428 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



shaft entered a heavy layer of ashes, charcoal, and charred bones, some 

 of them human, which reached nearly or quite to the natural surface, 

 35 feet down. The excavation was carried 2 feet farther down and con- 

 siderably enlarged, but nothing more of interest was found. 



It is probable that this mound pertains to three different stages, the 

 lower part, or original mound; the upper portion (including the vault), 

 belonging to the second period and probably contemporaneous with the 

 celebrated Grave creek mound ; and the stone cairn or vault to compara- 

 tively modern times, though it may possibly have been a sentinel sta- 

 tion erected soon after the mound was completed. 



Mound 22, a short distance southwest of mound 21, is 100 feet in 

 diameter and 15 feet high. A trench was carried across it through the 

 center and down to the original surface. The top layer, 2 feet thick at 

 the top and thinning out to 1 foot on the sides, was of loose soil like 

 the surface around. Below this was a layer of very hard, gray earth 

 4 feet thick; in the central portion was a bed 8 feet in diameter and 10 

 inches thick, of charcoal, ashes, and bones so badly broken and decayed 

 that it was impossible to decide whether they were animal or human. 

 In the center, at the depth of 12 feet, were the remains of an adult 

 skeleton, horizontal, with head to the south. On the left wrist was a 

 single slender copper bracelet much corroded, and near by were two 

 spear heads. In the original soil, at the center, could be traced the 

 outlines of a vault 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, and about 3 feet deep, but 

 only slight traces of the body buried remained. 



Mound 23, not far west from mound 22, is 312 feet in circumference 

 and 25 feet high. It had never been disturbed in any way and was the 

 most pointed and symmetrical tumulus of the group. Standing on the 

 brow of a terrace 30 feet high, it seems much higher than it really is. 

 It was examined by sinking a large central shaft to the bottom. From 

 the sod at the top to the depth of 15 feet the material passed through 

 was an exceedingly hard, gray mixture, apparently of ashes and clay. 

 At this depth the casts of poles and timbers of various sizes began to 

 be seen, but all were less than a foot in diameter, extending into the 

 western and southern sides of the shaft. These casts and rotten wood 

 and bark continued to increase in amount nearly to the natural soil, 

 which was reached at the depth of 25 feet. The debris being removed 

 and the bottom of the shaft enlarged until it was 14 feet in diameter, 

 it was then found that these timbers had formed a circular or polygonal 

 vault 12 feet across and some 8 or 10 feet high in the center. This 

 had been built up in the form of a pen, the ends of the poles extending 

 beyond the corners. The roof must have been sloping, as the ends of 

 the poles used in making it extended downward beyond the walls on 

 which they rested. On the floor of this vault, which corresponded with 

 the original surface of the ground, were two adult skeletons, the bones 

 of which, though but little decayed, were crushed and pressed out of 

 position. No implement or ornament accompanied them. As the 

 earth of this floor did not appear to be the natural soil, the shaft, to 



