264 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Post Holes and Lodge Sites 



A large number of post holes, that is small holes from 18 to 24 

 inches deep, filled with substances somewhat different from the sur- 

 rounding soil, were discovered in the village layers (see diagram of 

 pits, plate 81). The positions of these holes were carefully chartered 

 and were found to bear a certain relation to one another. The char- 

 acter of the soil inclosed by lines bounding these holes was carefully 

 noted and seemed to indicate the dirt floors of lodges. The post 

 holes therefore were probably the holes made by the stakes that 

 formed the uprights of dwellings. Although a number of lodge 

 sites, so called, were discovered it is not to be thought that there were 

 not other lodges elsewhere. 



Mortuary Customs Indicated 



The areas of most of the graves were large in proportion to the 

 space occupied by the skeletons. In general the bones rested in the 

 center or at one corner of the excavation, leaving a wide space about 

 the bones. Nearly all the skeletons were arranged in a flexed posi- 

 tion. From these circumstances it might be inferred that the dead 

 were carefully placed in the graves and arranged by persons who 

 descended into them. This assumption appears strengthened when 

 it is considered that the pottery vessels which probably contained 

 food could not have been easily dropped into the grave and have 

 remained upright as they were in almost every instance. The whole 

 make-up of the graves and the positions of the articles found in them 

 indicate the hand of design. The decayed substances found over the 

 grave bottoms seem to indicate that other perishable possessions were 

 placed in the graves, such as articles of wood, bark, skins and fabrics 

 of bark or reeds. It is not to be supposed that objects were not 

 placed in some graves because none were found. The lack of stone 

 or pottery articles suggests that only perishable substances and uten- 

 sils have been interred. In the bottoms of many of the grave pits 

 just beneath or mingled with the animal phosphate were layers of 

 charred vegetable matter, either bark, grass or reeds. From this 

 fact it would appear that in such pits fires had been kindled, either to 

 dry the damp earth or to warm the bed for the sleeper whose body 

 must rest so long within it. This is in accord with certain traditions. 

 Thin and sometimes almost imperceptible layers of decayed vege- 

 table matter over some of the skeletons strongly suggest the use of 

 bark or wood as a covering for the bodies before the earth was finally 

 thrown back into the excavation. In a few cases flat pieces of 



