ii4 Hopewell Mound Group 



trenches were found. Ash-pits about 10 by 12 inches and post-holes 

 full of decayed wood were numerous. 



Section 5. Skeleton 285 lay in the bottom of Section 5, head to the 

 north. There were no objects with it. Skeleton 286 lay upon the east 

 side of Section 5, somewhat under the bank of Section 3. There were 

 between two and three hundred beads around the neck, and ocean 

 shells at the head. 



Section 6. This section lay between Sections 2 and 3, and promised 

 to be very rich. The following skeletons were found on the base line: 



No. 288. West side of section. Badly decayed. No objects. 



Nos. 289 and 290. Centre of the section. Both lay with the head 

 toward the east. Bowlders to a thickness of 14 or 15 inches had been 

 laid over the bodies. At the heads, bowlders the size of a man's fist 

 had been arranged in arch, sheltering the skulls, which were fairly well 

 preserved. A peculiar substance similar to resin or gum was found 

 upon the shoulder blades of one skeleton. The earth below the skele- 

 tons was burned hard and covered with a thin layer of charcoal. Several 

 hundred beads were found around the neck of No. 289. 



Second Altar. This altar was found in Section 6, and its removal 

 completed the work at Hopewell. The objects found in it had been 

 heaped above the fire, as in the altar previously described. It was 

 somewhat larger than the latter, and included more objects. Most of 

 the finds were of the same character, but in addition it contained 

 obsidian and some fine pipes. 



Most of the skeletons were found on the north side of Sections 2 

 and 3, only 8 to 12 feet from the surface and under layers of gravel or 

 earth. The centre of the mound contained gravel and clay strata 

 which, for a certain distance, did not conform to the slope of the struc- 

 ture. The proportion of the different materials in the mound was 

 estimated to be as follows: Clay 45%, loam 20%, gravel 13%, sand 

 5,% white clay 5%, burnt earth 5%, charcoal 1%, stones 1%. 



Our first inspection of Mound 25 led us to believe that it represented 

 the human trunk; but we later concluded that its form was due to 

 additions, which had been made to the mound at various times, and 

 that it was not intended for an effigy. 



It seems to me that Mound 25 was the result of gradual develop- 

 ment. It is probable that a number of interments were first made, the 

 small wooden pens or dome-shaped structures erected, and mounds 

 built over these. The first completed structure was approximately 

 150 feet long, 80 feet wide, and about 14 feet high. Later it was made 



