174 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



It was found after some expenditure of time that very little 

 movable material data bearing on the original inhabitants could 

 be hoped for. Specimens of the arts and manufactures were 

 few and fragmentary. However, bearing in mind that the problem 

 was to discover the identity and characteristics of the builders of the 

 earthworks, it was deemed advisable to continue until they could be 

 thoroughly studied and every important fact obtainable brought to- 

 light. Since the area within the inclosure refused to divulge all the 

 desired information, it was sought to discover the burials and wring 

 from the crumbling bones of these swamp dwellers some word or 

 fact to dispel the mystery. 



Post holes were dug in the ridge to the west of the earth-walled 

 inclosure to discover, if possible, whether or not there were any 

 burials, it being the spot most suited for graves, in point of accessi- 

 bility. The surrounding ground was swampy and the loam but a 

 few inches in depth when a stiff clay or hardpan was encountered. 

 The knoll, on the other hand, was dry and sandy. 



After forty tests had been made, running from the brook on the 

 north in a southerly direction, an area of disturbed earth was found 

 and a trench staked out for systematic excavation. Following the 

 rule the trench was one rod wide. Trench i was run over the crest 

 of the ridge from south to north. 



Burial i, was found at 16 feet in the middle of the trench 20 

 inches below the surface. A root-eaten skeleton of a young female 

 was discovered. The skull was crushed at the top. Only the skull 

 and upper ribs and upper arm bones were found. The head lay to 

 the northeast, face northwest. Twenty-eight inches southeast and 

 above the head was an ash pit 18 inches deep. It was filled with 

 white ashes. The superincumbent soil was sandy and intermixed 

 with bits of charcoal. 



Burial 2. At 16 feet on the west side of the trench, 36 inches 

 below the surface and opposite burial i, burial 2 was discovered. 

 The skeleton was that of an adult male and lay in a flexed position. 

 Measurements of the skeleton as it lay led to the following data: 

 33 inches from top of skull to heel ; knee to back, 9 inches ; pelvis to 

 top of head, 33 inches. The soil was strewn with charcoal bits and 

 potsherds. A black fibrous phosphate was noticeable in the grave 

 soil. 



Two empty graves were found between this burial and the next 

 (no. 3). Their character as graves was shown by the soft, loose 

 and disturbed soil which lay surrounded by the hard, undisturbed 

 grit. It was an easy matter to shovel out the grave soil because of 



