42 



ANTIQUITIES IN TENNESSEE. 



which had been apparently used as a residence or site of a temple, I discovered 

 the foUowins remains. 



In the centre of the mound, about three feet from its surface, I uncovered a large 

 sacrificial vase or altar, forty-three inches in diameter, composed of a mixture of 

 clay and river shells. The rim of this flat earthen vessel was three inches in height. 

 It appeared to have been moulded in a large wicker basket, formed of split 

 canes and the leaves of the cane, the impressions of which were plainly visible on 

 the outer surface. The rim of this earthen vessel or sacrificial altar appeared to 

 be almost mathematically circular. The surface of the " altar" was covered with 

 a layer of ashes, about one inch in thickness. These presented the appearance and 

 composition of incinerated animal matter. The antlers and jaw-bone of a deer 

 were found resting on the surface of this object. The edges of the altar or fire 

 vessel, which had been broken off apparently by. accident, were carefully placed 

 over the layer of ashes, and tlien covered with nearly three feet of earth ; thus 

 the ashes were preserved to a remarkable degree from the action of the rains. 



Stone coffins or rude sarcophagi were ranged around this central object, with the 

 heads of the dead toward the centre and the feet toward the circumference of the 

 mound, resembling the radii of a circle. 



The inner circle of graves was constructed with great care, and all the bodies 

 buried around the altar were ornamented with beads of various kinds ; some of 

 which had been cut out of large sea-shells, others out of bone, and others again 

 were composed of entire sea-shells of small size, and punctured so as to admit of 

 the passage of the thread upon which they were strung. The large shell beads 



were found most generally by the side of the 

 crania, and upon the breast, as if they had con- 

 stituted ear-rings and necklaces ; the smaller 

 beads were found most generally surrounding 

 the waist, and the arm and leg bones. 



The various forms of beads from this mound 

 are represented in Fig. 6. 



In a carefully constructed stone sarcoph- 

 agus, in Avhich the face of tlie skeleton was 

 looking towards the setting sun, a beautiful 

 shell ornament was found resting upon the 

 breast bone of the skeleton. This shell orna- 

 ment is 4.4 inches in diameter, and it is orna- 

 mented on its concave surface with a small 

 circle in the centre, and four concentric bands 

 differently figured in relief. The first band is filled by a triple volute ; the 

 second is plain ; the third is dotted, and has nine small round bosses carved at 

 unequal distances upon it. The outer band is made up of 14 small elliptical 

 bosses, the outer edges of which give to tlie object a scalloped rim. This orna- 

 ment on its concave figured surface had been covered with red paint, much of 

 which was still visible; the convex smooth surface is highly polished, and plain 

 with the exception of three concentric marks. The material out of which it is 



Fig. 6. 



Various forms of shell beads from the stone 

 coffins in the mounds on the banks of the Cum- 

 berland River, opposite Nashville, Tennessee. 

 One-fourth the natural size. 



