338 ANTHROPOLOGY. 



marshy. The mounds are in what is now a wheat field, formerly cov- 

 ered with timber— an oak tree, some 60 years old, having been cut from 

 the summit of one of them. All these mounds are circular in form, vary- 

 ing from 15 to •"»() feet in diameter, and from 2\ to 5£ feet in height, 

 though not much can be said with certainty about this latter dimension, 

 the land having been cultivated for a number of years, and the mounds 

 plowed down as much as possible every year. 



" We selected the largest and most conspicuous mound we could find, 

 the fourth or fifth from the eastern end of the liue, and sank a trench 

 into it. Each shovelful of the soil thrown out was carefully examined, 

 but it was found to present no different appearance from that of the sur- 

 rounding field, until we had reached the depth of 18 inches, when a few 

 pieces of coarse-grained charcoal were found. The earth now began to 

 si io\v the action of heat, it being harder and of a reddish hue, until at 

 the depth of 2 feet G inches layers of ashes mixed with earth began to 

 present themselves. These appearances were not the same all through 

 the trench on the same level, being only seen near the ends of it, as it 

 separate tires had been built. These appearances continued until we 

 had reached the depth of 3 feet 9 inches, the ashes meanwhile growing 

 more plentiful, when we found charred bones, evidently those of human 

 beings, mixed with the earth and ashes. A few inches more of calcined 

 earth were passed and then we struck bones in earnest. 



" Within the space of 3 feet square we uncovered 7 skulls, mingled 

 with the various long, short, and flat bones of the human body. These, 

 unlike those in the upper stratum, did not show the action of fire in the 

 least, but were so badly decayed that we could get none of them out en- 

 tire. 



''The bones were not arranged in any order whatever; no single skel- 

 eton even could be traced through the mass. We did not uncover all 

 the bones in the mound, but, finding that none of them could be taken out 

 entire, contented ourselves with digging through the layer of bones and 

 earth, which was about 4 inches thick, to the hard subsoil underneath, 

 which we found so compact that we concluded it had never been dis- 

 turbed, and so did not go deeper. 



••A careful search Tailed to bring to light any ornaments or implements 

 of any kind. 



" We now abandoned this mound, and, selecting two nearer the east- 

 ern end of the line, which in size were most unlike the first and unlike 

 each other, proceeded to sink trenches into them. In the larger of these 

 at the depth of 4 feet human hones were found, which were much better 

 preserved than those in the first mound opened, though they showed the 

 same lack of arrangement and dearth of ornaments and implements. 

 Fewer ashes were found in this mound and no charcoal or burnt bone. 



"In the third mound, at the depth of 2 i- feet, a skeleton was found 

 lying with its head toward the west. This was in so good a state of pres- 

 ervation that many of the more heavy and solid bones could be taken 



