TH'iMAs.] THE TENNESSEE DISTRICT. 575 



bones, aiui a few iicconipauyiiig iirticles, among: which were, two .stones 

 Vitli holes drilled tlmsugh them. Fragments of l)ones and some relies 

 were at the base, in the center. 



Another type, which is •found also in other districts, is the simple 

 burial mound heaped over bodies laid upon the original surface. ' In 

 .this section they are geaerally stratified; the bodies, however, in these 

 mounds are often placed with e\ident reference to relative i)osition, 

 contrasting iu this respect with burials in thfe. large mounds, where 

 skeletons are found with heads iu various directions. 



An important tact regarding the large mounds of tliis region, most 

 of which appear, to have been used for burial purjioses, thoTigh some 

 but incidentally and not as the primary object of their constiuction, is 

 the frequent occurrence of the remains of upright posts. These are 

 so placed as to leave no doubt tliat they farmed parts of buildiugs 

 erected on the mounds. In some cases they are in sufflcient numbers 

 to indicate the form of the structure, which is generally circular, though 

 occasionally rectangular. 



STON^': <;l!AVICS. 



stone graves of the regular box shai)e are found in the valley of the 

 Little Tennessee and in the mountains through which it passes, as well 

 as iu certain portions of northeastern Georgia. The last mentioued, 

 however, are embraced in the Tennessee district, that and the present 

 district overlajtping at this iK)int. Tlie^raves of this type in the valley 

 of the Little Tennessee rivel-.are probably due, as will be shown here- 

 after, to an intrusive elemeutwhich teiojiorarily obtained a foothold in 

 this part of the district. A single stone-grave mound has been discov- 

 ered in the district; this was al.so iu the valley of the Little Tennessee. 

 One of the cists in this tumulus, the only one described, presented the 

 iipusual feature of a roof-shaiied covering. 



The most characteristic articles fnuud in the mounds of this.distript 

 are shell masks; engraved shells, usually bearing the- conventional 

 serpent symbol; conical copper ear pendants ; cylindrical copper beads ; 

 stone pipes, usually with stems; polished celts; discoidal stones and 

 shell beads. A faw articles IndicatiHg contact with European civiliza- 

 tion, such as friaginents of iron implements, hawk- bells, and glass 

 beads, have also been discovered in mounds of this section. 



THE CENTRAL OR TENNESSEE DISTRICT. 



.This district, which is iA'egular in form, is governed iu its limits, ex- 

 cept perhaps at its eastern extremity, by no geographical or topograph- 

 ical features ; commencing on thewest at or near the Mississippi between 

 the mouths of the Missouri and the Ohio, it extends southeast to the head- 

 waters of the Savannah. It includes that part of Illinois south of the 



