52 



MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



in the last stages of decay, and witli it a stone skinner, stone drill, 

 scraper, fragments of river shells, and fragments of a mammoth's tooth. 



The earth below the thick np- 

 '^iC3^ 1'*"" layer was mixed with clay 



^.u-.^\.r ^^ij ashes or some other snb- 



stance evidently different from 

 the surrounding soil, but not 

 so hard as the mortar-like ma- 

 terial found in the mounds on 

 the blufi'. 



The main road from Prairie 

 du Chien to Eastman follows 

 chieily the old trail along the 

 crest of the divide between the 

 drainage of the Kickapoo and 

 Mississippi rivers. Along this 

 are a number of efflgy mounds ; 

 some of them in cultivated 

 fields, but the larger number in 

 the forest, the trees upon them 

 being of the same size as those 

 on the surrounding ground. 

 Most of these, which are in part 

 referred to in Mr. Strong's notes 

 and figures,' were surveyed and 

 platted. A i^lat of the south- 

 west part of Crawford county 

 showing the location of the 

 groups mentioned is given in 

 Fig. U. 



Fig. 13.— Silver cross from mound, Prairie du Chien. Wis. ,^, ,, , , . 



The tirst group measured is 

 situated about a quarter of a mile north of Eastman, on Sec. 18, T. 8 N., 

 K. 5 W. These mounds lie west of the road, partly in the woods and 



Fig. 15 — Earthworks near Kastman, Crawford county, Wisconsin. 



partly in the field. The group is in fact a series or chain of low, small 

 circular tumuli extending in a nearly straight line northwest and south- 

 east, connected together by embankments as shown in Fig. 15. They 

 are on the top of the ridge. 



> Smithsonian Report of 1877, pp. 239-246. 



