24 JAMES AND POTOMAC ARCHEOLOGY [ethnology 



in tliis pass there are several small stone piles, not more than a foot high, 

 and placed on earth which is light and easily dug. Several of these 

 cairns were removed and the earth beneath carefully examined to a 

 depth of 3 or 4 feet without result. They are probably trail-marks. 



XEAU IR()\ OATK. 



Three miles below Clifton Forge the Jackson and Cowpasture unite to 

 form James river. A large fertile bottom lies between them, in which 

 many relics of various kinds have been found, flint chips being very 

 abundant. Close to the bank of Jackson river, a few hundred yards 

 above the junction, the upper soil was washed away in 1870, and many 

 human bones were unearthed. 



On the opposite or right b.ink of (he Jackson the land is much higher, 

 being underlain with native rock which forms a bluff along the water. 

 At one point on this bluff is the site of an arrowhead factory. 



This high level land extends for a nrile along the stream; the alluvial 

 soil is loose and fertile; good springs are numerous; and the mountains, 

 full of game, come down to the rivers on every side. 



Similar conditions exist in all the valleys in this jiortion of Virginia 

 and the adjoining i)arts of West Virginia. There are many well defined 

 l)lateaus and terraces along the rivers and some of the creeks. 



ITnder such circumstances, evidences of aboriginal occui)ancy are to 

 be expected, and the ordinary hunting or war implements, jupes, and 

 ornaments are quite common. A number of cemeteries have been dis- 

 ( losed by floods, and it is probable that many others remain to be dis- 

 covered; for in some places where relics are plentiful, and where all the 

 requirements of Indian life seem to be met, there are no indications of 

 permanent settlements. There are very few mounds, and none of them 

 are large. 



ALLE(aTAN^ COFiXTV. 



FALI.INC .SI'i;i\(i. 



In making a cut on the Covington and Warm Springs railway at 

 this point, an aboriginal cemetery was discovered and 30 or 40 skele- 

 tons, together with some beads, a pipe, and a few arrowheads, were 

 exhumed by the workmen. The burial ground was not more than 30 

 feet wide, and this width was reduced at least one-third in making the 

 cut. In the remaining space were 2 pits or holes, neither of them more 

 than 8 feet across, into which manj' bodies or skeletons had been thrown 

 promiscuously. The flrst pit had been dug partially away by the 

 laborers; in the undisturbed portion lii skulls were found, probably 

 less than half the original number. It was evident that some of the 

 bodies had been deposited soon after death, the displacement of the 

 bones being no greater than would naturally result from the settling 

 of the earth around them when the flesh had decayed. In other cases 

 the bones alone were interred, being intermingled and packed in a way 



