1890.] NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 199 



May 12, 1890. 



Stated Meeting. 



The President, Dr. Newberry, in the chair. 



One hundred persons present. 



The President nominated Mr. A. 0. Chenoweth as Kesi- 

 dent Member. 



The paper of the evening was then read: — 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE RECENT EXCAVATIONS IN ANCIENT 

 MOUNDS AT INWOOD, NEW YORK CITY. 



BY W. H. J. SIEBERG AND A. C. CHENOWETH. 



(Abstract.) 



This communication was illustrated with a very large series 

 of specimens, comprising pottery, stone implements, and human 

 bones, some skeletons being nearly complete. 



Prof. D. S. Martin described briefly the location and other 

 peculiarities of the mound. It lies in a valley formed by the 

 erosion of one of the limestone belts of that part of the island, 

 between two of the gneissic ridges on either side, — one of them 

 forming the line of heights along by the Hudson, and the other, 

 to the east, the celebrated mineral locality of Fort George. The 

 limestone (dolomite) has weathered away upon the outcrops to 

 an exceedingly clean, dry, crystalline lime-sand, — closely re- 

 sembling '^ granulated ^' sugar. This makes a remarkable pre- 

 serving material for such remains as those here found. The 

 " mound " itself is a rounded swell of this decomposed dolomite, 

 not an artificial structure such as those of the West. As regards 

 the age of the relics, their extraordinary state of preservation 

 is the first fact that impresses one; but this is doubtless due, as 

 said, to the character of the soil. The pottery, however, is 

 abundant, and unquestionably of a rude aboriginal type. This, 

 with the trees growing over the burial-spots, and the size and 

 other peculiarities of the remains, are a sufficient attestation of 

 the genuineness of the locality as an old Indian grave-mound, 

 however we may regard its claim to extreme antiquity. 



At the close of the paper there was considerable discussion 



