592 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



EXPLOEATION OF A MOTOTO NEAE BEACEVILLE, TEUM- 

 BULL COUNTY, OHIO. 



By S. N. Luther, of Garrettsvillc, Ohio. 



Eecently, in company with Mr. C. Baldwin, I explored an ancient 

 monnd on the estate of the late jSTathan Humphrey, esq., situated one- 

 third of a mile southeast from the center of Braceville, Trumbull County, 

 Ohio. Miss E. B. Humphrey, who now has charge of the estate, in- 

 formed me that the mound was formerly covered with a growth of heavy 

 timber, which was cleared from it by her father many years ago, and 

 that grading and the process of cultivation have reduced it from not less 

 than 10 feet in altitude to its present height of 4^ feet. It is situated 

 on a terrace a few feet above the alluvial bottom of the Mahoning Eiver. 



The length due east and west ia 75 feet, and the breadth about GO feet. 

 It is elliptical in form, composed of the dark sandy loam which sur- 

 rounds it, and in several places has been considerably disturbed by 

 previous explorers and by the burrowiug of woodchucks. We com- 

 menced by digging trenches from the east and south sides toward the 

 center, somewhat below the base of the mound. In the eastern portion 

 we found the remains of five bodies, a short distance from each other. 

 Except the crania and fragments of the long bones, nothing could be 

 saved, barely enough remaining to define the position in which they 

 lay. Of the crania two were saved in fair condition. With two others 

 we were not so successful, though enough was preserved for several 

 measurements. The fifth was so frail that no portion of it had escaped 

 decay. The bodies were usually buried with the head to the west, though 

 in one case this order was reversed, the head lying to the east. Near 

 the latter were a quantity of very l)rigbt-red ocher, pieces of pottery, 

 and at a short distance a stone pipe of iieculiar construction. Many 

 bright fragments of stone, a few arrow-heads, and flakes of chert were 

 foundinthe process of excavation. Throughout the undisturbed portion 

 of the base, and about 1 foot from the original soil, a very hard layer 

 of earth was discovered, 2 inches in thickness, beneath which were the 

 skeletons. It is stated that a tier of skeletons were obtained by remov- 

 ing the upper jiart, and that many relics have been secured, but the 

 persons who made the excavations being inaccessible, I cannot obtain 

 authentic imformation of their observations. 



Bfeasnrements of the crania, — No. 1, the best jireserved skull, is that of 

 an old person. Length, 7.05 inches; vertical height (inside measure), 

 4.92 inches; occipito-frontal arcli, 13.09 inches; parietal diameter, 5.G8 

 inches; horizontal circumference, 20,35 inches; cephalic index, .8056. 



No. 2 is that of a young person (the wisdom teeth only partly through 

 the process). Length, C.90 inches ; vertical height (inside measure), 5.10 



