g2 ANTIQUITIES IN TENNESSEE. 



to the central grave, and contained a remarkably flattened and misshaped skull. 

 This cranium is more altered by artificial pressure than that of any adult of this 

 stone o-rave race which we have as yet examined. The bones were very much 

 aflected by the action of the soil, the softer and more delicate parts of the face 

 crumbling upon the slightest touch. The flattening of the occiput is so great as 

 to render the parietal diameter longer by four-tenths of an inch than the longitudi- 

 nal. The pressure was greatest on the right side of the head, giving the cranium 

 a deformed or one-sided appearance, in addition to the contraction of the antero- 

 posterior diameter, and the marked increase of the lateral or parietal diameter. 

 Thus the antero-posterior diameter of the head on the right side, measured from a 

 point just above the superciliary ridge to a point directly across on the occiput, is 

 4.7 inches, and on the left side 5.4 inches. The bones of the legs of this skeleton 

 were flexed on the thighs. At the foot of this grave lay a common black earthen- 

 ware pot with two handles attached to its edge. 



The grave directly across the mound from the small one in which the image or 

 idol was found, and lying on the eastern side of the central grave, was in like man- 

 ner occupied by the remains of a child a few years of age. This grave contained 

 no relics excepting a small black pot. 



The remaining two graves on the eastern flank of the mound contained the 

 skeletons of adults, and yielded no relics besides a small black earthenware pot in 

 each grave. The central octagonal grave contained also some scales of mica; and 

 fragments of this substance were also found in several other graves. 



We shall next present the residts of the exploration of the mound lying between 

 the eastern side of the large mound and the river, marked I on the plan. Fig. 

 23. The tops of the graves lay about two feet beneath the surface of the mound. 

 The earth was entirely removed by sections so as to expose all the graves, six 

 in number. 



The centre of the mound was occupied by two graves Avhich appeared to be the 

 most important, and lay parallel to each other. In both of these the bodies must 

 have been interred at full length. In tlie first one examined a large vase com- 

 posed of light-red clay and crushed shells, and painted with black bands so dis- 

 posed as to divide the body of the vase into three equal circular spaces, lay on the 

 left side of the skull. 



The ornamentation of this vase was very similar to that of the one represented 

 in Figs. 26 and 27, excepting that the outer band has sixteen scallops, and the 

 band inside of this has twenty-six small round spots left unpaintcd. The height 

 of this vase was 8 inches; the circumference of the neck 10.7 inches; circumfer- 

 ence of the body 26.7 inches. 



Although it is very nearly symmetrical, there are certain slight defects of form 

 which seem to indicate that it was not fashioned on the potter's wheel. This is a 

 substantial, well-finished, and ornamental piece of earthenware, equal to the best 

 unglazcd pottery of modern times. 



On the right of the skull lay a black vase or paint bowl, having on its rim a 

 human head, which, in its aquiline nose, prolonged chin, and arched forehead, 



