THOMAsi - • THE OHIO DISTRICT. 6G9 



stoue stratuin, is not rare, but doors of the kind nientionett an- exceed- 

 ingly uncommon. 



A soniewliat singular type occurs sparingly in tlie-Indiana and West 

 ■Virginia portions of the district. In tins variety, instead of the stones 

 being inside, tbey form a covering over the outside, usually in the form 

 of a single layer. . • ■ 



(3) Mounds in which the skeletons aie inclosed neither in wooden 

 lior in stoue vaults, nor in pits in the original soil. As the cljaracteris- 

 tics of this class arc negative, a few examples will convey a better idea 

 of them than any .attempt to give a general description. 



Messrs. Squier and Davis' describe'a mound G5 or 70 feet in diame- 

 ter, 1") feet high, nnstratified, and composed of earth taken from the 

 surrounding plain. Nothing worthy of remark was found uutil the 

 base was reached. Hele a single skeleton was discovered, lyntg hori- 

 zontally, which had been siinply enveloped in bark. The burial in this 

 case tliey supj'osed to have been as follows: 



The surface of the ground was tirst carefully leveled and ])ackcd over au area 



perhajis 10 or 15 feet square. This area was then covered with sheets of bark.rfm 



which, iu the center, the hody of tlie dead was deposited, witli a few articles of 



stone at its side, and ii few small ornaments near the head. It was then covered 



over with another layer of bark and the mound heaped above. 



• ■■ 



A mound in the Kanawha "valley, West Virginia, opened by Col. 

 Norris, and describe<l in the preceding part of this volume, presented 

 precisely similar features. ' , 



Atwater, speaking of a mound at Ohillicotlie, says:^ 



Its perpendicular height was about 15 feet-and the diameter of its base about 60. It* 

 was composed of sand and contained human liones l)eloiigini; to skeletons w liich were 

 buried iU different parts of it. It was not until this pale of earth was carefully removed 

 and the original surface exposed to view that a probable conjecture of its' original 

 design could be formed. About 20 feet 8(jiiare of the surface had been leveled and 

 covered with bark. On the center of this lay a human skeleton, oyer which had 

 been spread a mat manufactured cither froui weeds [reeds?] or bark. 



OtJier mounds of this class show no i)rei)aration of the original sur- 

 face nor indications of bark wrapi)ings, the bodies having been simply 

 laid ujion the surface-of the ground and covered with eartii. In other 

 cases the bones, partially charred, are found iu ashes, the earth b-'ueath 

 and about them bnrnecl. In a. few instanoeS the bones are in a confused 

 heap, more or less charred, and ashes are about them, but no other in- 

 dications of heat, the burning having been done before depositing. In 

 some cases of burial on the original surface and in excavations in the 

 original soil, some of the skeletons are folded, though this method of 

 iarranging the body does not api)ear to have been practiced to any 

 considerable extent in this district. ' " 



(4) Mounds wholly or partly of stone. Some r!)tlicr .singular mounds 

 have been described as found in ditferent parts of Ohio, but unfortu- 

 nately they liave nearly all been removed anil the descrixitions are based 



' Alio, ilon., p. 1C4. ■ 'Trans. Amor. Antiij. Soi., Vol. I. ]>. 



181. 



