SEPLIJ. CHRAL MOUNDS. 



169 



CD 



in circumference at the base. It was excavated by the proprietor in 1838. He 



sank a shaft from the apex of the mound 



to the base, (6 a, Fig. 55,) intersecting it 



at that point by a horizontal drift (« e e). 



It was found to contain two sepulchral 



chambers, one at the base, (o,) and 



another thirty feet above (c). These 



chambers had been constructed of logs, 



and covered with stones, which had 



sunk under the superincumbent mass 



as the wood decayed, giving the summit of the mound a flat or rather dish-shaped 



form.* The lower chamber contained two human skeletons (one of which was 



thought to be that of a female) ; the upper chamber contained but one skeleton in an 





Fir. 



50— OREAT MOTNn AT O R A V E CREEK 



advanced stage of decay. With these were found between three and four thousand 

 shell beads, a number of ornaments of mica, several bracelets of copper, and various 

 articles carved in stone. After the excavation of the mound, a light three-story 

 wooden structure was erected upon its summit. It is indicated by h in the section. 



* In the construction of this mound the builders had availed themselves of a small natural elevation, 

 above which the tumulus was raised. The vault a had been sunk in this elevation : it was an e.vact 

 parallelogram, constructed bv setting upright timbers around the sides, and covering these wiih logs 



22 



