in one case had Unio
been tasted, and then as a matter of curiosity, which was so well satis-
fied that the old man said that ‘if the Lord would forgive him for that
one he would never try another.’

“The error appears to have arisen from the fact that both the marine
and fresh-water spiral shells are called ‘conchs’ by these people, and

_the marine shells are not unfrequently used for food like ‘ winkles’ in
Great Britain; so that Wyman was led to believe- that both were com-
monly eaten, which is certainly not the case.”

NORTH CAROLINA.
CALDWELL COUNTY.
THE PATTERSON GRADING.

This work is situated near Patterson, in the northwest part of the
county and close to the Yadkin river. It is a terrace or platform partly
natural and partly artificial, extending out from the steep terminus of
a low ridge, which here descends at an angle of about 45 degreese The
artificial portion extends out from the natural terrace about 68 feet,
the height being 7 feet. A trench was cut half way across it, proving it
to be composed chiefly of waterworn bowlders, and red and yellow clay,
with charcoal intermingled. Here and there pieces of mica were found;
at the depth of 24 feet from the top and 6 feet from the edge was a pol-
ishing or whetstone, and at another point the fragment of a soapstone
vessel with rudely carved figures on it, proving. beyond question that
the terrace is in part, at least, artificial.

THE T. ¥. NELSON MOUND.

This mound, so insignificant in appearance as scarcely to attract any
notice, but hiding beneath the surface such important mementoes of the

334 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

past, was located on the farm of Rev. T. F. Nelson, in the northwest
part of the county, and about a mile and a half southeast of Patterson.
It stood on the bottom land of the Yadkin, about 100 yards from the
river, and was almost a true circle in outline, 38 feet in diameter, but
not exceeding at any point 18 inches in height. The thorough execava-
tion made, in which Mr. Rogan, the Bureau agent, was assisted by Dr.
J. M. Spainhour, of Lenoir, showed that the original constructors had

Fic. 207.—T. F. Nelson mound, Caldwell county, North Carolina.

first dug a circular pit about 38 feet in diameter to the depth of 3 feet
and there placed the dead, some in stone cists and others uninclosed,
and afterwards covered them oyer, raising a slight mound above the pit.
A plan of the pit, showing the stone graves and skeletons as they ap-
peared after the removal of the dirt and before being disturbed, is

given in Fig. 207. :

THOMAS. ] NORTH CAROLINA. 335

No. 1 is a stone grave or vault standing exactly in the center of this
large pit, butin a small circular pit evidently made for this special pur-
pose, extending down 3 feet below the bottom of the larger one. This
vault, built of cobblestones around a standing skeléton, was made 3 feet
in diameter at the base, carried up perpendicularly for 4 feet and then
narrowed so as to be covered by a single soapstone slab at the top.
On the top of the head of the skeleton, which was found still standing,
though much decayed, were several plates of cut mica, the only arti-
cles accompanying it.

The skeletons in Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9, and 10, though walled
around in a similar manner, were in a squatting posture on the bot-
tom of the large pit. With skeleton No. 2 was one small celt; with
No. 3 a discoidal stone; with No. 6 two celts, and over No. 9, but in-
side the vault, a pitted stone.

Nos. 11, 12, and 13 are three skeletons found in a squatting position,
with no wall around them and unaccompanied by relies of any kind.
Nos. 14 and 15 were lying horizontally at full length, also uninclosed.
With the former were pieces of broken pipes and with the latter one
celt. No.16 was an uninclosed “squatter” of unusually large size, not
less than 7 feet high when living. Near the mouth was an entire soap-
stone pipe; the legs were extended in a southwest direction upon a bed
of burnt earth.

The faces of all the squatting “skeletons were turned away from the
standing, central one.

At A was a considerable quantity of black paint in little lumps,
which appear to have been molded in the hull of some nut. B indicates
a cubical mass of waterworn bowlders built up solidly and symmetri-
cally, 24 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 18 inches high, showing no
indications of fire, without ashes or bones on or around 1t.

On the contrary, the stones built around the bodies bore more or
less evidence of fire, having been blackened by smoke in places, and
the earth immediately around them was considerably hardened by
baking. The bones of the skeletons also showed indications of heat.
Scattered throughout the mound were small pieces of pottery and char-
coal.

THE T. F. NELSON TRIANGLE.

This is the name applied to an ancient triangular burying ground
on the farm of Rey. T. F. Nelson, and located about 75 yards north
of the mound just described.

It is simply a burial pit in the form of a triangle, the east and west
sides each 48 feet long, and the southern base 32 feet, the depth vary-
ing from 25 to 3 feet. The top was not mounded up, but level with the
surrounding surface. The apex, which points directly north, extends
within 3 feet of the bank of the Yadkin river, the height above the

_usual water level being about 12 feet. A plat of the triangle, show-
ing the position of the burials in it, is given in Fig. 208. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4,

336 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

5, 6, 7,8, and 9 indicate the positions of single skeletons lying horizon-
tally on their backs, their heads resting east or northeast. With No. 2
was a broken soapstone pipe; with Nos. 5 and 9 one small polished
celt each. Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 were buried in stone vaults

Fic, 208.—T. F. Nelson Triangle, Caldwell county, North Tic, 209.—Copper cylinder,
Carolina. Nelson triangle.

similar to those in the mound; 10, 12, 13, and 15 being in a sitting
posture unaccompanied by any article. Nos. 11 and 14 indicate graves
containing two skeletons each extended horizontally one above the other,
the lower ones of smaller stature than those above, with the faces up,

Fic. 210.—Bracelet of shell and copper beads, Nelson ‘Triangle.

and very heavy stones placed on the extended arms and legs, fastening
them down. The upper skeletons, of larger stature and face down,
were resting on those below. No articles were found with them. Near
No. 12 was about a peck of singular, pinkish colored earth.

-

THOMAS. ] NORTH CAROLINA.

337

In the northeast part of the triangle, at A, were ten or more bodies
in one grave or group, which appeared to have been buried at one time,

Fic. 211.—I.on celt from Nelson triangle.

the chief or principal personage of the group resting horizontally on his
face, with his head northeast and his feet southwest. Under his

head was the large engraved shell shown in
Fig. 213; around his neck were a number of
large-sized shell beads; at or near his ears
lay five elongate copper beads, or rather
small cylinders, varying in length from 14 to
44 inches, and in diameter from one-fourth
to half an inch, part of the leather thong on
which they had been strung yet remaining
in them. These are made of thin pieces of
copper cut into strips and then rolled to-
gether so that the edges meet in a straight
joint on one side. The copper looks as
though it had been rolled into sheets and
not hammered (Fig. 209). A piece of cop-
per was also under his breast. His arms
were bent, the hands resting about 1 foot
from each side of his head. Around each
wrist were the remains of a bracelet com-
posed of copper and shell beads alternating,
as Shown in Fig. 210. At his right hand
lay four iron implements, one of which, a
roughly hammered celt or chisel, is shown
in Fig. 211; another piece, some 6 or 7 inches
long and about 1 inch wide, is evidently part
of a sword blade or knife (Fig. 212); another,
part of a punch or large awl, with a portion
of the horn handle yet attached. Under his
left hand was another engraved shell, the

Fic. 212.—Part of iron blade, Nelson
triangle.

concave surface upward, and filled with shell beads of all sizes.

12 ETH——22

338 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Around and partly over this skeleton, with their heads near his,
were nine others. Under the heads of two of these skeletons, lying
within a foot of the head of the first, were also several engraved shells,
one of which is shown in Fig. 214. Scattered over and among the
bones of these ten or more skeletons were numerous polished celts,
(discoidal stones, copper arrow points, pieces of mica, lumps of paint,
black lead, stone pipes, ete. Some of the forms of the pipes from this
and the other burial places in this locality are shown in Figs, 215-220.

a

Fic. 213.—Engraved shell, Nelson triangle.
THE W. DAVENPORT JONES MOUND.

Two miles east of Patterson, near the north bank of the Yadkin
river, running out from a low ridge to the river bank, is a natural ter-
race about 12 feet high, with a level area of about an acre on top, and
sloping on the sides at an angle of 45 degrees, on which, according to
tradition, there was formerly an Indian village. About 200 yards east
of this, on the second river bottom or terrace, there was a low, circular
mound 32 feet in diameter and not more than 1 foot high, on the land
of Mr. W. Davenport Jones. This mound was found upon investiga.
tion to cover a circular pit of the same diameter and 3 feet deep, the
margin and bottom being so well defined as to leave no doubt as to the

THOMAS. | NORTH CAROLINA. 339

limits of the pit; in fact the bottom, which was of clay, had been baked
hard by fire to the depth of 2 or 3 inches. The pit was filled with soil
and loose yellow clay similar to the surface soil around the mound cov-
ering twenty-six skeletons and one stone heap in the relative positions
Shown in Fig, 221. Some of the skeletons were inclosed in vaults
tormed of cobble stones.

Fic. 214.—Engraved shell, Nelson triangle.

No.1, squatting, walled in with water-worn bowlders; the face turned
to the west; no implements or ornaments.

No. 2, sitting with the face toward the center, two celts at the feet, and
immediately in front of the face a cone-shaped piece of hard pottery
paste.

Fic. 215.—Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina.

No. 3, sitting with face toward the center; several celts at the feet.
No. 4, horizontal, with the head southeast; several celts at the feet.
No. 5, horizontal, with the head toward the center; celts at the feet.
No. 6, sitting with the face toward the center; beads around the neck,
a Unio shell on top of the head with the concave surface down, a conch

340 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

shell (Busycon perversum) in front of and near the face, and celts at the
feet.

No. 7. Sitting facing the center; celts at the feet.

No. 8. Very large, lying on the left side, partially drawn up; walled
in with bowlders; no implements.

No. 9. Horizontal, face down, head toward the center; a pot (with-
out ears) on the head; celts and discoidal stones at the feet.

Fic. 216.—Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina.

No. 10. Horizontal, face up, feet towards the center; a pot with ears,
over the face; stone implements at the feet.

No. 11. Horizontal, head southeast, arms extended, and a bracelet of
copper and shell beads around each wrist; shell beads around the
neck; face up, with food cup (without handle) at the right side of the
head.

No. 12. Horizontal, lying on the back, head southeast; beads around
the neck, a hook or crescent-shaped piece of copper on the breast, and

P1G. 217.—Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina.

a pipe near the face; one hand near each side of the head grasping coni-
cal copper ornaments (eardrops) and a bunch of hair.

No. 13. Horizontal, lying on the back, head southeast; copper and
shell beads around the neck and wrists, a hook or crescent-shaped piece
of copper on the breast; food cup (with handle) lying on its side with
the mouth toward the face of the skeleton; a pipe near the mouth and
two celts over the head. :

No. 14. Horizontal, lying on the back, head northeast, arms extended,
and hands resting on shells,

THOMAS. ] NORTH CAROLINA. 341

No. 15. Horizontal, on the back, head west, knees drawn up to the
chin; stone implements at the feet.

No. 16. Too much decayed to determine the position.

No. 17. Four skeletons in one grave, horizontal, with feet toward the

Fic. 218.—Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina,

west and large stones lying on the legs below the knees. No imple-
ments with them.

No. 18. Two skeletons in one grave, with heads west, faces down,
knees drawn up; no implements.

No. 19. Horizontal, on the back, head east; no implements.

Fic, 219.— Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina.

No. 20. Sitting, walled in with bowlders, face toward the east, a large
stone lying on the feet (this may have fallen from the wall); no imple-
ments.

No. 21. Sitting, walled in with bowlders. Over the head, but under
the capstone of the vault, was a handful of flint arrowheads.

Fig. 220.—Pipe, Caldwell county, North Carolina.

No. 22. Doubled up, with head between the feet.

A on the diagram indicates a solid oval-shaped mass of bowlders, 32
inches long, 22 inches wide, and 24 inches high, resting on the bottom
of the pit. There were no ashes, charcoal, or other sign of fire about it.

Broken pottery, mica, galena, charcoal, red and black paint, etc.,

342 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

were found scattered in small quantities through the earth which filled
the pit. The skeletons were so badly decayed that very few bones
could be saved.

R. T. LENOIR BURIAL PIT.

This is a circular burial pit, similar to those already described, but
without any rounding up of the surface. It is located on the farm of
Mr. Rufus T. Lenoir, about 9 miles northeast of Lenoir and nearly a
mile west of Fort Defiance.

=)

Fie. 221.—Plan of W. D. Jones mound, Caldwell county, North Carolina.

A diagram showing the relative positions of the graves or burials is
given in Fig. 222.

It is on the first river terrace or bottom of Buffalo creek, and about
200 yards from this stream, whichempties into the Yadkin about half a
mile southwest of this point. -This bottom is subject to overflow in
time of high water.

The pit, which is 27 feet in diaineter and about 34 feet deep, is almost a
perfect circle and well marked, the margin, which is nearly perpendic-

THOMAS.) NORTH CAROLINA. 343

ular, and the bottom being readily traced. The dirt in this case, as in
the others, was all thrown out.

No. 1,a bed of charred or rather burnt bones occupying a space 3
feet long, 2 feet wide, and 12 inches deep, the bones so thoroughly
burned that it was impossible to determine whether they were human
oranimal. Beneath this bed the yellow sand was baked to the depth
of 1 or2inches. Under the bones was a shell with two holes through it.

No. 2, a skeleton in a sitting posture, face northeast, a pipe near the
mouth and a polished celt over the head.

Fig. 222.—R. T. Lenoir burial pit (plan), Caldwell county, North Carolina.

No. 3. sitting skeleton, facing east, with shell beads around the neck
and also around the arms just below the shoulders.

No.4, horizontal skeleton, lying on the back, head east and resting
on the concave surface of an engraved shell. Conch shell (Busycon
perversum) at the side of the head, and copper and shell beads around
the neck.

No. 5, horizontal, head northeast, shell beads around the neck, and
two discoidal stones and one celt at the feet.

344 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

No. 6, a communal grave containing 25 skeletons in two tiers, buried
without any apparent regularity as to direction or relative position.
Thirteen of the 25 were flatheads, that is, with the head artificially com-
pressed in front. Scattered throughout this grave, between and above
the skeletons, were polished celts, discoidal stones, shells, pieces of
mica, galena, fragments of. pottery, and one whole pot. Around the
necks and wrists of some of the skeletons were also shell beads. There
were a great many bones in this grave, and possibly more than 25
skeletons, but this was the number of skulls observed.

No. 8, an irregular layer of waterworn bowlders, about 4 feet square.
On the top was a bed of charcoal, about 3 inches deep, on and partially
imbedded in which were three skeletons, but showing no indications
of having been burned. Scattered over these skeletons were discoidal
stones, one saucer, shells (one of which is engraved), pipes, shell beads,
and pieces of pottery.

No. 9, a grave containing three skeletons lying horizontally on their
backs, two with their heads east and the one between them with the
head west. They lay close together, and were unaccompanied by
implements or ornaments.

No. 10, horizontal, on the right side, head north, with stone imple-
ments in front of the face.

No. 11, doubled up, top of the head south, shell beads around the
neck, and celts at the feet.

No. 12, a grave containing seventeen skeletons, seven of which had
compressed heads; two of the number, children. Two of the adult
heads were resting on engraved shells. In this grave were four pots
and two food cups, the handle of one of the latter representing an
owl’s head, that of the other an eagle’s head. One of the small pots
was inside a larger one. Scattered among the skeletons were also
shell beads, polished celts, discoidal stones, paint, ete.

THE SHERRIL MOUND.

This is a small mound, 38 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, located on
the farm of Sion J. Sherril, 35 miles east of Lenoir. It was composed
of yellow clay and coarse yellow sand. Nothing else except a very
small quantity of charcoal was observed.

BURKE AND WILKES COUNTIES.

A conical mound 320 feet in circumference and 7 feet high, situated
on the farm of Mrs, J. E. Collet, in the northern part of Burke county,
was explored, but aside from the yellow sand and yellow clay of which
it was chiefly composed, nothing was found in it except some remnants
of charred straw and cane. These were scattered in small quantities
through the mound.

‘THOMAS. ] NORTH CAROLINA.. 345
ANCIENT CEMETERY.

On the farm of Mr. Charles Hunt in the central part of Wilkes
county, is what appears to be a small, ancient cemetery, and probably
the site of a camp or temporary village. It is about 34 miles east of
Wilkesboro on the second bottom or terrace of the Yadkin river and
differs from the burial places just described in having no large pit, the
graves being separate and independent of each other. The diagram
given in Fig. 225 shows the relative positions of the graves and small
pits.

No. 1, a grave or oval-shaped pit 2 feet long and 18 inches wide, the
top within 8 inches of the surface of the ground, the bottom 24 feet

Raita Aw
wai AOA KSA Nii oS SS

Farst Lorrer Bottom,

Fig. 223.—Ancient burial ground, Wilkes county, North Carolina.

below it. This contained the remains of a doubled skeleton, which
were surrounded by charcoal; some of the bones were considerably
charred. In the pit were some fragments of pottery, a few flint chips,
and a decayed tortoise shell.

No. 2, a grave 2 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 5 feet deep. It con-
tained quite a quantity of animal bones, some of them evidently those
of a bear, also charcoal, mussel shells, and one bone implement, but no
human skeleton.

No. 3, a grave of the same size and depth as No. 2, containing ani-
mal panes broken pottery, and some charcoal.

No. 4, a grave, the size, depth, and contents the same as the preceding.

346 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

No. 5, a circular pit 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep. This con-
tained a very large pot in which were some animal bones. It was on
its side and crushed.

No. 6, a pit 25 feet deep and 2 feet square, with a bed of charcoal in
the bottom 6 inches deep. On this bed was a layer of flint chips, and
on the chips a quantity of broken pottery, animal bones, a discoidal
stone and a bone implement.

No, 7, « grave similar to those described.

No. 8, alarge grave containing three skeletons lying at full length
upon the right side, with the heads a little east of north. These are
marked a, b, cin the diagram. Between @ and b, and in front of the
face of a, was a mass of mussel shells; at the head and back of a were
a number of animal bones. Between a and b, opposite the pelvis, was
a large broken pot. The right arm of ¢ was extended forward and
upward, the left arm resting across the head, a white flint chip grasped
in the hand. The head of this skeleton was resting on a piece of a
broken pot, and in front of the face, at the distance of a foot, was also
part of a pot containing a stone fragment and some animal bones.

EN
i | | : a hy i He ‘i

FiG. 224,—Clay hearth (or fire-bed), Wilkes county, North Carolina.

———

Under the legs of the three skeletons, the head extended in front of
the legs of c, was the skeleton of a bear. In front of ¢ were three
broken pots containing animal bones.

No. 9, a basin-shaped fire-bed, or bed of burnt clay, 8 inches thick.
A section of this bed is shown in Fig. 224, b, b, b, the bed of burntclay
and sand 8 inches thick, the material evidently placed here and not a
part of the original soil. The basin, «, was aved with ashes, the depth
being 12 inches, and the diameter from 1 to 2, 2 feet 3inches; from 1 to
3, and 2 to 4, each 1 foot and 6 inches.

No. 10, a nee of mussel shells 5 inches thick and 3 feet in diameter,
lying on a flat bed of burnt earth 3 inches thick.

No. 11, a pit 5 feet deep and 3 feet in diameter, filled with animal
bones, mussel shells, and broken pottery.

There was no mound over any of these graves or the pit.

HAYWOOD COUNTY.

An article in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great
Britain and Ireland for June, 1882, in regard to some singular works of

THOMAS. NORTH CAROLINA. 347

art found in Haywood county, having excited the curiosity of our anti-
quarians, Mr. Emmert was sent into that region to procure, if possible,
some specimens of this singular class of articles and to ascertain
whether they were ancient or modern. After considerable difficulty he
was entirely successful in his effort. He ascertained that these articles
were made from the soapstone found in that region by some persons
who had learned how to give them the appearance of age. This is
done by placing them, after being carved, in running water which is
tinctured with iron, as most of the streams in that region are. As a
proof of the correctness of his statement Mr. Emmert had the same
parties who stated they had made some articles
for Mr. Valentine make quite a number of sim-
ilar articles for the Bureau. Some of these are
represented in Figs, 225, 226, and 227 a, b.

THE BIG MOUND.

This mound, of which a section through the
length is shown in Fig. 228, is near Waynes-
ville. Itis oblong in form and flattened on
top; the length of the base, 188 feet; width,
about 70 feet; height at a, 124 feet, and at b,
10 feet.

Pits were sunk at a and J to the original
surface, through dark earth mixed with sand,
uniform in character and showing no indica-
tions of stratification. Near the top in both
pits were found several fragments of soapstone
vessels, and at the bottom of pit 2 one celt,
one shark’s tooth, and several fragments of
pottery, but no human remains or indications
of burial.

MOUND NEAR RICHLAND CREEK,

This is situated on a ridge half a mile from |; ] my)
Richland creek and 2 miles from Waynesville. |!)
It is apparently double, 70 feet long, 30 feet
wide, and 34 feet high at each end, but consid-
erably lower in the middle. At the bottom, F'-
under the highest point of the west end was a
bed of dark earth in which were the remains of two skeletons lying at
full length side by side. With these were found seven arrow heads,
one rude stone axe with a hole drilled through it, one polishing stone
of iron ore, two broken stone gorgets, and a small lot of mica. Under
the highest point of the east end was a similar bed of dark earth in
which were the remains of one skeleton, ‘also stretched out at full
length. By this were three flint knives or scrapers and a clay pipe.

225.—Bogus article, Haywood
county, North Carolina.

348 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
BUNCOMBE AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.

Some mounds in and along the borders of these two counties were
explored which present some characteristics worthy of notice.

MOUND ON LYTLE’S FARM.

This mound is near Cane creek, Henderson county, ina field of bottom
land owned by Mr, A. Lytle. It measured 48 feet from east to west, 38
feet from north to south, and 8 feet high. The oval shape is possibly
due in part to the fact that it has long been plowed over in one direc-
tion. It was built of yellow sand throughout, showing no stratification
except a single layer of coal and ashes, 3 inches thick, just above the
original surface of the ground.

THE CONNER MOUND.

This mound, located on the farm of Mrs. Rebecea Conner, 1 mile from
the preceding, is 6 feet high, 44 feet in diameter, round, and forms

Fic. 226.—Bogus article, Haywood county. North Carolina,

a symmetrical cone. Small trees were growing on it. It was found to
contain what, to all appearances, were the remains of a charcoal pit.
In the center had been placed pine poles, as shown in Fig. 229, and
burned to charcoal and ashes. The diameter of the base of this conical
heap was 16 feet, the height nearly 6 feet, the sides sloping regularly to
the apex. The interior portion consisted of ashes and small coals, mixed
with earth, in which were found some burnt bones and two pertorated
stones.

All the mound, except the coal bed, consisted of red clay. It stood
on a ridge about half a mile from the creek, on hard, gravelly soil, which
bore no indications of having been disturbed before building the
mound.!

!Attention is called here to a statement by Haywood (Nat. and Aborig. Hist. Tenn., p. 234). Speak-
ing of the inhabitants of lower East Tennessee he says: ‘‘ The former inhabitants appeared to have
lived in houses which, on the outside, seemed to be the color of a blacksmith’s coalpit. The houses
were made by setting up poles and then digging out the dirt and covering the poles with it. They
were round and generally about 10 feet in diameter.”

THOMAS. } NORTH CAROLINA. 349
THE ALEXANDER MOUNDs.

No. 1 is on the farm of My. J. B. Alexander, on the same creek,
but 2 miles above the one last mentioned. It is on an elevated level
one-fourth of a mile from the creek, in an old field which has been
plowed over for sixty years. At the time explored it was only 2 feet
high at the highest point and but 30 feet indiameter. The old settlers
say it was formerly considerably higher, and that there was a ridge or
raised roadway 200 feet long, running from it directly toward the creek.
This is represented at present only by a line of red clay. It was
entirely removed without finding any specimens or any indications of
burial, but after reaching the natural surface of the ground a circu-

b

Fic. 227.— Bogus articles, Haywood county, North Carolina.

lar pit, 12 feet in diameter, was discovered, which had been dug to the
depth of 4 feet in the original red clay. This was filled to the top
with ashes and charcoal, but no traces of bones could be discovered,
though careful search was made for them. The mound was composed
entirely of red clay.

No. 2, half a mile from No. 1, diameter 52 feet, height 9 feet and hemi-
spherical in form, was covered with trees some of which were 18 inches
in diameter.

This mound was composed of three layers: a top stratum of red clay
between 3 and 4 feet thick, next a layer of charcoal about 3 inches
thick, running entirely across from side to side and following the curve

350 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

of the surtace, and last a layer of dark-colored earth extending to the
original surface. In the bottom layer, lying on the original surface,
were fiveskeletons. By thesideof one of these were sixteen white quartz
knives, one small stone pipe, and several arrowheads. At another
point were a stone gorget, a large celt, and some arrowheads.

The sixteen white quartz implements must have been made by one
individual, as they are all of the same kind of stone, of the same form,
and show the same workmanship.

MOUND ON SUANANOA RIVER, BUNCOMBE COUNTY.

This mound is about 4 miles from Asheville, on the bottom land, not
more than 100 yards from the river, is circular, 80 feet in diameter, and
9 feet high. A wide trench cut through if trom side to side and down
to the natural soil brought to light the fact that it was built partly of
stone and partly of earth. The core or central portion, to the height

Fic. 228.—Big mound, Haywood county, North Carolina.

of 4 feet above the original surface and covering a space about 30 feet
in diameter, was built of irregular blocks of stone, heaped together
without order or plan. The remainder of the mound was made of
dark surface soil. The top layer of earth being removed down to the

enti cr

Fic. 229.—Section of Conner mound, Henderson county, North Carolina.

rock pile, the entire surface of the latter was found to be covered with
charcoal and evidences that it had been burned here. Among the coal
were numerous joints of charred cane. The stones were all removed,
but no remains or relics, save a few arrowheads, were discovered.

THE TIROSH MOUND,

This mound is 6n the farm of Mr. J. B. Throsh, 1$ miles from Hominy
creek, Buncombe county. It is lecated on a ridge, is circular, 33 feet
in diameter at the base, and 4 feet high. No remains or vestiges of art
were found in it. Its composition was as follows: First, a top layer, 18
inches thick, of red clay similar to that around it, conforming to the
curve of the mound and entirely covering the bottom layer of black
earth which rested on the original soil. The latter had evidently been
earried from the creek, a mile distant.

THOMAS.] TENNESSEE. 351

EAST TENNESSEE,
SULLIVAN COUNTY.
MOUNDS ON HOLSTON RIVER.

There are two mounds on Holston river about 10 miles east of Bristol.
In Fig. 230 a plat and section of the area on which they are located are
given. In the plat (A) No. 1 is the mound on the north side of the
river; No. 2, the mound on the south side. At Bis shown a section
running northwest and southeast through the mounds (1 and 2) on the
upper level, 3 the lower level or river bottom, and 4 the river.

Mound No. 1, which is on the north side of the river, was found when

INS

INS
.

4 Ufiy,
CH I!

TT Sat,
sHlntlyeney,
Why,

B

Fic, 230 —Plan of mounds on the Holston river, Sullivan county, Tennessee.

measured to be 22 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, circular in form,
and composed of red clay and ‘sand.

Resting on the original surface of the ground near the center was a
stone vault shaped somewhat like a beehive. It was constructed en-
tirely of water-worn bowlders and arched over the top by shortening
and drawing in the courses. In this was a single sitting skeleton. It
was evident that the body, or more. likely the skeleton, had been set
down in this place and the vault built around it. Lying on the head
was the long copper spindle shown in Fig. 231. It is 11 inches long,
one-fourth of an inch in diameter at the thickest part, and appears
to have been roughly hammered out of native copper with some rude
implement. Lnmediately under the lower jaw were two small copper
drills or awls with portions of the deer-horn handles still attached to
them; near the head a small pile of flint chips and by the lynees a long

aDe MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

flint knife. The bones were so decayed that most of them crumbled to
pieces as soon as exposed to the air.

Mound No. 2 stood on the south side of the river opposite to No. 1
and about the same distance from the stream as the latter. It was cir-
cular in outline, rounded on top, 38 feet in diameter at the base, and 5
feet high. On the top was a pine stump 14 inches in diain-
eter, the tree having been cut down about thirty years ago.

The excavation which was begun at the margin soon reached
a wall 3 feet high and about a foot thick, built of stones taken
from the bed of the river. This was followed and found to
be an almost perfect circle 14 feet in diameter, in which, when
the earth was cleared away, were discovered twelve small,
beehive-shaped vaults built of stones of the same kind as
those in the wall. One of these was exactly in the center,
the other eleven being placed in a circle around it and about
equally spaced, as shown in Fig. 232. The bottom of the
area within the circular wall, which corresponded with the
natural surface of the ground, was covered to the depth of
3 inches with charcoal and the graves or vaults were built
on this layer. In each vault were the remains of a single
sitting skeleton, all of adults. In the center vault a number
of shell beads were found around the neck of the skeleton
and near the mouth the fine stone pipe shown in Fig. 233.
This pipe is made of fine-grained syenite and highly polished.
No articles were found with any of the other skeletons.

Each of the two last mentioned mounds is on the bench or
upper bottom and about one-fourth of a mile from the river.
This locality is said to have been for a long time an Indian
camping ground, which seems to be confirmed by the fact
that the surface of the ground is thickly strewn with flint
chips and fragments of pottery. Tradition says that the In-
dians once had a great battle here, and that one party buried
their dead in mound No. 2 and the other party buried theirs
on the opposite side of the river, where there is still a great
mound of river stones.

Mound No. 3 (not shown in the plat) is also on the Holston
river, 2 miles above those just described. This mound,
which resembles No. 2 in several respects, was circular, 60
feet in diameter, and nearly 5 feet high. The original surface
of the earth had first been covered over with charcoal to the depth of
3 inches, then the bodies or skeletons laid on it and each walled up
separately with river stones; these were then covered over with a layer
of black earth 18 inches thick, and on this was spread a layer of sand
over a foot thick and on this was a thin layer of surface soil. On one-
half of the circular layer of charcoal were six skeletons walled up sep-
arately as before stated, but so thoroughly decayed that only one skull

FG, 231.—Copper spindle from mound, Sullivan county, Tennessee.

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 553

could be saved. The other side of the mound had nothing in it except
a fine stone pipe somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 233, which was
on the bed of coals some 10 or 12 feet from the nearest skeleton. Near
the head of one of the skeletons were some beautiful arrow-heads, shell

beads, a polished celt, and two perforated stones.
ANCIENT GRAVES NEAR KINGSPORT.

A plat showing the locality of these and some other works noticed is
given in Fig. 234. Jn this d and ¢ are five graves covered with piles of

stone; ¢, the site of old Fort Patrick Henry, built in 1778; at, on the
opposite side of the river, is an ancient graveyard, some of the graves
being covered with stones, others with earth; at @ is a waste pit in
Cherokee Island, full of broken pottery, bones, etc. The graves at ¢
are on the old Birdwell farm, about amileabove the head of Long Island.
They are in the top and near the break of a high bluff which here over-
looks the river. The pile on each was oval in outline, measuring about
14 feet in length, 9 feet in width, and 18 inches high, composed of broken
limestone. The pit of one, which for convenience is designated No. 1,
appears to have been nearly equal in extent to the pile of stones over
it and about 24 feet in depth. A longitudinal section is shown in
12 ETH——2;}

354 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Fig. 235. aa denote the surface level; 1, soil to the depth of 8 inches;
2, red clay 2 feet thick; 3, black earth, charcoal, and ashes 3 inches thick.

A longitudinal section of the other, or No. 2, shows that the layers
were the same in character and about the same in thickness as those
of No. 1, but the extent of the pit in this case was much less than the
pile of stones over it, the length being only 8 feet and the width in pro-
portion. No indications of burial were found in either, and had it not
been for the layer of black earth, charcoal, and ashes at the bottom,
and the fact that flint chips were found in this layer, we might con-
clude that no pit had been dug here, especially as its outline was not
distinctly marked. The layer of surface soil under the piles of stone
indicates that these were placed there long after the pits were filled up.

The graves at d, one-fourth of a mile below those at ¢, were found to
be similar in covering, size, and character to the latter, except some
slight peculiarities in one of them, which is designated as grave No. 3.
In this the stones were not only piled over the surface, but extended
down some distance into the grave, as shown in Fig. 236. These must

Fic. 233.—Stone pipe from mound, Sullivan county, Tennessee.

have been pounded in, as they were so tightly packed that it was diffi-
cult to remove them. It was limited at the sides by natural ledges of
limestone, which sloped towards each other, as shown in the figure. The
usual layer of dark earth, charcoal, and ashes was at the bottom. In
this were found some sheets of mica, fourteen arrowheads, one stone
gorget, and one small copper rod or awl about 4 inches long, some frag-
ments of a soapstone vessel, and a lump of red paint.

Nos. 4 and 5 were precisely similar to No. late. Some arrowheads,
flint chips, and lumps of black ore were found in the coal bed of No. 4.

As there was nothing in either of these graves or pits indicating
-burial, it is difficult to imagine the object in view in digging them.
Other similar graves not opened are on the opposite side of the river,
marked f on the plat.

CARTER COUNTY.
There is an ancient cemetery on the north bank of Watauga river

just above the mouth of Buffalo creek. In 1886 a skeleton was found
partially exposed, the river having washed away a part of the bank.

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 2y5)5)

It lay at the depth of 3 feet, the head turned towards the southeast; with
it were four arrowheads, several shell beads, and many small fragments
of pottery; most of the latter about the head. Quite a number of skele-
tons were subsequently exposed by the high water and others in the
process of digging a road through the grounds.

The burial ground, on which many broken stone axes, arrow points,
and other stone implements have been found, but which has been pretty

fo iste we

—————— ==

MI iyce, i
gy be tis Mi
me i

4,
"hu

TS Hie,

ut) al

Fic. 234.—Plat showing ancient graves near Kingsport, Tennessee.

thoroughly worked over, is about one mile and a half below old Fort
Watauga, mentioned by Haywood as the Watauga settlement. It is
now on the farm of Mr. John S. Thomas and near the house where John
Sevier and Tipton had their fight over the “ State of Franklin.”

On Gap creek, about 4 miles from the fort, are two caves in a rocky

356 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

ridge which borders the creek on the east. One of these is compara-

tively small, and can be entered only by a narrow, perpendicular descent

of 10 feet. Here and there are places where the floor is covered with -
loose earth mixed with charcoal and ashes. During a rather hasty

examination the explorer found in this débris a broken stone gorget, a

spearhead, and some shell beads, but no indications of burial.

COCKE COUNTY.

But one mound in this county was examined. This is on Vincent
island, Pigeon river, and is about 200 feet long and varies from 4 to 6
feet in height; it was formerly
about 50 feet wide, but a long
strip off one side has been washed
away by the river. The general
appearance is that of a refuse
heap.

Although the entire mound was
removed, no skeletons or signs of burial were discovered; but near the
center and close to bottom was a somewhat singular collection contain-
ing the following articles: Thirty-three celts, mostly polished; frag-
ments of pottery and of soap-
stone vessels; four arroyvheads;
four stone gorgets; two discoidal
stones; one broken clay pipe;
two grooved stone axes; one ies :
stone pestle; four stone ham- Fic. 236.—Section of grave No. 3, near Kingsport,
mers; two large pitted stones; Tenner:
one unfinished stone tube; a steel-blade case knite of a peculiar pat-
tern, and one porcelain (?) bead.

The presence of the knife and bead in this collection is diffieult to
account for, unless we suppose the whole to be a comparatively modern |
deposit, which is probably the fact.

a

ys

FG. 235.—Section of grave No. 1, near Kingsport,
Tennessee.

THE RAMSEY MOUND.

On the north bank of French Broad river, immediately opposite the
Franklin Railroad station, on the land of Mr. A. Ramsey, are the remains
of a once large and imposing tumulus known as the Ramsey mound.
It is mentioned by Haywood, who remarks in regard to it as follows:

There is a mound on the French Broad river, 1 mile above the mouth of Nola-
chucky, on the east side of the French Broad, 30 feet high. There is an acre of
ground on the top.!

At present only a small part of it remains, the rest having been
washed away by the river, which has gradually encroached upon it.
Mr. Ramsey, who has resided on the farm for fifty-five years, says the
mound once extended to what is now the center of the river, a distance
of 250 feet, and was 20 feet high, if not more. The exact dimensions

1 Nat. and Aborig. Hist, Tenn., 1823, p. 146.

THOMAS. } TENNESSEE. 357

can not now be ascertained, but it is affirmed that the area of the level
_ top was at least an acre and thatit was cultivated asa garden. If this
be correct it must have been a very large and important tumulus, prob-
ably 250 feet in length by 175 in width. What adds to the interest
attaching to this work is the fact that, running around it in the form of
a semicircle, and about 300 yards from it, is a series of large pits, twelve
in number and somewhat evenly spaced. The dimensions can not be
definitely ascertained, as they are now nearly filled up. They were
probably 100 feet or more in diameter, and, according to the statement
of citizens, fully 20 feet deep. Possibly they are the spots from which
the material for building the mound was obtained.

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

Some explorations were made in this county, but the examinations
were hasty and incomplete. The agent was, at the time of his visit,
simply on a prospecting tour, expecting to return to those works which
he thought worthy of special investigation.

Two mounds were discovered immediately below Taylors bend of the
French Broad river, 9 miles east of Dandridge. One of these, on the
north side of theriver, stands on a level bottom about 300 feet from the
river bank. It is circular in outline, 120 feet in diameter and 12 feet
high. Trenches were cut through it, but no evidence of burial or relies
of any kind were revealed. The other mound is about half a mile above
the preceding, south of the river, on the farm of Mr. John B. Stakely.
It stands on the level bottom about 200 feet from the river; is similar
in form to the other, but smaller, the diameter being 95 feet and height
a little less than 5 feet. The ground on which it stands is subject to
overflow, and the mound itself has been entirely covered with water
more than once. A wide trench was carried through it and down to
the original soil, but neither skeletons nor relics were found; nor any
indications of burial. The whole body of it was composed of dark,
sandy soil like that of the ground around it. At the bottom, resting
on the natural surface, was a layer of sticky yellow clay, 3 to 4 inches
thick, which appeared to underlie the entire mound. The nearest
place where this pipe clay is found is a ridge about a mile distant.

There is an ancient burial ground about one-fourth of a mile above,
but on the opposite side of the river from the last mentioned mound.

There is a mound on the south side of French Broad river opposite
Swans island, about 3 miles above Dandridge. It stands on the lower
bottom which borders the river, about 200 yards from the latter. There
are traces of an old “trail” leading from it across the ridges for a dis-
tance of 3 miles to some stone graves near a creek. The largest trees
along the trail are marked, but the marking extends up and down the
trees according to the old method of blazing routes instead of across
them, asisnow usual. If these marks bear any relation to the trail and
graves, it is probable that all are the work of moder Cherokees.

358 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
MOUND ON FAIN’S ISLAND.

This mound is situated on the lower end of Fain’s island, in French
Broad river, about 3 miles southwest of Dandridge. It stands on the
extreme lower end of the island, not more than 300 feet from the water’s
edge. Asa shaft had been sunk in the center by a previous explorer
a broad trench was cut on each side. In the first or southern one six-
teen skeletons were unearthed, but in the northern one nothing was
found. Near the east end of the first was a series of fire beds, one
below another. The uppermost, which lay near the surface of the
mound, was about 3 feet in diameter, and each succeeding one was a
little wider than the one above it, so that the bottom one, 3 feet below
the first, measured 6 feet in diameter. All were circular and slightly
basin-shaped or dished, and consisted of burnt clay, with layers of
ashes between them. There were five in all. Below the last lay a
mass of pure ashes, packed very hard, which extended downward some
3 feet to the bottom of the mound. The earth immediately under this
bed of ashes was burned to a hard crust to the depth of 5 or 6 inches.

Fig. 237 is given to show the fire-beds (a) and the ash-bed (>) imme-
diately below them.

The skeletons were, in most cases, lying at full length, with heads in
various directions, though none toward the south. Only one or two

; Wa Lr
\ \

Fic. 237.—Section of mound on Fain’s island, Jefferson county, Tennessee.

were folded. They were at all depths, from 24 to 5 feet; one lay near
the bottom, at the depth of 8 feet and close to the mass of ashes under
the fire beds.

With this skeleton were five celts and some shell ornaments; the
skull was also obtained. The mound appeared to be composed almost
entirely of dark, sandy soil, with here and there a small streak of lighter
colored earth running through it.

There is an ancient burial ground on the south side of the river,
opposite the mound, which has not been examined.

ROANE COUNTY.

The first works examined in this county are on Long island, in the
Holston river, which is from 3 to 5 miles long and varies in width from
one-fourth to 1 mile. It lies nearly east and west, the course of the
river at this point being from a little south of east to a little north of
west. The western: portion, near the lower point is low bottom land;

THOMAS.) TENNESSEE. 359

the middle and upper portions are considerably higher, rising some 40
to 50 feet above low water. A plat of the island, showing the respec-
tive positions of the nineteen mounds on it, is given in Fig. 238. These,
as will be seen by the figure, are arranged in three groups, the group
a containing five mounds, being near the extreme lower or western
point on the lowest land of the island; group b, also containing five
mounds, near the middle; and group ¢c, containing nine mounds, near the
upper or eastern end, the two latter groups being on the higher land.
The mounds are numbered from 1 to 19, though all these numbers do
not appear in the figure.

Mound 1 of group a (the one next the northern branch) is by far the
largest, being about 160 feet from east to west, 90 feet north and south,
and 18 feet high. It is known as the Brakebill mound, and was par-
tially explored by Rev. E. O. Dunning on behalf of the Peabody
Museum. As Mr. Johnson, the owner, has since built a corn house on
it, permission could not be obtained to make further explorations in it.

LOS

Bottom Land.

Fig, 238.—Plat of groups on Long island, Roane county, Tennessee.

Mounds 2 and 4, being covered at the time with growing corn, were
not disturbed.

Mound 3, measuring 93 feet from north to south, 105 feet east and west,
and 5 feet high, having been under cultivation for sixty years and
partially examined by a previous explorer, is considerably lower than it
originally was.

The body of the mound was composed of dark, sandy soil similar to
that of the surrounding surface of the island, with numerous small
patches of yellow clay scattered through it without any apparent order
or arrangement. In it were five skeletons near the original surface of
the ground, arranged as shown in Fig. 239. In the center, ata, was a
large, boat-shaped vessel of clay, 9 feet long, 4 feet wide in the middle,
but tapering to each end, and about 15inches deep. This vessel, which
was probably only sun-dried, was watersoaked to such an extent that it
crumbled into minute fragments when an attempt was made to remove
it. It lay northwest and southeast and contained an adult skeleton

360 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

lying at full length with the head northwest. In the vessel, near the
head of the skeleton, was the stone image represented in Fig. 240.
This, which represents a squatting figure, is 144 inches high and is
carved out of stone. At each of the points marked h, h, h, h, corre-
sponding with the cardinal points, was a sitting skeleton facing toward
the center. With the one at the north was a clay pipe and two dis-
coidal stones; lying by the feet of the one at the east was a large
shell, and with the one at the south were two polished celts, one of
which was broken.

Mound 5, nearest the lower point of the island and within 50 feet of
the water’s edge and of the ordinary conical form, measured 60 feet in
diameter and 5 feet high, the highest point being toward one side.

One foot from the top was alayer
aN of burnt clay from 3 to 4 inches
thick, spreading horizontally
over the entire area of the
mound, reaching the surface all
around. It did not conform to
the curve of the mound, but
extended horizontally. Atsev-
eral points on its surface, or
mixed with it, were small piles
or spots of charcoal and ashes.
The body of the mound, both
above and below this layer, con-
sisted of dark, sandy soil.

In the central portion, close
to the bottom, lay the remains
of four skeletons, but so far de-
composed thatit was impossible
to determine their positions.

Mound 11, as will be seen by
reference to Fig. 238, is one of group c, situated on the higher ground.
Diameter, 65 feet; height, a little over 7 feet. This, as proved to be the
case with all those on the high ground examined, was composed entirely
of very hard, compact, red clay.

About the center, at the depth of 25 feet, was a badly decayed skel-
eton which must have been doubled up or bundled. There was no dark
colored earth about the bones, as is usually the case, the red clay being
packed about them as hard as in any other portion of the mound. Di-
rectly under this, but at the bottom of the mound, resting on the natu-
ral surface of the ground, were two other skeletons lying at full length,
side by side, with heads toward the west. The bones of these were in
amuch better state of preservation than of the one nearer the top. With
them was some red paint and near their heads one spear point and two
small discoidal stones. The earth immediately surrounding these two

Vig 289.—Diagram of mound No. 3, Long island,

Roane county, Tennessee.

THOMAS.] TENNESSEE. 361

skeletons was dark and loose, all the rest of the mound being composed
of red clay, so hard that we had to use the pick to loosen it.

Mound 12, measured 52 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, and like
the preceding consisted chiefly of red clay closely packed and very
hard. In the center, at the depth of 3 feet, was a horizontal layer of
mussel shells about 1 foot thick, covering a circular area 6 feet in
diameter. The shells composing this layer were packed in dark-colored

Fic. 240.—Image from mound No. 3, Long island, Roane county, Tennessee.

earth and must have been carefully placed by hand, as they were in
tiers, all with the concave side downward.' Underneath the layer of
shells the earth was very dark and appeared to be mixed with vegeta-
ble mold to the depth of 1 foot. At the bottom of this, resting on the
original surface of the ground, was a very large skeleton, lying horizon-
tally at full length. Although very soft, the bones were sufficiently

1The same thing, as I learn from Dr. Patrick, of Belleville, Ill.. was observed in a mound which
formerly stood on the site of East St. Louis. These, however, as appeared from the specimen shown
me, were sea shells, mostly univalves.

362 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

distinct to allow of a careful measurement before attempting to remove
them. The length from the base of the skull to the bones of the toes
was found to be 7 feet 3 inches. It is probable, therefore, that this in-
dividual when living was fully 74 feet high. At the head lay some
small pieces of mica and a green substance, probably the oxide of cop-
per, though no ornament or article of copper was discovered. This
was the only burial in the mound.

3y reference to the plan of the group (Fig. 238), it will be observed
that Nos. 12, 13, 14, and 15 form the are of the circle. They are regu-
larly spaced, the distance from the base of one to the base of the next
being about 100 feet. No. 11 is about 200 feet from No. 12.

No. 14, 65 feet in diameter and 7 feet high, was next explored by cut-
ting a trench 12 feet wide from side to side through the center down to
the original soil. This was composed of hard, red clay, with here and
there, from the depth of 1 to 3 feet, a small spot of very dark earth,
which contained decayed mussel shells. At a depth of 34 feet, near
the center, lay 2 skeletons very near each other, one with the head
toward the east, the other with the head toward the west, with dark
colored earth and some shells packed about them. Nothing further
was discovered until near the bottom, where a bed of shells was
reached. The shells in this bed were closely packed together in the man-
ner of those in mound No. 12. This bed or layer was circular in out-
line, about 12 feet in diameter and 1 foot thick, and contained a smaller
proportion of dirt than thatin No. 12. The layer beneath this, resting on
the original soil, consisted of dark colored earth in which, lying immedi-
ately under the center of the shell bed, were 2 skeletons. But these
were so far decayed that their exact position could not be determined.
Near their heads were two arrow points, two rude celts, and one dis-
coidal stone.

Mound 15, 64 feet in diameter and 7 feet high, presented in some
respects a remarkable contrast to those just described. For a depth of
5 feet it, like the others, consisted of hard, red clay; under this was a
dark layer which spread over the entire area of the mound and seemed
to be filled with skeletons; in fact, the entire bottom was apparently a
mass of bones. All the earth above them being carefully removed, it
became apparent that there was no regularity or order of burial, but
that the bones were heaped together in a confused mass, it being im-
possible to trace out the individual skeletons. Many of the bones were
broken and often three or four skulls piled together. They belonged to
persons of all ages, from the young child to the aged.

The number of persons buried here was estimated at 53, as that was
the number of skulls found. All must have been deposited at one time
and hence after the flesh had been removed. The remains were probably
gathered from other temporary depositories and brought here to be
buried in one common grave.

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 363

Mound 16, 40 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, was similar to No. 15,
except that in this there were only twelve skeletons.

Mound 17, similar in size and construction to No. 16, contained at
the bottom 4 skeletons, much decayed; no relics with them.

Mound 18, 38 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, was composed through-
out of red clay; not even a change in color was noticed until the bottom
was reached. Here, in the center, was a hearth of burnt clay and
ashes about 5 feet in diameter and 5 or 6 inches thick. This layer or
bed of burnt clay was level on the top, and the ashes which lay on it
had some pieces of charcoal scattered through them.

As already stated, all the mounds of the higher ground of the island
explored were made of red clay packed very hard, and the skeletons
found in them were in an advanced stage of decay, with the exception
of those in mound No. 15, where, although in a confused heap, they
were much better preserved. It will be observed also that the skele-
tons found on the low bottom land were in better condition than those
found in the red clay mounds of the uplands. It is surmised from this
fact that the higher land formed at first the whole island, the lower
point being a subsequent addition, and that the mounds on the former
portion are much older than those on the lower point.

Some 2 or 3 acres of the lower point, which was washed bare during
the flood of April, 1886, is covered with fragments of pottery, broken
arrowheads, flint chips, broken celts, ete. At one point the soil was
all washed off down to the hard ground, exposing a floor of burnt
clay about 30 feet square and 1 foot thick. « In this could be distinetly
seen the charred ends of posts which had been set in the ground. An
examination of some of these proved them to be red cedar. They had
been set into the ground through the burnt clay to the depth of about
3 feet and some of them were still comparatively sound; all were burnt
off at the top. Unfortunately the explorer neglected to note at the time
their respective positions.

MOUND ON THE HAGLER FARM.

This stands on the lower bottom about 100 feet from the river bank
and 8 miles down the river from the preceding groups. It is imme-
diately opposite an island on one hand and a spur which runs down
from the hills on the other. A broad level bottom extends along the
river above the mound for half a mile and for 2 miles below it, but is
very narrow where the mound stands.

Although quite large, being 142 feet in diameter and 11 feet high, it
is of the round conical type and quite symmetrical. At the depth of 2
feet was a layer of burnt clay from 6 to 8 inches thick, extending over
the whole mound, not horizontally, as usual, but conforming to.the curve
of the upper surface. It must, therefore, have formed the upper layer
of the mound when it had reached this stage of its construction.

364 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Immediately below this skeletons began to appear and continued to be
found until a depth of 5 feet was reached; below this depth there were no
more indications of burial. When the bottom was reached it was seen
that a ditch had been dug in the original soil 1 foot deep and 25 feet wide,
running east and west and traceable for 12 or 13 feet. At two points,
as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 241, were lateral extensions run-
ning off at right angles on each side; these could be traced only for a dis-
tance of 4 or 5 feet. Fourteen skeletons were discovered, none of which
were at a greater depth than 5
feet, and all were below the layer
of burned clay, which did not ap-
pear to have been disturbed. All
of these skeletons were lying hori-
zontally on their backs, at full
length, and the heads of all, ex-
cept that of No. 1, toward the
north, as indicated in the figure,
which shows the respective posi-
tions of the skeletons and the
ditch below. With skeleton No.
1 were two relics, a fine spear-
head and a soapstone pipe; with
No. 5, a fine polished celt and
two small discoidal stones; with
No. 12, a singular stone tube,

Fic. 241.—Diagram of the Hagler mound, Roane

county, Tennessee. some small arrowheads, one dis-
coidal stone, and a beaver’s tooth.
All the specimens were found about the heads of the skeletons.
On the farm of Mr. R. H. Evans, 6 miles below Long island and 2
miles above the Hagler farm, are seven mounds, and 4 miles further
down, on the lands of Mr. G. B. Johnson, five.

MOUNDS AND ANCIENT CEMETERY ON THE LEE FARM.

The farm of Mr. M. G. Lee, lying on the north side of Clinch river,
about 14 miles above Kingston, contains about 1,200 acres, mostly
beautiful level land, denominated here “ first and second bottoms.”
The west side of this extensive farm is bounded in part by White Oak
creek. A mile above the mouth of the creek the land is considerably
higher along the river bank than it is farther back. This ridge or high
ground rises somewhat as it nears the point where the creek enters
the river. In times of high water the river breaks around the upper
end of the high ground and flows back of it until it reaches the creek,
but in April, 1886, the water rose to an unprecedented height and swept
entirely over this higher ground, washing off the sandy soil in some
places to the depth of several feet, exposing a number of graves and
showing that here was an ancient cemetery.

THOMAS. TENNESSEE. 365

The locality was visited immediately after this occurrence. The dark
soil had all been washed away, leaving the hard yellow sand exposed.
On the highest point of the rise could be seen a large number of skele-
tons, some still resting in their graves, but more washed out and scat-
tered over the surface, or the bones drifted here and there in heaps.
Several days were spent in examining this interesting spot and exca-
vating the graves from which the skeletons had not been removed or
washed out. All that could be determined was that they had been
buried horizontally in comparatively shallow graves dug in the original
soil for their reception. There was no regularity as to direction, some
heads being east, some west, some north, and others south. The area
covered was about 2 acres. Scattered over this were small broken
stones, arrowheads, flint chips, fragments of pottery, ete.

Mound No. 1, about 55 feet in diameter and 34 feet high, stood on a
slight elevation about one-fourth of a mile from the river, but some-
what nearer the creek. It had been plowed over for many years, bring-
ing to the surface human bones, some of which were lying on the top
when examined.

The entire mound was removed, revealing some large flat stones
near the surface. The earth about these was dark and loose, while the
remainder consisted of hard red clay. Nothing further of interest was
observed. It is apparent, therefore, that the skeletons which were
plowed up must have been near the top of the mound, which could not
have been more than 6 or 7 feet high.

Between mound No. 1 and mound No. 2, there is quite a depression,
so much so that water frequently stands here. As this mound (No. 2)
had never been plowed or disturbed, it retained its full proportions,
being 60 feet in diameter, 10 feet high, and conical in form. At the
depth of 24 feet was a layer of rather large, flat limestone rocks, extend-
ing horizontally in all directions to the margin of the mound. Imme-
diately beneath these stones lay twenty-five skeletons so close to them
that several of the skulls and other bones were crushed by them. Some
of the stones were quite large, but all of them about 4 or 5 inches thick
and some with the edges nicely squared, probably by the natural fracture,
as there were no traces of tool marks on them. The entire mound con-
sisted of red clay, but that portion above the stone platform was loose
and easily worked. About a foot above the bottom another bed of
similar stones was reached, but this covered an area only 7 feet in
diameter. Immediately under it, lying upon the original surface of the
ground, were five skeletons, slightly covered with earth, over which the
stones were laid. It is possible that after the first burial a small mound
may have been thrown up and that a considerable interval elapsed
before the second burial. That all the skeletons in a layer were depos-
ited at one time can not be doubted. The clay between the upper and
lower layers was so hard that it required the use of picks to break it
up. The skeletons in the lower layer were much decayed and crushed

366 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

by the weight of the stones resting on them. No order as to position
appeared to have been observed in either layer. No relies save a few
arrow points and discoidal stones were discovered.

Mound 3, 70 feet in diameter, 15 feet high, and conical in form, was
also explored. At the depth of 3 feet were eight skeletons so far de-
cayed that it was impossible to determine their exact positions, except
that they lay at about the same level. Near the bottom, though a lit-
tle above the natural surface of the ground, were three other skeletons
lying about 5 or 6 feet from each other. These were ina much better
state of preservation than the eight near the top. There were no
stones over the skeletons as in mound 2, nor were any relics found with
them nor in the mound.

Immediately below the mouth of White Oak creek is Jones island,
on which it is said a mound formerly stood which has been washed
away by the floods. The locality was visited, and though no traces of
the mound could be seen, large quantities of broken pottery, flint chips,
and other evidences of former occupancy were observed.

One mile below this place, on the south side, are two large mounds
situated on the point of a ridge which runs close to the river. They
are covered with heavy timber.

BLOUNT, MONROE, AND LOUDON COUNTIES.

The valley of the Little Tennessee from where it leaves the Smoky
mountains, which form the boundary between North Carolina and Ten-
nessee, to where it joins the Tennessee river in Loudon county, is
undoubtedly the most interesting archeological section in the entire
Appalachian district.

The numerous groups of mounds and other ancient works which are
found along the valleys of the principal stream and its tributaries,
appear to be intimately related to one another and are so evidently the
work of one people that it is deemed unwise to arrange them by coun-
ties; moreover, this would confuse the reader, hence it is thought best
to vary the usual rule in this instance and describe the groups in the
order in which they follow one another, commencing with the one
situated nearest the point where the river leaves the mountains,
thence moving down the stream to its junction with the Holston. In
order that the reader may understand the relation of these groups, a
map of the area embraced is given in Pl. xxy, on which they are
located. As this map is copied from one made by the geographical
division of the U. S. Geological Survey from recent surveys, and the
groups located by a special survey made under the Bureau of Ethnology
for this purpose, it may be relied upon as being more than usuaily
correct.

The river, after winding its way through the mountain gorges, enters
a beautiful valley about half a mile wide and perfectly level to the
foot of the Chilhowee mountains, to which it runs parallel for several

ONROE COUNTIES. TENNESSEE.

PLAT OF THE VALLEY OF THE LITTLE TENNESSEE RIVER. BLOUNT AND M

LEY OF THE LITTLE TENNESSEE RIVER, BLOUNT AND MON

PLAT OF THE VAL

: mK

THOMAS.] TENNESSEE. 367

miles. The first bottom as we descend is known as the Hardin farm.
On this is a tumulus now named the Hardin mound. This is located
north of the river about 5 miles above the mouth of Abrahams creek,
and nearly opposite the mouth of Tallassee creek. (No.1, PI. xxv.)
It is of the usual conical form, measuring 120 feet in diameter and
7 feet high. In this was a single adult skeleton near the center at
the depth of 2 feet, lying on its back, head east, and arms spread
out as indicated at ain Fig. 242. Lying at the right hand were a
stone pipe and a polished celt; at the left hand, a stone pipe and
nine arrowheads; at the feet, a large pot broken in pieces. On the
skeleton, chiefly around the neck, legs, and arms, were 1,039 beads,
mostly shell; 384 of
them were of large
size; a few were
fresh-water pearls.
The bones crumbled
to pieces aS soon as
an attempt was made
to remove them. No
other skeletons or in-
dications of burial
were found; but at
b, b, b, b, resting on
the natural surface
of the ground, were
four little piles of
burnt clay, one at
each of the points
indicated, forming a
square. These were
rounded at the base,
running to a sharp
point at the top; di-
ameter at the base, 2 feet, and height 2 feet. Some coals and ashes
were about each, showing that the burning had been done after they
were placed in position. There is scarcely a doubt that these remains
mark the site of the old Cherokee town Tallassee. In order that the
reader may understand the reason on which this assumption is based,
a facsimile of Henry Timberlake’s map made in 1762 is inserted here,
(Pl. xxv1.) By referring to this as we proceed in our description of the
groups along the Little Tennessee river, the reader will see the close
correspondence in locality of the Cherokee towns with these groups.

N

Fic. 242.—Diagram of the Hardin mound, Blount county, Tennessee.

THE M’MURRAY MOUNDS.

These mounds, four in number, are some 5 or 6 miles lower down than
the preceding, the first, as we descend, being on the south side of the

368 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

river. on the farm of Mr. Boyd McMurray, the others on the north side,
on the farm of Mr. Samuel MeMurray. (No. 2, Pl. xxv.) <A plat of the
area, Showing the relative positions of these mounds is given in Fig. 243,
The direction from the point a directly opposite the mouth of Abrahams
creek, to mound No. 1, on the Boyd MeMurray farm, is S. 86° W. and
distance 1,450 feet; from mound No. 1, to the point b, on the north bank
of the river, N. 53° W., 1,270 feet; from b to center of mound No. 2 on
the Samuel McMurray farm, N. 76° W., 745 feet; from No. 2 to No. 3,
N. 79° W., 520 feet; from No. 3 to No. 4, N. 79° W., 335 feet, the meas-
urements always being from center to center. Mound No. 1 is 288 feet
from the river bank; No. 2 is 173 feet; No. 3 is 258 feet; and No. 4 is
108 feet.

Mound 1, circular in form, 4 feet high, and with an average diameter
of about 100 feet, was examined by cutting a broad trench through the
center from side to side and down to the original soil. No indications
of burial were observed nor was anything of interest found, except a
large fire-bed. This was on the original surface of the ground exactly

i. AWW
i Wi \\
Ay a \\ ly

Fic. 243.—Plat of the McMurray mounds, Blount county, Tennessee.

at the center of the mound. It consisted of a layer of burnt clay
between 7 and 8 feet in diameter and from 4 to 6 inches thick, and was
covered with ashes; encircling the margin was a row of water-worn
stones. Over this bed was a layer of clay 1 foot in thickness; the
remainder of the mound was composed of dark loam like the surround-
ing soil.

Mound No. 2, whichis circular, measured 110 feet in diameter and afew
inches less than 5 feet in height. In excavating this.a trench was first
run in from the south side; before reaching the center a stone grave
or cist was found of the usual box shape. This contained an adult
skeleton, much decomposed. A trench was then carried in on the north
side, and at about the same distance from the edge was another
cist of the same character; also containing a single skeleton. At the
center, lay four uninclosed skeletons in an extended position on the
original surface; two with their feet toward the south, the other two, .
whose heads were nearly touching the heads of this pair, having their

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVI

Fart ria »

Naa ellassee:

(77 VT

ey KE Town

Ay

LOCATION OF THE
OVERHILL CHEROKEE TOWNS
made by
HENRY TIMBERLAKE
G62

A Scale of Miles

=

COPY OF TIMBERLAKE’S MAP OF OVERHILL CHEROKEE TOWNS.

THOMAS.] TENNESSEE. 369

feet toward the north. The remainder of the mound, which was com-
posed throughout of yellow sand, except a little black earth about
each skeleton, being cleared away, five other uninclosed skeletons were
unearthed, which were found in the positions shown in Fig. 244. A
few arrowheads, two polished celts, and some flint chips were found at
different points in the mound, but none were with any of the skeletons.

It was learned from Mr.
McMurray that mound
No. 4 was partially ex-
plored several years ago,
and that several stone
graves, such as those in
No. 2, were found in it.
This was probably by
Rey. E. O. Dunning, on
behalf of the Peabody
Museum. Similar graves
occur in considerable
numbers in the field
about the mounds, espe-
cially in the vicinity of
No.3; the side stones in
many cases being visi-
ble above the surface.
These are indicated by
the dotted line about 3
on the plat (Fig. 243). Several were explored but nothing found in
them, except decaying skeletons.

Mound No. 3 stood on the first bottom, in a beautiful level meadow,
about 250 feet from the river. Its form was an ellipse, measuring 150
by 122 feet, the longer axis being east and west; height 12 feet, but
considerably reduced by the plow. A thorough excavation showed its
composition, mode of construction, and contents to be as follows: The

Fig. 244.—Diagram of McMurray mound, No. 2.

aL I

LY,

Fic. 245.—Section of McMurray mound, No. 3.

top portion, to the depth of 5 feet (except a circular space in the center),

consisted of dark, sandy soil, mixed with pieces of broken pottery, flint

chippings, and charcoal. This layer, which was beneath the slight

outer covering of recent vegetable mold, did not extend down the

curve of the mound toward the base, but was horizontal on the under

side, as shown at b, Fig. 245, which represents a section of the mound.
12 ETH 24

370 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Immediately below this was a horizontal layer of charcoal (¢ c), 4 to 6
inches thick, extending horizontally over nearly the entire area of the
mound at this height, except where interrupted at the center by the
conical mass (a a). The coals composing this layer were of cane and
small boughs and very closely packed. The earth next under it was
very hard for a depth of several inches. From this layer (d d) down to
the natural surface of the ground the mound was composed of dark earth
similar to that in the upper layer (6 }), and in this part were found all
the skeletons hereafter mentioned, with the exception of No. 34. Ex-
tending down through the center from the top was a conical mass (a @)

Via. 246.—Diagram of McMurray mound, No. 3.

8 feet in diameter at the top and 4 at the bottom, composed of alternate
layers of burnt clay and ashes. The clay layers were quite hard and
slightly dished, and some of them a foot thick. The layers of ashes
each measured 4 or 5 inches. As these beds were undoubtedly burnt
in places it is plain they were made as the mound was built up. Occa-
sional small fire-beds at various depths in the entire layer (d d) bear out
this opinion.

In Fig. 246, which is a horizontal section or plan of the mound, are
shown the skeletons in their respective positions. All these, except

THOMAS. | TENNESSEE. aif lt

No. 34—the skeleton of a child—were below the charcoal bed (¢ c) (Fig.
245) and 7 or8 feet below the top of the mound. The area occupied by
them was comparatively small, probably not more than one-fifth of that
covered by the mound. They were more crowded, and more nearly on
the same fevel than is usual in a mound of this size. In some cases
they lay touching one another; for example, Nos. 18 to 22 were so
close together that Nos. 19, 20, and 21 had tobe omitted from the figure.
They were lying face up at full length, with arms in natural position
by the sides, except three (Nos. 15, 15, and 16), whose arms were turned
back so as to bring the hands to the head, By referring to the figure
it will be seen that nearly every one has the head to the east; five be
ing toward the south and two or three toward the north. There were
in all thirty-six, only eight of which were accompanied by any relies
worth mentioning. Every pot that was found stood near the head of a
skeleton; the beads and ornamented shells were about the neck or rest-
ing on the breast; the pipe, stone knife, and drilled celt were al! at the
head of No. 22; the celts and discoidal stones were generally found
about the bones of the hands.

By reference to the diagram it*will be seen that No. 32 lay near the
central shaft, and fully as deep in the mound as any other skeleton;
with this was an iron chisel, lymg on the breast; the beads about the
neck of the skeleton were so placed in relation to the chisel (which
was perforated at one end) as to lead to the belief that all of them had
been suspended on one cord.

The following is a list of the articles obtained from this mound:

With skeleton No. 9, one pot and two ornamented shells.

With skeleton No. 16, one pot, one ornamented shell, one discoidal stone, and beads.

With skeleton No. 18, two pots. :

With skeleton No. 22, one pipe, one flint knife, one drilled celt.

With skeleton No. 26, one pipe (steatite), one celt, two discoidal stones,

With skeleton No. 27, one pipe (ornamented), two celts, one chipped flint imple-
ment.

With skeleton No. 32, one perforated iron chisel, one discoidal stone, and beads,

A cemetery, consisting chiefly of stone graves, lies immediately
about thismound. Twelveof these were opened and found to be formed
of slabs of slate stone, arranged in the usual box-like shape; each con-
taining a single skeleton. The remains at this point probably mark
the locality of the old Cherokee town Chilhowey, not shown on PI. xxv.

Proceeding down the river to the mouth of Mulberry creek we find
here on the south side of the river indications of a village site. These
consist of fragments of pottery, broken stone implements, fire-beds, ete.
But there is no mound here. This is the village site No. 5, on the plat
shown in PI. xxv, and corresponds with ‘ Halfway-Town” of Timber-
lake’s map. (PI. xxvi.)

THE LATIMORE GROUP.

Moving on down the river, the next group reached is on the farm of

Mr. Latimore, on the south bank, immediately above the mouth of

372 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Citico creek. This is the upper and outlying portion of the group num.
bered 4 in Pl. xxv. A plat of the entire group is given in Fig. 247,
which includes the MeSpaddin mounds just below the creek. To show
the relation of the two groups and their immediate surroundings it may
be stated that this group consists of three mounds standing on the level
top of a spur which is about 150 feet higher than the bottom lands.

=%

Z

.

anne

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w

willy,
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Fic. 247.—Plat of Latimore and MeSpaddin mounds (Citico group), Monroe county, Tennessee.

The courses and distances between different points are as follows
(Fig. 247):

From a; the junction of Citico creek with the river, to b, at the foot of the spur,
8. 10° E., 1,476 feet.

From b to mound No. 1, §. 38° W., 310 feet.

From mound No. 1 to mound No. 2, 8. 45° W., 143 feet.

From mound No. 2 to mound No. 3, N. 10° W., 108 feet.

From b directly to the river bank, 310 feet.
Measurements between the mounds are in all cases from center to center.

Fia. 248.—Vertical section, mound No. 1, Latimore group.

Mound No. 1 was slightly oval in form, 70 feet in diameter and a
little over 8 feet high. A thorough exploration was made, bringing to
light a confused heap of human bones near the center, at a depth of
from 2 to 3 feet. In this heap, which was as compact as it could well
be of such material, were eleven skulls, indicating that at least 11
skeletons (for the flesh must have been off when deposited) had been

THOMAS.] TENNESSEE. wile

buried here. All the bones were so much decayed that only one skull
could be saved. Five feet farther down, near the original surface and
immediately under this pile of bones, was a horizontal layer, or rather
floor, of rough river stones, but no traces of coal or ashes. It was
circular, with a diameter of 20 feet. (See vertical section in Fig. 248.)

Mound No. 3 was 90 feet in diameter and 8 feet high. It as well as
No. 1 were composed of red clay. Two skeletons were found near the
center, at a depth of less than 2 feet. Nothing else of interest was

observed.
THE M°SPADDIN MOUNDS.

This section of the group, but a short distance from the preceding,
and on the same side of the river, is on the farm of Mr. T. T. MeSpad-
din, just below the mouth of Citico creek. It consists of five inounds,
located as shown in Fig. 247, bearings and distances as follows:

From ¢, at the junction of the creek with the river, to d, on the west bank of the
river, N. 22° W., 444 feet.

From d to Mound No, 4, 8. 63° W., 538 feet.

From Mound No. 4 to Mound No. 5, N. 68° W., 1,896 feet; the point on this line
where it crosses the rise to the second bottom is 550 feet from No. 5.

From Mound No. 5 to the point in the gap marked e, 8. 24° W., 793 feet.

From e to Mound No. 6, 8. 66° W., 724 feet.

From Mound No.6 to Mound No. 7, N. 65° W., 215 feet.

From Mound No.7 to Mound No. 8, 8. 39° W., 1,270 feet.

The dotted line shows the old channel of the creek, now dry; its
nearest point to Mound No. 4, is 208 feet; from the same mound to the
nearest point on Citico creek as it now runs, is 480 feet. The second
bottom is 10 feet higher than the first. The spur and hill, which seem
to have been cut off from its point in past geological time, are of con-
siderable height. Behind these is an area of level land on which
Mounds No.6, 7, and 8 are situated; No. 8 is at a considerable dis-
tance from the others, and beyond aravine. The distance from No. 4
to No. 8, by way of the gap is about three-fourths of a mile.

Mound No. 4, known locally as “Citico mound,” is the largest, not
enly of this group, but of the entire section. In shape it resembles
the half of an egg divided lengthwise, being broadest and highest
nearer one end, sloping thence by regular, somewhat curved lines. The
length is 220 feet; greatest breadth, 184 feet; greatest height, 14 feet.
It may possibly have been flat on top originally, but no satisfactory
evidence of this can be had; in fact, its present form seems to be that
which it has had from the beginning, so far as can be judged from an
examination of its structure. Asis shown in the plat, it is located
on the first bottom of the Little Tennessee, and, though often sur-
rounded by water in times of flood, was never known to be covered.
For a space of 6 or 7 acres around it the soil is strewn with fragments
of pottery, flint chips, broken stones, animal bones, charcoal, and other
refuse. Great numbers of shell beads have been picked up here, and
human skeletons have occasionally been plowed up or washed out by

374 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

high water. There is a good view of the valley for 2 or 3 miles down
the river from the top of the mound, On the second bottom, 600 yards
northwest of this, is Mound No. 5, somewhat cireular in form, 20 feet
in diameter, and 24 feet high. Immediately back of this is a high
ridge terminating in a cliff almost perpendicular on the side facing the
creek,

The other mounds, Nos. 6, 7, and 8, are on a high level back of the
ridge. There isa deep gap, about 60 yards wide, through this ridge
directly between Nos. 5 and 6, thus affording an easy passageway from
one group to the other.

The first of this group explored was No, 6, which is cireular in form,
about 80 feet in diameter and 8 feet high, and composed entirely of red
clay. The plow had thrown out 1 skeleton and penetrated to 2 others,
which were found near the surface, but so badly decayed that no part
of them could be preserved.

No. 5 was also composed of red clay, but no sign of burial was
observed, nor were coals, ashes, or anything else of interest found in it.

The large mound, No. 4, was thoroughly overhauled to the base. At
the highest point, 6 inches below the surface, was a bed of burned clay,
cirewar in form, about 6 feet in diameter and 1 foot thick, and burned
so hard as to be very difficult to break up. First, three trenches were

WiG. 249.—Vertieal section of the Citico mound (MeSpaddin, No. 4),

run in from the margin of the mound from the north, south, and west
sides intersecting at this clay bed. In cutting these, quite a number
of skeletons were unearthed, some within 2 feet of the surface, others at
a depth of 9 feet, at which depth a bed of yellow sand, slightly mixed
with clay and firmly packed, was reached; this lay on the original sur-
tace of the ground, and extended over the whole area covered by the
mound. No skeletons were found in this lower layer or under it. By
cutting the trenches in the way described the clay bed was left un-
broken until its extent and relation to what lay around it had been
ascertained. It was then found that, instead of there being a single
clay bed, this was the top one of a series of five. The one in question
was level; the others were saucer shaped, as shown at a a, Fig. 249,
each extending upward and outward to the slope of the mound, each
succeeding one larger than the one above it, the lowest measuring 12
feet in diameter. Alternating with them were layers of ashes; each
resting on its corresponding layer of clay. About 34 feet below these
was another layer of red clay (b b) burned very hard, circular in out-
line, saucer-shaped. and 3 inches thick. This did not run out to the

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. aia)

margin, though its diameter was about 20 feet. Skeletons were found
both above and below it, and some rest directly upon it.

The remainder of the mound was then removed, the result being that
91 skeletons were unearthed from the respective positions shown in
Fig. 250, which is a plat of the mound showing the plan of burials.
As will be seen from this figure, nearly all of the skeletons were
stretched out at full length without regard to direction. None of
these were inclosed, but the earth on which each rested was very
hard to the depth of 1 or 2 inches, and those lying on the clay bed, b b,
had more or less coal and ashes about them. Traces of rotten wood
were found immediately over some of them, and with one (No. 52) was

ae Oi eee

Fig, 250.—Plan of burials in the Citico mound (MeSpaddin, No. 4).

a piece of solid pine a foot or more in Jength. This was at a depth of
54 feet. Most of the articles found were lying close by the skeletons.
The bones were so much decayed that but few whole skulls could be
obtained.

The following list shows the depth and position of most of the skele
tons and the articles found with them:
No.4, depth 44 feet, face downward; 2 broken pots.
No.5, depth 74 feet, face up; 1 broken pot.
No. 6, depth 5 feet, face down; 1 broken pot.

No. 9, depth 84 feet, face up; 1 broken pot.
No. 10, depth 34 feet, face up; 2 broken pots.

No, 13, depth 7 feet, face up; 1 broken pot.

376 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

No.

16, depth 7} feet, face up, with hands resting on the breast and elbows thrust
outward. By this skeleton lay 1 polished discoidal stone, 1 stone pipe, 1
broken pot, 1 rough discoidal stone, and 1 engraved shell mask. The skull
was preserved.

.17, depth 34 feet, face up; 1 broken pot.
.18,in a sitting posture; by it 2 polished celts, 5 arrowheads, and some flint

nodules.

. 21, depth 4 feet, face up, arms extended, 1 unbroken pot, and 1 polished celt.

. 22, depth 34 feet, face up; 1 polished celt.

. 23, legs doubled up, but lying on its back.

. 24, hands folded on the breast.
25

l=

. 25, squatting posture, with feet donbled under the body.

. 26, depth 7} feet, face up; 1 pot and 2 polished celts.

.31, depth 3} feet, face up; 1 broken pot and 1 polished celt.

. 33, depth 54 feet, face up; by it 1 polished celt and 1 engraved shell. The skull

was saved.

. 34, depth 6 feet, sitting posture; by it 2 broken pots, 1 nicely polished stone

chisel, 1 discoidal stone, and 1 stone gorget.

. 35, depth 8 feet, face up; 2 polished celts; skull preserved.
. 39, depth 4 feet, face up; 1 polished celt.

. 41, 1 engraved shell.

.44, depth 8 feet, face up; 4 polished celts.

Fig. 251.—Moecasin-shaped pot, Citico Fic. 252.—Copper rattle or hawk’s
mound. bell, Citico mound.

. 46, depth 4} feet, face up; 1 discoidal stone and 1 broken pot

.51, depth 44 feet, face up; 1 broken pot.

.55, depth 34 feet, face up; 1 polished celt.

.57, depth 64 feet, face up. By this were 1 bow], 1 shell mask, 2 shell pins, 2 bone

awls or punches, and a number of shell beads.

.58, depth 5} feet, face up; 3 bone implements.
.59, depth 74 feet, face up. With this were 2 shell gorgets, 1 broken engraved

shell, 1 shell ornament, 1 shell pin, 1 bear’s tooth, and 1 discoidal stone.

. 62, depth 5 feet, face up. With it a lump of red paint, a lot of shell beads, 4

shell pins, 1 bear’s tooth, 1 discoidal stone, and 1 ornamented pot.

. 68, depth 7 feet, face up. By it 1 broken vessel with image head.
. 66, depth 3} feet, face up. This was the skeleton of a child, and with it were

found 1 moceasin-shaped pot (shown in Fig. 251), 4 copper sleigh-bells or
rattles, 1 of which is shown in Fig. 252, and a lot of shell beads. This was
buried toward the side of the mound.

. 68, depth 84 feet, face up. By this lay 3 shell pins and 1 ornamented pot.
. 71, depth 6} feet, face up. With it were 4 shell pins, a lot of shell beads, 1

lump of red paint, and 1 ornamented bowl].

. 79, depth 5 feet, face up. Skeleton of a child, With it 1 shell mask or gorget,

1 engrayed shell, a lot of shell beads, 2 shell pins, and a lump, apparently
of lime mortar,

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 377

No. 81, depth 8 feet, face up. With it 2 perfect ornamented pots, 2 shell pins, a lot
of shell beads, and a lump of red paint.

No. 89, depth 44 feet, face up. . Skeleton of a child. With it 1 pot, 1 engraved shell
gorget, 13 shell pins, 1 plain shell gorget, and 846 shell beads.

No. 90, depth 24 feet, face up. With it the bone needle shown in Fig. 253.

Fic. 253.—Bone needle, Citico mound.

Mound No. 8.—-This was almost perfectly circular, 55 feet in diame-
ter, and between 8 and 9 feet high. It was composed entirely of red
clay, and contained nothing but two skeletons, which lay at full length,
side by side, on the original soil at the center of the mound.

The two clusters just described—the Latimore and MeSpaddin
mounds—form the group marked 4 on Pl. xxv, and correspond in loca-
tion with the Cherokee town Settacoo of Timberlake’s map (P1l. xxvt).

THE BACON AND M’GEE MOUNDS.

About 4 miles below the group last deseribed, and a short distance
from the little town ss
of Mountainville, are Zi
two mounds; “tie on Ds iin gi hi HN
the north side of the VA en hy
river, on the land of
J.L. Bacon, the other
on the south side,
nearly ~ opposite, on
the land of Mrs. Ann
McGee. These — be-
long to the group
marked 5 on PI. xxv.
A plat of the area on
which they are sit-
uated is given in Fig.
254, As will be seen
from this, the narrow
valley is bounded on
both sides, at this

an HAS Ii HIN i

“ Yair) AHI

point, by high ridges. Fic, 254.—Plat of the Bacon and MeGee mounds, Blount and Monroe

counties, Tennessee.

The courses and dis-
tances between the points indicated on the plat are as follows:

From a, on the north bank of the river, where the bluft comes to the stream, to b,
also on the north bank. S. 40° W. 840 feet.

From } to mound No, 1, N, 15° W. 428 feet.

From b to c, a point on the north bank of the river, S. 82° W. 700 feet.

From e to d,a point on the south bank, due south about 350 feet.

From d to mound No. 2 on the McGee farm, 8. 12° W. 685 feet.

378 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Mound No. 2 (on MeGee farm).—This mound, which is an ellipse 70
by 55 feet in its two diameters and about 5 feet high, was composed
throughout of red clay, which must have been brought not less than
half a mile, this being the distance to the nearest point at which it
could have been obtained. The soil of the surrounding area is a rich
dark loam, the subsoil sandy.

The whole mound was removed, with the result indicated in Fig.
255. Thirteen whole skeletons were discovered in the positions shown,
generally with their heads westward, all lying on their backs, and all,
except No. 1, with their arms by their sides; No. 1 had them extended
right and left.

At ¢ lay twelve skulls on the same level, 3 feet below the surface
of the mound, touching each other, with no other bones in connection

N

Fic. 255.—Plan of burials in MeGee mound, No. 2.

with or immediately about them. At ), a little west of the center,
and resting on the original surface, was a rough wall, about 2 feet
high, built of slate stones; circular in form, inclosing a space about 9
feet in diameter. The dirt inside being cleared away, twelve skulls
and a large number of long and other bones were discovered. Eleven
of the skulls were lying close together on one side, as shown in the
figure, the other lying alone on the opposite side, but each entirely
disconnected from the other parts of the skeleton to which it belonged.
The other bones were much broken and mingled together in a promis-
cuous mass. West of the wall and near the west end of the mound
were five more skulls lying together, and amid other bones, marked a

THOMAS. } TENNESSEE. 379

in the figure. The bottom of the inclosure, which corresponded with
the original surface of the ground, was covered for an inch or two with
coals and ashes, on which the skulls and other bones rested. But
neither coal nor ashes were found outside of the wall. Ail the skeletons
and other remains outside of the wall lay a foot or more above the
original surface of the ground.

The following articles were obtained from this mound: With skeleton
No. 4, 1 ornamented pot; with No. 1, 1 polished stone ornament, 1
stone pipe, 7 arrowheads, a small lot of copper beads, 1 shell gorget,
2 perforated shells, and the fragment of a bone implement. The skulls
of Nos. 1 and 7 were saved.

As there are evidences about the McGee mound, on the south side of
the river, of a somewhat extensive ancient village, and the locality cor-
responds exactly with the site of Chote, the “metropolis” and sacred

Lal, ly

ZW ily, alll
NM, Mu \ Wi IPA
NT HAN le SAN /

NESS

Fic. 256.—Plat of the Toco mounds, Monroe county, Tennessee.

town of the Overhill Cherokees, there can be scarcely a doubt that the
remains found here pertain to that town. Mound No. 1, on the north
side of the river, is near the point where Timberlake locates an old fort
built by Virginians. It was not examined.

The mound and village site marked No. 6 on PI. xxv, immediately
below the preceding, are at the point where Timberlake locates the lit-
tle town Tennessee, which gives a name to a great river and an impor-
tant state of the Union.

THE TOCO MOUNDS,

Continuing our course down the Little Tennessee, we come next to
the Toco mounds, partly on the lands of Mr. J. L. Johnson and Mr. Cal-
laway, south of the river and just above the mouth of Toco creek and
partly below the mouth of the creek. These mounds are arranged in
two groups, one consisting of five mounds, situated above Toco creek,

380 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

and the other consisting of three mounds, situated some distance below
it, as shown in Fig. 256, which indicates the respective positions of the
works. The upper one of these groups is the same as No. 7 on PI. xxv,
and corresponds with Toqua on Timberlake’s map (Pl. xxv1). The
lower group is No. 8 of Pl. xxv and corresponds with Tommotley of
Timberlake’s map (PI. Xxvt1).

From a, a point on the south bank of the river opposite the extreme upper point
of Callaway island, to b, a point on the south bank directly north of mound No. 1,
is N. 60° W., 1,470 feet.

From } to mound No. 1, known as the ‘‘ Big Toco mound,” S., 310 feet.

From mound No. 1 to Mound No. 2, known as the ‘‘ Callaway mound,” S. 40° E.,
320 feet.

From mound No. 1 to the three small mounds, Nos. 3, 4, and 5, which are now
nearly obliterated, 8. 76°W., about 800 feet.

From the Callaway mound to the foot of the ridge, S., 600 feet.

From the point b to the mouth of Toco creek, about 600 yards,

The north side of the river is bordered by high bluffs throughout the
area shown by the diagram. No. 6 is a small mound on the top of a
bluff opposite the mouth of Toco creek.

From the mouth of Toco creek to the mouth of Swamp creek, along the bank of
the river, 1,050 feet.

From c, at the mouth of Swamp creek, to mound No. 9, 8. 48° W., 850 feet.

From mound No.9 to mound No. 8, N. 65° W., 620 feet.

From mound No.8 to mound No.7, 8. 30° W., 327 feet.

FG

Fig. 257.—Vertizal section of the Big Toco mound, Monroe county, Tennessee.

At mound No.9 the swamp is about 250 feet wide and so wet that
the mound is often surrounded by water.

Mound No. 1, which is known locally as the “ Big Toco mound,” is
an oval, 154 by 138 feet, the longer axis being east and west. Height
at west end, 24 feet; at east end, 18 feet; top flat, but sloped toward
the east, the descent at this end being much more gradual than at the
other. The length of the flattened top was 94 feet; greatest breadth,
78 feet. The north, west, and south slopes are very steep.

The elevation as seen from the south is shown in Fig. 257.

This mound was built chiefly of the dark sandy soil around it, which
continued uniform to the depth of 9 feet. Here a layer of hard yellow
earth was encountered, which continued to the original surface of the
ground. Running through this upper layer of dark sandy soil were
numerous streaks or thin layers of yellow sand and also of burnt clay,
the latter accompanied by coals and ashes. These layers were found
from within 2 feet of the top down to the depth of 9 feet. It was

THOMAS.] TENNESSEE. 381

noticeable that many of the skeletons, all of which were discovered in
this upper layer, though immediately surrounded by loose earth, had
directly over them a layer of thin burnt clay, usually broken up.

A little northwest of the center of the mound, at the depth of 2 feet,
commenced a series of hearths or fire-beds of burnt clay, with layers
of ashes between them, placed one below another, much like those
found in the large Citico mound heretofore described. These alternate

Fic. 258.—Plan of burials in the Big Toco mound, Monroe county, Tennessee.

beds continued down to the depth of 6 feet, increasing in diameter.
There were no skeletons in this series of fire-beds. (See a, Fig. 257.)
In several of the other layers of burnt clay (not the central series)
were the remains of burnt stakes which had been driven into the sur-
face of the mound when at these respective heights and the top por-
tion burnt off, leaving unburnt the part in the earth. In some cases
these had rotted out, leaving only the impressions of the wood and bark;

382 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

in others, where partially charred, the remains were distinet. Some of
these were observed within 3 feet of the surface; others at the depth of
6 feet, and at intermediate depths. There was always around the place
where these had stood a bed of coals and ashes, and in some of them
pieces of charred human bones.

Fifty-seven skeletons were discovered in this mound, the relative
positions of which are shown in Fig. 258. None were nearer the top
than 4 feet, and none, except No. 49, at a greater depth than 7 feet;
all, except Nos. 29 and 49, lay in a horizontal position, with heads in
various directions, as shown in the figure.

Fic. 259.—Bone implement, Big Toco mound,

Quite a number of clay vessels were discovered, mostly pots, which
had crumbled to pieces; some of them seemed to be perfect while in
position, but were so thoroughly soaked with water that they fell to
pieces as soon as an attempt was made to remove them. Nevertheless
by digging carefully around and heating those which appeared whole
a few were saved unbroken. Most of the celts were near the heads
of the skeletons. Sometimes, where two heads were close together, the
celt or celts were placed midway between them, either intentionally or

Fic. 260.—Bone implement, Big ‘Toco mound,

accidentally, in which case it was impossible-to decide which skeleton
they were buried with.

In every case where ajar or other clay vessel accompanied a skel-
eton it was near the head, either by the sideof the sku] or back of it.
In inost instances where beads were found they were about the neck
and breast.

sy reference to Fig. 258 the reader will observe that skeleton 49 is
near the center of the mound; that immediately around it are eight other
skeletons (Nos. 13, 14, 15, 40,45, 46,47, and 48), with their heads turned
nearly or directly toward it. About the head of 13 were the following

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 383

specimens: A polished celt; a small discoidal stone; three bone imple-
ments, one of which is shown in Fig. 259, the other two of the form
shown in Fig. 260; a stone pipe (I*ig. 261), shaped much like those in

Fia, 261,—Stone pipe, Big Toco mound. Fig, 262,—Ornamented shell, Big Voco mound.

use at the present day, and bearing evidence of long usage; and the
ornamented shell shown in Fig. 262, With No. 49, chiefly about the
head, were the following articles: Three polished celts; the stone imple-

FG. 263.—Stone implement, Big Toco mound,

ment shown in Fig. 263, finely polished; a small water bottle; a large
spearhead; a soapstone pipe (the bowl and handle had been made in
one piece, but the stem in this case was broken off and the end ground

384 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

to admit a cane stem); the pot shown in Fig. 264; an enormous shell
mask, the largest, perhaps, ever found in a mound; two small orna-
mented shells; twenty-nine bone punches or needles, similar to that
represented in Fig. 253; thirty-six arrowheads, and some very large
shell beads. The bone implements were found by the right hand, which
lay close to the right thigh bone; the rest of the articles were about
the head, except the shell beads, which appear to have been around the
body,about the hips; they were in two rows close side by side.

Fie, 264.—Pot, Big Toco mound.

Articles found by the other skeletons were as follows:

Skeleton 4, two polished celts and one discoidal stone.

Skeleton 5, one polished celt.

Skeleton 8, one polished celt, one soapstone pipe, one ornamented shell, and one pot.

Skeleton 9, two polished celts.

Skeleton 17, one polished celt.

Skeleton 18, two polished celts, one stone pipe, two pots, two engraved shells and
one shell-ornament, and a number of shell beads.

Skeleton 22, two polished celts.

Skeleton 24, one polished celt.

Skeleton 26, two polished celts, three discoidal stones.

Skeleton 27, one polished celt.

Skeleton 28, two polished celts, one pot.

Skeleton 31, two polished celts.

Skeleton 33, two polished celts, two pots, one engraved shell, three shell ornaments,
and a number of shell beads.

Skeleton 34, three polished celts.

Skeleton 36, one discoidal stone.

Skeleton 37, one polished celt, one stone pipe, one engraved shell.

Skeleton 41, one polished celt, one stone pipe, one pot, one engraved shell, one shell
ornament.

Skeleton 51, one ornamented shell, one flint implement, a number of shell beads.

Skeleton 52, one ornamented shell, one shell mask, one shell gorget.

Skeleton No. 29 was buried in a perpendicular position, head down-
ward, and rock piled on the feet, as shown in Fig. 258. The top of the
head rested on the hard stratum at the depth of 9 feet from the top of
the mound.

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 385

THE CALLAWAY MOUND.

Mound No. 2, known as the Callaway mound, stands on the level
bottom, is conical in form, 93 feet in diameter, and 6 feet high. The
soil of 8 or 10 acres around this and the Big Toco mound is very black.
This seems due to a large intermixture of charcoal. Indeed, it seems
almost impossible to step without treading on coals, fragments of

FG. 265,—Vertical section of Callaway mound, Monroe county.

pottery, broken arrow-heads, shells, and flint chips. About half way
between the mound and the river, the ground rises about 2 feet above
the usual level, and then breaks off abruptly toward the river. On
this little elevation, for a space of 50 or 60 feet in diameter, is a bed
of burnt clay, the top

portion broken up by N

the plow. It is much
harder a foot or two
under the surface than
it is on top.

Possibly it was here
the people of the vil-
lage were accustomed
to burn their pottery.
The mound was found
to be composed of loose,
dark, sandy soil, simi-
lar to that around it.
Lying on the surface or
top, immediately under
the grass, were frag-
ments of human bones,
such as pieces of the
arm and leg bones,
pieces of the skull, jaw
bones,teeth,etc. These
had doubtless been
brought up by the plow, as the mound had been cultivated for fifty
years, and was considerably worn down. In the central portion, at
the depth of about 18 inches, was a level bed of burnt clay and coals
(1, Fig. 265), which represents a vertical section of the mound looking
north (2 indicates the position of the skeletons at the bottom). This
varied from 2 to 3, or more, inches in thickness, and covered an area of
about 18 by 20 feet.

12 ETH 25

Fig. 266.—Diagram of Callaway mound, Monroe county, Tennessee.

386 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Fourteen skeletons were discovered in this mound, all lying extended
in a horizontal position, but with their heads in different directions, as
shown in Fig. 266. Some of the burials took place subsequent to the
formation of the fire bed, as a few of the skeletons were above it or
resting on it. Nos. 1 and 2 were lying face up, heads southwest, at a
depth of 18 inches. No.3 lay with the head to the northwest, about
20 inches below the surface of the mound; about the wrists and hands
were some small shell beads,
but none about the neck,
where they are usually found,
No. 4 was lying on its back,
head to the south; No. 5 with
the head to the southwest.
No. 6 was about the center
of themound and atthe depth
of 3 feet, head northeast. It
was much better preserved
than those nearer the top.
A few small shell beads were
lying about the neck and
breast. No.7 was lying face
up, head northeast, left hand
by the side, but the right
arm bent upward so as to
bring the hand above the
head. By this hand was the
water vessel shown in Figs.
267 and 268, made to repre-
sent an owl. The peculiarity
of this specimen is found in
the feather marks which or-
nament the back or portion
representing the wings. The
markings, instead of being
like those on the Zuni or Pu-
eblo pottery—although the
vessel is precisely of the pat-
tern made by the Pueblo
tribes—are of the strictly
Mexican type. This vessel
was close to the skull, and
almost touching the right hand. At each side of the head was a large
sea shell (Busycon perversum), one of them 18 inches long, the cireum-
ference at the widest part 22 inches. About the neck and breast were
several hundred shell beads. Skeleton No. 8 was lying in the same po-
sition and about the same depth as No. 7. Near the right hand were

FiG. 267.—Water vessel, Callaway mound.

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 387

five somewhat singular arrow points or drills, some of which are appar-
ently unfinished. No.9, somewhat isolated, lay north of those last men-
tioned, with head directly east; depth from the surface, 3 feet. Near
the northeast corner of the first pit, a stone wall, or rather a row of
stone slabs set on edge, was encountered, which further investigation
and a thorough removal of the dirt showed to be an oval vault (see
Fig. 266) 10 feet long and 8 feet broad. This wall, composed of slabs
of slate rock set on edge,
was about 1 foot high, the
top at the highest point 3
feet below the top of the
mound. The bottom was
completely covered with a
layer of slate slabs, as
closely fitted together as
the unworked edges would
admit of. Resting on this
floor were four skeletons,
as shown in Fig. 266 (Nos.
10, 11,12, and 13), the heads
north and northeast. With
skeleton No. 11 were some
fragments of copper-stained
wood and some pieces of
mica. Skeleton No. 14, out-
side of the vault, lay with
the head northeast.

Mounds 7, 8, and 9 really
form a separate group and
probably, as above stated,
mark the site of a village
distinct from the one on the
east of Toco creek. Nos. 7
and 8 are on a terrace some
25 feet above the water
level, but No. 9, as before
remarked, is in a swale
drained by the little rivulet
known as Swamp creek.
All are of small size.

Nos. 7 and 8 consisted chietly of yellowish sandy soil from the ad-
jacent surface; for the first 2 feet from the top this was packed so hard
as to require the use of apick. In No. 8, at a depth of 24 feet, lay the
skeleton of a child in the last stage of decay; about the head were
several shell beads. Mound No. 9, similar in construction, contained
four skeletons lying at a depth of 54 feet, and very nearly in the center

Rat

Fic. 268.—Water vessel, Callaway mound.

388 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

of the mound. With them was a large discoidal mortar stone. Noth-
ing else of interest was observed in any of them.

THE PATE MOUND.

On the north side of the Little Tennessee, a short distance above
the mouth of Nine Mile creek, and nearly opposite Old Fort Loudon, is
a single conical tumulus known locally as the Pate mound.

It is small, being only 4 feet high, with a diameter of 45 feet. Its
stratification was as follows: At the top, a layer of vegetable mold
about 4 inches thick; next, 3 feet of damp red clay; lastly, a layer of
loose, dark clay, 8 inches thick, resting on the original soil. The lower
portion of this bottom layer, to the thickness of an inch, increasing in
the center to nearly 6 inches, was much darker than the other part.
Six feet from the center, at a depth of three feet in the layer of red
clay, lay a single folded skeleton. In the lowest layer, resting on the
original surface, were three other skeletons extended horizontally, with
faces up. With these were some mussel shells and a stone chisel.

The village site on the opposite (south) side of the river (No. 9, PI.
XXV) corresponds with Toskegee, of Timberlake’s map, located in the
immediate vicinity of Fort Loudon.

THE NILES FERRY MOUNDS.

This group, consisting of three mounds, is situated on the north side
of the Little Tennessee, opposite the mouth of Tellico river and close
to Niles’s ferry, atthe cross-
ing of the old Federal road.
Fig. 269 shows their posi-
tion. Nos. 2 and 3, which
are comparatively small
and of the usual conical
type, stand on a timbered
ridge which comes to the

ANE Z/\ river immediately below
SS Z7.| the old blockhouse oppo-
SSS X\\ "1 site Fort Loudon. No.1 is
INI a very large mound, stand-

SUZ ANNYTUTTTT SSD :
: ing on the second bottom,
about 400 feet from the
river. <A single shaft was
sunk part way down in
it some years ago by Dr.
Palmer, but it has never
been thoroughly explored.
It is flat on top, 10 or 11 feet high, and about 300 feet in diameter. The
Bureau agent, expecting to return to the group the following season,

NH
\ Mt

tips,
Gy Vy ;
Wii

it
lf

FiG. 269.—Plat of the Niles ferry mounds, Monroe county,
Tennessee.

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 389

took no other notes than the courses and distances cf the mounds from
one to another and from the river.

From a, opposite the mouth of the Tellico river, to }, on the north bank of the Lit-
tle Tennessee, N. 35° W., 300 feet.

From 6 to mound No. 1, N. 30° E., 410 feet.

From mound No. 1 to mound No. 2, 8. 74° E., 1,200 feet (paced).

From mound No. 2 to mound No, 3, 8. 75° E., 550 feet.

This group is No. 11 on the plat given in Pl. xxv.

Two miles below the preceding, on the south side of the river, is a
group of three mounds, shown in Fig. 270. No. 1, conical, 53 feet in
diameter and 5 feet high,
and No. 3, similar but
somewhat larger, were

excavated and found to if

consist of hard, yellow & i ;
. S CCl
clay. In the former a few SE Sa
: \S

fragments of human bones
were found, and in the lat-
ter two skeletons. Partly
on the land about the
mound and partly on the ’
island are the indications \ Wy
of a former village. This W\
is the site of Timberlake's
Mialaquo, and is the group Fia. 270.—Group 2 miles below Niles’s ferry.
marked 10 on Pl. xxv.

It is necessary now to notice some other groups in Monroe county
before continuing our course down the river, as the next group in this
direction is in London county.

MOUNDS IN TELLICO PLAINS,

These, twelve in number, are located along the Tellico river in the ex-
treme southern part of the county, in the little basin-like valley known as
Tellico plains. Mound No. 11, on a high ridge on the east side of the
river, measured 46 feet in diameter and 6 feet high. It was composed
of the following strata: First, below the thin stratum of vegetable
mold and decayed leaves, was a layer of red clay to the depth of 3 feet;
next, a layer of dark earth varying in thickness from 6 inches to 1 foot,
but conforming to the curves of the mound. In this dark earth were
small deposits of sand and gravel, which were probably brought from
the river, each deposit being about a load for one person. Below this
dark stratum was another layer of clay, reaching to and resting upon
the original surface of the ground. In this, next to the original sur-
face, were two large lines of rotten wood, evidently the remains of two
logs. These were 8 or 9 feet long, lying parallel to one another, and 6
feet apart. Between them, also resting on the original surface of the

390 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

ground, was a single skeleton, lying at full length, head south and feet
north, the same direction as the logs, but so far decayed that the bones
crumbled to pieces when handled. There may have been a covering of
bark or brush, but nothing was observed to verify such conclusion.
Nothing else worthy of notice was discovered.

Nos. 8 and 9 were explored, but were found to be nothing more than
heaps of yellow clay with a fire-bed near the top of each. As they were
only about 40 feet in diameter and from 4 to 5 feet high, they may have
been house sites.

No. 10, 6 feet high and 48 feet in diameter, was also composed of yel-
low clay, except a limited area, a few inches thick, next the original
surface in the center. Here there was a sudden change to dark, loose
earth, covering a space about 44 feet in diameter and extending below
the original surface.

This being removed, a circular pit was revealed a little over 3 feet
deep, rounded at the bottom and 44 feet in circumference. ‘This had
probably been filled with some substance which had decayed.

MOUNDS ON THE CLICK FARM.

This small group, consisting of three mounds, is situated on the Tel-
lico river, 8 miles above its mouth, on the Click farm. Fig. 271 is a
diagram showing their posi-
tions. The river runs south
about 70 degrees east from a
short distance above the
S Z mounds to the mouth of a
‘e: WE small branch below, then
bends to about south 30 de-
grees east. There is no level
bottom land on either side ex-
cept a few acres on which
mound No. 3 stands. Nos. 1
and 2 on the north side are on
the pointof ahighridge. All

yy
Z

Za

\

22 Li three are hemmed in on all
Fic. 271.—Plat of mounds on the Click farm, Monroe —_ sides by high bluffs and ridges.
leg ed From No. 1 to No. 2 the dis-

tance is 170 feet; from No.3 to the river bank, 290 feet. All are small,
Nos. 1 and 2 being about 3 feet high, and No. 3 nearly obliterated.
LOUDON COUNTY.

Returning to the Little Tennessee, we continue our course down the

river.
MOUNDS ABOUT MORGANTON,

Next below the group represented in Fig. 270 are some mounds on

both sides.of the river, in the vicinity of the little village of Morganton;

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 391

they are marked No. 13 on Pl. xxy. There are two on the north side
of the river, on the Cobb farm, near Baker’s creek, and three on the
south side, on the Tipton farm.

Two of those on the south side were examined. They stand on the
second bottom, about 200 yards from the river and 90 feet apart. In
one, 64 feet in diameter and 7 feet high, composed throughout of red
clay, were four badly decayed skeletons, at the bottom. The original
surface of the ground on which they lay was thinly covered with coals.
The other mound was similar in every respect to the first, except that
it contained but two skeletons.

Another mound near Morganton (not given in the plat), but situated
on Mr. Samuel Lane’s farm, close to Baker creek, was examined. This,
which measured 48 feet in diameter and 4 in height, stood on the bot-
tom or lowest level of the valley, about 200 feet from the creek. The
composition. commencing at the top, was as follows: First a foot of
yellow clay, then a stratum of dark rich earth 8 inches thick, and last
a bed of lighter colored earth extending down to and resting on the
natural surface of the ground.

Below the last layer, excavated in the original soil, was an oblong
pit 8 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 1 foot deep. Resting on the bottom of
this pit were two adult skeletons with heads to the east. Near the
head of one were eight arrow points. The bottom of the pit, previous
to the deposit of the bodies in it, had been covered to the depth of 2 or
3 inches with coals and ashes. The remainder of the pit to the level
of the natural surface of the ground was filled with very dark colored

earth.
THE BAT CREEK MOUNDS.

Two miles below Morganton, on the west side of the Little Tennessee
river, Bat creek joins this stream. Both above and below the mouth of
this creek there is a pretty level valley, extending back from the river
at some points half a mile to the base of the steep hills which border it.
Immediately in the angle where the creek joins the river is a compara-
tively large mound, and on the opposite or west side of the creek are
two other mounds (Nos. 2 and 3). The first is on the bottom land, the
others on a level terrace some 20 or 30 feet higher than the first bottom
or lowest valley level; the latter are about 100 feet distant from one
another, measuring from center to center.

These (No. 14 on Pl. xxv) are on land owned by Mr. M. M. Tipton,
but are different from those previously mentioned, which are about 2
miles farther up the river.

Mound 1, measuring 108 feet in diameter and 8 feet in height, was
composed wholly of very dark soil, containing a great many small shells;
these were in fact so abundant in places as to present the appearance
of a shell heap. This condition continued to the depth of 34 feet to a
layer of hard yellow sand; under this the remainder of the mound to
the original surface, except a central, circular area 2 feet in diameter,

392 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

consisted of dark earth similar to that of the top layer. The central,
circular core consisted of a series of burned clay beds or hearths, alter-
nating with layers of coalsandashes. These extended downward from
the layer of yellow sand to the bottom of the mound. A few charred
animal bones occurred in some of the layers of ashes; nothing else of
interest was observed.

On the east side of the river, directly opposite this mound, is an
ancient village site where the soil is very dark and has scattered through
it in abundance specimens of broken pottery, flint chips, and other evi-
dences of occupancy. In several places little circles of burnt stones
may be seen lying on beds of ashes.

On mound 2, 44 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, stood a black-oak
tree 3 feet in diameter. It was composed throughout of hard red clay.
At the depth of 34 feet was the skeleton of an adult in a horizontal
position, with the head east and the arms close by the sides. The earth
immediately about the bones was of a dark greenish color and about
the breast were two metal buckles, one of them having a fragment of
leather or hide still adhering to it. On the leg bones were still to be
seen fragments of buckskin and a metal button, the latter sticking fast
to the bone.

Whether or not this was an intrusive burial could not be determined,
though the uniform composition of the mound and the size of the oak
growing above seems to be against this supposition; nevertheless, the
further discoveries made show that it was subsequent to the original
burials and not in accordance with the original plan.

At a depth of a little over 4 feet, and immediately under this skele-
ton, the top of a stone wall was reached; this was found by further
excavation to bea vault 8 feet square, built up of rough, flat limestone
rocks to the height of 5 feet above the original soil on which it rested.
On the inside, about half way down, were seven skeletons, numbered,
for convenience, 2, 3, 4,5, 6,7, and 8. No. 2 was the skeleton of a
child, horizontal, with the head to the east; Nos. 3 and 4 lying together
with the head north, one of which was a child’s skeleton, with small
beads about the head; Nos. 5 and 6 were in a sitting posture in the
northeast corner, and around the neck of one were many small shells
and large shell beads; Nos. 7 and 8 were lying in the center with the
heads close together and crushed by large flat stones which lay on
them. Nothing more was found in this vault until the bottom was
reached, where nine more skeletons were discovered, much decayed, and
lying in all directions, seemingly thrown in without any care.

Mound 3 was of small size, measuring but 28 feet in diameter and 5
feet in height. Some large sassafras trees were standing on it, and the
owner, Mr. Tipton, stated that he had cut trees from it forty years ago,
and that it had been covered by a cluster of trees and grapevines as
long ago as the oldest settler in the locality could recollect. At the
time the excavation was made there was an old rotten stump yet on

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 393

the top, the roots of which ran down to the skeletons. It was com-
posed throughout, except about the skeletons at the bottom, of hard
red clay, without any indications of stratification. Nothing of interest
was discovered until the bottom was reached, where nine skeletons were
found lying on the original surface of the ground, surrounded by dark
colored earth. These were disposed as shown in Fig. 272. No. 1
lying at full length with the head south, and close by, parallel with it,
but with the head north, was No. 2. On the same level were seven
others, all lying close side by side, with heads north and in a line. All
were badly decayed. No relics were found with any but No. 1, imme-
diately under the skull and jaw bones of which were two copper brace-
lets, anengraved stone,
a small drilled fossil,
a copper bead, a bone
implement, and some
small pieces of polished
wood. The earth about
the skeletons was wet
and the pieces of wood
soft and colored green
by contact with the
copper bracelets. The
bracelets had been
rolled in something,
probably bark, which
erumbled away when
they were taken out.
The engraved stone
lay partially under the

back part of the skull
and was struck by the Fic. 272.—Horizontal section, Bat creek mound, No, 3, Loudon
county, ‘Tennessee.

steel prod used in prob-
ing. This stone is shown in Vig. 273. The engraved characters on it
are beyond question letters of the Cherokee alphabet said to have been
invented by George Guess (or Sequoyah), a half-breed Cherokee, about
1821.

MOUND ON A HIGH CLIFF.

On top of a high cliff overlooking the river, on the opposite side and
a little above the Tipton group above mentioned, on the land of Mrs.
Blankenship, is a mound 36 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, which
at the time of exploration was covered with small trees. At the depth
of 1 foot the top of a stone wall was encountered, which was shown by
farther excavation to be an irregularly circular vault about 10 feet in
diameter, which rested on the original surface of the ground. Thered
clay which filled this vault or small inclosure was covered by a layer
of flat stones. At the bottom were six skeletons lying extended on

394 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

another layer of flat stones, which covered the bottom of this vault.
Four of these lay with the heads north, and two, an adult and a child,
with heads east. Over this stone floor, previous to burial, had been
spread a thin layer of coals and ashes.

One mile above the Tipton group mentioned, about 1 mile back from
the river, on high, level upland, was found another mound 54 feet in
diameter and 6 feet high. In the center of this mound, 2 feet below
the top, were the bones of two skeletons lying in a pile, most of them
broken and apparently buried after the flesh had been removed. A
little north of the center was a straight stone wall about 10 or 12 feet

Fia, 273.—Engraved stone from Bat creek mound No. 3, Loudon county, Tennessee.

long, 2 feet high, and a foot or more in thickness. This was not on the
original surface of the ground, but extended down. from 2 to 4 feet
below the top.

MOUNDS AT PARKS FERRY (JACKSON’S FERRY ON THE PLAT).

These are situated 10 miles east of Lenoir’s at a crossing of the Little
Tennessee known as Parks ferry. The group (No. 15, Pl. xxv) con-
sists of four mounds and five stone graves. Three of the former, which
may be numbered 1, 2, and 3, were on the second bottom, No. 4 being
on a high terrace and in the forest.

Mound 1 measured 44 feetin diameter and 7 in height. At thedepth
of 18 inches, near the center, was a partially decayed skeleton in a sit-
ting posture, without the usual dark earth about it. Continuing the ex-
cavation, the explorer passed through a layer of rather dark, hard clay
to the depth of 4 feet, reaching a layer of sticky yellow clay about 3
inches thick. This, instead of conforming to the curve of the mound,
was horizontal, as though it had been at one time the top, but did
not reach the outer surface by about a foot and a half. Below this, to
the natural surface of the ground, was a layer of lighter earth than the
clay above it. A little to the north of the center of the base was a
circular pit, 4 feet in diameter, which had been dug into the original

THOMAS.] TENNESSEE. 395

soil to the depth of 4 feet. At the bottom of this were the bones of a
child lying in a bed of wet ashes 4 or 5 inches thick. The rest of the
pit above this bed was filled with very dark, loose earth, similar to that
produced by decayed vegetable substance. Scattered through this
dark earth were lumps of some green substance which crumbled to
dust on exposure to the air.

Mound 2 was 32 feet in diameter and only 2 feet high, and consisted
throughout of light colored earth, similar to the surrounding soil.
Small bits of charcoal were scattered through it, but no indications of
burial. Beneath it, at the center, was a pit in the native soil similar
to that in No. 1, but only 3 feet deep. This was filled with very dark
earth.

Mound 3 was similar in size and every other respect to No. 2

Mound 4 was 35 feet in diameter and 4 feet high. Around it were
depressions from which it is evident the earth was obtained to build it.
Bits of charcoal were scattered all
through the red clay of which it was
composed. In the center, at the
depth of 2 feet, was a single prostrate
skeleton with the head to the north-

BAG s
east. Near the head were a fine Ea N Wi as sy IN\|
: . . . . as Mi \\\ )
steatite pipe, some flint chips, a flint hig hi

drill, and a small celt. There was,
as usual in this group, a circular pit
in the native soil about 4 feet across
and 3 feet deep, in the bottom of
which lay a folded adult skeleton,
surrounded by charcoal and ashes
and a few fragments of steatite ves-
sels.

A short distance from this group,
at the upper end of Jackson’s island, there are seven shell heaps, some
of which are 60 feet in diameter, though rising but little above the gen-
eral surface of the ground, yet by digging into them they were found
to extend downward to the depth of from 3 to 4 feet. In these were
several stone pestles, chipped flints, and other refuse material.

Fig. 274.—Mounds on John Jackson’s farm,
Loudon county, Tennessee,

MOUNDS ON THE JACKSON FARM.

About the mouth of the Little Tennessee is a series of mound groups,
mostly of the ordinary conical form, and of comparatively small size.
The first of the series represented in Fig. 274 is on the upper end of the
Jackson farm, 4 miles from Lenoir’s station, and is No. 16, Pl. xxv.

The river at this point is deep and sluggish. A small creek enters
it from the east side, flowing through a narrow bottom between high
parallel ridges. Mound No. 2 is in the bottom, close to the creek and
about half a mile from the river. It measured 60 feet in diameter and

396 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

4 feet in height, and was composed throughout of red clay, scattered
through which were gravel and small stones and a few fragments of
human bones.

Mounds Nos. 1 and 3are on opposite sides of the creek, each on ahigh
ridge. No. 1, about the same size as No. 2, had beenexplored. No. 3,
46 feet in diameter and 34 feet high, was thoroughly excavated. Like

voit No. 2, it consisted

NWI RSS wholly ofred clay.

in iN At the depth ie

IWS foot wasa skeleton

lying with head

to the south and

much decayed.
At the head

fine steatite pipe.

Nothing else was

found.

Lower down the
river, near the
ae line between
ow mrs Jackson’s farm

e yy, and the land ot
nt 4 2 Se 73, the Lenoir Manu-

TT WN facturing Com-

Mi] WS is “r
YI ANS Pany, ts the group
le TE AN gw represented in

Fig. 275. The fol-
lowing is a sum-
mary of the re-
sults of the exploration made here. The letters a, b,c, d mark the
points on the river from which courses and distances to the mounds
were taken to form the plat, which is drawn to a scale, 1—18000.

=
¥S

Fig. 275.—Mounds on John Jackson’s farm, Loudon county, Tennessee.

No. Dik umeter.| | He ight. | Composition. | Remarks.
= = =| | —————————————
Feet. Peet.
4 | 60 2 | Red clay. .-.-.- | Neither skeletons nor relies.
6 73 | ICE oad nem aracaan| Four skeletons at bottom; no relics.
7 45 Gea) Senet (ie, sae |
g 45 | Dp alesertidpy aS sacee | In each a few fragments of human bones;
| | nothing else.
9 | 45 | 3 ieee aw
10 45 3 TOO} atom
il 65 5 Foe i Samopesos | Four skeletons at the bottom; no relics.
12 48 oe | er CO eee tet | A few human bones at the bottom.

| i

A few mounds of this group had been previously explored by other
parties. This is No. 17, Pl. xxv.

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. Bi)C/

The mounds at and about the point where the Little Tennessee joins
the Holston consist, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 276, of some
three or four minor groups and several single mounds. These (with
the exception of those on the point of Lenoir’s island, which are num-
bered separately) are numbered consecutively from 1 to 16. Although

Wi

W/yy
We
AWWH//
“s)))

A
not

on HV JW Wy
AN ANS

RN

il

Wy,
{( Xi Yy YY
eo

aw!
“\

‘gassamuay, ‘Ajanoo mopnoy ‘spunou aouay oy L—'910 “1

these mounds are indicated on Pl. xxv, the groups are not numbered
there, as the locations compared with Fig. 276 will serve to identify
them.

The island contains about 200 acres, and its surface, which is level,
is about 15 feet above the ordinary stage of the river. The banks are
steep and have heavy timber and much cane growing along them. On
the northern or lower end are two mounds. No. 1, which was found to
be very symmetrical, the base almost an exact circle 100 feet in diameter
and 64 feet high. was thoroughly worked over. Init were found four-

398 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

teen skeletons, as shown in the diagram (Fig. 277). The top layer,
about 18 inches thick, consisted of dark sandy soil, scattered through
which were numerous fragments of pottery, shells, flint chips, and bits
of charcoal. Next below this was a layer, about 4 inches thick, of yel-
low clay, thoroughly burnt and very hard. This conformed to the
curvature of the mound, extending all around to the base, and entirely
covering the nucleus which formed the original mound. Below this,
and forming the nucleus, was a layer of dark, sandy soil, similar to
the outer stratum, which extended nearly to the base and rested on a
horizontal layer of burned clay, which covered the original surface of
the ground to a depth of 4 or5 inches. All the skeletons were found
resting horizontally on, or a few inches above, this bottom layer of
burnt clay or cement:

No. 1, with the head
north; about the neck
were several blue glass
beads.

Nos. 2 and 3, lying side
by side, with heads west.

Nos. 4and 5, lying side
by side, with heads east
and feet close to the feet
of Nos. 2 and 35.

No. 6, the skeleton of
a child, lying apart from
the others, with head
south; about the neck
were a number of beads,
and around the arm
bones two iron bracelets.

Nos. 7, 8, 9, and 10
were lying side by side,
touching one another, with heads to the west; with these were some
sheets of mica and a stone knife.

No. 11 was the skeleton of a child, lying apart from the others, head
southwest; there were no ornaments with it.

Nos. 12, 13, and 14 were lying side by side, with heads southwest.

Mound No. 2, like No. 1, is on the northern end of the island, but it
differs in one very important respect from any other mound so far ob-
served in this region. It has annexed to it a broad and extended ter-
race of the form shown in Fig. 278, A being the mound proper and B
the annex or terrace. It is termed “annex,” because it is evident that
the mound was first completed and the terrace added afterwards, and
not built up with and as a part of the mound.

The mound is circular, 108 feet in diameter, flat on top, and nearly
11 feet high. The terrace, which is level on top and 8 feet high, widens

Fig. 277.—Plan of burials in mound No. 1, Lenoir group.
group

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 399

as it extends from the mound, and then gradually narrows until it
comes to a point which coincides with the lower point of the island;
its length is 570 and greatest breadth 380 feet.

An explanation of the plan followed in working over this mound is
given, as it will illustrate the method adopted in regard to the others
of which figures are given. First stakes were set on the outer margin
exactly at the four cardinal
points by compass. Then on a
large pasteboard a line was
drawn representing the outline
ofthe base. The exploration was
then made by cutting successive
parallel trenches from east to
west entirely across it. When-
ever a skeleton was found it was
carefully cleaned before an at-
tempt to remove it was made,
and its position noted as accu-
rately as possible on the paste-
board. The result in this case
is shown in Fig, 279.

Theconstruction of thismound
was much like that of No. 1, on
the Jackson farm, the chief dif-
ferences being that in this case
there were three layers of burnt
clay instead of two, and there gZ
was a Shaft extending down from 4
top to bottom, filled with alter-
nate layers of burnt clay and
ashes, as shown in Fig. 280.

The central shaft, which was circular, 8 feet in diameter at the top
and 4 at the bottom, extended from the top layer of dark soil down to
the original surface of the earth. It consisted of a succession of fire
beds, the clay of one layer having been placed upon the accumulated
ashes and coals of the one below it.

The remains of quite a number of posts were found; these had evi-
dently been set perpendicularly in the surface of the mound when the
clay stratum dd formed the covering. Some of these were nearly or
quite 18 inches in diameter, others not more than 6; they were all about
on the same level. The upper ends of all were charred, showing that they
had been burned off; hence no estimate of their original height could
be made. The portion remaining varied from 2 to 3 feetin length, prob-
ably showing the depth to which they were inserted in the earth of the
mound. The lower ends of the larger ones were cut off square, but it
was not possible to decide by the marks what kind of a tool had been
used. Fig. 281 shows their relative positions. At a they were placed

\\

MI}
Pg

/)

)

——

Y's
AHN

Fic. 278.—Diagram of mound No. 2, Lenoir group.

400 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

in a circle, with a large one in the center, the circumference containing
twenty-three, somewhat regularly spaced. The diameter of this circle
was about 20 feet, with the door or entrance probably at 1. On the
other quarter, near the central shaft (d), the positions of the posts around

ao ‘ R84 Sey ae
SS ‘ ; Cat J SRE
“\\ aN 25 Cras prise

ay 2 .
38 f { oe. ie es y fesib5 S Ss
BPM oe i a oS
! pe ficods 1! 7
a je 4

Fi. 279.—Plan of burials in mound No, 2, Lenoir group.

b indicate an irregular triangular structure of some kind. On the oppo-
site side there seems to have been, judging by the remains of posts, a
small oval structure (e).

Fig. 280.—Vertical section of mound No. 2, Lenoir group.

aa, the top layer of dark sandy soil, similar to that around the mound, 14 feet thick,
bb, a thin layer of burnt yellow clay or cement, from 3 to 4 inches thick.

ec, dark sandy soil, 24 feet thick.

dd, a second layer of burnt clay, 3 inches.

ee, dark sandy soil, 1} feet thick.

ff, a third layer of burnt clay, 3 inches thick.

gg, dark, mucky soil, resting on the original surface of the ground.
h, the central shaft of alternate layers of burnt clay and ashes.
viii, remains of upright cedar posts.

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 401

Sixty-seven skeletons were discovered, all in the lowest layer (g) of
dark mucky earth and all except two lying horizontally at full length.
Although pointing in various directions, as shown in Fig. 279, which

Fic. 281.—Horizontal plan of mound No. 2, Lenoir group.

represents their respective positions, it will be noticed that most of
them have their heads toward the center of the mound. No. 11 was in
a sitting or squatting posture, and No. 46 folded up, lying on the right
side. The bones of the left leg of No. 27 were wanting.

Fic. 282.—Ornamental pot, mound No. 2, Lenoir group.

The appearance of a number of these skeletons indicated the follow-
ing method of burial. The body of the deceased was covered with a
layer of cane or brush; over this was spread clay or cement in a plas-
tic state, and upon this a fire was built.

12 ETH—— 26

402 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The pots were generally found at the head of the skeleton, but the
fine ornamented one (Fig. 282) was lying on the breast of No. 7, while
a flint knife, some red paint, and wampum
beads were about the head. The pipes
were generally close to the head. In one
or two cases they lay with the bones of the
hand. The large shells were always on the
breast or close to the neck, indicating that
they had been worn attached to a cord
about the neck, on which shell beads were
strung. The shell ornaments (like that
shown in Fig. 253) were in every case at
the sides of the head, and, as not one was
found with a skeleton without finding its
counterpart, it is assumed that they were
ear ornaments. The long-pointed shell or-
naments, such as that shown in Fig. 284,
were always found at the back of the head,
as though they were used as hair orna-
ments.

The following is a list of specimens from this mound, showing the
particular skeleton with which each was found:

Vic. 283.—Shell ornament, mound No.
2, Lenoir group.

Shell heads, from skeleton No. 2.

Large shell, from skeleton No. 3.

Very fine ornamented pot, flint knife, red paint, wampum beads, from skeleton
No. 7.

Two fine pots, from skeleton No. 10.

Beads and shell ornament, from skeleton No. 11.

Large shell beads, three copper ornaments, from skeleton No. 12.

Pipe (Fig. 285), from skeleton No, 20.

Eleven arrowheads, from skeleton No. 24.

Large flint spearheads and wampum beads, from skeleton No, 25.

FiG, 284.—Shell ornament, mound No. 2, Lenoir group.

Large pipe and bone implements, from skeleton No. 29.

Shell ornaments, from skeleton No, 54,

Shell ornaments, from skeleton No, 35.

Shell ornaments, from skeleton No. 36.

Flint knife and broken red pipe, from skeleton No. 37.

Six polished celts, red stone implement, and two steatite pipes, from skeleton No. 39.
Bone implements, from skeleton No. 41.

Two engraved shells, from skeleton No. 43.

Two engraved shells (fine) and shell ornament, from skeleton No. 44.

Pot, from skeleton No. 45.

Fine shell, double pot, long pot, and moccasin-skaped pot, from skeleton No. 49,
Large arrowhead, from skeleton No. 50,

™HOMAS.] TENNESSEE. 403

Fine pot, steatite pipe, shell ornaments, stone ax, clay ornaments, skull, and two
discoidal stones, from skeleton No. 53.

Two discoidal stones, celt, two steatite pipes, and a pot, from skeleton No. 61.

Two spearheads and two large beads, from skeleton No. 62.

Flint knife, iron chisel, large discoidal stone and skull, from skeleton No. 63.

The terrace connected with this mound, and already described, was
oaly partially explored, further work being prevented by high water.
In a single trench, 24 feet long and 10 feet wide, cut lengthwise in the
center to the original surface, 9 skeletons were discovered. The first
was that of a child at a depth of 18 inches; the bones were badly
decayed and unaccompanied by relies of any kind. The other 8, all
adults, were found at the depth of 7 feet, close to the bottom, and in a
much better state of preservation than that of the child. With them
were three whole pots and a few broken beads.

Fic. 285.—Pipe, mound No, 2, Lenoir group.

The island was overflowed in 1887, the year the exploration was
made, to a depth of 10 or 12 feet, the highest water, with one exception,
ever known here.

Mounds 13 and 14, in the bottom between the two creeks opposite
the mouth of the Little Tennessee, were explored and both found
to be composed throughout of red clay. They were of the ordinary
conical form, the former 54 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, the latter
46 feet in diameter and 2 feet high. In the center of the former, at the
base, was a single skeleton resting on a circular layer of ashes, about 4
feet in diameter and 2 inches thick, which had been spread on the orig-
inal surface of the ground. Nothing was found in No. 14.

By reference to the plat (Fig. 276) it will be seen that there are nine
mounds (Nos. 1 to 9) on the point between the Holston and the Little
Tennessee. They are situated on a low ridge in groups of three.

No. 4, 42 feet in diameter, 34 feet high, was excavated, and, like all
the upland mounds in this section, consisted wholly of red clay. It
contained neither skeleton nor relic.

No. 1, measuring 45 feet in diameter and 2 feet high, is situated on

404 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the brow or highest point of the ridge, where it breaks off toward the
Little Tennessee. The body of the mound consisted of red clay, except
immediately in the center, where there was a circular bed about 6 feet
in diameter, of darker colored earth, which was quite loose, the other
part ofthe mound being very hard. This loose earth did not cease at
the original surface of the ground, but continued downward to the
depth of 4 feet; the pit into which it extended was circular and at the
bottom were the remains of a single skeleton. With these remains
were a fine steatite pipe, one large spearhead, seven arrowheads, one
long polished stone, and some red and black paint.

Nos. 5 and 6 were opened and found to consist as usual of red clay
with a few human bones in each.

Nos. 7, 8, and 9 had been examined previously.

Want of time prevented any further examination during this visit of
this interesting group. Subsequently some other mounds not desig-
nated on the plat were examined.

One of these, lying between the Little Tennessee and Holston, near
their junction and connected with a group of three, measured 38 feet in
diameter and 6 feet in height. It was surrounded on the east and west
by depressions from which it is probable the earth was taken to form
it. Two large black-oak trees were growing on it. At the depth of
1 foot a small pile of human bones was discovered. These were all
broken, and had evidently been placed here after the flesh was removed.
The entire mound was composed of red clay and contained nothing of
interest.

There are two mounds on top of a high bluff in what is known as Hall’s
bend, on the south side of the Tennessee river, opposite Lenoirs island
(Nos. 15 and 16, Fig. 276). One of these, 26 feet in diameter and 3 feet
high, and surrounded by a ditch about a foot in depth, was explored.
A foot below the top a layer of flat stones extending over the mound
was reached. Below this the remainder, to the bottom, consisted of dark
soil. A circular pit 3 feet. in diameter and 2 feet deep extended into
the native soil; in this were two adult skeletons in a sitting posture,
side by side, pressed closely one against the other in consequence of
the small space. At the head of one was a fine marble pipe, and at the
bottom among the leg bones of the skeletons were several rude arrow
points. The earth in the pit was very dark and unctuous.

MEIGS COUNTY.
THE MSANDREWS MOUNDS.
This little group, consisting of but two mounds, is on the farm of Mr.
Joseph McAndrews, in the southwestern part of the county, 1 mile from
Brittsville, and stands on the terrace or upland bordering the river bot-

tom.
Mound 1, which stands a short distance from a creek, is elliptical in

THOMAS. ] TENNESSEE. 405

outline, 49 by 39 feet, the longer axis north and south, and a little over
7 feet high. A broad trench carried through it, down to the original
soil, showed its construction to be as follows:

First, a top layer 12 inches thick of soil similar to that of the surface
about the mound; next a layer, 18 inches thick, of red clay mixed with
gravel; and lastly, a central core, 5 feet thick, of dark, rich-looking
earth, with much charcoal scattered through it. This core, which was
conical and rounded, was but 17 feet in diameter. It contained nothing
of interest except a single stone grave, built of steatite slabs. This
was at one side of the center, partly in the central mass and partly
in the clay. It was 4 feet long, 2 wide, and 1 deep. In it lay a single
adult skeleton, folded, with head south. Although there was a top
covering of steatite slabs, the cist was filled with earth and the bones
were far gone into decay. A fire had been kindled on the top slabs;
this had left a small bed of ashes a foot in diameter and 2 inches
thick, in which were a few pieces of charred sticks and the partially
salcined bones of some small animals. The bones of the inclosed
skeleton showed no signs of fire. The mound, which has been plowed
over for a number of years, was formerly surrounded by a ditch, traces
of which are still visible; this appears to be unusual in this section.

Mound No. 2, circular, 38 feet in diameter and 8 feet high, is situated

about one-fourth of a mile northeast of No. 1, on a high terrace.

' A trench through the central portion brought to light nothing of
inportance, except the fact that it was composed of dark-red earth
similar to that around it. The bones of a human skeleton were found
at a depth of 3 feet. They were heaped together, in which position
they may have been buried, or else they were the remains of a body
that had been buried in a sitting or squatting posture. As the earth
was loose above them, it may have been an intrusive burial. There
were particles of charcoal scattered through the dirt.

The chief interest in this mound arises from the fact that it appears to
have been a signal station. At least, it is a point well adapted to this
purpose, as it commands a fine view of the opening in the ridges some
6 miles to the northwest, through which the Hiawassee flows into the
Tennessee. Directly in front of this opening, in the mouth of the
Hiawassee, is a large island containing between 500 and 600 acres. On
the head of this is a large mound about 35 feet high. This latter
locality seems to have been a place of much importance to the people
who erected these struetures, probably where they assembled for feast-
ing, consultation, or ceremony. A fire signal at No. 2 could easily be
seen from this place.

Two other mounds, on the farm of Mr. T. J. Watkins, in the same
part of the county, were examined, but presented nothing of interest.
They were both unstratified, and composed throughout of red earth
like that on which they stand. One was circular, 32 feet in diameter
and 4 feet high; the other oval, 40 by 20 feet, and 5 feet high.

406 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

RHEA COUNTY.
THE FRAZIER MOUNDS.

The two mounds composing this group are on the farm of Mr. Sam-
uel Frazier, north of the Tennessee river, in the southern part of the
county, 3 miles south of Washington. They are located on the second
bottom, about one-fourth of a mile from the river.

Mound No. 1, circular in outline, was only 30 feet in diameter and 5
feet high. This was thoroughly worked over and found to be composed
throughout of red clay, and to contain ten stone cists, placed as shown
in Fig. 286. These were made of thin slabs of limestone, with bot-

tom and covering of

the same. They dif-

fered somewhat from

the usual form, being

from 20 to 24 inches

square and from 12 to

7 ie 24inchesdeep. Hach
a contained the bones
of a single skeleton,

eal in most cases of ad-

ai wlts. In every in-

= stance, the head was

at the bottom, the

ey other bones being

(a [] placed around and

above it. All the
space not occupied
L ] ia by the bones was
filed with dirt. No
relics were found.

Fig, 286.—Plan of burials in mound No. 1, Frazier group, Rhea As will beobserved
county, Tennessee. i :

N

by reference to the
figure, the graves were confined to the southeastern portion of the
mound. Those nearest the center were about a foot below the surface
of the mound, while the stones of those nearest the margin were par-
tially exposed. This was probably owing to the amound’s having been
considerably worn down.

Mound No. 2, which stands 40 feet from No. 1, is also small, being
but 27 feet in diameter and 3 feet high. It had been opened by other
parties, and, according to report, found to contain stone graves similar
to those in No. 1. This was verified by an examination, as the bottom
and side pieces of a number of them were found still in place. These
were scattered throughout the mound, and their number must have
been considerable.

These small cists will probably recall to the minds of archeologists

THOMAS. | WEST VIRGINIA. 407

the so-called “ pigmy graves” about Sparta, in the same state, which
excited so much interest and surprise many years ago, when they were
discovered,

WEST VIRGINIA.
FAYETTE COUNTY.
THE HUDDLESON INCLOSURE.

This work, situated on the farm of Mr. A. Huddleson, across the
Kanawha river from Mount Carbon, is shown in Fig. 287. It consists
of an inelosure cireular in
form 1,344 feet in cireumfer-
ence, or about 430 feet in
diameter, and is located on ait, obit, Wiig WA ili y Wp ilgslillf Il
smooth bottom land above }" LCS LLAMA TAM HRT
the overflows of the river.
The surrounding wall, which

consists of earth like the \\iny a
surface soil about it and a iii Wy
mixture of mussel shells Mo" Win ay,
similar to those now found = CZ

in the Kanawha river, was
formerly some 3 or 4 feet
high, but has been reduced
by long cultivation to a mere

trace. =
: . p Se
Ata is an ash pile 4 feet Wy Wy
yf Ws
high surmounted by a long Uy HOw
flat rock. At b was found a COTTTTTTTTTTTN\
box-shaped stone cist at the

depth of 1 foot below the FG. 287.—Huddleson’s Circle, Fayette county, West
surface. Rude stone hoes, a

flint lance and arrow heads, fish darts, and other stone implements
were found scattered over the ground.

Rock etchings are numerous upon the smooth rocks near the prinei-
pal fords of the river. Most of these are covered by water during the
freshets. Others are found in the niches or long narrow clefts in the
rocky cliffs. Although rude representations of men and animals and
some probably symbolic figures are common here, none were observed
superior to or essentially different from those of modern Indians

ROCK CIRCLES.

On the summits of nearly all of the prominent bluffs, spurs, and
high points of this region are heaps of large angular stones. Unlike
the loose cairns of the plains of the northwest and elsewhere, these

408 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

appear to have been systematically constructed for some particular
purpose, with a circular well-like space in the middle.

First, the earth (unless the place selected is a bare rock) is removed
to the solid rock foundation and an approximately level space from 10
to 30 feet in diameter formed. Centrally on this was placed a layer of
flat stones, with the best edge inward, around a circle about 3 feet in
diameter. Upon the oater edge of these, others
were placed with their outer edges resting upon
the prepared foundation running entirely around
the circle. Then another inner layer with the
best edge inward and the thinner edge resting
on the outer layer, the stones of one layer break-
ing joints with those below, as far as the size
‘and form would admit of it. Outside of the
inner row and with the edges resting on it other

ig os
. & circles were added, until a diameter ranging
= from 20 to 50 feet, or even more, was attained;
3 thus often extending upon the sloping earth not
“ vemoved in forming the foundation. The last,
= or outer cirele, usually consisted of but a single
2 layer, over which earth was thrown, being some-
= times heaped up until it equaled in contents
= one-half the rock pile. The height of these piles
£ was found to vary from 4 to 8 feet, in one or two
= instances reaching 10 feet. But in all cases the
z circular space or opening in the center continued
. to the top the same diameter as at the bottom,
= somewhat resembling the so-called “ wellholes”
% of the early western pioneers.
4 Many of the stones used in these heaps have
: ; evidently been obtained by rude quarrying in
5 i & the stratified cliffs, often half a mile distant.

Some of them measure from 4 to 6 feet in length,
half as wide, and of a thickness which renders
them so heavy as to require from two to four
stout men to handle them. Beneath the some-
what upturned edges of many of these stones in
the different layers are frequently found the
decayed (and often charred) remains of human
skeletons, usually horizontal, with the head or
feet (generally the latter) toward the central “ wellhole.” With these
were generally found fragments of coarse pottery, rude, but very large
celts; also lance and arrow heads, and occasionally rude clay or stone
pipes, but rarely, if ever, stone hoes or other agricultural implements.
All the cavities of the heap not originally used for burial are filled with
earth or mortar, often well baked by fire.

THOMAS. ] WEST VIRGINIA. 409

As typical of these heaps, Fig. 288 a b is given, showing one of the
most perfect observed, which was thoroughly examined, carefully
measured and sketched. At ait is shown as it appeared before being
opened; at b is a vertical section showing the central cavity or “ well-
hole.” This heap was found upon a rocky spur of Mount Carbon at
the height of fully 1,000 feet above the river level, a point overlooking
the valley of the Kanawha, and from which the latter could be dis-
tinetly seen for several miles both above and below. It measured 42
feet in diameter at the base and 6 feet 8 inches high on the inside of
the well, which was in the center, and a trifle less than 3 feet in

Fic. 289.—Stone heap with two cavities, Fayette county, West Virginia.

diameter throughout. Although open at the top at the time it was
examined and containing only an accumulation of decayed bones and
rubbish, there were stones out of place and scattered about it sufficient
in number to have finished it out and capped it over as indicated by
the dotted lines in the figure. Whether they were used to complete it
as indicated by these dotted lines is a matter of conjecture only.
Although rock heaps of this class generally have but one *‘ wellhole”
in them, we occasionally meet with one having two, as shown in Fig.
289. As arule these piles are much less perfect than those shown in
the figures, most of them being in a more or less disturbed condition.

Fic. 290.—Section of stone heap with triangular cavity, Fayette county, West Virginia.

A somewhat different type of these heaps from that described is
occasionally observed, especially on the sharp, rocky ridges. A section
of one of these is shown in Fig. 290. These, which have a triangular
cavity, were undoubtedly burial places, and were not built up with the
care bestowed upon the others.

ANCIENT STONE WALL UPON MOUNT CARBON.

About 1,000 feet above the town of Mount Carbon are heavy and valua-
ble veins of coal. Some hundreds of feet above these are the remains
of an ancient stone wall, the tortuous course of which can be followed

410 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

along the steep face of the mountain fully a mile. then across its sharp
summit and a like distance upon the other slope. It is said that it can
be traced fully as much farther in such a manner as to connect the ends,
and thus inclose a large area of the higher portion of the mountain.
Little of this wall is now in place, it rarely being more than 1 or 2 feet
in height, but the line of flat rocks strewn over a space of many feet
in width, and often far down the mountain slope, indicates material
largely in excess of that in an ordinary stone-wall fence. When dis-
covered by the early white rovers of this region, something more than
a century ago, many portions of it were, as affirmed both by history and
tradition, intact and 5 or 6 feet wide and high, although amid timbers
as large as found elsewhere upon the mountain.

ROCK CIRCLE.

On Armstrongs creek, half a mile above its junction with the Ka-
nawha, are the remains of an interesting rock heap inside of a circle.
The latter is fully 100 feet in diameter, and after the removal of mate-
rial therefrom for nearly a half mile of stone fence is still 15 to 20 feet
wide and 3 to 5 feet high. Central within this are the remains of what
the oldest living white men and the early records and traditions of this
region represent as having been a rock heap 25 or 30 feet in diameter
at the base and 10 feet high, and similar to that shown in Fig. 288,
except that the cap or cover was still in place when first observed.
The explanation of this is supposed to be found in the fact that there
was a passageway large enough to admit aman extending from the
outside to the inner space.

KANAWHA COUNTY.
CLIFTON WORKS.

The Kanawha, as is usual with streams in hilly sections, meanders
between blufts, leaving a bottom now on this side and then on that.
Such places have ever been the chosen haunts of the aboriginal tribes.
A typical one of these bottoms is on the south side of the river, on
which the present village of Clifton is located. Excavations made
here for cellars, walls, and other purposes seldom fail to bring to light
human bones, fragments of pottery, stone implements, and other evi-
dences of previous occupancy. Several days were spent in making
excavations here, finding marked uniformity in the earth and its con-
tents. The sandy soil, which extends to the depth of 4 and 5 feet, was
found to be literally filled with charcoal, ashes, fragments of pottery,
entire and broken stone implements, ete. Although resembling in
character a refuse heap, it is probably a village site or camping ground,
occupied continuously, or season after season for a long time, by a band
of aborigines, but so far back in the past that the entire area was
overgrown with the largest timber of the valley when first visited by

THOMAS. ] WEST VIRGINIA. 411i

white men, nearly a century and a half ago. Commingled with these
relics, at a depth of from 2 to 4 feet, were found several medium-sized
skeletons in various stages of decay. All were lying extended on the
back or side, but in no regular order in respect to each other or the
points of the compass. With some of these were quite a number of
large beads (probably used as rattles), made by cutting short sections
of the leg bones of small animals and bones of birds. These, one bone
fishhook, and several bone bodkins, found near the surface, are but
slightly decayed, and are probably the work of Indians.

ROCK WALL.

Between the Kanawha river and a branch of Paint creek is a high,
irregular ridge, something more than 1,000 feet above the village of
Clifton. The end near the village widens out suddenly in the form of
a short paddle. The comparatively level top, surrounded on all sides
by steep bluffs, offered a position easily defended. The more sloping
front, which was the only assailable point, was defended by a stone
wall running along the brow from the eastern to the western bluff,
a distance of 266 paces, or nearly 800 feet. As but little of it is now
standing, its original dimensions can not be accurately determined;
but judging by the quantity of flat stones still in place and strewn
along the hillside below the wall, and the statements of persons who
saw it when but little injured, it must have been at least 5 or 6 feet
high and constructed like an ordinary stone fence. There is no trace
of a gateway in it, nor are there any indications that a wall ever existed
across the narrow neck behind the paddle-shaped expansion.

BROWNSTOWN WORKS.

On the site of this village, just below the point where Len’s creek enters
the Kanawha, are traces of an ancient earthen inclosure. Being more
or less covered with dwellings and other structures and almost entirely
worn away, it was impossible to trace the wall with sufficient accuracy
to plat it, but it probably inclosed some 6 or 8 acres. It is said that a
part of it was utilized for defense by the early white settiers. In the
streets and gardens and in the washed bank of the river numerous
relics have been found similar to those observed at Clifton. It is also
said that certain brass ornaments have been discovered here associated
with stone implements and decayed human bones, but none of these
were seen.

LEN’S CREEK MOUNDS.

There are a number of mounds in the deep valley of this creek, of
which one only was opened, and this because of its peculiar situation,
being located where the valley is so narrow as scarcely to allow a road-
way between the creek and the bluff. Although scarcely 20 feet in
diameter at the base and fully 7 feet high, and otherwise peculiarly

412 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

modern in appearance, it bears on its top a beech stump 30 inches in
diameter. The material was yellow clay, evidently brought from an ex-
cayation in the hillside nearby. Onthe natural surface, near the center,
lying horizontally on their backs, heads south, were the skeletons of
six adults and one child. All were thoroughly charred and without any
earth intermingled with them, but covered with ashes and several
inches of charcoal and brands. Itis evident that the fire was smothered
before it had fully burned out. Three coarse lance-heads and a fish
dart were found amid the bones of the adults, and at the neck of the
child three copper beads made of thick wire bent in a circular form.

ELK RIVER WORKS.

On the opposite side of Elk river and 1 mile north of Charleston there
is a circular inclosure 200 feet in diameter, the wall, after many years’
cultivation, being still from 3 to 4 feet higher than the nearly obliter-
ated ditch which runs along the inside of it. From this ditch the sur-
face rounds up a foot or so and continues at this height all over the
central area. The inside of the wall is quite steep, while the outside
slopes off very gradually except on the north side, which runs close to
the face of a rocky cliff. The only opening or gateway in this wall is
on the east and is guarded by a conical mound 50 feet in diameter and
5 feet high. Strewn over the top of this mound were numerous frag-
ments of flat stones, many of which were marked with circular pits.
The removal of these only disclosed others, which were mingled with
very hard yellow clay, charcoal, ashes, stone chips, and fragments of
rude pottery. Near the center and 3 feet below the top of the mound
a decayed human skeleton was found, lying horizontally in a very rude
box-shaped stone coffin. Beneath this were other flat stones, and under
them charcoal, ashes, and baked earth, overlying the charred remains
of at least three or four other skeletons. These, judging by what
remained of them, must have been laid on the natural surface of the
ground with the heads eastward.

Four miles farther up Elk river, on the summit of a low pass, over
which ran an ancient trail, was a small conical mound 30 feet in diam-
eter and 5 feet high. This had previously been opened to the depth of
3 feet, and, as was afterward learned, a human skeleton and fifteen or
twenty copper beads found. Carrying the excavation down to the
natural surface a single, much decayed, adult skeleton was discovered,
but nothing else.

Two miles above the preceding is a group of small conical mounds
from 2 to 3 feet high and from 20 to 30 feet in diameter. Some of these
were opened, but nothing of interest observed except that on the nat-
ural surface of the earth beneath them was always found a layer of
charcoal and ashes, among which were fragments of bones.

Midway between these and the one in the pass is a group of five
mounds. One of these, 50 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, was opened

THOMAS. ] WEST VIRGINIA. 413

and found to be composed of yellow clay so hard that it was difficult
to break it up with a pick. Upon the natural surface was a layer of
charcoal and ashes in which were the remains of at least two skeletons.

INCLOSURE NEAR ST. ALBIN.

Near St. Albin, in a horseshoe bend of Coal river, 2 miles above its
confluence with the Kanawha, is a bold promontory 300 feet high, be-
longing to the farm of Mr. B. Inman, the area of the top being some
15 or 20 acres. It is connected with the upland behind it by a long
ridge so narrow in places as scarcely to afford room on top for a wagon
track.

Here what was possibly a “ graded way” was traced along and near
the outer edge of this promontory, past several small conical mounds
and rock heaps to an inclosure upon the highest part. This is near the
northern end and less than 100 feet down the rocky eastern hillside,
where there is one of the finest springs of this section. This inclosure
is circular in form and 104 feet in diameter, with a slight ditch inside
the wall, which is steep on the inside and from 5 to 4 feet high. This
wall is broken only in the northwestern part, where there is a gateway
12 feet wide. In the center of the inclosed area is a mound 20 feet in
diameter and 3 feet high.

Mr. Wilson, an old resident, affirms that when he was a boy this
work, in common with the rest of the hill, was covered with a heavy
growth of forest trees. These were long since cut down, and as the
land has never been cultivated the area is now covered with a growth
of young timber. He had partially opened the mound in his boyhood,
and the flat sandstones which he then removed from the top are still
lying at the foot. Observing a singular groove across the stones still
in place, as well as those removed, Col. Norris, the explorer, replaced
the latter and found that when properly fitted a-clfipped groove or
gutter 5 inches wide and nearly as deep was continuous across them
from the summit to the bottom. The object the builders of the mound
had in view in working out this channel, which must have taken along
time with their rude tools, must be left wholly to conjecture, as there
was nothing in or about the mound to give a clue to it. The mound,
which was composed of light colored, mortar-like material, apparently
amixture of clay and ashes, extended down 6 feet below the natural
surface. At this depth was found a single adult skeleton in the last
stages of decay, lying prostrate on its back. In the hand of the out-
stretched right arm was a black slate gorget.

Two hundred yards south of the inclosure, upon the slope, near the
ancient roadway, stood another mound about 50 feet in diameter and
6 feet high. This was composed of hard, tough clay to the natural
slope, and below it was a vault or pit which had been excavated before
the mound was thrown up. This was 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, and
about 3 feet deep at the upper end. In it was an adult skeleton

44 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

on its back, with head uphill (north). Upon the breast was a well
formed and well finished sandstone gorget, and on it a black, leaf-
shaped flint implement and a small hematite celt. No bones of the
right arm were found alongside those of the body, but a careful search
resulted in finding them in a line of ashes running out at right angles
from the shoulder. Upon the bones of the open hand were three piles
of small, black flint knives, five in each pile, all with the points turned
toward the shoulder.

Two other conical mounds and one rock heap at this place were
opened, but nothing of interest was found in them save fragments of
bones in beds of coals and ashes on the natural surface of the ground.

The ancient roadway, which in several places upon the sloping side
of the hill is truly a “ graded way,” seems to have been fully 20 feet
wide, somewhat rounded in the middle, and rather higher than the
natural surface. On the slope the lower side is graded up and sus-
tained by a line of flat stones, and the upper side cut down precisely
as a modern roadway is formed. The oldest settlers, when they first
came to this region, found it covered with forest trees, as were the
other ancient works. The entire length of this road was originally
about half a mile, but a portion of it has been obliterated by cultiva-
tion. Possibly this is an old military road.

ANCIENT WORKS NEAR CHARLESTON.

Along the Kanawha river from 3 to 8 miles below Charleston are
the most extensive and interesting ancient works to be found in the
state of West Virginia. They consist of fifty mounds, varying in
diameter from 35 to 200 feet and in height from 3 to 35 feet; some
eight or ten inclosures containing from less than 1 to fully 30 acres;
circular, clay-lined pits from 6 to 8 feet broad and as many feet in
depth, and box-shaped stone cists. All are found on the upper river
terraces beyond the reach of the highest floods. A plat of the group
from Mr. Middleton’s survey is given in Pl, XXvil.

Upon a commanding height, overlooking alike the village of Spring
Hill and all of these works, is an ancient inclosure containing about 20
acres. There are also on most of the high and jutting points of the
bordering bluffs—here from 200 to 400 feet high—rock heaps 30 to 90
feet in diameter and 4 to 8 feet high.

For convenience the mounds and inclosures are numbered generally
down the valley, commencing with the Criel mound (No. 1, Pl. xxv).
Those not corresponding to this order were added from a subsequent
examination.

An enlarged plan of this mound and the works immediately around
it is given in Fig. 291, and a section of the mound itself farther on in
Fig. 292.

Inclosure a is 556 feet in circumference, with a surrounding earthen
wall and interior ditch. The wall, where undisturbed by the plow, is

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXVII

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PLAT OF GROUP NEAR CHARLESTON, KANAWHA COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.

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THOMAS.] WEST VIRGINIA. 415

from 2 to 3 feet high and, as usual with the walls of inclosures, quite
steep on the inside and sloping on the outside. At the south, facing
mound No. 3, is a well-defined gateway. Touching it on the outside
at the southeast is a circular excavation (p) 95 by 75 feet in diameter
and 5 feet deep in the center.

In the center of the inclosure is a conical mound (No. 2) 50 feet in
diameter and 3 feet high. A shaft was sunk in the center of this down
to and below the natural surface. Only hard-baked earth was found and
at the base a few bones, some of which were human.

Mound No. 3, which faces the southern gateway of the inclosure, is
conical in form, 25 feet in diameter, and 3 feet high. This was opened
by cutting a broad treiich through it down to the natural surface, show-
ing it to be a gray material, probably earth mixed with ashes and, near

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the bottom, well baked by fire. On this part, which covered the frag-
ments of two human skeletons, were ashes, coals, and firebrands.
The remains of the skeletons were lying extended on the natural sur-
face, and with them were a lance head, a few fragments of pottery, and
some stone chips.

Inclosure B, according to Col. Norris, situated about 600 feet south-
west of A, is of the same size and form as the latter, but is so nearly
obliterated by the plow that only a few faint traces remain. It seems
to have had an inside ditch and a gateway opening toward the north-
west, opposite which stands mound No. 4 of the plat. It is proper to
state, however, that Mr. Middleton failed to find sufficient traces of
this inclosure to justify giving it exact form on his plat.

Mound No. 1, locally known as the “Oriel mound,” is midway be-

416 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

tween the two inclosures, about 300 feet from each. The top was lev-
eled in order to erect thereon an office and judges’ stand in connection
with a race course about it. It is 520 feet in cireuit and 33 feet high,
being, with one exception, the largest of the group; the top is 40 feet
across, owing to the leveling mentioned above, to which is, perhaps,
also due the fact that the center is 2 feet lower than the edge.

A shaft 12 feet across at the top, narrowing to 8 feet at the bottom,
was sunk through the center to the original surface of the ground, the
process being aided by lateral trenches in which were offsets (see Fig.
292, which shows a section). The material through which it passed for
the first 2 feet was a light sandy loam. At the depth of 3 feet, in the
center of the shaft, some human bones (a4) were discovered, doubtless
parts of a skeleton said to have been dug up before or at the time of
the construction of the judges’ stand. At the depth of 4 feet, in a bed
of hard earth composed of mixed clay and ashes, were two skeletons
(e e), both lying extended on their backs, heads south, and feet near the

Fia. 292.—Section of mound No. 1, Kanawha county, West Virginia.

center of the shaft. Near the heads lay two celts, two stone hoes,
one lance head, and two disks.

From this point downward for 20 feet farther, nearly all the ma-
terial in the shaft was composed of the same apparently mixed sub-
stance, so hard as to require the constant use of the pick. At 24 feet
it suddezly changed to a much softer and darker colored earth, dis-
closing the casts and some much decayed fragments of logs and poles
from 6 to 12 inches in diameter. These, together with the fragments
of bark, ashes, and animal bones which had been split lengthwise, con-
tinued to be found through a layer of about 6 feet. At the depth of 31
feet a human skeleton (¢) was discovered lying prostrate, head north, the
skull crushed, but partially preserved by contact with a sheet of cop-
per that probably once formed part of a headdress of some kind, only
fragments of which remained. By enlarging and curbing the foot of the
shaft, a circular space 16 feet in diameter was uncovered, and the char-
acter and contents of the central, basal portion of the mound ascer-
tained. First, upon the well smoothed and packed surface had been

THOMAS. ] WEST VIRGINIA. 417

carefully spread a floor mainly of elm bark (bd), the inner side up. Upon
this was spread a layer of fine white ashes, clear of charcoal, resem-
bling those of hickory bark, probabably 6 inches thick originally,
though now not over an inch. On this the body was placed and cov-
ered with similar bark. Ten other skeletons, all buried in the same
manner, were found at this point, arranged five on each side in a semi-
circle with the feet turned toward, but not quite touching, the one just
mentioned. Owing to the crushed and decayed condition of the bones,
it was impossible to decide positively as to the size and position. It 1s
believed that all were adults of medium size and placed extended on
their backs in bark wrappings. With each skeleton on the eastern
side of the center, was a fine, apparently new or unused, lance head
and by the side of the northern one of these five a fish dart, three
arrow heads, and some decayed mussel shells. Although careful
search was made, nothing was found with the five on the western
side. With the central one, in addition to what has been mentioned,
were six shell beads, and a flint lance head similar to those on the east-
ern side though larger. Near it was a hollow, conical mass or vault of
very hard earth (d) nearly 4 feet high and fully 5 feet in diameter, the
inner edge of which was in a line with and nearly touching the heads
of the skeleton. This vault was partially filled with rotten wood, bark,
human and other bones and a dark substance, apparently decayed mat-
ter of some kind. It was so loose as to be easily scratched out with
the hands or a garden rake. The natural surface under this had been
scooped out in basin shape to the depth of 2 feet and a breadth of 5
feet. In the central part of this were two circular holes each 16 inches
in diameter, 4 feet deep and 6 inches from one another in an east and
west line. They were lined with a kind of bluish clay and partly filled
with water. About 3 feet down was across communication between
them as shown in the figure, large enough to thrust the arm through;
the hole to the east was about 4 inches deeper than the other. A flint
spear head was found in each hole. Similar pairs of holes, ranging in
depth from 2 to 3 feet and in diameter from 8 to 12 inches, were found
beside the heads of each of the ten surrounding skeletons.

Col. Norris and Mr. Thurston, of Charleston, who assisted in exea-
vating this mound, are of opinion that these 11 persons were buried at
one time, possibly after the flesh had decayed from the bones in other
depositories, or perhaps in the flesh after a battle, and that the central
one was a person of importance. They seem to have been buried as
above described in a timber-walled structure at least 16 feet in diame-
ter, 6 or 8 feet high at the eaves, and conically roofed. The small cen-
tral clay vault was probably a burial vault similar to those found in
North Carolina mounds. It is worthy of notice in this connection that
the mound in Sullivan county, Tennessee, figured on a preceding page,
contained one central vault and eleven surrounding ones,

2 ETH 27

418 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The next five mounds in order (Pl. xxvi) are circular, with dimen-
sions as follows:

No. Diameter. | Height.
Feet. Feet.
4 28 24
5 21 24
6 40 4
vi 45 3h
8 112 eee

The last (No. 8), known locally as the Wilson mound, is within the
inclosure marked C. It was partially opened many years ago, and
human bones, with several celts and lance heads, were found at the
bottom, near the center. It is now used as a burial ground.

The inclosure (C) is now about obliterated; from the statements of
parties familiar with it, it was nearly square, inclosing about 20 acres,
the walls 5 or 6 feet high, and had an interior ditch.

Mound 9, which stands a short distance to the southwest of No. 8, is
one of the oblong tumuli found in this region—diameters 75 and 40 feet
and height 5 feet. A trench was dug through it, but nothing found of
interest.

The wall of the ancient fort at Spring Hill (see Pl. xxvi1), shown on
an enlarged scale in Fig. 293, has been greatly reduced in height and
partly obliterated by long cultivation. It is the only inclosure of the
entire group located on a hill; is ina position allowing easy defense and
supplied with living water. These facts and its large size render it
probable that it was a place to which the inhabitants of the extensive
village retired in times of danger. It is flanked on each side by a deep
ravine and, on the northwest, fronts on a steep bluff fully 100 feet
above the level of the valley. The form is somewhat that of a semi-
circle, the curved line being on the nearly level land above, while the
straight line joining the ends of the curve is a few feet over the edge or
break of the bluff. There was formerly, it is said, a ditch around the
outside of the southern portion of the curve on the higher level area,
but no trace of it now remains. The wall is nowhere 2 feet high or 19
feet in breadth. As near as can now be determined, the length of this
circular portion from gate to gate is 2,144 feet.

The straight front wall from gate to gate is 1,132 feet long and in no
place more than a foot high. There is necessarily a ditch on the inside
where the wall is on the slope, as indicated in the sections shown in the
figure. The area is somewhat more than 20 acres. There was appar-
ently a gateway or entrance at each angle, the eastern one (which can
not be clearly traced) being 136 feet wide, the western 123 feet. Near
each gateway, inside, is a mound, Nos.10 and11. These were formerly
of about the same shape and size, each being 8 or 9 feet high. No. 11
is now 35 by 40 feet at the base and 4 feet high. In the center, 3 feet
below the surface, was a vault 8 feet long and 3 feet wide. In the bot-

THOMAS. | WEST VIRGINIA. 419

tom of this, among the decayed fragments of bark wrappings, lay a
skeleton fully 7 feet long, extended at full length on the back, head
west. Lying in a circle immediately above the hips were fifty-two per-

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Fic. 293.—Spring Hill inclosure on enlarged scale, Kanawha county, West Virginia.

forated shell disks about an inch in diameter and one-eighth of an inch
thick. The bones of the left arm were lying along the side of the body,
but those of the right were stretched out horizontally at right angles

420 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

to the body, the bones of the hand touching a small conical mass of
earth, which proved to be a kind of vault similar to that in the Criel
mound (No.1) above described. This was formed of a mortar or cement,
but the contents, which must have been animal or vegetable, were com-
pletely decayed. It was yet unbroken and barely large enough to have
covered a squatting skeleton.

On the river bottom northwest of the preceding are the remains of a
small inclosure, which seems to have been a square or parallelogram (E,
P]. xxvi1), part of the north side having been washed away by the river.
The remaining portion extends 420 feet along the river, the width being
now about 100 feet. It is probable there never was a northern wall, the
river forming the boundary on this side. The remaining works of the
group are on the higher terrace on the opposite side of the river.
Mound No. 12 is directly north of inclosure C on the opposite side. It
is circular, 50 feet in diameter, and after long cultivation is now but 2
feet high, composed entirely of sandy soil.

Mound No. 13, a little southwest of No. 12, measured 35 feet in diam-
eter and about 2 in height. Nothing of interest was found in either of
these two.

Inclosure F, of which no trace now remains, was, according to the
old settlers, a circle of about 65 feet diameter on the margin of a slight
terrace directly opposite inclosure C. There was an inside ditch.

Moving down the river toward the southwest, we next reach a num-
ber of works which seem to be more or less connected.

The first and most important is the inclosure G, shown on an enlarged
scale in Fig. 294. This is one of the best preserved and most interest-
ing of the so-called ‘‘sacred enclosures” in the Kanawha valley. It is
a parallelogram with slightly rounded corners, the longer direction
being a little west of north and east of south; the length, measured
from center to center of the wall, is 420 feet, width 150 feet. There is
an interior ditch and the single entrance is at the south end. On the
eastern side, where it has never been plowed over, the vertical distance
from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the wall is from 4 to 6 feet;
at other points from 2 to 3 feet. The interior area is somewhat higher
than the outside surface and slightly rounded up toward the center.
Close by the eastern side is a narrow ravine nearly 50 feet deep,
through which runs a little rivulet known as Smith’s branch.

The point marked ain the wall of the inclosure is the reputed site
of an ancient walled well. Excavation revealed a pile of large, flat,
angular stones. The water from the ditch runs through the embank-
ment here and discharges itself over the bluff.

A number of other excavations were made in this embankment in
order to ascertain its composition. At the point b was a cache, a cir-
cular pit about 6 feet in diameter and 7 deep, the sides plastered
with clay, burned hard. This was nearly full of earth, carried in mainly
by the plow. In the bottom, among what appeared to be decayed wood

THOMAS.] WEST VIRGINIA. 421

and corn, were numerous fragments of pottery, some of which appar-
ently belonged to vessels broken at the time they were deposited. Six
feet north of the edge of this, at c, was another pit, much smaller, be-
ing only 3 feet in diameter and 3 deep. In this was a mass of decom-
posing shells, many of them still retaining their form, but crumbling
on exposure to the air. Theyconsisted chiefly of small sea shells and

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Fic. 294.—Inclosure G, Kanawha county, West Virginia.

disks, all perforated, probably shell beads placed here for security in time
of danger.

At the northern and southern ends of the inclosure, outside of the
walls, at the points 1 to 6, were six box-shaped stone graves, three at
each end. These were formed of large, angular slabs, brought from
the cliffs a fourth of a mile away. The covers of Nos.1 and 3 had been
displaced by the plow. Those at the south end, beginning with the

422 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

eastern one, are numbered 1, 2, and 3; those at the north, 4, 5, and 6.
The first five lay nearly east and west; No. 6 was north ania SORES

Grave 1, 7 feet long, 2 feet wide, gal 30 inches deep at the head, con-
tained faint traces of a human skeleton.

Grave 2: The head of this was near the foot of No. 1, in a line with
it, and similar in form and size. With the decayed skeleton in this
grave were two small hematite celts, four small flint knives, and one
lance head.

Grave 3, with head close to and in line with No. 2, was similar to it
in size and construction. Only faint traces of a skeleton.

Grave 4 was like No. 5 in size and appearance.

Grave 5: A fine cist, 64 feet

Co ie lian ee long, 24 feet wide, and 2 feet

Zi te it Se deep, having a smooth stone

2 pili “sb ~ = slab at bottom. At the east-

AX Wy “ily, ern end of the grave, in one

corner, near the head of the

greatly decayed skeleton,

were twenty-two entire and

a number of broken {flint-
flake knives.

Grave 6, like No. 5 in con-
\ struction, contained only
yy WX traces of a small skeleton
i ran co \S probably a female.

In In each of these six graves
were two waterworn bowl-
ders from 6 to 8 inches in di-
ameter, placed together near
the middle of the grave, al-
ways transverse to its longer
axis; those in No, 6 were
about 12 inches in their
longest diameter.

Fic. 295.—Inclosure I, Kanawha county, West Virginia. These graves and also the

caches noted appear, from
their positions in reference to the inclosure, to be due to people who
occupied this locality subsequent to its abandonment by the authors
of the works found here.

Inclosure H, 405 feet east of the great mound No. 31, is 264 feet long
and 132 feet wide, lying northwest and southeast like L, which it
closely resembles in all respects. Many heavy flat rocks, probably
parts of stone cists, were observed, but no complete cist was found.

Inclosure I (shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 295) lies a little
north of west from the large mound (31), is circular in form; measuring
618 feet around the top or middle of the embankment, which is much
worn away, being only about 2 feet high from the ditch inside.

ee 3

THOMAS. ] : WEST VIRGINIA. 423

Inclosure L is on the Cabell farm, about 1 mile directly west of inclos-
ure H, which it resembles in every respect, except that it is slightly
larger. The form and proportions are shown in Fig. 296, from Mr.
Middleton’s survey, the length being 287 feet and width 150 feet, meas-
uring from center to center of the embankment. The walls are rather
less than 2 feet high and the ditch inside about 2 feet deep.

Inclosure K, shown in Fig. 297, consists of two parallel or concen-
tric circular embankments with a ditch between them. The diameter
of the outer wall, measuring from the middle on one side to the middle
on the other side, is 295 feet, the diameter of the inner wall 212, the
width of the walls being about 20 feet, and the width of the ditch the
same. The inner wall
is almost obliterated
by cultivation, but
the outer one is still
from 1 to 2 feet high.
The diteh is still
about 2 feet deep.
Thereisabroad gate-
way onthe northwest
through the outer
wall and ditch, but
the inner cireular
embankment seems
to have been un-
broken.

Mound 15, 540 feet
west of the northern
end of inclosure G,
circular in form,
measured 65 feet in
diameter and 5 feet
in height. A consid-
erable portion had
been plowed off. In
the top was a basin-
shaped fire-bed 7 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 16 inches deep at the center.
This was lined with a mixture of clay and ashes burned to a brick red
on the upper surface, but the under side had a black, greasy appear-
ance. Below this was a similar bed, on and about which were numer-
ous small fragments of bones, too much broken and charred to show
whether they were human or animal.

Mound 16, 480 feet southeast of mound 15, is conical in form, meas-
uring 30 feet in diameter, and 24 feet high. It was composed chiefly of
hard clay. Near the center, on the original surface, were the decayed
fragments of a skeleton and with them a single gorget of striped slate.

Mound 17 is 1,826 feet nearly west of mound 15. It is now only 18

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Fig. 296.—Inclosure L, Kanawha county, West Virginia.

424 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

inches high and 20 feet in diameter. Its surface and the surface around
it were strewn with stone chips, fragments of pottery, and lance and
arrowheads. Stone chips and arrowheads were scattered through the
hard earth of which it was composed, and a few decayed bones lay at
the bottom near the center.

Mound 18, which stands 270 feet west of mound 17, measures 65 feet
in diameter and 44 feet high. This, like many of the other mounds,
has been worked over until the earth has been removed down to the
hard central core of brick-red clay. It is said that in plowing this
away many relics of stone, bone, and shell were found. <A series of

basin-shaped fire

RonRAGRTT beds, similar to

sm i i : those in mound 15,

were lying one be-
low another in the
central portion.
Below them, near
the bottom of the
mound, was a con-
siderable bed of
charcoal andashes,
and immediately
under this, on the
original surface of
the ground, the
fragments of a
skeleton, and a
number of broken
arrow and spear

heads.

Passing north-
ward across the
railroad from this
group over a strip

of rather low
FiG. 297.—Inclosure K, Kanawha county, West Virginia.
ground we reach a

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small terrace, where there is another interesting group.

Mound 19, the one farthest to the east, is 60 feet in diameter and 5
feet high. It was found to contain a rude vault of angular stones,
some of them as much as two men could lift. This had been built on
the natural surface and was 8 feet long, 4 wide, and 3 high, but con-
tained only the decaying fragments of a large skeleton and a few frag-
ments of pottery.

Mound 20, a short distance southwest of the preceding and neare
the large tumulus (Mound 21), measured 30 feet in diameter and 24

THOMAS.] WEST VIRGINIA. 425

high, and was composed throughout of a compact mass of yellow clay
unlike anything immediately around it.

Mound 21, or the Great Smith mound. This, the largest of the
entire series, represented on Pl. XXVII, is a somewhat regular cone
175 feet in diameter at the base
and 35 feet high. A section with
partial restoration is given in Fig.
298. It is a mound of two stages;
the first building carried it to a
height of 20 feet; after a consider-
able time had elapsed another
stage of work carried it to its pres-
ent height. The top, which was
flat with a central depression.
measured about 30 feet in diame-
ter. On this were an oak stump
fully 4 feet across and a black
walnut of about the same size.
The surface, in the depression at
the top, was covered with an irreg-
ular layer of stones; beneath them
were others setup edgewise around
a circle 7 feet in diameter. The
stones in and about this pit be-
ing removed, it was found to be 4
feet deep and paved with a floor
of flat stones, upon which lay a
skeleton much decayed and lack-
ing the head. Slight traces of fire
were seen, but no evidence of a
coffin or covering of bark, a meth-
od of burial so common in this re-
gion. This depression resulted,
as will be shown further on, from
the caving in of a vault in the
mound, and itis probable that the
skeleton in this stone grave was
an intrusive burial, placed here
after the builders of the mound
had abandoned it. A shatt 12 feet
in diameter at the top was carried down to the bottom of the mound.

At the depth of 6 feet a small heap of bones was encountered, evi-
dently those of a bundled skeleton, as some of them bore unmistakable
signs of having been weathered and bleached before final burial.

At 9 feet was an entire adult skeleton of medium size, lying extended

“RIUISITA 380, ‘Aguno0d vyAvUEyY ‘TZ “ON punour Jo uoMoes Y—"g6z ‘DLT

426 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

upon the left side, head west. About it were the remains of black wal-
nut bark, in which it had been buried. The skull showed very plainly
the flattening of the front. Below this nothing of interest was observed
nor any change of material, except some small deposits of ashes evi-
dently carried in with dit until the depth of 12 feet was reached,
where the fragments of a black walnut log were found; judging by the
very distinct cast, this log must have been 12 inches in diameter and
several feet in length, as it was traced into the wall of the shaft.

At the depth of 14
feet a rather large hu-
manskeleton was found,
which was in a partially
upright position with
the back against a hard
clay wall. Around it
were the remains of the
bark wrapping in which
it had been inclosed.
Allthe bones were badly
decayed, except those of
the left wrist, which had
been preserved by two
heavy copper bracelets.
Here was a commingled
mass of rotten timber,
decayed bark, and loose, dark earth. It was apparent from the indi-
cations that the shaft had entered a large vault, the timber-covered
roof of which had given away to the heavy pressure above and tumbled
in, thus accounting for the depression in the top of the mound.

Nineteen feet from the top the bottom of
this debris was reached, where, in the remains
of a bark coffin, a skeleton, measuring 74 feet
in length and 19 inches across the shoulders,
was discovered. It lay on the bottom of the
vault stretched horizontally on the back, head
east, arms by the sides. Each wrist was en-
circled by six heavy copper bracelets, similar
to that shown in Fig. 299, which represents one
of the twelve. A fragment of the bark wrap- F's. 300.—Copper gorget, Mound

. : No. 21, Kanawhacounty, W.Va.
ping preserved by contact with the copper
shows that it was black walnut bark, <A piece of dressed skin, which
had probably formed part of the inner wrapping, was also preserved
by the copper. From the clay with which this was connected we may
possibly infer that the body was first wrapped in a dressed skin, this
plastered over with a coating of clay (it seemed to be clay and ashes
mixed), and this surrounded by the bark. Upon the breast was a cop-
per gorget, shown in Fig. 300; length, 34 inches; greatest width, 33

Fa. 299.—Copper bracelet from mound No. 21, Kanawha county,
West Virginia.

THOMAS.] WEST VIRGINIA. 427

inches; thickness, about one-eighth of an inch. It had been hammered
into shape apparently from native copper. By each hand of this giant
frame were three unused black flint lance heads; near the right hand,
a small hematite celt and part of an axe of the same material, the latter
bearing evidence of usage. Around the head, neck, and hips were
about one hundred small perforated sea shells and thirty-two shell
beads. Upon the left shoulder, one upon another, were three sheets
of mica, from 8 to 10 inches long, 6 to 7 wide, and half an inch thick.

Removing the rotten timbers and bark, and loose dry earth, the size
and character of the vault were ascertained. Four adult skeletons of
medium size, one in each corner of the vault, were found, besides the
two described. They seemed to have been wrapped in bark, and placed
leaning against the sides of the vault in a nearly erect position, with
faces inward. The vault was nearly square, 13 feet long and 12 wide,
inside measurements.

From all the indications, the casts of posts and logs, the bark and
clay lining, fallen timbers, bark of the roof, ete., it is presumed that
the vault was constructed as follows: After the mound, which at this
stage was 20 feet high, had been
standing for an indefinite length of
time, a square pit 12 by 13 feet was
dug in the top to the depth of 6 feet;
posts were placed along the sides
and ends, the former reaching only
to the surface, but the central ones,
at the ends, rising 4 feet higher; on
these latter was placed the ridge- ¥'9- 401.—Steatite pipe from Kanawha county,

: West Virginia.
pole (the walnut log first discovered).
The sides were plastered with a mixture of clay and ashes and possibly
lined with bark; the roof was covered with poles and bark. Over all
was heaped the superincumbent. mound 15 feet in height. On top of
this was built, perhaps at a far more recent date, the stone cairn.

With each of the four skeletons in the corners were several arrow
and lance heads, 1 fish dart, and a few shell beads. Scattered through
the material in the vault were several other articles. The entire list of
specimens found, including those already mentioned, is as follows: 1
copper gorget (shown in Fig. 300); 16 copper bracelets (see Fig. 299);
1 steatite pipe (shown in Fig. 301); 2 stone disks, 2 hematite celts, 3
sheets of mica, 55 spear and arrow points, 1 flint knife, 1 stone pestle,
8 polished celts, 2 small hemispheres of hematite or meteoric iron; a
number of perforated shells and shell beads.

After carefully curbing the opening made in tracing out the vault,
work was begun again on the shaft, the material now being a hard
grayish substance similar to the lining of the vault. A short distance
below was a compact mass of dark clay flecked with the yellowish casts
and streaks of decayed bones, some of them evidently split as in
kitchen-middens. This continued to the depth of 30 feet, where the

428 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

shaft entered a heavy layer of ashes, charcoal, and charred bones, some
of them human, which reached nearly or quite to the natural surface,
35 feet down. The excavation was carried 2 feet farther down and con-
siderably enlarged, but nothing more of interest was found.

It is probable that this mound pertains to three different stages, the
lower part, or original mound; the upper portion (including the vault),
belonging to the second period and probably contemporaneous with the
celebrated Grave creek mound; and the stone cairn or vault to compara-
tively modern times, though it may possibly have been a sentinel sta-
tion erected soon after the mound was completed.

Mound 22, a short distance southwest of mound 21, is 100 feet in
diameter and 15 feet high. A trench was carried across it through the
center and down to the original surface. The top layer, 2 feet thick at
the top and thinning out to 1 foot on the sides, was of loose soil like
the surface around. Below this was a layer of very hard, gray earth
4 feet thick; in the central portion was a bed 8 feet in diameter and 10
inches thick, of charcoal, ashes, and bones so badly broken and decayed
that it was impossible to decide whether they were animal or human.
In the center, at the depth of 12 feet, were the remains of an adult
skeleton, horizontal, with head to the south. On the left wrist was a
single slender copper bracelet much corroded, and near by were two
spear heads. In the original soil, at the center, could be traced the
outlines of a vault 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, and about 3 feet deep, but
only slight traces of the body buried remained.

Mound 23, not far west from mound 22, is 312 feet in circumference
and 25 feet high. It had never been disturbed in any way and was the
most pointed and symmetrical tumulus of the group. Standing on the
brow of a terrace 30 feet high, it seems much higher than it really is.
It was examined by sinking a large central shaft to the bottom. From
the sod at the top to the depth of 15 feet the material passed through
was an exceedingly hard, gray mixture, apparently of ashes and clay.
At this depth the casts of poles and timbers of various sizes began to
be seen, but all were less than a foot in diameter, extending into the
western and southern sides of the shaft. These casts and rotten wood
and bark continued to increase in amount nearly to the natural soil,
which was reached at the depth of 25 feet. The debris being removed
and the bottom of the shaft enlarged until it was 14 feet in diameter,
it was then found that these timbers had formed a circular or polygonal
vault 12 feet across and some 8 or 10 feet high in the center. This
had been built up in the form of a pen, the ends of the poles extending
beyond the corners. The roof must have been sloping, as the ends of
the poles used in making it extended downward beyond the walls on
which they rested. On the floor of this vault, which corresponded with
the original surface of the ground, were two adult skeletons, the bones
of which, though but little decayed, were crushed and pressed out of
position. No implement or ornament accompanied them. As the
earth of this floor did not appear to be the natural soil, the shaft, to

THOMAS.] WEST VIRGINIA. 429

the diameter of 12 feet, was carried down 4 feet farther. This revealed
the fact that previous to building the mound, a pit, the extent of which
was not at first determined, had been dug to the depth of 4 feet in the
original soil, and on the floor of this pit at one side, arranged in a semi-
circle, had been formed six small clay vaults in the shape of beehives;
they were about 3 feet in diameter at the bottom and the same in
height and made of mixed clay and ashes, very hard and impervious
to water. Possibly they had been allowed to dry before being covered
with earth. They were partially filled with a dark, dry dust, evidently
the residuum of decayed animal or vegetable matter. A few fragments
of bones were found in them.

In the center of the space around which these little vaults were ar-
ranged, but only 2 feet below the floor of the large wooden vault, were
two small, clay-lined cavities about the size and form of the ordinary
water jars from the Arkansas mounds. Possibly they were decayed, un-
burnt vessels which had been deposited here at the time of burial. The
bottom of this pit, which consisted of a natural deposit of yellow sand,
was covered with a layer of charcoal and ashes 2 or 3inches thick. The
sand below appears to have been heated, from which it is inferred that
the burning took place in the pit previous to the formation of the vaults.

Being compelled to stop work at this stage on account of extreme
cold weather, Col. Norris, who was making the exploration, did not
return to it until the following season, when he began by running
trenches from the sides into the shaft and afterwards carried a tunnel
in at the base. In one of these trenches, 9 feet from the top, was a
layer of soft earth in which were numerous fragments of decayed tim-
bers and bark; also casts of logs extending horizontally into the sides
of the trench. These, it is to be presumed from what was afterwards
discovered, pertained to a wooden burial vault. The tunnel carried in
at the base from the south side was 10 feet wide and 8 feet high. For
the distance of 20 feet it passed through the hard gray material of
which the body of the mound was composed. Here it entered suddenly
into a mass of soft earth of various colors that had been brought from
the hillsides and bottoms near by. <A short distance from this point the
casts and remains of the timbers of the large central vault began to
appear, but before reaching the interior the tunnel passed over a small
refuse heap evidently belonging to an age preceding the date of the
building of the mound. Within the area of the vault were a number
of tolerably well preserved human bones, but no whole skeletons. As
there were here indications of the pit before mentioned, the excavation
was carried downward 4 feet, revealing five little clay vaults similar to
those seen on the other side, and, like them, placed in a semicircle.
About one-half of the mound was then removed and thoroughly exam-
ined. Many stone implements, some entire, but mostly broken, seem-
ingly by the action of fire, were scattered through the hard upper
layer; also a number of single valves of mussels which had been used
as digging tools until they were worn from the outside entirely through.

430 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

There was a marked dissimilarity between the northern and southern
sides of this mound, the former being a compact mass of variously col-
ored soils from different points in the vicinity, in alternate horizontal
layers. The separate loads of those carrying it in were plainly defined,
and the different sizes of these small masses indicated that many per-
sons, some much stronger than others, were simultaneously engaged in
the work.

With the exception of the imperfect or broken specimens mentioned
above, no remains of any kind were found in that portion of the mound
above the fire-bed and. north of the central shaft, and only two skele-
tons beneath it, while many interesting finds of implements were made
all through the loose, ashy dirt of the southern part, and of many skele-
tons below it. The casts of logs and poles and the rotten wood and
bark indicate the former existence of a wooden structure at least 12
feet square and 3 stories high, the posts of which extended from 2 to 4
feet below the natural surface; or, more likely, three structures, one
above another. A foot above the natural surface, or 24 feet trom the top
of the mound, the smooth, horizontal layer of sand and ashes was con-
tinuous and uniform, except where interrupted by two heavy fire-beds,
which were circular in form, 8 feet in diameter, and their inner edges
about 10 feet apart on opposite sides of the center of the shaft. The
earth was burned hard for 8 inches below the ashes. Below these beds,
in an excavation in the original soil, were several skeletons as follows:

No. 1, a medium-sized adult, extended on the back, head south, arms
by the side; 4 feet below center of the northern fire-bed. No trace of
a coffin; a rude hoe and rough lance head were at the left side.

No. 2 lay 4 feet north of No. 1, at the same depth; same size and po-
sition, except that the feet were toward the center of the mound. It
was inclosed in a coffin formed by leaning stone slabs together, in the
form of an inverted V, over the body; another stone was set against the
end of this at the head. A number of relics were with this skeleton,
and on the stone over the head was a hematite celt. Two feet north
of the head were the fragments of a large vessel.

No. 3, similarly placed, was 4 feet under the north edge of the other
fire-bed. Some relics were found above the head, and others in a small
vauit near the left side.

No. 4, position like the last, head toward and 5 feet west of the center
of the mound. A small vault near the head, similar to those heretofore
mentioned, contained decayed material and fragments of stone.

Nos. 5 and 6 lay near together with heads south, 10 feet southeast of
the center of the mound. A vault was found near the teet of the smaller
skeleton.

None of these skeletons were found at the center and all were 4 feet
below the natural surface of the ground on the bottom of the pit. Nine
vaults, in addition to those mentioned, were disclosed; four of them on
the bottom of the pit and five on the original surface of the ground.

THOMAS. ] WEST VIRGINIA. 431

Their average capacity was between 1 and 2 bushels, and all were par-
tially filled with mottled dust. The interior was perfectly dry. Be-
neath the south edge of the southern fire bed was a vault 3 feet long,
2 feet wide, and 2 feet high; this and a smaller one a foot east of it con-
tained mottled dust as usual. Six feet above and somewhat west of
this fire-bed, in what seemed to be the remains of a bark coffin, was a
streak of bright red paint, which crumbled to fragments with the bark.

Mound 24, situated west of mound 23, measuring about 100 feet in
diameter and 4 feet high, was thoroughly explored and found to consist
chiefly of hard gray material. Near the center, on the natural surface,
was a bed of charcoal and ashes in which were charred bones, both ani-
mal and human, and with them a few spear-heads.

Mound 25, a short distance northeast of mound 23, measured 95 feet in
diameter and 8 feet high. At the bottom, near the center, were the traces
of a skeleton, and with it eight rather slender copper bracelets, much
corroded. These were evidently made of drawn wire and indicate con-
tact with Europeans. They had been wrapped in some kind of textile
fabric, the threads of which were plainly visible. As they were of smaller
size than the others found in this locality, of which mention has been
made, it is presumed that they belonged to a female who was buried here.

Mound 26. This small tumulus, 35 feet in diameter and scarcely 4
feet in height, is near the northwest side of mound 21. It was composed
throughout of a mingled mass of charcoal, ashes, black earth, and
charred bones.

Mound 27, a short distance north of mound 21, measured 84 feet in
diameter and 6 feet in height. Near the center, 1 foot from the top, a
small copper bracelet was found, but a thorough excavation failed to
reveal any trace of burial or anything else of interest.

Mound 28 is 300 feet in circumference and 23 feet high. Permission
to explore this could not be obtained.

Mound 29, 40 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, was thoroughly ex-
plored and nothing but coals and ashes found in it.

Mound 30, 300 feet in circumference and 21 feet high, was 25 feet
across the somewhat depressed top. Near the top were the remains of
a stone grave containing a nearly decayed human skeleton, probably
an intrusive burial. <A circular shaft 12 feet in diameter was sunk to
the bottom through uniformly dark, alluvial soil like that around the
mound; only rotten wood and bark with casts of timbers were found.
Upon the well-smoothed natural surface were evident traces of a bark
floor covered by a layer of clean, white ashes, containing traces of
bones. Excavations in the natural earth revealed a circle, 12 feet in
diameter, of vaults about 3 feet broad and the same in height, similar
to those mentioned, placed very close together and filled with mud.
This mound was not completely explored on account of the water. The
rotten wood and bark, with casts of timbers, were probably the remains
of a wooden vault.

432 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The most important mounds remaining of this group are upon the
Kanawha county poor farm.

Mound 31 measured 318 feet in circumference, 25 feet high, and 40
feet across its flat top. (See Fig. 302.) A 10-foot circular shaft was
sunk from the top and trenches run in from the side. The top layer
consisted of 2 feet of soil, immediately below which was 1 foot of mixed
clay and ashes. Below this, to the bottom, the mound was composed
of earth apparently largely mixed with ashes, placed in small deposits
during a long period of time. Three feet below the top were two skel-
etons, one above the other, extended at full length, facing each other
and in close contact. Above but near the heads were a pipe, celt, and
some arrow or spear heads. Ten feet below these were two very large
skeletons in a sitting position, facing each other, with their extended
legs interlocking to the knees. Their hands, outstretched and slightly
elevated, were placed in a sustaining position to a hemispherical, hol-
lowed, coarse-grained sandstone, burned until red and brittle. This
was about 2 feet across the top, and the cavity or depression was filled
with white ashes containing fragments of bones burned almost to
coals. Over it was placed a somewhat wider slab of limestone 3 inches

FG, 302.Section of mound No. 31, Kanawha county, West Virginia.

thick, which had a hemispherical or cup-shaped depression of 2 inches
in diameter near the center of the under side, but this bore no trace of
heat. Two copper bracelets were on the left wrist of one skeleton, a
hematite celt and lancehead with the other. At a depth of 25 feet
from the top the natural surface was reached, on which lay a clay bed
or so-called “altar,” from 6 to 18 inches thick, and covering a larger
space than the 16 feet to which the shaft was here enlarged, though the
altar proper was about 12 feet-long by 8 feet wide. The upper portion
was burned to a brick red, which gradually faded toward the bottom,
which was the natural dark color of the material. The upper side had
a coneavity more than a foot deep. On it rested a compact layer of
very fine white ashes a little less than a foot thick at the center, grad-
ually increasing outward until fully 2 feet thick at the edges of the
shaft. Seattered through it were waterworn stones from 3 to 5 inches
in diameter, all bearing indications of exposure to intense heat, and
fragments of bones, some of which were nearly destroyed by heat and
had patches of what seemed to be melted sand adhering to them.
Mound 32 measured 50 feet in diameter and 4 feet high. At the cen-
ter were two badly decayed skeletons on the natural surface, heads
north; hematite celts and flint arrowheads were found with them.

THOMAS. ] WEST VIRGINIA. 433

Mound 33, 40 feet in diameter and 4 feet high; not opened.

Mound 34, 54 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, was thoroughly ex-
plored. A heavy fire bed was found in the center on the natural sur-
face; south and west of it were three charred human skeletons and many
fragments of flint lance and arrow heads, broken apparently by fire.

Mound 35, 62 feet in diameter and 6 feet high, was composed through-
out of very hard gray earth. Nothing was found in it.

Mound 36, 34 feet at base, 3 feet high. In the natural earth beneath
it was a vault 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, which contained
a small skeleton nearly decayed.

Mound 37, 60 feet at base and 7 feet high; 2 feet of soil on top, next
4 feet of hard gray earth, and at the bottom a fire-bed 1 foot thick con-
taining charred bones.

Mound 39, 50 feet in diameter, 64 feet high; not opened.

Mound 40, same size as last; not opened.

Mound 41, 56 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. A broad trench
through it showed it to be constructed in the same manner as mound
38.

Two circular pits or caches, which had been subjected to the action
of fire, were found near mounds 17 and 18. These were opened and
proved to be deep and basin-shaped, the larger about 10 feet in diame-
ter at the top and 8 feet deep in the center. This one lay entirely
beneath the surface soil, here about 1 foot thick. Judging from what
was observed it is believed that after it was dug and the sides smoothed
they were then plastered over with gray clay 5 or 6 inches thick, and
that upon this, before it had dried, was spread a coating of bright red
earth, which was then burned very hard. This might indicate that it
was used as a water cistern, though the purpose for which it was dug
may have been a very different one. The contents, commencing at the
top, immediately below the surface soil were found to be as follows:
First, a layer of fresh-water shells 2 feet thick, rounded up in the mid-
dle; next, a layer 1 foot thick of charcoal, ashes, and dark earth com-
mingled; below this, nearly to the boitom, the material consisted of
very hard earth mixed with charcoal and ashes. In this lower layer,
near its upper surface, were two prostrate, extended skeletons of small
- size, one with the head north, face up, the other with head south.
Scattered through the layer were numerous waterworn bowlders 4 to 5
inches in diameter, bearing evidence of intense heat; also, small frag-
ments of pottery, lance heads, and fish darts, apparently broken by the
action of fire. The small skeletons mentioned were badly decayed and
seem to have been incased in a matrix of plastic clay.

The second pit was similar in all respects except that it was slightly
smaller and contained no skeletons.

Upon all the bluffs and high points in this vicinity are found rock
heaps. About forty were discovered, most of which were opened. All
bear evidence of a well-hole, a few of the oblong ones having two;
more than two are never found in one heap. Fig. 288, heretofore given, -

12 ETH——25

434 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

shows the usual form of the cavity, some being more clearly defined,
others less so. Only one was found intact (marked m on the map, PI.
Xxvil). It is on a sharp ridge some 200 feet above the river and com-
manding a fair view of all the works on the north side, together with
those at Spring Hill and some others on the south. It was nearly coy-
ered with earth and surrounded by bushes, which had protected it from
the view of relic hunters. It seems never to have exceeded 12 feet in
diameter and 5 feet in height, with a well-hole 24 feet across and less
regular than in many others noticed. Upon the removal of a flat cap-
stone a small cavity was found; removing two additional layers, the
lower of which was a mass of charcoal and ashes, the cavity was found
to increase to a little more than 2 feet. At this point a stone 3 feet
long, 30 inches wide, and 6 inches thick was reached, which was
removed by tearing away part of the wall. Under it, in a hole 3 feet
deep, was a decayed skeleton of medium size, which had been buried in
a sitting or squatting position. With it were a steatite pipe, a slate
gorget, a portion of the stem of another very large steatite pipe, the
remainder of which had never been deposited here, and three lance-
heads. From a rock heap near by some boys obtained a well preserved
skull and some relics. It was probably an intrusive burial, as the cap-
stone was not in its proper place.

Near the last described mound, and marked nv on P]. xxv, is a charred
bone pile on one of the finest points of observation along the entire
line of bluffs; it measures 61 feet long, 37 feet at the widest part, and
in some places over 2 feet high, resembling a low, oblong, oval-topped
mound. Upon and around it were a great many waterworn stones of
small size. Their number increased with the depth, along with char-
coal, ashes, and charred bones. The bones and perhaps the flesh of
hundreds of persons had been burned here; the fragments were all
small and thin, indicating children or small females. It is beyond
doubt that they were human bones.

The few rock shelves in the cliffs found in this region are especially
rich in relics.

PUTNAM COUNTY.
INCLOSURE AND MOUNDS NEAR WINFIELD.

Upon the second terrace on the south side of the river, just below
Winfield, is a circular inclosure containing about an acre, the embank-
ment being still 2 or 3 feet high above the bottom of the interior ditch.
Within and about it have been found many stone implements of vari-
ous kinds. On this and the next higher terrace are a number of
mounds from 4 to 10 feet high. Two near the bluff were opened.

The first was of peculiar shape, being 60 feetlong, about half as wide,
and 7 feet high. A wide trench was run the length of the mound,
showing it to be composed mainly of hard, light colored earth, much of

‘THOMAS. ] WEST VIRGINIA. 435

which seems to have been baked by heavy fires that left abundance
of charcoal, ashes, and calcined bones, some of them human. Spalls
and fragments of pottery were found all through the mound. At the
bottom were two much decayed skeletons, prostrate, heads west. A
stone and a hematite celt and some spearheads were with them.

The other mound was circular, 40 feet at base and 5 feet high. Noth-
ing was found in it.

At the depth of 5 feet, in a mound 9 feet high, near by, were two
skeletons, with two celts and some arrowheads.

Between Winfield and Buffalo are many mounds in which numerous
relics of stone, bone, and copper have been found. Two miles above
the latter place several acres of a high bottom are nearly covered with
mussel shells, spalls, potsherds, and stone implements. Two miles
below are two mounds, about 50 fect in diameter and 5 feet high, in
which were found only human bones beneath a layer of charcoal and
ashes.

MASON COUNTY.

On the high bottom land of Gen. John McCausland, on the south
side of the river, near the Putnam County line, are five mounds, from
30 to 90 feet in diameter and 4 to 8 feet high. In one of these were
found the fragments of a large pot. Like nearly all the mound pottery
of this section it was composed of pounded stone and clay. The pot-
tery from the kitchen-middens nearly always contains pulverized shells

instead of stone.
ROCK HEAPS.

Two of these are found on the farm of Peter S. Couch, 3 miles below
the mounds above mentioned. They are on opposite sides of a ravine,
on bluffs overlooking the river. The one on the north bluff is 40 feet
long north and south, 30 broad, and 4 high at its two circular well-
holes; these range north and south, are 8 feet apart and 30 inches in
diameter. The northern one was partially filled with loose stones and
briers. Beneath these, upon the bed rock, was the skeleton of a half-
grown child; with it were a badly corroded iron hatchet and some
glass beads. Nothing was found in the other hole. The other heap
was similar to the first, except that the holes were somewhat larger.
They contained nothing of interest.

Between these bluffs and the river are five mounds, all of which were
opened. The largest was 50 feet broad and 4 feet high. The portion
remaining after long cultivation was composed entirely of very hard,
gray clay. <A fire-bed 3 by 4 feet, 3 inches thick, lay on the original
surface. In another mound was a stone cist 5 feet long, and half as
wide and deep, resting on the natural surface and covered with a pile
of loose stones, over which the mound had been raised. Nothing was
found init. The other three were similar to the largest, but nothing
of interest was discovered in them.

436 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

A mile below these, on the other side of the river, in an old culti-
vated field strewn with mussel shells, are one large and several small
mounds. In all those which were explored there was a layer of skele-
tons on the natural surface, and two, or sometimes three, other layers
above them to a height of 5 feet. The appearance of the mounds justi-
fied the statement of Mr. Couch and others that at least one more layer
had been removed during fifty years of steady cultivation. The skele-
tons were well preserved, many of them very large, in a prostrate posi-
tion, with no particular arrangement. Remains of bark coffins were
apparent, barely separated by layers of dirt or ashes or both mingled;
this, with the well preserved condition of the bones, gives the appear-
ance of comparatively recent interment. The dirt in these mounds is
not so hard as in most of the others in this section.

Three miles still farther down, on the Goshorn farm, a field on the
high bottoms directly fronting the river is dotted with similar mounds,
one of which is 150 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 7 feet high; all seem to
be depositories of human skeletons lying horizontally, as in the Couch
mounds. From these two localities, ten skulls, over five hundred beads
made of the hollow bones of animals and birds, nearly two thousand
small perforated seashells, many bone bodkins, bears’ tusks, flint
implements, fragments of pottery, stone disks, celts, and grooved axes
were obtained.

A mound 50 feet in diameter and 4 feet high was composed of exceed-
ingly hard, gray earth; on the natural surface were two nearly decayed
skeletons.

From Kanawha falls to the mouth of the river are abundant evi-
dences that the valley has been occupied by the builders of the hard-
cored mounds, and subsequently by a people who accumulated kitchen-
middens and buried in them or in low mounds which shovel like ashes
or alluvial soil. The hard-cored, conical mounds and the large ones
having vaults are invariably on the high bottoms not subject to over-
flow; while the refuse heaps are upon either the first or second terrace.
Though the different works are often near together, with the single
exception of those on the Goshorn place they never intermingle, as
though the later comers were careful not to intrude upon the grounds
occupied by the more ancient works.

THE M°CULLOCH MOUND.

Five miles above the mouth of the Kanawha, on the south side, on
the farm of Charles E. McCulloch, is the largest mound in this see-
tion. Unlike most of the large mounds, it is not on the river bottom,
but on a sloping terrace nearly a hundred feet higher, and after long
cultivation is still 20 feet high and fully 300 feet in circumference. The
old war trail is said to have crossed the spur upon which it stands just
below it. No traceofinclosure, mound, or other work is to be found near,
a peculiar circumstance when no other large mound in the entire valley

THOMAS. ] WEST VIRGINIA. 437

stands thus isolated. A circular shaft 11 feet in diameter was sunk down
through the center to the bed rock a foot below the base of the mound.
A rock heap at the top had been made in a depression evidently caused
by the caving in of a vault. This rock heap had been disturbed by
parties who found a very large skeleton with some stone weapons.
Beneath it sandstone slabs as heavy as aman could lift were scattered
through the shaft, and at the bottom enough of them standing and
lying at all angles to have covered the vault, and appearing to have
been hurled thus by the caving in of the roof. Excepting the outside
covering and 3 or 4 feet at the bottom of soil like that about it and the
stones mentioned, the entire mound was composed of ashes, mostly
pure, but in a few places slightly mixed with earth, all very light and
easily shoveled. The somewhat sloping, natural surface had been lev-
eled up by a layer of clay, then a bark floor laid down, and this covered
with a layer of clean ashes over a space larger than the area of the
vault, which must have been nearly square, about 12 feet on either side,
and placed diagonally to the cardinal points. Prostrate in the ashes
were the remains of at least 6 adults and some children, placed par-
allel, heads east. Owing to the condition of the mound at the bottom,
being very wet, the bones were so decayed that it was impossible to
tell how many persons had been buried here. Not a single relic of any
kind was found with the remains. The casts of posts and roof timbers,
from 6 to 14 inches in diameter, mainly of oak, were found, but the
height of the structure could not be determined, As near as could be
judged, it was probably 5 or 6 feet high and covered with heavy cross
timbers, some of which extended several feet beyond the walls, and
upon these had been placed a layer of flat sandstones, a huge pile
of ashes being thrown over all. The stone grave at the top indicates
an intrusive burial.

Numerous rock etchings were formerly to be found along this part of
the Kanawha valley, but most of these have been destroyed; yet enough
remain to show their rude character.

On the Miller farm, 3 miles above the mouth of the Kanawha, is a
rock which has rolled down from the cliffs and lodged near the ancient
trail. The face of this detached fragment, some 20 feet long by 4 wide,
is covered with figures of animals, birds (one double-headed), serpents,
ete. Dr. Shaw, of Point Pleasant, says the figures were much plainer
fifty years ago, and that one of them represented a horse in advance of
a number of horse tracks, pointing down the river, probably a record
by modern Indians of the march of a party of white men.

Below the mouth of the Kanawha the caving in of the bank of the Ohio
had exposed a wall of stone, on some of the slabs of which were rude
totemic and other marks made by some pecking tool. Careful excava-
tions revealed a circular inclosure about 100 feet in diameter, inside
measurement. The wall was composed of angular slabs of various
sizes from the hills near by and averaged 25 feet across the base by 34

438 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

in height. Many of the stones bore evidences of fire, the spaces be-
tween them (they were laid flat with joints broken) being filled with
charcoal, ashes, and earth, separate or mixed. No gateway was found,
though no doubt one exists at some point not excavated. The sedi-
ment from overflows has accumulated to the depth of about 5 feet since
the wall was built, and its existence was never suspected until exposed
as above stated by the falling in of the bank. This may not be abo-
riginal work.

On the Beal farm, 7 miles below Point Pleasant, are six inclosures
and a number of small mounds, and 3 miles below these are several
mounds from 6 to 20 feet high, the largest on the farm of Judge Moore.
All these are very similar in appearance to the works about Charleston.

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Fic. 303.—Mound group, 1 mile west of Barboursville, West Virginia.

Dwelling sites and mounds literally line the front of nearly all the
bottoms along both sides of the Ohio. They are similar to those on
the Couch and Goshorn farms, and, like them, are rich in skeletons and
relics; many of the latter must have been obtained from the whites.

CABELL COUNTY.

For half a mile along the bank of the Ohio, just above the mouth of
the Guyandotte, is an extensive deposit of refuse from a hamlet or
favorite camping place, probably the latter. as the remains are found
to the depth of 3 feet, showing that the site was frequently overflowed
and thus built up in part by deposits from high water. Many relies,

THOMAS.] WEST VIRGINIA. 439

both ancient and modern, are found, the uppermost tier being a foot
below the present surface. Half a mile above this is a field in which
were three small mounds, two of which are now leveled. The surface
for 3 or 4 acres in extent is literally covered with potsherds, shells, and
fragments of stone implements. A quartz pipe with bowl formed and
stem hole partially perforated was found here. The maker seems to
have given up his job of boring it out after the outside had been brought
to the desired form.

Midway between Guyandotte and Huntington are traces of an inclo-
sure and hamlet site on a bottom high above the greatest floods. It was
evidently long oceupied, as a great number of relics have been found
here. Nearly all of it has disappeared by the caving in of the banks.

About 1 mile west of Barboursville, on a hill nearly 500 feet above the
Guyandotte, overlooking that stream for a long distance and offering a
fine position for defense, is a group of mounds (Fig. 303) very modern
in appearance; it is stated, however, that large timber covered them
when the country was first settled by whites. The old war trail passes
immediately south of the group, and there is a fine spring on the slope
of the bluff north. The soil around is a compact yellow clay.

The following table gives their dimensions:

MOUNDS.
No. Form. Length. | Width. Height. Remarks.
| Reet- 5) Reet: Feet.
1 | Irregular ..--. 150 75 6 Excavated in part.
2) Oblong -....-.. | 50 20 4 Excavated.
Gal heed Olen ars | 45 15 | 3 Not excavated.
4 - BCE Serene, 54 | 25 | 4 Excavated.
Eyl bets Wee sences 55 | 20 7 Do.
6 | Crescent.....- | 48 15 4 Do.
7 | Oblong ..-.--- 60 | 20 | 6 Do.
8 | Cirenlar.--2.- 20 20 4 Do.
9 | Oblong -.----- 46 15 34 Do.
HO | peat @ cen soscee 35 10 3 | Not excavated.
| ee |e all ms a au 7 28 ~
EXCAVATIONS.
a | Oblong..-..--- 40 25 5 Neon have evidently been much
D |ponattlt). « scinem ric 35 30 44} deeper; and there are some smaller
c -do 20 15 3 J ones near the mounds.

The trenches were run along the natural surface. All disclosed a
heap of yellow clay similar to that around the mounds, and nearly all
reached at one or more places in the oblong mounds the unmistakable
core of older circular ones. At 6 feet from the edge of No. 7, upon
the natural surface, were two skeletons in a reclining position on the
side of the conical central core. At the center of this core was a par-
tially decayed skeleton prostrate in, or rather under, a layer of char-

440) ; MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

coal and ashes. This older mound or central core was 4 feet high and
20 feet in diameter. On the north side was another skeleton placed
like the first two, body reclining against the hard core and legs extended
on the original surface of the ground.

In No. 9 a fire bed was found at the top; a small, hard, conical mound
or core was also under this, but nothing was found in it.

At 10 feet from the south edge of No. 5 were two medium-sized skel-
etons, a lance head by the right side of each. These were lying at the
foot of the hard, conical core, instead of reclining upon it. About 2
feet below the top of this ancient moundlet or core, and 4 feet from
the top of the modern one built over it, were one very large and two
ordinary sized skeletons, all having the skulls above the ribs as though
buried in a sitting posture facing each other. With these bones were
a fine steatite pipe, a celt, lance-head, fish dart, fragments of pottery,
and mussel shells. These were probably intrusive burials. In the
bottom of the old mound were fragments of a prostrate skeleton.
Lying on the slope was askeleton, well preserved, with head toward the
top of the mound, and 13 feet north of it was another in like position
on the slope of another small conical mound.

The other mounds were on the same plan, showing that some people
had erected a mound oyer their dead; that subsequently the same or
another people had deposited bodies on the side or at the foot of these
mounds and covered them with dirt from the excavations near by, and
that these later mounds had been increased in size until in some cases
they had covered two or even more of the ancient ones.

OHIO.

As this state has been the field of the principal archeological investi-
gations of Col. Whittlesey, Prof. Locke, Messrs. Squier and Davis,
Rey. J. P. McLean, Dr. Hempstead, and others, and is the locality to
which the Peabody Museum has chiefly directed its attention, compara-
tively little work was done here by the Bureau.

The explorations were chiefly by Mr. Middleton and Mr, Fowke. In
the summer of 1887 a resurvey of some of the more important ancient
works described and figured by Squier and Davis was made in order
to determine the accuracy of the measurements and figures of these
authors. The result is outlined herein, though published in full m the
bulletin entitled “The Circular, Square, and Octagonal Earthworks
of Ohio,” issued in 1889.

KNOX COUNTY.
THE HAWN MOUND.

This is situated on the farm of Col. William H. Hawn, in See. 4, T. 7,
R. 11, Howard township, near the bank of Owl creek. It stands on a
small terrace, which is about 3 feet higher than the usual level of the

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL, XXViil

Section on line 6c.

Section on Line de.

PLAN AND SECTIONS OF THE STAATS MOUND, KNOX COUNTY, OHIO.

THOMAS.] OHIO. 441

valley near the verge. About a rod west of it is a short, deep gully
that drains the fields to the north, and a few rods farther west is a deep
ravine, through which flows a small, clear stream coming from the hills
a short distance to the north. An iron tomahawk and many arrow
heads have been plowed up around the mound. It is of the ordinary
conical form, circular in outline, 45feet in diameter, and 5 feet high at
the time it was examined, though reduced fully one-half in height by
thirty years’ cultivation. Col. Hawn, who saw it fifty
years ago, says it was then about 12 feet high, with
a pointed apex, and surrounded by a log fence about
4 feet high, the bottom course being made of the
trunks of trees placed end to end, the second and
last courses similar, but placed across the corners.
The inclosure had an opening to the east. ‘

An east and west section is given in Fig. 304. A
pit (c), in the original soil, 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, and
2 feet deep, with sloping sides, contained the skeleton
of an adult, lying at full length, face up and head to
the north. Over this, filling the pit and constituting
the greater part of the mound, was yellow earth (h)
similar to the adjacent soil. About 9 inches above
the original surface of the ground was a horizontal
layer (d), 9 inches thick, of muck or river mud, ex-
tending over an area about 20 feet in diameter.
Above this, which showed unmistakable evidences
of fire on its surface, was a mass (e) of mingled ashes
and earth from a foot to 2 feet in thickness. Ati
there was a small fire bed. No relics of any kind
were discovered except the fragment of an arrowhead
made of Flint ridge stone.

THE STAATS MOUND.

‘orqd ‘Ajuno0d xouy ‘punoul UMB_ eq} JO WOINDeg—'FoR “OT

This mound, which is irregularly conical, with an
average diameter of 52 feet, and a little over 7 feet
high, is located on the farm of Jacob Staats, in Sec.
1, T. 6, R. 10, Butler township. It stands on the ex-
treme point of a promontory that extends from the
hills out into the valley of Owl creek and terminates
in an abrupt descent of 90 feet. The topography of
the immediate locality is shown in Fig. 305.

The base of the mound is nearly circular; in the top is a depression,-
as shown in sections B and C, Pl. xxv, but this is explained by the
fact that a small pit was dug here some years ago and afterwards
filled up.

Encircling the base and resting wpon the original surface of the
ground was a wall about a foot in height and from 2 to 3 feet thick,

442 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

built chiefly of flat stones. This is shown by the dotted line 9, 9 in
the ground plan (Pl. xxvii) and at 9, 9 in the sections (B and C).
It will be seen by reference to the figure (A) that an opening was left at
the east and west sides (h h), each about 10 feet wide. The earth has

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PROFILE LOOKING
EAST.

Pic. 305,—Plat and section of the area about the Staats mound, Knox county, Ohio.

washed and worn away from the upper part of the mound until it has
covered the wall to the depth of a foot or more. There was nothing
found to show that the wall had ever been any higher than repre-
sented. Six feet within the wall, a little north of west from the center

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 443

of the mound was an oval pit (1) 8 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 2 feet
deep. This had been dugin the natural soil and was filled with clean
wood ashes. At its northeast corner lay a celt, and immediately east
of it was a large sandstone, a good load for two men, that had been
brought from the hills south of the mound. This stone bore marks of
fire, lay with the weathered side up, and was covered to the depth of
3 inches by the gravel in which it was embedded. At 10 feet from the
southern edge of the mound was a basin-shaped pit 3 feet in diameter
and 2 feet deep. This was lined or paved with bowlders, chiefly water-
worn. For a foot down from the surface the ground (indicated by the
dotted circle a) had been burned. A layer of ashes (2, B and C) 9 inches
thick had accumulated over the greater portion of the surface inclosed
by the stone wall, filling and covering the pit (1) on the western side
and extending to the edge of the pit (10) on the southern side. Over
the central portion of this layer of ashes was a conical heap of gravel
15 feet in diameter and 18 inches thick at the center (No. 3, B and C),
then a stratum of ashes 6 to 9 inches thick (4), next a layer of blue
clay mixed with ashes (5) varying in thickness from 2 to 3 feet, and
over the whole a covering of surface soil (6). In section C, 7 indicates
a small streak of surface soil; 8, a small mass of burned clay; and 11,
a small deposit of gravel. No human bones were found, except the
fragment of a lower jaw.

As the position of this mound was so favorable for a beacon station
and lookout, there can be little doubt that it was intended for this
purpose. A beautiful valley, a mile in width and covered with a rich
productive soil, extends for miles along the creek on either side. <A
light at this point would be visible not only to dwellers in the valley,
but at all points on the surrounding hills. It is well known that the
valley was a favorite spot with the Indians. The old Indian town of
Minnecoosa was situated in it immediately below the promontory. Mr.
Staats states that when he came here, more than fifty years ago, there
was no timber on the bottoms or on the terrace, all having been cut
down by the Indians “to give them a better chance to watch the game
and note the movements of their enemies,” and doubtless also for eul-
tivation, as their food was partly obtained in this manner.

THE HAMMOND MOUND.

This is a small, conical mound located on theland of Mr. Hammond,
in See. 3, T. 36, R. 10, Butler township, about a mile west of the Staats
mound. Itis on a terrace 20 feet higher than the bottom land of the
valley and at present is 45 feet in diameter and 4 feet high, though Mr.
Hammond says that when he first saw it it was fully twice as high,
pointed at the top, not over 35 feet in diameter, and with two large oak
trees growing on itstop. The central core consisted of soil which must
have been brought from the bottom land. This was covered by a foot
of yellow clay, like that found on the terrace. The original surface of

444 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the ground under the northeast side had been heated for 6 or 8 inches
down and was covered by an inch-thick deposit of coals and ashes.
Toward the upper part of the mound was a thin horizontal layer of dark
soil about 4 inches thick. In the north side, 6 feet from the center, at
a depth of 24 feet, lay some fragments of human bones, the skull not
among them. Six inches above them were a few burnt bones mixed
with ashes and coals, but these appear to have been brought in with
the earth when the mound was built. Scattered through the earth of
the central mass were two gorgets, a few flint knives, some arrow
points, a pendant, spearhead, chipped celt (quartzite), and a single
fragment of pottery. The top layer consisted of surface soil about
1 foot thick.
THE CEMETERY MOUND.

This mound was situated in the cemetery at Mount Vernon. A view

of it is given in Pl. xx1x, from a photograph made shortly before its

Fia. 306.— Plan of Cemetery mound, Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio.

removal.! It was conical in form, unusually symmetrical, the base being
almost a circle. Diameter, 80 feet, and height, 11. The top was slightly
depressed, in consequence of a pit sunk into it by a former owner, but
afterward filled up. The mode of construction is shown in the plan
(Fig. 306) and in the vertical section from east to west (Fig. 307).
First, a 2-inch layer (a) of surface sod, then 4 feet of fine yellow clay
(b) free of stones; below this, the central core (¢c) reaching to the origi-
nal surface, of soil, apparently from the valley to the north. The
small masses or loads in which it was deposited were very distinct, as
is shown in Fig. 307 (¢, f, g,and7). This central mass was interrupted
by a few thin seams of gray earth; first, at the depth of 6 feet from the

1 This removal was made in accordance with the wishes of its owner after a lawsuit with the direc-
tors of the cemetery.

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXIX

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

CEMETERY MOUND, MOUNT VERNON, KNOX COUNTY, OHIO.

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 445

top of the mound, a nearly horizontal layer (d) 2 inches thick; next,
a similar layer (e) connecting with the former at the margins, but
dipping a foot downward at the center; and thirdly, 2 feet lower, the
layer (h).

In the central portion of the mound, resting on the original surface
of the ground, was an irregularly quadrilateral stone inclosure (k),
This was built up loosely of rough surface sandstones, all with the
weathered side up. The east and west diameter varied from 10 to 13
feet, the north and south from 13 to 15. The thickness of the wall at
the base was from 5 to 10 feet, the height from 14 to 3 feet. The stones
were piled up without any attempt at regularity. The dotted portion
along the southern line of the wall (Fig. 306) shows where it was imper-
fect and in part wanting.

Within the space inclosed by the wall, and extending partly under it
on the east side, was the circular pit (s), 12 feet in diameter and 24 feet
deep. The sides were slightly sloped, giving it a basin-like shape. It
was mostly filled with dark soil in small masses, like that of the over-
lying mass (7), with which it seems to be continuous, resting on a

‘ ‘3
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a uv o eet Rm

Fic. 307.—Section of the Cemetery mound, Mount Vernon, Knox county, Ohio.

white substance (¢) an inch thick, possibly the ashes of hickory bark,
which covered most of the bottom of the pit and extended over a
skeleton on the west side. The portion covering the skeleton was very
hard, being difficult to penetrate with a pick. The remainder of it was
quite loose. The skeleton (w), which was badly decayed, lay at full
length with the head at the west margin of the pit and the feet toward
the center. Around it was a quantity of decayed vegetable matter,
possibly the remains of bark wrapping. On the under jaw was a
crescent-shaped piece of copper, about the hips several shell beads,
along the left arm a few bear’s teeth, and about the head the remains
of some textile fabric.

The letters m, n, and o mark the position of fire-beds; m and n were
on the level of the original surface, extending slightly over the pit, n
being mostly under the wall and m entirely so. Each was about 6 feet
in diameter, and the clay soil beneath them for a foot in depth was
burned to a light brick red. The one at 0, about the center of the pit,
was comparatively small, and the clay beneath but slightly baked,
indicating that but a single fire had been kindled on it. Just outside

446 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the eastern wall were four small pits or holes in the natural soil, each
about a foot in depth and 9 inches in diameter, arranged as shown by
p,q. 7, and v (see Fig. 306). Two of them, q and r, were filled with a
dark-brown ‘“ sticky substance,” in which were a number of split animal
bones.

A careful study of this exceedingly interesting mound leads to the
conclusion that it was a work of considerable time, the various steps
in its construction being about as follows:

First, the small holes p, g, 7, and v were dug possibly to hold posts
on which a scaffold was built to support the corpse, the split bones
being cast into them after the posts were removed tor burning when
the final burial took place. Next, when the time came for this, the
central pit (s) was dug, and the skeleton, the flesh being removed, was
deposited in it, then the layer of ashes sprinkled over the bottom (and
over the skeleton), and the pit filled up. The fire at o probably per-
tained to some superstitious burial rite, while those at m and n, which
were continued for a longer time, were built by the watchers. After
this a wooden covering was probably placed over the pit and the stone
wall built around it. There can scarcely be a doubt, judging by the
fact that the weathered sides of all the stones were uppermost, that a
considerable time had elapsed before the mound was built, possibly a
number of years. The mound was in all probability built in successive
stages, as seems to be indicated by the seams at d,e,andh. The holes
Pp, q, Y, and v may have held posts which supported a temporary booth
for the watchers instead of serving the purpose above suggested, in
which case we must suppose the body was buried without first remov-
ing the flesh, and that the decay of the flesh hardened the white sub-
stance spread over it. If these suppositions be in the main correct, the
individual buried here must have been an important personage in the
tribe to which he belonged, and one long remembered and revered by

his people.
THE SHIPLEY MOUND.

This mound is cn the farm of Mr. Worthington Shipley, in Howard
township. It is on the brow of a steep bluff 75 feet high, overlooking
the valley of Owl creek; is circular, flattened on top, 35 feet in diame-
ter, and 4 feet high. Under the center, extending north and south, was
a pit 7 feet long, 25 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, dug in the original soil.
In this was a single skeleton, face up and head south.

HOCKING COUNTY.
ANCIENT WOKS ON THE DAVIS PLACE.

These works, consisting of two small earthern inclosures and ditches,
one surrounding a large mound which covers the greater part of the in-
cluded area, are situated on the SW. 4 of Sec. 8, T. 11, R. 19, in Salt Creek
township, Hocking county. They stand on the level top of aspur which

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 447

juts out from the hills bordering the valley of Salt creek. The larger
work, which includes the mound, stands on the brink of the bluff,
which rises here to a height of 200 feet above the valley. Fig. 308 is a
plat of the works and the ground in the immediate vicinity. A plan
of the larger work, which, as before stated, consists of an earthern in-

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Fia. 308.—Works on the Davis place, Hocking county, Ohio.

closure, inner ditch, and included mound, is shown in Fig. 309. It will
be seen from this that the form of both the inclosure and the mound (a)
is somewhat quadrilateral or oblong, the longer diameter being east
and west. The mound, which covers the entire area, save a narrow
strip here and there, is 115 feet long and 96 wide at base, with a height

448 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

of 23 feet. At the eastern end and at the corners (which are rounded
off) are strips of the original level 2 or 3 feet wide between the margin
and the ditch. The top is rounded. The surrounding wall and ditch
are interrupted only by the gateway at the east, which is about 30
feet wide. The ditch is 3 feet deep and varies in width from 20 to
23 feet. The wall averages 20 feet in breadth and is from 1 foot to
3 feet high. Two

AN MM UY chestnut trees, one

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circumference, were
‘growing on the

we Nt ara aaa ea My If “| mound.
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Wy AN tion of the mound
gave the following
results: The first 5
feet of the top was
found to consist of a
layer (a, Fig. 309, B
and C) of yellow clay
similar to the sur-
face soil of the spur;
the remainder (b) of
earth, which must
have been brought
from the valley be-
low. In this latter
could easily be
traced the individ-
ual loads or little
masses by which it
had been built up,
as in the case of the
cemetery mound at
Mount Vernon. At
the base, 30 feet from
the south margin,
Fig. 309.—Plan of the large work, Davis place, Hocking county, was a bed of burnt
a clay, on which were

coals and ashes. In the center, also at the base, Were the remains of a
square wooden vault. The logs of which it was built were completely
decayed, but the molds and impressions were still very distinct, so that
they could be easily traced. This was about 10 feet square, and the
logs were of considerable size, most of them nearly or quite a foot in
diameter. At each corner had been placed a stout upright post, and
the bottom, judging by the slight remains found there, had been wholly

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Yj
yy

THOMAS. ] ‘ OHIO. 449

or partially covered with poles. It had evidently been built up inthe
form of a pen, but neither the number of rounds nor original height
could be definitely ascertained. From appearances it is probable there
were not more than two or three tiers and the height not more than 2
or3 feet. Near the center was the extended skeleton of an adult, head
south, with which were enough shell beads to make a string 9 yards in
length. The lower tier of logs was a foot or more down in the orig-
inal soil, showing that a slight excavation had been made in the sur-
face before the vault was built. The remains of some of the logs ex-
hibited traces of fire, though the dirt around them showed no indica-
tions of heat. A trench was dug through the surrounding wall south
of the mound. Near the middle were the remains of a post 6 inches in
diameter. In another trench through the south wall, near the corner,
was the burnt end of a post a foot in diameter.

A few yards south of this work is a small circular inclosure (b, Fig.
308) and inside ditch, the opening being toward the large inclosure.
The diameter north and south is 120 feet; east and west, 124 feet.
Owing to long cultivation only faint traces of them remain. The
greatest height of the wall at present is not more than 15 inches.

FRANKLIN COUNTY.
ANCIENT WORKS NEAR DUBLIN.

The works represented in Fig. 310 are 1 mile northeast of Dublin
and one-fourth of a mile east of the Scioto river. They are on a nearly
level area of the higher lands of the section. Contrary to what is
usual, the soil immediately around them is not nearly so fertile as that
a short distance away.

At 1is a circular embankment with an inside ditch. The diameter,
measuring from the middle line of the embankment on one side to the
middle on the other side, is 120 feet, the wall is about 10 feet broad and
2 feet high, and the ditch 15 feet wide and 2 feet deep, leaving a level
inclosed circular area 80 feet in diameter. On the east side is a gate-
way 12 feet wide.

No. 2 is a rectangular inclosure with rounded corners. In measuring
it, stakes were set where the middle lines of the embankment would
cross if produced. The distances between these stakes were as follows:
North side, 287 feet; west side, 212 feet; south side, 262 feet; east side,
220 feet. The outer line of the west wall forms a curve along its entire
length; the other sides are straight. On the north, east, and west sides
the wallis 25 feet across the base; on the south side, 35; its height, quite
uniform throughout, is about 3 feet. It is bordered on the inside by a
ditch 16 feet wide on the south side, 20 on the east and north sides, and
30 on the west side; depth about 2 feet on the east side, gradually
increasing along the north from 3 to 4 feet, being widest and deepest
at the southwest corner. Thus more earth was taken out along the west

12 ETH——29

450 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. «
eS

line of the ditch and added to the south side of the embankment. The
rounded outer corners of the embankment are 20 feet within the points
where the margins of the wall would intersect if carried on straight.
The corners of the inner sides of the ditch are about 10 feet within their
corresponding points. The passageway on the eastern side is 15 feet
wide. Inall these inclosures the passage way is simply the natural sur-
face of the ground between the ends of the ditch and wall; that is to

sldtiauayyyy
“i,
i

My

2

NG

iu

nit \

Se

TiN

ll

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anna

Fic, 310.—Ancient works near Dublin, l'ranklin county, Ohio.

say, it is not graded. On the level space inclosed by the ditch, 100 feet
from the top of the east line of embankment, is a mound (a) 4 feet high
and 35 feet in diameter. On the top were numerous flat stones, which
it is said had formed graves inclosing skeletons of very large size, but
nothing could be learned as to the manner in which they were buried.
Another stone grave (b), 8 feet in diameter, on the edge or bottom of
this mound on its western side, had been opened, and so torn up that

THOMAS. | OHIO. 45]

its mode of construction could not be determined. Still west, its edge
extending quite up to the ditch, is another mound (c) 1 foot high and
24 feet in diameter. This has never been disturbed. From the top of
the bank at the northeast corner of 2 to the nearest point on top of the
embankment of inclosure 1, is 135 feet; and the line of the north edge
of 2, if produced, would touch the south edge of 1.

Southwest of 2 is another circular inclosure (3) similar in construction
to 1; the embankment is 18 feet across and 2 feet high; the ditch 22
feet wide and 3 feet deep in the deepest part; the level space inclosed
100 feet in diameter, making the entire diameter of the inclosure from
center to center of the outer wall 162 feet. The passageway (opening
directly toward 2) is 22 feet wide. In the inclosure is a mound (d) 40
feet in diameter and 3 feet high, its center being 60 feet from the inner
edge of the ditch on the east. The amount of earth in this mound is
hardly sufficient to account for the difference between the cubic con-
tents of the excavation and those of the embankment.

About 500 feet west of 3 is a single mound (4) 5 feet high and 50 feet
in diameter.

BROWN COUNTY.

MOUND GROUP ON HILL PLACE.

The group shown in Fig. 311 is on a high hill near the Arnheim pike,
4 miles north of Ripley, on the farm of Mr. James M. Hill, and consists
of eight mounds, two of which are surrounded by a ditch and embank-
ment.

The principal mound (1) is 72 feet in diameter and 8 feet high. Three
small tumuli (2, 3, and 4), which have been plowed over for many years,
are now from 14 to 24 feet high and from 30 to 40 feet in diameter.

No.5 is 24 feet high and 40 feet in diameter. This is surrounded by
a circular wall and inner ditch each about 15 feet across, the diameter
of the former from the middle line on one side to the middle on the
other side being 151 feet, and of the ditch from center to center 119
feet. The wall is now only about 1 foot high, and the ditch scarcely
more than 1 foot in depth.

No.6 is a similar work, except that it is elliptical instead of circular,
the measurements being as follows: The mound 80 feet east and west
and 70 north and south; the ditch measuring from center to center 150
feet east and west and 120 feet north and south; the wall from top to
top 180 by 150 feet. The mound is 5 feet high, the ditch and wall each
about 15 to 18 feet wide, the height of the wall from 1 to 2 feet, and the
ditch but little over a foot deep.

Westward from the latter work, one at the distance of 365 feet and
the other nearly 1,200 feet, are two other mounds (7 and 8). The for-
mer of these is 3 feet high and 50 feet in diameter; the latter (8) 34 feet
high and 75 feet in diameter, is on a lower level than the other and not
visible from any other mound in the whole group, yet from its position

452 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

must belong with them. The relative positions are correctly indicated
in the figure. The distances from center to center are as follows:

Feet. Feet.
PT OMel eb: 2 hoe oe ee eee sa eee 120) )|"Rromiili tosoles 25 eecencoreee ee 255
roms f0i0) o2ocaaecceo: seen 1205) Bromvelotoibissossee cs see eee sees 485
Brom Stove ses. ca Bee ese s 1554) Bro miGutovies. «sabe seme eee 365
ron 4st: ase eae icice eae eee 180) || Brom 7 to\S <s-225-- ie LS iy one ai 800

Lying 8. 20° W. from 1 is a large mound, about half a mile distant,
in plain view. 8S. 50° E. about one-third of a mile is another, not visi-
ble by reason of a low intervening ridge. About 1 mile 8. 30° E. was
formerly an inclosure, now entirely destroyed. Nothing definite could
be ascertained regarding its size or shape. It had been locally known
as the Indian fort, and was on a hill overlooking the group. There is
a good spring within 150 yards of 8, and another 200 yards southwest
of 1. From 1 to the nearest point on Straight creek is half a mile in a
northwest direction. The descent from the mounds to the creek is
about 500 feet and very steep. A number of relics were found in 1
some years since. It has never been opened to the bottom. A small
cache of very fine, large, leaf-shaped kiives of Flint Ridge stone was
exposed by the plow near by.

STONE GRAVES,

On nearly every prominent hill in the neighborhood of Ripley are
stone graves, some small, apparently the burying places of a single in-
dividual, others large enough to contain anumber. Nearly all of these
graves have been disturbed by the persons on whose farms they are
situated, either through curiosity or to utilize the stone. Very few
have ever yielded any relics, and then only a celt ora few arrowheads.
Over twenty different places were visited where it was claimed the
graves were undisturbed before any were found intact.

Four miles east of Ripley, on a hill 500 feet high, overlooking the
valley of Eagle creek and commanding an extensive view in every
direction, were two that had never been opened.

The first was inclosed by a circle of large, flat limestone slabs set on
edge, and measured 15 feet in diameter. The slabs fitted closely or
slightly overlapped, and the space thus inclosed was on the same level
as the surrounding surface; it was filled mostly with stones similar to
those around the edge, with only enough dirt to fill the spaces between.
The mass of earth and stone was removed to a depth of 15 inches,
when large, flat rocks, lying horizontally, were reached. One of these
being removed disclosed the yellow clay subsoil beneath. This was dug
into about 2 feet, to make sure it was in place. There was nothing
to show that the edges of the slabs had been dressed, yet they fitted
so closely that only very small cracks were between them at any place
and formed a floor over the whole space inclosed. Lying directly upon
this rock floor, with head east, was an extended skeleton badly broken

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 453

by the weight of the material above. Only a few fragments of the
skull could be obtained; enough to show that it was a full half inch
in thickness. With the exception of a few vertebrie, the bones of the
body and upper extremities were so decayed that they could not be
taken out or even uncovered sufficiently for examination, the tough,
sticky soil adhering to them so that, when removed from its place, it
brought fragments of the bone along withit. The femora were still
solid enough to allow the dirt to be
scraped away with a knife. They
measured 224 inches in length.
Lying against the spinal column of
the skeleton, just above the posi-
tion of the pelvic bones, was a
fragment, about 2 inches across, of
a human skull not over one-six-
teenth of an inch thick. Besides
many small decayed pieces of
bones, there were found one other
femur of a size to correspond with
those of the skeleton, and three
femora of ordinary size. These
last were lying close together.
Why an odd number should be
found is not plain. Close watch
was kept, but no pieces of another
were seen. The bones of the ex-
tended skeleton were in their
proper position; so it would seem
that a body had been buried soon
after death, aud at the same time
portions of the skeletons of others
who had “died previously were
placed in the grave. No two of
the smaller femora were in a posi-
tion such as could have corre-
sponded with a whole skeleton | / |
placed in the grave. None of the
bones were near the sides of the
grave; the skeleton lay nearly across the center, and the other bones
were close to its left side. The confused heaping of the stones made it
impossible to discover their original method of arrangement; however,
it was apparent that they were not the parts of a box grave. Possibly
the remains had been covered with logs, and stones piled on the top of
these. The grave was on a perfectly level spot.

Forty yards from this grave was another, on a gentle slope and at a
slightly lower level than the first. This also had a circle of limestone

Fic, 311,.—Group of mounds, Brown county, Ohio.

A54 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

slabs around it, some of which were perpendicular, but most of them
variously inclined. The space within, measuring 19 feet across, was
on a level with the surrounding surface of the ground. Beginning
at the south edge, at first only dirt and small broken stones in about
equal parts, were found; the yellow subsoil was 14 inches below the
top, and the position of the broken stones showed they had been
thrown in directly upon it. Six feet from the south side was a row of
large slabs, the tops being above the ground and the bottom edges
sunk into the yellow clay. Before these were disturbed the earth
around them was removed and the stones and dirt within the entire
circle thrown out, when it was seen that the slabs were arranged in the
form of an ellipse 13 by 94 feet, with the longer axis east and west.
All the slabs of the south half of this ellipse sloped inwardly and over-
lapped, the western edge of every one being placed over the eastern
edge of the next one. On the north side they were so displaced by the
roots of some trees that the arrangement could not be made out; pre-
sumably it was the same as on the opposite side. Two feet within this
ellipse (on the south side) was another row of large slabs reaching
from end to end in nearly a straight line, with the tops leaning inward;
on the north side were similar slabs, but the roots had moved them
about so that it was impossible to say whether they corresponded with
the others or not. Finally there were two rows within these just men-
tioned, with the tops leaning outward (away from the center) on each
side; this trough-like inclosure was 11 by 2 feet. Several large stones
were lying on or partly across this, their position showing they had
been laid over the top as boards are placed over a coffin. Within this
box was a number of fragments of badly decayed bones. Enough were
found to prove that at least one skeleton had been interred, extended
with head to the east, and that it had been the frame of a strongly-
built person of medium height. In addition to these there were found
here some pieces of the bones of a very young child. The femora were
lying in the proper position relative to each other, but so*close that
the heads were in contact. All the space within the larger ellipse was
paved with flat stones lying on the subsoil, asin the first grave, though
they were somewhat smaller in this one. No traces of bones were found
outside of the box. ;

The accompanying Fig. 312 (A denoting the ground plan and B a
vertical section north and south) is an attempt to represent as nearly
as possible this unusual burial place. The letters a, b, and ¢ indicate
the same thing both in the plan and section. The outer circle (a a) is
19 feet in diameter, composed of upright stone slabs; bd is the ellipse,
the diameters being 15 and 94 feet. The stone slabs forming this ring
lean inwards, as shown in the section. The roof-shaped, elliptical
passage (¢ ¢) was composed of two series of stone slabs leaning toward
each other and meeting at the top; d d denote the surface soil and e e
the clay subsoil on which the paving stones rest.

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 455

Within a fourth of a mile of these graves, on another hill, was for-
merly a number of stone cists, from which nearly all the stones have
been hauled away. The person who removed them said they had been
set on edge, forming rectangular boxes about 8 feet by 2, large slabs
laid across the top and other stones heaped on these. The position of
such of the stones as were too firmly set in the ground to be easily
removed, which were found still in place, showed that at least the first
part of his statement was correct.

A grave 24 miles east of Ripley, on a point giving a good view of the
Ohio riverand Kentucky hills, had been opened by other parties, whose
statements in regard to an arch led to an examination of it. The
inclosed portion, which had been pretty thoroughly cleaned out, was
elliptical, 8 by 11 feet, the longer axis east and west. Like those

Section. B.

Fic. 312.—Stone grave, Brown county, Ohio.

above described this had a floor of slabs resting on the yellow subsoil.
The boundary of the grave was a row of slabs set on edge, inclining
inward at an angle of 45 degrees, and supported underneath by a mass
of small broken rocks tightly wedged in. Surrounding this were other
rows similarly inclined, the whole series being about 6 feet in width
entirely around the grave, and resting on the stone pavement which
extended to the outside layer. Supported by these and reaching higher
up, the lower edges of the stones in the upper tier being forced in
between the ipper edges of the ones beneath, were partial layers of
another tier; and in one or two places the third tier or series could be
seen, their lower edges, in turn, being between the upper edges of the
second tier, each layer having a little greater inclination than the one
below it. By continuing this plan an arch could have been formed

456 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

clear across the space in which the body or bodies had been deposited,
and, as each side would have to be drawn in only 4 feet at the widest
part, the stones would have been sufficiently strong for the purpose.
A section of this grave restored in part is shown in Fig. 313.

It will be seen that, although these graves differed widely in the con-
struction of the upper part, they all agreed in having a floor or pave-
ment of flat rocks laid upon the subsoil, upon which the body or skele-
ton was deposited, and that they differed materially from the box-shaped
stone graves. No relics of any description were found.

Although it is going beyond the limits of the county, it may not be
out of place to say here that for several miles up and down the river,
on the opposite hills of Kentucky, graves similar to the above exist in
great numbers; but after much search and inquiry Mr. Fowke, who
examined those described, failed to find a single one which had not been
tornup. There was formerly, according to the old settlers, a very large
group of them in the bottom near Dover, Kentucky, 2 miles below Ripley.
A mnilldam, a limekiln, and a long string of fence are still standing,
built of stones from this cemetery, which, in addition, furnished lime to
the people around for several years. Whether for mortuary or other
purposes, all this stone had been carried from the neighboring hills,

Fic. 313,—Section of a stone grave, Brown county, Ohio.

and thereis no place within the fourth of a mile where it could have been
obtained without carrying it up a steep bluff fully 50 feet high.

In this bottom are also several mounds, the largest 20 feet high and
120 feet in diameter. A smaller one close by, on being opened, disclosed
about half a bushel of burnt limestone rocks from 2 to 4inches through,
a plate of mica, and a little charcoal. The stones were at the center,
about half of them sunk into the original surface; the mica and char-
coal about 5 feet west of the center. A number of large, flat stones were
placed on edge, in no definite order, about the upper part of the mound.
Many relics have been found on or immediately beneath the surface,
within sight of Ripley. Every plowing or flood reveals them all along
the banks and, in fewer numbers, on the hills and along the creeks;
and though many thousand specimens have been gathered, the supply
seems scarcely diminished. They are mostly celts, grooved axes, round
stones, hammer-heads, arrowheads, and other flint weapons and pitted
stones. Pestles and cupped stones are plentiful; nor is there a lack
of pottery (always broken), perforated shells, slate ornaments, and
hematites of different patterns.

At the mouth of Eagle creek, near Ripley, is the site of a former vil-

THOMAS. ] OHIO. A57

lage and what has been an extensive aborginal cemetery; the latter is
now nearly gone. owing to the encroachments of the creek on one side
and the river on the other.

The indications are that this region was formerly occupied by a people
who had villages, but lived more by hunting and fishing than by agri-
culture. ;

COSHOCTON COUNTY.

Beginning in Jefferson township, a short distance above Warsaw,
and extending in a southwestern direction for 10 or 12 miles, is a series
of flint deposits, the remains of what was once a continuous bed. The
ground has been eroded into numerous peaks and ridges, and the flint
is now found only in those hills whose tops remain above its level. At
several points these deposits bear evidence of aboriginal workings,
mostly along the outcrop, as the depth of earth and stone above them
was too great to be removed by primitive means. Many places that
have been left undisturbed are apparently no more difficult to excavate
than some that have been worked. The most extensive quarrying was
done on the hills immediately south of the Walhonding river, 3 miles
southwest of Warsaw.

On the farm of Col. Pren Metham, southwest of his house, is a long,
narrow ridge, whose top slopes downward toward the north for some
distance and then gradually rises to the end. In the depression, or
“saddleback,” thus formed, the flint was covered only a few feet at
any point. The ancient diggers began at the outcrop on one side of
the ridge and worked across to the other side, removing the flint and
throwing the dirt behind them as they went. The soil is thickly cov-
ered and intermingled with spalls and fragments. There are a few
pits on the ascending slope to the south of this ridge, but the thick-
ness of the overlying soil soon becomes too great to justify its removal.
The space dug over comprises about 5 acres.

Half a mile east of this, on land of Mrs. Criss, between two small
ravines that intersect a short distance to the southward, is a nearly
level area of about 2 acres, rising from 6 to 12 feet above the outcrop,
on which are several large pits filled with muck and water. The largest
is about 100 feet across, and a high bank of earth still surrounding it
shows that a large surface of the flint has been uncovered. From the
hill, on one side of which this level is found, a narrow point extends for
some distance to the east, and along both sides of this point the exca-
vations or pits reach from the outcrop up the hill to a distance varying
according to the thickness of the overlying stratum. At other places
in the immediate vicinity are similar excavations; but those mentioned
are the principal ones. Some of the pits have been cleared out by
persons living near, and the method of excavating was found to be
analogous to that followed at the flint quarries of Licking county.

This flint varies considerably. At the pits on Mrs. Criss’s farm it is
an opaque blue, with a small amount of included chalcedony and crys-

458 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

tals. At the point east it is white, resembling a much weathered chal-
cedony. Nearer the river there is considerable chalcedony, and a clear
yellowish or ‘“ honey-colored” stone, much resembling that found in
Europe, though less translucent. The greater part, however, is a dark
variety, much of it being basanite. There seems to be no regular order
in its arrangement. Sometimes the different kinds are in strata, though
not always in the same relative position, while, again, three or four sorts
are seen in a single large block. There may be thin seams of shale or
other rock between the flint layers, or the flint may be in a solid bed,
either with one color merging into another or the line of separation
sharply defined, without any change in the texture of the stone.

Just east of Col. Metham’s residence, on a high point overlooking
the valley for 3 or 4 miles, was a mound about 5 feet high, made of flat
stones, in layers one over another, with the spaces between (where they
did not fit up closely) filled with broken stone. This had been built
up over a stone box-grave containing a skeleton 7 feet long and a few
relics. On the north side of the river, northwest from this mound, run-
ning out from a hill 300 feet high, on the farm of Robert Darling,
is a point whose sides at the top are perpendicular from 12 to 20
feet. Across this point is a crescent-shaped wall of stone, convex out-
wardly, 3 feet high, and reaching to the bluff on each side. Itmeasures
about 100 yards in length.

LICKING COUNTY,

With the exception of Ross, this is the most interesting county, arche-
ologically, in the state. From the great works at Newark, divergent
mound systems reach to
the Ohio at Portsmouth
and Marietta. Numer-

\ \ 5 / ous earth mounds and
Ni L * inclosures occur, besides

WW" ZA C1os Soc ? , ves Ss
; several stone inclosures
and probably morestone
mounds (some of great

>
\\ : :
size) than in any other

tN

SSK
Zi S equal area in the Missis-
Uy NS . .

Cl: sippi valley.

Deneve tee F
Hise The plat (Fig. 314)

shows a group which

has not been heretofore

FiG. 314.—Mounds near Brownsville, Ohio. represented. It is lo-

cated 2 miles southwest

of the village of Brownsville and half a mile south of the National road,

on a high hill, from which the surrounding country is in view for sey-
eral miles.

The most prominent mound, No. 1, is 120 feet in diameter, with a

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

Sections.

Med,

are

Sandy Loum

SS

NEWARK WORKS, LICKING COUNTY, OHIO,

ifhack =

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XxX

—

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aay,

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Za

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7

THOMAS.} OHIO. 459

present height of 15 feet; it has been considerably lowered by persons
digging into the top of it.

Fifteen feet southwest of this (measuring from margin to margin) is
mound 3, 80 feet in circumference and about 8 feet high. Like No.1,it has
been lowered by searchers. The first 5 feet from the bottom was found
to be a mingled compact mass of earth and stones; above that, stones
only. Possibly the entire mound was of earth and stone at first, the
former having gradually settled into the spaces between the latter.
An elevation around the margin of this mound indicates an encircling
wall of earth.

Kast of 3 is an earth mound (2) 100 feet in diameter and 5 feet high.

Surrounding it is a circular ditch 1 foot deep and outside of this is
a circular embankment 2 feet high.

The slope from the top of embankment to bottom of the ditch is
unbroken, the plow having destroyed the original lines. From the
center of the included mound to the top of the wall surrounding it is
120 feet, showing the diameter of the inclosure to be 240 feet.

Northeast of 1 is 4, an earth mound 2 feet high and 50 feet in diam-
eter. It has also been long cultivated.

Large trees are growing on the stone mound, but not even a bush on
the largest earth mound.

THE NEWARK WORKS. '!

As the ancient works at this place have become noted the following
facts, in addition to what is given by Squier and Davis in their excel-
lent work, may be of interest to American archeologists.

The northern parallels, marked g h on their plan, a copy of which is
shown in our Pl. xxx, extend eastward to the brow of the upper
terrace, but if they ever went down the slope and out on the next ter-
race, as Shown in their plan, there is not now the slightest indication
of it, nor does any one we were able to find in Newark remember them
as so extending. Col. Whittlesey, by whom the original survey was
made, is noted for his accuracy, and possibly the plan is correct in
this respect, but all the evidence we could obtain is against such con-
clusion.

There are two large excavations immediately north of the octagon,
from which it is probable the dirt was taken for the walls. There are
also slight depressions along some of the walls and at a few points
within and without them, from which dirt was also taken. Under the
terrace, near the creek, immediately north of the opening at the north-
ern corner of the octagon, is a strong spring of cool, limpid water.

There is considerably more space between the small circle marked G
near the east end of the northern parallel, and the southern line of these
parallels, than the plan of Messrs. Squier and Davis allows. This fact
is worthy of notice, as within this space is the singular work shown in

1 Squier and Davis, Anc. Mon., Pl. xxv.

460 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Fig. 315. This is omitted by Squier and Davis, but is indicated in the
figure of this group in McLean’s Mound Builders, page 33, though the
form he gives is erroneous. As will be seen by reference to the figure
now given, it is an inclosure in the form of a figure 8, with an inside
ditch, an opening at the east, and a wall or embankment in the form
of an are in the interior, near the middle. The entire length of the
wall, following the curves from the end on one side of the gateway to
the end on the other side, is 529 feet; width of gateway, 52 feet; the
north and south diameters of the circles, measuring from the top of
the wall, 125 feet; the length of the crescent, 107 feet; the wall and
ditch are each about 9 feet wide, the one about a foot high and the other
a foot deep, but quite distinct throughout.

The three mounds in a row west of the “ pond” or swamp in Squier
and Davis’s plan are in a northwest and southeast line, and not north-
east and southwest, as represented; the fourth is not to be found. Two
are in the woods on a level,
10 feet above the swamp;
the third is in a cultivated
field. The north and south
two are each about 33 by
63 feet, with the longer axis
nearly north and south;
the third, circular, 32 feet
d a in diameter, is about mid-
OT TTR Nf LOS way between them. All

STN : :

are about 3 feet high.

The ditch within the fair-
ground circle (E) is 5 or 6
feet lower at the entrance
than at other part, and the
dirt in it just such as may
be found in any old ditch, being of a grayish clay color when dry, but
resembling the loam around when wet. There is no evidence of the
puddling which some late investigators have professed to find.

The earth for the embankments was taken in part from the ditch and
in part from outside excavations plainly visible. The largest of these
is marked by Squier and Davis, but there are many other places where
dirt seems to have been taken up from the surface to the depth of
from 1 to 2 or 3 feet. The same is true of the various works in the
vicinity.

There are four distinct terraces in the bottom-lands on which these
remains are situated; only the lowest one has ever been overflowed
since occupation by the whites.

In order that parties desirous of doing so may have an opportunity
of testing the previous surveys of the works at this place, the field
notes of the survey of the “‘ Fair ground circle,” the ‘ Observatory cir-

Fic. 315.—Small inclosure, Newark group, Licking county,
Ohio.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXX!

or

FAIR GROUND CIRCLE, NEWARK, OHIO.

THOMAS. } OHIO. 461

cle,” the *‘ Octagon,” and “Square,” made by Mr. J. D. Middleton in
1888, are inserted here.

In measuring the circles chords of equal length were used, the sta-
tions being on top of the wall and always as near the middle as could
be ascertained by measurement and judgment and the stakes all set
before the bearings were taken. ‘The course of each chord was taken.
In measuring the Octagon, the middle lines of the wall were followed
and the corners established where the lines cross each other.

FAIR GROUND CIRCLE.

This is the large circle (see Pl. Xxxt) situated in the southern ex-
tremity of the group and marked E on PI. xxv of Ancient Monuments,
and has received the above name from the fact that it embraces within
its circuit the fair grounds of the Licking County Agricultural Society.
It is undoubtedly one of the best preserved ancient monuments of our
country; it is uninjured by the plow and trees of the original forest
are still standing on it. The ditch has been but slightly filled by the
wash of the many years which have passed since its abandonment.
The wall varies in width from 35 to 55 feet and in height from 5 to 14
feet. The ditch varies in width from 28 to 41 feet and in depth from 8
to 13 feet.

The following are the notes of the survey, commencing at station 1,
in the gateway:

Stations. Bearing. Distanco| embane } cree
Feet. | Feet. | Feet.

1to 2| 8.20092) B.... 100 | Foy | Baeeeeete |
2to 3|S.1934 B..... 100 | 45 41 |
3 to 4| 5.2055’ W.... 100 | BY seseaseee
4to 5|S.15°17' W... 100 | 44 41 |
5 to 6 | S.230 32) W... 100 | AON ese eee
6 to 7 | S.28° 59 W... 100 | AA | ee eee
7 to 8 | §.39°50' W... 100 | Abierto
8 to 9 | S.49° 25’ W... 100 42 42 |
9 to 10 | S. 60° 37 W... 100 | CUA ees ane
10 to 11 | §.719 25’ W... 100 | rvs See eee ts
11 to 12 | $.80° 31’ W. . 100 | 43 38
12 to 13 | N. 88° 50’ W .. 100 3
13 to 14 | N.79° 33’ W.. 100
14 to 15 | N.74° 13’ W .. 100 |
15 to 16) N.59° 32) W.. 100
16 to 17 | N.52° 32) W.. 100
17 to 18 | N.40° 26° W.. 100
18 to 19 | N.320 247 W.. 100 |
19 to 20 | N.249 44’ W .. 100 |
20 to 21 | N.12° 20’ W .. 100 |
21 to 22 | N.30 20) W ... 100 |
22 to 23 | N.7° 55’ E.... 100
23 to 24 | N.219 25/1... 100

462 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Stations. Bearing. Distance. State: | Ree
| ment. | F.
Feet. eet. Feet.
24 to 25 | N.27939'E ... 100 | 38 28
25 to 26 | N.360 32) E ... 100 | org) Laem eae
26 to 27 | N.45° 04’ E ... 100 SOs eee
27 to 28 | N.520 40’ E ... 100 38 | 35
28 to 29 | N.599 37'E ... 100 CON Bees ee
29 to 30 | N. 68° 44’ E ... 100 | Up Se eae
30 to 31 | N.849 15'E ... 100 | 48 38
31 to 32] S. 85°32/E ... 100 | Od Berner
32 to 33 |S. 779 7/E... 100 | 42 | 36
33 to 34] S. 63° 22’E ... 100 | BSinss ca! ee
34 to 35 | S. 569 VE... 100 | AN eae
35 to 36 | S. 49° 30’E ... 100 | 40 34
36 to 37 | S. 40°18 E ... 100 AGN Seco sees
37 to 38} S. 389 29'E ... 40 53 32
88 to 1] S. 20022)... SO eee ee | eee
ato b | S.23925' Ww ... 858) seete. a2.| 4 2c cene
ato ec|S.68938’ W ...
b to d| N.20°45' W ...
Dito) te) |U ore eee cee
(oy ay 70) Ie eae ie oie oe
(OREO | oe ieee pie |
37 to 39 | N.66°41' E ...| 84 | 53 | *32
|

2 to 50 | N.66°27' E ...| 95 48 133 |

*North wing. + South wing.

From the plat made according to these figures we ascertain that the
longest diameter, namely that running northeast and southwest, is
1,189 feet; and the shortest, southeast and northwest, is 1,163 feet; a
difference of 26 feet. Although not a true circle, the difference between
the longest and shortest diameters falls much short of 100 feet, the
difference given by Messrs. Squier and Davis. PI. xxxt shows the eir-
cle according to an exact scale; the dark line along the wall indicating
the line of the survey.

OBSERVATORY CIRCLE.

This circle, which is marked F on Pl. xxv of “Ancient Monuments,”
is situated at the extreme west of the great group, and is yet very dis-
tinct, being about 3 feet high at the lowest point, the average height
being between 4 and 5 feet. Most of the south half is yet in the
original forest and has never been injured by the plow; but the
north half has been under cultivation for a number of years and is
considerably worn. The effect of this wearing is apparent not only in
the decrease in height, but in the increase in width, of this portion of
the wall as shown by the field notes given below. The field notes are
as follows, beginning at station 0, in the middle of the gateway leading
to the octagon:

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

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TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL.

. XXXII

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OBSERVATORY CIRCLE, NEWARK, OHIO.

THOMAS.} OHIO, 463
Station. Bearing. | Distance. aioe Remarks.
Feet. Feet.
0 to 1/ S.38° 20’ R.... 42 0 | Station 1 at junction of circle and south pawvallel.
lto 2] S.26°20' EB. ... 100 36
2to 3 | S.17°37' E.... 100 | * 35
SaUOM a ES 60 eee 100 38 |
4to 5| 8.5936 W.... 100 | 38 |
dS) to: 6) 'S5 15° Wr... 100 37
6 to 7] 8.279 45° W... 100 36 | Center of wall 2 feet east; that is, outward.
7 to 8| 8.35°17' W... 100 | 34
8 to 9 | 8.48940’) W... 100 37
9 to 10 | S.58° 16" W_.. 100 | 37
10 to 11 | S.699 13" W... 100 | 37 |
1] to 12 | S.82° W...... 100 | 35 |
12 to 13 | N. 89° 13! W .. 100 41
13 to 14 | N. 76°23) W .. 100 37
14 to 15 | N.66915' W.. 100 (?)38 | Width estimated, not measured.
15 to 16 | N.55° 56 W.. 100 39
16 to 17 | N.45° 10’ W.. LOO ein eeleon Middle of ‘* Observatory.”’
17 to 18 | N.33° 33' W.. 100 39 |
18 to 19 , N.20° 29/ Vives! 100 42 |
19 to 20 | N.11° 22) We. 100 43
20 to 21 | N.1934/ W.... 100 40)
21 to 22 | N.9°06'E.... 100 3
22 to 23 | N.20°54' B... 100 38 |
23 to 24 | N.31°12'B_.. 100 39
24 to 25 | N.420 32) B_.. 100 40
25 to 26 | N.53° 43/1... 100 42 |
26 to 27 | N.629 43) Bh... 100 40 |
27 to 28 | N.75007' E._. 100 44 |
28 to 29 | N.86° 23 BE _.. 100 40 |
29 to 30 | S.82°17/ E._.. 100 44
30 to 31 | S.72° 04’ E.... 100 42
81 to 32 | S. 60° 45’ Bh... 100 45
32 to 33} S.51906'E....| 100 45
33 to 34 | 8.46029 E__.. 20itece erase Junction with north parallel wall.
34 to 0 | S.38° 20’ E.... CP ese e Middle of gateway.
34 to 36 | N.52°04 E....| Dy Ihaee tabs. | North parallel.
1 to 37 | N.51°53 E.... Py Pee eecreen | South parallel.
iL ~*~ i 5
CHECK LINES.
0 toll S. 18° 28°;W..
0 to 17) S. 51° a7 W..
Oto 2) 5S: 520 We 25-2 “3” indicates the half-way point in the eircum-
ference.
0 to 25. N. 85° 10’ W..
17 to 11 } ‘S: 71°'59" Hh. .
17 to 25 | N. 49.23’ E....
25 to 11 | §.28° 03’ E....

In order to bring before the eye of the reader the approximate regu-
larity of this circular work, a figure laid off to a scale is introduced

here (Pl. xxx11),

The solid black line of short chords marks the line of

464 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the survey along the top of the wall, and the circular dotted line the
nearest approximate circle. Great care was taken in making the sur-
vey, and the plat and calculation were found to confirm the accuracy
claimed.

Measuring the various diameters, the maximum is found to be 1,059
feet and the minimum 1,050, the mean of which is 1,054.5 feet, but it is
found by trial that the nearest approximate circle has a diameter of
1,054 feet. The widest divergence between the line of the survey and
the circumference of the true circle is 4 feet.

The aggregate length of the chords surveyed is 3,304 feet, while the
circumference of the approximate circle is 3,311 feet; adding to the sum
of the chords the additional length of the arcs they subtend (0.1508 of
a foot to each 100-foot chord) we have a total of 3,509 feet. It is there-
fore evident that the inclosure approaches, in form, very nearly an abso-
lute circle. The area including the inner half of the wall is 20 acres,
but of the interior level area it is only 18.6 acres.

“OCTAGON.”

This inclosure, which is connected with the “Observatory Circle”
according to resurvey, is Sshownin PI. xxx. The southern portions, a
to b, and b to ¢, remain almost uninjured, being still more or less covered
by the original forest grewth. The other lines of wall have been con-
siderably worn by the plow, though they are still quite distinct, the
height not being less at any point than 24 feet, as shown by the figures
of the field notes. Nevertheless the wearing makes it difficult, often
impossible, to determine with absolute certainty the middle line, though
there is never any good reason why the survey should vary from the
middle line of this, or any other of these Ohio inclosures distinctly
traceable, more than 3 feet at most.

The field notes of the survey are as follows: Commencing at station
No. 36 (so numbered in the survey of the Observatory Circle) at the
point where the northern parallel joins the Octagon; thence to station
37, the point where the southern parallel joins the Octagon; thence to
b and round to the place of beginning.

| Station. | Bearing. Distance. ve Helene ou
Feet. Feet. Feet.

36 to 37 | S. 36° 32’ BE... BO | Paes ee

| 87 to b| S.49° 41’ E.... 580 | 40 tos 7 to 4.5
b.to c | N.64918’E...| 6245 | 37 to 48 | 4.3 to 4.2

| ctod) N.39°50'E...) 625 17 to 90 | 5.91058
d toe | N.25°98'W..| 622 | 41 to 50 | 3.4 to 3.5
eto f | N.51932)W..| 621 | 40 to 37 | 2.5 to 2.6

f tog |S.65°40'W...| 613 | 47 to 43 | 3.8 to 4.0

g toh | S.39915'W. .| 621°5 | 45 to 47 | 4.3 to 4.0
to 37 | S.25° 40’/E...| 581-5 | 43 to 41 | 3.8 to 3.7

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIIb

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OCTAGON, NEWARK, OHIO.

THOMAS. | OHIO. 465

The two numbers to each course, in the width and height columns,
are two measurements of each wall near the ends in the direction of the
survey.

The stations indicated by letters are at the intersections of the mid-
dle lines of the walls extended; station a is at the intersection of the
lines of the h-36 and 37-b. The diameters as ascertained from the plat
(in all cases to the intersections) are as follows:

Feet. Feet.
TRCN CATO ee ee te ee eae eoreee Proton meram tod =. esc seeneeseenc-ces 1, 219
INTO [eoeen secee ic eoee sees LSPA Co PUY (ee ae ee ae ee 1, 202
1D1 Ya) 00/0 0) 1 ec SE SR ees ee LOS WromyRrto@ 2 2S. es ae 1, 720
UROW MiGOlE see oo sss e F ayes te 1 aSon {Cb mOmMigibO) G22 526 e)< 2 Se oon bys ae 1, 487

The widths of the gateways are as follows, the measurements being
from base to base: At a, 46 feet; at b, 23 feet; at c, 47 feet; at d, 26
feet; ate, 37 feet; at f, 12 feet; at h, 60 feet.

The angles at: the crossings of the diagonals and diameters at the
center o are so nearly right angles as to be worthy of notice in this con-
nection. For instance, the angles at crossing of the diagonals bf and
dh ditter but 10 minutes from true right angles, while those at the
crossing of the diameters ae and cg differ but 2 minutes.

The inner angles at the intersection of the lines of the walls—that is
to say, the angles of the octagon—are as follows:

ACG esata =a saa any sia am = a iols sae 155° 59’ | SAU O fe meee = ce ans ete oP eee ea 118° 59’
Atc.. UGG BY al WAI Ale Cpemeres Hoge Sees San eee 114 42
[CS ep Rca penn a a eer [EEE Bho Ih UN oe ier se eich helt NS Vale we ge 117 12
ING Cibo GaGa eRe Reena e 1S Bi MS) MN DEE Sent eee ces ces ameae sees 115 05

THE SQUARE.

This is the smaller square inclosure on the east side of the works,
and in Pl. xxv, “ Ancient Monuments,” is directly east of the pond. It
connects with the fair-ground circle (E on the plate) by a broken line
of parallels. According to Col. Whittlesey’s plat it varies considerably
from a true square, being distinctly narrowed on one side, but, as will
be seen from the notes of the resurvey, it must have been very nearly
square. As it is well nigh obliterated it was found impossible to trace
the lines throughout, hence only those parts are marked in the figure
(see Pl. XxxIv) which were satisfactorily determined; theuntraced por-
tions are represented by dotted lines.

The following are the field notes of the resurvey which commenced
near the middle of the southeastern line of wall at 1, running thence to
2, and so on around, following the walls to station 7, whence, as the
wall was visible no farther, the close was made by running directly to
station 1:

12 ETH——30

466 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

| Station. Bearing. Distance.
| = s

Feet.

1 to 2 | N.479 16’ E... 369 °5
2 to 3 | N.41° 53/ W-. 928
3 to 6 | 8.479 47’ W-. 926
6 to 7 | S.41° 47 EB... 541
7 to1| N.82° 47° E.. 679

i)

Check lines.

Feet
From 3 to 4, junction with eastern paralle) ................-.--- 268
From 4 to 5, junction with western parallel........-...---.---- 158
From'5\to 6; western) comer-- 2. 22ee2) sae - eee sae ae aye ee 500

The inner angles as ascertained by measurement on the ground are
as follows:

Att StatlON UL 5 -c00/sceeaeieice ce aie ’ss ease elena ete ste eaista a wie alarseere 144° 30’
PARCEL 0 tho OP eee Ag aS HO GEE BESO RSO ORE ROS COED OOD SOGaoenSS 90 51
Atistatlonsan sae seas Sen eee ase ses eaeeiee enceiaeeeetemetaet es 89 40
At statiomi6i.cs3-cseie- Se ce cece ewe emt semen sence secisesisee 90 26
ONS UD HO) Cy (Sec See Sere eee ere conc See OOU so em r onan SoS 124 34

Supposing the obliterated parts of the lines about the southern cor-
ner to have been straight continuations of the remaining portions, as
represented in the figure, this angle would equal 89 degrees 3 minutes;
and the side 6 to 8 would be 939 feet; and 8 to 2 would be 951 feet.

There are at present no indications whatever of the inner mounds
represented on Col. Whittlesey’s plat.

As will be seen by inspecting our figure and referring to the notes
of the resurvey, this inclosure varies but slightly from a true square,
the course of the opposite sides in one case differing but 31 minutes
and in the other but 6 minutes. The greatest variation at the corners
from a true right angle is 57 minutes.

The length of the diagonal from station 2 to 6 is 1,307 feet, ascer-
tained from plat carefully drawn to a large scale.

Fig. 316, prepared from a survey made by Mr. Henry L. Reynolds,
represents the irregularities and fall of the land between the parallel
embankments of the Newark Works, Ohio, which, as will be seen in
Pl. xxx, extend from the Square to the Octagon and from the Octagon
eastward to Raccoon creek.

The difference in level between the entrance of the circle marked E
(the Fair Ground circle) and the northwest entrance of the Square is
also given.

The level of the southeast entrance of the Octagon was chosen as a
datum or base from which to recken the rise or fall. This datum is
indicated by the fine horizontal dotted line in Fig. 316.

Beginning at the southeast entrance of the Octagon, the course
between the parallels, which ran 8. 75° KE. towards the Square, was
well marked for 2,500 feet, for along this entire distance the embank-

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY

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SQUARE, NEWARK, OHIO.

TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIV

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THOMAS. ] OHIO. 467

ments are more or less distinct. Ninety-six feet beyond this point, at
Station 35 on the plat, a bend was taken to 8. 70° E. in order to follow
as closely as possible the original course of these embankments as
marked out on the Whittlesey plat, Pl. xxx. This latter course ran
263 feet to Station 36, where another bend was taken 8. 65° E. This
ran 1,914 feet to Station 39. At Station 39a bend to S. 60° BE. was

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_SEfitrance Octagon.

made, which ran 730 feet to the middle of the northwestern entrance
of the Square, the parallels reappearing here this entire distance. The
fall from the southeastern entrance of the Octagon to this point was
thereupon determined to be 13.22 feet, over a rather undulating course,
as will be seen in the plat.

Owing to the presence of a number of dwelling houses on the land

468 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

just south of the Square, and the complete absence of the original
parallel embankments, no defined course could be followed between the
Square and Circle E. The line given on the plat ran 8. 15° W. 541
feet; thence S. 10° W. 384 feet; thence S. 20° W. 842 feet; thence S.
40° W. 878 feet to connect with the middle of the entrance way of the
circle. The fall from the Square to this point was ascertained to be.
19.27 feet. :

Before commencing the line between the parallels running eastward
from the Octagon the difference in level between the southeast and the
east entrances of the Oc-
tagon was determined, re-
sulting in a fall of 3.1 feet
at the latter. From this
point the parallel em-
bankments could be fol-
lowed 3,970 feet. The
course was found to be
due east this entire dis-
tanee, and continuing the
direction after it could no
: longer be traced the creek
22 terrace was reached, at a
point Station 13, where it
had evidently been artifi-
cially hollowed to produce
a descent less abrupt and
steep. From this point,
Station 13, a continuation
of the course due east to
the creek would strike the
thickest settled part of

Fia. 317.—Ancient inclosure, Licking county, Ohio. the town. <A deflection
was therefore made here, N. 70° E. 1,503 feet, to Raccoon creek, the
level of which was determined to be 47.16 feet below the level of the
southeast entrance of the Octagon. :

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THE MOORE AND COULTER INCLOSURE.

This inclosure, shown in Fig. 317, is on the lands of Messrs. P. F.
Coulter and Thomas Moore, 64 miles southeast of Newark, on the south-
east side of the road leading to Flint ridge. Itis located on a hill that

“is cut off in every direction from the surrounding height, thus render-
ing the position an admirable one for defense. It is an earthen wall
with the unusual feature of an outside ditch from which the dirt was
taken to form the wall. The form, as shown in “the figure, is an oval,
with the larger end northward and a single gateway at the smaller
end—southern. This entrance is on a level space and is 89 feet wide.

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 469

The wall varies in width from 16 to 20 feet; height on the inside from
1to 2 feet and onthe outside to the bottom of the ditch from 3 to 5 feet.
The ditch in some places presents no onter bank, having been dug
apparently only for the purpose of increasing the distance to the top of
the wall, thus rendering access to the inclosure more difficult.

The ee circuit of the wall, exclusive of the gateway, is 2,176 feet,
the greatest width 675 feet, and greatest length 785 feet. On every
side, except in front of the gateway, the ground slopes directly from
the ditch to the bottom of the hill. There are three small mounds con-
nected with it, one at each side of the gateway and one partly on the
wall near the northeastern extremity.

The three following mounds are plainly visible from the level space
in front of the gateway. The large mound near the Amsterdam church,

S. 48° W., distance
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“Stone mound,” §.
62° E., three-fourths
of a vale 3 and anoth-
er, 8S. 309 W., half a
mile away.

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STONE FORT ON FLINT
RIDGE,

This inelosure, 8
miles southeast of
Newark, is located on
the point of an elon-
gate level spaceabout
a mile in length. It
1s composed, with the
exception of a short
space on the eastside,
where it is chiefly
earth, of flint blocks
gathered from the out-
crops in the immediate vicinity, and is of the form shown in Fig. 318.
The length of the north wall (the measurements in all cases being to
the middle line) is 603 feet; of the eastern wall to the edge of the ravine
at the southeast corner, 422 feet; of the south wall from the ravine to
the southwest corner, 511 feet; of the west wall, 607 feet. Width of
the wall varies from 20 to 30 feet; present- height, from 1 to 2 feet.

There are two included and two exterior mounds (the latter not shown
in the figure), the larger one, on the inside, beimg a little over 100 feet in
diameter and about 15 feet high; the others, small, varying from 20 to
30 feet in diameter and from 1 to 3 feet in height. Thearea inclosed is
about 7 acres,

Fic. 318.—Stone fort on Flint ridge, Licking county, Ohio.

470 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

PERRY COUNTY.
STONE FORT NEAR GLENFORD,

This structure, shown in Fig. 319 is located partly on the SE. 4 of
section 17 and partly on the NE. 4 of sec. 20, T. 7, R. 16, about
three-quarters of a mile southeast of the town of Glenford. It stands

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Fia. 319.—Stone fort near Glenford, Perry county, Ohio,

on a peninsular projection, or spur of a hill, about 300 feet above the
creek, on the west. The wall follows the margin of the bluffs which
form the three sides of the spur, and which, for some 6 to 10 feet of their
upper portion, consist of rock with perpendicular face. The wall con-
sists of rough stones laid up without order and varies in height from
mere traces across the level area at the east to 5 and 6 feet, the highest

THOMAS. } OHIO. 471

portion, at the southeast and northwest. There are several breaks in
it at points where it is crossed by little ravines, some of which may
have been formed since it was constructed. At / a large piece of the
rock across which it ran has moved out and downward several feet, and
the break was repaired by filling in with stones; at c-d it passes
below the margin of the bluff and over a considerable space of the
descent. Why this was done, when it would have been as easily car-
ried around the top, is a question difficult to answer. At e it crosses
directly over a large bowlder. It is probable there was a gateway
somewhere on the level area at the east, but the wall has been so much
disturbed in this portion that it is impossible to decide this point now.

There is a well-marked gateway at the southeast corner (g). At the
corner northwest of the mound the wall is much lower than on the
adjacent sides. This was probably a crossing place on the way to the
spring at the foot of the hill, though the descent for the first few feet
is somewhat rough; yet we passed up at this point without much diffi-
culty. The entire length of the wall, following all the curves and bends,
is 6,610 feet, and the area embraced about 26 acres.

In the western portion is a stone mound slightly over 100 feetin diam-
eterand 12 feet high. The section (ab) shown at the left passes through

Fic. 320.—Section of the Cryder mound, near Adelphi, Ross county, Ohio.

this mound. All the stones of which the wall is built seem to have
been gathered from the area within the inclosure and above the rocky
margins of the bluffs. The inclosed area has been under cultivation
for a number of years.

ROSS COUNTY.
THE CRYDER MOUND.

This is situated on the SH. 4 of Sec. 1, T. 10, R. 20, on the farm of
Mr. Frank Cryder, near Adelphi. It stands on a spur 60 feet above
the level of the valley, is of the ordinary conical form, 32 feet in diam-
eter and 24 feet high, though much worn down by the plow. Mr. Cry-
der says it was formerly surrounded by a ditch, but without the corre-
sponding wall like that in the Davis works. It was composed entirely.
of the red clay of the surrounding soil.

Previous to its erection, a circular basin-shaped excavation (c, Fig.
320) was made in the original soil, 13 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep
In this were the remains of five charred skeletons (1, 2, 3,4, and 5) with
coals and ashes about them. The skeletons (the flesh having been

472 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

removed) had probably been folded or bundled before burial, the few
fragments of skulls found being near the center of the piles. Theentire
bottom of the pit was covered 2 inches deep with coals and ashes.

Over the bones and ashes was a layer (b) of blue clay, which filled
the pit about even with the original surface of the ground. Six inches
above this, near the center of the mound, was asmall quantity of burnt
human bones, the remains of a single skeleton (6). These appear to
have been burnt where they lay. With skeleton No. 3 in the pit were
two stone gorgets and a stone tube. The letters fe indicate the orig-
inal surface, and a the mass of the mound.

THE HOPETON WORKS. !

Neither the parallel walls nor the smaller circles can now be traced.
The walls reached the bank of the terrace just over an overflowed
bottom, and the river is now but a short distance away to the left. The
large circle is much flattened on the eastern side. It reaches to the
foot of and slightly up the slope of the terrace above. If continued
with the same curve it has at the other parts, it would run up nearly
to the top of the slope. Numerous low places exist about the entire
work, where earth may have been removed to the depth of a foot.
These may, however, be in great part natural. A considerable amount
of dirt must have been taken from the bluff above, both at the points
marked by Squier and Davis and at the ravine, or wash, opposite
the junction of the circle and square. There would be no difficulty in
getting clay at the bluffs or at the ravine to the southeast of the works.
The walls of the square, so far as examined, are of the same material
as the soil around—a mixture of sand, gravel, and clay. At the north-
west corner of the square the opening is partly filled up, the lowest
point at the end of the western wall being about a foot above the
natural surface, rising and widening gradually from that place to the
top of the northern wall, resembling somewhat a graded way ona small
scale.

A resurvey of the circle and square was made by Mr. Middleton, on
behalf of the Bureau, in 1888, the notes of which are as follows:

The only parts of this group we notice here are the large circle and the connected
Square.

These works are situated on the general level of the Scioto valley, designated by
Squier and Davis “‘ The Second Terrace,” which here stands about 30 feet above the
river level. The walls of the circle and square are yet generally distinct and, with
the exception of asingle break in the circle and one or two slight ones in the square,
can be readily traced. In fact, the wall of the square is yet 5feet high. The circle
is more worn, the western half averaging about 2 feet high, while the eastern half
is lower, fading out for a short distance near the northeast corner of the square.

They are situated close to the foot of the bluff, which forms the slope to the upper
level, here between 30 and 40 feet above that on which the work stands. As will be

' Squier & Davis, Anc. Mon., Pl. xvu.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXV

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SQUARE OF HOPETON WORKS, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

=

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 473

seen by reference to the plate in Ancient Monuments, instead of a passageway
between the circle and square the two are here in direct contact, part of the cireu-
lar wall forming a large portion of the north line of the square.

THE SQUARE.

The resurvey in this case began with station 1, at the intersection
of the two adjoining lines of wall, at the southwest corner. (PI.
3.6:0:4 9)

|
| Station. Bearing. Distance. Remarks.
Feet.
lto 2] N.20°177'W..| 244 | To center of first gateway.
2to 3 | N.17910' W .. 336°5 To end of wall at second gateway. |
io tO AONE 89) Wien ere 55°5 | Across the second gateway.
4 to 5] N.12902)W.. 324 To intersection at northwest corner of the
square.
5 to 6 | N.70927'E... 283 To the wall of circle. }
6 to 7| N.70°27'E... 508 To the intersection at northeast corner of square. |
7 to 8|S.54°R....... 115 To first gateway.
85t0 9) 322707 207 To second gateway. |
9) to 10) || S.199 B-.-- 355 To gateway of small circle. |
DORCOML S520 Wie asa c= 331 To intersection at southeast corner.
11 to 12 | 8.689 W ...... | 201 To first gateway.

12 to 13 | $.719 21’ W...
13 to 1] S.72° 25’ W...

340 To second gateway.

To place of beginning.

is)
oa
cy

THE CIRCLE,

Commencement on the south side, at station a (6 in plat of square)
where the circle connects with the wall of the square. (PI. xxxv1.)

?

Ad ee ee =
pion’ Bearing. Distance. Wee oe Remarks,
Feet. | Feet.

1 Peas N, 71°53! We _- 100 | 42

Io-- 22-6 N. 63° 39/ W .. 100 38

UV Gade sc IN..55° 29’ W .. 100 40

Nipaoatae NS aOWWie sees 3 100 42

1a arian N. 25° 21" W .. 100 | 44

Deen aN he OnO! AWW =o 100 | 45

Wassesoe N.0° 30'E.... 100 | 44

PA ears N. 14° 52/ E .-. 100 | 46

Doe ese N. 22° 40’ E ... 100 | 42 | 2
Sa rea N. 330 28 E 100 41 |

a N. 479 57' E- mal 100 40 Outer half of wall obliterated.
poate | N.55°57'B...) 100 43 |S

26b-2 ss N.63945'E...| 100 40 |

Pa GES | N.78° 22/ Bs .-.) 100 40 |

CAS eis S. 86° 04’ E.... 100 45

2 rae: ra | 8.819 24" EB. . 100 40 | Base outlines not easily traced.

OO Faisasie's 5S. 649 05’ E.... 100 36 Do.

Sle apace 5.580 27/ B.... NY eee sceece Outlines obliterated. Width not ascertained.

474 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Stazendt Bearing. Distance. et Remarks.
Feet. Feet.
32.....-- S. 46° 20’ E.... 100 36
Bose ee 5S. 40° 15’ E.... LOO) Serretere meted Outlines obliterated. Width not ascertained.
34..-.-.-] S. 20° 16’ E.... 100 30 | Outlines not easily traced.
cL peene ee |S. 5032°H ... 100 30 Do.
S. 4°10 W.. 100 38 | Do.
5. 16° 48’ W .. 100 39 | Station on end of wall.
-| §. 31° 56) W .. HO |e esene Wall obliterated between stations 37 and 38.
| §. 429 W...... 100 48 18 feet from the end of wall of square.
Sr oT =. 100 41
5. 63° 35’ W .. 100 43
S. 65° 31’ W .. 100 40 | Station on end of wall at gateway. Gateway
35 feet wide.
S02 eee S. 86° 11' W .. 100 41
To6....| N.84° 32' W .. 98 fs 40
CHECK LINES.
6 to 20 .| N. 38° 35’ W .. 634
6 to 28 -| N.10° 09’ EF... 968°5
6 to 36 .| N.57°17'E... 726
20 to 28 .| N.51° 04’ FE... 723
20 to 36 -| S. 849 09’ EF...) 1,015
28 to 36 .| S. 389 37’/ EE... 711

These inclosures are drawn to a regular scale in Pls. xxxv and XXXVI.
It is apparent from Pl. xxxv, which represents the square according to
the resurvey, that the form given in Ancient Monuments, PI. xvii, is
erroneous in that it is much more regular than the facts warrant.
Neither side is straight, nor is there a right angle at any point. Itis
not regular in any sense, but was doubtless intended for a square.
Measuring the direct lines from corner to corner the lengths are as
follows: That from stations 1 to 5 is 957 feet; from 5 to 7, 791 feet;
from 7 to 11 is 962 feet, and from 11 to 1 is 825 feet. Messrs. Squier
and Davis say it is a rectangle with a length of 950 feet and a width
of 900 feet.

The circular inclosure (Pl. XXXVI) varies considerably from a true fig-
ure, the east and west diameter being 1,018 feet, while that running
north and south is only 960 feet, the difference between the two being
58 feet. “Nor is the curve uniform, being much sharper at some points
than at others. It embraces a little less than 18 acres.

CEDAR BANK WORKS. !

The high bank on the river side is easy of ascent. The dirt is loose
and so affords a good foothold, although the bank is as steep as the
nature of the material will allow. Were the timber and brush removed,
so that the looser soil could be washed off, the case might be different.

' Squier and Davis: Anc. Mon., Pl. Xvitt.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVI

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Se iD nll

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CIRCLE OF HOPETON WORKS, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

THOMAS. | OHIO. 475

Below is a low bottom, subject to overflow, covered with athick growth
of smallmaplesand sycamores, with some trees of other species. Beyond
this bottom the river is reached, at a point where it forms a pool 300
feet wide with a riffle above and one below, giving several hundred
yards of smooth water, seemingly a good place for fish. The river
may have formed all this lower bottom since the construction of the
works. There is an oak tree 5 feet in diameter growing on the south
line of the embankment a short distance east of the entrance. There
has been ample time in the lifetime of this tree for the river to form
all the low ground.

Apparently there never was any wall along the west side, for if the
river did not touch at the foot of the bluff when the work was con-
structed, the bluff could not have caved in to the extent indicated;
and if it did touch it there would have been no necessity for a wall, as
the bank would have been almost perpendicular.

The supposed “‘ graded way” to the water is only the ravine formed
by the drainage of part of the field above, and is now more difficult of
ascent than any part of the steep bank. If ever used as a pathway, it
had to be reworked and smoothed down after every heavyrain. There
may have been a road or pathway, now obliterated, cut along one side
of it, but that it is a natural ravine is beyond question.

At the bluff the south wall and ditch seem to have extended farther
out than the present edge of the bank; but the smail amount of wear
necessary to cut the bank away to give this appearance could well re-
sult from the drainage through the ditch, as the soil here is gravelly
and quite loose. The north wall stops at about 30 and the ditch at
about 50 feet from the edge of the bluff.

There is no stream here known as “ Dry run”; the meaning probably
is “a dry run”; but the meaning is immaterial, as there is no run of
any kind at the line somarked. Prairie run has a northeast trend along
the level, a short distance north of the work. At the northeast corner
the ditch makes a bend toward the south and extends for 90 feet to the
break of the bank over the so-called “ Dry run.” There was no ravine
on the east side when the embankment was made; the natural slope is
toward the north along this line and the water running through the ditch
has deepened and widened it; and being reenforced by that from the
northern ditch, the combined streams overflowing near this corner have
cut a channel to Prairie run. That portion of the ditch at the north-
east corner, on the east, is filled up, but its course around the foot of
the wall is easily seen. That a sufficient amount of water could collect
to cut out such a course is shown by the height to which the drift is
piled against the bushes now growing here. Still, it would require a
long time for such a channel to wear, and this aids in giving an appear-
ance of greater antiquity to this work than seems to attach to the others
in this region. This eastern embankment is nearly, but not quite,

476 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

straight. The soil within this inclosure seems less fertile than at the
other works; at least the growing corn is not so large or thrifty. An
abundance of yellow clay is on the surface of the field to the north, close
to the northeast corner of the inclosure. The north and east ditches
drain several acres of ground. In the woods on the north side, the
greatest elevation of the wall above the bottom of the ditch is about 5
feet.

In regard to the square, flat topped mound to the south of the inelo-
sure, it is to be noted that the topography is not as shown in the plate.
The point on which itis situated does not reach out to the terrace
below, the ravines on the two sides uniting before going that far and
allowing only a narrow strip of the bottom to be seen from the mound,
which is lower than the ground to either side of the main ravine below;
a fine view, however, of the valley and the hills beyond can be had
from the south side. The point on which the mound stands is smooth
and rounded, as stated by Squier and Davis, but no more so than many
others similarly formed and situated, and has no indications whatever
of haying been artificially worked off.

HIGH BANK WORKS.,!

Between the circle and the square, west of the level area connecting
them near c d isan excavation; another is on the other side of the wall
within the square.

The smaller circles and parallels are about effaced. Those farthest
south can be partially traced. The wing wall from the smallest one
(in the group marked 4) to the bluff, has been plowed away; the larger
circle, however, and its wing wall can be seen, and it is plain that the
latter is only an irregularly curved embankment running out to the bluff,
and was never continuous on a part of the terrace that has disappeared.

CIRCLE,

The walls of the cirele and octagon are still quite prominent and are
respectively 2 and 5 feet high.

This circle is very similar in size and other respects to the “ observa-
tory circle” at Newark, and, like that, is connected with an octagon,
thongh the relative sizes of the two inclosures differ in this respect—
the octagon of the Newark works is larger than the circle, while that
of the High bank works is smaller than the circle. We see in this
group the tendency to combine circles, octagon, and parallels as at
Newark, making it probable that the works at both points are due to

one people. According to Messrs. Squier and Davis, this circle is a:

perfect one, the diameter being 1,050 feet, which, as will be seen by
what follows, agrees very closely with the result of the resurvey.

' Squier and Davis, Plate Xv1.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOTY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXVII

aa
MN ToT

CIRCLE OF HIGH BANK WORKS, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

THOMAS. |

OHIO.

477

The notes of the resurvey are as follows, commencing in the center
of the gateway leading to the octagon:

ae

Stations. Bearing. Distance. peace ws
Feet. Feet.
1lto 2) S. 62°37 W.. 75 30
2 to 3] S. 66°38 W .. 75 30
3\to 4) S. 68° °W ..... 75 32
4 to 5 | S. 80034’ W .. 75 44
5 to 6 | N.89° 30' W .. 75 40
6 to 7| N.78°18’ W.. 75 32
7 to 8 | N.75°30/ W .. 75 33
8 to 9 | N.66° 30’ W .. 75 34
9 to 10 | N.57° 28’ W .. 75 34
10 to 11 | N.45° W ..... 75 34
11 to 12 || N.410°W:..... 75 39
12 to 13 | N.349 14’ W.. 75 42
13 to 14 | N.26° 10’ W -.}. 75 44
14 to 15 | N.15°°'W ..--. 75 44
15 to 16| N. 7°30’ W.. 15 40 :
16 to 17 | N. 39367 W.. 75 44
17 to 18] N. 808 ...... 75 36 .
18 to 19 | N.16° 35 B... 75 40
19 to 20 | N.220h ._.... 75 34
20 to 21) N.340 8 ...._. 75 32
21 to 22 | N. 400 BL... 7 32
22 to 23'] N.470 15’ BH... i) 38
23 to 24 | N.58° 30! KH... 75 34
24-to 25 | N.63°0 387 BL. 75 36
25 to 26 | N.75° Bo... 75 34
26 to 27 | N. 78° __...- 75 35
27 to 28| S. 80 .____- 7 32
28 to 291] S, 850 .____. 75 30
29 to 30| S. 770 B ...... | 7 30
30 to 31| S, 64939 B...| 75 32
31 to 32| §, 61052’ B...| 75 28
32 to 33 | S, 420 48’ B__.| 15 32
33 to 34.) S. 40° Bo... 75 30
34 to 35 | S, 350 E ._.._- 75 34
35 to 36 | S. 260 BL... 75 32
36 to 87 |S, 21945/ BL. 75 28
37 to 38| S§, 4045) E__. 75 26
38 to 39) 5, 20B.. 15 32
39 to 40S. 0°30°W.. 75 30
40 to 41) S. Gol W.. 75 26
41 to 42/ S. 199 W...... 75 28
42 to 43 | S. 399 W....-- 5) 30
43 to 44 | S. 430307 WL. 75 30 "
44 to 45 | S. 479257 W.. M5 o) \ectenstees. 224 me
45 to 1/ S. 48949' W .. balyihl eae eee ew i
SUPPLEMENTARY. :
} Feet. Feet. |
atob...| N.81° 20 W.. 744 | toe ... 746 ;
atoc...| N.36°28°W..| 1,056 etod...| 743 =
| atod...| N.ek 741 poe 1, 082
| atoe...| §.36° & (*) ©) Wy

* Direction of entrance to Octagon.

+ te

478 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Plotting the figure carefully from these notes, and then drawing the
nearest possible coincident circle, we obtain results similar to those
obtained by the survey of the Observatory circle at Newark. Thisis
shown in Pl. xxxvu. In this plate the solid black line of short chords
running along the middle of the wall marks the actual line of survey,
while the dotted line is the nearest approximate circle, the center of
which is at the intersection of the two designated diameters.! These
diameters are actually surveyed lines and relate to the line of chords.
The middle of that running from d to b is at the intersection, but the
middle of that running from a to ¢ is about 2 feet from the intersection
toward ec.

As itis impossible to show this satisfactorily in a figure on the scale
given here, the attention of the reader is called to the following facts,
which he can verify independently by making for himself the plat on a
larger scale from the notes given above relating to the High Bank
circle.

(1) The chords forming the sides of the inclosed quadrilateral subtend
equal ares of the surveyed line; that is to say, the distance along the
wall from a to b is equal to that from b to ¢, also to that frome to d and
from d to a; the distance in each case being 830.4 feet or one-fourth of
the circumference according to the survey. As these chords are, respec-
tively 744, 746, 745, and 741 feet in length, showing an extreme varia-
tion of less than 3 feet from a medium and of but 3 feet from a true
quadrant, we have an evidence of the close approximation to a true
circle.

(2) The extreme difference between the various diameters (except at
the eccentric point at the southeast, between the gateways) does not
exceed 8 feet, or a variation from the medium of 4 feet, and from that
of the true circle of little more than 5 feet.

(3) A circle with a radius of 526 feet and center at the intersection
of the two given diameters varies at no point from the surveyed line
(except at the eccentric point in the southeast) more than 6 feet; or, in
other words, both would fall on a wall only 6 feet wide.

It is evident, therefore, that we have here a very close approximation
to a true circle.

OCTAGON.

The Octagon at this point (see Pl. xxxvim) differs from that at
Newark chiefly in size and closer approximation to a square. The
variation from the usual form resulting from throwing the southern
gateway along the wall between the angles is readily accounted for by
the fact that there is here a somewhat abrupt depression which is
avoided by the curve given the wall. The field notes of the resurvey
are as follows, commencing at station 1 in the middle of the gateway
leading to the circle:

1 The actual scale on the plate (which was accidentally omitted) is 200 feet to the inch.

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL, XXXVIII

Lats VNCATNA lalton

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OCTAGON OF HIGH BANK WORKS, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

THOMAS. ] : OHIO. 479
|]

Station. Bearing. Distance. | Station. Bearing. Distance.
| = | =
Feet. Feet.

1 to2...! N.60° 03 EB... 448 | 8 to 9 .| N.53937 w__| 14

2to3 ...| §.43° 50! E....| 449 || 9to10 .| N.42°57' W .. 278

3to4...| §.30917' E.... 442 | 10 to 11 .! N.31927'W.. 417

4to5 ...| §.44915/ W... 449 || 11 to 11 -| N.48927' E... 482

5 to 6 ...| S.60° 43’ W... 340 5 to 12 -| S.60° 43’ W... 470

€to7 ...| S.70° 41’ W... 65 || 12 to 10 -| N.42957' W .. 453

7 to 8 ...| N. 86°45’ W ..- 60

The lengths of the sides, diameters, and diagonals, ascertained from
a carefully drawn plat of large scale, are as follows:

Feet. Feet.
rom Uto) 2 a2 Sacc2-eee s2s= = se 908. Miromyd to byes csesacee ce eee ese. 1, 008
ROTH CO TA oe eee ee ete oer 883n | MEOMiS bOr Ol = as.cesen noses ees 1, 005
hrom) 4 towl2 tee oe cess Seseee S100 Eromiitosll pr aaseeentee se 22 eee. all 250
Brom 2:Go wee ae ee ec iain oe 863i | Mbtrom: 2 tou 2isc- = ee sete ee 1,272

The inner angles are as follows:

At IStatlomelete rs eeee se athe ae 1G SSR 2a PAT aiatlon s+ see ee ee Seen 168° 32’
Atistationves=ss-cscosnuent-coee HOSietods PAL station ele 22sec ns eee 103 40
A Sbalionsoe ts S. oes Sea ase s Hobie 27) Atistation®10es-2 2-228 246-22. 168 30
PASE SUH ON ee en 8 ae eerie sieve Iss ety Wy Wkanisheanoren yee Se ke 105 06

It is apparent from these figures and from the plat (Pl. xxxymr) that
this inclosure is comparatively regular, the opposite angles, with one
exception, differing less than half a degree and the exceptional one dif-
fering from its opposite but 2 degrees. Nevertheless the regularity is
not such as would be expected from the use of instruments.

The diameter as given by Messrs. Squier and Davis is 950 feet, and the
area, according to their calculation, is 18 acres. According to the
resurvey the diameter in one direction (measuring to the intersections
of the middle lines of the walls) is 1,008 feet and in the other 1,005.
That Messrs. Squier and Davis are to be understood as counting to the
middle of the walls, is to be inferred from the fact that the diameter of
the circle was evidently measured in this way. Assuming they were
correct in reference to the circle, it follows of necessity that their meas-
urements of the octagon are erroneous, the diameter given being 50 feet
too short and the area 2.6acres too small; 20.6 acres being the true area.

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP WORKs.!

The smaller circle is not as nearly complete as shown in the plate.
Instead of continuing around the head of the ravine and joining the
larger circle at the right of the entrance, it comes to a stop on the bank
of a ravine at a point 313 feet south of the point where it connects with
the larger circle at the north or left side of the entrance. No trace of
it can now be seen between these points. The entrance is still in the

1 Squier and Davis, Pl. xx.

480 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

timber, and a fence crosses the head of the ravine between this timber
and the cleared land to the south. If the circle had ever gone as far as
represented it seems that it would have been preserved here, as is true
of the wall on the opposite side of the gateway. Possibly the missing
portion has been worn away.

The large circle is obliterated and the curved lines between the
smaller circle and the squaré can be traced only partially.

The line indicating north and south on the plate should be changed
90 degrees, the top of the plate being east, and the directions given on
the plate should be made to correspond with this change.

RA

AANA
Ai Ty ,
XX / ! ON ly,
N. | Vinyy
A / “Uy
/
f
/
|
|
/
we oe /
pina ey)
7 S66 LE

Fa

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I
Mig
Hg \
My. LA A

Mh TT TT
wr

[ee a

Fic. 321.—Small circle, Liberty township works, Ross county, Ohio.

On the side next the pike the wall of the square can not be traced
The opposite side and most of the other two are still plainly visible; the
cross walls, however, disappear before they reach the one next to the
pike. But, this portion being covered with clover and weeds, it is
possible some traces were hidden; if it had been freshly plowed per-
haps the lines could have been found all the way.

At the north corner (the one toward the left side of Squier and
Davis’s plate) the ends are worn away, and at the south corner both walls
are covered with brush, so that the exact length of the northeast side could
not be found. The angles at the north and east corners were obtained.
by taking the bearings of the three lines. These may be slightly in

a

THOMAS.) OHIO. ; 481

error, as owing to long cultivation it is impossible to tell with certainty
where the center of the embankment was; but by placing the instru-
ment as near the center as could be determined, about midway of the
length, and placing the rod the same way near each end, the error will
be very slight; not more than a few minutes.

Great care was taken in measuring the smaller circle, as on it Squier
and Davis appear to base their claim to the mathematical accuracy of
the works constructed by the “ Mound-builders.”

In order to prove this accuracy they present a supplementary plan
on the plate, showing their method of determining the curves, and in
a footnote on the following page give the lengths of the ares and the
directions. It is somewhat disappointing to find, on carefully examin-
ing this showing, that it relates wholly to a hypothetical case, and not
to a circle actually surveyed. This is apparent from the following
facts: The circumference of the circle, given as an illustration, is 3,600
feet and the diameter 1,146 feet, which agrees with no circle given in
their entire work. Had they given an illustration from an actual sur-
vey it would have been much more satisfactory. —

The courses and distances of Mr. Middleton’s survey of the smaller
circle of this group are inserted here, made after the plan Squier and
Davis suggest, but with shorter chords; also the plat made therefrom
(Fig. 321), The place of beginning is at station 1, the course south-
west, westward, and so on around.

The small circle.

Stations. | Bearing. Distance. Differences between chords.
Feet |
1to 2| S.60° W...... TU CES See SRG Sa wee eer eed | ee oe
2to 3] S.81035' W... 100 | Between Ist and 2d.-....... | 210 35!
3to 4 | S.84° 44’ W...| 100 | Between 2d and 3d.......-.. 3 09
4to 5 | N.74045° W .. 100 | Between 3d and 4th......... 20 31 |
5to 6 | N.70°W...... 100 | Between 4th and 5th........) 4 45 |
6to 7 | N.59° 16’ W ..| 100 | Between 5th and 6th........ 10 44
7:to. 8) | N42° Wi... 100 | Between 6th and 7th......-- 7 16 |
8to 9 | N. 24023) W .. 100 | Between 7th and 8th.....--. 17 37]
9 to 10 | N.12° 48’ W..| 100 | Between &th and 9th.....---. 11 35 |
10 #0 11 | N.5947'E... | 100 | Between 9th and 10th-..-..-- 18 35 |
11 to 12 | N. 20° 30’ E.. a 100 | Between 10th and 11th.--.-- 4 43
12 to 13 | N.34° 24’ BE... 100 | Between 11th and 12th....-- 13 54 |
18 to 14 | N.53° 52' EE... 100 Between 12th and 13th...... 19 28
14 to 15 | N.679 05' FE... 100) Between 13th and 14th...--. 13 13
15 to 16 | N. 84° 23’ FE... 100 | Between 14th and 15th.....-. 17 18
16 to 17 | S.81° 08’ E.... 100 | Between 15th and 16th....-.. 14 29
17 to 18 | S.73° 38’ E....} 100 Between 16th and 17th....-. 7 30
18 to 19 | S. 71° 02/ E....| 100 | Between 17th and 18th...... 2 36
19 to 20 | S.65° 05’ EH...) 100 | Between 18th and 19th...... Be BY
20 to 21 | S.39° 46’ E.... 100 | Between 19th and 20th... -. 25 19
21 to 22 100 | Between 20th and 21st ...---. 19 O01
22 to 23 20! ie a= 100 | Between 2Ist and 22d.....-. 12 55] ~
23 to 24 | §.0° 58! W.... EVI et Rae ie Secs I eat reas Behe ld
24to 1 | S.32920'W... Ca leas More a ae See ess ere obec ome neat
if »

1 eae:

482 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

As will be seen by reference to these figures and the diagram, not
only is the curve irregular, but the diameters differ so much in length,
one being 866 feet and the otber 748 feet, that the figure is much nearer
an ellipse than a true circle. These evidences of error in the state-
ments and plates of Messrs. Squier and Davis’s work and manifest
tokens of carelessness have a tendency to lessen somewhat our confi-
dence in their statements as to measurements and dimensions, although
the figures of the works they personally examined are generally correct
as to form.

THE SQUARE,

This inclosure, shown in PI. XXX1rx, presents quite a regular figure,
closely approximating a Square. The notes of the survey are as follows,
commencing at station a, the southern corner. The stations are at the
intersections of the lines of the walls:

Station. Bearing. Distance.
= — —!
| Feet.
| atob...| N.47°14 E... 1, 108
| btoc...| N.42° 41’ W .. 1,106

| ctod...| S.47° 06' W...| 1,110
| dtoe... S. 44° 11’ B.... 535
| etoa...| S.41° 24’ BE...) 568
| etof ...| S.41° 24’ W-.. 521 |
ftog .-.| N.84°10'W.. 185 |

A direct line from a to d runs N. 42° 52/ W. exactly 1,100 feet. The
survey was, in fact, made by triangulation, the angles being as follows:

AGG 8 GND) ae coe ae ca an Ste ete eta ae ee hema 88° 38!
At BI (aybst)) <2 ceo Bete Soho ee necr soccer eae eee eee ees 90 05
Attia (O:0'Q) ote Nee ee ae Oe eee De See see eee sae aee 89 47
ArtiG@a(Gtdiel) Bicenee ee oee onsee eee eeeee e e e 88 43
Aie(GiA'@)\ awa cade a eee eis Aa ee ern ee ee ae a on eee 182 47

The angles at @ and d, using the direct line between them, are as fol-
lows:

Atti CACAO Oe cctgcs tons Seieiaw te =s sees SEE cites eee 90° 06°
PN AR GREAT yea Se ERT RT NS 2 Sy hogs Bers ONE MA Shr, SS he 90 02

The following are the check lines: .

Feet
Digeonalfromva toe; Nao 4 07) Be ase eee se poe eae eee eee 1, 566
Diggonall:from bto\d2oss0. Sees Sean. Seeeees eae eee ee 1, 561
Diameter running northeast and southwest.-.-.-...--.-.----- 1, 095
Distance between. a:and(d- es - eo. Se ee eee eee 1, 102
Diameter running northwest and southeast.......---...---- 1, 104

The diameters are measured from the middle of the gateways in the
sides. é

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XXXIX

Sowwdenntsenne conan TON TAA SMM on cue te

ANNONA HMO NON ONTTANNATFUNATMNANAIS =F ATTA THN TNNTA ce,

x
7

Cai gH TAMU NHR Bs 36
PWR Anaya OMT TTT

SQUARE OF LIBERTY TOWNSHIP WORKS, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

THOMAS. ] OHIO. "| 483

THE BAUM WORKS,

Although a complete resurvey of these works was made, it is not
thought necessary to introduce here the notes relating to any part ex-

-cept the square. It may be said, however, that the resurvey of the cir-

cular portion revealed no very essential variation from the figure given
in Ancient Monuments, Pl. xx1, No. 1.

The square, most of which has long been in a pasture, is rather
more distinct and prominent than such remains usually are, the walls
being from 2 to 4 feet high, and the gateways well. marked, though no
traces of the inclosed mounds remain. The circular portions of the
works are much worn and two sections of considerable length Are so
nearly obliterated that the line can not be traced with any certainty.

Mr. Middletow’s field notes relating to the square are as follows, com-
mencing at station a at the western corner:

Width | Whole |

Station. Bearing. Distance. OtRwalte length of
| | sides. |
1 s!
| ld oft | Feet. | Feet. | Feet.

atob...| N.59917' BE... 551 | 49) 1.108 |

btoc...| 567 | 56 |) |
}

| etod...| §.30° 12/ 561 50 1.129

| dtoe...| § 568 35

| etof....| S.59° 44’ W... 556 33 : |

soe 2 a | ; 113
ftog -..| $.59° 44’ W... 557 33
| g toh...) N.29° 56" W .. 560 56 |? 1.117

1¢ :
| htoa...| N.29° 56’ W .. 557 57 |?

For the arm leading to the large circle (given only in part here) begin
at station ¢ at the north corner of the square and run as follows:

S. 30° 12’ B. 102 ft.; §.81° E. 54 ft.; S. 63° 21’ EB. 50 ft.; S. 52° 21’ E. 50 ft.; S. 64°
E. 145 ft. ,

» CHECK LINES.
a sa lias
htod.... N.59927'E... 1,112
| qtoc...| N.14929' EB... 1,584 |

Bitop eee | Seg0o Hee 1, 124 |

The angles at the corners are—

shtnavejeae Bene scat wie Moe salyete sie 90° 04’
22002 Cog nse Sone sae HONE aescte 89 40

It is apparent from these notes and Pl. XL, representing this in-
closure, that it approximates very closely a true square. The great-
est variation at the corner from a right angle is only 47 minutes. The
average length of the sides is 1,117 feet, from which the extreme
variation is only 12 feet, the difference between extremes being but 21
feet.

484 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

As the structure and contents of the few mounds which appear to be
connected with these works may have some bearing on the question of
the origin, age, and uses ot the circles and squares, the description will
be given here of one connected with the Baum works just mentioned,
which are those figured in No. 1, Pl. xx1, Ancient Monuments. The
mound referred to is that designated in this figure as a “Square pyram-
idal mound.” It was carefully explored by my assistant, Mr. Henry
L. Reynolds, whose report is as follows:

THE PYRAMIDAL MOUND.

This mound is distant from the nearest gateway of the circle, N.
21° 30’ W., 1,420 feet. In the work of Messrs. Squier and Davis the
height is given as 15 feet and diameter 125 feet. Its height at the
time of this exploration was 12 feet above the level of the surround-
ing surface, and its diameter from 155 to 140 feet. This difference
is due to the annual disturbance of its surface by plow and freshet.
The same agencies have likewise destroyed its pyramidal form, and it
resembles now an upturned wash basin. The mound was composed for
the most part of clay mottled considerably with black loam and
slightly in some places with patches of a grayish plastic lime. Cross
trenches were run due north and south and east and west, respect-
ively. The breadth of these at the side was from 5 to 6 feet, but as
they penetrated inward they widened gradually, so that at the center
the excavation became 15 feet in diameter. Considerable lateral dig-
ging was done from these trenches to uncover skeletons and other in- ,
dications appearing in their sides.

Two series of upright postmolds, averaging 5 inches in diameter,
equidistant 10 inches, and forming a perfect circle 36 feet in diameter,
constitute a preeminent feature of this mound. Within these circular
palings the mound was penetrated systematically by thin seams of fine
sand sagging in the center-and averaging 1 foot apart. Resting upon
the natural black loam at the bottom, timbers averaging 8 inches in
diameter radiated from the center, and in the south and west trenches
were noticed to extend continuously to the posts. These timbers were
detected, for the most part, by their burnt remains and also by the
molds of dark earth in the yellow clay, produced by the decomposition
of wood. Directly over these timbers was a horizontal line of decayed
and burnt wood, but mostly decayed, averaging half an inch thick.
The upright postmolds of the lower series were very distinct and meas-
ured 5 feet in vertical height. In one was found a small sliver of what
appeared to be black walnut. Several of them contained the burnt
remains of wood, and in many of these instances the black bark was
clinging to the sides.

Separating this from the superstructure, as will be seen by reference
to Fig. 322, was a thin, sagging streak of burnt clay. Here and there
upon its surface scant traces of black wood ashes were seen, while a

BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. XL

ny

<a Mg oS TAN A
WANA ARMANI AARON ANN ASSOC A :

«FS NNO aa a oY a
Se SL LL LN oN od

SQUARE OF THE BAUM WORKS, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

THOMAS. | OHIO. 485

small quantity of white bone ashes lay scattered upon its western
border. This burnt streak overlaid a thin sand seam, below which it
seems it could not penetrate. The postmolds of the superstructure
consisted of a double row, the outer one being uniformly directly over
the lower series in a vertical line, and separated from the latter en-
tirely around the circle by a solid line of gravel. ‘The two rows of the
upper structure averaged 18 inches apart. Both might have ex-
tended originally above the surface of the mound, since they were dis-
covered between 14 and 2 feet beneath the surface, which had been
considerably plowed. Horizontal timber molds a little smaller in diam-
eter, filled, in places, with charcoal, could be distinetly seen lying
against the side of each line of posts at the points shown in the figure.
These appear to have been cross beams or stays used for bracing pur-

SECTION A,

SECTION B.

Fie, 322.—Pyramidal monnd, Baum works, Ross county, Ohio.

poses. In the eastern trench a gap, 3 feet 2 inches wide, was noticed
by the absence of postmolds in both wpper and lower series.

All the skeletons discovered were in the area inclosed by these posts.
These lay at different depths and in different positions, the favorite or
predominant one, at least in the upper portion, being just inside and
alongside of the inner circle of palings. The skeletons unearthed
were all in a remarkably good state of preservation. None of them
could have been intrusively buried, for the stratification above them
was not disturbed. All excepting Nos. 15,16, and #7 lay upon one or
another of the thin seams of sand. All except No. 10 lay stretched
out at full length. The latter lay partly upon the side, with knees
drawn up anel head crouched down upon the ribs, as though originally
placed in a sitting posture. All except Nos. 13 and 16 had the arms
and hands placed at the sides. The right arm of skeleton No, 13 lay

486 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

bent across the stomach. The right arm of skeleton No. 16 was bent
so that the hands touched the chin. From both jaws of this latter
skeleton all the teeth had been extracted before interment.

With skeleton No. 1 a bone implement was found at the back of the
cranium, and an incised shell and fragments of a jar at the right side
of it. With No.3, which was that of a child about 10 years old, a small
clay vessel was found 5 inches behind the cranium, At the left hand of
skeleton No. 8 was a shell such as is found in the sands of Paint creek.
A bone implement was at the back of the cranium of No. 9. With
skeleton No. 11 were found a lot of small semi-perforated shell beads,
and two bone implements directly back of the cranium. By the right
side of the cranium were the perfect skull and jaws of a wolf, and
beneath these were two perforated ornaments of shell. In the right
hand was a shell, such as is found in the creek near by, while in the
left was a pipe fashioned from stone.

At the right of the feet of this skeleton was the extremity of an
oblong ashpit about 4 feet long and 2 feet broad and 1 foot 10 inches
in depth. It was filled with white ashes which were evidently those of
human bones, since none but human bones could be identified. In
these ashes and compactly filled with them was an earthen pot. It lay
at the right of the feet of skeleton No. 11. It was lifted out of the
ashes with great care, but the weight of its contents and its rotten con-
dition caused it to break in pieces before it could be placed upon the
ground. Numerous other pieces of pottery of a similar character were
found in these ashes, and it is not improbable, from the indications,
that all these ashes were originally placed in pots before interment. A
perforated shell disk 2 inches in diameter and a lump of soggy syca-
more wood were gathered from the ashes. Neither wood nor shell bore
any signs of having been burnt. These ashes could not have been
buried intrusively, since the sand layer above them was undisturbed.

Skeleton No. 15 lay 7 feet deep and a half foot below the general
burnt streak. It was originally covered with a wooden structure of
some kind, for the cores of two red cedar timbers were resting length-
wise upon the body and the burnt remains of probably two others could
be plainly seen, on each side placed parallel to those upon the body.
This red cedar was still sound, but the white wood which envelopes
the red cores seemed to be burnt entirely to charcoal. The indica-
tions are that these timbers were originally 1 foot above the body, for
the earth to that extent over the whole length of the body was very
soft. The timbers were noticed to extend slightly beyond the head and
feet, while the head upon which they tay was upon its right side. The
sarth above them was a mixture of clay and fine sand and peculiarly
moist. The length of this skeleton to the ankle bones was 6 feet and 1
inch. Two bone implements were found at its head, and at its right
side near the head were two fragments of polished tubes and a hollow
point of bone which appears to have been shaped with a steel knife

THOMAS. ] OHIO, A87

(Fig. 523). Three bone implements were found beneath the right elbow
of skeleton No. 13. Skeleton No. 16 corresponded in level and condi-
tions to skeleton No. 15. The timber, however, seemed to have nearly
all decayed, since only a few small pieces of red cedar could be gath-
ered and scarcely any traces of black ashes could be seen. The earth,
however, for about a foot above was very soft, and two timber molds at
this level were distinctly traceable, extending from the direction of the
skeleton’s side to a foot and a half beyond its feet. Bones of deer and
bear, stag antlers, mussel shells, and many fragments of coarse pottery
were fognd in the west trench 94 feet beyond the postmolds.

It will be observed, if reference is had to the figure, that Nos. 2, 3, 7,
and 11 are all upon the same layer, as are also Nos. 9 and 10. Nos. 14,
15, and 16 also correspond in depth, but they did not, like the others,
rest upon sand. Fragmentary human bones, disturbed by the plow,
were found corresponding in depth to the topmost sand streaks shown
in the diagram. Black-walnut timber 4 feet long and lying 5 inches
above the general burnt streak was found in a decayed and soaked
condition at the point indicated in the figure. One end bore the marks
of having been burnt. The soil around it was mostly a moist, dark
loam mixed with patches of what has
been above described as a grayish
plastic lime.

A foot and a half beneath the sur-
face and a little to the southeast of
the center a curious double fire-bed or
hearth was uncovered. it was about
5 feet in diameter. Uppermost was a layer of white ashes varying
from 1 to 2 inches in thickness. They were the ashes of burnt shell
and bone, but no bone could be found sufficiently large to determine
whether or not it was human. Beneath this was burnt clay from 4 to
5 inches thick, resting upon a layer of sand, which at this point was
between 2 and 3 inches deep. The surface of this sand was quite hard.
Directly beneath it came another bed of ashes of equal thickness with
‘the one,above, and of like composition, except that it contained a quan-
tity of black wood ashes and several broken pieces of jottery. Below
this appeared burnt clay again from 4 to 6 inches deep, resting, as
before, upon a thin layer of sand.

A hearth somewhat similar to this, but lacking its double feature, lay
almost directly beneath this last wpon the general burnt streak that has
‘been heretofore described.

This mound is situated upon the edge of the first general bottom
from Paint creek, which, though protected by a huge levee, is annually
inundated. In overflow times the smaller circle of the adjoining inclo-
sure is almost entirely submerged and the summit of the mound is the
only land visible above a broad expanse of water. Around the mound,
upon all sides, particularly to the east, are traces of former Indian occu-

Fic. ¢

.—Bone implement point from Baum
works.

488 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

pation. Numerous fragments of pottery similar in texture, fabrication,
and ornamental features to those found in the mound bestrew the
plowed ground. These were intermingled with the valves of mussel
shells, pitted stones, shell disks, human bones, arrowheads, pieces of
perforated stone gorgets, and a large quantity of chipped flint.
Specimens of all were collected and forwarded to Washington with the
relics taken from the mound.

THE SEIP WORKs,!

A resurvey, so far as possible. was made of the square of this group,
the position of the south wall, which is now obliterated, being a&sumed.
. Station a, or beginning point of the survey,is in the northern gate-
way or passageway into the circle; > is at the northeast corner; ¢, in
the middle gateway of the eastern wall; d, at the southeast corner; e,
middle point of the assumed south wall; 7, the southwest corner; g,
middle gateway of western wall; 4, northwest corner. The center
line of the walls was followed and the points where these lines crossed
were taken as the corners. As the sides are straight the middle station
is at the exact half-way point of each line. The result of the survey is
as follows:

From— Bearing. Distance. |
Feet

| a.to bd...) N.79° 13' EB... 5563 |
b toc -..| S.9° 35’ E .... 570 |
etod...|$.9°35'E....| 570 |
d toe...) S.79° 14’ W...- 5563
eto f.--.| S.79° 14! W... 556%
ftog-..) N.9° 34’ W... 570 |
gtoh-...| N.9° 34’ W ... 570
htoa...| N.79° 13'E..- 5564

CHECK LINES.

b tof ---| §.35° 15! W...| 1, 6074
Diy cays Raas We hati Ledgs Soh ted CS =) Pa eee
atoe..-| S.9°'34 E..... 1,141 . =
g toc ...| N.79° 12) BE... 1,113

It will be noticed that the eastern and western sides are 60 feet
longer than given-in Ancient Monuments. The southeastern and
southwestern corners, which are now obliterated, were placed back to
correspond with the ratio of the lines in Messrs. Squier and Davis’s fig-
ure. The length of the walls from corner to corner, according to these
authors, was 1,080 feet. This distance, measuring from the northern
corner h and b, will throw the south line wholly in the “‘ thoroughfare”
or washout shown in their figure. This resurvey, therefore, is to be ac-
cepted as reliable only so far as it relates to the northern wall, and the

! Anc. Mon., No, 2, Pl. Xx1.

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 489

eastern and.western walls sofaras the latter extend. Of the eastern wall
there yet remains distinctly traceable 970 feet from the northeast corner
b; and of the western wall 990feet from the northwestern corner h, The
walls vary in width from 40 to 44 feet.

The relation of the stations in the gateways to the ends of the walls
on either side is as follows: From a to the end of the wall on the east,
42 feet; on the west, 48; making width of gateway 90 feet; from h
west 46 feet, south 50 feet; fromc north 60 feet, south 60 feet; from g
south 40 feet, north 55 feet; from h south 135 feet and east 60 feet.

Part of the large circle, which is too nearly obliterated to be thor-
oughly traced, was surveyed in order to ascertain the curve, by com-
mencing at station ain the northern gateway of the square and running
thence to the nearest clearly definable point of the circle, which is num-
bered station 1.

| From— Searing. Distance. |
Feet.

ato: 1) 730 |
1 te 2 | iN. 100
2\to 3 | N.1°38'35....| 100
| 3to 4| N.20077W...| 100
| 4 to 5 | N,12015' W -.| 100
| 510 6 | N.219 46’ W ..| 100
| 6to 7|N.240 11 w..| 100
7 to 8 | N.30° 53’ W ..| 100

| 8to 9| N.43°41' W | 100 |

9 to 10 | N. 50° 40’ W ==| 100 |
10 to 11 | N. 56° 35! W -. 100
11 to 12 | N. 60° 35’ W -. 100

| 12 to 13 | N.65° 33’ W ..| 100 |

13 to 14 | N.78° 37! W .. 100 |
| 14 to 15 | N.79° 03 W ..| 100

| 15 to 16 | S.84° 11) W... 100 |
| 16 to 17 | S.78° 52) W ... 100
| 17 to 1| S.46912/E.... 1, 346

The square inclosure is on the first or lower bottom, the cirele on the
‘second, the difference in elevation being only 5 feet. The figure in
Ancient Monuments is incorrect in thatit places the square somewhat
too far to the east in its relation to the circle.

PIKE COUNTY.
SEAL TOWNSHIP WORKS.!
*

These works are now in Scioto township, Seal township having beer
divided, and are on the lauds of Mr. I N. Barnes. The large circle is
about obliterated. The parallels are traceable from the square to the
ravine. The south half of the square is quite distinct; the north half

1 Squier and Davis, Pl. xxiv.

490 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

has been plowed away. ‘The inclosure A is not exactly as shown; the
interior level area is nearly square, but the ditch is not of the same
width all around, leaving a level space between it and the embank-
ment, as one would suppose from the sketch. When excavated the
ditch was made wider at four alternate parts, so as to give a circular
outline around the outside and to leave at the same time a square in-
closed area with rounded corners. (See Fig. 524, made from these sur-
veys.) <A gravel pit which has been opened on the slope of the terrace
west cuts off that part of the embankment almost to the ditch; but the
structure of the wall is so much like that of the ground below, that a
person ascending from the lower terrace would never suspect its exist-
ence until he had reached a point where it can be seen from above, there
being no line of demarkation, all having the same appearance. The
“wall” shown south of this work, along the edge of the terrace where
_ it bends to the east, can no longer be traced. A ditch has been dug
along near tlfe edge, probably to get
ea MI dirt for mounds or circles, and the
\\ a Nl Ia mn y 14 ; wall, or supposed wall, was probably
ws a0 ey, Ze only the natural earth left outside
of this ditch. Its top is not so high
as the level just north of the ditch,
as shown by Squier and Davis, in
section ef, and no higher than along
the brow farther east. At the point
where the ditch turns north, how-
ever, the earth from it has been
thrown up to form a wall along its
eastern margin. meeting the circle
as shown. That there has never
been a wall which has been washed
away by the river is proven by there being a wide fence row outside
the ditch, and the ground along this fence row has been plowed. Mr.
Barnes, who remembers when Squier and Davis made their survey,
says it was never much higher than now, the slight reduction that has
taken place being due to cultivation. He says also that he helped to
clear the work having the interior ditch, and its appearance was never
essentially different from what it is now.
3etween the circle D and the half circle east of it is a place leading
down to the next level like those at High Bank, namely, such a depres-
sion as would result from the wash of an old path. The half circle
extends quite up to the edge of the bluff and the ends have fallen off,
showing a section. In the circle DP the interior level area is very small
compared with the size of the ditch and embankment; the ground
begins to slope almost at the entrance.
The work shown in supplementary plan NV is a mile above the other
group, close to the pike, on land belonging to T. W. Sargent’s heirs.

Fig. 324.—Cirele A, Seal township works.

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 491

There was a small mound near this which contained charcoal and ashes,
but no bones or relies. As a means of correcting the errors made by
Messrs. Squier and Davis in the measurements of this work, the result
of the Bureau survey is given here.

The lengths of the sides of the square, as shown by the survey, are
854 feet east and west and 852 north and south, being an average of
53 feet greater than Messrs. Squier and Davis’s measurements. The
work is, however, very nearly an exact square.

According to these authors the parallels running north to the circle
are 100feet apart and 475 feet long. According to the resurvey they are
68 feet apart, measuring to the middle line of each wall, and the aver-
age length is 634 feet (the eastern 647 and western 621). The distance
from the square to the break of the ravine is 427 feet for the eastern
side and 400 for the western, the width of the ravine 110 feet.

THE GRADED WAY.!
s

The excavation along which the walls extend is an old watercourse.
Beaver creek comes down from the hills almost directly east of this
work and turns south at the foot of the hill, gradually encroaching on
the terrace for a few hundred yards, when it is sharply deflected
toward the hill again. At this point is an old cut-off, formed when the
bed of the ereek was much higher than at present, starting out toward
the west and curving until it has a direction almost north. It leaves
the upper terrace at the level of the second or next lower one and dis-
charges its waters into the slough which extends along the foot of the
upper terrace, or perhaps into the river when that had its course along
here. This is a measure of its geologic age. It does not seem to
have been at anytime a regular channel for the creek, but only a place
through which a portion of its surplus water was discharged in time
of freshets.

There is a secondary terrace along the west side of this cut-off for
about half its length from the northern end; on the east there isa
slight terrace for a few hundred feet along the last turn; the east wall,
at its southern end, is built along this terrace, but rises to the main
level at a short distance. In the other direction (toward the south) the
terrace Soon disappears.

The west wall is built its entire length on the minor terrace. It is
much higher above the ground on which it stands than the eastern
wall, though the absolute height of the latter is greater on account of
the greater elevation of its foundation. At each end of the east wall
there is a small mound. The south end of the west wall is higher and
wider for about 100 feet than the other portions, being heaviest at the
very end, resembling a dome-shaped mound when looked at from the
level ground immediately south. Both walls have several turns or
angles to: correspond to the irregularities of the banks. The slopes

'Squier and Davis, Plate XXXI.

492 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

were dressed off smooth, or else the dirt was piled close to the edge, so
that a considerable part rolled downward; at any rate there isa smooth
regular slope from top to bottom.

The north end of the west wall has been so cut up by digging gravel —
that its form can not be determined, and it could not be learned
whether. there had been a mound there or not. A deep pond has
been dug on the second terrace a little way out. The pond shown in
the plate is a natural depression.

The east wall has been dug into lately to a limited extent on the
top and sides, and a woodchuck has excavated at the bottom in one
place. All these exposures show sandy soil and fine gravel, but no
clay. East of the north end of the east wall there is a depression, where
dirt was probably obtained for the construction of this wall; and the
owner in setting out some apple trees has reached a stratum of compact .
yellow clay, some of which may now be seen scattered about each tree;
so that, if clay had been desired by the builders of the embankments,
a very little additional labor would have given it to them. They could
not have been ignorant of its existence, for it shows plainly along the
northern slope very close to the surface.

Both walls went down the northern slope to the level.below; whether
they reached any distance out onitis not apparent now. Slight traces
of the wall leading southward to the mound may be detected where it
crosses the lowest part of the cut-off. Beyond this cultivation has
effaced it.

Norr.—In his work entitled “Fort Ancient”? Mr. Warren K. Moorehead takes oc-
casion to criticise my estimate of the cubic contents of deposited earth in the walls
of this fort as follows:

‘““Prof. Thomas’s description of the fortification is quite accurate, but he is in error
as to one thing: he says Mr. Locke’s estimate as to the amount of earth in embank-
ment is a mistake. He figures it at 154, 000 cubic yards of earth. Prof. Locke falls
short of the true amount and Prof. Thomas makes it still smaller. Both these gen-
tlemen seem to forget that the wall on
the ravine side is carried down 30, 40,
and in some places 50 feet from the top.
In some places one can plainly see that
from 50 feet up the angle is very steep,
being the fort wall, while from that
point to the bottom the angle is much
less, because it is the natural slope.
When the structure was built the earth
was thrown overand down into these ravines to make the ascent as steep as possible.
We can easily trace the line of division where the artificial earth ends and the natural
side of the ravine begins. In some cases this line is 40 feet from (below or lower
than) the summit of the embankment. This would give the embankment an aver-
age height of 31 or 32 feet and a breadth of 69 feet. The length is one mile less
than that stated by Prof. Thomas. Thus we would have a few hundred more cubic
yards of earth than Prof. Locke states, and many thousands more than is given in
Prof. Thomas’s statement. This estimate is made after very careful consideration,
and is surely not far from the correct figures” (p. 79).

The fact that Mr. Moorehead has made an egregions error is apparent to any one
who has visited the fort. First, because the embankments across the level space at

FiG. 325. —Copy of Moorehead’s station 241, Pl. v1.

THOMAS. ] OHIO. 493
THE SERPENT MOUND.

For the purpose of comparison with other published figures of the
celebrated Serpent mound of Ohio, we add here a carefully drawn illus-
tration (Fig. 326) made by Mr. W. H. Holmes while visiting this ancient

Fig. 236.—The Serpent mound, Adams county, Ohio.

work in 1888. It is given without comment, as our only object is to
place on record a drawing made by a well-known artist.

the northeast part of the “‘ New Fort” next the ‘‘ Parallels,” which are the highest
in the entire wall measure. according to Mr. Moorehead, as shown fn his section of
Station 4, Plate VI, only 17 feet in height. Second, because the earth necessary to
construct a wall 31 or 32 feet in height and 69 feet wide at the base would form a
ditch or series of excavations of a character and dimensions of which we find at pres-
ent no indiéations, and which, if they ever existed, would still form a marked feature.
At no point is there a ditch exceeding 6 feet in depth and 30 in width.

The error in his method of estimating the contents of the wall is apparent fromhis —
calculation of the deposited earth cut up to form the wall, which is the only portion
that should be included in the estimate. Take, for example, his section of station
241, plate VI, of which we insert here a copy (Fig. 325), adding only a dotted line to
show the line of the original surface.

Now, instead of taking the difference between 27.26 and 23.30 feet or 3.96 feet as
the height of the wall, he assumes 27.26 feet—measured perpendicularly down the
outer slope 23.30 feet below the bottom of the inside ditch—as the height of the wall,
and the distance from one perpendicular to the other as the width of the base. The
error in this method of estimating the contents isso manifest that it needs no further
illustration. A horizontal line drawn from the bottom of the ditch, that is to say
from the top of the perpendicular marked 23.30 feet, would probably give about the
correct height and width of the base, as the amount of the original soil above the
line on the left or inner side would about equal the added earth on the outer slope
above the dotted line.

494 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

PENNSYLVANIA.
VALLEY OF THE MONONGAHELA.

Throughout the valley of the Monongahela river are abundant evyi-
dences of a former population. Inclosures, village sites of all the dif-
ferent forms, together with numerous deposits of mussel shells, bones,
pieces of pottery, and other indicia of a settled population occur fre-
quently. From the river bottoms to the tops of the highest hills, rising
more than 600 feet above the water, these remains are to be seen. At
a former time the river flowed at a greater elevation than now, forming
a broad terrace known as the “190-foot level,” that being its height.
above the present bed at Pittsburg. Along this level, which for dis-
tinction will be called the “upper terrace,” seemed to be the favorite
place of abode of the aborigines, as remains of every kind are found
more plentifully here than on either the bottoms or hill lands.

Several miles back from the river, in either direction—that is, along
the water-sheds between the Ohio and Monongahela and between the
latter and the Youghiogheny—many mounds are reported, but whether
they really exist is a matter for future investigation.

Within a few miles of Monongahela are, or have been, a few mounds
and not less than fifty stone graves. This refers to the part of the coun-
try lying immediately along the river. Of the mounds, only one was
found to be composed of earth, the others being entirely of stone or
of a stone interior covered with earth How the stone was arranged
in them it was (with one exception, to be noted hereafter) impossi-
ble to determine. They have been repeatedly disturbed by parties who
took no note of the structure and could tell nothing more than that “the
rock was down at the bottom and the dirt thrown over it.” It was only
after several days of search and visits to all the localities of which any
information could be obtained, along the entire eastern margin of Wash-
ington county, that a few could be found intact.

On the upper terrace, within the corporate limits of Monongahela
city, are situated the garden and greenhouses of Mr. I. S. Crall. Two
ravines on the east and west sides open directly south into Pigeon
creek, and their erosion has lowered the ground until it is surrounded
by higher land on every side except along the bluff next to the creek.
The further side of the creek being bounded by a high hill, the view
from the level land between the ravines is shut off in every direction,
except through a narrow pass looking up the river; thus the tract is
surrounded on every side by hills close at hand, ranging from 40 to 250
feet above its level. In excavating for foundation walls and other pur-
poses, Mr. Crall has, at different times, unearthed skeletons, some of
them of large size; the ground is strewn with mussel shells, flint chips,
ete.

THOMAS. ] PENNSYLVANIA. 495

On the eastern side of this level, near the break of the ravine, and
close to a never-failing spring, stands the largest mound above the one
at McKee’s rocks, meastring 9 feet in height by 60 feet in diameter,
Beginning on the eastern side, a 6-foot trench was run in for 35 feet.
At 17 feet from the point of beginning was found a thin layer of char-
coal and burnt dirt, which at this point was between 3 and 4 feet from
the original surface. This, which seems to have resulted from burning
weeds and trash that had sprung up when the building was temporarily
arrested at this stage, continued for 12 feet with an upward slope nearly
corresponding with that of the top of the mound, showing that the lat-
ter had been built from the center upward and outward, and not by a
succession of horizontal layers. This is further shown by the arrange-
ment of the different sorts of dirt used in its construction, which show
a central core or nucleus, with the successive deposits extending over
it from side to side. Underlying the bottom of the mound was a tough
gray clay, varying in thickness. On this the mound had been built up.
At the center a hole measuring 3 feet across the top and 2 feet across
the bottom had been dug down 2 feet into the original soil. In this
were fragments of human bones too soft to be preserved. They indi-
cated an adult of large size. The gray clay was unbroken over this
hole. Directly over this, above the clay and resting upon it, were por-
tions of another large skeleton, with which was found part of an
unburned clay tube or pipe. About 5 feet southwest of the last men-
tioned skeleton, and on the same level, were a few fragments of bones,
a copper gorget or breastplate, some small pieces of a gorget made
apparently of stalagmite, and pieces of thin copper plate. The copper
gorget was rectangular in form, 3 by 44 inches in size, with ineurved
sides, and had two holes on the longer axis. It had been doubled over
along this axis until the opposite sides were in contact.and then ham-
mered down flat. These, with some traces of charcoal and woody fiber,
were lying flat upon the gray clay, extending over a space 2 feet across.
The layer contained only traces of wood, as though the skeleton had
been covered or surrounded by thin slabs or bark, there being no indi-
cation that logs or iarge pieces had been used. To the large piece of
copper was adhering something like wood, which was rubbed off before
its nature could be determined, and some fragments of a leather or
buckskin string were preserved with it. On one of the smaller pieces
was some kind of fur. Four feet west of the center, a foot above the
bottom, were fragments of bones and skull.

These four skeletons had either been buried in a sitting posture or
doubled up on the side, or else only the bones had been interred. AT]
the fragments were lying confusedly together. It seems probable that
they were either buried in a sitting posture or doubled up. as the size
of the hole at the center of the mound and the space showing traces of
wood (where the copper was found) was more than would have been
necessary to allow the interment of the bones alone.

496, MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Over the center of the mound, 5 feet from the bottom, were a few
pieces of bone and a tooth worn down nearly to the socket. Four feet
west of this was the fragment of a femur, with its axis toward the tooth;
by the femur lay 4 small chalcedony knife. These were no doubt
remains of an intrusive burial. One other skeleton had been placed
at full length, about 3 feet above the bottom and 6 feet southwest from
the center, with head toward the east; only the leg bones were found.
This, as its depth indicates, could scarcely have been an intrusive burial;
yet none of those at a greater depth were buried in the same manner.

A trench was run in from the southwestern side to intersect the first.
One skeleton was found about 20 feet from the center, close to the top
of the mound. The skull was completely filled with snail shells. This
was very likely intrusive. Mr. Crall’s workmen had previously found
remains of other skeletons near this one.

A small mound northeast of this, but in the same field, was removed
some years ago. Several skeletons weré found in it, also a pipe, which,
from the description given, must have been either quartz or calcite.

Sh See

Fic. 327.—Mound and graves near Monongahela city, Pennsylvania.

In the larger mound were several flakes and chips of the flint found
only in Licking or Coshocton counties, Ohio.

On the farm of Capt. William Parkinson, 24 miles below Mononga-
hela city, is along, narrow point bounded on one side by the steep bluff
at the foot of which flows Mingo creek, on the other by the river bottom
At the level of the upper terrace is an elevation formed by throwing up
the dirt on both sides toward the center, forming an elliptical mound
110 by 27 feet, 2 feet high, with the longer axis nearly east and west.
On this mound were four stone graves, all on the same general plan
(Fig. 327). Around the graves are bowlders from the river and flat
stones, the latter set on edge, most of them with tops leaning inward;
many, however, have been displaced by the roots of the trees growing
above them. It seems to have been the intention of the builders to
form complete circles inclosed by these stones, though, from the cause
mentioned, their symmetry has been impaired. The bottom of eagh

THOMAS.] PENNSYLVANIA. 497

grave was paved with flat stones, averaging 2 inches in thickness and
from 2 to 4 square feet in area. These were laid so as to fit closely
together and extend to the inclosing circle. Within the circle and
upon the pavement was a large mass of flat stones with the outer ones
overlapping in regular order, just such an arrangement as would result
from leaning a number of boards or other flat objects, one after another,
against a support and then removing it. Above the stones in this posi-
tion were others thrown in regardless of order or arrangement.

The grave nearest the river (No. 1) was 12 feet in diameter within
the circle of upright stones. Above, in the center, had been placed
an adult body, extended with head toward the north. Only afew frag-
ments of bones were found. North of this, close to the edge of the
circle, were a few fragments of a child’s skull, the milk teeth still re-
maining in the fragments of the jaw. On the west a number of large
rocks had been piled up against the outer side of the circle; the object
of this was not apparent. The second grave measured 8 feet in diam-
eter. The circle and pavement were in place, but all the upper rock
had been removed. No bones remained. The third grave had been
opened by other parties; so no examination of the interior was
attempted. The circle, still undisturbed, was 20 feet in diameter. The
fourth grave measured 24 feet across. Most of the stones in the circle
were bowlders and the pavement was very irregular, owing to the dis-
placement of the stones by the roots of trees. Small pieces of bones
were found, too few and broken to tell much about their arrangement,
though it appeared as if the skeleton had laid with head toward the
east. Two arrow-points were found with the bones.

All the pieces of bones found had been broken and mashed flat by
the weight of the overlying rock, and only such small pieces remained
as were under stones which protected them from water. Yellow clay
to the thickness of a foot covered the pavements and filled up the inter-
stices of the overlying stones. All the space on top of the mound out-
side of the graves was covered with a pavement of rocks, the larger
ones being laid flat, the smaller ones thrown in at random.

Grave No. 1 had about 2 feet of stones and clay above the pavement;
grave No. 2, about 10 inches of clay only; graves No.3 and No.4, each
about 18 inches of clay and stones.

The appearance of the whole work seems to show that, first, the
mound was thrown up of dirt from its immediate neighborhood; sec-
ondly, a cirele of stone was set up, a pavement laid within it, on which
the bodies were placed, stones set on edge, and leaning slightly inward
were placed around the body and supported in position; thirdly, clay
was placed over these stones, and a lot of stones thrown over all; and,
fourthly, all the space not taken up by the graves was paved with flat
stones. Graves Nos. 1, 3, and 4 were ina straight line; grave No. 2
was a little to the north.

2 ETH 32

498 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

MOUNDS ON THE FARM OF CAPT. SPARR.

On the farm of Capt. Sparr, opposite Belle Vernon, on the upper ter-
race, is a level tract comprising several fields, which is bounded on one
side by the river and on the other by Maple creek, which here flows
parallel with the river for perhaps half a mile. On this tract are six
mounds or graves nearly in a straight line and bearing east of south
from the one nearest the point. This, which may be called No. 1, is 3

feet high and 25 feet across, composed entirely of stone. It has been -

all torn up.

Fifty feet distant is No. 2, an earth mound 8 feet high and 50 feet in
diameter. This had a trench through it, and a number of flat stones
were scattered about over its sides, which were thrown out by the inves-
tigators; yet no one could be found who was able to tell anything about
its interior arrangement. Another 50-foot interval occurred between
this mound and the next.

No, 3 had been considerably disturbed, but not so much as to pre-
vent its construction from being studied. <A circle of bowlders and large
flat rocks, measuring 24 feet across, had been made, and the interior
paved with flagstones; next, large rocks piled above these; and earth
thrown over and around the whole. On the eastern side three rows of
the flat, up-edged stones remained. Any examination of the central
part of the mound was useless, as it had been torn up several times.

Two hundred yards from this is No. 4, a small stone grave, not over
12 feet in diameter. Sixty feet farther is a similar grave. Both of
these had been plowed around and the stones removed to such an
extent that nothing could be ascertained as to their arrangement.

Twenty-five feet from No. 5 is a stone mound, elliptical in shape, 55
feet by 125 feet in its two diameters, 3 feet high, with the longer axis
nearly north and south. This was composed almost entirely of water-
worn bowlders of various sizes, some weighing fully 200 pounds. They
were thrown in promiscuously and rested directly on the soil. For
about 8 inches from the top there was no soil, save what had accumu-
lated from the decay of vegetable matter; below this the rocks were
packed in hard yellow clay; there was a depression on the east side of
the mounds, whence the soil had been removed and the clay thrown
on the mound obtained. Whether this had been done as the work
progressed or whether the dirt had been thrown on after the mound
was completed, is uncertain; in either case it would have settled to the
bottom, leaving the upper stones clear. The entire mound was removed,
but nothing found; it may have been modern.

It is reported that in the fields to the south and southwest of these
mounds skeletons have been found in a sitting position, under flat
stones a few inches below the surface. The statement as to the posi-
tion may be considered doubtful, although the rest is quite probable.

There are two such cemeteries about 5 miles from Monongahela city,
on the farms of John Van Voorhis and Lewis Colvin. They are both

.

-

THOMAS. ] PENNSYLVANIA. A499

on level fields overlooking Pigeon creek and on the same elevation as
the upper terrace. On Mr. Colvin’s farm over one hundred of these
graves have been opened, nearly all having children buried in them;
not over a dozen adults have been found. In most of the graves noth-
ing but bones has been found; in afew, some simple ornaments, such
as beads, were discovered; and from two of them vessels of pottery
were obtained. The general arrangement is the same in all. From 8
to 12 inches under the surface is a large flat stone; on removing this,
which is always upon or just under the yellow subsoil, a hole is
found varying from 12 to 24 inches in diameter and from 10 to 18 inches
in depth. In this hole is found the skeleton which had been doubled
up until the knees touch the skull and the feet are brought in contact
with the pelvis. Such was Mr. Colvin’s description, and a personal
examination of three graves showed its correctness. In the first,
measuring 12 inches across and 10 inches deep, covered by a stone 24
by 28 inches, were found mere traces of bone. In the second, of the
same size, but covered by a stone somewhat larger, were the remains
of a child not over 2 years old; with this were found five canine teeth
of some carnivorous animal, pierced at the roots. In the third graye,
24 inches across and 14 inches deep, was the entire skeleton of a child
about 9 years old. There was a large stone over this grave, as over
the others, and in addition three smaller ones. The latter had fallen
in and broken several of the bones, including the skull.

At Shire Oaks, on a point overlooking the river, are two mounds
which were opened by some miners, a large one on the break of the slope
and a smaller one farther back. Both resembled ordinary earth mounds,
but had stone graves inside. Of the larger they could give no account,
but their description of the smaller is as follows:

A quantity of dirt was thrown out and presently they found a skull;
continuing to dig downward they gradually uncovered the rest of the
body to the pelvis; this was at the original surface. The legs were
extended at right angles to the body. The whole was inclosed by a
boxlike arrangement, 6 feet in length and 3 feet in- breadth at the
widest part, elliptical in shape. Lying across the feet were a polished
green syenite celt 7 inches long; a very symmetrical, thin, finely chipped,
delicately tinted knife of chalcedony, 72 inches long; and a slate pipe
carved to represent a catamount, with the bowl opening at the back
of the neck, the stem hole near the lower end of the back and with
shell rings set into deeply countersunk holes to represent the eyes.

WARREN COUNTY.
MOUNDS NEAR IRVINETON.

The mounds at this place are three in number, situated on the level
bottom half a mile southeast of Irvineton and near the point where
Brokenstraw creek flows into the Alleghany river, on the Irvine farm.
They are of the ordinary conical type, but much worn down, having

500 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

been under cultivation for more than forty years. The spot was long
the site of a Seneca village known usually by the name of Ruccaloon.
Nothing reliable seems to be known in regard to the date of the estab-
lishment of this village, but it was destroyed by Gen. Broadhead in
1781. The Senecas were driven off, but sought refuge in the surround-
ing mountains and for a number of years small parties of them returned
from time to time to hunt and fish in the vicinity of their old haunt.
When the whites began to settle here in 1809 the ground was covered
with a thick growth of hazel bushes, the removal of which brought to
light abundant evidences of both habitation and cultivation. House
sites were discovered, and fragments of broken pottery, arrowheads,
and other relics were picked up from the surface or turned out by the
plow. With these were also found gun locks, hatchets, and other
weapons. The corn hills, says an eyewitness, were then as plainly dis-
cernible as though but a single year had passed since they were made.
The house sites, which were rings of earth with a central hearth or
fire-bed, were more abundant along the river about half a mile above
the creek than in the immediate locality of the mounds.

On the right bank of the river, about a mile above the mouth of the
creek, there existed at the time of the settlement spoken of a semicircu-
lar earthen wall, then about 3 feet high and including some 8 or 10 acres.

Fic. 328.—Section of Irvineton mound, Warren county, Pennsylvania.

On the same side of the river, about half a mile below the mouth of
the creek, was an ancient burying ground subsequently used by the
white settlers. In digging graves the bones of the ancient buried were
frequently unearthed. This was probably the cemetery of the Seneca
Indians, as no other for the old village has been discovered. Some
bodies, as will hereafter be noticed, had been buried in the mounds,
but these were few in number.

The smallest of the three mounds, which is on the bank just at the
mouth of the creek, was 52 feet in diameter and 34 feet high, though
evidently much worn down and expanded by the plow. The chief fea-
tures of this mound, as shown in Fig. 328, which represents a vertical
section of it, are the pit and large central stone vault (No.1). The
former was found to be 24 feet deep below the natural surface line
ab, and about 40 feet in diameter, the diameter probably indicating
the original extent of the mound. The upper portion of the vault had
fallen in, wedging the stones so tightly together that it was somewhat
difficult to remove them, but the original form and mode of construc-
tion could easily be made out without the aid of imagination, as the
lower portion was undisturbed. The builders had evidently miscalcu-

THOMAS.] PENNSYLVANIA. 501

lated the proportions necessary for stability, as the outside diameter
was 15 feet, though the walls were very thick near the base (fully 4
feet), while the height could not have exceeded 7 feet; hence, it is prob-
able that it fell in soon after the dirt was thrown over it. The stones
of which it was built were obtained in part from the bed of the neigh-
bormg stream and partly from a bluff about half a mile distant, and
were of rather large size, many of them being singly a good load for
two men. The bottom of the vault was formed of two layers of flat
stones, separated by an intermediate layer of sand, charcoal, and remains
5 inches thick at the time it was excavated. It was apparent that these
layers had not been disturbed since they were placed there, save by
the pressure of the superincumbent mass. The intermediate layer was
composed in great part of decomposed or finely pulverized charcoal.
In this were found the teeth, decaying jaws, a single femur, and a few
minute, badly decayed fragments of other bones of an adult, and with
them the joint of a large reed or cane, wrapped in thin evenly ham-
mered silver foil. The last had been wrapped in soft, spongy bark of
some kind, and this coated over thickly with mud or soft clay. The
weight of the stones was so great that the femur was found pressed
into a flat strip and the
reed split. It was not
possible to determine cer-
tainly whether the burn-
ing had taken place in
the mound or not. The
few bones found did not
appear to be charred, and
the same was true of the
cane joint; on the other hand, the bark, although wrapped in clay,
was very distinctly charred.

A careful analysis of the metal foil has been made by Prof. F. W.
Clarke, the chemist of the U. S. Geological Survey, who pronounces it
comparatively pure native silver, containing no alloy. Although
wrapped around the cane, a portion of it appears to have been cut into
small pieces of various shapes, two of which are represented in Fig. 329,
wand b. Where the margins remain uninjured, they are smoothly and
evenly cut. The joint of cane, which has been taken between the nodes,
is 9 inches long and must have been about an inch in diameter. A
small stone gorget was obtained from the same layer.

At No. 2, on the northeast side of the pit, were a few large stones
which may have formed a rude vault, but were in such a confused con-
dition, this being the point disturbed by the first slight excavation
madesome twenty years ago, that it was impossible to ascertain their orig-
inal arrangement. Among them were found parts of an adult skeleton.
The person who dug into the pit at this point, finding human remains,
stopped work and refilled the opening he had made.

Fia. 329.—Pieces of silver from Irvineton mound.

502 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Mound No, 2, situated about one-fourth of a mile northwest of No. 1,
measured 63 feet in diameter and a little less than 3 feet in height.
This, like the other, appears to have been built over a pit, At the
depth of 2 feet the remains of four skeletons were discovered. These,
so far as could be determined from what remained, had been placed hori-
zontally at full length, with the heads west. Near the head of No. 1
were several pieces of small, brass wire in close and regular coils. At
the feet of No. 4 was a copper kettle, in which were the following arti-
cles: An iron handle for a case knife, an iron lamp, and a wooden ladle;
near the head were several glass beads. Somewhat to the east of the
center was a pile of very small stones, apparently heaped up irregularly,
extending downward to the depth of 54 feet and measuring about 8

Fic. 330.—Inclosure near Pittsfield, Warren county, Pennsylvania.

feet in diameter at the bottom. Below these stones was a layer of yel-
lowish sand about 2 inches thick, and below this a stratum of very dark
earth about 10 inches thick, which showed distinct evidence of fire.
The latter rested upon the bottom of the pit. The pit was not very
carefully traced; hence its exact dimensions can not be given; the
depth was about 2 feet. Fragments of decayed wood or bark were
found near each of the skeletons, indicating burial in bark wrappings
or rude wooden coffins. Near No. 4, and at the same depth, a leaden
bullet was discovered.

These facts render it almost certain that the Indians who resided
here or visited the locality in more recent times selected these mounds
as burial places.

THOMAS. | NEW YORK. 503

The accompanying sketch (Fig. 530) from a survey by Mr. Middle-
ton represents an inclosure situated on the farm of Mr. Ransom Mead,
half a mile north of Pittsfield. It consists of an embankment and
exterior ditch, is somewhat oval in form, 340 feet in diameter from
northwest to southeast, and 280 feet from northeast to southwest. It
is on the lowest terrace, a few feet above the banks of the Little Bro-
kenstraw creek, there being two other terraces between it and the hill.
On the western side, where it has not been disturbed, the ditch is 2
feet deep and 7 feet wide, with the wall about the same dimensions;
the remainder is nearly leveled by the plow. On the southwest side is
an entranceway about 25 feet wide, but owing to the high grass and
the leveling spoken of exact measurement was impossible. The work
seems to have been a stockaded inclosure similar to those of western
New York.

No other remains exist in the vicinity, though relics of various sorts
have been found within and around the wall.

NEW YORK.
MADISON COUNTY.
CAZENOVIA TOWNSHIP.

- Immediately east of lot 44 of Pompey township, Onondaga county, is

- the site of a fort mentioned by Clark,' as on the farm of Atwell. He

gives a plan of it, representing graves within and without the inclosure,
the area of which he estimates at 5acres. The gateway is placed at the
east. This fort, which has never been described, is so interesting in
some respects that Rev. W. M. Beauchamp, who furnishes this descrip-
tion, accurately surveyed and platted it in 1886, finding the included
area to be only 23 acres. It is remarkably narrow for nearly half its
length and occupies a ridge between two ravines east of Limestone
creek about a mile west of Cazenovia. No graves have been found so
far as known, but some coarse relics have been exhumed. The ground
has been cleared, but little of it has been plowed as yet, and the post
holes, in a narrow, shallow trench, can be traced almost all the way
around. They average about 24 feet from center to center. The east
line crosses the ridge, extending nearly to the ravine on the north side,
but not to that on the south, and is 225 feet long. The north lineruns
westwardly 320 feet to a point where the width of the fort is contracted
to about 80 feet (see Fig. 331, which represents a plan of the fort);
thence it pursues a slightly winding course westward 224 feet farther
to the west end. This end curves southward about 100 feet. The
southern side runs eastwardly, slightly curving, to the narrow point,
thence a little south of east, almost in a direct line to the place of begin-

' Hist. of Onondaga, Vol. 2, pp. 268, 269.

504 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

ning. From this smaller end the ridge becomes very narrow, but
extends some distance farther west, coming to a point. This fort
belongs to the class generally designated prehistoric, but judging by
the relics found is so closely related to other sites near by as to lead to
the conclusion that it may have been occupied early in the seventeenth
century. The pottery found has the human faces on the angles, which
characterize that of the other Delphi forts, and the bone and horn
implements are much the same.
Some clay pipes ornamented with
human faces have been obtained,
and here was found the barbed fish-
hook of horn which formed the only
American example of the kind
known when Dr. Rau published his
work on ‘Prehistoric Fishing.”
Since then, the barb of another has
been found on the Seneca river,
and Mr. Twining, of Copenhagen,
has another complete hook of the
kind found at Watertown, N. Y.
As no sea shells have been found
on the more ancient sites of Onon-
daga county, the presence of a scal-
lop shell, a long bead made from
Fulgur cariea, and a small polished
white bead made from a univalve,
lead to the conclusion that the fort
is comparatively recent, although
no recent relics have been obtained
here.

FENNER TOWNSHIP.

At a point on Nichols pond, 6
miles south of Canastota, and 3
miles east of Perryville, is a village
site of peculiar interest, as it is
claimed that here stood the Onon-
daga town attacked by Champlain
Fic. 331.—Ancient fort on Atwell farm, Madison in 1615. A small pond bounds it

county, New York. x
on the north, which was dry when
examined and mapped in 1882. The topography, a8 shown in the an-
nexed diagram (Fig. 332), agrees very well with the historical descrip-
tion and the figure as given by Champlain and in The Documentary
History of New York.! The figure is also copied into various other
modern works. Gen. J. S. Clark, of Auburn, first drew attention to

''Vol. 3, p. 14.

THOMAS. ] NEW YORK. 505

this site. The relics found here are of horn, stone, earthenware, and
shells from Oneida river and other streams.

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY.

Very many vestiges of aboriginal occupation were found about the
shores of Chautauqua lake. The first works visited were some mounds
on the farm of Mr. Alonzo Felton, at Bemus point, on the north shore
of the lake, situated about 100 rods from it. Mound No. 1, 6 feet high
and 39 feet in diameter, was explored with the following results:

Fragments of decayed human bones, some copper beads, a fragment
of a copper ornament and scraps of mica, were found at a depth of 34
feet. An ordinary brick similar in composition to those in the neigh-

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Fic. 332.—Seat of ancient Onondaga town, Madison county, New York.

borhood, but only 3 by 74 inches, was discovered at a depth of 44 feet,
and below a channel made by a woodchuck. Five woodchuck holes
were noticed near the apex of the mound. An arrowhead was found 2
feet below the surface; animal bones, with a piece of decayed wood, at
from 2 to 3 feet. The mound was explored to the natural surface with-
out any further results.

Mound No. 2, about 4 rods directly east of No. 1, measured 65 feet
in diameter and 5 feet high. Mr. Felton states that seven or eight years
ago this mound was explored, but nothing of interest found in it.

According to Mr. James Sherrard,' of Dunkirk, an ancient canal and

1 Smithsonian Rept. 1881, p. 645. (The writer's name is given erroneously as Sheward.)

506 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

°
basin exist at Long point, 24 miles up the eastern shore of the lake
from Bemus point, but this is not artificial. Faint traces of an aborig-
inal embankment were noticed upon the high land back from this point
overlooking the lake.

MOUNDS AT WHITNEY’S LANDING.

Three miles from the Chautauqua Assembly grounds, at a place
called Whitneys landing, are two mounds, situated upon the Whitney.
farm, about 60 rods apart. The land upon which they are situated
rises considerably above the level of the lake. No. 1 is 25 feet in
diameter and 4 feet high. At adepth of 18 inches were four very large
flat stones, placed side by side and forming a perfectly level layer.
The trench was carried down to the original surface of the ground, but
nothing else was found, except some fragments of human bones and the
broken parts of an unbaked clay pipe.

It was afterwards ascertained from Mr. A. W. Whitney that this
mound had been partially explored forty years previously, which
exploration resulted in the finding of one plain stone pipe, seventeen
spear-heads of the long or knife-like type, and human bones. An old
pine tree, 2 feet in diameter, then stood directly on top of the mound.

The second mound measured 38 by 31 feet in diameter. It was opened
at the same time as No. 1 by the same party, with no other result than
that they came upon a layer of ashes at a shallow depth. A little dig-
ging was done in this mound and a biperforated stone gorget found.

BONE PIT AT STEDMAN,

A so-called “Indian pit” was dug into while making some road
improvements near this place. Twenty or twenty-five bodies were
uncovered which lay in rows. There were no relics of an aboriginal
character.

Two mounds formerly stood upon the land of Mr. Albert Tiffany, a
mile and a half from Jamestown on the Ellington road, but have been
removed, and nothing reliable is known in regard to their contents.
While examining the site of these mounds a stone gorget similar to
that found at Whitney’s landing was obtained.

The remains of an ancient earthwork near Faleoner’s, which fol-
lowed the bank of the stream at this place, were examined. It was
semicircular in form, the length, following the curve, being about 540
feet. It was utilized in the construction of a mill race (now abandoned)
and was built up 3 or 4 feet higher than it was originally, and some-
what lengthened.

“OLD FORT,” OR ‘‘FORT HILL,’ NEAR ELLINGTON.

This was figured and described in 1860 by Mr. T. Apoleon Cheney.!
Although the wall has, to a large extent, disappeared, yet it can be

New York Senate Document No. 89, 1859, PL. v1, No. 2, p. 43.

THOMAS. ] NEW YORK. 507

traced throughout. A diagram showing its present appearance is
given in Fig. 333. It is on the extremity of a high spur of land rising -
abruptly about 100 feet above the valley, a position which commands
a magnificent view of Clear creek valley to the south and southeast.
This work, as Mr. Cheney states, is elliptical, the diameters 320 and
175 feet, but according to the remeasurements they are 270 and 170.
A north and south fence crosses the work a little east of the center.
The land on the eastern side of this has been cultivated, while that on
the other side has not. A break in the wall 6 feet wide at the south-

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Fic. 333.—Old fort near Ellington, Chautauqua county, New York.

east may have been a gateway. The wall here was at the time of
examination 24 feet high on the exterior and 1$ on the inside. The
area covered by the inclosure is treeless, but large trees have evidently
grown on the wall, as is shown by indications which remain, and as
averred by old citizens. The people of Ellington, as a rule, believe this
work to be of French origin, and, as they state, much digging has been
done here in search of supposed hidden treasure. The pits they have
made bear evidence of their search, but it could not be learned that
anything of interest had been found except some stone implements

5
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t-
«

508 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

and human bones. A man named Grates discovered, along with some
human bones, a piece of an iron kettle. A Mr. Baldwin obtained, near
the surface immediately inside of the southeast wall, what appears
from examination to be an old-fashioned French ankle-cuff or manacle,
with its key in the lock. Numerous arrowheads, celts, concave disks,
and a stone pipe have been found in and around the work.

Mr. Baldwin says a circular embankment, 5 feet high, existed on his
place fifty years ago, directly south of the above described earthwork
and on the other side of the creek. It covered about 2 acres, and had
small timber on it.

Mr. Cheney mentions and figures an elliptical inclosure on the south
side of Clear creek, which he says was situated on the first terrace or
gradual rise from the creek. He gives the longer axis as 218 feet, the
shorter, 168 feet, and states that the wall had then “an altitude above
the exterior surface of 9 feet, and above the surface of the interior of
the work of only 5 feet; it was 32 feet in width.” No traces of it now
remain. It was on a farm now owned by Charles Gapleson, 2 miles east
of Ellington, and situated under the shadow of his house and barn.

The site of the large parallelogram, of which Mr. Cheney speaks and
which he represents on Pl. vit of his paper, was visited. This work
was situated on the south side of Clear creek, on a high bluff, 2 miles
above Ellington, on what is known as the old Boyd farm. It ran to the
edge of the bluff, which runs about 150 feet above the creek valley, but
no traces of it now remain. Mr. Isaac Stafford, who worked the ground
twenty-six years ago, found about this fort bushels of stone implements,
comprising arrowheads, celts, concave disks, mortars, pestles, etc. Mr.
Hiram Lawrence, who also worked the land, found on the site two curi-
ously shaped pipes, one of stone, the other of clay.

INCLOSURE ON THE FARM OF MR. FRANK LAWRENCE,

This is on the other side of the creek, in the woods, on the high land
directly opposite the site of the one last mentioned. Itis an embankment
orearthen wall, forming an almost perfect circle, 190 feet in diameter, and
now consists only of portions at the southeast and southwest, where
the walls are still standing, ranging in height from 14 to 2 feet, meas-
uring on the outside. It is shown in Fig. 334. The site is covered with
forest trees, chiefly beech and maple, some of which, measuring from 18
inches to 2 feet in diameter, stand on the wall. This work is on the
farm of Mr. Frank Lawrence. In this same field and almost adjoining
this last is a portion of what may have been a similar structure. It
extends across the fence into the cleared field beyond. Here the eulti-
vation of the land has rendered it untraceable.

On the farm of Mr. N. E. G. Cowan, near Rutledge, a mound 20 feet
in diameter and 6 feet high was opened some years since. Nine bodies
were found buried in a sitting posture, in a circle, back to back, with
feet outward. Beneath. the bones was a layer of ashes. Twenty-four

THOMAS.] NEW YORK. 509

arrowheads, a drilled stone ornament painted red, and a celt were
obtained.

A circular embankment exists on Elm creek on the farm of J. N.
Metcalf. It is in the forest and comprises about 1 acre. This may be
the one referred to by Larkin in “ Ancient Man in America.”

Mr. Thatcher, of Rutledge, an old man who lived on Clear creek when
a boy, says there formerly existed two semicircular embankments 3
miles west of the village of Ellington and a mile above the two pre-
viously described. Both were situated on bluffs, and each embraced
about an acre and a half. One was double-walled, with a gateway at
which the walls turned outward several feet, and in front of which was
a small mound.

Fig. 334,—Inclosure near Ellington, Chautauqua county, New York.

INCLOSURE NEAR SINCLAIRVILLE,

This work, situated on the farm of Mr. William Scott, about a mile
and a half south of Sinclairville, is oval, or, in fact, almost truly ovate
in form, It stands partly on lot 30 and partly on lot 38. As the work
stands mostly in the forest and has suffered but little from the plow,
the wall is quite distinct throughout; but the ditch, which is outside,
though traceable entirely around and mostly quite distinct, is at some
points almost effaced. A large white pine stump 4 feet in diameter
stands directly in the ditch on the northwest. About 400 rings of
growth were counted in it. From the point where the stump stands to
where the wall crosses the line between the lots. it runs along the mar-
gin of the slope to the brook on the north. At the northern extremity
there is a gap which was probably a gateway leading down to the creek;

510 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

there are also at this point some indications of a graded way or path-
way down the slope, but a slight ravine which has been washed out
here renders it impossible to decide in regard to this with certainty.
The wall in the woodland varies in height from 14 to 3 feet, most of it
being over 2 feet high. The width varies from 16 to 20 feet. In the
central portion is a basin-shaped excavation or depression, 46 feet in
diameter and 6 feet deep, evidently artificial. No trees are growing
in it.

An ineclosure formerly stood on the farm of Mr. B. F. Dennison on
lot 46, Gerry township. It is stated by those who remember it that it
was circular and embraced about 3 acres. There is one piece of its
wall 90 feet long yet standing. It is 2 feet high on the outside, and,
in form, the are of a cirele. Other works of a similar character for-
merly existed in the same section, but have all been effaced except two
on Mr. Almy’s farm.

CIRCULAR WORKS ON THE ALMY FARM, SOUTH STOCKTON.

On the farm of Mr. John Almy in South Stockton, 4 miles southwest
of Sinelairville, are two circular works. They are in the woods and
the walls have been worn considerably by hauling over them the
heavy timber that grows here. The first measured 152 feet north and
south and 1,129 feet east and west. A fence cuts off a small portion
on the south, beyond which the land descends. If the embankment
were a continuous circle it must have run down this slope, but no traces
of a wall can now be seen here. On the western side is seen a broad,
deep ditch, which must have entirely encircled the embankment.
Though the bank can be traced entirely around north of the fence, per-
fect walls are seen only from the north to the west; they measure from
13 to 3 feet high.

The second inclosure lies 163 feet northeast of the first. It is 184
feet north and south by 151 east and west, as near as could be deter-
mined in the absence of a wall on the eastern side. The portions of
the wall standing measure from 24 to 54 feet high on the outside and
from 6 inches to 3 feet inside. The outside ditch, therefore, is quite
deep. On the east a somewhat steep declivity is seen. To continue
the embankment in the line marked out by the circular wall would
carry it down the declivity. It is not unlikely that this embankment,
considering its circular form, was originally a continuous circle, as well
as the one last described, and that the declivity by washing away in
course of time encroached upon the wall and carried it away at this
point. A steep declivity is also seen near the northeast part of the
embankment. No relics were found here.

A circular inclosure, embracing about 25 acres, formerly stood on
the low land about 80 rods south of the above described works, on the
land of Mr.8.M. Tower. This land has been cleared and plowed, and
numerous stone implements and ornaments and fragments of pottery

Pu

THOMAS. ] NEW YORK. 511

with incised ornamentation have been picked up on the site of the
work. Many of these in Mr. Tower’s possession were examined.

Three miles from the village of Forestville, on the Dunkirk and For-
estville road, on the farm of Mr. J. G. Gould, was formerly a semicir-
cular inclosure of 5 acres. It was nearly on the brow of a bluff above
Walnut creek, back of which there is a level area that extends many
miles. In the same field, on the opposite side of the road, there were
formerly forty or fifty pits, only seven of which can now be seen.
They average about 2 feet in diameter and from 2 to 5 feet in depth.
Two of them were dug into and at the depth of 5 feet very fine gravel
was reached. Nothing else was found in them.

In front of Mr. Gould’s residence and 80 rods to the east a bone pit
was opened several years ago. Remains of skeletons of each sex and
of all ages were found; the number could not be determined. A grave
had been previously opened near the above and five skeletons found
in a circle with the feet outward. The position and size of the bones
corresponded closely with those on Mr. Cowan’s place near Rutledge.

On the high land within the village of Fredonia a mound 7 feet high
was opened several years ago on the Jand of Mr. Levi Risley disclosing
some skeletons, a pestle, a mortar, and some arrowheads.

On the road between Sheridan and Pomfret, 2 miles east of Fredonia,
is what is locally known as “‘the Indian mound.” It measures at the
base 274 by 200 feet, and on top 136 by 21 feet, the maximum diameter
being northeast and southwest. Itis between 25 and 30 feet high and is
composed of coarse gravel. There is a depression to the south as though
the gravel for the mound had been obtained there. The country is per-
fectly level on all sides for miles, giving the mound a prominent and
artificial appearance. No relics have ever been found in the vicinity.
It is probably a natural formation.

About 1 mile east of Fredonia, on the road to Laona, there was formerly
a circular embankment of which no trace remains. Whether it was con-
tinuous or notis unknown. ‘The site is peculiar; it occupied, as is said,
the entire area of an eminence of about an acre, rising precipitously
from Canadaway creek. Directly back of this and in front of which
the work must have been placed was a precipitous bluff about 25 feet
in height, rendering the position in no wise suited for defense. Many
arrowheads, a large number of pottery fragments with rude incisions,
celts, and other Indian relics have been found on this site. There was
a deep circular pit within the work, in which were some grains of charred
corn and near by were found fragments of human bones very much
decayed.

On the farm of Mr. Joel Button, 2 miles east of Fredonia, on the
road to Forestville, was a work, now leveled, which, from Mr. Button’s
description, must have been almost circular and continuous, embracing
3 acres. The wall ran down a steep declivity 12 or 15 feet, making the
land inclosed of different levels. If Mr. Button’s description is correct

512 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the work must have inclosed a brook,now dry. An artificial depres-
sion which was originally similar in size and shape to that on the Scott
farm in Gerry, though perhaps a little larger, could be seen upon the
higher land within the inclosure, but nearer to the embankment than
to the center. The land everywhere about here is generally flat, the
same level extending to the shore of Lake Erie. A few celts, arrow-
heads, fragments of pottery with rude incisions (some of which were
dug up with bones very much decayed), a biconcave disk, two chisels,
and a highly polished celt of black stone, which had been picked up on
the site, were examined.

It is stated that an old fort formerly stood on the west bank of Fay’s
creek, in the town of Portland, on the central part of lot 38,T.5. The
Erie road runs through what was the northern portion. It was a heavy
earthwork, slightly elliptical in shape, and embraced about an acre.
Clay and stone pipes and stone implements have been found within and
around the walls. J

There was also another, some remains of which may still be seen, on
the farm of Mr. Hugh Neil, half a mile south of West Main street, in the
Village of Westfield.

NIAGARA COUNTY.

In Turner’s History of the Holland Land Purchase reference is made
to an earthwork near Lockport having a covered way leading toa
spring. This was found upon the land of Mr. Sharpe, 1 mile west
of Lockport. A short examination sufficed to show that it was a long
natural ridge of limestone. No evidences of Indian occupation could
be found. Near by, however, was the site of a small mound, dug into
many years ago, which was found to consist almost entirely of small
stones.

On the northern border of the Tuscarora Indian Reservation there
was formerly an earthern inclosure. It was situated on the brow of the
high steep bluff that constitutes the first terrace from Lake Ontario and
the beautiful level country that stretches unbrokenly 10 miles tothe lake.
Many pieces of human bones and innumerable flint chips were observed
scattered about. The embankment inclosed about an acre and a half.
The bluff being a sufficient defense upon the north, no wall existed on
that side. At the southeast portion is a ravine, now dry, but formerly
a considerable stream flowed through it. Mount Pleasant, the Tusca-
rora chief, stated that inside of this work, in Revolutionary times, stood
the Seneca ‘Refuge house,” where dwelt a Seneca woman named
Ge-gah/-sa-seh, or Wild Cat. This was the place of safety for criminals
fleeing from the tribes, east or west. Across the ravine and two rods
southwest from it was a small heap of stones where Mount Pleasant
said the Tuscaroras, seventy years before, had a dance of thirty days
and nights around a woman in a trance.

Upon this reservation, a little over half a mile west of the inclosure

THOMAS. ] NEW YORK. 513

last described and about 20 rods from the edge of the same bluff, was a
large bone pit. It was.marked by a low conical elevation, not over a
foot and a half high and 27 feet in diameter. Directly in the center
was a Slight depression in which lay a large flat stone with a number
of similar stones under and around it. At the depth of 18 inches the
bones seemed to have been disturbed. Among them was a Canadian
penny. This, Mount Pleasant thought, may have been dropped in
there by a missionary who, thirty years before, had found on the reser-
vation a skull with an arrowhead sticking in it; or by some Indian, for
it is, or was, an Indian custom to do this where bones have been dis-
turbed, by way of paying for the disturbance or for some article taken
from the grave. The bones seemed to have belonged to both sexes and
were thrown in without order; they were, however, in a good state ot
preservation. Three copper rings were found near finger bones. The
roots of trees that had stood above the pit made digging quite difficult;
yet sixty skulls were brought to the surface, and it is quite likely that
the pit contained as many as a hundred skeletons. The longest diam-
eterof the pit was 9 feet; itsdepth 5 feet. There were no indications on
the skulls of death from bullet wounds.

Two similar elevations, one 18 or 20 feet, the other 10 rods, directly
east of this pit, were opened sufficiently to show that they were burial
places of a similar character. Like the first, these contained flat stones,
lying irregularly near the top. Charcoal occurred in small pieces in
all. Indian implements and ornaments, and several Revolutionary
relics, were found in the adjoining field.

About one-fourth of a mile directly west of the inclosure, close to the
brow of the bluff overlooking the ridge road and on land adjoining
the reservation on the north, are one hundred and eighteen small pits,
which seem to be artificial. They extend 50 or 60 rods parallel with
the edge of the bluff, which here is little more than 100 feet from the
level land below. They run back 10 or 15 rods, are mostly uniform
in shape and size, and are from 1 foot to 24 feet deep, and average 3
feet in diameter, one being 5 feet. Six of them extend in a straight
line for 10 rods parallel to the edge of the bluff.

WYOMING COUNTY.
INCLOSURE ON THE DUNN FARM.

On the farm of John Dunn, on the west bank of the Genesee river,
44 miles above Portage, is a large embankment on the summit of a
large mound-like hill 125 feet high. The embankment, shown in
Fig. 335, follows the brow of the hill except on the west, where the
hill forms a narrow spur, extending 57 feet beyond the inclosure
on the same level, and at the northeast, where a point of the hill is
cut off by the embankment. At these places the bank is higher
and the ditch deeper than at other points, the former being 54 feet on

12 ETH——33

514 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the outside, 3 on the inside, and 14 wide. The ditch averages 3 feet
deep and runs from the western side, around the northern to the north-
east corner. On the north side the hill is less steep than on the other
sides. On the east it is quite steep and there is scarcely a doubt that
the Genesee once washed its base; its present channel is nearly 100
rods away. The wall terminates near the northeast corner, there
being no necessity for it along the east side. The south side being
less precipitous has the wall extending along its edge. A passage-
way 6 feet wide leads through the western end to the level spur,
whence the descent is easy to the land below. There is a similar open-
ing at the northeast corner facing the easier slope at that point. The
length of the work is 272 feet.

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Fia. 335.—Inclosure on Dunn farm, Wyoming county, New York.

Northeast of the center is a circular pit 7 feet in diameter and 3 feet
deep; it was originally much deeper and lined with cobblestones, but.
has been partially filled up. This was partly excavated some years
ago, but without any further results than the finding of a few grains of
corn, which suggest its use as acache. No relics have been discovered
in the inclosure except a couple of large stone net-sinkers.

It is stated by Mr. Dunn that a mound once stood in the low, flat
meadow, 25 rods north of this hill, A pestle, a‘ spoon-like” stone im-
plement, and some fragmentary human bones were found in it.

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

An effort was made to find the work at Avon referred to by Col. W.
H. Hosmer in “ Yonnondio,” but no one in the vicinity seemed to know
anything about it. If it ever existed no trace of it remains to-day.

THOMAS.] NEW YORK. 5d
EMBANKMENT ON THE SWEET-BRIER FARM.

On Brimmer’s ‘““Sweet-Brier Farm,” 24 miles from Genesee, 60 or 70
rods south of the road leading to Jones’s bridge across the Genesee
river, are the remains of an ancient fortification. Two parallel ravines,
the northern about 100, the southern 60 or 65 feet deep, with precipit-
ous sides, cut through the highest portion of the land. From one to the
other stretch two breastworks; the eastern one is 93 feet long, and there
appears to have been a ditch on each side of it. The western one is 87
feet long, with an exterior ditch. The ravines curve in such a way as
to widen the space between the walls; and the land to the west slopes
gradually for about 80 rods to the bank of the Genesee. No relics have
been found here.

A cirenlar inclosure is reported to have been situated on the flats 30
rods north of the residence of the late Col. Wm. Jones, which was 2 or
3 feet high. No trace of it now remains.

On Wadsworth’s “Big Tree farm,” southwest of Geneseo, are two
mounds; the first, 40 to 45 feet in diameter, and 4 feet high, is located
just west of the dairy house. The second is half a mile to the north-
west of this, and after having been under cultivation for many years,
is now 40 feet in diameter and 24 feet high. It is on the level land of
the flats.

A trench was run through this from north to south. Two feet from
the north end of the trench and 2 feet deep was a bed of black soil filled
with charcoal 4 feet in diameter and 1 foot thick. Directly under this
and lying within a radius of 2 feet, were the fragmentary remains of a
human skeleton. On the west side of the pieces of skull lay a rudely
made copper bead, much oxidized; on the east side, a foot distant, a
similar bead. Mica was found here and there, about on a level with
the bones. Four small sinkers, a flint arrowhead, fragments of some
clay object, and a very small quantity of lime, were also found. The
bones crumbled at a touch. Some very small bones seemed to be
charred.

It is reported that a fort of some kind once stood at Bosley’s mills,
on Conesus lake, and that various Indian and European articles had
been found in the neighborhood; whether together or not could not be
ascertained.

A fort is also reported half a mile west of the village of Dansville,
across Oanaseragus creek and a few rods south of the Ossian road. It
is Said to be on a bluff overlooking the creek. To the north of itis a
gorge 50 feet deep.

One mile north of Lima, knives, hatchets, and other weapons are
occasionally found along with skeletons; and remains of Indians have
been discovered in a sitting posture holding in their laps pots filled
with corn and the bones of squirrels.

516 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

MICHIGAN.
RIFLE RIVER FORTS.

Near what is known as the Rifle river bridge on the state road lead-
ing from West Branch in Ogemaw county to Lake Huron are five
inclosures commonly known as Indian forts. Three are on the east side
and two on the west side of the river, whose course is almost due south.
Those on the east side are all in Churchill township, T. 22 N., R. 3 E.

The first one examined is on section 9, three-fourths of a mile below
the bridge, 40 rods from the river and on a level piece of ground about
10 feet above the water level. The land is in heavy hemlock timber
and there stands on the wall a stump 4 feet in diameter.

The heavy timber and dense underbrush made an accurate survey
impossible; the notes here given are the best that could be obtained by
the Bureau agentwiththemeansathand. The work is located at a point
formed by a bend in the river and consists of an irregularly curved
wall of earth and inner ditch forming an inclosure.

The following measurements were taken, beginning at the southwest
entrance and going toward the south:

| te | |

| Stations. spistanee, Remarks.
Feet
1 to 2 45 | To a sharp turn.
2 to 3 | 424 | Do.
3 to 4 | 94 To center of entrance 2.
4 to 5 | 100 | Turn, almost a right angle.
5 to 6 | 135 | Center of entrance 3.
6 to 7 | 68 | Center of entrance 4
7 to 8 86 | Sharp turn
8 tol 34 Beginning.

The width of entrance 1 is 12 feet; of entrance 2, 12 feet; of entrance
3,9 feet; of entrance 4, 12 feet. The bearing from entrance 1 to entrance
2 is 8S. 814° E.; from entrance 1 to entrance 3, N. 40° E.; from entrance
1 to entrance 4, N. 22° K. ;

The wall on the inside is from 3 to 4 feet high and the average width
at bottom is 8 feet.

The width of the ditch is from 16 to 17 feet. From the top of the
wall to the bottom of the ditch is between 7 and 8 feet.

Entrances 3 and 4 are at points directly toward the river; and all
open out on level ground, except 4, which is at a point where the wall
goes along the top of a bank about 4 feet high over a bottom subject
to overflow.

The next work, shown in Fig. 336, is on section 3, about a mile north
of the bridge. It is about 100 rods from the river on land some 40 feet

THOMAS. ] MICHIGAN. yi 7e

above the water level and higher than any ground in the immediate
vicinity, with the exception of a narrow strip of the same hillock which
gradually rises for 200 feet to the west, where it reaches a height of 10
feet above the top of the wall. At every other part the slope is away
from the embankment.

The inside area is not level, being several feet higher at the south
and southwest sides than at the north.

The ditch is from 3 to 4 feet deep; the wall, which is eut by five
gateways, varies in height from 1 foot on each side of entrance d, to 5
feet at a, where it is about 16 feet wide; the ditch at the latter point
being 12 feet wide and from 8 to 10 feet at other parts.

Luin
Ee <n Sn Po
On \) "Wy oe
Ly

1,
——— retin! nis
tu ccffy Dat sar a

Fic. 336.—Rifle river fort No. 2, Ogemaw county, Michigan.

The circumference, measured along the top of the wall, is 920 feet,
the diameter east and west 310 feet, and north and south 280 feet.
The widths of the gates are as follows: a, 12 feet; b, 14 feet; c, 13 feet;
d,16 feet, and e, 11 feet.

From a point a little north of ¢ to one a little south of it, the wall
crosses a depression or shallow gully, and either from wear or because
it was intentionally made so, is lighter than elsewhere; being not over
a foot high on each side of the entrance, but it becomes heavier in either
direction until the points designated are reached, where it acquires its
ordinary size.

The third fortis on section 4, half amile above the one last described,
20 feet above the water and directly on the river bank, the wall ending
at a point where access to the water is easy.

518 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Like the first, this was covered with a dense growth of brush. The
circumference, measuring along the top of the wall, was found to be
504 feet.

The width of entrance in every case means the distance across the
opening, half way between top and base of the wall.

It was not practicable to visit the works on the west side of the
river.

The statement made that large mounds exist within the inclosures is
an error; there are no mounds anywhere in the neighborhood.

The wall and ditch in each work are still well defined, being appar-
ently very little altered by weather. The works are very much like
those of western New York, which are attributed to the Iroquois, and
it is well known that these Indians made frequent forays to this section.

Two of these works are figured and described in the Smithsonian
Report for 1884, by Dr. M. L. Leach.

There are two small mounds in Bellaire, Antrim county, that have
been examined. They are on a point—but not at the highest part—
that slopes southward to Intermediate river, overlooking a lake on one
side and a wide bottom on the other. Both are small, not over 4 feet
high and 20 feet in diameter, and have a small depression or ditch
around the base, as if a small amount of earth had been scooped up
and thrown on the mound after it was about completed. This feature
seems common to all the mounds reported in this section. In each was
a Skeleton in a sitting posture, the feet-extended. With the largest
was the outer whorl of a Busycon shell, probably used as a cup, the outer
surface covered with incised lines crossing at right: angles. At what
would be the bottom if held level, it was worn nearly through from the
outside. The skull was of unusually fine form and texture.

There are a great many holes on this hill, both above and below the
mounds; they are from 3 to 4 feet across, nearly or quite filled with
leaves, etc., and some of them have been dug into a depth of 6 feet
without reaching the original bottom. They are probably old caches.

There was no one in the vicinity of the foot of Clam lake who knew
anything in regard to the earthwork reported there; and the jungle
about the place rendered any examination impossible. Neither could
anything be learned at Rapid river of a similar earthwork. There are
two mounds there, each about 6 feet high and 20 feet indiameter. An
old Chippewa chief says there was a battle between that tribe and the
Sioux a century ago, and that each party erected a mound over its
dead. A number of skeletons was found in each.

From here to Fond du Lac, Minnesota (near Duluth), very diligent
search and inquiry failed to reveal anything whatever of an aboriginal
nature, except what is known to pertain to the Indians resident there
within the historic period. There is a mound at Point [Iroquois at the
head of Ste. Marie river, another at Mille Coquin, and a third about

THOMAS. | MICHIGAN. 519

20 miles west of the last, which have been built by the Sioux or Chip-
pewas.

At Little Traverse bay, Beaver islands, Mackinac straits, Sault
Ste. Marie, Grand island bay, Marquette, L’Anse, Houghton, Calumet,
Ontonagon, Bayfield, Ashland, and Fond du Lae, and in the neighbor-
hood of every one of them, are still to be found traders, trappers, and
hunters who have explored almost every mile of the territory, some of
them having spent fifty years in such work; and the statement is
unanimous that nowhere about any of these places, nor along the shores
of Lake Superior generally, are any mounds to be found. <A few which
have been reported are either the remains of old root houses, or else
due to natural causes.

It may be safely said that at none of the places where the ancient
Jesuit missions were located, in any part of the country included in
the above limits, are any mounds or other earthworks—using the term
in its ordinary meaning and excluding those known to have been made
in recent times, and of these there are but few.

Those reported at Beaver island are only the natural sand dunes or
hills used occasionally like those about the foot of Lake Huron as
burial places.

>

Me i ies DRA eed k tee
y in head ati =

-
Lag Se en
sei a

7 >a

Ty ern SN eae

ARCHEOLOGICAL genes DISTRIBUTION OF
YPES.

PRIMARY ARCHEOLOGICAL SECTIONS.

Notwithstanding the numerous volumes and articles which have been
published, relating wholly or in part to the ancient remains and prehis-
toric times of North America, we search through their pages in vain
for a chapter on the distribution of the different forms and ‘types of
the works of the mound builders. We look in vain for any adequate
reference to these types, or discussion of the evidence bearing upon the
question of ethnic or tribal distinctions. This important branch of our
archeology seems to have been entirely overlooked by these writers. This
is probably due in part to the undeniable fact that the data relating to
North American Archeology are in a chaotic condition, no adequate
system having been adopted or sat-sfactory arrangement proposed by
which these may be so correlated as to lead to conclusions generally
acceptable to antiquarians and ethnologists. For this reason consider-
able attention is devoted to this subject which, as can be readily seen,
has an important bearing on the problems that arise in regard to these
ancient monuments. It is chiefly by the study of the distribution of
the types of the works, the forms and features of the vestiges of art,
and of the customs and peculiarities indicated by these, that we can
hope to outline the districts occupied by the different tribes or peoples
of the mound-builders. In carrying out this purpose reference has
not been limited to the explorations of the Bureau, as the published
results of the work of other explorers have been freely used.

Before referring to the distribution of types in the mound area under
consideration, attention is called briefly to the question of primary
archeological sections of North America.

No attempt has so far been made to point out and define the different
primary or comprehensive archeological sections of our continent, a
fact probably due to the scanty data on which to base such an attempt.
Nevertheless an examination of the general works on prehistoric
America will show, by the terms used, a decided tendency to arrange,
or at least consider, the antiquities in a few comprehensive classes per-
taining to different sections; such, for example, as ‘“‘ The works of the
Mound-builders;” the remains of the “Cliff Dwellers,” and 5f the
“Civilized Races of Mexico and Central America.”

522 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

In his work on the ‘“ Tribes of the Extreme Northwest,” published as
volume 1 of the ‘Contributions to North American Ethnology,” Dr.
Dall indicates three archeological sections, and suggests a fourth, as is
inferred from the following language: ;

In our archeology, as well as in our paleontology, we must break away from
received ideas and nomenclature, which fulfill their purpose in accelerating the
study of the successive epochs in Europe, but which, when applied to the differing
conditions of America, to a certain extent at least fetter and confuse. Even in
America the conditions are by no means so uniform as to authorize a single system
of nomenclature in archeology. For intelligent study we must separate at least
three regions—the Mississippi valley, the Pacific slope, and the Mexican region,
and perhaps to these should be added an Atlantic region, extending from the Chesa-
peake to Labrador.! E

It would seem from this that he then was inclined to unite the inter-
montane region and the Pacific coast from California northward into
one grand section. However, in his article on ‘‘ Masks, Labrets,” etc.,
published_in the Third Annual Report of the Burean, for the purpose
of his treatise he arranges the west coast into the following divisions:
“Central America and Mexico; New Mexico and Arizona; the region
occupied by Indians from Oregon to the northern limit of the Tlinkit;
the Aleutian islands; the Innuit region from Prince William sound to
Point Barrow.”

It is not my intention to enter at this time into a general discussion
of the number, extent, and boundaries of these primary sections; yet
it is necessary to allude to some of them, in order that the relation
archeologically of the area under consideration in this volume to the
other sections may be understood. The data which have been ascer-
tained can not be considered sufficient to justify the attempt to give
exact boundaries to all, nor, in fact, to any of these more comprehensive
districts; nevertheless the geographical position of the more important
ones may be defined with sufficient accuracy for present purposes.

A careful examination of what has been published in regard to North
American archeology, of the figures which have been made, and the
specimens collected, with special reference to their bearing on the ques-
tion of archeological sections, leads, in the first place, to the following
conclusion: That the ancient remains belong, in a broad and compre-
hensive sense, to two general classes. One of these classes is limited
geographically to the Atlantic slope, the other chiefly to the Pacific
slope, the eastern or Rocky mountain range of the great continental
mountain belt from the fifty-fifth degree of north latitude to the vicinity
of the mouth of the Rio Grande where it approaches the Gulf of Mexico,
forming approximately the dividing line between the two areas.

While there are manifest and marked differences in the types and
character of the ancient works and remains of different areas within
these two comprehensive sections, yet when those of the Pacific slope
(in which are included Mexico and Central America), taken as a whole,

1p. 48. 2B o5s

THOMAS.] PRIMARY ARCHEOLOGICAL SECTIONS. 523

are compared with those of the Atlantic slope, there is a manifest dis-
sinilarity. Commencing with Nicaragua and moving northward on the
Pacific side, we see a gradual shading of one type or series of types into
another until we reach the Alaskan region. What is particularly
worthy of notice in this survey is, that at points widely apart a char-
acteristic which has faded out in the intermediate area reappears in a
modified form. There seems, however, to be evidence of an intrusive
element in the region of California, as the types here differ from those
north and south.

Dr. Brinton, in his late wdtk “‘The American Race,” arranges the
various stocks of North America into three groups, which he names
“The North Atlantic Group,” “The North Pacific Group,” and “The
Central Group.” The primary archeological groups, however, so far as
the data enable us to judge, keeping in mind the facts above stated,
may be in part provisionally defined as follows:

1. The Isthmian section, including Costa Rica and the isthmus south-
ward, which should be arranged with the South American groups, as
the types of its antiquities ally them with those of that continent.

2. The Mexican and Central American section, including most of
Mexico and the Central American states southward to Costa Rica.
This section is less homogeneous as regards its types of works than
the “‘Mound-builders” district, and in fact embraces two or more toler-
ably well marked subsections or rather classes of types. One is con-
fined chiefly to Nicaragua, the others extend over the remainder of the
section, which reaches northward to Chihuahua.

3. The Pueblo or Intermontane section, embracing New Mexico, Ari-
zona, portions of Nevada, Utah and Colorado, and the extreme north-
ern part of Mexico; in other words, the area between the Rocky and
Sierra Nevada mountains from the latitude of Salt Lake southward
to Chihuahua. The distinguishing characteristics of this area are well
marked, and the section is, archeologically, quite homogeneous, the
types being few and not widely variant. Its closest relation is evi-
dently with the Mexican section.

4, The California section. Our knowledge of the antiquities of the
Pacific slope north of the Pueblo section is not sufficient to indicate
the archeological districts with any degree of certainty. The most that
can be said is that the remains in the region of California present fea-
tures which seem to separate them from those south as well as north,
but how far northward these peculiar features reach we have no means
of judging. That the ancient remains of Alaska form a class marking
this region as another section, may be taken for granted. I am strongly
inclined, however, to believe that when the antiquities of the region
lying between the main body of this territory and California have been
carefully examined, it will be found that there are one ortwo more well
marked archeological districts. The works of art, for instance, of the
region occupied by the Haida Indians and the congenerie tribes, pre-

524 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

sent marked distinctions to those of other surrounding sections, and
seem to conform more nearly to the characteristics of the works of the
Mexican and Central American district than to those of any other section.

5. The Mound-builders’ section, embracing that part of the United
States and the adjoining portion of the Dominion of Canada east of the
Rocky mountains. The northern boundary is, as yet, wholly conject-
ural, but it is quite probable that it extends farther toward the north-
west than toward the northeast. This section, though more homogen-
eous in its archeological features, which are well marked, than the
Mexican and Central American districf, is less so than the Pueblo
section.

If we examine carefully the distinguishing characteristics of the
ancient works of these primary sections, we shall find that they relate
chiefly to the culture status or position in the scale of civilization of
the peoples who occupied these different areas. But these characteris-
tics pertain chiefly to the progress made along certain lines of culture.
There are, however, other peculiar features which appear to be the
outgrowth of local or ethnic influences.

When we come to study carefully the works of any one of these pri-
mary or comprehensive sections it is found that there are peculiarities
limited to more restricted areas which justify us in making a further
division into districts.

The present work relates only to the fifth or last of the above divi-
sions, which is designated the ‘“‘Mound-builders’ section.” This section
is fairly well defined, except as to its northern extension, being limited
on the east by the Atlantic ocean (though, as usually given, it only
reaches the coast in its southern portion), on the south by the Gulf of
Mexico and on the west by the Rocky mountains. The southwestern
line has not been carefully defined, as but few explorations of the
antiquities of Texas have as yet been made. Nevertheless enough is
known to show that the statement, frequently made, that there is a con-
tin uous series of ancient works from the Gulf states, through Texas to
Mexico, is erroneous and without any foundation. The western beund-
ary line, when more carefully traced, will probably be found to bend
rapidly eastward of the range as we proceed southward from the Platte
valley and westward somewhat into the range north of that valley.
The northern limit, on the west, has not been ascertained; itis known,
however, that the section reaches to the Saskatchewan river.

In attempting to obtain a true conception of the distribution of the
types of the ancient works in this section, it was soon found that the
first step necessary in this branch of the subject was the preparation of
a catalogue of the various localities where ancient works have been
discovered, noting as far as possible the character of these various
works. From this a general map was constructed showing the distri-
bution over the whole area, also maps of certain states in which the
works are most numerous. As this catalogue and the maps have been

eaee

THOMAS. ] MAP OF MOUND DISTRIBUTION. 525

published as a bulletin by the Bureau, it is only necessary to introduce
here such of the maps as may serve to illustrate the text. Pl. xx
is the general map, showing by means of dots the distribution over the
whole area. As each dot indicates the site of one or more, generally
several, ancient works, the relative number of dots in the different
areas will show approximately the relative frequency of these works
in the different sections. On this, therefore, we may study the general
distribution of the antiquities without reference to types.

This study reveals some important facts, but at the same time pre-
sents some features which are calculated to mislead. In the first place
it shows that the ancient works, instead of being distributed uniformly
over the face of the country, are found chiefly along the larger water
courses and in the vicinity of the lakes. The principal apparent excep-
tions to this rule are seen in Wisconsin, Ohio and eastern Tennessee,
but these, when examined on maps of a larger scale, are found to con-
form mostly to the rule and can scarcely be considered exceptions. The
larger groups or masses, as the map shows, are in southern Wiscon-
sin; along the Mississippi river from the southeast corner of Minne-
sota to the mouth of Red river; along the Wabash and extending from
the mouth of that river across western Kentucky into middle Tennes-
see; along the eastern side and across the southern portion of Michi-
gan; in southern and eastern Ohio; central and southwestern New
York; in eastern Tennessee and along the eastern coast of Florida,
though the antiquities in the last named section consist chiefly of shell-
heaps.

While this presentation gives a substantially correct idea of the gen-
eral distribution of the works, it must not be accepted as wholly correct,
as it indicates to some extent the more thoroughly explored areas rather
than the true proportion of the ancient works in the different sections.
There is little doubt that when Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia have
been thoroughly explored many localities will be added to those indi-
cated on the map, but it is not likely that the number will be found to
equal those in the area drained by the Ohio and its affluents or in the
immediate valley of the Mississippi.

One somewhat singular feature is found in the lines of former occu-
pancy indicated by the archeological remains. The chief one is that
reaching from New York through Ohio along the Ohio river and onward
im the same direction to the northeastern corner of Texas; another
follows the Mississippi river; another extends from the region of the
Wabash to the headwaters of the Savannah river, and another across
southern Michigan and southern Wisconsin. The inference, however,
which might be drawn from this fact—that these lines indicate routes of
migration—is not to be taken for granted. It is shown by the explora-
tions of the Bureau, and a careful study of the different types of mounds
and other works, that the generally received opinion that the lines of
migration of the authors of these works were always along the princi-

526 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

pal water courses can not be accepted as entirely correct. Although
the banks of the Mississippi are lined with prehistoric monuments from
Lake Pepin to the mouth of Red river, showing that this was a favorite
section for the ancient inhabitants, the study of these remains does not
give support to the theory that this great water highway was a line of
migration during the mound-building period, except for short distances.
It was, no doubt, a highway for traffic and war parties, but the move-
ments of tribes were across it rather than up and down it. This is not
asserted as a mere theory or a simple deduction, but as a fact proved
by the mounds themselves, whatever may be the theory in regard to
their origin or uses. The longest stretch where those apparently the
works of one people are found on one bank is from Dubuque, Lowa, to the
mouth of Des Moines river. As we move up and down we find repeated
changes from one type to another.

This fact must have a strong bearing on the study of this map with
reference to the direction from which the mound-builders entered this
general area and their chief movements after reaching it. The attempt,
however, to follow up this thought would lead us into the domain of
speculation, where we do not desire to enter at present.

In order to show this distribution more in detail, archeological maps
of several of the states in which large numbers of the works are found
have been prepared. On these symbols are introduced indicating the
different classes of antiquities. These have been given in the Bulletin
above referred to and need not be introduced here.

Examining these, we see that in New York the works are found chiefly
about the lakes which have their outlet through the Oswego river; around
Sackett’s Harbor; along the Genesee; near the Niagara river and around
Lake Chautauqua; in other words, in the drainage area of Lake Ontario,
except a small section at the extreme southwest corner of the state.

In Ohio the works are chiefly in the interior and southwestern part
of the state, with the exception of a number in the northeast near Lake
Brie, along the Cuyahoga river, and a few groups scattered along the
Ohio. These may be considered as belonging chiefly to three more
limited areas and river systems, viz: First, the upper basin of the
Muskingum a little east of the center of the state; second, the valley
of the lower Scioto; and third, the valleys of the Great and Little
Miami rivers.

Examining the maps of Indiana and Illinois, which are given together,
we see that the works are confined principally to the eastern portion of
the former and the western border of the latter. In the eastern part of
Indiana the rule of following the streams seems to have been to alarge
extent abandoned; especially is this the case with the cluster in the
extreme northeastern corner and the belt commencing a little north of
the middle of the state and extending down the eastern border to the
Ohio river. This belt, which pertains to the group in southwestern
Ohio, seems to be connected with the Wabash series by lines of works
along the east and west forks of White river. The group along the

.

THOMAS. ] MAP OF MOUND DISTRIBUTION. 527

Wabash is confined chiefly to the middle and lower portion of the
valley. A short distance west of this, in Illinois, is a small group
which appears to form almost the only archeological mark in the
eastern half of this state. Turning to the western side we find a con-
tinuous belt along the Mississippi from the northern boundary to the
most southern point. There is an apparent break immediately above
the mouth of the Illinois river, but this stretch is known to be as well
occupied by ancient works as the valley north of it. The special locali-
ties of these works had been but in part obtained at the time the map
was made, but they have been added on the general map in this volume.
The Illinois river formed another highway along which the mound-
builders located their villages. The groups in Knox and Sangamon
counties, like that in Wayne, are somewhat isolated and probably mark
the dwelling places of weak tribes or separated clans. The small group
in Winnebago county at the northern boundary belongs to the effigy
series of Wisconsin, which lies along the Rock river.

‘Turning to Wisconsin, we find that nearly all the works, a large
portion of which are effigy mounds, are situated along the principal
rivers or clustered about the small lakes which dot the southern half of
the state. This rule has, in fact, very few exceptions in this state. The
principalareas are: A belt along the Mississippi from the mouth of Black
river southward to the southern boundary; another, along the Wiscon-
sin river from the forty-fourth parallel to its mouth; a third, about the
lakes which flow into Fox river.

This mapping of the mound areas is important as indicating the
portions of our country occupied by the mound-builders, and also as
possibly furnishing some indications, when connected with the distribu-
tion of types, of the directions whence came the people who built these
works and of their migrations within the mound area.

Another question connected with the geographical distribution of
these remains is that which relates to the possibility of outlining areas
according to the characteristics of the works; or, in other words, of
determining whether it is possible to designate the geographical range
of works which appear to have been built by one tribe or people. As
a matter of course, the answer to this inquiry involves the discussion
of the question, Are all these remains the works of one people, or are
they due to different tribes or peoples? As this question will be dis-
cussed elsewhere, only the following is added here:

Wilson, in his ‘‘ Prehistoric Man,” affirms that—

Assuming acommunity of arts and certain intimate relations in race and social
conditions among the ancient people who worked the mines on Lake Superior and
constructed the various earthworks that reach southward into Indiana, Ohio, and
Kentucky, there is no reason to suppose that they were united as one nation. While
coincidences of a remarkable kind in the construction, and still more in the dimen-

sions, of their great earthworks point to a common knowledge of geometrical con-
figuration and a standard of measurement,! no two earthworks so entirely correspond

1It is extremely doubtful whether they had any other standard than the pace and the parts of the
body.

528 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

as to show absolute identity of purpose. The marked diversity between the trun-
cated pyramidal mounds of the states on the Gulf, the geometrical inclosures of Ohio,
and the symbolic earthworks of Wisconsin indicate varied usages of distinct com-
munities. * * * ‘The Scioto and Ohio valleys, it may be presumed, were the seats
of separate states. ! }

MacLean, who has studied the Ohio works and has had the advan-
tage of living in the midst of them, declares it as his opinion that
“there could not have been a central government, but there must have
been separate, although cognate, nations. * * * If the mounds of
Wisconsin belong to the same era as those of Ohio we have another
distinct nation.”*

The idea of one great nation is very fascinating, but the facts and
reason are against it. If allowed to have their due weight on our
minds they must lead us to the more prosaic conclusion that the mound-
builders were divided into different tribes and peoples, which, though
occupying much the same position in the culture scale, and hence resem-
bling each other in many of their habits, customs, and modes of life,
were as widely separated in regard to their ethnic relations and
languages as the Indian tribes when first encountered by the white
races. The extent alone of the area over which the ancient works are
distributed ought to lead to this conclusion. It is scarcely possible that
there could have been a nation of pre-Columbian times without beasts
of burden or domestic animals, not yet sufficiently advanced in the arts
to build houses of brick or stone, and evidently not above the Pueblo
Indians in their culture status, yet with a central, controlling power,
governing villages and communities so widely separated as Wisconsin
and Florida, New York and Louisiana. Even if due allowance be made
for all the changes and migrations which occurred during the mound-
building period, and for the differences in the ages of the works, it will
not do away with this difficulty.

We are, therefore, forced to the conclusion that the mound-builders
belonged to several different tribes or nations. Analogy also leads to
the same conclusion. History, linguisties, and archeology make it
evident that the area of the section above mentioned as the “ Mexican
and Central American” was occupied not only by various tribes, but
by several distinct ethnic stocks or families. The ruins of Nicaragua
and Oaxaca present marked differences to those of Yucatan and Ana-
huaec, while the latter offer dissimilarities sufficient without other
evidence to justify us in attributing them to different peoples. In addi-
tion to these broad distinguishing features there are minor variances
which we must attribute to tribal peculiarities or local influences. If
there be just grounds for assigning the works of the section, where
culture had reached its highest grade on the continent, to different
tribes and peoples, is it reasonable to suppose that the antiquities scat-
tered over the broad extent of the mound area are attributable to a
single nation?

' Edition 1876, vol. 1, p. 320. * Mound-Builders, p. 140.

THOMAS. ] ARCHEOLOGICAL MOUND DISTRICTS. 529

ARCHEOLOGICAL DISTRICTS OF THE MOUND AREA.

Any attempt to mark out and define archeological districts must be
based upon two assumptions: First, that the mound builders pertained
to various tribes differing in customs, habits, arts, and beliefs to a suf-
ficient extent to be manifest in their enduring works, and, second, that
these tribes had fixed seats and were comparatively sedentary, occupy-
ing their respective areas for periods of considerable length. In other
words, it would be scarcely possible to ascertain and mark out such
districts if the aboriginal population which left behind these monu-
ments was constantly shifting. The number and magnitude of the
monuments afford in themselves ample proof that the builders were
‘sedentary and long occupied their respective seats. It is because of
this fact that so many writers have rejected the idea that the Indians
could have been the authors, judging the character of the latter errone-
ously by their life after they had been disturbed by the European set-
tlements.

That the people who built the mounds belonged to different tribes is
being generally admitted by archeologists of the present day, and that
these tribes were sedentary is conceded by all. Nevertheless, the con-
clusions upon these points, to be entirely satisfactory, must be reached
by a careful study of the monuments. If they afford data by which
archeological districts can be satisfactorily outlined the just inference
is that the people who left behind them these monuments were substan-
tially sedentary and belonged to different stocks.

Although this be true in a general way it does not follow as a neces-
sary conclusion that these districts correspond in all cases with the areas
occupied by different tribes, families of cognate tribes of the different
linguistic stocks. The study of art in its relation to ethnology has
shown too clearly for anyone to doubt the conclusion that iines of art
are not governed wholly by ethnie or racial identity. There are numer-
ous agencies equally potent with racial peculiarities and ethnic charac-
teristics, in directing and influencing these lines; such, for example, as
necessity, environment, materials, vicinage, etc. The mind and require-
ments of man being substantially the same everywhere and in all ages,
the primitive works of art which relate to supplying these requirements
will be substantially the same where the conditions are alike. Hence
we see the stone arrow-point, the stone celt, and the clay vessel common
to most uncivilized peoples throughout the world. Nevertheless, racial,
tribal, and even more restricted peculiarities will manifest themselves
to a certain extent in the structures, burials, and works of art of all
peoples in a savage, barbarous, or even semicivilized state. There are
minor differences, dependent upon traditional usages or tribal customs,
which in most cases manifest themselves in some way upon the works
of the most savage and barbarous peoples. These may be discovered
by close and careful study.

12 ETH——34

530 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

THE NORTHERN SECTION.

The ancient monuments of the Northern states and the minor vestiges
of art found in them, considered in the aggregate, differ so materially
from those of most of the Southern states that it will be best to con-
sider them geographically in two sections, the one to be called the
Northern Section and the other the Southern Section, each to be subdi-
vided into archeological districts, determined by the characteristics of
the works and the indications of differences in customs. Of course the
boundaries of these districts can not be definitely given until the ancient
works have been thoroughly explored and all the data obtainable care-
fully studied, hence all we can do at present is to indicate these areas
in general terms and give provisionally their geographical boundaries.

The dividing line between the two sections as fixed provisionally
runs from the vicinity of Kansas City to the confluence of the Missouri
and the Mississippi; thence southeast so as to leave the greater part of
Illinois, most of Kentucky, all of Tennessee, except the western third, all
of North Carolina and, of course, all the States north of these in the
Northern Section; all south of the line to the Gulf of Mexico forming the
Southern Section. A number of the works, however, of Kentucky, Ten-
nessee, and Southern Illinois appear to be more closely allied to those
south than to those north. There is, as might be expected, a mingling of
the two classes of types along this dividing line. The reader must
understand that, although considered in the aggregate, the distinctions
between the works of the two sections are quite manifest, they are not
so marked as the differences between the divisions of the Mexican ana
Central American Section, heretofore referred to.

The subdivision into districts is of more importance, as this is based
upon differences between the antiquities of different areas, presumed
to have resulted from varied customs and to have some relation to
tribal or ethnic peculiarities. These districts will be noticed and pro-
visionally outlined as we proceed in our review of the various types of
works, reference being made first to those of the Northern Section,

THE DAKOTAN DISTRICT.

This includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
the adjoining portions of Manitoba, the extreme northeastern corner of
Towa, and a narrow strip along the northern boundary of Illinois.

The distinguishing features of this district are the singular earth-

: > >
works made to resemble various animals, to which the name “ efligy
mounds” or simply “ effigies” is usually applied!; the long narrow

INaidallac in “L' Amérique Prehistorique,” p. 127, says: ‘These are found in Iowa, Ohio, Tlinois,
Missouri, Indiana, and in general, in all the states comprised in the Far West; but the principal center
of these singular structures appears to have been in Wisconsin, where they may be counted by thou-

sands.’ This statement is erroneous so far as it refers to any other section than what is inelnded in
this district and Ohio. Nosuch works have been found in Nebraska, Missouri, Indiana, or Michigan.

THOMAS.] THE DAKOTAN DISTRICT. 531

earthen embankments known as “ elongate” or “ wall-like mounds ;” the
connected series of low conical mounds; lines or rows of conical mounds,
and the various modes of burial.

The earthen effigies are confined almost exclusively to the eastern
portion of the district and constitute the most noted and chief distin-
guishing feature of the ancient works of that area. Minnesota, except
the extreine southeastern corner, is devoid of works of this type; but
in the Dakotas, especially South Dakota, they are replaced by the
‘“bowlder mosaics” or surface figures formed of bowlders. Notwith-
standing the fact that the effigies are considered the distinguishing
archeologic feature of this area, yet the peculiar oblong or wall-like
mounds to be noticed more particularly farther on, the connected series
of low conical tumuli, and the arrangement in rows, are features con-
fined almost, exclusively to this district. The peculiarity of the effigy
mounds, as all readers of archeological literature are aware, is that
they are made intentionally to resemble the forms of various animals
known to the builders and apparently, in a few cases, to resemble inani-
mate objects. The supposed “man mounds” are most likely poor
representations of swallow-tailed birds. The animals indicated by
these peculiar works, so far as they can be identified with reasonable cer-
tainty, pertain to the modern fauna of the district. The supposed excep-
tion to this rnle—the so-called “ elephant mound ”—as proven by the
evidence presented in the report of field work, was probably intended to
represent a bear.

The portion of the district over which mounds of this type extend
may be designated by the following boundary line: Starting on the
shore of Lake Michigan a little south of the line between Wisconsin and
Illinois, it runs westward to the vicinity of Rock river, where it makes a
sudden curve southward to include an extension down the valley of that
river a short distance into Illinois. Bending northwest, it strikes the
Mississippi very near the extreme southwest corner of Wisconsin. Pass-
ing a short distance westward into Iowa, it bends northward, including
about two counties in this state and the extreme southeastern county
of Minnesota. Thence, recrossing the Mississippi a little north of La-
crosse, it continues in a nearly direct line to the head of Green bay;
thence south along the shore of Lake Michigan to the starting point.
It is possible the boundary will be extended farther northward when
that portion of the state has been more thoroughly explored. Never-
theless, the indications are that comparatively few effigies will be found
outside of the line given; in fact, when we pass north of Fox river on
t_2 eastern slope, and the latitude of Adams county in the Wisconsin
valley, works of this class are rare.

An examination of their distribution leads to the inference that here
the leading water courses have, to a large extent, determined the lines
and areas of settlement. Much the larger portion of them are found
along the main streams or leading branches of the Wisconsin, Fox,

532 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

and Rock rivers, and along the east side of the Mississippi from Grant
to Lacrosse counties. :

There appears to have been no rule in reference to the character of
the ground by which the builders were governed in selecting the locali-
ties for their imitative works, as they are found on the level shore of
Lake Michigan in the vicinity of Milwaukee, on the gentle slopes that
border the lakes about Madison, while at and around Prairie du Chien
they are found from the bottoms subject to occasional overflow, up to the
crests of the sharpest ridges which divide the drainage areas of the
streams ofthatregion. Nor is aleve! spot oftener selected than one that
slopes to a greater or less degree. They occasionally occur on quite steep
hillsides and on sharp crested spurs where the summit is so narrow as
to necessitate lapping over from one side to the other. The preference
of the builders, however, seems to have been for the highlands, espe-
cially those bordering upon the rivers and lakes. Even the summits
of the high bluffs which flank the Mississippi were selected as the sites
of the most complicated groups of effigies. As a general rule they
are in groups or connected with groups, few being found wholly iso-
lated; and even the groups of a given section, as Rev. 8S. D. Peet con-
cludes, appear to have been arranged or located with reference to a
village or tribal system of some kind.

The various forms which these works were made to assume have been
displayed so graphically and, for the greater part, so correctly by Dr.
Lapham in his justly celebrated work, ‘‘The Antiquities of Wisconsin,”
that but little is left for the archeologist of the present day to do in
this direction, except to multiply examples of the forms there given.
No one who has examined these works will hesitate to acknowledge
that it was the intention of the builders to imitate the forms of partic-
ular animals. Although it is true that in the majority of cases there
may be some doubt as to the particular species intended, yet in very
many instances careful inspection will leave but little uncertainty in
the mind of the observer in this respect. Even the untrained and
careless eye will distinguish the characteristics which mark one as a
bird, another as a quadruped, and another as a reptile. But the care-
fal student will soon learn to detect the features which mark the more
characteristic species. Rey. 8. D. Peet, who has devoted much time
to the study of these peculiar works, is decidedly of the opinion that
he can determine in most cases the species represented where the
mounds are uninjured. Even the shape and proportions of the body
are often so well imitated as to justify a decision.

One of the most remarkable things in reference to these works, which
has not heretofore been particularly noticed, is the truly imitative cury-
ing and rounding of the body of the animal. Standing at the extrem.
ity and looking over one which has suffered but little wearing, it is
difficult to exclude the idea that the builders had the animal lying
before them when they built the mound.

THOMAS. } WISCONSIN AND DAKOTA. 533

Of course they vary greatly in size and the relative proportions they
bear to the animals represented, but this variation is greater when the
similar effigies of different sections are compared than when those of
one locality are compared with each other. Take for illustration the
following measurements of the spread of the birds’ wings, that is, from tip
to tip. Six in Crawford County, Wisconsin, are as follows (two of the
measurements being duplicated): 280, 228, 230, and 253 feet, while in
other sections they are found varying thus: 133, 150, 189, 32, 360, 412,
and 325 feet. The sizes of the effigies of quadrupeds are indicated by
the following lengths of the body in feet: 110, 60, 115, 83, 50, 80, 98,
70, ete. The elevation varies from a few inches to 4 or 5 feet, though
very few exceed 4 feet.

It is a somewhat singular fact, and one that should be taken into
consideration in the study of these anomalous works, that, as a general
rule, the heads point southward, especially in the vicinity of rivers
running in this direction. In several instances entire series of these
effigies, which have been termed not inaptly ‘“ droves,” are observed
pointing southward or down stream, This general direction of these
structures is mentioned more than once by Lapham and is to some
extent observable in his plates.

Rey. 8S. D. Peet remarks !:

It is singular that the emblematic mounds should be so strictly confined to the geo-
graphical limits of this single state. The imaginary line known as the southern
limit of Wisconsin certainly forms no geographical or physical barrier which should
make a separating boundary between the ancient races. The barriers of nature,
which are presented by Lake Michigan on one side and by the Mississippi river on
the other, might have separated the prehistoric inhabitants and to a degree isolated
those dwelling in Wisconsin from those to either side, but to the southward
scarcely a shadow of difference can be discovered. The same soil and scenery extend
in this direction far beyond the limits of the state, and the geographical characteris-
tics are nearly the same throughout the several states surrounding.

This fact, therefore, we may presume is owing to some cause which
has disappeared, and what more likely, we may ask, than that in this
southern direction were other tribes which prevented further extension
into the prairie region of Illinois? The occurrence of afew of the unmis-
takable elongate, wall like mounds as far south as the region of Spoon
river in the latitude of Peoria, indicates an attempt on the part of the
effigy builders to push out in this direction, either when entering their
more northern home or after they had established themselves there.

The comparatively few excavations which have been made in these
works indicate that they were not intended for burial purposes, nor has
anything yet been observed which would lead to the belief that they
were thrown up for dwelling sites. Several theories have been advanced
as tothe use and object for which they were built, but these will be
referred to elsewhere.

If the following, by an unknown writer whose article appeared in the

1 Am. Antiq., Vol. 3, p. 2.

534 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

New York Sunof August 2, 1885, is to be relied upon, the western por-
tion of the district is not devoid of effigy mounds:

Among the Bad lands of Dakota there are several effigy mounds resembling
animals and fishes. Along the Little Missouri river, commencing at its head water,
are 30 or 40 mounds, most beautifully arranged on terraces one above the other.
These are made to resemble birds, fishes, and beasts. Some of the fishes have fins
plainly marked, while in many cases the birds have their wings spread as if about
to fly. On one terrace there are about 50 small round mounds scattered promis-
cuously in every direction. On another just above it is the effigy, probably, of a
frog that measures nearly 100 feet in length, The next terrace has 16 ordinary
mounds, square and oblong, while the next one has a pair of beavers side by side
that measure 54 feet from tip to tail. On the summit of one of the buttes is a red-
dened circle of earth which has been cut down by the continual washing of the
rains, thus exposing some partially burned brick dust or clay. The mound was
opened some years ago by a party of buffalo hunters passing through the Bad lands,
and from all that could be learned from an inspection of the mound it seemed to
have been either an aboriginal crematory or else a place of torture. A mass of
human skeletons was found inside and all the bones were partially burned.

The account given by A. Barrandtin the Smithsonian Report for
1870! of some ancient works on the Yellowstone seems to lend color to
the above article. He mentions not only groups of mounds, some of
comparatively large size, but alludes specially to “elongate mounds,”
which indicate that the authors pertained to the effigy-building tribes.

BOWLDER MOSAICS.

From the emblematic mounds we pass naturally to the surface bow]-
der figures, or, as they are aptly named by Prof. Todd, ‘ bowlder mo-
saics,” of Dakota. According to Mr. T. H. Lewis, antiquities of this
type are found “ from western Iowa and Nebraska to Manitoba and
from western Minnesota through Dakota to Montana;” they appear,
however, to be more frequent in South Dakota than in any other
region.

These curious remains consist of animal, human, and other figures
outlined with granite bowlders (occasionally with buttalo bones) upon
the surface of the ground, usually upon elevated positions, and some-
times upon the summits of the highest buttes. The human form, the
turtle, and the serpent are the usual and, in fact, almost the only fig-
ures found. They are generally accompanied by numerous stone cir-
cles, which are known to be old tepee or wigwam sites. In some
instances long lines of bowlders or buffalo bones and small stone cairns
are also associated with them or found in the same neighborhood.
Like the bowlder circles they are more or less imbedded in the ground,
but this fact does not necessarily indicate any great antiquity. It
should also be observed that, as a general rule, they appear to bear
some relation to the tepee circles, since the latter occupy the most
prominent sites and best positions, while the figures are placed in the
midst of them in an area apparently left open for the purpose, the tepees

1 Pp. 406, 407.

THOMAS. WISCONSIN, ILLINOIS, MISSOURI. 535

having been previously located. There are, however, exceptions to this
rule. Whether their significance be mythical, religious, or totemic is
a question which yet remains to be determined. Although of much
smaller dimensions than the massive effigies of Wisconsin, yet there
can be scarcely a doubt that they represent in this more western area
the others in the eastern section, and that they are the latest and com-
paratively modern indications of a long maintained custom abandoned
only when the influence of European civilization began to be felt. This
seems to be proved beyond any reasonable doubt by their association
with other remains which are explained by historical evidence and by
the fact that a few are formed of bones.

ELONGATE MOUNDS.

The elongate or wall-like mounds form another feature peculiar to
this district; in fact, they may properly be called the peculiar feature,
as the effigies, though more striking and attracting most attention,
are not confined exclusively to this district, a few, as before stated,
being found elsewhere, while true elongate mounds, so far as I am
aware, have not been observed in any other district except those in
northern Illinois referred to and one or two in northeastern Missouri.

Tumuli of this class appear more like sections of earthen walls than
true mounds in the limited sense and are quite different in appearance
from the oblong or elongate oval mounds. They vary in length from
50 to 900 feet, though the usual length is from 75 to 200 feet, the width
from 15 to 35 feet, and the height from a few inches to 4 feet. They
are usually straight, terminating abruptly at the ends; yet in a few
instances they are bent abruptly or are slightly curved, and are occa-
sionally tapered to a point at one end. Examples of the different forms
may be seen by referring to the plates of Dr. Lapham’s “ Antiquities
of Wisconsin,” especially Pls. 11, 26, 42, 43, 47, 48, and 49; and also
to that part of the preceding “ Field Report” relating to Crawford
county, Wisconsin. They are usually connected with groups contain-
ing other forms. Although there is seldom exact uniformity in their
relation to each other in a group, as to direction, that is to say, they
are not always placed parallel to one another, or at right angles, yet
there is a general trend in one direction in each group; the direction
may be quite different in one group from what it is in another but a
short distance away. They are not confined to level ground, as some
are found running directly, or obliquely, up and down quite steep slopes,
as, for example, those represented in Dr. Lapham’s plate 26, where the
slope is nearly 40 degrees.

The area over which works of this type extend is somewhat broader
than that to which the effigies are limited (omitting from consideration
the few of the latter in distant districts), as they are found as far south
in Illinois as the latitude of Peoria, northward along the Souris river,
and westward, if we rightly interpret Mr. Barrandt’s statement, as far

536 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

as the valley of the Yellowstone. Yet there are broad areas within
these bounds where neither effigies nor elongate mounds have as yet
been discovered.

The use of these elongate embankments is a mystery yet remaining
to be satisfactorily solved. That they were not intended as burial
places is proved by excavations, the finding of human remains in them
being of very rare occurrence, and these, in some, if not most instances,
being evidently intrusive or subsequent burials. Rev. 8S. D. Peet
expresses the opinion that they were chiefly used as game drives. He
thinks it possible that a wooden or brush screen of some kind extended
along the top as a means of forcing the animals in the desired direc-
tion, while hunters hidden behind the earthen ridges could shoot into
the herd as it passed along within the lines. However, the necessity
in such arrangement for the embankment is not obvious.

A somewhat unique variety of this class of mounds occurs along the
Souris river in southern Manitoba and the adjoining portion of North
Dakota. These, some of which are shown in Figs. 1 and 2, differ from
the ordinary elongate tumuli only in the fact that they have a mound-
like enlargement at each end. The only example given by Lapham is
found on his Pl. 13. As these terminal expansions do not appear to
have been intended for burial purposes they may be considered as in-
termediate forms between the preceding type and tbat which follows.

LINES OF CONNECTED MOUNDS.

Another class of works which appears to be peculiar to this district
consists of series or rows of low, conical mounds connected by low,
wall-like embankments. Examples of this class may be seen in Lap-
hamn’s PI. 48, and in some of the figures of the preceding Field Report,
relating to Crawford county, Wisconsin. The walls of Fort Aztalan !
are composed chiefly of connected series of this type, a fact worthy of
special notice, as it justifies us in attributing this remarkable group of
works to the authors of the elongate and effigy mounds. The intimate
relation between the elongate and effigy mounds convinces everyone
that the two classes are attributable to the same people. The transi-
tion from the simple, elongate form to the connected series is too evi-
dent to be overlooked.

Excavations have been made in quite a number of these connected
tumuli by the Bureau agents, but generally without any other result
than finding them to be simple heaps of dirt with occasional indications
of fire. In one opened by Lapham at Aztalan were found the remains
of two skeletons which he supposed had been buried in a sitting pos-
ture, though it is quite as likely they were bundled. In the mounds of
this fort were burnt clay and charred grass, from which it seems prob-
able that they were dwelling sites. In fact the only reasonable sugges-

1 Antiq. Wis., Pl. 34.

THOMAS. | LINES OF CONICAL MOUNDS. 537

tion which can be offered in regard to the use of these low, connected
tumuli is that they were wigwam or house sites. The burnt clay mixed
with charred grass at Aztalan indicates that, in some instances, they
were plastered, probably dome-shaped, or at least earth-walled, as were
many of the residences of Indians in former times. If this supposition,
which is strongly supported by the data, be accepted, we must conclude
that in the northwest some change of custom had taken place, as here
we find but two mounds in a series, connected by embankments from 50
to 150 yards in length.

As will be noticed a little further on, there are a few conical (usually
burial) mounds which have narrow, ridge-like embankments extending
from them to a greater or less distance.

ROWS OR LINES OF CONICAL MOUNDS.

We come now to another feature whichappears to be confined almost
exclusively to the works of this district. This is found in the arrange-
ment of the ordinary conical mounds of the groups in rows, usually in a
single series. That this custom prevailed among the mound-builders of
the eastern portion of the district will be seen by referring to the plates
of Dr. Laphain’s work and the figures of groups in the preceding field
report. In several instances this seems to be due to the topography of
the locality, such as the margin of a lake or bluff; but there are numer-
ous other cases where the level, open, and expanded area occupied per-
mitted any arrangement of the mounds and other structures agreeable
to the fancy of the builders. Hence we conclude that lines or rows of
mounds in such localities furnish evidence of some peculiar custom of
the people who erected them. That they are attributable to the au-
thors of the effigy and elongate mounds is proved by several facts. One,
which seems to settle the question, is their intimate association with
these types. As illustrations of this statement the reader is referred to
Lapham/’s plate 48 and the plat of the Vilas group, Crawford county,
Wisconsin, in this volume. In both cases we see lines of works formed
of the three types, elongate, connected and separate mounds accom-
panied by effigies, and this on level, open areas, where there is ample
room for any desired arrangement. The intimate relation between
these forms and the propriety of attributing them to one people must,
therefore, be conceded.

Another conclusion which seems to be justified by a study of these
works and which has an important bearing upon their comparative
ages, is that there has been a gradual transition during the mound-
building age from one form to another. Apparently this change has been
from the more complicated and massive forms to the simple, conical
tumuli, ending with groups of this type, showing no decided tendency
to any specific arrangement, as in this last type we find evidences of
the most recent construction. The indications of such change were
noticed by Dr. Lapham, who remarks:

538 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Another curious circumstance that may be noticed by inspection of the figures of
mounds accompanying this work is the gradual transition, as it were, or change of
one form into another. Examples can be found of all forms from a true circle [eir-
enlar mound], through the oyal and elongate-oval, to the oblong mounds and long
ridges. Again there is a succession of mounds, from the simple ridge of considerable
size at one end and gradually diminishing to a point at the other [this form is, how-
ever, rare] through the intermediate forms having one, two, three, or four projections
to the ‘turtle form.” In this way, also, we may trace a gradual development (so
to speak) of nearly all the more complicated forms.

It is not pretended that this was the order in which the mounds were erected, or
that the aborigines gradually acquired the art by successive essays or lessons.
Indeed we are led to believe that the more complicated forms are the most ancient.

The relative ages of the different works in Wisconsin, so far as they can be ascer-
tained from the facts now before us, are probably about as follows:

First and oldest. The animal forms and the great works at Aztalan.

Second. The conical mounds built for sepulehral purposes, which come down to a
very recent period.

Third. The indication of garden beds planted in regular, geometrical figures or
straight lines.

Fourth. The plantations of the present tribes, who plant without system or regu-
larity.

Thus the taste for regular forms and arrangements and the habits of construction
with earthy materials seem to have been gradually lost, until all traces of them dis-
appear in our modern, degenerate red men.

The animal-shaped mounds and accompanying oblongs and ridges, constituting
the first of the aboye series, are composed of whitish clay or the subsoil of the
country. The mounds of the second series, or burial mounds, are usually composed
of black mold or loam, promiscuously intermixed with the lighter-colored subsoil.!

BURIAL MOUNDS.

As a general rule the burial mounds of this district are compara-
tively small, seldom exceeding 10 feet in height and usually ranging
from 3 to 6. They are in nearly all cases of the simple conical form.
There is, however, one peculiarity in regard to form, which occasionally
oceurs, that is worthy of notice. This peculiarity consists of one or
more ridges or long, narrow embankments which extend from the mound
directly outward. These have been noticed in Wisconsin by Lapham?
and by the present writer in North Dakota. What these appendages
signify is unknown; nevertheless itis probable that they are a result of
the custom of building embankments witha mound at each end as seen
in North Dakota and Manitoba.

It seems to have been a custom prevailing to a greater or less extent
over the entire district and to some extent in other northern sections
to first dig a shallow, basin-shaped pit in the original soil, bury the
dead in this, and heap the mound over them. In other cases the bodies
or skeletons were deposited on the original surface. In many instances,
where there are no indications of intrusive burial, they were placed at
different depths in the mound; and what is strange, this frequently
oecurs where the mounds are unstratified.

' Antiq. Wis., pp. 91, 92. 2Tbid., pp. 25, 51, 57.

‘THOMAS. THE DAKOTAN DISTRICT. 539

The methods of placing the bodies were various; sometimes they
were placed horizontally without regard to the relation of one to the
other, but occasionally they were laid regularly side by side. Very often
the skeletons were ‘“ bundled;” that is to say, the bones were dislocated
and formed into a bundle, the skull being placed on the top or at the
end. Sometimes they were folded as completely as possible by drawing
up the knees to the chin. In other cases the bones are found in a con-
fused heap. It is evident that in the latter case, and where bundled,
the burial took place after the flesh had been removed by exposure on
scaffolds, previous burial, or otherwise. The very common opinion that
these confused heaps have resulted from hasty burial after a battle is
erroneous, as it is absurd to suppose that bones would have become
wholly detached from the skeletons to which they pertained and become
mixed in a confused manner in the mass by the mere process of decay.

Instances oceur where the skeletons are found in a sitting posture,
sometimes in a circle, with the faces inward. It is probable that some
of the cases of sitting posture reported are inferred from finding the
bones in a heap, with the skull on top, when in fact they were origi-
nally bundled. Itis due to Mr. James D. Middleton to state that it
was by his study of the methods of burial while exploring mounds in
Wisconsin that special attention was called’ to this mode of bundling. ©

In the western or Dakota area, which includes the immediately ad-
joining portion of Manitoba, only three modes of burial appear to have
prevailed: The excavated pit, in which bundled skeletons were de-
posited; burial in a horizontal position on the original surface or in
strata, the mounds in the latter case always being stratified, and the
upper burials being apparently much more recent than the lower ones;
and burial of bones in confused masses. The mounds in this portion
of the district frequently yield evidences of contact with the whites by
the presence in them of glass beads and other articles of Huropean
manufacture. :

The burial mounds of central and southern Minnesota have not been
sufficiently explored to justify a discussion of their relation to the
works of the other portions of the district; however, some of them are
of comparatively recent date, as articles of European manufacture,
which can not be attributed to intrusive burial, have been found in
them.

In the eastern or Wisconsin portion of the district there is greater
variety in the modes of burial and construction of burial mounds. In
the northwestern part of the state, especially in Barron county, the
burial mounds, which are small, usually consist of two or three layers,
the bottom one, or central core, consisting chiefly of very hard clay.
Lying on the original surface or in an excavation in the original soil
are usually from one to four bundled skeletons. Intrusive burials,
which frequently oceur, are usually above this central core, though
oceasionally it has been penetrated to a slight depth.

540 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

In the southern or effigy belt the excavated pit is of very common
occurrence, but as a rule the mounds, especially the small ones, are
unstratified. The skeletons, however, are deposited in all the methods
known to the district—horizontally, bundled, folded, sitting, and in con-
fused heaps. Here, as in the western area, indications of a wooden
covering over the skeletons are occasionally found; and in the larger
mounds, usually stratified, slightstone walls appear to have been built
in some cases around the skeletons. Charcoal, ashes, and other indica-
tions of fire have been frequently observed in the mounds of Crawford
and Grant counties, but to a less extent elsewhere.

Vestiges of art are comparatively rare in the burial mounds of this
district, yet here and there are found an arrowpoint, a chipped flint
scraper, or celt (in some instances remarkably fine specimens), a few
copper gorgets, copper beads, copper spindles, ete.; but pottery is rare,
though some specimens have been discovered.

Intrusive burials are common, some of which can very readily be
distinguished from the origiz.al burial, but this is by no means true of
all, as in some of the unstratified mounds skeletons are found at all
depths, the upper ones in some instances showing unmistakable evi-
dence of having been inclosed in plank coffins.

THE HURON-IROQUOIS DISTRICT.!

Throughout the district here termed Huron-Iroquois (see Fig. 337)
are works of a simple kind, many of which are apparently defensive.
These may be banks of earth, sometimes of a rectangular outline, but
oftener of an irregularly circular form, which has an outer ditch, in most
cases, and forms a walled inclosure. Others are simply defensive walls
across points of land, as bluffs, or ridges between ravines. Often the
stockade takes the place of the bank of earth, the interior signs of hab-
itation remaining unchanged. Besides these are camp and village sites
which show no traces of defensive works, though their other remains
may not always differ from those found in inclosures. Burial mounds
and ossuaries occur, as well as simpler cemeteries.

DISTRIBUTION.

These monuments are often in groups, in which one or more forms may
be prominent, while a general family likeness may be seen through all.

In Canada walled inclosures prevail in a section of country lying
north of the west half of Lake Erie, but they do not extend far inland.
Near the west end of Lake Ontario, and also about Lake Simcoe and
the southeast part of the Georgian Bay, the stockade and ossuary are
as marked features, yet with distinctions which allow of local classifi-
eation. Along the bay of Quintic, in Prince Edward county, is a series
of burial mounds of a somewhat peculiar type, some of which have been

! This chapter was prepared by Rev. W. M. Beauchamp.

THOMAS.) THE HURON-IROQUOIS DISTRICT. 541

reported farther north, along the river Trent. They occur in pairs of
equal size, and are lined with stones. The St. Lawrence river also
has mounds, mostly on islands. From the Thousand islands eastward,
defensive walls, earth inclosures, and undefended villages occasionally
occur on both sides, but usually at some distance from the river. The

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general features of the site commonly called Hochelaga, at Montreal,
indicate a stockade, but no certain traces of this remain.

In New York the Mohawk valley is almost limited to the stockade in
its defensive works. The solitary exception, mentioned by Squier in
his Antiquities of New York and the West,! as being a little west of
Fort Plain, is closely connected, by its other remains, with the palisaded

' Edition 1851, pp. 82, 83.

5AQ MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

towns of that vicinity, some of the historic examples of which may
have used postholes. The valley is also without burial mounds or bone
pits, unless, possibly, at its extreme western end.

Westward of this valley to Canandaigua lake, stockades, earthen
walls, and inclosures are found single or in small groups, but mounds
and ossuaries are rare. The monuments of the Susquehanna valley,
reaching south to Wilkesbarre, are connected with these, but are fewer
in number. The detached group about Black river and Sandy creek,
in Jefferson county, New York, with its numerous earthworks, has also
plain relations to the monuments of central New York, but small ossu-
aries are more frequent. The ditch and bank are the rule in its defens-
ive works. The low, circular mounds, found near Perch lake, are now
considered hut-rings.

West of Canandaigua lake, inclosures maintain much of the same
character, occurring singly, in clusters, or in lines, but burial mounds
and ossuaries are much more numerous and inclosures often larger.
The stockade is not rare east of the Genesee river, but earthworks
form the rule thence to the western border of the state. Allusion is
made, of course, to those which have been obliterated in recent times,
as well as those of which traces remain.

West of New York there are few traces of sedentary occupation near
Lake Erie until the valley of the Cuyahoga river is reached, on both
sides of which works occur. Mounds and inclosures of earth extend
south into Summit and Ashland counties and thence westward; most
of the works of Ashland county, however, pertain to the district south
of this. A few monuments, apparently of this district, are found in
northeastern Indiana. They closely resemble those of New York.

Similar works occur in Michigan, mostly on the eastern side of that
state. The north line of Ogemaw county and thence northwestward
may be taken as a provisional northern line, though indications of
sedentary occupation, such as characterize the district, have been
reported from Alpena and Antrim counties. In the extreme northern
part of the lower peninsular nothing has been found excepting the
ossuary described by Schooleraft.' This was on Isle Ronde, at the west
end of Lake Huron. The rock region about Lake Superior is destitute
of mounds and defensive works on all sides.

In all this large district the mounds seem almost exclusively intended
for burial purposes, and in a large part of those opened remains of
several persons have been found. Stockades, earthen walls, and inclo-
sures vary in their outlines according to their situation; cutting off
points of land, following the contour of hills or ridges, or taking more
regular forms where the surface allowed it. Some differences in design
occasionally appear, but their general uniformity makes it unnecessary
to give éxamples from all parts. Indications of agricultural pursuits
are everywhere found.

THOMAS. ] THE HURON-IROQUOIS DISTRICT. 543
BURIAL MOUNDS.

These are found over nearly the whole district, though rare in some
parts. If the term be applied to shght elevations over graves, they may
have been once common, but have been overlooked or obliterated. In
many instances, as in Michigan, sand dunes have been mistaken for arti-
ficial mounds, especially where they have been chosen for burial. In New
York a similar error may often be found, where gravel and sand have
taken the form of the tumulus, through purely natural causes. Noneof
the mounds are of great size, and the form is usually a low and broad
round topped cone.

An exceptional example of the burial mound was described by Mr.
T. A. Cheney.! It was in Conewango township, Cattaraugus county,
and on the brow of a hill. The account is not perfectly clear, but is
here given in Mr. Cheney’s own words:

The form of the tumulus is of intermediate character between the ellipse and the
parallelogram; the interior mound, at its base, has a major axis of 65 feet, while
the minor axis is 61 feet, with an altitude above the first platform or embankment
of 10 feet, or an entire elevation of some 13 feet. This embankment, with an entrance
or gateway upon the east side 30 feet in width, has an entire circumference of
170 feet. * * * In making an excavation, eight skeletons, buried in a sitting
posture and at regular intervals of space, so as to form a circle within the mound,
were disinterred. Some slight appearance yet existed to show that framework had
inclosed the deadat time of interment. These osteological remains were of very large
size, but were so much decomposed that they mostly crumbled to dust. The relics
ot art here disclosed were also of a peculiar and interesting character—amulets,
chisels, ete., of elaborate workmanship, resembling the Mexican and Peruvian an-

tiquities.

There is an evident error in the above outside measurement, which
may have been either 370 or 470 feet. Mr. Cheney’s observations were
usually accurate; and this work, which consisted of an inclosure and
interior mound, may be considered intrusive in this section if exactly
described. No other like it has been found in the district.’

Mounds within large defensive inclosures are rare. One near Cary-
ville, Genesee county, New York, was of so marked a character as to
give the inclosure the name of the “ Bone fort.” It was noted by the
Rey. Samuel Kirkland in his journal as an immense mass of bones
slightly covered with earth. Other small elevations elsewhere seem to
have been simple heaps of refuse, left within the walls for convenience,
as in a work in Augusta, Canada, near the St. Lawrence. Some smal]
interior mounds reported in Michigan, if more than this, may have
been dwelling sites.

Many of these burial mounds are but piles of human bones covered
with earth, a common type in western New York. Others show care-
ful arrangement. One, which Squier examined,’ differed internally
from others known. It was on Tonawanda island, Niagara river, and

!“ Ancient Monuments in western New York,” 13th Ann. Rept. Reg. Univ. N. Y., 1860, p. 40, pl. 3.
2'This mound is now obliterated. 3 Antiq. of New York, p. 97.

é

544 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

was originally about 15 feet in height. At the base appeared to
have been a circle of stones perhaps 10 feet in diameter, within which
were several small heaps of bones, each comprising three or four skele-
tons. The bones are of individuals of all ages and had evidently been
deposited after the removal of the flesh. Traces of fire were to be dis-
covered upon the stones. Some chippings of flint and broken arrow
points, as also some fragments of deer’s horns which appeared to have
been worked into form, were found among the bones.

Traces of fire are frequent, and were quite marked in the mound at
Greene, Chenango county, New York, which has been so often described.
In this there was an intrusive burial, but the lower deposits of bones
unarranged are said to have been burned. In a mound recently re-
moved, on a ridge near the outlet of Onondaga lake, New York, several
skeletons lay side by side in the southwest part. These were much
decayed, some crumbling, and others hardening on exposure to the air.
There were no traces of fire upon them when the mound was destroyed
in 1884, and stone implements and ornaments were found with them.
In opening the center of the mound in 1880 these were not disturbed,
and nothing of importance was then found. There were fragments of
flint, broken earthenware, burned human bones, and stones showing
the marks of fire. As the material was taken from the ridge and as
this had been occupied, it would not follow that the fire had any direct
relation to the mound. This was elliptical, about 4 feet high in 1880,
and must have been built over a natural or artificial depression, as the
original surface was reached at that time at a depth of 7 feet. The
most remarkable mounds in this district are those described by Mr. T.
©. Wallbridge.! They are mostly on the southern shore of the bay of
Quinté, Ontario, Canada, in the township of Ameliasburg, and there
form a group of one hundred or more distinct tumuli. Generally they
occur in pairs of uniform size, and are truncated cones 30 to 50 feet in
diameter and about 12 feet high. A shallow basin is found at the top,
which may be due to the sinking of the interior. Few were found
which had not been opened. Internally there weremany large stones,
and those in the best condition seemed examples of stone burial cists,
with a few human remains. The articles found were mostly of bone.

STONE MOUNDS OR HEAPS.

Since the colonizing of New York the practice of casting stones upon
heaps was continued by some of the Indian tribes in the eastern part
of that state. In the Livingston Manor Patent, New York Document-
ary History,? mention is made of “heaps of stones which the Indians
throw upou one another as they pass by, from an ancient custom
amongst them.” In 1753 the Rey. Gideon Hawley saw this act by his
Mohawk guide, in the Schoharie valley, and thought it one of supersti-
tion. Other stone heaps have been found within inclosures, and are

' Canadian Journal, new series, 1860, vol. v., pp. 409-417. 2 Vol. 3, p. 693.

THOMAS. | THE HURON-IROQUOIS DISTRICT. 545

recognized as defensive ammunition. In other cases they marked
places of burial. Two such instances occurred near Baldwinsville,
N. Y., where skeletons were found beneath the heaps, and they have
been noted elsewhere. Some have been supposed to mark treaties, but
they are nowhere large in this district.

HUT RINGS.

The best examples of these occur about Perch lake, Jefferson county,
New York. They were at first described as circular mounds, but recent
investigation has proved them to have been the floors of lodges,
gradually raised. They are depressed in the center, and the outer,
circular edge is from 2 to 5 feet high, composed of burnt stone and
camp refuse. No earthenware is found in them, but plenty of flint
chips. The diameter ranges from 20 to 30 feet. A few examples in
Onondaga county, New York, differ from these in their lower out-
lines, and in the presence of pottery. In the same county, J. V. H.
Clark! described, in Pompey, “numerous circular elevations made of
stones, some 12 or 14 feet in diameter and about 18 inches high. They
were arranged in regular rows, some 2 or 3 rods apart, and were proba-
bly the foundations of cabins or wigwams.”

OSSUARIES.

One mode of burial, known as the ossuary, is most common about
Lake Simeoe and a part of the Georgian bay, and about the shores of
the western end of Lake Ontario, in Canada. In this the bodies, the
skeletons, or the bundles of large bones were placed in a common grave
below the surface, which soon regained much of its customary appear-
ance. Mr. A. F. Hunter, of Barrie, Ontario, who has thoroughly studied
Simcoe county, reports over 150 of these, of all sizes, mostly mapped
and deseribed by him. Early accounts of interment in these are well
known and need not be repeated. Ossuaries near Lake Simcoe are
usually circular, but at Beverley, near Lake Ontario, they are quite long
and of considerable width. In the former case there is often a per-
ceptible ring around the edge. This would depend on the amount of
perishable material buried, and the filling in of the pit. They vary
greatly in size, ranging from a few skeletons to many hundreds. Mr.
Hunter estimated the average number at 300. The copper kettles often
found in these pits usually have a hole in the bottom, revealing a fear
that these graves might be robbed.

An ossuary was opened in Beverley, in 1886, by Mr. David Boyle,
which was 25 feet long by 12 feet broad. This is about one-fifth of the
superficial area of the one in the same town described by Mr. School-
eraft in 1845. Except in outline they do not differ from those of Sim-
coe county. <A rude pit of this kind at Ottawa, opened in 1845, is the

1 Onondaga, vol. 2, p. 261.

12 ETH——35

546 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

northernmost known in Canada, east of the Great lakes, but their oceur-
rence would not be surprising farther north in the valley of the St.
Lawrence. The New York ossuaries, or bone pits, present no unusual
features, but are usually reported as instances of “promiscuous” or
confused burial. By this is intended interment without respect to the
age of the person or position of the bones, as though these had been
gathered without care and thrown into a common mass. This may
have been done in some cases, but the practice of arranging the bones
in bundles would give the impression of confusion to the casual observer.
In these the long bones were placed together, with the skull at one end,
and some of the smaller bones were often lacking. If the bundles were
buried singly, they might be taken for sitting or crouching figures.

In some grayes recently opened near Cayuga lake, New York, suc-
cessive tiers of skeletons were found, arranged horizontally, the layers
being separated by a thin stratum of earth. In one pit there were four
tiers, with twenty skeletons. The others had less. This was near
Union Springs. Such careful arrangement seems rare. Relics were
found in every pit, but not with each skeleton, and it may be added
that articles in New York aboriginal graves are usually perfect.

Some ossuaries may be due to hasty burial, as after a severe battle.
A case in point is recorded in the second Esopus war of 1663.1 The
Dutch “came to the fort of the Esopus Indians * * * and there
found five large pits into which they had cast their dead. The wolves
had rooted up and devoured some of them. Lower down on the hill
were four other pits, full of dead Indians.” The frequent practice of
giving final burial only wher the flesh was removed from the bones may
have originated in guarding against wild beasts.

Usually skeletons in these pits lie horizontally. Mr. T. A. Cheney?
describes three pits, or ossuaries, in Terry township, Chautauqua
county, in which a different arrangement was found. Within and
about an elliptical inclosure skeletons were found buried in a horizontal
position. Fifty rods away were three rectangular pits 9 feet in diam-
eter and slightly depressed. In these were many skeletons in a sitting
posture. In an ossuary at the village of Barrie, Simcoe county, On-
tario, many skulls had arrows in the forehead, and were buried face
downward.

There seems, therefore, to have been no settled plan of burial of this
kind, and taste, convenience, or time produced many variations in the
internal arrangement. In most cases there are no remaining signs of
protection, but in one described by Turner® piles of sandstone were
placed over the bones. Another instance occurred in Jefferson county,
New York, and is described by Squier. Both of these seem interme-
diate between the ossuary and the stone heap or mound.

IN. Y. Doe. Hist., vol. 4, p. 80.

2 Thirteenth Ann. Rep. of the Regents of the University of the State of New York, 1860, p. 45.
8’ Holland Purchase, p. 27.

4 Antiquities of the state of New York, p. 29.

THOMAS. } THE HURON-IROQUOIS DISTRICT. 547
GRAVES AND CEMETERIES.

In single graves and cemeteries burial is by no means uniform. The
sitting or crouching posture is frequent and the horizontal almost as
much so. Articles may be found with the dead or not. Besides imple-
ments and ornaments, vessels containing food were often placed in the
tomb. Graves are often marked by depressions in cemeteries in New
York, and without mentioning this, Mr. Clark alludes to its cause! in
speaking of an early burial place: “The skeletons were universally
found buried in a sitting posture facing the east, with some domestic
utensil or weapon of war between the thigh bones. They are usually
found 2 or 3 feet below the surface. The skull and bones of the body
are uniformly sunk to a level with the legs. From appearances, the
bodies, after being placed in their graves, were covered with brush
previous to casting the earth upon them.”

A Dutch account, written in 1632,’ says that a dying person was
placed in this position, which was retained after death. Another account
in 1671,° adds that when the body was thus placed in the ground they
“ stow wood all around, which they cover with planks; on the planks,
which are covered with earth and stones, palisades are fastened in such
a manner that the tomb resembles a little house, to which they pay
divine reverence.”

Occasional examples of stone graves are found, and one such was
reported at East Syracuse, New York, in 1879. As described at the
time, flat stones set on edge formed a carefully made vault, but with
no mortar. As the other graves opened were of the ordinary type, this
may be doubtful. In opening the West Shore railroad through the
Mohawk valley occasional graves were found reported as covered with
large flat stones, and others have been described in Chenango county,
New York, as having layers of cobblestones above and below the
bodies.*

The most remarkable example of this kind in New York was described
by Mr. S. L. Frey in the American Naturalist.2 A group of graves
was opened which contained some curious tubes and other remarkable
relics, still retained at Canajoharie and Palatine bridge. The spot was
on the hillside, a little east of the latter place. The graves had been
lined with flat stones and varied from 3 to 4 feet in depth, bowlders
being placed above the bodies when buried. The position was not the
same in all, and in one case two skeletons were found in one graye.
The peculiar tubes and reddish earth connect this with graves in
Swanton, Vermont.

INCLOSURES.

Stockades and earthworks both occur, but the latter have naturally
attracted the most attention. If the bank was partly intended to sup-

1 Onondaga, vol. 2, p. 257. 3 Tbid., vol. 4, p. 127. 5 Vol. 13, 1879, pp. 637-644.
2N. Y. Doc. Hist., vol. 3, p. 46. 4 Historical Magazine, 1873, p. 13.

548 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

port palisades, it yet was high enough for a breastwork, and probably
served as such. A single gateway sufficed for some small inclosures,
but there were usually more. These works vary greatly in size, some
having an area of large dimensions. Quite rarely they present no
marks of occupation. While often on commanding spots, they are fre-
quently overlooked by some near eminence, and are occasionally found
on low lands or in swamps. If the situation has natural defenses, as
steep banks, either of ravines or streams, these parts may be left
apparently open.

Stockades and embankments have been found near together, and
palisades may have had supports of earth, piles of wood, or cross tim-
bers, such as the Hurons and Iroquois commonly used when first known.
The first would remain, the last two would leave no trace. There is
little direct evidence that palisades surmounted the earthworks, and
reasons can be given for this. Besides cross timbers, other supports
were sometimes used, suggestive of the bank of earth. The Seneca
village visited by La Salle in 1669 had “palisades 12 or 15 feet high,
bound together at the top and supported at the base behind the pali-
sades by large masses of wood of the height of a man.”

A well-preserved trace of an oblong stockade near Cazenovia, New

York was recently examined bythe writer. The line of the palisade was
a trench a foot wide and deep, in which the posts were set at intervals
of about 30 inches from center to center. No holes were dug, but the
space between was refilled. By the settling of the ground and the
decay of the posts the trench became distinct again. With so slight a
hold the need of binders at the top and cross timbers at the sides
becomes evident. With these appliances there may sometimes have
been no digging at all.
. Asarule gateways show no signs of defense, though some there
must have been. In a few instances these are found. The double
walled inclosure in Shelby, Orleans county, New York, has not its
inner and outer gateways opposite, but the inner gateway is protected
by the outer wall. A large earthwork, nearly a parallelogram, de-
scribed by Mr. T. A. Cheney,’ had a wide gateway, “with elevated
mounds upon each side, to guard the entrance.” These formed really
an outer and inner wall. An overlapping wall, forming a gateway,
occurred in Macomb county, Michigan, but a simple inside barrier of
wood may have been the usual defense, protecting the approaches
within.

The outside ditch is rarely lacking in earthworks, and rarely found
with stockades, if at all. In one instance, in Michigan, the trench
appears partly within and partly without, as though a matter of indif-
ference, and convenience may commonly have governed its position
more than considerations of defense, being simply the places where
earth for the wall was most easily procured.

!Anc. Mon. in western New York, p. 44, Pl. vu.

THOMAS. ] THE HURON-IROQUOIS DISTRICT. 549
UNINCLOSED VILLAGES AND CAMPS,

Many places which were inhabited show no signs of inelosures, and
yet may have had simple defenses of wood. They are known by indi-
cations of occupation, as the blackened earth, collections of burnt
stones, and articles found inthe ground, Many minor distinctions may
be founded on these, but they are most frequent along lakes and streams,
especially at fords and fishing places. They range from single lodges
to considerable villages, and sometimes show indications of successive
occupation. Many yield articles not found within inclosures.

CACHES.

The use of caches is well understood, but those of New York and
Canada are among the proofs of the agricultural pursuits of the early
inhabitants. Large quantities of corn are found in them, with ocea-
sional remains of other vegetable productions. They are not peculiar
to this district. They appear to have been usually lined with bark.

FISH WEIRS AND POUNDS,

Very few bone fishhooks occur, but the bone harpoon or spear is
more common. Flat net sinkers are abundant in New York, but have
escaped notice in Canada. Stone fish weirs yet remain in some New
York streams, though many have been destroyed. In the Vanderkemp
letters of 1792,' published by the Buffalo Historical Society, is an
account of a voyage down the Oneida river.

‘““We passed,” says the writer, ‘‘sometimes, through our unexpert-
ness, large rifts with difficulty. It was said here was an ancient Indian
eel-weir, by which this natural obstruction in the bed of the river had
been increased.”

Another large one yet exists on the Seneca river, a dozen miles or
more from this. In low water it is partly visible, and what remains
was measured by the writer a few years since. Towards the north
bank it has been removed to allow the passage of large boats. Com-
mencing on the south shore, a stone wall runs down the stream at a
moderate angle with the bank for 210 feet; then up the river at a simi-
lar angle with the current for 340 feet; then down stream 145 feet,
returning 160 feet. This point is about 100 feet from the north bank,
to which another may have extended. If 350 feet were added for this,
there would be a total length of 1,200 feet by 2 feet deep. There are
others on the same river, also well made of field stones of considerable
size.

Fish pounds of stakes, although used in both New York and Canada,
have proved more perishable. The best known example is at ‘The
Narrows,” Orillia, Canada, which was described at an early day, and
was once called “‘ Hurdle lake.” The stakes forming the pound were of
tamarac.

1P. 85.

550 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
GARDEN BEDS AND CORN HILLS.

Many of the garden beds of Michigan fall within this district, but
these low mounds extend also into other states. They are mainly dis-
tinguished from the large cornfields farther east by their symmetrical
acrangement and accuracy of outline, forms possibly due to differences
of natural surface. No relics have been found to prove a connection,
and the question of their origin may be deferred.

In several parts of New York very large corn hills remained until a
recent date, and have been described by Schoolcraft, Clark, and others.
They were much larger than those made by the whites, a small mound
being raised sufficient to contain several hills, and this was used for
many years. These mounds were arranged in rows, but did not form a
continuous plat, as in the garden beds.

THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF THE DISTRICT.

In this brief summary no attempt has been made to distinguish the
tribes which may have dwelt in the district or to point out when they
did so. It is sufficient now to say that the constant progress of coloni-
zation ir New York and Canada produced a gradual change in the arts
of savage life, so that primitive implements, ornaments, aud utensils
are found on the same village sites and in the same graves with those
derived from the white man. Those who received European articles
are well known in history, but they had in this district arts like those
found in its graves and ineclosures, Its builders of simple walls and
mounds, in such ways, are directly connected with the historic red man,
and the latter transition stages can be fully traced.

THE ILLINOIS DISTRICT.

The limits of this district east and west have not as yet been satis-
factorily determined; hence it can only be defined as including the
middle and eastern portions of Iowa, northeastern and possibly cen-
tral Missouri, [linois as far south as the mouth of the Illinois river,
and the western half of Indiana. Nor are the type characters by any
means so well marked as those of most of the other districts. The dif-
ferences in the features and types of the works and relies indicate the
presence in the area embraced of different tribes, some of which must
have occupied in succession the same sections. Especially does this
appear to be true of the eastern portion of Iowa and the western part
of Illinois. There are certain types of this last-mentioned region
which bear such strong resemblance to some of the works and remains
of southeastern Indiana and southern Ohio as to justify the belief that
there was some relation between the mound-builders of the two areas.
On the other hand, however, there are works in eastern Illinois and
western Indiana which seem to justify the belief that they are attrib-
utable to other tribes than the authors of those last mentioned. The

THOMAS. ] ILLINOIS. 551

antiquities of northeastern Missouri and some of those of Calhoun
county, Illinois, present marked peculiarities not found in other por-
tions of the district, yet do not seem to be connected with those of the
regions immediately south. The district has therefore been designated
rather because of the want of conformity in types with the works of
surrounding areas than on account of indications that they are to be
attributed to a single family or a number of cognate tribes.

As will be seen by reference to the map showing the distribution of
ancient works, they are found in this district chiefly along the larger
watercourses, three-fourths of all those noted being situated along the
Mississippi, [linois, and Wabash rivers. There are, however, a few
interior clusters in Illinois, as the one in and about Knox county,
another in Sangamon county, aud another in the southeastern part of
the state. Along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers they are found
upon the uplands, ridges, and bluffs as well as on the bottoms which
border the streams. In Calhoun county, Illinois, and northeastern
Missouri, which are more broken than other parts of the district, the
groups generally consist of single lines of tumuli along the narrow
crests. As a general, though not universal, rule the larger mounds are
found on the lowlands or valley levels.

Contrasting the works of this district with the types of the Dakotan
district, it is sufficient to state that (except along the northern border
where there has been an overlapping and intermingling of types) we do
not find here the imitations of animal forms, the elongate, wall-like
tumuli, nor the series of connected mounds. Nor does it appear to have
been a custom of the mound builders of this district to arrange the small
tumuli in lines. It is true, however, that series and irregular lines are
found along the margits of the bluffs and on the crests of ridges in
western Illinois, especially in Calhoun county, and also in northeastern
Missouri, but the arrangement appears to have resulted from the topo-
graphical features rather than from design. Messrs. Hardy and
Scheetz,' who made some important explorations in the latter section,
were however inclined to believe from their observations that there was
a tendency here to place the mounds in rows even on the level areas.

The works of this district are distinguished from the archeologic re-
mains immediately south chiefly by the absence of pyramidal mounds—
less perhaps than half a score being found within the designated bound-
ary; by the marked differences in the pottery and other minor vestiges
of art, especially the pipes, and by the differences in the burial customs.
The frequent occurrence here of the “monitor” or broad, curved base
pipe, which is found. neither north nor south, is a marked feature.

BURIAL MOUNDS.

As the chief variations in types observed within the district are found
in the burial mounds, attention is called to them first. It is necessary

! Smithson. Rep., 1881, pp. 533-536

552 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

to state here, lest an erroneous impression be conveyed to the reader
who may be acquainted with the works of the northern part of the dis-
trict, that one class of mounds found in the northeastern part of Lowa
and northwestern part of Illinois, although within the limits assigned
to the district, is omitted from consideration, as the modes of construc-
tion and burial show this class to belong unquestionably to the Dakotan
types. On the Iowa side these appear to fade out going south by the
time the Maquoketa river is reached, but continue on the Illinois side
into Rock Island and Stark counties.

Excluding these we notice the following types as those which appear
to be most characteristic, some of which seem to be limited to particular
sections of the district and to indicate the locations of different tribes.

In the region of Scott, Muscatine, and Louisa counties, Lowa, on the
west side of the Mississippi but extending as far south as Calhoun
county, Illinois, on the east side, certain types both of mounds and
specimens of art are found which resemble so closely some of the an-
tiquities of the Ohio and Appalachian districts (hereafter described)
as to indicate some relationship between the mound builders of these
different sections. For example, we find at the bottom of some of the
mounds of the section indicated the basin-shaped clay mass, or more
correctly clay ass with basin-shaped depression in the middle, remind-
ing us of the so-called “altars” of the Ohio mounds. These are usually
the larger mounds of this region, and are generally, though not always,
found on the low lands. They are also in some cases burial mounds,
which is seldom true of the type in Ohio. A description of one is given
here in order that the reader may see upon what evidence this claim of
resemblance is based. A full deseription will be found in the account
of the field work, and also in Science. !

This mound, which forms one of a group of five located on the spur
of a bluff about 150 feet high, overlooking the Ilinois river, stood on
the very brink of a precipice. Roundly conical in form, it measured 95
feet in diameter at the base and about 17 feet inheight. From the top
to the depth of 14 feet it consisted chiefly of yellow clay obtained from
the surrounding surface of the bluff. In this, at the depth of 4 feet,
was a horizontal layer of hard, gray earth 8 inches thick and 20 feet in
diameter. Three feet lower was a layer of burnt clay about the same
thickness and extent. Although particles of charcoal were mixed
through it, no ashes were observed on or about it (see Fig. 65).

At the depth of 14 feet was reached what seemed to be a nucleus or
original mound over which the heavy mass of clay had been thrown.
Over this lay a thin covering of whitish material, apparently light ashes,
not more than 2 inches thick and extending entirely over the upper
surface of this nucleus, which was nearly circular in outline, about 40
feet in diameter, and rounded up to a height of a little over 3 feet in the

1 Vol. 13 (1889), p. 349.

THOMAS. } THE ILLINOIS DISTRICT. 553

middle. Under the layer of ashes was a single layer of stones extend-
ing over the central portion but not reaching the outer margin. When
these were removed it was ascertained that a basin-shaped depression,
oval in outline, 10 by 13 feet and nearly 5 feet deep in the middle, had
been made in this central mass. This was lined throughout with a layer
of stone and was filled with the yellow surface soil of the ridge, but
immediately over the stones was a thin layer of white ashes mixed with
charred leaves and grass. Under the stones, resting on the natural
surface of the ridge, was a thin layer of decayed vegetable matter.
Under the center of this, in a slight excavation in the original soil, was
a single skeleton lying at full length on its back—but, strange to say,
the head was wanting. Nota tooth nor any other part of it could be
found, though careful search was made. As the other bones were com-
paratively well preserved it is presumed that the head was removed
before burial. It is worthy of note that the stones bore evidence of
having remained in position exposed to the air for a considerable length
of time before being covered. The similarity of this structure to the
so-called “altars” of the Ohio mounds is so apparent that itis only nee-
essary to call attention to it.

In other mounds of the section under consideration cubical piles of
stones occur similar to those observed in some of the mounds of west-
ern North Carolina. In one instance a beehive-shaped vault of hard-
ened clay covering a skeleton was observed, reminding us of similar
clay vaults in some two or three mounds of Kanawha valley, West Vir-
ginia, and the little .tone vaults in the mounds of western North Caro-
lina and eastern Tennessee. In addition to these resemblances is the
well-known fact that in the section now referred to the curved base or
monitor pipe, so characteristic of the typical mounds of Ohio, is found
in large numbers.

There are, however, other features of the mounds of this region
worthy of notice, some of which indicate the presence of other tribes
than the builders of the mounds alluded to. It is assumed that, as a
rule, the presence of the monitor pipe in a mound may be taken as
evidence that the builders, notwithstanding the differences in the con-
struction of the mounds and mode of burial, were related to the authors
of those referred to or had adopted some of their peculiar customs from
long, intimate association. It is often the case that different modes of
construction and burial dependent upon station, condition in life, calling,
achievements, etc., are found in the mounds apparently constructed by
the people of a single tribe or even a single village. For example, the
mounds of the Cook farm group, Scott county, Iowa, from which the
well known engraved tablets of the Davenport Academy of Sciences
were taken, presented the following different features: Some were
stratified, others not; in some the skeletons were placed horizontally
on the ground, in others they were in asitting posture, while in others
they were dismembered and in a confused heap; in some there were

554 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

cubical piles of stone which were wanting in others; in some the skele-
tous were covered with a hard layer or mortar-like coating which was
wanting in most of them; and lastly there were evidences in one or two
of the use of fire in the burial ceremonies, though not found in the
others. Most of the mounds, though not all, covered a burial pit or
slight excavation in the original soil.

Several instances have been noticed where the mounds examined
were found to contain stone vaults of various forms. In some two or
three cases these vaults were square, or oblong inclosures consisting
of a surrounding wall built up of unhewn stone to the height of 2 or 3
feet. Within these were found a number of skeletons supposed, from
the position in which the bones were found, to have been buried in a
sitting posture. In one case the vault, which was divided by cross
partitions, was covered with timbers from which the bark had been
removed. Another was without a covering, the dirt having been
thrown in on the bodies to fill the vault and piled up over it to form
the mound. These vaults vary in size from 7 to 12 feet on a side, and
have been observed in Jo Daviess and Cass counties, [linois, and Clay
county, Missouri. Similar shaped vaults, sunk in the natural soil and
not covered by monnds, have been discovered in Pike and Montgomery
counties, Missouri.

In some instances dome-shaped stone vaults have been observed.
In these cases it would seem that the bodies or skeletons had been
placed on the natural surface in a sitting posture, then inclosed by a
circular wall of rough stones contracted toward the top and covered
with a single flat stone. It must be borne in mind, however, that
mounds of these particular types are usually accompanied by others
presenting quite different modes of burial. For example, we are
informed by Dr. J. F, Snyder,! who has made a somewhat careful
study of the antiquities of Cass county, Illinois, where mounds of the
last mentioned type occur, that there are three kinds of burial mounds.
First, those with dome-shaped vaults, as deseribed; second, those with
oblong or square cists formed by setting up stone slabs on edge and
covering with similar slabs—apparently the box-shaped stone graves;
and third, small mounds, usually in rows along the crests of ridges,
each containing the bones of several individuals uninclosed. In some
of these the skeletons are folded or sitting up with the feet drawn
under the hips; in some the bones are in confused masses. <A few
have basin-shaped excavations beneath them.

The mounds of northeastern Missouri present some peculiarities
worthy of notice. As to composition they are made wholly of earth, of
earth and stones, or wholly of stones. In the latter two the bodies |
buried in them are covered by stones thrown over them, or are inclosed
in stone receptacles of various forms. In a few cases these receptacles
are box-shaped stone cists similar to those so common in southern Ili-

1 Smithson. Rep., 1881, pp. 568-573.

THOMAS. ] THE ILLINOIS DISTRICT. 555

nois and middle Tennessee. There are, however, peculiarities in the
modes of burial which seem to indicate that different peoples were the
authors of the works of the different sections. It seems that the mound-
builders of northeastern Missouri often burned the bodies, then gath-
ered up the charred bones and ashes and mixed them into a mass with
clay. Where the bodies were buried without being thus treated, a flat
stone was sometimes laid on the head.

In the eastern portion of the district, which includes western Indi-
ana, the mounds oceur principally upon the small streams emptying
into Lake Michigan and upon the lower waters of the Wabash river,
few, if any, being found in the intermediate area.

The mounds of northwestern Indiana are found chiefly in Laporte
county. Some of them are of medium or comparatively large size,
ranging from 10 to 20 feet in height. All are composed of earth and
are generally burial tumuli. Quite a number of copper articles, such
as celts and awls, some vessels of pottery, and an occasional carved
pipe, have been obtained from them. In some the skeletons seem to
have been placed in a sitting posture, while in others they were placed
horizontally. In some cases there is evidence that after the bodies
were deposited on the natural surface and covered with earth a fire
was kindled on this and the mound heaped over it. A number of the
mounds from 2 to 3 feet high contained no indications of having been
used for burial purposes, but, judging from the fire-beds and refuse
material found in them, were built as dwelling sites.

In the valley of the lower Wabash mounds occur in considerable
numbers and of various types. Near Merom, on the Indiana side, is
an extensive group partially surrounded by an earthen wall. This
consists largely of hut rings, reminding us of similar groups in south-
ern Illinois and southeastern Missouri; as in the latter, there is one
chief mound and a few smaller ones. The former was a burial mound.
Another extensive group is found near Hutsonville, on the Illinois side.
There are, however, no indications that this was surrounded by an
embankment, though some of the large tumuli present the rather un-
common feature in this section of being surrounded by a circular
embankment or ridge. Most of the small mounds, as well as some of
the larger ones, appear to have been only dwelling sites, as they con-
tained no indications of having been used for burial purposes. ‘The
absence of human remains and all refuse in the shape of kitchen heaps,
as well as implements,” led the explorers to the cqnelusion that the
place was not inhabited for any great length of time, and that it may
have been simply a place of resort at special seasons for some particu-
lar purpose.

Nunerous “earthworks” are reported in the vicinity of Merom, but,
no description being furnished nor any examination made by the
Bureau agents, we are unable to judge of their character or type. Mr.
Coliett, the state geologist of Indiana, who makes the statement, adds

b]

556 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

that they are “of such an extent as to require for their construction
time and the persistent labor of many people. Situated on the river
bluffs, their location combines picturesque scenery, susceptibility for
defense and convenience to transportation, water, and productive lands.”
He also states that there is evidence here that conical knolls of the
loess have been artificially rounded and used for sepulchral purposes.

Other mounds on the Indiana side of the lower Wabash, especially
in Knox county, are of comparatively large size and appear in some
instances to have been truncated, earthen pyramids. Very little evi-
dence of burial has been found in them; it is, therefore, to be presumed
that they were built for other than burial purposes. They contain
traces of fire, the prevailing feature being the presence of one or more
strata of ashes in which are found fragments of bones. On the Illinois
side of this part of the valley and in the region of Sangamon river
in the central part of the state, the mounds, which occur in considera-
ble number, are comparatively small, unstratified, and used only for
burial purposes. Some of them at least are comparatively recent, as
articles showing contact with the whites are found in them where there
are no indications of intrusive burial. The same is true also of a class
of small mounds found in northwestern Illinois. It is frequently the
case that the skeletons found in mounds of this type are in a sitting
posture; occasionally the bones are in a confused heap; however, the
horizontal position is probably more common than any other. Asa
rule, but few implements or ornaments are found in mounds of this
class.

In reference to this north and south belt of the district, extending
from the northwest part of Indiana southward and including the
Wabash valley, it may be stated with considerable confidence that its
archeological features indicate the presence here of several different
tribes. It may also be affirmed that these tribes were small ones, or
portions of large ones which remained for a comparatively short period
in this section.

There is a group of mounds in Vanderburg county, Indiana, that
seems out of place in the region where it is found.

These mounds, as will be seen by reference to our ‘‘ Catalogue of Pre-
historic Works East of the Rocky Mountains,” were first noticed by Mr.
John Collett’ and subsequently briefly described by Floyd Stinson, in
the Smithsonian Report for 1881. Recently I have examined the group
and had a survey made of it. As the description is not included in the
report of the feld work, it is given here.

This group, commonly known as the ‘‘Angel mounds,” is situated
about 8 miles southeast of Evansville, in Vanderburg county, near the
Warwick county line, close to the Ohio river. At this point of its course
the Ohio sends off a branch or bayou which cuts off the ‘Three Mile
island.” Itis on the margin of this bayou opposite the lower end of

1 Geol. Surv. Ind., 1875.

THOMAS.] INDIANA. 557

the island that the group, consisting of six mounds and an earthen
wall, is located. A plat of the group is given in Pl. Xr.

Starting from the bank of the bayou and moving northward we first
cross a strip of low land several rods wide which borders the stream
and is subject to annual overflows. We then come to a low bluff some
8 to 12 feet high which forms the break or edge of the terrace or general
level, and which is undoubtedly the old bank of the Ohio. Ascending
this and moving north by the mound marked D and
turning our face to the east, we have a full and clear
view of the large mound (A) which is the prominent
feature of the group as shown in Fig. 338, which rep-
resents the elevation as seen from the west. <A plat >
of itis given in Fig. 339. It is a flat-topped mound,
oblong in form, capped at one end by a conical mound,
and furnished at the same end with an apron-like ex-
tension, The height at the northern end (A) is 27 feet,
but this increases as we approach the lower end (D)
to 50 feet. The height of the apron varies from 6 to 10
feet. The entire length of the base from north to south
is about 520 feet, the width varying from 130 to 150 feet.
The length of the top of the upper level on the west side
is 236 feet; of the apron, about 150 feet. The width
of the top of the upper level varies from 93 to 110 feet.

The conical portion at the southeast corner of the
main structure rises to the height of 20 feet above the
upper level, the circumference at this level being 290
feet, giving a diameter of 93 feet. This is, more cor-
rectly speaking, an addition to the original structure
and not simply a superimposed mound, for the slope
on the southeast portion extends down to the original
surface of the ground and beyond the base of the
main structure. This feature, though rare, has been
observed in some two or three other cases, as, for ex-
ample, in one of the mounds of the Seip works, in
Ross county, Ohio, and one of the Linn mounds, Union
county, Illinois.

The structure marked Bb, Pl. xx1, is a low, conical
mound about 100 feet in diameter, much worn by the
plow, so that at present it is only some 3 or 4 feet high. It is 665 feet
N. 54° E. of A (measuring from the point d on the top of the latter).
Near by is a small excavation from which part of the earth used in
building the mound was probably taken. The surface of the ground
between these two mounds is strewn with fragments of pottery, broken
mussel-shells, flint chips, ete.

Mound C is situated 650 feet N. 86° W. of the large mound. Itis a
low, conical tumulus, the north and south diameter being 102 feet, and

z

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vn

558 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the east and west 108 feet. It has been explored by Mr. Charles Artes,
who has made a study of the archeology of this region. He found it
to be composed throughout of sandy soil, with no relics or burials
except one stone cist near the southern edge, in which nothing was
discovered.

Mound D (the smallest of the group) lies 425 feet S. 40° W. of A, is
75 feet in diameter and similar in form and construction to B and C.
Tt has also been explored by Mr. Artes, who found near the center a
stone cist 3 feet square containing thirteen skulls. Twelve of these
were arranged in a circle near the sides of the cist, while the other was

lying in the center with two thigh bones

\ | Jas Wy, resting by it. No other bones were found.
S ly Yy, Nine hundred and sixty-five feet N. 52°
; ~ W. of the large mound is a flat-topped
circular mound (E), 338 feet in cireumfer-
ence at the base. The diameters across
the level top north and south and east
and west are respectively 61 and 52 feet.
It is about 12 feet high.

Undoubtedly the finest mound of the
group (F) is situated 1,480 feet S. 56° W.
of A. It is a flat-topped circular strue-
ture about 15 feet high and very symmet-
‘= rical. The slope is nearly the same on all
i sides. The circumference at the base is
. ~ 550 feet, while the diameters of the top

are 98 feet north and south and 100 feet
east and west. On the southwest there
is a depression in the slope of the side,

#8 resembling an indented or depressed
Zi a :

graded way, but whether it was origi-
nally so or is of modern origin can not
well be ascertained. The top of the mound
PE ek mound, Angel has been used as a cemetery by the whites
group. . .

who have owned it. On the southern side
stands an oak tree 4 feet 3 inches in diameter. The field surrounding
this mound is subject to overflow during very high water.

An inclosing embankment or surrounding wall may be traced from
mound C in a circular direction around to the eastern extremity of the
bluff skirting the field in which mounds A, B, C, and D are situated.
This, as will be seen by reference to the figure, includes A, B, and D,
but does not inclose mounds E and F. In width it varies from 15 to 25
feet. Its height, in places where least disturbed, is from 3 to 5 feet on
the west and north and from 4 to 8 feet on the east. The length of the
entire wall is 2,600 feet. Ata distance of 1,400 feet from mound C,
following the line of the embankment, and 900 feet northeast of the

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THOMAS. ] INDIANA. 559

large tumulus A, is a gateway (G), the original width of which, judging
from present appearances, was 20 feet. The drainage of a portion of
the field is at present through this gateway. Along the line of the
embankment, where not effaced by the plow, are buttress-like enlarge-
ments (S), projecting outwards from 20 to 30 feet. The distance be-
tween these enlargements varies, increasing from east to west. Two
measured on the east were 97 feet apart, two on the north 107, and two
on the west 120 feet. Standing on the outer edge of one of these en-
largements a person commands a clear view along the line for some
distance. The eastern portion of the embankment rises 6 to 8 feet
above the level of the adjoining field and the top is nearly level with
the general surface of the field containing mounds A and B.

Careful search was made for an embankment extending to the bluff
on the west, but no indications of such could be discovered. There is
a ridge (Shown by hachured lines on Pl. x1) somewhat resembling
the earthwork already mentioned, which was found to extend east and
west for a short distance north of the regular embankment, It is wider
than the other and was traced to the edge of the woods, where all signs
of it were lost, nor could it be found beyond mound E. It is probably a
natural swell of the surface rather than an artificial structure. No
ditches were found near either of the earth walls, if the latter may be
so called.

There is an excavation of considerable extent, in which large forest
trees are growing, a short distance north of the inclosure. It is from
this excavation that the earth composing the large mound was in all
probability taken, as on the side towards this the slope is very gradual.

Mounds A and B are situated on the farm of Charles Grimm, C, D,
and E on Silas Angel’s farm, and mound F on Edward Collins’s farm.

The distances between the mounds, measuring from center to center,
are as follows:

Feet. Feet
INA Ifa Ne Sassen eeee Ge ae Bad G00) | MCNCOVW ee prea cee nee nate ae: Sees 500
FARO} Caer ame eta enced cas GSO sl MCxtion Whe eee ces ee eee eee oe hal 1, 080
IN-GNI DE Seas DSS eee See See ADEA SD) ILOMB acs es ceee ost eee Sees 1, 050
NGCOME EE ee ta wae ost k sae 2 Vatate ia Daryl Dae a es RN Hees ea a 1, 030
INOUE se tetas on att Sas eee TEAS OMIM EN TONEN Coe ye eee eee tee ee A 1, 556
,C} (1) 1D 3 eee arse ape eee aren 500

In a few instances both in the eastern and western parts of the dis-
trict mounds have been explored containing stone gravesof the regular
box-shaped type. Also some instances occur of earth-mounds covered
over with a layer of stones, as mounds in southeastern Indiana and in
the Kanawha valley in West Virginia are found occasionally to be.

A number of ordinary small burial mounds found on the bluffs and
higher grounds of Pike and Brown counties, Illinois, opened by the
Bureau agent, were constructed in the usual method in this portion of
the district—that is, with a layer of hard mortar-like substance, or clay
and ashes mixed, covering the skeletons or bottom layer. The positions

560 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

‘
of the skeletons found were various and the number of intrusive burials
unusually large. The peculiarity observed was that in a number where
there were intrusive burials near the surface no skeletons, or but the
slightest fragments of bones of the original burial below the hard, un-
disturbed layer, could be found, although there were clear indications
that the mounds were built and had apparently been used for general
interment.

As yet but comparatively few cemeteries, or burials not in mounds,
have been discovered, although they are quite common in southern
Illinois, which, for reasons hereafter given, is included in the Tennessee
district. In the latter, however, the bodies are usually inclosed in
stone graves, which is very rarely the case with those in the northern
part of the state. In some graves discovered on the gravelly point of
a ridge in Lasalle county, among the relics found were rude stone pipes,
shell beads, and a clay vessel made to represent a squatting human

‘figure. Image pottery of this type is quite common in southern Ilinois
and southeastern Missouri, but is exceedingly rare in the northern part
of the state, or in fact in any part of the district.

Although as a general rule the conical mounds of this district are
burial tumuli, yet there is a class found in considerable numbers at
certain points which appear to have been intended simply as dwelling
sites. Some of these have already been uoticed. Others are found
along the Mississippi in its course between Iowa and Illinois. They
are small, varying from 15 to 50 feet in diameter and from 1 to 3 or 4
feet in height, flattish on top. They are always in groups, occasion-
ally of considerable extent. Excavations have revealed beds of burnt
clay and ashes and a few burnt stones. It must be remarked, however,
that the tumuli of this type found in northern Illinois appear in several
vases, judging by the accompanying works, to be attributable to the
authors of the effigy mounds. Those last mentioned are found chiefly
in Mercer, Whitesides, and Rock Island counties.

In this district are found also hut-rings or lodge sites marking the
locations of ancient villages. These however are not in so great num-
bers as in the district immediately south, yet they are discovered oc-
sasionally from western Iowa to eastern Indiana, thus extending over
an area that must have been occupied in prehistoric times by several
different tribes.

True pyramidal mounds are of rare occurrence in the district; be-
sides those mentioned, two or three have been observed in western
Illinois, one in Iowa, and one or two in the central part of Missouri,
though it is doubtful whether the last mentioned should be included in
this district.

There are but few inclosures, the most important being those in Alla-
makee county, lowa, described in the preceding part of this volume, and
also in the Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau. On the banks of Fox
river, in La Salle county, Illinois, there is an irregularly semicircular wall

THOMAS. ] THE OHIO DISTRICT. 561

° : ‘
forming an inclosure of comparatively small size. There are, at one
point in Louisa eounty, Iowa, two parallel walls across a bluff point.
As each has a ditch on the side of approach it is evident they were
thrown up as defensive works. There are a few inclosures in western
and middle Indiana. In addition to those-alluded to, one in Orange

county is worthy of passing notice. It consists.of a double wall and ,

an intervening ditch; on the inclosed area are twelve small mounds sup-
posed from the slight exploration made to be dwelling Sites,

There have been discovered in Cass and Whitesides counties, Ili-
nois, some rather singular antiquities in the form of stone floors or pave-
ments; some in mounds but others under the surface with no mound
above them. These are described as composed of flat stones fitted as
closely together as possible without dressing, usually over a space
about 12 by 8 feet and depressed in the middle to the depth of 10 inches.
Some of these floors consist of only one layer of stones, others of two,
The stones are found reddened and cracked by long exposure to heat, and
in one instance were covered with a mass of ashes and coals a foot thick
in the center. Scattered through this mass were the charred human
bones of at least threeskeletons, but there were indications that more
bodies than these had been burned here. This mass, however, had evi-
dently been covered with dirt while yet smouldering. Stone floors, so
far as Lam aware, have as yet been discovered at but three or four

“other points—one in southern Illinois, ‘another at Fort Ancient, Ohio,
and another in western Pennsylvania. Those, however, of Cass and
Whitesides counties, if we may judge by the description, which is not
very clear, seem to bear a closer resemblance to the basin-shaped clay
beds of the mounds in Little Tennessee valley than to any other re-
mains yet observed.

Several caches of flint implements have been- found in the valley of
the Illinoisriver. In some cases those found in a single cache amounted
to several hundred. In one instance, where the number hidden away
amounted to some hundreds, a pit had been dug and the implements
deposited in regular. layers with alternate layers of sand between.
This seems to justify the conclusion reached by some archeologists that

the object was to render them more easily worked to the desired finish. .

THE OHIO DISTRICT.

This ineludes, as at present defined, the eastern part of Indiana, all
of Ohio, except the northern belt along the lake border belong:ng to
the Huron-Iroquois district, and the southwestern portion of West Vir-
ginia. The eastern and western limits are not well marked and no
attempt is made here to give definite boundaries in these directions.
On the south, the Ohio river appears to form a pretty well defined
limit, thé peculiar features of the opposite districts showing themselves
but seldom on the northern side.

12 ETH——36

we

a 562 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

.

As the principal works of this dligttiet have been often described aud
are well known, a brief mention of the distinguishing features and
notice of some types not so well known i is all that is deemed necessary

her e.
= INCLOSURES.

The works of this kind found in the district are generally and justly
considered its distinguishing archéological feature. These may, in a
general sense, bé treated under three heads: First, the hill forts; see-
ond, the geometrical inclosures ; and, third, the defensive walls forming
partial ine losures.

The first class, which corresponds with Squier and Davis's * ‘works of
defense,” includes those works built unquestionably for defense on ele-
vated and naturally strong positions. The localities selected are usually
bluff headlands, isolated, hills, and elevated points .defended on either

hand by deep ravines, leaving only a narrow neck connecting the upper
level with the levél of the high plateau. The sides of these elevations

are generally steep and’ difficult of access, in some cases precipitous

aud apparently inaccessible to any attacking party.

If we examine the works figured oa Pls. Iv, V, V1, VII, Vil (Nos. 1, 3,
and 4), PI. 1x (Nos. 1 and 2), and (No. 3) Pl. x11 of “* Ancient Monuments,”
we find evidence of deliberate and thoughtful attempts to fortify posi-

tious naturally very strong. In nearly all of these instances the posi-

tions chosen are elevated, isolated, or nearly isolated, areas with pre-
cipitous descents on two or more Sides. ~ Along the margin of the descent,

usually following the windings and indentations of the bluff, a wall of
stone, of stones and earth, or earth alone, has been thrown up, a diteh.

running algng the inier side furnishing the earthy material. In some

eases where the commencement of the descent from the upper area is

not abript the wall is carried along the slope a short distance below
the upper level, as, for example, at “Fortified Hill,” in Butler cqunty,
Ohio.

It is trué, as the authors of * Ancient Monuments” state, that works
of this partiealar type “are never commanded from neighboring posi-
tions,” a fact no doubt of some significance when we come to compare

these works with other inclosures which seem to have been intended -

fora similar purpose, that of defense. This, however, will be referred to
hereafter.

Some of these works present indications of erawth or change subse-
quent to their erection. For example, the smaller area of Fort Ancient,
occupying the point of the bluff, appears to be somewhat older than the
remaining portion, a theory advanced by the author in an article in
“ Science,” in 1886,’ and adopted by Mr. Moorehead in his “ Fort An-
cient,” in which he repeatedly uses the terms “Old Fort? and “ New
Fort” for the two parts, and in the sense here indicated! The -in-

' Anc. Mon., Pl. v1. 5 “Vol. 8, Dee. 10, 1886, p. 538.

THOMAS.) A THE ‘OHIO DISTRICT. ke 563

closure shown in Ne, 3, Pl. x1, “ Ancient Meaaients? where there are
two walls same dikrante e apart, is probably an instance where the in-
éldsed area was contracted subsequent to its first occupancy. This is
inferred from the fact that the inner wall passes over a mound (probably
natural) which it seems would have been avoided in the original plan
when the line might have been fixed wherever desired. — It is also prob-

able that some of the short walls about the chief gateway of “ Forti-

fied Hill,” Butler county, shown. in PI. vt, ‘Ancient Monuments,” are
additions to the original plan. The reasons for this supposition become
more apparent upon a personal examination of the tapographical features
of the locality. The easy appr oach at this gateway renders it the weak
point of the fort.

The work with the double wall above mentioned ad some others in
central and southwestern Ohio, similar in character, except that they
usually consist of a single wall and ditch, belong to a slightly different
type than the “hill forts” referred to, aaa constitute the third class
above mentioned. They occupy peninsulas formed by the bends-of the
rivers or larger streams, and the headlands at the junctions of deep
ravines or uniting streams, and consist of a curved or irregular line of
wall and ditch across the isthmus, or running from one bank to the
other, the precipitous descents at the sides and around the point forming,
the defenses at these points of the area. Some of these works bear a
strong resemblance to the works in the northern part of Ohio, which
we have ascribed to the tribes of the Huron-Iroquois district, and, pos-
sibly, may be due in part to-some tribes of this family. It is to be
observed that a few of the same type occur in Kentucky. They may
have been erected by the people who built the more elaborate hill forts,
yet [ am rather inclined to doubt this. However, as they are simple in
character and are found at widely separate points in the mound ared,
it is unsafe to consider them of ethnic sigifificance without further.
proof. We will probably be justified in assuming that they can not be
ascribed to the builders of the geometrical works whieh constitute our
second class of inclosures. >

“* The works of this second class are usually more or less regular in

form and are located on level areas, generally in the river valleys.
The leading types of this class are the well known circles, squares, and
octagons, or, as they are collectively termed, ‘ geometrical works,” found
chiefly in the Scioto valley and about Newark, Ohio. Others which

may be included in the class, though varying from the typical forms,

are found in. the Kanawha valley, West Virginia. Most of those of
southern and central Ohio are figured with comparative accuracy by
Messrs. Squier and Davis in “Ancient Monuments.” But when dedue-
tions are to be drawn depending upon accurate measurements, it will
be necessary to take into. consideration certain errors in their work
pointed out by the present author in a bulletin entitled “The Gircular,
Square, and Octagonal Earthworks of Ohio,”.published by the Bureau

564 i MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

in 1889. This precaution is necessary because important inferences in
regard to the origin and authors of these works have been drawn from
the measurements given in “Ancient Monunients” and the assuring
statement of the authors that these were made by them in person with
great care. Notwithstanding this and the undeniable fact that a few
of the circles and squares approximate very closely to true geometrical
_ figures, and that some three or four are found to correspond pretty
closely in size and form, yet the apparent errors in this respect mani-
fest in their work and shown by a resurvey of some of the groups,
render it necessary in making close comparison to have recourse to a
more exact survey. The Bureau has endeavored to have this done, the
“result of which is shown in the bulletin referred to and in the preced-
ing part of this volume.

The statement by the above named authors in regard to the general
character of the works of this type, condensed as follows, may be
accepted as correct:

They are mostly regular in their structure and occupy the broad and level river
bottoms, seldom occurring upon the tablelands or whére the surface of the ground
is undulating or broken. They are usually square or circular in form; sometimes
they are slightly elliptical. Sometimes we find them isolated, but more frequently
in groups. The greater number of the circles are of comparatively small size, vary-

‘ing in diameter from 150 to 400 feet, and having the ditch, when present (as is usu-
ally the case), inteyjor to the wall. They have, as an almost universal rule, a single
gateway. Apart from these, numerous little circles 30 to 50 feet in diameter are

“observed in the vicinity of large works. [These hut-rings, for such undoubtedly
they were, have nearly all been obliterated, scarcely a single one remaining at this
time.] The larger circles are oftenest found in combination with rectangular works
connected with them directly or by avenues. Some of these circles are of great

extent, embracing 50 or more acres, though generally from 15 to 25. They seldom’

have a ditch, but whenever it occurs it is interior to the wall. The connected square
or rectangular works never have ditches exterior or interior. ‘The walls of these
inclosures are composed of earth taken up evenly from the surface or from large
shallow pits near by. They vary in height (with one or two exceptions), where not
worn down by the plow, from 3 to7 feet, and in width at base from 25 to45 feet. The
“Pair-Ground Circle” E at Newark, however, has a wall which, at some points,
reaches a height of from 15 to 17 feet above the ground level. In one or two instances
the circles are formed by two walls with a diteh between them, as the one at Cirele-
ville described by Atwater.

These authors express the belief that the works of this type were

not erected for defensive purposes, but were designed for sacred, or
religious uses and as places for performing superstitious rites, This

theory has been accepted by a large portion of subsequent writers .

upon this subject, among whom we may name as prominent Dr. Daniel
Wilson. There are, however, exceptions worthy of notice. Baldwin,
in his Ancient America, expresses no’‘decided opinion on the question,
but suggests “that a portion of them, it may be, encircled villages or
towns.” . Foster (Prehistoric Races), although a decided opponent to the

theory of the Indian origin of the mounds, objects to the suggestion that .

these valley inclosures were built for religious purposes, basing his

THOMAS. ] THE OHIO DISTRICT. 565

opinion Jargely upon his knowledge of the Indian modes of defense. His
remarks on this point have so much force in them that we quote une
following paragraph:

Those works in northern Ohio and Western New York, which exhibit the trenches
on the outside of the parapet, are also classed as‘defensive, while those which oceupy
leyel plateaux in thé valley of the Ohio, with the trench inside, which are by far
the most numerous [?] are classed as sacred inclosures. I do not recognize the im-
portanceof this distinetion. Many writers, who have speculated upon this feature,
seem to have adopted the idea thut the enemy, whoever he may haye been, settled
down before these works, as did the Greeks under the walls of Troy, and engaged
in a protracted siege. Now, every one acquainted with Indian warfare knows that
it consists in surprises. A blow is struck, a massacre ensues,-and a retreat follows. i
Savages have not the means of subduing a fortification by regular approaches, nor
the accumulated provisions to sustain them while awaiting the result. A company
of infantry on the plains, protected by an enclosure of palisades, trunks of trees set
upright and sharpened to a point, may defy the combined power of the Indians
indefinitely, or until their supplies give out. The mound-builders, if their enemies
were like modern Indians, had only to guard against sudden attacks, and a row of
pickets, without reference to whether the trench were inside or outside, would be
effectual. Catlin has shown that the Mandans, in fortifying their villages, con-
structed the ditch instde, the warriors using the embankment as a shelter while they
shot their arrows through the interstices of the pickets.!

Short? carefully avoids any discussion of the questien, w hich fact may
be accepted as a-clear indication that he did not feel inclined to give
his. assent to the view advanced by the authors of “Ancient Monu-
ments.” Nadaillac,’ on the other hand, is disposed to adopt it in a
modified sense” But in the American edition, the following words
introduced by the editor, Prof. Dall, express an entirely. opposite
view: ‘It is more reasonable to suppose theni to have been fortified
villages, according to a usage met with in vafious parts of the Missis-
sippi valley by the first explorers.”

Lewis H. Morgan’ remarks that “with respect to the large civeular
inclosures adjacent to and communicating with the squares, it is not _
necessary that we should know their object. The one attached to the
High Bank Pueblo contains 20 acres of land, and doubtless subserved
some useful purpose in their plan of life. The “first suggestion which
presents itself is, that as a substitute for a fentve it surrounded the gar-
den of the village in which they cultivated their maize, beans, squashes,
and “tobaceo.. At the Minnitare village a similar inclosure may now
be Seen by the side of the village surrounding their cultivated land,
consisting partly of hedge and partly of stakes.” This is the most
likely explanation of these works that has yet been presented. Whether
these dirt walls Were mere supports to stockadeg is a question not yet

settled; nevertheless, as they were intended as a protection not only

against wild beasts, but also against human foes, it is probable ee they

1 Letters and notes * * * onthéN.A.Indians, ? L’/ Amérique Bronondne:

“London, 1844, vol. I, p. 81. «Prehistoric races) 4 P 101.

1881, pp. 174-175. © Houses and House Life of the American Abo-
2 North Americans of Antiquity. riginese.

>
*
. ;
. . -
°

566 . MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

were surmounted by stakes or supported a wooden fence or sqreen of
some kind. The fact that the ditch, when present, is en the inside, is
not an important factor in reaching a conclusion, as this is quite con-
sistent with the Indian mode of warfare, as suggested by Foster.

In addition to the types of inclosures and defensive wall$ mentioned
there are some ether varieties that deserve a passmg notice. The
lines of paraHel avalls, as those at Newark and Portsmouth, Ohio, are

well known examples of one peculiar type. Some of the singulat works,
described and figured in Ancient Monuments and elsewhere are to a

large extentimaginary. Of these we may name Nos.1 and 2, Pl. xxxIv

of that work. The wing to No. 1 is not only imaginary, but, according .

to the Bureau assistant who visited the locality, was made impossible
by the topography.- -

In the Kanawha valley the forms seem to be related to the regular
works of Ohio, though much changed. Wesee hill forts here as there,

and circular inclosures with a single gateway; but, instead of the com-

bined circle and square, we see here elongate figures with parallel sides

“and semicircular ends. But it must be remembered that here the space

is much contracted, rendering the construction of such extensive and
elaborate works as those of the Scioto valley impossible. Moreover,
these mountain valleys could. only have been temporary retreats for

* large tribes or only for those devoted to hunting.

ry

NEWARK AND HIGH BANK CIRCLES.

We insert here figures of the “Observatory” (Pl. .xx1) 4nd “Fair
Ground” (PI. xxi) eireles at Newark (Pls. xxxt and XL), and of the
“High Bank” circle (Pl. xxii) near Chillicothe from a recent survey
made by Mr. Henry Gannett, Geographer of the U. 8S. Geological
Survey, in person, with use of plane table, in order to show the form
of-the walls. The dimensions and form as found by this survey are
in such close agreement with that made by Mr. Middleton that they
may be considered practically the same.

BURIAL MOUNDS.

The peculiarity of the mounds of this region which has been most
frequently referred to as a marked *characteristic is the presence in
those of comparatively large size of a basin-shaped mass of clay: at
the bottom, to which the term ‘“ altar” has been applied; but as this is
limited to a particular class, a more general description is necessary in
order to throw light upon the customs of the mound-builders of this dis-
trict. We therefore refer first to the burial mounds. .

“The conclusion reached by the authors of Ancient Monuments in
regard to the burial tumuli of this region is given in general terms as
follows:

Mounds of this class are very numerous. They are Reto of considerable size,

varying from 6 to 80 feetin height, but having an average altitude of from 15 to 20 or
25 feet.. They stand without the walls of inclosures at a distance more or less remote

-

. -

_ THOMAS. ] THE OHIO DISTRICT. Z ? 567

from them. Many are isolated, with no nthe -& Monuments near them; but they fre-
quently « oceur in groups, sometimes in close connection with each other and exhib-
. iting a dependence which was not-without its meaning. They are destitute of altars,
nor do they possess the regilarity which characterizes the ‘ templé mounds.” Their
usual form is that ofa simple cone; sometimes they are elliptical or pear-shaped.

These mouiids invariably cover a skeleton (in very rare instances more than one,.

“as in the case of the ‘Grave creek mound), which at the time of interment was envel-
oped in bark or coarse matting, or inclosed in a rude sare ophagus of timber, the
traces and, in some instances, the very casts of which refain. Occasionally

- the chamber of the dead is built of stone, rudely laid up without cement of any
kind. Buriak by fire seems to have been frequently practiced by the mound-build-
ers. Urn burial also appears to have prevailed to aconsiderable extent in the South-
ern States. With the skeletons in these niounds are found various remains of art,
comprising ornaments, utensils, and tveapons.!

These conclusions can not be accepted as generally applicable even
in the region now being considered. ’ Instead of the average altitude
_ being from 15 to 25 feet, it is less than 10 feet. Nor is the statement
~ that they very rarely cover more than oné Skeleton to be taken as a
general rule, but as applicable only to those examined by these authors.

‘The noanid of this class in this district (which, as before stated,
includes West Virginia) present the following types:

-(1) Those containing a vault or sarcophagus constructed of. timber,
in which thé body or bodies were interred. This is in most casey at the
bottom of the mound, resting on the original surface of the ground, though
it is occasionally at some distance up in the mound, and a few instances
occur where it is sunk in the original soil. The bodies interred in
these were usually wrapped in bark. These vaults are either round or
quadrangular, the latter sometimes built up of logs laid lengthwise,
but in other cases, as are the former, of posts placed perpendicularly
side by side. In a few instances those in which the logs are laid hori-
zoutally are strengthened by upright posts at the corners, and in one

‘or two instances one circular vault stood. immediately above. another.

Some of these differences are slight, but*important from the fact that
they are not common and, so far as fae found in no other district,
- being limited to a comparatively few mounds; but most ‘of these are
important ones. They also form*connecting fines which indicate some
; - relation between the builders of the works of Ohio and West Virginia.
In some cases fire-beds oceur within the larger vaults, while in
cases of some smaller ones. there are indications that tire was kindled
on top of the vault after being’ completed: Prof. E. B. Andrews
describes one of the latter, which he opened-in Athens BIO RI as fol-

lows: .°

This is a low mound, about 6 feet high, with a bread base, perhaps 40 feet .in
diameter. It has for year$ been plowed over and its original heighf has been con-

> __ siderably reduced. “ My attention was drawn to this mound by the burnt clay on

its top. A trench 5 feet wide was dug through the center. On thé’east side much
burnt yellow clay was found, while on the west end of the trench cgnsiderable
black earth appeared, which I took to be kitchen refuse. About 5 feet below the

——— — a =- =.

'P. 161.

*

568 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. *
?

top we came upon large quantities of charcoal, especially on the western side.

Underneath the’ chareoal was found a skeleton with the head to the éast. The

body had evidently been inclosed in some wooden structure. First, there was a y

platform of wood placed upon the ground on the original level of the plain. On

this wooden floor timbers or logs were placed on each side of the body longitudi-

_ nally, and over these timbers there were laid other pieces of wood, forming an in-

* closed box or coffin. A part of this wood was only charred; the rest, was burnt to
ashes. The middle part of the body was in the hottest fire, and many of the verte-
bree, ribs, and other bones were burnt to a black cinder, and at this point the
inclosing timbers were burnt to ashes. The timbers inclosing the lower extremities
= only charred.

I am led to think that before any fire was kindled a layer of dirt was thrown over
the wooden structure, making a sort of burial. On this dirt a fire was built, but by
some misplacement of the dirt the fire reached the timbers’ below, and at such points
as the air could penetrate there was an active combustion, but at others, where the
dirt still remained, there was only a smothered fire, likesthat ina charcoal pit. It is
difficult to explain the existence of the charred timbers in any other way. There
must have been other fires than that immediately around and abeve the body, and
mapy of them, because oy one Side of the mound the clay is burned even to the top
ofthe mound. In one place, 3 feet above the body, the clay is vitrified.

_ dt is possible that fires were built at different levels and*that most of the ashes
cwere blown away by winds which often sweep over the plain. I have stated that
there was first laid down a sort of floorof wood, on which the body was placed. On
the same floor were placed about 500 copper beads, forming a line almost around the
Ls ed ty j ¥ : e ;

{2)> Mounds containing ‘structures of stones. These structures are

as ae two or three different types, which are apparently of ethnic signifi- -

eance.

* The two principal varieties are the box-shaped cist and the dome-
shaped vault. The latter are seldom found of the usual form in this
district; some in the extreme southern portion of Ohio which seem to
be of ethnic significance and to belong to a small separate district,
mostly in Kentucky, aré made of angular stones arranged in succes-
sive series from the base to the top.- In a few cases these cover other
little vaults of various formS made by settimg stone slabs on edge or
leaning them together so as to form a roof-shaped structure.

Stone vaults and cists are usually found in earthen mounds, yet they
oecasionally oceur in those of stone. Atwater says :?

Isaw one of these stone tumuli which had been piled on the surface of the earth,
on the spot where three skeletons had been buried in stone coffins, beneath the sur-
face. * * * The graves appear to have been dug to about the depth of ours in
the peesent time. After the bottoms and sides were lined with thin, flat stones, the
corpses were placed in these graves. = 4

In some cases a low stone wall, a foot or So in height, is built around
the outer margin of the moupd, but so as to be within the outer line
and covered*by the earth of the mound. But thése do not appear to be
in all cases burial mounds.

In one or two instances the floor of the mound has been found cov-
ered with stones placed in from. one to three regular layers. A stone

layer in the body of the mound or over the burials, in other words a

1 Tenth Be: Peabody Ee Vol. 11, pp. 59-60. 2 Trans. Amer. anes Soc., Vol. 1 (1820), p. 184

nHOMAS] * THE OHIO DISTRICT. * 7 1569

stone stratum, is not rare, but floors of the kind mentioned are exceed-
ingly uncommon. .
A somewhat singular type occw's sparingly in the-Indiana and West

- Virginia portions of the district. In this variety, instead of the stones
being inside, they form a covering over the outside, usually in noe form

of a Single layer. , . .

(3) Mounds in which the skeletons are inclosed neither in wooden
nor in stone vaults, nor in pits in the original soil. As the claracteris-
ties of this class are negative, a few exanaples will convey a better idea
of them than any attempt to give a general description.

Messrs. Squier and Davis! describe’a mound 65 or 70 feet in diame-
ter, 15 feet high, unstratified, and composed of earth take from the
surrounding plain. Nothing worthy of remark was found until the
base was reached. Here a single skeleton was discovered, lying hori-
zontally, which had been simply enveloped in-bark. The burial in this
ease they supposed to have been as follows: ? ,

The surface of the ground was first carefully leveled and packed over an area
perhaps 10 or 15 feet square. This area was then covered with sheets of bark, on
which, in the center, the body of the dead was deposited, with a few articles of
stone at its side, and a few small ornaments near the head. It was then covered
over with another layer of bark and the mound heaped above.

A mound in the Kanawha Valley, West Virginia, opened by Col.
Norris, and described in the preceding part of this volume, presented
precisely similar features.

Atwater, speaking of a mound at C hillicothe, says

Its perpendicular height was about 15 feet-and the diameter of its base about 60. It

was composed of sand and contained human hones belonging to skeletons which were
buried in different parts of it. It was not until this pile of earth was carefully removed
and the original surface exposed to view that a probable conjecture of its original
design could be formed. About 20 feet square of the surface had been l¢veled and
covered with bark. On the center of this lay a human skeleton, oyer which had
been spread a mat manufactured either from weeds [veeds?] or bark.

Other mounds of this class show no preparation of the original sur-

face nor indications of bark wrappings, the bodies having been simply

laid upon the surfaceof the ground-and covered with earth. | In other
cases the bones, partially charred, are found in ashes, the earth beneath
and about them burned. In afew instances the bones are ina confused
heap, more or less charred, and ashes are about them, but no other in-
dications of heat, the burning having been done before depositing. In
some cases of burial on the original surface and in excavations in the
original soil, some of the skeletons are folded, though this method of
arranging the body does not appear to have been practiced to any
considerable extent in this district. . - j

(4) Mounds wholly or partly of stone. Some rather singular mounds
have been described as found in different parts of Ohio, but unfortu-
nately they have nearly all been removed and the descriptions are hased

1Anc. Mon., p. 164. 2Trans. Amer. Antiq. Soc., Vol. 1, p. 181.

*

570 : MOUND EXPLORATIONS. * -

largely on memory and second-hand statements and hence do not have -

that stamp of accuracy and authenticity desirable. For example, a large
stone mound, which formerly stood a short distance from Newark, is
described! as circular in form, 182 feet in diameter and some 40 or 50,
feet high, composed of stones. These, when’ removed, were found to

- cover sonfe fifteen or sixteen small earth mounds. In one of these were
human bonés and river shells; in another was a layer of hard, white,

re clay, and 2 or 3 feet below this was a wooden trough covered with a
layer of small logs, in which was «a skeleton that appeared to have been
wrapped in some kind of coarse cloth: " With it were fifteen copper rings
and a breastplate (gorget) of the same. metal. The clay above it being
inpervious to water, the wood and bones were well preserved. The
wood bore what appeared to be the marks of some hard, metallic

tool. Another of these earth tumuli contained a Eneee SLES of human |

bones. - ms

A mound near Madisonville open on behalf of the Peabody Museum
was found to cover a stone heap 5 feet high and 90 feet in diameter.
In this the remains of 71 skeletons were found. “In addition to the

outer stones of the mound, each body had been surrounded with stones *

at the time of burial,” some set on edges, others simply piled around
the bodies. "A small mound in the- Kanawha valley, covered with a
layer of stones, was found to be composed of stones and clay mixed.

' In the center was a single skeleton in -a cist formed of stone slabs.

Simple stone cairns, some of which cover human remains, and others
that show no indications of having been used for burial purposes,
although not common, are found at various points in this district.

A singular variety of stone mounds, though not generally used for
burial purposes, has been observed in Kanawha valley. These are
usually sharply conical, built up generally by placing layer after layer

‘of stones shingle fashion around a éentral space, so that when complete

a well-like hole is left in the center. In a few instances two of these
holes are found in one mound. . * :

Of the tumuli supposed to have been erected for other than burial’

purposes tlie "most noted are those which Messrs. Squier and Davis
have designated “sacrificial mounds,” but are more commonly known
at the’ present time as “alfar mounds.” They are usually compara-
tively large in size and eqnical in form, often having a top layer of gravei
and pebbles. At the bottom, on the original surface of the ground, is
usually a regularly shaped inass of burned clay, with a basin-like depres-

sion in the middle, to which the authors aboye named have applied the’

term ‘“altar,? supposing it to have been used as a place to offer up pro-
pitiatory sacrifices. This mass of clay is circular, square, or oblong in
form, varying in diameter or length from 4 or 5 to 50 feet and in height
from 1 to2 feet. The basin- shaped a ON in the top isalways circu-

- . |'Smithson. Rep. 1866, p. 359.

THOMAS] ~ “ THE OHIO DISTRICT i ; 571

lar and the Outer margins .of the mass are usually much sloped. Be-
tween the top layer of gravel and the clay structure at the bottom there
are generally from one to four thin layers of sand, This type is confined
almost exclusively to the southern half of Ohio; the exceptions, so far
as known, being in Illinois and West Virginia.

Some of the mounds of this type, as has been Enea by the Eeaiora:
tions of the Bureau agents and others, were certatmly used by the build-
ers as places for depositing the dead. :

Other mounds tot used for burial purposes are quite generally sup-
posed to have been erected as signal stations. While many of them
are undoubtedly well situated for this purpose and no other explana-
tion can now be given for their use, yet I must confess to considerable
doubt of the correctness of this conclusion. Of all those seen by the
writer the one best situated for this purpose is found.in Knox county,
Ohio, and’ described in the preceding volume as the’Staats mound. It
was opened by Mr. Middleton, of the Bureau, and found to contain, a
large amount of ashes, but no indications of burial. The outer border
was surrounded by a low stone wall. From this, which is located upon

* a high bluff point that projects into the valley, the opposite range of

hills and the valley, in which we may suppose the aboriginal village
to have been situated and where-an Indian village was actually located
in early pioneer days, may be clearly-seen for some miles both above
and below. - It is more than probable that the point where the mound

- is situated was ‘selected as a signal station, and that the mound was

in some way connected therewith; nevertheless the idea that mounds
on such elevated points were built to add to the height, to extend the
view, seems to the writer preposterous. :

PYRAMIDAL MOUNDS.

Structures of this class, though not common in this district, “are not

entirely wanting. As examples we may refer to those forming part of

the Marietta group so frequently described and figured in works relat-

* ing to American archeology. Besides these we notice mounds of. this

class in, connection with the Cedar Bank works and one with the Baum
works, a description of which is given in the preceding part of this re-
port. The exploration of the latter proves that in some cases Mounds
of this class were used as depositories for the dead.

STONE GRAVES.

The fact that these are occasionally found in mounds has incidentally
been noticed. Others, however, of the box- shaped type not in mounds,
have been discovered in nage numbers in various parts of the dis-
trict. These have perhaps been observed in the greatest number in

_ Ashland county, Ohio, at points wliere old Delaware villages were

located. Others occur in eastern Indiana, especially in Franklin
county; in the Kanawha valley, West Virginia, and elsewhere.

*

572 MQUND EXPLORATIONS.
“ + CEMETERIES AND ASH PITS.

A somewhat remarkable cemetery, in connection with which are
numerous ash pits, has been discovered by the agents of the Peabody
museum inthe vicinity of Madisonville, Ohio. This cemetery extends

over an area of 15 acres. It seems to consist of bodies simply buried —

_in the earth to the depth of 2 or 3 feet below the surface. Under the

leaf mold, scattered among the graves and almost as abundant, are
small, well-like pits from’s to 4 feet in diameter and from.4 to 7-feet
deep. From the fact that most of them contain ashes they have been
designated “ash pits.” The ashes found in them are generally mixed
with kitchen refuse or the remains of cached material, such as maize.
In some of them corn, sometimes yet on the cob, has been found, and,
ina few, human bones. _ ee

It is said that the hilltops bordering the Mad river valley “are lit-
erally sown avith the dead.” In these cases “a pit has been dug and
the remains interred below the surface,” but the surface indications
are obliterated. “The bodies occur singly, or in graves grouped
together, or crowded promiscuously into large trenches, and are in

‘almost every position, prostrate and sitting.” Sometimes the parts of

the skeletons are separated, having been thrown in without order or
arrangement.

An insthniee was observed in Butler county, Ohio, in which a num-
ber of bodies buried in a natural mound had been. placed in-a circle
with the heads toward the center, a mode of burial notic ed in middle
Tennessee.

Shell and refuse heaps are rare. One, however, of considerable size,

has been discovered on Blennerhasset island, containing shells and

refuse materials. A small refuse: heap was fund beneath a mound in
West Virginia.

Some remarkable inseriptions or sculptured figures oceur on rocks

in the vicinity of Barnesville, Belmont county, Ohio. These consist of .

footprints, serpent. figures, face outlines, and various other forms.
Other inscriptions have been found in Cuyahoga county, near Newark,
in Licking county, and elsewhere. .

surial caves are of rare occurrence.in this district, two or three only
having been discovered.

The most extensive, series of ancient flint quarries in the United
States is found in the central part of Ohio, along what is known as
“Flint ridge,” extending across the southern part of Licking and-west-
ern part of Muskinguin counties. ‘Its most western point is or the
road leading from Newark to Zanesville, about 8 miles from the former
place and half a mile from the eastern line of Franklin township. From
here it extends eastward across Hopewell township and about 2 miles
into Muskingum county, making its entire length very nearly 8 miles,
counting by section lines, and fully 10 miles following the turns of the
road. At about 2 miles from its western end, north of the village of

THOMAS. ] THE APPALACHIAN DISTRICT. 573

Brownsville, it reaches its greatest breadth, 24 miles.”! Pits are found

in great numbers over this area. At one point 10 or .12 acres have
been dug over, at another’ 6, at another 2, and so on. In some places
the pits extend in continuous lines for half a mile or more. Ancient
‘““work-shops” are abundant here. Of these Mr. Smith distinguishes
two classes or varieties, the “blocking-out shops” and the “finishing
Shops.” ‘At the first kind, which are always near the pits, it seems the
flint blocks were brought to a size and shape convenient for dréssing
into such implements as were desired. In them are always found the
largest hammers, though smaller ones are sometimes picked up as well.
* * * These finishing shops are characterized by the smaller frag-
ments, thin flakes, and broken or unfinished implements, very seldom
found in the blocking-out shops. The hammers found in them are
generally of small size.”? :

The peculiar features of the district are to be found in the form, size,
and regularity of the lowland inclosures, the size and character’ of the
hill forts, the so-called “altars” in the typical mounds, some certain
forms of vaults, the presence in large numbers of monitor pipes, and
certain ornamental lines and figures of pottery. Yet these features
apply moré particularly to the central and southern portions of Ohio

- than to the whole district. Nevertheless they are so intimately related
to what seem to be but modifications-of these types in eastern Indiana
and West Virginia that there can be but little doubt that they are
attributable to the same people. There’are, however, clear indications
of the presence of three or four different tribes of mound-builders or
different waves of population in this district.

THE APPALACHIAN DISTRICT.

This district includes east Tennessee, or that part of the state east of
the Cumberland mountains; the western part of North Carolina; the
extreme southwestern part of Virginia and a strip along the northern
* part of Georgia. The portion of Georgia mentioned is also included in
the, “ Tennessee district,” and perhaps should also be included in the

Gulf district, as there appears to be an intermingling here of the types

of the three districts.

The ancient works of this district present some marked peculiarities
in the Construction of the mounds, the modes of, burial, and the forms
of the pipes.’ As these peculiarities have been brought to light through
the explorations carried on by the Bureau of Ethnology, the descrip-

tions of the mounds will be found in the preceding part of this volume ~

and hence need only be referred to here. They are also partly described
and contents noted in the paper by the present writer entitled “ Burial
Mounds of the Northern Section,” in the Fifth Annual Report of the
Bureau of Ethnology, and in a work entitled “The Cherokees in pre-
Columbian Times.”

'C.M. Smith, Smithson. Rep., 1884, p. 853. 2 Thid., pp. 864-864.

-

. people. - °

574 ; MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

BURIAL MOUNDS.

As the most characteristic archeologic features of the district dre -

found in the form of the burial mounds, their contents and the modes
‘of burial, reference is made to the mounds of this class first.

They are of several different types, but apparently the work of one

- A type confined chiefly to Caldwell county, Nareh Carolina, presents
some peculiar and interesting features. ’ In this a pit, usually circular,
but in one case triangular, is dug in the original soil 30 fo 40 feet in
diameter and to the depth of 2 to 3 feet. On the level bottom of this
pit the bodies (or skeletons) are placed, generally separately, some sit-
ting and covered over by little beehive-shaped vaults of cobble stone,
others without any such covering. ‘Some of these skeletons are in a
sitting posture, others l¥ing horizontally on the back or side. Over the
whole, dirt is thrown to fill up the pit and raise a slight mound. In

"some cases a number of skeletons are found together in one part of -

the pit. Buried with these skeletons are numerous stone pipes, polished
celts, engrayed shells, copper beads, and small, rude discoidal stones.
Another feature worthy of notice is the presence, in some of these
mounds, of altar-shaped piles of stones. E

In one instance in east Tennessee; instead of a pit there was a circu-
lar stone wall some 2 or 3 feet high, the little vaults being in this and
the mound built over all. 3

Some of the burial mounds along the -Little Tennessee river are of
comparatively large size, each usually marking the site of an ancient
village. In‘mosf of these was found a series of basin-shaped fire-beds
placed one above another. Scattered through the mound, except in
fhe lower stratum of from 2 to 6 feet, were numerous skeletons placed
horizontally in various directions. In some cases aS many as ninety
skeletons have been found in one nfound. : ed ‘

Of other types we may mention the following as occasionally oceur-

ring: Comparatively small mounds in which the skeletons are lying on ~

_ox near the original surface, side by side, with heads in one direction, or
in two series, the heads of the two series in, different directions. In
some cases a mound contains arude stone vault built up to the height
of 1 or 2 feet in a square or circular form in which are the remains
of One or more individuals. A most singular type has been observed
in western North Carolina, though it can not be stated positively that
it was erected for burial purposes, One of these, which will illustrate
the type, was a mound about 45 feet in diameter and 6 feet high. In
the center of this, resting on the original surface of the ground, was a
conical mass of charcoal and ashes, 16 feet #1 diameter at the base and
5 feet high. The outer portion of this'mass consisted of charcoal, evi-
dently the remains of pine poles, which had been placed in several
layers sloping toward the apex; the inner portion consisted of ashes
and coals mixed with earth, in which were found some burnt human

THOMAS.) : THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT. 5T5

bones, and a few accompanying articles, among which were two stones
‘with holes drilled through them. Fragments of bones and some relics
were at the base, in the center.

Another type, which is ‘found also in other districts, is the simple
burial mound heaped over bodies laid upon the original surface. * In

-this section they are generally stratified; the bodies, however, in these

mounds are often placed with evident reference to relative position,
contrasting-in this respect with burials in the, large mounds, where
skeletons are found with heads in various directions.

An important fact regarding the large mounds of this region, most
of.which appear. to have been used for burial purposes, thotgh some
but incidentally and not as the primary object of their construction,

the frequent ovcurrence of the remains of upright posts. These are |
so placed as to leave no doubt that they farmed parts of buildings .

erected on the mounds. In some cases tltey are in sufficient numbers
to indicate the form of the structure, which is generally circular, though

. :
occasionally rectangular.

STONE GRAVES.

Stone graves of the regular box shape are found in the valley of the
Little Tennessee and in the mountains through which it passes, as well
as in certain portions of northeastern Georgia. The last mentioned,
however, are embraced in the Tennessee district, that and the present
district overlapping at this point. The graves of this type in the valley
of the Little Tennessee river.are probably due, as will be shown here-
after, to an intrusive element-which temporarily obtained a foothold in
this part of the district. A single stone-grave mound has been discoy-
ered in the district; this was.also in the valley of the Little Tennessee.
One of the cists in this tumulus, the only one described, presented the
upusual feature of a roof-shaped coverilig.

ARTICLES FOUND,
> ~- ats

The most characteristic articles found in the mounds of this.distriet
are shell masks; engraved shells, usually bearing the conventional
serpent symbol; conical copper ear pendants; cylindrical copper beads;
stone pipes, usually with stems; polished celts; discoidal stones and
shell beads. A few articles indicating contact with European eiviliza-
tion, such as fragments of iron implements, hawk. bells, and glass
beads, have also been discovered in mounds of this section.

THE CENTRAL OR TENNESSEE DISTRICT

.This district, which is irregular in forni, is governed in its limits, ex:

cept perhaps at its eastern extremity, by no. geographical or topograph-
ical features; commencing on the west at or near the Mississippi between
the mouths of the Missouri and the Ohio, it extends southeast to the head-
waters of the Savannah. It includes that part of [linvis south of the

576 | MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

mouth of the Illinois river; all of Kentucky except the extreme north-
eastern portion; all of middle and most of west Tennessee and a strip
across the northern part of Georgia; and probably that portion of north-
“ern Alabama lying north of the Tennessee river. :

There is strong evidence of an intrusive element, or, as appears
more likely, a preceding and independent element, in the northern por-
tion of Kentucky and the extreme southern portion of Ohio, which area
should perhaps constitute a separate district, were it not for the over-
lapping and intermingling of types characteristic of the edie por-
tions of the neighboring districts.

The characteristics which distinguish the antiquities of this district
as a whole from those of most of the southern districts as‘well as from
those of the more northern areas are the following: The general dis-
tribution and large number of stone graves herein designated the ‘‘ box-
shaped” type, showing that this was the usual mode of burial practiced
by the aborigines of this area, and the occurrence of certain types of
copper articles and engraved shells. These may be considered as the
peculiar features. The other characteristics, which also prevail to a
greater or less extent in one or more adjoining districts are the forms,
character, and comparative abundance of pottery, the long-necked wa-
ter jar being a typical variety—southeastern Missouri and eastern Ark-
ansas being the only rivals in this respect; the occurrence of hut rings

found in equal abundance only in southeastern Missouri; the engraved

shells and shell masks of certain varieties, which seem to be confined
chiefly to this and the Appalachian distficts, and the scarcity of carved
stone pipes, whichis true also as to some southern sections. As serv-
ing further t6 mark the district it may be added that here we find a
much larger proportion of pyramidal mounds than in either-of the other
northern districts, though not so many as in Arkansas; also numerous
inclosures. Stone walls, stone inclosures, and burial caves are perhaps
more frequent here than in any other areaexcept West Virginia. |

The boundary of the district can not be well defined geographically,
as there is in some parts such an intermingling of forms and types,
and in others such gradual changes from one variety to another, as to
leave the investigator in doubt whether to include certain areas of con-
siderable extent. Especially is this true in regard to the western exten-
sion. Therefore I have been governed in my decision chietly by the
limits of the stone-grave area and the occurrence of certain varieties of
monuments which appear usually to accompany them and certain classes
of articles found in them.

INCLOSURES,

Inclosures or.embankments of earth abound in the central counties
of Tennessee, and while not confined exclusively to this portion of the
state, are of more frequent occurrence here than elsewhere in the lim-
its of the region Uenominated “ The Central or Tennessee district.”

THOMAS. ] THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT. COLE

Located on a map, they form a series extending in a northeast and
southwest direction through the central portions of Kentucky and
Tennessee. They occur most frequently, however, along the Big Har-
peth river and its branches, but are scattered in an irregular line
through the eastern and southern counties surrounding Davidson and
Williamson, with a few outlying posts to the northwest and southwest,
reaching in the former direction as far as Union county in Illinois and
in the latter to the southern border of Tennessee. Though aboriginal
remains, as mounds, stone graves, hut rings, cemeteries, etc., are prob-
ably more abundant in Davidson county in and around Nashville than
in any other section of the district, there is a noticeable absence of any-
thing like fortifications in that immediate vicinity. Dr. Joseph Jones
mentions traces of an ancient earthwork in connection with stone graves
and hut rings on a hill 9 miles to the north of Nashville, and remains
of a similar character about the same distance to the south of that city,
near Brentwood, in Williamson county.

The works of this kind bear a general resemblance to each other,
though there are some minor points of difference and a few strongly
marked exceptions to the usual type. The inclosures are generally
more or less circular or semicircular in form, and situated on a bluff or
steep bank of a stream or river. In many instances this bluff, where
very steep, forms the protection for one side of the inclosure, the ends
of the wall terminating on the edge of the bluff. They are almost
invariably accompanied by stone graves, hut rings, and ditches, the
latter generally inside, following the line of the inclosing wall. The
mounds are mostly of the conical type, but each inclosure contains one
and sometimes two that are decidedly larger than the others, and usu-
ally pyramidal and flat-topped, though not generally symmetrical in
form, most of them being oblong. Occasionally a round one is found,
but as a general rule they are truncated. The smaller mounds and
hut rings are scattered irregularly over the inclosed area, and not
infrequently are found outside the wall. The works near Sandersville,
in Sumner county, those near Lebanon in Wilson county, the De Graf-
fenried works near Franklin, in Williamson county, and others on the
Big and West Harpeth rivers, are good types of this class of works. In
Jackson county near Floyds lick, and in Henry county in the vicinity
of Paris, similar inclosures have been discovered. There are a few
instances, as in thenorthern districts, where the embankment is merely
a straight or slightly curving wail thrown across a spur or ridge of land
at the junction of two streams where the banks are of sufficient height
to prevent surprise from that quarter, and the wall is thrown across to
guard the landward or more easily accessible side. A work of this
kind was found about 12 miles below Carthage, on the Cumberland
river, in Smith county. The wall was accompanied by.an interior ditch,
and had an entrance way, opposite which, and about 6 feet from it, on
the inside, were the remains of a wall so placed as to form a rear guard.

12 ETH——37 .

978 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

A similar work is reported in Hickman county at the intersection of
Duck and Piney rivers, near Centerville, and another in La Rue county,
Kentucky. An embankment of earth and stone in the fork of Duck
river, in Coffee county, near Manchester, though much more elaborate,
really belongs to the latter class, the wall having been thrown from
blutf to bluff across one end of a narrow strip of land between the east
and west branches of Duck river. Across the other end is a similar
wall; beginning where the bluffs terminate on each side of the strip of
land, and diverging from the streams, it forms an angle about midway
between the two. This work also has a guarded entrance, a short
wall extending inward on each side of the main entrance forming a
parallelogram. The right wall, extending a little beyond the other,
bends at a right angle across the end of the space thus inclosed,
leaving room for an inside gateway between it and the end of the left
wall. Two stone mounds, some 3 feet higher than the general wall,
guard the main entrance from the outside. This work is an exception
to the general rule, as no mounds, graves, hut rings, or other remains
of archeologic interest are found in or about it, except a single large
mound, elliptical in form,and built of earth and loose stones, which
stands about half a mile from the main entrance.

It is not unusual to find along these walls slight elevations or pro-
jections, supposed by some to have been the foundations for towers or
some such works for observation or defense. The inclosure near San-
dersville, in Sumner county, before mentioned, furnishes an example
of this kind; also that in Wilson county, near Lebanon, which is a cir-
cular earthwork having an interior ditch. Slight elevations occur at
regular intervals along the inside of this wall. They are somewhat
higher than the embankment and slope to the bottom of the ditch.
This slope is divided into two parts by a level bench nearly 3 feet wide.
Another inclosure in Williamson county, on the West Harpeth river,
is of this type, the irregularly circular embankment being wider at
intervals asif some tower or defensive structure had occupied each of
these points.

The most remarkable examples of this class of works, however, are
found in Hardin county, in the neighborhood of Savannah. On the
east side of the Tennessee river, on the high grounds adjoining the town,
are extensive earthworks inclosing a group of mounds. The embank-
ment is five-sided, the ends terminating on the high bluff of the river.
At intervals of 80 yards along this wall are the remains of bastions
which extend about 20 yards to the front along the main line and
30 yards at the main angles. About 55 vards in advance of this line,
and parallel to it, is a similar but less elevated embankment, now
partly obliterated, but still traceable. The bastions of this latter line
project 40 feet in front and alternate with those of the main line.
Three miles below Savannah, in the same county, a similar system of

THOMAS.) THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT. yrs)

earthworks is found at the foot of a bluff which rises 50 feet above the
bottom lands of the Tennessee river. There is in this instance, how-
ever, only a single line of wall with the bastions projecting to the front.
In the construction of the walls these works bear a remarkable resem-
blance to those of “Aztalan” in Jefferson county, Wisconsin. The work
in Vanderburg county, Indiana, in the group known as “the Angel
mounds,” heretofore described, evidently belongs to this type and was
probably built by the same people.

“Covered ways,” or passages, protected by embankments leading down
to an adjacent stream or spring, are found in some of the inclosures of
Tennessee, and open gateways through the walls, as wel] as raised
passageways over them, afford the common means of entrance.

A few inclosures in Kentucky may be noticed as being within the
limits of this district. In Fayette county, on a slight hill nea» North
Elkhorn creek, is a circular inclosure, consisting of a ditch from which
the earth was thrown up to form an embankment. Near this is another
work of similar coustruction, but differing slightly from the usual type.
The circular platform defined by the ditch is on a level with the top of
the outside wall, and seems to have been raised above the natural surface
of the ridge. A raised pathway on a level with the platform interrupts
the ditch on the northwest side. In a hollow between the two last-
mentioned works is a shallow ditch inclosing an area of about 82 feet
in diameter. An inclosure in the form of an irregular polygon,
resembling closely those in western New York, is mentioned in Collins’s
History of Kentucky as existing in this county. In Montgomery
county, in what is denominated the ‘Old Fort Woods,” there are three
circular inclosures, each having the inner space excavated.

MOUNDS.

Pyramidal mounds, with which are classed all rectangular and trun-
eated tumuli, are to be found in most of the inclosures, the usual ar-
rangement being as follows: A large truncated mound around which is
a space clear of other remains, while scattered through other portions
of the inclosed area are smaller conical mounds, stone graves, hut
rings, and sometimes pits or excavations. There are occasionally two
or three mounds of a larger size in each group or system of earthworks,
but there is, as before stated, almost always one that exceeds all the
others in its dimensions, and that often contains beds of ashes and
hearths of hard-burned earth, indicating that it had been used as a
residence site rather than as a burial mound. Isolated groups of
mounds, or groups not connected with embankments or any system of
works, are of frequent occurrence. A group of this kind, containing
between 40 and 50 mounds, is noticed near the mouth of Lost creek,
opposite Wabash island, in Union county, Kentucky. Three such
groups occur near Uniontown, in the same county. Some of the latter
were burial mounds; others were without human remains, but contained

580 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

other relics. About 2 miles from the ferry landing, opposite Saawnee-
town, is a remarkable group of mounds, consisting of three subgroups,
each of which has its principal mound superior in size to others of its
group.

The large truncated mound, though a leading feature of almost every
group of mounds or system of earthworks, is not always of the regu-
larly square or even of the rectangular form, being sometimes pear-
shaped and sometimes oval. These are most numerous in the middle
and southwestern portions of Tennessee, though those at Mount Ster-
ling, Kentucky; one in Vanderburg county, Indiana; the great Cahokia
mound, in Madison county, Illinois; the Linn mound, in Union county,
of the same state, and the celebrated Etowah mound, in Bartow county,
Georgia, all included in this district, show a distribution of this type
over a considerable area. The true pyramidal mound is found most
frequently in Davidson, Williamson, and some adjacent counties.

There are a few cases where roadways have been found leading to
the top of some of these large mounds. A mound connected with the
peculiar embankment a few miles from Savannah, in Hardin county,
Tennessee, had three arms running out from it, apparently pathways,
affording means of easy ascent to the top. A mound in Montgomery
county, Kentucky, has an inclined way leading to the top; the roadway
to the Etowah mound is peculiar in winding up the side instead of
approaching at right angles,

Stone-grave mounds are found in connection with most of the ancient
works in the valleys of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers and along
many of their tributaries, also in some of the southern counties of
Illinois and in northwestern Kentucky. One or two have been found
in northern Georgia and also in southern Indiana.

There seems to be no particular rule observed in depositing the dead
in these mounds. Sometimes the graves are placed irregularly through
the mound, no systematic arrangement being observed; sometimes they
are found in tiers, one above another. A group of five mounds in
Davidson county, Tennessee, about 44 miles southwest from Nashville,
presents this latter arrangement. The mounds contained the bodies
of from 600 to 800 people arranged in regular layers or tiers. Frag-
ments of pottery, stone implements, and other articles were found on
the covering stones and beside the graves. On the original soil be-
neath the graves were several beds of ashes. One mound of this group,
conical in form, had apparently been built up by the accumulation of
stone graves, placed in five tiers, the one above having fewer in number
than the one beneath it. No regularity was observed in placing the
bodies. One body was buried here without the stone cist.

A stone grave mound about 10 miles from Nashville near Brentwood
presents a good example of this arrangement, being one of the most
perfect in its construction. The stone graves, especially toward the
ceiter of the mound, were placed one upon another, forming in the

rHOMAS.] THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT. 581

central and highest part of the mound three or four ranges. The old-
est and lowest graves were of the small square variety similar to the
well known type found near Sparta, thought at first to be pigmy graves,
and like them containing detached bones or bundled skeletons, while
those on or near the summit were of the natural length and width of
the inclosed skeleton. The lids of the upper stone cists were so placed
as to form a uniformly rounded sloping rock surface. In one of the
graves of this mound was an inner compartment containing the bones
of a child.

A mound inside the inclosure near Lebanon, in Wilson county, Ten-
nessee, presented a different mode of construction, the graves being
arranged about the outer portion of the mound in the form of a hollow
square in two or three irregular rows and in three tiers. In this mound,
as in the one near Nashville before mentioned, one body was found
buried without a coffin. Pottery, relics of copper and stone, and pieces
of micaswere found in these graves.

Another method of arranging the stone coffins was by placing them
with the heads to the center, the feet extending toward the circumfer-
ence of the mound like the radii of a circle. Stone graves disposed in
this manner have been found in a mound in Davidson county, Tennes-
see, on the bank of the Cumberland river, opposite Nashville. In, the
center of the mound, the point from which the sarcophagi radiated,
was a large vase or basin-Shaped vessel composed of clay and pulvyer-
ized river shells. It still retained the impression of the basket or cloth
in which it was molded. The rim was a true circle and was covered
an inch thick with ashes from some incinerated matter. There were
two rows of stone coffins ranged around this central basin, the circle
of graves being constructed with great care and all the bodies orna-
mented with beads of bone and shell.

A mound in Williamson county, ‘Tennessee, on the West Harpeth
river, and another in Sumner county presented the same arrangement
of stone graves like the spokes of a wheel.

A number of mounds discovered in Union county, Kentucky, show
a remarkable blending of different modes of sepulture which is worthy
of notice. For instance, in one mound of the Lost creek group, oppo-
site Wabash island, some of the earlier burials were without stone cof-
fins and unaccompanied by relics of any kind, while others were cov-
ered by stone slabs set up “roof shaped” over the bodies. In the later
burials the bodies were arranged in the form of a whee!, with the heads
to the center and accompanied by clay vases or pots. With one body
were found two copper bells. In this mound, at a depth of 6 feet from
- the summit, was a circular pavement of limestone, and a foot above
this a layer of clay. Bones were found in all parts of the mound.

Another mound in the same county contained a number of stone
graves and two layers of bodies without the stone coffins, but having
pots buried with them. The stone gravé burials appeared to be more

582 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

recent than others and the latter were much disturbed by them.
Where not disturbed these earlier burials presented the wheel-like ar-
rangements before noticed. Two stone pipes and a few burial urns
with seven ears were found in the disturbed portion of this mound.

In the Lindsay mound, near Raleigh in the same county, the bodies
were arranged in a circle on their backs with heads to the center, faces
turned to the left side, and feet toward the margin of the mound.
The circle was extended toward the circumference by an additional
row of bodies. On the west side the bodies were five layers deep.
The regularity in placing the bodies was somewhat broken toward the
margin on the east side. In the earlier burials, or those at the bottom
of the mound, the bodies were laid on the surface of the ground, which
had been scraped clear of vegetable matter. No relics were deposited
with these. With the later burials were found burial urns or pots.
In this mound were two or three dee» pits or excavations filled with
mixed or discolored earth, at the bottom of which were human remains.
One of these, in which only a few animal bones were found, was shaped
like an inverted cone. Some of these pits reached into the original
surface. Thus there were three different modes of burial in this mound:
Those where the bodies were laid on the surface without the accom-
paniment of vases or other works of art, and covered with yellow
sandy loam; those of a later date, with which burial urns had been de-
posited, three or four tiers of which were covered with clay; and those
of the deep pits or excavations. Another mound in the vicinity of

taleigh, explored many years ago, displayed an unusually systematic
arrangement in its internal construction. In all cases, without excep-
tion, the bodies were laid on the left side with heads turned to a com-
mon center. At the head of each was an earthen vessel, and these
were graded in size according to the age or size of the individual. The
bodies were laid on the original surface of the ground, and on the fore-
heads of some was placed a single valve of a Unio shell. The heads of
some of them were artificially compressed. This mound contained no
stone cists, though there were many in the neighborhood, of the short,
square variety, lined with black bituminous shale and containing
folded or bundled skeletons.

In some of the tumuli classed as “‘stone-grave mounds” the graves
are not of the regular box-shaped type, being sometimes, as in the one
in Union county, Kentucky, “tent” or “roof shaped,” that is, the stones
are set up on their edges on each side of the body and slanted so as to
meet above it, thus forming a triangular covering.

Another variety was found in a mound in Allen county, Kentucky,
which consisted of a vault 10 feet deep and 8 feet in diameter, round,
and walled up with stones like a well. The bottom was made of stones
laid edgewise and keyed in with smaller stones. At every 2 feet in
this well was a layer of large flat rocks, and between these layers were
human remains. Stone graves of the roof-shaped variety were found

‘THOMAS. ] THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT. 583

in the vicinity, varying in length from 24 to 8 feet. Occasionally a
mound is found the internal construction of which differs so materially
from the usual type as to be worthy of notice. One of these anomalies
is a small, double mound within the inclosure at Savannah, Hardin
county, Tennessee. This contained three furnaces or trenches, with
rude arches thrown over them of irregular masses of hardened clay.
From these a number of small flues 8 or 10 inches in diameter went up,
some of them directly toward the surface of the mound, others twisting
and winding about through it in all directions. Large logs completely
charred, in both upright and horizontal positions, the ends burned off
by fire, human bones, and ashes were found in it.

Another type is the stratified mound built up of layers of different
materials, as sand, clay, ashes, stones, ete. Examples of this kind are
found in several localities in the central portions of Tennessee and
occasionally in Kentucky. One in Union county, Kentucky, was con-
structed in a peculiar manner, having a hard central core of sand, over
which the mound was built by depositing loads of earth of about half
a bushel each; these were distinctly marked in sections in the mottled
layers. A few stone cairns or rock piles are noticed throughout this
region, some of them covering ashes and charred bones.

Sometimes the remains of wooden posts are found in the mounds in
such a position as to indicate that they upheld or formed part of a
building or structure of some kind, as those in one mound of the Leba-
non group, and remains of wooden vaults have also been discovered,
though they are rare. A mound already mentioned in Union county,
Kentucky, near Raleigh, appeared to contain a vault or chamber of some
kind, from the presence of the remains of charred logs, both in an
upright and a horizontal position. A wooden structure was found in
the earth in the vicinity of an aboriginal cemetery in Williamson
county, Tennessee. It was traced about 10 feet in length and 5 in
width, but no graves were found in or under it.

BURIAL CAVES,

Cave burials occur in this district in the following counties: In
Grayson, Hart, Edmonson, Barren, Warren, and Fayette counties,
Kentucky; Smith, White, Warren, Giles, Marion, and Fentress counties,
Tennessee, and Bartow county, Georgia. These localities lie mostly in
a belt extending in a north and south direction through the center of
the district.

In most of these caves, both in Kentucky and Tennessee, the bodies
appear to have been laid on the floor of the cave, sometimes in beds of
ashes, sometimes on a pavement of flat stones. There are, however,
some instances in which the bodies have been found ineased in stone
slabs, and afterwards imbedded in clay or ashes. In Smith and War-
ren counties, Tennessee, and in Warren and Fayette counties, Ken-
tucky, the flesh of the bodies was preserved and the hair was yellow

584 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

and of fine texture. In some cases the bodies were enveloped in sey-
eral thicknesses of coarse cloth with an outer wrapping of deer skin.
Some of the bodies were wrappedin a kind of cloth made of bark fiber,
into which feathers were woven in such a manner as to form a smooth
surface. In two cases the bodies, placed in a sitting or squatting pos-
ture, were incased in baskets. In one of the caves in Smith county the
body of a female is said to have been found, having about the waist a
silver girdle, with marks resembling letters.

A cave was discovered in Giles county which had several rooms and
was entered by a concealed passage. <A flat stone partly closed the
entrance and other stones were rolled in to fill up the mouth. In
Bartow county, Georgia, a human skeleton was found in a caye in a
limestone bluff walled in, in a similar manner.

In some localities, as in Fentress, Grayson, and Marion counties,
saves have been discovered which, in the great quantities of ashes, the
numerous fragments of pottery, animal bones, implements, and orna-
ments of various kinds, bear evidence of having been used as dwell-
ing places.

These cave burials are found along the rivers and streams in the
vicinity of fertile valleys and cool springs.

STONE GRAVES.

The stone grave cemeteries are found on the hill slopes and in the
valleys, along the rivers, and scattered over the richest and most fertile
lands of Tennessee and Kentucky. ‘They occur in connection with
nearly every system of earthworks, but are not confined to them, as
large cemeteries exist where there are no mounds or embankments in
the vicinity. When connected with fortifications they are usually
within the embankments, though sometimes a few are scattered out-
side. The rectangular, box-shaped stone cist is the prevailing type,
both in the cemeteries and in the stone grave mounds. These often
vary in size from the small square grave 2 feet in length and the same
in width to 7 feet in length and 3 in width. There are, however, a few
variations from this type which merit description. The roof-shaped
graye has already been alluded to. These are made by setting large
pieces or slabs of rock on edge and slanting them toward each other
until they meet above the body, forming a covering like the roof of a
house. Graves of this type are found in widely separated localities
both iv Kentucky and Tennessee and are met with in mounds as well
as in cemeteries. They are not always of a uniform size, but vary in
length from 24 to 8 feet.

On a bluff near Newport in Campbell county, Kentucky, were two
graves which were formed by placing a curbing of regular fragments
of stone of considerable size so as to form a circle of 10 feet in diame-
ter, from which flat stones were inclined outward shingled one over the
other so as to form a band 6 feet wide. Bones were found beneath the
stones of this band. It has been suggested that these graves were

THOMAS. ] THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT. 585

more recent than the box-shaped cists, but this is doubtful. Others
somewhat similar have been observed in southern Ohio.

Graves of a peculiar character have been discovered on the brow of
a hill near Pageville, in Barren county, Kentucky. These were circular
in form, between 4 and 5 feet in diameter and 3 feet. deep. Slabs of
limestone about 3 feet long and from 1 to 2 feet wide, brought from some
distance, had been placed on end around this pit and the bottom coy-
ered with thin shale brought from the creek a quarter of a mile away.
Bodies of adults were placed in a sitting posture against the upright
slabs. Earth had been thrown over all and a few flat stones placed on
the top. A few bones of children were also found, but their position
could not be determined. The bodies were evidently all placed in this
grave at the same time. There were about thirty graves of this kind
at this point.

Besides these variations there are a few minor differences, such as
graves lined with large pieces of broken pottery neatly fitted together;
a pottery burial case made in two sections, or a case with a cover;
rectangular cists large enough to contain several bodies, ete.

HUT RINGS.

Hut rings are frequent adjuncts of mound groups, and are often
found inside the inclosures and also scattered about outside the earthen
walls. Floors of hard-burned earth are sometimes found in the center
of these rings, underneath which are human bones and sometimes
stone graves.

RELICS.

Of the relics found in the mounds and graves of this district, the
most characteristic is the pottery, which is found in greater abundance
here than in any other section of the United States, except southeastern
Missouri and Arkansas. Like that of the last-mentioned two areas,
which it resembles very closely, the chief types are the narrow-necked
water bottles and the image pottery. Another distinguishing feature
is found in the engraved shells, some of which are peculiar to this dis-
trict, while other types are found elsewhere only in the Appalachian
section. Engraved or stamped copper plates of a peculiar type have
also been found in limited numbers. These are important, not only
because of the figures they bear, but also because they appear to be
limited exclusively to the stone grave area.

Other articles not confined exclusively to the district, but occurring
more frequently here than elsewhere, are the copper spool supposed to
have been worn in the ear, and wooden ornaments probably used as
ear pendants, covered with thin plates of copper. The latter, however,
are comparatively rare, having been found only in southern Illinois
and in the vicinity of Nashville. A few stone idols have also been
found in this district, and, what is strange, they have been discovered
at the extreme eastern and western ends of it—in northern Georgia
and southern Illinois.

586 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

THE SOUTHERN SECTION.

This section is limited, as at present arranged, to the Arkansas and
Gulf districts, though it is probable that future investigations will
show that it should be further subdivided.

THE ARKANSAS DISTRICT.

This district includes the southeastern counties of Missouri. the state
of Arkansas, and the northern part of Louisiana. The ancient works,
however, are confined chiefly to the eastern portion of the area included
in these bounds. Although embraced in the district, a large portion
of the groups of works and types of pottery of southeastern Missouri
resemble those of southern Ilinois and the Cumberland valley so closely
as to leave no definite marks of distinction between the two classes.
This strong resemblance between the works of these sections, which
has been repeatedly noticed, possibly indicates the presence for a time
in this region of some of the same people who occupied the Tennessee
district, though the important characteristic of the latter—the box-
shaped stone grave—is wanting here.

The chief distinction between the archeology of southeastern Missouri
and the rest of the district is found in the numerous groups of hut
rings marking village sites, often surrounded by earthen walls, usually
forming quadrangular inclosures.

The distinguishing features of the district as a whole, especially
when compared with the archeology of the northern areas, are the large,
oblong, terraced, pyramidal mounds, and the low, flattish, domiciliary
mounds or house sites, which seem to take the place in Arkansas of
the hut-rings in southeastern Missouri, Other characteristics are the
occasional remains or marks of rectangular dwellings, the forms and
ornamentation of the pottery, and the forms of the few pipes which
have been discovered.

A brief notice of the leading types, based almost exclusively on the
results of the explorations carried on by the Bureau of Ethnology, the
details of which have been given in the preceding part of this volume,
is presented here that the reader may judge of the propriety of consid-
ering this a separate district.

MOUSE SITES.

The remains of this type consist of low, flattish mounds, from 1 to 5
feet high and from 15 to 100 feet in diameter. In opening them the
strata are usually found to oceur in the following order: First, a top
layer of surface soil from 1 to 2 feet thick; next, a layer of burned clay,
varying from 4 to 12 inches (though usually from 4 to 8 inches thick),
and broken into lumps, seldom in a uniform unbroken layer; immediately
below this is a layer of ashes and charcoal, in which are usually found

THOMAS. } ARKANSAS. 587

fragments of pottery and occasionally whole vessels, stone chips, broken
bones of animals, and other refuse material; immediately below this
is sometimes a layer of hardened muck or dark clay; at this depth
there is often found, in the eastern part of the state, a skeleton, or
sometimes two.

The burnt clay often contains impressions of grass or small twigs,
and sometimes is ornamented on one side by being stamped apparently
with an implement made of split reeds of large size. Hard-burned
fragments of this clay have given origin to the statement often made
that brick is found in southern mounds.

That this clay is plaster from the houses of the mound-builders is
shown by the fact that remains of the upright posts and of the cane
lathing forming the walls of the building have been found, and from
other facts mentioned hereafter.

These remains of the houses of the mound-builders of Arkansas are
not confined to the small mounds of the type mentioned, as they fre-
quently oceur in the larger mounds, both of the pyramidal and conical
form. Sometimes the repeated building, burning, and covering on the
same spot results in forming a mound of considerable size, as, for
example, the one in Butler county, southeast Missouri, explored by Col.
Norris and heretofore described in this volume. So far as the explora-
tions which have been made indicate, these small, domiciliary mounds
appear to be confined chiefly to the low alluvial sections of Arkansas,
and seem to have resulted from the following customs: First, that of
forming an earthern platform a foot or two in height on which was
placed a dwelling, and, second, that of burying the dead in the floor,
then burning the house over them and covering the ruins with earth.
Examples illustrating these statements will be found in the first part
of this report.

Remains of ancient houses, apparently of the mound-building age,
and connected with or pertaining to mound groups, but not in mounds,
were discovered in a few localities. These were some 2 or 3 feet
beneath the surface of the ground with the usual mass of burned clay
plastering, remains of the posts of the walls, etc. In the two or three
cases observed, the buildings consisted of two or three rooms, each
about 10 or 12 feet square.

The ordinary conical burial mounds of Arkansas and also of Mis-
sissippi present marked differences from those of southern Missouri.
These are fully illustrated by the examples given in the reports of the
Bureau assistants. The chief variations were found in the condition
of theskeletons; in some groups nearly or quite all were closely folded up,
though seldom in a sitting posture; in other localities they were found
chietly lying at full length. In afew instances promiscuous masses,
like those of the northern section heretofore described, were found, but
these appear to be comparatively rare in the south. In some eases,
especially in the graves, remains of the bark wrapping (apparently

588 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

elm) were observed. Stone graves seem to be entirely unknown in this
section.

The eastern portion of Arkansas is noted for the number and size of
its pyramidal mounds, many of which are terraced and very regular in
form, as may be seen by reference to the figures in this volume, part 1.
Others, precisely of the same form, are found in all of the Gulf states,
but not so numerous as here, unless possibly in the central part of
Alabama, a region that has been but partially explored. The oblong
is the prevailing form, the square pyramid being comparatively rare.

In addition to the oblong and square truncated pyramids, there are
found here and there truncated mounds of several different forms. For
example, the “Rogers mound,” Phillips county, Arkansas, figured in
the first part of this volume, which is oval in outline, the longer diam-
eter at the base 247 feet, the shorter nearly 200 feet, height 20 feet. On
top of this is a small hemispherical mound 50 feet in diameter and 5 feet
high. Exeavating the small tumulus, Col. Norris found near the sur-
face a very heavy fire-bed. Other similar beds were found at various
points near the surface of the terrace or main mound.

Another found near Osceola, Mississippi county, same state, is of the
form shown in Fig. 132.'. The dimensions of this somewhat unusual,
though not unique, structure are as follows: “Altitude of the first ter-
race 11 feet, width 129 feet, length 158 feet; altitude of the second ter-
race 3 feet 7 inches, width 60 feet, length 93 feet; altitude of the third
terrace 6 feet, width 63 feet, length 78 feet.” As the writer makes the
whole length 375 feet, it is probable the measurements given apply to
the upper levels. Excavations brought to light, near the surface, a
layer of burnt clay, broken, as usual, into fragments, which Mr. Evans
denominates brick. At the depth of 8 feet some human bones were
found in an advanced state of decay, but no skulls were observed.

Messrs. Squier and Davis? make the statement that the principal
mound of the group at the junction of the Washita, Tenzas, and Cata-
houla rivers (now Troyville), Louisiana, has a spiral pathway winding
around it from bottom to top. An examination of it was made by a
Bureau assistant in 1883, at which time no indication of such a path-
way was visible. It is true much of the top had been removed and the
mound much defaced during the late war, but sufficient remained
to indicate such a pathway if it existed. A description and figure
of these works will be found in the preceding part of this volume.
They also state, in a note on the page of their work above referred to,
that ‘mounds with spiral pathways are frequent at the south and are
occasionally found at the north.” Later investigations have failed to
confirm this assertion; in fact, they prove it to be entirely erroneous, as
not one such has been discovered.

There is no intention of entering at this point into a discussion of
the object and uses of these pyramidal and truncated mounds, yet we

1S. B. Evans, in Chicago Times, April 9, 1881. 2 Anc. Mon. p. 117.

THOMAS. ] MISSOURI. 589

venture the assertion, which is borne out by history and explorations,
that in the south as a generalrule they were the sites of council houses,
residences of the chiefs, and possibly of temples.

INCLOSURES.

Though not numerous in the district, inclosures are by no mean
wanting. They occur, however, in the largest proportion in south-
eastern Missouri. The latter, as heretofore remarked, are usually
quadrangular and inclose groups of hut-rings, with an occasional
mound. These, I am inclined to believe, should be considered a dis-
tinet type, due probably to one or more tribes different from the
authors of the Arkansas works. The few inclosures found in Arkansas
and Louisiana and two or three in southeastern Missouri are usually
irregularly semicircular, abutting on water courses or swamps. As a
general rule they inelose one, rarely two, large and from two or three
to several smaller mounds. It is to be remarked that the large mound
is Seldom if ever a regular pyramid. This fact, though seemingly of
slight importance, may prove of value in studying the archeology of
this region, as the same fact is found to be true of some groups in
southern Illinois, southern Indiana, and middle Tennessee. It is
scarcely necessary to state that the walls as well as the mounds are in
all cases built wholly of earth. In or immediately adjoining some of
the inclosures are irregular excavations, a few of which are of consid-
erable size, whether for other purposes than obtaining earth for the
mounds is a question yet undecided.

GRADED WAYS AND RAMPS.

These occur in connection with a few of the large mounds of Louisi-
ana and southeastern Missouri, but very tew are found in Arkansas.
The best examples of these appendages are seen in a group in Stoddard
county, Missouri, known as the “ Rich Woods mounds,” figured in the
first part of this volume, and the Moorehouse group of Louisiana, fig-
ured in ‘‘ Ancient Monuments.” The former is, in some respects, one
of the most remarkable groups in the entire district. The very large
number of mounds it contains, the fact that three different series of
these are united by ramps, the various forms presented (one of which
is unique), and the large area over which the group extends, render it
exceedingly interesting aud worthy of more careful study. The only
true crescent-shaped mound observed during the explorations carried
on by the Bureau, is found here.

The pottery, which is found in great abundance, affords one of the
chief archeological features of the district. As has been repeatedly
remarked, the pottery of southeastern Missouri—the necked jar or
water bottle, and vessels ornamented with bird, animal, or human
heads, being prominent types—resembles so closely that found about
Cahokia, Illinois, and in the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, as to be

590 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

generally indistinguishable from it. But as we pass southward into
Arkansas and approach the mouth of the Arkansas river we observe a
change in the quality and color of the ware, it being of a finer grade and
lighter color; it is also more highly ornamented, with colored or incised
lines and figures. New and peculiar types are also found here; infact,
the finest collections of ancient pottery of the mound region have been
made in Arkansas. It is here alone that full-faced globular jars, or
ollas, have been obtained, which may be supposed to be genuine attempts
to portray features. As these and other characteristic specimens are
shown by Mr. Holmes in his various papers, further mention here is
unnecessary.

One thing which appears somewhat remarkable is the very small
number of pipes which have been found in this district. It is true that
some three or four of the finest specimens of stone pipes yet discovered
have been obtained here, but these are large and evidently those used
only on ceremonial occasions. On the other hand, those for individual
use are comparatively rare, usually of clay and rudely made.

THE GULF DISTRICT.

This district, as at present defined, includes the Gulf states east of
the Mississippi (except anarrow strip along the northern boundary of
Alabama and Georgia) and South Carolina. It is probable, however,
that more thorough explorations will lead to the separation both of
South Carolina and peninsular Florida each as a separate archeological
division.

As the archeology of this southern area has been admirably and
somewhat fully written by Mr. C. C. Jones in his work on the Antiqui-
ties of the Southern Indians, it will be unnecessary for us to present
at this point more than a very brief outline of some of the leading
types.

The works of this district are distinguished from those of the north-
ern section chiefly by the large proportion of truncated pyramidal
mounds, the occurrence of extensive ditches and canals, and the large
number of shell heaps, the last being confined to the coasts of Florida

and Alabama.
PYRAMIDAL MOUNDS.

All varieties of this type are represented, though the simple four-
sided structure is the most common, those of other forms being of rare
occurrence. One or two pentagonal and hexagonal pyramids have
been noticed, but these are of such rare occurrence that they can not
be considered as types. <A few truncated cones, which are included
under this head, have also been observed. Pyramidal mounds with
terraces occur here and there, but are far less frequent than in Arkan-
sas. They also differ from the latter in having frequently one or more

‘THOMAS. ] GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI. 591

graded ways orramps. Few mounds with these appendages have been
observed in this or in the Arkansas district, the ‘‘Rich Woods”
group in southeastern Missouri being exceptional. In one instance
(as is true also of the Rich Woods group) a series, consisting in this
ease of five pyramidal mounds, is formed by connecting ramps or
graded ways. The graded ways leading up to the summit of mounds
usually proceed from a point opposite a side, directly toward the center
of the mound or middle of the side, the only instance known of one
winding up the side being that of the large mound of the Etowah
group, Bartow county, Georgia, which, though not included in this
district, was probably built by the ancient inhabitants of it. Mention
is made by several authors of winding ways up mounds, but so far the
Bureau explorations have failed to confirm these statements.

Explorations in mounds of this type have been carried on only to a
limited extent and have revealed but little of interest, though the nega-
tive evidence furnished on one point is valuable, to wit: That they were
not built for burial purposes, though there are a few instances in which
human remains have been found in them. In some instances layers of
burnt clay, charcoal, and ashes have been observed. In other cases
burnt clay in fragments, showing the marks of twigs or grass, and
pieces of charred wood, most likely the remains of plastered wooden
structures, have been observed. In short, the evidence obtained, though
scanty, points to the correctness of the generally received opinion that
these structures were erected as sites for the public buildings of the
tribe or village and for the dwellings of the chiefs or leading personages.

Some two or three mounds of peculiar form have been discovered in
Mississippi and the Arkansas district that have not been observed
elsewhere in the mound area. These may be described as earthen plat-
forms surmounted by a conical mound or a conical mound surrounded
by a terrace. Sometimes the conical mound is small in proportion to
the platform and is not central, in which case the first definition best
describes the work; in other cases the platform appears only as a narrow
terracerunning around themound. These, however, are very rare, only
three or four being known. <A double mound of this type. or mound
with two apices, has been observed in western Mississippi, which is
described and figured in the previous part of this volume.

BURIAI MOUNDS AND MODES OF BURIAL,

One distinguishing feature between the modes of burial in this dis-
trict and those immediately north is the absence of stone graves and
wooden vaults. Of the former none have been noticed, so far as known,
in the entire district, except where it is overlapped by the Tennessee
district in northern Georgia. Of the latter very few, if any, examples
have been observed. Sometimes indications of a bark wrapping or
wrapping made of cane matting are noticed. It is also the case that

592 ; MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

remains of leather are found in such relation to the skeletou as to show
that the body had been wrapped in buckskin and this surrounded by
cane matting.

The skeletons as a usual thing are found in a horizontal position, but
generally without any rule in regard to direction. Exceptional cases
oceur in which all the bodies in a mound, or most of them, are placed
with the head in one direction or in a circle. For example, in a mound
of western Florida there were three groups of skeletons, from 7 to 14
in a group, those of each group forming a circle, the heads being toward
the center. This would indicate that the burial had taken place after
the flesh had been removed, or, in other words, that they were brought
here at a general burial from other depositories. Examples of buudled
skeletons sometimes occur, but these are confined principally to the
Florida peninsula. One mound in which the burials were of this type
has been observed in Alabama. Burials in a sitting posture are com-
paratively rare, the only examples known being those mentioned by
Jones in his Antiquities of the Southern Indians. Burials in con-
fused masses or ossuaries are also comparatively rare. The somewhat
singular fact was noticed in Yazoo county, Mississippi, of extended and
bundled skeletons and round heads and compressed heads in the same
mound, which was of comparatively large size. Indications of fire are
found in a large portion of the burial mounds of this district.

An ancient cemetery has been discovered here and there, but the
explorers have failed to give sufficient details by which to make com-
parisons with the graves of other sections. So far as observed they
are mostly in the vicinity of mounds; in some, undoubted indications of
contact with the whites have been found, showing them to be of com-
paratively recent date.

BURIAL CAVES.

Some burial caves have been discovered in northern Alabama. In
one of these the bodies appear to have been laid in wooden troughs and
covered with matting and these placed in crevices. of the rock. In the
same cave were several wooden bowls and trays. The floor of another
cave was covered to the depth of 4 feet with fragments of human bones,
earth, ashes, and stone chips. From this débris two or three spool-
shaped, copper ear ornaments were obtained. Around the middle of
one of these was a portion of the string with which they were probably
wound when in use.

INCLOSURES AND WALLS.

Notwithstanding the frequent mention by the early writers of walled
villages in this district, the number of inclosures is much less in pro-
portion to the other works than in Ohio. Nor is there sufficient uni-
formity to indicate any particular form as the prevailing type; yet we
ean say confidently that there is nothing in the form or size of these
structures to indicate relation to those of the more northern districts.

THOMAS. | GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 593

Stone walls, which Col. Jones thinks were made for defense, are found
_ on Stone mountain, Mount Yona, and other peaks of northern Georgia.
These, however, are in the area overlapped by other districts, and hence
can not be attributed with certainty to the authors of the works of the
district now under consideration. They are, however, of much interest as
indicating a state of bitter warfare, as this only will explain the neces-
sity of retiring to these mountain fastnesses and fortifying them. There
is, however, one of these fortified hills on the line between Bibb and
Twigs counties, same state, which must be included geographically in
this district.

Of the earthen inclosures some are semicircular, resting on the banks
of streams; some are circular, but these are of comparatively small
size, and a few are irregularly quadrangular. The regular forms both
of inclosures and mounds of the southern states figured by Squier and
Davis chiefly from Rafinesque’s MSS. are to a large extent works of
imagination. The groups, it is true, exist or did exist, but so far as
they remain correspond in few respects with the figures or descriptions.

CANALS OR DITCHES.

In addition to the ditches which usually line the walls of inclosures,
a few instances occur where the surrounding defense consisted of a ditch
only. This is true in regard to the celebrated Etowah group, and some
two or three other groups in Georgia.

Canals of considerable extent which are considered prehistoric are
found at several points. One of these is said to be 14 miles in length.

POTTERY AND OTHER MINOR VESTIGES OF ART.

The prehistoric remains of this kind found in this district have been
so thoroughly described by C. C. Jones, that it is unnecessary to do
more here than refer to a few prominent types. The chief variations
from the more northern and trans-Mississippi types are found in the
forms of the pipes and the forms and ornamentation of the pottery.
Pipes, however, are not abundant among the archeological collections
from this district, and a large portion of them approach in form the
modern type, or type in use subsequent to European colonization. One
peculiar type of pottery is the large vase with conical bottom. These
are found chiefly in Georgia and South Carolina. Another form pecu-
liar to this region is the more elongate vessel with rounded bottom, to
which the name ‘burial umn” has been applied, because in a few
instances human bones have been found in them; these, however, are
comparatively rare, as urn burial was a mode of disposing of the dead
but seldom practiced in any part of the mound region.

The finest specimens of polished discoidal stones, supposed to have
been used in the game of “ chunkee,” have been found in this district,
chiefly in Georgia.

12 ETH 38

THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Having given the results of the mound explorations carried on by
the Bureau, and a review of the types of the works with reference to
their geographical distribution, we propose to discuss under the above
title some of the questions relating to the authors and uses of these
works. The chief object in view, however, is to determine if possible
whether or not the Indians were the authors. The reasons for this
course can be stated in a few words.

If the explorations of the ancient monuments of the mound area under
consideration should prove that the authors were Indians, the investi-
gations in regard to the objects and uses of these works will be greatly
limited; will in fact, be merged into the study of the habits, customs,
arts, etc., of the Indians as they were before being modified by contact
with European civilization. If, on the other hand, the opposite conelu-
sion should be reached, the field of investigation will nevertheless be
much restricted, as one very important factor will be eliminated, and
the attention of students will be turned in a different direction.

There is, however, the possibility, as maintained by some authorities,
that an intermediate result may be reached; that is to say, that part
of these works are attributable to the Indians, while the remainder
must be attributed to another or other races.

Even should this conclusion be reached after careful examination of
all the data obtained, the result will tend to limit greatly the field of
investigation. For it will be impossible to reach such conclusion with-
out having determined the characteristics which distinguish these
classes of works from one another. This, as will be admitted, will be a
very important step toward the solution of the chief problems pre-
sented by these remains.

Such being the case, a discussion of the question ‘“*Vho were the
mound-builders?” or, as we prefer to put it, “ Were the mound-build-
ers Indians?” should not be considered out of place in this connection,
particularly as this is the pivot on which the conclusions in reference
to all the other problems relating to these works must turn.

Doubt has been expressed by some archeologists as to the sufficiency
of the data so far obtained to justify a conclusion on this subject. This
is owing, in part at least, to the fact that the wealth of material obtained
by the Bureau of Ethnology bearing upon this question had not, at the

595

596 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

time this doubt was expressed, become generally known. It is prob-
able that the evidence presented in the preceding part of this report,
together with the reports of recent explorations made by others, will
serve, to some extent, to dispel such doubt. In any case the propriety
of undertaking the discussion of the question at this time will be deter-
mined by the result.

As different conclusions are often reached because of the different
senses in which the principal terms used are understood, it may be well
to define at the outset the sense in which they are here used. In the
present case the terms that need to be most clearly defined are ‘ Indians,”
as referring to the former inhabitants, and ‘‘ mound area,” as referring
to the geographical district alluded to.

As already stated, the term “mound area,” as herein used, is lim-
ited to that portion of the United States east of the Rocky mountains,
and the adjoining sections of the Dominion of Canada. The name
“Indians,” although generally used in a much broader sense and as
embracing the entire American race, is, in this discussion, limited to
the aboriginal tribes found occupying the above deseribed area when
first visited by Europeans, and to their immediate ancestors. This re-
striction is, of course, an arbitrary one, but is adopted here to avoid
confusion.

Within these limitations the first and chief question to be considered
may be stated briefly as follows:

Were all the mounds and other ancient works of the mound area as
above defined, constructed by the Indians, in the restricted sense above
mentioned, or are they wholly, or in part, to be attributed to other and
more highly cultured races, as the Nahuatal tribes, the Mayas, the
Pueblo tribes, or some lost race of which there is no historical mention?

No one believes it possible to ascertain the history of the construc-
tion of each mound and earthwork; the utmost that can be hoped for
is that we may be able to determine with reasonable certainty that
works of a particular class or locality were built by a known tribe or
people; or negatively, that works of a given type can not be attributed
to any people of whom we possess historical information.

One step, therefore, in the investigation, and a very important one,
too, is to reach the general conclusion whether all classes of these
remains in the region designated may be justly attributed to the Indians,
in the sense stated above, or whether there are some types which must
be ascribed to a different race; to a people who had attained a higher
position in the seale of civilization than the Indians. This the author
believes is possible, although we may not be able to determine con-
clusively what tribe or people erected any given work. Nevertheless,
the conclusion will be strengthened by every proof that the works of
particular sections, or certain types, are to be ascribed to particular
tribes or stocks.

The author's position in regard to the question, as above stated, will
appear further on.

‘THOMAS. | THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 597

DIFFERENT OPINIONS.

Betore entering upon the discussion of the question propounded, it
will be best to present a brief review of the different opinions which
have so far been published to the world.

It was not until about the close of the eighteenth century that the
scientific men of the eastern states became fully impressed with the fact
that remarkable antiquities were to be found in our country.

About this time President Stiles, of New Haven, Dr. Franklin, Dr. Bar-
ton, and a few other leading minds of that day, becoming thoroughly
convinced of the existence of these antiquities, and having received
descriptions of a number of them, began to advance theories as to
their origin. Bartram had come to the conclusion, from personal obser-
vations and from tie statements of the Indians, that they knew nothing
of the origin of certain monuments; that these belonged to the most
distant antiquity.’ Nevertheless, it is an error to infer from this, as
some have done, that he attributed these works to a highly civilized
people who had become extinct, or, in fact, to any other than the Indian
race. Schoolcraft remarked truly:” “ Bartram, a writer and traveler
of eminent merit as a naturalist, and close observer of the Indian arts
and society, who, in 1773, passed through their territories from Florida
to the Mississippi, speaks often of the ‘Indian mounts or tumuli and
terraces, monuments of the ancients,’ terms applied by him to Indian
natious who had preceded the then existing stocks. Tradition among
them had denoted such prior occupants, with manners and customs
like themselves, whom they had displaced. The great Muscoge or
Muscogulgee confederacy was then at its height. The Natchez had
fallen forty years before. The Utches had been conquered, and, with
the Coosidas and Alabamas, had become a part of ‘The Nation,’ aterm
commonly applied to them in the South. He had observed some works
of this ancient race of tribes, and particularly a stone sepulchre at
Keowe, of which tradition ascribed the origin to these ‘ancients.’ Yet
he closes his travels with this observation: ‘Concerning the monu-
ments of Americans, I deem it necessary to observe, as my opinion,
that none of them that I have seen, discover the least signs of the arts,
sciences, or architecture of the Europeans, or other inhabitants of the
old world; yet evidently betray every mark of the most distant anti-
quity.’”

He might have added also that in speaking of the works at ‘“ Apa-
lachucla, old town,” he says: ‘‘ Those Indians have a tradition that these
remains are the ruins of an ancient Indian town and fortress.” *

Dr. Franklin in reply to the inquiry of President Stiles suggested
that the works in Ohio might have been constructed by De Soto in his
wanderings. This suggestion was followed up by Noah Webster with

1 Travels (1791),"’ pp. 367 and 390. ? Hist. Indian Tribes (1856), Vol. 5, p. 115. 3‘*'Travels," p.522.

595 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

an attempt to sustain it,’ but subsequently this able lexicographer
entirely abandoned this position and attributed these works to the
aboriginal Indians. Capt. Heart, in reply to the inquiries addressed
to him by Dr. Barton, gives his opinion that the works could not have
been constructed by De Soto and his followers, but belonged to an age
preceding the discovery of America by Columbus; that they were not
due to the Indians or their predecessors, but to a people not altogether
in an uncultivated state, as they must have been under the subordina-
tion of law and a well governed police.’

This is probably the first clear and distinet expression of a view
which has subsequently obtained the assent of so many of the leading
writers on American archeology.

About the commencement of the nineteenth century two new and
important characters appear on the stage of American archeology.
These are Bishop Madison, of Virginia, and Rey. Thaddeus M. Harris,
of Massachusetts. ‘‘ These two gentlemen,” as remarked by Dr. Haven,*
* * * ‘are among the first who, uniting opportunities of personal
observation to the advantage of scientific culture, imparted to the pub-
lic their impressions of western antiquities. They represent the two
classes of observers whose opposite views still divide the sentiment of
the country; one class seeing no evidence of art beyond what might be
expected of existing tribes, with the simple difference of a more numer-
ous population and consequently better defined and more permanent
habitations; the others finding proofs of skill and refinement, to be
explained, as they believe, only on the supposition that asuperior native
race, or more probably a people of foreign and higher civilization once
occupied the soil.”

Bishop Madison was the representative of the first class. Dr. Harris
represented that section of the second class maintaining the opinion
that the mound-builders were Toltecs, who, after residing for a time in
this region, moved south into Mexico.

As the principal theories which are held at the present day on this
subject are substantially set forth in these authorities, it is unnecessary
to follow up the history of the controversy except so far as is required
in order to notice the various modifications of the two leading views.

Those holding the opinion that the Indians were not the authors of
these works, although agreeing on this point, and hence included in one
class, differ widely among themselves as to the people to whom they are
to be ascribed; one section, of which Dr. Harris may be considered the
pioneer, holding that they were built by the Toltecs, who occupied the
Mississippi valley previous to their appearance in the vale of Anahuac.*

1 American Magazine Dec., 1787, Jan. and Feb., 1788. Am. Museum. Also referred to by Haven,
Smithson. Contri., vol. vit, pp. 24, 25.

2 Trans. Am. Phil. Soe. vol. m1, 1793, pp. 217-218.

3 Archeology of the United States, Smithson. Contri. vol. vii, p. 31.

4 In alluding here and elsewhere to the Toltecs, we do not intend to assert thereby a belief in the
reality of such a people, nor do we wish to be understood by this note as denying their existence, as
tis is a question that does not enter into the present discussion.

THOMAS. ] THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 599

Among the more recent advocates of this view may be classed the
following authors: Messrs. Squier and Davis in their “Ancient Monu-
ments of the Mississippi Valley” (though Mr. Squier subsequently
changed his opinion so far as it related to the antiquities ot New York,
which he became convinced should be attributed to the Iroquois tribes) ;
Mr. John T. Short in his “‘ North Americans of Antiquity;” Dr. Daw-
son in his “ Fossil Man,” who identifies the Tallegwi with the Toltecs;
Rev. J. P. McLean in his ‘Mound Builders, ” and Dr. Joseph Jones in
his *‘ Antiquities of Tennessee.”

Wilson, in his ‘‘ Prehistoric Man,” modifies this view somewhat, look-
ing to the region south of Mexico for the original home of the Toltees
and deriving the Aztecs from the mound-builders.

Another section of this class includes those who, although rejecting
the idea of an Indian origin, are satisfied with simply designating the
authors of these works a “lost race,” without following the inquiry into
the more uncertain field of racial or ethnical relations. To this type
belong most of the authors of recent short articles and brief reports on
American archeology, and quite a number of diligent workers in this
field whose names are not before the world as authors.

J. D. Baldwin, in his “ Ancient America,” expresses the belief that
the mound-builders were Toltecs, but thinks they came originally from
Mexico, or further south, and after occupying the Ohio valley and the
Gulf states, probably for centuries, were at last driven southward by
an influx of barbarous hordes from the northern region, and appeared
again in Mexico.' Bradford, thirty years previous to this, had sug-
gested Mexico as their original home.? Lewis H. Morgan, on the other
hand, supposes that the authors of these remains came from the Pueblo
tribes of New Mexico.’ Dr. Foster‘ agrees substantially with Baldwin.
In this general class may also be included a number of extravagant
hypotheses, such as those advanced by Rafinesque, George Jones, Dela-
field, and others.

The class maintaining the view that these monuments are the work of
Indians found inhabiting the country at the time of its discovery or
their ancestors, numbered, up to a recent date, but comparatively few
. leading authorities among its advocates; in other words, the followers
of Bishop Madison are, or at least were until recently, far less numer-
ous than the followers of Dr. Harris. The differences between the ad-
vocates of this view are of minor importance and only appear when the
investigation is carried one step further back, and the attempt made
to designate the particular tribe, nation, people, or ethnic family to
which they pertained.

The tradition of the Delawares, as given by Heckwelder, having
brought upon the stage the Tallegwi, they are made to play a most
important part in the speculations of those inclined to the theory of an

' Ancient America, pp. 70-75.
2 Amorican Antiquities, p. 71.
* Beach, Indian Miscellany, p.176. Also, North American Review, October, 1888,
4Prehistoric Races, pp. 339-342.

600 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Indian origin. And as this tradition agrees very well with a number
of facts brought to light by antiquarian and philological researches, it
has had considerable influence in shaping the conclusion even of those
who are not professed believers in it.

One of the ablest early advocates of the Indian origin of these works
was Dr. McCulloh; and his conclusions based, as they were, on the
comparatively slender data then obtainable, are remarkable, not only
for the clearness with which they are stated and the distinctness with
which they are defined, but as being more in accordance with all the
facts ascertained than perhaps those of any contemporary.

Samuel G. Drake, Henry Schoolcraft, Dr. Haven, and Sir John Lub-
bock are also disposed to ascribe these ancient works to the Indians.
Among the recent advocates of this theory are the following, who have
made known their position in regard to the question by their writings
or addresses:

Judge C. C. Baldwin, in a paper read before the State Archeological
Society of Ohio, expresses the belief that the mound-builders of Ohio
were village Indians. Col. F. M. Force expresses a similar opinion in
his paper entitled “The Mound-Builders,” read before the Cincinnati
Literary Club. Dr. D. G. Brinton brings forward, in an article pub-
lished in the October number, 1881, of the American Antiquarian, con-
siderable historical evidence tending to the conclusion that the Indians
were the authors of these ancient works.' Dr. P. R. Hoy, in a paper
entitled “Who built the Mounds?” published in the Transactions of
the Wisconsin Academy of Science,’ brings forward a number of facts
to sustain the same view. Mr. Lucien Carr, of Cambridge, Mass., in a
paper entitled “The Mounds of the Mississippi Valley, historically
considered” (contained in the memoirs of the Kentucky Geological
Survey), has presented a very strong array of historical evidence, going
to show not only that the Indians east of the Mississippi, at the time
they were first discovered by Europeans, were sedentary and agricul-
tural, but also that several of the tribes were in the habit of building
mounds. Several articles and two small volumes have also been pub-
lished by the author of this volume, taking the same view. The arti-
cles will be found in the “American Antiquarian,” “Magazine of
American History ,” “Science,” “American Anthropologist,” and else-
where. The two small works are “The Cherokees in pre-Columbian
Times,” and “* The Shawnees in pre-Columbian Times.”

These recent papers may justly be considered the commencement of
a rediscussion of this question, in which the Indian, after a long exclu-
sion, will be readmitted as a possible factor in the problem.

Prof. Dall has likewise taken an advanced step in this direction in
the excellent American edition of Marquis de Nadaillac’s “‘ Prehistoric
America,” boldly accepting the results of later investigations; and the
same is true in regard to Prof. N.S. Shaler’s “ Kentucky.”

1 Compare Hist. Mag., Feb., 1866, p. 35, Am. Antiq., 1881, vol. 4, p. 9 and American Race, p. 88.
2Vol. vi, 1881-'83, p. 84.

THOMAS. ] 'THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 601

One reason why so little progress has been made in unraveling this
riddle of the American Sphinx is that most of the authors who have
written upon the subject of American archeology have proceeded upon
certain assumptions which virtually closed the door against a free and
unbiased investigation.

Even the most intelligent writers on this subject commence or inter-
lard their discussions with such expressions as the following:

An ancient and unknown people left remains of settled life and of a certain degree
of civilization in the valleys of the Mississippi and its tributaries.!

Among those nations who are without recognized descendants are the Mound-
builders, who lived east of the Mississippi.

The evidences of the former existence of a prehistoric race known as the Mound-
builders, who at one time occupied the principal affluents of the Mississippi, the
Gulf coast, and the region of the Great Lakes, are too conclusive to admit of doubt.
These evidences consist of tumuli symmetrically raised and often enclosed in mathe-
matical figures, such as the square, the octagon, and circle, with long lines of cir-
eumvallation; of pits in the solid rock, and rubbish heaps formed in the prosecu-
cution of their mining operations; and of a variety of utensils wrought in stone or
copper, or molded in clay, which evince a knowledge of art and methodical labor foreign
to the red man.

An ancient race entirely distinct from the Indian, possessing a certain degree of civil-
ization, once inhabited the central portion of the United States.*

The monuments described are not the work of the Indian tribes found in the country,
nor of any tribe resembling them in institutions.®

The only evidence we have of the existence of a people conventionally called the
Mound-builders, preceding the modern Indians in the occupancy of this continent,
consist of material relics.®

The professor [alluding to Dr. Joseph Jones, author of The Antiquities of Ten-
nessee] has clearly shown that the Mound-builder people and the Indians were distinct,
and has set at rest a question upon which some doubts were still entertained by a
certain school of archeologists which has really never been very strong.7

And so on in the same strain through most of the works relating to
this subject, thus virtually deciding the question before, or without,
properly discussing it. A few have ventured the suggestion that pos-
sibly these ancient works were due to the Indian race found in posses-
sion of the country at the time of its discovery by the Europeans.
But this suggestion, instead of receiving serious attention and being
properly and thoroughly investigated, has generally been thrust aside
as unworthy of consideration. For example, one writer dismisses it
with the remark:

Iam not aware that the opinion that the red men were the authors of the most
extensive works, though maintained by some scholars of high repute, is held by any
who have given them personal and thorough examination.*

Another unfortunate and unwarranted assumption which has been a
serious stumbling block in the way of the solution of this problem is,
that there is such a general similarity in these ancient monuments as

! Baldwin, Ancient America, p. 14. 6 Farquharson, in kroc. Davenport Acad. Sci., Vol,

2 Lewis H. Morgan, Beach’s Indian Miscellany, I, p. 103.

p. 243. * Short, North Americans of Antiquity, p. 65.
3 Foster's Prehistoric Races, p. 97. Conant, Footprints of a Vanished Race, p. 1v
*McLean. Mound Builders, p. 13. (preface).

6 Bancroft. Native Races, Lv, p. 787.

602 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

to justify the conclusion that they are the works of one people, of one
great nation. Scattered through the large majority of works where
allusion is made to this subject are to be found such expressions as the
following:

The differences which haye already been pointed out between the monuments of
the several portions of the valley, of the northern, central, and southern divisions,
are not sufficiently marked to authorize the belief that they were the works of sepa-
rate nations. The features common to all are elementary and identify them as apper-
taining to a single grand system.'

While the character of these structures, as traced over wide areas, differs in minor
particulars still there is a general uniformity which stamps the authors as one people,
the subjects of one controlling government.”

This ancient people, whose remains indicate unity and civilization, must have been
organized as a nation with a central administration which all recognized.*

They [the mound-builders] were probably one people; thatis, composed of tribes
living under similar laws, religion, and other institutions. Such variations as are
observed in the monuments are only those that would naturally occur between cen-
tral and frontier regions, although the animal mounds of the northwest present
some difficulties. *

Short, in his “ North Americans of Antiquity,” proceeds upon the
same theory as, in fact, do the large majority of those who have written
upon the subject. Yet, as will soon become apparent to any one who
will study the different forms of these works with any care, the only
similarity between the extremes of form and construction is the fact
that they are built of earth. Between these extremes, if the earth-
works of the world were classified, would fall much the larger portion
of both hemispheres. The conical tumuli bear a far more striking re-
semblance in form to the mounds of Japan, Siberia, and northern Hu-
rope, and some of the burrows of the British isles than they do to the
effigy mounds of Wisconsin, the circles and squares of Ohio, or the
pyramidal and truncated tumuli of the Southern States. It is proba-
bly not going too far to say that if the most skillful engineer of the
present day were to undertake the task of building as many different
forms of earthworks as his skill could devise, it would be difficult for
him to exceed the variety now found. So varied are they that it has
been found impossible to classify them according to form, except in a
very loose and general way.

Almost every animal their builders were acquainted with has served
as a model, and almost every geometrical form from a spiral to a pyra-
mid has been imitated. Examining their internal structure, they are
found to be equally varied.

That there are certain types in form and+construction which prevail
in certain sections is true, but the claim that there is throughout a
general similarity which stamps their authors as one people, unless
this term is used as denoting one race, is wholly without foundation.

It is admitted that these works and the minor vestiges of art found

1 Squier and Davis, Ane. Mon., p. 301, 3 Baldwin, Ancient America, p. 57.
2 Foster, Prehistoric Races, p. 97. 4 Bancroft, Native Races, tv, 785.

THOMAS.) THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 603

in them indicate that their authors belonged to one race, and differed
but little from each other in regard to the position reached in the grade
of culture; but the inference to be drawn from the expressions and
statements referred to, and in most cases intended to be conveyed by
them, is that the mound-builders belonged to one great nation, one
people connected together by one system of government. Even where
these writers are most guarded their speculations in reference to these
monuments are based upon this theory, and their expressions are con-
stantly revealing the fact that their minds are pervaded with this idea.

The thought that once a mighty nation occupied the valley of the
Mississippi with its frontier sett:ements resting on the lake shores and
gulf coast, nestling in the valleys of the Appalachian range and skirt-
ing the broad plains of the west; a nation with its systems of govern-
ment and religion, but which has disappeared, leaving behind it no
evidences of its glory, power, and extent, save these silent, forest-cov-
ered remains, has something so fascinating and attractive in it, that
once it has taken possession of the mind it warps and biases all its
investigations and conclusions.

There seems to pervade the minds of many explorers, and in fact of
some American archeologists, no doubt under the spur of this enchant-
ing thought, the hope and expectation that some great and astounding
find will yet be made which will confirm this theory.

One reason why this view has so generally prevailed is, that the con-
clusions of later authors have been based mainly on the descriptions
and characteristics of the Ohio mounds. For instance, the work enti-
tled “The Mound-Builders ” by the Rey. J. P. MeLean, is—with the
exception of the appendix—based almost wholly on the statements of
Squier aud Davis, although the author resided in the very heart of the
mound area, and, as his ‘“ Archeology of Butler County” shows, was
familiar with the works of this region.

Yet in the face of all this is the undeniable fact that, wherever
these remains are found we see, as is well known even to the writers
who express these views, evidences of warfare, of precautions against
attack and surprise, of attempts at defense; not along the borders
alone of the mound area, but in every section of it; proving beyond
any reasonable doubt a condition of tribal warfare, and hence of tribal
divisions.

It is strange that these writers should so press this idea of a single
nation, when in the same work they speak of numerous fortifications
scattered over the mound regions, of signal mounds and lookout sta-
tions on numberless hills, and of other indications of warfare. To
suppose that all these could be accounted for on the idea that they
were constructed as a defense against incoming hordes of savages
by a people whose ‘settlements were widespread as the extent of
their (the Mound-builders) remains indicate,” ' is preposterous, for they

'Short: North Americans of Antiquity, p. 97.

604 ; MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

accompany, to a greater or less extent, almost every village site
throughout the vast area embraced.

A third serious hindrance to legitimate progress is found in the no-
menclature which has come into use, a number of the terms commonly
employed being nothing more nor less than theories crystallized into
names; such, for example, as “ Sacred Enclosures,” ‘ Temple Mounds,”
“Altar Mounds,” ‘ Saerificial Mounds,” etc. So deeply have these
become embedded in the minds of most writers on American arche-
ology, that in alluding to our ancient earthworks they are used as
though no question could arise as to their correctness. In fact, many
writers on this subject seem to proceed upon the theory that the mound-
builders devoted most of their time to religious ceremonies. A charred
bone or an ash bed in a tumulus suggests to them sacrifice, a mound-
covered stone heap or hard mass of clay is at once construed into a
sacrificial altar, and in every truncated mound they behold the site of
a temple, where the people, led by their priests, assembled to perform
their religious rites and ceremonies. LKven the plates of mica, found
so frequently in these structures, are supposed by some to have been
used by the priests as reflectors to concentrate the rays of the sun for
the purpose of igniting the fuel on the altar, thus causing the people
to believe they had called down sacred fire from the sun, their supreme
divinity.

Take, for example, the expression of a no less able and conscientious
writer than Dr. Lapham. Speaking of the masses of burnt clay and
other evidences of fire found in the walls of the earthworks at Azta-
lan, Wisconsin, he remarks: “ From all the facts observed it is likely
that the clay was mixed with the straw and made into some coarse
kind of envelope or covering for sacrifices about to be consumed. The
whole was probably then placed on the wall of earth, mixed with the
requisite fuel, and burned. The promiscuous mixture of charcoal,
burned clay. charred bones, biackened pottery, etc., can only in this
way be accounted for.” !

Examining the facts as given in his most excellent work on the
Antiquities of Wisconsin, we are astonished to find how small a basis
he had upon which to build such a theory.

The Aztalan remains consist in part of surrounding walls, which
have mound-like enlargements:

Whether these walls are only a series of ordinary mounds, such as are found all
over the western country, differing only in being united to one another, it may, per-
haps, be difficult to decide. They may, possibly, have been designed for the same
and for other purposes. On opening the walls near the tep it is occasionally found
that the earth has been burned. Irregular masses of hard, reddish clay, full of cay-
ities, bear distinct impressions of straw, or rather wild hay, with whieh they had
been mixed before burning. These places are of no very considerable extent, nor
are they more than 6 inches in depth. Fragments of the same kind are found seat-
tered about, and they have been observed in other localities at a great distance

1Antiquities of Wisconsin, p. 44.

‘THOMAS. | THE MOUND-BUILDERS. ; 605

from these ancient ruins. *~ © ~* As indicating the origin of this burned clay, it
is important to state that it is usually mixed with pieces of charcoal, partially
burned bones, ete. Fragments of pottery are also found in the same connection.!

If these embankments are true walls, the places selected for cremat-
ing bodies would seem to be very unusual and wholly inappropriate.
Moreover, we find on the next page of his work proof that burial was
practiced by the occupants. At the bottom of one of the mound-like
enlargements were found the remains of two bodies which he judged
had been buried in a sitting posture. Near the surface of the same
mound were found fragments of pottery, charcoal, half-burned human
bones, and masses of burned clay. If the theory advanced be correct,
we would have here evidence in the same mound of two methods of dis-
posing of the dead. If the object were to consume the body, it would
be very strange that it should be first inclosed in a mass of clay and
the burned remains afterward left uneared-for.

It is much more probable that the clay mixed with wild grass was
used as plastering for winter houses which were built on these enlarge-
ments or mounds, or for wooden palisades. The presence of partially
burned human bones may be easily accounted for without resorting to
the theory of human sacrifice or intentional cremation, as will here-
after be shown.

Tam inclined, from personal examination, to accept Dr. Lapham’s
suggestion that these supposed walls are only a series of mounds
united by embankments. Similar series are found in Crawford county,
in the same State.

In the latter case they seem to have been used only as house sites.

Dr. Lapham was, beyond question, one of the most careful and con-
scientious students of our antiquities, yet this idea of the predomi-
nance of religious ceremonies in the customs of the mound-builders
had taken such strong hold on his mind that the evideuce of fire, even
in the inclosing walls, was sufficient to bring sacrifice forward as an
explanation of the condition observed, notwithstanding that he was in-
clined to the opinion that the mound-builders and Indians belonged to
the same race.

Messrs. Squier and Davis in the explanation of their reasons for
designating certain works “ sacred inclosures” remark ’ as follows:

Thus, when we find an inclosure containing a number of mounds, ail of which it
is capable of demonstration were religions in their purposes, or in some way con-
nected with the superstitions of the people who built them, the conclusion is irre-
sistible that the inclosure itself was also deemed sacred.

How are we to demonstrate that a mound was intended for reli-
gious purposes? The answer given by these authors is to be gathered
from their chapter on “altar or sacrificial mounds,” and is in substance
as follows: If it has a (so-called) “altar” in it and is stratified, it has
been built for religious purposes, though the altar alone would doubt-

‘Lapham. Antiquities of Wisconsin, p. 43. 2 Anc. Mon., p. 47.

606 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

less have sufficed with them to place a mound in this category. Even
the character of the sacrifices is supposed to be clearly indicated, as
they remark that—

The inference that human sacrifices were made here and the remains afterwards
thus collected and deposited, or that a system of burial of this extraordinary char-
acter was practiced in certain cases, seems to follow legitimately from the facts and
circumstances here presented.!

According to Short, ‘ Prof. E. B. Andrews has shown that the sup-
posed uniformity of stratification in altar mounds is afallacy. In many
instances the earth has been dumped together indiscriminately.” ?
The Bureau explorations also tend to throw doubt upon the theory of
the authors of “Ancient Monuments” in this respect, and also on the
supposition that “altar mounds” are never used for burial purposes.

Although there will be occasion hereafter to allude to this subject,
it will not be amiss to notice here some reasons for protesting against
the use of terms implying sacrifice.

Itis evident that the use of the terms “sacred ‘inclosures” and “ sac-
rificial mounds” by Messrs Squier and Davis hinges upon the object and
use of the so-called “altars.” If they are in error in this respect their
whole theory falls to the ground and the use of these terms is unwar-
ranted and misleading.

If these altars were used for sacrificial purposes in a religious sense,
or in any true sense of the term, as these authors evidently imply, and,
moreover, for human sacrifice, it is remarkable that so many of them
(some ten or twelve) should be found in the single inclosure denomi-
nated “ Mound city;” that a single village should have nearly a dozen
different places of offering sacrifices. It is very strange that true sacri-
ficial altars used by the same people, by the inhabitants of a single
village, should have varied so greatly that while some were circular
and some elliptical, others were squares or parallelograms; some but
2 feet across, while others were 50 feet or more in length, by 12 to 15
in breadth. A basin-shaped mass of clay 45 or 50 feet long, 12 feet
wide, and not more than 18 inches high, with broad, sloping margins,
would be an unusual altar.

Passing by these serious objections, let us examine the evidence upon
which Messrs. Squier and Davis base their conclusions respecting these
structures. It appears that they examined some forty or fifty of these
altar-containing tumuli: their statement is, “‘of one hundred mounds
examined, sixty were altar or temple mounds.”* Allowing ten of this
number for temple mounds, the number belonging to the other class
would be fifty. Of these, they describe and figure as types ten or
eleven, seven of which were on the restricted and inclosed area of 13
acres, designated ‘“ Mound city.”

The altar basin of one was filled to the brim with fine dry ashes,
intermixed with which were some fragments of ornamented pottery

1 Anc. Mon., p. 159. 2North Americans of Antiquity, p. 83, note. % Ane, Mon., p. 142.

THOMAS.] THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 607

and a few copper disks, and opaque mica in sheets so laid as to over-
lap one another. Resting on these were some charred human bones,
probably those of a single skeleton.

There certainly is nothing in this to indicate that there had been a
sacrifice. The facts might warrant the conclusion that cremation had
been attempted; but to base the theory of sacrifice on these facts is
unjustifiable. It was apparent that the mica and bones were care-
fully placed there after the fire had died out, and with the evident
intention of sepulture. Moreover, as the authors inform us, ‘“ the lay-
ers of mica and calcined bones * * * were peculiar to this indi-
vidual mound, and were not found in any other of the class.”

In the basin of another was “‘a deposit of fine ashes, intermixed
with charcoal, 3 inches thick.” In these ashes were some fragments of
pottery and a few shell and pearl beads. The basin of another con-
tained nothing more than a mass, 4 or 5 inches thick, of something
like lime mortar, apparently made from calcined shells, fragments of
the shells being intermixed. It will scarcely be claimed that these
contain any indications of sacrifice.

The basin of another of large size was filled with relics, chiefly
articles of stone and copper, and fragments of pottery mixed with coal
and ashes. <A single fragment of a partially calcined bone was found
on the altar; it was the patella of a human skeleton.

In the basin of mound No.8 was found the collection of articles which
has become so noted in works relating to American archeology. This
deposit, we are informed, consisted of “not far from 200 pipes carved
in stone; many pearl and shell beads; numerous disks, tubes, ete., of
copper, and a number of other ornaments of copper covered with silver,
ete.,” intermixed with much ashes.

The altar of mound 18 “contained no relics, but was thinly covered
with a carbonaceous deposit resembling burned leaves.”

The altar of mound 7 was nothing more than ‘a smooth, level floor
of clay slightly burned, which was covered with a thin layer of sand an
inch in thickness. A small portion of one side was covered with a
layer of mica, the rounded pieces overlapping as the scales of a fish.”

The basin of a small altar in another mound was rich in relics con-
taining ‘‘several instruments of obsidian;” “several scrolls tastefully
cut from thin sheets of mica;” traces of cloth made of doubled and
twisted thread; a number of bone implements; a quantity of pearl
beads, and some fragments of copper in thin, narrow slips.

The altar of one was simply a mound-shaped mass covered with
stones; that of another consisted of sand with a median stratum of
charcoal, and a dished surface paved with small cobblestones.

These are all the examples of the type designated “sacrificial mounds”
which these authors describe, and they furnish the evidence upon which
archeologists are expected to accept the theory that these structures
were built and used for sacrificial purposes. If this be sufficient to

608 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

warrant such a theory, what is to be the conclusion in reference to the
hundreds of burned clay beds of the mounds described in the preceding
descriptive part of this report? Are we to suppose that all were intended
for sacrificial purposes? Is it not far more probable that the inhabi-
tants of the little village in the inclosure made use of fire for some other
purpose than for human sacrifices, which seems to be virtually implied
by the theory advanced? Nor is this said in jest, for every evidence
of fire mentioned as being found in this inclosure is supposed to have
been cunnected with religious ceremonies. Even a deposit of chipped
flints is supposed to be a religious or sacrificial offering. Speaking of
this deposit or cache, these authors say:

If they were thus placed as an offering we can form some estimate, in view of the
facts that they must have been brought from a great distance and fashioned with
great toil, of the devotional feryor which induced the sacrifice, or the magnitude of
the calamity which that sacrifice was intended to divert. “~ * * There is little
doubt that the deposit was final, and was made in compliance with some religious
requirements.

As caches of stone implements have been discovered in different
localities, sometimes where no mound has been raised over them, it is
more likely that in this case the workman adopted this plan of con-
cealing his treasure to prevent its being disturbed.

Sir John Lubbock! remarks as follows in regard to the opinion ex-
pressed by Messrs. Squier and Davis respecting these constructions:

This conclusion does not seem to us altogether satisfactory, and although these
altar-containing mounds differ in so many respects from the above described tumuli,
we still feel disposed to regard them as sepulchral rather than sacrificial. Not having,
however, had the advantage of examining them for ourselves, we throw this out as a
suggestion rather than express it as an opinion. We confess that we feel much diffi-
culty in understanding why altars should be covered up in this manner. We call to
mind no analogous case,

Had this author been aware of the fact that there are hundreds of
mounds stratified much after the manner of those described by Messrs.
Squier and Davis that are true burial mounds; many others which
have no altar and yet are not burial mounds; and others that have been
explored as widely apart as Iowa and North Carolina which contained
trne, altar-shaped masses built of cobblestones, some of which showed
no indications whatever of fire, while others were covered with layers
of charcoal and ashes in which were imbedded skeletons or human
bones bearing no marks of heat, he would probably have expressed a still
more decided dissent.

It may not be possible, at the present day, to decide with certainty
as to the object and use of those so-called altars, but the theory that
they were used for sacrificial purposes seems to be wholly gratuitous
and without the shadow of evidence in its favor. There are some
grounds, as will appear further on, for believing that some of these clay
beds were used as places for torturing prisoners of war, the chief sacrifice
the Indians were accustomed to make.

1 Smithson. Rept. 1862, p. 328. Also Prehistoric Times, 4th edu., 1878, p. 276.

THOMAS. ] THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 609

There are perhaps sufficient data on which to base a theory of cre-
mation, as has been done by Dorman,' whose remarks on the subject
are appropriate in this place: :

It is extremely doubtful whether a great error has not been made by many
able American archeologists in denominating a class of artificial mounds “ altar
mounds.” Many things have tended to lead them into this error. The burial cus-
toms of the aboriginal Americans have not been thoroughly investigated. A sup-
posed great antiquity has been ascribed to them, and a special race of mound-
builders has been created to furnish builders for the great monuments of what has
been called an extinct race. Whence they came and where they have gone has puz-
zled the brain of many an antiquarian. This imaginary people, with an elaborate
ritual of sacrifice offered on the altars so carefully covered with an abundance of
earth to protect them from tlre sacrilegious hands of barbarian intruders, will, how-
ever, eventually be resolved into a very primitive people and their sacrificial altars
turned into cremation pyres, where the bodies of the dead were burned With their
worldly effects and a tumulus erécted over their remains. Upon most of these sup-
posed altars human bones have been found;? in a few, however, their absence is
noted by explorers. They may have been reduced to ashes, but it is not necessary
to account for their absence in this way alone, for the custom, as we have seen, was
very prevalent of preserving the bones after cremation and removing them, and
among many of the tribes they were reduced to a powder, which was used in some
liquid as a drinking potion for the relatives. The altar-mound theorists have had
to, account for the presence of human bones by the horrible rite of human sacrifice.
The conclusion that the mounds of this class were devoted to this superstitious rite
does not appear to be satisfactory. They rather appear to indicate that cremation
was practiced. Thesacrificial origin of these mounds has been inferred from the fact
that articles of only one class occur in them. This would only indicate that a divis-
ion of labor was established, because with their belief in a future life and a contin-
uance of all the employments of the present life many of the products of any skillful
person and material for new labor would be deposited with such a person. On this
subject of sacrifice, running as it does through all their ceremonial life, I would refer
the reader to that part of this work devoted to that subject. Evidences have been
found of cremation in Florida mounds. *

Notwithstanding the opinion in regard to cremation so confidently
expressed in this quotation, there are some strong reasons for doubting
its correctness, as will hereafter be shown.

The term ‘mound-builders,” although adopted from necessity, is an
unfortunate one, as its constant use has accustomed the mind to look
upon the authors of these ancient works as one people, thus fixing in
the mind an unproven theory and checking to some extent that inves-
tigation of the subject which is necessary to a correct conclusion.

It is not asserted, nor does the author wish to be understood as now

_ maintaining, that all these expressed and implied theories are incor-

rect. Whether the mound-builders devoted much of their time to
religious ceremonies, whether they were accustomed to make religious
sacrifices, whether there were sacred inclosures, sacrificial and temple
mounds, ete., are questions to be settled, if possible, by careful inves-
tigations and legitimate deductions. ,The protest expressed is against
the method which has been so generally followed of taking them for
granted, and then, without any proof of their correctness, proceeding

! Origin of Primitive Superstitions, p. 187. 2 This is an error.—C. T.

12 ETH——39 ‘ 7

610 F MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

to build up theories and arrive at conclusions based upon them; and
also against the pernicious practice of grafting into our ee
nomenclature terms which involve these assumptions.

For example, it has been assumed that the mound-builders were sun
worshippers, and this theory is given such prominence and influence
that legitimate conclusions from material data are set aside because
they seem to contradict it. So strong is the hold that these assump-
tions have taken upon the minds of many students of American arche-
ology that it is well nigh impossible to persuade them to examine care-
fully a theory which seems to contravene them.

‘ OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.

As it is necessary to a proper and legitimate discussion of the ques-
tion before us to free ourselves, as far as possible, from the unwar-
ranted assumptions mentioned in the previous pages, it may be well
to examine briefly afew vf the more important ones—which are pre-
sented as objections to the theory that the authors of the mounds were
Indians—before entering upon the direct discussion.

It is proper to state at this point, however, that the author believes
the theory which attributes these works to the Indians (using this term
in the limited sense heretofore explained) to be the correct one. Ex-
cluding such remains as pertain to civilized European races of a date
subsequent to the discovery of America by Columbus, he attributes al‘
the ancient artificial works found in the Mississippi valley and Guli
states, or in that part of the United States east of the Rocky mountains,
to the Indian tribes found in possession of this region at the time of
its discovery, and their ancestors. This limitation excludes from con- ,
sideration the cultured tribes of Mexico and Central America, and also
the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and Arizona. That there may have
been intercourse between some of the tribes who occupied this region
and the people of Mexico and Central America and the Pueblo tribes
of the southwest is not only’possible, but very probable. It is to be
understood, therefore, while the position the author takes on this ques-
tion does not exclude the idea of such intercourse, it does exclude the
supposition that these works are due in whole or in part to the more
cultivated people of Mexico or Central America, as well as all theories
which attribute them to any other people than the Indians in the limited
sense heretofore mentioned. Thatsome of the tribes may have become
extinct or merged into others in the past is more than probable, but
this inno way affects the proposition.

One reason why the Indian has been so generally, so persistently,
and so unceremoniously refused admission as a possible factor in this
problem is because of the opinion, which seems to be almost univer-
sally held, that when first encountered on our continent by the European

THOMAS. ] ‘ OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 611

explorers he was the same restless, roving, unsettled, unhoused, and
unagricultural savage, wherever found, as we have learned to consider
him in more modern times.

As it is conceded that the mound-builders, judging by the extent
and magnitude of their works, must have been to some extent a seden-
tary people, having fixed villages and depending very largely for sub-
sistence upon the products of the soil, it is assumed as a necessary
inference that they could not have been Indians, as these were nomads
depending for subsistence almost wholly upon the chase, spurning the
restraints of settled life and agricultural pursuits.

Although this idea had been advanced previous to his time, yet Gal-
latin may be considered the father of the theory, as he was the first to
clearly formulate it, and it 1s largely through the influence his writings
exerted upon the scientific world that it has taken such hold on the
minds of subsequent writers.

It is apparent that Messrs. Squier and Davis took the work of this
author as their chief guide in forming their theories, so far as they re-
late to the points on which he touched. As most authors of general
works on American archeology,.written since the publication of the
“ Ancient Monuments,” have taken therefrom the larger portion of their
material as well as their conclusions in regard thereto, so far as these
relate to the region under consideration, Gallatin may be considered
the father of the theory to which we have alluded. Even in one of
the latest works on American archeology—Nadaillac’s ‘“‘ Prehistoric
America ”—this statement occurs: ! :

Between 1845 and 1847 more than two hundred mounds were excavated by them
[Squier and Davies], and the description they give, published by the Smithsonian
Institution, is still our best guide with regard to these remains.

Attention is therefore called for a moment to Gallatin’s reasons for
concluding that the Indians could not have been the mound-builders,
as these are based almost wholly on the theory above mentioned.

1 quote the following from the general observations in the “ Intro-
ductory Essay” to his justly celebrated “Synopsis of the Indian Tribes
of North America.” ?

But we know that north of the latitude of the Rio Gila there is nothing west of
the Rio Colorado but a sandy desert, nothing between that river and the Rio Norte,
but accumulated ridges of mountains; nothing east of the last river but the buffalo
plains. In fact we find in no part of the country, whether east or north, adjacent
to the northern qivilized provinces of Mexico, any trace or any probability of the
former existence of an agricultural people. But we may easily understand that the
civilization of Mexico gradually extended its influence, as from a common center,
northwardly as well as southwardly; that the northerly tribes, as far north as the
thirtieth degree of latitude, and perhaps the Rio Gila, without having made the
same progress in arts or attained the same degree of wealth as the ancient inhabit-
ants of Mexico, may have been gradually converted into an agricultural people, and
that, like the German nations in Europe, they may ultimately have conquered their
less warlike southern neighbors.

1 Am. Ed. 1884, p. 81. 2? Trans. Am. Antig. Soc. (1838) Vol. 2, pp. 146-151.

612 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The next and more immediate subject of inquiry is, how we shall account for
those ancient tumuli, fortifications, and the remnants, both east and west of the
Mississippi, the origin of which is entirely unknown to the Indians, who in the
seventeenth century were the sole inhabitants, and still continue to occupy a part
of that country. .

On this, as on many other subjects relative to our Indians, we are still in want of
facts. We are not yet sufficiently acquainted with the extent of the country over
which the monuments are spread, or how far they differ in character, extent, or num-
ber in the different sections of the country. They only appear to have been more
numerous and of greater importance in the vicinity of the Mississippi and the valley
of the Ohio. There is nothing in their construction or the remnants which they con-
tain indicative of a much-more advanced state of civilization than that of the present
inhabitants. But it may be inferred from their number and size that they were the
work of a more populous nation than any now existing; and if the inference is cor-
rect it would necessarily imply a state of society in which greater progress had been
made in agriculture. For wherever satisfactory evidence of a greater population is
found this could not have existed without adequate means of subsistence, greater
than can be supplied by the chase alone.

Those monuments seem, in two respects, to differ from any erections that can be
ascribed to the Indians, such as they were first found by the first French or English
settlers. Some are of a character apparently different from those purely intended
for defense. It may be doubted whether those extensive mounds, so regularly
shaped and with a rectangular basis, such as that near the Mississippi on which
the refugee monks of La Trappe had built their convent, 100 feet in height, facing
the four cardinal points and with those platforms designated by the name of apron,
are entirely the work of man, or whether they may not have been natural hills
artificially shaped by his hands. But,if they have -been correctly described, they
have a strong family likeness to the Mexican pyramids, as they are called, and were
probably connected with the worship of the nation. Of these, for there appears to
be at. least two more, and of other inclosures or works which can not be accounted
for by a reference to military purposes only, we want full and precise descriptions.

But, if considered only as fortifications, ramparts of earth in a forest country
strike us as a singular mode of defense against savage enemies and Indian weapons.
All the defensive works, without exception, that were used by the Indians east of
the Mississippi, from the time they were first known to us, were of a uniform char-
acter. The descriptions of Mauville, at the time of De Soto’s expedition, and of
Hochelaga, by Cartier, agree entirely with the Indian forts within our own knowl-
edge, with that of the Five Nations in the siege of which Champlain was engaged
in 1615, and of which he has left a correct drawing, and with every other description
given by the early writers. They allconsisted of wooden palisades strongly secured,
with an internal gallery, from which the besieged party might under cover repel
the assailants with missile weapons. And they were also of a moderate size, and
such as could be defended by the population of an Indian village. Wood affords
the natural means of fortification against a savage enemy, where the material is
abundant. It can not indeed be understood how these works could haye been
properly defended, unless they were surrounded not only by the rampart but also
by a palisade. And it is, on any supposition, extremely difficult to account for works
containing 500 acres, such as that on the banks of the Missouri, which was correctly
measured by Lewis and Clarke.

The only conjecture I can form, and it is but a conjecture, is that the people who
erected those works came from the west, and that it was during their residence in
the prairie country that they were compelled to resort to that species of defensive
works. They may, as is often the case, have persisted in the habit when there was
no longer occasion for it. From the Colorado on the Rio Norte, the way to the Mis-
sissippi was easy by the river Platte or the Arkansas. The conjecture is entitled to

THOMAS.) OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 613

consideration only in case further investigation should show a probable connection
between the monuments of the valley of the Mississippi and those of Mexico. The
extensive tract of alluvial land along the Mississippi opposite St. Louis, now called
the American Bottom, is the place in which are found the strongest indications of
a concentrated population.
Although he admits that “there is nothing in the construction of
" these [ancient] works or the character of the articles found in them in-
dicative of a much higher civilization than that of the Indians,” yet he
ascribes them to a different people. The process of reasoning by which
he reaches this conclusion need not be quoted, is it can be briefly
summarized as follows: The number and magnitude of ancient works
indicate a dense population, hence a people depending to a large ex-
tent upon agriculture for subsistence—ergo, they could not have been
Indians, as Indians relied but little upon agriculture for subsistence.

Although admitting that agriculture was practiced to a limited extent
by Indians, he insists that the population was scattered and sparse
because the food supply derived from the chase had not reached its
maximum limit at the time they became known to Europeans. This ©
may have been true in regard to the buffalo region of the Northwest,
but can not be correctly affirmed of the southern section, as will here-
after be shown. Moreover his own statements, found elsewhere in the
paper referred to, refute his argument, so far as if relates to the south
and some other sections.

Compare, for example, the following:

Whatever opinion may be entertained of the respective population of the four
greatsouthern nations three hundred and one hundred and fifty years ago, it appears
certain that their habits and social state had not, during that interval, undergone
any material alteration. They were probably as ferocious, but less addicted tq war
than the northern Indians. Those of New England, the Iroquois tribes, the Sauks
and Foxes, had perhaps made equal progress in agriculture; but, generally speaking
the-southern depended more on the cultivation of the soil and less on hunting than
the Algonkin Lenape tribes. We find the Spaniards under De Soto feeding almost
exclusively on maize and complaining of the want of meat. Two hundred years
later, Bernard Romans says, that near one-half of the Choctaws have never killed a
deer during their lives, and that, whilst in their country, he had but two or three
opportunities of eating venison in as many months. Those southern tribes have
also remained respectively united together as one nation. The Choctaws and Chie-

_ asaws are the only exception of any importance; and the Muskhogees, as has been
seen, incorporated, instead of exterminating subordinate tribes.” !

Itis evident from this and abundant proof which can be adduced,
not only that the maximum supply from the chase had been reached in
the southern sections, but had long since ceased to afford even a moiety
of the food necessary for subsistence. He adds, that the Indians “ of
New England, the Iroquois tribes, the Sauks and Foxes had perhaps
made equal progress in agriculture.” That the entire argument is with-
out foundation will appear further on. :

But this is not the only inconsistency into which this able author

1 Trans. Am. Ant. Soc., Vol. 2, pp. 107, 108.
-

614 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

runs in consequence of his position in regard to the mound-builders.
His statement im the quotation made from his paper, that “ we find in
no part of the country, whether east or north adjacent to the northern
civilized provinces of Mexico, any trace or any probability of the former
existence of an agricultural people,” is not only incorrect as shown by
subsequent explorations and even by-earlier historical evidence, but is
inconsistent with his supposition in regard to the former home.of the
mound-builders. For, as will be seen by reference to the extract from
his ‘“‘synopsis”—it_is from this same desert, barren western country
which he pronounces void of any indications of former cultivation that
he derives the agricultural mound-builders. In this heagrees with Lewis
H. Morgan, who looks to this area as their former home because, as he
says, “the evidence of Indian occupation and cultivation throughout
the greater part of this area is sufficient to suggest the hypothesis that
the Indian here first attained to the condition of the middle status of
barbarism and sent forth the migrating bands who carried this advanced
culture to the Mississippi valley, to Mexico, and Central America and
not unlikely to South America as well.”!

Turning to the more recent authorities we take the following as
specimens of the usual method of disposing of this question:

A broad chasm is to be spannel before we can link the mound-builders to the
North American Indians. They were essentially different in their form of Ee
ment, their habits, and their daily pursuits.

The latter, since known to the white man, has spurned the restraints of a seden-
tary life which attach to agriculture, and whose requirements, in his view, are ignoble.
He was never known to erect structures which would survive the lapse of a gener:
ation. His lodges consist of a few poles, one end planted in the ground and the
other secured with withes at the top, and over which were stretched plaits of mat-
ting; or of birch bark, or of the skin of the buffalo.?

The proofs hereafter presented will show how far this is from being
correct, and that this writer, though of acknowledged ability, was igno-
rant of the evidence bearing on this subject, or, carried away by a pre-
conceived theory, wholly disregarded it.

As a single item, we give here a statement from the account of ‘“ the
first voyage of Raleigh (1584) to Virginia: ”?

After they had been divers times aboard our ships myself with seven more went
20 miles into the river that runneth toward the city of Skicoak, which river they
call Ocam, and the evening following we came to an island which they call Roanoke,
distant from the harbor which we entered seven leagues; and at the north end there-
of was a village of nine houses built of cedar and fortified round about with sharp
trees to keep out their enemies, and the entrance into it made like a turnpike very
artificially. When we came toward it, standing near to the water side, the wife of
Granganimo, the king’s brother, came running out to meet us very cheerfully and
friendly. * * * When we were come into the outer room, having five rooms in her
house, she caused us to sit down by a great fire, and after took off our clothes and

washed them and dried them again; some of the women plucked off our Srackiney

' Contrib. N. A. Ethn., Vol. 4, p. 192; also Beach's Indian Miscellany, pp. 235.
2 Foster: Prehistoric Races, p. 347. ¢
3 Hakluyt’s Voyages. London Ed., 1600, Vol. 3, p. 304.

THOMAS. } OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 615

washed them, some washed our feet in warm water, and she herself took great pains
to see all things ordered in the best manner she could, making great haste to dress
some meat forustoeat. * * * Their vessels are earthen pots, very large, white,
and sweet; their dishes are wooden platters of sweet timber.

Yet the writer above quoted adds:

To suppose that such a race threw up the strong lines of cireumvallation and the
symmetrical mounds which crown so many of our river terraces is as preposterous
almost as to suppose that they built the pyramids of Egypt.

Another says:

There is no trace or probability of any direct relationship whatever between the
mound-builders and the barbarous Indians found in the country. The wild Indians
of this continent have never known such a condition as that of the mound-builders.
They had nothing in common with it. In Africa, Asia, and elsewhere among the
more uncivilized families of the human race there is not as much really original bar-
barisms as some anthropologists are inclined to assume, but there can be no serious
doubt that the wild Indians of North America were original barbarians born of a stock
which had never at any time been either civilized or closely associated with the in-
fluence of civilization. * * * It is absurd to suppose a relationship or a connec-
tion of any kind between the original barbarism of these Indians and the civiliza-
tion of the mound-builders.!

Why this opinion has prevailed in the minds of the masses who have
learned it from the history and tradition of Indian life and Indian war-
fare Since the establishment of European colonies in this country, can
easily be understood, but why writers should so speak of them who
had access to the older records, giving accounts of the habits and cus-
toms of the Indian tribes when first observed by European navigators
and explorers, is difficult to conceive, when the records, almost without
exception, notice the fact that although addicted to war, much devoted
to the chase, and often base and treacherous, they were generally found
from the Mississippi to the Atlantic dwelling in settled villages and
cultivating the soil.

In fact, when first visited by Europeans there was scarcely a tribe
from the Atlantic to the borders of the western plains but that had its
fixed seat, its local habitation, and subsisted to a very large extent
upon the products of agriculture.

DeSoto found all the tribes he visited, from the Florida peninsula to
the western part of Arkansas, cultivating maize and various vegetables,

The early voyagers along the Atlantic shore found the same thing true
from Florida to Massachusetts. Capt. John Smith and his colony, and
in fact all the early colonies, depended very largely for subsistence upon
this fact. Jacques Cartier found the inhabitants of old Hochelaga
cultivating maize. Champlain testifies to the same thing’s being true of
the Iroquois. La Salle and his companions observed the Indians of
Illinois, and from thence southward along the Mississippi, cultivating
and to a large extent subsisting upon maize.

The truth of these statements has been so thoroughly demonstrated
by Mr. Lucien Carr in his “ Mounds of the Mississippi Valley Histori-

' Baldwin, Ancient America, pp. 60, 61.

616 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

cally Considered,” that but little is left for others to offer on this sub-
ject. Nevertheless a somewhat fuller presentation of some of the state-
ments of the early authorities bearing on the subject is given here.

Thomas Hariot, a very intelligent and reliable observer, gives the
following notes in regard to the method of cultivating maize and other
vegetables by the Indians of the Virginia coast: - .

Pagatowr, a kind of grain so called by the inhabitants; the same in the West Indies
is called Mayze, Englishmen call it Guiny-wheat or Turkey-wheat, according to the
names of the countries from whence the like hath been brought. The grain is about
the bigness of our ordinary English peas and not much different in form and shape;
but of divers colors, some white, some red, some yellow and some blue. All of these
yield a very white and sweet flour, being used according to his kind, it maketh a
very good bread. We made of the same in the country some malt whereof was
brewed as good ale as was to be desired. So likewise by the help of hops thereof
may be made as good beer. * * * s

Okindgier, called by us beans, because in greatness and partly in shape they are
like the beans in England, saving that they are flatter, * * *

Wickonzowr, called by us pease, in respect of the beans for distinctions sake,
because they are much less although in form they little differ. * * *

Macoqwer, according to their several forms, called by us Pompions, Melons, and
Gourds because they are of like forms as those kinds in England.

All the aforesaid commodities for victual ure set or sowed, sometimes in grounds
apart and severally by themselves, but for the most part together in one ground
mixtly: the manner thereof with the dressing and preparing of the ground, because
I will note unto you the fertility of the soil, I think good briefly to describe.

The ground they never fatten with muck, dung or anything, neither plow nor dig
it as we in England, but only prepare it in sort as followeth: A few days before
they sow or set, the men with wooden instruments made almost in the form of mat-
tocks or hoes with long handles, the women with short peckers or parers, because
they use them sitting, of a foot long, and about five inches in breadth, do only break
the upper part of the ground to raise up the weeds, grass, and old stubs of corn-
stalks with their-roots. The which after a day or two days drying in the sun, being
scraped up into many small heaps, to save them labor for carrying them away, they
burn to ashes. And whereas some may think that they use the ashes for to better
the ground, I say that then they would either disperse the ashes abroad, which we
observe they do not, except the heaps be too great, or else would take special care to
* set their corn where the ashes lie, which also we find they are careless of. And this
is all the husbanding of their ground that they use.

Then their setting orsowing is after this manner. First, for their corn, beginning
in one corner of the plot with a pecker they make a hole wherein they put out four
grains, with care that they touch not one another, (about an inch asunder) and cover
them with the mould again; and so throughout the whole plot, making such holes
and using them after such manner, but with this regard, that they be made in ranks,
every rank differing from the other half a fathom or a yard, and the holes also in
every rank. By this means there is a yard of spare ground between every hole;
where, according to discretion here and there, they set as many beans and pease; in
divers places also among the seeds of Macoeqwer, Melden and Planta Solis. * * *
There is an herb which is sowed apart by itself, and it is called by the inhabitants
Uppowoc; in the West Indies it has divers names dccording to the several place.
and countries where it groweth and is used; the Spaniards generally call it tobacco,
the leaves thereof being dried and brought into powder they use to take the fume or
smoke thereof by sucking it through pipes made of clay, into their stomach and
head, from whence it purgeth superfluous fleame and other gross humors, and open-
eth all the pores and passages of the body; by which means the use thereof not only

'THOMAS.] OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 617

preserveth the body from obstruction, but also (if any be so that they have not been
of too long continuance) in short time breaketh them: whereby their bodies are
notably preserved in health, and know not many grievous diseases, wherewithal we
in England are oftentimes afflicted.'

This, we must bear in mind, was written in 1587, nearly twenty years
before the first permanent Kuropean settlement in Virginia. Another
point worthy of notice as indicative of considerable experience in eul-
tivation is that there were in use in the section visited by Mr. Hariot
four varieties of maize.

Beverly, in his History of Virginia,’ says:

Besides all these, our natives had originaily amongst them, Indian corn, Peas,
Beans, Potatoes (Sweet Potatoes) and Tobacco.

This Indian Corn was the staff of food upon which the Indians did ever depend;
for when sickness, bad weather, war or any other accident kept them from hunting,
fishing and fowling, this, with the addition of some Peas, Beans and such other
fruits of the Earth, as were then in season, was the family’s dependence and the
support of their women and children.

There are four sorts of Indian Cofn, two of which are early ripe, and two late
ripe, all growing in the same manner. Every single grain of this when planted pro-
duces a tall up-right Stalk which has several ears hanging on the sides of it, from
six to ten inches long. * * * The late ripe corn is diversify’ed by the shape of
the grain only, without respect to the accidental differences in colour,some being
blue, some red, some yellow, some white and some streak’d. That therefore which
makes the distinction is the plumpness or shrivelling of the grain; the one looks as
smooth and as full as the early ripe corn and this they call flint corn: the other has
a larger grain and looks shrivell’d with a dent on the back of the grain as if it had
never come to perfection, and this they call she-corn. i

‘All these sorts are planted alike in rows, three, four or five grains in a hill, the
larger sort at four or five foot distance, the lesser sort nearer. The Indians ysed to
give it one or two weedings and make a hill about it, and so the labor was done.
They likewise plant a bean in the same hill with the corn, upon whose stalk it sus-
tains itself. - .

The Indians sow’d peas sometimes in the intervals of the rows of corn, but more
generally in a patch of ground by themselves. * * *

Their potatoes are either red or white, about as long as a boy’s leg, and sometimes
as long and big as both the leg and thigh of a young child,and very much resem-
bling it in shape. :

How the Indians order’d their tobacco I am not certain, they now depending
chiefly upon the English for what they smoak.

This long extract from Beverly has been given, as it furnishes addi-
tional evidence of the long cultivation of maize, the varieties being
the same now chiefly in use in the South. ‘

Marquette, speaking of the Illinois Indians as seen by him on his
first visit,® remarks:

They live by game, wich is abundant in this country, and on Indian corn (bled
d@inde), of which they always gather a good crop, so that they have never suffered
by famine. They also sow beans and melons, which are excellent, especially those

with a red seed. Their squashes are not of the best; they dry them in the sun to
eat in the winter and spring. ;

1Hariot (Thomas)—‘‘A Brief & Trne Report,” ete., of Virginia, Reprint, N. Y., 1872, pp. 13-16.
2Second edn., London, 1722, pp. 125-128.
3 Voyages and Discoy., English trans. Hist. Coll, La., 1852, vol. tv, p.33. Original French, p. 246.

618 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

In the “Relation,” by Vimont,' twenty-nine tribes living south of the
lakes are mentioned as sedentary and cultivators of the soil. Le Clereq
says? that “The Algomquins, Iroquois, Hurous, Nipsiriniens, Neuters,
and Five Nations were indeed sedentary.”

Du Pratz says: ;

“All the nations I have known, and who inhabit from the seaas far as the Illinois,
and even farther, which is a space of about 1,500 miles, carefully cultivate the maize
corn, which they make their principal subsistence.” *

According to Jacques Cartier, who visited Canada as early as 1535,
and was, so far as known, the first European explorer who passed up
the St. Lawrence, the Indians of Hochelaga ‘now Montreal) ‘‘had good
and large fields full of corn, * * * which they preserve in garets
at the tops of their houses.” 4 -

Champlain,’® A. D. 1610, speaking of the Indians immediately around
Lakes Erie and Ontario, says that most of them cultivated corn, which
was their principal article of food, and which they also exchanged for
skins with the hunter tribes living to the north. They stored it in the
tops of their houses, and cultivated it in quantities so that they might
have on hand a supply large enough to last three or four years in case
of failure ot the crop.®

The wheat (Indian corn) being thus sown in the manner that we do beans, of a
grain obtained only from a stalk or cane, the cane bears two or threespikes, and
each spike yields a hundred, two hundred, sometimes 400 grains, and some yield
even more. The cane grows to the height of a man and more, and is very large (it
does not grow so well or so high, nor the spike as large nor the grain so good in
Canada nor in France, as there) in the Huron country.

The grain ripens in four months and in some places in three. After this they
gather it and bind it by the leaves turned up at the top and arrange it in sheaves,
which they hang all along the length of the cabin from top to bottom on poles,
which they arrange in the form of a rack (rattelier) descending to the front edge
of the bench. A111 this is so nicely done that it seems like tapestry hung the whole
length of the cabins. The grain being well dried and suitable to press (or pound),
the women and girls take out the grains, clean them, and put them in their large

tubs or tuns made for this purpose, and placed in their porch or in one corner of the
cabin.’

The amount of corn of the Iroquois destroyed by Denonyille in 1687
is estimated at more than a million bushels.’ According to Tonty,
who took part in the expedition, they were seven days engaged in cut-
ting up the corn of four vilkages.®

It is unnecessary to allude to the testimony given by Mr. Carr in

1 Jesuit Relations for 1640 (Reprint 1858) vol. 1, p. 35.
“Estab. of the Faith. Shea's transl. (1881), vol. 1, p.110.
3Du Pratz, Hist. La., vol. 11, p. 239 (London, 1763.) French ed., Paris, 1758, vol. 1, p. 8.
- ‘Hakluyt’s Voyages (London, 1810), vol. 1, p. 272.
£Voyages de Champlain, liv. rv, cap. 8, Paris, 1632.
‘Voyages de Champlain, p. 301. Sagard, Voyagess du pays des Hurons, Paris, 1632, p. 134. Edn.
1865, part 1, p. 92. ;
7Sagard, Voyages des Hurons (edn. 1865), pt. 1, p. 93.
§ Charlevoix, Hist. Nouv. France, Paris 1744, v, 11, p.355. Doe. Hist. N. Y. Ist series, 1849, p. 238.
* Hist. Coll. La., vol. 1, p. 70.

THOMAS. ] OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 619

regard to agriculture among the Algonquin tribes east of the Hudson
river, as this is a part of the history of the early Pilgrim settlement,
and is too well known to need repeating here. Had it not been for the
corn furnished this settlement in its early days by the Indians willingly
or through force, there would be few if any descendants of the Pil-
grim fathers to write their history or sing their praises.

So far as history tells us anything in regard to the Indians of Penn-
sylvania and New Jersey in reference to this subject, it shows them to
have been cultivators of the soil.

The evidence in regard to the agriculture of the Virginia Indians has
been given in part, to which may be added the fact that the Jamestown
colony depended entirely on the natives for corn during the first few
years of its existence.

The evidence that the tribes of North and South Carolina were
largely dependent upon agriculture for subsistence is found in Lawson’s
“Carolina” and Adair’s “‘ History of the American Indians.” From
the former we learn that the tribes toward the coast cultivated many
kinds of “‘ pulse ” (by which term he means chiefly corn), partof which
they ate green in summer, keeping great quantities for their winter
supply.' :

It is from the southern Indians that the farmers of to-day derive the
method of constructing cribs on posts to secure their corn against ver-
min, as is evident from the following passage in Lawson’s History.

These Santee Indians * * * make themselves cribs after a very curious man-
ner, wherein they secure their corn from vermin, which are more frequent in these
warm climates than countries more distant from the sun. These pretty fabrics are
commonly supported with eight feet or posts about7 feet from the ground, well daubed
within and without upon laths with loam or clay, which makes them tight and fit
to keep out the smallest insect, there being a small door at the gable end, which is
made of the same composition.?

In regard to the Gulf States east of the Mississippi and also Arkan-
sas, the evidence on the point under consideration is so abundant that
we can not give space here for more than a mere summary. Corn was
grown everywherein great abundance. De Soto and his Spanish fol-
lowers, amounting at the outset to more than 600 men, 200 horses, and
a drove of hogs, subsisted during the four years they were traversing
the country almost wholly upon the products of the natives’ fields.
The amount of game taken during this time would scarcely have sufficed
them for a single month.

Such expressions as the following are abundant in the narratives of
the chroniclers of this ill-starred expedition:

“In the barns and in the fields great storeof maize. * * * Many
sown fields which reached from one town to the other.”* ‘The maize*
that was in the other towns was brought hither; and in all, it was

1 London ed. 1718, p. 207.
2 Raleigh ed. 1860, p. 35.
3 Gentleman of Elvas, Hist. Coll. La., vol. 11, p. 152.

620 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

esteemed to be six thousand hanegs [fanegas].”!' “As soon as
they came to Cale the governor commanded them to gather all the
maize that was ripe in the field, which was sufficient for three months. ”?
When we remember that this was sufficient for 600 men, 200 horses,
and a hundred or more hogs, and that it was taken from the field of a
single Tndian town, we can more readily appreciate the fact that these
natives were agriculturists, notwithstanding the statements of modern
archeologists to the contrary.

It is stated in Barnard de la Harpe’s “ Journal”® that M. le Sueur
“ sent two Canadians to invite the Avavois and the Octotatas to settle
near the fort because they were good farmers and he wished to employ
them in cultivating the land and working the mines.”

M. Thaumerde la Source,‘ speaking of the Tounicas, says they live
“entirely on Indian corn; they do not hunt like other Indians.”

It is unnecessary to add further testimony, as Mr, Carr’s ‘summary
of evidence which applies to the entire mound area, unless it be the
Dakotan region, leaves no ground on which the doubter can find a
foothold.

Such is the testimony of the older authorities and of those who have
studied the history of the discoveries of our continent and the early
European intercourse with its aborigines. :

Marquis de Nadaillac, reviewing Mr. Carr’s work, admits that: “ at
numerous points in North America the Indians were much more advanced
than their numerous descendants,” *® but he contends that the evidence
dates from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, and
hence leaves a break unclosed and the chain incomplete. Such an
objection is, to say the least, out of place in the writings of so able an
author.- The evidence reaches back to the first contact of Europeans
with the natives of the different sections, and shows their habits and
customs before being affected by European civilization, and, as the
reader will observe, it applies generally and almost without exception
to the tribes living east of the Mississippi.

In the American edition of his ‘Prehistoric America,” edited by Dr.
Dall, the position taken by the author on the question now under con-
sideration appears to be abandoned, but this is probably due to the
editor of this edition.

The evidence adduced seems conclusive that, excepting a few unim-
portant cases, the tribes from the Atlantic to the prairies of the west
and from the lakes to the gulf were cultivators of the soil, which is
sufficient proof, if other evidence were wanting, which is not the case,
that they must have been sedentary, or at least had fixed villages and
determinate localities.

That from time to time, as was the case with the more civilized

1} Gentleman of Elvas, Hist. Coll. La., fe II, p. 203.
2Tbid., p. 130. i

3 Hist. Coll. La., vol. 11, p. 26.

4Shea's Early Voyages up’and down the Mississippi, p. 81.
© Revue d’Anthropologie, Jan. 15, 1885.

THOMAS. ] PREHISTORIC AMERICA. 621

nations of Mexico and Central America, the fortunes of war may have
compelled a tribe to change its location is undoubtedly true, but this
does not warrant the belief so generally entertained that they were
nothing more than wandering hordes of savages without any fixed

Fia, 340.—The village of Secotan.

abodes. It is also true that the dwellings of some of the tribes were of
a primitive and very simple character, easily destroyed and easily re-
built, but in most casés each prominent village had its public house or
houses, such as a council house, temple, and barracoa or grain house,

622 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

indicating permanency. In the southern region, and even in some
northern sections, the buildings, although of perishable materials and
primitive architecture, were more substantial; and, as will be shown
further on, fortified villages were not uncommon in both sections.

A few references to the statements of early explorers -and travelers
will be sufficient to substantiate the above conclusions in regard to the
houses of the aborigines.

We present first a figure from De Bry,! drawn by Le Moyne de
Morgues, the artist of Laudonniere’s expeditions to the coast of Florida.
(See Pl. Xxi1.)

This, which represents a scene on the Florida or South Carolina
coast about 1585, was drawn by the artist to show one phase of the
burial ceremonies of a deceased chief. In one part we observe a few
of the houses of the native village.

We also give a second sketch (Fig. 340), drawn by John Wyth, an
artist who accompanied Sir Richard Grenvyille’s expedition in 1585. We
copy this also from De Bry: “Some of their towns,” says the artist,?
“are not inclosed with a palisade, and are much more pleasant; Seen
tan, for example, here drawn from nature. The houses are more scat-
tered, and a greater degree of comfort and cultivation is observed, with
gardens in which tobacco (E) is cultivated, woods filled with deers and
fieldof corn. In the fields they erect a stage (F) in which a sentry is sta-
tioned to guard against the depredations of birds and thieves. Their
corn they plant in rows (H), for it grows so large, with thick stalk and

~broad leaves, that one plant would stint the other and it would never
arrive at maturity. They have also a curious place (C) where they con-
vene with their neighbors at their feasts, * * * and from which
they go to the feast (D). On the opposite side is their place of prayer
(B), and near to it the sepulcher of their chiefs (A). * * * They
have gardens for melons (I) and a place (K) where they build their
sacred fires. At a little distance from the town is the pond (L) ve
which they obtain water.”

Although the artists may have brought together what were observed
at different times, there is no reason to question the reality of what is
pictured. If so, no one who looks at these pictures can doubt that the
people whose homes are represented were sedentary and cultivators of
the soil.

In order to show the interior of an Indian house we present this cut
(Fig. 341) from Capt. John Smith’s ‘“ History of Virginia.”* Morgan,
speaking of this figure, says :*

The engraving is probably an improvement upon the original house in the sym-
metry of the structure, but it is doubtless a truthful representation of its mechanism.
It seems likely that a double set of npEeht poles were used, one upon the outside

1 Brevis Nurse (1591) 1 Tab. X1.

“Contributions to North Am. Eth. Vol. 1v, p. 117.

Richmond ed., 1819, p. 130.

4Houses and House Life of the American Aborigines. Contributions to North Americah Ethn. ~
Vol. 4, pp. 117, 118.

THOMAS. ] POWHATAN. 623

and one on the inside, between which the mattings of canes or willows were secured,
as the houses at Pomeiock and Secotan are ribbed externally at intervals of about
eight feet, showing four, five, and six sections,

As the writer last mentioned made a careful study of all the evidence
relating to the Iroquois houses, his conclusion in regard to their size,
form, and mode of construction is given rather than extracts from the
original authorities:

The “long house” of the Iroquois * * * was from fifty to eighty and sometimes
one hundred feet long. It consisted of a strong frame of upright poles set in the

~~~ POWHATAN

Held this s tate & fi hion when Capt: Sinith
-was delivered to him priforier
1607

Fic. 341.—Interior of house of Virginia Indians. From Smith's History, .

ground, which were strengthened with horizontal poles attached with withes, and
surmounted with a triangular, and in some cases with around roof. It was covered
over both sides and roof with large strips of elm bark tied to the frame with strings
or splints. An external frame of poles for the sides and of rafters for the roof were
then adjusted to hold the bark shingles between them, the two frames being tied
together. The interior of the house was comparted at intervals of six or eight feet,
leaving each chamber entirely open like a stall upon the passageway which passed
through the center of the house from end to end. At each end was a doorway coy-
ered with suspended skins. -

624 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.-

The following from Sagard’s “ Voyages des Hurons”! relates to the
dwellings of the Hurons:

These twenty-five cities and villages are inhabited by two or three thousand men
of war, at the most, without including the entire population, which numbers per-
haps thirty or forty thousand souls in all. The principal town had formerly two
hundred large cabins, each one containing a numberof households, * * * Their
cabins, called by them ‘‘ Ganonchia,” are built, as I have said, in the shape of arbors
or garden bowers, covered with the bark of trees, of the length of 25 to 30 toises [50
to 60 yards] more or less, for they are not all of the same length, and six [12 yards]
in width, leaving in the cenfer a hall ten or twelve feet wide extending from one
end to the other. On each side there is a sort of bench or platform four or five feet
high.

Among the “tracts and other papers relating to the origin, settle-
ment, and progress of the colonies in North America, collected by Peter
Force,” is ‘A Relation by William Hitton of a discovery made on the
Coast of Florida.” In this? is the following statement:

That which we noted there was a fair house, round, two hundred feet at least,
completely covered with palmetto leaves, the wall plate being twelve feet high or
thereabouts, and Within, lodging rooms and forms. Two pillars at the entrance
and a high seat above all the rest.

This was probably a council house, but at that early day little was
known of the Indian customs.

Marquette, speaking of the Illinois Indians, says:

Their cabins are very large; they are lined and floored with rush-mats.*

Gravier, who passed down the Mississippi in 1700, speaks as follows
of the customs and cabins of the Arkansas Indians living near the
mouth of the Arkansas river :*

he men do here what the peasants do in France; they cultivate and dig the earth,
plant and harvest the crops, cut the wood and bring it to the cabin, dress-the deer
_and buffalo skins when they have any. They dress them the best of all Indians that I
have seen. The women do only indoor work, make the earthen pots and their clothes.
Their cabins are round and vaulted, They are lathed with canes and plastered with
mud from bottom to top, within and without, witha good covering ofstraw. * * *
Their bed is of round canes raised on four posts three feet high, and a cane mat
serves as a mattress. Nothing is neater than their cabins. * * * Their grana-
ries are near their cabins, made like dove-cotes, built on four large posts, 15 or 16
feet high, well put together and well polished, so that mice can not climb up, and
in this way they protect their corn and squashes, which are still better than those
of the Illinois.

As reference will be made hereafter to the Indian forts and fortifica-
tions, it is unnecessary to mention them here. Nevertheless we give
the following quotation from Jacques Cartier’s account of his second
voyage up the St. Lawrence:

We went along and about a mile and a half farther we began to finde goodly and
large fields, full of such corne as the countrie yieldeth. It is even as the Millet of

1Paris ed., 1865, pp. 80, 81.

2Page 5.

3Relation of Voyages and Discoveries of Marquette, by Dablon, Hist. Coll. La, vol. 4, p. 33.

4Journal of the Voyage of Father Gravier in 1700, Shea's Early Voyages up and down the Missis-
sippi, p. 134.

=o

THOMAS. ] OTHER OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 625

Brasil as great and somewhat bigger than small peason wherewith they live even as
we doe with ours. In the midst of the fieldes is the citieof Hochelaga [site of Mon-
treal] placed neere and as if were joined to a great mountain that is tilled round
about very fertill, on the top of which you may see very farre, we named it Mount
Roiall. The citie of Hochelaga is round, compassed about with timber with three
courses of rampires, one within another, framed like a sharpe spire but laide acrosse
above. The middle most of them is made and built asa direct line, but perpendicu-
lar. The rampires are framed and fashioned with peeces of timber, layed along on
the ground, very well and cunningly joined together after their fashion. This
enclosure is in height about two rods. It hath but one gate or entree thereat which
is shut with piles, stakes and barres. Over it, and also in many places of the wall,
there be places to runne along and ladders to get wp, all full of stones for the defence
of it. There are in the towne about fiftie houses about fiftie paces long and twelve
or fifteene broad, built all of wood covered over with the barke of the wood as broad
as any boord, very finely and cunning joined together. Within the said houses there
are many roomes lodgings and chambers. In the middle of every one there isa great
court in the middle whereof they make their fire. * * They have also on the
top of their houses certaine garrets within which they keep their corn to make their
bread withall.!

Further reference to the houses of the Indians will be made when we
come to speak of the dwellings of the mound-builders.

It is evident, therefore, from the abundant evidence relating thereto,
that the statement in regard to the habits and customs of the Indians,
found in most works on the archeology of the United States, and on
which the objection to the theory that the people of this race were the
mound-builders is founded, are incorrect and not justified by the facts.
That most of the tribes were savage and cruel in some of their customs
and practices must be admitted; but this is equally true of the more
civilized. people of Mexico and Central America.

OTHER OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.

Another objection which was formerly urged, but is now giving way
before the light of more recent investigation, is the supposed great
antiquity of the mounds and other ancient works, as indicated by the
assumed fact that they are always found, when near streams, on the
upper or older river terraces. This assumption, which has been fol-
lowed by most writers on the subject of our antiquities down to a very
recent date, was first clearly stated by Squier and Davis in the closing
paragraph of their oft-quoted and standard work on the “ Ancient
Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,” but was hinted at by Atwater
as early as 1820.' The theory, as given by Squier and Davis, is as fol-
lows:

The fact that none of the ancient monuments occur upon the latest formed terraces
of the river valleys of Ohio, is one of much importance in its bearings upon this
question (the antiquity of these works). If, as we are amply warranted in beliey-
ing, these terraces mark the degrees of subsidence of the streams, one of the four
which may be traced has been formed since those streams have followed their present

1 Hakluyt, vol. 3 (London ed., 1810), p. 272. 'Trans. Amer. Antiq. Soc., vol. 1, p. 219.

12 ETH 40

626 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

courses. There is no good reason for supposing that the mound-builders would have
avoided building upon that terrace while they erected their works promiscuously
upon all the others.

While it may be true that few (for there are some) ancient works
occur on the last formed river terrace in Ohio, for the very good reason
that the builders had learned, probably by sad experience, that this
lower terrace was subject to repeated overflows, it is well known that
in other sections, as, for example, along the southern and middle Mis-
sissippi, where this arrangement of successive terraces is not found, the
mounds as a rule are on what is known as the “bottom” or flat valley
which borders the river throughout most of its course. In fact, they
are so common on leyels subject to overflow as to lead many who are
cognizant of this to believe they were built for the purpose of raising
the dwellings of the inhabitants above the floods. Nor is this belief
without some foundation if credence is given to the following state-
ment of Garcilasso de la Vega.! Speaking of the inundation which
occurred when Moscoso was preparing to go down the Mississippi, he
says:

During similar inundations or risings in the great river, the Indians contrive to
live on any high or lofty ground or hills, and if there are none they build them
with their own hands, principally for the dwellings of the caciques; they are 3 or 4
“estados ” highfrom the ground, built on heavy timber firmly fixed in the ground,
with stakes intervening, and on top of these they place other timber, all of which
is roofed over and divided into four parts to contain their provisions, their valuables,
ete.

This description, which is somewhat confused, appears to apply to
the mound and dwelling on it, or a kind of seaffolding. Throughout
eastern Arkansas, and at some points in southeast Missouri, the
mounds are often the only retreat for cattle and other stock in time of
high water. One great hindrance to the mound explorations carried
on in this region by the United States Bureau of Ethnology has been
the unwillingness of the owners of mounds, on this account, to have
them opened.

A foolish idea has prevailed in the minds of many persons that the
Indians and mound-builders were wiser in this respect than the people
of the present day, and would never plant their villages where they
were subject to overflow. In addition to the evidence already given it
happens that in one of the old authorities there is mentioned an inci-
dent bearing on this question which concerns both mound-builders and
Indians, if the two people be distinct.

Herrera, who generally follows Garcilasso, but who certainly had
access to other data which are not now extant, states ? that when Mos-
coso, Who was placed in command of the Spanish expedition after De
Soto’s death, returned to an Indian town named Amenoya, situated on

‘Hist. Fla., p.231. Edition before mentioned.

2 Decade 1v, Bk. x, Chap. 1, vol. v1, p. 18, Stevens's Eng. transl. (1726); Deeade vu, Bk. vil, Chap. Vv,
p. 136, of orig. Sp.

“9,

THOMAS. | OTHER OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 627

the banks of the Mississippi, probably not far distant from Helena in
Arkansas, and there prepared for his descent of the Mississippi, “An
old Indian woman who could not make her escape with the rest! asked
them why they staid there, since that river overflowed every fourteen
years, and that was the year when it would happen.” The prediction
proved true, as “the river began to rise on the 10th of March and
increased so much that on the 18th the water broke in at the gates of
the town so that there was no going along the streets two days after
without canoes. This inundation was forty days in rising to the height—
that is, to the 20th of April—the river extending itself above 20 leagues
on each side, so that nothing was to be seen in all the country about
but the tops of the highest trees, the people going about everywhere
in canoes.”

The expression ‘broke in at the gates” shows that this town was
surrounded by an earthen wall, and the fact that the people could go
from house to house in canoes perhaps shows that they were on mounds.
We have, moreover, the statement in the same work that in a town on
the same side of the river, a short distance below, some of the houses
were on mounds.

Notwithstanding the fact that the opinion on this point advanced by
Squier and Davis, Baldwin, and others, seems to have been generally
abandoned, it isrepeated in Bancroft’s “* Native Races ”? and Maclean’s
“Mound Builders.” *

Another argument used to support the theory of the great antiquity
of these works, and hence that which holds that the Indians were not
the authors of them, is drawn from the supposed great age of trees often
found growing on them. It is stated that from one in Ohio a tree was
cut (species not given) which presented eight hundred consecutive rings
of growth, indicating that at least eight hundred years had elapsed
since this work was abandoned. That on another,a chestnut, 23 feet
in circumference and having about six hundred rings, was observed.

From these and numerous other similar cases which might be men-
tioned, though but one or two others have been found equal to these in
girth and number of rings, it is taken for granted as beyond contro-
versy that the mounds of the region mentioned must have been aban-
doned at least seven or eight centuries ago, and as several generations
of trees must have preceded these giants of the forest, the reasonable
inference is that they were abandoned one or possibly two thousand
years ago.

Recent investigations have served to destroy confidence in this
hitherto supposed certain test of age, as it is found that even within
the latitude of the northern half of the United States from one to three
rings are formed each year; and that there is no certainty in this respect,
even with the same species in the same latitude.

! Herrera speaks of this person as a man, but Garcilasso says expressly ‘‘ a woman.”
2 Vol. 1v, p. 789. 3 Page 135.

628 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Nor will size furnish a sure and satisfactory indication. Weare there-
fore at sea, as yet, on this question, and must be until botanists take
hold of the subject and work out some better rule for determining the
age of trees than has heretofore been given. Dr. Lapham undertook a
few years ago to reach a conclusion on the point at issue by an investi-
gation of the trees of Wisconsin. The result as given by Dr. Foster !
is as follows:

By placing the edge of a sheet of paper across a newly felled tree in the direction
of the radius, one may with a sharp pencil mark the thickness of the several rings of
growth, and by measuring a number of such rings we may find the average increase
of wood each year. It was thus that the items were collected for the following table,
showing the number of rings measured, their aggregate width, the average annual
growth thus found, and the number of years required for an increase of 1 foot in
diameter of a number of our common forest trees:

Growth of native forest trees of Wisconsin.

| Number | Growth wrote
| of rings | Widthin| inone | for eae |
meas- | inches. | year, in of
| ured. inches. | growth.
a
Basswood (Tilia Americana). .-.. 4 5.70 . 1212 99 |
Sugar maple (Acer saccharinum) - -. 83 | 2.45 . 1166 108 /
Wild cherry (Prunus serotina) .------ 44 2.03 | . 0922 130
Elm (Ulmus Americana).........----- | 179 @, 45 . 1056 114
White ash (Fraxinus Americana) ....! 172 | 10. 09 1172 102
White oak (Quercus alba) ..-..---.-. | 160 | 9.00 . 1124 107
Burr oak (Quereus macrocarpa) eet 12 | . 60 | . 1000 120
Red oak (Quereus rubra) ..--...------ 62 | 6.90 | . 2226 54
Beech (Fagus ferruginea) .....--..--. 160 9.45 - 1180 | 102
Yeilow birch (Betula excelsa) ........| 20 1.28 . 1280 4
White pine (Pinus strobus)..-...-.-- .| 60 5.40 | - 1800 | 67
Hemlock (Abies Canadensis) ...-..... 42 3. 72 | . 1770 68
Tamarack (Larix Americana) ---. -- | 192 | 12.95 | . 1844 89
White cedar (Thuja oceidentalis) -. . - 82 4.00 . 0976 123
Mean ..-...- Sone code g arate Ses sesear i et 5 98 |

A more thorough and systematic investigation of the annual growth of trees
would lead to results of greater certainty; but the measurements already made and
embodied in this table are sufficient to show that there can not be any great age
assigned to the average trees of our present forests.

It will be seen that it requires the lapse of from fifty-four to one hundred and
thirty years for trees to increase their diameter 1 foot, and with the average of
the trees measured the time is less than one hundred years.

Three or four feet diameter is a large tree; few exceed that size; and hence we may
infer that few of the trees now growing in Wisconsin can antedate the discovery of
this continent by Columbus. An occasional tree exceeds these dimensions, but they
are exceedingly rare.

Perhaps the largest and oldest tree in the state is the one noted by the govern-
nrent surveyor near Manitowoc, a white cedar 22 feet in circumference. By this
table it will be seen that this tree is one of the slowest growth, requiring one hun-
dred and twenty-three years to add 1 foot to its diameter.

1 Prehistoric Races, pp. 373-375 note and table.

THOMAS. ] OTHER OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 626

Seven times this quantity, or eight hundred and sixty years, is therefore the age
of this exceptionally large tree.

Further south, where trees attain a larger size, they have had, at the same tine,
owing to the more genial climate and more fertile soil, a much more rapid growth,
so that they probably do not exceed the trees of Wisconsin in age.

There can be no means of determining how many successive forests may have pre-
ceded the present, and occupied the soil since any given epoch, as that of the Mound-
builders, all traces of the former trees having been long since effaced. A few years
suffice to convert a fallen trunk into humus that can not be distinguished from the
other portions of the accumulating soil.

This result, as will be seen, is based entirely on the theory of one
ring per year. It is somewhat strange that the number of years for
one foot of growth given in his table is, as a rule, about double that
given by English botanists. The following is given here as possibly
throwing some light on this subject in reference to the growth of trees
of one kind in the latitude of southern Illinois.

Old Fort Chartres, of Monroe county, Llinois, situated on bottom
land, was finally abandoned in 1772,’ In 1802 it was visited by Goy-
ernor Reynolds, who states that, at that time, ‘“ Large trees were grow-
ing in the houses which once contained the elegant and accomplished
French officers and soldiers.”” Maj. Stoddard visited it in 1804, when,
according to his statement, “the enclosure was covered with trees from
7 to 12 inches in diameter.”* This was but thirty-two years after its
abandonment, hence the rate of growth of the largest trees must have
been 1 foot in thirty-two years, or 0.575 inch per year. As the species
of tree is not mentioned, this leaves the matter somewhat indefinite.
But there is another witness who is more explicit. Im 1820 Mr. Beck,
the publisher of the “ linois and Missouri Gazette,” not only visited
the ruins, but made a careful survey of them.

He states that at that time he found “in the hall of one of the houses
an oak growing, 18 inches in diameter.”! As this was forty-eight years
after the abandonment, the rate of growth of this tree was 1 foot in
thirty-two years, or 0.375 inch per year, precisely the same as the
largest tree mentioned by Maj. Stoddard. As the tree measured by Mr.
Beck was growing in the hall of one of the houses, it must have sprung
from the acorn after the premises were abandoned.

This probably affords one of the best tests for the latitude indicated
that has been, so far, placed on record. Supposing the growth of the
large chestnut, 23 feet in circumference, heretofore mentioned as stand-
ing on one of the Ohio works, to have been at the same rate, its age
was 233 years, instead of 600, as the rings indicated. This, it is ad-
mitted, is little better than mere guessing, but taking for granted, as
recent investigations show, that the rings of growth cannot be relied

1E—.G. Mason. ‘Old Fort Chartres” in Fergus’ Hist. Series, No. 12. ‘‘Tllinois in the 18th Cen-
tury,” p.42. (Paper read before Chicago Hist. Soc., June 16, 1884.)

*Hist. Illinois, ed. 1879, p. 26.

3E, G. Mason, loc. cit.

1 Beck’s Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri. Albany, 1823, pp. 109-110.

630 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

on as a sure indication of age, the conclusion reached is as likely to be
correct as that based upon any other data we now possess.

Dr. Hoy, whose testimony will be accepted without question, states
in alittle pamphlet, entitled ““Who built the mounds?”? that white
elms planted in the streets of Racine, Wis., in 1847 and 1848, measured
in 1882 from 6 to 8 feet in circumference, 2 feet from the ground.
Maples planted at the same time measured from 4 to 5 feet in cireum-
ference; black and golden willows, 8 feet; poplars, 84 to 9 feet. He
also makes the following statement:

At the time Dr. Lapham and I surveyed the large group of mounds near Racine, in
September, 1850, there was a pin oak sapling growing on the center of a small mound
situated near the house of William Bull. That sapling is now (1882) 56 inches in
diameter, although that species of tree is ordinarily not a rapid grower.!

As will be seen from this statement, the time required for the growth
of one foot in this case was less than one-fourth that given by Dr.
Lapham.

We may suppose that generation after generation of trees have
grown to maturity on the mounds, and crumbled to dust before those
now found on them began their existence. Such a supposition, however,
is wholly gratuitous, unless based upon some evidence. But no such
evidence has been found during the explorations carried on by the
Bureau, nor has any been adduced by any other explorers. On the
contrary, there are some reasons for believing the reverse of this sup-
position to be true. The roots of oaks and some other trees found
growing on mounds will often penetrate to a great depth in search of
moisture, One instance was observed in southeastern Missouri, where
the roots of an oak ran down more than 10 feet, most of the distance
through a solid mass of clay so hard that it had to be cut with an ax.

These roots, after the tree is dead, will, as a matter of course, decay ;
but they will often leave traces of their existence, especially where
they pass through clay or earth of any other color than that into which
they are converted.

It is not likely that several generations of trees would have grown
to maturity on the mounds without some of them being blown down
and leaving the little mound and depression so often seen in forests
from this cause. Had this occurred, it is not probable that the indica-
tions would have been obliterated much sooner than the little depres-
sions and rings marking the ancient dwelling sites.

These facts, alone, it is admitted, would not furnish a satisfactory
test of age, yet they have some bearing on the question and are worthy
of consideration. Notwithstanding the opinion of botanists, we are
jastified in the conclusion that the age of trees has been much over-
rated, especially as there is much error in counting rings by those not
thoroughly acquainted with the subject, the number given often being

2 Page 16.
1 See also same paper in Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci., Arts, and Letters, vol. vi (1881-83). pp. 84-86.

THOMAS. ] UNSATISFACTORY THEORIES. 631

double the true count, and that the one with 800 rings was more likely
under than over 400 years old. Botanists apparently neglect the only
satisfactory test, which is, to examine the rings and measure the growth
of trees of different species whose age is known. No other test can be
accepted by the other branches of science.

It is also contended that the magnitude of some of the earthworks
indicates a much higher culture and a more systematic government
and centralized power than have been found in Indian history. That
there must have been sufficient intelligence to plan the works is evi-
dent; that there must have been some means of bringing into harmony
the views of the people and of combining their forces is also apparent.
But the fact that at the discovery of the country several of the tribes
were accustomed (as will hereafter be shown) to build villages, surround
them with palisades and moats, and in some cases to erect just such
mounds as we now find, shows, beyond contradiction, that they had the
necessary intelligence to plan such works and the means of combining
forces to build them.

The supposition of a lostrace, or of a migration from the more cul-
tured people of Central America, aids but little inexplaining the means
by which they.were built, as it does not supply them with beasts of
burden nor metallic implements to assist them. Thereis nothing found
in these monuments or elsewhere to indicate that the mound-builders
had any other implements or any other means of conveying earth or
of building these works than the Indians possessed.

It is rather strange that most writers who claim for these remains
such high antiquity contend at the same time for a much more advanced
culture than that attained by the Indians. It is true that when we
stand at the base of the great Cahokia mound and study its vast pro-
portions, we can scarcely bring ourselves to believe it was built with-
out some other means of collecting and conveying material than that
possessed by the Indians. But what other means could a lost race
have had? The Indians had wooden spades, baskets, skins of animals,
wooden and clay vessels, and textile fabrics; they also had stone imple-
ments. Moreover, the fact should be borne in mind that this great
mound is unique in respect to size, being more than treble in contents
that of any other true mound in the United States. Nor has it yet
been ascertained with satisfactory certainty that it is entirely artificial.
The very large mounds are the exceptions, there being but four or five
of them in the entire area under consideration, the contents of the
largest, save of the single exception noticed, being less than 5,000,000
cubic feet. In fact, when they are measured accurately the height is
found in some cases to diminish to half that usually given, as in the
case of the one near New Madrid, Missouri; and as a general rule the
labor necessary to build them could not have exceeded that which has
often been performed by Indians. It is also more than likely that all
the people of a tribe, both men and women, aided in the work, and that

632 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the large works were built by additions made during successive genera-
tions. But the best evidence that they could build such structures is
the fact that they did build them, that in truth they made every form
of ancient works known to exist in the bounds of our country, even to
the large canals of which thereare yet traces. Nor should this astonish
us, since it is known that the cyclopean works of the old world, the dol-
mens, great stone circles, etc., were built by the earliest inhabitants of
these countries, who had not advanced beyond the stage of barbarism.?

INSCRIBED TABLETS.

Another objection to the Indian origin of these ancient monuments
is based upon certain inscribed tablets bearing supposed letters or
hieroglyphs, which are claimed to have been found in mounds. For
example, the “tablet of the Grave creek mound,” over which School-
craft exercised all his linguistic knowledge, and after corresponding
with Prof. Page, of Copenhagen, and M. Jomard, of Paris, arrived at
the conclusion that, though mainly Celtiberic, the twenty-two alpha-
betic characters include four corresponding with ancient Greek letters,
four with Etruscan, five with old northern runes, six with ancient
Gaelic, seven with the old Erse, ten with the Phoenician, fourteen with
the Anglo-Saxon, and sixteen with the Celtiberic. Prof. Jomard, after
a laborious investigation, pronounced the inscription Lybian, and Mr,
W. B. Hodgson, Numidian.

The folly of relying upon such relics as this Grave creek tablet as
evidence of a written language is apparent from the above conclusions.
That Schoolcraft and the other savants mentioned could have believed
the inscription to be alphabetic, and a genuine mound-builder’s relic,
and yet made up of several alphabets, would be inconceivable but for
the undeniable evidence. This simple fact ought to be sufficient to
cast it aside as unworthy of consideration. However, it may be added
that since Dr. Daniel Wilson’s sharp criticism,’ and Prof. Read’s critical
examination of the evidence,’ this relic is discarded by most archeolo-
gists.

Other tablets have been accepted by some of our archeologists and
linguists as conclusive evidence that the mound-builders had a written
language, one author even going so far as to give to the world a (sup-
posed) translation of an entire inscription.*

If the marks upon these tablets are true letters or alphabetic signs,
and are the work of the veritable mound-builders, it must be admitted
that those who made them were not Indians, but a people much further

! This, being the point at issue, must of course be maintained with satisfactory evidence, which
will be attempted further on.

? Prehistoric Man, 3d ed. (1876), vol. 11, pp. 100-102.

*Am, Antiq., vol. I, pp. 139-149.

*Tbid., vol. rv, 1882, pp. 145-153.

THOMAS. ] INSCRIBED TABLETS. 633

advanced in the arts of civilized life than most of the known aborigines
of the continent.

As the decision on this point appears to hinge almost entirely on the
conclusion reached in regard to the inseribed plates known as “the
Davenport tablets,” our report would be incomplete and unsatisfactory
to archeologists without some expression of opinion in regard to the
claims of these relics to genuineness and antiquity. These tablets,
which are deposited in the Museum of the Davenport Academy of
Natural Sciences, Davenport, Iowa, have become so well known to the
world through the publications of that society that it is unnecessary
to give here the history of their discovery, as it is given in full in these
publications.

There are three of them, two of shale found in one mound, known as
No.3 of the Cook farm group, and one of limestone from mound No. 11
of the same group.

In order that some references made herein may be understood, we
must refer the reader to Pls. 1, 11, 111, and vil of the second volume of
the Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences. In speaking
of these, the inscription on the shale tablet showing the arcs and per-
sons dancing around the fire (Pl. 1) is designated, as the finders term
it, “the cremation scene;” that on the reverse (PI. 11), ‘the hunting
scene;” the smaller tablet (Pl. 111), ‘‘ the calendar;” the other (Pl. v1),
“the limestone tablet.”

The two shale tablets, being found in the same grave of mound No.3,
and side by side, must of necessity stand in the same category. What-
ever conclusion is reached in regard to the antiquity, authenticity, and
origin of one must apply to the other. Is the limestone tablet so inti-
mately related to these that it must also be placed in the some cate-
gory? It was found in a mound of the same group, which presented
no characteristics different from the rest; in fact, it was an almost
exact copy in every detail of mound No. 10, which is deseribed and
figured by Mr. Gass.!

Examining the excellent albertypes (Pls. 1 and yu, Proceedings,
Vol. 2—‘‘the cremation scene”), the reader will observe that there are
three Arabic 8’s on the former, one of which is so much like that on the
latter as almost to lead to the belief that the two were made by one
hand. Moreover, there are, as stated by the finder of the latter, four
other characters on it identical with characters in the “ eremation
scene.” It is also stated in the proceedings that the bird figures on
the limestone tablet ‘“ have each a bit of quartz crystal set in for an eye
like the eyes of the animal figure from mound No.3, * * * and,
like those, they are held in place by white cement of some kind.”

While this fact is calculated to excite surprise, it renders it almost
impossible to avoid the conclusion that all these tablets belong to the
same category and to the same age and that what is true in regard to

1 Proceedings, vol. 1. p. 141.

634 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the authenticity of one is true of all. We shall therefore proceed upon
this basis.

At the outset, doubts of their authenticity are raised in the mind by
their anomalous character; nothing in any respect like them having
been found which has stood the test of criticism for a moment save,
perhaps, the Grave creek tablet, and even this, since the examination
by Whittlesey and the scathing criticism by Dr. Wilson, heretofore
alluded to, can no longer be considered an accepted antiquity. This
doubt is somewhat intensified by the fact that the discoveries are made
in one locality, in quick succession, and through the same instrumen-
tality which brought to light other anomalous relics. This feeling of
doubt and uncertainty seems to have been entertained at first by mem-
bers of the Academy, if we may judge by the language of one of their
leading and ablest scientists, Dr. Farquharson,! who says:

It is objected, and seriously, too, that this discovery comes too apropos, too pat, in
fact, and so partakes in the mind of some too much of the nature of a stage trick, a Deus
ex machina. However, if it isa true, a bona fide discovery, some one else among
the great army of searchers, in the course of time and from the very necessity of the
case, must have made the same ora like one; nor need we fear that our find, remarka-
ble as it is, will long remain unique and solitary, for, as Mr. Haven truly says,
“Science and civilization do not leave solitary monuments.”

But it is proper to remark that, notwithstanding these seeming
doubts at the outset, Dr. Farquharson and all the other members of the
society (with possibly one exception), after examination and discus-
sion, settled down into the firm belief in the authenticity and genuine-
ness of the tablets as veritable mound relics, and as entitled to accept- -
ance on the part of archeologists.

The characters on these tablets render it absolutely certain that they
can not be ascribed to any American tribe or people of ante-Columbian
time of whose work and art we possess any knowledge. <A few of the
inscribed characters and several of the figures can be found in the
inscriptions and rock carvings by Indians, but there are others which
can not be attributed to them unless after long intercourse with Euro-
pean civilization. It will doubtless be admitted by all that, if genuine
relics of the mound-builders of pre-Columbian times, they must be
attributed to a lost race or people of whom we possess no knowledge,
or that they are waifs from the eastern continent.

A still more serious objection to their acceptance as genuine is the
fact that the characters on the ‘“‘ cremation scene,” if true letters, must
belong to not less than half a dozen alphabets.

Dr. Seyffarth, in his attempt at an explanation, published in volume
3 of the Proceedings, was forced to go to at least half a dozen different
alphabets to find the letters given in this single short inscription. The
remarks of Dr. Wilson in regard to the Grave creek tablet? are so
applicable here that we can not refrain from quoting them:

' Prov. Day. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. 11, p. 108.
2 Preh. Man, 3d ed., vol. 11, p. 100.

THOMAS. | INSCRIBED TABLETS. 635

It thus appears that this ingenious little stone is even more accommodating than
the Dighton rock in adapting itself to all conceivable theories of ante-Columbian
colonization, and, in fact, constitutes an epitome of the prehistoric literature of the
new world. Had Sir Henry Rawlinson dug up such a medley of languages at one of
the corners of the tower of Babel it might have less surprised us. This curious
analysis, so contrary to all previous philological experience, does not seem to have
staggered the faith of the elucidator.

Nor does the same fact appear to have staggered Dr. Seyffarth,
undoubtedly an excellent linguist, who made an analysis of the char-
acters, or the Rey. J. Campbell, who presented a translation of the
Davenport tablets.

Taking thein up one by one, let us examine them somewhat critically.
In doing so, the excellent albertypes prepared by Bierstadt and pub-
lished in volume 2 of the Proceedings, which are all that could be de-
sired in this respect, will be taken as the basis.

We will consider first the limestone tablet found in mound No. 11.

It will be seen that this plate has carved upon it, too plainly to be
misunderstood, figures of two “Monitor” pipes. This is admitted by
Mr. Harrison in his description,' as he says: “At each of the upper
corners is cut a complete figure of a bird pipe, such as are found
varved of stone in these mounds, and nearly of full size.” In addition
to this there is cut, immediately over the head of the personage repre-
sented, a figure in the usual form of the copper ‘‘axes” found in the
mounds, or of the ordinary axes of the present day. There is, there-
fore, no escape from the conclusion either that this is a genuine relic of
the mound-building age, or that it was made since the explorations of
recent times have brought these axes and pipes to light.

The representation of the sun with a face and rays is an anomaly in
mound-builders’ art. The circle with denticuli, probably intended to
represent the sun, is found occasionally, carved on shells, and stone
disks somewhat of the same form have been found. Shell and even
stone masks with the human face outlined are not uncommon, but it is
believed that nothing like the figure on this stone is to be found else-
where on mound relies of this country. Nevertheless, as it is somewhat
common among barbarous and civilized people, and is occasionally found
among the rock etchings of the Indians,” it would not excite surprise at
bemg represented here, were it not for the connection in which it is
found. But it is impossible to avoid surprise at finding to the left of
the “ax” a regularly formed Arabic 8, made as is customary with
writers of the present day, and near the upper right-hand corner the
Roman numeral VIII or VI and II, the middle space being slightly
wider than between the other strokes. These, be it remembered, are
not museum marks, but parts of the original inscription on the stone
when found.

1Proc. Davenport Acad. Sei., vol. 1, p. 225. 2Virst Ann. Rept. Bureau Ethn., p. 371.

636 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

near the upper right-hand corner of the plate, the resemblance is
found to be so strong as to indicate that both were made by one hand.
As they were found in mounds of the same group and apparently of
the same age, it is not improbable that this is the case.

The facts as to the finding, given by the members of the Academy
and published in the proceedings, are not calculated to strengthen
belief in its genuineness. In the first place, although situated in the
immediate vicinity of, and in the triangle formed by, Nos. 1, 9, and 10,
this mound seems to have escaped notice until the latter part of 1877.
In the second place, although constructed like some of the other mounds
of the group, it seems to have been the only one not used as a place of
sepulture. No. 10, which it resembles in almost every particular, con-
tained comparatively few human bones, though enough to show that
one individual had been buried there.

Yet in this case the whole object in view in digging the pit, build-
ing the stone heap, and throwing up the tumulus seems to have been
to make a resting or hiding place for this tablet. Still, this is not im-

\ ll tl

a

eel, | i Nl

Pe gel

Lae. Hi =

Vig, 342.—Section of mound 11, Cook farm group, Iowa.

possible, as one of the Ohio mounds mentioned by Messrs. Squier and
Davis seems to have been intended simply as a cache for flint imple-
ments.

In the third place, the condition of the tablet and immediate sur-
roundings, when found, seems so contrary to all experience in refer-
ence to ancient mounds as to lead to the belief that it was recently
made or recently meddled with.

The account by Mr. Harrison! is accompanied by a cut, Fig. 17, of
which our Fig. 342 isan exact copy. By reference to this, 1t will be seen
that there was an excavation in the original earth, T T indicating the
line of the original surface and H. H the original earth forming the sides
of the pit.

This pit, as we are informed by Mr. Harrison, extended down to the
clay, the floor being a level and very compact stratum of yellow clay,
such as has been frequently noticed and described in reference to other
mounds of this group. In this excavation, resting on the floor, was the
stone pile X, over which the mound of earth wasthrown. This earth,
after WERSIAE through the frozen crust, was, as we are told, ‘‘ easy to

! Proc. Day. Acad. Nat. Sci., pp. 221-223.

THOMAS. ] INSCRIBED TABLETS. 637

handle, being composed of dark soil with some admixture of clay;”
moreoyer, there appears to have been no indication of stratification.
At the bottom, and just under the stone pile, was a miniature vault,
A, 5 inches in depth and a “little larger than the tablet,” probably
about 15 or 14 by 8 or 9 inches, the bottom of the excavation forming
the bottom of the vault.

This vault appears to have been walled around by the outer lower
stones of the pile and covered by a single flat slab. In the bottom of
it, immediately under A, lay the tablet, an inch and a half thick, on
which were four arrow points, a little quartz crystal, and a Unio shell.
With the exception of these, which occupied considerably less than
half the space, this little vault was empty; for it is stated in the pub-
lished account that, ‘on raising the flat stone, an irregularly rectangu-
lar engraved tablet was suddenly exposed to view as it lay face up in
a walled vault evidently built for its reception.”

But, in order to be certain as to this inference, the following inquiry
was addressed to Mr. W. H. Pratt, the curator of the museum of the
academy, who was familiar with all the facts: ‘“ Was the cavity A, Fig.
17, Proc. Day. Acad. Sci., p. 222, Vol. 2, filled with dirt when first dis-
covered ?”—to which he kindly returned this answer: “Mr. ©. E.
Harrison, who assisted in the work, states that the cavity in which the
limestone tablet was found contained scarcely any dirt when the flat
stone with which it was covered was raised, exposing it to view.”

That there should have been an unfilled space in the base of a pile
of loose or ‘‘ uncemented” stones, standing in an excavation beneath a
heap of comparatively loose dirt which had stood there for centuries,
is certainly most extraordinary. The excavation in which the pile was
placed would necessarily gather about it the water that percolated
through the earth above and the layer of compact clay below would
have prevented its rapid escape downwards.

The interior of mounds has frequently been found comparatively dry
when there was opportunity for drainage and the body was composed
of hard, compact, mortarlike material. A stone gravehas occasionally
been found only partially filled with earth where well covered, and stand-
ing high enough in a mound to shed the water. But here the conditions
are entirely different. The mound was so low that for three years 1t
had escaped the trained eyes of eager searchers, was composed of com-
paratively loose earth, and had been plowed over for years; beneath it
was a pit which acted as a reservoir into which the water gathered, and
at the bottom was compact clay to prevent its ready escape. The stone
slab over the little vault and loose unmortared stones at the sides
would not prevent the water from entering at the sides. Moreover it
must also be borne in mind that there was no side drainage except as the
water soaked into the earth. It follows, therefore, that all the sedi-
ment carried down by the water would have been deposited in this little
vault and the excavation around it.

638 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

In a letter written in 1882 by Mr. A. 8S. Tiffany to Col. Norris, and
subsequently, in a letter to the present author, avowed by him, before
the academy, to be genuine, is the following statement:

The limestone tablet I am certain is a fraud. Mr. Gass was assisted in digging it
out by Mr. Harrison and Mr. Hume. Mr. Hume informs me that there was a wallof
small bowlders around the tablet. On the tablet there were some arrow points, a
quartz erystal and a Unio shell filled with red paint, the whole being covered with
arough limestone slab, the space between it and the tablet not filled with earth,
and the paint bright and clean.

Mr. Tiffany was one of the founders of the academy and, as appears
from the proceedings, was long one of its most prominent, active, and
trusted members and was still a member at the time the letters referred
to were written. It is proper to state that he accepts the shale tablets
as genuine, but stands by the above statement in regard to the lime-
stone tablet, and did so in a meeting of the academy in presence of
all the members.

If these statements concerning the conditions under which this
tablet was found be correct, which we have no reason to doubt, as they
are made by the parties concerned, there are strong reasons for sus-
pecting that it was a “‘ plant” made probably by some unknown person,
to deceive the members of the academy. The simple fact that the
little vault under the pile of rough, uncemented stones was empty,
save for the relics, appears absolutely to forbid the idea of age; for
under such conditions as in this case it would, unless hermetically
sealed, have been filled, in the length of time, with earth from the sides,
carried in by the infiltrating water.

THE SHALE TABLETS.

As the evidence in regard to the limestone tablet seems not only to
preclude the idea of any great age, but also to indicate that it was a
“plant” made to deceive the members of the Davenport Academy, we
are led to inquire whether the authenticity of the shale tablets rests on
any better foundation.

If the conclusion in regard to the former be correct, and the reasons
given for considering them all as belonging to the same category be
deemed conclusive, the question is settled and requires no further dis-
cussion. But the object at present is not merely to make a point in
argument, but to arrive at truth; therefore the following suggestions
in regard to the latter are presented. As the two were found in the
same grave, they will be eonsidered together, conclusions reached in
regard to the age of one necessarily applying to the other.

Some blunders made by the society and its members in bringing
before the public the facts in reference to these relics and their discoy-
ery, though readily accounted for, excite a fear in the mind that proper
care was not taken at the time to verify statements and guard against
imposition. Compare, for example, Fig. 3, Pl. 1, Proceedings, Vol. 1,

THOMAS. ] INSCRIBED TABLETS. 639

with Fig. 8, p. 92, Proceedings, Vol. 11, both purporting to be figures
of mound 3, Cook farm group, in which these relics were found. The
former, it is true, was made when only the southern part of the mound
containing the grave, or pit, a, had been examined. It shows neither
the layers of shells nor the pit in which the skeletons were found, and
only one skeleton is indicated in the supplemental plan. As the com-
plete exploration of this part was made in 1874, these facts must have
been known at that time, and Mr. Gass, the explorer, was at hand to
refer to at any time; yet, hereis a figure presented to the public, which
is evidently to a large extent, if not wholly, imaginary, but still pur-
porting to be given to a scale. Moreovér, attention appears to have
been called at the time to the possibility of error, as Dr. Farquharson
says:' “ Of this [mound 3] the Rey. Mr. Gass (the explorer) says ‘ the
outer and inner arrangements were quite similar to the first’ But his
further description shows that it was not, no layers of stones or of
shells being mentioned.” The italics are his own. In the subsequent
description of the whole mound, by Gass, the portion relating to the
south half is based entirely on the first exploration made in 1874, and
not only are the shell-beds and the pits mentioned, but he goes on to
say:

The fact that the bottom of this grave sloped upward and outward, in all diree-
tions, confirmed our opinion that all the contents of this mound had been discovered,
and a further search would be useless. Messrs. Farquharson, Tiffany, and Pratt, to
whom full permission was given to prosecute a further research, concurred in this
opinion, and did not thinkit advisable to avail themselves of the opportunity. The
work on this mound was therefore discontinued. 2

Notwithstanding all these facts, a figure is presented in the Proceed-
ings vol. 1, Pl. 1, purporting to represent a section of this mound,
which is erroneous in every particular, in fact is purely imaginary.
What are we to infer from this in regard to the figures of other mounds,
on the same plate? As arule, the illustrations by the Academy appear
to be not only correct, but very well done; but we feel constrained
to express a fear that those on Pls. 1 and 11 of Vol. 1 have been made
without proper care. We feel it a duty to express this fear, because,
relying upon their correctness, not having carefully studied their his-
tory, we copied them into a preceding work and based conclusions on
what they show.

The description by Mr. Gass leaves the impression that the layers of
shells over the two graves were undisturbed, though he does not posi-
tively assert this to be the case. Nevertheless, the following facts
which he mentions are somewhat difficult to account for on this suppo-
sition. Scattered through the soil above the first layer of shells over
grave b, in which the tablets were found, were a number of human
bones, but no entire skeleton, while in the corresponding position over
A were two entire skeletons. Stones were also found here, correspond-

1 Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sei., Vol.1, p. 119. 2 Op. cit., p. 959.

640 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

ing with those found in connection with the skeletons. “Associated
with these bones,” says My. Gass, “which, like those on the other side
of the mound, were doubtless of modern times, we found a few glass
beads and fragments of a brass ring.” Below the second layer of shells
and within the pit or grave B “was a stratum of loose, black soil or
vegetable mold of 18 or 20 inches. * * * In this soil were discov-
ered fragments of human bones and small pieces of coal slate or bitu-
minous shale.”

In this grave there was no entire skeleton, but ‘‘south of the tablets,
i. e., in the southwest corner of the grave, were found a few pieces of
skull bones, one piece of which was saturated with the green carbonate
of copper. Also, several pieces of human cervical vertebree. * * *
In this grave were a great number of bones of the body, and also in the
northeast corner, as in the southwest corner above mentioned, some
pieces of skull and bones of the neck. It seems probable that here had
been two skeletons, lying one with the head to the west and the other
to the east, but this can not positively be determined.”

“It is difficult to account for this condition of affairs on the supposition
that there had been no disturbance subsequent to burial, more espe-
cially as it contrasts so strongly with the condition of grave A. The
copper ax found in B bore no indication of having been wrapped in
cloth; here were also crystals of “ dog-tooth spar.” In all parts of-the
grave were many pieces of rotten wood.

The tablets were not discovered until ‘about 5 o’clock in the after-
noon” (January 10). ‘* They were covered on both sides with clay, on
removal of which the markings were for the first time discovered.” Yet
we are informed which side of each lay upward. Possibly this may have
been determined in the case of the one by the spade mark; but how it
could have been ascertained in reference to the other is an enigma.

Attention is called to these things because they indicate a want of
proper care in the observation, or an unintentional weaving of theory
into the description, and, though doubtless made in good faith, tend to
lessen in the opinion of archeologists the value of the statements of the
discoverers.

An inspection of the albertypes of the “Calendar tablet” (PI. 11,
Vol. 11) is sufficient to satisfy anyone that it is based upon the idea of
dividing the year into twelve parts or months and the four seasons.
This is admitted by Dr. Farquharson, who says:

If, again, we consider it as zodiacal, the signs in the outer circle being symbols of
the constellations along the sun’s path, then, though the signs are different, yet the
resemblance to the common zodiac is so great as to suggest contact with one of the
many nations or races which have adopted that very ancient delineation of the sun’s
pathway through the heavens. '

Dr. 8S. Seyffarth, who seems to have full faith in it, has no hesitancy in
expressing the same opinion. ‘‘ This,” he says, ‘is, no doubt, the most

! Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sei., vol. 1, p. 109.

THOMAS. | INSCRIBED TABLETS. 641

interesting and most important tablet ever discovered in North Amer-
ica, for it represents a planetary configuration, the twelve signs of
the zodiac, known to all nations of old, and the seven planets, conjoined
with six different signs.”!

It must, therefore, be post-Columbian or have been obtained in some
ancient time through contact with people of the eastern hemisphere,
as it corresponds with no native American system of which we have
any knowledge. The fact that the diameter of the inner circle is
exactly 2 inches, of the next 54 inches, and the next to the outer one
5 inches, ‘certainly has a modern look,” as Dr. Farquharson readily
admits. The circles have every appearance of having been made with
compasses or dividers of some kind, though the hole made at the center
by the stationary point has been erased by grinding out a broader
depression, seemingly for this very purpose.

Turning next to the large tablet on which are found the “Cremation”
and ‘‘ Hunting” scenes (Pls. I and 11, Vol. 11, of the Proceedings), it is
impossible to avoid surprise, mingled with strong suspicion of a trick,
at the incongruities of the inscriptions, especially when taken in con-
nection with the ‘‘Calendar.” As a whole, except the lettering, the
two scenes remind us at the first glance of the rock etchings of the
Indians, and have what may be termed “an Indian look.” Probably this
is mainly due to the form of the dancing figures and sun figure in the
cremation scene and the squatting figures in the hunting scene. But
the letter inscription (for that they are intended for letters can not be
doubted) dispels any such idea. Nor could it long be entertained, even
without this, for, inspecting them closely, we notice that the large tree
on the one side and the smoke on the other side are not like the usual
representation of these things in Indian puctography, but more like the
rude efforts of a civilized life.

There can be little doubt that the animal figure under the large tree
was intended for an elephant; hence it must have been drawn either
long ages ago or else since this animal has been brought to America
in modern times, or the tablet must be a waif from the Eastern conti-
nent. The two figures facing each other near the upper right-hand
corner, Same scene, bear a better likeness to pigs than to any thing else,
and the middle one at the top is more like a cow than like a buffalo.
It may be said these variations are too minute to be worthy of notice.
Alone perhaps they are, but, when they constantly vary in the direction
of animals known at the present day and are taken in connection with
the numerous other causes for suspicion, they become valuable in mak-
ing up a verdict. The interrupted bar across this scene appears to be
a Stream or waterway, as the animals in it are aquatic, one of them
being a seal or possibly a manatee.

It may not be out of place to call attention to the fact that nearly

Meee Davenport. Acad. Nat. Sci., vai Ill, p. 77.

12 ETH——41

642 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

all the letter characters of the “cremation scene,” as represented on
the albertype, may be found on page 1766 of Webster’s Unabridged
Dictionary, edition of 1872, where the letters of the ancient alphabets
of the Old World are figured. <A few, it is true, are reversed, and in
some instances the form is slightly varied but the resemblance in most
cases is very apparent. The reader can make the comparison for him-
self, but special notice may be taken that in the upper of the two trans-
verse curved lines, near the right-hand end, the two forms of the ‘‘Gal-
lic O” appear together just as given on the page referred to. He will
also observe that in some instances a number of characters in close
relation on the tablet are found near together in the dictionary. Here
also we find the “8” so often repeated on the tablet. A photograph
or the albertype must be used for this comparison.

It is true that on this page of the dictionary may be found letters of
almost every form; but this comparison not only confirms the state-
ment heretofore made, that the inscription must have been made up of
letters pertaining to half a dozen different alphabets, but tends to
streng then the suspicion that these tablets were prepared and“ planted”
in order to deceive the members of the academy.

The theory that the mounds were the work of a lost race of compara-
tively civilized people who occupied this country in the far distant past,
had taken hold of alarge portion of our archeologists. There have long
been a hope and belief that at some time discoveries would be made to
confirm this. It was also further believed that the mammoth or Amer-
ican elephant was still in existence when this civilized race inhabited
the country, but satisfac tory evidence on these points was wanting.

The objects and uses of the so-called “altars” found chiefly in the
Ohio mounds were unsettled questions.

Suddenly the archeological world is surprised at finding itself in
possession of proof on all these points. A tablet is taken from a
mound under the very shadow of one of our leading scientific acad-
emies on which is an inscription of sufficient length to silence all doubt
as to its being alphabetic, and immediately under it is the altar with
the smoking sacrifice or burning body on it. Nay, more, on the reverse
is the figure of the elephant. Nor is this all: In the same mound is
another tablet with markings for the zodiacal signs, a calendar in fact.
But good fortune, not satisfied with this generosity, throws into the
hands of the same individual two elephant pipes, so distinct that there
can be no doubt as to the animal intended. To clinch this evidence
and show that it relates to the true mound-builders, the fairy goddess
leads the same hands to a mound which contains a tablet bearing fig-
ures of the veritable mound-builders’ pipes and copper axe, some of
the letters of the other tablet and the sun symbol. Thanks to the
energy of one person the evidence on all these questions is furnished,
which, if accepted as credible, must forever settle them.

A consideration of all the facts leads us, inevitably, to the conclu-
sion that these relies are frauds: that is, they are modern productions

THOMAS. | OTHER TESTIMONY. 643

made to deceive. It is by no means a pleasant task to present this
subject to the public in what we believe to be its true light. It is
proper, however, to add that the members of the Davenport Academy
are, with the single exception named, so far as known, firm believers
in the genuineness and authenticity of these finds. >

Mr. Gass, the finder, we understand, has always, in the sections
where he has lived, been considered a man of honesty and truthful-
ness. If these have ever been questioned, it has been in regard to
his archeological transaetions. Nor is there any reason to doubt that
these tablets were taken from the mounds substantially in the manner
recorded, Admitting this to be true (and it is the evidence on which
members of the Academy seem to hang their faith), it falls far short of
proving them to be genuine mound-builder relies.

Such remains should therefore be put aside as not entitled to any
other consideration than as simple curiosities, unless supported here-
after by other and well authenticated finds of a similar character.
Whether found as stated or not, they ought not to have any weight in
determining the status of the mound-builders unless more like them are
discovered. There is an immense mass of undoubted data to be stud-
ied, upon which our conclusions may be safely based.

OTHER TESTIMONY.

Another objection to the theory that the mound-builders were Indians
is based upon the oft-repeated statement of the Indians that they know
nothing of the origin of these works; that when they first entered the
territory they found them already builtand abandoned. This objection
has already been sufficiently answered .by others, by calling attention
to the fact that these same Indians have not the faintest tradition of
some of the most important events in their own history dating back
less than two centuries. For example, De Soto’s expedition, although
it must have been the most remarkable event in the past history of the
southern tribes, seems to have been forgotten by them when the French
adventurers, one hundred and thirty years later, appeared on the scene.
It is proper, however, to state that Thomas 8. Woodward, in his ‘“‘ Rem-
iniscences of the Creek or Muscogee Indians,” asserts that the Indians
of this tribe did have a traditionary remembrance of this expedition.
Other similar instances have been referred to by recent authorities and
need not be repeated here. However, as will be shown hereafter, the
Indians were not wholly without traditions in regard to the mounds.
It is apparent, therefore, that when the real facts are ascertained most
of these objections will disappear as being without foundation.

The historical evidence is clear and undisputed that when the region
under consideration was discovered by Europeaus it was inhabited by
Indians only, of whose previous history nothing is known except what
is given in vague and uncertain traditions and what has been gleaned
by a study of their languages, customs, folklore, and beliefs.

644 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

On the other hand, there is no historical or other evidence, unless it
be derived from the antiquities themselves, that any other race or peo-
ple than the Indians ever occupied this region or any part of it pre-
vious toits discovery by Europeans, at the close of the fifteenth century.
The discoyery in the eleventh century by the Northmen is not denied,
but, as this left no permanent result, it can have no bearing upon the
question, and hence is not taken into consideration.

We enter the discussion, therefore, with at least a presumption in
favor of the view that.these works were built by the Indians, a presump-
tion which has not received the consideration it is entitled to, as every
fact ascertained by the exploration of these works which indicates a
similarity between the ‘‘mound-builders ” and Indians in customs, arts,
religion, government, or mode of life is an argument in favor of the
theory of an Indian origin. In fact, the presumption is so strong, that
it can be overcome only by showing that these works, or the specimens
of art found in them, which are unquestionably the work of the build-
ers, are beyond the capacity of the Indians before their habits, cus-
toms, ete., were modified by contact with Europeans. Even should a
few specimens of art of undoubted ante-Columbian origin be found in
them, which are evidently beyond the capacity of any of the tribes
known to have inhabited this section, this will not be sufficient to
establish the theory that these works, or any of them, were built by a
“Jost race,” or by the cultured races of Central America or Mexico, as
they may have been obtained by intercourse with these cultured races,
or may be relies wafted by winds and waves, in wrecked vessels, from
the eastern continent.

Suppose, for example, that a mound is found in Tennessee, which in
appearance, construction, and contents—with a single exception—is
in every respect precisely ke those attributed to the so-called ‘ veri-
table mound-builders,” and that this single exception is an ordinary,
old-fashioned, steel-bladed ‘‘case knife” with a bone handle, found at
the bottom of the tumulus, where it could not reasonably be attributed
to an intrusive burial, must we conclude that the “ veritable mound-
builders ” manufactured knives of this class? Yet a case precisely of
this kind in every particular occurred during the investigations carried
on by the Bureau of Ethnology in 1884.

Unless there should be corroboratory proof to connect them with the
mound-builders, and other evidence indicating a corresponding advance
in art, these anomalous waifs, such as the tablets with letters engraved
upon them, even if genuine, are of no value in the question now under
discussion. The whole of the testimony furnished by an examination
of these ancient works and the specimens of art contained in them
must be taken into consideration and must decide the question,

THOMAS. ] REVIEW OF THE HISTORY. 645

THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE.

One serious objection urged against the theory that the Indians
were the authors of the ancient works is that the great number of them,
the magnitude of some of them, and the art displayed in their con-
struction, indicate a centralized and systematic form of government
and a skill foreign to and entirely above the culture status of the
Indians.!

This opinion is based largely upon the statements made in regard to
these works and their contents, which a more careful examination has
shewn to be in many cases erroneous and overdrawn.

For example, the estimates as to size, where given without careful
measurements, are, as a very general rule, largely in excess of the true
dimensions. The statement so often made that many of these monu-
ments have been constructed with such mathematical accuracy as to
indicate not only a unit of measure, but also the use of instruments, is
found upon a reexamination to be without any basis, unless the near
approach of some three or four circles and as many squares of Ohio to
mathematical correctness be sufficient to warrant this opinion. As a
very general, and in fact almost universal, rule the figures are more or
less irregular, and indicate nothing higher in art than an Indian could
form with his eye and by pacing. Circles and squares are simple
figures known to all savage tribes and easily formed; hence the fact
that a few, and a very few, approach mathematical accuracy is not
sufficient to counterbalance the vast amount of evidence on the other
side.

The size of a few of the mounds and extent of some of the works
are therefore the only difficulties to be explained in attributing these
monuments to the Indians, unless the specimens of art or remains found
in them are incompatible with such a conclusion.

Tf it can be shown that any of the tribes found occupying that part
of the country where these works are located did, at the time they
were first visited, occupy and use mounds of the same kind as those
now seen, as though accustomed to them, and also did in many in-
stances build them, we shall be justified in ascribing all these struc-
tures to the same race. At least this will be a fair and reasonable in-
ference until some fact is presented which is irreconcilable with such
conclusion, or some certain proof is brought forward showing that
other races have, at some time in the past, occupied this region.

As has been justly remarked by Mr. Lucien Carr,’ “‘ In pursuing this
branch of our inquiry the only method open to us is to proceed by com-
parison.” Should evidence be produced showing that Indians did erect

'Squier and Davis, Ancient Monuments, pp. 45 and 301; Foster Prehistoric Races, pp. 97 and 300;
Baldwin Anc. America, p.34; MeLean, Mound Builders, pp. 88,89; Conant, Footprints of a Vanished
Race, p. 14; Bancroft Native Races, vol. Iv, p. 786; Nadaillac, Revue de Anthrop.

2Mounds of the Mississippi Valley, p. 57.

646 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

such structures, it is not likely that it will be possible, except in a few
sases, to identify the particular works alluded to by this evidence, nor
to fix upon the precise time when they were erected. The utmost that
can be hoped for in this direction is that by a more careful and thor-
ough study of the remains it may be found possible in some cases to
determine the peculiar characteristics which mark them as the work of
certain tribes. If this can be done the mound problem will be solved,
and it will be possible with this basis to commence the reconstruction
of the history of the mound-builders and the mound-building age.

Let us, then, turn to the historical evidence bearing on this question,
and compare the monuments which have come down to the present
time with the statements found in this evidence.

Commencing with the history and monumeuts of the southern sec-
tion of our country, the well known narratives of the expedition of the
unfortunate Adelantado, Hernando De Soto, are the first authorities
to which reference is here made.

Itis probable that six original chronicles of this famous expedition
were written,! only three of which are now in existence. These are,
first, a brief narration by Luis Hernandez de Biedma; second, a more
lengthy relation by a “Fidalgo of Elvas,” a Portuguese;* and, third,
a second-hand account by Garcilasso de La Vega, made up from the
manuscript of Alonzo de Carmona, and information furnished by John
Cole and other survivors of the expedition. The first and second nar-
ratives are by eye-witnesses of the events they describe. In each of
these are frequent mentions of mounds and other works similar to
those now found scattered over this section.

Biedma, in his “ Narrative,” states that “The caciques of this coun-
try make a custom of raising near their dwellings very high hills, on
which they sometimes build their houses. On one of these we planted
the cross.”*

The descriptions of mounds given by Garcilasso are so exact, and
correspond so perfectly with the remains found in the southern states,

'In addition to the three named in the text there was, as we learn from Garcilasso, a ‘‘ Relacion” by
*Alonzo de Carmona,’’ of which he made use when preparing his ‘‘Florida.’’ According to Bucking-
ham Smith (Bradford Club Series, Vol. y., p. XXVIII), an account was written by Roderigo Rangel,
the private secretary of the Adelantado, ‘‘which afforded the material for the chapters, now incom-
plete, of Oviedo.’ Also, that another account was composed by a captain who remained in America,
“for which pictures in colors, of the battle scenes with the Indians of Florida, were at one time in the
cabinet of Phihp II.” Smith also affirms that the last named was the source from which Herrera drew
supplies. It may be true that this was one of the sources from which he drew, but it is certain that
Gareilasso’s ‘‘ Florida”? was his chief reliance. There were several individuals named Alonzo who
returned from the expedition, but it is probable the one alluded to by Garcilasso is the Alonzo men-
tioned in the list of the survivors as from Seville.

“Buckingham Smith is inclined to believe this Fidalgo was Alvaro Fernandez, but for reasons not
necessary to be presented here I take this author to be Antonio Martinez Segurado. But it is possi-
ble the Alonzo de Carmona of Garcilasso is the author, as one of the returned Portuguese bore the
name of Alonzo Gutierrez, which name, strange to say, is repeated three times in the list of survivors.

$English Transl. in French's Histor. Coll. La. 11, p.105. Bradford Club series, y. 5, p. 251.

THOMAS. } THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 647

are forced to the conclusion that his information was derived from par-
ties who had seen them. Take for example the following passage:

The town and the houses of the cacique Ossachile are like those of other caciques
in Florida. * * * The Indians try to place their villages on elevated sites; but
inasmuch as in Florida there are not many sites of this kind where they can con-
veniently build, they erect elevations themselves in the following manner: They
select the spot and carry there a quantity of earth, which they form into a kind of
platform two or three pikes in height, the summit of which is large enough to give
room for twelve, fifteen, or twenty houses, to lodge the cacique and his attendants.
At the foot of this elevation they mark out a square place, according to the size of
the village, around which the leading men have their houses.'!. * * * To ascend
the elevation they have a straight passageway from bottom to top, 15 or 20 feet
wide. Here steps are made by massive beams, and others are planted firmly in the
ground to serve as walls. On all other sides of the platform the sides are cut steep.?

The gentleman of Elvas, speaking of the town of Ucita, where De Soto
first landed in Florida, which was undoubtedly some point on.Tampa
bay, says* “The town was of seven or eight houses. The lord’s house
stood near the beach upon a very high mount made by hand for
strength.” It is quite probable that tradition is correct in fixing the
final landing place at Phillippi’s point, near the head of what is known
as “Old Tampa bay,” as it is stated by the authority last quoted that
after the horsemen had been landed ‘the seamen only remained on
board, who going up every day a little with the tide, the end of eight
days brought them near to the town.” !

Now it so happens that, at this point of De Soto’s fruitless expedi-
tion, which can be determined with greater certainty than any other,
the shore is lined with mounds and shell heaps; for full description and
plats of which the reader is referred to the report of Mr. 8S. T. Walker.’
Speaking of a mound at Phillippi’s point, he says:

This is one of the largest mounds on Tampa bay, and it is unfortunate that there
are impediments in the way of exploration. The structure is nearly half an acre in
extent and four different men claim an interest in it, a land corner being located on
it; besides this, it supports an orange grove. The location is beautiful, the land
fertile, and fresh water abundant. Some years ago a storm drove the waters of the
bay against it, carrying away a portion of the eastern base and exposing its internal
structure. Itis built of sand and shellin alternate layers. It is said that many
bones were washed out of it at the time; but its structure and general appearance
indicate that it was designed as a domiciliary mound like others of its class.’’®

Mr. Walker found on opening another mound, 8 miles south of the
one just mentioned, a mass of human bones disposed in three strata or
layers:

In the lower stratum I found no ornaments and but little pottery, but in the mid-
dle and top layers, especially the latter, nearly every cranium was encircled hy

! The open area or square here spoken of is still very frequently observed in the village sites of the
mound-builders, as noticed several times on the preceding field report.

? Historia de la Florida, Edition 1723, Lib. 1, Pt. 1, cap. XXX, p. 69.

3 Bradford Club Series. Vol. 5, p. 23. Hist. Coll. La. vol. 2, p. 123.

4 Op. cit. p. 23, Hist. Coll. La., vol. 2, p. 123.

5 Smithsonian Report, 1879, pp. 392-422.

Op. cit., pp. 410-411.

648 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

strings of colored beads, brass and copper ornaments, trinkets, etc. Among other
curious objects were a pair of scissors and a fragment of looking-glass. By using
patience and care I obtained many strings of beads in the order they were worn by
their Owners. In two cases fragments of string remained in the beads, preserved by
the copper. The beads, many of them being of cut glass and of various colors, were
very beautiful.!

These facts form a chain of evidence relating to the authors of these
works so complete as to leave no doubt regarding the conclusion to be
drawn. Some at least of these mounds were there when De Soto
landed and were then occupied by the Indians who evidently informed
the Spaniards that they had built them.

In one low mound but 3 feet high are found three tiers of skeletons,
the mode of burial alike in all and similar to that in other neighboring
mounds, but during the time that elapsed between the deposition of
the lower and middle tiers the Europeans had appeared on the penin-
sula and brought with them the implements and ornaments of civilized
life.

Turning again to the chronicles, let us examine what further is said
in them in reference to mounds.

It is quite probable that where Biedma says, speaking of what was
seen at Cutifachiqui, “the governor opened a large temple built in
the woods, in which were buried the chiefs of the country, and took
from it a quantity of pearls amounting to six or seven arrobes, which
were spoiled by being buried in the ground,”? he really alludes to a
burial mound opened by the Spaniards. The Gentleman of Elvas, men-
tioning the same transaction, states that® “the lady [of Cutifachiquil,
perceiving that the Christians esteemed the pearls, advised the gover-
nor to send to search certain graves that were in the town, and that he
would find many; and that if he would send to the dispeopled towns he
might load all his horses.” These two statements together probably
justify the conclusion that burial mounds are alluded to.

The extravagant and probably somewhat imaginative description,
given by John Cole to Garcilasso, of the temple at Tolomeco (the
adjacent “dispeopled town” mentioned by the Gentleman of Elvas)
doubtless relates to what the Fidalgo calls the “ barbacoas,” in which
he says “were large quantities of clothing, shawls of thread made from
the bark of trees, and others of feathers, white, gray, vermillion, and
yellow, rich and proper for winter; * * * also many well-dressed
deerskins, of colors drawn over with designs, of which had been made
shoes, stockings, and hose.”* There is, however, one statement in this
fancy sketch worthy of notice in this connection. ‘It [Tolomeco] is

1 Loe. cit.

2Hist. Coll. La., 11, p. 101. Buckingham Smith's translation varies slightly from that given here.
He uses the word ‘‘mosque”' instead of ‘‘temple,”’ and adds after ‘‘ burialin the ground,” the words
“and in the adipose substance of the dead.”

3 Hist. Coll. Louisana, 11, 144; Bradford Club Ser. 5, p. 63.

4 Bradford Club Series, 5, p. 63.

THOMAS. ] THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 649

situated on the high land above the banks of the river. * * * At
a distance were seen the dwellings of the chiefs situated on an emi-
nence, and were conspicuous for their size and the work which had been
bestowed upon them.” !

That the pearls here alluded to were in part at least nothing more
than shell beads may be assumed without any doubt. Had they been
genuine pearls it is not likely De Soto would have left them there so
willingly. Moreover, nothing is heard afterwards, when other adven-
turers visited this region, of its wealth in pearls. Shell beads are com-
mon in southern mounds, often occurring in great numbers, while pearls
are comparatively rare.

This Portuguese gentleman (Gentleman of Elvas) also frequently
mentions towns surrounded by ‘ walls” and ‘“palisades.”? These he
describes as follows :*

The wall, as well of that [town] as of others which afterwards we saw, was of
great posts thrust deep into the ground and very rough, and many long rails as big
as one’s arm laid across between them, and the wall was about the height of a lance,
and it was daubed within and without with clay and had loop-holes.

He speaks of another town ‘where the cacique used to reside,
which was very great, walled, and beset with towers, and many loop-
holes were in the towers and walls. * * * Within a league and
half a league were great towns all walled. Where the governor was
lodged was a great lake that came near unto the wall, and it entered
into.a ditch that went round about the town, wanting but little to
environ it round.” *

If the reader will compare this deseription with the works on
Etowah river, Georgia, figured by C. C. Jones, and also from a resur-
vey in the preceding part of this volume, with the works of Moorhouse
parish, Louisiana, figured by Squier and Davis, the works at the Knapp
place near Little Rock, Arkansas, and those in Catahoula parish, Lou-
isiana, figured in this volume, he can not fail to observe the close corre-
spondence between the narrator’s statement and these remains.

Speaking of the arrival of De Soto at the province of Guaxule, evi-
dently in the northern part of Georgia, and probably on the headwaters
of the Coosa river, Garcilasso says:

The chief, whose name was also Guaxule, came out with 500 men to meet him and
took him in the village [pueblo] in which were 300 houses, and lodged him in his
own. This house stood on a high mound [cerro] similar to others we have already
mentioned, Round about was a roadway sufficiently broad for six men to walk
abreast,7

There are good reasons, as will hereafter be shown, for believing that
this refers to the celebrated Etowah mound near Cartersville.

The town of Talisse is described as “strong in the extreme, for,

1Hist. Florida, Lib. 3, cap. x1v, p. 130. BER os

2 Hist. Coll. La., 11, pp. 153, 158, 159, 162, 165, 172, 5 Antiquities Southern Indians, pl. 1.
186, and 203. © Ancient monuments, pl. XXxXvul, fig. 4.

3'P. 158: 7 Hist. Florida, ed. 1723, lib. 11, cap. XX, p. 139.

650 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

besides the inclosure of timber and earth, it was nearly surrounded by
a great river.” !

He describes the Indian fortress called Alibamo as being “quad-
rangular, the four fronts of equal length, built of jointed timbers, each
front being 400 paces. On the inside there were two other palisades
from side to side. The front wall had three small gates, quite too low
for a horseman to enter. One door or gate was in the center of the
front and two others at the sides, next to the corners. On the right
[rear] of those three gates each front has three other walls, so that if
the Spaniards should gain the first the second would be defended, and
so with the third and fourth. The gates of the posterior front (or face)
opened upon a river which flows by the rear of the fort. This river
though narrow is very deep, and the banks very high and difficult to
ascend.” It will be observed that this fort, between 1,000 and 1,200 feet
square, corresponds very well with the average size of the mound-
builders’ inclosures. The method of strengthening the main entrance
by inner walls was also followed in some instances by the mound-build-
ers, as is shown in some of the Ohio works, as, for example, “ Fortified
Hill,” Butler county. Other quotations of a similar tenor to those
already given might be made from this book, but these will suffice.

Herrera’s account of De Soto’s wanderings is taken chiefly from Gar-
cilasso’s work, which he says he consulted, still, as it is possible, in
fact certain, that he had access to documents not now obtainable, the
following quotations are given from Stevens’s English translation:

Some made their escape to the Lord’s house, which stood on a ridge to which there
was no way up but by stairs.2 * * * The frontier town to Casquin was fortified
with a Ditch * * * full of water, conveyed to it through a canal from the great
River, being the distance of three leagues. The Ditch enclosed three parts of the
town, the fourth being secured with high and thick Palisades.*

Having entered the province of Amilco they traveled 30 leagues through it to a
town of 400 houses, and a large square, where the Cacique’s house stood upon a
mount made by art on the bank of the river.°

Entered upon a woody desert, and came into the province of Guachacoya; the
first town they came to being the capital thereof, seated on hillocks by the great
river’s side, on one of which was the Lord’s house.®

As heretofore stated the town which Moscoso and his companions
occupied on their return to the Mississippi, which was 17 leagues above
Guachacoya and in the province of Aminoya, must have consisted of
houses placed on mounds and surrounded by an earthen wall as it is
stated that “when they were at the procession of Palm Sunday * * *
the water broke in at the gates of the town so that there was no going
along the streets two days after without canoes.”*

The next evidence is found on a plate by Le Moyne, in the Brevis
Narratio.? Here a small mound is figured in the scene which is repre-

1 Lib. U1, cap. XXII, p. 144. 5 Vol vi,p.5. Orig. Sp., Vol. rv, Dee. vit, p. 132.

2Lib. Iv, cap. I, p. 178. 6 Vol. vi, p.6. Orig. Sp., Vol. rv, Dee. VI, p. 1382.
Vol. v, p. 324. Orig. Sp.. Vol. rv, Dee. vu, p. 31. 7 Vol. vi, p. 18.

4 Vol. v, p. 336. Orig. Sp., Vol. tv, Dee. Vit, p. 33. ® Pars. f Tab. x1!

THOMAS. ] THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 651

sented (in our Pl. xL1r); on top is placed a single univalve shell and
around the base of the mound there is a circle of arrows thrust into the
ground. The accompanying note states that this represents the sepul-
ture of a chief or ruler of a province, and that the cup from which he
was accustomed to drink was placed on the ‘ tumulus,” and that many
arrows were planted about the “tumulus.” It is true the mound
appears so small that it is scarcely worthy of the name. But it is pos-
sible this is the core on which additional layers are to be placed, as is
often found to be the case with mounds. It is not an unusual thing to
find large univalve shells, especially Busycon perversum in southern
mounds, and occasionally one of very large size converted into a drink-
ing cup is found, as for example that represented in Fig. 133.

Another important fact observable in this picture is that the large
building, which was undoubtedly the dwelling of the deceased chief,
and others, which probably belonged to the members of his family, are
on fire. As is well known, it was a custom among some tribes to burn
the houses of those who died. As no mention of this is made in the
accompanying note, we have proof in this fact that the artist has tried
to represent faithfully what he saw.

We have taken for granted that the interested reader will make the
comparison, as we proceed with these extracts, between the customs of
the Indians mentioned in them and those of the mound-builders as re-
vealed by the exploration and study of the mounds. Still it may not
be amiss for us to call attention from time to time to some facts which
have special bearing upon the question under consideration.

The frequent statements in the chronicles of De Soto’s expedition
that houses stood on ‘mounts made by art,” or hand, the positive as-
sertion that the natives were in the habit of building mounds, and the
total absence in these chronicles of any word or hint referring them to
any former inhabitants or other people, leave no doubt that De Soto
and his followers understood clearly and beyond question that the
people they found occupying the country were the builders of these
mounds.

The resemblances in many respects of the fortifications and other
works of the Indians mentioned by these chroniclers to the works of
the mound-builders, are so many arguments in favor of the theory of
the identity of the two peoples. That such resemblances do not neces-
sarily imply relationship is admitted. But in this discussion we must
constantly bear in mind the fact that the only people known to history
as inhabitants of the region under consideration, other than those
derived from the eastern continent in post-Columbian times, are
Indians in the limited sense heretofore noted. It follows, therefore,
that each of these resemblances is a fact that must be explained away
by those who deny the Indian origin of the mounds.

After the termination of De Soto’s fruitless expedition, but few and
slight glimpses are obtained of this southern region until the French

652 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

adventurers began to appear upon the scene one hundred and thirty
years afterwards, in the latter part of the seventeenth century. The
numerous narratives and accounts of their voyages which have been
left furnish comparatively few notices of these mounds and earthworks,
so few, as has been supposed, that modern investigators have expressed
astonishment at the fact, as it is evident that in many instances they
were upon the spots where these works are now found; as, for example,
the Cahokia group; those near the mouth of the Arkansas, those in
the Chickasaw country and in northern Mississippi, and elsewhere.
But a more careful examination of the records brings to light a number
of corroborative items.

Joutel, in his account of the return journey of his party after the
death of La Salle, speaking of their halt among the Arkansas Indians
at the mouth of the Arkansas river, says:

The house we were then in was built of pieces of cedar laid one upon another and
rounded away at the corners. It is seated on a small eminence half a musket shot
from the village in a country abounding in all things.!

The French as given by Margry ” is as follows: ‘ Celuy (village’ dans
lequel nous estions, estoit sur une petite hauteur ot la dite riviere ne
desborde point. La maison est postée, & une demi portée de pistolet
du village, sur un Jieu un peu élevé.” It is true that this may have been
a natural elevation, and there is nothing in the statement to warrant
the positive conclusion that it was not, but the generally level area of
the locality in which it was situated, the manner in which it is alluded
to, and the fact that mounds are found there, lead to the belief that it
was an artificial mound.

Father Gravier, in the account of his voyage down the Mississippi,
notes the following fact, which probably refers to the earthworks that
mark the sites of abandoned towns. Speaking of the Akansea he says:
“We went out and cabined a league lower down, half a league from the
old village of the Akansea, where they formerly received the late Father
Marquette and which is discernible now only by the old outworks, there
being no cabins left.”° As there were no cabins left what were the
“old outworks” to which he alludes? Speaking of the “ Tounikas” he
says: ‘They have only one small temple, raised on a mound of earth.” *

M. Thaumer de la Source, in.a letter included by St. Cosme in the
account of his voyage, alluding to the manners and customs of the same
people (the Tounicas) says that “ their houses are made of palisades
and earth and are very large; they make fire in them only twice a day
and do their cookery outside in earthen pots,” and that they ‘have a
temple on a little hill.”*

M. de la Harpe, speaking of the Indians located along the Yazoo

1 Journal in Hist. Coll. La., 1, p. 176.

2 Découvertes, Vol. 3, p. 442.

3Shea’s Trans. in Early French Voyages on the Mississippi, p. 126.
4Tbid, p. 136.

§ Shea’s Early French Voyages on the Mississippi, pp. 80-81

ASOIONH1I3 JO NvauNs

"x aLW1d JO AdOOo

«OILVYYVN SIABYS,,

WX "Id LHOd34 IVANNY H1id13aML

oe,

THOMAS.) THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 653

river at the commencement of the eighteenth century, says: “ The
cabins of the Yasous, Courois, Offagoula, and Ouspie are dispersed
over the country upon mounds of earth made with their own hands,
from which it is inferred that these nations are very ancient apd were
formerly very numerous, although at the present time they hardly num.
ber two hundred and fifty persons.’

This language would seem to imply that at this time there were
numerous mounds unoccupied, otherwise there could be no grounds for
the inference drawn by this author.

Dumont? notes the fact that in one of the Natchez villages the house
of the chief was placed on a mound.

La Petit remarks that ‘“‘ the temple of the Natchez in shape resembles
an earthen oven 100 feet in circumference,” and ‘‘ to enable them better
to converse together they raise a mount of artificial soil on which they
build his [the chief’s] cabin, which is of the same construction as the
temple, * * * and when the great chief dies they demolish his
eabin and then raise a new mound, on which they build the cabin of
him who is to replace him in this dignity, for he never lodges in that
of his predecessor.”* This will account in part for the seemingly large
number of mounds compared with the supposed Indian population.

Le Page Du Pratz, who visited the Natchez nation in 1720, has given
the following notice of the mound on which their temple was placed:

As I was an intimate friend of the sovereign of the Natchez he showed me their
temple, which is about thirty feet square, and stands on an artificial mount about
eight feet high, by the side of «small river. The mound slopes insensibly from the:
main front, which is northwards, but on the other sides it is somewhat steeper.*

He also states that the house of the Great Sun, “ not less than thirty’
feet on each face and about twenty feet high, is like that of the temple,
upon amound of earth about eight feet high and sixty feet across.”° The
size given here and elsewhere of the mounds should not be overlooked,
as they correspond closely with those now found in the same sections.

He also mentions the following mode of defense, which may serve to
explain the origin of some of the isolated circular walls occasionally
met with:

When a nation is too weak to defend itself in the field they endeavor to protect
themselves by a fort. This fort is built circularly of two rows of large logs of wood,
the logs of the inner row being opposite the joining of the outer row. These logs
are about fifteen feet long, five feet of which are sunk in the ground. The outer
logs are about two feet thick and the inner about half as much. At every forty
paces along the wall a circular tower juts out, and at the entrance of the fort, which
is always next the river, the two ends of the wall pass each other and leave a side
opening.” ©

1 Historical Journ. in Hist. Coll. La., m1, p. 106.

*Memoires Historique de la Louisiana, Tome 11, p. 109.

3 Hist. Coll. La., 111, 141-2 (note); also Lettres Editiantes et Curieuses, Tome 1, p. 260-1.

4 Hist. of La., Eng. Trans., new ed., 1774, p. 353; ed. of 1763, vol. u, p. 211. Original ed., 1758, vol.
Til, p. 16.

5Op. cit., ed. 1758, vol. 11, p. 361.

6 Ed. 1774, p. 375.

654 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

If this description be compared with the figure of the inclosure near
Evansville, given in the second part of this volume, the strong re-
semblance will be seen at once.

Adair, in his “‘ History of the American Indians.” says the Indians
daub their houses with “ tough mortar mixed with dry grass;” that they
build winter or hot houses after the manner of Dutch ovens, covered
with clay mixed with grass, and, as “they usually build on rising ground,
the floor is often a yard lower than the earth, which serves them as a
breastwork against an enemy, and a small peeping window is level with
the surface of the outside ground to enable them to rake any lurking
invaders in case of an attack.” In reference to the town house he says:
“The only difference between it and the winter house, or stove, is inits
dimensions and application. It is usually built on the top of a hill”!

There is scarcely any reason to doubt that he refers, by the expres-
sions italicized, at least the last one, to artificial mounds. Further ref-
erence will hereafter be made to some of his statements in this connec-
tion, as they give at least a hint as to the explanation of some things
found in the mounds.

Following up the recorded accounts of these works in the order of
time, we next refer to the notices found in William Bartram’s notes of
a journey through the southern states made in 1773. In this work fre-
quent mention is made of mounds, but notice will be taken of those
only which appear to connect them in some way with the Indians then
occupying that region, or that indicate their recent desertion.

Hemakes the following remarks in regard to a mound on Lake George:

7

At about fifty yards distance from the landing place stands a magnificent Indian
mount. About fifteen years ago 1 yisited this place, at which time there were no
settlements of white people, but all appeared wild and savage; yet in that unculti-
vated state if possessed an almost inexpressible air of grandeur which was now
entirely changed.

At that time there was a very considerable extent of old fields round about the
mount; there was alsoa large orange grove, together with palms and live oaks, extend-
ing from near the mount along the banks downwards. * * But what greatly con-
tributed towards completing the magnificence of the scene was anoble Indian highway
which led from the great mount on a straight line, three-quarters of a mile, first
through a point or wing of the orange grove and continuing thence through an awful
forest of live oaks, it was terminated by palms and laurel magnolias on the verge of an
oblong artificial lake, which was on the edge of an extensive, green, level savanna,
Phis grand highway was about fifty yards wide, sunk a little below the common
level, and the earth thrown up on each side, making a bank of about two feet high.”

The condition observed here certainly does not warrant the belief
that the place had been abandoned for centuries before this intelligent
traveler visited it. Yet the historical records relating to the region
reach back two centuries and a half previous to that visit. Had any
people of superior culture to that of the Indians inhabited the region in
that time or within a century previous thereto, some notice of the fact
would be found in the somewhat abundant literature relating to the

! Pp. 417-421. 2 Bartram’s Travels, p- 99.

THOMAS. ] THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 655

section. As all the facts are easily explained upon the very natural
and reasonable supposition that the Indians were the authors of these
works, it is incumbent upon those who hold a different theory to give
a satisfactory explanation thereof in accordance with such theory.

At another point he found the ground covered with small tumuli,
which marked the burial places ‘“‘ of the Yamassees who were here slain
by the Creeks in the last decisive battle, the Creeks having driven them
into this point between the doubling of the river, where few of them
escaped the fury of the conquerors. These graves occupied the whole
grove, consisting of 2 or 3 acres of ground; there were near thirty of
these cemeteries of the dead, nearly of an equal size and form; they
were oblong, 20 feet in length, 10 or 12 feet in width and 3 or 4 feet
high, now overgrown with orange trees, live oaks, laurel magnolias, red
bays, and other trees and shrubs.”!

In the midst of his poetical description of the Cherokee country about
the sources of the Tennessee river, he pauses to record the following
observation (the italics are ours):

On these towering hills appeared the ruins of the ancient famous town of Sticoe.
Here was a vast Indian mount or tumulus and great terrace on which stood the council
house, with banks encompassing their circus; here were also old peach and plum
orchards.?

The council house of the Cherokees at Cowe he describes as a “large
rotunda, capable of accommodating several hundred people; it stands
on the top of an ancient artificial mount of earth, of about twenty feet
perpendicular, and the rotunda on the top of it being above thirty feet
more gives the whole fabric an elevation of about sixty feet from the com-
mon surface of the ground. But it may be proper to observe that this
mount on which the rotunda stands is of a much ancienter date than
the building, and perhaps was raised for another purpose. The Chero-
kees themselves are as ignorant as we are by what people or for what
purpose these artificial hills were raised.” *

He describes the ancient town of Apalachucla as follows:

Tt had heen situated on a peninsula formed by a doubling of the river, and indeed
appears to have been a very famous capital by the artificial mounds or terraces, and
a very populous settlement from its extent and expansive old fields stretching beyond
the scope of the sight along the low grounds of the river. We viewed the mounds or
terraces on which formerly stood their town house or rotunda and square or areopa-
gus, and a little back of this on a level height or natural step above the low grounds.
isa vast artificial terrace or four square mound, now seven or eight feet higher than
the common surface of the ground; in-front of one square or side of this mound
adjoins a very extensive oblong square yard or artificial level plain, sunk a little
below the common surface, and surrounded with a bank or narrow terrace formed
with the earth thrown out of this yard at the time of its formation.‘

In the following quotation he states expressly that the Choctaws
were in the habit of raising mounds over their communal graves:

As soon as a person is dead they erect a scaffold eighteen or twenty feet high, in
a grove adjacent to the town, where they lay the corpse, lightly covered with a

1P. 139. 2P. 345. =P. 367. +P. 390.

656 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

mantle; here it is suffered to remain, visited and protected by the friends and rela-
tions, until the flesh becomes putrid, so as easily to part from the bones, then under-
takers, who make it their business, carefully strip the flesh from the bones, wash
and cleanse them, and when dry and purified by the air, having provided a euri-
ously wrought chest or coffin fabricated of bones! and splints, they place all the
bones therein, which is deposited in the bone-house, a building erected for that pur-
pose in every town. And when this house is full a general solemn funeral takes
place. When the nearest kindred or friends of the deceased, on a day appointed,
repair to the bone-honse, take up the respective coffins, and following one another
in order of seniority, the nearest relations and connections attending their respective
corpse and the multitude following after them, all as one family, with united voice of
alternate allelujah and lamentation, slowly proceeding to the place of general inter-
ment, where they place the coffins in order, forming a pyramid, and lastly cover all
over with earth, which raises a conical hill or mount. When they return to town
in order of solemn procession, concluding the day with a festival, which is called
the feast of the dead.” *

Remains of coffins or wrappings of cane matting have frequently been
found in southern mounds.

The description of the walls connected with the chunk yards as given
in the Bartram MS.’ is familiar and need not be repeated here.

These statements, mostly mere incidental mentions in works of travel-
ers and explorers, whose minds and thoughts were intent on things
more directly appertaining to practical life than archeological researches,
made without regard to their bearing on the questions relating to the
origin of these works, are entitled to credit; and, although they do
not prove positively that all ancient monuments of the mound region
are to be attributed to the Indians, they do prove beyond contradiction
that some of them were built by Indians and that at the first advent of
the white man they were in common use among this people in the
southern section. In other words, this evidence makes out a prima facie
case. which must be rebutted by facts which are, or appear to be
inconsistent with this conclusion.

How soon are things familiar to a preceding generation relegated
to the domain of antiquity! A century after the close of the forego-
ing testimony these remains, long forsaken and forgotten, begin to be
discovered one by one, and are looked upon by the new generation
tion which has arisen, as strange and mysterious mementos of a “long
lost” and “unknown race,” and are classed, according to modern
archeological nomenclature, as “prehistoric remains.” Where the plow
has not invaded them the oak, walnut, and beech, taking root in the
rich, rank soil, have grown to full stature, and their size and numerous
rings of growth are taken as indications of the vast antiquity of these
strange works. The imagination, having once obtained the rein, runs
back over the ages until it is lost in the haze of the past. Is it strange
that the “untutored savage,” without writings or records, should in a
few—a very few—generations lose sight of the past when our own Civi-
lized race forgets in the same time?

' Bones is evidently a misprint for ‘‘ canes."’ % Squier & Davis, Anc. Mon., p. 12, and Squier
2Thbid., p. 516. Aborig. Mon. of New York, p. 135.

THOMAS. ] THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 657

Turning to the older records relating to the northern section of the
country, we are surprised at finding in them so few references to the
artificial mounds of this region. I have succeeded in finding, after a
somewhat laborious and careful examination, but one mention or indica-
tion of them in the Jesuit Relations and none in the writings of the
Recollects (though there are several mentions of southern mounds). Yet
one of the missionaries must have passed a good portion of the winter
of 1700 in the very midst of the Cahokia group, as Father Gravier says:
“Une de nos missionaires les doit visiter durant tout ’hyver de 2 et 2
jours, et en autant aux Kaowikia qui ont pris leur quartier @hyver a 4
lieues plus haut que le village.” !

One of the early notices of mounds in this section is by Cadwallader
Colden, in his “‘ History of the Five Nations,” in which he notes the fact
that ‘‘a round hill” was sometimes raised over the graye in which a
corpse had been deposited.?

Carver noticed ancient earthworks on the Mississippi near Lake
Pepin, but knew nothing of their origin.’

Heckwelder observed some of these works near Detroit, of which Dr.
Steiner published an account in a Philadelphia periodical in 1789 or
1790. This description was afterwards given briefly in his history of
the ‘“‘Manners and Customs of the Indian Nations,” and is quoted in
other papers.

Although so little relating to mounds is to be gleaned from the older
records, they do mention some facts which afford a reasonable explana-
tion of some of the ancient monuments found in the northern section of
our country.

As, for example, the communal or tribal burials, where the bones and
remains of all the dead of a village, region, or tribe who had died sub-
sequent to the preceding general burial (usually eight or ten years) were
collected together and deposited in one common grave. This method,
which, as we have seen, was also followed by some of the southern
tribes, has been frequently described; among others, by William Bar-
tram in the quotation already given; by Dumont,’ and by Barnard
Romans.’ But the fullest and most vivid description is that by Jean
de Breboeuf, in his account “ Des Ceremonies qwils (les Hurons) gardent
en leur sepulture et de leur deuil,” and “De la Feste solemnelle des
morts.” °

Although it is stated in reference to these burials by the southern
tribes that they closed by heaping a mound over the grave, so far no
statement has been found that such was the case in regard to those in

1Rel. ou Journ. du Voyage, by Jaques Gravier, orig. Fr., p. 8.

2Tntroduction, p. 16, London, 1747.

Travels, ed. 1796, Phila., pp. 35,36; ed. 1779, London, p. 57.

4Memoires, Hist. La., T. 1, p. 246.

6 Adair, quoted by Dr. Brinton and C.C. Jones, ‘‘Antiq. Southern Indians,” p. 190, does not describe
or mention at the place referred to, or elsewhere, that I can tind, the communal burial.

6 Jesuit Relations for 1636, pp. 129-139, translation 5th Ann. Rept. Bureau Ethn., pp. 110-119. See
also Lafitau, ‘‘Moenrs des Sauvages,"' 11, pp. 447-455.

- 12 ETH——42

658 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

the northern section. That this method prevailed can only be inferred
from the southern custom and from what is found in the mounds of the
northern region, which will be noticed hereafter.

Another item under this heading furnished by history is the well
attested fact that it was avery common custom among the northern as
well as the southern tribes to erect palisades around their villages for
defense against attack. As there will be occasion to speak of these
again, further reference to them at present is omitted.

Although there are so few references to mound building by the north-
ern tribes in the older authorities, we are not without evidence on this
point, as is shown by the following statements made by comparatively
modern writers:

Lewis C. Beck, in his Gazetteer of the States of Illinois and Missouri,
affirms that ‘one of the largest mounds in this country has been thrown
up on this stream (the Osage of Missouri) within the last thirty or forty
years by the Osages near the great Osage village in honor of one of
their deceased chiefs.”! It is probable that this is the mound referred
to by Maj. Sibley in his statement to Featherstonehaugh, in which he
says that “an ancieut chief of the Osage Indians informed him whilst
he was among them that a large conical mound, which he (Maj. Sibley)
‘“was in the habit of seeing every day whilst he resided amongst them,
was constructed while he was a boy. That a chief of his nation unex-
pectedly died while all the men of his tribe were hunting in a distant
country; his friends buried him in the usual manner, with his weapons,
his earthen pot, and the usual accompaniments, and raised a small
mound over his remains. When the nation returned from the hunt
this mound was enlarged at intervals, every man assisting to carry
materials, and thus the accumulation of earth went on fora long period,
until it reached its present height, when they dressed it off at the top
in aconical form. The old chief said he had been informed and believed
that all the mounds had a similar origin.” ”

Lewis and Clark, as is well known, mention not only the erection of
a mound over a modern chief, but also numerous earthworks, includ-
ing mounds, which were known to be the work of modern Indians.*

Gen. L. V. Bierce,in his ‘“ Historical Reminiscences of Summit
County” (Ohio), states that when Nickasaw, an old Wyandot Indian
of that county, was killed, ‘‘ the Indians buried him on the ground
where he fell, and according to their custom raised a mound over him
to commemorate the place and circumstances of his death. His grave
is yet to be seen.” 4

The author of the History of Wisconsin states that ‘it is related by

'P. 308.

2Excursion through the Slave States, p.70. It is proper to state that Mr. Collet, of St. Louis, says
he made a search for this mound, but was unable to find it.

3 Travels, Dublin ed., 1817, pp. 30, 31, 55, 67, 115, 117, 118, 122, ete.

4p. 128.

THOMAS. ] MOUND-BUILDERS AND INDIANS. 659

tribes, on the burial of a chief or brave of distinetion, to consider his
grave as entitled to the tribute of a portion of earth from each passer-by,
which the traveler sedulously carried with him on his journey. Hence
the first grave formed a nucleus around which, in the accumulation of
theaccustomed tributes of respect thus paid, a mound was soon formed.”!

According to the same author? the tumulus at the Great Butte des
Morts (‘‘ great hill of the dead”) was raised over the bones of Outaga-
mie (Fox Indian) warriors slain in battle with the French in 1706.

In 1706 an expedition, under Capt. Morand, was sent from Michilimackinack
against them, and in the attack upon them by surprise at this their stronghold
more than 1,000 of their warriors perished, and the ‘“ great hill of the dead” was
raised over their hones by the survivors, who, a few years afterwards, left this part
of the country and removed further to the west. Other accounts differ in regard to
the time when the great battle was fought which nearly destroyed the tribe and
caused their removal; but all agree that the mound was raised and received its sig-
nificant name from such an event.

There 1s given in the first report of the Wisconsin Historical Society *
a Winnebago tradition, in which it is stated that mounds of certain
localities in the state were built by Winnebagoes and others by the
Sacs and Foxes.

There is also an Indian tradition, apparently founded on fact, that
the Essex mounds, Clinton county, Michigan, are the burying places of
the dead killed in a battle between the Chippewas and Pottawatomies,
which occurred not many generations ago.*

Other instances of Indians, both of the northern and southern see-
tions, erecting mounds over their dead in modern times might be
referred to, but the evidence adduced is sufficient to show that history
bears out the assertion that the Indians found inhabiting this country
were in the habit of building mounds.

A COMPARISON OF THE WORKS OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS WITH
THOSE OF THE INDIANS.

The historical evidence adduced is apparently sufficient to prove
beyond a reasonable doubt that some Indian tribes inhabiting the
southern portion of the country at the time it was first visited did
erect mounds and construct walls for defense. Nevertheless, as this
evidence does not appear to be wholly satisfactory to a number of
archeologists, and applies almost exclusively to one section, it is neces-
sary, in order to clear the question of doubt, to present such other
proofs as the subject will admit of. From the character of the subject
these proofs must consist, to a great extent, of comparisons.

As has already been stated, every similarity shown between the
works, art, customs, etc., of the mound-builders and the Indians is an

' Smith's History of Wisconsin, vol. 11, pp. 245, 246. 3 Pp. 88, 89.
? Loc. cit., 111, p. 262. 4Smithson. Rep., 1884, p. 848

660 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

evidence in support of the view here maintained, a fact which the
reader should constantly keep in mind as he proceeds. Every com-
parison and every fact which tends to eliminate from consideration, as
the possible authors of these monuments, the Mexican and Central
American peoples, is, to this extent at least, an argument in favor of
the theory that they are due to Indians in the sense in which this term
is here used.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

One of the first things which strikes the mind of the archeologist
who carefully studies these works, as being very significant, is the
entire absence in them of any evidence of architectural knowledge and
skill approaching that exhibited by the ruins of Mexico and Central
America, or of that exhibited by the structures of the Pueblo Indians.

It is true that truncated, pyramidal mounds of large size and some-
what regular proportions are found in the region designated; and that
some of these have ramps or roadways leading up to them. But when
compared with the teocalli or pyramids of Mexico and Yucatan the
differences in the manifestations of architectural skill are so great and
so fundamental, and the resemblances so faint and few, as to furnish
no grounds whatever for attributing the two classes of works to the
same people. The fact that the works of the one people consist chiefly
of wrought stone, and that such materials as worked stones are wholly
unknown to the other, forbids the idea of relationship.

Mexico, Central America, and Peru are dotted with the ruins of
stone edifices, but in all the mound-building area of the United States
not the slightest vestige of one attributable to the people who left
these earthen structures, is to be found. The utmost they attained to
in this direction was the construction of stone cairns, rude stone walls
and stone vaults of cobblestones and undressed blocks. This fact is
too significant to be overlooked in this comparison and should have its
weight in forming a conclusion, especially when it is backed by numer-
ous other corresponding differences.

Tf, as some authorities maintain, the mound-builders came from Mex-
ico or the Pueblo region, where the custom was to use stone in their
structures, it is remarkably strange that they should so suddenly and
completely abandon the use of this material as to leave not a single
edifice to bear testimony to their knowledge of itsuse. If, on the other
hand, as maintained by others, the mound-builders, after abandoning
the Mississippi valley passed into Mexico and Central America, it is
strange that they should have so suddenly become proficient masons
without leaving in their original home or marking their line of march
with some indications of their budding architectural proclivities. It is
true that the same question may be raised in regard to other customs
which seem to have developed, flourished, and died out in particu-

71

THOMAS. | MOUND-BUILDERS AND INDIANS. 661

lar areas. But the change in this case is so radical that it would seem
we ought to find some remains of their earlier and ruder efforts; and
if we accept the generally received opinion of the migration of the
Nahuas from the Northwest, so strongly and, as I believe, successfully
argued by numerous authors on linguistic, traditional, and other
grounds, we should find some examples of their earlier efforts. Atten-
tion is called to an article by Becker, which seems to have been gener-
ally overlooked.!

Though hundreds of groups of mounds, marking the sites of ancient
villages, are to be seen scattered over the Mississippi valley and Gulf
states, yet in none of all these is there a single house remaining. The
inference is, therefore, irresistible, that the houses of the mound-build-
ers were constructed of perishable materials; thatthe people who made
the mounds were not yet sufficiently advanced in art to use brick or
stone in building; or that they lived a roving, restless life that would
not justify the time and trouble necessary to erect such permanent
structures. As the latter supposition is at variance with the evidence
furnished by the magnitude and extent of many groups of these
remains, we are forced to the conclusion that the former is the true
explanation of the fact observed. One chief objection to the Indian
origin of these works is, as already stated, that their builders must
have been sedentary, depending largely upon agriculture for subsistence.
It is evident, therefore, that they had dwellings of some kind, and as
remains of neither stone nor brick structures are found, which could
have been used for this purpose, they must have been constructed of
perishable materials, such as was supplied in abundance by the forests
of the region in which they dwelt.

It is apparent, therefore, that in this one respect, at least, the dwell-
ings of the mound-builders were similar to those of the Indians. But
this is not all that can be said in reference to the houses of the former,
for there still remain indications of their form and character, although
no complete examples are left for inspection. In various places, espe-
cially in Tennessee, Illinois, and southeast Missouri, the sites of thou-
sands of them are yet distinctly marked by little circular depressions
with rings of earth around them. These remains give the shape and
size of one class of dwellings common in the regions named. Excava-
tions in the center usually bring to light the ashes and hearth that
mark the place where the fire was built, and occasionally unearth frag-
ments of the vessels used in cooking, the bones of animals on whose
flesh the inmates fed, and other articles pertaining to domestic use.

The form and size of these rings and the relics found in them would
seem to be sufficient to justify the inference that they are the remains of
the houses of the authors of the ancient works with which they are
connected; and such was the conclusion reached by Prof. Putnam, who

1 Cong. Intern. Americanistes, Luxembourg, 1877, pp. 325-350.

662 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

found many of these hut rings or lodge sites during his explorations in
Tennessee. He writes as follows concerning them:

Seattered irregularly within the inclosure [the earthen wall which inclosed the
area] are nearly one hundred more or less detined circular ridges of earth which are
from a few inches toa little over three feet in height, and of diameters varying from ten
to fifty feet. ~*~ * * Anexamination of these numerous low mounds or rather earth
rings, as there could generally be traced a central depression, soon convinced me that
I had before me the remains of the dwellings of the people who had erected the large
mound, made the earthen embankment, buried their dead in the stone graves, and
lived in this fortified town, as I now feel I have a right to designate it.'

The force of this conviction can be felt only by those who carefully
examine these ancient works in person; words can not convey the im-
pression, in this respect, that is carried to the mind through the eye.

Further testimony as to the meaning of the circular remains of this
kind is found in the fact that they are seldom, if ever, met with except
on the site of an ancient village, and often one that was defended by
an ineclosure. For examples of this class the reader is referred to the
illustrations and descriptions given in the previous part of this volume of
works in Tennessee, southern I]linois, and southeastern Missouri. For
proof that these are similar to Indian ‘villages at the time the latter
were first known to the whites, see the preceding historical evidence.
Some of the villages described by the early travelers and explorers would
have left precisely such remains as some of those herein described and
figured. The wantof regularity in the arrangement of these hut-rings,
their size and circular form; the central fire, and the perishable mate-
rials of which they were made furnish evidences of customs and modes
of life too strongly resembling those of the Indians in the earlier his-
torical days to be overlooked.

But the testimony in regard to the dwellings of the mound-builders
is not yet exhausted, meager as it has generally been supposed to be.

During the progress of explorations by assistants of the Bureau of
Ethnology in southeast Missouri, Arkansas, and Mississippi, especially
in Arkansas, in numerous instances, probably hundreds, beds of hard-
burned clay, containing impressions of grass and cane, were observed.
These were generally found 1 or 2 feet below the surface of low flat
mounds, from 1 to 5 feet high, and from 15 to 50 feet in diameter,
though by no means confined to tumuli of this character, as they were
also observed near the surface of the large flat-topped and conical
mounds. Socommon were these burnt clay beds in the low flat mounds
and so evidently the remains of former houses that the explorers gen-
erally speak of them in their reports as “‘house sites.”

As a general rule, in opening them, the strata are found to occur in
this order: first, a top layer of soil from 1 to 2 feet thick; then a layer
of burnt clay from 4 inches to a foot thick (though usually varying from
4 to 8 inches) which formed the plastering of the walls. This was

' Eleventh Rept. Peabody Mus., vol. 2, pp. 347--348.

THOMAS. ] MOUND-BUILDERS AND INDIANS. 663

always broken into lumps, never in a uniform unbroken layer, showing
that it had fallen and was not originally placed where found; immedi-
ately below this is a thin layer of hardened muck or dark clay, though
this does not always seem to be distinct; at this depth, in the mounds
of the eastern part of Arkansas are usually found one and sometimes
two skeletons.

Take for example the following statement by Dr. Palmer! in refer-
ence to these beds. Speaking of the slight elevations which here are
not rings, as farther north, but low, flat mounds, he says:

As an almost universal rule, after removing a foot or two of top soil a layer of
burnt clay ina broken or fragmentary condition would be found, sometimes with
impressions of grass or twigs which easily crumbled, but was often hard and
stamped apparently with an implement made of split reeds of comparatively large
size. This layer was in places a foot thick and frequently burned to a brick red or
even to clinkers. Below this, at a depth of 3 to 5 feet from the surface, were more
or less ashes, and often 6 inches of charred grass immediately covering skeletons.
The latter were found lying in all directions, some with the face up, others with it
down, and others on the side. With these were vessels of clay; in some cases one
sometimes more.

At another place, in a broad platform-like elevation not more than 3
feet high, he found and traced, by the burnt clay, the outlines of three
rectangular houses. The edges of the upright walls were very appar-
ent in this case, as also the clay which must have fallen from them, and
which raised the outer marginal lines considerably higher than the
inner area, ‘The fire,” Dr. Palmer remarks, ‘must have been very
fierce, and the clay around the edges was evidently at some height
above the floor, as I judge from the irregular way in which it is seat-
tered around the margins.”

Excavations in the areas showed that they were covered with a
layer of burnt clay, uneven and broken; immediately below this a layer
of ashes 6 inches thick, and below this black loam. On these areas
were growing some large trees, one a poplar (tulip tree) 3 feet in diameter.

Below one of these floors were found a skeleton, some pottery, and a
pipe. A large oak formerly stood at this point, but has been blown
down. Close by these dwelling sites is a large mound, 10 feet high,
in the form of a truncated pyramid. <A plan of these houses is shown
in Fig. 136. Subsequently the remains of another dwelling of precisely
the same form—that is, two square rooms joined and a third of the
same size immediately behind these two—was found in the same region
by Col. Norris. In this case the remains of the upright posts and reed
lathing forming the walls were found, also the clay plastering. The
sides of the room varied in length from 114 to something over 12 feet.
These are represented in figs. 117, 118. Numerous cases, similar in
character, differing only in details, will be found in the preceding part
of this volume, but it will be necessary to refer particularly only to
two others.

1 Ante p. 227.

664. MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Mr. Thing, digging into the summit of a medium-sized mound in
southeastern Missouri, where there was a slight circular depression_in
the top, found at the depth of 2 feet a layer of burnt clay similar to
those already mentioned, which he describes as follows: ‘‘In the top of
the mound, in a small, circular depression, I dug down about two feet,
when I came to a sort of platform of burnt clay. It seemed to be made
of irregularly shaped pieces, one side being smooth and the other rough;
and, what was peculiar, the smooth side was down.” It is easy to
account for this on the supposition that it had been the plastering of
an upright wall, which, when the wooden support gave way before the
flames, had fallen over in a broad sheet, thus carrying the smooth
outer side downward. In confirmation of this view we may state that
down the slope, on one side, were also found loose fragments of the
burnt clay which had evidently broken loose from the mass and rolled
down the side.

Our next illustration is from the report of Col. Norris; the locality,
Butler county, Mo.; the group consisting of an inclosure and ditch,
two large outer excavations, and four mounds inside. The largest of
these four mounds measured about 150 feet in length, 120in width, and
20 feet high at the highest point. A longitudinal section is shown
in the figure.

The description by Col. Norris, made on the ground, leaves but little
doubt that the poles and burnt clay which he describes were the re-
mains of houses, the fire having been smothered by dirt thrown over
the burning heap before the timber portion was entirely consumed.

Prof. Swallow describes a room formed by poles, lathed with split
cane, plastered with clay both inside and out, forming a solid mass,
which he found in a mound in southeastern Missouri. This plast-
ering was, as he says, left rough on the outside but smooth on the
inside, and some of it was burned as red and hard as brick, while
other parts were only sun dried. Some of the rafters and cane laths
were found decayed, some burnt to coal, and others all rotted but the
bark. The inner plastering was found flat on the floor of the room as
it had fallen in, and under it were the bones and pots.!

The discoveries made by Prof. Swallow, Col. Norris, Mr. Thing, and
Dr. Palmer all harmonize and show beyond a reasonable doubt that
the layers of burned clay so frequently found in southern mounds are,
in part at least, the plastering of houses which have been destroyed by
fire. The numerous instances of this kind which have now been brought
to light, and the presence of skeletons under the ashes and clay, render
it probable that the houses were abandoned at the death of a mem-
ber or members of the family, burned over them after they had been

'

‘Eighth Rep. Peabody Mus. pp. 17-18. I may as well add here that I have examined in person one of
these clay beds found near the surface of a large mound, and that specimens of those found by three
Bureau assistants are now in the National Museum, also specimens of the charred grass or straw of
which Dr. Palmer speaks.

tu stale

Laat

THOMAS. ] MOUND-BUILDERS AND INDIANS. 665

buried or covered with earth (for the bones are very rarely charred), and
that immediately a mound was thrown over the ruins. The mode of
burial in houses was common among the Muskoki or Creeks! and the
Chickasaws.’ :

C. C. Jones says that the Indians of Georgia “ often interred beneath
the floor of the cabin and then burnt the hut of the deceased over his
head.”* In Pl. xxu, copied from De Bry, the houses of the deceased, as
before stated, are being burned, although the burial appears to be tak-
ing place outside the village inclosure. It also appears that in some
cases the mound so made was afterwards used as a dwelling site by the
same or some other people, as it is not unusual to find two, and even
three, beds at different depths.

That the houses of the Indians occupying this region, when first vis-
ited by whites, were very similar to those of the mound-builders is evi-
dent from the statements of the early writers, a few of which are given
here.

La Harpe, speaking of the tribes in some parts of Arkansas, says:
“The Indians build their huts dome-fashion out of clay and reeds.”
Schooleraft says the Pawnees formerly built similar houses. In Iber-
ville’s Journal‘ itis stated that the cabins of the Bayagoulas were round,
about 30 feet in diameter and plastered with clay to the height of a
man. Adair says ‘“‘ They are lathed with cane and plastered with mud
from bottom to top, within and without, with a good covering of straw.”

Henri de Tonty, the real hero of the French discoveries on the Mis-
sissippi, says the cabins of the Tensas were square, with the roof
dome-shaped; that the walls were plastered with clay to the height of
12 feet and were 2 feet thick.°

A description of the Indian square houses of this southern section by
Du Pratz® is so exactly in point that I insert a translation of the whole
passage:

The cabins of the natives are all perfectly square, none of them are less than fifteen
feet in extent in every direction, but there are some which are more than thirty.
The following is their manner of building them: The natives go into the new forest
to seek the trunks of young walnut trees of four inches in diameter and from
eighteen to twenty feet long; they plant the largest ones at four corners to form the
breadth and the dome; but before fixing the others they prepare the scaffolding; it
consists of four poles fastened together at the top, the lower ends corresponding to
the four corners; on these four poles others are fastened crosswise ata distance of a

foot apart; this makes a ladder with four sides, or four ladders joined together. This
done, they fix the other poles in the ground in a straight line between those of the

} Bartram’s Travels, 1791, p. 515.

2 Barnard Romans, ‘‘ A Concise Nat. His. of Hast and West Florida,” 11, p.71.

% Antiq. Southern Indians, p. 203.

+Relation in Margry, Découvertes, 4th part, p. 170.

5Relation of Henry de Tonty in Margry, Découvertes, vol.1, p.60¢. ‘‘L'on nous fit d'abord entrer
dans une cabane de 40 pieds de face; les murailles en sont de bouzillage, éspaisses de deux pieds et.
hautes dedouze. La couverture est faite en dome, de nattes de cannes, si bien travaillées que la pluye
ne perce point 4 travers.”

€ Hist. La. 1, p.173, (French ed.) English ed. 1764, p. 359.

666 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

corners; when they are thus planted they are lightly bound to a pole which crosses
them on the inside of each side (of the house). For this purpose large splints of
stalks are used to tie them, at the height of five or six feet, according to the size of
the cabin, which forms the walls; these upright poles are not more than about
fifteen inches apart from each other; a young man then mounts to the end of one
of the corner poles with a cord in his teeth, fastens the cord to the pole, and as he
mounts within, the pole bends because those who are below draw the cord to bend
the pole as much as is necessary; at the same time another young man fixes the pole
of the opposite corner in the same way; the two poles being thus bent at a suitable
height, they are fastened strongly and evenly. The same is done with the poles of
the other two corners as they are joined at the point, which make altogether the
figure of a bower or a summer house, such as we have in France. After this work
they fasten sticks on the lower sides or walls at a distance of about eight inches
across, as high as the pole of which I have spoken, which forms the length of the
wall.

These sticks being thus fastened, they make mud walls of clay in which they put
a sufficient amount of Spanish moss. These walls are not more than 4 inches thick.
They leave no opening but the door, which is only 2 feet in width by 4 in height.
There are some much smaller. They then cover the frame work, which I have just
described, with mats of reeds, putting the smoothest on the inside of the cabin,
taking care to fasten them together so that they are well joined. After this they
make large bundles of grass of the tallest that can be found in the low lands, and
which is 4 or 5 feet long; this is put on in the same way as straw, which is used to
cover thatched houses. The grass is fastened with large canes and splints also of
canes. When the cabin is covered with grass they cover all with a matting of canes
well bound together, and at the bottom they make a ring of “ bind weeds” (lianes)
all around the cabin; then they turn the grass evenly, and with this defense, how-
ever great the wind may be, it can do nothing against the cabin. These coverings
last twenty years without being repaired.

Numerous other quotations to the same effect might be given, but
these are sufficient to show that the remains found in the mounds of
the south are precisely what would result from the destruction by fire
of the houses in use by the Indians when first encountered by Euro-
peans. Combining the testimony furnished by the mounds with the
historical evidence, which the close agreement between the two cer-
tainly justifies, it is evident that the houses of the mound-builders
were built of wooden materials or wood and clay combined, and were
of at least two forms, circular and rectangular; that the fire was usu-
ally placed in the center and the smoke allowed to escape through an
opening at the top; that in the southern sections they were usually
plastered with clay and thatched with straw or grass, and that the
plastering was often ornamented by stamping it with a stamp made of
split cane, and, in some cases, was painted red. Prof. Swallow noticed
this color on the plastering of the burned room he discovered. A coat
of paint has also been detected on some of the pieces which we have
obtained in our explorations. This testimony would seem to be well-
nigh conclusive that Indians were the builders of the houses, traces
of which are found in the Arkansas mounds, and, if so, of the mounds
also.

THOMAS. | SIMILARITY OF FORTIFICATIONS. 667
FORTIFICATIONS, ETC.

Mr. Squier, who carefully studied the antiquities of Ohio and arrived
at the conclusion that they are to be attributed to a people occupying
a much higher culture-status than the Indians, subsequently entered
upon the investigation of those of New York, little doubting that he
would arrive at a similar conclusion in reference to their origin. The
result of this examination is best given in his own words:

In full view of the facts before presented, I am driven to a conclusion little antic-
ipated when I started upon my trip of exploration, that the earthworks of western
New York were erected by the Iroquois or their western neighbors, and do not pos-
sess an antiquity going very far back of the discovery. Their general occurrence
upon a line parallel to and not far distant from the lakes favors the hypothesis
that they were built by frontier tribes, an hypothesis entirely conformable to abo-
riginal traditions. Here, according to these traditions, every foot of ground was
contested between the Iroquois and Gah-kwahs, and other western tribes; and here,
as a consequence, where most exposed to attack, were permanent defenses most

necessary.!

The facts presented by this author are sufficient to satisfy anyone
not wedded to a preconceived opinion of the correctness of his con-
clusion as to the authors of these works. Here we find earthen embank-
ments and inclosures often, with accompanying ditches, which this
author has satisfactorily proven mark the sites of palisaded inclosures
similar to those observed by Champlain during his voyages of dis-
covery. (See also the evidence presented in the preceding part of this
volume relating to the antiquities of New York.)

As similar earthworks are found in Ohio, in the Southern states, and
elsewhere, and, as we know from what is stated by the narrators of De
Soto’s expedition and by other authorities, that Indians in different
parts of the country when first encountered by Europeans were in the
habit of fortifying their towns with palisades, there is good reason for
believing that many of these remains had a similar origin to those of
New York. That some may owe their existence to different customs,
of which no notice has been preserved, is true, but, the correctness of
Mr. Squier’s conclusion being admitted, we certainly have a satisfactory
explanation of the origin of a large portion of them.

The Gentleman of Elvas, as already quoted, states that ‘‘ The wall,
as well of that town as of others which we afterwards saw, was of great
posts thrust deep into the ground, and very rough and many long rails
as big as one’s arm laid across between them, and the wall was about
the height of a lance, and it was daubed within and without with clay,
and had loopholes.”? The decay of a work like this would leave a cir-
cular wall of earth like those seen in various sections ot the country.

Caleb Atwater states that the wall of an inclosure at Circleville,
Ohio, showed evidences of having supported a palisade or wooden

' Aboriginal Monuments of New York, p. 83. 2 French's Hist. Coll. La., vol. 1, p. 153.

668 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

stockade: ‘¢The round fort was picketed in, if we are to judge from
the appearance of the ground on and about the walls. Halfway up
the outside of the inner wall is a place distinctly to be seen, where a
row of pickets once stood and where it was placed when this work of
defense was originally erected.”!

The town of Talisse was fortified by an inclosure of timber and
earth.2 Garcilasso’s description of the fortress of Alibamo heretofore
given is also important in this connection, as in this case the figure was
quadrangular and had gates, behind which were three parallel short
walls to defend the place against an attempted entrance by an attack-
ing party. An almost exact parallel is‘seen in the defenses to the chief
gateway of the work in Butler county, Ohio, known as Fortified Hill,
figured in Ancient Monuments, Pl. 6.

The reader is also referred to Du Pratz’s description of Indian forts
heretofore given.

Strong defensive forts were common in the north as well as in the
south. Charlevoix represents the villages of the Canadian Indians as
defended by double, and frequently triple rows of palisades, interwoven
with branches of trees. Jacques Cartier found the town of Hochelaga
(now Montreal) thus defended in 1535. (See his description hereto-
fore given; ante, p. 624.)

Another early writer, speaking of one branch of the Hurons, remarks
as follows:

In this extent of country there are about twenty-five cities and villages, some of
which are not inclosed or protected, but the others are fortified with strong palisades
of wood in three rows, interlaced together and redoubled inside by large and strong
pieces of bark to the height of 8 or 9 feet. Beneath, there are large trees placed
lengthwise on strong, short forks of tree trunks. Then on the top of these palisades
there are galleries or watch towers which they furnish with stones in time of war,
to cast upon the enemy, and also water with which to extinguish the fire if applied
to their palisades.*

The villages of the Pequots in New England were similarly protected.
Champlain found the villages of Iroquois defended by strong walls, form-
ing forts, apparently impregnable to any mode of attack with which they
were acquainted. In fact, one withstood all his attempts to capture it.

De Bry,! John Smith and Beverly,’ and Lafitau,® note the fact that
many of the Indian villages were surrounded by palisaded walls, the
gate or entrance being formed by one end of the wall overlapping or
passing by the other which according to the last named author was
the usual method. (See Fig. 543 from De Bry’s Brevis Narratio.)
Attention is called to the ancient work in Allamakee county, Lowa,
heretofore described and figured. The resemblance in this case to
those described by the above named authors is so striking, that we
can scarcely doubt that this work marks the line of a former palisade.

' Trans. Am. Antq. Soc. (1820), vol. 1, p. 145. 4 Brevis Narratio, ete.
? Garcilasso Hist. Florida, Lib. 3, cap. 23, p. 144. * History of Virginia.
3 Sagard, ‘‘Le grand Voyage du pays des Hurons,” ed. 1865, p. 79. © Moeurs des Sauvages.

sive works were surrounded

THOMAS. | SIMILARITY OF FORTIFICATIONS. 669

Many other examples might be given; but these will suffice to show
that the Indians were accustomed to construct fortifications similar in
form and size to the inclosure, now attributed to the mound-builders,
which, if burned down or allowed to decay, would in all probability
leave just such walls as form these inclosures. The only objection to
this explanation is the fact that in some of the sections where the
Indian towns are known to have been surrounded by palisades no such
circular earthern walls have been discovered. This may be accounted
for on the supposition, which is in fact confirmed by abundant evi-
dence, that in some sections the walls were braced by earthen embank-
ments or heavily plastered with clay, while in other sections they were
not. The former would leave the earthen rings, while the latter would
not.

The inclosing and other
walls of the Ohio works usu-
ally havea very distinct layer
of clay. Some of the lines of
Fortified Hill, in Butler coun-
ty, can now be traced only
by this layer of clay, when
turned up by the plow, as I
observed during a visit to it
in 1884.

Intimately connected with
this evidence, and tending
to strengthen the conclusion
arrived at, is the fact that in
some instances these defen-

by ditches or canals. For ex-
ample, in the quotations al-
ready made we learn that
near one town ‘‘was a great
lake that came into the wall; and it entered into a ditch that went round
about the town, wanting but little to environ it round; from the lake to
the great river was made a weir by which fish came into it;”! that “the
frontier town to Casquin was fortified with a ditch 40 fathoms wide and
10 in depth, full of water” (‘‘fathoms” here is doubtless an error, and
should be “cubits”), Biedma states that in one place they ‘reached
a village in the midst of a plain surrounded by walls and a ditch filled
with water, which had been made by the Indians.”

Although the examples given are not numerous, still they are suffi-
cient to show that the Indians did in some cases surround their vil-
lages and fortifications with ditches and canals similar to those found
in several instances surrounding groups of ancient works in the South,

FiG. 343.—Village of Pomeiock, from Brevis Narratio.

1 Hist. Coll. La., vol. 2, p. 172. : 2 Thid., vol. 2, p. 105.

670 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

as, for example, the Etowah group already referred to (see PI. 1, p. 136,
Jones’s ‘‘Southern Indians,” and our Fig. 182 in the preceding part of this
volume). Another example, found in Hancock county, Georgia, is shown
in Pl. 11, p. 144, same work; also another in Pl.1m. Others are also fig-
ured in Squier and Davis’s “ Ancient Monuments” and elsewhere.

We are therefore compelled, unless we discard the only authorities
we have on the habits, customs, arts, character, and condition of the
Indian tribes when first encountered by Europeans, to admit that they
did construct just such mounds, walls, ditches, and canals as are now
found in various parts of our country, especially the southern sections,
which have been generally attributed to a “lost race,” or to a people
more highly civilized than the Indians.

Rey. 8. D. Peet, in a series of articles relating to “ Ancient Village
Architecture,” published in vol. v, of the American Antiquarian!, writes
as follows:

We give these pictures [of villages from De Bry] and call attention to the descrip-
tion furnished by travelers, since they by their very uniformity afford us a clue to
the village life of those races which are not so well known. We may, in fact, take
these descriptions and study the works of the mound-builders, and in them perhaps
find an explanation of those very structures which have so long puzzled archeolo-
gists. ~ * * We now eall attention, in the second place, to the village architec-
ture of the mound-builders. There are several ways in which the villages of the
mound-builders may be identified. First, the descriptions given by the early ex-
plorers. Itisaremarkable fact that the earthworks in the Southern states were,
when discovered, occupied as village sites. A large number of these villages have
been described, and, although the sites have not been identified in later times, yet
the descriptions indicate that the very mounds which are now being studied as
objects of so great interest were then used as residences for the various tribes. Fer-
dinand (?) de Soto and his army were the first to discover the mounds. Mention is
frequently made of them by the historians of the expedition. This mention is inci-
dental, and so connected with the account of the people and the various incidents of
the expedition as to escape notice, yet the descriptions correspond closely with the
works as they are now found, Some of the villages were surrounded by stockades,
and were so situated as to be used for defenses or for fortifications, but a large num-
ber of them are also described as having elevated mounds, which were used by the
caciques for their residences and as observatories from which they could overlook
the villages. It isnot unlikely that some of the more prominent of these mounds may
be identified. There are many such mounds described in the narratives. One such
is mentioned in Georgia, one in Alabama, and one in Mississippi. One mound is
described around which there was a terrace wide enough to accommodate twelve
horsemen, On anothermound the platform was large enough to accommodate twelve
or thirteen large houses, which were used for the residence of the family and the ten-
ants of the cacique. This was not far from New Madrid, in Missouri. It was upon the
terrace of one of these mounds that De Soto stood when he uttered his reproaches
against his followers, having found out the dissatisfaction and revolt which had
arisen among them. This was after he had passed the Mississippi river and about
the time when he became discouraged in his fruitless expedition. The narrative
shows that these prominent earthworks were associated universally with village
life. Sometimes the dwelling of the cacique would be on the high mound which
served as a fortress, the only ascent to it being by ladders. At other times mention
is made of the fact that from the summit of these mounds extensive prospects could

' Vol. v, 1883, pp. 49-50.

wc

THOMAS. } SIMILARITY IN BURIAL CUSTOMS. 671

be had and many native villages could be brought to view. The villages are
described as seated “ina plain betwixt two streams, as nearly encircled by a deep
moat fifty paces in breadth, and where the moat did not extend was defended by a
strong wall of timber near a wide and rapid river. The largest they discovered in
Florida.” This was the Mississippi: ‘‘On a high artificial mound on one side of the
village stood the dwelling of the cacique, which served as a fortress.” Thus through-
out this whole region, from the seacoast at Tampa bay, in the states of Florida,
Sonth Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, these ancient villages
appeared occupied by the various tribes, such as Creeks, Catawbas, Cherokees,
Choctaws, Chickasaws, Quapaws, Kansas, and possibly Shawnees,

At another point in the same series he remarks:

We now turn to the mound-builders’ works. The samesystem of erecting military
inclosures and connecting them by lookout stations seems to have prevailed among
them that existed among the later Indians.!

Thus it is seen that, when the architectural works of the mound-
builders are compared with those of the Indians, there is sucha general
sinilarity as to render it unnecessary to look further for the authors.

The mound-builders erected mounds, fortified their villages with
wooden palisades and ditches, dwelt in houses made of perishable
materials, many of which were plastered with clay. The Indians
erected similar mounds, surrounded their villages with wooden palisades
and ditches, and dwelt in houses made of perishable materials, which
in many cases were plastered with clay.

It is true that, when Cortez invaded Mexico, he found some of the
villages fortified by wooden palisades? much like those built by the
Indians of the Atlantic and Gulf states, even to the overlapping of
the ends. But the similarity holds good no further, as the usual Mexi-
can method was to protect with stone walls.’ Their pyramids or mounds
were of stone in whole or in part and their houses, of which traces
remain, were chiefly of the same material. There is in fact nothing to
be found in the remains of the mound-builders which can, even by a
reasonable stretch of the imagination, be considered Mexican or Cen-
tral American architecture in embryo.

SIMILARITY IN BURIAL CUSTOMS.

There are perhaps no other remains of a barbarous or unenlightened
people which give us so clear a conception of their superstitions and
religious beliefs as those which relate to the disposal of their dead.
By the modes adopted for such disposal and relies found in the recep-
tacles of the dead, we are enabled, not only to understand something
of their superstitions and religious beliefs, but also to judge of their
culture status and to gain some knowledge of their customs, modes of
life, and art.

1 July, 1883, p. 238.
2 Herrera, Hist. Gen., Dec. 11, Book 11, Chap. Iv, Stevens’s Trans.
3 Cortez, Cartas de Relacion, pp. 59 to 60.

672 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The mortuary customs of the mound-builders, as gleaned from an
examination of their burial mounds, ancient cemeteries, and other
depositories of their dead, present so many striking resemblances to
those of the Indians when first encountered by the whites, as to leave
but little room for doubt regarding the identity of the two peoples. Nor
is this similarity limited to the customs in the broad and general sense,
but it is carried down to the more minute and striking peculiarities.

Among the general features in which resemblances are noted are the
following:

The mound-builders, even within the comparatively limited area to
which the present discussion refers, as shown in the preceding part of
this volume, were accustomed to dispose of their dead in many differ-
ent ways; their modes of sepulture were also quite varied, indicating
tribal distinctions among them. The same statement will apply with
equal force to the Indians.

“The commonest mode of burial among North American Indians,”
we are informed by Dr. Yarrow,! “has been that of interment in the
ground, and this has taken place in a number of ways.” The different
ways he mentions are ‘in pits, graves, or holes in the ground, stone
graves or cists, in mounds, beneath or in cabins, wigwams, houses or
lodges, and in caves.”

The most common method of burial among the mound-builders was
by inhumation also, and all the different ways mentioned by Dr. Yar-
row, as practiced by the Indians, were in vogue among the former. It
was for a long time supposed that their chief and almost only place of
depositing their dead was in the burial mounds, but more thorough
explorations have revealed the fact that near many—and as may
hereatter be found most—mound villages, are cemeteries, often of con-
siderable extent.

The chief value of this fact in this connection is that it forms one
item of evidence against the theory held by some antiquarians that the
mound-builders were Mexicans, as the usual mode of disposing of the
dead by the latter was cremation.? According to Brasseur de Bour-
bourg, the Toltecs also practiced cremation.’ Attention is therefore
called to this fact as it is one of a number having a similar bearing
which will appear in the course of this discussion.

Turning now to the particular resemblances between the mortuary
customs of the mound-builders and those of the Indians, we notice the
following :

(1) The custom of removing the flesh of the dead before depositing them
in their final resting places.—This custom, which has been incidentally
mentioned in the preceding references to the burial mounds of the dif-
ferent sections, appears to have been more or less common among the

11st. Rep. Bureau Ethnology, p. 93.
*Clavigero, Hist. Mex., Cullen's transl., vol. 1, p.325; Torquemada, Monarq. Ind., vol. 1, p. 60, ete.
Bancroft, Native Races, vol. 11, p. 609.

~

THOMAS. | SIMILARITY IN BURIAL CUSTOMS. 673

mound-builders and Indians. The proof that it was followed to con-
siderable extent by the former in various sections, is evident from the
following facts:

The confused masses of human bones frequently found in mounds,
which show by their relation to each other that they must have been
gathered together after the flesh had been removed, as this condition
could not possibly have been assumed by decay if the bodies had been
buried in their natural state. Instances of this kind are so numerous
and well known that it is scarcely necessary to produce any evidence
in regard to them. The well-known example referred to by Jefferson
in his Notes on Virginia’ is inpoint. Concerning this he says: “Appear-
ances certainly indicate that it [the barrow] has derived both origin
and growth from the accustomary collection of bones and deposition of
them together.”

See notices of similar deposits as follows: In Wisconsin, mentioned
by Mr. Armstrong’; in Florida, mentioned by James Bell® and Mr.
Walker‘; in Cass county, Illinois, mentioned by Mr. Snyder;° in
Georgia, by Jones.®

Similar deposits are mentioned, by the explorers of the Bureau of
Ethnology, as being found in Wisconsin, Ilinois, northeastern Missouri,
North Carolina, and Arkansas.

Another proof of this custom was observed by the Bureau assistants,
Mr. Middleton and Col. Norris, in Wisconsin, Ilinois, and northeast
Missouri. In numerous mounds the skeletons were found closely
packed side by side immediately beneath a layer of hard, mortar-like
substance. The fact that this mortar had completely filled the inter-
stices, and in many cases the skulls, showed that it had been placed
over them while in a plastie condition, and as it must soon have hard-
ened and assumed the condition in which it was found, it is evident
the skeletons had been buried after the removal of the flesh.

As another evidence, we may mention the fact that the bones of full-
grown individuals are sometimes found in stone graves (some of these
graves in mounds) which are so small that the body of an adult could
not by any possible means haye been pressed into them. Instances of
this kind have occurred in southern Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee.
In some cases the bones of a full-grown individual have been found in
graves of this kind less than 2 feet long and scarcely a toot wide. In
some instances, where the tomb has not been disturbed, the parts of
the skeleton are so displaced as to make it evident they were deposited
after the flesh was removed. The “bundled” skeletons so common in
the northern mounds are all cases in point, as there can be no question
that the bones had been arranged after the flesh had been removed
or rotted away.

‘4th American edition, 1801, p. 146. *Thid., 1879, p. 398.

2 Smithson. Rep., 1879, p. 337. 5Thid., 1881, p. 563.
3Tbid., 1881, p. 636. ® Antiq. Southern Indians, p. 193.

12 ETH 43

674 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

From personal examination I conclude that some, if not most, of the
“folded” skeletons! found in mounds were buried after the flesh had
been removed, as the folding, to the extent noticed, could not have been
done with the flesh on; and the positions in most cases were such as
could not possibly have beenassumed in consequence of the decay of the
body and thesettling of the mound. The partial calcining of the bones
in vaults and under layers of clay, where the evidence shows that fire
was applied to the outside of the vault or above the clay layers, can
be accounted for only on the supposition that the flesh had been re-
moved before burial. Other proofs that this custom prevailed among
the mound-builders, in various sections of the country might be adduced,
but this is unnecessary, as it will doubtless be conceded.

That it was the custom of a number of tribes of Indians when first
visited by the whites, and even down to a comparatively modern date,
to bury the skeletons after the flesh had been removed or rotted away,
is well known to all students of Indian customs and habits.

Heckwelder says, ‘‘ The Nanticokes had the singular custom of remoy-
ing the bones of their deceased from the old burial place to a place of
deposit in the country they now dwell in.”* The account of the com-
munal burial among the Hurons by Breboeuf has already been noticed.
The same custom is alluded to by Lafitau,* and Bartram observed it
among the Choctaws.‘ It is also mentioned by Bossu,° by Adair,® and
others. For a general account of the modes of burial among the Indian
tribes the reader is referred to Dr. Yarrow’s paper in the First Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology.

It is foreign to the present purpose to enter into a comparison of the
burial customs of the various aboriginal nations of the continent.
Moreover, the data bearing upon the subject are so numerous that a
volume would be required for this purpose. But it is worthy of notice
in this connection that the custom of removing the flesh before burial
does not appear to have been practiced to any considerable extent, if
at all, by the Mexican or Central American nations, nor by the New
Mexican tribes or Indians farther west.

(2) Burials beneath or in dwellings—The evidence brought to light
by the agents of the Bureau of Ethnology of a custom among the mound-
builders of Arkansasand Mississippiof burying in or under their dwell-
ings has already been alluded to. That such was also the custom of
someof thesouthern Indian tribes is a well attested historical fact. Bar-
tram?’ affirms it to have been in vogue among the ‘ Muscogulgees” or
Creeks, and Barnard Romans* says it was practiced by the Chicka-

1A distinction is made here between ‘‘bundled”’ and ‘‘folded.’’ The former refers to those which
have been disarticulated and placed in a compact bundle, the skull usually placed on top or at the end,
the latter where the knees are brought up against the breast, and the heels against the pelvis.

* Hist. Indian Nations, p. 75. 6 Hist. Amer. Indians, p. 183.
3 Meeurs des Sauvages. ? Travels, p. 515.
4 Travels, p. 516. § Concise Nat. Hist. of East and West Flor-

® Travels through Louisiana, vol. 1, p. 298 ida, p. 71.

THOMAS. ] SIMILARITY IN BURIAL CUSTOMS. 675

saws. ©. C. Jones! says that ‘‘ the Indians (of Georgia) often interred
beneath the floor of the cabin and then burned the hut of the deceased
over his head.” Dr. Brinton says, ‘‘ The burial of the priests was like
that of the chiefs, except that the spot chosen was in their own houses,
and the whole burned over them, resembling in this a practice universal
among the Caribs and reappearing among the Natchez, Cherokees, and
Arkansas.”? This furnishes a complete explanation of the fact observed
by the Bureau explorers.

(3) Burials in a sitting or squatting posture.—It was a very common
practice to bury some of the dead in a sitting or squatting posture.
The examples of this kind are too numerous and too well known to
justify burdening these pages with the proofs. It is enough to add
that the descriptions in the reports of the assistants in the previous
part of this volume and the published accounts of other explorers show
that this custom prevailed to a certain extent in Wisconsin, Iowa, Ili-
nois, northeastern Missouri, Ohio, West Virginia, and North Carolina.
Instances have also been observed elsewhere.? That the same custom
was followed by several of the Indian tribes is attested by the follow-
ing authorities: La Hontan, Bossu,* Lawson,° Bartram,® Adair,’ ete.

(4) The use of fire in burial ceremonies.—Another respect in which
the burial customs of the mound-builders corresponded with those of
the Indians, was the use of fire in the funeral ceremonies. As hereto-
fore remarked, the inference has been very generally drawn from the
evidences of fire found in the mounds that the people who erected these
monuments offered human sacrifices to their deities. It is true that
charred and even almost wholly consumed human bones are often found,
showing that bodies or skeletons were sometimes burned, but it does
not necessarily follow from this fact that they were offered as sacrifices.
Moreover, judging from all the data in our possession, I think the weight
of evidence is decidedly against such conclusion.

The presence of charred bones in these works might readily be ac-
counted for on the supposition that cremation was adopted by some of
the tribes as a means of disposing of the dead, and such is the opinion
of Dorman, who remarks :° ‘‘ Cremation appears to have been the usual
method of disposing of the dead among most of these northern tribes.”
The same view is also held by Wilson.’ Still, I am not disposed, as
will hereafter be seen, to accept this as the true explanation of the
facts alluded to, though cremation was possibly practiced to a limited
extent by the mound-builders.

In assuming that Indians were the mound-builders, very little, if
anything, can be found to support the theory of human sacrifice in the

1 Antiq. Southern Indians, p. 203. 6 Hist. Carolina, p. 182.

* Floridian Peninsula, p. 183. See also Hak- © Travels, p. 515.

luyt’s Voyages, vol. 111, p. 37. ? Hist. American Indians. p. 182.
%Georgia and Florida. Jones’ Antiq. South- § Origin Prim. Superst., p. 171.

ern Indians, pp. 183-185. * Prehistoric Man, 1, third ed., 1876, p. 211.

4 Travels through Louisiana, vol. 1, p. 251.

676 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

method supposed to be indicated by these remains. Dorman says:
“ Human sacrifices never prevailed to any extent among the barbarous
tribes of the north. Very few cases of compulsory human sacrifice
are found.”!

This author quotes several authorities showing that human sacrifice
was practiced by Indian tribes in that part of the United States now
under consideration, but a careful examination of these shows that they
do not sustain the allegation. For example, he says,” ‘‘ Human sacrifice
Was practiced among the Miamis, for we are told by Mr. Drake that
Little Turtle, the famous Miami chief, did more than any other to abol-
ish human sacrifice among his people.” An examination of Drake’s
remark shows that it was quoted from Schooicraft, and that it refers
not to true sacrifice, but to the torture of prisoners by the use of fire.

He also refers to Haywood’s statement that “there are many evi-
dences of the practice of human sacrifice among those tribes living on
the Ohio, Cumberland, and Tennessee rivers,” * when reference to that
author’s work shows that it is only an opinion based upon what is found
in the mounds of these regions.

The other quotations, except those relating to the Natches Indians
and the nations of Mexico, Central America, and Peru, furnish nothing
to sustain the theory that the mound-builders were in the habit of offer-
ing human sacrifices, in the true sense of the word. There is some evi-
dence that they were in the habit of torturmg prisoners with fire. By
referring to the description of ancient works in Union county, Illinois,
given in the first part of this volume, the reader will find an account
of a stone pavement which was probably a place where prisoners were
burned. This was found at the depth of 1 foot below the surface of
the ground, was nearly circular, and about 9 feet in diameter. It was
formed of flat stones so closely joined together that it was almost impos-
sible to run an iron prod down between them. Scattered through
the earth resting on it were the charred fragments of human bones,
ashes, and charcoal.

In several of the mounds opened by Mr. Emmert in Monroe county,
east Tennessee, circular beds of burnt clay were discovered. In the
middle of more than one of these were the remains of a burnt stake,
around which were ashes, charcoal, and charred human bones.

Haywood‘ and Dr. Ramsey® say that a Mrs. Bean, who was captured
by the Cherokees, was taken to a mound in this section to be burnt,
but was saved by one of the Indian women. It is a fair inference,
therefore, that these beds of burnt clay and charred remains mark the
places where prisoners were burnt.

I have expressed my doubts as to their resorting to cremation as a
means of disposing of their dead, but since the discussion of this ques-

' Origin Prim. Superst., p. 209. 4 Nat. and Ab. Hist. of Tennessee, p. 278.
2P. 209. 6 Annals of Tennessee, p. 157.
3 Loc. cit.

Te.

THOMAS.) DOUBTFUL REPORTS. 677

tion is not necessary to the object at present in view, will mention very
briefly some reasons for this opinion.

It is true Dorman, Wilson and many others believe that cremation
was a common practice with the mound-builders, but this theory is
founded, as before stated, almost wholly upon the presence of burned
bones and the evidences of fire in the mounds. Reference is made, by
those holding this theory, to the Indians who, it is affirmed in many
cases, followed this method of disposing of the dead, but after a some-
what thorough investigation I fail to find the data upon which to base
this affirmation, except so far as the tribes of the Pacific slope and of
Mexico and southward are concerned. Dr. Yarrow, in his able paper
on the “Burial Customs of our Indians,”!' evidently leans to the same
view, but it is apparent from the cautious manner in which he refers
to it that the proof is not entirely satisfactory.

Du Pratz® says: “There is no nation of Louisiana which follows the
custom of burning the body.” Louisiana, as used by its author, in-
cluded all the Mississippi valley south of the Ohio, and all the Gulf
states except Florida. In this statement he agrees with Romans and
other early authors who mention the modes of burial and of disposing
of the dead. Pickett® says the Choctaws were in the habit of killing
and cutting up their prisoners of war, after which the parts were burned.
The same writer says:* “From all we have read and heard of the Choc-
taws we are satisfied that it was their custom to take from the bone
house the skeletons, with which they repaired in funeral procession to
the suburbs of the town, where they placed them on the ground in one
heap, together with the property of the dead, such as pots, bows,
arrows, ornaments, curious-shaped stones for dressing deerskins, and a
variety of other things. Over this heap they first threw charcoal and
ashes, probably to preserve the bones, and the next operation was to
cover all with earth. This left a mound several feet high.” This cor-
responds so well with what has been found in some southern mounds
that it seems to furnish a satisfactory explanation of the presence of
coal and ashes in some of the tumuli.

By referring to the description of the North Carolina mounds hereto-
fore given the reader will find that, in one of them, three skeletons were
imbedded in ashes and coal on an altar-shaped structure, yet none of
the bones were burned or even charred. Fire had also been applied to
the outside of some of the little beehive-shaped stone vaults to such an
extent as to show, in some cases, the effect of the heat on the bones of
the inclosed skeletons, the burial having evidently taken place after
the flesh was removed. In the mound opened in Sullivan county, east-
ern Tennessee, which is heretofore described and figured, the floor was
covered with charcoal and ashes, yet no evidence whatever of any burn-
ing of bodies or bones was found.

! First Annual Report Bureau Ethn. 3 Hist. Alabama, 3d ed., vol. 1, p. 140.
2 Hist. Louisiana, 1758, vol. 11, p. 24. 4Thbid., vol. 1, p. 142.

678 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

In several mounds opened by Col. Norris and Mr. Middleton in south-
western Wisconsin and the adjoining sections of Iowa and Illinois, there
were abundant evidences that after the body or bodies had been buried
and a layer, usually of a mortar-like substance, spread over them, a fire
was kindled on this layer. Sometimes this was so fierce and the layer
so thin and defective that the bones beneath were more or less charred.
Hundreds of similar cases have been observed, showing that while fire
was connected in some way with the burial ceremonies, there is very
little evidence to be found indicating that there was an intentional cre-
mation. A fewinstances possibly have been found to warrant this con-
clusion, but in the great majority of cases where charred or partially
consumed human bones have been found, the explanation is easily given
without recourse to the theory of cremation or sacrifice.

The following account of an Indian burial by Mr. Robert H. Poynter
of De Sha county, Arkansas, as given in the Smithsonian report for
1882, page 828, is exactly in point in this connection. He says that
Wal-ka-ma-tu-ba, an old Indian, was buried in 1834 in the following
manner:

The house in which the family lived was built of round logs, covered with bark,
and daubed with mud. In the middle of the house a board was driven about 3 feet
into the ground, and the old man was lashed to this with thongs, in a sitting pos-
ture, with his knees drawn up in front of his chin and his hands crossed and fastened
under his knees. The body was then entirely incased in mud, built up like a round
mound, and smoothed over. A fire was kindled over the pile and the clay burnt to
acrisp. Six months afterward the family were moved away and the mound opened.
The body was well preserved.

The following statement by Prof. E. B. Andrews! in regard to a
mound opened by him in Athens county, Ohio, may throw some light
on this subject:

A trench 5 feet wide was dug through the center. On the east side much burnt
yellow clay was found, while on the west end of the trench considerable black earth
appeared, which I took to be kitchen refuse. About 5 feet below the top we came
upon large quantities of charcoal, especially on the western side. Underneath the
charcoal was found a skeleton with the head to the east. The body had evidently
been inclosed in some wooden structure, First there was a platform of wood placed
upon the ground, on the original level of the plain. On this wooden floor timbers
or logs were placed on each side of the body longitudinally, and over these timbers
there were laid other pieces of wood, forming an inclosed box or coffin. A part of this
wood was only charred; the rest was burnt to ashes. The middle part of the body
was in the hottest fire, and many of the vertebrie, ribs, and other bones were burnt
to a black cinder, and at this point the inclosing timbers were burnt to ashes. The
timbers inclosing the lower extremities were only charred.

Tam led to think that before any fire was kindled a layer of dirt was thrown over
the wooden structure, making a sort of burial. On this dirt a fire was built, but
by some misplacement of the dirt the fire reached the timbers below, and at such
points as the air could penetrate there was an active combustion, but at others
where the dirt still remained there was only a smothered fire like that in a charcoal

110th Rept. Peabody Mus., vol. 11, pp. 59, 60.

THOMAS. | BODIES WRAPPED IN BARK. 679

pit. It is difficult to explain the existence of the charred timbers in any other way.
There must have been other fires than that immediately around and above the body,
and many of them, because on one side of the mound the clay is burned even to the
top of the mound. In one place 3 feet above the body the clay is vitrified. It is
possible that fires were built at different levels—open fires—and that most of the
ashes were blown away by the winds which often sweep over the plain. I have
stated that there was first laid down a sort of floor of wood, on which the body was
placed. On the same floor were placed about 500 copper beads, forming a line almost
_ around the body. Of course the string (in another mound in the neighborhood cop-
per beads were found strung on a buckskin string) was burned and the beads were
more or less separated by the movement of the timbers and earth. Sometimes sey-
eral were found in contact in proper order, Several beads were completely rusted
away. Where the timbers were not burned to ashes but only charred, the beads
were found lying upon the lowest layer of charred wood with another layer resting
upon them. From the small diameter of the concentric or growth rings in the
charcoal in the bottom layer I infer that there was nothing more elaborate than a
platform of poles for the resting place of the body. Where the wood was burned
to ashes the beads were found in the ashes.

(5) Resemblances in other respects.—That it was the custom of some
of the mound-building people to bury their dead in box-shaped stone
cists is now well known. That afew Indian tribes followed the same
custom is attested by history and fully proved by other evidence, as
will hereafter be shown.

According to Lawson! it was not uncommon among the Indians of
Carolina to wrap the body of the deceased at the time of burial in
mats made of rushes or cane. Remains of rush or cane matting have
frequently been found about human remains in southern mounds,

It was also a custom with several Indian tribes to place bark beneath
and often above the body. Numerous evidences of a similar mode of
burial have been found in the mounds. Whether or not aerial or seat:
fold burial was resorted to by any of the mound-builders is not, as a
matter of course, susceptible at this date of direct proof, yet the fact
that communal or bone burial was practiced by the mound-builders in
the same sections where this mode of preliminary sepulture was cus-
tomary with the Indians of historic times, indicates that it was also a
custom of the former.

In some cases it has been observed by the Bureau assistants while
exploring in the northwestern sections that some of the bones in these
buried masses bore what seemed certain evidence of exposure to the
elements previous to burial.

! Hist. Carolina, p. 81.

680 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

GENERAL RESEMBLANCES IN HABITS, CUSTOMS, ART, ETC.

In addition to the special points of resemblance between the burial
customs of the Indians and mound-builders alluded to, the facts war-
rant the assertion that in all respects, so far as they can be traced
correctly, there are to be found strong resemblances between the hab-
its, customs, and art of the mound-builders and those of the Indians
previous to change under the influence of contact with the Europeans.
Both made use of stone implements, and so precisely similar are the
articles of this class, that it is impossible to distinguish those made by
the one people from those made by the other. In fact, they are brought
together in most collections and attributed to the one people or to the
other according to the fancy or opinion of the collector or curator.

We find even Dr. Rau, whose long and careful study of articles of
this class, both of Europe and America, would certainly enable him, if
anyone, to decide in this case, thus frankly stating his opinion:

In North America chipped as well as ground stone implements are abundant, yet
they oceur promiscuously, and thus far can not be respectively refe.red to certain
epochs in the development of the aborigines of the country. '

Instead of burdening these pages with proofs of these statements by
specific references to finds and authorities, an allusion to the work of
Dr. ©. C. Abbott on the handiwork in stone, bone, and clay of the
native races of the Northern Atlantic seaboard of America, entitled
“Primitive Industry,” will suftice. As the area embraced in this work,
as remarked by the author, does not “include any territory known to
have been permanently occupied by the so-called mound-builders,” the
articles found here must be ascribed to the Indians, unless, as sug-
gested by the author, some of a more primitive type found in the Tren-
ton gravel are to be attributed to a preceding and ruder people.
Examining those of the first class, which are ascribed to the Indians,
and to which much the larger portion of the work is devoted, we tind
almost every type of stone article found in the mound area, not only
the rudely chipped scrapers, hoes, celts, knives, spear and arrow heads,
but-also polished or ground celts, axes, hammers, chisels, and geuges.
Here are also found drills, awls, and perforators, slickstones and dzess-
ers, mortars, pestles and pitted stones, pipes of various forms and
finish, discoidal stones, and net-sinkers, butterfly stones and other sup-
posed ceremonial objects, masks or face figures and bird-shaped stones,
gorgets, totems, pendants, trinkets, etc. Nor does the resemblance
stop with types, but is carried down to specific forms and finish, leav-
ing absolutely no possible line of demarcation between them and the
similar articles attributed to the mound-builders. So persistently true
is this, that had we these stone articles alone to refer to, it is probable

! Smithsonian Arch. Coll., p. 7.

THOMAS. ] SIMILARITY OF HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 681

we would be forced to the conclusion, as held by some writers, that the
former inhabitants of that portion of the United States east of the
Mississippi pertained to one nation, unless the prevalence of certain of
the forms or more elaborate types in particular sections should afford
some ground for districting.

The full torce of this evidence, which is considered valuable in this
connection, can only be clearly understood and appreciated by an
examination of the work alluded to. If every form and type of stone
implement and ornament found in connection with the works of the
mound-builders were also in use among the Indians, it is, of course,
unnecessary to look further for their origin.

The bone and shell articles found in the mounds do not present any
type or finish, except such as can be traced to the Indians. Some of
the figures on the engraved shells are difficult to account for and appear
to be derived from some other source, but in every case these have been
found in mounds or graves, which there are strong and satisfactory
reasons for believing are the work of Indians; this will be shown here-
after.

Mound and Indian pottery compared.—The pottery of the mound-
builders has often been referred to as proof of a higher culture-status
than, and an advance in art beyond that attained by the Indians. It
appears probable that some writers have been led to this conclusion
by an examination of the figures, drawings, and photographs, without
a personal inspection of the articles.

That all mound pottery is comparatively rude and primitive in type,
manufacture, and material must be admitted. It is true that specimens
are frequently found which give evidence of considerable skill and
advance in art as compared with the pottery of other barbarous people,
but there is nothing to remind us of the better ware of Peru, Mexico,
or Central America, and, so far as my examination extends, I have not
seen a single piece that is equal in the character of the ware to some
of the old Pueblo pottery. The finest quality of mound ware I have
seen is a broken specimen which was found with an intrusive burial in
a Wisconsin mound, and, strange to say, the figures on it, which are
rather unusual, are almost exactly like those on pottery found in mounds
of Early county, Georgia.

The vase with a bird figure, found by Squier and Davis in an Ohio
mound, is presented in most works on American archeology as an evi-
dence of the advanced stage of ceramic art among the mound-builders,
but Dr. Rau, who examined the collection of these authors, says:

Having seen the best specimens of mound pottery obtained during the survey of
Messrs. Squier and Davis, I do not hesitate to assert that the clay vessels fabricated
at the Cahokia creek were in every respect equal to those exhumed from the mounds
of the Mississippi valley, and Dr. Davis himself, who examined my specimens from
the first named locality, expressed the same opinion.!

1Smithsonian Rep., 1866, p. 349.

682 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The Cahokia pottery, which he found along the creek of that name,
he ascribes to Indians, as he remarks:

The question now arises, Who were the makers of these manufactures of clay? I
simply ascribe them to the Cahokia Indians, who dwelt, until a comparatively recent
period, on the banks of the creek that still bears the name of their tribe. Concern-
ing the antiquity of the manufactures described on the preceding pages, I am not
prepared to give an estimate. Only a hundred years may have elapsed since they
were made, yetit is also possible that they are much older. The appearance of the
fragments rather indicates a modern origin.'!

Those who are aware of the extreme caution of this distinguished
archeologist in expressing an opinion of this kind, will be fully assured
that he had carefully studied all the facts bearing upon the subject
before giving it publicity.

Most of the mound pottery, as the reader is probably aware, is mixed
with pulverized shells, which is also true of most Indian pottery.’

Dumont describes the method of preparing the materials and manu-
facturing the pottery as follows:

The industry of these native women and girlsisadmirable. I have already spoken
of the skill with which, with their fingers alone and without a wheel, they make all
sorts of pottery. The manner in which they proceed to do it is as follows: After
having collected the earth necessary for this work, and cleaned it well, they take
shells and pound them up to a very fine and delicate powder. This they mix thor-
oughly with the earth which has been provided, and moistening the whole with a
little water they knead it with their hands and feet into a paste. This they make
into long rolls from 6 to 7 feet in length and of the thickness desired. If they
wish to form a basin or vase they take one of these rolls by one end; and marking
with the left thumb, on this mass, the center of the article to be made, they whirl
it (the roll) about this center with wonderful swiftness and dexterity, describing a
spiral. From time to time they dip their fingers in the water which they are always
careful to have at hand, and with the right hand they smooth the outside and inside
of the vessel which they intend to form, which without this care would be undulat-
ing. By this process they make all sorts of earthen utensils, as dishes, plates,
basins, pots, and ewers, some of which contain 40 to 50 pints. The baking of
this pottery does not require any great preparation. After it is dried in the shade
a great fire is lighted; and when they think there are coals enough they clear a
space in the center and arrange their vessels there and cover them with coals. In
this manner the pottery receives the necessary baking; after this they can be put on
the fire and are as firm as ours. There is no doubt that their firmness is to be
attributed to the mixture which the women make of the powdered shells with the
earth.

Du Pratz says: ‘‘ The [Natchez; women make pots of an extraordinary
size, cruses with a medium-sized opening, jars, bottles with long necks,
holding 2 pints, and pots or cruses for holding bear’s oil.”* Also that
they colored them a beautiful red by using ocher, which becomes red
after burning. As heretofore remarked, the bottle-shaped vase with a
long neck is the typical form of clay vessels found in the mounds of

‘Smithsonian Rep., 1886, p. 350.

2 Dumont, Mem. Hist. La., 11, p. 271 (1753); Adair, Hist. Am. Ind., p.424; Loskiel., Gesch. der Miss., p.
70, ete.

3 Hist. La. (1758), Vol. 11, p. 179.

<

THOMAS. } SIMILARITY OF HABITS AND CUSTOMS.

Arkansas and southeastern Missouri, and is also common to the mounds
andstone graves of middle Tennessee. Those colored or ornamented with
red are also often found in the mounds of this section. The long-necked
bottles and colored pottery form very important items of evidence in
the present discussion, for the description given by Du Pratz of these
vessels and Dumont’s account of the method of manufacture leave but
scant room for doubt that those found in the mounds were made by the
same people that made these of which the above named authors speak.

It is also worthy of notice in this connection that the two localities,
near St. Genevieve, Missouri, and near Shawneetown, Illinois, where
so many fragments of large clay vessels supposed by many to have
been used in “ making salt” have been found, were occupied for a con-
siderable length of time by the Shawnees. Nor should the facet be
overlooked that that they are marked with those impressions, so com-
mon in mound pottery, which are usually attributed to basketwork in
which the vessels are supposed to have been placed while drying pre-
vious to burning, though in reality in these instances they are due to
a textile fabric or pattern-markers.

The statements so often made that the mound pottery, especially that
of Ohio, far excels anything made by the Indians is a mistake and is
not justified by the facts. Wilson, carried away with this supposed
superiority of the Ohio mound pottery, goes so far in his comparison
with other mound pottery as to ascribe the ornamented ware found in
the mounds of Mississippi to the ‘red Indian,” yet asserts in the same
paragraph that it suggests “no analogy to the finer ware of the Ohio
mounds.”! On the other hand, Nadaillac affirms that the pottery of
Missouri (that found in the southeastern part of the state) “is superior
to that of Ohio.”?

So far as I can ascertain, the supposed superiority of the Ohio mound
pottery, maintained by so many writers, is based on the description of
two vessels by Squier and Davis, and, as we have seen from what is
stated by Dr. Rau, a competent witness, is not supported by evidence.

Mound-builders and Indians cultivated maize.—A resemblance between
the customs of the mound-builders and Indians is to be found in the
fact that both cultivated and relied, to a certain extent, upon maize or
Indian corn for subsistence. As proofs have already been presented
showing that this statement is true in regard to the latter, it is only
necessary to add here the evidence that it is also true as to the former.
That the mound-builders must have relied greatly upon agricultural
products for subsistence is maintained, as heretofore shown, by those
who contend they were not Indians, and is admitted by all. It is alse
generally admitted that maize was their chief food product, but this is
not left to inference alone, as there are proofs of it from the mounds.
Not only are there prints of the cobs on many clay vessels, but lumps
of clay bearing the impress of the ears; also charred cobs, ears, and

1 Preh. Man., 11, p. 23 *T Amérique Prehistorique, p. 141.

684 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

grains have been repeatedly found in mounds and in pits or caches
which appear to be the work of the “ veritable mound-builders.”

Another fact may also be mentioned in this connection, which, though
negative in character, appears to point to the same conclusion.
Although metates are, and from time immemorial have been, in com-
mon use among the Central Americans, Mexicans, and Pueblo Indians of
New Mexico and Arizona, not one has been found in connection with
the ancient works east of the plains; and so far as ascertained only
two or three have been found in this entire area. These were dug or
plowed up in Missouri not far from the Missouri river, but without any
indications of having pertained to the mound-builders. Probably
these may have been brought here by the plain tribes which shifted
back and forth from side to side or by the Spaniards who visited Mis-
souri at an early day to form an alliance with the Osages.!

The mound-builders used stone mortars for grinding paint and for
other purposes, but none adapted to, or that we can suppose were ordi-
narily used for grinding maize have been observed. It is therefore
more than probable that they made use of the wooden hominy mortar
just as the Indians were accustomed te do.

The marked absence of this useful implement from all the works of
the mound-builders east of the Rocky mountains is a very important
fact in this connection. As it appears to have been used not only by
the cultured but also by most ef the wild tribes from New Mexico to
the isthmus, and was unknown to the mound-builders of the Missis-
sippi valley, we have in this fact an indication that the people of the
two regions were widely distinct from each other. It affords an argu-
ment against the theory which counects the mound-builders and Pueblo
tribes, and also against those which connect the former and the Mexican
nations. At least it renders doubtful the theory which derives the
former from the latter. Coming into a forest-covered region would
doubtless cause some change in customs, but this change would not be
so sudden as to leave no traces of them. Passing from a forest to a
woodless region would of course account for a change of custom in this
respect.

Articles of shell—There are some marked resemblances in the cus-
toms of the two peoples in regard to the various articles made by them
from shells. Several species of large, univalve, marine shells were
used by the Indians as drinking cups. These were usually prepared
for this purpose by removing the columella. Proof of this custom is
found in the statements of several of the early writers. ‘The manner
in which they were used is shown in the Brevis Narratio of De Bry,
Pls. x1x and x1, and described by Haywood.? The statement of the
latter author is as follows:

Our southern Indians, at the annual feast of harvest, send to those who are sick
at home or unable to come out one of the old consecrated shells full of the sancti-

'Du Pratz Hist. Louisiana, English Trans)., p. 320 ? Nat. and Aboriginal Hist. Tenn., p. 156.

—

THOMAS. ] SIMILARITY OF SHELL ORNAMENTS. 685

fied bitter cassena. The Creeks used it in 1778 in one of their evening entertain-
ments at Altassa, where, after the assembly were seated in the council, illuminated
by their mystical cane fire in the center, two middle-aged men came together, each
having a very large conch shell full of black drink, advancing with slow, uniform,
and steady steps, their eyes and countenances lifted up, and singing very low, but
sweetly, till they came within 6 or 8 steps of the king’s and white people’s seats,
when they stopped, and each rested his shell upon a little table; but soon taking it
up again advanced, and each presented his shell, one to the king and the other to
the chief of the white people.

The shells used for this purpose appear to have been chiefly Busycon
perversum and Cassis fiammea.

Specimens of these species, prepared for use as drinking cups, have
been found in moundsand ancient graves in most of the Southern states
and also as far north as Wisconsin. Clay vessels made in imitation of
them have also been found.!

A fact worth noticing in this connection is that a specimen of Busy-
con perversum obtained from a mound in Arkansas (see Fig. 133) has an
elaborate ornamental design engraved onthe outer surface. As it is evi-
dent that this particular species was used by the Indians for sacred
drinking cups, and, as will hereafter be shown, there are the best of
reasons for believing the mounds of that part of Arkansas where this
specimen was found were built by Indians, we connect the most ad-
vanced art of the mound builders with the Indians.

I call special attention to these little details, as they are illustrative
of a multitude of minute threads which seem to bind these two peoples
together. It is in the details we are to find the strong proofs of the
theory we are contending for.

The shell beads form another of these threads of evidence. The man-
ufacture and use of shell beads is common among unenlightened peo-
ples, and hence the fact that both mound-builders and Indians made use
of them is nothing in point. But when we come to note the particular
forms and find that there are characteristics by which the prehistoric
specimens of the Mississippi valley and Gulf states can, as a general
rule, be distinguished from those of all other sections of North America,
we touch another of those threads of evidence just alluded to. This is
further strengthened by the fact that many and probably most of the
forms found in the mounds can be traced to the Indians of the same
region.

A number of these forms are mentioned by the old writers, notably

Beverly in his History and Present State of Virginia,’ and Lawson
in his History of Carolina.’ Biedma also notes the fact that among
the riches of the Indians of Pacaha (Quapaws?) ‘‘ were beads made of
sea snails,” thousands of which have been found in the mounds.

Shell spoons and scrapers were used by the Indians and hundreds
have been found in the mounds.

'See Art in Shell, by Mr. Holmes, pp. 194-198, 2d Rept. Bur. Ethn.
2? P.58, London, 1705. Also ed. 1722, pp. 195-196.
3P.315, Raleigh reprint. (1860.)

686 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The shell gorgets appear to furnish, by their peculiar form and orna-
mentation, a very evident connecting link between the two peoples.
The various forms taken from the mounds will be found figured in Mr.
Holmes’s paper in the second report of the Bureau of Ethnology.
Some of these are also given in our figures in the previous part of this
volume. Beverly,! speaking of shell ornaments made by the Indians,
remarks: ‘Of this shell [which he calls the cunk shell] they also
make round tablets of about 4 inches diameter, which they polish as
smooth as the other, and sometimes they etch or grave thereon circles,
stars, a half moon, or any other figure suitable to their fancy. These
they wear instead of medals before or behind their neck.”

Lawson’s! testimony corresponds with this: ‘‘ They oftentimes make
of this shell a sort of gorge, which they wear about their neck in a
string, so it hangs on their collar, whereon sometimes is graven a
cross or some odd sort of figure which comes next in their fancy.”

We have only to examine Fig. 3, Pl. Lm, 2d Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn.,
and our Fig. 213 to find Beverly’s circles and half moon, although
the chief engraved figure is intended to represent a serpent. On the
shell represented in the former of these figures we see Lawsouw’s cross.
Moreover, we see in all the two holes through which to pass the
string for suspending them. As some of the shells have been found in
typical mounds, and with the original and lowest burials, and also in
stone graves, they form a connecting link between the true mound-
builders and historic Indians which seems to identify the two as oue
people, at least in the region where these relics are found. Further
reference will hereafter be made to them for the purpose of identifying
certain tribes as mound-builders.

Dumont remarks that—

There are still to be seen on the seashore beautiful shells made by snails (or
limacgon), which are called burgaux; they are very useful for making handsome
tobacco boxes, for they bear their mother-of-pearl with them. It is of these
burgaux that the native women make their ear rings. For this purpose they take
the end of it which they rub a long time on hard stones, and thus give it the
form of a nail furnished with a head, in order that when they place them in their
ears they will be held by this kind of pivot. For these savages have much larger
holes in their ears than our Frenchmen; the thumb could be passed through them,
however large it might be. The savages also wear around the neck plates made of
pieces of these shells, which are shaped in the same manner on stones, and which
they form into round or oval pieces of about 3 or 4 inches in diameter. They are
then pierced near the edge by means of fire and used as ornaments.”

The nail-shaped pieces and circular ornaments alluded to are very
commonin mounds. Examples of these types are shown by Mr. Holmes
in his article entitled “Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans,” Second
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, and in our figures 283 and
284.5

' Lawson, Hist. of Carolina, p. 315, Raleigh 2 Mem. Hist. La. (Paris, 1753), vol. 1, p. 94.

reprint. (1860.) 8 Pls. XXX and XLVI.

a

—

THOMAS. | SIMILARITY OF SMOKING HABITS. 687

Pipes and tobacco.—That the mound-builders were great smokers is
proven by the very large number of pipes which have been found in
their mounds and graves. So numerous are these and so widely dis-
tributed over the mound area east of the Rocky mountains that pipe-
making and pipe-smoking may be taken as a marked characteristic of
this ancient people. Moreover the fact that smoking the pipe prevailed
to a greater or less extent over this entire area indicates that the mound-
building age was continuous.

That the pipe was an essential to Indian happiness is too well known
to need any proof here. We have theretore in the evidence of the very
general use of the pipe among the mound-builders one proof that they
were Indians in the limited sense mentioned. At any rateit furnishes
one reason for concluding that they were not directly connected with the
Nahua tribes of Mexico or the Maya-Quiche tribes of Central America.
The pipe was not an article in general use among either the Nahua or
Maya nations; not a single one appears to be represented in their
ancient manuscripts or paintings or their carved inscriptions; the cigar
is represented, but no pipe. According to Bancroft, ‘The habit of smok-
ing did not possess among the Nahuas the peculiar character attached
to it by the North American natives, as an indispensable accessory to
treaties, the cementing of friendship, and so forth, but was indulged
in chiefly by the sick as a pastime, and for its stimulating effect.”
“Tobacco,” he adds, “was generally smoked after dinner, in the form
of paper, reed, or maize-leaf cigarettes, called pocyetl, ‘smoking tobacco,’
or acayetl, ‘tobacco-reed,’ ‘the leaf being mixed in a paste,’ says Vey-
tia, ‘with xochiocotzotl, liquidambar, aromatic herbs, and pulverized
charcoal, so as to keep smoldering when once lighted and shed a per-
fume.’”!

This appears, so far as my examinations have extended, to corre-
spond with what is stated by the older authorities, or, perhaps, it would
be more correct to say, with what they do not state, as but very little
is said upon the subject which is corroborative, for, had the pipe been
in use among the Nahuas and Mayas, as it was among the Indians and
mound-builders, it would have had a prominent place in their paintings,
manuscripts, and sculpture, and the old Spanish authors would have
had much to say in regard to it. The museum at Mexico does not con-
tain above half a dozen pipes with bowls.

This fact is certainly one argument against the theory that the
mound-builders of the Mississippi valley were Aztecs or Mayas, and
what strengthens it is that the ancient stone pipes of the Pacific slope,
especially of southern California, are of an entirely different type from
those of the mounds east of the Rocky mountains, the prevailing form
being a flattened tube, as may be seen by reference to Vol. vil of Lieut.
Wheeler’s Survey.

! Native Races, , 287.

688 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

LINKS CONNECTING THE INDIANS DIRECTLY WITH THE MOUND-
BUILDERS.

THE ETOWAH MOUND—STONE GRAVES.

In this class of proofs properly belongs the historical evidence; but,
as this has been given in a previous chapter, reference is made here
ouly to certain facts which seem to bridge over the supposed gap sep-
arating the Indians of historic times from the mound-builders, and to
identify certain tribes as pertaining to the latter.

THE LARGE ETOWAH MOUND.

As the historical evidence adduced shows beyond contradiction that
the Indians of the southern portion of the country at the time they
were first encountered by Europeans did erect mounds, construct walls
of defense, and dig canals, the question of their ability to plan and to com-
bine and control force for the construction of such works must be con-
ceded. Yet there are probably some long wedded to the theory ofa “lost
race” or Toltec migration, who will still maintain that only the tumuli
and other works of inferior dimensions and simple designs, and the
ruder works of art are to be attributed to the Indians, but that the
larger and more extensive remains are due to a different race.

If De Soto’s route could be traced minutely and with absolute cer-
tainty, it would be possible, no doubt, to identify, so far as they remain,
the mounds and other works of which the chroniclers of his expedition
speak; but unfortunately this can not be done. Still, there are some
parts of it that can be determined within reasonable limits. For
example, scarcely a doubt remains that he passed through the northern
part of Georgia, striking the head waters of the Coosa river. Now it
so happens that while in this region he stopped at an Indian town
(Guaxule) in which the house of the cacique was situated on a mound
of sufticient size to attract the attention of those of his followers who
were Garcilasso’s informants. This, there are reasons for believing,
was the celebrated Etowah mound near Cartersville. It is true Dr.
©. C. Jones, the leading authority on the antiquities of the southern
States, locates Guaxule in the southeast corner of Murray councy,' but
in this instance I think he is certainly 1n error, as no mound has been
found there which will in any respect answer the description given.

Garcilasso says: ‘‘La casa estava en un cerro alto, como de otras
semejantes hemas dicho. Tenio toda ella al derredor un paseadero que
podian pasearse por él seis hombres juntos.” ‘ The house stood on a
high hill (mound) similar to others we have already mentioned. It had
round about it a roadway on which six men might march abreast.” ”

1 Hernando De Soto, p. 35.
2 History of Florida. Ed. 1723, Lib. 1, Cap. xx, p. 139, and Ed. of 1605.

THOMAS. | CONNECTING LINKS. 689

This language is peculiar, and, so far as I am aware, can apply to no
other mound in Georgia than the large one near Cartersville, Georgia.
Nor is this a mere supposition, for my assistants have made careful
search throughout northern Georgia, the immediately adjoining portions
of South Carolina, and eastern Tennessee, without finding any other
mound that can possibly answer this description. The words “similar
to others we have mentioned” are evidently intended to signify that
it was artificial, and this is conceded by all who have noticed the pas-
sage: “alto” (high) in the mouths of the explorers indicates something
more elevated than ordinary mounds. The roadway or passage-way
round about itis peculiar and is the only mention of the kind by any
of the three chroniclers. How is it to be explained?

Col. C. C. Jones says that this “roadway” was a terrace, but it is
scarcely possible that any terrace at the end or side of a mound form-
ing an apron-like extension (the only form which has been found in the
South), could have been so described as to convey the idea of a road-
way, which the mode of estimating the width shows was intended.

As Garcilasso wrote from information and not from personal observa-
tion, he often failed to catch from his informant a correct notion of the
things described to him. In this case if seems that he understood
there was a terrace running entirely around the mound or a roadway
winding around from the bottom to the top. The broad way winding up
the side of the Etowah mound (see Fig. 183) appears to answer the
description better than what is seen in any other ancient structure in
Georgia. It is broad and ascends at a gentle slope, giving to the
observer the idea of a roadway, for which it was evidently intended.
It is a large mound, quite high, and one that would doubtless arrest
the attention of the Spanish soldiers. Its dimensions indicate that the
tribe by which it was built was strong in numbers and might send
forth “500 warriors” to greet the Spanish adventurers. The locality
is also within the limits of De Soto’s route as given by the best authori-
ties; and, lastly, there is no other mound within the possible limits of
his route which will in any respect answer the description. As Gar-
cilasso must have learned of this mound from his informants and
described it according to the impression conveyed to his mind, we are
justified in accepting the statement as substantially correct. The agree-
ment between the statement and the fact that a mound of the peculiar
kind described is found in the limited region referred to, would be a
remarkable comeidence if the former were not based on the personal
observations of the informants. We are therefore fully justified in
believing that the work alluded to by the old Spanish author is none
other than the great mound on the Etowah river, near Cartersville,
Georgia, and that here we can point to one of the Indian villages men-
tioned by the chroniclers of the Adelantado’s unfortunate expedition.

If this conclusion be correct, there is no good reason for doubting
that the Indians were the authors of this, one of the largest mounds

12 ETH 44

690 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.
found in the country, its solid contents being not less than 4,000,000
cubic feet. This is corroborated, as will hereafter be shown, by the
fact that one of the three prominent mounds of the group was found,
when excavated, to contain burials in box-shaped stone cists of the
form so common in middle Tennessee.

As stone cists or graves have been meutioned, it may be as well to
direct attention at this point to this class of works which form a con-
necting link between the prehistoric and historic times. ;

STONE GRAVES.

In order that the reader may understand clearly the argument based
upon these works it is necessary to give here a brief explanation.

There are several forms and varieties of stone graves, or cists, found
in the mound area embraced in this discussion, some being of cobble-
stone, others of slabs, some round, others polygonal, some roof-shaped,
others square, and others box-shaped, or parallelograms. The reter-
ence at present is only to the last mentioned—the box-shaped type, made
of stone slabs, as heretofore described. If the evidence shows that
this variety is found only in certain districts, pertains to a certain class
of works, and is usually accompanied by certain types of art, we are
warranted in using it as an ethnic characteristic, or as indicating the
presence of particular tribes. If it can be further shown that graves of
this form are found in mounds attributed to the so-called mound-
builders. and that certain tribes of Indians of historic times were also
accustomed to bury in them, we are warranted in assuming a continuity
of custom from the mound-building age to historic times, or, in other
words, that those graves found in the mounds are attributable to the
same people (or allied tribes) found using them at a later date. This
conclusion will be strengthened by finding that certain peculiar types
of art are limited to the regions where these graves exist. and are found
almost exclusively in connection with them.

This will indicate the line of argument proposed and the character
of the proofs to be presented. If the result prove satisfactory it is
evident that we will have an index pointing to particular tribes known
to historic times, who were mound-builders in the mound-building age.
It is scarcely possible that any tribe was so isolated as to leave no
marks of connection with others, hence it is more than likely that hav-
ing identified one we shall obtain clews to another. We should also
observe that while our evidence is pointing in one direction, it is at
the same time eliminating the supposed possibilities in another.

These graves, as is well known, are formed of rough unhewn slabs
or flat pieces of stone, thus: First—in a pit some 2 or 3 feet deep, and
of the desired dimensions, dug for the purpose—a layer is placed to
form the floor; next, similar pieces are set on edge for the sides and
ends, over which other slabs are laid flat, forming the covering, the
whole, when finished, making a rude, box-shaped coffin or sepulcher.

THOMAS. ] STONE GRAVES. 691

Sometimes one or more of the six faces are wanting; occasionally the
bottom consists of a layer of waterworn bowlders; sometimes the top
is not a single layer, but other pieces are laid over the joints, and some-
times they are placed shingle fashion. They vary in length from 14
inches to 8 feet, and in width from 9 inches to 3 feet. It is not an
unusual thing to find a mound containing a number of these cists
arranged in two, three, or more tiers. As a general rule those not in
mounds are near the surface of the ground, and in some instances even
projecting aboveit. Itis probable that no one who has examined them
has failed to note their strong resemblance to the European mode of
burial. Even Dr. Joseph Jones, who attributes them to some “ancient
race,” was forcibly reminded of this resemblance, as he remarks: ‘In
looking at the rude, stone coffins of Tennessee, I have again and again
been impressed with the idea that in some former age this ancient race
must have come in contact with Europeans and derived this mode of
burial from them.” !

After a somewhat lengthy review of the various modes of burial
practiced by the aborigines of America he arrives at the following
conclusion: ‘*We have now carefully examined at the modes of burial
practiced by the American aborigines, in extenso, and it 1s evident that
the ancient race of Tennessee is distinguished from all others by their
peculiar method of interment in rude, stone coffins. Whilst the custom
of burying the dead in the sitting posture was almost universal with
the various tribes and nations of North and Sonth America, the ancient
inhabitants of Tennessee and Kentucky buried most commonly in long,
stone graves, with the body resting at length, as among civilized nations
of the present day in Enrope and America.” ?”

Since the publication of Dr. Jones’s paper much additional informa-
tion in regard to these graves has been obtained, and the area in which
they occur has been greatly extended, but the result has been, as will
be seen in the sequel, rather to confirm than to disprove the opinion
here expressed. Graves of the same character have been observed in
northern Georgia, in the lower portions of eastern Tennessee, in the
valley of the Delaware river, at various points in Ohio and in southern
Illinois. Yet, strange as it may seem, all these places were at one
time or another occupied by the same people who formerly dwelt in the
Cumberland valley, or by closely allied tribes.

It appears from these facts that this is an ethnic characteristic, though
depending upon the presence of the proper materials. Our next step
is to prove that the same mode of burial was adopted by one or more
of the Indian tribes of historic times.

Dr. Jones, although believing in the great antiquity of these works,
was, as alreaily noticed, so strongly impressed with the resemblance to
the European mode of burial that he expresses the belief that “in
some former age this ancient race must have come in contact with

! Aboriginal Remains, Tenn., pp. 35; Sm. Cont., Vol. XXx11. 2 Tbhid., p. 34.

692 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Europeans and derived this mode of burial from them. This view.” he
continues, ‘‘is sustained not only by the presence of copper crosses
and of vases with crosses and scalloped circles painted around them,
and of bones evidently diseased by syphilis, in the stone graves, but
also by certain traditions formerly preserved by the surrounding In--
dian tribes.” !

Dr. Jones may have been mistaken in some of his conclusions; this
language is therefore given here as much because it indicates the im-
pression made upon a well informed mind by the careful study of these
works, as for the statements init. Attention, however, is called to the
copper crosses mentioned, as they are an indication of contact with
Europeans. Not that the presence of a cross is necessarily an indica-
tion of contact with European civilization—for many are found which
must have been in existence long before the discovery by Columbus—
but because of the peculiar form of some of those alluded to.

But the position assumed does not rest on such vague and uncertain
proof as it is stated positively by Loskiel that the Delawares were ac-
customed to bury their dead in this wise; his words are as follows:

They buried their dead by digging a grave of the required size and about one or
two feet deep; they put flat stones at the bottom and set others at each end and each
side on the edge; then laid the body in, generally on the back at full length, covered
the grave with the same kind of stone laid as closely together as practicable, without
cement, sometimes laying smaller stones over the joints or cracks to keep the earth from
falling into the grave. Then they covered the grave with earth, not generally more
than two or three feet high.?

Barber states that—

Several tribes were accustomed to incase their dead in stone boxes or tombs.
Among these were the Lenni-Lenape, or Delawares, of Pennsylvania, although the
graves already opened show an antiquity of probably not more than one hundred
and fifty or two hundred years, because the native contents, consisting of frag-
ments of rude pottery and ornaments, are associated usually with articles of Eu-
ropean manufacture, such as glass beads, iron or copper implements, and por-
tions of firearms. A number of graves have been examined in the vicinity of
the Delaware Watergap. The tumuli were scarcely distinguishable, but were
surrounded by traces of shallow trenches. The skeletons lay at a depth of about
three feet, and were in almost every instance inelosed in rude stone coffins. In one
case the body had been placed in a slight excavation, facing the east, and above it
a low mound had been built.?

This evidence is not only conclusive as to the fact that some Indians
of historic times did bury in cists of this form, but it at the same time
specifies the tribes—the Delawares and, by inference, the Shawnees—for
as, at the time indicated a part of the latter, as is well known, were living
with or in the vicinity of the former, the two tribes being ethnically re.
lated. This introduces a new factor into the argument and limits its
scope, as it directs the inquiry along a particular line. The fact of the

1 Aboriginal Remains, Tenn., p. 35; Sm. Cont., Vol. xxi.
? Hist. Miss. United Brethren, p. 120. ,
% American Naturalist, Vol. x1, 1877, p. 199.

THOMAS. | STONE GRAVES. 693

removal of a portion of the Shawnees from the south to the valley of
the Delaware, is too well known to require the proof to be given here.

Returning now to the Cumberland valley and regions of middle Ten-
nessee, already referred to, we find here, beyond any reasonable doubt,
if the number of graves be any indication, the chief home of the people
who buried in stone graves of the peculiar form mentioned. That we
can not attribute any of these graves south of the Ohio to the Dela-
wares will be conceded. The natural inference, therefore, is, if they
are to be considered as an ethnic characteristic, that they are due to the
Shawnees. There is undoubted historical evidence that this people
resided in the region of the Cumberland from the earliest notice we
have of them until their final departure therefrom at a comparatively
recent date. Col. Force correctly remarks, ‘‘ We first find the Shawano
in actual history about the year 1660 and living along the Cumberland
river, or the Cumberland and Tennessee.” !

There existed formerly a tradition that this nation extended settle-
ments as far to the southeast as the banks of the Savannah river, and
the name of this river is yet supposed by some to have been derived
from the presence of this tribe. Although the latter supposition is
founded on a slender and very doubtful basis, and much error has crept
into the explanations of the tradition which has led to its rejection by
some of our best investigators of the present day, there are good rea-
sons for accepting it as true when restricted to its more exact and lim-
ited form. This is found in Milfort,? who places them in upper Geor-
gia, in the Tugelo region, and on the headwaters of the large Georgia
rivers. If this be correct we have some foundation for the tradition
which places them on the Savannah, as the Tugelo river is one of its
upper branches, With this limitation, and the caution as to accepting
Milfort’s date, which is evidently very far wrong, the tradition given
by Gen. Robertson found in Haywood’s Natural and Aboriginal
History of Tennessee,’ may be considered as corroborative :

In 1772 the Little Corn Planter, an intelligent Cherokee chief, who was then
supposed to be 90 years of age, stated, in giving a history of his own nation, that
the Savannechers, which was the name universally given by the Indians to those
whom the English call Shawanese, removed from Sayannah river, between Georgia

- and South Carolina, by permission of the Cherokees, to Cumberland, they having been
fallen upon and almost ruined by a combination of several of the neighboring tribes
of Indians. That many years afterwards a difference took place between the two
nations, and the Cherokees, unexpectedly to the Shawnees. marched in a large body
to the frontiers of the latter. There, dividing into several small parties, they
treacherously, as he expressed himself, fell upon them and put to death a great nuim-
ber. The Shawanese then forted themselves and maintained a long war in defense
of their possession of the country, even after the Chickasaws had joined the Chero-
kees. He observed that when he was a small boy, which must have been about
1699, he remembered to haye heard his father, who was a great chief, say he once
took a large party against the Shawanese, ete.

! Early Notices of the Indians of Ohio, p. 40. See also Marquette’s statements in Jes. Rel., 1670, p.
91, and in his Journal, p.32. Paris Reprint, 1845, etc.
2 Memoire (1802), p. 9. 3 P. 222.

.
694 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

The map of North America, by John Senex, 1710, indicates villages
of the Chaouanons on the headwaters of the Savannah. On the De
L’Isle map of 1700 the Ontouagannha (Shawnees) are placed on the
headwaters of the great rivers of South Carolina. It is evident, there-
fore, thatit was the understanding and belief at an early day that
Shawnees had at some time dwelt in the region of the upper Savannah;
also that this name and its synonyms were used to designate a par-
ticular people. In confirmation of the theory advanced, stone graves
of the particular type we are now considering have been found in the
upper part of Nacoochee valley, which is in the Tugelo region.’ Others,
as shown in Part 1, have been found by the Bureau assistants on
Etowah river, farther west in northern Georgia.

The tradition given by Robertson helps to explain a puzzling fact
discovered by the Bureau explorers, to wit, that quite a number of
these graves have been found along the Little Tennessee river, in the
vicinity of the site of some of the Cherokee ‘ Overhill towns.” As
the evidence derived from history and the mounds, as will be hereafter
shown, indicated the occupancy of this region from time immemorial
by the Cherokees, who are known to have been long the deadly ene-
mies of the Shawnees, the presence of these graves seemed to conflict
with the theory herein advanced. But the tradition given by Robert-
son indicates a previous friendly relation between the two tribes which
will serve, in a measure at least, to explain this riddle.

There is also another item of evidence on this point. By referring
to Schooleraft’s History of the Indian Tribes, the reader will find the
following statement:

A discontented portion of the Shawnee tribe from Virginia broke off from the
nation, which removed to the Seioto country, in Ohio, about the year 1730, and
formed a town known by the name of Lulbegrud, in what is now Clark county
{Kentucky], about 30 miles east of this place [Lexington]. This tribe left this
country about 1750, and went to east Tennessee, to the Cherokee Nation.”

The following remark in Haywood’s ‘“ Civil and Political History of
Tennessee ”* is worthy of note here:

A nation of Indians called the Cheavanoes is laid down [on an old map] as
settled below the Cherokees in the county adjacent to where Fort Deposit now stands,
on the Tennessee and southwardly of it, which is supposed to be the people now
called the Shawnees, who may have settled there under the auspices of their old
friends and allies the Cherokees, after the expulsion of the Shawnees from the
Savannah river. This conjecture is fortified by the circumstance that the French in
ancient times called what is now the Cumberland by the name Shauvanon, on which
the Shawnees were for many years settled.

The Cherokees had another tradition, that when they first crossed
the Alleghanies to the west, that is, from North Carolina into eastern
Tennessee, they found the Shawnees at war with the Creeks.* This
would indicate that the Cherokees had penetrated into North Carolina

! Jones's Southern Indians, p. 214. 3 P. 27.
* Hist. of the Indians, Vol. 1, p. 301. 4 Ramsey's Annals of Tenn., p. 84.

THOMAS. ] STONE GRAVES. * 695

Some years ago Mr. George E. Sellers discovered near the salt spring
in Gallatin county, Llinois, on Saline river, fragments of clay vessels
of unusually large size, which excited much interest in the minds of
antiquarians, not only because of the size of the vessels indicated by the
fragments, but also because of the fact that they appeared to have been
used by some prehistoric people in the manufacture of salt and because
they bore impressions made by some textile fabric. In the same imine-
diate locality were also discovered a large number of box-shaped stone
graves. That the latter were the work of the people who made the
pottery Mr. Sellers demonstrated by finding that many of the graves
were lined at the bottom with fragments of these large clay “ salt
pans.” !

It is worthy of notice that mention of this pottery had been made
long previotsly by J. M. Peck in the Gazetteer of Tllinois.2 He
remarks that “about the Gallatin and Big Muddy® salines large frag-
ments of earthenware are very frequently found under the surface of
the earth. They appear to have been portions of large kettles used,
probably, by the natives for obtaining salt.”

The settlement of the Shawnees at Shawneetown on the Ohio river
in this (Gallatin) county in comparatively modern times is attested, not
only by history, but also by the name by which the town is still known.
But there is some evidence that an older Shawnee village was at one
time located at the very point where this “‘salt-kettle” pottery and these
stone graves are found. In the American State Papers 4 is a commu-
nication by the Illinois and Wabash Land Company to the Senate and
House of Representatives in which occurs the following statements:

On the 5th of July, 1773, the bargain was completed by which these Indians (Illi-
nois) fora large and valuable consideration agreed to sell to Murray and his asso-
ciates two tracts of land which are thus bounded: the first begins on the east side
of the Mississippi river at the mouth of Heron creek, called by the French ‘the
river of Mary,’ being about a league below the mouth of the Kaskaskias river.
From thence the line runs a straight course northward of east about eight leagues,
be it more or less, to the hilly plains; thence the same course in a direct line to a
remarkable place known by the name of the Buffalo Hoofs, seventeen leagues or
thereabouts, be it more or less; thence thesame course in adirect line to the Salt Lick
creck, about seven leagues, be it more or less; thence crossing the creek about one
league below the ancient Shawnese town, in an easterly, or a little to the north of east
course, in a direct line to the Ohio river, about four leagues, be it more orless; thence
down the Ohio by its several courses until it empties into the Mississippi,” ete.

A copy of the deed is also given dated July 20, 1773,° containing the
same boundaries, and with it the proof of record in the office at Kaskas-
kia the 2d of September, 1773.

Although the claim was rightly rejected by Congress and the diree-
tions given are slightly erroneous, as the geography of the west was not

' Popular Science Monthly, Vol. x1, pp. 573-584. 4 Public Lands, class vit, yol. 2. p. 108, Gales

21834, p. 52. and Seaton edition, 1834.
$1 know from personal observation that this is §P.117.

true in regard to the latter locality.

696 MQUND EXPLORATIONS.

well understood at that time, we are justified in believing that the locali-
ties are correctly nained, as it is not likely such a vast claim would have
been based on boundaries determined by imaginary places. These
were real and given as correctly as the information then obtainable
would admit of. The location of the ‘ancient Shawanese town” is
pretty definitely fixed, as itis on Saline river, above where the line
crosses, and about four leagues from the Ohio, and was at that time,
1773, known as the Ancient Shawnese town. The Shawnee village of
modern times was on the banks of the Ohio where the city named after
them now stands, nor was it ancient at the making of the aforesaid
deed, as it was in its prime in 1806, when visited by Ashe.' It is also
worthy of notice that the old town was not included in the bounds
given, while the land on which the latter stood was.

The next point is to show that the Shawnees were in the habit of
making salt. Collins, in his History of Kentucky,? gives an account
of the capture and adventures of Mrs. Mary Ingals, the first white
woman known to have visited Kentucky. In this narrative occurs the
following statement:

The first white woman in Kentucky was Mrs. Mary Ingals, née Draper, who in
1756 with her two little boys, her sister-in-law, Mrs. Draper, and others, was taken
prisoner by the Shawanee Indians from her home on the top of the great Allegheny
ridge, in Montgomery county, West Virginia. The captives were taken down the
Kanawha to the salt region and, after a few days spent in making salt, to the Indian
village at the mouth of the Scioto river.

By the treaty of Fort Wayne, June 7, 1805, proclaimed December 26,
1803, between the Delawares, Shawnees and other tribes, and the United
States, it was agreed that in consideration of the relinquishment of title
to “the great salt spring upon the saline creek which falls into the
Ohio below the mouth of the Wabash, with a quantity of land sur-
rounding it, not exceeding 4 miles square, the United States * * *
hereby engage to deliver yearly and every year, for the use of said In-
dians, a quantity of salt not exceeding 150 bushels.’

Another very significant fact in this connection is that fragments of
large earthen vessels similar in character to those found in Gallatin
county, Illinois, have also been found in connection with the stone
graves of Cumberland valley, the impressions made by the textile
fabrics showing the same stitches as the former. Another place where
pottery of the same kind has been found is about the salt lick near St.
Genevieve, Mo., a section inhabited for a time by Shawnees and Dela-
wares.*

Some graves of this type have been found in Washington county,
Maryland.’ History informs us that there were two Shawnee settle-
ments in this region, one in the adjoining county of Maryland (Alle-
ghany) and another in the neighborhood of Winchester, Virginia.°

) Travels in America, 1808, p. 269. + Royce in American Antiq., Vol. 111, pp. 188-9.

2 Vol. 11 (1874), p. 53. 5 Smithsonian Rep., 1882, p. 797.
3 Treaties of U.S. with Indian Tribes, ed. 1873, ® Royce in American Antiq., Vol. 1, p. 186; Vir-

p. 370. ginia State Papers, 1, p. 63.

THOMAS. ] STONE GRAVES. 697

Mr. Taylor mentions, in the Smithsonian report for 1877,' some stone
graves of the type under consideration found on the Mahoning river,
Pennsylvania. An important fact in this connection is that these
graves were ina mound. He describes the mound as 55 feet in diam-
eter and 5 feet high, having on one side a projection 35 feet long of the
same height as the mound. Near by a cache was discovered contain-
ing twenty-one iron implements, such as axes, hatchets, tomahawks,
hoes, and wedges. He adds the significant fact that near the mound
onee stood the Indian (Delaware) village of Keesh-kushkee.

Graves of the same type have been discovered in Lee county, Vir-
ginia, one of which is noticed in the Eleventh Report of the Peabody
Museum.” I have also noticed some in a mound on the Tennessee side
near the southern boundary of Scott county, Virginia. Allusion has
already been made to the occasional presence of the Shawnees in this
region. In the map of North America by John Senex, Chouanon villa-
ges are indicated in this particular section.

The presence of these graves in any part of Ohio can easily be ac-
counted for on the theory advanced by the well known fact that both
Shawnees and Delawares were located at various points init and were,
during the wars in which they were engaged, moving about from point
to point, but the mention of a few coincidences may not be out of place.
In the American Antiquarian for July, 1851, is the description of one
of these cists found in a mound in the eastern part of Montgomery
county. Mr. Royce’s article, already referred to, states that there was
a Shawnee village three miles north of Xenia in the adjoining county,
also on Mad river, which opens into the Miami a short distance above
the location of the mound. ;

Stone graves have been found in large numbers at various points
along the Ohio, from Portsmouth to Ripley, a region known to have
been occupied at various times by the Shawnees.

Similar graves have also been discovered in Ashland county, of which
mention is made in the Smithsonian Report for 1881.°. These were, as
will be seen by reference to the same report, precisely in the locality of
former Delaware villages.

Without stopping to give other proofs, the evidence is now deemed
sufficient to assume that the Shawnees and Delawares were accustomed
to bury in stone graves of the type under consideration and that the
graves found south of the Ohio are to be attributed to the former
Indians and those north to the two tribes.

As graves of this kind are common over the West side of southern
Illinois, from the mouth of the Illinois river to the junction of the Ohio
and Mississippi, we call attention to some evidence bearing on their
origin.

Hunter, whose travels were in the West, states that some of the
Indians he met with during his captivity buried in graves of this kind.

VP, 307. 2P. 208. 3'P_ 598.

698 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

According to a statement by Dr. Rau, furnished Mr. C. C. Jones and
repeated to me personally, “it is a fact well remembered by many per-
sons in this neighborhood (Monroe county, Illinois) that the Indians
who inhabited this region during the early part of the present century
(probably Kickapoos) buried their dead in stone coffins.”

Dr. Shoemaker, who resided on a farm near Columbia in 1861,
showed Dr. Rau, in one of his fields, an empty stone grave of an Indian
who had been killed by one of his own tribe and there interred within
the recollection of some of the farmers of Monroe county.

It is doubtful whether Dr. Rau is correct in ascribing these graves
to the Kickapoos, as their most southern locality appears to have
been in the region of Sangamon county.’ It is more probable they
were made by the Kaskaskias, Tamaroas, and Cahokias. Be this as it
may, ‘t is evident that they are due to some of the tribes of this section
knownas Illinois Indians. pertaining to the same branch of the Algonkin
family as the Shawnees and Delawares. An old lady of Jackson county,
who the writer knew was accounted one of the first settlers of that
county, informed one of the Bureau assistants that she had seen a
Kaskaskia Indian buried in a certain stone grave which she pointed
out to him. The evidence that many of those in southern Illinois are
comparatively recent is shown by Mr. Middleton’s account of those he
explored in that region.

That the stone graves of southern Illmois were made by the same
people who built those of the Cumberland valley, or closely allied
tribes, is indicated not only by the graves themselves, but by other
resemblances, as, for example, the similarity of works in Union and
Alexander counties, Hlinois, to those’ examined by Prof. Putman near
Nashville, Tennessee.

On the Linn place, in Union county, as shown in the field report,
there is a wall inclosing an area of some 25 or more acres. Within
this inclosure are several mounds, one of considerable size, also a
number of small excavations or depressions, which evidently mark the
sites of circular dwellings. The large mound, about 140 feet in diameter
and 13 feet high, was, as shown by the excavation made in it, built for
some other purpose than that of burial. Tirst, there had been a fire
built apparently on the surface of the ground, and over the ashes a
mound of comparatively small size raised; this was coated over with
clay and hardened by a fire made by burning straw and brush on it.
Over this, probably while burning, a layer of clay and sand was made
and also burned, then more earth, and probably a third layer of clay
mixed with sand.

Not far away, only a few miles, was a mound (one on Mill creek
examined by Mr. Earle) literally crowded with stone graves, and at
various points in the intermediate region similar graves over which no

1 Antiq. So. Indians, p. 220. ? Reynolds’ Hist. Illinois, p. 20.

THOMAS. ] OTHER RESEMBLANCES. 699

mound had been raised. Turning now to Prof. Putnam’s account of
his exploration of the mounds and graves near Nashville, we find this
statement:

The examination of the mounds at Greenwood near Lebanon, which were inside
an earth embankment inclosing an area of several acres, proves conclusively that
in this case (and by inference in all similar earthworks, of which several have been
described in the State) the earthwork with its ditch was the remnant of a pro-
tecting wall about a village, inside which the houses of the people were built and
their dead buried; also that the large mounds similar to the one in this inelosure
(which is 15 feet high by about 150 feet in diameter) were for some purpose, other
than that of burial, possibly connected with the religious rites or superstitions
of the people, or the erection of a particular building, as shown by the fact that
before this large mound was erected a very extensive fire had been built upon the
surface over which the mound was raised, while the remains of burnt bones and
other evidences of a feast were apparent; also from the remains of a stake of red
cedar. Again, after the mounds had been erected to the height of seven feet, another
similar and extensive fire had existed, leaving the same evidences of burnt bones,
ete., with the addition of burnt corncobs. The mound had then been completed and
my removal of probably about one-third of it did not reveal any evidence of its having
been used for burial or for an ordinary dwelling, though it is very likely to have
been the location of some important building, and the extensive fires, which had
twice nearly covered its whole area might have been owing to the destruction of
such a building by fire.

The houses of the people were circular in outline, from fifteen to forty feet in
diameter, and probably made entirely of poles covered with mud, mats, or skins, as
their decay has left simply a ring of rich black earth, mixed with refuse consisting
of bones, broken pottery, etc.!

The close resemblance between the works in the two places, even down
to details, seems to leave no doubt that they were made by one and the
same people.

But the resemblance does not stop here. Near the center of the large
mound on the Linn place, at the depth of about 3 feet, I found a broad,
flat rock about 20 inches long by 12 wide. Prof. Putnam also found
three similar slabs at a like depth in the large mound he opened.2. In
the stone grave mound he also found ‘an ornament of very thin copper,
which was originally cirewlar and with a corrugated surface.”* Mr.
Earle also found fragments of very thin copper with a corrugated sur-
face, or, as he correctly describes them, ‘‘raised lines,” in the mound on
Mill creek.

Lest it be said that there is no proof that the mounds on the Linn
place had any connection with the graves in the Mill creek mound, as
the two were some 4 miles apart, attention is called to Mr. Perrine’s
statement in the Smithsonian Report for the year 1872.4. Although our
measurements differ materially, his figures being simply estimates, yet
I know from his own statement to me, from personal examination and the
description he gives, that he refers to the works on the Linn place. In
one of the mounds of this group (the one outside of the inclosure) he

'Eleventh Report Peabody Museum, vol. 11, p. 205. *Thid., 341. *Tbid., 343. 1Pp. 418419.

700 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

found a large number of skeletons which “were carefully inclosed with
flat stones, each skeleton being separate.” These were evidently stone
graves. The resemblance, therefore, between the two groups is com:
plete, and leads to the conclusion that the works on the Linn place in
Illinois are to be attributed to the same people who built those in Ten-
nessee described by Prof. Putnam. In other words, it affords some
grounds for believing that the Shawnees were in Illinois previous to
their return thither in more modern times from the Cumberland valley.

Taking all these corroborating facts together, there are reasonable
grounds for concluding that graves of the type now under considera-
tion, although found in widely separated localities, are attributable to
the Shawnee Indians and their congeners, the Delawares and Illinois,
and that those south of the Ohio are due entirely to the first named
tribe. That they are the work of Indians must be admitted by all who
are willing to be convinced by evidence, and this is the only point at
present insisted upon.

That the authors of these graves were mound-builders is proved
beyond question by the fact that in most cases the graves are con-
nected with mounds, and in numerous cases in the various sections
where found (except when due to the Delawares, who were never mound-
builders) are in mounds sometimes in two, three, and even four tiers.

The importance and bearing of this evidence does not stop with what
has been stated, for it is so interlocked with other facts relating to the
works of the “veritable mound-builders” as to leave no hiatus into
which the theory of a ‘lost race” or ‘¢ Toltee occupation” can possibly
be thrust. It forms an unbroken chain, connecting the mound-builders
and historical Indians, which no sophistry or reasoning can break.
Not only are these graves found in mounds of considerable size, but
they are also connected with one of the most noted groups in the United
States.

The group alluded to is the one on Col. Tumlin’s place, near Carters-
ville, Ga., known as the Etowah mounds, of which a full description
will be found in this volume, and of which mention is made a few pages
back.

In the smallest of the three large mounds were found stone graves
precisely of the type attributable, when found south of the Ohio, to the
Shawnees; not in a situation where they could be ascribed to intru-
sive burials, but in the bottom layer of a comparatively large mound,
with a thick and undisturbed layer of hard packed clay above them.
It is also worthy of notice that the locality is intermediate between the
principal seat of the Shawnees in the Cumberland valley and their
eastern outposts in northeastern Georgia, where both tradition and
stone graves indicate a settlement. The tradition regarding this set-
tlement has already been given.

In these graves were found the remarkable figured copper plates and
certain engraved shells elsewhere described and illustrated.

THOMAS. ] SIMILAR MANUFACTURES. TOL

It is apparent to every one who will inspect the figures that in all
their leading characters the designs are suggestive of Mexican or Cen-
tral American origin. In fact there can be no doubt that they were
derived in some way from these more civilized countries either directly
or, aS is more probable, indirectly. While there is nothing to be found
in the designs or workmanship of the shells suggestive of European
influence, the same can not be said of the copper plates. First, the
wings arise from the back as angel wings, and do not replace the arms,
as in Mexican designs; second, the stamping seems to have been done
with a harder metal than the aborigines were acquainted with. But
the decision of this question is not essential to the point at present
under discussion. What bears more directly on this point, and is cor-
roborative of the theory here advanced, is that the only other copper
articles similar to those described which have been obtained, were found
at the following points:

Fragments in a stone grave at Lebanon, in middle Tennessee, by Prof.
Putnam;! fragments in a stone grave in a mound at Mill creek, south-
“ern Illinois, by Mr. Earle; in a stone grave in Jackson county, Illinois,
by Mr. Thing; in a mound of Madison county, Illinois, by Mr. H. R.
Howland; and in a small mound at Peoria, Illinois, by Maj. J. W. Pow-
ell. All except the specimens found by Prof. Putnam and Mr. H. R.
Howland were obtained by the Bureau of Ethnology and are now in the
National Museum. :

There can be but little doubt that the specimens obtained from the
simple stone graves by Prof. Putnam and Mr. Thing are to be attribu-
ted to Indian burials, but surely not to Indian manufacture. Wehave
therefore two unbroken chains connecting the Indians of historic times
with the ‘“ veritable mound-builders,” and the facts which form the links
of these chains throw some additional light on the history of that some-
what mysterious people, the Shawnees. The engraved shells also form
another link which not only connects the mound-builders with historic
times, as heretofore intimated, but tends to corroborate what has been
advanced in regard to the Shawnees.

ENGRAVED SHELLS, STONE PIPES, COPPER ARTICLES, STONE IMAGES.
ENGRAVED SHELLS.

These form another link connecting the Indians of historic times
with the mound-builders, and, what is of still more importance, their
presence in a given locality appears to be an almost certain indication
that that particular locality was occupied at some time by one of two
tribes. There are probably some exceptions to this rule, but it is be-
lieved they are few.

The following list of localities where specimens have been found,

! Fifteenth Rep. Peabody Mus., 1882, Fig. 13, p. 102.

702 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

although including only a portion of those which have been discovered,
will indicate correctly the area over which they have been carried:

WICK CTCR a nae tania eee East Tennessee. -. from mound.
Nean Kmoxvillet con 2s. -cmea2 =. East Tennessee. .. from mound.
Wear Nashiville\t 25.2). 52.25 Tennessee.... .... from mound.
Near Nashwille!--3-../--\-. <2 +22 Tennessee... - -.:- from stone grave.
Ola MB Owe oes ree Tennessee. ...- - -- from mound,
Wranlslins: 2645/22 Ses soit Mennessee=-s2 = from mound.
Seviervillette 23522 mola ee Tennessee... - -_-- from mound.
Bartow county --.-------.---- Georgia ...--. ---- from stone grave in mound.
Monroe county --------------.- East Tennessee. -- from mounds.
DGG) (OOM! Be Jon bs oases Re Wesgency Se cosas from mounds.
Virginia [county not known]....--.-.---...---- from grave.
Caldwellicounty - 222-2252" North Carolina. -.-from mound.
Near Mussel-Shoals. --.-.----. Alabama ......-..- from cave.

New Madrid .....- fs oomicees = Massouri.. 7. 22e- from mound.
[Ohavvavon(opeh ey eS joe aoe linois ess. eee from mound.

St. (Clair countyec =e esa Uineis\zesenes-se from stone grave.

One in the National Museum is marked ‘“ Mississippi,” but the loeal-
ity given is more than doubtful.

In other words, they are found in all parts of Tennessee, except the
extreme western portion, in western North Carolina, in northern Georgia,
the extreme northern part of Alabama, southeastern Missouri, southern
Illinois, and in Virginia, particularly the extreme southwestern part;
but western North Carolina, eastern and middle Tennessee, especially
the Cumberland valley, are the places where they have been found in
the greatest numbers.

Although having a somewhat extensive range, they do not appear to
be found, except in isolated cases, beyond the possible haunts of the
Cherokees and Shawnees. At least, with the exception of those found
in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, they pertain to the
works of the authors of the stone graves. It is worthy of note in this
connection that the “ bird head” so common on one class of engraved
shells (found almost exclusively in the stone graves of middle Tennes-
see) appears also, and in the same type, both on stone and bone imple-
ments in New Jersey.'! In regard to the former Dr. Abbott remarks
as follows: ‘“‘Here we see a reference apparently to just such disks,
and the interest in the reproduction of the same figures on other objects
found in New Jersey lies in the probable indication that there is in the
latter a trace at least of tribal relationship with the southern Indians.
Did we not learn from the writings of Heckwelder that the Lenape had
“the turkey totem,” we might suppose that this drawing of such bird
heads originated with intrusive southern Shawnees, who at one time
occupied Jands in the Delaware valley and who are supposed by some
writers to have been closely related to the earliest inhabitants of the
southern and southwestern states. Inasmuch as we shall find that,

' Abbott's Primitive Industry, pp. 71 and 207.

THOMAS.] SIMILAR PIPES. 703

not only on this slate knife, but on a bone implement also, similar heads
of birds are engraved, it is probable that the identity of the design is
not a mere coincidence, but that it must be explained either in accord-
ance with the statements of Heekwelder or be considered as the work
of southern Shawnees after their arrival in New Jersey. In the
latter event the theory that these (shell) disks are the work of a people
different from and anterior to the Indians found in the Cumberland
valley at the time of the discovery of that region by the whites, is
apparently not sustained by the facts.” !

That engraved shell gorgets were in use among the Indians, both of
North Carolina and Virginia, is already established by the historical
references given, and that they were common among the people who
buried in stone graves and built mounds is known to and admitted by
all recent authorities on American archeology and proved beyond ques-
tion by the evidence furnished in the preceding field report. The
only reasonable explanation of these facts is that the Indians were
the authors of these stone graves and the builders of the mounds
associated therewith. If this be admitted, the conclusion is inevitable
that the Cherokees snd Shawnees were mound-builders and thus as
investigation proceeds step by step the vision of a ‘‘lost race” anda
Toltee occupation gradually fades from view.

The chief difficulty which arises in connection with these shells is
the fact that afew of them bear undoubted Mexican designs which
pertain to pre-Columbian times. Take, for example, those found in
the “Big Toco mound,” described and figured in the preceding part of
this volume. The Mexican origin of the designs is admitted by every
one who sees them, yet the proof that this mound was built and used
by the Cherokees is so strong as scarcely to admit of a doubt. How
these two facts are to be reconciled is a problem not easily solved. As
this has no special bearing on the particular point now under discussion,
its consideration is unnecessary at present.

PIPES.

The ancient works of Ohio, with their “ altar mounds,” “ saered
inclosures,” and their “‘ mathematically accurate,” but mysterious cir-
cles and squares, are still pointed to as impregnable to the attacks of
this Indian theory. That the rays of light falling upon their origin are
few and dim is admitted; still we are not left wholly in the dark on this.
point.

If the proof is satisfactory that the mounds of the southern half of
the United States and a large portion of those of the upper Mississippi

valley are of Indian origin, in the sense heretofore defined, there should
be very strong evidence in the opposite direction in regard to these
to lead to the belief that they pertain to a different race. Even should
the evidence fail to indicate the tribe or tribes by whom they were

2 Op. cit., p. 73.

T04 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

built, this will not justify the assertion that they are not of Indian
origin.

If the evidence relating to these works has in it nothing decidedly op-
posed to the theory, then the presumption must, for the reasons hereto-
fore given, be in favor of the view that the authors were Indians. The
onus probandi is on those who deny this and not on those who advo-
cate it.

It is legitimate, therefore, to assume that the Ohio works were made
by Indians until evidence to the contrary is produced.

The geographical position of the defensive works connected With
these remains indicate, as has been often remarked by writers on this
subject, a pressure by northern hordes which finally resulted in driving
the inhabitants of the fertile valleys of the Miami, Scioto, and Mus-
kingum southward, possibly into the Gulf states, where they became
incorporated with the tribes of that section.' If this is assumed as
correct it only tends to confirm the theory of an Indian origin. But
the decision is not left to mere assumption and the indications men-
tioned, as there are other and more direct evidences bearing upon this
point to be found in the works of art and modes of burial of this region.

That the mound-builders of Ohio made and used the pipe is proved
by the large number of pipes found in the mounds, and that they culti-
vated tobacco may reasonably be inferred from this fact. Attention
has already been called to the very general use of the pipe among the
mound-builders as an evidence of their relation to the Indians; also to
the fact that in this respect and the forms of the pipes they differed
widely from the Nahua, Maya, and Pueblo tribes. The object in refer-
ring to them at this point is to show that the monuments of Ohio, which
have so long been represented as the typical works of the mound-
builders, were built by Indians.

Although varied indefinitely by the addition of animal and other fig-
ures, the typical or simple form of the pipe of the Ohio mound-builders
appears to have been that represented by Squier and Davis in their
Fig. 68.2. The peculiar feature is the broad, flat, and slightly curved
base or stem which projects beyond the bowl to an extent usually equal
to the perforated end.

Now, if it can be shown that any known tribe of Indians used pipes
of this form, this will furnish another link connecting the Indians and
mound-builders. It has, however, been asserted positively that no such
proof can be adduced, one writer, speaking of this question, remarking:
““T do not care to argue the question at present, but it would be well
to bear in mind one fact, viz, no people have ever yet been found, so far
as reported, who ever made or used or who knew of any people who
did make or use the mound pipe, such as is found in our Mississippi
mounds, which is quite a distinet type. ‘Platform,’ ‘curved base,’ ‘mon-

' Force, Some early notices of the Indians of Ohio, p. 74, ete.
*Anc. Monuments, p, 179.

———

VHOMAS. ] SIMILAR PIPES. 705

itor’ pipes they are called and used without a stem. The bowl is
always central, whether having some animal carved around it or not.”!

If this writer had referred to Adair’s History of the American Indians,
page 423, he would have found this statement: ‘‘ They [Indians]
make beautiful stone pipes; and the Cheerake, the best of any of the
Indians; for their mountainous country contains many different sorts
and colors of soils proper for such uses. They easily form them
with their tomahawks and afterwards finish them in any form with
their knives, the pipes being of a very soft quality till they are smoked
with and used in the fire, when they become quite hard. They are
often a full span long and the bowls are about half as large again as
those of our English pipes. The fore part of each commonly runs
out with a sharp peak two or three fingers broad and a quarter of an
inch thick ;” and he adds further, as if intending to describe the typ-
ical form of the Ohio pipe, ‘‘on both sides of the bowl lengthwise.”
This addition is important, as it leaves no doubt in the mind as to the
particular form of pipe intended. As this statement was made over a
century ago, it must have been from seeing them in use and not from
having discovered them in mounds.

EK. A. Barber? says: ‘‘ The earliest stone pipes fromthe mounds were
‘always carved from a single piece and consist of a flat curved base of
variable length and width, with the bowl rising from the center of the
convex side’ (Anc. Mon., 228). * The typical mound pipe is the ‘ Moni-
tor’ form, as it may be termed, possessing a short, cylindrical, urn- or
spool-shaped bowl rising from the center of a flat and slightly curved
base.”

According to this statement the “‘ Monitor” type is considered the
oldest form of the mound-builder’s pipe and yet we not only have the
evidence that it was in use among the Indians of this region, but it is
easy to trace in the mound specimens the modifications which brought
into use the simple form of the modern Indian pipe. For example there
is one of the form shown in Fig. 301 from Hamilton County, Ohio;
another from a large mound in Kanawha valley, West Virginia; sev-
eral taken from Indian graves in Essex county, Mass.;* another found
in the grave of a Seneca Indian in the valley of the Genessee;‘ and
others found by the assistants of the Bureauof Ethnology in the mounds
of western North Carolina and east Tennessee.

So far the modification consists in simply shortening the forward pro-
jection of the stem or base, the bowl remaining perpendicular. The
next modification is shown in Fig. 344, which represents a type less com-
mon than the preceding, but found in several localities, as, for example,
in Hamilton county, Ohio; mounds in Sullivan county, eastern Tennes-
see (by the Bureau assistants); and in Virginia.’ In these, although

1 The Young Mineralogist and Antiquarian, April, 1885, p. 79.
* Amer. Nat., vol. 16 (1882), pp. 265-266.

3 Abbott, Primitive Industry, Fig. 31:
4 Morgan, League of the Lroquois, p. 356.

5 Rau, Arch. Coll., Smithsonian Inst., p. 50, Fig. 190.
12 ETH 45

706 “MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

retaining the broad or winged stem, we see the bowl assuming the for-
ward slope and in some instances (as some of those found inthe mounds
of east Tennessee) the projection of the stem is reduced to a simple rim
or is entirely wanting. (See Figs. 233 and 285.)

The next step brings us to what may
be considered the typical form of the
modern pipe as shown in Figs. 217, 218,
and 219. This pattern, according to
Dr. Abbott,' is seldom found in New
England or the Middle States, “except
of a much smaller size and made of
clay.” He figures one from Isle of
Wight county, Virginia,*‘ made of com-
pact steatite.” A large number of this
form were found in the North Carolina mounds, some with stems almost
or quite a foot in length.

It is hardly necessary to add that among the specimens obtained
from the various localities can be found every possible gradation, from
the ancient Ohio type to the modern form last mentioned. There is,
therefore, in this peculiar line of art and custom an unbroken chain
connecting the mound-builders of Ohio with the Indian of historic times,
and, what strengthens the argument, in the same fact is evidence that
disconnects the makers from the Mexican and Central American peo-
ples.

Fic. 344.—Pipe from Virginia.

EVIDENCE OF TRIBAL DIVISIONS—SUBSEQUENT USE OF MOUNDS
BY INDIANS.

Allusion was made in the introduction to some reasons for believing
that the mound-builders consisted of various tribes; but one or two
additional facts bearing on the same point may be mentioned here.

That one tribe often occupied works which had been built by other
tribes is undoubtedly true, as the fact is attested both by history and
by the works themselves.

For example, the relics found in and about the Etowah group in
northern Georgia, so often mentioned, indicate that it was the scene of
many a sharp conflict between contending tribes. It was also the
scene of a severe contest between the Cherokees and Creeks in their
long and bloody war, one of the group being occupied by the former
and its summit surrounded by pickets as a place for the protection
of hundreds of their women and children,’ probably in the same man-
ner as the cacique, who occupied it when De Soto passed through,
rendered it secure. At the time of the Rey. E. Cornelius’s visit in 1817,
the top of the mound, second in size, was encircled by a breastwork 3
feet high, intersected through the middle with another elevation of a

' Primitive Industry, p. 320. 2 E. Cornelius, Am. Jour. Sci. (Sillman’s), 7th Ser., vol. 1, p. 324.

THOMAS. ] TRIBAL DIVISIONS. 707

similar kind.' He does not state whether these breastworks were those
left by the Cherokees or were of an older date, and, although Squier
and Davis? and Jones appear to take for granted that it was this
lower mound the Cherokees occupied and that these ‘“breastworks”
were the remains of their defenses, I think it doubtful, as they would
most probably have chosen the larger mound as more easily defended
and more secure than the lower one, so near the large one overlooking
it. Possibly they occupied both.

It is also well known that in the northern sections it was avery com-
mon custom among the Indians, at a comparatively recent date, to use
the mounds as depositories for their dead.

One very marked example of subsequent occupany for a long period,
shown by the works themselves, is that of the group in Allamakee
county, Iowa, examined by Col. P. W. Norris in 1882, of which an ac-
count has been given.

Another point worthy of notice im this connection is that we have
here one evidence, at least, that the mound-builders consisted of differ-
ent tribes, as many, if not most, of the burial mounds of the group are
evidently the work of the last occupants. Moreover, there are some
reasons for believing that these last occupants belonged to or were
closely related to the eftigy mound-building tribes of Wisconsin.

Dr. Lapham, who made a long and careful study of the ancient works
of Wisconsin, and left behind a monument of his industry in this di-
rection in his well-known “ Antiquities of Wisconsin,” published in
the “Contributions of the Smithsonian Institution,” gave it as his
deliberate conclusion that the custom of erecting circular or conical
tumuli over the dead was followed by the Indians of that region down
to a comparatively modern date.

The explorations made by the agents of the Bureau of Ethnology,
heretofore described, have given results coinciding exactly with those
obtained by Drs. Lapham and Hoy and tending to the same conciusions.
Asa general rule the conical tumuli, which, as we have seen, are usually
of comparatively small size, were all found to be burial mounds, mostly
unstratified and of the same character as those opened by Dr. Lapham
and others.*

One fact observed by these agents to which attention has not hereto-
fore been called, but which must have had its influence on Dr. Lap-
ham’s mind, is. that there appears to be no marked distinction between
the intrusive burials by modern Indians in a large portion of these
mounds and the original burials for which the tumuli were constructed.
Tn both there are froin one to many skeletons in a place; in both they
are found stretched out horizontally and also folded; in both there are

1These had all disappeared by the time of our next notice, about 1880, and when I examined the
works in 1883 no sign of these fortifications could be seen, unless the remains of four posts, found
a few feet below the surface, formed a part of them.

2 Ancient Monuments, p. 109.

$Lapham’s Antiquities of Wisconsin, p. 9.

708 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

frequent evidences of fire and partially consumed bones; in both we
find instances where the mortar-like covering, common in this district,
has been used; and in both we occasionally meet with those confused
masses of bones which seem to have been gathered from temporary
depositories and brought here as a final resting place. Moreover, the
transition from one to the other is so gradual as to leave nothing, save
the position in the mound and the presence of articles of civilized life,
to distinguish the former from the latter.

A large number of these mounds, as already stated, are unstratified,
each single mound having been thrown up and completed at one time,
as suggested by Dr. Hoy,' and not by successive additions; yet in some
of these, as observed by the Bureau agents, skeletons were found at vari-
ous depths, some stretched out at fulllength and others folded up inthe
same tumulus. In some cases the bones of all were so much decayed
that none could be preserved. Several instances of this kind were
observed; in some cases those skeletons and accompanying articles near
the surface or top of the mound indicated burial after contact with
the whites.

It is apparent from these facts that although some of the burial
mounds of this district must be attributed to the so-called ‘‘ veritable
mound-builders,” others were undoubtedly built by the Indians found
inhabiting it at the advent of the whites. There can scarcely be a
doubt that some of the small unstratified tumuli are the work of
Indians. If this is conceded there would seem to be no halting place
short of attributing all of this class to the same race. The fact stated
by Dr. Hoy and verified by the Bureau agents, that in some cases there
is evidence that the bodies had been ‘covered by a bark or log roof-
ing,”? is in exact accord with a well-known burial custom of some of
the tribes of the Northwest.’

These facts fully justify Dr. Lapham’s conclusion that they are to be
attributed to the Indians. Some, which varied from this type, he was
inclined to ascribe to tribes which had migrated, been driven off by
or incorporated into other tribes previous to the advent of the white
race. But he maintained, and, as the evidence shows, with good rea-
son, that the subsequent tribes, or those found by the Europeans,
occupying the country, ‘continued the practice of mound-building so
far as to erect a circular or conical tumulus over the dead.” He also
adds significantly: ‘This practice appears to bea remnant of ancient
customs that connects the mound-builders with the present tribes.” 4

If it be conceded that the unstratified mounds are the work of Indians,
there would seem to be no escape from the conclusion that most of the
burial mounds of the same section are to be ascribed to them, for although

'Lapham’s Antiquities of Wisconsin, p. 10.

* Loe, cit.

3Dr. Yarrow’s Mortuary Customs, Ist Annu. Rep. Bureau Ethn., pp. 94nd 141. Schooleratt’s Hist.
Ind. Tribes, Vol. 11, p. 195.

4Tbid., p. 89.

ee

J HOMAS.] TRIBAL DIVISIONS. 709

there are some two or three types, yet the gradation from one to the
other is so complete as to leave no line of distinction, and Dr. Lapham
is fully justified in the assertion that the evidence connects the “ mound-
builders ” with the modern tribes. The stratified mounds in which the
hard clay or mortar-like covering over the remains is found, which is
also common in Illinois and Iowa mounds, may be the work of different
tribes from those which constructed the small, unstratified tumuli of
Wisconsin, but the distinetions between the two classes are not such
as to justify the belief that they are to be attributed to a different race,
or a people occupying a higher or widely different culture-status. The
differences are, in fact, not more marked than has occasionally been
found ina single group.

Having reached this conclusion, it is impossible to pause here. We
are compelled to take one step further in the same direction and ascribe
the singular structures known as “ effigy mounds” to the same people.
The two classes are too intimately connected to admit of the supposition
that the effigy mounds were built by one race or people and the conical
tumuli by another. It would be as reasonable to assume that the
inclosures of Ohio were the work of one people, but the mounds accom-
panying them of another. That the works of different tribes or nations
may frequently be found intermingled on areas over which successive
waves of population have passed, must be admitted, but that one part
of what is clearly a system is to be attributed to one people and the
other part to another is absurd and unworthy of serious consideration.
The only possible explanations of the origin, object, or meaning of these
singular structures*are based, whether confessedly so or not, on the
theory that they are of Indian origin; for their illustrations and expla-
nations are drawn from Indian customs, arts and beliefs. Remove the
Indian factor from the problem and we are left without the shadow of
a hypothesis.

The fact that the effigy mounds were not generally used as places of
sepulture and that no cemeteries, save the burial mounds, are found in
connection with them, is almost conclusive proof that the two, as a
rule, must be attributed to the same people, that they belong to the
same system.

To what particular tribes the ancient works of this northwestern
section are to be attributed is of course a question which must be
answered chiefly by conjecture. Nevertheless, there are some good
reasons for believing that the effigy mounds and those works belong-
ing to the same system are attributable to one or more tribes of the
Siouan stock. As has been shown in the preceding part of the vol-
une, the custom of placing the small tumuli in lines connected and
disconnected to form the long wall-like mounds seems to have been
peculiar to the builders of the effigies. Following up this hint and trae-
ing the transitions in form from what appears to be the more ancient to
the more recent types, we are led to the comparatively modern surface

710 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

figures of the Siouan tribes. As this evidence is given in the preced-
ing part of this volume, it is unnecessary to repeat it here.

It is not only possible but apparently evident that there are many
mounds in the northwestern section of which we are now speaking
that were built by other tribes, but there is no longer any substantial
reason for denying that the effigies and other works pertaining thereto
are due to the Siouan tribes.

EVIDENCES OF CONTACT WITH MODERN EUROPEAN CIVILIZA-
TION FOUND IN THE MOUNDS.

It has been customary whenever an article indicating contact with
Europeans was discovered in a mound to attribute it to an intrusive
burial, or where this was incompatible with the conditions, the mound
was placed in the category of modern Indian mounds, as distinguished
from the works of the true “mound-builders.” The more careful inves-
tigations of the past few years show that these distinctions fail to
account for all the finds of this character, as many of the articles of Hu-
ropean manutacture, or those showing evidence of contact with Euro-
peans, are often found so connected with undoubted works of the
mound-builders as to forbid both these explanations.

COPPER ARTICLES.

For example, a careful examination of the copper articles found in
the mounds should lead anyone, not swayed by some preconceived
notion, to the conclusion that many of them were made of copper
brought over to America by Europeans, which would as a matter of
course indicate (if they do not pertain to intrusive burials) that the
mounds in which such specimens are found were erected subsequent to
the discovery by Columbus.

The copper articles found in the mounds and ancient graves belong,
as may be readily seen by those who will inspect them, to two usually
very distinct classes; those of the one class evidently hammered out
with rude stone implements; those of the other class showing as plainly
that they have been made from quite thin, smooth, and even sheets. If
we examine, for instance, the bracelets, of which there are numerous
specimens in the various museums and collections of our country, this
difference will be found very apparent. Those of the one class are
solid, usually about the thickness of the larger end of a large poreupine
quill, and roughly hammered out. <A figure of this type may be seen
on page 97 of the Fifteenth Report of the Peabody Museum, and others
in Schooleraft’s History of American Indians, also our Fig. 299. Those
of the other class are made of sheet copper by first forming a cylinder
of the required size, then bending it to the proper shape. These are
usually found in Indian graves and intrusive burials; but occasionally

Ee

THOMAS. ] INDIAN MOUND-BUILDERS. 711

they are obtained from mounds also; for example, one of the eight
found in the large mound in Kanawha valley, near Charleston, West
Virginia, was of this type. <A bracelet of the same type, now in the
Peabody Museum, was found in one of the mounds of Little Miami
valley.

Cylinders and cylindrical beads made from sheet copper havealso fre-
quently been found in moundsand graves. See, forexample, theone from
a North Carolina mound shown in Fig. 209. One obtained from an In-
dian grave near Newport, Rhode Island, is figured by Dr. Rau;! others,
of various sizes, and also conical ear-bobs of sheet copper were found
in the North Carolina mounds. The copper bands figured by Prof.
Putnam in the Fifteenth Report of the Peabody Museum, as obtained
from the Ohio mounds, appear to be of the same character. Speaking
of the implement figured on page 61, Tenth Report Peabody Museum,
Prof. Andrews, who unearthed it from a mound in Perry county, Ohio,
remarks as follows: ‘‘ It was made from a single piece of copper, the
outline of which is indicated in the figure. The copper was hammered
out into so smooth and even a sheet that no traces of the hammer are
visible. It would be taken indeed for rolled sheet copper.” And yet
the professor, who has given us one of the best descriptions of Ohio
mounds published, seems, by his remarks on the preceding page, to
discredit his own eyes.

As a reference to all the articles made of sheet copper found in
mounds and graves would be a tedious recital, and would require a
personal inspection of all mentioned in order to determine the classes
to which they severally belong, it must suffice to repeat what has been
stated, that, as a general rule, the distinetive characteristics which
determine the class to which they belong may be readily seen.

As a matter of course no one denies that the mound-builders made
implements and ornaments of native copper, and frequently hammered
this copper into thin sheets with the rude implements of which they were
possessed. What is here affirmed, and what, it is believed, can be suc-
cessfully naintained by reference to and inspection of the articles, is,
that many of them, found in mounds as well as ancient graves, have
been made from sheets of copper so uniform and even as to forbid the
belief that they were hammered out with the rude implements pos-
sessed by the mound-builders of pre-Columbian times. <A careful
chemical and microscopical examination of the various specimens might
possibly settle the point; however, as this has not been done, we must
for the present rely upon inspection.

The amount of copper traded and given to the Indians along the
Atlantic coast was much greater than anyone would imagine who has
not taken the trouble to look into the matter. It is necessary to refer
to the accounts of early voyages and to the early histories to prove
the truth of this statement. On almost every page of Smith’s History

‘Smithsonian Archeological Coll., p. 61, Pig. 254.

ib? MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

of Virginia is found mention of copper traded to the Indians for food
or pelts. So abundant was the supply, as learned from this author,
that in a short time goods ‘could not be had for a pound of copper
which before was sold us for an ounce.”! Strachey, notwithstanding
what he previously stated in regard to minerals of this country, and
among them copper, remarks as follows:

It hath been Powhatan’s great care to keep us by all means from the acquaintance
of those nations that border and confront him, for besides his knowledge how easily
and willingly his enemies will be drawn upon him by the least countenance and en-
couragement from us, he doth, by keeping us from trading with them, monopolize all
the copper brought into Virginia by the English. And whereas the English are now
content to receive in exchange a few measures of corn for a great deal of that mettell
(valuing yt according to the extreme price yt bears with them, not to the estymacion
yt hath with us), Powhatan doth again vend some simall quantity thereof to his
neighbor nations for one hundred tyme the value, reserving, notwithstanding, for
himself a plentiful quantity to leavy men withal when he shall find cause to use
them against us, for the before-remembered weroance of Paspahegh did once wage
fourteen or fifteen weroances to assist him in the attempt upon the fort of James-
towne, for one copper plate promised to each weroance.*

But European copper found its way into the country along the Atlan-
tic coast long before the settlement in Virginia. The various voyagers
who sailed along the shore, and there were many of whom no account
is on record, all left nore or less of this metal in the hands of the In-
dians. Much also was doubtless obtained from shipwrecked vessels.
Hawkins, who touched the coasts of Florida in 156465, says that when
the French first arrived in that region gold and silver were obtained in
considerable amount from the Indians, but the supply ere long gave out.

How they came by this gold and silver the Frenchman knew not as yet, but by
guess, who having traveled to the southy est of the cape, having found the same dan-
gerous, by means of sundry banks, as we have also found the same; and there finding
masts which were wrecks of Spaniards coming from Mexico, judged that they had
gotten treasure by them. For it is most true that divers wrecks have been made of
Spaniards having much treasure, for the Frenchmen having traveled cape-ward an
hundred and fifty miles did find two Spaniards with the Floridians, which they
brought afterwards to their fort, whereof one was in a caraval coming from the
Indies which was cast away fourteen years ago, and the other twelve years; of whose
fellows some escaped, other some were slain by the inhabitants. It seemeth they
had estimation of their gold and silver, for it is wrought flat and graven, which
they wear about their necks, other some round like a pancake with a hole in the
midst to bolster up their breasts withal.®

We seem also to have proof in the preceding statement that the
Indians engraved figures on metallic articles, which is a very important
item in this connection, if true.

Laudonniere asserts that it was gotten out of the ships that were lost
upon the coast.*

Relics of the unfortunate expedition of Ayllon were dug up by De
Soto’s followers from a grave or mound at Cutifachiqui, an Indian town

1Smith’s History of Virginia, Richmond reprint, 1819, vol. 1, p. 166.
2His. of Travels into Va. Cap. vu, p. 103, London, 1849.
3Hakluyt, IIT, p.°615. 4 Hakluyt, IIT, p. 369.

t

THOMAS. J INDIANS AND EUROPEANS. 713

probably located on the Savannah river above Augusta.' Accounts of
other wrecked vessels were also given, but it is more than likely that
of much the larger number no record was ever made.

The rapidity with which articles obtained by barter on the coast or
taken from wrecks found their way into the interior and the distance
to which they afterwards traveled do not appear to be fully appreciated
by antiquarians.

OTHER METALS.

Smith states that he found hatchets, knives, pieces of iron and brass
in the hands of the Indians at the head of Chesapeake bay which he
learned were from the French on the St. Lawrence (or “ river of Can-
ada,” as he names it),? and yet but a short time had elapsed since the
entrance of the latter into that region. Cabeza de Vaca found a hawk-
bell in the hands of the natives of Texas (or Louisiana), which may have
been carried from hand to hand and tribe to tribe from Mexico, though
more likely obtained from some vessel wrecked on the coast. Father
Marquette, in his voyage down the Mississippi says he found guns,
axes, hoes, knives, beads, and glass bottles in the hands of some In-
dians below the mouth of the Ohio, probably Chickasaws.®

These (if his statement is to be believed) must have come, as he sup-
poses, from the ‘“‘eastern side,” that is to say, the English settlements
on the Atlantic coast.

From these and similar examples which might be mentioned, it is
apparent that articles of Huropean manufacture found their way rap-
idly into the interior, passing from hand to hand in the course of trade
and traffic between the tribes or by capture in war. Nor is this to be
wondered at when seashells, such as Busycon perversum and others, are
found in the mounds of Illinois and Wisconsin and articles of native cop-
per probably from northwestern Michigan occur in the mounds of Ohio
and West Virginia and at even more eastern points.

Most authors writing on this subject also fail to appreciate properly
the fact that traders, trappers, hunters, adventurers, and coureurs de
bois were traversing the wilds of the new continent in advance of any
notice we have of such adventures. It is apparent from some state-
ments mm the Ensayo Cronologico that Spanish adventurers had found
their way to the Coza region, probably in northern Georgia, a few years
after the return of the remnant of De Soto’s followers. These rovers
must have carried with them some articles of European manufacture
which, finding their way into the hands of the chief men of the tribes,
would be interred with them.

Here we may also appropriately refer to a fact which seems to be
generally overlooked by writers on North American archeology, to wit,
the very early date at which the manufacture of articles similar to
those in use among the Indians for the purpose of traffic commenced.

? Hist. Virginia, Vol. 1, p. 182-183. * Hist, Coll. La.. 1v, p. 44.

714 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

as he speaks of ‘*small pearls similar to those which are brought from
Spain to barter with the Indians.”! These I think we may safely
assume to be shell beads, as it is not likely the Spaniards brought
true pearls to barter to the Indians for furs and pelts. Moreover, very
few pearls have been discovered in the mounds of that southern see-
tion which have been opened, while on the contrary shell beads have
been found in great abundance.

In one of the mounds of east Tennessee three small copper sleigh
bells were found by the skeleton of a child, ina large mound contain-
ing many other skeletons. These are perhaps what the early writers
call “hawk bells,” but have precisely the form of the sleigh bell. The
mound in which they were found, as will be seen by referring to the
preceding field report, was of considerable size, and there was no rea-
son for supposing there were any intrusive burials. In fact, intrusive
burials in mounds seldom, if ever, occur in eastern Tennesse; no posi-
tive instance has been brought to light by the extensive explorations
of the Bureau of Ethnology in this section.

In another mound in the same section, on which a small pine tree
was growing and which presented no indications whatever of having
been disturbed, was found a steel-bladed, bone-handled case-knife.
This was of the old style, having the end of the blade curved upward.
The mound in which it was found had never been plowed, was of com-
paratively small size, and about 6 feet high. The knife was found near
the bottom; there was no intrusive burial in the mound, and if not
deposited at the time the mound was thrown up it must have fallen in at
a subsequent excavation, though the clayey soil of which it was formed
presented no indication of such disturbance.

Mention is made in the preceding part of this volume of a stone hay-
ing engraved upon it letters of the Cherokee alphabet, which was found
in a mound near the locality of the old Cherokee settlements in the
valley of the Little Tennessee. The strange circumstance in this case,
which presents a puzzle difficult to solve, is that the evidence seems
positive that the mound was at least a hundred years old, and that it
was known that it had not been disturbed in sixty years.

A small mound in Bartow county, Georgia, on being excavated was
found to be composed wholly of clay and to contain no indications of
burial. This had not been disturbed since it was built, as was evi-
dent from the undisturbed strata, yet at the bottom, among other frag-
ments, was a small piece of glazed pottery, which Mr. Holmes pro-
nounces of Spanish origin.

A mound situated on the bank of the Savannah river at Hollywood
was recently opened by Mr. H. L. Reynolds, one of the Bureau assist-
ants, which contained undoubted evidence of contact with European
civilization. This is situated in the section where most authorities
agree in locating the Indian town of Cutifachiqui, visited by De Soto
in his famous expedition, and is heretofore mentioned.

1Hakluyt Soe. Pub., vol. 1x, p. 189.

THOMAS. ] INDIANS AND EUROPEANS. 715

Mention has already been made of finds by Mr. Walker in some
mounds near Tampa Bay, Florida, and therefore need not be repeated
here.

While excavating that part of the Ohio canal running through Ben-
ton township, Cuyahoga county, it became necessary to remove part of
asmall mound. In this, says Mr. W.H. Price, under whose direction
the work was done, were the remains of one or more skeletons, a gun-
barrel, and perhaps some of the mountings of the stock.!

With one of the burials in the works of Union county, Mississippi,
Mr. Fowke, the Bureau assistant, found a piece of silver stamped with
the Spanish coat of arms, a figure of which has been given, also the
irons of a saddle-tree. As this locality is in the territory occupied by
the Chickasaws, a people visted by De Soto in his expedition, it is pos-
sible these articles are mementoes of the trials and hardships suffered
here by that unfortunate expedition.

In the rubbish thrown out of one of the stone graves of the Hale
mound, Alexander county, Illinois, heretofore deseribed and figured,
was found a small brass Catholic medal, which we know from the
saints’ names stamped on it can not be older than the year 1700.

In one of the Arkansas mounds excavated by one of the Bureau
agents was an earthen bottle modeled after the old French decanters.
In another was discovered a tooth which Prof. Baird pronounced that
of a hog.

A circular mound of the group at Hazen Corners, Crawford county,
Wisconsin, which consists of effigies and elongate mounds, was opened
by one of the Bureau assistants. There were no indications of burial,
but at the bottom, in the center, was a small pile of stone implements,
among which was a regularly shaped, genuine gun-flint. In some of
the mounds of this section the Bureau assistants found a copper kettle,
silver bracelets with Roman letters stamped upon them, silver brooches
and crosses; but these pertained to intrusive burials and hence are not
intreduced into this list of cases as bearing upon the point now re-
ferred to.

From mounds in Le Sueur county, Minnesota, about 4 miles north of
St. Peter, Mr. Blackiston obtained the following articies: A silver
wristlet with ‘“‘ Montreal” and “ B. C.” stamped upon it; tubular cop-
per ear-pendants; a string of thirty white china beads, a large brown
glass bead, four common pins, a needle, a small pearl ornament, and a
quartz arrow point.’

From the Ninth Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Minne-
sota, above reterred to,? we learn that a‘ blue-glass bead ” was obtained
by Prof. Winchell in one of the mounds at Big Stone lake.

The fragments of iron implements obtained from a mound in Cald-
well county, North Carolina, showing undoubted evidence of contact

'Anc. Mon., p. 146. =P. 162.
2Geol. and Nat. Hist. Sury. Minn., vol. 1 (1872-82), p. 647. Ninth Ann. Geol. Rep. Minn., 1880, p. 164.

716 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

with European civilization, have already been referred to in a previous
publication by the Bureau. Articles of iron were also found by the
Bureau agents in some two or three mounds in east Tennessee, of
which mention is made in the preceding report of field works.

It is possible that Prof. Putnam is correct in assuming that what Dr.
Hildreth found in the Marietta mound did not warrant his conclusion
that a sword had been buried there. But there are very strong reasons
for believing that the corrugated silver band which Dr. Hildreth
believed to be part of a sword scabbard was a band for the hair made
by white men (some we know were traded to the Indians) or of mate-
rial furnished by them.' The brief manner, however, in which he
disposes of Atwater’s statement in regard to the articles found by him
in the mound at Circleville, Ohio, is by no means satisfactory to arche-
ologists. He says:

The reference to iron in the mound at Circleville by Mr. Atwater would not be
worthy of consideration were it not for the widespread belief that he found a steel
sword and piece of cast iron. He simply found a piece of antler, in one end of which
a hole had been bored and around this part was a band of silver. This he called ‘“‘the
handle of either a small sword or a large knife,” and he distinetly states that ‘no
iron was found, but an oxide remained of similar shape and size.” This isevidently
purely a case of imagination and misconception. Similar pieces cut from antlers
have since proved to be common and are generally believed to be handles for small
drills and knives made of stone or copper.”

Notwithstanding this curt dismissal of the subject it is a fact that
can not be disputed that the Bureau agent found in one of the North
Carolina mounds a similar piece of an antler in which still remained a
part of the iron implement of which it formed the handle. It is also
true that chemical analysis showed that this was not meteoric iron.
Prof. Putnain’s assumption is therefore wholly gratuitous.

In reference to ‘‘ plate of iron,” he remarks:

In iene days, whez only the most careful and critical work is of any value, some-
thing more definite than this statement is required before it ce be claimed that cast
iron has been found in Ohio mounds.

Mr. Atwater says he was present when the mound was removed and
“carefully examined the contents.” In speaking of the horn handle he
says, “The handle either of a small sword or a large knife, made of
elk’s horn; around the end where the blade had been inserted in a
ferule, yet no iron was found, but an oxide of similar shape and size.”* As
the minuteness of details as to size and relative positions, of articles in
the mound indicate that he took notes at the time, his statements of facts
as to what he saw should not be rejected because they do not agree
with a preconceived theory—especially as he was the best qualified and
most careful observer of his day in this line. The silver ferule and
hole in the handle are sufficient in themselves to raise a presumption
that there was a blade of some kind and to suggest contact with the

1 Proc. Am. Antiq. Soc., New Series, vol. 2, 1882-83, pp. 349-363.
* Loe. cit., p. 350. $Trans. Am. Antiq. Soe., vol. 1, p. 178.

THOMAS. ] INDIANS AND EUROPEANS. eg

whites. Add to this the further statement that ‘an oxide remained of
a Similar shape and size,” and the evidence is too strong to be set aside
by amere opinion. Moreover, his statement that “no iron was found”
shows careful observation and a desire to state precisely what he saw.
As hunting knives with deer-horn handles and silver ferules were com-
mon in the days of the first settlement of the country, there would be
no hesitancy in accepting the statement where there is a willingness to
admit that the mound was built after the advent of the whites.

It is a very bold assumption that a man of Atwater’s attainments
and experience as an antiquarian would take iron-colored clay for a
plate of oxidized iron. He does not say that it was castiron, but, that
before being disturbed by the spade it ‘resembled a plate of cast
iron.” We therefore feel fully justified in giving this mound as one
example where evidence of contact with European civilization was
found.

The following examples are taken from Dr. P. R. Hoy’s paper enti-
tled “ Who built the Mounds?” !

James Mathew, a brother of Rey. Father Mathew, of Racine, settled on Zumbro
river in Olmstead county, Minnesota, in 1860. When he first plowed the land there
was a mound 6 feet high and 20 feet in breadth, and so situated that it was in the
way of properly cultivating the land, so he made an attempt to plow it down. He
sank the plow to the beam repeatedly, but succeeded in reducing the height only
about 2 feet. The next year he procured a scraper and went to work systematically
to remove the entire mound. After scraping down the eminence to within about 2
feet of the base he came to some rotten wood, On carefully removing the top he
discovered a kind of cage built of large stakes driven into the ground, as close
together as possible, and covered with a split log, finished by plastering the outside
thickly with clay, this forming a rude lodge which was about 3 feet long and alittle
less in breadth. In this pen he found one skeleton of an adult in a good state of
preservation, and with the bones were found two iron hatchets, a dozen flint arrow
heads, a copper ring 2 inches in diameter, a lot of shell beads, and a red stone pipe
of rather large size and ingeniously ornamented with lead. Father Mathew visited
his brother a few days after this find. On his return he brought the entire lot of
implements home with him.

From Mr. West, an intelligent and reliable gentleman of Racine, Wis-
consin, Dr. Hoy received an accurate description of a mound opened.
From this it appears that the mound was small, being only about 10
feet in diameter and 24 feet high. The much decayed skeleton was in
a pit in the original soil under the mound, and near the center was a
copper kettle. “This kettle was about 6 inches across, with straight
sides; if had ears and no bale, and, in one place on its side where there
had been a hole, there was a rivet inserted, made of copper.”

He mentions other mounds situated near the junction of White and
Pox rivers, in one of which had been buried on the original surface of
the ground four persons, two adults and two children. ‘ Each was
covered,” continues the account, “with a thick stratum of compact

‘Read betore the Montreal meeting (1882) of the Amer. Assoc. Ady. Sci., but published in pamph-
let form.

718 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

clay, thus forming a rude kind of sarcophagus. On breaking open these
clay cases we found human bones partly decayed, and three copper
kettles, one of which had some nuts in it, perhaps pecans; another had
what are supposed to be bones of arabbit; also there were many silver
earrings, breast pins, and one beautiful, double-armed. ringed, silver
cross, With R. C. in Roman capitals engraved in the center of the upper
arm of the cross, also a large quantity of blue glass beads.” In the
other was found one copper kettle of rather large size ‘‘and a small
fur-covered, brass-nailed trunk, 10 by 12 inches and 8 inches in height.
In this trunk were discovered a lot of cheap silver trinkets.”

THE MUSKOKI TRIBES.

As I have in two small works, one entitled ‘“‘ The Cherokees in pre-
Columbian Times,”! the other ‘‘The story of a mound, or the Shawnees-
in pre-Columbian Times,”? discussed the probability that the tribes
named were mound-builders, there is no necessity for repeating the
discussion here.

By reference to these works it will be seen that I arrived at the con-
clusion that both the Cherokees and Shawnees were mound-builders,
the evidence leading to this conviction, some of which has been given
in preceding chapters, being apparently so strong as to dispel all doubt
on the subject.

I would, however, call attention to the very strong evidence that the
Cherokees were mound-builders, presented in the preceding report of
field work. By referring to the plat of the Little Tennessee valley,
Pl. xxv, and Timberlake’s Map, Pl. xxv1, showing the locality of the
Cherokee “ Overhill towns” and locations of the mound groups, it will
be seen that each of the former is marked by one of the latter.

Mr. Gallatin, Dr. Brinton, and Mr. Gatschet (especially the latter in
his excellent work on the ‘“ Migration legend of the Creeks”) have
demonstrated from the aboriginal names of persons, places, and things
mentioned by the narrators of De Soto’s expedition, that the tribes
then inhabiting the southern states through which the wanderers
passed, were the same as those subsequently found occupying this
region. It follows, therefore, that the theory advanced by some
writers,” that the Creeks or Muskoki (Muscogee or Muscogulgee) tribes
migrated to this region from some point west of the Mississippi, subse-
quent to the date of De Soto’s expedition, is erroneous, and may be
dismissed from further consideration.

From the narratives of the Adelantado’s march and a few faint
glimpses we catch from other sources, we are justified in concluding

' First published in the American Anthropologist, then in book form by Judd & Detweiler, Wash-
ington, D. C., 1891.

? First published in Science, then in book form by N. D. Hodges, New York, 1890.

3 Milfort ‘‘ Memoire,” etc. Pickett ** History of Alabama,” Vol. 1, p. 74, et seq.

ee

THOMAS. ] MUSKOKI TRIBES. (Ay

that the southern tribes east of the Mississippi were in a comparatively
quiet and settled condition, and that most of them were at the time
settled in villages and building and using mounds and defensive works
in the manner they had been accustomed to from an unknown period
in the past. That this was true of the Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws,
and other tribes of the Muskoki family and also of the Natchez, may
be assumed with little fear of being in error.

Although the ancient works of these states have not been explored
sufficiently to enable us to speak positively on this point, still the data
so far obtained indicate that the condition observed by De Soto and
his followers had been maintained without any radical and general
modification for a period of considerable length previous thereto. In
other words, there is nothing in the character of the works or of the
vestiges of art found in them indicating extensive and general move-
ments, or successive waves of population materially differing in culture
or customs. But this general statement must be considered as here
applied only to the Gulf states, for when we reach the northern limits
of Georgia and enter Tennessee we find in the ancient works undoubted
evidences of the presence of different tribes or peoples.

From the geographical distribution of the works of this southern dis-
tfict east of the Mississippi river and the lines along which certain
types of art are found, it is safe to assume that the general movement
has been from the west toward the east or the reverse. This inference
is drawn chiefly from the fact that there appears to be no continuous se-
ries of Similar works, or those belonging to the same general type, along
the lines of the larger rivers (except the Mississippi). In other words,
the direction of the movement does not appear to have been governed
here by the water courses. The works are scattered along the same
parallels of latitude, their lines of distribution crossing the main
streams at right angles. As this transverse belt ceases towards the
east before reaching the Atlantic coast, and its southern border lies
mostly at a considerable distance from the Gulf, the most reasonable
and natural explanation is that the migration was from the west.

There are but few, if any, indications in the works themselves of the
date of this movement, which, in all probability, consisted of successive
waves. That it preceded the discovery by Columbus at least by one or
more centuries is indicated by the works and their contents, and the
conditions observed by De Soto, but on the other hand its antiquity
appears to be limited, if we suppose mound-building to have com-
menced soon after arrival, by the fact that we find in the works no
evidences of any marked progress in art during occupancy.

The chief seats of power east of the Mississippi appear to have been
(judging from the works and history) at Cutifachiqui, the exact locality
of which has not been ascertained, but was probably on the Savannah
river a Short distance above Augusta; the site of the Etowah mounds
near Cartersville, Georgia, probably the Guaxule of De Soto’s chron-

720 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

icles; the locality in Karly county, Georgia, marked by the Messier
mounds; the “old town” of Apalachucla, mentioned by Bartram, which
could not have been far distant and pertained to the same limited
tribe; the site of the Prince mounds near Carthage, Alabama; the
Mauvilla of De Soto’s day; Chisca or Chicasa, in northern Mississippi,
doubtless the chief village of the Chickasaws; and the vicinity of Nat-
chez. These localities, so far as known, are marked by mounds and
the remains of other works. Even where we are unable now to deter-
mine them we have historical evidence that they were marked by
mounds or other earthworks. I may remark in passing that the power
of the Chickasaw tribe does not appear to have reached its zenith, in the
section in which they were then found, until after the date of De Soto’s
visit. There are, in fact, some reasons for believing they had not then
occupied this locality for any great leugth of time. Judging by the
testimony of the mounds and the narrative of De Soto’s march, I am
not inclined to believe the statement of the Natchez Indians regarding
their former great numerical strength, controlling power, and extensive
sway, even after making due allowance for the usual exaggeration,
unless we can identify them with the builders and former occupants of
the great Cahokia group, which is very improbable.

Judging by the progress made in the ceramic art, I should think one
of the most polished tribes of this region was located during the mound-
building age in that portion of the country extending from Early
county, Georgia, to the valley of the Ochlochonee river. The orna-
mentation and form of the pottery is somewhat peculiar, and judging
from the latter I am inclined to believe the makers had seen some ves-
sels manufactured by the whites. Are we to ascribe these to the Lower
Creeks or shall we attribute them to the Yuchi(Uches)? The latter, as
we learn from Hawkins, were more ‘civil, orderly, and industrious
than their neighbors, the Lower Creeks.”!

When we reach the northern portion of Georgia we find indisputable
evidences of being in the marches, the debatable ground between con-
tending powers or hostile tribes. The site of the Etowah groups so
often mentioned must have been a place of some importance in mound.
building times. Here we find evidences of culture and art equal to
that obtained from the mounds of any other locality in that portion of
the United States included in the scope of this work, not even except-
ing the far-famed works of the Ohio. The locality was well chosen
when we consider the means of security and defense adopted and the
necessity of relying largely upon the products of agriculture for sub-
sistence, yet the silent ruins, when compelled to yield up their hidden
treasures, give unmistakeable evidences of the ravages of war and of
occupancy by different peoples. The fragments of stone images found
here are of such a character as to lead any one who examines them to

! For a discussion of the localities occupied by this tribe, the reader is referred to Mr. Gatschet’s
work, before mentioned, vol. 1, pp. 17-24.

THOMAS. ] INDIANS AND EUROPEANS. 721

the conclusion that they must have been maliciously and inténtionally
broken.

Some of the pottery, which, unfortunately, has been discovered only
in fragments, bears a strong resemblance to that found in Early county,
indicating occupancy for a time by the Creeks or Uchees. On the other
hand, the mode of sepulture and articles found in the small mound con-
nect the builders, as heretofore stated, with that people who made the
stone graves and built the mounds of the Cumberland valley, who, as
we have shown, we are warranted in assuming were Shawnees; and,
finally, we are justified by articles taken from graves discovered here
and from history in asserting that it was for a time occupied by the
Cherokees, though none of the works except some neighboring graves
can be ascribed to them; but I think it quite probable the fragmentary
condition of the stone images is due to their savage hatred of all per-
taining to a hereditary foe. In an article published in the Magazine of
American History,! I was inclined to attribute these works entirely to
the “Creeks,” using this term in the broad sense, believing they were
occupied at the time of De Soto’s visit by people under the sway of the
sacique of Cutifachiqui; but the explorations made since that article
was written have introduced a new factor into the problem and mater-
ially modified the opinion there expressed. From the language of the
Gentleman of Klvas, as follows: “In that journey (from Xualla to
Guazule) the lady of Cutifachiqui (whom the governor carried with him,
as is aforesaid, with purpose to carry her to Guazule because her terri-
tory reached thither), going on with the bond women which led her,”
ete., | was led to believe that Guazule was then included in the domin-
ion of the cacique; but referring since to what is said by Garcilasso
on this point, I find he states very particularly, even repeating it, that
this town was beyond the limits of the territory of the cacique, and
governed by a cacique belonging to another tribe, though, to assist the
Spaniards, she sent ambassadors thither to solicit the aid of the inhab-
itants in their behalf.

Mr. Gatschet? refers to a tradition that the Shawnees once resided
in upper Georgia around Tugelo (in the region of Habersham county)
and on the headwaters of the large Georgia rivers, but thinks it re-
quires further examination. We have, as already shown, satisfactory
evidences that this tribe not only held possession for a time of the
locality on Etowah river, but were probably also the builders of one, at
least, of the mounds there; we also have the testimony of C.C. Jones*®
that stone graves have been found in Habersham county, which fact
indicates their presence in that region. In addition to this we have the
statement ot Milfort* that lands were obtained here from the “ Savan-
ogues, savages.”

1 May number, 1884. * Antiq Southern Indians, p. 214.

2 Op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 23. 4 Memoire, p. 9.
12 ETH 46

722 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

The hope of ultimately solving the great problems of the pre-Colum-
bian times of our continent is perhaps as lively to-day as in former
years. But, with the vast increase of knowledge in recent years in
reference to the data bearing on these questions, a modification of the
hope entertained has taken place. While no thought any longer exists
of ascertaining the exact date of or any definite particulars in regard
to the migration by which the western continent received its first set-
tlers; yet there is an expectation that the advance in scientific knowl-
edge and methods of investigation, together with the long and careful
study of all the data, will result in determining in a general sense the
age in which this first introduction of population took place, and in
deciding what race or races contributed to this population.

This expectation includes the determination with reasonable certainty
of the route or routes of this migration. The method of treating the
subject has also been changed from that of mere theorizing to scientific
deduction. The literary world is now and then-amused at the revival
of some old, exploded theory or the presentation of some new one equally
absurd; but allusion is made here only to those efforts which appear to
be based on some legitimate data.

The tendency at present appears to be to base the tentative efforts in
this direction on the linguistic evidence, leaving out of view the impor-
tant aid to be derived from a careful “study of the archeological data
bearing upon the subject or referring to it only where it seems to cor-
roborate the theories based on the linguistic evidence. This arises in
part from the fact that while the archeological data relating to a large
portion of the continent are few, and that archeology can not, as yet,
be considered a true science; on the other hand the linguistic material,
although not complete, is much more abundant, and the treatment
thereof reduced to true scientific methods. As the latter field affords
greater promise of reaching positive conclusions, it is more attractive
to methodical students.

As the discussion of this subject from the linguistic standpoint is
necessarily based upon the study of the various linguistic stocks and
families of the entire continent, and, to some extent upon the migra-
tions therein, so the discussion of the same questions from the archeo-
logical standpoint must be based upon the study of the various types
and their distribution over the continent. And the same necessity for
generalization and classification arises here as in the linguistic field.
Although the lines of demarkation between the types and groups with
which the antiquarian has to deal are apparently less distinct than
those with which the philologist is concerned, yet careful study will
show that this difference is not so great as at first it seems to be. The
indications of comprehensive archeologic sections and also of minor

THOMAS. } ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN RACE. 123

districts are too apparent to question their existence. The chief draw-
back in attempting to use these as evidences of ethnic distinctions
arises from three causes: First, the lack of sufficient data by which to
outline the different sections and districts; second, the overlapping and
intermingling of types in consequence of the shifting of positions by
tribes; and third, the fact that types of art and other archeologic char-
acteristics are not governed strictly by ethnic lines, but are often the
result of environment, materials, and contact with other tribes. Never-
theless race characteristics and tribal customs impress themselves to a
certain extent under all variations in locations and conditions so long
as the identity of the race or tribe is maintained. There is no difficulty
in distinguishing the Mexican and Central American antiquities as a
whole from those of the mound area of the eastern half of the United
States, yet the geographical boundaries of these sections can, with our
present knowledge, only be determined approximately. If, however,
we move from the Mexican district southward or northward along the
western side of the continent we shall find the distinguishing features
less narked than when compared with the types of the mound area.
There is no difficulty in distinguishing the types of the Huron-Iroquois
district from the works of the Dakotan-area (Wisconsin, Minnesota,
and the Dakotas), and we can point out some specimens of the former
types within the latter area, yet, where not fixed by natural conditions,
it is impossible with present data to draw a definite boundary to either
district.

Although we meet with this difficulty in defining geographically the
boundaries of the districts and more comprehensive sections it does not
prevent us from drawing correct conclusions from their general posi-
tions and peculiar types. That all the distinguishing types of a district
or section can not be attributed to the peculiar physical features of such
districts or sections must be admitted. Will any one claim that the
vast difference between the archeologic types of Mexico and Wisconsin
have resulted wholly from the physical differences of the two areas”
If not, it follows that so much as has not resulted from physical pecu-
liarities must be attributed to racial or tribal customs.

It is necessary at this point, in order to present the thought in view,
to repeat a few sentences given in the previous part of the volume
relating to “Archeological Areas and Distribution of Types.”

A careful examination of what has been ascertained in regard to North
American archeology; with special reference to the question of arch-
eologic sections, leads in the first place to the conclusion that the
ancient remains belong in a broad and comprehensive sense to two
general classes. One of these classes is limited geographically to the
Atlantic slope, the other chiefly to the Pacific slope, the eastern or
Rocky mountain range of the great continental mountain belt to the
Rio Grande, forming approximately the dividing line between the two
areas. According to this division the Atlantic section includes that

(24 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

part of the continent east of the Rocky mountains and north of the Gulf
of Mexico, and the Pacific section the remainder from Alaska to the
isthmus of Panama. The arctic regions, except Alaska, are not taken
into consideration.

While there are manifest and marked differences in the types and
characters of the ancient works and remains of different areas within
each ef these two comprehensive sections, yet when those of the Pacitie
slope as a whole are compared with those of the Atlantic slope, there is
a dissimilarity which marks them as the products of different races or
as the result of different race influences.

If this division into two great archeologic sections is based on suffi-
ciently reliable data to justify its adoption, it will form a very important
landmark in the discussion of the chief problems of the prehistoric times
of our continent. Reference to some, only of the evidences bearing upon
this point, is made here to show their character, as it would not be
possible to present them in detail in a short chapter.

One of the first impressions made upon the mind of the student of
North American ethnology is the resemblance in a broad and general
sense of the features, customs, arts, and archeological remains of the
west coast to those of the islands in and countries bordering on the
Pacific ocean, while on the other hand there is no such resemblance
between them and those of the Atlantic slope. In other words, the
types when classified in the broadest sense appear to arrange them-
selves in two general divisions—those belonging to the Pacific slope
and those confined to the Atlantic slope.

Although this classification in express words has not been made, yet
we see a tendency in the works relating to the west coast ethnology
toward such a classification and a disposition to form what may be
termed the Pacific types. This is perhaps most clearly indicated by
Prof. W.H. Dall, in his paper on *‘ Masks, labrets and certain abo-
riginal customs,” published in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau
of Ethnology. Referring to this subject in his summary, he says:

The original population of America is too distant to form the subject of discussion.
There can be no doubt that America was populated in some way by people of an ex-
tremely low grade of culture at a period even geologically remote, There is no
reason for supposing, however, that immigration ceased with these original people.
Analogy would suggest that from time to time accessions were received from other
regions of people who had risen somewhat in the scale elsewhere, while the inchoate
American population had been doing the same thing on their own ground. Be this
as itimay, we find certain remarkable customs or characteristics geographically
spread north and south along the western slope of the continent in a natural line of
migration with overflows eastward in convenient localities. These are not primi-
tive customs, but things which appertain to a point considerably above the lowest
scale of development in culture.

Some are customs pure and simple; e. g., labretifery; tattooing the chin of adult
females; certain uses of masks, etc.

Some are characteristics of culture, e. g., a certain style of conventionalizing nat-
ural objects, and, in a higher stage, the use of conventional signs in a hieroglyphic

THOMAS. ] ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TYPES. 725

way; a disposition to, and peculiar facility in, certain arts, such as carvings in
wood, ete.

Some are details of art related to religious or mythological ideas, such as the repe-
tition of elaborate forms in a certain attitude, with relation to myths therefore pre-
sumably similar in form or origin.

Some are similar myths themselves, a step further in the retrospect.

If these were of natural American growth, stages in development out of a uniform
state of culture, it might fairly be expected that we should find them either sporad-
ically distributed without order or relation as between family and family wherever
a certain stage of culture had been reached or distributed in certain families wher-
ever their branches were to be found. This we do not find.

The only other alternative which occurs to me is that these features have been
impressed upon the American aboriginal world from without. If so, whence?

Northern Asia gives us no help whatever. The characteristics referred to are all
foreign to that region.

If nations from the eastern shores of the Atlantic were responsible, we should
expect the Atlantic shores of America to show the results of the influence most
clearly. This is not the case, but the very reverse of the case.

We are then obliged to turn toward the region of the Pacific.

The great congeries of islands known to geographers as Polynesia and Melanesia
stretch toward South America in latitude 25° south, as in no other direction. Here
we have a stream of islands from Papua to the Paumotus, dwindling at last to single
islets with wide gaps between, Elizabeth, Ducie, Easter Island, Sala-y-Gomez, San
Felix, St. Ambrose, from which comparatively it is but a step, swept by the northerly
current to the Peruvian coast. We observe also that these islands lie south from the
westerly south equatorial current, in the slack water between it and an easterly cur-
rent and in a region of winds blowing toward the east.

Here, then, is a possible way.

I have stated how the peculiar and remarkable identity of certain carvings asso-
ciated with religious rites turned my attention to the Melanesian islands.

The customs, etc., I have called attention to are, particularly, the use of masks
and carvings to a more than ordinary degree, labretifery, human-head preserving;
identity of myths. !

Prof. Dall calls attention to the singular form of carving, represent-
ing a figure with the tongue hanging out, and usually communicating
with a frog, otter, bird, snake, or fish, observed on the northwest coast
from Oregon to Prince William sound and also in Mexico and Nica-
ragua. We may add that this feature is found in numerous instances
in statues and bas-reliefs from Mexico to the Isthmus, also in the codi-
ces of Mexico and Central America, but seldom if ever appears in the
antiquities of the Atlantic division.

The prominent Tlaloc nose of Mexican and Central American figures,
of which the supposed elephant proboscis is but one form, and the
bird bill (thunder bird) of the northwest coast are but different methods
of representing the same idea, and one is undoubtedly an outgrowth of
the other. The method of superimposing, in totem posts and statues,
one figure upon another, usually combining human and animal, is
found, except in California, from Alaska to the Isthmus, and is a true
Pacific type, being almost unknown in the Atlantic division.

The angular designs on the pottery and basketry are another marked

1 Pp, 146, 147.

726 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

feature of the west coast division. And thus we might, if this were
the proper place to enter into details, go on enumerating marked dis-
tinctions between these two primary ethnological sections. As evi-
dence of the fact stated let any one compare the figures in Ensign
Albert P. Niblack’s excellent work on The Coast Indians of Southern
Alaska and Northern British Columbia,! with the Mexican and Cen-
tral American monuments and figures. The marked resemblance in
many of the designs will probably be sufficient to convince him of some
relation between the peoples of the two sections or derivation from
some common source; for example, the headdress, PI. 1x, with the head-
dresses of the Copan statues; the superimposed heads on the skirt, No.
34, Pl. x, with the similar series of ornaments on the fagade of the Casa
de Monjas of Uxmal? and on other structures, and the general designs
of the totem posts and mortuary columns shown therein with statues
of Nicaragua. There is, however, a somewhat remarkable break in the
continuity of types along the western coast of upper California.

How are we to explain this? That the spread of particular types
over such a vast extent of country varies with environment and local
conditions, must be admitted. We must, therefore, consider these
types as ethnic peculiarities, having a common origin, or adopt the
theory of Prof. Dall that ‘‘they have been impressed upon the Ameri-
can aboriginal world from without,” for which influence we must, beyond
question, look to the region of the Pacific.’ But the somewhat distinet
limits to which some of the more marked of these types are confined,
especially as we find them on the most ancient monuments, must be con-
sidered ethnic, as pertaining to particular stocks or tribes. Prof. Dall’s
theory is, after all, but a different method of expressing substantially
the same idea. To impress peculiar characteristics in prehistoric times
required long contact or intermingling, hence by settlement on the con-
tinent. Are we to presume from the differences between western and
eastern types that the latter are due to immigration on the Atlantic
side?

The general tendency of the more recent opinions in regard to the
peopling of the continent is that it was at least partly from the Atlantic
side. This is shown by the fact that some recent authorities, abandon-
ing the more generally received theory that the original population
came from the Pacific side, are inclined to look to Europe as the original
source. For example, Dr. Brinton remarks in his “ Races and Peoples:”
“These knotty points I treat in another course of lectures, where I
marshal sufficient arguments, I think, to show satisfactorily that
America was peopled during if not before the great ice age; that its
first settlers probably came from Europe by way of a land connection
which once existed over the northern Atlantic.” But he does not stop
here, as he adds, “‘and that their long and isolated residence in this

' Published by the Smithsonian Institution, 1890. $’ Third Ann. Rep. Bureau Ethn., p. 147.

2 Bancroft’s Native Races, vol. 4, p. 185.

eee

THOMAS. ] ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TYPES. 727

continent has molded them all into a singularly homogeneous race,
which varies but slightly anywhere on the continent, and has main-
tained its type unimpaired for countless generations. Never at any
time before Columbus was it influenced in blood, language, or culture
by any other race.” Dr. Horatio Hale is inclined to substantially the
same view, though somewhat reserved. The theory certainly does not
require the molding process referred to, as the settlers, according to
his belief, were of one race and received thereafter no intrusive element.

It is evident that this idea of a migration on the Atlantic side
reached by linguists after a study of the large amount of data which
has been collected, is to be attributed largely to the unsatisfactory
results obtained in attempting to trace out the links in the other direc-
tion. But the important fact is to be borne in mind that those who
reach this conclusion have prosecuted their studies on the Atlantic
slope, while the more recent authors who have carried on their studies
ou the Pacific slope have reached an exactly opposite conclusion. It is
therefore highly probable that a more thorough and comprehensive
study of all the data bearing on the question will show, as appears to
be indicated by the archeology, that the truth lies between these oppo-
site views; in other words, will lead to the conclusion that the conti-
nent was peopled from two sources, one part coming to the Atlantic
coast, the other to the Pacific side. Some of the Central American tra-
ditions correspond with this view, but traditions purporting to reach
back so far in the past are of course worthless. This conclusion is not
jueompatible with the fact that the aborigines of America form a com-
paratively homogeneous race. As remarked somewhere by Prof. Dall,
even though derived from different sources, the long continental isola-
tion and molding influence would have brought about this condition.
But it does not follow that there would have necessarily been a unifi-
cation of customs, habits, and religious beliefs.

The spread of types of custom and art would be governed in part by
several influences, as ethnic lines, migrations, contact, and physical
conditions. Where we find those of a character which do not depend
upon physical conditions, but upon superstitious notions, following ¢
given line without spreading out indefinitely, we may assume, until
satisfactory evidence of another cause is given, that they mark a line
of migration and are largely ethnic. It is in this light we are inclined
to view the coast-line extension of the types peculiar to the Pacific
slope.

It is somewhat significant that Dr. Brinton should, notwithstanding
the views he advances in regard to the origin and homogeneity of the
American race, arrange his linguistic groups geographically by sub-
stantially the same dividing lines as those we have indicated as sepa-
rating the archeological divisions. His “ North Atlantic Group,”
omitting the Eskimos, corresponds geographically with our Atlantic
divisions, and his “ North Pacific” and “Central” groups combined,

728 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

with our Pacific division. This arrangement, as he adinits, is not one
of convenience only, as he attaches certain ethnographic importance to
it, ‘There is,” he continues, ‘‘a distinct resemblance between the two
Atlantic groups, and an equally distinct contrast between them and
the Pacific groups, extending to temperament, culture, and physical
traits. Each of the groups has mingled extensively within its own
limits and but slightly outside of them.”! Elsewhere he remarks that
“a few of the eastern stocks, the Athabascan and the Shoshonian,
have sent out colonies who have settled on the banks of the Pacific;
but as a rule the tribes of the western coast are not connected with any
east of the mountains. What is more singular, although they differ
surprisingly among themselves in language, they have marked anthro-
pological similarities, physical and psychical. Virchow has empha-
sized the fact that the skulls from the northern point of Vancouver
Island reveal an unmistakable analogy to those of southern California.
* * * There are many other physical similarities which mark
the Pacific Indians and contrast them with those east of the moun-
tains.”?

In his “Races and Peoples” Brinton emphasizes this eastern and
western division still more pointedly: ‘‘All the higher civilizations are
contained in the Pacific group, the Mexican really belonging to it by
derivation and original location. Between the members of the Pacific
and Atlantic groups there was very little communication at any period,
the high Sierras walling them apart.”* This view, which is based on
abundant linguistic, archologic, and custom data, and seems to be sup-
ported by the mass of evidence, is, however, at variance with Dr. Brin-
ton’s theory in regard to the original populating of the continent, as
advanced in his “American Race.”

As this separation is shown to have existed as far back as we are
able to trace customs by the archeological indications, is there not
in this fact a valid reason for believing that the original peopling of
the continent was from two different sections? Not necessarily from
the distant shores of the opposite oceans, for the characteristics of the
race, taken as a whole, as remarked by Nadaillac, and, we may add, as
shown by the archeologic remains, point toward affinities with people
belonging to the Pacific region rather than with those bordering the
opposite coasts of the Atlantic basin.

But to pursue this line of thought would carry us farther into the
field of speculation than is consistent with the object of this work. Our
only object in view in touching upon the subject was to show that, tak-
ing the more comprehensive view of the ethnology of North America,
we reach the same conclusion as that arrived at by a study of the
archeologic details, viz, that the supposed relation between the mound-
builders and the civilized nations of Mexico and Central America is not

1 American Race, p. 58. 2 Op. cit., pp. 103, 104. 3P. 248.

THOMAS. ] MEXICANS AND MOUND-BUILDERS. 729

sustained. The peoples of the two sections have been too long separated
from each other to render such a supposition admissible.

Linguistic evidence leads to the same conclusion. ‘Time is an element
in the development of languages that can not be overlooked, notwith-
standing the widely different views entertained in regard to it. Even
accepting the views of those assigning the most limited period to the
formation of languages and adopting the theory of more than one origi-
nal migration, the time required for the differentiation into the numer-
ous stocks and dialects of the different sections of the North American
continent must have been very great. That the various stocks and
dialects of the Mexican and Central American section, as also of the
Atlantic section or mound area, have been differentiated since separa-
tion from the main stock, if ever they were united, must be admitted;
and that this development took place chiefly in their respective areas
may be safely assumed from the respective positions of the branches.
This must have required a long period of time and presents a very
formidable obstacle to any other view than that the Indians of the
mound area were the authors of the ancient works found therein.

Analogy also leads to the same conclusion. The ancient remains of
other sections of North America and also of South America are trace-
able in most cases to the races found inhabiting those sections when
first discovered by Europeans. Few if any students of American arche-
ology entertain any longer a doubt that the monuments of Mexico and
Central America are attributable to the direct ancestors of the people
found occupying those countries at the time of the Spanish conquest.
Hubert H. Bancroft, speaking of the remaining evidences of Central
American civilization, remarks as follows: “I deem the grounds suffi-
cient therefore for accepting this Central American civilization of the
past as a fact, referring it not to an extinct ancient race, but to the
direct ancestors of the people still occupying the country with the Span-
iards.”! Dr. D. G. Brinton, in his work entitled “The American Race,”
makes the following statement: ‘‘ We can not identify the builders of the
ruined cities of Palenque in Tobasco and Copan in Honduras with the
ancestors of any known tribe, but the archeological evidence is conclu-
sive that whoever they were they belonged to this stock (the Maya) and
spoke one of its dialects.”? A little further on he adds: ‘“Atthe time of
the conquest the stately structures of Copan, Palenque T’Ho and many
other cities were deserted and covered with an apparently primitive
forest; but others not inferior to them, Uxmal, Chichen-Itza, Peten,
etc., were the centers of dense population, proving that the builders of
both were identical.”* Marquis de Nadaillac, who embraces the Mayas,
Aztecs, and other Central American stocks in the “ Nahautl race,” says
that ‘“‘it is to various branches of this conquering race that we owe the

1 Native Races, vol. 1, p. 117. 2'P. 153. 3'P, 155.

730 MOUND EXPLORATIONS.

Guatemala and Nicaragua and found, as far as the Isthmus of Tehuan-
tepec.!

‘This view coincides with the conclusion of all the leading archeolo-
gists of the present day. Nor could they reach any other decision if
led by the data which is conclusive on this point.

That the ruined pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona are attribu-
table to the ancestors of the sedentary tribes of those sections is not
questioned. It is also now conceded that the cave and cliff dwellings
and other remains of that region are attributable to the ancestors of
the present Pueblo tribes.

While it does not necessarily follow that because this is true in
regard to some sections it must be true in reference to all, yet it fur-
nishes a reason for concluding that the remains of the mound section
are due to the ancestors of the Indians of that section, especially as
they are the only pre-Columbian inhabitants of that region of which
we have any knowledge.

1 L’ Amérique Prehistorique, p. 264.

ong

INDEX.

A.
Page.
Abbott, C. C., cited_.__._._.___...680, 702, '705, 706
Adair, James, cited __________619, 654, 665, 674, 675
Adams, J. D., mound on farm of (Arkan-

SAA) 8s 2222) we cees=-Seccccie ceo 2A

Age of mounds inferred from terrace on
which they stand 625
APC OLUT CCS sachet Soe enon ae - 628
Growing in old Fort Chartres, Illinois 629
Usual test unsatisfactory .-.--...-... 680

Agriculture of the Indiams -______-__-._ 615-620
Akerman, Benj., mound on farm of

(Geonpeia) ica. 35 25 Se an 312
Alabama, Barbour county, ancient re-
Mains M2 ss- false keke ls «1289
Blount county. burial cave in _______- 286
Clarke county, Fort Manvilla, sup-
posed(siteiofs---2-s.--5-8 =| (R89
Coosa river mound and house, re-
Mains Nears = o202 sea0 a5 evesoaaees 287
Elmore county, antiquities of_______ 286-288
Explorations in -.-...-.....-..--.. ----283-292
Jefferson county, mounds in ________ 290, 291

Lauderdale county, antiquities of --283-285
Marshallcounty, Hampton cave, bone

Gepositin=<css2555 2 -eses2c2222 cece | 280
Madison county, shell heap in ______- 285
Montgomery county, mounds in _____ 289
Sumter county, Cedar Hummock

BLOND) ee sa see eee eee 286
Talladega county, site of Creek set-

tlemoentin ie. 2 cceseere ee ase oe 290

Alexander, J. B.,. mound onland of (North

@Carolina))-2-~ seh 2 sce eee 349

Alibamo, fortress of - 650
Ajlyn, Robert, assists in exploration_.__. 181

Almy, John, circular works on land of
ONe@waNionks) ie <a soe noe ean eee 519
Altarsand Altar, mounds not necessarily

places of'sacrifice . ---..--...-.--.- 606
American State Papers, cited____._______ 695
Anderson, Robert, remains on farm of

(Arkansas))2s2- 9225-2 asen eee 228
Andrews, E. B., remarks regarding use

of fire in burial ceremonies --___- 567, 678

Finds copper article smooth and

even as if from rolled sheet-...-.. 711

Angel, Silas, mounds on land of__________ 559

Antiquities, movable, or relics and re-

Apalachucla, ancient town of,described. 655

Page.
Appalachian district archeology of___. 573-575
WHE PIPES! Offs vesea eee ae ae aee LOTS
Burialimounds of --2-.=_=- oes. 574
mtonejieraves of) a. ce-- se cee- eee 575
Engraved shells of _ 575
Limits of 573
Characteristics of 573, 585
Archeological areas and distribution of
bY, DOSie sess een oe eee es Dele HOS!
Areas, the Atlantic and Pacifie______ 723
District of the mound area__-_______ 529-593
Districts and Indian stocks___________ 17
Sections, primary_............-.____. 521-524

Architecture of the mound-builders.__ 660-666
Arkansas, ancient works and antiquities
ines ese 198, 199, 203-225, 227-229, 223-237
Arkansas city, mound near 227, 237, 240
Arkansas county, Menard mounds_229, 230
Clark county, Triggs mound and

ancient works in ._..............-... 247
Clayton mounds, Jefferson county _... 242
Corning group mear-.-*---..-.-....... 198
Craighead county, Carpenters land-

ing) mound) ait.c- 2. ---c2-.----- 5-2. 200
Craighead county. Webb group-____. 201
Desha county, old (French) fort and

MOUNGS 2 = nen eee nnn e87, 269, Al

Drew county, antiquities of ____ 239,241, 242

[ex plorationg inissseee sees sae eee 233
Greene county, Babcock mounds _____ 200
Jefferson county, De Sotomound._.___-243
Jefferson county, mounds in__________ 242
Lee county, Greer’s mound -_________ 231
Lincoln county, moundsin__..._.___._ 241
Mississippi county, Frenchman’s ba-
VOU, MOUNGS|\ON 2-22-22 —aceeeeen He 221
Mississippi county, Jackson and
Sherman mounds_...-.....-..___..222, 223
House sites and cemeteries in_____- 231
Mounds in --...--_..200, 226, 229, 231, 237-239
Ouichata county, antiquities of_____ 248
Phillips county, Rogersmound__. __ 236
Poinsett county mounds ____________- 207,
209, 212, 213-218
Poplar bluff, mounds near___... _... 193
Pulaskicounty, Mound lake, mounds
onvibarik: Of 225-2 a= et Oe 243
Pulaski county, Thibault mounds 245
Saline county, antiquities of_______ 245
Saline county, Benton and Hughes
mounds near.... 246

732 INDEX.

Page. |
Arkansas district, archeology of______-586-590
Armstrong, Thomas, cited.____________._ 673
Ashe, Thomas, cited -.__...__- 696 |

Atlantic and Pacific slopes. distinctions

between types of --___- Sau nace Dee

Atwater, Caleb, quoted________- 568, 569, 667.716

Austin, F. R., mounds on land of____--_- 163
B.

Bacon, J. L., mound on land of (Ten-

MESSOG) ho see ie oe a eee ee, 377
Baird, S. F., identifies tooth found in

mound as that ofahog_.......... 715
Baldwin, C. C., identifies Ohio mound-

builders with Indians -_-_-_.___._ 600

Baldwin, J. D., identifies mound-build-
ers with Toltecs_

, 602, 615
Bancroft, Hubert H., cited _ * ot. 602, 672, 726
Barber, E. A., says the Delawa ares buried

in'stone graves.....2....-..=.-.... 692
On stone pipes. 705
Barnes, I. N., workson land of (Ohio)... 489
Barraneb, As Cle seo 9. oe eee eee eee 534
Barton, Benjamin S., on origin of the
INOUNGS! 22h sete sees tena aee eee ees
Bartram, William, description of Rem-
DeLEMouUNd Sy. ees see LD
Opinion of, regarding origin of the
POUT OSE aneee sea ee sen em OOY,
Cited oo. a2 doce ce 5 655, 657, 674

Beauchamp, William M., chapter writ-
CONN DY sa> 52502 So. 282 eee e040 00,

Engaged as special aid __. _____ “ 19
Indebtedness to, acknowledged _ 25
Information furnished by-_-____ 503
Beck, Lewis C., cited ---.._--- 62 9, 658
Bell; Tames;'cited- 9s. -a-s- 20 co ee 673
Bess, Peter, mounds. on land of (Mis-
BOUL) pee tre cers asso a ene ae eat 170
Discovers stone coffins-----.--_-_--__. 171
Beverly, Robert. cited. _______._._.._668, 685, 686
On Indian agriculture___............. 617
Biedma, Luis Hernandez de. cited_______ 646,
648, 669. 685
BIST COMET Vay CLUGUS a5 seo ee eee ee PODS
Big Sioux river, works along___-__ - 35, 38
Black Hawk, scene of battle by ; 46
Grave of._..- 110,111
Blankinstone. Mr..copper plate obtained .
DY. eee cee ste ceccseenseeecassctkceen » 159!
Finds silver articles in Minnesota
MOUNG) Ws non sn wes eee sane ae 715
Bone implements from mound-_.---.-..._ 382
Bone needle from mound_____-...-....... 378
Bone plates from mound ---....--..--.-.- 157
(BOSRU CITC Ciao ees arene ae OL ABT,
Boulware, J.N., mounds on lana of (Mis-
SOUD)) (ees eon eee eee, LOD,
Bowlder mosaics - 534
Boyle, David, ossuary opened by ----.-- 545
Bradford, Alex. W.,on origin of the
mound-builders |: -s.-022-----=-=-5- 599

Bracelet of shell and copper beads, from
MOUNG eens Seenae enna arene 363

Page.

Brasseur de Bourbourg, cited_____- =: 672

Breboeuf, Jean de, on communal burial_657, 674
Brinton, D. G.. classification of linguistic

BtOCKS ID yest s44 s--eare eee ee 523

Onmound-builders________-

Cited)2-) hoe et eee 175, 718, 726, 727, 729
Brisco, Mrs., mounds on plantation of
| CGoulsiana) sco see oe eee ae
Burial, method of bundling skeletonin._ 539
Holdingiskeletonstn.--- == -s-- ses 539
| Instance of hasty, after battle________ 546
| Communal or tribal ---.-..__..-----.. 657
| Skeletons often bundled in. - 673
Skeletons sometimes folded in_- 674
Several modes of_.-...--------- 672
Interment, the usual mode of _______- 672
| Remoyal of flesh before_.-.-..-....... 672
| Beneath or in dwellings -___- 674
In a sitting or squatting posture _.._ 674
Ceremonies, use of fire in____._.--.-.. 675
Of an Indian chief described - 678
Burial case, boat-shaped, clay__......---- 360
| Burial customs of Indians and mound-
| builders compared -____--....__..671-679
Burial mounds, classification of, in Ohio
istrict se enn se ees eens a ON
Of the Appalachian district _. eee 574
Of the Dakotan distaict --_............ 538
Of Wisconsin, built in part, at least,
IbyalndianS o8- Ae e ee enone m0:
Burning captives, probably practiced by
mound-buiGersie.-----e-asee= eee 676

Busycon perversum from mounds. -__- 83, 116, 131,
224, 225, 303, 343, 386, 518, 685, 713
Button, Joel, inclosure on farm of (New

York) -. 511
Cc.
| (Caches! 22 22222. a--ss2 oe oe eee 2, 540
Cairns ...... 31
California (Archeological) section-_--__- 523
Campbell, J., translation of Davenport
tablets: |Dy:-~ 5 25-- 223425 sense 6 Odo:

Canada, Orillia, fish pound near_-
CaaS aes eee ee ee ree re
Carr, Lucien, on Indians and mound-

builders! 22. == se ee 600, 615
Cited ae ss Saceenes econo usee-- senses | O40
Cartier, Jacques, cited __...---.-----...--618; 624
Carver, Jonathan, cited’..---..--.....-.-.- 657
Cataloguing specimens, method of-______- 22
Catlin, George, reference to North Amer-
ican Mindisans/Dy----2--ss-5> oes ae 42.43
Gaves) burial = - 22-2. 22 ea sn onan ee O0y POO
Chain or connected mounds, where found 536
Champlain, Samuel de, cited._.--...--.-. 618
Charlevoix, P. F. X. de, cited______.-___.618, 668

Chautauqualake, New York, indications
of ancient works on theshores of 505
Cheney, T. Apoleon, describes burial pits

or. ossuiaries .__...----- Some 546
Cited = oF os ode peee ence DUG: 543, 548
Cherokees. burnt captives on mounds.. 676
Cherokees, mound-builders.._-----...---. 175

| Chidester, J. D., house sites on farm of
} (ATKansas)).222 2552 stece aoe ae ee 245

a a es eS

_

INDEX. 733
Page. Page.
Choctaws, communal burialof,described 677 | Courois, built mounds for dwelling sites. 653

Chronologic arrangement---_-.----------- 28
Clark, John, donates clay pipe...---.-... 258
House sites on land of (Mississippi). 258
Clark, J. V.H., cited ....... .---.-----508, 545, 547
Clarke, F. W.. analysis of silver foil by.. 501 |
Clayton, Powell, mounds on land of_... 242 |
Glavizeroy Hos.) CluGd=- 22. =a eee nena 72 |
Colden, Cadwallader, cited_ ak 657
Collections, number and char acter of. = 22-24
Collester, J. C., observations regarding

AULT See ee a ea 42

Collet. John, notice of Angel mounds by — 556
Statement regarding salt-kettle pot-

UGhAy 2 -aaageec spices eee neacss 168
Collett, Mrs. J. E., moundonfarm of-... 344
Collins, Lewis, notice of ancient work in

Ween tuele yD yess seco see ewe OO,

(Chit s(e Wes ee See oa zien | 1696
Colvin, Mr., graves on land of (Pennsylva-

ThA) pete ee sees eee ees AOD
Conant, A. J., cited 601
Conical mounds defined _- t 29
Conner, Mrs. Rebecca, mound o on niand ‘of 348
Conyers, Mr., land on farm of (Georgia). 318

Copper, various articles of, collected from
mounds..-_.-.--..-

Ax from mounds --
Beads from mounds.

113, 337, 340, 343, 379, 412, 515

Bracelets from mounds. -__-.-51, 393, 426, 431

Cox, William, stone graves on old place

(0 eee ee Seer eee be Sose ae See 140
Crall,I. S., works on land of (Pennsyl-
Walid) eaeeaeceee eee woo 40k

Cremation among mound- builders - 609, 675, 676

Criss, Mrs., flint quarries on land of
( (0) 00 Cc) ae gees ee 457

Crook, W. J., mound on farm of (Arkan-
Bas) see eos ee eee eet 228

Crouch, Peter S., rock heaps on land of
(West Virginia) -2-25-=--242--2--2- 435
Cryder, Frank, mound on land of (Ohio). 471

Cutifachiqui of De Soto’s chroniclers,
BUpPDOSedISite) Olas seecseee=—eseaes | OLs

D.

Dakotan district, archeology of - ----530-H0
Effigy mounds of_........------------580, 533
Bowlder mosaics of ------ - nae Dbl, 334

Elongate mounds of.-.--_-------------- 533, 5385

Connected mounds of -._------------- 536
Rows of conical mounds in - 537
Burial mounds of.--- - 538
Limits and characteristics of- - 530
Dall, W.H., on mound-builders _-.--.---. 600
@ited (222222. 22d aeat2si2- 28 522, 565, 620, 724, 727
Davenportitablets!--2-2--- == -=--- es 633-644
Davis, William, mounds on land cf (Ar-
KAN SHS) Pees ee ata ees 207
DewBry7 citedice-cas-2- sees 2 daa ee 224008, 084

De Frenne stone graves, near Prairie an

Rocher, Illinois 136, 157

| De Haas, Willis, first incharge of mound

Chisels from mound-._.----...-.---.-- 107
Crescents from mound... __--------113, 340 |
Cylinders from mound...--____._.__. 336, 337
Cylinders made of sheet copper.._.___ 711
Found by E. B. Andrews, smooth and

even as though rolled -__________- raul
Disks from mounds...._- 76, 324
Gorget from mound_.- --426, 495
Kettles from mounds _- - 51, 168, 502
Medalifrom mounds 22s coe ee en ene 246

Plates from mounds ____67, 80,81, 337, 416, 495
Plates with impressed figures _..._.153, 302,
303, 305-309, 320, 324

ISAWOY RS) oe See aseceors 2s aeeesecchocce, | WIR
Spindles from mounds. Saas 76, 97, 351, 352
Spools from mounds and _ stone
graves _.-.--..-- -- 144, 285, 324, 325
Covered ear pendants --_- $-- Ree. 15S
Sleigh bells or hawks’ ‘bells from
TM OUNOEs aetna eee eee 376,714
Wire from mound 3
From burial cave, spool ~ pate tee ee ate 285
From stone grayes, plates, figured___ 161
Articles from, in some instances in-
troduced by Huropeans __-________ 710
Copper plate, figured, from Hollywood
mound, Georgia -------...--- 320
Copper plate, figured, found in stone
graves -----..---------------------- 701
Cornelius, Elias, account of Etowah
MONG) Clted Joss = See 293
Statement by referred to__----------- 298
Cortez, Hernando, cited_--...------------- 671
Coulter, P. F., inclosure on land of_-..-- 468

Oxplorations=ss yess se- eee 19
De la Harpe, Barnara, c ied __ 620, 652, 657, 665
Delawares buried in stone graves__-_-... 692, 697
Dennison, B. F., inclosure on farm of
CNG WEY:O0In) ee sate ec ene ea OL,
De Priest, H. G., mound on land of (Ar-
KANSAS) \3. = 2sssctes-s222sseece ee, eS
Derby, D. W., explorations by (Wiscon-
Sim) pts cov onse aan aaa eee ancn sense 88, 89
De Soto’s expedition, chronicles of -____- 646
De Soto and followers lived on corn ob-
tained from Indians --.__-_-..---- 619
De Vaca, Cabeza, found hawk’s bill in the
hand of native - soy 713
Dodd, Brown & Co.,of St. Louis, Missouri,
obtain clay image ----.--.---....-.- 225
Dorman, Rushton M., cited 609, 675, 676
Douseman, H. L., mound on land of -__.- 68
Drake, Samuel G., on mound-builders_.. 600
Dumont, G. M., cited_____________653, 657, 682, 686
Dunn, John, inclosure on farm of_..__--. 513
Dunning, E. O., exploration of mounds
in east Tennessee by --.-.-___---. 359, 369
| Du Pratz, Le Page. quoted -.617, 653, 665, 677, 682
Dwellings of chiefs on mounds ---. .650, 653, 669
Of Indians shown in figure --- 621, 623
Of the mound-builders -661-664
Of southern Indians -___-----------__- 665

Remains of mound-builders’ __-203, 106, 208,
209, 227, 229
Dwelling sites detined 31

734 INDEX.
E. | Page,
Page. | French fort, Toulouse (Alabama) ....... 288
Earle, F. S., engaged on special work.... 19 | Frey, S, L., describes stone graves in New
Examines certain ancient works ___. 181 WORKS os hed te ee an ee ee 547
Obtains copper platefrom mound-_... 308
Finds figured copper plate in stone G.
BVAVOr cot eed saes Soe eee sew OL |
Earthworks, circular and mavcieanit wae 43,44 | Gallatin, Albert, cited ___.-....-........... 718
Effigy mounds, defined _-...._-4----.------ 31 | Theory advanced by ....---.....---..- 611
Noticed __- 49, 54, 55, 56-63, 69, 73, 84,85, 86,88, Gannett, Henry,surveys of Ohio circles
90, 91, 98, 108, 493 Dp esas enn oe sce DOO
Of the Dakotan district............__.. 530 | Gapbson, Charles, inclosure on ‘farm of
Confined chiefly to Wisconsin._____._ 531 | (Newr¥orls) <i on ee ees 508
Comparative sizes of.__.-.._--.. - 583'| Garden beds-_.-....-..-..-- bee 38, 550
Area of distribution of- pose - 5380 Gatschet,A.S., cited ._.__._- ees 718, 721
Attributed to Siouan tribes-____- . 709 Gentleman of Elvas, cited _- Saeco GIS;
Emmert, J. W., appointed assistant_____ 19 620, 647, 648, 649, 667, 721
{[excavates mounds in Monroe county, Georgia, Barton county, ancient works
Tennessee. aoc-= = se eee OO OD) pmo et aa re ee eae 292-314
Procures specimens of fraudulent Elbert County, mounds explored in_315, 316
aDQIClOS 256 se noose eee ee stewe8 347 FXpPlOTations Ns ae eae eee 292-326
Pnpraved'shells:* =o ten 2sseaee en YD Habersham county, moundin _____-. 313
Etowah mound, visited by De Soto_.___- 688 Richmond county, Hollywood mound 317
European civilization, evidence of con- | Copper disk from s--2525. 22-22 noes
tact with found in many mounds_ 18 Copper plate (figured) from _._-.---.-
Evans, R. B., description of Sherman | Drawing knife\from. --+-----222-422---
mound, Arkansas, by ---.-. ..222, 223,588 | European pottery from-__---._-.-----
Evans, R. H.,mounds on land of (Tennes- | Image pipes from--__------..-------- 323,
SGQ))) socecc sees eee ee eee 364 Tron nails from____-- z
RP Painted vessel from.
; Borcelaingrome-=-- 2-2. 326
Farquharson, R. J., on the Davenport Pot-bearing serpent figure irom Lee 324
tablets --.....-..- eae eee 634 Shell beads from
CORD ee on enn ee 601 Tripod vessel from 322
Felton, Alonzo, mounds on farm of (New Glass from mound (Mississippi) ---..---- 275
York) -......-.---------..------.-.. 505 | Glass beads from mounds----.....--.---- 715
Fish weirs --.----.--..------...-.-----...-. 549 | Gold obtained by Indians from Spanish
Florida, Alachua county, fap Smith WLAGI 2) oot ee eee eee 712
Tei Noy ok oleh, ee eee ee Paseo eee PT | Gould, J.G.,inclosure on land of (New
Enterprise, mounds He bee ceesnsc. 2828. WOvk) So Eo eeeee eee eee ae oe 511
xxplorations in ....----.-..---.2-.--4 327-333 | Gowen, N. E.G.,mound on farm of (New
Gainesville, mound near _____________ 328 | WOrk) ote oe co et ese Soe 508
Lake George, mound on bank of_____ 654 Graded ways and ramps -- - 589
St. Johns and Volusia counties, | Grave creek tablet -....- - 632
MORSE teen es see .328-333 | Graves, stone, defined__..-..-.-_----.--.-- 29
Satsuma, mound at_________ e830! Randolph county, Tlinois __---.---- 134-140
Volusia county, mounds in 5 eee aon INA) en sense oreo eeemsececccer 1M
Force, M. F., on mound-builders____600, 693, 704 Sometimes comparatively recent__.136, 698
Fortifications of the Indians and mound- | Alexander county, Illinois_-.......-.. 149
builders compared________.______ 667-671 Unionicounty- c= Seao eae ee a LOO:
Foster, J. W., cited___________564, 601, 602, 614, 628 Copper plate from 308
On origin of the mound-builders.____ 599 Kanawha county, West Virginia... 421
Fowke, Gerard, engaged as assistant____ 19 Of peculiar form, Browncounty,Ohio 452
Indebtedness to, acknowledged ______ 25 Occasionally found in New York ---- 547
Hxploratiens Dy: se. eee ee 449 In'Onioidistricts =. a4 se soso ene 571
Finds silver medal bearing Spanish In Appalachian district...........-... 575
coat of armsinmound__....______ 715 In central or Tennessee district -__--- 580, 584
Franklin, Benjamin, suggests that works | Box-shaped, how constructed_...._._ 690
of Ohio were constructed by De Delawares buried in __.......-......-. 692
ODQ@: 2-0 Sue eee ae eS a Oe Most abundant in middle Tennessee. 693
Fraudulent articles from North Carolina 347 Shawneesiburiedin_..-.-..---.-.).... “687
Frazier,Samuel, mounds on land of (Ten- Gravier, Jacques, cited.__..____.__.. 624, 652, 657
MECSSEC) <a ena ae een eee 406 Grimm, Charles, mounds on land of.---- 559
French’s, B. F., Hist. Coll. Louisiana, Guess, George, inventor of the Cherokee
Lied Reema nce s-geee ene sie cae noe 618, 619 alphabet.2.. 2... ccsseee coe nace 393
French decanters, imitations of, found in Gulf district, archeology of ____________- 590-593
Mound eee nose eae sees Sausee FD Pyramidal mounds of -_-----_-------- 590

a es

|

INDEX. 735
Page. Page.
Gulf district, burial mounds of- 590 | Huron-Iroquis district, garden beds of... 550
Modes of burial in-.-_---..-.--.----- 591 Ancient inhabitants of__--._.-___- 550
Burlalicayes dine. -=-s-2 ee sees 592 ach Site ssos Sere ea aane = Se eex 549
Inclosures and walls of--.------------ 592 | Hut rings defined ____ oe es ee ae 31
Canals and ditches in .__-.--...--.---- 593 | Hutrings in North and South Dakota... 41
Pottery and minor vestiges of art of- “593
Gui. ONE SIOM Ss eneeses ae ee 590, 593 ie
PEATYRLTS (0 Dian eee eee ce 590
Characteristies) of 2--- = — === = === 590 | Illinois, archeologyof---.....*-2:-_--.-.. 112-163
Adams county, antiquities of _.______ 120
H. Alexander county, antiquities of ____ 148-155
Ava, MOUNGS Neary === 4.0-- so oaaeeen «(142
Hakluyt, Richard, cited ____- 614 Baldwin, stone graves hear ________.___ 140
Hardy and Sheetz, explorations Big Mary river, village sites along... 141
Missouri = 551 Bluff ferry, stone graves near _______ 140
Hariot, Thomas, on Indian agriculture _ 616 Brown county, mounds in __________.- 11s
Harris, Thaddeus M-., on origin of the Calhoun county, mound groups of _.121-131
TOUS Senet oe eee eee eas | oe. Carbondale, mound near _...-...---.. 141
Haven, Samuel H., on mound-builders__ 600 Cass county, modes of burial in.____. 5d4
Hawkins, Benjamin, cited__-..--.---. --- 720 Chester, mounds near.....-----.----- 140
Hawkins (Hakluyt), cited -.-..---..-.---- 712 MUN Slih eaten skis ae yk ae 114
Hawley, Gideon, noticed Indian custom East Dubuque, mounds near _______- 112, 114
of casting stones on heap__....... 547 Evansville, mound near_____- ________ 140
Hawn, William H., mound on land of Hardin, mounds near-_-_.2-22--22---- 12!
(CO) 0) ee Se eee ema I Indian grave prairie, evidences of
Hay PUR Citedhoss.-- nena so oene eae 708 ancient occupancy of- ___ 120
On mound-builders -___--....---- 600, 630, 717 Jackson county, antiquities of ____- 141-147
Hays, A. D., inclosure on land of-_-_-------- 104 Jo Daviess county, antiquities of 112
Haywood, John, cited_-._-.-- 356, 676, 684, 693, 694 Lagrange, ancient worksnear________ 119
Heart, Jonathan, onoriginofthe mounds 598 La Salle county, ancient wall in - 560
Heckewelder, John G. E., cited -_..___..657, 674 Lawrence county, mounds of ________ 163
Delaware tradition given by --------- 599 Madison county, Cahokia mounds_ 133,361
Herrera, Antonio, cited ____.-_..-_-- 626, 627, 650 Madison and St. Clair counties,
Hill, James M., mound group on the IMNOUNGS (Ole te oes en aS ere 131-134
rash achCora((O)sb (0) fy ea ee ee 451 Madison county, Wood River
Tiistorical evidence that Indians built MOUNGS es ens Seon 8 oe 132
MOUNGSS 2200 2 ese oe cee eee aee 659 Mercer county, mounds used as
Hitton, William, cited 624 dwelling sites in ---._...-=.2--_. 560
Hodgson, W. B., on Grave creek tablet. 632 Mill creek, “Indian diggings’* near. 154
Hoissen, Mr., mound opened by ------ .--- 93 Mill creek, mounds near ___________. 148
Holmes, William H., discusses designs Peoria, copper plate obtained from
on copper plates_--=1----.--- <== 308 MOUNdNeANS s.8s= = eee 308
Figure of serpent mound by-_-_....-- 493 Pike county, antiquities of ___.______ 117
Figures Mississippi mounds...._..._ 253 Prairie du Rocher, mounds at______.__ 140
Figures pottery from Arkansas_..... 240 Prairie du Rocher, stone graves
Indebedtness to, acknowledged -_-____ 25 TIO AT "+ Sot ees ee aa ee Se 134. 136
Shows types of shell pens.._--_-_..__ 686 Randolph county, antiquities of_._ 134-141
HOSTEL, \Wi-plles OUO be Cee se ae eee 514 Rock Isiand county, mounds used as
Howland, H. R., finds figured copper dwelling sites in .-..-....-.----... 560
Plate dnimound sites ee ae eee 701 Rockwood, mound near ___________..- 140
Huddleson, A.. inclosure on farm of Rockwood, stone graves near______.. 139
(WestivVirgeinig) 2-2-2) 2. ee 407 Russellville, mounds near-_-______--- 163
Hughes, George, mound on farm of Sparta, mounds and stone graves
(AT KauISA8) tee cneen aes ere eer 246 NGA Seis ee eee oes LAOH Lay
Hull, Prof., survey of ancient works by 156 Union county, ancient works of ____155-163
Hunt, Charles, cemetery on land of-_____ 345 Whitesides county, mounds used as
Hunter, A. F., reports numerous ossua- | dwellingysipes dni a=.) -8 72s ses52- 00
riesabout Barrie, Ontario_....... 545 | Illinois district, archeology of____- -550-561
Huron-[roquis district, archeology of ._.540-550 | Limits and characteristics of _.___.. 550
Burialsmounds Of 2222 2=5 se eae 543 | Burial mounds of-___.-_---_----_-__.. 551-556
Stone mounds of 544 | Image of clay from Arkansasmound____ 225
Flat Ting 8) Ofssesen seas Babe TMA rest stOnel==-22is--9 cc ae weno soe 308, 361
Ossuaries of____--._-- babellinclgsnrespesssees es eee Bore eee bag poe
Graves and cemeteries of- 547 Sacred, definition of. by Squier and
Inclosures of _._---- = D4, Davis. eset os Se eS 605
Fish weirs and pounas in_--_..--._---- 549 Evidence regarding, discussed..____- 606

/

736 INDEX.
‘ Page. | Page.
Indiana, Meron, mound group near..-_.-- 554 | Jones, Joseph, notices earthwork in

Vanderburg county, Angel mounds 536-559
Vanderburg county.moundgroupin. 556

Indians, Were the mounds built by .---.- 20
The term defined as used herein ____596, 610
The mound-builders -_--._..---+------ 610
Not nomads when first discovered. - 615
Cultivated several varieties of maize. 615,

617,618
Built mounds, historical evidence
thats228 5 646, 647, 650, 653, 658
Obtained gold and silver from
Spanish wrecks -...--------------- 712
Rapid spread of European articles
LON Pe aoe ees ee als

Indian theory, objections to, answer al. 610

Imsenibeadstabletss. 2.) -S< 7 sme seen 632 |

Iowa, Alamakee county, antiquities of _.99-107
Archeology Of----2-~ 2.5 -=--2- =. 222499112
Clayton county, mounds in -.-..._... 108
Dubuque county, antiquities of __..108-110
Eldon, mounds near.-.-.....---------. 110
Hays’ farm, ancient earthworks on_104, 105
Iowaville, mounds near-.------ ...----- 110

Jordan, J. H., information furnished

DY ee ee ee tee 110,111 |

Lee county, mounds on bluff of _-
Mounds and earthworks in____-

Peru, mound group near -_____--.-__-108, 109
Scott county, Cook farm group ---_--- 553
Van Buren county, moundsin -_-.--. 112
Wapello county, remains in... . ... 110
Towas:mounds of 2. 222--- aoe. 2 eee 110

Iron blade, fragment of, from mound in
North Carolina.-_..---.-.-- 336

Celt from mound in North Car olina__ 337 |

Iron nails, from Hollywood mound,

G@eoreia® 2223S eee ...--319, 320
Isthmian (Archeological) section........ 523
J

Jackson, B. F., mounds on land of (Ar-

MATISSE) Senne a ees - “222
Jackson, John, mounds on farm of (Ter n-

nessee)

Jackson lake, mound onislandin___..___ 286
Jarrett, Patton, mound on farm of (Geor-

Fai) pe ee cae i oes oR ree et Oe BLE
Jefferson, Thomas. cited ---.-------._.... 678
Johnson, G. B., mounds on land of (Ter-

MNC@SSEO) == cance eee 364
Johnson, J. &., mounds on land of (Ten-

MOSSC6feee bee ween ee es 37
Jomard, M., on Grave creek tablet__..... 632
Jones, C. C., archeology of the southern

section described by -----....--.-590, 593

Cited ________.649, 665, 673, 675, 688, 689, 698, 721

Work of, regarding southern antiqui-
ties/mentioned'_._---2- 5-5-2 2+ 292

Description of Etowah mounds by,

Ci Oted Sas - sa See eee ee eee 204!
Jones, George, opinion alluded iB Soa DOO
Jones; Joseph. clted les: 2-22" ee as 599, 691

Examination of Selsertown mound
on) behalf iof--+- 2-5) 2--=-S.25 tte 5 266

which are stone graves and hut

rings<-_3 Se su ee ee ee ie
Jones, W. Davenport, mound on land of
(North Carolinals.see-ccee esa 538
Kk.
Kentucky, explorations in---.--____....279-283
Hickman county, antiquities of___._- 280

Kirkland, Samuel, inclosure noticed by. 548
Knapp, Gilbert, mounds on farm of (Ar-

kansas) 22 ..-2 ue ete sae
Knife from mound (Mississippi) - -------- 275
Knife, drawing, from Hollywood mound
(Georgia) oe -.2- ase2s2 hs 22 oe oY 2820)
L.

Lafitau, J. F., cited -
ua Hontany cited: es- 222-225 se nese nce an

Lane, H. P., earthworks on land of ____- 99
Lane, Samuel, mound on farm of (Ten-
MIESSCO) Ree Seed ean fae eae ee OO

Languages, differentiation and develop-
ment of, require great length of

time-----2--*. 5. SoS: Se aoe ee)

La Petit, Mathurin, cited_...-............ 653
Lapham, I. A., figures of mounds by, re-

ferred to.....- Se eee = eee eee OO-DaT
Graphical representation of effigy

TM OUNGSIDY =". es Sees ae ODS

Mounds described by 47

Cited 22 2.-.ekee= =ane =~ == 087,604, 7075708

Larkin, Frederick, cited - Sh rena ee 500
Latimore, J., mounds on farm of (Ten

NESSC6) 2 —asen = ssa e ease eee 371

La Vega, Garcilasso de, cited - ..626, 647, 649, 688
Law, Robert, mounds on plantation of

(Arkansas))-2-.:-+-322<22 -2u<--2ce== 199

| Lawrence, Frank, inclosure on farm of
(New SYorlk) =. 22.5 Sea eee 508
Lawson, John, cited _______..619, 675, 679, 685, 686
Leach, M. L., article by, referred to.__.-. 518
Le Clercq, Maximus, cited -_------.---.---- 618

Lee, M. G., mounds and cemetery on
land of (Tennessee).---.--.-..-... 364

Le Moyne de Morgues, figures by---.-..622-650
Lenoir Manufacturing Company, mounds

on land of (Tennessee) - -----_----- 396
Lenoir, Rufus, burial pit on land of
(Norther Carolina) 2s seense==seseeen 342
| MUO Wiss le eleet CLUOU 2 oe ace se mene ee 39
Remark of, on distribution of bowl-
MELMOSdICS=23--t7-- gases ee 534
Lewis and Clark, village visited by _____- 42
Citedisa 22 sass ae ee note Soo ie cae 658
Linguistic evidence as ‘to local perma-
nency of population....-- _...-..- 729
Locke, John, allusion to investigations
Of ease Le aoe ee wactas _ VAEO!
Estimate by, of cubic contents of
walls of Fort Ancient--.-.--....--- 492
Louisiana, archeology of-------.-------- 250-252
Catahoula parish, Troyville
MOUNG Se. see eee ee eee ee 250, 251

——

ee

—— ae

ee

INDEX. 137
Page. Page.
Louisiana, Tensas parish, St. Joseph, | Middleton, James D., explorations by - -440, 571
MOUNGS Near sees ee 252 | Reports survey of the Hopeton works 472
Wishita parish, Pargourd group.... 250 Calls attention to bundled skeletons
Lubbock, John, on mound-builders-___.- 600 | TOMO INC Sees. ean eee 539
On so-called “altars” __....-..---.--:- 608 Observes evidence of the use of fire
Lytle, A., mound on farm of (North Caro- by mound-builders in burial cer- -
Lina): gues lose ee os pat decseasee (eA8) OMONIES 5 2 ee ae 678
Observesevidence of skeleton burial. 673
M Mieration; linesiof.g-s- 22 ses 525
In the Gulf states ..___. Sey ie)
McAdams, William, engaged as tempo- Mindeleff, Victor, survey of large mound
Tary aSSistant)= 25-22-25. 2=2- 19 of Etowah group by-.---.--------. 300
Explorations and surveys by -- “131, 132,134 | Minnesota, antiquities of ___________-...42, 4547
McAndrews, Joseph, mounds on farm of | Pipestone county, antiquities of._____ 42-44
(Tennessee) -...-..--..---.-----... 404 | Mississippi, Adams county, Selsertown
McCansland, John, mounds on land of | PTOUP ss eo ee See 263-267
(Wrest) Virginia): ="). 2-20. 25+. 435 | Archeology of _...2.-...:. - 253-278
McCulloch, Charles E., moundonland of 436 | Bolivar county, explorations in _.-_- 258
McCulloh, James H., ascribes the mounds Coahoma county, ancient works in _253-258
toyndians 2 ees eee 600 | Union county, mound group in ____- 267-278
McGee, Mrs. Ann, mound on ipa of | Washington county, ancient works
(Rennessee) ies. sae. cece ee Pe ii | ie ee Se ee ee a)
MacLean, J. P., cited ....-..-..-..-. 599, 601, 603 — Yazoo City, mounds near --- 260-263
Engaged on special work. ._____..____ 19 | Missouri, archeology of -____-- _-- 163-199
Investigations of, in Ohio______._____ 440 Bollinger county, mounds in ____.... 170
McMurray, Boyd and Samuel, mounds Butler county, Powers’ fort _______.194, 195

on farms of (Tennessee)--.-...... 368 |

MeSpadden, T. T., mounds on farm of__372, 373
Madison, Bishop, on origin of the

MOUS: = oss fee coe Fae ena 598

Maize cultivated by mound-builders ____ 683
Varieties of, cultivated by the In-

Gidme oF Snes. Ne es ee ee B17,
Mallery, Garrick, drawings of rock etch-

INSU DY oe ene ee ee ee 107

Manitoba, archeology of____

St. Andrews, mounds near____.__--_- 35
Snyder, Amos, mounds near resi-
MOnNCOlOl fF arn ee aeeas 37
Maps of mound distribution referred
POM prt Be § aoe ren ee bane aoe Ded, DaO
Marquette, Jacques, cited ____..-....___.617, 624
Maryland, Washington county, stone
graves in Sesececrn Mita)
Mason, E. G., cited ____ Sea. 629,
Mayas not mound- builders essen ances 18
Measurements of depth in mounds,
method of taking._........-....... 210
Metcalf, J. N., inclosure on land of (New
SViOUK) snecu aren eee ee eee eee ee 509
Metham, Pren, flint quarries on land of
(Ohio) 3-5 he 2 Se a eee ee 457
Mexican and Central american (Archeo-
lorical) sections =. see ee==" 1beS

Mexicans not mound-builders -__________
Michigan, explorations in________
Middleton, James D., appointed assistant 19

Indebtedness to, acknowledged ______ 25 |

Survey of ancient works by_-___- 92, 181, 263,
414, 461, 472, 481
Survey of the Elephant mound by___ 92
Finds stone graves of southern Illi-
nois to be in part comparatively
RECA a emer ee a= as eaters eee
Examines Selsertown mounds.
Fails to find certain inclosures

12 ETH AT

CapeGirardeau county,antiquitiesin 166
Charleston, trade in mound pottery

by people in vicinity of._-........ 183

Clark county, mounds of -__-__-_____- 163
Clifton springs, salt kettle pottery

TOUNG NEAT 22-26. ese eee Se aes 167

Lewis county, antiquities in _-..._.°. 167
Mississippi county, mounds and an-

tiquitiest=<-+s<5.-2aiceoskese 327 1SA=189

St. Louis county, antiquities in____.. 167
Scott and Mississippi counties,

MOUHGS' OF. 2sae5. we ses es neee eee 183-193

Stoddard county, antiquities of____- 172-183

Monroe, Thomas, inclosure onland of... 468
Moorehead, Warren K., criticism by,

noticed Ss. 224 anos Ss esasatdce ses 492

Theory adopted by ..-_-----...- 562

Morgan, Lewis H., cited _______-- 565, 601, 622, 705
Derives mound-builders from Pueblo

(Ret ols)s ie Se ee a os MsO99,

On Indian migrations.-........-.....- 614

Morude, Mrs., statement regarding age
of stone graves, Randolph county,

WMinOis-<2) 2s S2o2c op Sessae sepesas esse. 163
Moscosa. Tradition ascribes Old Town
works, Phillips county, Arkansas,
to, and remnant of De Soto's

ETRY yo Ss eee state ee oe 234
Mounds containing evidence of contact

with European civilization -__18, 42, 45,

51, 59, 65, 67, 73, 78, 80, 120, 154,

163, 274, 275, 314, 319-324, 337,

371, 376, 393, 398, 403, 431, 486

Number of, explored_- 23
Conical; defined: 2.-..--- 52. se Seen 29
Elongate or wall-like_----- 30, 35, 55, 533, 534
| Silver articles from -___.-.51, 52, 67, 275, 501
Connected or chain -.-- +-.-------- ---.52,536
Singular vaults in 116, 334,

335, 352, 353, 417, 554

Page

~ rad
; af
738 INDEX.
Page. |
Mounds of the Pottowatamies - =... 110 | Mound-builders, wars among, proof of

Of thevlowas sess. 200 ee ee pe SLD,
Containing altars (so called) .....--- 180, 571
Bone implements from_-_.._---.----- 153, 382
Glass from ._---_-- Ae aie ein oe 163, 275, 321
Image vessels from -._-------------- 188, 205,
221, 235, 237, 263, 279
Gourd-shaped vessel from__.-__------ 190

Owl-shaped vessels from ----..--_---191, 386

Fish-shaped vessels from 192
Effect of earthquake on 199
Clay casts of maize from ____--.-----.205, 207
Stone spool from___---.--- eet)
Wouble 2.5 °- hos ee --208, 204
Shell-shaped vessel from - 259

Scissor blade from-__- ok Nak ghee eA
Mode of depositing dirt in, shown -.270-274
(ronvknife from=- 2 = soe es eee
Copper articles from ___-__--- 76, 81, 145, 285,
303-307, 309, 320, 324, 336, 338,
339, 351-352, 376, 383, 710-714

iKngraved shells from___. --306, 307, 338, 339,
376, 377, 383, 224, 384, 402, 575

Stone images from_-__--- Pes eee 308, 361
tron-articles from). ..-.-<-------.--.-163,274,
275, 319, 320, 337

European pottery from.-_-_- Ss -- nt del, 826
Pipes from __-__- 233, 285, 328, 325; 338, 339, 340,

341, 353, 354, 382. 402, 403, 427, 573
Shell beads from __-___...324, 326, 336, 337, 340

Shell pins from _-__.._.......-.-.376, 377, 402
shellimasks from) 27. 327. fetes owen 376, 384
Moceasin-shaped pot from. __-----_-- 376
Hiawik?s-bells from. ---=.----s28 52" 876-714
Connected (chain mounds) --------..- 5386
Conical, in rows or lines_-..-.-.-..--- 5387
Of stone 544
Dome-shaped or beehive vaultsin-.. 554
Of the Ohio district, wholly or partly

of stone sau =n 5.568; 569.
Opinions regarding the origin of. ____ 597

And other ancient work, various types

Used as places of refuge in time of

KL WODU OW assent: Ae Lice ie Ramee Oe 626
Houses of chiefs placed on __________ 649, 650
Subsequent use of by Indians._______ 706

Mound-builders, adopted several modes

OL purial as Sa See 17
Removed flesh before burial --__ = 17
Made use of fire in burial ceremonies 17
Consisted of numerous tribes ____17,528, 706

Houses of the

208, 227, 229, 587, 661-664
Mexicans were not the_.--_.-.-....._. 18
Pueblo tribes were not the____________ 18
Mayos were not the__ 3 18
Cherokees were ane = 18

Mode of lathing houses by-_- -206, 209

Section of defined Ze

Relations of to the Indians dis-
essed. c= = = 8 oe ee 595-730

General observations respecting.. __ 595
Were ‘they Indians2= 22s sce tne 596
Considered by many as one people... 602

275 |

triba) divisions — S= 2 ee ek ee 603
Were Indians. --_-__. .. 610
Works of compared with those of the

Indians! $223 ees eee 651, 659-671
Architecture of__-_:--:_<_-.5.-.--.-..660-666
Fortifications of compared with

those of the Indians ____-_________ 667-671
Burial customs of compared with

those of the Indians_-__-____---__- 671-679
Usually interred their dead __________ 672
Often buried dead in a sitting pos-

GONE 270-2 i eae et aero es 674
Crematicn by, doubtful 675, 676
Probably practiced burning captives. 676
Probably tortured captives ____. 676
Not addicted to human sacrifice 676
And Indians cultivated maize___..____ 683
Shell ornaments of similar to those

used by Indians -_-__.-_--...-.... 684
And Indians used shell gorgets ______ 686
And Indians used shell pins as ear

OLNAaAMeNtS (<> =. <a cee ae ae ORO
And Indians made and used pipes__.. 687
And Indians, links directly connect-

nig Sb. t= 2S i os ee Aes 688-706
Chief seats of power of, in the Gulf

States. 22-2 ee ere ee eee 719
Mound-builders’ and Indians’ work com-
ALE See. os ance se eee 659
Mound-builders’ structures, mound con-
taining fragments of -___._____.- 400, 401
Mound nomenclature heretofore given
a hindrance to legitimate arche-
OlOPY==25- 22% eee ct ss nos tae eeee 604
Mount Pleasant (Tuscarora chief),
statementiby ss. ee 512
Mull, M. A., donates engraved shell (Ar-
MAMSAS iS a eee So + Se 225
Muskoki tribes, probably mound-build-
BUS es ooo = oa See ee eee 718
N.
Nadaillac, Marquis de, cited___________. 565, 611
620, 683 729
Statement by, corrected__.........-.. 580
Natchez Indians, built their temple on a
moun Ges. Ss en eee 653
Neil, Hugh. inclosure on land of (New
VWOnkk) 3 o25 2c sees achcen ea sone Le
Nelson, T. F., mounds on the farm of- . 384, 335
Newark Works, Newark, Ohio_________ 459, 468
Newberry, Gen., mounds on iand of _____ 85
New York, antiquities of, ascribed to

The! [rORNOIS Sse ee ee OT
Cazenovia, stockade pear - 548
Chautauqua county, ancient works

ins 502-512

Explorations in-
Genesee county, bone fort-
Geneseo, mounds near_-____
Jefferson county, Perch lake hut-rings

about 2... Sth 5 Se ee ED
Livingston county, antiquities in_.514, 515
Madison county, ancient works in-.503-505

INDEX. (338)
Page. | Page.
New York, Niagara county, antiquities | Ohio district, limits and characteristics
dns Perea mole Pace Ol
Syracuse, stone graves nea: ae° 547 | Mounds wholly partly of stonein. 569
Wyoming county, Dunn farm. inclos- | Pyramidal mounds of-_.---.---------- 571
TT G\ OW. ne sa ancien eee DIS Ole Slonieravessiint2 7.553 tS 71
Niblack, A. P., ated’! see eee a ee 726 Ornaments, brass, from mound _____- 80
Nicollet, J. N., observations by___-_-.----- AOD WOSSUAINOS = =. 55 aseesee oo oe te Pe 545
CTC Ce ere ee eee nee = er
Nomenclatur: ‘2) (seemound nomenclatur e). ved
Norris, P. W., appointed assistant, death
(0) = epee oe er AE A oe 19 Pacific slope, types of, resemble those wi
Visits pipestoneregion of Minnesota. 42,44 the Pacific islands -__.--2.----- 4,726

pees a ae 83, 253, 587

Mounds examined by
On elephant mound by---------.--.---
Cited on effect of earthquake on

MOUNGS'C-<-----e Pa 200
Cited in reference to vessels found. poe
On inelosure at Charleston, West Vir- -

ginia a8 h5 S15
On evidence of skeleton burial --.-..- 673

On evidence of use of fire by mound-
builders in burial ceremonies -__- 78

Onremainsofmound-builders’ houses 664
North Carolina, Buncombe county,
avaKoy nh oX6 F>\rWa ee eM nen eRe ena es 348, 350 |
Burke county, antiquities of -__._-._- 344
Caldwell county, mounds in ____-_- _383-3844 |
Caldwell county, Patterscngrading. 333 |
Caldwell county, Lenoir burial pit.. 343 |
eS plorawOns tn sce coe esses 333-350 |
Fort Defiance, remainsnear_________ 342
Haywood county, mounds in________ 346
Henderson county, mounds in_-__..348, 349
Waynesville, mounds near____....... 347 |
~ Wilkes county, antiquities of ______344, 345
North Dakota, mound and hut-rings in__ 87,41
Peculiar burial mounds in. .________. 538
oO.
Obsidian implement,from mound-._____- 82
Ohio, explorations in______-_-.___._._...440-493
Adams county, serpent mound sch Fae 493
Brown county, mounds and stone
graves in ---451-457
Brownsville, mounds near ---458-469

Coshocton county, flint diggings in_457, 458
INhintartd Ses ee eo cape ee oe BV
Franklin county, ancient wor ks n.449-451
Hocking county, ancient works in _ 446, 447
Knox county, mounds in___________440-446
Licking county, ancient works in-._458-469
Madisonville, mound near, containing

skeletons surrounded by stones.. 570
Mount Vernon. mound at_.___________ 444
Mount Vernon, cemetery mound.___ 464
Newark, works at._-....--..___._...459-468
Perry county, antiquities of_________ 470

Pike county, antiquities (Oe wank 489-492

Ripley, stone grave near_______ = 55}
Ross county, antiquities of 724-88
Warren county, Fort Ancient__ 92, 561
Ohio district, archeology of.____. 561-573
Burial mounds of________ 566-567
Cemeteries and pits of __ 572
INCLOSUTeS) 1 22 ca ea eee een 562

91 |

Differ from those of the Aaenniee
F:1G0y 0) = eer a ae ee! a ees ss 724

| Page, Prof., on Grave creek tablet_.___- 632
Paleographic objects _....._.......-._-- 28
Palmer, Edward, appointed as 19

| Reports previous exploration of Me-

| 231

263

Believes the large mound at Silver-

town tobe anatural formation._ 265
Notices remains of mound-builders’
OUSOS Fi pe ona oe Ace eos 663
Parkinson, William, mound on land of
(Bennsyivania) eee 22... ce 496
Patrick, Dr., collection of ___.--.___.._-._ 133
Mentions peculiar arrangement of
shellsin a mound _-..-........:_. 361
Peck, Jin GlLAd ee ne eee re eee a0
| Peet, Stephen D., engaged as temporary

| aSBistaninee sy pee Mess. 2 cee ota 19

Explores effigy mound _-_-_.._.__..-... 98

| Opinion in reference toeffigymounds 532

Cited 238 tetees See fee --533, 67
| Pennsylvania, explorations i ibe SS _-494-503
Monongahela City, mounds and
graves near._.....2-- 496
Monongahela valley, antiquities of.. 494

Warren county, ancient works in ._499-503
Perrine, T. M., ancient Woda described

DY=-= aeee, 16S
Cited __.. ma eeees O09.
Excavations by _ 158, 161
Pot found by - E 142

Pettigrew, I. W., inv vestigations DYje=e—= 38, 39
Pickett yay), Clvedy ecco acsene ete lone 677
Pins made by Indians and mound-build-

ONS eee esa ae ene eae oe se OOO

Used as ear ornaments.__.._____-

Pipesie.<-s2-=
338, 339, 340, “R41, 353, 354, 383, 402, 403, 427

Form a link connecting mound-build-
ers. and Indians) _----2--....---.2-701)708

From mounds differ from those used

by Maya, Nahau, and Pueblo

HUES) oe ee eee ey 704
Typical form of the broad, curved
DAS CUS, Sato ee ee ee ee 704
And tobacco, used by Indians and
MIDUNG-Oe Ors) Sees op eee ae OST
AD Sea eee ete ae oy ee 239, 323, 325
its) soeseo. sae en eee 32
Potter, W. B. “reference to work on

mounds of southeastern Mis-

wv
4

740 INDEX.
Page. Page.
Pottery, from Wisconsin mound. ..-. ---- 83 | Rogan, John P., explores the Etowah
(Pet ee ees foe oe RE ee BB ee, Oe THONGS see a= Bah be oe 2
Flat-bottomed Jan-2.2.2%: io. 227~ -.--142-24s Work in Florida by_-----.-- 327

Image vessels ._..188, 205, 221, 235, 2387, 263, 279
Gourd-shaped vessel --_- 190
Owl-shaped vessels_..--...----------- 191, 386

Fish-shaped vessel .._.-.-...---------- 192
Tripod vessels. =+.+<-2. -189, 210, 322
Full-faced image vessels._-.---------- 221
‘Water bottles ...........-..---2----=-222, 228
Ornamented ---_..------.- SRA.
Shell-shaped vessel _-_---- .- =. 262
European, from mound- zy) dela
Paintedkvessels. 2-3 oer hone nae 322
Painted vessel from mound -___------ 323
Pot-bearing serpent figure -_.......-. 324
Vessels with figures engraved there-

ON at bes ne ee Ree Sole 324
Fragment of European, from

Georpia monn sae see ce eee 326
Moccasin-shaped, from mound._.---. 376
Mound and Indian compared. --_-_-__- 681

Method of making described by Du- :
WNOM soe ase a ore nee aot oe ee an 2

Glazed; front mound-.-2-=----2— ==--2 9 t14
Pottowatamies, mounds of__..---.------- 110
Powell, J. W., copper obtained by----... 308
Poynter, Robert H., statement of, regard-

ing burialofan Indian chief...... 678

Pratt, W. H., answers inquiries resy-e-t-
ineyia plete. 223 euces. aan ee eee 637
Pre-Columbian times, problems relat-

AN Put O Reser. ese cee ee ate eae 722
Prehistoric problems discussed from

the linguistic standpoint. ___.__.- 722
Price, W. H., findsgunbarrelinmound. 715
Pueblo or Intermontane (archeological)

section)2>. (223-22 = tbs secon eae. tDeB
Pueblo tribes not mound-builders. ._-... 18
Putnam, F. W., finds figured copper

plate in stone grave_....--.-.----- 701

Cltpd cee eee ane eee ae 661, 699, 716
Pyramidal mounds defined____........... 30
Pyramidal mounds of Arkansas--_.__--- 588

R.

Ratinesque, extravagant hypothesisof... 599
Ramsey, A.,mound on land of (Ten-

NESSCG))< -aee oe see ea eae | OO
Ramsey, J. G. M., cited_ Reo ee OO GOs
Rau, Charles, cited-__--_-- 504, 680, 681, 682, 705, 711
Red river valley, mounds of -_-_._--___-- 35
Refuse heaps, defined --.-..-.-.-.-..-..--.- 31
Reynolds, Henry L., engazed as assist-

SREY eran Se an on Na eee 19
Indebtedness to, acknowledged.___.. 2
Reports exploration of a Georgia

MoOwNels. So Ses en eae 317
Surveys lines at the Newark works

((O.en(c) PSS ec Lee eS eee see eS]
Finds European articlesin mound... 714

Reynolds; John) cited] 2. - 2-322. a2 | 628
Risely, Levi, mound on land of (New
BAC NE SC STS arenes ed ee ee 511
Rogan, John P., appointed assistant. ._.. 19
Surveys the Etowah mounds ........ 298

Excavates North Carolina mounds. -
Romans, Barnard, cited .-:.-....-..------ 665, 674
Roy.cer@xG., citedtse-- s.ce-=- see seen see Odo Ot

Ss:
Sacrifice, indications of fire erroneously
taken as proof of....----.--.------
Human, seldom practiced by Indians. 676
Was it practiced by the mound-

builders}. --3 =e or
Salt kettle pottery -_-_.....--..-.----167, 683, 696

Salt, Indians making -___..-.....--------- 7

Sagard, Theodat G., cited __ 618, 624
Schlimpert, Joseph, mounds on land of

(in ots) 232 222 2s ae
Schooleraft, Henry R.,ossaary, deseribed

Dyed es. ea eee ee be

On mound-builders ---.-.-.-..-------. 600

| Oited a2 Set he ee ee 597, 665, 694
Scott, William, inclosure on land of (New

SOT) he asa ie cad eee aoe

| Secotan, Village of ......-.--------4-L-----. G21
| Sellers, G. E., discovers salt kettle pot-

tery instone graves._--....-...... 695

Senex, John, map of referred to__._.___.- 694
Seyffarth, Dr., attempts to explain Day-

enport.tablets:.-<2.--25-s22s5-22e2- 684

Shaler, N. S., on mound-builders________- 600
Shawnee, band locates among the Chero-

kees of east Tennessee_.--......-. 694
Shawnees, chief home of on the Cum-

Derland riven) <. ssc -s--eeecncccce + 698

Made: salt cc & 2 te22 Sts ese seen 696

Buried in stone graves ........-.....- 697
Probably in Illinois before entering

Cumberland valley.......... .2... 700
Shell, articies of, among mound-builders

and Indians, similar._-...---.-.-. 684

Shell beads from mound --__________- 324, 326, 337
Shell gorgets, used by Virginia and Caro-

lina Indians -...--....-_----..--.-686, 703

Shell masks, from mounds ____-___----.-. 376
Shell pins, from mounds. .__---.-.----376, 377, 402
Described by Dumont __..--...---..-. 686
Shell ornaments for the ear._..-------.-- 402
Shells; engraved ___--+-.----2-2. __--224, 306, 307,
338, 369, 377, 383,384, 402

From North Carolina mounds --__..337,338

Found chiefly in areas oceupied by

Cherokees and Shawnees-_-__---.- 702
A link connecting mound- builders
and Indians. = -< cosse2ss 2-25-22
List of localities, where found....... 702
Sherrard, James, notice of antiquity,
DY aa Be secs oe ee ee UD,
Sherril, Sion J., mound on the farm of
(North Carolina) .----.-.---------- 344

(Ohio)

Sibley, iii; cited. 225 oso ese peewee
| Silver foil, pieces of frommound -_-

INDEX. 741
Page Page.
Silver obtained by Indians from Spanish Tally, N. D., mounds on plantation of
WRECKS eo cowaeee sete nome ke LID (Alahbamra)e2s 655-82 sce ees eee 200
Silver plate, with Spanish coat-of-arms Tate, Z. A.,mounds on land of (Georgia). 315
from Mississippi mounds. -________ 275 | Taylor, J. M., mounds on land of (Ar-
Smith, C. M., descriptionof flint quarries Kansas) eo ase ee hn 989
DY ies acento eee. De 572 | Taylor, W., statement in regard to old
Smith, Felix, mound on farm of (Arkan- settlement (Alabama) _______.._.. 290
BAS) Se Roe eed sew oo See 241 Mentions stone graves in western
Sesiabhifaynlhoyenol ceormrspolus holes. 5. eee ee 668 Pennsylvania ee ee ee 697
“History of Virginia,’ copy of figure Temples and council houses’ on
up vosee We hs oe eee Me ee 622, 623 INOWNO Sys ee ee €48, 652, 653, 655
Smith, Q. C., Richwoods mounds, Mo., Tennessee, Blount county, antiquities
TOLOLTEG! GOW Ysa see ee te Bae 175 (0) aR ee ae ee Re ee 366, 388
POMUIGH GARY yt CLUB Nc. uee ee a 658, 659 Carter county, antiquities of __ 354
Snowden, Mrs. Peter G., mound on land Chilhowey (old Cherokee town) yal
OR (HVOLICs)peeeeete te et 908 Chote (old Cherokee town) _____.___.. 37.
Snyder deh iCivede-seaesce yee oe 73 Cocke county, gravesand moundin._ 356
Snyder, J. F., describes modes of burial. 554 Dandridge, mound near__________.____ aT
Souris river, mounds along ___.--________ 35-37 Explorations in -__________...278, 279, 351-407
South Carolina, explorations in _________ 326 Franklin, ancient works near _______. 577
Kershaw district, mounds in____. __317-326 Half-way town (old Cherokee town). 371
South Dakota, bowlder circles.__________ 39 | Jefferson county, mounds in _______- 357, 358
iBoOwlderfpyres sms eee 40 Lauderdale county, mounds in__ Py eit
Medicine butte, bowlder figures on_- 39 Loudon county, antiquities of -..366, 390-404
Mounds in 5 Meigscounty,moundsof.__..._...___ 404
Sioux falls, antiquities near.______., 38 Mialaquo (old Cherokee town)______- 389
Snake butte, bowlder figures on____ 39 Monroe county, antiquities of_______ 366-390
Willagejisitesvote..-2 ie: S25. 41 Monroe and Blount counties, Bacon
Southern section, districts of __________ 586-593 and McGee mounds.________...... 377
Spainhour, J. M., assists in exploring Obion county, mounds in_____________ 279
MOUNEBS =e aes teas een eek ee 334 Paris, inclosures near __...____._.____ 577
Spool made of stone (Arkansas)________. 225 Rhea county, mounds in_____________- 406
Squier, E. G., burial mound examined Roane county, ancient works in_____ 358-364
OY Seeemer eres pane kie Mito AE 543 Settacoo (old Cherokee town) _______. 377
Defensive work mentioned by _______ 541 Sullivan county, ancient works in _. 351-354
Notices custom of placing stones over Tommotley (old Cherokee town) --.. 380
BUAVOS) =~ W25 2st hae a ee) 546 Toskegee (old Cherokee town) -______ 388
ite pee ae RS 2 eee J 667 (East) explorations in --____.._ _____ 351-407
Squier and Davis, classification of_______ 27 | Tennessee or Central district, limits of- 575
Ite Q Eten sare 146, 265, 479, 562, 564, 566, 569, Characteristics of -.._..--.---2...-... 575
588, 602, 605, 625, 656, 704, 707 ArcheolopyOWess cu sees ee 575-585
Investigations of, in Ohio ___.________ 440 | Tennessee river, Little, archeology of
On “‘sacredinclosures’’.__..-......... 605 the valley of 2s cesta sane
Staats, Jacob, mound on land of (Ohio). 44; | Thaumer de la Source, M., quoted___
Stafford, Isaac, discovery by (New York) 508 | Thibault, J. K., mounds on farm of (Ar-
Stafford, S.C., mound on farm of (Ala- KANSAS) ieee See Sees hoe DOA
Jeane) an a ea ie A a A 283 Donates specimen to the Bureau... 245
Stakely. John B., mound on landof (Ten- Thing, L. H., engaged as temporary as-
MOSSES) eh ee ey Re, 358 EN Oe se eee aan shoe aoe 19
Sterling, Mrs. P. J., groupon plantation Obtains copper plate from stone
of (Mississippi) _..........-...-.... . 259 BLN Ce an ee ee ee 308
Stevens, G. R., mound on land of (Ar- Finds clay plastering in mound _____ 664
kansas) aN yee Oa. Finds figured copper plate in stone
Stinson, Floyd, discribes Angel group, ERNE a ooo at eee cw
((nidians)\ je 25-7 eto 556 | Thomas, B. G., group on farm of (Wis-
Stoddard, Amos, cited 629 CONSID) eae amen nee eee ee 156
Stone bearing Cherokee letters, from Thomas, Cyrus, papers by, cited or re-
MOUNG 5 eee eee ae Slee orn 393, 394 FORE GCSLO Pope en ee ae 308, 562, 718, 721
Strong, Moses, mounds described by..___ 52,55 | Thomas, John S., burial place on farm
Swallow, 'G.C., Cliedasteseeos ye 664 of (Tennessee) -.....-. .--.-....... 355
Thompson, Henry, mounds on landof... 142
T. Thorn, R. R., mounds on land of-_____.. 121
Throsh, J. B., mound on farm of (North
Tablets, anscrl bed sess es ne gees 632-644 Carolina) Pele ates em tee 350
Tallegwi, identified with Toltecs by Thurston, Mr., assists in excavating
DAWSON Sse 2 s pene eee ee eee 599 TONG eee = See a oe 417

742 INDEX.
Page. Page.
Tiffany, Albert, mounds on land of (New West Virginia, rock wallnear Clifton... 411
OD et seek is ae ee 506 | White, George, mention of Rembert
Tiffany, A. S., pronounces the Davenport mound, Georgtawoy.- 35--2-222-402- 315
limestone tablet a fraud.......... 638 | Whitman, James P..donates copper spool
Tiller, J. T., mound on farm of (Arkan- (Alatbaman o> se Bese eee 5 pees Aa
BER) tae Ae oe es Se eee Be 240 | Whittlesey, Charles, description of Eto-
Timberlake, Henry, map by, referred wah mounds by, cited -....--____ 296, 304
[0 Bec ARYA BBY A SYE NS asec Allusion to work of, in Ohio ____._.___ 440
Tipton, M. M., aernslsronabeae of (Tennes- Survey of Newark works by-____-____- 459
S@@)) 8-8 ee uel eens 2 eon noo. 881 | Whitney, <A. W:, mounds oni farm) af;
Todd, J. E., name ‘*bowlder mosaics’ (New Mork) o2sgo2 25 oe oe ae DOS
Piven byes eat = en oate eee 534 | Wilkinson, WilliamI.,moundonland of. 12
Toltecs, nationality of, not asserted_-___- _ 598 | Williamson, Dempsey, mounds on land
Tonty, Henri de, quoted...........-..---- 665 OL sated seo ta a seeccee ace e aoe 142
Tower, M. S., circular inclosure on land Wilson, Daniel, cited - toe5--6ea2527; 675, 683.
an.(New York) == -.-> ~s2. Ses 51D Belief regarding certain inclosures.. 564
Triggs, W.A., mound on iarm of (Arkan- Identifies mound-builders with Az-
SAS) 2-2 o- = on = sees eee eco eiee 247 LOGS Yo aso n ae hee ce eat ae 1D.
Tumlin, G. H., mound group on land of On Grave creek tablet -.-....-..-.____ 632
(Georgia) 292 | Winchell, N. H., finds glass bead in
Turtle figure, made of bowlders_--.-_..-- 39,40 MOWING! = oP ee see sss ee ee ee 715
Wisconsin, antiquities of__._-__.......... 47-77
V. Archeology ols. -- 5 eee eee 47-98
; A : Barron county, mounds of -___-.----- 94-98
Vaults in mounds, Beehive shaped -.-- a ees Gassvilloavorkad caries 84-86
acs Seas B53 Crawford county, Courtois group __. 63-67
Wooden --..-..-..-------- ---- 417, 427, 448, ape Crawford county, SueCoulee group.. 75
Conical clay vaults_.-----.-----------. 417 Earthworks near Eastman._________- 52, 54
Double, wooden --------.---------..--- 485 Fliicke, Joseph, mounds on landof._ 7
Vegetables and plants cultivated by the Grant county, antiquities of __ _ 83-93
Indians described -------..---.-... 616 Hazen Corners, earthworks at__.____ 55-58
Vimont, Barthélemy, cited .-_..-- - 618 Lynxville, Armstrong group near_.. 73,74
Vogel, Henry, mounds\on land of... =... wt Lynxville, Polander group near_...- 69, 73
Ww. Mound) pTOUDS natn en ate ernee ee Seas 47
Mound group near Madison..-___.__. 46, 47
Walker, S. T., statements about Florida Prairie du Chien, Douseman mound- 68
mounds quoted __-_.......--.---. 647, 673 Prairie du Chien, Fliicke group near- 72
Wallbridge, T. C., mounds described by Prairie du Chien, mounds in vicinity
(Canada) ......----- sae S2e5 G40) Ofsncesie. so 25-22 5-- 22 4050,'63;.68; BOT 2 et
Warner, Jared, sketch “of “elephant Rice lake mounds. ~.-...-.....-.--..-. 94,96
MOUMOL D Yoo een nee eet a ea 92, 93 Rock county, antiquities of__.._____- 98
Water bottle, ormamented____----__-_____ 247 Sheboygan county, antiquities of __.. 93
Watkins, T.J.,mounds onfarmof (Ten- Slanmer’s land, mounds on 2
EGSGE)) Breen tee cae ee 405 Vernon county, antiquities of _._.... 77-84
Webb, Jasper. mounds on land of (Ar- White, H., mounds on land of_____-_- 79
Kamsas) -=---2..-.----------------:- 201 Wyalusing. works near___.._......... 87-91
Webster, Noah, on origin ofthe mounds. 597 | Wise, William, mounds on farm of ____- 163
West Virginia, explorationsin__.___-_..407-440 | witting, August, mounds on farm of
Barboursville, mound group neéar__438, 439 (Missal) .o00 koe eee OD)
Cabell county -_-__...-.-...-.-.-----.-- 488 | Wislizenus, stone graves examined by._ 138
Charleston, ancient works near _ Works of mound-builders and Indians
Criel mound, near Charleston -_--___- compared --...--.-- ee pe 651, 659-671
Fayctte county, ancient stone wall.. 409 | Wyman, Jeffreys, reference to mono-
Fayette county, inclosure in -.-..... 407 i aph Off cas voce eee pee ae oee aoa!
Fayette county, rock circles----- 407, 408,410 | Wyth, John, cited ........... 622.
Great Smith mound,near Charleston 425
Kanawha county, antiquities of __..410-434 Y.
Mason county, McCulloch mound... 436
Mason county, rock heaps and Yarrow, H. C., on burial customs-.--.--.-- 672,
mounds in 435 675, 677, 708
Putnam county, antiquities of 434! Yasous built mounds for dwelling sites. 653

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