THOMAS.] THE DAKOTAN DISTRICT. 539 



The methods of placing the bodies were various; sometimes they 

 were placed hoiizoiitally without regard to the relation of one to the 

 other, but occasionally they were laid regularly side by side. Very often 

 the skeletons were "bundled;" that is to say, the bones were dislocated 

 and formed into a bundle, the skull being placed on the toj) or at the 

 end. Sometimes they were folded as completely as possible by drawing 

 up the knees to the chin. In other eases the bones are found in a con- 

 fused heap. It is evident that in the latter case, and where bundled, 

 the burial took place after the tlesh had been removed by exposure on 

 scaffolds, j)revious burial, or otherwise. The very common opinion that 

 these confused heaps have resulted from hasty burial after a battle is 

 erroneous, as it is absurd to supi)ose that bones would have become 

 wholly detached from the skeletons to which they pertained and become 

 mixed in a confused manner in the mass by the mere process of decay. 



Instances occur where the skeletons are found in a sitting posture, 

 sometimes in a circle, with the faces inward. It is probable that some 

 of the cases of sitting posture reported are inferred from finding the 

 bones in a heap, with the skull on top, when in fact they were origi- 

 nally bundled. It is due to Mr. James D. Middleton to state that it 

 was by his study of the methods of burial while exploring mounds in 

 Wisconsin that special attention was called' to this mode of bundling. 



In the western or Dakota area, which includes the immediately ad- 

 joining portion of Manitoba, only three modes of burial appear to have 

 pi-evailed: The excavated pit, in which bundled skeletons were de- 

 posited; burial in a horizontal position on the original surface or in 

 strata, the mounds in the latter case always being stratified, and the 

 iipjier burials being apparently much more recent than the lower ones; 

 ami burial of bones in confused masses. The mounds in this portion 

 of the district frequently yield evidences of contact with the whites by 

 the presence in them of glass beads and other articles of European 

 manufacture. 



The burial mounds of central and southern Minnesota have not been 

 sufficiently explored to justify a discussion of their relation to the 

 works of the other portions of the district; however, some of them are 

 of comparatively lecent date, as articles of European manufacture, 

 which can not be attributed to intrusive burial, have been found in 

 them. 



In the eastern or Wisconsin poitiou of the district there is greater 

 variety in the modes of burial and construction of burial mounds. In 

 the northwestern part of the state, especially in Barron county, the 

 burial mounds, which are small, usually consist of two or three layers, 

 the bottom one, or central core, consisting chieflj' of very hard clay. 

 Lying on the original surface or in an excavation in the original soil 

 are usually from one to four bundled skeletons. Intrusive burials, 

 which fi'equently occur, are usually above this central core, though 

 occasionally it has been penetrated to a slight depth. 



