was nearly a circle of about four feet in diameter, and 

 had been dug to the depth of about three feet. Upright 

 slabs of limestone about three feet in height, from one to 

 two feet in width and three or four inches in thickness, 

 had then been placed round the hole. The bottom of the 

 grave had been covered with pieces of shale brought from 

 Peter's Creek, about a quarter of a mile distant. The 

 bodies, at least ten in number, had been placed in the 

 grave, evidently arranged in a sitting posture, in a circle, 

 with their backs against the upright slabs. A few pieces 

 of stone found on the surface of the grave may indicate 

 that stones had been placed over it. If any slight earth- 

 mound had been formed over the grave, it had been 

 washed away, as the edges of the upright stones were 

 projecting a few inches above the present surface of the 

 soil. From the fact that only a fragment of pottery was 

 found among the stones on the surface of the grave, and 

 no implements of any kind in the grave, it may be that 

 articles since scattered were placed over the grave. The 

 number of these circular graves that once existed at this 

 spot on the homestead of Gen. Jos. H. Lewis, who had 

 taken Mr. Putnam to the place, brings up many thoughts 

 as to their connection with the group of mounds in the 

 little valley below them, and speculations regarding their 

 peculiar position lead Mr. Putnam to consider them as 

 probably indicating a peculiar mode of burial which 'may 

 yet be found to be as characteristic of the singular mound- 

 building race, as the burial under mounds is now sup- 

 posed to be. The fact that all the bodies must have been 

 placed in the grave at the same time, and, as shown by 

 the teeth, that they were those of persons of various ages, 

 from two children who had still the first set of teeth, to a 

 person so old as to have many of the alveoli closed up, 

 while the majority were evidently of middle age ; and 



