VOL. VII] REAGAN ARCH&OLOGICAL NOTES 29 



the bottom of this. A layer of charcoal was found in the 

 bottom of some of these graves, evidently the remains of 

 a sepulchral fire; probably only the personal belongings of 

 the deceased were burned there. On Vancouver Island there 

 is evidence in the tumuli that cremation was practiced by the 

 early tribes there. 



Another class of mounds occurs frequently throughout 

 the region of the Fraser, on Vancouver Island, at Point 

 Roberts (in the Sound region), and on the mountain slopes 

 overlooking Sumas Lake. These are rectangular in shape 

 and have a rectangular periphery of stones. Some are ap 

 proximately true squares in shape, others decidedly oblong. 

 These enclosures vary from 10 to 20 feet in side and end 

 dimensions. Some also have as high as three rectangular 

 rows of stones, one inside the other, with an interval of 

 a few feet between them. The outer row is also often 

 doubled and capped by an additional row. A pile of boul 

 ders also often fills the center space; and over this, clay and 

 different colored sands are spread. Sometimes the clays and 

 sands seem to be interstratified. The material is all usually 

 locally obtained, though the clays and sands of the colored, 

 stratified type seem to have often been obtained from quite 

 a distance. The rocks of the periphery are often very large, 

 weighing from 200 to 500 pounds, the stones of some of the 

 larger mounds collectively weighing probably 30 tons; some 

 of the mounds on Vancouver Island are made up wholly of 

 a conically piled rock heap. The general conclusion is that 

 this class of burial mounds was not made by the present race 

 of Indians in the region, for up to the coming of the white 

 man they never practiced burial by inhumation; their burial 

 was usually in or under trees. From the burial practice of 

 other Indians mentioned in this article, it would seem that 

 a race of aborigines related to the Makahs must have made 

 the mounds. But there is not sufficient data at hand more 

 than to make a suggestion on the subject. It is evident, 

 however, that the builders of these mounds were an old race 

 and their tombs of great age, dating back probably more than 

 2,000 years and antedating the coming of the Salish stock, 

 probably many hundreds of years. 



