NO. 2042. ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS— BUSHNELL. 651 



hematite specimen is unknown, although it bears signs of use and 

 was probably quite old when it was deposited in the grave. The 

 other stone and bone objects do not present any unusual features. 



A large quantity of flint chips were encountered on the same level 

 and about 18 inches east of the preceding objects. They were scat- 

 tered through a space less than 2 feet in diameter and were mingled 

 with a large amount of charcoal. A tooth of a beaver was found in 

 the same mass. A small black pottery vessel had been placed between 

 the skeleton and the fhnt chips and some 6 or 8 inches higher, but 

 its elevation had caused it to be hit by the plow and destroyed and 

 only a few fragments remained. 



Two skeletons were discovered resting upon the original surface of 

 the ground. They were extended with the heads east. The feet 

 were about under the first burial encountered. The remains were 

 greatly decomposed and very soft. The ground was very damp, and 

 the roots of a large pecan tree had reached the bones, and conse- 

 quently their condition is no indication of great age. No objects of 

 any sort were discovered with the burials. 



The mound had, at some former day, been partially examined, and 

 several pits and trenches had been opened at different points; but 

 fortunately the central burials and the interesting group of objects 

 had not been reached. 



During the past few years innumerable stone implements, for the 

 most part of ordinary forms and materials, have been found on the 

 sites near the salt spring. These have been revealed by the plow, 

 but are now becoming quite scarce. Undoubtedly these represent 

 the work of the last occupants of the area, and were left scattered 

 over the surface of the camps or villages. Probably very few entire 

 objects of stone, bone, or shell are to be found beneath the surface in 

 the mass of ashes and mold forming the stratum above the un- 

 disturbed clay. Any such specimens were lost by their owners and 

 are, of course, few in number, but broken pieces are plentiful. Large 

 "salt pans" may be hidden by the accumulated ashes and refuse, to 

 be discovered, perchance, at some future time. Fragments of smaller 

 vessels occur in quantities both on and below the surface. These 

 were the utensils daily used in the wigwams, and were evidently 

 similar to pieces placed in the stone graves. 



Many large spades, made of the cherts from the Union County, 

 Illinois, quarries, have been found on the surface of the high land 

 beyond the village sites. Here were evidently the cornfields and 

 gardens of the settlement, and judging from the large number of such 

 objects found, and their distribution over a comparatively wide area, 

 we are led to the belief that many acres were cultivated. 



Very few ornaments of stone or shell have been discovered on the 

 sites, and they appear to have been equally scarce in the stone graves. 



