398 



ANCIENT MOUNDS IN UNION COUNTY, KENTUCKY. 



clay, evidently subjected to the action of fire. Mound Xo. 1 was ex- 

 amined by a ditch from east to west, 4 feet deep, 30 feet long. This 

 ditch, cut out the center of the mound and reached the subsoil. Some 



small fragments of pottery and a few irregular chips of liiut, and the 

 character of the material forming the structure, were the only evidences 

 of its artificial nature. 



Mound No, 5, one of the three large ones of this group, we dug away 

 about one-third. On the southeast side several skeletons were found, 

 at a depth of about 3J feet ; two or three skulls without bodies, and 

 some parcels of bones, evidently dismembered before burial. All these 

 interments appear to have been secondary. This mound is composed 

 of materials differing in character, and resembles mound No. 1, (Dia- 

 gram No. 3.) 



Mounds Nos. 0, 10, and 11, on examination were fouud to be of clay, 

 and therefore, as already explained, a detailed investigation was not made. 

 Mound 14 had been dug into for an ice-house vault. Mr. J. W. Hagar, 

 son of the party who built the ice-house, and who aided in the excava- 

 tion, made the following statement in reference to this mound: 



"At a depth of 6i feet, near the center, we found the body of a man, 

 buried in a sitting position. Near his head, on the west side, was found 

 a varietj' of articles — a pointed flint-arrow or spear-head, from 10 to 12 

 inches long, 3^ to 4 inches wide, beautifully made; it was not a double- 

 pointed flint, but had a groove for fastening; three circular stones, half 

 an inch thick, an inch and a half in diameter, concave on both sides, a 



