BTRIAL CAVES. 5 



finished with large brown feathers arranged and fastened with great skill, so as to 

 be capable of guarding the living wearer from wet and cold. The plumage was 

 distinct and entire, and the whole bore a near similitude to the feathered cloaks 

 now worn by the natives of the northwest coast of America. The body was in a 

 squatting posture, with the right arm bent forward, and its hand encircling the 

 right leg. The left arm hung down, with its hand extending partly under the 

 body. The individual, who was a male, did not probably exceed the age of four- 

 teen at his death. Tliere was a deep and extensive fracture of the skull near the 

 occiput, which was probably the cause of his death. The skin liad sustained little 

 injury. It was of a dusky color, but the natural hue could not be decided with 

 exactness from its appearance at that time. Tlie scalp, with small exceptions, was 

 covered with sorrel and foxy hair. The teeth were white and sound. The hands 

 and feet seem to have been slender and delicate. Some are inclined to the opinion 

 that this specimen belonged to the Peruvian race.'" 



The light color of the hair, in these so-called mummies of Tennessee and Ken- 

 tucky, was most probably due to the action of the lime and saltpetre. 



When Kentucky was first explored, great numbers of human bodies are said to 

 have been found in a state of preservation in a cave near Lexington. As the 

 pioneers did not appear to attach much importance to antiquities, these bodies were 

 not preserved. Tlie bodies found in the saltpetre cave of Kentucky are said to 

 have been considerably snniller than the men of our times ; and their teeth are 

 described as long, white, and sharp, and separated by considerable intervals. 



Mr. Caleb xltwater quotes Mr. Cliftbrd of Lexington, Kentucky, to the effect 

 that the mummies were generally found enveloped in three coverings ; the first a 

 species of coarse linen cloth of about the consistency and texture of cotton bag- 

 ging; the second a kind of network of coarse threads formed of very small, loose 

 meshes, in which were fixed the feathers of various kinds of birds, lying all in one 

 direction, so as to make a perfectly smooth surface ; the third and outer envelope 

 either like the first or consisting of skins sewed together.^ 



Mr. Charles Wilkins, in 1817, recorded the following facts with reference to an 

 exsiccated body discovered in a saltpetre cave in Warren County, Kentucky : " It 

 was found at the depth of about ten feet from the surface of the cave, bedded in 

 clay, strongly impregnated with nitre, placed in a sitting posture, encased in broad 

 stones standing on their edges, with a flat stone covering the whole. It was 

 enveloped in coarse clothes, the whole Avrapped in deer-skins, the hair of which 

 was shaved off in the manner in which the Indians prepare them for market. 

 Inclosed in the stone coffin were working utensils, beads, feathers, and other 

 ornaments of dress. "^ 



This observation is important, for it establishes the fact that the mode of burial 

 practised in the case of this so-called mummy was similar to that in use along the 

 banks of the Cumberland and other streams of Tennessee and Kentucky ; and we 



' Natural and Al)()riir:iiial History of Tennessee, Haywood, pp. 338, 339. 

 ' Archaeologia Americana, p. 318. ^ Ibid., p. 392. 



