THOMAS.) WEST VIRGINIA. 433 



Mound 33, 40 feet in diameter and 4 feet high; not opened. 



Mound 34, 54 feet in diameter and 5 feet liigh, was thoroughly ex- 

 plored. A heavy fire bed was found in the center on the natural sur- 

 face ; south and west of it were three charred human skeletons and many 

 fragments of flint lance and arrow heads, broken apparently by fire. 



Mound 35, 63 feet in diameter and 6 feet high, wascomposed through- 

 out of very hard gi'ay earth. Nothing was found in it. 



Mound 36, 34 feet at base, 3 feet high. In the natural earth beneath 

 it was a vault 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet deep, which contained 

 a small skeleton nearly decayed. 



Mound 37, 60 feet at base and 7 feet high; 2 feet of soil on top, next 

 4 feet of hard gray earth, and at the bottom a fire-bed 1 foot thick con- 

 taining charred bones. 



Mound 39, 50 feet in diameter, 6J feet high; not opened. 



Mound 40, same size as last; not opened. 



Mound 41, 56 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. A broad trench 

 through it showed it to be constructed in the same manner as mound 

 38. 



Two circular pits or caches, which had been subjected to the action 

 of fire, were found near mounds 17 and 18. These were opened and 

 proved to be deep and basin-shaped, the larger about 10 feet in diame- 

 ter at the top and S feet deep in the center. This one lay entirely 

 beneatli the surface soil, here about 1 foot thick. Judging from what 

 was observed it is believed that after it was dug and the sides smoothed 

 they were then plastered over with gray clay 5 or 6 inches thick, and 

 that ujwn this, before it had dried, was spread a coating of bright red 

 earth, which was then burned very hard. This might indicate that it 

 was used as a water cistern, though the purpose for which it was dug 

 may have been a very different one. The contents, commencing at the 

 top, immediately below the surface soil were found to be as follows: 

 First, a layer of ft-esh-water shells 2 feet thick, rounded up in the mid- 

 dle; next, a layer 1 foot thick of charcoal, ashes, and dark earth com- 

 mingled; below this, nearly to the bottom, the material consisted of 

 very hard earth mixed with charcoal and ashes. In this lower layer, 

 near its upper surface, were two prostrate, extended skeletons of small 

 size, one with the head north, face up, the other with head south. 

 Scattered through the layer were numerous waterworn bowlders 4 to 5 

 inches in diameter, bearing e\'idence of intense heat; also, .small frag- 

 ments of pottery, lance heads, and fish darts, apparently broken by the 

 action of fire. The small skeletons mentioned were badly decayed and 

 seem to have been incased in a matrix of plastic clay. 



The second i)it was similar in all respects except that it was sUghtly 

 smaller and contained no skeletons. 



Upon all the blufts and high points in this vicinity are found rock 

 heaps. About forty were discovered, most of which were opened. All 

 bear evidence of a well-hole, a few of the oblong ones having two; 

 more than two are never found in one heap. Fig. 288, heretofore given, - 

 12 ETH 28 



