BUSHNELL] NATIVE CEMETERIES AND FORMS OF BURIAL 15 



The two burials encountered by the Pilgrims at Corn Hill were 

 those of Indians and had evidently been made within a year. The 

 " yellow haire " had been caused by the process of decay and would 

 soon have disappeared. The objects of iron had been obtained from 

 some Europeans who had touched upon the coast or whose vessel 

 had been wrecked. Now, three centuries later, were these ancient 

 burial places to be discovered it is doubtful whether any traces would 

 remain in addition to the mass of " perfect red Powder," insoluble 

 red oxide of iron (FcaOa). All human remains, mats, bows, and 

 other objects of a perishable nature would have turned to dust and 

 disappeared. But any ornaments or implements of stone which 

 might have been deposited in the pit grave would remain. Within 

 recent years many similar pits, with masses of the red oxide mingled 

 with various objects of stone, have been encountered not far 

 from the coast in Lincoln and Hancock Counties, Maine. But not 

 a particle of bone, or ev6n a tooth, has been discovered within the 

 ancient pits to indicate the presence of human remains. Neverthe- 

 less they were probably once like the burials found by the Pilgrims 

 at Corn Hill, but now all substance of a perishable nature has van- 

 ished. They were probably made by a kindred Algonquian tribe 

 and may not be older than those occurring on Cape Cod. One of 

 the most interesting groups of such pit graves was exposed at Bucks- 

 port, 18 miles below Bangor, on the left bank of the Penobscot; an- 

 other was discovered on the west shore of Lake Alamoosook, both 

 in Hancock County, Maine. (Willoughby, (1).) 



Similar deposits of the insoluble red oxide were associated with 

 burials in an ancient cemetery discovered in 1913 in Warren, Bristol 

 County, Rhode Island. This appears to have been a burying ground 

 of the Wampanoag, within whose lands it was. When the site was 

 destroyed some of the skeletons were exposed, together with a large 

 number of objects of English, Dutch, and French origin, dating from 

 the years between the first contact with the Europeans until the 

 latter part of the seventeenth century. In some burials copper ket- 

 tles were placed over the heads of the bodies. In such cases the cop- 

 per salts acted as a preservative. One gi-ave was of the greatest 

 interest. It was that of a man well advanced in years, and asso- 

 ciated with the remains were two ancient English swords, one or 

 more gunlocks, a roll of military braid, and the traces of a feather 

 headdress in a case. The suggestion has been made that these were 

 the remains of the great Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, who met the 

 Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1621, ever remained a friend of the colo- 

 nists, and who died in 1662. One of his sons, Metacomet, became 

 known as King Pliilip, famous in colonial history and leader in the 

 war against the English settlements which terminated in the disas- 



