INDIAN MOUNDS NEAR FORT WADSWORTH, D. T. 393 



taiiietl any bones or other objects of interest worthy of note ; the earth 

 was removed from the remaining three sections within the circumference 

 of the superior phme of the mound perpendicuhirly down to the floor, 

 and the margin beyond, though not wholly removed, w^as examined in 

 several places. The work tlius far completed, I directed several excava- 

 tions, about three feet in circumference and as many deep, to be made, for 

 the purpose of ascertaining tlie deeper structure of the mound. In every 

 instance the material i^roved to be one homogeneous mass of dry, com- 

 pact clay. In one of three excavations a few feet to tlie south of the 

 masonry, and about a foot and a luilf below the floor, was found a cranium, 

 which, on other bones of the same skeleton being exposed to view without 

 their relations being disturbed, proved to be of an aged man. Few of 

 these bones, chiefly those of the hands and feet, were wanting; the i)os- 

 ture was that of sitting, with the body inclining forward and face directed 

 to the east. I have seen Indians in council, or absorbed in earnest 

 thought, assume a posture not unlike the one here represented. The 

 thorax had been slightly compressed by the superimposed mass of earth. 

 On the cranium and tibia I observed several small bony tumors of an 

 almost pearly whiteness and great hardness, the largest about the size 

 and shape of a half of a pea. These tumors which are called in surgery 

 exostoses, are most generally the result of syphilis, though they may be 

 attributed to other causes. A fine specimen of united fracture of one of 

 the femurs was obtained from this skeleton, showing, from the amount of 

 shortening, the obliquity of the axis of the fragments, and the ill-adjust- 

 ment of the fractured ends, how much these people stood in need of 

 surgical skill. 



The interment in the triangular space must have been a contemporary 

 act with that of the construction of the mound, so also, in all probability, 

 that within the work of masonry, while the burial of the aged man 

 'beneath the mound floor, unsurrouuded with pulverulent carbonaceous 

 earth, must have a date anterior to its construction. These facts are 

 predicated upon the observation of the undisturbed condition of the 

 superior strata of clay and black surface-mold of which the mound was 

 composed. The habits of nomadic and uncivilized races afford them but 

 limited facilities for preparing their food; their viands are usually broiled 

 upon the live coals and eaten with the adherent ashes. Trituration being 

 l)erformed almost entirely by the teeth, these importantorgans of diges- 

 tion are worn down to a common level at an early age. The tubercles 

 of the molars, the points of the cuspids, and the cutting edge of the 

 incisors are worn down by attrition to the level of one common plane. The 

 teeth of the mound-builders difter not the least in this particular from 

 that of modern American Indians who still adhere to their nomadic life. 



Hampsonh group of mounds. — On a knoll or elevation from fifty to one 

 hundred feet above the water level, and sloping gradually to it at a 

 distance of a quarter of a mile, is situated an interesting group of ten 

 monnds, which for several years have borne the name of Hampsou's 



