28 



JAMES AND POTOMAC ARCHEOLOGY 



t BUREAU OF 

 ETHNOLOGY 





symmetric outline. It measured 2 by 3 feet, and extended 2 feet into 

 the ori«;inaI soil, the longer axis being- east and west. Nothing was 

 found ill this (uivity except a small arrowhead which had been thrown 

 in with the earth. Loose in the earth above the hole, and near the top 

 of the mound, were some small pieces of mica and a perforated slate 

 gorget. Farther along were a Hint knife, some broken arrows, and 

 several chips. About a foot below the summit were a sheet of mica 

 and a small piece of galena. In the original soil, with its northern 

 edge just at the center, was an irregular excavation about 3 by 4 feet 

 and a foot deep, the longer axis being north and south. The bottom 



of this hole, over a si)a(e 15 by 24 inches, 

 ^^^^,,;,^;.-^'-*.!--:-«.n»,^^^ ^,^^ covered with a bright red substance, 



\ which had been de])osited either in a fluid 

 state or had afterward dissolved; it satu- 

 rated the clay and gravel tu a depth of 2 

 inches at the center, gradually thinning 

 out toward the edges until it disappeared. 

 In this red deposit were 3 gorgets, each 

 with a single hole. All were finished and 

 polished to the highest degree; one (illiis- 

 3, trated in figure 4) was made of argillite, 

 '*'one was of dark chocolate slate, the third 

 of syenite. All of these specimens were 

 coated with the red paint. The earth just 

 above them had the color of that in which 

 animal matter has decayed; but nothing 

 remained to show that an interment had 

 ever taken place. 



WITHliOW INIOUXDS. 



On the farm of Mr Withrow, adjoining 

 the Dickinson place, are 2 mounds. The 

 first opened, once circular and 4 feet high, 

 is now 30 by 40 feet, longer east and west, 

 and not over 18 inches high. Bones have 

 been plowed out for many years. The en- 

 tire mound, except a few feet at the eastern side, was removed; 13 

 graves, from 2 to 4 feet across, were found beneath it. In some were 

 traces of bone lying on the clay at the bottom, the earth having the 

 l)eculiar appearance due to decay of animal matter; but in most there 

 was no sign of bone, though the color showed what their purpose 

 had been. After these graves were filled a large number of skeletons — 

 not bodies — had been placed on the natural surface, and a layer of 

 earth about a foot thick ])laced over them; then other skeletons were 

 similarly laid down and covered. Only the upper layer had been dis- 

 turbed by the plow. 



%# 



'^^'^MiMmMiMl^^''''''^ 



Fig. 4.— Gorget from Dickinson moiinil, 

 Bath county, Virginia. 



