FOWKE] AECHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS 85 



lies half a mile to the eastward. The sandstone capping the hiil 

 appears within a few hundred feet and is covered with an abundant 

 growth. On the upland are many large trees. 



The ridge farthest south, on the farm of Joseph Ross, has five stone 

 graves along the crest, numbered here in their order from the bluff. 

 Number (1) is a few rods below the sandstone outcrop, and is con- 

 structed partly of weathered limestone blocks such as are now lying 

 around it and partly of sandstone slabs carried from farther up the 

 hill. All the other cairns, although (2) and (3) stand on the lime- 

 stone bedrock, are built entirely of sandstone fragments ranging 

 from the size of a brick or smaller to pieces weighing over 200 

 pounds. 



At first sight the cairns appeared to be only piles of stones thrown 

 together; but more careful inspection showed that each burial place 

 was outlined by a wall, laid up with as much regularity as was prac- 

 ticable with the material at hand, and inclosing a space approxi- 

 mately square. Measuring from face to face of their walls, the 

 spaces between these cairns were as follows: (1) to (2), 21 feet; (2) 

 to (3), 19 feet; (3) to (4), 36 feet; (4) to (5), 34 feet. 



Not one of these walls was intact at the time of examination ; 

 hunters had torn away portions of all of them in pursuit of small 

 animals which had sought refuge among the stones; and such parts 

 as were not thus injured were more or less displaced by roots of 

 trees penetrating in every direction the soil which had accumulated 

 in the open spaces. 



So far as could be judged in their chaotic condition, the first step 

 in their construction was to lay a row of slabs around the area 

 required; then another row upon this; and the work was continued 

 ill this manner until the desired height was reached. As a rule, 

 the stones were so laid as to break joints and to interlock at the 

 corners, for greater stability ; but in a few places this was not done. 

 If a stone, once laid up, did not fit as it should, the builders appar- 

 ently did not take the trouble to replace it with another better 

 suited to the requirements. Seemingly, care was taken to build 

 in such a manner that each outer face should be vertical, and in a 

 straight line from corner to corner; but the inner side was left 

 rough and irregular according to the shape and size of the blocks, 

 no attempt being made to even it up. If timbers of any kind had 

 been laid across the top, resting on the walls, there remained no 

 indication of the fact. However, the bodies may have been protected 

 at the time of interment by small vaults or pens constructed of poles, 

 whose decay would allow the stones to settle, and of which no traces 

 would now be left. 



The space inclosed by the walls was filled with loose stones lying 

 in such disorder as to suggest that they had been carelessly or hastily 



