RELICS FROM THE MOUNDS AND STONE GRAVES. 



133 



Fig. 72. 



Image from a stone grave 

 in the valley of Cumberland 

 River, Tennessee ; one-half 

 natural size. 



Fig.72 represents a small idol from the Cumberland valley, composed of black 

 clay and crushed shells, which has something resembling a cap on the head. 



Some of the stone idols discovered in Tennessee lay upon 

 the summit of the large pyramidal mounds, and appear to 

 have been connected with the religious rites performed 

 upon these elevations. 



Haywood makes some interesting observations with re- 

 ference to the position in which certain of tlicse images 

 were discovered in Sumner and Roanoke Counties.^ 



Many years ago, a clay vessel was found at Nashville 

 about twenty feet below the surface, in digging a well in a 

 narrow valley, between hills liable to wash. The workmen 

 came upon a natural spring issuing from a rock, and in the 

 spring this pottery vessel was discovered. Its capacity was 

 nearly one gallon. The base was circular, from which rose 

 a globular vessel terminating at tlic top in the head of a 

 woman. There was no aperture except a round hole near 

 the summit of the globular part of the vessel. The features 

 of the face were described by Haywood, as being " Asiatic." 

 The crown of the head was covered with a cap or ornament 

 in the shape of a truncated cone. The ears were very 



large, extending down to a level with the chin. There were some marks of paint 

 having formerly existed on the head, though it is too much worn off to admit of 

 any definite description. 



An image was found near the base of a mound, at Mayfield's Station, twelve 

 miles southwardly from Nashville ; also another, at the base of a mound near 

 Clarkcsville ; and still another, near the residence of Mr. Craishead. The image 

 found at Mayfield's Station, in Davidson County, was of sculptured stone, repre- 

 senting a woman sitting upon her " hams," with both hands under her chin, and 

 her elbows upon her knees. It was neatly formed, and well proportioned and 

 polished. This image was kept for a long time by Mr. Boyd, at his tavern in 

 Nashville. 



Dr. Brown had two stone images which were exhumed during the ploughing of 

 the ground, near a very large mound below Charlottesville. One represented an 

 old man, with his body bent forward and his head inclined downwards, exceedingly 

 well executed. The other represented an old Avoman. 



Another idol was found near Nashville. It was composed of a clay remarkable 

 for its fineness, and which is quite abundant in some parts of Kentucky. A small 

 portion of gypsum was mixed with this clay. It represented a woman in a state 

 of nudity, whose arms had been cut off close to the body, and wliose nose and chin 

 had been mutilated. It had a fillet and prominence on the head, and was said to 

 have resembled an idol found in the southern part of the Russian Empire. 



On Cherry Creek, in White County, in a southwest direction from Sparta, are the 



' Nat. and Ab. Hist. Tenn., pp. 120-149. 



