^'^FowKr^] HUMAN REMAINS AT GALA 23 



The first skeleton was doubled, rested on the right side, with the head 

 toward the east, near the surface. The bones were very soft. No art 

 remains were found with it. 



The next skeleton, which also was doubled, was found in the clay, 

 resting on the right side, with the head toward the south. The back 

 was straight, and the head bent back until the face was turned directly 

 southward and pressed firmly against the hard wall. Two well- 

 finished arrows, a rough knife, some flint chips, and a bone needle, with 

 the bones of the hands, lay beneath the skull. 



The third skeleton lay only a few inches below the surface; its posi- 

 tion could not be ascertained, except that the head was southward. 

 Half of the lower jaw was discovered ; all the bicuspids and molars had 

 been lost and the bone entirely closed. 



The fourth skeleton was 18 inches below the surface, doubled, on 

 left side, head toward the east; 14 long bone beads were around the 

 neck. / 



The fifth and last skeleton was at the bottom of a hole 3 feet deep; 

 it lay on the right side, head eastward, back straight. The tibiai were 

 much enlarged and roughened apparently by disease; one humerus and 

 a few of the smaller bones were slightly affected m the same way.^ 



WOOD ISLAND. 



Before the great freshets of 1870 and 1877, skeletons were sometimes 

 exposed by the caving of the eastern bank of a large island in James 

 river near Baldwin station ; but since that time none have been seen. 

 As the surface was much denuded, it is probable that any bones which 

 may have remained at the time of the flood were carried away by the 

 water. 



On the western side of the island are some indications of a village site. 

 There were formerly piles of burned stones, apparently sites of camp- 

 fires, beneath which it is claimed skeletons were found. Only two such 

 piles remained ; excavations under and around them to a de|)th of 5 

 feet showed that the earth had never before been distnrbed. 



Graves formerly existed along both banks of the western branch of the 

 river; but the caving of the banks has extended past the line at which 

 they occurred, and consequently none have been seen for several years. 



In the bottom land on the western side of the river are many spots 4 

 to 5 feet across and about G inches thick, very irregular in outline, where 

 the sandy earth is of a bright red color. They are called "fireplaces," 

 but there is no trace of ashes or charcoal, nor are any relics found about 

 them. 



HOOK MILL. 



Six miles west of Gala, in Rich Patch mountain, there is a pass through 

 which a trail led from Craig creek to Covington. At the highest point 



'Except the fragments.of skull exhumed on the first day, this was the only iustauce 

 of huuiau boues found in a barbecue hole. 



