Add files from ibiblio as of 2025-03-08 12:29:16HEADmain

1 files changed, 6040 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/41557-0.txt b/41557-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2fea133
--- /dev/null
+++ b/41557-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6040 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41557 ***
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+This paper is a part of the Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of
+Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1883-1884,
+Government Printing Office, Washington, 1887, pages 3-120. The index
+has been extracted from the volume index.
+
+Minor printing errors have been corrected in this version and are listed
+below.
+
+  p72: Inserted the first word of the sentence beginning "A section of
+       this bed...."
+  p73: "thichness" changed to "thickness"
+  p78: "victoms" changed to "victims"
+  p88: "throughot" changed to "throughout"
+  p114: "quelqu'vn" changed to "quelqu'un"
+  Footnote [29]: "Smithonian" changed to "Smithsonian"
+  Footnote [45]: "Vol," changed to "Vol."
+
+The oe ligature has been represented in this version by [oe], e.g.
+M[oe]urs. In the supplemental note (page 112), a character appearing to
+be an o with a u above it is used. This has been transcribed as [uo].
+
+
+
+
+SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.
+
+              BURIAL MOUNDS
+                 OF THE
+ NORTHERN SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+                   BY
+
+          PROF. CYRUS THOMAS.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                  Page.
+
+  Introductory                                                        9
+
+  Burial mounds of the Wisconsin district                            14
+
+  Burial mounds of the Illinois or Upper Mississippi district        24
+
+  The Ohio district                                                  45
+
+  The Appalachian district                                           61
+
+  The Cherokees probably mound-builders                              87
+
+  Concluding remarks                                                108
+
+  Supplemental note                                                 110
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+                                                                  Page.
+
+  PLATE  I. Group of earthworks, Allamakee County, Iowa.             26
+
+        II. Enlarged figure and section of earthwork A, Pl. I.       30
+
+       III. Group of mounds and vertical section of bluff,
+            East Dubuque, Illinois.                                  36
+
+        IV. A mound. (From DeBry).                                   40
+
+         V. Plat of ancient works, Kanawha County,
+            West Virginia.                                           54
+
+        VI. Enlarged plan of part of the works shown in Plate V.     58
+
+
+  FIG.  1. Section of mound near Racine, Wisconsin.
+           (After Lapham).                                           14
+
+        2. Section of burial mound. Vernon County, Wisconsin.        15
+
+        3. Earthen pot from Wisconsin burial mound.                  16
+
+        4. Section of burial mound. Crawford County, Wisconsin.      17
+
+        5. Section of burial mound. Crawford County, Wisconsin.      18
+
+        6. Section of burial mound. Vernon County, Wisconsin.        20
+
+        7. Section of burial mound. Davenport, Iowa.                 24
+
+        8. Section of mound showing stone vault. Iowa.               31
+
+        9. Plat of Indian burying ground. Wapello County, Iowa.      33
+
+       10. Section of mound 4. East Dubuque, Illinois.               36
+
+       11. Section of mound 16 (Plate III), showing vault.           37
+
+       12. Plan of vault, mound 16 (Plate III).                      37
+
+       13. Pipe from Illinois mound. (From Smithsonian Report,
+           1884).                                                    38
+
+       14. Pipe from Illinois mound. (From Smithsonian Report,
+           1884).                                                    38
+
+       15. Pipe from Illinois mound. (From Smithsonian Report,
+           1884).                                                    38
+
+       16. Group of mounds. Brown County, Illinois.                  40
+
+       17. Form of the larger mounds of the preceding group.         41
+
+       18. Groups of mounds. Clarke County, Missouri.                43
+
+       19. Ohio burial mound. (After Squier and Davis).              46
+
+       20. Wooden vault of Ohio mound. (After Squier and Davis).     46
+
+       21. Copper gorget from mound. Kanawha County,
+           West Virginia.                                            52
+
+       22. Pipe from mound. Kanawha County, West Virginia.           53
+
+       23. Pipe from Ohio mound.                                     53
+
+       24. Mound with so-called "altar." Kanawha County,
+           West Virginia.                                            57
+
+       25. T. F. Nelson mound. Caldwell County. North Carolina.      62
+
+       26. T. F. Nelson triangle. Caldwell County,
+           North Carolina.                                           63
+
+       27. Engraved shell gorget. Caldwell County, North Carolina.   64
+
+       28. Cylindrical copper bead. Caldwell County,
+           North Carolina.                                           65
+
+       29. Bracelet of copper and shell beads. Caldwell County,
+           North Carolina.                                           65
+
+       30. Iron implement. Caldwell County, North Carolina.          65
+
+       31. Iron implement. Caldwell County, North Carolina.          66
+
+       32. W. D. Jones mound. Caldwell County, North Carolina.       67
+
+       33. Plan of the R. T. Lenoir burial pit, Caldwell County,
+           North Carolina.                                           69
+
+       34. Fire-bed. Wilkes County, North Carolina.                  72
+
+       35. Section of mound. Henderson County, North Carolina.       74
+
+       36. Section of mound. Henderson County, North Carolina.       75
+
+       37. Plan of burials in mound. Sullivan County, Tennessee.     76
+
+       38. Pipe from mound. Sullivan County, Tennessee.              76
+
+       39. Large mound of Etowah group. Bartow County, Georgia.      96
+
+       40. Vertical section of small mound, same group.              97
+
+       41. Plan of burials in same mound.                            98
+
+       42. Copper plate from Etowah mound. Georgia.                 100
+
+       43. Copper plate from Etowah mound. Georgia.                 101
+
+       44. Copper badge from Etowah mound. Georgia.                 102
+
+       45. Copper badge from Etowah mound. Georgia.                 103
+
+       46. Engraved shell from Etowah mound. Georgia.               103
+
+       47. Engraved shell from Etowah mound. Georgia.               104
+
+       48. Copper plate from Illinois mound.                        105
+
+       49. Copper plate from Indian grave. Illinois.                106
+
+
+
+
+BURIAL MOUNDS OF THE NORTHERN SECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+BY CYRUS THOMAS, PH.D.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+All the works of the mound-builders of our country are exceedingly
+interesting to the antiquarian and are valuable as illustrating the
+habits, customs, and condition of the people by whom they were formed,
+but the sepulchral tumuli surpass all others in importance in this
+respect. Although usually simple in form and conveying thereby no
+indications of the characteristics of the people by whom they were
+erected, yet when explored they reveal to us, by their internal
+structure and contents, more in regard to the habits, beliefs, and art
+of their authors than can be learned from all their other works
+combined. From them we are enabled to learn some traits of ethnical
+character. The gifts to, or property of, their dead deposited in these
+sepulchers illustrate their arts and customs and cast some rays of light
+into their homes and daily life, and the regard for their dead indicated
+by the remaining evidences of their modes of burial and sepulchral rites
+affords some glimpses of their religious beliefs and superstitions. The
+larger and more imposing works, as the pyramidal mounds, the enclosures,
+canals, etc., furnish indications of their character, condition,
+strength, and culture-status as a people or tribe, but the burial mounds
+and their contents, besides the evidences they furnish in regard to the
+religious belief and art of the builders, tell us something of
+individual traits, something of their social life, their tastes, their
+personal regard for each other, and even something of the diseases to
+which they were subject. What is still more important, the modes of
+burial and vestiges of art found with the dead furnish us undoubted
+evidences of tribal distinctions among the authors of these works, and,
+together with the differences in external form, enable us to determine
+in a general way the respective areas occupied by the different tribes
+or peoples during the mound-building age.
+
+Judging by all the data so far obtained relating to the form, internal
+structure, and contents of these works, much of which has not yet been
+published, we are perhaps warranted in concluding that the following
+districts or areas were occupied by different peoples or tribes. As a
+matter of course we can only designate these areas in general terms.
+
+(1) The _Wisconsin district_, or area of the emblematic or effigy
+mounds. This embraces the southern half of Wisconsin, a small portion of
+the northern part of Illinois, and the extreme northeast corner of
+Iowa. The effigy or animal mounds form the distinguishing feature of the
+works of this district, but aside from these there are other features
+sufficient to separate the works of this section from those further
+south.
+
+(2) The _Illinois_ or _Upper Mississippi district_, embracing eastern
+Iowa, northeastern Missouri, and northern and central Illinois, as far
+south as the mouth of the Illinois River.
+
+In this region the works are mostly simple conical tumuli of small or
+moderate size, found on the uplands, ridges, and bluffs as well as on
+the bottoms, and were evidently intended chiefly as depositories of the
+dead. They are further characterized by internal rude stone and wooden
+vaults or layers; by the scarcity of pottery vessels, the frequent
+occurrence of pipes, the presence of copper axes, and often a hard,
+mortar-like layer over the primary or original burial. The skeletons
+found are usually extended, though frequently in a sitting or squatting
+posture.
+
+Walls and enclosures are of rare occurrence in this region.
+
+(3) The _Ohio district_, including the State of Ohio, the western part
+of West Virginia, and the eastern portion of Indiana. Although the works
+of this region present some features which are common to those of the
+Gulf section, there are several peculiar characteristics which warrant
+us in designating it as a distinct district. Among other of these
+peculiar features we notice the great circles and squares of the
+enclosures, the long parallel lines of earthen walls, the so-called
+"altar mounds," or mounds containing structures chiefly of clay to which
+the name "altar" has been applied; the numerous carved stone pipes; the
+character of the pottery and the methods of burial.
+
+(4) The _New York district_, confined chiefly to the northern and
+western parts of the State of New York, but including also the lake
+region of the central portion.
+
+As the antiquities of this district have been shown by Squier to be
+chiefly due to the Indian tribes occupying that section at the time of
+its discovery by the Europeans, it is unnecessary to note the
+distinguishing characteristics. The works are chiefly enclosing walls,
+remains of palisades, and burial mounds.
+
+(5) The _Appalachian district_, including western North Carolina,
+eastern Tennessee, southwestern Virginia, and part of southeastern
+Kentucky.
+
+The characteristics which appear to warrant us in concluding that the
+works of this region pertain to a different people from those in the
+other districts, at the same time seem to show some relation to those of
+the Ohio district. Such are the numerous stone pipes, the altar-like
+structures found in some of the mounds, and the presence of mica plates
+with the skeletons. But the peculiar features are the mode of burial,
+the absence of pottery, and the numerous polished celts and engraved
+shells found in the mounds.
+
+Although it is probable that there are at least three districts in the
+southern portion of the United States, they appear to pass from one into
+the other by such slight changes in the character of the works as to
+render it exceedingly difficult to fix the boundaries between them. I
+therefore mention the following, provisionally, as being those indicated
+by the data so far obtained.
+
+(6) The _Middle Mississippi area_ or _Tennessee district_, including
+southeast Missouri, northern Arkansas, middle and western Tennessee,
+southern and western Kentucky, and southern Illinois. The works of the
+Wabash valley possibly belong also to this district, but the data
+obtained in regard to them are not sufficient to decide this point
+satisfactorily. This district, like the others of the south, is
+distinguished from the northern section by its larger mounds, many of
+which are pyramidal and truncated and often terraced, and which were,
+beyond question, used as domiciliary mounds. Here we also meet with
+repeated examples of enclosures though essentially different from those
+of Ohio; also ditches and canals. From the Lower Mississippi and Gulf
+districts, with which, as we have said, it is closely allied, it is
+distinguished chiefly by the presence of the box-shaped stone cists or
+coffins, by the small circular house-sites or hut-rings, and by the
+character of the pottery. This is pre-eminently the pottery region, the
+typical forms being the long-necked, gourd-shaped vase and the
+image-vessels. In this district the carved stone pipes are much less
+common than in the Illinois, Ohio, and Appalachian districts.
+
+(7) The _Lower Mississippi district_, including the southern half of
+Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. There are no marked
+characteristics by which to distinguish it from the Middle district; in
+fact as we move southward along the Mississippi from the mouth of the
+Illinois river, the works and their contents indicate a succession of
+tribes differing but slightly in habits, customs, and modes of life, the
+river generally forming one natural boundary between them, but the other
+boundaries being arbitrary. For example, the Cahokia region appears to
+have been the home of a tribe from which at one time a colony pushed
+northward and settled for a while in Brown and Pike Counties, Illinois.
+The extreme southeastern counties of Missouri were probably the seat of
+another populous tribe which extended its borders into the western part
+of southern Illinois and slightly into northeast Arkansas, and closely
+resembled in customs and art the ancient people who occupied that part
+of the Cumberland valley in middle Tennessee. This subsection is
+principally distinguished by the presence of the small circular
+house-sites, which are slightly basin-shaped, with a low ring of earth
+around them. As we move farther southward into Arkansas the house-sites
+change into low circular mounds, usually from 1 to 3 feet in height, and
+in nearly every instance containing a layer of clay (often burned) and
+ashes.
+
+These small mounds, which are clearly shown to have been house-sites,
+were also burial places. It appears to have been a very common custom in
+this section to bury the dead in the floor, burn the dwelling over them,
+and cover the whole with dirt, the last operation often taking place
+while the embers were yet smouldering. Burial in graves was also
+practiced to a considerable extent. As we approach the Arkansas River,
+moving southward and from thence into Louisiana, the pottery shows a
+decided improvement in character and ornamentation.
+
+(8) The _Gulf district_, including the Gulf States east of the
+Mississippi. The works of this section appear to be closely allied to
+those of the Lower Mississippi district, as here we also find the large
+flat-topped pyramidal mounds, enclosing walls, and surrounding ditches
+and canals.
+
+The chief differences are to be found in the forms and ornamentation of
+the pottery and modes of burial.
+
+As we approach the Mississippi River the distinguishing features
+gradually disappear, although there appears to be a distinct subdistrict
+in the northern part of Mississippi, and as we enter the Florida
+peninsula a change is observed which appears to indicate a different
+people, but the data so far obtained are not sufficient to enable us to
+outline the subdistricts.
+
+This districting is to be regarded as a working hypothesis rather than
+as a settled conclusion which will stand the test of future
+investigations. It is more than likely that other subdivisions will be
+found necessary, and that the boundaries of some of the districts given
+will have to be more or less modified; still, I believe the arrangement
+will be found substantially correct.
+
+As a very general and almost universal rule, mounds of the class under
+consideration are more or less conical in form, and are common to all
+sections where earthworks are known to exist, in fact they form almost
+the only ancient remains of some localities. Often they are isolated,
+with no other monuments near them, but more frequently they occur in
+groups or are associated with other works. Squier and Davis say "they
+are generally of considerable size, varying from 6 to 80 feet in height,
+but having an average of from 15 to 25 feet."[1]
+
+This is probably true in regard to the mounds explored by these
+archaeologists in Ohio, but is erroneous if applied generally; as very
+many, evidently used and intended as burying places only, are but two or
+three feet high, and so far as the more recent examinations made in
+other sections--especially the explorations carried on under the Bureau
+of Ethnology--have shown, tumuli of this character are usually from 3 to
+10 feet high, though some, it is true, are of much larger dimensions;
+but these are the exceptions and not the rule.[2]
+
+As the authors just alluded to are so frequently referred to by writers,
+and their statements in reference to the works explored by them are
+taken as of general application, I will venture to correct another
+statement made by them in regard to mounds of this character. They
+assert that "these mounds invariably cover a single skeleton (in very
+rare instances more than one, as in the case of the Grave Creek mound),
+which, at the time of its interment, was enveloped in bark or coarse
+matting or enclosed in a rude sarcophagus of timber, the traces, in some
+instances the very casts, of which remain. Occasionally the chamber of
+the dead is built of stone rudely laid up, without cement of any
+kind."[3]
+
+I have investigated but few of the ancient works of Ohio personally, or
+through the assistants of the Bureau, hence I can only speak in regard
+to them from what has been published and from communications received,
+but judging from these, Messrs. Squier and Davis, while no doubt
+correctly describing the mounds explored by them, have been too hasty in
+drawing general conclusions.
+
+That burial mounds in the northern sections very frequently cover but a
+single skeleton is true, but that this, even in this section, is
+universally true or that it is the general rule is a mistake, as will
+appear from what is shown hereafter. Nor will it apply as a rule to
+those of the southern sections.
+
+To illustrate the character and construction of these mounds, and modes
+of burial in them, I will introduce here brief descriptions of the
+leading types found in the different northern districts heretofore
+mentioned, confining myself chiefly to the explorations made by the
+Bureau assistants.
+
+
+
+
+BURIAL MOUNDS OF THE WISCONSIN DISTRICT.
+
+
+Following the order of the geographical districts heretofore given, we
+commence with the Wisconsin section, or region of the effigy mounds.
+
+As a general rule the burial mounds in this area are comparatively
+small, seldom exceeding 10 feet in height and generally ranging from 3
+to 6 feet. In all cases these belong to that class of works usually
+denominated "simple conical tumuli."
+
+Of the methods of construction and modes of burial there appear to be
+some two or three types, though not so different as necessarily to
+indicate different tribes or peoples. One of these is well represented
+in the following extract from Dr. I. A. Lapham's work describing some
+mounds opened by Dr. Hoy, near Racine:
+
+     We excavated fourteen of the mounds, some with the greatest
+     possible care. They are all sepulchral, of a uniform
+     construction as represented in Fig. 1 [our Fig. 1.] Most of
+     them contained more than one skeleton; in one instance we found
+     no less than seven. We could detect no appearance of
+     stratification, each mound having been built at one time and
+     not by successive additions. During the investigations we
+     obtained sufficient evidence to warrant me in the following
+     conclusions. The bodies were regularly buried in a sitting or
+     partly kneeling posture facing the east, with the legs placed
+     under them. They were covered with a bark or log roofing over
+     which the mound was built.[4]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Section of mound near Racine, Wisconsin.]
+
+In these a basin-shaped excavation some 2 or 3 feet deep was first made
+in the soil in which the bodies were deposited, as shown in Fig. 1.
+
+Mr. Middleton, one of the Bureau assistants, in 1883, opened quite a
+number of small burial mounds in Crawford and Vernon counties, belonging
+to the same type as those just described; some with the excavation in
+the original soil in which the skeletons were deposited, though in
+others there were no such excavations, the skeletons being deposited on
+the original surface or at various depths in the mounds. I give here
+descriptions of a few of them from his notes:
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Section of burial mound, Vernon County,
+Wisconsin.]
+
+The one numbered 16, of the Courtois group, is about 20 feet in
+diameter, and at present scarcely more than 1 foot high, the ground
+having been in cultivation for several years and the mound considerably
+lowered by the plow. A vertical section is given in Fig. 2, _a a_,
+indicating the natural surface of the ground, _b_ the part of the mound
+removed, and _c_ the original circular excavation in the natural soil to
+the depth of 2 feet.
+
+Four skeletons were found in this excavation, two side by side near the
+center, with heads south, faces up, one near the north margin with head
+west, and the other on the south side with head east, all stretched at
+full length.
+
+In another mound of the same group with a similar excavation nothing
+save a single skull was found. In another of exactly the same kind some
+of the skeletons were folded, while others were extended at full length.
+
+In all these cases, and in a majority of the small burial mounds opened
+in this western part of the State, there was no stratification; still
+there were found some exceptions to this rule.
+
+Vestiges of art were comparatively rare in them, yet here and there were
+found an arrow-point, a chipped flint scraper or celt--in some instances
+remarkably fine specimens--a few large copper gorgets, evidently
+hammered from native copper, copper beads, etc. Very few vessels of
+pottery were obtained from them, but one was discovered, shown in Fig.
+3, which I believe is of the finest quality of this ware so far obtained
+from the mounds of the United States. There were intrusive burials in a
+few of these mounds, but these have been wholly omitted from
+consideration in the descriptions given.
+
+In a few instances the mounds seem to have been built solely for the
+purpose of covering a confused mass of human bones gathered together
+after the flesh had disappeared or had been removed. Similar mounds are
+described by Mr. Thomas Armstrong as found near Ripon, Fond du Lac
+County. Speaking of these, Mr. Armstrong says:
+
+     As to how these bones came to be placed in these mounds, we can
+     of course only conjecture; but from their want of arrangement,
+     from the lack of ornaments and implements, and from their
+     having been placed on the original surface, we are inclined to
+     believe that the dry bones were gathered together--those in the
+     large mounds first and those in the smaller ones
+     afterwards--and placed in loose piles on the ground and the
+     earth heaped over them until the mounds were formed.[5]
+
+There can be no doubt that the bones in this case were gathered up from
+other temporary burial places or depositories, as was the custom of
+several tribes of Indians.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Earthen pot from Wisconsin mound.]
+
+A number of burial mounds opened by Mr. W. G. Anderson, near Madison,
+were found to be of the same general type as those mentioned by Mr.
+Middleton. These he describes as being very low and poorly made. Eight
+were opened, all having been built in the same way, with only one layer
+of black earth, so hard as to make the work of excavation exceedingly
+laborious. These were circular, and about 4 feet high. Skeletons were
+found as near as 12 or 13 inches to the surface, but badly decayed.
+There were no sarcophagi or coffins, and in all cases the heads pointed
+towards the west.[6]
+
+In some instances the mound contained a circular stone wall, within
+which a pit had been dug to the depth of 2 or 3 feet in the original
+soil, as, for example, the one near Waukesha, described by Dr.
+Lapham.[7]
+
+A mound in Crawford County, opened by Colonel Norris, one of the Bureau
+assistants, in 1882, shows a similar vault or pit, but differs from the
+preceding in being distinctly stratified and wanting the stone wall. The
+construction of this tumulus and the mode of burial in it were as
+follows:
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Section of burial mound, Crawford County,
+Wisconsin.]
+
+Proceeding from the top downwards, there was first a layer of soil and
+sand about 1 foot thick; next, nearly 2 feet in depth of calcined human
+bones, without order, mingled with which were charcoal, ashes, and a
+reddish-brown mortar-like substance, burned as hard as pavement brick.
+This layer is numbered 4 in the annexed cut (Fig. 4), which represents a
+vertical section of the mound. Immediately below this was a layer about
+1 foot thick (No. 3) of clay or mortar mixed with sand, burned to a
+brick-red color. Below this, in the space marked 2 in the cut, were
+found the bones of fifteen or twenty individuals, in a confused heap,
+without order or arrangement. Mingled with these were fire-brands,
+charcoal, and ashes. The bones were charred, some of them to charcoal,
+and some were glazed with melted sand. The mass appears to have been
+first covered with soft clay-mortar, which ran into and filled the
+spaces, and the burning to have been done afterwards by means of brush
+or wood heaped on the top, as among the bones were lumps of hard burned
+clay.
+
+The bottom of this layer corresponded with the original surface of the
+ground, but the excavation being continued, a circular vault or pit, 6
+feet in diameter, was found extending downwards, with perpendicular
+sides, to the depth of nearly 3 feet. The bottom of this pit was covered
+to the depth of an inch with fine chocolate-colored dust. Although the
+filling of this pit was chiefly sand, there was a cavity at the bottom a
+foot high in the center, over which the sand filling was arched as shown
+in the figure.
+
+It is evident that the skeletons in this mound were buried after the
+flesh had been removed, as we can on no other supposition explain the
+fact that the clay or mortar had filled the interstices between the
+bones, and that in some cases it had even penetrated into the skulls.
+
+Another mound, opened by Colonel Norris in the same neighborhood,
+presented some peculiarities worthy of notice, although not sufficient
+to mark it as belonging to a distinct type.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Section of burial mound, Crawford County,
+Wisconsin.]
+
+According to his report, the southern portion had previously been
+explored by Judge Branson, who found at the base some six or eight
+skeletons lying stretched out horizontally, and covered by a dry,
+light-colored mortar which must have been spread over them while in a
+soft condition, as it had run between the bones and encased them, and in
+some cases, as in the mound just described, filled the skulls. As only
+the southern portion had been opened he removed the remainder. The dried
+mortar-like substance was very hard and difficult to dig through, but
+the pick soon struck some rough, flat limestone rocks which proved to be
+parts of a rude wall about 3 feet high and 8 feet long, built on the
+natural surface of the ground. In the opposite side of the mound, 12
+feet distant from and parallel with it, was another similar wall.
+Between them and on the natural surface of the ground, side by side,
+were a number of skeletons lying flat and lengthwise and parallel with
+the walls. A vertical section of this mound is shown in Fig. 5. The
+little circles at the bottom between the walls indicate the heads of the
+skeletons; No. 4, the layer of mortar over the bones; 3, a layer of hard
+clay mixed with ashes; 2, a layer of clay; and 1, the top covering of
+sand and soil about 18 inches thick. Before being disturbed this mound
+was 35 feet in diameter and 6 feet high.
+
+As it is evident that the burials in this case were made at one time,
+and as the mortar-like substance had run into the interstices, it is
+more than probable that the skeletons were deposited after the flesh had
+been removed.
+
+The following description of a mound with a single original and several
+intrusive burials is also taken from Colonel Norris' notes of work in
+Crawford County:
+
+One large mound of this group, 70 feet in diameter and 10 feet high,
+still unexplored, was opened. It had been considerably defaced,
+especially on the west side. According to tradition it was a noted
+burial place with the Indians, which was certainly confirmed by the
+result. The surface or top layer was composed 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 human skeletons in various stages of decay and in
+different positions, but mostly stretched horizontally on the back.
+Scattered among the remains were numerous fragments of blankets,
+clothing and human hair, 1 copper kettle of modern pattern, 3 copper
+bracelets (hammered from native copper), 1 silver locket, 10 silver
+bracelets (one having the name "Montreal," and another the letters "A B"
+stamped on it), 2 silver earrings, 6 silver brooches, 1 copper
+finger-ring, 1 double silver cross, 1 knife-handle, and 1 battered
+bullet. In fact the top layer to the depth of 3 or 4 feet seemed to be
+packed as full of skeletons and relics as possible.
+
+Carrying the trench down to the original surface of the ground, he found
+at the bottom, near the center, a single skeleton of an adult in the
+last stages of decay. With it were the following articles: 2 stone
+scrapers, a small stone drill, fragments of river shells, and pieces of
+a mammoth tusk. The earth below the upper layer was mixed with clay and
+ashes, evidently different from the surrounding soil.
+
+Several mounds opened by him in Grant County contained charred human
+bones, and one or two covered confused masses of bones, being similar in
+this respect to some of those heretofore mentioned.
+
+A mound which he opened in Sheboygan County, containing a single
+skeleton, is described as about 50 feet in diameter and 5 feet high.
+After passing through 18 inches of surface soil, the central mass,
+composed of earth mingled with charcoal, ashes, and loose stones, was
+reached. Near the center of this mass, and at the bottom of the mound, a
+large human skeleton was discovered, apparently holding between the
+hands and knees a large clay vase. Immediately over this skeleton was an
+irregular layer of flat bowlders.
+
+Another mound of this group, about the same size as the preceding, was
+found literally filled with skeletons to the depth of 2-1/2 feet,
+evidently intrusive burials, as they were accompanied with iron
+implements, silver ornaments, etc. Beneath these was a layer of rounded
+drift bowlders aggregating several wagon loads. Below these and in a
+shallow excavation in the natural surface of the ground were some forty
+or more skeletons in a sitting or squatting posture, disposed in circles
+around and facing the central space, which was occupied by an unusually
+large shell (_Busycon perversum_).
+
+It is worthy of notice in this connection that there are no effigy
+mounds, so far as known, in the immediate section where the two works
+just mentioned are situated, but there is near by, one small oval
+enclosure about 50 feet in diameter.
+
+In studying the burial mounds of the district now under consideration,
+of which the foregoing may be considered as types, there appears to be
+no marked distinction between the intrusive burials of modern Indians
+and the original burials for which the mounds were constructed. In both
+we observe from one to many skeletons in a place; in both we find them
+stretched out horizontally and also folded; in both we sometimes notice
+evidences of fire and partially-consumed bones; in both we find
+instances where the mortar-like covering has been used, and in both we
+meet occasionally with those confused masses of bones which seem to have
+been gathered from graves or other temporary burial places into these
+mounds as common depositories. Moreover the transition from one to the
+other is so gradual as to leave us nothing save the position in the
+mound and the presence of vestiges of civilized art to distinguish the
+former from the latter.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Section of burial mound, Vernon County,
+Wisconsin.]
+
+A large portion of these mounds, as has already been stated, are
+unstratified, and each was probably thrown up and completed at one time;
+yet skeletons are found at various depths in some of these, as, for
+example, one opened by Mr. Middleton, in Vernon County, a vertical
+section of which is shown in Fig. 6, _a a_ indicating the original
+surface of the ground and the stars the positions of the skeletons, some
+of which were stretched out at full length while others were folded. The
+heads were towards different points of the compass and 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 near the surface
+or top of the mound indicating burial after contact with the whites.
+
+It is apparent, therefore, that although some of the burial mounds of
+this district must be attributed to the so-called mound-builders, others
+were certainly 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 described are the work of the Indians. If this is
+conceded there would seem to be no halting place short of attributing
+all of this class in this district to the same race.
+
+Dr. Hoy's statement that in some cases there was evidence that the
+bodies had been "covered with a bark or log roofing," is in exact accord
+with a well-known burial custom of some of the tribes of the Northwest.
+
+According to Mr. M. B. Kent, the Sacs and Foxes, who formerly resided in
+the region now under consideration, buried the body "in a grave made
+about 2-1/2 feet deep, which was laid always with the head towards the
+east, the burial taking place as soon after death as possible. The grave
+was prepared by putting bark in the bottom of it before the corpse was
+deposited, a plank covering made and secured some distance above the
+body."
+
+Another method followed by the same people, according to Mr. J. W.
+Spencer[8], was to make a shallow hole in the ground, setting the body
+in it up to the waist, so that most of the body was above the ground. A
+trench was then dug about the grave, in which pickets were planted. But
+the usual method was to place split pieces of wood about three feet long
+over the body, meeting at the top in the form of a roof, on which dirt
+was thrown to keep them in place.
+
+According to Potherie[9], the Iroquois were accustomed to cover the
+bodies, after being deposited in the "fosse," with bark of trees, on
+which they cast earth and stones.
+
+According to Schoolcraft[10], the Mohawks of New York--
+
+     make a large round hole in which the body can be placed upright
+     or upon its haunches: which after the body is placed in it is
+     covered with timber to support the earth which they lay over,
+     and thereby keep the body from being pressed. They then raise
+     the earth in a round hill over it.[11]
+
+The burial customs of northern tribes, known to have occupied portions
+of the effigy mound district, agree so exactly with what we see in the
+sepulchral tumuli of this district as to justify the conclusion reached
+by Dr. Lapham, after a long and careful personal study of them, that
+they are to be attributed to Indians. Some he was rather inclined to
+ascribe to tribes which had migrated, had been driven off by other
+tribes, or been incorporated into them previous to the advent of the
+white race. But he maintained that the subsequent tribes or those found
+occupying the country "continued the practice of mound-building so far
+as to erect a circular or conical tumulus over their dead." And he adds
+significantly, "This practice appears to be a remnant of ancient customs
+that connects the mound-builders with the present tribes."[12]
+
+The evidence in regard to these unstratified mounds appears to lead
+directly to the conclusion that they are all the work of the Indians
+found occupying the country at the time it was first visited by whites
+or of their ancestors. If it is conceded that the small unstratified
+tumuli are in part the work of these aborigines, there would seem to be
+no escape from the conclusion that all the burial mounds of this
+district are to be ascribed to them; for, although there are some two or
+three types of burial and burial mounds, the gradation from one to the
+other is so complete as to leave no marked line of distinction, and Dr.
+Lapham is fully justified in asserting that the evidence connects the
+mound-builders with the modern Indians. The stratified mounds in which
+the hard clay or mortar covering over the remains is found, and which we
+shall again meet with in the adjoining district, may be the work of
+different tribes from those which constructed the small unstratified
+tumuli, but the distinctions between the two classes are not such as to
+justify the belief that they are to be attributed to a different race or
+to a people occupying a higher or widely different culture-status.
+
+Having reached this conclusion it is impossible for us to halt here; we
+are compelled to take one step farther in the same direction and ascribe
+the singular structures known as "effigy mounds" to the same people. The
+two classes of work 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. We might as well assume that the
+enclosures of Ohio were the work of one people, but the mounds
+accompanying them of another.
+
+That works of different tribes or nations may frequently be found
+intermingled on areas over which successive waves of population have
+passed is admitted, but that one part of what is clearly a system is to
+be attributed to one people and the other part to another people is a
+hypothesis 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. Remove the Indian element from the problem
+and we are left without even the shadow of an hypothesis.
+
+The fact that the effigy mounds were not 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 one system. If this
+conclusion is considered legitimate, it will lend much aid to the study
+of these works. It is true it is not new, but it has been generally
+ignored, and hence could not aid in working out results.
+
+The following extract from Dr. Lapham's "Antiquities of Wisconsin" will
+not be considered inappropriate at this point:[13]
+
+     The ancient works in Wisconsin are mostly at the very places
+     selected by the present Indians for their abodes, thus
+     indicating that the habits, wants, modes of subsistence, &c.,
+     of their builders were essentially the same.
+
+     If the present tribes have no traditions running back as far as
+     the time of Allouez and Marquette, or even to the more recent
+     time of Jonathan Carver, it is not strange that none should
+     exist in regard to the mounds, which must be of much earlier
+     date.
+
+     It is by considerations of this nature that we are led to the
+     conclusion that the mound-builders of Wisconsin were none
+     others than the ancestors of the present tribes of Indians.
+
+     There is some evidence of a greater prevalence than at present
+     of prairie or cultivated land in this State at no very remote
+     age. The largest trees are probably not more than five hundred
+     years old, and large tracts of land are now covered with
+     forests of young trees where there are no traces of an
+     antecedent growth. Every year the high winds prostrate great
+     numbers of trees and frequent storms pass through the forest,
+     throwing down nearly everything before them. Trees are left
+     with a portion of the roots still in the ground, so as to keep
+     them alive for several years after their prostration. These
+     "wind-falls" are of frequent occurrence in the depths of the
+     forests and occasion much difficulty in making the public
+     surveys. The straight lines of the sections frequently
+     encounter them.
+
+     The amount of earth adhering to the roots of a tree when
+     prostrated by the wind is, under favorable circumstances, very
+     considerable, and upon their decay forms an oblong mound of
+     greater or less magnitude, and a slight depression is left
+     where the tree stood. These little hillocks are often by the
+     inexperienced mistaken for Indian graves. From the paucity of
+     these little "tree-mounds" we infer that no very great
+     antiquity can be assigned to the dense forests of Wisconsin;
+     for, during a long period of time, with no material change of
+     climate, we would expect to find great numbers of these little
+     monuments of ancient storms scattered everywhere over the
+     ground.
+
+     Whether the greater extent of treeless country in former times
+     was owing to natural or artificial causes it is now difficult
+     to determine, but the great extent of ancient works within the
+     depths of the present forests would seem to indicate that the
+     country was at least kept free from trees by the agency of man.
+
+     Many of these tree-mounds were observed on and about the
+     ancient works.
+
+     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 through
+     the oval and elongated 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, 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 to assert 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 ascertained 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 sepulchral purposes, which
+     come down to a very recent period.
+
+     Third. The indications of garden-beds planted in regular
+     geometrical figures or straight lines.
+
+     Fourth. The plantations of the present tribes, who plant
+     without system or regularity.
+
+     Thus the taste for regular forms and arrangements, and the
+     habits of construction with earthy materials seems to have been
+     gradually lost, until all traces of them disappear in our
+     modern degenerate red men.
+
+     The animal-shaped mounds and accompanying oblongs and ridges,
+     constituting the first of the above series, are composed of
+     whitish clay or of the subsoil of the country.
+
+     The mounds of the second series, or burial mounds, are usually
+     composed of black mould or loam, promiscuously intermixed with
+     the lighter-colored subsoil.
+
+
+
+
+BURIAL MOUNDS OF THE ILLINOIS OR UPPER MISSISSIPPI DISTRICT.
+
+
+This district, as heretofore stated, includes eastern Iowa, northeastern
+Missouri, and northern and central Illinois as far south as the mouth of
+the Illinois River.
+
+Although we are justified in concluding that this area was occupied
+during the mound-building age by tribes different from those residing
+in the Wisconsin district, yet the distinguishing characteristics are
+more apparent in the forms of the works than in the modes of burial and
+internal construction of the burial mounds. We shall see by the
+illustrations hereafter given that at least one of the types found in
+one district is common in the other. But this is to be expected and is
+readily explained by the supposition that the tribes which have occupied
+these regions moved back and forth, thus one after another coming upon
+the same area. The absence of evidence of such movements would indicate
+that the mound-building period was of comparatively short duration, a
+theory which I believe has not been adopted by any authority, but to
+which I shall have occasion again to refer. One class of the burial
+mounds of this district is well represented in a group, explored by the
+members of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, on the Cook farm,
+near Davenport, Iowa. The mounds of this group are situated on the
+immediate bank of the Mississippi at a height not exceeding 8 to 12 feet
+above high-water mark; they are conical in form and of comparatively
+small size, varying in height from 3 to 8 feet. Nine of them were
+opened, of which we notice the following:
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Section of burial mound, Davenport, Iowa. [From
+the Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences.]]
+
+In No. 1 the layers from above down were, first, a foot of earth; then a
+layer of stones 1-1/2 feet thick; then a layer of shells 2 inches thick;
+next a foot of earth, and lastly a second layer of shells 4 inches
+thick. Immediately under this, at the depth of 5 feet, were found five
+skeletons stretched horizontally on the original surface of the ground,
+parallel to each other, three with heads toward the east and two with
+heads west. With them were found one sea-shell (_Busycon perversum_),
+two copper axes, to which fragments of cloth were attached, one copper
+awl, an arrow-head, and two stone pipes, one representing a frog.
+
+Mound No. 2, though similar in form and external appearance to the
+preceding, presented a quite different arrangement internally, as is
+evident from the vertical section shown in Fig. 7. Here there were no
+layers of shells, but two distinct layers of stones. At the depth of 5
+feet eight skulls (five only are shown in the figure), with some
+fragments of bones were unearthed; these were lying in a semicircle of 5
+feet diameter, each surrounded by a circle of small stones (shown at _a_
+in the figure). From the position of the skulls and bones it was evident
+these bodies had been buried in a sitting posture. The articles found
+accompanying the skeletons were two copper axes, two small hemispheres
+of copper and _one of silver_, a bear's tooth, and an arrow-head.
+
+No. 3, though the largest of the group, was apparently unstratified, the
+original burial consisting of the bones of two adults and one infant, at
+the original surface of the ground, under a thin layer of ashes, and
+surrounded by a single circle of small red stones. With these were found
+copper axes, copper beads, two carved stone pipes (one in the form of a
+ground-hog), animal teeth, etc. Near the surface of the mound were two
+well-preserved skeletons, with evidences of an "oakwood" covering over
+them and accompanied by glass beads, a fire steel, clay pipe, and silver
+ear-ring--evidently an intrusive burial.
+
+No. 4 was found similar in construction and in all other respects to No.
+3, except that at the feet of the skeletons was a round heap of stones,
+3 feet high, neatly laid up, and that in the earth where the skeletons
+lay could be distinctly seen traces of cloth or some woven material, in
+which they had probably been enveloped.
+
+No. 5 was similar to No. 2, except in the following respects: The
+skeletons (probably two) were in a confused heap at the bottom under a
+6-inch layer of hard clay (probably similar to what Colonel Norris calls
+"mortar"). Near these, but outside of the clay layer, was a stone heap
+similar to that in No. 4. "On this lay two very strong thigh bones and
+three ribs placed diagonally across each other. There were also a few
+bones leaning against the heap at one side. The stones were partly
+burned to lime, and all of them showed more or less marks of fire, while
+the bones in the mound showed not the slightest trace of it."
+
+Four or five feet south of the stone heap was a large quantity of human
+bones in complete confusion. The relics were broken pots, arrow-heads, a
+stone pipe, etc.
+
+Nos. 7, 8, and 9 were similar to No. 1, varying only in minor
+details.[14]
+
+My object in noticing the construction of so many mounds in a single
+group and the modes of burial in them, is to call attention to the
+differences in detail where there can be no doubt that they were built
+by one tribe and probably by one clan, as the size of the group
+indicates a comparatively limited population. In these nine mounds we
+notice the following differences: some are stratified, others not; in
+some the skeletons are placed horizontally on the ground, in others they
+are in a sitting posture, while in others they are dismembered and in
+confused heaps; in some there are altar-like[15] structures of stone
+which are wanting in others; in some the skeletons are covered with a
+hard clay or mortar coating which is wanting in most of them, and
+lastly, we see in one or two, evidences of the use of fire in the burial
+ceremonies, though not found in the others.
+
+In some respects these mounds remind us of some of the stratified tumuli
+of Wisconsin, especially those opened by Colonel Norris in Sheboygan
+County, to which they bear a strong resemblance.
+
+In the latter part of 1882 Colonel Norris examined a group of works in
+Allamakee County, Iowa, which presents some peculiarities worthy of
+notice in this connection.
+
+This group, which is represented in Plate I, consisting of enclosures,
+lines of small mounds, and excavations, is situated on the farm of Mr.
+H. P. Lane, about 7 miles above New Albin. It is on a bluff in one of
+the numerous bends of the Little Iowa River, the character of the
+locality indicating that it was selected as one easily defended. I shall
+at present only notice those particulars which seem to have some bearing
+on the character of the burial mounds and mode of interment.
+
+Although there are no effigy mounds in the group, the relative positions
+and forms of the tumuli, as shown in the figure, and other particulars
+to be noticed, leave no doubt in my mind that the works, in part, are to
+be attributed to the people who built the figure mounds of Wisconsin.
+But, as will be seen from the particulars mentioned, there is conclusive
+evidence that the locality has been occupied at different times by at
+least two distinct tribes or peoples, differing widely in habits and
+customs.
+
+[Illustration: PL. I. GROUP OF EARTHWORKS, ALLAMAKEE COUNTY, IOWA]
+
+The largest work is an enclosure marked _A_ in Plate I, and shown on an
+enlarged scale in Plate II. It is situated on the margin of a bluff
+overlooking the Little Iowa and an intervening bog-bayou, probably the
+former channel of the river. It is almost exactly circular, the curve
+being broken on the east side, where it touches the brink of the bluff,
+being here made to conform to the line of the latter, though probably
+never thrown up to the same height as the other portion. The ends at the
+southeast overlap each other for a short distance, leaving at this point
+an entrance way, the only one to the enclosure. A ditch runs round on
+the inside from the entrance on the south to where the wall strikes the
+bluff on the north, but is wanting along the bluff and overlapping
+portion. The north and south diameter, measuring from outside to
+outside, is 277 feet; from east to west, 235 feet; the entire outer
+circumference is 807 feet, the length of the portion along the bluff 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,
+except along the bluff, where it is scarcely apparent; the entrance is
+16 feet wide, and the ditch 5 to 6 feet wide and 3 feet deep. On the
+north, adjoining the wall on the outside and extending along it for
+about 100 feet, is an excavation (_c_, Plate II) 35 feet wide at the
+widest point and 3 feet deep.
+
+As this ground, including the circle, has been under cultivation for
+fifteen years, it would be supposed the height of the wall is
+considerably less than it originally was, but this is probably a
+mistake. On the contrary, it was originally probably but 20 feet wide
+and not more than 3 feet high, composed mainly of yellowish brown clay
+obtained, in part at least, from the ditch, but during occupancy the
+accumulation of countless bones of animals used as 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 (_C_, Plate I) overlooking it, have not only filled the
+ditch but elevated the wall and whole interior area 2 feet or more. This
+accumulation of sand is so great and so uniform over the plateau that
+fifteen years of cultivation have not sufficed to reach the clay of the
+original surface nor to unearth or even penetrate to the bones, pottery
+fragments, and other refuse matter covering the original surface in the
+circle.
+
+Trenches cut across the wall at various points indicate, first, a layer
+of sand about 1 foot thick; immediately below this an accumulation of
+refuse matter forming a layer from 1 to 2 feet thick; under which was
+the original clay embankment 2 feet thick, resting on the natural
+surface of the ground. A section of the ditch, embankment, and
+excavation is shown in Plate II. The dotted line _a b_ indicates the
+natural surface; No. 1 the original clay layer of the 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, etc.
+
+A broad belt of the inner area on the east side was explored, and the
+same conditions were found to exist here as were revealed by the
+trenches across the wall and ditch, except that here the shells were
+more abundant in layer No. 2, and there were many burnt stones.
+
+On the southeastern portion of the plateau (_B_, Plate I) are six nearly
+parallel lines of mounds running northeast and southwest, mostly
+circular in form, varying from 15 to 40 feet in diameter, and from 2 to
+6 feet in height; a few, as indicated in the figure, are oblong, varying
+in length from 50 to 100 feet. The number in the group exceeds one
+hundred.
+
+While engaged in excavating these mounds Colonel Norris observed a
+number of patches of the level area quite destitute of vegetation. The
+owner of the land, who was present, could give no explanation of this
+phenomenon, simply remarking that they had always been so, never having
+produced a good crop of anything, although there was no apparent
+difference between the soil of these spots and the surface around them.
+As some of these extended across the area occupied by the mound group,
+he concluded to explore them, and was surprised to find them to be
+burying places, and scattered here and there among the graves, if such
+they could be called, were stone chips, shells, charcoal, and ashes. He
+was surprised at this, as he supposed the mounds alone were used as
+depositories of the dead, and was at first disposed to attribute these
+burials to a people who had occupied the ground long subsequent to the
+authors of the works. Possibly this may be the correct solution, but if
+so, they were certainly the same as those who buried in the mounds of
+this group, as no difference in the contents and internal arrangement
+could be observed. In both cases there was a compact layer of hard,
+light-colored earth, having the appearance of lime-mortar, possibly clay
+and ashes mixed together, which had been subject to the action of fire.
+As the burials in these sterile spots were seldom more than 18 inches
+deep, the only layer above them consisted of sand from the butte, while
+the mounds were uniformly covered with a layer of richer soil, although
+below this and covering the skeletons was a layer of hard, light-colored
+earth. Skeletons and bones were found in great abundance in the mounds
+and under the surface of the plateau, though none were discovered in the
+circle or nearer than 200 yards of it. They were sometimes mingled
+promiscuously with charcoal and ashes, but were usually in whole
+skeletons lying horizontally, though some were in a sitting posture;
+they were within from 1 to 3 feet of the surface, without any apparent
+system, except that they were always covered with a layer of hard earth.
+
+A trench cut through the long mound of this group, No. 1, revealed near
+the center an oblong pile of sandstones, beneath which was found a rude
+stone coffin, formed by first placing flat sandstone slabs on the
+natural surface of the ground, then other slabs at the sides and ends,
+and a covering of similar stones, thus forming a cist or coffin about 6
+feet long and 18 inches wide. Within this, extended at full length, with
+the head west, was the skeleton of an adult, but too much decayed for
+preservation. With it were some stone chips, rude stone scrapers, a
+_Unio_ shell, and some fragments of pottery similar to those dug up in
+the circular enclosure.
+
+The mounds on the sand butte marked _C_, Plate I, which is something
+over 100 feet high, were opened and found to be in every respect similar
+to those already mentioned, showing them to be the work of the same
+people who built the others.
+
+The three mounds in the square enclosures marked _D_, (Plate I), were
+also opened, with the following results: The largest, oval in form, 30
+feet long, about 20 feet broad and 4 feet high, was found to consist of
+a top layer of loose sand 1 foot thick, the remainder of hard yellowish
+clay. In the latter were found several flat sandstone fragments, and
+beneath them, on the original surface of the ground, a much decayed
+skeleton, with which were a few stone chips, _Unio_ shells, and
+fragments of pottery.
+
+The second in size, 18 feet in diameter and 3 feet high, although
+covered with a layer of sand, was mainly a loose cairn of sandstones,
+covering traces of human bones, charcoal, and ashes. The third was found
+to be similar to the second, but in this case the pile of stones was
+heaped over a mass of charred human bones, mingled with which were
+charcoal, ashes, and fragments of pottery.
+
+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
+short neck, often furnished with a lid. The paste with 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 and scratched lines.
+
+Nearly all the implements found were of stone, exceedingly rude, being
+little else than stone flakes with one sharp edge; many of them having
+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, and shell--specimens of all these, with such holes,
+having been found here.
+
+The immense quantity of charred and fractured bones, not only of fish,
+birds, and the smaller quadrupeds, such as the rabbit and the fox, but
+also of the bear, wolf, elk, deer, and buffalo, 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, although careful search
+was made for them, less than a dozen arrow and spear heads were found,
+and these so rude as scarcely to deserve the name. A single true chipped
+celt, three sandstones with mortar-shaped cavities, and a few mullers or
+stones used for grinding were obtained; also, some fragments of
+deer-horn, evidently cut round by some rude implement and then broken
+off, and several horn and bone punches and awls, one barbed and another
+with a hole through the larger end.
+
+The object in view in presenting these details is to give the reader an
+opportunity of judging for himself in reference to some inferences drawn
+from them.
+
+The form of the circular enclosure reminds us at the first glance of the
+palisade enclosures figured by De Bry,[16] which, according to
+Lafitau,[17] was the form usually adopted by the Indian tribes who were
+accustomed to erect such structures. We have here the almost exact
+circle, save where interrupted by the margin of the bluff, the
+overlapping of the ends, and the narrow entrance-way. We have here also
+the clay with which it was the custom, at least in the southern section,
+to plaster the palisades or which was cast against their bases as a
+means of supporting or bracing them at the bottom, a custom not entirely
+unknown among the northern tribes in former times.
+
+The indications are therefore very strong that this enclosing wall was
+originally a palisade which had been in part plastered with clay, or
+against which clay had been heaped to assist in rendering it firm and
+secure, and, if so, then it is probable it was built by Indians.
+
+Be this supposition right or wrong the evidence is conclusive that the
+area on which this group is situated has been the abode of at least two
+tribes or peoples: first, it was occupied by the authors of the
+enclosures, whose stay was probably not very protracted, and after they
+had abandoned the locality or been driven from it by a second tribe,
+evidently comparatively numerous, that made it for a long time a
+dwelling place; a tribe differing in customs from its predecessor, and
+one that did not rely upon enclosures for protection. By no other
+supposition can we account for the fact that the refuse layer which
+covers the interior of the circle also spreads in equal depth over the
+ditch and clay remains of the enclosing wall, as those who left this
+refuse layer could have made no possible use of the wall as a defensive
+work, for which the position chosen and other particulars show it was
+designed.
+
+The form of this enclosure, as we have before intimated, seems to
+connect it with some one of the Indian tribes; its age is uncertain but
+the accumulation of refuse matter and sand since the abandonment by the
+first occupants indicates considerable antiquity.
+
+Although we cannot say positively that the second occupants were the
+builders of the mounds, as the investigation was not as thorough as it
+should have been, still I think we may assume, with almost absolute
+certainty, that such was the fact. The mounds in the square work marked
+D, in Plate I, present considerable differences from those in the group,
+and are probably the work of those who built the enclosures.
+
+The stone grave in the oblong mound indicates the presence of
+individuals of a more southern tribe[18] at this place, during its
+second occupancy. The position of the cist in the mound would seem to
+forbid the idea of an intrusive burial, otherwise I should certainly
+suppose such to be the fact. I cannot, in the present paper, enter into
+a discussion of the question "to what tribe or people are the box-form
+stone graves to be attributed," but will state my conviction to be,
+after a somewhat careful study of the question, that they are to be
+ascribed to the Shawnees, Delawares, and Kickapoos.
+
+[Illustration: PL. II. ENLARGED FIGURE AND SECTION OF EARTHWORK A, PL.
+I.]
+
+Without further discussion of this group, which, as before intimated,
+presents, so far as the mounds are concerned, some features which appear
+to ally the latter to one class of burial mounds found in Wisconsin, we
+will now refer to some other works of this district explored by the
+Bureau assistants.
+
+On the land owned by Mr. Fish, in Iowa, near the Mississippi River, a
+short distance below where the Little Iowa joins it, is a group of
+mounds placed on the crest of a ridge running parallel with the former
+stream about one-fourth of a mile therefrom. There are in all about
+thirty of these mounds, circular in form, and varying from 20 to 40 feet
+in diameter. These are all burial mounds, but one singular feature
+observed is that those on the higher sandy ground, although about the
+same size and having cores of clay similar to those on the firm clay
+portion of the ridge, have a layer of sand, some two feet or more added
+to them, yet when opened the contents and mode of construction of the
+two classes were found to be the same, to wit, a layer of hard clay
+covering decaying human bones, fragments of pottery, and rude stone
+implements. There were generally two or more skeletons in a mound, which
+were placed horizontally side by side on the natural surface of the
+ground.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Section of mound showing stone vault (Iowa).]
+
+Upon the terrace below the group were found the remnants of a row of
+comparatively large burial mounds. A railroad line having been carried
+along here, the larger portion of these works were destroyed; still,
+enough remained to show that the height varied from 6 to 15 feet, that
+they were composed chiefly of sandy loam similar to that around them,
+and that each had a hard central core of clay mixed with ashes, usually
+covering but a single skeleton. The relics found in them when opened
+consisted chiefly of stone axes, arrow and spear heads, and a few copper
+celts. In one, which was 32 feet in diameter and 8 feet high and less
+injured than the others, was a circular vault, walled as represented in
+Fig. 8. This was built of flat, unworked stones, laid up without mortar,
+gradually lessening as it ascended, and covered at the top by a single
+flat stone. In it was a single skeleton in a squatting posture, with
+which was a small earthen vase of globular form.
+
+A singular fact was observed in a group near the town of Peru, Dubuque
+County. This group is situated on a dry, sandy bench or terrace some 20
+feet or more above a bayou which, makes out from the Mississippi. It
+consists chiefly of small circular tumuli, but at the north end are four
+oblong mounds varying in length from 40 to 110 feet and in height from
+1-1/2 to 4 feet; there is also an excavation about 30 feet in diameter
+and 6 feet deep, and scattered throughout the group are a number of
+circular earthen rings varying in diameter from 12 to 30 feet and from 1
+to 2 feet in height.
+
+Quite a number of the circular mounds were opened, but only detached
+portions of a skeleton were found in any one, as a skull in one, and a
+leg, arm, or other part in another, four or five adjacent ones
+apparently together containing the equivalents of an entire skeleton.
+Some of these bones were charred, and all were much decayed, indicating
+by their appearance great age. The inner portion of the mounds consisted
+of hard, compact earth, chiefly clay, resembling in this respect most of
+the burial mounds of this region.
+
+Unfortunately the examination of this group was too partial and too
+hastily made to enable us to form any theory as to the meaning of this
+singular mode of burial, or even to be satisfied that the idea of our
+assistant in this regard is correct.
+
+As possibly having some bearing upon the question, the following facts
+relating to another similar group at Eagle Point, three miles above
+Dubuque, are given.
+
+This group, which is situated on a bluff about 50 feet above high-water
+mark, consists of about seventy mounds, all of which, except two oblong
+ones, are small and conical in form. Eleven of these circular tumuli
+were thoroughly explored, but nothing was found in them except some
+charcoal, stone chips, and fragments of pottery. But in an excavation
+made in the center of a long mound just west of the group were found two
+decayed skeletons. Near the breast of one of them were a blue stone
+gorget and five rude stone scrapers; with the other, thirty-one
+fresh-water pearls, perforated and used as beads. Excavations were made
+in an oblong and circular mound near the extreme point of the bluffs.
+Each was found to have a central core of very hard clay mixed with
+ashes, so hard in fact that it could only be broken up 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 felt-like substance, which Colonel Norris, who opened
+the mounds, was satisfied from all the indications pertained to bodies
+which had been buried here, but from lapse of time had entirely crumbled
+to earth save these little fragments. We are therefore perhaps justified
+in concluding that a more thorough and careful examination of the mounds
+of the other group would have shown that the skeletons had so far
+decayed as to leave but a small part in a mound. Nevertheless it is
+proper to state that Colonel Norris does not coincide with this
+conclusion, but thinks that the dismembered skeletons were buried as
+found. Possibly he is correct.
+
+In this connection, and before referring to the mounds of this district
+on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, I desire to call attention to
+some modern Indian burials in this region. As the statements here made
+are from one claiming to be an eye-witness, I give them as related to
+the Bureau assistant.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Plat of Indian burying-ground, Wapello County,
+Iowa.]
+
+The locality is a level plat in a bend of the Des Moines River between
+Eldon and Iowaville, Wapello County. The plat of this area and the sites
+of the burial places, as shown in Fig. 9, are based upon the statements
+of Mr. J. H. Jordan (the person referred to), who has resided here since
+the close of the Black Hawk war, and was the agent of the Sacs and Foxes
+from their removal hither after the war until Black Hawk's death,
+September 15, 1838.[19]
+
+The extreme width of the area represented is about 2 miles. Close to the
+point of the bend formerly stood the agency building, near which is the
+present residence of Mr. Jordan. The triangle marks the position of
+Black Hawk's grave; the parallel lines, the race-tracks; the rings in
+the upper corner, the mounds of the Iowas; those in the lower corner,
+near Iowaville, the mounds of the Pottawattamies; and the open dots,
+near the same point, the place where the scaffolds for their dead stood.
+
+Mr. Jordan says:
+
+"This valley had long been a famous haunt for the warring Indians, but
+was, at the time of my first personal acquaintance with it, in
+possession of the Iowas, whose main village was around the point where
+my present residence now stands. The race-course consisted of three hard
+beaten parallel tracks nearly a mile in length, where the greater
+portion of the Iowa warriors were engaged in sport when Black Hawk
+surprised and slaughtered a great portion of them in 1830. After Black
+Hawk and his warriors had departed with their plunder, the remaining
+Iowas returned and buried their dead in little mounds of sod and earth,
+from 2 to 4 feet high, at the point indicated on the diagram.
+
+"After the Black Hawk war was over, the remnant of the Iowas, by treaty,
+formally ceded their rights in this valley to the Sacs and Foxes. At
+this place 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 won from the Indians. He was placed on his back on a
+'puncheon' [split slab of wood], slanting at a low angle to the ground,
+where his feet were sustained by another, and then covered with several
+inches of sod. Over this was placed a roof-shaped covering of slabs or
+'puncheons,' one end being higher than the other; over this 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."
+
+Here we have evidence that some at least of the Indians of this region
+were accustomed to bury their dead in mounds down to a recent date.
+
+One of the most important burial mounds opened in this district by the
+employés of the Bureau is situated on the bluff which overhangs East
+Dubuque (formerly Dunleith), Jo Daviess County, Illinois. As I shall
+have occasion to refer to others than the one mentioned, I give in Fig.
+15, Plate III, a plan of the group, and in Fig. 16, same plate, a
+vertical section of the bluff along the line of mounds numbered 13, 14,
+15, 16, and 17, in which is seen the general slope of the upper area.
+
+The mounds of this group are conical in form, varying from 12 to 70 feet
+in diameter and from 3 to 12 in height. All appear to have been built
+for burial purposes.
+
+In No. 5, the largest of the group, measuring 70 feet in diameter and 12
+feet in height, a skeleton, apparently an intrusive burial, was found at
+the depth of 2 feet immediately below the apex. Near the original
+surface of the ground, several feet north of the center, were the
+much-decayed skeletons of some six or eight individuals 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, some 10 or 12 feet from the center, on the lower side,
+was discovered, lying at full length on its back, an unusually large
+skeleton, the length being something over 7 feet. It was all distinctly
+traceable though it crumbled to pieces immediately after removal from
+the hard earth in which it was encased. With it were three thin,
+crescent-shaped pieces of roughly-hammered native copper, respectively
+6, 8, and 10 inches in length, with some small holes along the convex
+margin; also a number of elongate copper beads, made by rolling together
+thin sheets, and a chert lance-head 11 inches long; the latter was
+placed near the left thigh. Around the neck were the remains of a
+necklace of bears' teeth. Lying across the thighs were dozens of small
+copper beads, evidently formed by rolling slender wire-like strips into
+small rings. The assistant who opened this mound, and who is personally
+well acquainted with Indian habits and customs, suggests that these
+beads once formed the ornamentation of the fringe of a hunting shirt.
+
+As No. 4 of this group presents some peculiarities, I take the
+description from Colonel Norris's notes:
+
+During a visit to this locality in 1857, he partially opened this mound,
+finding masses of burned earth and charred human bones mingled with
+charcoal and ashes. At his visit in 1882, on behalf of the Bureau, a
+further examination revealed, on the lower side, the end of a double
+line of flat stones set on edge, about a foot apart at the bottom and
+leaned so as to meet at the top and form a roof-shaped flue or drain.
+Following this up, he found that it extended inward nearly on a level,
+almost to the center of the mound, at which point it was nearly 3 feet
+below the original surface of the ground. Here a skeleton was discovered
+stretched horizontally in a vault or grave which had been dug in the
+ground before the mound was cast up. Over that portion below the waist
+(including the right arm) were placed flat stones so arranged as to
+support one another and prevent pressure on the body, but no traces of
+fire were on them; yet, when the upper portions of the body were
+reached, they were found so burned and charred as to be scarcely
+traceable amid the charcoal and ashes that surrounded them.
+
+It was apparent that a grave had first been dug, then the right arm had
+been dislocated and placed by the side of the skeleton below the waist,
+and this part covered with stones as described, and then the remainder
+burned by a fire kindled over it.
+
+A section of the mound showing the grave and stone drain is given in
+Fig. 10, in which 1 is the outline of the mound on the hill slope; 2,
+the pit; and 3, the stones of the drain.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 10.--Section of mound 4, East Dubuque, Illinois.]
+
+No. 13 was found to contain a circle or enclosure, 10 feet in diameter,
+of stone slabs set on edge at the natural surface of the ground. Within
+this circle, but some 2 feet below the surface, were five skeletons: two
+adults, two children, and one infant. They were all lying horizontally,
+side by side, with heads south, the adults at the outside and the
+children between them.
+
+We are reminded by the mode of burial in this case of that in the mound
+opened by Dr. Lapham at Waukesha, Wisconsin, before referred to. In that
+the remains of a single individual were discovered, but in this it would
+seem that the skeletons of an entire family, gathered from their
+temporary resting places, had been carefully buried side by side, a
+silent testimonial to parental love and affection of friends among the
+mound-builders.
+
+No. 1, 6 feet high and 45 feet in diameter, was found to be an ossuary.
+Beneath the top layer was an arched stratum of clay and ashes mixed, so
+firm and hard as to retain its form unsupported over a space of several
+feet. This covered a confused heap of human bones, many of which were
+badly decayed.
+
+The marked feature of the group was found in No. 16, a remarkably
+symmetrical mound 65 feet in diameter and 10 feet high. After passing
+downward 6 feet, mostly through a hard gray layer, a vault partly of
+timber and partly of stone was reached. A vertical section of the mound
+and vault is shown in Fig. 11, and the ground plan of the vault in Fig.
+12.
+
+This vault or crypt was found to be rectangular in form, inside
+measurements showing it to be 13 feet long and 7 feet wide, surrounded
+by a sandstone wall 3 feet high. Three feet from each end was a
+crosswall or partition of like character, thus forming a main central
+chamber 7 feet square, and a narrow chamber or cell at each end
+something over 2 feet wide and 7 feet long. The whole had been
+completely covered with a layer of logs from 6 to 12 inches in diameter,
+their ends reaching slightly beyond the side walls in the manner shown
+in Fig. 12.
+
+[Illustration: PL. III. GROUP OF MOUNDS AND VERTICAL SECTION OF BLUFF,
+EAST DUBUQUE, ILL.]
+
+In the center chamber were found eleven skeletons: six adults and five
+children of different ages, including one infant, the latter evidently
+buried in the arms of one of the adults, possibly its mother. Apparently
+they had all been buried at one time, arranged in a circle, in a
+squatting or sitting posture, against the walls. In the center of the
+space around which they were grouped was a fine specimen of _Busycon
+perversum_, which had been converted into a drinking-cup by removing the
+columella. Here were also numerous fragments of pottery.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Section of mound 16 (Pl. III) showing vault.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Plan of vault, mound 16 (Pl. III).]
+
+The end cells, walled off from the main portion, as heretofore stated,
+were found nearly filled with a very fine chocolate-colored dust, which
+gave out such a sickening odor that the workmen were compelled to stop
+operations for the day in order to allow it to escape.
+
+The covering of the vault was of oak logs, most of which had been peeled
+and some of the larger ones somewhat squared by slabbing off the sides;
+and the slabs and bark thus removed, together with reeds or large grass
+stems, had been laid over them. Over the whole was spread layer after
+layer of mortar containing lime, each succeeding layer harder and
+thicker than that which preceded it, a foot or so of ordinary soil
+completing the mound.
+
+As there can be scarcely a doubt that the mounds of this group were
+built by one tribe, we have here additional evidence that the same
+people were accustomed to bury their dead in various ways. Some of the
+skeletons are found lying horizontally side by side, others are placed
+in a circle in a sitting or squatting posture, while in another mound we
+find the dismembered bones heaped in a confused mass. In one place is a
+single huge frame decked with the ornaments of savage life, while in
+other places we see the members of a family lying side by side, and in
+others the bones, possibly of the ordinary people, heaped together in a
+common ossuary.
+
+The timber-covered vault in mound No. 16 calls to mind very vividly the
+similar vaults mentioned by Squier and Davis,[20] found in the valley of
+the Scioto in Ohio. In the latter the walls as well as the covering were
+of logs, instead of stone, but the adaptation to circumstances may,
+perhaps, form a sufficient explanation of this difference. While there
+are several very marked distinctions between the Ohio works and those of
+the district now under consideration, there are also some resemblances,
+as we shall see as we proceed, which cannot be overlooked, and which
+seem to indicate relationship, contact, or intercourse between the
+people who were the authors of these different structures.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Pipe from Illinois mound. (After Smithsonian
+Report.)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Pipe from Illinois mound, 1/2. (After
+Smithsonian Report.)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Pipe from Illinois mound, 1/2. (After
+Smithsonian Report.)]
+
+In additional support of this view, I call attention to the carved pipes
+found by members of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, in the
+mounds near Davenport, Iowa, already referred to, which are represented
+on Plates IV and XXXIV of Vol. I of the Proceedings of that society,
+and to others obtained by Judge J. G. Henderson from some mounds near
+Naples, Illinois, and described in the Smithsonian Report for 1882. The
+latter are shown in Figs. 13, 14, and 15. The relation of these to the
+pipes found in the Ohio works by Squier and Davis is too apparent to be
+attributed to accident, and forces us to the conclusion that there was
+intercourse of some kind between the two peoples, and hence that the
+works of the two localities are relatively of the same age.
+
+The mode of burial in one of the mounds near Naples is so suggestive in
+this connection that I quote here Judge Henderson's description:
+
+     The oval mound No. 1 was explored in April, 1881, by beginning
+     a trench at the north end and carrying it to the original
+     surface and through to the south end. Lateral trenches were
+     opened at intervals, and from these and the main one a complete
+     exploration was made by tunneling.
+
+     Near the center of the mound a single skeleton was found in a
+     sitting position, and no objects were about it except a single
+     sea-shell resting on the earth _just over the head_, and a
+     number of the bone awls, already described, _sticking in the
+     sand around the skeleton_. The individual had been seated upon
+     the sand, these awls stuck around him in a circle 4 or 5 inches
+     in the sand, and the work of carrying dirt begun.
+
+     When the mound had been elevated about 6 inches above the head
+     the shell was laid on and the work continued.
+
+The shell alluded to is a fine specimen of _Busycon perversum_, with the
+columella removed in order to form a drinking cup.
+
+The particular point to which I call attention is this: In Plate XI,
+Part II of De Bry,[21] which is reproduced in the annexed Plate IV, is
+represented a very small mound, on the top of which is a large shell,
+and about the base a circle of arrows sticking in the ground. The
+artist, Le Moyne de Morgues, remarks, in reference to it, "Sometimes the
+deceased king of this province is buried with great solemnity, and his
+great cup from which he was accustomed to drink is placed on a tumulus
+with many arrows set about it." The tumulus in this case is evidently
+very small, and, as remarked by Dr. Brinton,[22] "scarcely rises to the
+dignity of a mound." Yet it will correspond in size with what the Naples
+mound was when the shell was placed upon it; nevertheless the latter,
+when completed, formed an oval tumulus 132 feet long, 98 feet wide, and
+10 feet high.
+
+It is therefore quite probable that Le Moyne figures the mound at the
+time it reached the point where the shell cup was to be deposited, when,
+in all likelihood, certain ceremonies were to be observed and a pause in
+the work occurred. Whether this suggestion be correct or not, the cut
+and the statement of Judge Henderson furnish some evidence in regard to
+the presence of these articles in the mounds, and point to the people by
+whom they were placed there.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 16.--Group of mounds and hut-rings, Brown County,
+Illinois.]
+
+[Illustration: PL. IV. A MOUND, FROM DE BRY.]
+
+Colonel Norris opened a number of the ordinary small burial mounds found
+on the bluffs and higher grounds of Pike and Brown Counties, Illinois,
+which were found to be constructed in the usual method of this district;
+that is, with a layer of hard, mortar-like substance, or clay and ashes
+mixed, covering the skeletons. The positions of the skeletons varied, as
+we have seen is the case in other localities. The number of intrusive
+burials was unusually large here. In a number of cases where there were
+intrusive burials near the surface, no bones, or but the slightest
+fragments of the bones of the original burial, could be found, although
+there were sure indications that the mounds were built and had
+apparently been used for this purpose. These mounds also present
+evidence of the intrusion of an element from one people into the country
+of another. On the farm of Mr. Edward Welch, Brown County, Illinois, is
+the group of mounds shown in Fig. 16. This consists of conical and
+pyramidal mounds, and the small earthen rings designated house sites.
+The form of the larger mounds is shown in Fig. 17. Although standing on
+a bluff some 200 feet above the river bottom, it is evident at the first
+glance that these works belong to the southern type and were built by
+the people who erected those of the Cahokia group or farther south. No
+opportunity was allowed to investigate the burial mounds or house sites,
+but slight explorations made in the larger mounds sufficed to reveal the
+fire-beds so common in southern mounds, thus confirming the impression
+given by their form. It is probable that these mark the point of the
+extreme northern extension of the southern mound-building tribes. A
+colony, probably from the numerous and strong tribe located on Cahokia
+Creek around the giant Monk's mound, pushed its way thus far and formed
+a settlement, but, after contending for a time with the hostile tribes
+which pressed upon it from the north, was compelled to return towards
+the south.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 17.--Forms of larger mounds of the group shown in
+Fig. 16.]
+
+Passing to the northeastern portion of Missouri, which, as heretofore
+stated, we include in the North Mississippi or Illinois district, we
+find a material change in the character of the burial mounds, so marked,
+in fact, that it is very doubtful whether they should be embraced in the
+district named. Although differing in minor particulars, the custom of
+inclosing the remains of the dead in some kind of a receptacle of stone,
+over which was heaped the earth forming the mound, appears to have
+prevailed very generally.
+
+The region has been but partially explored, yet it is probable the
+following examples will furnish illustrations of most of the types to be
+found in it.
+
+From an article by Messrs. Hardy and Scheetz in the Smithsonian Report
+for 1881,[23] we learn the following particulars regarding the burial
+mounds of Ralls County:
+
+Occasionally an isolated one is found, but almost invariably they are in
+groups of three to ten or more. They are usually placed along the crest
+of a ridge, but when in the bottoms or on a level bluff they are in
+direct lines or gentle curves. They are very numerous, being found in
+almost every bottom and on nearly every bluff. They are usually circular
+and from 2 to 12 feet high, and are composed wholly of earth, wholly of
+stone, or of the two combined. Where stone was used the plan seems to
+have been first to pave the natural surface with flat stones, in one or
+two thicknesses, for a foundation. In one case the stones were thrown
+together indiscriminately. Human remains are almost invariably found in
+them. The bones are generally very much decayed, though each bone is
+found almost entire except those of the head. This seems to have always
+rested on a stone, and to have been covered by one or more stones, so
+that it is always found in a crushed condition. In rare instances stone
+implements, pipes, etc., are found in the mounds. The remains found in
+tumuli wholly of stone are much more decayed than in those of mixed
+material.
+
+One opened by the writers of the article is described by them as
+follows:
+
+     On the south side of it the bed stone had been formed into a
+     shallow trough. On removing the flat stones which covered this,
+     and which showed no action of fire, we found a bed of charcoal
+     several inches thick, both animal and vegetable, and the
+     limestone which composed it was burned completely through. Some
+     fragments of a human femur were found in a calcined state.
+     There were no indications of fire elsewhere in the mound, but
+     there were the partial remains of several skeletons, lying in
+     two layers, with stone and earth between them.
+
+In another, examined by them, fragments of human bones were found so
+near the surface as to be reached by the plow; but deeper, on the north
+sides, were single skeletons laid at length east and west, and between
+them a mass of bones confused as though thrown in indiscriminately. The
+diameter of this mound was about 30 feet, height 2-1/2 feet.
+
+In section 24, township 55, range 7, is a small hill, known as "Wilson's
+Knob." Its crest, which is about 120 feet long, is completely covered
+with stone to the depth of several feet, the pile being about 20 feet
+wide. Examination brought to light the fact that this was originally a
+row of stone mounds or burial vaults, nine in number, circular in form,
+each from eight to nine feet in diameter (inner measure), and contiguous
+to one another. Judging from appearances it would seem that each had
+been of a conical or dome-like form. They were composed wholly of stone,
+and the remains found in them were almost wholly decomposed.
+
+On another ridge the same parties found another row with four stone
+mounds similar to those described, except that the cists were square
+instead of circular, the sides of the latter being equal to the diameter
+of the former. In these only small fragments of bone could be found.
+
+Although Messrs. Hardy and Scheetz evidently considered these stone
+structures as receptacles for the dead, and as erected for this purpose,
+yet it is possible they may have been intended for some other use.
+
+The mounds of Pike County are chiefly of mixed material similar to those
+mentioned,[24] though some of them contain rectangular stone vaults. One
+of these vaults, measuring 4 by 5 feet, was found to contain the remains
+of eight skeletons. Another, a regular box-shaped cist of stone slabs,
+contained nothing save a few cranial bones very much decayed. Another of
+large size contained human remains with which were some arrow-heads, a
+vessel of clay, and a carved steatite pipe, having upon its front a
+figure-head.
+
+I have given these particulars in order to show how closely they agree
+with the discoveries made by the Bureau assistant in this region, from
+whose notes I take the following description:
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 18.--Group of mounds, Clarke County, Missouri.]
+
+Between Fox River and Sugar Creek, in Clarke County, a sharp dividing
+ridge about 100 feet high extends in a northerly direction for nearly
+two miles from where these streams enter upon the open bottom of the
+Mississippi. Scattered irregularly along the crest of this ridge is a
+line of circular mounds shown in Fig. 18. These range in size from 15 to
+50 feet in diameter and from 2 to 6 feet high, and are circular in form.
+In No. 3,[25] diameter 35 feet and height 5 feet, situated in the
+central portion, was found a stone coffin or cist 7 feet long and 2 feet
+wide, formed of slabs of sandstone in the usual manner. This was covered
+first with similar slabs and then the whole incased in a layer of
+rougher stones. Over this was a layer of hard earth, which was evidently
+in a plastic state when placed there, as it had run into and filled up
+the interstices. Above this was a foot or more of yellowish earth,
+similar to that forming the ridge. In the coffin was the skeleton of an
+adult, lying horizontally on the back, but too far gone to decay to
+admit of removal. No specimens of art of any kind were found with it.
+
+No. 4, a trifle smaller than No. 3, was opened by running a trench from
+the eastern margin. For a distance of 15 or 16 feet nothing was
+encountered except the earth, with which it appeared to be covered to
+the depth of 2 feet. Here was found a layer of rough stones covering a
+mass of charcoal and ashes with bones intermixed. In fact the
+indications leave the impression that one or more persons (or their
+bones) had been burned in a fire on the natural surface of the earth
+near the center of the mound, the coals and brands of which were then
+covered with rough stones thrown in, without any system, to the depth of
+3 feet, over a space 10 or 12 feet in diameter, and then covered with
+earth. Only fragments of charred human bones, pieces of rude pottery,
+and stone chips were found commingled with the charcoal and ashes.
+
+Another group on the farm of Mr. J. N. Boulware, near the line between
+Clarke and Lewis counties, was examined by the same party. This group,
+which is situated on a bench or terrace from 20 to 40 feet above the
+Mississippi bottoms, consists of some 55 or 60 ordinary circular mounds
+of comparatively small size.
+
+In one of these, 45 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, were found, near
+the top, the fragments of a human skeleton much decayed, and broken
+pottery, encircled by a row of flat stones set up edgewise and covered
+with others of a similar character. Below these was a layer of very
+hard light-colored earth, mixed throughout with fragments of charred
+human bones and pottery, charcoal and stone chips.
+
+Another, about 60 feet in diameter, was found to consist (except the top
+layer of soil, about 1 foot thick) of hard, dried "mortar" (apparently
+clay and ashes mixed), in which fragments of charred human bones, small
+rounded pieces of pottery, and stone scrapers were mingled with charcoal
+and ashes.
+
+"As all the mounds opened here," remarks the assistant, "presented this
+somewhat singular feature, I made a very careful examination of this
+mortar-like substance. I found that there were differences between
+different portions of the same mound sufficiently marked to trace the
+separate masses. This would indicate that the mounds were built by
+successive deposits of mortar thus mixed with charred bones, and not in
+strata but in masses."
+
+
+
+
+THE OHIO DISTRICT.
+
+
+This, as before stated, includes Ohio, a portion of eastern Indiana, and
+the western part of West Virginia.
+
+As only very limited explorations have been made in the Ohio portion of
+this district by the Bureau of Ethnology, I will content myself with a
+brief allusion to the observations of others.
+
+The descriptions given by Squier and Davis of the few burial mounds they
+explored are too well known to require repeating here. Their conclusion
+in regard to them, which has already been alluded to, is stated in
+general terms as follows:
+
+     Mounds of this class are very numerous. They are generally of
+     considerable size, varying from 6 to 80 feet in height, but
+     having an average altitude of from 15 to 20 or 25 feet. They
+     stand without the walls of enclosures at a distance more or
+     less remote from them.
+
+     Many are isolated, with no other monuments near them; but they
+     frequently occur in groups, sometimes in close connection with
+     each other, and exhibiting a dependence which was not without
+     its meaning. They are destitute of altars, nor do they possess
+     the regularity which characterizes the "temple mounds." The
+     usual form is that of a simple cone; sometimes they are
+     elliptical or pear-shaped. These mounds 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
+     enveloped in bark or coarse matting, or inclosed in a rude
+     sarcophagus of timber, the traces and in some instances the
+     very casts of which remain. Occasionally the chamber of the
+     dead is built of stone, rudely laid up, without cement of any
+     kind. Burial by fire seems to have been frequently practiced by
+     the mound-builders. Urn burial also appears to have prevailed
+     to a considerable extent in the Southern States. With the
+     skeletons in these mounds are found various remains of art,
+     comprising ornaments, utensils, and weapons.[26]
+
+For the purpose of conveying to the mind a clear idea of the character
+of these mounds, I give here a copy of their figure of one of them (Fig.
+19), and also of the wooden vault found in it (Fig. 20). This mound, as
+was the case with most of the burial mounds opened by them, although
+comparatively large, is without any distinct stratification.
+
+In some cases (see Ancient Monuments, Figs. 52 and 53, p. 164) a layer
+of bark was first spread on the natural surface of the ground after it
+had been cleared, leveled, and packed; on this the body was laid at full
+length. It was then covered with another layer of bark and the mound was
+heaped over this.
+
+Although no mounds containing stone sepulchers fell under their notice
+during their explorations, they obtained satisfactory evidence that one
+within the limits of Chillicothe had been removed, in which a stone
+coffin, "corresponding very nearly with the _kistvaen_ of English
+antiquarians" was discovered.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 19.--Ohio burial mound (after Squier and Davis).]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Wooden vault (after Squier and Davis).]
+
+Some rather singular burial mounds have been described as found in
+different parts of this State, but unfortunately the descriptions are
+based largely on memory and second-hand statements and hence do not have
+that stamp of accuracy and authenticity that is desirable. For example,
+a large stone mound, which formerly stood a short distance from Newark,
+is described[27] as conical in form, 182 feet in diameter, and from 40
+to 50 feet high, composed of stones in their natural shape. This, upon
+removal, was found to cover some fifteen or sixteen small earth mounds.
+In one of these were found human bones and river shells. In another was
+encountered a layer of hard white fire-clay. Two or three feet below
+this was a wooden trough. This was overlaid by small logs of wood to
+serve as a cover, and in it was found a skeleton, around which appeared
+the impression of a coarse cloth. With it were fifteen copper rings and
+a "breastplate" of the same metal. The wood of the trough and covering
+was in a good state of preservation. The clay which covered it was
+impervious both to air and water. The logs which overlaid the wooden
+sarcophagus "were so well preserved that the ends showed the axe marks,
+and the steepness of the kerf seemed to indicate that some instrument
+sharper than the stone axe found throughout the West had been employed
+to cut them."
+
+"In another of these mounds a large number of human bones, but no other
+relics worthy of note, were found."[28]
+
+In a mound situated in Clear Creek Township, Ashland County, a stone
+coffin or cist was discovered, constructed of flat stones set up
+edgewise. It contained six or eight skeletons, "neatly cleaned and
+packed, in a good state of preservation."[29]
+
+A statement worthy of notice in this connection is made by Mr. H. B.
+Case in the Smithsonian Report for 1881.[30] The Delaware Indians
+formerly had a village in the northern part of Green Township, Ashland
+County, which was still occupied by them when the white settlers reached
+there in 1809. An examination of their graves in 1876 brought to light
+the fact that in some cases the dead were buried in stone cists; in
+others small, round, drift bowlders were placed around the skeletons.
+
+One of the most satisfactory and most important accounts of Ohio burial
+mounds will be found in a "Report of Explorations of Mounds in Southern
+Ohio," by Prof. E. B. Andrews, published in the Tenth Annual Report of
+the Peabody Museum. Speaking of the George Connet mound, in Athens
+County, he says:
+
+     This is a low mound about 6 feet high with a broad base perhaps
+     40 feet in diameter. It has for years been plowed over and its
+     original height has been considerably 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 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 enclosed 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 longitudinally, and over these timbers
+     there were laid other pieces of wood, forming an enclosed 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 vertebræ, ribs, and other bones were burnt
+     to a black cinder, and at this point the enclosing timbers were
+     burnt to ashes. The timbers enclosing the lower extremities
+     were 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, like that in a 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 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.
+
+In addition to these copper beads a number of shell beads, and also a
+hollow copper implement in the shape of a caulker's chisel, were found.
+The copper implement and beads were made of thin sheet-copper which,
+Professor Andrews says, had been "hammered out into so smooth and even a
+sheet that no traces of the hammer were visible. It would be taken
+indeed for rolled sheet copper." Some of the bones were pretty well
+preserved.
+
+The professor closes his description with the remark: "The skeleton
+undoubtedly belonged to a veritable mound-builder." In this he is
+certainly correct, as the mode of burial in this case agrees so exactly
+with that observed by Squier and Davis in the larger mounds opened by
+them as to leave no doubt that both are to be attributed to one people,
+although the mound described by Professor Andrews is probably of much
+more recent date than those mentioned by Squier and Davis.
+
+What explanation shall we give of the presence in this work of thin
+sheet-copper "hammered out into so smooth and even a sheet that no
+traces of the hammer were visible," and that "would be taken for rolled
+copper"?
+
+The simple and most natural explanation would be that it was derived
+from European traders and early adventurers; and such, I am disposed to
+believe, is the correct one. The distinction between the sheets and
+ornaments hammered from native copper with the rude implements of the
+aborigines, and many specimens made of this smooth sheet-copper found in
+mounds, is too apparent to be overlooked. But of this more hereafter, as
+I shall have occasion again to refer to the subject.
+
+In another mound, 8 or 9 feet high, in the same county, he found near
+the top a considerable bed of kitchen refuse; at the bottom, on the
+original surface, ashes and burnt human bones. "These bones," he
+remarks, "had evidently been burned before burial, and had been gathered
+in miscellaneous confusion and placed in a narrow space 5 or 6 inches
+wide and from 2 to 3 feet long. The ashes were doubtless brought with
+them, at least there appeared to be no evidences of a local fire in the
+reddening or hardening of the clay or in remnants of charcoal."
+
+As bearing upon a suggestion made by Colonel Norris, and previously
+referred to,[31] in regard to the probable use of copper beads found
+across the limbs of a skeleton, I call attention to another statement of
+Professor Andrews. Speaking of the School-house mound he says:
+
+     At a point near the northwestern corner of the school-house and
+     perhaps 15 feet from the center of the mound, there was plowed
+     up, in extremely hard and dry dirt, a large piece of what I
+     suppose to have been an ornamented dress. It was covered with
+     copper beads, which were strung on a buckskin string and placed
+     on four layers of the same skin. It was found 8 feet below the
+     original surface of the mound and in extremely hard, dry dirt
+     which had never been disturbed.
+
+From the figure and the description we can have but little doubt that
+this was a buckskin hunting-shirt, which gives support to Colonel
+Norris's suggestion.
+
+Recently some interesting burial mounds near Madisonville have been
+carefully explored by Dr. C. L. Metz in the interest of the Peabody
+Museum. Only partial notices of these explorations, which are not yet
+completed, have been published, but we deem these of sufficient
+importance in this connection to quote freely from them,[32] so far as
+they serve to illustrate the modes of burial and construction of burial
+mounds of this region.
+
+Speaking of one of the mounds of a group situated in Anderson Township,
+Professor Putnam remarks:
+
+     Mound 21 of Group C was about 4 feet high and 50 in diameter.
+     It proved to be made entirely of the sandy loam of the
+     immediate vicinity. The remains of five skeletons were
+     discovered at different points in the lower portion of the
+     mound. The bones were nearly all reduced to dust, and only a
+     fragment here and there could be saved. There was not a single
+     relic found with the skeletons, and a few flint chips and a
+     broken arrow-head were the only artificial objects found in the
+     earth composing the mound. The condition of the bones showed
+     considerable antiquity, but their advanced decay and friability
+     were probably largely due to the character of the soil in which
+     they were enclosed. The position of the skeletons rather goes
+     to show that the several bodies were buried at different times,
+     and that the mound was gradually constructed as the burials
+     took place. For the present we are inclined to consider this
+     mound, with some others in the valley, as a place of sepulcher
+     by tribes of a more recent time than the builders of the
+     earthworks of the Turner group.
+
+     Mound No. 22 proved to be of a more interesting character than
+     the last. This mound was 14 feet high and about 100 in
+     diameter. It was composed of pure clay, except in the central
+     portion. Five feet from the top there was found a hard mass of
+     burnt earth and ashes, 7 feet deep and a little over 9 feet in
+     width and length. Resting on top of this, about in the center,
+     and covered in part by the overlying clay, lay a large stone
+     celt. A foot below this, in the burnt material, was a stone
+     implement perforated at its upper end. Below this, at points
+     several feet apart, in the burnt mass, were three holes or
+     pockets, each of which contained the remains of portions of
+     human skeletons, surrounded by a thin layer of clay. Near the
+     bones in the lowest pocket were three spear-heads or chipped
+     points. A few potsherds and several flint chips were found
+     throughout the burnt mass. Under it was a circular bed of black
+     soil and ashes, 13 inches thick in the center and 14 feet in
+     diameter, beneath which was a layer of fine sand and gravel, 3
+     inches thick, which covered another circular bed of black soil
+     and ashes, 14 inches thick in the center and 15 feet in
+     diameter. Directly under the center of this lower layer was a
+     pit 4 feet deep and 10 feet 4 inches long, 4 feet wide at the
+     ends and 3 feet 5 inches wide at the center. This pit probably
+     had contained a wooden structure, as its sides showed rough
+     striations, as if large logs had once rested against them. The
+     pit had been dug in the drift gravel upon which the mound was
+     built, and was nearly filled with soft, spongy ashes mixed with
+     a reddish substance. Extended at full length at the bottom of
+     the pit was a human skeleton, with the head to the west. Among
+     the bones of the neck a single shell bead was found; at the
+     feet were ten stones or small bowlders, such as are common in
+     the drift gravel. It is evident that this interesting tumulus
+     was erected over the grave which was dug in the underlying
+     gravel, and that the human bones placed in the burnt mass above
+     the grave, with the few stone implements found in or on the
+     mass, had some connection with the funeral ceremonies which
+     took place in connection with the burial of the body in the pit
+     below. The regularity of the deposits over the pit, which was
+     under the center of the mound, seems to be sufficient proof of
+     this.
+
+Another mound, nearer the river, situated on an elevated portion of
+bottom land, was found to differ in construction from any of the others
+explored in this vicinity. This is described as follows:[33]
+
+     According to Mr. William Edwards, sixty years ago it was about 9
+     feet high, and covered by a heavy forest growth, which also
+     extended over the region about. Over fifty years ago the land was
+     cleared and the mound scraped down by Mr. Edwards, who, after
+     removing about 4 feet of earth from its summit, came to a large
+     quantity of stones, with which were many human bones. Since that
+     time the mound has been plowed over and stones have been taken from
+     it until it has been so nearly leveled as hardly to be noticed.
+     Thus only the base of the mound could be explored; but that has
+     proved of great interest in connection with the other works of the
+     valley. On removing the earth around the base it was found that
+     stones, many of considerable size, had been so arranged as to form
+     a mound about 5 feet high in the center and 90 feet in diameter,
+     over which the earth had been placed to the height of about 4 feet,
+     as stated by Mr. Edwards. In height about one-half of the stone
+     portion of the mound was undisturbed. On removing the outer
+     covering of stones it was found that many burials, probably at
+     least one hundred, had been made in the mound. The remains of
+     seventy-one skeletons were obtained. These skeletons were all more
+     or less crushed by the stones which surrounded them, as, in
+     addition to the outer stones of the mound, each body had been
+     surrounded with stones at the time of its burial. In many instances
+     large slabs of limestone had been used, and in a few cases they
+     were set on edge around the body. In other cases small stones had
+     been piled around and over the bodies, which had been placed in
+     various positions, some extended and others flexed in various ways.
+     With many of the skeletons were stone implements and ornaments,
+     among which were several of the flat stones with two or more
+     perforations, generally known as gorgets. There were also many bone
+     implements, shell and bone ornaments, and cut teeth of bears.
+     Several small copper awls in bone handles, and the shells of
+     box-turtles, were also found with the skeletons. Many fragments of
+     pottery and broken bones of animals were scattered through the mass
+     of stones and human bones. At the feet of the skeleton, in the
+     center of the mound, there was an upright slab of limestone 2 feet
+     long by 20 inches wide, and with this skeleton were the following
+     objects: Resting on the chest was a large ornament made from the
+     apex of a conch shell, with a hole at one edge for suspension;
+     below this, on the ribs, was a spear-shaped gorget, with one hole,
+     and by its side were several shell ornaments, also perforated.
+     Lying near the right femur and parallel with it was a carved bone,
+     grooved on the under side and having two holes; between this and
+     the leg bone were four small pieces of carved bone about an inch in
+     length. In the bones of the right hand was a small awl made of
+     native copper and inserted in a little round handle made of bone,
+     similar to others found with other skeletons in the mound. At the
+     south side of the mound, on the original surface, was a burnt
+     space, on which was a large quantity, several bushels, of broken
+     bones of animals, clam shells, and fragments of pottery mixed with
+     ashes. This mass seems to have existed before the mound was made,
+     or at all events completed, as five of the burials had taken place
+     above it. On the plain about the mound are evidences of the site of
+     a former village, and the annual plowing brings to light many
+     animal remains, fragments of pottery, and stone implements of the
+     same character as those from, the mound. From this fact, and from
+     the character of the burials in the mound, as well as that of the
+     objects found with the skeletons, and from the absence of the
+     characteristic ornaments found with so many of the human remains in
+     the Turner group and other ancient mounds of the Ohio Valley, we
+     are led to look upon this stone mound as the burial place of a
+     tribe of Indians living in the region subsequent to the builders of
+     the Turner mounds. The remains found in this stone mound, as a
+     whole, indicate that the people here buried were closely connected
+     with those who made the singular ash-pits in the ancient cemetery
+     near Madisonville.[34]
+
+Passing into West Virginia we notice first the celebrated Grave Greek
+mound. This has been described and figured so often that it is
+unnecessary for me to do more than call attention to certain particulars
+in regard to it to which I may desire hereafter to refer by way of
+comparison. It is in the form of a regular cone, about 70 feet high and
+nearly 300 feet in diameter at the base. A shaft sunk from the apex to
+the base disclosed two wooden vaults, the first about half way down and
+the other at the bottom. In the first or upper one was a single
+skeleton, decorated with a profusion of shell beads, copper bracelets,
+and plates of mica. The lower vault, which was partly in an excavation
+made in the natural ground, was found to be rectangular, 12 by 8 feet
+and 7 feet high. Along each side and across the ends upright timbers had
+been placed, which supported other timbers thrown across the vault as a
+covering. These were covered with a layer of rough stones. In this vault
+were two human skeletons, one of which had no ornaments, while the other
+was surrounded with hundreds of shell beads. In attempting to enlarge
+this vault the workmen discovered around it ten other skeletons. While
+carrying the horizontal tunnel, several masses of charcoal and burnt
+bones were encountered after a distance of 12 or 15 feet had been
+reached.
+
+Before making any comments on the construction of this noted work and
+the mode of burial in it, I will present some facts recently brought to
+light in regard to the burial mounds of the Kanawha Valley by the
+assistants of the Bureau.
+
+A large mound situated on the farm of Col. B. H. Smith, near Charleston,
+is conical in form, about 175 feet in diameter at the base and 35 feet
+high. It appears to be double; that is to say, it consists of two
+mounds, one built on the other, the lower or original one 20 feet and
+the upper 15 feet high.
+
+The exploration was made by sinking a shaft, 12 feet square at the top
+and narrowing gradually to 6 feet square at the bottom, down through the
+center of the structure to the original surface of the ground and a
+short distance below it. After removing a slight covering of earth, an
+irregular mass of large, rough, flat sandstones, evidently brought from
+the bluffs half a mile distant, was encountered. Some of these
+sandstones were a good load for two ordinary men.
+
+The removal of a wagon load or so of these stones brought to light a
+stone vault 7 feet long and 4 feet deep, in the bottom of which was
+found a large and much decayed human skeleton, but wanting the head,
+which the most careful examination failed to discover. A single rough
+spearhead was the only accompanying article found in this vault. At the
+depth of 6 feet, in earth similar to that around the base of the mound,
+was found a second skeleton, also much decayed, of an adult of ordinary
+size. At 9 feet a third skeleton was encountered, in a mass of loose,
+dry earth, surrounded by the remains of a bark coffin. This was in a
+much, better state of preservation than the other two. The skull, which
+was preserved, is of the compressed or "flat-head" type.
+
+For some 3 or 4 feet below this the earth was found to be mixed with
+ashes. At this depth in his downward progress Colonel Norris began to
+encounter the remains of what further excavation showed to have been a
+timber vault, about 12 feet square and 7 or 8 feet high. From the
+condition in which the remains of the cover were found, he concludes
+that this must have been roof-shaped, and, having become decayed, was
+crushed in by the weight of the addition made to the mound. Some of the
+walnut timbers of this vault were as much as 12 inches in diameter.
+
+In this vault were found five skeletons, one lying prostrate on the
+floor at the depth of 19 feet from the top of the mound, and four
+others, which, from the positions in which they were found, were
+supposed to have been placed standing in the four corners. The first of
+these was discovered at the depth of 14 feet, amid a commingled mass of
+earth and decaying bark and timbers, nearly erect, leaning against the
+wall, and surrounded by the remains of a bark coffin. All the bones
+except those of the left forearm were too far decayed to be saved; these
+were preserved by two heavy copper bracelets which yet surrounded them.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 21.--Copper gorget from mound, Kanawha County, West
+Virginia.]
+
+The skeleton found lying in the middle of the floor of the vault was of
+unusually large size, "measuring 7 feet 6 inches in length and 19 inches
+between the shoulder sockets." It had also been inclosed in a wrapping
+or coffin of bark, remains of which were still distinctly visible. It
+lay upon the back, head east, legs together, and arms by the sides.
+There were six heavy bracelets on each wrist; four others were found
+under the head, which, together with a spear-point of black flint, were
+incased in a mass of mortar-like substance, which had evidently been
+wrapped in some textile fabric. On the breast was a copper gorget (Fig.
+21). In each hand were three spear-heads of black flint, and others
+were about the head, knees, and feet. Near the right hand were two
+hematite celts, and on the shoulder were three large and thick plates of
+mica. About the shoulders, waist, and thighs were numerous minute
+perforated shells and shell beads.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 22.--Pipe from mound, Kanawha County, West
+Virginia.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 23.--Pipe from mound, Butler County, Ohio.]
+
+While filling in the excavation, the pipe represented in Fig. 22 was
+found in the dirt which had been removed from it. This pipe has been
+carved out of gray steatite and highly polished. It is worthy of note
+that it is precisely of the form described by Adair as made by the
+Cherokees, and also that it approaches very near to an Ohio type (Fig.
+23).
+
+Another mound of rather large size, in the same locality, was opened by
+the Bureau assistant.
+
+In order that all the facts bearing on its uses may be understood it is
+necessary to notice its immediate surroundings.
+
+Plate V is a map showing the ancient works in the valley of the Kanawha,
+from 3 to 5 miles below Charleston, and Plate VI is an enlarged plat of
+the area embracing those numbered I, II and 1, 3, and 4 on the map. As
+will be seen by an inspection of the latter plate, the works included
+are two circular enclosures, 1 and 2; one excavation; one included
+mound, 2; three mounds, 3, 1, and 4, outside of the enclosures; and a
+graded way. As our attention at present is directed only to the large
+mound, 1, it is unnecessary to notice the other works further than to
+add that each enclosure is about 220 feet in diameter, and consists of a
+circular wall and an inside ditch. The excavation is nearly circular and
+about 140 feet in diameter. The large mound is conical in form, 173 feet
+in diameter, and 33 feet high. It is slightly truncated, the top having
+been leveled off some forty years ago for the purpose of building a
+judge's stand in connection with a race-course that was laid out around
+the mound.
+
+A shaft 12 feet square at the top and narrowing downward was sunk to the
+base. At the depth of 4 feet, in a very hard bed of earth and ashes
+mixed, were found two much decayed human skeletons, both stretched
+horizontally on their backs, heads south, and near their heads several
+stone implements. From this point until a depth of 24 feet was reached
+the shaft passed through very hard earth of a light-gray color,
+apparently clay and ashes mixed, in which nothing of consequence was
+found. When a depth of 24 feet was reached the material suddenly changed
+to a much softer and darker earth, disclosing the casts and some decayed
+fragments of timbers from 6 to 12 inches in diameter. Here were found
+fragments of bark, ashes, and also numerous fragments of animal bones,
+some of which had been split lengthwise. At the depth of 31 feet was a
+human skeleton, lying prostrate, head north, which had evidently been
+enclosed in a coffin or wrapping of elm bark. In contact with the head
+was a thin sheet of hammered native copper. By enlarging the base of the
+shaft until a space some 16 feet in diameter was opened, the character
+and the contents of the base of the mound were more fully ascertained.
+This brought to light the fact that the builders, after having first
+smoothed, leveled, and packed the natural surface, carefully spread upon
+the floor a layer of bark (chiefly elm), the inner side up, and upon
+this a layer of fine white ashes, clear of charcoal, to the depth,
+probably, of 5 or 6 inches, though pressed now to little more than 1
+inch. On this the bodies were laid and presumably covered with bark.
+
+The enlargement of the shaft also brought to view ten other skeletons,
+all apparently adults, five on one side and five on the other side of
+the central skeleton, and, like it, extended horizontally, with their
+feet pointing toward the central one but not quite touching it. Like the
+first, they had all been buried in bark coffins or wrappings. With each
+skeleton on the east side was a fine, apparently unused lance-head about
+3 inches long, and by the right side of the northern one a fish-dart,
+three arrow-heads, and some fragments of _Unio_ shells and pottery. No
+implements or ornaments were found with either of the five skeletons on
+the west side, although careful search was made therefor. In addition to
+the copper plate, a few shell beads and a large lance-head were found
+with the central skeleton. As there were a number of holes resembling
+post-holes, about the base, which were filled with rotten bark and
+decayed vegetable matter, I am inclined to believe there was a vault
+here similar to the lower vault in the Grave Creek mound, in which the
+walls were of timbers set up endwise in the ground. But it is proper to
+state that the assistant who opened the mound is rather disposed to
+doubt the correctness of this explanation.
+
+In order to show the character of the smaller burial mounds of this
+region, I give descriptions of a few opened by Colonel Norris.
+
+[Illustration: PL. V. PLAT OF ANCIENT WORKS, KANAWHA COUNTY, W. VA.]
+
+One 20 feet in diameter and 7 feet high, with a beech tree 30 inches in
+diameter growing on it, was opened by running a broad trench through it.
+The material of which it was composed was yellow clay, evidently from an
+excavation in the hillside near it. Stretched horizontally on the
+natural surface of the ground, faces up and heads south, were seven
+skeletons, six adults and one child, all charred. They were covered
+several inches thick with ashes, charcoal, and fire-brands, evidently
+the remains of a very heavy fire which must have been smothered before
+it was fully burned out. Three coarse lance-heads were found among the
+bones of the adults, and around the neck of the child three copper
+beads, apparently of hammered native copper.
+
+Another mound, 50 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, standing guard, as
+it were, at the entrance of an inclosure, was opened, revealing the
+following particulars: The top was strewn with fragments of flat rocks,
+most of which were marked with one or more small, artificial, cup-shaped
+depressions. Below these, to the depth, of 2 or 3 feet, the hard yellow
+clay was mixed throughout with similar stones, charcoal, ashes, stone
+chips, and fragments of rude pottery. Near the center and 3 feet from
+the top of the mound were the much decayed remains of a human skeleton,
+lying on its back, in a very rude stone-slab coffin. Beneath this were
+other flat stones, and under them charcoal, ashes, and baked earth,
+covering the decayed bones of some three or four skeletons which lay
+upon the original surface of the ground. So far as could be ascertained,
+the skeletons in this mound lay with their heads toward the east. No
+relics of any kind worthy of notice were found with them.
+
+Another mound of similar size, upon a dry terrace, was found to consist
+chiefly of very hard clay, scattered through which were stone chips and
+fragments of rude pottery. Near the natural surface of the ground a
+layer of ashes and charcoal was encountered, in which were found the
+remains of at least two skeletons.
+
+A mound some 200 yards south of the inclosure, situated on a slope and
+measuring 50 feet in diameter and 6 feet in height, gave a somewhat
+different result. It consisted wholly of very hard clay down to the
+natural surface of the hill-slope. But further excavation revealed a
+vault or pit in the original earth 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet
+deep at the upper end. In this was found a decayed skeleton, with the
+head up hill or toward the north. Upon the breast was a sandstone
+gorget, and upon it a leaf-shaped knife of black flint and a neatly
+polished hematite celt. The bones of the right arm were found stretched
+out at right angles to the body, along a line of ashes. Upon the bones
+of the open hand were three piles (five in each) of small leaf-shaped
+flint knives.
+
+As the four small mounds just mentioned pertain to the Clifton groups,
+in the Elk River Valley, we will call attention to one or two of the
+Charleston group, for the purpose of affording the reader the means of
+comparison.
+
+Below the center of No. 7 (see Plate), sunk into the original earth, was
+a vault about 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet deep. Lying extended
+on the back in the bottom of this, amid the rotten fragments of a bark
+coffin, was a decayed human skeleton, fully 7 feet long, with head west.
+No evidence of fire was to be seen, nor were any stone implements
+discovered, but lying in a circle just above the hips were fifty
+circular pieces of white perforated shell, each about 1 inch in diameter
+and an eighth of an inch thick. The bones of the left arm lay by the
+side of the body, but those of the right arm, as in one of the mounds
+heretofore mentioned, were stretched at right angles to the body,
+reaching out to a small oven-shaped vault, the mortar or cement roof of
+which was still unbroken. The capacity of this small circular vault was
+probably two bushels, and the peculiar appearance of the dark-colored
+deposit therein, and other indications, led to the belief that it had
+been filled with corn (maize) in the ear. The absence of weapons would
+indicate that the individual buried here was not a warrior, though a
+person of some importance.
+
+Mound No. 23 of this group presents some peculiarities worthy of notice.
+It is 312 feet in circumference at the base and 25 feet high, covered
+with a second growth of timber, some of the stumps of the former growth
+yet remaining. It is unusually sharp and symmetrical. From the top down
+the material was found to be a light-gray and apparently mixed earth, so
+hard as to require the vigorous use of the pick to penetrate it. At the
+depth of 15 feet the explorers began to find the casts and fragments of
+poles or round timbers less than a foot in diameter. These casts and
+rotten remains of wood and bark increased in abundance from this point
+until the original surface of the ground was reached. By enlarging the
+lower end of the shaft to 14 feet in diameter it was ascertained that
+this rotten wood and bark were the remains of what had once been a
+circular or polygonal, timber-sided, and conical-roofed vault. Many of
+the timbers of the sides and roof, being considerably longer than
+necessary, had been allowed to extend beyond the points of support often
+8 or 10 feet, those on the sides beyond the crossing and those of the
+roof downward beyond the wall. Upon the floor and amid the remains of
+the timber were numerous human bones and also two whole skeletons, the
+latter but slightly decayed, though badly crushed by the weight pressing
+on them, but unaccompanied by an ornament or an implement of any kind. A
+further excavation of about 4 feet below the floor, or what was supposed
+to be the floor, of this vault, and below the original surface of the
+ground, brought to light six circular, oven-shaped vaults, each about 3
+feet in diameter and the same in depth. As these six were so placed as
+to form a semicircle, it is presumed there are others under that portion
+of the mound not reached by the excavation. All were filled with dry,
+dark dust or decayed substances, supposed to be the remains of Indian
+corn in the ear, as it was similar to that heretofore mentioned. In the
+center of the circle indicated by the positions of these minor vaults,
+and the supposed center of the base of the mound (the shaft not being
+exactly central), and but 2 feet below the floor of the main vault, and
+in a fine mortar or cement, were found two cavities resembling in form
+the bottle or gourd shaped vessel so frequently met with in the mounds
+of southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas. Unfortunately the
+further investigation of this work was stopped at this stage of progress
+by cold weather.
+
+In another mound of this group the burial was in a box-shaped stone
+vault, not of slabs in the usual method, but built up of rough, angular
+stones.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 24.--Mound with so-called "altar," Kanawha County,
+West Virginia.]
+
+Mound 31 of this group seems to furnish a connecting link between the
+West Virginia and the Ohio mounds. It is sharp in outline, has a steep
+slope, and is flattened on the top; is 318 feet in circumference at the
+base and about 25 feet high. It was opened by digging a shaft 10 feet in
+diameter from the center of the top to the base. After passing through
+the top layer of surface soil, some 2 feet thick, a layer of clay and
+ashes 1 foot thick was encountered. Here, near the center of the shaft,
+were two skeletons, lying horizontally, one immediately over the other,
+the upper and larger one with the face down and the lower with the face
+up. There were no indications of fire about them. Immediately over the
+heads were one celt and three lance-heads. At the depth of 13 feet and a
+little north of the center of the mound were two very large skeletons,
+in a sitting posture, with their extended legs interlocked to the knees.
+Their arms were extended and their hands slightly elevated, as if
+together holding up a sandstone mortar which was between their faces.
+This stone is somewhat hemispherical, about 2 feet in diameter across
+the top, which is hollowed in the shape of a shallow basin or mortar. It
+had been subjected to the action of fire until burned to a bright red.
+The cavity was filled with white ashes, containing small fragments of
+bones burned to cinders. Immediately over this, and of sufficient size
+to cover it, was a slab of bluish-gray limestone about 3 inches thick,
+which had small cup-shaped excavations on the under side. This bore no
+marks of fire. Near the hands of the eastern skeleton were a small
+hematite celt and a lance-head, and upon the left wrist of the other two
+copper bracelets. At the depth of 25 feet, and on the natural surface,
+was found what in an Ohio mound would have been designated an "altar."
+This was not thoroughly traced throughout, but was about 12 feet long
+and over 8 feet wide, of the form shown in Fig. 24.
+
+It consisted of a layer of well-prepared mortar, apparently clay,
+slightly mixed with ashes. This was not more than 6 or 8 inches thick in
+the center of the basin-shaped depression, where it was about 1 foot
+lower than at the other margin. It was burned to a brick-red and covered
+with a compact layer of very fine white ashes, scattered thickly,
+through which were small water-worn bowlders, bearing evidences of
+having undergone an intense heat. Mingled with this mass were a few
+thoroughly charred human bones. The material of the shaft, after the
+first 3 feet at the top, consisted almost wholly of finely packed ashes,
+which appeared to have been deposited at intervals of considerable
+length and not at one time.
+
+It is evident from this description, which is abridged from the report
+of the assistant, that we have here a true representation of the
+so-called "altars" of the Ohio mounds. But, contrary to the usual
+custom, as shown by an examination of the Ohio works, this mound appears
+to have been used by the people who erected it as a burial place, for
+the mode of construction and the material used for the body of it forbid
+the supposition that the lower burial was by a different people from
+those who formed the clay structure at the base.
+
+It is proper to state that around and near the inclosure (No. 7 of Plate
+V) were a number of stone graves of the ordinary box shape, constructed
+in the usual way, of stone slabs.
+
+At this place was also discovered a pit or cache resembling those found
+at Madisonville, Ohio. A more thorough examination will probably bring
+to light others.
+
+The descriptions of other burial mounds of this region, differing
+slightly in minor details from those mentioned, might be presented, but
+the foregoing will suffice to give the types and show the character of
+the structures of this kind in this section. The details given will, I
+think, satisfy any one that the authors of these structures were also
+the authors of the Ohio works, or that they belonged to tribes so
+closely related that we may justly consider them as one people.
+
+I have been and am still disposed to connect the mound-builders of the
+Kanawha valley with those of western North Carolina, but our
+explorations in the two sections have convinced me of their close
+relation to the people whose mysterious monuments dot the hills and
+valleys of Ohio. That they were related in some way to the
+mound-builders of North Carolina and East Tennessee is more than
+probable, but the key to unlock this mystery, if it exists anywhere, is
+most likely to be found in the history, traditions, and works of the
+Cherokees, and the traditions relating to the Tallegwi.
+
+As a result of my examination and discussion of the burial mounds of
+Wisconsin, I reached the conclusion that they were built by the Indian
+tribes found inhabiting that section at the advent of the whites, or by
+their ancestors. The data, of which but a comparatively small portion
+is given, seem to justify this conclusion. But the case is somewhat
+different in reference to the works of the Ohio district. Although the
+data obtained here point with satisfactory certainty to the conclusion
+that Indians were the authors of these works, it cannot be claimed that
+all or even the larger portion of them were built by Indians inhabiting
+the district when first visited by the whites, or by their ancestors.
+
+[Illustration: PL. VI. ENLARGED PLAN OF PART OF THE WORKS SHOWN IN PL.
+V.]
+
+Hence the mystery which enshrouds them is deeper and much more difficult
+to penetrate than that which hangs about the antiquities of some of the
+other districts; in fact, they present probably the most difficult
+problem for solution in this respect of any ancient works of our
+country. That some of the burial mounds, graves, and other works are to
+be attributed to Indians who entered this district after the Europeans
+had planted colonies in Canada and along the Atlantic coast is probably
+true, but that much the greater portion of the typical works belong to a
+more distant period must be conceded. It is a singular fact that in the
+latter half of the seventeenth century, when European explorers began to
+penetrate into this region, what is now the State of Ohio was
+uninhabited.
+
+     The Miami confederacy, inhabiting the southern shore of Lake
+     Michigan, extended southeasterly to the Wabash. The Illinois
+     confederacy extended down the eastern shore of the Mississippi
+     to about where Memphis now stands. The Cherokees occupied the
+     slopes and valleys of the mountains about the borders of what
+     is now East Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. The great
+     basin bounded north by Lake Erie, the Miamis, and the Illinois,
+     west by the Mississippi, east by the Alleghanies, and south by
+     the headwaters of the streams that flow into the Gulf of
+     Mexico, seems to have been uninhabited except by bands of
+     Shawnees, and scarcely visited except by war parties of the
+     Five Nations.[35]
+
+With the exception of some slight notices of the Erie or Cat Nation
+dwelling south of Lake Erie, the mere mention of the Tongarias (possibly
+but another name for the Eries, with whom Colden identifies them),
+located somewhere on the Ohio, and the tradition regarding the Tallegwi,
+the only history which remains to us regarding this region previous to
+the close of the seventeenth century, is to be gathered from the ancient
+monuments which dot its surface. Even conjecture can find but few
+pointers on this desert field to give direction to its flight. But it
+does not necessarily follow, because we are unable to determine the
+direction in which the goal we are seeking lies, that we cannot tell
+some of the directions in which it does not lie, and thus narrow the
+field of our investigation. I will therefore venture to offer the
+following suggestions:
+
+As the evidence in regard to the antiquities of the northwestern, the
+southern, and the Appalachian districts points so decidedly to the
+Indians as the authors, I think we may assume that the works of Ohio are
+attributable to the same race. As they bear a strong resemblance in
+several respects to the West Virginia and North Carolina works, and as
+the geographical positions of the defensive works indicate pressure
+from the north and north-west, we are perhaps justified in excluding
+from consideration all tribes known to have had their principal seats
+north of the Ohio in historic times, except the Eries, which form an
+uncertain and so far indeterminable factor in the problem.
+
+The data so far obtained seem to me to indicate the following as the
+most promising lines of research: The possible identity or relation of
+the Tallegwi and the Cherokees; the possibility of this region having
+been the ancient home of the Shawnees or their ancestors (though I
+believe the testimony of the mounds is most decidedly against this and
+the following supposition); and the theory that the builders of these
+works were driven southward and were merged into the Chahta-Muscogee
+family.
+
+Be our conclusion on this question what it may, one important result of
+the explorations in this northern section of the United States is the
+conviction that there was during the mound-building age a powerful tribe
+or association of closely allied tribes occupying the valley of the
+Ohio, whose chief seats were in the Kanawha, Scioto, and Little Miami
+Valleys. We might suppose that one strong tribe had occupied
+successively these various points, yet the slight though persistent
+differences in methods and customs indicated by the works seem to favor
+the other view. Moreover, the data furnished by the burial mounds lead
+to the conclusion that all the works of these localities are relatively
+contemporaneous. Not that those of either section are all of the same
+age, perhaps by some two or three or possibly more centuries, but that
+those of one section, as a whole, are relatively of the same age as
+those of the other sections. Nevertheless a somewhat careful study of
+all the data bearing on this subject leads me to the conclusion that the
+Cherokees are the modern representatives of the Tallegwi, and that most
+of the typical works of Ohio and West Virginia owe their origin to this
+people.
+
+In each section there are some indications that the authors of these
+works followed the custom of erecting burial mounds down to the time the
+Europeans appeared on the continent. These evidences have not been given
+here, as it is not my intention to discuss them in this paper.
+
+In Ohio there are undoubted evidences of one, if not two, waves of
+population subsequent to the occupancy of that region by the builders of
+the chief works. But these were of comparatively short duration, and
+were evidently Indian hordes pressed westward and southward by the
+Iroquois tribes and the advance of the whites.
+
+
+
+
+THE APPALACHIAN DISTRICT.
+
+
+This district, as already defined, includes East Tennessee, western
+North Carolina, southwestern Virginia, and the southeastern part of
+Kentucky. It is probable that northeastern Georgia and the northwestern
+part of South Carolina should be included, but the investigations in
+most of the sections named have not been sufficiently thorough to
+enable us to fix with any degree of certainty the boundaries of the
+district.
+
+Although there is uncertainty in reference to the area occupied by the
+people who left behind them the antiquities found in this region, there
+can be no doubt that here we find a class of burial mounds differing in
+several important respects from any we have so far noticed.
+
+Some of the most important mounds of this class found in this district
+were discovered in Caldwell County, North Carolina, and opened in 1882
+by Mr. J. P. Rogan, one of the Bureau assistants, aided by Dr. J. M.
+Spainhour, a resident of the county.
+
+As Mr. Rogan's descriptions are somewhat full, I give them substantially
+as found in his report:
+
+_The T. F. Nelson mound._--This mound, so insignificant in appearance as
+scarcely to attract any notice, was located on the farm of Rev. T. F.
+Nelson, in Caldwell County, North Carolina, on the bottom land of the
+Yadkin, about 100 yards from the river-bank. It was almost a true circle
+in outline, 38 feet in diameter, but not exceeding at any point 18
+inches in height. The thorough excavation made revealed the fact that
+the builders of the mound had first dug a circular pit, with
+perpendicular margin, to the depth of 3 feet, and 38 feet in diameter,
+then deposited their dead in the manner hereafter shown, and afterwards
+covered them over, raising a slight mound above the pit.
+
+A plan of the pit, drawn at the time (after the removal of the dirt),
+showing the stone graves and skeletons, is given in Fig. 25.
+
+The walled graves or vaults and altar-shaped mass were built of water
+worn bowlders and clay or earth merely sufficient to hold them in place.
+
+No. 1, a stone grave or vault standing exactly in the center of the pit.
+In this case a small circular hole, a little over 3 feet in diameter and
+extending down 3 feet below the bottom of the large pit, had been dug,
+the body or skeleton placed perpendicularly upon its feet, and the wall
+built up around it from the bottom of the hole, converging, after a
+height of 4 feet was reached, so as to be covered at the top by a single
+soapstone rock of moderate size. On the top of the head of the skeleton
+and immediately under the capstone of the vault were found several
+plates of silver mica, which had evidently been cut with some rude
+implement. Although the bones were much decayed, yet they were retained
+in position by the dirt which filled the vault, an indication that the
+flesh had been removed before burial and the vault filled with dirt as
+it was built up.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 25.--Appearance of T. F. Nelson mound after
+excavation.]
+
+Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, although walled around in a similar
+manner, were in a sitting posture on the bottom of the pit. In the grave
+of No. 2 was found a polished celt, in that of No. 3 a single discoidal
+stone, in that of No. 6 two polished celts, and immediately over No. 9 a
+pitted stone.
+
+Nos. 11, 12, and 13 are three skeletons in a squatting posture, with no
+wall around them and unaccompanied by relics of any kind.
+
+Nos. 14 and 15 are two uninclosed skeletons, lying horizontally at full
+length. With the former some pieces of broken soapstone pipes were
+found, and with the latter one polished celt.
+
+No. 16, an uninclosed "squatter," of unusually large size, not less than
+7 feet high when living. Near the mouth was an uninjured soapstone 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 found a considerable quantity of black paint in little lumps,
+which appear to have been molded in the hull of some nut. At B was a
+cubical mass of water-worn bowlders, built up solidly and symmetrically,
+24 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 18 inches high, but with no bones,
+specimens of art, coal, ashes, or indications of fire on or around it.
+Many of the stones of the vaults and the earth immediately around them,
+on the contrary, bore unmistakable evidences of fire; in fact, the heat
+in some cases left its mark on the bones of the inclosed skeletons,
+another indication that the flesh had been removed before burial here,
+either by previous burial or otherwise.
+
+Scattered through the dirt which filled the pit were small pieces of
+pottery and charcoal. The bottom, and sides of the pit were so
+distinctly marked that they could be traced without difficulty.
+
+This mound stood about 75 yards south of the triangular burial pit
+described below.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 26.--Burials in the T. F. Nelson triangle, Caldwell
+County, North Carolina.]
+
+_The T. F. Nelson triangle._--This is the name applied by Mr. Rogan to
+an ancient triangular burying ground found on the same farm as the mound
+just described and about 75 yards north of it.
+
+It is not a mound, but simply a burial pit in the form of a triangle,
+the two longest sides each 48 feet and the (southern) base 32 feet, in
+which the bodies and accompanying articles were deposited and then
+covered over, but not heaped up into a mound; or, if so, it had
+subsequently settled until on a level with the natural surface of the
+ground. The apex, which points directly north, was found to extend
+within 3 feet of the break of the bank of the Yadkin River, the height
+above the usual water-level being about 12 feet. The depth of the
+original excavation, the lines of which could be distinctly traced,
+varied from 2-1/2 to 3 feet. A rude sketch of this triangle, showing the
+relative positions of the skeletons, is given in Fig. 26.
+
+Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 indicate the positions of single
+skeletons found lying horizontally, on their backs, heads east and
+northeast. With No. 2 was found a broken soapstone pipe, and with Nos. 5
+and 9 one small polished celt each.
+
+Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 indicate the positions of skeletons
+inclosed in rude stone vaults built of cobblestones and similar to those
+in the preceding mound. (See Fig. 25.) Nos. 10, 12, 13, and 15 were in a
+sitting posture, without any accompanying articles.
+
+Graves 11 and 14 contained each two bodies, extended horizontally, the
+lower ones, which were of smaller stature than the upper ones, face up
+and with heavy flat stones on the extended arms and legs. The upper
+ones, with face down, were resting on those below. No implements or
+ornaments were found with them.
+
+Near No. 12 about a peck of singular, pinkish-colored earth was found.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 27.--Engraved shell gorget from mound, Caldwell
+County, North Carolina.]
+
+In the northwest part of the triangle (at A in Fig. 26) ten or more
+skeletons were found in one grave or group, which from the arrangement
+the explorers concluded must have been buried at one time; the "old
+chief" (?), or principal personage of the group, resting horizontally on
+his face, with his head northeast and feet southwest. Under his head was
+a large engraved shell gorget (Fig. 27); around his neck were a number
+of large-sized shell beads, evidently the remains of a necklace; at the
+sides of the head, near the ears, were five elongate copper beads, or
+rather small cylinders, varying in length from one and a quarter to four
+and a half inches, part of the leather thong on which the smaller were
+strung yet remaining in them. These are made of thin pieces of copper
+cut into strips and then rolled together so that the edges meet in a
+straight joint on one side. (See Fig. 28.) The plate out of which they
+were made was as smooth and even in thickness as though it had been
+rolled.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 28.--Cylindrical copper bead from mound, Caldwell
+County, North Carolina.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 29.--Bracelet of copper and shell beads, Caldwell
+County, North Carolina.]
+
+A piece of copper was also under his breast. His arms were partially
+extended, his hands resting about a foot from his head. Around each
+wrist were the remains of a bracelet composed of copper and shell beads,
+alternating, thus (Fig. 29):
+
+[Illustration FIG. 30.--Iron celt from mound, Caldwell County, North
+Carolina.]
+
+At his right hand were four iron specimens, much corroded but still
+showing the form. Two of them were of uniform thickness, one not
+sharpened at the ends or edges, the other slightly sharpened at one end,
+3 to 3-1/2 inches long, 1 to 1-1/2 inches broad, and about a quarter of
+an inch thick. The form is shown in Fig. 30. Another is 5 inches long,
+slightly tapering in width from one and an eighth to seven-eighths of an
+inch, both edges sharp; it is apparently part of the blade of a long,
+slender, cutting or thrusting weapon of some kind, as a sword, dagger,
+or knife. (Shown in Fig. 31.) The other specimen is part of a round,
+awl-shaped implement, a small part of the bone handle in which it was
+fixed yet remaining attached to it.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 31.--Iron implement from mound, Caldwell County,
+North Carolina.]
+
+Under his left hand was another engraved shell, the concave surface
+upward and filled with shell beads of all sizes.
+
+Around and over the skeleton of this chief personage, with their heads
+near his, were nine other skeletons. Under the heads of two of these
+were two engraved shells. Scattered over and between the ten skeletons
+of the group were numerous polished celts, discoidal stones, copper
+arrow-points, plates of mica, lumps of paint, black lead, etc.
+
+_The W. D. Jones mound._--Two miles east of Patterson, same county, and
+near the north bank of the Yadkin River, running out from a low ridge to
+the river bank, is a natural terrace about 12 feet high, with a level
+area on top of about an acre, the sides steep and abrupt. According to
+tradition this terrace was formerly occupied by an Indian village.
+
+About 200 yards east of this, on the second river bottom or terrace, was
+located a low, circular mound 33 feet in diameter and not more than 1
+foot high, on the land of Mr. W. D. Jones.
+
+This mound was found on investigation to cover a circular pit 32 feet in
+diameter and 3 feet deep, the margin and bottom being so well defined as
+to leave no doubt as to the 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 mound and the filling of the pit consisted of earth and
+loose yellow clay, similar to that around it. In this mound were found
+twenty-five skeletons and one stone heap, the relative positions of
+which are shown in Fig. 32.
+
+1. A "squatter," walled in with water-worn stones, the face turned
+toward the west; no relics.
+
+2. Sitting with the face toward the center; two polished celts at the
+feet, and immediately in front of the face a cylinder of hard gray
+mortar (not burned) about 5 inches long and 2 inches in diameter, with a
+hole through one end.
+
+3. Sitting with the face toward the center; several polished celts at
+the feet.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 32.--W. D. Jones mound, Caldwell County, North
+Carolina.]
+
+4. Horizontal, head southeast; several celts at the feet.
+
+5. Horizontal, head toward the center; several celts at the feet.
+
+6. Facing the center, sitting; shell beads around the neck, a _Unio_
+shell on top of the head, with the concave surface down, a conch shell
+(_Busycon perversum_) in front of the face, and celts at the feet.
+
+7. Sitting, facing the center; celts at the feet.
+
+8. Very large, lying on the left side, legs partially drawn up, walled
+in with bowlders; no implements.
+
+9. Horizontal, face down, head toward the center; celts and discoidal
+stones at the feet, and a pot resting, mouth down, upon the head.
+
+10. Horizontal, face up, feet toward the center; pot resting on the
+face, stone implements at the feet.
+
+11. Horizontal, head southeast, arms extended, and a bracelet of copper
+and shell beads around each wrist; shell beads around the neck; face up
+and food-cup (without handle) at the right side of the head.
+
+12. Horizontal, face up, head southeast; shell beads around the neck, a
+hook or crescent shaped piece of copper on the breast, and a soapstone
+pipe near the face; one hand near each side of the head, each grasping
+small, conical copper ornaments (ear-drops) and a bunch of hair. Was
+this individual, apparently a female, buried alive?
+
+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, a food-cup (with handle) lying on its side with
+mouth close to the face, a pipe near the mouth, and two celts over the
+head.
+
+14. Horizontal, lying on the back, head northeast, arms extended; each
+hand resting on a shell which had evidently been engraved, though the
+figures are almost totally obliterated.
+
+15. Horizontal, on the back, head west, knees drawn up; stone implements
+at the feet.
+
+16. Too much decayed to determine the position.
+
+17. Four skeletons in one grave, horizontal, heads toward the east, and
+large rocks lying on the legs below the knees; no implements.
+
+18. Two skeletons in one grave, heads west, faces down, knees drawn up;
+no implements.
+
+19. On the back, horizontal, head east; no implements.
+
+20. Sitting, with face toward the east, walled in, a large rock lying on
+the feet (though this may have fallen from the wall); no implements.
+
+21. Sitting, walled in; over the head, but under the capstone of the
+vault, a handful of flint arrow-heads.
+
+22. Doubled up, with the head between the feet.
+
+A. A solid oval-shaped mass of bowlders, 33 inches long, 22 inches wide,
+and 24 inches high, resting on the bottom of the pit. No ashes or other
+indications of fire about it.
+
+Fragments of pottery, mica, galena, charcoal, red and black paint, and
+stone chips were found scattered in small quantities through the earth
+which filled the pit. All the celts were more or less polished.
+
+_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.
+
+A diagram showing the relative positions of the graves or burials is
+given in Fig. 33.
+
+It is on the first river terrace or bottom of Buffalo Creek and some 200
+yards from the stream, which empties 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 diameter and about 3-1/2 feet deep, is
+almost a perfect circle, and well marked, the margin, which is nearly
+perpendicular, and the bottom being easily 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 about 1 foot deep. The bones were so thoroughly
+burned that it was impossible to determine whether they were human or
+animal. Beneath this bed the yellow sand was baked to the depth of 2 or
+3 inches. Under the bones was an uncharred shell gorget.
+
+No. 2. A skeleton in a sitting posture, facing northeast; a pipe near
+the mouth and a polished celt over the head.
+
+No. 3. Sitting, facing east, with shell beads around the neck and also
+around the arms just below the shoulders.
+
+No. 4. Horizontal, on the back, head east and resting on the concave
+surface of an engraved shell; a conch shell (_Busycon perversum_) at the
+side of the head, and copper and shell beads around the neck.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 33.--Plan of the R. T. Lenoir burial pit, Caldwell
+County, North Carolina.]
+
+No. 5. Horizontal, head northeast; shell beads around the neck and two
+discoidal stones and one celt at the feet.
+
+No. 6. A communal grave, containing at least twenty-five skeletons, in
+two tiers, buried without any apparent regularity as to direction or
+relative position. Thirteen of the twenty-five were "flat-heads;" that
+is, "the heads running back and compressed in front."
+
+Scattered through this grave, between and above the skeletons, were
+polished celts, discoidal stones, shells, mica, galena, fragments of
+pottery, and one whole pot. Around the neck and wrists of some of the
+skeletons were also shell beads. There may have been more than
+twenty-five individuals buried here, this, however, being the number of
+skulls observed.
+
+No. 7. Horizontal, on the left side, head northwest; no implements.
+
+No. 8. An irregular layer of water-worn stones, about 4 feet square. On
+top was a bed of charcoal 3 or 4 inches thick, on and partially imbedded
+in which were three skeletons, but showing no indications of having been
+in the fire. Scattered over these were discoidal stones, one small,
+saucer-shaped dish, shells (of which one is engraved), pipes, shell
+beads, and pieces of pottery.
+
+No. 9. A grave containing three skeletons, lying horizontally on their
+backs and side by side, the outer ones with their heads east and the
+middle one with the head west; no implements.
+
+No. 10. Horizontal, on the right side, head north, with stone implements
+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 flat
+heads, two of the number children. Two of the adult heads were resting
+on engraved shells.
+
+In this grave were found four pots and two food-cups, the handle of one
+representing an owl's head and that of the other an eagle's head. One of
+the small pots was inside a larger one. Scattered among the skeletons
+were shell beads, polished celts, discoidal stones, paint, etc. None of
+the skeletons were inclosed in stone graves.[36]
+
+In order to convey an idea of the number of articles deposited with the
+dead in some of these burial places, I give here a list of those
+obtained from the pit last described:
+
+One stone ax.
+
+Forty-three polished celts.
+
+Nine vessels of clay.
+
+Thirty-two arrow-heads.
+
+Twenty soapstone pipes, mostly uninjured.
+
+Twelve discoidal stones.
+
+Ten rubbing stones.
+
+Two hammer stones.
+
+One broken soapstone vessel.
+
+Six engraved shells.
+
+Four shell gorgets.
+
+One _Busycon perversum_ entire, and two or three broken ones.
+
+Five very large copper beads.
+
+One lot of fragments of shells, some of them engraved.
+
+A few rude shell pins.
+
+Shell beads.
+
+A few small copper beads.
+
+Specimens of paint and plumbago.
+
+Three skulls.
+
+It is evident from the foregoing descriptions that the mode of burial
+and the depositories of the dead of the mound-building tribes of this
+part of North Carolina differed in several marked and important respects
+from the mode of burial and burial mounds of the sections previously
+alluded to, and in fact from those of any other district.
+
+Here the pit seems to have been the important part of the depository and
+the mound a mere adjunct. In some cases the bodies appear to have been
+buried soon after death, while in others--as, for example, the groups in
+the triangle and Lenoir burial pit--the skeletons were probably
+deposited after the flesh was removed.
+
+We are reminded by these pits of the mode of burial practiced by some of
+the Indian tribes, as mentioned by Lafitau,[37] Brebeuf,[38] etc.; but,
+before attempting to draw conclusions, we will give other illustrations
+of the burial mounds of this district, which are far from being uniform
+in character.
+
+Comparatively few mounds have as yet been opened in North Carolina;
+hence the data relating to this region is somewhat meager. As bearing
+upon the subject, and probably relating to a period immediately
+following the close of the mound-building era, I give from Mr. Rogan's
+notes the description of a burial place explored by him on the farm of
+Mr. Charles Hunt, in the central part of Wilkes County:
+
+This is not a "burial place," in the usual sense of that term, but is
+probably the site of a camp or temporary village. It is about three
+miles and a half east of Wilkesborough, on the second bottom or terrace
+of the Yadkin River. It differs from the burial places just described in
+having no large pit, the graves being separate and independent of each
+other. A diagram showing the relative positions of the graves and small
+pits accompanies Mr. Rogan's report but is omitted here, although the
+numbering of the graves is retained in the description.
+
+No. 1 is a grave or oval-shaped pit 2 feet long and 18 inches wide, the
+top within 8 inches of the surface of the ground, while the bottom is
+2-1/2 feet below it. This contained the remains of two skeletons, 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 contained
+quite a quantity of animal bones, some of them evidently those of a
+bear; also charcoal, mussel shells, and one bone implement.
+
+No. 3. A grave of the same size and depth as No. 2, containing animal
+bones, broken pottery, and some charcoal.
+
+No. 4. Grave; the size, depth, and contents same as the preceding.
+
+No. 5. A circular pit 2 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep. This contained
+a very large pot, in which were some animal bones; it was on its side
+and crushed.
+
+No. 6. A pit 2-1/2 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. A grave similar to those described.
+
+No. 8. A large grave, containing three skeletons, lying at full length
+upon the right side, with the heads a little east of north. Between the
+front and the middle one was a mass of mussel shells. At the head and
+back of the front one were a number of animal bones, and between it and
+the middle one, opposite the pelvis, was a large broken pot. The right
+arm of the third or back one 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. Under the legs of the
+three skeletons, the head extending in front of the legs of the third or
+back one, was the skeleton of a bear, and in front of the latter were
+three broken pots, containing animal bones.
+
+[Illustration FIG. 34.--Fire-bed, Wilkes County, North Carolina.]
+
+No. 9. A basin-shaped fire-bed, or bed of burnt clay, 8 inches thick. A
+section of this bed is shown in Fig. 34--_b_, _b_, _b_, the bed of burnt
+clay, 8 inches thick, the material evidently placed here and not a part
+of the original soil. The basin _a_ was filled with ashes, to the depth
+of 12 inches; the diameter, from 1 to 2, 2 feet 3 inches, from 1 to 3
+and from 2 to 4, 1 foot 6 inches.
+
+No. 10. A bed of mussel shells, 3 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 mounding over any of these graves or pits.
+
+The basin-shaped fire-bed, No. 9, reminds us very strongly of the
+so-called altars of the Ohio mounds, and may possibly assist us in
+arriving at a correct conclusion concerning these puzzling structures.
+
+A mound opened by Dr. J. M. Spainhour in Burke County, some years ago,
+presents some variations, though, so far as the posture and relative
+positions of the skeletons are concerned, reminding us of those in
+Caldwell County. The following extract is from the article containing
+the description:[39]
+
+     Digging down I struck a stone about 18 inches below the surface,
+     which was found to be 18 inches long and 16 inches wide and from
+     2 to 3 inches in thickness, the corners rounded. It rested on
+     solid earth and had been smoothed on top.
+
+     I then made an excavation in the south of the mound, and soon
+     struck another stone, which upon examination proved to be in
+     front of the remains of a human skeleton in a sitting posture;
+     the bones of the fingers of the right hand had been resting on
+     the stone. Near the hand was a small stone about 5 inches long,
+     resembling a tomahawk or Indian hatchet. Upon a further
+     examination many of the bones were found, though in a very
+     decomposed condition, and upon exposure to the air they soon
+     crumbled to pieces. The heads of the bones, a considerable
+     portion of the skull, jaw-bones, teeth, neck-bones, and the
+     vertebræ were in their proper places. Though the weight of the
+     earth above them had driven them down, yet the frame was
+     perfect, and the bones of the head were slightly inclined
+     toward the east. Around the neck were found coarse beads that
+     seemed to be of some substance resembling chalk.
+
+     A small lump of red paint, about the size of an egg, was found
+     near the right side of this skeleton. From my knowledge of
+     anatomy, the sutures of the skull would indicate the subject to
+     have been twenty-five or twenty-eight years of age. The top of
+     the skull was about 12 inches below the mark of the plow.
+
+     I made a further excavation in the west part of this mound and
+     found another skeleton similar to the first, in a sitting
+     posture, facing the last. A stone was on the right, on which
+     the right hand had been resting, and on this was a tomahawk
+     which had been about 7 inches in length, broken into two
+     pieces, and much better finished than the first. Beads were
+     also on the neck of this one, but were much smaller and of
+     finer quality than those on the neck of the first; the
+     material, however, seemed to be the same. A much larger amount
+     of paint was found by the side of this than the first. The
+     bones indicated a person of larger frame and I think of about
+     fifty years of age. Everything about this one had the
+     appearance of superiority over the first. The top of the skull
+     was about 6 inches below the mark of the plow.
+
+     I continued the examination, and after diligent search found
+     nothing at the north part of the mound, but on reaching the
+     east side found another skeleton, in the same posture as the
+     others, facing the west. On the right side of this was a stone
+     on which the right hand had been resting, and on the stone was
+     also a tomahawk about 8 inches in length, broken into three
+     pieces, much smoother and of finer material than the others.
+     Beads were also found on the neck of this, but much smaller and
+     finer than on those of the others, as well as a large amount of
+     paint. The bones would indicate a person of forty years of age.
+     The top of the skull had been moved by the plow.
+
+     There was no appearance of hair discovered; besides, the
+     principal bones were almost entirely decomposed, and crumbled
+     when handled.
+
+A complete exploration of this mound, the dimensions of which are not
+given, would possibly have shown that the skeletons were arranged
+somewhat in a circle. The doctor does not state whether there was a
+pit.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 35.--Section of mound, Henderson County, North
+Carolina.]
+
+Some mounds in Henderson County, opened in 1884 by Mr. J. W. Emmert, who
+was temporarily employed by the Bureau, present some peculiarities
+worthy of notice. One of these, situated on the farm of Mrs. Rebecca
+Conner, and perfectly circular, was found to be 44 feet in diameter and
+6 feet high; a number of small trees were growing on it. The annexed cut
+(Fig. 35) shows a vertical section of it, the dark central triangle
+representing a conical mass of charcoal and ashes. The conical mass
+measured 16 feet in diameter at the base and 5 feet high, the top
+reaching within 1 foot of the top of the mound. The outer portion
+consisted of charcoal, evidently 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 (?) bones, and some accompanying articles, among
+which were two stones with holes drilled through them. The fragments of
+bones and the specimens were at the base, in the center.
+
+A mound on the farm of Mr. J. B. Alexander, 2 miles above the one just
+described, was examined by Mr. Emmert, and found to cover a pit similar
+to those explored in Caldwell County.
+
+This mound was situated on an elevated level, about a quarter of a mile
+from the creek, in an old field which had been plowed over for sixty
+years. It was 2 feet high when he explored it, but the old people stated
+to him that it was formerly 10 feet high, and had a "tail" or ridge
+running away from it 200 feet long; but the only indication of this that
+Mr. Emmert could see was a strip of clay running off where it was stated
+to have been. It runs in the direction of the creek bottom, where any
+quantity of broken pottery may be picked up. The mound, which was 30
+feet in diameter and composed wholly of red clay, was entirely removed
+to the original surface of the ground. Nothing was found in it, but
+after reaching the surface he discovered a circular pit 12 feet in
+diameter, which had been dug to the depth of 4 feet in the solid red
+clay. This he found to be filled full of ashes and charcoal, but failed
+to find any bones or specimens in it.
+
+Although Mr. Emmert failed to find any evidence that this was a burial
+mound, its similarity with those of Caldwell County will, I think,
+justify us in concluding it was constructed for this purpose.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 36.--Section of mound, Henderson County, North
+Carolina.]
+
+Another mound on the same farm as the one last mentioned, a
+cross-section of which is shown in Fig. 36, is of the common type,
+examples of which are found in most of the districts: diameter 52 feet
+and height 9 feet; the upper layer, No. 1, red clay, about 4 feet thick,
+No. 2, a thin layer of charcoal, about 3 inches thick; the lower stratum
+or central core, No. 3, dark-colored earth. In this lower layer were
+found five skeletons, on the natural surface and at the points indicated
+by the dots, which crumbled to pieces as soon as exposed to the air.
+With one were sixteen large, rudely made, white flint arrow-heads, so
+nearly alike as to make it apparent they were the work of one
+individual, and with another a small pipe and some arrow-heads.
+
+Passing westward over the mountains into East Tennessee, we find some
+variations in the modes of burial, but not so widely different from
+those east of the range as to justify the belief that the authors of the
+works of the two localities were different peoples or belonged to
+different tribes.
+
+A burial mound opened by Mr. Emmert in the valley of the Holston,
+Sullivan County, described by him as mound No. 1, on the north side of
+the river, was found to be 22 feet in diameter and 4 feet high. It was
+composed of red clay and sand. Digging down to the level of the
+surrounding ground, there was found a pile of rock in the center, which
+proved to be a burial vault built of water-worn bowlders, over a sitting
+skeleton. It was 3-1/2 feet in diameter at the base and 3 feet high. On
+the head of the skeleton was a slender, square copper spindle about 11
+inches long and a quarter of an inch thick in the middle. It has
+evidently been hammered out with a stone hammer. Under the lower jaw
+were two small copper drills or awls, with portions of the deer-horn
+handles still attached. About the shoulders, one on each side, were two
+polished stones, with holes in them. Near the head was a small pile of
+flint chips, and at the knees a flint scalping knife. The bones were so
+badly decayed that but few of them could be secured.
+
+Mound No. 2 was on the south side of the river, opposite No. 1 and about
+the same distance from the river. It was 38 feet in diameter and 5 feet
+high, and on the top was a pine stump 14 inches in diameter.
+
+Mr. Emmert, in opening it, commenced at the edge to cut a ditch 4 feet
+wide through it, but soon reached a wall 3 feet high, built of "river
+rock." He then worked around this, finding it to be an almost perfect
+circle, 14 feet in diameter, inside of which were found, on throwing out
+the dirt, twelve stone graves or vaults, built of the same kind of
+stones, each containing a sitting skeleton, as shown in Fig. 37. One of
+these graves or vaults was exactly in the center, the other eleven being
+placed in a circle around it, and about equally spaced, as shown in the
+diagram.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 37.--Mound on Holston River, Sullivan County,
+Tennessee.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 38.--Pipe from mound, Sullivan County, Tennessee.]
+
+In the center grave he found shell beads around the neck of the
+skeleton, and near the mouth the pipe shown in Fig. 38.
+
+The bottom of the area within the circular wall was covered to the depth
+of about 3 inches with charcoal, and the graves were built on this
+layer. Both of these mounds were on the bench or upper bottom, and about
+three-fourths of a mile from the river.
+
+Mr. Emmert says he learned that there was a tradition of the
+neighborhood that the Indians once fought a great battle at this place,
+and that one party buried some of their dead in mound No. 2, and the
+other party buried their dead on the opposite side of the river, where
+there is a large pile or mound of "river rock."
+
+He opened one of the rock mounds occurring in this region half a mile
+from the river and near the foot of the mountain. A large tree had grown
+up through it, the stump of which was yet standing, or the mound had
+been built around it. After removing the rock and digging up the stump,
+he found, at the depth of 4 feet and directly under the stump, two stone
+axes, a large number of arrow-heads, two polished celts, and some pieces
+of mica.
+
+Another mound on the Holston River, 2 miles above the two heretofore
+described, was examined. This was 60 feet in diameter and 4-1/2 feet
+high. The original surface of the earth had been first covered over
+about 3 inches thick with charcoal, then the bodies or skeletons laid on
+it, and each walled up separately with river rock. These were then
+covered with black earth, over which was cast a layer of sand about the
+same thickness, the remainder being top soil.
+
+Mr. Emmert, who opened this, commenced cutting a ditch 4 feet wide,
+proceeding until he struck the bed of charcoal; then followed around the
+outer edge of it, finally removing all the dirt inside the circle. One
+side of the circle had six skeletons in it, all walled up, as before
+stated, separately, but so thoroughly decayed that only one skull could
+be saved.
+
+The other side of the mound had nothing in it except a fine pipe which
+he found on the bed of coals, some 10 or 12 feet from the nearest
+skeleton; some beautiful arrow-heads, shell beads, a polished celt, and
+two small stones with holes in them were also discovered.
+
+In addition to the foregoing descriptions from the reports of my
+assistants, I present the following, from accounts of earlier
+explorations in this region:
+
+A burial mound situated on the left bank of the Tennessee River, about 1
+mile from Chattanooga, was opened by Mr. M. O. Read in 1865. This was
+oval in form and flat on top, the diameters of the base 158 and 120
+feet, and those of the top 82 and 44 feet; height, 19 feet. Mr. Read
+says:[40]
+
+     For the purpose of examination, a tunnel was excavated into the
+     mound from the east, a little one side of the center and on a
+     level with the natural surface of the ground. When the point
+     directly under the outer edge of the top of the mound was
+     reached, holes were found containing fragments of rotted wood
+     showing that stakes or palisades had been erected here when
+     the mound was commenced. The sound of the pick indicating a
+     cavity or different material below, the excavation was carried
+     downward about 2 feet, when two skeletons were uncovered,
+     fragments of which preserved are marked No. 1. The bones were
+     packed in a small space, as though the bodies were crowded
+     down, without much regard to position of hands, into a pit not
+     exceeding 3 feet in length. One of the skulls is of especial
+     interest, as possibly indicating that the remains are those of
+     victims immolated in some sacrificial or burial rites.
+     The side was crushed in, as if with a club. I have connected
+     together the pieces of the upper jaw so that they retain the
+     position in which they were found, a position which cannot with
+     probability be supposed to be the result of the settling of the
+     earth around it, if unbroken when buried. The bones of the
+     bodies, although so friable that they could not be preserved,
+     were entire, in positions indicating that the bodies had not
+     been dismembered and forbidding the supposition that they were
+     the remains of a cannibal feast.
+
+     The excavation was carried forward as indicated on the plat and
+     on a level with the location of the skeletons first found. It
+     became evident at once that the material of which the mound was
+     constructed was taken from the immediate neighborhood, it being
+     composed of the same alluvial soil, full of the shells found on
+     the surface, but in a much better state of preservation; but no
+     arrow-heads, chippings of flints, or fragments of pottery now
+     covering the surface were found. These would have been abundant
+     if the mound had been erected subsequent to the manufacture of
+     the pottery and arrow-heads at that place. Single fragments of
+     pottery were found, but these were painted and of much better
+     quality than those found on the surface.
+
+     The mound was composed of alternate layers of earth and ashes,
+     showing that a surface of the size of the top, when finished,
+     was kept substantially level, and raised only 2 to 3 feet at a
+     time, when fires were kindled, which must have been large or
+     continued for a long time, as the amount of the ashes and
+     charcoal abundantly indicates.
+
+     Near the center of the mound rows of stake-holes were found, as
+     far as followed, marking two sides of a rectangular
+     parallelogram, which continued would have formed an enclosure
+     around the center. In some of these were the remains of the
+     wood and bark, not enough to show the marks of tools, if any
+     had been used. They penetrated the natural surface of the
+     ground to the depth of about 2 feet.
+
+     Here and at about the same level as at No. 1 were found the
+     skeletons of which the skull bones and other parts are marked
+     No. 2. They were apparently the remains of a youngish woman and
+     two children, all so far decomposed that only the parts sent
+     could be preserved. The larger skeleton was in such a position
+     as a person would take on kneeling down, then sitting upon the
+     feet; the hands were brought to the head and the body doubled
+     down upon the knees. The head was toward the south. The remains
+     of the children were found at the right side of this body, the
+     bones mingled together.
+
+     About 2 feet directly under these the skeleton of which the
+     skull is marked No. 3 was found, in a similar position, it is
+     said (I was not present when it was taken out), with the one
+     above it.
+
+     I attempt no description and indulge in no speculations in
+     regard to these remains, as I have decided to forward them to
+     you for the examination of those who can compare them with
+     other skulls and are better qualified to make a proper use of
+     them. They are unquestionably of the age of the mound-builders.
+
+We are reminded, by the remains of upright timbers found here, of the
+wooden vaults of the Grave Creek and other mounds of West Virginia, but
+in the form of the mound we have an indication that it belongs to the
+southern class of ancient works.
+
+Rev. E. O. Dunning mentions[41] a stone-grave mound which he examined in
+the valley of the Little Tennessee. Speaking of this mound he remarks:
+
+     I did not expect to find rock graves in a mound of earth, but
+     after clearing away rubbish and penetrating 6 feet below the
+     top, near the center the workman struck a slab of slate, which
+     proved to be part of the covering of a stone tomb. It was much
+     like those scattered over the "river bottom"--more nicely
+     constructed, however, and fitted with more care, being arched
+     over the top, at an acute angle, with pieces of slate 3 inches
+     thick. Owing to its situation, raised above the level of the
+     river and covered with sand to the depth of 6 feet, its
+     contents were better preserved than those of the graves just
+     mentioned. At the head of it I took out a vessel of fine red
+     clay and pulverized mussel shells a foot in diameter,
+     gourd-shaped, and having a handle and spout 6 inches long, and
+     holding about a quart. It was preserved nearly whole.
+     Artificial fire had been kindled in the tomb, but it had been
+     smothered by the throwing in of sand before all the contents
+     were consumed. Besides some entire bones of the human skeleton,
+     flint arrow-heads and a large number of flint and stone beads
+     were removed. The beads could be traced along the lines of the
+     legs and arms, as if they had been attached to the garment in
+     which the dead was buried. Further excavations disclosed two
+     more of these stone sepulchers, the first 3 feet below the one
+     described, the other 2 feet from it, in the same plane. They
+     contained only fragments of bones, charcoal, and ashes.
+
+     The mound, which was conical in shape, must have been 15 feet
+     high and 50 feet in diameter. Successive floods had impaired
+     its original dimensions. The last carried away a section on the
+     west side, exposing a tomb and some valuable relics, which have
+     not been preserved. Among them were large shells, pyrulas,
+     probably, judging from the description, from the Gulf of
+     Mexico. In connection with marine shells, images in stone were
+     found in this tomb. The mound was composed of sand-loam taken
+     from the bank of the river, and raised upon a foundation of
+     water-washed rocks 4 feet high, from the bed of the stream hard
+     by. There had been extensive burnings throughout this mound, at
+     various depths, indicated by layers of charcoal, ashes, and
+     burned clay, simply in honor of the dead, or to consume their
+     effects or mortal parts, or for human sacrifices to their
+     manes.
+
+Speaking of stone graves in the immediate vicinity as explanatory of
+those in the mound, he says:
+
+     They are built of slabs of slate, nicely fitted together, about
+     3 inches thick, 4 feet long, and 2 broad, enclosing receptacles
+     not of uniform space, generally 5 feet long, 4 feet high, and 2
+     broad, covered with flat pieces, resting upon the upright slabs
+     and conforming to the rounded corners of the tomb.
+
+As one of the principal objects in view in exploring and studying the
+mounds of our country is to ascertain, if possible, by what people or
+tribes they were built, a brief discussion of the question so far as it
+relates to the district now under consideration will be in place. My
+reasons for touching upon the topic in this connection, and limiting the
+discussion to the antiquities of the one district, are as follows:
+
+First. The characteristics of the works of this section are so well
+marked as to leave little, if any, doubt on the mind of any one who will
+study them carefully that they are work of one people, probably of a
+single tribe.
+
+Second. Because in this instance I think the evidence points with at
+least reasonable certainty to the particular tribe by which they were
+erected.
+
+Third. Whether our second reason prove to be correct or not, we find
+data here which appear to form connecting links between the prehistoric
+and the historic times, and hence call for some discussion in regard to
+the authors.
+
+Fourth. The statement of the result of our explorations of these works
+(especially the burial mounds) will, as I conceive, be incomplete
+without some intimation of the bearing they have had on my own mind in
+reference to their authorship. This it is true will apply with equal
+force to the works of other districts. I have already briefly stated my
+conclusions in this respect regarding the antiquities of Wisconsin, but
+have refrained from entering at length upon the question as to the Ohio
+and West Virginia works, as I confess and have already intimated that
+these present more difficulties in the way of explanation than most of
+the other sections.
+
+It may be thought premature to speculate in this direction, and some of
+our ablest scientific journals appear to deprecate any such attempts
+until more data have been obtained and the materials already collected
+are more thoroughly digested. I admit that, as a very general and almost
+universal rule, such a course is the proper one in respect to scientific
+investigations, but must dissent from its application in this instance,
+for the following reasons:
+
+The thought that a mighty nation once occupied the great valley of the
+Mississippi, with its frontier settlements resting on the lake shores
+and Gulf coasts, nestling in the valleys of the Appalachian Range and
+skirting the broad plains of the West, a nation with its systems of
+government and religion, its chief ruler, its great central city, and
+all the necessary accompaniments, but which has disappeared before the
+inroads of savage hordes, leaving behind it no evidences of its
+existence, its glory, power, and extent save these silent forest-covered
+remains, has something so fascinating and attractive in it, that when
+once it has taken possession of the mind, it warps and biases all its
+conclusions.[42]
+
+So strong, in fact, is the hold which this theory (in the broad sense,
+including also the Toltec and Aztec theories) has taken of the minds of
+both American and European archæologists, that it not only biases their
+conclusions, but also molds and modifies their nomenclature, and is
+thrust into their speculations and even into their descriptions as
+though no longer a simple theory but a conceded fact. Hence it is
+necessary, before a fair and unbiased discussion of the data can be had,
+to call attention to the fact that there is another side to the
+question.
+
+Unless some protest is presented or some expression of opinion is made
+on this point in my paper, the facts I give will be viewed through the
+medium of this "lost race" theory. This I desire, if possible, to
+prevent, and whether the "Indian theory" proves to be correct or not, I
+wish to obtain for it at least a fair consideration. I believe the
+latter theory to be the correct one, as the facts so far ascertained
+appear to point in that direction, but I am not wedded to it; on the
+contrary, I am willing to follow the facts wherever they lead.
+
+Although additional data will hereafter be obtained and many new and
+important facts be brought to light, yet, as I believe, sufficient
+evidence has been collected (though much of it remains unpublished) to
+indicate what will be the final result so far as this general question
+is concerned.
+
+We see that already the theory that these remains scattered over the
+face of our country from Dakota to Florida and from New York to
+Louisiana were the work of one people, one great nation, is fast
+breaking down before the evidence that is being produced.
+
+The following quotation from the last report of the Peabody Museum,
+which is repeated in substance in Science, June 27, 1884, p. 775, will
+serve not only to indicate the conflict which is going on in the minds
+of some of our most active and progressive archæologists on this
+subject, but also to show the difficulty of finding applicable and
+well-defined terms, and of clearly stating the real question at issue:
+
+     The different periods to which the various mounds and burial
+     places belong can only be made out by such a series of
+     explorations as the museum is now conducting in the Little
+     Miami Valley, and when they are completed we shall be better
+     able to answer the question, "Who were the mound-builders?"
+     than we are now. That more than one of the several American
+     stocks or nations or groups of tribes built mounds seems to me
+     to be established. What their connections were is not yet by
+     any means made clear, and to say that they all must have been
+     one and the same people seems to be making a statement directly
+     contrary to the facts, which are yearly increasing as the spade
+     and pick in careful hands bring them to light. That many Indian
+     tribes built mounds and earthworks is beyond doubt, but that
+     all the mounds and earthworks of North America were made by
+     these same tribes or their immediate ancestors is not thereby
+     proved.
+
+     Mr. Carr, in his recent paper published by the Kentucky
+     Geological Survey, has taken up the historical side of the
+     question, but it must not be received for more than he
+     intended. He only shows from historical data what the spade and
+     pick have disclosed to the archæologist. It is simply one side
+     of the shield; the other is still waiting to be turned to the
+     light; and as history will not help us to read the reverse,
+     only patient and careful exploration will bring out its
+     meaning.[43]
+
+This, it is true, is but an incidental paragraph thrown into a report of
+the work of the museum, but I have selected it as the latest expression
+on this subject by one of our most active and practical American
+archæologists, and because it will furnish a basis for the remarks I
+desire to make on this subject.
+
+In order that the reader may clearly understand the particular points to
+which I shall call attention, I will introduce here a brief review of
+the leading opinions so far presented regarding the authorship of these
+ancient works.
+
+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.
+Barton, 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. William Bartram had come to the conclusion, from personal
+observation and from the statement of the Indians that "they knew
+nothing of their origin," that they belonged to the most distant
+antiquity.
+
+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 an
+attempt to sustain it,[44] but he afterwards abandoned this position
+and attributed these works to Indians.
+
+Captain 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 subordination of law and a
+well-governed police.[45]
+
+This is probably the first clear and distinct expression of a view which
+has subsequently obtained the assent of so many of the leading writers
+on American archæology.
+
+About the commencement of the nineteenth century two new and important
+characters appear on the stage of American archæology. These are Bishop
+Madison, of Virginia, and Rev. Thaddeus M. Harris, of Massachusetts.
+
+Dr. Haven, to whose work we are indebted for reference to several of the
+facts above stated, remarks:
+
+     These two gentlemen are among the first who, uniting
+     opportunities of personal observation to the advantages of
+     scientific culture, imparted to the public 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 numerous population, and consequently
+     better defined and more permanent habitations; the other
+     finding proofs of skill and refinement, to be explained, as
+     they believe, only on the supposition that a superior race, or
+     more probably a people of foreign and higher civilization, once
+     occupied the soil.[46]
+
+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 leaving this region
+moved south into Mexico.
+
+As we find the principal theories which are held at the present day on
+this subject substantially set forth in these authorities, it is
+unnecessary to follow up the history of the controversy except so far as
+is required to notice the various modifications of the two leading
+opinions.
+
+Those holding the opinion that the Indians were not the authors of these
+works, although agreeing as to 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, as we have seen, Dr. Harris may
+be considered the pioneer, holding that they were built by the Toltecs,
+who, as they supposed, occupied the Mississippi Valley previous to their
+appearance in the vale of Anahuac.
+
+Among the more recent advocates of this theory are Mr. John T. Short,
+author of "The North Americans of Antiquity;"[47] Dr. Dawson, in his
+"Fossil Man," who accepts the tradition respecting the Tallegwi, but
+identifies them with the Toltecs; Rev. J. P. MacLean, author of the
+"Mound Builders" and Dr. Joseph Jones, in his "Antiquities of
+Tennessee."
+
+Wilson, in his "Prehistoric Man,"[48] modifies this view somewhat,
+looking to the region south of Mexico for the original home of the
+Toltecs, 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, national, or ethnical relations. To
+this type belong a large portion of the recent authors of short articles
+and brief reports on American archæology, and quite a number of diligent
+workers in this field whose names are not before the world as authors.
+
+Baldwin believes that the mound-builders were Toltecs, but thinks they
+came originally from Mexico or farther south, and, occupying the Ohio
+Valley and the Gulf States, probably for centuries, were at the last
+driven southward by an influx of barbarous hordes from the more northern
+regions, and appeared again in Mexico.[49] Bradford, thirty years
+previous to this, had suggested Mexico as their original home.[50] Lewis
+H. Morgan, on the other hand, supposes that the authors of these remains
+came from the Pueblo tribes of New Mexico. Dr. Foster[51] agrees
+substantially with Baldwin. We might include in this class a number of
+extravagant hypotheses, such as those held by Haywood, Rafinesque, and
+others among the older, as well as by a few of the more recent authors.
+
+The opposite class, holding that the mound-builders were the ancestors
+of some one or more of the modern tribes of Indians, or of those found
+inhabiting the country at the time of its discovery, numbers
+comparatively few leading authorities among its advocates; in other
+words, the followers of Bishop Madison are far less numerous than the
+followers of Dr. Harris. The differences between the advocates of this
+view are of minor importance, and only appear when the investigation is
+carried one step further back and the attempt is made to designate the
+particular tribe, nation, people, or ethnic family to which they
+appertained.
+
+The traditions of the Delawares, as given by Heckewelder, in his
+"History of the Indian Nations," 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 Indian origin. 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 conclusions 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. McCulloch; 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, Schoolcraft, and Sir John Lubbock were also disposed to
+ascribe these ancient works to the Indians. But the most recent advocate
+of this view is Prof. Lucien Carr, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, who has
+presented, in a recent paper entitled "The Mounds of the Mississippi
+Valley historically considered" (contained in the Memoirs of the
+Kentucky Geological Survey), a very strong array of historical evidence
+going to show not only that the Indian tribes at the time of the
+discovery were capable of producing these works, but also that several
+of the tribes were in the habit of erecting mounds.
+
+But it is proper that we should mention an article by Dr. D. G. Brinton
+in the October number, 1881, of the American Antiquarian, bearing upon
+the same subject, in which considerable historical evidence tending to
+the same conclusion is given. These two papers may justly be considered
+the commencement of a rediscussion of this question, in which the
+Indians, after a long exclusion, will be readmitted as a possible factor
+in the problem.
+
+The reader will observe from the foregoing brief review that the
+opinions regarding the authors of the mounds--or, as Dr. Brinton
+expresses it, "the nationality of the mound-builders"--as heretofore
+given to the world, may be divided into two classes--those holding that
+the builders were "Indians," and those holding that they were not
+"Indians." But the paragraph we have quoted from the Report of the
+Peabody Museum introduces other considerations, which render it
+necessary not only to define the terms used but to restate the question
+at issue in a more exact and definite form.
+
+What mounds? What earth works? The authority quoted remarks, "That many
+Indian tribes built mounds and earthworks is beyond doubt, but that _all
+the mounds and earthworks of North America_ were made by _these same
+tribes_ or their immediate ancestors is not thereby proved."
+
+That the term "mound-builders" is as applicable to the people who
+constructed the mounds of Siberia, Japan, or elsewhere as those who
+built the tumuli of the Mississippi Valley must be admitted, but the
+term, when used in this country with reference to the mounds of this
+country, has, as is well known, been generally understood to include
+only those found in that part of the United States east of the Rocky
+Mountains unless otherwise stated; and Mr. Carr's paper, to which
+allusion is made in the next sentence of the quotation, is expressly
+limited to the "mounds of the Mississippi Valley." North America is
+therefore a broader field than is generally understood by those who
+enter upon the discussion, and I may add that "these same tribes,"
+unless with explicit definition, is a limitation claimed by no one.
+
+The term "Indian" is so indefinite and so variously applied that more or
+less uncertainty must ensue unless the writer discussing this question
+makes clear the sense in which he uses it. It was probably an
+appreciation of this fact that caused the author of the report referred
+to to make use of the terms "American stocks," "nations," and "groups of
+tribes." We can fully appreciate the difficulty he and all others
+writing upon this subject experience from the want of an adequate and
+definite nomenclature that is applicable. But his expansions in one
+direction and limitations in another, in the paragraph quoted, as it
+seems to me, have left the statement of the question in worse confusion
+than it was before.
+
+In what sense does he use the terms "Indians," "Indian tribes,"
+"American stocks," and "groups of tribes"? Are the cultured Central
+American and Mexican nations and the Pueblo tribes to be included or
+excluded? Professor Carr evidently proceeds upon the idea that they are
+to be excluded, and that the mounds and other ancient works of the
+Mississippi Valley are to be attributed to one or more of the American
+stocks found in possession of this region at the time of its discovery
+by Europeans.
+
+This I believe to be the correct view, except in this: Professor Carr
+fails to clear his work of the idea of one people, one stock, when the
+evidence is conclusive that the mound-builders were divided into tribes
+and stocks, as were the Indians when first encountered by the whites.
+Hence when I use the terms "Indians," "Indian tribes," and "American
+stocks" in this connection, they are to be understood as thus limited.
+
+I do not claim that this use of these terms is correct, but it is not my
+intention at present to discuss the question "What is the proper use of
+the indefinite term _Indian_?" My only object in referring to it and the
+other equivalent terms is to explain the sense in which I use them in
+this connection, because I can find no better ones.
+
+As thus limited the question for discussion maybe stated as follows:
+
+Were all the mounds and other ancient works found in that part of the
+United States east of the Rocky Mountains (except such as are manifestly
+the work of Europeans of post-Columbian times) built by the Indians
+found in possession of this region at the time of its discovery and
+their ancestors, or are they in part to be attributed to other more
+civilized races or peoples, as the Aztecs, Toltecs, Pueblo tribes, or
+some lost race of which we possess no historical mention? I say in part,
+as it has long been conceded, that some of these works are to be
+attributed to the Indians.
+
+If it can be shown that some of the mounds and other works of all the
+different types and classes found in the Mississippi Valley and Gulf
+States were built by Indians, or even that they were built by people in
+the same stage of culture and art and having the same customs and habits
+as the Indians of this region in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
+we shall be justified in concluding that the rest are the work of the
+same race and of the same tribes, or those, closely allied in habits,
+customs, art, and culture. That here and there a single mound-building
+tribe may have become extinct or absorbed into other tribes in
+pre-Columbian times, as has been the fate of some since the discovery of
+the continent, does not alter the case, unless it be claimed that such
+tribes belonged to different "American stocks" and had reached a higher
+degree of culture than those found in this part of the continent at the
+time of the arrival of the Europeans.
+
+No one believes that we will ever be able to ascertain the history of
+the construction of each mound and earthwork; the utmost to be hoped is
+that we may be able to determine with satisfactory certainty that such
+and such works were built by such and such tribes.
+
+But one step in the investigation is to reach the general conclusion as
+to whether all classes of these remains in the region designated may
+justly be attributed to the Indians, or whether there are some types
+which must be ascribed to a different race, to a people that had
+attained a higher position in the scale of civilization than the
+Indians. This it is possible to accomplish, without being able to
+determine conclusively what tribe erected any particular work.
+
+Nevertheless the conclusion will be strengthened by every proof that the
+works of certain sections are to be ascribed to certain tribes or
+stocks. It is for this reason that I propose to discuss somewhat briefly
+the question of the probable authorship of the works in the Appalachian
+district.
+
+
+
+
+THE CHEROKEES PROBABLY MOUND-BUILDERS.
+
+
+In 1876, Prof. Lucien Carr, assistant curator of the Peabody Museum,
+opened a mound in Lee County, Virginia, in which he made certain
+discoveries which, with the form of the mound and the historical data,
+led him to the conclusion that it was the work of the Cherokees.
+
+This monument, as he informs us, was a truncated oval, the level space
+on the top measuring 40 feet in length by 15 in width.
+
+     At the distance of 8 feet from the brow of the mound, on the
+     slope, there were found buried in the earth the decaying stumps
+     of a series of cedar posts, which I was informed by Mr. Ely
+     [the owner] at one time completely encircled it. He also told
+     me that at every plowing he struck more or less of these posts,
+     and, on digging for them, some six or seven were found at
+     different places, and in such order as showed that they had
+     been placed in the earth at regular intervals and according to
+     a definite plan. On the top, in the line of the greatest
+     diameter and near the center of the mound, another and a larger
+     post or column, also of cedar, was found.[52]
+
+Quoting Bartram's description (given below) of the council house of the
+Cherokees in the town of Cowe, he concludes, and I think correctly, that
+this mound was the site of a similar building.
+
+Bartram's description is as follows:[53]
+
+     The Council or Town House is a large rotunda, capable of
+     accommodating several hundred people. It stands on the top of
+     an ancient artificial mount of earth of about 20 feet
+     perpendicular and the rotunda on the top of it, being above 30
+     feet more, gives the whole fabric an elevation of about 60 feet
+     from the common 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 Cherokees themselves are as ignorant
+     as we are by what people or for what purpose these artificial
+     hills were raised. * * *
+
+     The rotunda is constructed after the following manner: They
+     first fix in the ground a circular range of posts or trunks of
+     trees, about 6 feet high, at equal distances, which are notched
+     at top to receive into them, from one to another, a range of
+     beams or wall plates. Within this is another circular order of
+     very large and strong pillars, above 12 feet high, notched in
+     like manner at top to receive another range of wall plates, and
+     within this is yet another or third range of stronger and
+     higher pillars, but fewer in number, and standing at a greater
+     distance from each other; and, lastly, in the center stands a
+     very strong pillar, which forms the pinnacle of the building,
+     and to which the rafters center at top; these rafters are
+     strengthened and bound together by cross-beams and laths, which
+     sustain the roof or covering, which is a layer of bark neatly
+     placed and tight enough to exclude the rain, and sometimes they
+     cast a thin superficies of earth over all.
+
+     There is but one large door, which serves at the same time to
+     admit light from without and the smoke to escape when a fire is
+     kindled; but as there is but a small fire kept, sufficient to
+     give light at night, and that fed with dry, small, sound wood,
+     divested of its bark, there is but little smoke; all around the
+     inside of the building, betwixt the second range of pillars and
+     the wall, is a range of cabins or sophas consisting of two or
+     three steps, one above or behind the other, in theatrical
+     order, where the assembly sit or lean down; these sophas are
+     covered with mats or carpets very curiously made with thin
+     splits of ash or oak woven or platted together; near the great
+     pillar in the center the fire is kindled for light, near which
+     the musicians seat themselves, and around about this the
+     performers exhibit their dances and other shows at public
+     festivals, which happen almost every night throughout the year.
+
+From indications, not necessary to be mentioned here, Professor Carr
+argues that the mound could not have been intended for burial purposes,
+but was evidently erected for the foundation of a building of some kind.
+
+In a subsequent paper,[54] "Mounds of the Mississippi Valley," he not
+only adheres to the theory advanced in the tenth report of the Peabody
+Museum, but gives additional reasons for believing it to be true.
+
+Although guided by very dim and feeble rays of light I am nevertheless
+inclined to believe that Professor Carr has succeeded in entering the
+pathway that is to lead to a correct solution of the problem in this
+case. As is apparent from what has been given in this paper regarding
+the burial mounds of this district, much additional data bearing on the
+point have been obtained since Professor Carr's explorations were made,
+on which he bases his conclusions.
+
+The Cherokee tribe has long been a puzzling factor to students of
+ethnology and North American languages. Whether to be considered an
+abnormal offshoot from one of the well-known Indian stocks or families
+of North America, or the remnant of some undetermined or almost extinct
+family which has merged into another, appear to be questions yet
+unsettled; but they are questions which do not trouble us in the present
+inquiry; on the contrary, their ethnic isolation and tribal
+characteristics are aids in the investigation.
+
+That the internal arrangement of the mounds, modes of burial, and
+vestiges of art of this district present sufficient peculiarities to
+distinguish them from the mounds, modes of burial, and vestiges of art
+of all the other districts, as I have already stated, will be conceded
+by any one who will carefully study them and make the comparison. If,
+therefore, it be admitted, as stated, that the Cherokees are a somewhat
+peculiar people, an abnormal tribe, we have in this a coincidence worthy
+of note, if strengthened by corroborating testimony.
+
+As the mounds and other remains to be referred to are located in the
+northwest part of North Carolina and the northern part of East
+Tennessee, the first point to be established is that the Cherokees did
+actually, at some time, occupy this region.
+
+In the first place, it is well known that they claimed all that portion
+of the country east of Clinch River to and including the northwest part
+of North Carolina, at least to the Yadkin, a claim which was conceded by
+the whites and acted on officially by State and national authority and
+denied by no Indian tribe.
+
+Haywood expressly states that[55]--
+
+     the Cherokees were firmly established on the Tennessee River or
+     Hogohega [the Holston] before the year 1650, and had dominion
+     over all the country on the east side of the Alleghany
+     Mountains, which includes the headwaters of the Yadkin,
+     Catawba, Broad River, and the headwaters of the Savannah--
+
+a statement borne out by the fact that, as late as 1756, when the
+English built Fort Dobbs on the Yadkin, not far from Salisbury, they
+first obtained the privilege of doing so by treaty with Attacullaculla,
+the Cherokee chief.[56]
+
+Haywood asserts,[57] upon what authority is not known, that--
+
+     before the year 1690 the Cherokees, who were once settled on
+     the Appomattox River, in the neighborhood of Monticello, left
+     their former abodes and came to the west. The Powhatans are
+     said by their descendants to have been once a part of this
+     nation. The probability is that migration took place about, or
+     soon after, the year 1632, when the Virginians suddenly and
+     unexpectedly fell upon the Indians, killing all they could
+     find, cutting up and destroying their crops, and causing great
+     numbers to perish by famine. They came to New River and made a
+     temporary settlement, and also on the head of the Holston.
+
+That they formerly had settlements on New River (Upper Kanawha) and on
+the Holston is, as I believe, true, but that they came from the vicinity
+of Monticello and the Appomattox River, were connected with the
+Powhatans, or first appeared in Tennessee in 1632, cannot be believed.
+First, because Jefferson makes no mention of their occupancy of this
+part of Virginia; on the contrary, he locates them in the "western part
+of North Carolina." Secondly, because John Lederer, who visited this
+region in 1669-'70, speaking of the Indians of the "Apalatean
+Mountains," doubtless the Cherokees, as he was at that time somewhere in
+western North Carolina, says: "The Indians of these parts are none of
+those which the English removed from Virginia; these were far more rude
+and barbarous, feeding only upon raw flesh and fish, until these taught
+them to sow corn and showed them the use of it."[58] Thirdly, because
+it is evident that they were located in substantially the same territory
+when De Soto passed through the northern part of Georgia, as it is now
+admitted that the "Chelaques" or "Achalaques" mentioned by the
+chroniclers of his ill-starred expedition were the Cherokees. That they
+extended their territory a considerable distance farther southward after
+the time of the Adelantado's visit can be easily demonstrated, but it is
+unnecessary for me to present the proof of this assertion at this time,
+as I presume it will be admitted.
+
+Their traditions in regard to their migrations are uncertain and
+somewhat conflicting, still there are a few items to be gleaned from
+them, which, I think, may be relied upon as pointing in the proper
+direction. The first is, the positive statement that they formerly had a
+settlement, or were settled on or near the Nolichucky; the second is,
+that they were driven from some more northern section by their enemies;
+and third, their constant and persistent claim that, of right, the
+country about the headwaters of the Holston and eastward into North
+Carolina belonged to them.
+
+From all the light, therefore, that I can obtain on this subject, I am
+satisfied the Cherokees had at some time in the past moved southward
+from a more northern location than that which they were found occupying
+when first encountered by the whites. This corresponds with one of their
+traditions given by Haywood, that they formerly dwelt on the Ohio and
+built the mounds there. That they did at one time actually occupy the
+section in which the mounds we allude to are situated cannot be doubted.
+
+Turning now to the mounds of East Tennessee and North Carolina, to which
+allusion has been made, let us see what testimony they furnish on the
+point now under discussion.
+
+The particular works to which we refer are those located in Caldwell
+County, North Carolina, and Sullivan County, East Tennessee,
+descriptions of which have been given.
+
+Although we cannot say positively that no other tribe occupied this
+particular section between 1540 and 1690, still the evidence and
+indications leading to that conclusion are so strong as to justify us in
+assuming it. We find their frontiers on the borders of Georgia in 1540;
+we can trace back their settlements on the Hiawassee to a period
+preceding 1652. We have evidence that the settlements on the Little
+Tennessee were still older, and that even these were made subsequent to
+those on the Nolichucky. We have their own tradition, as given by
+Lederer, that they migrated to this region about the close of the
+thirteenth century from a more northern section; and, finally, their
+uniform and persistent statement, from the time first encountered by
+Europeans, that when they came to this region they found it uninhabited,
+with the exception of a Creek settlement on the lower Hiawassee. This
+clearly indicates a movement southward, a fact of much importance in the
+study of this somewhat abnormal tribe.
+
+If, therefore, we can show that these mounds, or any of the typical
+ones, were constructed since the discovery of America, we have good
+reason to believe that they are to be attributed to the Cherokees,
+notwithstanding their statement to Bartram that they did not build the
+one at Cowe.
+
+At the bottom of one of the largest mounds found in this region, the T.
+F. Nelson triangle heretofore described, and by the side of the skeleton
+of the principal personage interred in it, as shown by the arrangement
+of the bodies of those buried with him, and by the ornaments and
+implements found with him, were discovered three pieces of iron. That
+one of the pieces, at least, is part of an implement of European
+manufacture, I think no one who examines it will doubt (see Fig. 31). It
+appears to be part of a sword blade or the blade of a large knife.
+Another of the pieces is apparently a large awl or punch, a part of the
+deer-horn handle yet remaining attached to it. A chemical examination
+made by Professor Clarke, chemist of the United States Geological
+Survey, shows that these were not made of meteoric iron.
+
+That these cannot be attributed to an intrusive burial is evident from
+the following facts: _First_, they were found at the very bottom of the
+pit, which had been dug before depositing the bodies; _second_, they
+were found with engraved shells, celts, and other relics of this
+character; and _third_, they were deposited with the principal personage
+who had been buried in the mound.
+
+In the same mound and under the same circumstances some large copper
+beads or cylinders were also found. A careful examination of these
+specimens shows, as I think very clearly, that the copper plate of which
+they were made was not manufactured by any means at the command of the
+Indians or the more civilized races of Mexico or Central America, as it
+is as smooth and even as any rolled copper; moreover, the beads appear
+to have been cut into the proper shape by some metallic instrument. If
+this supposition be correct (and I believe an inspection of the
+specimens will satisfy any one that it is), it certainly indicates
+contact with civilized people. If so, then we have positive proof that
+this mound was made subsequent to the discovery of America by Columbus
+and in all probability after the date of De Soto's expedition in 1540.
+
+As I have shown that the Cherokees alone inhabited this particular
+section from the time of De Soto's expedition until it was settled by
+the whites, it follows that if the mound was built subsequent to that
+date it must have been by the Cherokees. The nearest neighbors of this
+tribe on the east, at the time the whites came in contact with them,
+were the Tuscaroras. We learn from John Lederer, who visited them in
+1670, on his return from the Cherokee country, that they were in the
+habit of "decking themselves very fine with pieces of bright copper in
+their hair and ears and about their neck, which, upon festival
+occasions, they use as an extraordinary bravery."[59] While it is well
+known that these two tribes were brought into contact with each other
+through being constantly at war, until the latter removed to the north
+and joined the Five Nations, it is more likely that these articles of
+European workmanship were obtained chiefly from the Spaniards, who, as
+is now known, worked the gold mines in northern Georgia at an early
+date. We learn from Barcia's "Ensayo Cronologico"[60] that Tristan de
+Luna, who, in 1559, went in search of the mines of "Coza" (the name by
+which the region of northern Georgia was then known), succeeded in
+reaching the region sought, and even heard, while there, of the negro
+Robles, who was left behind by De Soto. When John Lederer reached the
+borders of Georgia the Spaniards were then at work at these mines, which
+fact, as he informs us, checked his further advance, as he feared he
+might be made a captive by them. As further and conclusive evidence of
+this, we have only to state that the remains of their cabins in the
+vicinity of the mines were found in 1834 with trees from 2 to 3 feet in
+diameter growing over them. The old shafts were discovered in which they
+worked, as also some of the machinery they used.[61] Be this supposition
+correct or not, if the articles we have mentioned were of European
+workmanship, or if the material was obtained of civilized people, we
+must take for granted, until evidence to the contrary is produced, that
+the mound in which they were found was built after the commencement of
+the sixteenth century, hence by Indians, and in all probability by the
+Cherokees.
+
+Our next argument is the discovery in the ancient works of this region
+of evidences that the habits and customs of the builders were similar to
+those of the Cherokees and some of the immediately surrounding tribes.
+
+I have already alluded to the evidence found in the mound opened by
+Professor Carr, that it had once supported a building similar to the
+council house observed by Bartram on a mound at the old Cherokee town,
+Cowe. Both were on mounds, both were circular, both were built on posts
+set in the ground at equal distances from each other, and each had a
+central pillar.
+
+As confirming this statement of Bartram, we are informed in Ramsey's
+Annals of Tennessee[62] that when Colonel Christian marched against the
+Cherokee towns, in 1776, he found in the center of each "a circular
+tower rudely built and covered with dirt, 30 feet in diameter, and about
+20 feet high. This tower was used as a council house and as a place for
+celebrating the green-corn dance and other national ceremonials."
+Lawson, who traveled through North Carolina in 1700, says:[63] "They
+[the Indians] oftentimes make of this shell [alluding to a certain large
+sea shell] a sort of gorge, which they wear about their neck in a
+string, so it hangs on their collar, whereon is sometimes engraven a
+cross or some odd sort of figure which comes next in their fancy."
+Beverly, speaking of the Indians of Virginia, says:[64] "Of this shell
+they also make round tablets of about 4 inches in 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."
+
+Now it so happens that, in the same mound in which the iron specimens
+before alluded to were found, and in other mounds in the same section,
+the Bureau assistants discovered shell ornaments precisely of the
+character described by these old writers. Some of them were smooth and
+without any devices engraved on them, but with holes for inserting the
+strings by which they were to be held in position; others were engraved
+with figures which would readily be taken for stars and half-moons, and
+one among the number had a cross engraved on it. The testimony in this
+case that these relics were the work of the Indians found in possession
+of the country at the time of the discovery is, therefore, too strong to
+be put aside by mere conjectures or inferences. If the work of the
+Indians, then they must have been used by the Cherokees and buried with
+their dead. The engraved figures are strangely uniform, indicating some
+common origin, but the attempt to trace this is foreign to our present
+purpose. In these mounds were found a large number of nicely carved
+soapstone pipes, usually with the stem made in connection with the bowl,
+though some were without this addition, consisting only of the bowl,
+with a hole for the insertion of a cane or wooden stem.
+
+By turning to Adair's "History of the North American Indians,"[65] we
+find the following statement:
+
+     They [the Indians] make beautiful stone pipes, and the
+     Cherokees 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 desired form with
+     their knives, the pipes being of a very soft quality till they
+     are smoked with and used with the fire, when they become quite
+     hard. They are often a full span long, and the bowls are about
+     half as long 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.
+
+Not only were pipes made of soapstone found in these mounds, but two or
+three were obtained precisely of the form mentioned by Adair, with the
+fore part running out in front of the bowl; and another of the same form
+has been found in a mound on the Kanawha, which is at least suggestive.
+Jones says:[66]
+
+     It has been more than hinted by at least one person whose
+     statement is entitled to every belief, that among the Cherokees
+     dwelling in the mountains there existed certain artists whose
+     professed occupation was the manufacture of stone pipes, which
+     were by them transported to the coast and there bartered away
+     for articles of use and ornament foreign to and highly esteemed
+     among the members of their own tribe.
+
+This not only strengthens our conclusion, drawn from the presence of
+such pipes in the mounds alluded to, but may also assist in explaining
+the presence of the copper ornaments in them. The writer last quoted
+says:[67]
+
+     Copper implements are rarely found in Georgia. The present [a
+     copper ax] is the finest specimen which, after no mean search,
+     has rewarded our investigations. Native copper exists in
+     portions of Cherokee Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and
+     Alabama, but it is generally found in combination with sulphur
+     and not in malleable form. We are not aware of any locality
+     among those enumerated whence the Indians could have secured
+     that metal either in quantity or purity sufficient to have
+     enabled them to manufacture this implement.
+
+Adair says:[68]
+
+     From the time we supplied them with our European ornaments they
+     have used brass and silver ear-rings and finger-rings; the
+     young warriors now frequently fasten bell-buttons or pieces of
+     tinkling brass to their moccasins.
+
+From these facts I am inclined to believe that most of the copper used
+by them was obtained directly or indirectly from the whites, and hence
+subsequent to the discovery of America. But should this supposition be
+erroneous, the fact still remains that the Cherokees were in the habit
+of using just such ornaments as we find in these mounds.
+
+As showing that the Europeans began to trade copper to the Indians at a
+very early day, I call attention to a statement made by Beverly in his
+"History of Virginia."[69] Speaking of a settlement made at Powhatan,
+six miles below the falls of James River, in 1609, he says it was
+"bought of Powhatan for a certain quantity of copper."
+
+By reference to Smith's History and the narratives of the early
+explorers we find that the amount of sheet copper traded to the Indians
+and taken by them from wrecks was quite large.
+
+But we are not yet through with the items under this class of
+testimony.
+
+Haywood, in his "Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee,"[70] says:
+
+     Mr. Brown, a Scotchman, came into the Cherokee Nation, in the
+     year 1761 and settled on the Hiawassee River or near it. He saw
+     on the Hiawassee and Tennessee the remains of old forts, about
+     which were axes, guns, hoes, and other metallic utensils. The
+     Indians at that time told him that the French had formerly been
+     there and built these forts.
+
+I am fully aware that this author indulges in some extravagant
+speculations; still, so far as I have tested his original statements I
+have generally found them correct. During the year 1883 one of the
+assistants of the Bureau was sent to this particular region, which is
+too limited to allow the question of locality to be raised. An overflow
+and a change in the channel of the river brought to light the remains of
+old habitations and numerous relics of the people who formerly dwelt
+there. Moreover, this was in the precise locality where tradition
+located a Cherokee town. Digging was resorted to in order to complete
+what the water had begun.
+
+Now let me mention some of the things obtained here:
+
+Ten discoidal stones, precisely like those from the mounds of Caldwell
+County, North Carolina.
+
+Nine strings of glass beads.
+
+A large number of shell beads exactly like those from the mounds.
+
+A number of flint arrow-points.
+
+One soapstone pipe.
+
+Some pieces of smooth sheet-copper.
+
+Three conical copper ear-pendants.
+
+Three buttons of modern type.
+
+One small brass gouge.
+
+Fragments of iron articles belonging to a bridle.
+
+One bronze sleigh-bell.
+
+One stone awl or drill.
+
+Fragment of a soapstone pot.
+
+One soapstone gorget.
+
+Several polished stone celts of the same pattern as those found in the
+North Carolina mounds.
+
+Grooved stone axes.
+
+A piece of sheet lead.
+
+This admixture of articles of civilized and savage life confirms the
+statement made by Haywood, at least so far as regards the early presence
+of white people in this section. It follows from what has been presented
+that the Indians must have been Cherokees, and the fact that the
+implements and ornaments of aboriginal manufacture found here are
+throughout precisely like those found in the mounds before mentioned
+affords a very strong proof that they were built by the Cherokees.
+
+It is worthy of notice that close by the side of this washout stands a
+mound. Permission to open it has not yet been obtained.
+
+Returning to our mounds, we note that a large number of stones,
+evidently used for cracking nuts, were found in and about them; some
+charred acorns, or nuts of some kind, were also found in them. We have
+only to refer to Adair and other early writers to see how well the
+indications agree with the customs of the Cherokees.
+
+According to the Cherokee tradition, they found a settlement of Creeks
+on the Lower Hiawassee, when they reached that region, and drove them
+away. Ramsay expresses the opinion in his Annals of Tennessee, on what
+authority is not known, that this was a Uchee settlement. Hence the
+southern boundary of their possessions, at this early date, which must
+have been before the time of De Soto's expedition, was about the present
+northern boundary of Georgia. That their borders, at the time of De
+Soto's march, extended into northeastern Georgia is proved by the
+chroniclers of his expedition, but that they did not reach as far south
+as Bartow County can be shown from one somewhat singular circumstance,
+which, at the same time, will furnish strong reasons for believing that
+the authors of the works immediately south of this boundary could not
+have built the mounds we have been considering.
+
+It will be admitted, I presume, by every one, that the people over whom
+the famous cacique of Cutifachiqui reigned could not have been
+Cherokees; yet her territory included Xuala, probably in Nacoochee
+valley, and extended westward well toward Guaxule on the headwaters of
+the Coosa, but that the latter was not within the territory of her tribe
+is expressly stated by Garcilasso de la Vega. I think it may be safely
+assumed that her people were Creeks; and, if so, that the people of
+Guaxule, who, as we judge from the chroniclers of De Soto's expedition,
+were mound-builders, belonged to another distinct tribe.
+
+Garcilasso, who is our authority in reference to the first point now to
+be considered, says:
+
+     La casa estava en un cerro alto, como de otras semejantes hemos
+     dicho. Tenia toda ella al derredor un paseadero que podian
+     pasearse por el seis hombres juntos.[71] The house was on a
+     high hill (mound) similar to others we have already mentioned.
+     It had all round about it a roadway on which six men could walk
+     abreast.
+
+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. 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 noted the
+passage. The word "alto" (high), in the mouth of the explorers,
+indicates something more elevated than the ordinary mounds. The roadway
+or passageway (paseadero) "round about it" is peculiar, and is the only
+mention of the kind by either of the three chroniclers. How is it to be
+explained?
+
+As Garcilasso wrote from information and not from personal observation
+he often failed to catch from his informants a correct notion of the
+things described to him; this is frequently apparent in his work where
+there is no reason to attribute it to his vivid imagination. In this
+case it is clear he understood there was a terrace running entirely
+around the mound, or possibly a roadway around the top outside of a
+rampart or stockade.
+
+But as neither conclusion could have been correct, as no such terrace
+has been found in any part of this region, and a walk around the summit
+would have thwarted the very design they had in view in building the
+mound, what was it Garcilasso's informants saw? C. C. Jones says "a
+terrace," but it is scarcely possible that any terrace at the end or
+side of a southern mound, forming an apron-like extension (which is the
+only form found there), could have been so described as to convey the
+idea of a roadway, as the mode of estimating the width shows clearly was
+intended.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 39.--Large mound of Etowah group, Bartow County,
+Georgia.]
+
+The broad way winding around and up the side of the Etowah mound (Fig.
+39) appears to answer the description better than any other in Georgia.
+It is a large mound, high, and one that would doubtless attract the
+attention of the Spanish soldiers; its dimensions indicate that the
+tribe by which it was built was strong in numbers and might easily send
+forth five hundred warriors to greet the Spaniards. The locality is also
+within the limits of De Soto's route as given by the best authorities;
+and lastly, there is no other mound within the possible limits of his
+route which will in any respect answer the description. As Garcillasso
+must have learned of this mound from his informants, and has described
+it according to the impression conveyed to his mind, we are justified in
+accepting it as a statement of fact. I am, therefore, satisfied that the
+work alluded to is none other than the Etowah mound near Cartersville,
+Georgia, and that here we can point to the spot where the unfortunate
+Adelantado rested his weary limbs and where the embassadors of the noted
+cacique of Cutifachiqui delivered their final message.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 40.--Vertical section, small mound, same group.]
+
+Recently the smallest of the three large mounds of this group was opened
+and carefully explored by Mr. Rogan, one of the Bureau assistants. As
+the result will be of much interest to archæologists aside from the
+question now under discussion, although belonging to the southern type
+of burial mounds not discussed in this paper, I will venture to give a
+description of its construction and contents as a means of comparison
+and as also bearing somewhat on the immediate question under discussion.
+This mound is the one marked _c_ in Jones's plate;[72] also _c_ in
+Colonel Whittlesey's figure 2.[73] A vertical section of it is given
+in Fig. 40. The measurements, as ascertained by Mr. Rogan, are as
+follows: Average diameter at the base, 120 feet; diameter of the level
+top, 60 feet; height above the original surface of the ground, 16 feet.
+The form is more nearly that of a truncated cone than represented in the
+figures alluded to.
+
+The construction was found, by very thorough excavation, to be as
+follows: the entire surrounding slope (No. 4, Fig. 40) was of hard,
+tough red clay, which could not have been obtained nearer than half a
+mile; the cylindrical core, 60 feet in diameter 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, of hard, beaten (or
+tramped) clay, so tough and hard that it was difficult to penetrate it
+even with a pick; and the uppermost (No. 3) of sand and surface soil
+between 1 and 2 feet thick. A trench was dug from opposite sides to the
+central core; and when the arrangement was ascertained, this central
+portion was carefully explored to the original surface of the ground.
+
+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. 41, which is
+a plan of this lower bed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 41.--Plan of burials in small mound.]
+
+According to Mr. Rogan's field-notes, the form and contents of these
+graves and the mode of burial in them were as follows:
+
+Grave _a_, Fig. 41.--A stone sepulcher, 2-1/2 feet wide, 8 feet long,
+and 2 feet deep, 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 was resting on a thin copper plate, ornamented with
+stamped 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, probably of split cane. The skin and
+matting were both so rotten that they could be secured only in
+fragments. 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 mussel and sea shells; and immediately under the feet two
+conch-shells (_Busycon perversum_), partially filled with small shell
+beads. Around each ankle was a strand 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, 4-1/4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1-1/2
+feet deep, differing 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_.--A stone sepulcher, 3-1/2 feet long, 1-1/2 feet wide, and
+1-1/2 deep; the bottom being formed of burnt earth. Although extending
+east and west, as shown in the figure, the bones had probably been
+interred without regard to order and disconnected, the head being found
+in the northeast corner with face to the wall and the remaining portion
+of the skeleton in a promiscuous heap. Yet there was no indication of
+disturbance after burial as the coffin was intact. Between some of the
+bones was found a thin plate of copper that had been formed by uniting
+and riveting together smaller sections. Some of the bones found in this
+grave were saved.
+
+Grave _d_.--A small sepulcher, 1-1/2 feet square by 1 foot deep,
+contained the remains of an infant, also a few small shell beads. The
+slabs forming the sides and bottom of this grave bore very distinct
+marks of fire.
+
+Grave _e_.--Simply a headstone and footstone, with the skeleton of a
+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.
+
+Grave _f_.--Stone sepulcher, 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 1-1/2 feet
+deep, with stone in the bottom; skeleton with the head north. There was
+a lot of copper about the head, which, together with the skeleton, was
+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, 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.
+
+Immediately under _b_ was another stone grave or coffin, 3 feet long,
+1-1/2 feet wide, and as 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.
+
+At _g_ the remains of a child were found without any stones about them.
+Some shell beads were around the neck and wrists and an engraved shell
+on the breast.
+
+Grave _h_.--A stone sepulcher, 1-1/2 feet square and 1 foot deep, stone
+slabs on the four sides and top; the bottom consisted simply of earth
+hardened by fire. This contained only a trace of bones and presented
+indications 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.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 42.--Copper plate from Etowah mound, Georgia.]
+
+Grave _i_.--A stone sepulcher, 4-1/2 feet long, 1-1/2 feet wide, and as
+deep, the bottom earth; contained 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, five inches square,
+with a hole through the center. Around the wrists were beads, and about
+the neck rather more than a quart of the same.
+
+At _j_ were the remains of a small child, without stone surroundings;
+under the head was a piece of copper, and about the neck and wrists were
+shell beads.
+
+These graves were not all on the same level; the top of some being but
+two feet below the clay bed (No. 2), while others were from two to three
+feet lower.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 43.--Copper plate from Etowah mound, Georgia.]
+
+All the articles obtained in this mound were forwarded at once to the
+Bureau of Ethnology and are now in the National Museum. Examining them
+somewhat carefully since their reception, I find there are really more
+copper plates among them than Mr. Rogan supposed, the number and
+description being as follows:
+
+1. A human figure with wings, represented in Fig. 42. This is 13 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 to the head ornament is also wanting.
+
+2. Also a human figure, shown in Fig. 43. Length, 16 inches; width,
+7-1/2 inches.
+
+3. Figure of a bird; this is imperfect, as part of the head and the
+outer margin of the wings are wanting. Length, 13-1/2 inches; width
+7-1/2 inches. This plate shows indubitable 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 margin and running irregularly half-way across
+the body has been mended by placing a strip of copper along it on the
+under side 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 is
+neatly done.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 44.--Copper badge, from Etowah mound, Georgia.]
+
+4. An ornament or badge of some kind, shown in Fig. 44. 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 are placed at various
+points along the under side for the purpose of inserting a slip of bone,
+a part of which yet remains in it, and is seen in the figure at the
+break immediately below the point where the oblique strips meet. This
+specimen presents, as I believe, indubitable evidence that the workmen
+who formed it made use of metallic 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, 7-1/2 inches.
+
+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 of Fig. 43.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 45.--Copper badge, from Etowah mound, Georgia.]
+
+6. An ornament or badge, shown in Fig. 45, which Mr. Rogan, when he
+found it under the head of the skeleton in grave _a_, was inclined to
+consider a crown. It is imperfect, 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 3-1/2 inches.
+The six holes at the larger end, in which the remains of strings can be
+detected, indicate that when in use it was attached to some portion of
+the dress or fastened on a staff.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 46.--Engraved shell from Etowah mound, Georgia.]
+
+7. A fragment from the larger end of a piece similar to the preceding.
+Attached to this is a piece of cloth.
+
+In addition to the foregoing, there are a number of small fragments
+probably broken from these plates, but, so far, I have been unable to
+fit them to their proper places.
+
+These plates and the ones mentioned below are very thin, and as even and
+smooth (except as interrupted by the figures) as tin plate. The figures
+are all stamped, the lines and indentations being very sharp and
+regular.
+
+An examination of what Mr. Rogan calls a skin shows beyond question that
+it is animal matter. The matting he speaks of appears to be made of
+split canes.
+
+The shell represented in Fig. 46 is the one obtained in grave _g_. The
+one shown in Fig. 47 is that found in grave _f_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 47.--Engraved shell from Etowah mound, Georgia.]
+
+I shall at present simply call attention to one or two facts which
+appear to bear upon the age and distribution of these singular
+specimens of art.
+
+First. We notice the fact alluded to by Mr. Holmes,[74] which is
+apparent to every one who inspects his accurately drawn figures, that in
+all their leading features the designs themselves 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 Figs. 42 and 43, where the wings are
+represented as _rising from the back of the shoulders_, a fact alluded
+to by Mr. Holmes.[75] 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 partially carried
+out in our copper plate, as we see by the bird-bill over the head, the
+eye being that of the bird and not of the man. But when we come to the
+wings we at once see that the artist had in mind the _angel figure_,
+with wings arising from the _back of the shoulders_, an idea wholly
+foreign to Mexican art. It is further worthy of note in regard to these
+two plates that there is a combination of Central American and Mexican
+designs: the graceful limbs, and the ornaments of the arms, legs, waist,
+and top of the head are Central American, and the rest, with the
+exception possibly of what is carried in the right hand, are Mexican.
+
+That these plates are not the work of the Indians found inhabiting the
+southern sections of the United States, or of their direct ancestors, I
+freely concede. That they were not made by an aboriginal artisan of
+Central America or Mexico of ante-Columbian times, I think is evident,
+if not from the designs themselves, certainly from the indisputable
+evidence that the work was done with hard metallic tools.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 48.--Copper plate from Illinois mound.]
+
+Second. Plates like those of this collection have only been found, so
+far as I can ascertain, in northern Georgia and northern and southern
+Illinois. The bird figure represented in Fig. 48 was obtained by Major
+Powell, the director of the United States Geological Survey, from a
+mound near Peoria, Illinois. Another was obtained in Jackson County,
+Illinois, by Mr. Thing, from an ordinary stone grave. From another
+similar grave, at the same place, he also obtained the plate represented
+in Fig. 49. Fragments of a similar plate were obtained by Mr. Earle from
+a stone grave in a mound in Alexander County, Illinois. All these
+specimens were received by the Bureau of Ethnology and deposited in the
+National Museum.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 49.--Copper plate from Indian grave, Illinois.]
+
+The box-form stone cists and the figures on the copper plates and
+engraved shells differ so widely from the stone vaults and vestiges of
+art found in the North Carolina and East Tennessee mounds as to forbid
+the belief that the works of the two regions were constructed by one and
+the same people. The stone cists and to some extent the construction of
+the mound appear to connect the authors with the mound-builders and
+authors of the stone graves of the Cumberland Valley and Southern
+Illinois, and several other facts, which we cannot now stop to present,
+seem to strengthen this suggestion.
+
+The presence of these stone cists in this mound of northern Georgia,
+when coupled with the fact that similar stone graves are found in
+Habersham County, indicate a Shawnee or closely allied element where we
+should expect to find only Creeks or some branch of the Chahta-Muscogee
+family. This is a puzzle by no means easy of solution, but one which the
+scope of our paper does not require us to discuss. Still, we may add,
+that if our conclusions in regard to this group be correct, we must
+believe that the large mound was built before De Soto reached that
+region while the one explored was built afterwards. Some facts brought
+to light by the recent discovery of a cemetery within the area inclosed
+by the ditch, which I have for some years believed would be found, and
+for which I caused search to be made, appear to sustain these
+conclusions, and to indicate that two different peoples have occupied
+this site and have had a hand in constructing or adding to these works.
+
+Whatever may be our conclusion in reference to these questions, I think
+it will be conceded that the builders of these Etowah mounds belonged to
+different tribes from those who erected the East Tennessee and North
+Carolina works, and hence, if we are right in regard to the latter, the
+Etowah mounds were not built by the Cherokees. The important bearing
+which this conclusion has upon the question under discussion, as the
+reader will see, is that the mounds immediately outside of the territory
+occupied by the Cherokees were built by a different people from those
+who erected the works in that territory. Thus we see that, judging by
+the mounds alone, immediately upon passing outside the Cherokee country
+we encounter a different type of works. This fact, therefore, when taken
+in connection with the other evidence adduced, becomes strongly
+corroborative of the view that the Cherokees were the authors of the
+works in their territory.
+
+
+
+
+CONCLUDING REMARKS.
+
+
+The results of our examination of the burial mounds of the northern
+districts may be briefly summed up as follows:
+
+First. That different sections were occupied by different mound-building
+tribes, which, though belonging to much the same stage in the scale of
+civilization, differed in most instances in habits and customs to a
+sufficient extent to mark, by their modes of burial, construction of
+their mounds, and their works of art, the boundaries of the respective
+areas occupied.
+
+Second. That each tribe adopted several different modes of burial
+depending, in all probability, to some extent upon the social condition,
+position, and occupation of the deceased.
+
+Third. That the custom of removing the flesh before the final burial
+prevailed very extensively among the mound-builders of the northern
+sections. The bones of the common people being often gathered together
+and cast in promiscuous heaps, over which mounds were built.
+
+Fourth. That usually some kind of religious or superstitious ceremony
+was performed at the burial, in which fire played a prominent part.
+That, notwithstanding the very common belief to the contrary, there is
+no evidence whatever that human sacrifice was practiced.
+
+Fifth. That there is nothing found in the mode of constructing these
+mounds, nor in the vestiges of art they contain, to indicate that their
+builders had reached a higher culture-status than that attained by some
+of the Indian tribes found occupying the country at the time of the
+first arrival of Europeans.
+
+Sixth. That the custom of erecting mounds over the dead continued to be
+practiced in several localities in post-Columbian times.
+
+Seventh. That the character and condition of the ancient monuments, and
+the relative uniformity in the culture status of the different tribes
+shown by the works and the remains of art found in them, indicate that
+the mound-building age could not have continued in this part of the
+continent longer than a thousand years, and hence that its commencement
+probably does not antedate the fifth or sixth century.
+
+Nothing has been found connected with them to sustain or justify the
+opinion, so frequently advanced, of their great antiquity. The
+calculations based upon the supposed age of trees found growing on some
+of them is fast giving way before recent investigations made in regard
+to the growth of forests, as it has been ascertained that the rings of
+trees are not a sure indication of age.
+
+Quatrefages may not be correct in fixing the date of the appearance of
+the "Red skins" in the "basin of the Missouri" in the eighth or ninth
+century,[76] but nothing has been found in connection with the
+ancient works of this country, supposing the Indians to have been their
+authors, to prove that he has greatly erred in his calculation. Other
+races or peoples may have preceded the mound-builders in this region,
+but better proof of this is required than that based on the differences
+between the supposed palæolithic and neolithic implements of New Jersey
+and other sections, as every type discovered can be duplicated a hundred
+times in the surface finds from different parts of the country.
+
+Eighth. That all the mounds which have been examined and carefully
+studied are to be attributed to the indigenous tribes found inhabiting
+this region and their ancestors.
+
+
+
+
+SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE.[77]
+
+BURIAL CEREMONIES OF THE HURONS.[78]
+
+
+Our savages are not savages as regards the duties which nature herself
+requires us to render to the dead. They do not yield in this respect to
+several nations much more civilized. You would say that all their labor
+and efforts were for scarcely anything but to amass means of honoring
+the dead. They have nothing too valuable for this purpose; they devote
+to this use the robes, the hatchets, and the shell beads in such
+quantities, that you would think to see them, on these occasions, that
+they were considered of no great value, and yet they are all the riches
+of the country; you may often see them in midwinter almost entirely
+naked, while they have good and fine robes in their chests, which they
+are keeping in reserve for the dead; this is, indeed, their point of
+honor. It is on this occasion especially that they wish to appear
+magnificent. But I speak here only of their peculiar funerals.
+
+These good people are not like many Christians, who cannot suffer death
+to be spoken of, and who, in a mortal sickness, hesitate to break the
+news to the sick one for fear of hastening his death. Here, when the
+recovery of any one is despaired of, not only do they not hesitate to
+tell him that his end is near, but they even prepare in his presence all
+that is necessary for the burial; they often show him the shroud, the
+hose, the shoes, and the girdle which he is to wear; frequently they are
+enshrouded, after their custom, before they have expired, and they hold
+a feast of farewell to their friends, during which they sing, sometimes
+without showing any apprehension of death, which they regard very
+indifferently, considering it only as a change to a life very little
+different from this. As soon as the dying man has drawn his last breath,
+they arrange the body in the same position that is to be preserved in
+the tomb; they do not lay it out horizontally, as is our custom, but
+crouched, like a ball (en peloton), "quasi en la mesme posture que les
+enfants sont an ventre de la mere." Until this time they restrain their
+mourning. After having performed these duties, all in the cabin begin to
+utter sighs, groans, and lamentations; the children cry _Aistan_, if it
+is their father, and the mother _Aien, Aien_, "My son, my son." No one
+seeing them thus weeping and mourning would think that they were only
+ceremonial lamentations; they blend their voices all in one accord and
+in a lugubrious tone, until some one in authority calls for peace; at
+once they cease and the captain hastens to announce through all the
+cabins that such a one is dead. Upon the arrival of the friends they
+resume their mourning. Frequently some one of more importance will begin
+to speak and will console the mother and the children, now extolling the
+deceased, praising his patience, his kindness, his liberality, his
+magnificence, and, if he was a warrior, his great courage; now saying,
+"What do you wish? there is no longer any remedy; it was necessary for
+him to die; we are all subject to death;" and then, "He lingered a very
+long time," &c. It is true that on this occasion they do not lack for
+conversation; I am sometimes surprised to see them discourse a long time
+on this subject, and bring up, with much discretion, all considerations
+that may afford any consolation to the friends of the deceased.
+
+Notice is also given of this death to the friends who live in other
+villages, and as each family employs another who has the care of their
+dead, they come as soon as possible to give orders about everything and
+to fix the day of the funeral. They usually inter the dead on the third
+day; in the morning the captain gives an order that kettles shall be
+boiled for the deceased throughout the village. No one spares his best
+efforts. They do this, in my opinion, for three reasons: First, to
+console each other, for they exchange dishes among themselves, and
+scarcely any one eats out of the kettle that he has prepared; secondly,
+on account of the arrival of those of other villages, who often come in
+large numbers, lastly and principally, to gratify the soul of the
+deceased, who, they think, takes pleasure in eating his share. All the
+kettles being emptied, or at least distributed, the captain informs all
+the village that the body is to be carried to the cemetery. All the
+people assemble in the cabin; the mourning is renewed, and those who
+have charge of the funeral prepare a litter upon which the body is
+placed, laid upon a mat and wrapped in a robe of beaver skin; they then
+raise it and carry it by the four corners. All the people follow in
+silence to the cemetery.
+
+There is in the cemetery a tomb made of bark and raised on four stakes
+of from 8 to 10 feet in height. While the body is placed in this, and
+the bark is trimmed, the captain makes known the presents that have been
+given by the friends. In this country, as well as in others, the most
+agreeable consolations for the loss of relations are always accompanied
+by presents, which consist of kettles, hatchets, beaver skins, and
+necklaces of shell beads. If the deceased was of some importance in the
+country, not only the friends and neighbors but even the captains of
+other villages will come in person to bring their presents. Now, all
+these presents do not follow the body into the tomb; a necklace of beads
+is sometimes placed on its neck and near it a comb, a gourd-full of oil,
+and two or three small loaves of bread; that is all. A large part of
+them goes to the relatives to dry their tears; the rest is given to
+those who have had charge of the funeral, to pay them for their trouble.
+They also keep in reserve some robes or hatchets to make presents
+(largesse) to the young men. The captain places in the hand of one of
+them a stick about a foot long, offering a prize to any one who will
+take it from him. They throw themselves headlong upon him and remain
+engaged in the contest sometimes for an hour. After this each one
+returns peaceably to his cabin.
+
+I forgot to say that generally throughout the ceremony the mother or
+wife stands at the foot of the sepulcher, calling the deceased, singing,
+or rather lamenting, in mournful tones.
+
+These ceremonies are not always all observed; those who die in war they
+place in the ground, and the relatives make presents to their patrons,
+if they have any, which is generally the case in this country, to
+encourage them to raise soldiers and avenge the death of the warrior.
+Those who are drowned are also buried, after the most fleshy parts of
+the body have been taken away in pieces, as I have explained more
+particularly in speaking of their superstitions. The presents are
+doubled on this occasion, and all the people of the country are often
+there, contributing from their store; all this, they say, is to appease
+the Heaven or the Lake.
+
+There are even special ceremonies for small children deceased under one
+or two months; they are not placed as others, in sepulchers of bark
+raised on stakes, but buried in the road, in order, they say, "que
+quelque femme passant par là, ils entrent secrètement en son ventre, et
+que derechef elle leur donne la vie et les enfante." I doubt that the
+good Nicodemus would have found much difficulty there, although he
+doubted only for old men, "_Quomodo potest homo nasci cum sit senex._"
+
+This beautiful ceremony took place this winter in the person of one of
+our little Christians, who had been named Joseph in baptism. I learned
+it on this occasion from the lips of the father of the child himself.
+
+When the funeral is over the mourning does not cease: the wife continues
+it all the year for her husband, the husband for the wife; but the grand
+mourning itself lasts only ten days. During this time they remain lying
+on their mats wrapped in their robes, with their faces against the
+earth, without speaking or replying to anything, save _C[uo]ay_, to
+those who come to visit them. They do not warm themselves in winter or
+eat warm things; they do not go to the feasts nor go out, save at night,
+for what they need; they cut a lock of hair from the back of the head
+and declare that it is not without deep sorrow, especially when the
+husband performs this ceremony on the death of his wife, or the wife on
+the death of her husband. Such is the great mourning.
+
+The lesser mourning lasts all the year. When they wish to visit any one,
+they do not salute them nor say _C[uo]ay_, neither do they grease their
+hair. The women do this, however, when commanded to do so by their
+mothers, who have at their disposal their hair, and even their persons.
+It is also their privilege to send their daughters to the feasts,
+without which several will not go. What I think strange is that during
+the whole year neither the wife nor the husband marries again, else they
+would cause themselves to be talked about in the country.
+
+The sepulchers are not perpetual, as their villages are only permanent
+for some years, as long as the wood lasts. The bodies remain in the
+cemeteries only until the feast of the dead, which usually takes place
+every twelve years. During this time they do not neglect to honor the
+dead often. From time to time kettles are boiled for their souls
+throughout the village, as on the day of the funeral, and their names
+are revived as often as possible. For this purpose presents are given to
+the captains to be given to him who will consent to take the name of the
+deceased; and if the latter was of consideration and had been esteemed
+in the country during his life, he who represents him, after giving a
+grand feast to all the people of the country, to introduce himself under
+this name, raises a body of free young men and goes to war to accomplish
+some brave feat which will show to the nation that he has not only
+inherited the name but also the bravery and courage of the deceased.
+
+
+THE SOLEMN FEAST OF THE DEAD.
+
+The feast of the dead is the most celebrated ceremony that takes place
+among the Hurons. They give it the name of festival for the reason, as I
+should say now, that when the bodies are taken from the cemeteries each
+captain makes a "feast to the souls" in his village. The most important
+and magnificent is that of the master of the feast, who is for this
+reason called, par excellence, the "Maistre du Festin."
+
+This feast is full of ceremonies, but the chief one is evidently that of
+"boiling the kettle." This outdoes all the others, and the festival of
+the dead is spoken of, even in the most serious councils, only under the
+name Chaudiere (the kettle). They appropriate to it all the terms of
+cookery, so that when they speak of hastening or retarding the feast
+they say "rake out" or "stir up the fire under the kettle;" and when any
+one says "the kettle is overturned," that means there will be no feast.
+
+There is generally only one festival in each nation. All the bodies are
+placed in the same grave. I say generally, for this year when the fête
+des Morts took place the kettle-boiling was divided and five villages at
+this point where we are stationed made a separate band and placed their
+dead in a separate grave. He who had been captain of the preceding
+feast, and who is like the chief at this point, made the excuse that his
+kettle and his feast had been spoiled and that he was obliged to make
+another. But, in fact, this was only a pretext. The real reason of this
+separation is that the great heads of the village have complained for a
+long time that the others took everything to themselves, that they did
+not share as they wished the knowledge of the affairs of the country,
+and that they were not called to the most secret and important councils
+and to the division of the presents.
+
+This separation has been followed by distrust on both sides. God grant
+that it cause no hindrance to the spreading of the sacred Gospel. But I
+must touch briefly upon the order and the events of the feast.
+
+The twelve years or more having expired, the old people and great men of
+the nation assemble to decide upon the time when the feast shall be
+held, so as to satisfy all the people of the country and the outside
+nations who are to be invited.
+
+When the decision is made, as all the bodies are to be transported to
+the village where the common grave is made, each family takes charge of
+its dead with a care and affection that cannot be described. If they
+have relatives buried in any part of the country whatever they spare no
+trouble to go and bring them. They take them from the cemeteries, carry
+them on their own shoulders, and cover them with the finest robes they
+have in their possession. In each village a good day is chosen, and they
+repair to the cemetery, where those called _Aiheonde_, who have had the
+care of the sepulcher, take the bodies from the tomb in the presence of
+the relatives, who renew their tears and repeat the mourning of the day
+of the funeral.
+
+I was present at this ceremony, and willingly invited all our servants,
+for I do not think that there can be seen in this world a livelier image
+or more perfect representation of the condition of man.
+
+It is true that in France our cemeteries speak forcibly, and that all
+these bones heaped upon one another without distinction, the poor with
+the rich or the small with the great, are so many voices continually
+reminding us of death, the vanity of worldly things, and the
+insignificance of this present life. But it seems to me that the custom
+of our savages on this occasion shows us still more sensibly our
+wretchedness, for after the graves are opened all the bodies are laid
+out on the ground and left thus uncovered for some time, giving the
+spectators an opportunity for once to see what will be their condition
+some day. Some of the bodies are entirely devoid of flesh and have only
+a dry skin on the bones; others appear as if they had been smoked and
+dried and show scarcely any signs of decay. Others still are covered
+with worms.
+
+The friends, being satisfied with this sight, cover them with handsome
+robes of beaver-skin, entirely new. Finally, after a while, they strip
+off the flesh and the skin, which they throw into the fire, together
+with the robes and mats in which the bodies have been buried. The
+complete bodies of those newly buried are left in the same condition and
+the friends content themselves with simply covering them with new robes.
+They touched only one old man, of whom I have spoken heretofore, who
+died this autumn on the return from fishing. This large body had only
+begun to decay a month ago, at the time of the first heat of spring; the
+worms were swarming all over it, and the pus which came from it caused
+an odor almost intolerable; nevertheless they had the courage to take
+the body from the robe in which it was enveloped, cleansed it as much as
+possible, took it up carefully and placed it in a new mat and robe, and
+all this was accomplished without exposing any of this corruption. Is
+here not a good example to animate the hearts of Christians, who should
+have more noble ideas to deeds of charity and works of pity towards
+their brethren? After this who will look with horror upon the misery of
+a hospital? And who will not feel a peculiar pleasure in serving a sick
+man covered with wounds, in whose person he serves the Son of God?
+
+As they were stripping the bodies they found in two of them a species of
+charm. The one that I saw with my own eyes was a turtle's egg with a
+leather strap (courroye); the other, which was examined by our fathers,
+was a small turtle the size of a nut. This leads to the belief that
+there were sorcerers in our village, on account of which some resolved
+to leave it as soon as possible. Indeed, two or three days after one of
+the richest men, fearing that some misfortune would befall him,
+transported his cabin two miles from us to the village of Arontaen.
+
+Now, when these bones are well cleaned, part of them are placed in
+sacks, part in blankets, and they carry them on their shoulders,
+covering these bundles with other beautiful hanging robes. Entire bodies
+are put on a sort of litter and carried with all the others, each one
+taking his bundle into his cabin, where every family makes a feast to
+its dead.
+
+Returning from this festival with a captain, who has considerable
+intelligence and who will be some day of high standing in the affairs of
+the country, I asked him why they called the bones of the dead
+_Atisken_. He explained as clearly as he could, and I learned from what
+he said that many believe that we have two souls, both divisible and
+material and yet both rational; one leaves the body at death, but
+remains, however, in the cemetery until the feast of the dead, after
+which it either is changed into a turtle-dove, or according to the more
+general belief, it goes immediately to the village of souls.
+
+The other soul is attached to the body; it marks the corpse, as it were,
+and remains in the grave after the feast, never to leave it, "si ce
+n'est que quelqu'un l'enfante de rechef." He mentioned to me, as a proof
+of this metempsychosis, the perfect resemblance which some persons bear
+to others who are deceased. Here is a grand philosophy. This is why they
+call the bones of the dead _Atisken_, "the souls."
+
+A day or two before departing for the feast they carried all these
+bodies into one of the largest cabins of the village, where some of them
+were attached to the poles of the cabin, and others laid around it, and
+the captain entertained and made a grand feast in the name of the
+deceased captain, whose name he bore. I was present at this "feast of
+spirits," and observed four things in particular: First, that the
+offerings which were given for the feast by the friends, and which
+consisted of robes, necklaces of shell beads, and kettles, were hung on
+poles extending the whole length of the cabin from one side to the
+other. Second, the captain sang the song of the dead captain, according
+to the desire he had expressed before his death, that it should be sung
+on this occasion. Third, all the guests had the privilege of dividing
+among themselves all the good things they had brought, and even of
+carrying them home, contrary to the custom at ordinary feasts. Lastly,
+at the close of the feast, as a compliment to him who had entertained
+them, they imitated as they sang the cry of the spirits, and left the
+cabin crying _haéé haé_.
+
+The master of the feast, and even _Anenkhiondic_, captain-general of all
+the country, sent to invite us several times with much solicitation. You
+would have thought that the feast could not be a success without us. I
+sent two of our fathers several days beforehand to see the preparations
+and to learn exactly the day of the feast. _Anenkhiondic_ received them
+very kindly, and on their departure conducted them himself a quarter of
+a league from there to where the grave was dug, and showed them with
+much display of emotion all the arrangements, &c., of the feast.
+
+This feast was to have taken place on the Saturday of Pentecost, but
+some affairs which came up unexpectedly, and the uncertainty of the
+weather, caused it to be put off until Monday.
+
+The seven or eight days before the feast were passed in collecting the
+bodies (les âmes) as well as assembling the strangers who were invited;
+meanwhile from morning till night gifts were distributed by the living
+to the young men in honor of the dead. On one side women were drawing
+the bow to see who should have the prize, which was sometimes a girdle
+of porcupine quills or a necklace of beads; on the other hand, in
+several parts of the village the young men were drawing clubs upon any
+who would try to capture them. The prize of this victory was a hatchet,
+some knives, or even a beaver robe. Every day the remains were arriving.
+There is some pleasure in seeing these funeral processions which number
+sometimes from two to three hundred persons. Each one carries the
+remains of his friends, that is the bones, packed upon his back after
+the manner that I have described, under a beautiful robe. Some arranged
+their packets in the shape of a man, decorated with strings of beads,
+with a fine crown of red hair. On leaving their village the whole
+company cried _haéé haé_ and repeated this "cry of the spirits" all
+along the way. This cry, they say, comforts them greatly, otherwise
+their burdens, although souls, would weigh very heavily and cause a
+weakness of the side (costé) for the rest of their lives. They travel by
+short stages; the people of our village were three days in going four
+leagues and in reaching _Ossossané_, which we call Rochelle, where all
+the ceremonies were to be held. As soon as they arrive near any village
+they shout again the haéé haé. The whole village comes out to meet them;
+many presents are again distributed on this occasion. Each one repairs
+to some one of the cabins; all find a place to put their bundles; this
+is done without confusion. At the same time the captains hold a council
+to decide upon the time that the company shall spend in this village.
+All the bodies of the dead of eight or nine villages were taken to
+Rochelle on Saturday of Pentecost; but the fear of bad weather obliged
+them, as I have said, to postpone the ceremony till Monday. We were
+lodged a quarter of a league from there, at the old village, in a cabin
+where there were at least a hundred skeletons hung up to the poles, some
+of which smelled stronger than musk.
+
+Monday at midday, word was sent that they were ready and that the
+ceremony would begin. The bundles of skeletons were at once taken down
+and the friends unfolded the wrappings to say their last farewells.
+Their tears flowed anew. I admired the tenderness of one woman towards
+the remains of her father and children. She is the daughter of a captain
+who died at a great age and who formerly occupied a high position in the
+country. She combed his hair; she touched the bones one after another
+with as much affection as if she would have given them life; she placed
+near him his _Atsatonesai_, that is, his packet of rods (bûchettes) of
+the council, which are all the books and papers of the country. As for
+her children, she put upon their arms bracelets of shells and glass
+beads and bathed their bones with her tears. She could hardly be
+separated from them, but they were in haste, and it was necessary to
+start at once. The one who carried the body of this old captain walked
+at the head, the men following and then the women. They marched in this
+order until they arrived at the grave.
+
+The following is the arrangement of this place: There was a space about
+as large as the Place Royale at Paris. In the center was a large grave
+about 10 feet (pieds) deep and 5 fathoms (brasses) in diameter, round it
+a scaffolding and a sort of stage nicely made, from 9 to 10 fathoms
+(brasses) in diameter and 9 or 10 feet high; above the stage there were
+several poles raised and well arranged, and others laid across them on
+which to hang all the bundles of skeletons. The entire bodies, as these
+were to be placed at the bottom of the grave, were laid under the
+scaffolding the day before, resting on bark, or mats raised on stones to
+the height of a man around the grave. The whole company arrived with the
+bodies about an hour after midday, and divided into parties according to
+the families and villages, and laid their bundles upon the ground,
+almost as the pots of earth were made at the village fairs; they also
+unfolded their robes and all the offerings they had brought and hung
+them upon the poles which extended for from 500 to 600 fathoms (toises);
+there were nearly twelve hundred gifts which remained thus on exhibition
+for two whole hours, to give strangers an opportunity to see the riches
+and magnificence of the country. I did not find the company as great as
+I had expected; there were not more than two thousand persons. About 3
+o'clock each one fastened up his bundles and folded his robes. Meanwhile
+each captain, in order, gave a signal, and all immediately took up their
+bundles of bones, ran as if at the assault of a city, mounted upon this
+stage by means of ladders which were placed all around, and hung them
+(the bundles) to the poles; each village had its department. This done,
+all the ladders were taken away. Some of the captains remained upon the
+platform and spent the rest of the afternoon, until 7 o'clock, in
+announcing the lists of presents which were given in the name of the
+deceased to some particular persons. For instance, they would say, here
+is what such a one, deceased, gives to a certain relative.
+
+About 5 or 6 o'clock they lined (pauerent) the bottom of the grave and
+bordered it with large new robes, the skins of ten beavers, in such a
+way that these extend more than a foot out of it. As they were preparing
+the robes which were to be used for this purpose, some of them descended
+into the grave, and came from it with their hands full of sand. I
+inquired what this ceremony meant, and learned that they believed that
+this sand will render them happy at their games (au ieu).
+
+Of the twelve hundred offerings that had been exhibited on the platform,
+forty-eight robes were to line and trim the grave, and each complete
+body had, besides the robe in which it was wrapped, another one, and
+some even two others, to cover it. This is all: so that I do not think
+[? but] that each body had one to itself, taking one with another, which
+is the least that it could have for its burial; for these robes of
+beaver skin are what the clothes and shrouds are in France. But what
+becomes then of the rest? We will see presently.
+
+At 7 o'clock the bodies were lowered into the grave. We had great
+difficulty in approaching it. Nothing ever pictured better to me the
+confusion among the damned. You could see unloaded on all sides bodies
+half decayed, and everywhere was heard a terrible uproar of confused
+voices of persons who were speaking without hearing one another; ten or
+twelve men were in the grave and were arranging the bodies all around
+it, one after the other. They placed, exactly in the center, three large
+kettles, which were of no use save for the spirits; one was pierced with
+holes, another had no handle, and the third was worth little more. I saw
+a few necklaces of shell beads there; it is true, many of them were put
+on the body. This was all that was done on this day.
+
+The whole company passed the night on the spot, having lit a great many
+fires and boiled kettles. We retired to the old village with the
+intention of returning the next day at daylight when they were to cast
+the bones into the grave; but we barely arrived in time, notwithstanding
+all the diligence we employed, on account of an accident which happened.
+One of the skeletons, which was not well fastened, or perhaps was too
+heavy for the cord which held it, fell of itself into the grave. The
+noise it made awoke the whole troupe, who ran and immediately mounted,
+in a crowd, to the platform and emptied, without order, all the bundles
+into the grave, reserving, however, the robes in which they had been
+wrapped. We were just leaving the village at that time, but the noise
+was so great that it seemed almost as though we were there. Approaching
+we saw suddenly an image of the infernal regions. This great space was
+filled with fire and smoke and the air resounded on all sides with the
+mingled voices of the savages. This noise, nevertheless, ceased for a
+while, and was changed to singing, but in a tone so doleful and weird
+that it represented to us the terrible sadness and the depth of despair
+in which condemned souls are forever plunged.
+
+Nearly all the bones had been cast in when we arrived, for it was done
+almost in a moment, each one being in haste for fear that there was not
+room for all these skeletons; nevertheless we saw enough of it to judge
+of the rest. There were five or six men in the grave, with poles, to
+arrange the bones. It was filled up within 2 feet of the top with bones,
+after which they turned over upon them the robes that bordered the grave
+all around, and covered the whole with mats and bark. The pit was then
+filled up with sand, rods, and stakes of wood which were thrown in
+promiscuously. Some of the women brought dishes of corn, and on the same
+day and the following days several cabins of the village furnished
+basketfuls of it, which were cast into the pit.
+
+We have fifteen or twenty Christians buried with these infidels. We say
+a _De profundis_ for their souls, with the firm hope that if the Divine
+goodness does not cease His blessings on His people this feast will be
+made no more, or will be only for Christians, and will be celebrated
+with rites as holy as these are foolish and useless. They also begin to
+be a burden upon the people for the excess and superfluous expenses that
+are caused by them.
+
+All the morning was spent in distributing gifts (largesses), and most of
+the robes that had been wrapped around the bodies were cut in pieces and
+thrown from the top of the platform into the midst of the crowd for
+whoever could seize them first. There was great sport when two or three
+contested the possession of one beaver skin. In order to settle it
+peaceably it was necessary to cut it into so many pieces, and thus they
+came out nearly empty-handed, for these tatters were hardly worth the
+picking up. I admired here the industry of one savage. He did not hurry
+himself to run after these flying pieces; but, as there is nothing so
+valuable this year in the country as tobacco (petun), he held some
+pieces of it in his hand, which he presented at once to those who were
+disputing over the skin, and thus acquired it for himself.
+
+Before leaving the place we learned that, on the evening when presents
+had been given to the foreign nations, on the part of the master of the
+feast, we also had been named; and, in fact, as we were going,
+_Anenkhiondic_ came and presented a new robe composed of ten beaver
+skins, in return for the necklace which I had given them in the midst of
+the council to show them the heavenly way. They were so much obliged for
+this present that they wished to show some acknowledgment of it in so
+good an assembly. I would not accept it, however, saying to him that, as
+we had made them this present only to persuade them to embrace our
+faith, they could not oblige us more than in listening to us willingly
+and believing in Him who rules over all. He asked what I desired that he
+should do with the robe. I replied that he could dispose of it in
+whatever way he deemed best, with which he remained perfectly satisfied.
+Of the rest of the twelve hundred presents forty-eight robes were used
+to adorn the grave. Each body wore its robe and some of them two or
+three. Twenty were given to the master of the feast, to reward the
+nations who had assisted at it. A number were distributed on the part of
+the dead, through the captains, to their living friends. A part of them
+were only used for show, and were returned to those who had exhibited
+them. The old people (anciens), and great leaders of the country, who
+had the administration and management of it, privately took a great
+deal, and the rest were cut in pieces, as I have said, and scattered
+through the assembly. However, it was only the rich who lost nothing, or
+very little, at this feast. The mendicants and poor people brought and
+left there all they possessed of any value, and suffered much by
+striving to appear as well as others in this celebration. Every one
+stood upon this point of honor.
+
+Indeed, it was only by a chance that we were not also participants of
+the feast. During this winter the Captain Aenons, of whom I have spoken
+before, came to make us a proposal on the part of all the anciens of the
+country. At that time the boiling of the kettle (chaudiere) was not yet
+divided. They proposed to us then that we should consent to exhume the
+remains of the two Frenchmen who had died in this country, to wit,
+Guillaume Chaudron and Estienne Bruslé, who was killed four years ago,
+and that their bones might be placed in the common grave of their dead.
+We replied at first that this could not be done; that it was forbidden;
+that as they had been baptized, and were, as we hoped, in heaven, we
+respected their bones too highly to allow them to be mixed with the
+bones of those who had not been baptized. Besides, it was not our custom
+to exhume the bodies of those who had been buried.
+
+We decided, however, after all, that as they were interred in the wood
+and since the people desired it so much, we would consent to take up
+their bones on the condition that they allowed us to put them in a
+particular grave, with the bones of all that we had baptized in the
+country.
+
+Four reasons especially persuaded us to give them this final answer.
+First, as it is the greatest expression of friendship and good-will
+that can be shown in this country, we yielded to them readily in this
+point that which they wished, and thus showed that we desired to love
+them as brothers and to live and die with them. Second, we hoped that
+God would be glorified in it, especially, in that separating by consent
+of all the nation the bodies of the Christians from those of the
+unbelievers, it would not be difficult afterwards to obtain special
+permission that their Christians should be interred in a separate
+cemetery, which we would bless for that purpose. Third, we claimed to
+bury them with all the rites of the Church. Fourth, the old men, of
+their own accord, desired us to raise there a beautiful and magnificent
+cross, as they showed us afterwards more particularly. Thus the cross
+would have been established by the authority of the whole country and
+honored in the midst of this heathenism, and they would have been
+careful not to impute to it afterwards, as they have done in the past,
+all the misfortunes that befell them.
+
+This captain thought our proposition very reasonable and the old men
+(anciens) of the country remained very well contented with it. Some time
+after, the chaudiere was divided, and, as I have said, five villages of
+our part of the country resolved to hold their feast apart.
+
+In the spring a general assembly of all the principal men was held, to
+consult about the feast and to endeavor to prevent this schism and
+reunite the cooking of the kettle. These dissatisfied ones were there
+and I also was invited. They made me the same proposition as before. I
+replied that we were very well satisfied, provided that this was done
+under the conditions that we had demanded. I was reminded of the
+division, and they asked me, since there were two feasts (chaudieres),
+that is, two graves, on which side I desired to have our special grave.
+To this I answered, in order to offend no one, that I would leave it to
+their judgment; that they were just and wise and they could decide
+between themselves. The master of the feast of Rochelle said, thereupon,
+with condescension, that he did not claim anything and that he was
+willing that the other, who is the chief at this place, should have on
+his side the remains of our two Frenchmen. The latter replied that he
+laid no claim to the one that had been buried at Rochelle, but that as
+for the body of Estienne Bruslé it belonged to him, as it was he that
+had engaged with him and led him into this country. So here the bodies
+were separated, one on one side, the other on the other side. At this
+some one said privately that indeed he (the chief) had the right to
+demand the body of Estienne Bruslé, and that it was reasonable that he
+should render some honor to his bones, since they had killed him. This
+could not be said so discreetly but that the captain had a hint of it;
+he concealed his feelings, however, at the time. After the council, as
+we had already gone, he raised this reproach and began to talk with the
+captain of Rochelle, and finally gave over entirely the body of Bruslé,
+in order not to embitter and make bloody this sore, of which the people
+of this point have not yet cleared themselves. This caused us to
+resolve, that we might keep in favor with those of Rochelle, not to
+meddle with either the one or the other.
+
+Truly there is reason to admire the secret judgments of God, for this
+infamous man certainly did not merit that honor; and to tell the truth
+we had hesitated much in resolving to make on this occasion a particular
+cemetery, and to transport to holy ground a body that had led so wicked
+a life in the country and given the savages such a wrong impression of
+the manners of the French. At first some thought hard of it that we
+should have this opinion and were offended, alleging that this being so
+they could not boast as they hoped among strange nations of being
+related to the French, otherwise it would be said to them that they did
+not have much appearance of it, since we had not wished to put the bones
+of our people with theirs. Afterwards, however, having heard all our
+reasons, they decided that we had acted prudently and that it was the
+best means of maintaining our friendship with each other.
+
+Shall I finish for the present with this funeral? Yes; since it is a
+mark sufficiently clear of the hope of a future life which nature seems
+to furnish us in the minds of these people, as a good means of making
+them understand the promises of Jesus Christ. Is there not reason to
+hope that they will do this, and that as soon as possible? Certainly I
+dare to assert that with this prospect we have reason to fortify our
+courage and to say of our Hurons what St. Paul wrote to the
+Philippians: "_Confidens hoc ipsum, quia qui c[oe]pit in vobis opus
+bonum, perficiet usque in diem Christi Iesu._" These poor people open
+their ears to what we tell them of the kingdom of heaven; they think it
+very reasonable, and do not dare to contradict it. They are learning the
+judgments of God in the other life; they are beginning to have recourse
+with us to His goodness in their necessities, and our Lord seems to
+favor them sometimes with some particular assistance. They procure
+baptism for those who they think are about to die; they give us their
+children to be instructed, even permitting them to come three hundred
+leagues for this purpose, notwithstanding the tender affection they have
+for them; they promise to follow them one day and show us that they
+would not give us such precious pledges if they did not desire to keep
+faith with us. You would say that they were waiting only to see some one
+among them to be the first to take this bold step and dare to go
+contrary to the custom of the country. They are, finally, a people who
+have a permanent home (demeure arrestée), are judicious, capable of
+reason, and well multiplied.
+
+I made mention, the past year, of twelve nations entirely sedentary and
+harmonious, who understand the language of our Hurons; and the Hurons
+make in, twenty villages, about 30,000 souls; if the rest is in
+proportion, there are more than 300,000 who speak only the Huron
+language. God gives us influence among them; they esteem us, and we are
+in such favor with them, that we know not whom to listen to, so much
+does each one aspire to have us. In truth we would be very ungrateful
+for the goodness of God if we should lose courage in the midst of all
+this, and did not wait for Him to bring forth the fruit in his own time.
+
+It is true that I have some little apprehension for the time when it
+will be necessary to speak to them in a new way of their manners and to
+teach them "à clouër leur chairs" and restrain themselves in the honesty
+of marriage, breaking off their excesses for fear of the judgment of God
+upon their vices. Then it will be a question of telling them openly,
+"_Quoniam qui talia agunt regnum Dei non possidebunt._" I fear that they
+will prove stubborn, when we speak to them of assuming Jesus Christ,
+wearing his colors, and distinguishing themselves in the quality of
+Christians from what they have been formerly, by a virtue of which they
+scarcely know the name; when we cry unto them with the Apostle: "For
+this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain
+from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his
+vessel in sanctification and honor: not in the passion of lust, like the
+gentiles that know not God." There is, I repeat, reason to fear that
+they may be frightened with the subject of purity and chastity, and that
+they will be disheartened with the doctrine of the Son of God, saying
+with those of Capernaum, on another subject, "_Durus est hic sermo et
+quis potest eum audire?_" Nevertheless, since with the grace of God we
+have already persuaded them, by the open profession we have made of this
+virtue, neither to do or say in our presence anything which may be
+averse to it--even to threaten strangers when they forget themselves
+before us, warning them that the French and especially the "black
+robes," detest these intimacies--is it not credible that if the Holy
+Spirit touches them once, it will so impress upon them henceforth, in
+every place and at all times, the reverence which they should give to
+His divine presence and immensity, that they will be glad to be chaste
+in order to be Christians, and will desire earnestly to be Christians in
+order to be chaste? I believe that it is for this very purpose that our
+Lord has inspired us to put them under the charge of St. Joseph. This
+great saint, who was formerly given for a husband to the glorious
+Virgin, to conceal from the world and the devil a virginity which God
+honored with His incarnation, has so much influence over the "Sainte
+Dame," in whose hands His Son has placed, as in deposit, all the graces
+which co-operate with this celestial virtue, that there is almost
+nothing to fear in the contrary vice, for those who are devoted to Him,
+as we desire our Hurons to be, as well as ourselves. It is for this
+purpose, and for the entire conversion of all these peoples, that we
+commend ourselves heartily to the prayers of all those who love or wish
+to love God and especially of all our fathers and brothers.
+
+    Your very humble and obedient servant in our Lord,
+                                                  JEAN DE BREBEUF.
+
+From the residence of St. Joseph, among the Hurons, at the village
+called Ihonatiria, this 16th of July, 1636.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES
+
+
+[1] Ancient Monuments, p. 161.
+
+[2] It is somewhat strange that Rev. J. P. MacLean, who has long resided
+in Ohio and has studied the mounds and other works of the southern
+portion of that State with much care, should follow almost word for word
+this and the next statement of Squier and Davis (Mound-Builders, p. 50)
+and adopt them as his own, without modification or protest, when in the
+appendix containing his exceedingly valuable notes on the "Archæology of
+Butler County" nearly all the facts given bearing on these points show
+them to be incorrect.
+
+[3] Ancient Monuments, p. 161.
+
+[4] Antiquities of Wisconsin, p. 9.
+
+[5] Smithsonian Report 1879, p. 337.
+
+[6] Smithsonian Report 1879, p. 343.
+
+[7] Antiquities of Wisconsin, p. 28.
+
+[8] Pioneer Life.
+
+[9] Potherie, Histoire de l'Amérique Septentrionale, II, p. 43.
+
+[10] History of Indian Tribes of the United States, Part III, p. 193.
+
+[11] As Dr. Yarrow has described the burial customs of the North
+American Indians in the first Annual Report of the Bureau, I will omit
+further quotations and refer the reader to his paper.
+
+[12] Antiquities of Wisconsin, p. 89.
+
+[13] Pp. 90-92.
+
+[14] Proceedings of the Davenport Academy of Sciences, Vol. I, pp.
+118-122.
+
+[15] I wish it distinctly understood, that I do not by the use of this
+term, commit myself to the theory that these mounds or any others
+contain altars in the true sense of the term, as I very much doubt it.
+
+[16] Brevis Narratio, Plate XXX. Admiranda Narratio, Plate XIX
+
+[17] M[oe]urs des Sauvages, II, p. 4.
+
+[18] See "Early Notices of the Indians of Ohio" by M. F. Force, pp.
+18-20.
+
+[19] According to Drake, "Indians of North America," he died October 3,
+1838.
+
+[20] Ancient Monuments, p. 162.
+
+[21] Brevis Narratio, Tab. XI.
+
+[22] American Antiquarian, October, 1881, p. 14.
+
+[23] Pages 533-6.
+
+[24] Smithsonian Report 1881, p. 537.
+
+[25] Counting from the southern end of the line.
+
+[26] Ancient Monuments, p. 161. It may be remarked here that the
+statement that "urn burial appears to have prevailed to a considerable
+extent in the Southern States" cannot be sustained by facts.
+
+[27] Smithsonian Report 1866, p. 359.
+
+[28] See, also, Smithsonian Report 1881, p. 596.
+
+[29] Smithsonian Report 1877, p. 264.
+
+[30] Page 598.
+
+[31] Page 35.
+
+[32] See 17th Report Peabody Museum, pp. 339-347.
+
+[33] 17th Report Peabody Museum, pp. 342-343.
+
+[34] 17th Report Peabody Museum, p. 344.
+
+[35] Early Notices of the Indians of Ohio, by M. F. Force, 1879, p. 3.
+
+[36] The circles and parallelograms in Figs. 32 and 33 have no other
+significance than to indicate the relative positions of the graves and
+the positions of the skeletons.
+
+[37] M[oe]urs des Sauvages Amériquains, II, pp. 447-445.
+
+[38] Jesuit Relations for 1636, pp. 128-139. For a translation of the
+lively description of the burial ceremonies of the Hurons by Father
+Brebeuf, see "Supplemental Note," at the end of this paper.
+
+[39] Smithsonian Report, 1871, pp. 404, 405.
+
+[40] Smithsonian Report 1867, p. 401.
+
+[41] Smithsonian Report 1870, p. 378.
+
+[42] See, for example, Foster's "Prehistoric Races," p. 97; Squier and
+Davis's, "Ancient Monuments," p. 30; Baldwin's "Ancient America," p. 57;
+Bancroft's "Native Races," IV, p. 785; Conant's "Foot-Prints of Vanished
+Races," p. 38; Marquis de Nadaillac's "L'Amérique Préhistorique," p.
+185, etc.
+
+[43] Sixteenth and Seventeenth Report Peabody Museum, p. 346.
+
+[44] Referred to by Dr. Haven, Smithsonian Contributions, VIII, p. 25.
+
+[45] Transactions of the American Philological Society, Vol. III.
+
+[46] Archæology of the United States, Smithsonian Contributions, Vol.
+VIII, p. 31.
+
+[47] Page 253.
+
+[48] Vol. I, p. 353, 3d edition.
+
+[49] Ancient America, pp. 70-75.
+
+[50] American Antiquities, p. 71.
+
+[51] Prehistoric Races, p. 339.
+
+[52] Tenth Report Peabody Museum, p. 75.
+
+[53] Travels, p. 365.
+
+[54] Memoirs of the Kentucky Geological Survey, Vol. II.
+
+[55] Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee, p. 225.
+
+[56] Ramsey. Annals of Tennessee, p. 51.
+
+[57] Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee, p. 223.
+
+[58] Discoveries, etc., p. 3, London edition, 1672.
+
+[59] Discoveries, London edition, p. 20.
+
+[60] Pages 33-39.
+
+[61] Jones, Southern Indians, p. 18.
+
+[62] Page 169.
+
+[63] History of Carolina, Raleigh, reprint, 1850, p. 315.
+
+[64] History of Virginia, London, 1705, p. 58.
+
+[65] Page 423.
+
+[66] Antiquities of the Southern Indians, p. 400.
+
+[67] Page 228.
+
+[68] History of North America.
+
+[69] Page 19.
+
+[70] Page 324.
+
+[71] History of Florida, edition 1723, Lib. III, Cap. XX, p. 139, and
+edition of 1605.
+
+[72] Jones's Antiquities of the Southern Indians, Chap. VI, Pl. 1.
+
+[73] Smithsonian Report 1880, p. 624.
+
+[74] Science, April 11, 1884.
+
+[75] Science, April, 1884.
+
+[76] The Human Species, English translation, p. 307.
+
+[77] Referred to on p. 71.
+
+[78] Translated from Relations des Jésuites, 1636, pp. 128-139, by Miss
+Nora Thomas.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+    Alexander, J. B., mounds on farm of 74
+
+    Allamakee County, Iowa, mounds 26
+
+    Altar mounds 57, 58
+
+    Anderson, W. G., opened Wisconsin mounds 16
+
+    Anderson Township, Ohio, mounds 49
+
+    Andrews, E. B., on Ohio mounds 47, 48
+
+    Appalachian mound district and mounds 10, 61-86
+
+    Arkansas mounds 11
+
+    Armstrong, Thomas, on Wisconsin mounds 16
+
+    Ashland County, Ohio, mounds 47
+
+    Athens County, Ohio, mounds 47
+
+
+    Baldwin, J. D., on mound builders 83
+
+    Bartow County, Georgia, mounds 96-104
+
+    Bartram, William, description of Cherokee council house 87
+
+    Beverly on shell ornaments 92
+
+    Black Hawk's grave 33, 34
+
+    Boulware, J. N., mounds on farm of 44
+
+    Branson, Judge, opening of Wisconsin mounds by 18
+
+    Brebeuf, Jean, on burial ceremonies of the Hurons 71, 110-119
+
+    Brinton, D. G., on a burial mound 39
+    --, on Indians as mound builders 84
+
+    Brown County, Illinois, mounds 39-41
+
+    Buffalo Creek, Worth Carolina, mounds near 68
+
+    Burial mounds of the northern sections of the United States, by
+      Cyrus Thomas 3-119
+
+    Burke County, North Carolina, mounds 73
+
+    Butler County, Ohio, archæology of 13
+
+
+    Caldwell County, North Carolina, mounds 61-71
+
+    Carr, Lucien, cited 84, 87, 88, 92
+
+    Cartersville, Georgia, mounds near 96-104
+
+    Case, H. B., on Indian burial customs 47
+
+    Charleston, West Virginia, mounds near 51, 53, 55
+
+    Chattanooga, Tennessee, mounds near 77
+
+    Chelaque identical with Cherokee 89
+
+    Cherokee, the, probably mound builders 60, 87-107
+
+    Cherokee and Tallegwi, relation of 60
+
+    Chillicothe, Ohio, mounds 46
+
+    Clarke, F. W., analyzed iron from mounds 91
+
+    Clarke County, Missouri, mounds 43
+
+    Clifton, West Virginia, mounds 55, 58
+
+    Conner, Rebecca, mounds on farm of 74
+
+    Copper in use among Indians 93, 94, 100-106
+
+    Courtois group of mounds 15
+
+    Cowe, description of Cherokee councilhouse at 87
+
+    Crawford County, Wisconsin, mounds 14, 17, 18, 20
+
+
+    Davenport, Iowa, mounds near 24
+
+    Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, explorations by members of 24
+    --, pipes found by members of 38
+
+    Davis, E. H., and Squier on mounds 12, 13, 38, 45, 48
+
+    De Bry on Indian burial customs 29, 39
+
+    Delaware Indian graves in Ashland County, Ohio 47
+
+    Des Moines River mounds 33, 34
+
+    Drake, Samuel G., advocates Indian origin of mounds 84
+
+    Dubuque County, Iowa, mounds 31, 32
+
+    Dunning, E. O., on stone grave mound in valley of the Little
+      Tennessee 78, 79
+
+
+    Eagle Point, Iowa, mounds 32
+
+    East Dubuque, Illinois, mounds 34-38
+
+    Eldon, Iowa, mounds 33, 34
+
+    Elk River Valley, West Virginia, mounds 55
+
+    Emmert, John W., explorations of 74-77
+
+    Etowah, Georgia, mounds 96-104, 106, 107
+
+
+    Florida mounds 12
+
+    Force, M. F., on distribution of Indians 59
+
+    Fort Defiance, North Carolina, mounds near 68
+
+
+    Garcilasso de la Vega on Indian mounds 95, 96
+
+    George Connet mound, Athens County, Ohio, description of 47, 48
+
+    Grant County, Wisconsin, mounds 19
+
+    Grave Creek, West Virginia, mounds 51
+
+    Gulf mounds 12
+
+
+    Hardy and Scheetz on Missouri mounds 42
+
+    Harris, Thaddeus M., on mound builders 82
+
+    Haven, S. F., quoted 82
+
+    Haywood, John, on location of Cherokee 89, 90
+    --, on European implements among Cherokee 94
+
+    Heart, Captain, on mound builders 82
+
+    Henderson, J. G., opening of Illinois mounds by 39
+
+    Henderson County, North Carolina, mounds 74
+
+    Holston Valley, Tennessee, mounds 75-77
+
+    Hoy, Philip, opening of mounds by 14, 20
+
+    Hunt, Charles, mounds on farm of 71
+
+    Hurons, burial ceremonies of 110-119
+
+
+    Illinois mounds 10, 11
+
+    Illinois or Upper Mississippi burial mound district 24-44
+
+    Indiana mounds 10
+
+    Iowa mounds 10, 24
+
+    Iowaville, Iowa, mounds 33, 34
+
+    Iroquois burial customs 21
+
+
+    Jones, C. C., on Indian pipes 93
+
+    Jones, Joseph, on mound builders 83
+
+    Jones, W. D., mound on land of 66-68
+
+
+    Kanawha Valley, explorations in 51, 53, 57
+
+    Kent, M. B., on Indian burial customs 20
+
+    Kentucky mounds 10, 11
+
+    Kickapoo stone graves 30
+
+
+    Lafitau on Indian burial customs 29
+
+    Lane, H. P., mounds on farm of 26
+
+    Lapham, I. A., on Wisconsin mounds 14, 17, 21, 22
+
+    Lawson on shell ornaments 92
+
+    Lederer, John, on copper among Cherokee 91
+
+    Lee County, Virginia, mounds 87
+
+    Le Moyne de Morgues on burial mounds 39
+
+    Lenoir, R. T., burial pit on farm of 68-71
+
+    Little Tennessee Valley mounds 78, 79
+
+    Louisiana mounds 11
+
+    Lower Mississippi mounds 11
+
+    Lubbock, John, advocates Indian origin of mounds 84
+
+
+    McCulloch, J. H., advocates Indian origin of mounds 84
+
+    MacLean, J. P., on Ohio mounds 13
+    --, on mound builders 83
+
+    Madison, Bishop, on mound builders 82, 83
+
+    Madison, Wisconsin, mounds near 16
+
+    Madisonville, Ohio, mounds near 49
+
+    Metz, C. L., on burial mounds 49
+
+    Middle Mississippi mounds 11
+
+    Middleton, James D., explorations by 14
+
+    Middleton, Jeff, mound opened by 20
+
+    Mississippi mounds, Upper 10, 24-44
+      Middle and Lower 11
+
+    Missouri, mounds in 10, 11, 41-44
+
+    Mohawk burial customs 21
+
+    Mound builders, conclusions as to who were the 9, 58, 79, 80, 86, 97
+    --, probably Cherokee 87-107
+
+    Mounds, burial 3-119
+
+
+    Naples, Illinois, mounds 39
+
+    Nelson, T. F., mounds on farm of 61-66, 90
+
+    New Albin, Iowa, mounds near 26
+
+    Newark, Ohio, mounds 46
+
+    New York mounds 10
+
+    Norris, P. W., investigations of 17, 18, 26, 27, 32, 35, 39, 40,
+      52, 55
+
+    North Carolina, mounds in 10, 61-75
+
+
+    Ohio mound district 45-60
+
+    Ohio mounds 10, 12, 13, 45-60
+
+
+    Peru, Iowa, monnds near 31
+
+    Pike County, Illinois, mounds 39
+
+    Pike County, Missouri, mounds 43
+
+    Pipes, soapstone 93, 94
+
+    Potherie on Iroquois burial customs 21
+
+    Pottawattamie mounds 34
+
+    Powell, J. W., copper plate from Illinois mound obtained by 105
+
+    Powhatan, Virginia, site bought with copper 94
+
+    Putnam, F. W., on Ohio mounds 49-51
+
+
+    Quatrefages on appearance of Indians in the valley of the Missouri
+      109
+
+
+    Racine, Wisconsin, mounds near 14
+
+    Ralls County, Missouri, mounds 42
+
+    Read, M. O., on mounds near Chattanooga 77, 78
+
+    Ripon, Wisconsin, mounds near 16
+
+    Rogan, J. P., explorations of 61, 71, 72, 97, 98, 104
+
+
+    Sac and Fox, burial customs of 20, 21
+
+    Scheetz and Hardy on Slissouri mounds 42
+
+    Schoolcraft, H. R., on Indian burial customs 21
+    --, advocates Indian origin of mounds 84
+
+    School-house mound 48, 49
+
+    Shawnee, stone graves of 30
+
+    Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, mounds 19
+
+    Short, John T., on mound builders 83
+
+    Smith, B. H., mounds on farm of 51
+
+    Spainhour, J. M., opening of North Carolina mounds by 61, 73
+
+    Spencer, J. W., on Indian burial customs 21
+
+    Squier and Davis on mounds 12, 38, 45, 48
+
+    Squier, E. G., on Indian antiquities 10
+
+    Sullivan County, Tennessee, mounds 75-77
+
+
+    Tallegwi and Cherokee, relation of 60
+
+    Tallegwi as mound builders 84
+
+    Tennessee mounds 10, 11
+
+    Tennessee River, mounds near 77
+
+    Thomas, Cyrus, paper by, on burial mounds of the northern section of
+      the United States 3-119
+
+    Thomas, Nora, translation of description of burial ceremonies of
+      the Hurons by 110-119
+
+    Tuscarora, neighbors of the Cherokee 91
+
+
+    Upper Mississippi mounds 10, 24-44
+
+
+    Vernon County, Wisconsin, mounds 14, 20
+
+    Virginia mounds 10, 87
+
+
+    Wapello County, Iowa, mounds 33
+
+    Waukesha, Wisconsin, mounds near 17
+
+    Welch, Edward, mounds on farm of 41
+
+    West Virginia, mounds in 10, 51-60
+
+    Wilkes County, North Carolina, mounds 71, 72
+
+    Wisconsin, mounds in 10, 14-23
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Burial Mounds of the Northern Sections
+of the United States, by Cyrus Thomas
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41557 ***