THOMAS.] THE ILLINOIS DISTRICT. 555 



iiois aud iniddlo Teuuessee. There arc, liowever, peculiarities in tlie 

 modes of burial whieb seem to iiidieate that ditiereut i)eoples were the 

 authors of the works of the different sections. It seems that the mouud- 

 builders of nortbeasteru Missouri often burned the bodies, then gath- 

 ered up the charred bones aud ashes and mixed them into a mass with 

 clay. Where the bodies were buried without being thus treated, a flat 

 stone was sometimes laid on the head. 



In the eastern portion of the district, which includes western Indi- 

 ana, the mounds occur principally upon the small streams emptying 

 into Lake Michigan and upon the lower waters of the Wabash river, 

 few, if any, being found in the intermediate area. 



The mounds of northwestern Indiana are found chiefly in Laporte 

 county. Some of them are of medium or comparatively large .size, 

 ranging from 10 to 20 feet in height. All are composed of earth and 

 are generally burial tumuli. Quite a number of cojiper articles, siuih 

 as celts and awls, some vessels of pottery, and an occasional carved 

 pipe, have been obtained from them. In some the skeletons seem to 

 have been placed in a sitting iiosture, while in others they were placed 

 horizontally. In some ca.ses there is evidence that after the bodies 

 were deposited on the natural surface and covered with earth a fire 

 was kindled on this and the mound heaped over it. A number of the 

 mounds from 2 to 3 feet high contained no indications of having been 

 used for burial ])urposes, but, Judging from the fire-beds and refuse 

 material found in them, were built as dwelling sites. 



In the valley of the lower Wabash mounds occur in considerable 

 numbers and of various types. Near Merom, on the Indiana side, is 

 an extensive grou]> partially surrounded by an earthen wall. This 

 consists largely of hut rings, reminding us of similar groups in south- 

 ern Illinois and southeastern Missouri; as in the latter, there is one 

 chief mound and a few .snuiller ones. The former was a burial mound. 

 Another extensive group is found near Hutsonville, on the Illinois side. 

 There are, however, no indications that this was surrounded by an 

 embankment, though some of the large tumuli present the rather un- 

 common feature in this section of being surrounded by a circular 

 embankment or ridge. Most of the small mounds, as well as some of 

 the larger ones, appear to have been only dwelling sites, as they con- 

 tained no indications of having been used for burial purposes. " The 

 absence of human remains aud all refuse in the shape of kitchen heaps, 

 as well as iuiplements," led the explorers to the conclusion that the 

 place was not inhabited for any great length of time, and that it may 

 have been simply a place of resort at special seasons for some particu- 

 lar purpose. 



Numerous "earthworks" are leported in the vicinity of Merom, but, 

 no description being furnished nor any examination made by the 

 Bureau agents, we are unable to judge of their character or type. Mr. 

 Coliett, the state geologist of Indiana, who makes the statement, adds 



