844 PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



and the other south. The bones were in siich close proximity that the 

 backs of the heads and bodies must have touched. The order and regu- 

 larity of this burial produced the conviction that the two bodies were 

 buried at the same time. The position of the other pair could not be 

 satisfactorily made out, but one skull lay above the other. All these 

 graves were at or just below the natural surface of the ground. 



In the mound lying south of the one just spoken of three skeletons 

 were found. The first lay in the western half of the mound, a little be- 

 low the natural surface of the ground. It had been placed on the back, 

 with the head to the east and slightly elevated, the thighs and legs 

 somewhat flexed, and the right arm flexed so as to bring the palm of 

 the hand upon the upper part of the right side of the chest. Above 

 the left shoulder lay a heavy stone ornament, charm, or token, of a blue 

 color when first exhumed, but turning black on exposure to the air. It 

 was 4^ inches long, 2^ wide, and seven-sixteenths thick, slightly bent, 

 and shaped a little like a hoe or an adz. There is a hole through the 

 narrower end, by which it may have been suspended by a string from 

 the neck. It appears to have been made from a stone that required but 

 little fashioning to bring it to the required shape, as it showed but little 

 polishing, and in spots the rough, natural surface could still be seen. 



This was the only manufactured article found in any of the mounds 

 examined by me in this part of the State. The second skeleton we 

 came upon was in the upper portion of the eastern half of the mound, 

 the skull, which was the most elevated part, being not more than 8 or 

 10 inches below the surface. It lay upon the back, the head to the east, 

 the shoulders elevated and the head tipped forward upon the chest, the 

 I)elvis a little elevated, and the thighs and legs completely flexed. There 

 was a cut through the skull. Mr. Trask was of the opinion that it had 

 been made before burial, and was the cause of death. I think it was 

 accidentally made by the spade in excavating. The third skeleton was 

 found at a lower level than the second, but not directly under it, a little 

 nearer the north side of the mound. Like many of those found in the 

 same group of mounds, it lay with the head to the east, on the right 

 side, the head a little elevated, Avith the knees drawn up to the chest 

 and the heels to the pelvis. A peculiarity in this burial is that the 

 hands were placed in contact with the face. 



Not the least interesting and instructive of the mounds of this group 

 was the one situated a short distance southwest of the principal one. 

 A little north of the center, a foot and a half below the surface, I came 

 upon what, for want of a better name, I call an ancient fire-place. It 

 was simply a level surface, made upon the mound when only partly" 

 built. I uncovered it with the greatest care, working for hours upon 

 my knees, scraping away the superincumbent earth with a common 

 table knife, so as not to displace anything that might be of interest. 

 When done, I had before me a bed of ashes, mixed with charcoal and 

 burnt sand, on which lay the bones of a partially burned human skele- 



