546 MISCEI7LANE0US PAPERS EELATTNG TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



out. From tbe description we received we could form no idea as to the 

 character of tlie interment, ifo implements of any kind were found. 



No. 0, on a broad flat in tlie bend of tlie creek, is the remains of an 

 Indian encampment; numerous fire-places just beneath the surface of 

 the ground, broken flints, &c., being found. 



No. 7 is a group of three mounds. Having been plowed over for 

 years, they were nearly obliterated. The remains in mounds b and c 

 were alike, each containing the bones of several individuals thrown in 

 promiscuously. They were not burned, yet each mound contained great 

 quantities of ashes and bits of charcoal. The bones crumbled on the 

 slightest touch, and presented the appearance of having been leached. 

 In mound a one skeleton in tolerable preservation was found. It had 

 been buried in a sitting posture. Near the head was found a large 

 mussel-shell filled with what appeared to be paint. A little to one side 

 and at bottom of excavation was an ash-pile with about one peck of 

 charcoal in the center of it. Neither ornaments nor implements were 

 found. This group was evidently Indian in origin. 



No. 8 is a mound 35 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. Though reg- 

 ular in outline and occupying a commanding position, yet from our ex- 

 amination of its structure we considered its artificial origin as doubtful. 



No. 9 is a mound 12 feet in diameter. In it was found one skeleton 

 very much decayed, and near the head a very rude earthern bowl, hold- 

 ing about one pint. 



No other mounds are found in the vicinity. Scattered over the bluffs 

 and fields are found quantities of broken pottery, arrow-points, flint 

 chippings, stone axes, &c. A copper spear-point was also found in the 

 vicinity. From my examination of them, I assign to them an origin 

 and date, with possibly the exception of the horizontal burial in No. 2, 

 as of the Illini Indians, and of about the beginning of the seventeenth 

 century. 



Plan II is located 4 miles southwest of the city of La'Salle, on Cedar 

 Creek, a small stream flowing into the Illinois River from the south. 

 There were three graves two and a half feet deep, on a gravel point 

 projecting out from the ridge. No mounds had been erected over them. 

 They were close together. They were discovered by some laborers 

 while digging for gravel. One of them, possessing a little curiosity, 

 gathered up the bones and relics. One body was deposited in each 

 grave, and in a recumbent position. The relics found consisted of sev- 

 eral simple, rude pipes cut from sandstone, a few shell beads, arrow- 

 points, and the fragments of a curious vase, holding, when reconstructed, 

 about four ounces,. and representing a man sitting on his knees, with 

 hands folded across the abdomen. The opening was at the back of the 

 head. It was composed of clay and powdered shells baked. The face 

 presents strongly-marked Aztec features, or possibly an exceptional 

 Indian countenance. The bones were very much decayed, with the ex- 



