f3] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 583 



and position of the graves should be observed, and where the bodies 

 have been placed in stone graves or cists, this fact, and the form and 

 mode of constructing them, should be mentioned. 



One common error in opening mounds is to leave them before they 

 have been thoroughly explored ; they should not be abandoned until 

 their contents and mode of construction are fully ascertained. 



The explorer should note carefully everything that may bear upon 

 the object in view in building, and the use of the mounds and other 

 works, or upon the habits and customs of the people who erected them. 

 Nothing should be taken for granted because it has been published, but 

 each explorer should examine for himself and give his own views re- 

 gardless of the opinions heretofore given to the world. 



