300 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Buu. 185 
DISCUSSION OF THE BURIAL MOUND COMPLEX AT 
RUSSELL MOUND 
In the preceding pages, the Russell Mound has been described as a 
separate entity. However, before a site can be placed in its proper 
archeological context, its relationship to other sites must be analyzed. 
The following summaries are important because they suggest affilia- 
tions with the Russell Mound site. 
The Sweat Bee Mound (14P014) is a tumulus situated on a high 
bluff overlooking the Big Blue River about 85 miles southeast of the 
Russell Mound. It was covered with limestone slabs and measured 
about 26 feet in diameter and 2 feet in height (Cumming, 1958). The 
mound resembles site 14.)W207 primarily in its geographical disposi- 
tion and rock-slab covering. It contained seven primary burials and 
a small assemblage of stone and shell artifacts, but no pottery was 
recovered. The mound has been ascribed to the Woodland Pattern. 
Site 14EW18, located on a high escarpment above Bluff Creek about 
85 miles south of the Russell Mound, consists of four or five limestone 
slab-covered burial mounds ranging from 10 to 30 feet in diameter 
and 2 to 8 feet in height (Kivett, 1947). The mounds had been dis- 
turbed by local collectors and reportedly contained human burials. 
No excavations were conducted at the site. 
The Hudson site (14K W24), also about 85 miles south of the 
Russell Mound, is situated on the top of a butte facing down onto a 
branch of Thompson Creek (Smith, 1949). Seven sandstone-covered 
burial cairns were found at this site, four of which were excavated. 
They were about 1 foot in height and 5 or 6 feet in diameter (Smith, 
C., personal communication). One of the mounds was found to 
contain a flexed burial within a partially outlined stone cist. Three 
of the unexcavated cairns “did not contain recognizable cists.” Arti- 
facts were totally lacking at the site. 
Jacob Vradenburg Brower noted mounds “up and down the Kansas 
and Blue Rivers and their tributaries for long distances” (Brower, 
1898). He specifically wrote of mounds near the Griffing Village site 
on Wild Cat Creek in Riley County, Kans. All the mounds were on 
high bluffs and were covered with stone and earth. They measured 
1.5 to 4 feet in height and 25 to 35 feet in diameter. He states that 
“little else than fragments of burned human bones” was recovered 
from the mound fill. The mounds were not grouped together, but 
were scattered singly at different places. 
Other mounds are reported in the vicinity of the Schmidt Village 
site in the valley of Mill Creek, Wabaunsee County, Kans. (Brower, 
1898). They are described as being about 2 feet in height and 25 
