THOMAS.) NEW YORK. 611 



with incised oiuamentation have been picked up on the site of the 

 work. Many of these in Mr. Tower's possession were examined. 



Three miles from the village of Forestville, on the Dunkirk and For- 

 estville road, on the farm of Mr. J. G. Gould, was formerly a. semicir- 

 cular inclosure of 3 acres. It was nearly on the brow of a bluif above 

 Walnut creek, back of which there is a level area that extends many 

 miles. In the same field, on the opposite side of the road, there were 

 formerly forty or fifty pits, only seven of which can now be seen. 

 They average about 2 feet in diameter and from 2 to 5 feet in depth. 

 Two of them were dug into and at the depth of 5 feet very fine gravel , 

 was reached. Nothing else was found in them. 



In front of Mr. Gould's residence and 80 rods to the east a bone pit 

 was opened several years ago. Remains of skeletons of each sex and 

 of all ages were found; the number could not be determined. A grave 

 had been previously opened near the above and five skeletons found 

 in a circle with the feet outward. The position and size of the bones 

 corresponded closely with those on Mr. Cowan's place near llutledge. 



On the high land within the village of Fredonia a mound 7 feet high 

 was opened several years ago on the land of Mr. Levi Bisley disclosing 

 some skeletons, a pestle, a mortar, and some arrowheads. 



On the road between Sheridan and Pomfi-et, 2 miles east of Fredonia, 

 is what is locally known as "the Indian mound." It measures at the 

 base 274 by 200 feet, and on top 13G by 21 feet, the maximum diameter 

 being northeast and southwest. It is between 25 and 30 feet high and is 

 composed of coarse gravel. There is a depression to the south as though 

 the gravel for the mound had been obtained there. The country is per- 

 fectly level on all sides for miles, giving the mound a prominent and 

 artificial appearance. No relics have ever been found in the vicinity. 

 It is probably a natural formation. 



About 1 mile east of Fredonia, on the road to Laona, there was formerly 

 a circular embankment of which no trace remains. Whether it was con- 

 tinuous or not is unknown. The site is peculiar; it occupied, as is said, 

 the entire area of an eminence of about an acre, rising precipitously 

 from Canadaway creek. Directly back of this and in front of which 

 the work must have been placed was a precipitous bluff about 25 feet 

 in height, rendering the position in no wise suited for defense. Many 

 arrowheads, a large number of pottery fragments with rude incisions, 

 celts, and other Indian lelics have been found on this site. There was 

 a deep circular pit within the work, in which were some grains of charred 

 corn and near by were found fragments of human bones very much 

 decayed. 



On the farm of Mr. Joel Button, 2 miles east of Fredonia, on the 

 road to Forestville, was a work, now leveled, which, from Mr. Button's 

 description, must have been almost circular and continuous, embracing 

 3 acres. The wall ran down a steep declivity 12 or 15 feet, making the 

 land inclosed of difterent levels. If Mr. Button's descrii)tion is correct 



