106 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [boll. 71 



Avoeful lamentations; the. women are very vociferous in it, but the 

 men do it in silence, taking great care not to be seen any more than 

 heard at this business; the mourning continues about a year, which 

 they know by counting the moons, they are every morning and 

 evening, and at first throughout the day at different times, em- 

 ployed in the exercise of this last duty." (Romans, (1), p. 71.) 



More details of the ceremony were recorded by Adair, who was 

 well acquainted with the manners and customs of the Chickasaw, 

 having traded among them for many years. According to his nar- 

 rative : " When any of their people die at "home, they wash and 

 anoint the corpse, and soon bring it out of doors . . . after a 

 short eulogium, and space of mourning, they carry him three times 

 around the house in which he is to he interred, stoping half a min- 

 ute each time." The excavation was described as being clean inside, 

 and after the body had been deposited Avithin it was covered with 

 logs, then several layers of cypress bark, and made level with the 

 floor of the house. Beds were often made above the graves. (Adair, 

 (l),p. 181.) . 



It is of great interest to be able to trace this unusual custom of in- 

 terring the dead beneath the floor of the house back to prehistoric 

 times, and that within the region occupied by the same tribe. In 

 Wilson County, Tennessee, was discovered the site of an ancient 

 village. Surrounded by an inclosure were several mounds and about 

 100 earth circles with diameters varying from 10 to 50 feet. Each 

 such ring represented the ruined site of a separate house of a form 

 known to have been erected by certain tribes in the lower Mississippi 

 Valley. Nineteen of the so-called hut rings Avere examined and bits 

 of pottery, stone implements, some broken and others entire, and 

 other traces of Indian occupancy were discovered. " On removing 

 the hardened and burnt earth forming the floors of the houses, and at 

 a depth of from 1^ to 3 feet, small stone graves were found in 11 of 

 the 19 circles that were carefully examined. These graA^es were in 

 CA^ery case those of children, and were from 1 ft. to 4 ft. in length. 

 These children's graves were found at one side of the centre of the 

 house, and. generally, it was noticed, that a fire had been built OA^er 

 the spot." (Putnam, (1), pp. 339-360.) Whether all the burials 

 encountered on this site were really those of children may be ques- 

 tioned, but nevertheless the custom of burying beneath the floors of 

 the houses conforms Avith the known habit of the Chickasaw, as 

 already told. Undoubtedly many other similar discoveries may be 

 made at some future time. 



Adair also described the customs of the Chickasaw when any of 

 their numV^er died aAvay from home. " When any of them die at a 

 distance, if the company be not driven and pursued by an enemy, 



