166 ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 



the builders. Several of like character have nevertheless been found elsewhere. 

 It is figured under the head of Implements, The fire in this case had been a strong 

 one, as is evidenced from the fact that the skeleton had here been almost entirely 

 consumed. That it had also been heaped over while burning, Avas shown by the 

 charcoal, which was coarse and clear, and by the baking of the earth inuutsdiately 

 above it. In some instances, in which burial by incremation has been practised, 

 the entire skeleton is traceable. In such cases it has been observed that the 

 charcoal occurs beneath as well as above the skeleton, demonstrating that the 

 body had been placed upon a pyre of some sort before burning. Remains of art, 

 for obvious reasons, are not abundant in this description of sepulchral mounds ; 

 nor is the supplementary charcoal layer of frequent occurrence. 



The gradual slope, resembling a graded way, upon the southern side of this mound, 

 is a feature not easily explained. It would seem at first glance to be designed 

 as a passage to the top. The more probable conclusion however is, that it is a 

 supplementary mound, which by cultivation and the lapse of time has become so 

 merged in the larger one at its side as not to be distinguishable from it. Sepulchral 

 mounds of various sizes, joining and running into each other, are common. This 

 mound is nearer to enclosures than any other of the class yet examined. 



Mounds of this, as well as of the first class, were often disturbed by the later 

 Indians. Their remains are frequently found, in some cases in large quantities, as 

 if the mound had been used for a long period as a general burial-place. Such was 

 the case with a large mound, situated six miles above the town of Chillicothe, in 

 which a great number of burials had been made, at various depths, from eighteen 

 inches to four feet. The skeletons were, in places, two or three deep, and placed 

 without arrangement in respect to each other. Some were evidently of a more 

 ancient date than others, showing, from their condition as well as position, that 

 they had been deposited at different periods. One or two were observed in 

 which the skull had been fractured by blows from a hatchet or other instrument, 

 establishing that the individual had met a violent death. With some, rude vessels 

 of pottery, and stone and bone implements, had been deposited ; and, in a small 

 mound close by, a silver cross, of French origin, was discovered, — all going to 

 establish the comparatively recent date of these burials. In sinking a shaft five 

 feet square, no less than seven skeletons, the lowest about four feet from the 

 surface, were exposed. Beneath all of these, at the depth of fourteen feet and 

 near the base of the mound, were found traces of the original deposit of the mound- 

 builders. In this case, had the investigation been less complete, it might have 

 been concluded that this mound was a grand receptacle of the dead, and " con- 

 tained many thousand human skeletons." Another proof is here furnished of the 

 necessity of thoroughness in explorations of this character, in order to arrive at 

 correct conclusions. 



The ceremonies of interment, so far as we are enabled to deduce them from 

 these monuments, were conducted with great regularity and system. None of those 

 disturbances mentioned by various writers, where the remains seem to have been 

 heaped together w ithout order and without care, have been observed in the course 

 of these investigations, except in cases where recent deposits had been made. 



