THOMAS.] SORRELS MOUND, JACKSON COUNTY. 141 



VILLAGE SITES. 



Three mile.s .southeast of Sparta, on the left bank of Big INIaiy river, 

 near the .stone graves and mounds mentioned above, are the hut rings 

 shown in Fig. 70. These are situated upon a flat-topped ridge about 

 30 feet higher than the creek bottoms. They are h)w, with the usual 

 depression in the center, but the outlines are rather indistinct. Mr. 

 Gault, of Sparta, who has long resided here, states that when he first 

 moved to this section the Indians lived in houses or wigwams which, 

 when decayed, left such remains as these. They hollowed out a shal- 

 low circular cavity in the surface soil, then, standing poles around the 

 margin of this basin, brought them together at the top, and having cov- 

 ered them with bark or other material — in other words, having con- 

 structed wigwams of the usual circular form — covered them in whole 

 or in part, especially the lower portion, with earth. He also said that 

 after a camj) was abandoned and the wood rotted away it left these 

 rings of earth. Another of these camping places is situated 8 miles 

 west of Sparta. 



JACKSON COUNTY. 

 THE SORRELS MOUND. 



This is situated 1 mile directly north of Carbondale, on the upper 

 level bordering a small creek, at the margin or break where the land 

 descends to the lower level and has been in constant cultivation for 15 

 or 20 years. It is now nearly circular in outline, a little over 150 feet 

 iu diameter, 3 feet high, and composed throughout of dark sandy loam, 

 with a slight admixture of clay, similar to that of the surrounding sur- 

 face of the ground, without any indications of stratification. 



Two skeletons were discovered in the central portion at the depth 

 of 2J feet and about 10 feet apart. Both were closely folded and lying 

 on the side, one with the head north, the other with the head south- 

 west. Judging from the manner in which they were folded it was evi- 

 dent they were buried after the flesh had been removed, as it would 

 have been imi>ossible to press the bones so closely together with the 

 flesh on them, nor could they have assumed this condition in conse- 

 quence of the decay of the flesh and the jiressure of the earth. 



Considerable pottery in fragments and varying in quality was found 

 in and on the mound. Some of the pieces in the mound were so situ- 

 ated in relation to one another as to indicate that the vessels of which 

 they had formed parts had been intentionally broken before they were 

 buried. Most of the i^ottery found in the mound was very rude and 

 coarse, made of materials not well pulverized and but slightly burned. 

 By putting the i>ieces together one of the vessels proved to be a small 

 jar with a flat bottom and, although the form gives it a decidedly modern 

 appearance, it is probably the rudest piece of pottery in the National 

 Museum. It bears on the outside marks of the grass with which it was 



