256 



MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



covered and the vessels, which are usually a little higher than the skele- 

 tons, were broken into fragments, only one whole one being found in 

 this tier. The next tier was about 2 feet below the first and the bones 

 more decayed. Relatively fewer vessels were found and these so badly 

 broken that but two bowls were obtained entire. The third tier was 

 2 feet below the second, or 5 feet from the toi), and slightly below the 

 original surface of the ground. 



As less than a hundred skeletons were found here, there are doubt- 

 less other burying places in this group, but there are so many modern 

 burials in tliese mounds that it was impossible to sink a pit without 

 disturbing the skeletons of whites and negroes. 



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Clarksdale 





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Fig. 15H. — Clarksdale works, Coahoina count)', Mississippi. 



At Clarksdale on the Sunflower river, is a group consisting of 

 an indosure and six mounds. The plan of these works is presented in 

 Fig. 158. At B is a semicircular inclosure li'ontiug the river, the sur- 

 rounding earthen wall partially obliterated by the plow, though suffi- 

 cient remains to trace satisfactorily the line. The length following the 

 curve, as ascertained by pacing, is 2,004 feet; the height where least 

 disturbed is from 3 to 5 feet. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 are mounds; No. 

 6 a wash-out, revealing a cemetery; No. 8, house sites, and in the south- 

 west corner at the end of the wall an excavation. 



The largest and most interesting of the mounds is No. 1 (Fig. 159), 

 situated within the inclosure and directly on the bank of the river, so 

 that the slope of the west side of the mound is continuous with the 

 slope of the bank. It is rectangular in form, consisting first of a plat- 



