116 



MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



height of 3 feet and a foot or inoie iu thickness. Three feet from each 

 end was a cross wall or partition of like character, thus leaving a cen- 

 tral chamber 7 feet square, and a narrow cell at each end about 2 feet 

 wide and 7 feet long. This had been entirely covered with a single 

 layer of round logs, varying in diameter from 6 to 12 inches, laid close 

 together side by side across the width of the vault, the ends resting 

 npon and extending to uneven lengths beyond the side walls. 



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V. 





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Fig. 56. — Seetion of ilouud No. 16. Dmilcith Illinois. 



In the central chamber were 11 skeletons, adults, 4 children of dif- 

 ferent sizes, and 1 infant, the last evidently buried iu the arms of one 

 of the adults, presumably its mother. They had all apparently been 

 interred at one time as they were found arranged iu a circle in a sitting 

 l)0sture, with backs against the walls. In the center of the space 

 around which they were grouped was a fine large shell, Busycon per- 

 versum, which had been converted into a drinking cup by removing 



the columella. Scattered around this 

 were quite a number of pieces of bro- 

 ken pottery. 



The end cells, walled off as hereto- 

 fore stated, were nearly- filled with a 

 fine chocolate-colored dust, which, 

 when first uncovered, gave out such 

 a sickening odor that it was found 

 necessary to suspend operations until 

 the next day in order to give it time 

 to escape. This dust may be the 

 ashes resulting from burning the 

 fleshy portions of the individuals buried in the central chamber. A 

 bottle of it was saved for future examination. 



A vertical section of the mound and vault, lengthwise of the latter, is 

 shown in Fig. 56. In this can be seen the end and partition walls of 

 the vault, the cells, the skeletons, the ends of the logs forming the cover 

 and the hard central mass of the mound. Fig. 57 shows the plan of 

 the vault, the positions of the skeletons, and the projecting ends of the 

 logs on one side. The covering consisted of oak logs, nearly all of which 

 had been peeled and someof the larger ones somewhat squared by slab- 

 bing otj,' the sides before being put in place. The slabs and bark thus 

 removed, together with reeds and twigs, had been laid over the logs 



Fig. 57. 



-Vault iu Mounil No. IG. Duuleith. 

 niiuois. 



