1894.] NATURAL SCIENCES OK PH I l-ADELPHJA. 311 



two feet; below this the ends drew in somewhat, while the sides were 

 slij^htly overhanging, pvoliahl\^ from caving in <^»f the gravel while it 

 was being dug. The work was done from the south side, as most of 

 the earth was thrown to that side, the remainder being })iled at the 

 two ends. 



"At 15 feet north of the center began a streak of burned earth, 

 charcoal, and ashes, which gradually thickened toward the center. 

 It proved to be nearly circular in outline and 20 feet across. For 

 three or four feet around the margin the ashes seem to have been 

 swept toward the center, as the natural earth of the mound had been 

 deposited directly on that burned, without any ashes or charcoal in- 

 tervening. At eight feet north of center the mass thickened to a 

 foot and held this thickness for six feet farther, and for nearly eight 

 feet east and west. The material forming the charcoal varied from 

 sedge grass to small trees, the largest piece being a pine log a foot 

 in diameter and six feet long. The inner portion of this was in its 

 natural t-ondition, the charred outside having preserved the i)art 

 to which the tire had not reached. Much of the charcoal was fr(jm 

 wood burned while green and was bright as polished metal where it 

 had been kept tolerably dry. There were a few fragments of animal 

 bone here and there, and enough small pieces of human bone to show 

 that a body or skeleton had been ci-emated, some of them being like 

 cinder, others scarcely charred. The thinness of the ashes and the 

 amount of the charcoal showed that the fire had been smothered 

 while much of the fuel remained on it. I-^ying on the to]) of the 

 charcoal where it was thickest was a considerable quantity of char- 

 red cloth, showing at least four distinct methods of weaving ; there 

 was also much of what seemed tb be fur or some such material ; the 

 latter was soft as soot, while some of the cloth was fairly well pre- 

 served, a very little of it showing scarcely any mark of burning. 



"Except as noted above, no relics of any description were found 

 anywhere in the lower part of the mound. 



Gerard Fowkk." 



The five rectangular sheets of copper found with human remains 

 by Mr. Gerard Fowke, beneath the base of the larger Van Meter 

 mound, near Piketon, Pike Co., Ohio, consisted of sheet copper oxi- 

 dized and carbonated to a certain extent, though a large percentage of 

 metal was uuati'ected. These sheets, though not exactly similar as to 



