108 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 



point or near it a bed of ashes and charred wood is 

 met, and beneath this the remnants of a human skele- 

 ton. It is not uncommon to find pieces of pottery 

 and a few stone and flint implements near the skele- 

 ton and the spot where the fire was. There is no 

 evidence that the body was cremated, but probably a 

 funereal fire was built near, and perhaps sacrifies were 

 made, as bones and teeth of deer, bear, and some of 

 the smaller animals, are generally found about the ash 

 heap. In sinking the shaft and in driving the drift 

 it is common to find relics of a rude or savage people, 

 in the shape of flint arrows and spear heads, stone 

 axes and pipes, bone awls and drills, or other kinds of 

 weapons, implements and utensils. If a grave or two 

 be struck near the summit or surface, the bones of a 

 body buried in a sitting posture will indicate that the 

 remains of an Indian have been discovered. It was 

 quite common for the Indians to bury their dead in 

 the slope of a mound. The bones found beneath the 

 ashes and charcoal have been buried so long that they 

 readily crumble. If a cranium comes out in its en- 

 tirety it is apt to tumble in pieces as soon as exposed 

 to the air. The animal matter has been dissipated, 

 the lime only remaining, and retaining the form of the 

 bone as long as left unhandled. As mounds are made 

 of the surrounding alluvium, gravel, and sand, skele- 

 tons in the centers of the tumuli have been subjected 

 to about the same influences, consequently if one will 

 easily crumble, all may be expected to fall in frag- 

 ments. It is rare to find a strong and unbroken 

 Mound Builder's skull. Many of those taken from 

 mounds in a good state of preservation are of modern 

 Indians, and may not have been buried a hundred 



