120 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



upon the bluff to the right are probably all burial luouuds. They are 

 mainly of very hard prepared earth, and one of those explored was 

 certainly a depository of skeletons lemoved from elsewheie. 



Upon the level bottom between the bluff and a lake or bayou con- 

 necting with the Illinois river, and about 2 miles south of Lagrange, is 

 a small group of mounds, very interesting from the fact that here we 

 see the i^yramidal form so common in the south, but so rare in this 

 northern region. 



The dimensions- of these mounds are as follows (the numbers are 

 given merely as means of designating them) : 



No. 1, circular; diameter, 100 feet; height, 5 feet. 



No. 2, rectangular ; base, 198 by 117 feet; top, 111 by 30 feet ; height, 

 30 feet ; regularly truncated ; top level. 



No. 3, rectangular; base, 165 by S2 feet; top, 10.5 by 30 feet; height, 

 24 feet ; regularly truncated ; top level. 



No. 1, circular; diameter, 90 feet; height, 15 feet. 



No. 5, circular; diameter, 33 feet; height, 6 feet. 



The size, form, appearance, and surroundings of these mounds seem- 

 ingly indicate that they are the work of southern mound-builders. 



The neighboring bluffs are covered with the ordinary circulai^ mounds, 

 20 to 60 feet in diameter and 4 to 8 feet high. The tops of these had 

 already been rifled of the intrusive burials of Indian skeletons, stone, 

 and occasionally iron Implements and other modern articles. Further 

 exploration of the hard central core of many of them revealed only 

 decaying human bones and unimijortant articles. But those on the 

 bottom are of a very different type from those on the bluffs, and prob- 

 ably are the work of a different people. The bottom on which these 

 stand is subject to occasional overflows. Many acres of a dry, sloping 

 terrace 2 miles south of this iioint are strewn with the finest lance and 

 arrow heads and other stone iiiiplcinents found in the valley of the Illi- 

 nois river. Fragments of a better quality of pottery were also abun- 

 dant, but no entire vessels were found. 



ADAMS COUNTY. 



Upon the east bank of the Mississippi opposite Canton, Missouri, is 

 an irregular line of mounds, nearly all of which are circular and vary 

 in diameter from 30 to 120 feet, and in height trom4 to 10 feet. Two 

 of these were opened with the following result : 



No. 1, about 100 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, was composed ofV 

 first, a layer of soil 2 feet thick, the remainder of compact earth so hard 

 as to require the use of the pick. At a depth of 1 foot in the latter, or 

 3 feet from the top, was a much-decayed skeleton of ordinary size lying 

 horizontally with the head toward the west, about which were some 

 fragments of pottery. Nothing else of interest was found. 



No. 2, 60 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, was of similar construction, 

 but nothing was found in it. 



