Archoiological Explorations near 3IadisonvUle, Ohio. 67 



mold. No. 2 is fifteen inches of gravelly clay, in which was found 

 numerous animal remains, several implements of flint, stone and bone, 

 an unfinished pipe, and some charred animal bones. 



•Next came layer No. 3, about ten inches of ashes, intermingled with 

 bones of a great number of animals, of which the following were iden- 

 tified: Deer, elk, raccoon, opossum, mink, woodchuck, beaver and tur- 

 key, together with «t?iio shells of various species. Immediately below 

 this was a layer (No. 4), about four inches thick, of coarse matting 

 and twigs, corn stalks and bark, completely carbonized. No. 5 was a 

 layer of shelled corn, probabl}^ three or four bushels, and below this 

 was a quantity of ear corn, all of which was completely carbonized. 

 On the bottom of the pit was a Isijer of fire cracked boulders, with 

 some ashes and a few animal bones. The adjoining pit was separated 

 from the corn pit at the bottom by about six inches of clay, and did not 

 differ from the usual pits, except that no implements were found in it, 



August 29th and 30th, two ash pits were explored, from which the 

 usual implements were taken, and an unfinished pipe representing a 

 bear on its haunches. An adult skeleton was also exhumed, laying 

 horizontall}^, head south and face upwards; a vessel was found at its 

 feet. Immediatelj^ under this skeleton was an ash pit three feet in 

 diameter, and four feet ten inches deep. 



This paper brings the details of the work of exploration in this 

 cemetery up to August 31, 1879. 



It is not intended, at this time, to make a summar}^, or to present 

 any theoretical conclusions, although it is proper in this connection to 

 state that among all the numerous relics found in exhuming four hun- 

 dred skeletons, and exploring over two hundred ash pits, nothing has yet 

 been discovered in situ, which shows an}^ evidence of association with 

 European races; and while manj^ of the implements are similar in form 

 and material to those of the so called '^mound builders," and the pieces 

 of copper and marine shells indicate commercial intercourse with distant 

 nations or tribes, neither ornament nor artistic design can be traced to 

 au}^ European source. This fact, in addition to the age of the forest 

 trees, beneath which several of the skeletons have been found, places 

 the age of these remains at a date prior to the earliest French or Spanish 

 explorers of America; how much older than this is purely a matter of con- 

 jecture. The preservation and description of these implements, orna- 

 ments and utensils of a pre-historic people, and the ethnological facts 

 developed in connection with them, will add another chapter to the 

 record from which, at some future time, their history will probably be 

 written. 



