508 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1895. 



The burials within the mound were only incidental, and had no 

 part in the original purpose for which it was erected. It had been 

 designed' to cover only two graves. The first of these had its axis 

 almost coincident with a radius extending nearly northeast from the 

 center stake. At eight feet to each side of this line began a thin 

 seam of decayed wood which sloped uniformly toward the axis till it 

 reached a depth of two feet at four and one-half feet from its place 

 of beginning; the earth below it had never been disturbed, while 

 that above it had been dumped in to restore the level. At this dis- 

 tance it came to the edge of a pit seven feet in width dug one foot 

 into the gray sand, with walls vertical or in some places slightly 

 overhanging on account of the caving-in of the loose material while 

 the work was progressing. In the bottom of the hole (four feet 

 deep) had been placed two to three inches of the red gravel earth, 

 on which lay three to four inches of gray sand, thus reversing their 

 proper order; above this came the seam of decayed wood extending 

 entirely across the excavated space to the natural surface, as men- 

 tioned above; next in order was a thin layer of burned earth, ashes, 

 and charcoal reaching from the shoulders to the knees, and slightly 

 beyond the frame on each side of a skeleton nearly six feet long, 

 which lay extended on the back, with feet toward the center of the 

 mound. On each wrist were two small copper bracelets; about the 

 waist, as if belonging to a belt, was nearly a pint of disk shell beads, 

 some of them being too soft to save; between the femurs were a few 

 Marginellas ; about the neck were eleven cylindrical or barrel-shaped 

 beads made of some thick shell and drilled lengthwise; under the 

 feet was a knife or spear, three inches long, of Basanite. Some por- 

 tions of the bones were quite hard and solid; others soft from decay. 

 The skull, 21 feet from the center stake, lay in a mass of very wet 

 decayed wood and ashes, and was in fragments; the crown was 

 stained a bright red, probably with Hematite. 



The confused and irregular layers and streaks of decayed wood in 

 the dark soil with which the grave was filled were perplexing; but 

 it appeared that the body had been protected by a layer of wood 

 supported by chunks and by poles whose ends were thrust into the 

 sand on either side. Earth was thrown on this covering to the original 

 level of the soil; saplings or small poles were then laid around the 

 margin of the grave to uphold a roof of wood or bark. After this 



