THE MUSEUM 



25 



found for it. The Nassonite and oth- 

 er wandcriiii:; tribes of Indians used to 

 keep it with them ail the time and 

 also to make regular visits to this 

 mound for the benefits which they 

 were able to derive from using the 

 fresh waters of this spring. From 

 these tribes the earlier settlers leaned 

 the medical qualities and so its use has 

 been perpetuated unto the present 

 time. The origin of the name of this 

 mound is as much a curiosity as the 

 mound itself is a mjstery. Neither 

 its name nor its fame have gone ver\' 

 far from home jet, but where\er 

 known it is spoken of as Damon's 

 Mound. The "oldest inhabitant" first 

 knew it by this name. 



H. M. Brown. 



Indiana Notes. 



(iv.) 



AN AIK)RIC.1NAL VILLAGE SITE. 



The different grades of aboriginal 

 intelligence that is brought to light 

 within a radius of a do/en miles, is 

 very astonishing. Various localities 

 produce different forms of implements, 

 but the finding of an Indian village site 

 that was inhabited up to a reasonable 

 late date, tho' judging by the rude flint 

 implements they left behind, one would 

 infer that they were made by a people 

 possessing very little skill in the manu- 

 facture of flint implements, is very 

 strange to me when we consider the 

 lateness of the habitation of the vil- 

 lage grounds. And then the old village 

 site lies within a locality noted for- its 

 fine aieliiieologieal specimens. 



The village site J refer to is situated 

 in the bottom lands of the beautiful 

 White Water \'alley in Franklin coun- 

 ty, about two miles below the little 

 town of Laurel. The White Water 

 River running north and south divides 

 the village grounds into two parts. 

 That on the east side is of a rolling 

 nature until it reaches some hills of a 

 more steep ascent, while to the west a 

 high bank overlooks the river and back 

 of this the village was nestled under a 



hill of great height for this part of the 

 state. From the top of this hill a 

 splendid view of the surrounding coun- 

 try can be had, and wa.-^, I suppose, 

 used for a signal station, as a number 

 of other heights were used for such 

 purposes. 



Great numbers of "relics" have been 

 found on the village grounds, but the 

 only specimens found by my compan- 

 ion i^Fred Kurtz}, and myself, were a 

 lot of arrow-heads, spear-heads, scrap- 

 ers and one broken drill. The leaf- 

 shape implement predominated over 

 all other patterns and it is surprising to 

 note what little labor was spent on 

 some specimens to attain the desired 

 shape. Only one notched arrow-head 

 was found by us and it being of a 

 bluish color leads me to believe that it 

 is foreign to this locality, as the great- 

 er portion of the "relics" are vvhiteish 

 in color. About two miles south-west 

 of the old village grounds are what is 

 known as the Derbyshire Falls, and in 

 the vicinity of these lovely productions 

 of Nature, I saw flint rock of the same 

 color as the implements mentioned 

 above, and I believe the aborigines 

 obtained the material for their weap- 

 ons at this place. As to where their 

 shop was, I cannot say, for there is no 

 evidence that the rock was worked to 

 any great e.Ktent on the village 

 grounds. Future investigation may 

 bring in to light. 



Nearly all the flint implements are 

 very thick and vary from i \ inches to 

 4 inches long. One long "splinter" of 

 flint shows signs of use — used as a 

 drill :?i. 



We were not fortunate enough to 

 find an ax but I bought one (for locts. ) 

 a fine specimen, also a slate gorget at 

 the same price. Both specimens were 

 found on the village site but they show 

 far more skill of workmanship than 

 the flint implements do. Other a.xes, 

 etc., showing great skill /// that line 

 have been found, but the question is, 

 why was such little care taken with 

 Xhe flint implements in that one local- 

 ity when for miles around, in all 



