382 ETHXOLOGY. 



from the Avasb of the surrounding bills. The mound is now nearly 

 obliterated by cultivation. We were informed by Mr. Gouzer that 

 it was opened about twenty years ago, when a skeleton was found 

 tbe tbigh-bone of which was as long as his leg, and tbe skull as 

 large as a half-bushel measure. We dug a little below the surface, 

 and found a few bones, among whicb was a broken thigh-bone of the 

 ordinary size, tbus destroying a myth which has been a belief of the 

 credulous of the neighborhood for twenty years, that "there were 

 giants in those days,'' and that one was buried here. 



The next day we visited a point live miles northeast of Waterloo, 

 where there are several groups of mounds. In the woods on Mr. 

 Boyer's farm we found a mound about 12 feet in diameter and 3 

 feet bigb, composed entirely of large bowlders. It has been there ever 

 since tbe settlement of the country. On removing the stones and dig- 

 ging beneath, we found that tbe original soil had never been disturbed, 

 and no remains were found. Near by in a cultivated field was anotber 

 mound of earth nearly obliterated by cultivation. Excavating it, we 

 found numerous bits of charcoal, and several fragments of pottery, but 

 no human remains. A sort of trench from side to side had been filled 

 with what appeared to be dried swamp muck. Its outlines were quite 

 well defined in the sandy loam of the rest of tbe mound. 



On tbe adjoining farm of Mr. Taylor, about half a mile distant, were 

 two more mounds. We dug into one of them, finding again charcoal 

 and fragments of pottery, but no human remains. None of these mounds 

 are more than 3 feet high, and generally have a base of from 20 to 30 

 feet. All through this section many tliuts and carved implements and 

 ornaments of stone are found by the farmers. Some of them are per- 

 forated, and nearly all are of the banded siliceous slate, which seems to 

 have been so highly prized by the mound-builder. One found in this 

 vicinity and now in my collection is represented in Fig. 2. The boy 

 who found it described it as a '' stone bayonet," and his mistake seems 

 quite natural when we look only to the shai)e of the ornament. It is 

 intended to represent a long-billed aquatic fowl, and was probably worn 

 as a totemic emblem on the head-dress of a prominent chief, to which it 

 was attached by thongs passing through the holes drilled in the ends. 

 The tail is unfortunately broken off. Mr. McBride has several in his 

 collection, some of which are fair representations of birds. He has one 

 almost precisely like Fig. 27 in Foster's Prehistoric Eaces, and has also 

 a fac simile of the implement found at Danville, 111., represented in 

 Fig. 28 of the same work. I have seen a number of articles carved 

 from this ribboned slate, some of which are shaped like a double-edged 

 battle-ax, but too slight for use. They all have a smooth, regular hole 

 drilled through the center about f of an inch in diameter. I con- 

 clude they were carried as emblems of authority in processions on 

 state occasions. 



