MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. GGl 



ses a place of interment. The graves are not in gronps, nor arranged 

 according to any plan — sometimes in level loam soil, tliongli sandy ele- 

 vations seem to have been preferred. 



Usnally each grave contains the remains of one individual, though, 

 in some cases; those of several have been found near each other. Xo 

 burial posture is distinctly indicated. Bones , soft, criimblin g, and broken , 

 are found. The graves are not more than 3 feet deep. Xo evidence of 

 artificial preservation of bodies exists, though there is a hint of crema- 

 tion in the frequent occurrence of charcoal among the bones, which, 

 however, are not plainly calcined. 



Spear and arrow heads have been found cached. I have in mj- jios- 

 session a find of fourteen flint arrow heads, averaging about two and 

 a half inches in length, and most of them perfect. These heads were 

 found at East Windsor Hill, on my father's farm, about 30 rods from 

 Connecticut River, in a sand knoll, about two feet under ground, asso- 

 ciated with a little charcoal and sooty sand. A fragment of a small 

 and remarkably thin soapstone cup was found near them; nothing else. 

 They came to light in consequence of the digging of a roadway through 

 the knoll. 



Another similar find was made this spring in this town (South Wind- 

 sor), not far from the line of Connecticut Central Eailroad, about mid- 

 way between South Windsor and East Windsor IIill stations, near a 

 brook, in low ground. The cache was opened in plowing, though 

 the plowman did not notice it. Some boys afterward found flint 

 spear heads among the furrows, and dug up the ground, and took out 

 about one hundred heads, each between two and four inches in length, 

 many whole, some broken. There was a scramble among the boys to 

 procure them, and the collection was scattered beyond recovery before 

 it came to the notice of any x)erson interested to preserve it entire. 



Arrow heads in unusual numbers are found on sand hills, brought to 

 the surface by rains and winds ; and in the same places it is common 

 to find flat and sharp angular chips of flint and quartz, such as are not 

 found in our sand elsewhere. These are suggestive of the manufacture 

 of arrow and spear iioints at those localities. 



Fragments of clay pottery are common; but there is nothing by 

 which places of manufacture can be located. 



Some items of value may be gleaned from the " Connecticut Histor- 

 ical Collections," published by John Warner Barber, Xew Haven and 

 Hartford, 183G. For instance, "In the south part of the town" (East 

 Windsor, now this town of South Windsor), " where Podunk Kiver 

 crosses the road to Hartford, was an Indian burying ground. A few 

 years since a number of skeletons were discovered, by digging from 

 one to four feet. These skeletons were found lying on one side, knees 

 drawn up to the breast, arms folded, with their heads to the south. A 

 covering of bark seems to have been laid over them, with some few re- 

 mains of blankets ; in one instance a small brass kettle and hatchet 



