A PRIMITIVE UEN BURIAL. 



By Dr. J. F. Snyder, Virginia, Cass County, Illinois. 



On the broad alluvial plain in the southeastern part of the State of 

 Georgia, through which the Altamaha river takes its course to the sea, 

 at a point a mile and a half north of tliat stream and nearly a mile from 

 the Savannah, Florida and Western Railway, there is a small natural 

 elevation of the ground rising a few feet above the general level of the 

 river valle3^ On the top of this higher ground is one of the numerous 

 Indian burial mounds of that region, measuring some 25 or 30 feet in 

 diameter at the base and 8 or 10 feet high at its center. In February 

 last (1890) in making an excavation in the western edge of this mound — 

 not for archaeological investigation, nor by archaeologists, — a few inches 

 below the surface the spade broke into a hollow, spherical-looking 

 object that, on inspection, proved to be the round bottom of a large 

 earthen pot which had been buried there bottom up. The solid, hard- 

 packed earth in which it was imbedded was then carefully removed and 

 the v^essel was lifted out of its long resting place. Much to the surprise 

 of the explorers another quaint earthen vessel was discovered within 

 the larger one. This smaller one was standing upright on the natural 

 surface of the ground, securely covered and inclosed by the large pot 

 that had been placed inverted over it, affording it perfect protection 

 from moisture as well as from the pressure of the earth forming the 

 mound heaped over it (Fig. 1.) On examining the smaller vase it was 

 found to be nearly half full of flue white ashes interspersed with calcined 

 fragments of human bones, comprising the charred teeth and cremated 

 skeleton of an adult individual. Lying on the surface of these remains 

 were a quantity of small perforated bone beads (wampum), among which 

 I discovered, uniform in size with the beads, several small pearls that 

 had been pierced through the center for the purpose of stringing, with 

 the beads, in the form of a necklace or other ornament. Whether the 

 mound presented any peculiar features in its construction I have been 

 unable to learn ; and no further exploration of it has, to this time, been 

 made. 



The large pot, which I have succeeded in completely restoring (Fig. 

 2) is bell-shaped, quite symmetrical in proportions, and measures lof 

 inches in height and exactly the same in width across the mouth. It 

 H. Mis. 129 39 609 



