G MOITND EXTLORING OF THE 



rremisinj*' that accuracy as to details and statements, without regard 

 to their bearing on this or that theory, has been considered the chief 

 and all important point to be kept constantly in view in all the opera- 

 tions of the division, the methods of work develoi)ed (except during the 

 first year, when want of experience caused sonu^. of the details of accu- 

 rate work to be omitted) have been substantially as follows : 



A small division was organized in 1882 to which the work of exploring 

 and examining the antiquities in that part of the United States east of 

 the Kocky Mountains was assigned. This division was placed in my 

 charge, and one clerical and three field assistants were assigned me, 

 with the occasional addition of a temporary field assistant. 



The localities examined were determined, to a certain extent, by cir- 

 cumstances, such as the character of the seasons, the permission of the 

 owners to examine the works, &c. ; but the general plan, so far as it 

 could be carried out advantageously, was to work on three primary 

 north and south lines: the first and principal one, the immediate valley 

 of the Mississippi from Wisconsin southward; the second, from Ohio 

 southward through Kentucky to Mississippi; and the third, in the val- 

 leys of Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina, thence south- 

 ward through Georgia and Alabama to Florida. This program has as 

 yet been only partially carried out, the second line having received but 

 comparatively little attention. Sections which hnd been somewhat 

 carefully worked over, and of which the types and forms are tolerably 

 well known, were generally passed bj-. 



In the field work it has been the custom, first, to make a full and 

 correct description of the groups examined, giving the topography of 

 the immediate locality, the forms, character, and dimensions of the 

 works and their relations to one another, accompanying these descrip- 

 tions by diagrams, maps, and figures drawn by the assistants. Each 

 mound explored is first measured, and whenever it varies from the ordi- 

 nary conical type a figure of it is made. As the exploration proceeds 

 the character and thickness of the strata, the exact positions of the 

 skeletons and relics found in it, and all other items deemed interesting 

 or important are noted at the time in a memorandum book kei)t at hand 

 for this purpose. In most cases where important finds are indicated 

 outline figures of both the horizontal and the vertical sections are drawn, 

 on which the positions of the skeletons and relics are marked as found. 

 The diagrams and sections of mounds which will be given in the report 

 (one of which, showing the relative positions, horizontally, of the skel- 

 etons in an East Tennessee mound, is here presented in Fig. 1) areuot 

 i?naginary nor are they made from memory. As the skeletons are found 

 and noted in the memorandum book, eacli is numbered both in the book 

 and on the sketch. In the description opposite the number in the book 

 the particulars regarding the skeleton are given and mentioiiis made of 

 any specimens found with it. This is given in addition to the general 



