THOMAS.] GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI. Ji91 



graded ^Yays or ramps. Few inouiuls with these appendages have been 

 observed in this or in the Arkansas district, the "Eich Woods" 

 group in southeastern Missouri being exceptional. In one instance 

 (as is true also of the Rich Woods group) a series, consisting in this 

 case of live pyramidal mounds, is formed by connecting ramjis or 

 graded ways. The graded ways leading up to the summit of mounds 

 usually jiroceed from a point opposite a side, directly toward the center 

 of the mound or middle of the side, the only instance knowu of one 

 winding up the side being that of the large mound of the Etowah 

 group, Bartow county, Georgia, which, though not included in this 

 district, was probably built by the ancient inhabitants of it. Mention 

 is made by several authors of winding ways up mounds, but so far the 

 Bureau explorations have failed to confirm these statements. 



Explorations in mounds of this type have been carried on only to a 

 limited extent and haverevealedbutlittleof interest, though the nega- 

 tive evidence furnished on one point is valuable, to wit: That they were 

 not built for burial purposes, though there are a few instances in which 

 human remains have been found in them. In some instances layers of 

 burnt clay, charcoal, and ashes have been observed. In other cases 

 burnt clay in fragments, showing the marks of twigs or grass, and 

 pieces of charred wood, most likely the remains of ])lastered wooden 

 structures, have been observed. In short, the evidence obtained, though 

 scanty, points to tlie correctness of the generally received opinion that 

 these structures were erected as sites for the public buildings of the 

 tribe or village and for the dwellings of the chiefs or leading personages. 



Some two or three mounds of peculiar form have been discovered in 

 Mississippi and the Arkansas district that have not been observed 

 elsewhere in the mound area. These may be described as earthen plat- 

 forms surmounted by a conical mound or a conical mound surrounded 

 by a terrace. Sometimes the conical mound is small in jiroportion to 

 the platform and is not central, in which case the first definition best 

 describes the work ; in other cases the platform appears only as a narrow 

 terrace running around the mound. These, however, are very rare, only 

 three or four being known. A double mound of this type, or mound 

 with two apices, has been observed in western Mississippi, which is 

 described and figured in the previous part of this volume. 



lU'RIAI, MOUNDS AN1> Modus oI' niHIAI-. 



One distinguishing feature between the modes of burial in this dis- 

 trict and those immediately north is the absence of stone graves and 

 wooden vaults. Of the former none have been noticed, so far as known, 

 in the entire district, except where it is overlapped by the Tenaes.see 

 disti'ict in northern Georgia. Of the latter very few, if any, examples 

 have been observed. Sometimes indications of a bark wrapping or 

 wrapping made of cane matting are noticed. It is also the case that 



