26 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 71 



1\\() deposits were sei^arated by about 1! ieot of sand. "In the 

 main or lower deposit some of the bones liad, otliers had not, been 

 subjected to fire. The bone layer might have been subdivided thus: 

 First, the bottom (6 inches), Avhere the bones were in small frag- 

 ments, blackened and bedded in masses of charcoal and ashes; sec- 

 ond, the middle, next above (5 to 10 inches), where the skulls and 

 bones, though somewhat charred, were intact; and third, the top 

 (G to 8 inches), where the bones, though mixed with bits of char- 

 coal, showed no direct trace of fire. The conditions proved that 

 many skeletons had been burned in the lower part of the main bed." 

 The l)ones in the smaller deposit " w^cre gcncralh^ intact in tolerable 

 preservation, and in spite of the bits of scattered charcoal found 

 with them, showed no direct signs of charring." (Mercer, (1)^ pp. 

 93-94.) 



Ossuaries of this form are not characteristic of any Algonquian 

 tribe, but at once suggest the customs of the Huron and other north- 

 ern Iro(juoiiin people. This large deposit of human remains may 

 have resulted through some gi'eat emergency, at some time when it 

 became necessary to dispose of many bodies which were placed in 

 one common grave, rather than preparing a separate one for each. 

 Single graves have been exposed on the face of the cliff, evidently 

 near the ossuaries, which tends to prove this particular spot to have 

 been the cemetery adjoining the ancient village. 



The county of Dorchester is bounded on the southeast by the 

 Nanticoke River, and human remains have been discovered on the 

 right bank of the stream just above the village of Vienna, and un- 

 doubtedly many other burial places have been encountered within 

 this region, once comparatively thickly peopled, no records of which 

 are prescn^vecl. 



I'lJE I'OWIIATAN CONFEDEKACY 



Tt is to be regretted that more is not known concerning the burial 

 customs of the Algonquian tribes of Virginia, those who constituted 

 the Powhatan confederacy, people with whom the Jahiestowai colo- 

 nists came in contact during the S])ring()f 1(507. Several accounts are 

 preserved, but unfortunately all are lacking in detail. Capt. Smith 

 included burial customs under the general caption Of their Religion^ 

 and in 1012 wrote : 



" But their chief e God they worship is the Divell, Him they call 

 Oke and serve him more of feare than love. They say they have 

 conference w'ith him, and fashion themselves as neare to his shape 

 as they can imagine. In their Temples, they have his image evill 

 favouredly carved, and then painted and adorned with chaines, cop- 

 per, and beads; and covered with a skin, in such manner as the de- 

 formity may well suit with such a God. By him is commonly the 



