THOMAS. } MOUNDS OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY, WISCONSIN. 19 
The surface or top layer was composed of sand and alluvial earth to the 
depth of some 3 or 4 feet. Scattered through this in almost every part 
of the mound were human skeletons in various stages of decay and in 
different positions, but mostly stretched horizontally on the back. Seat- 
tered among the remains were numerous fragments of blankets, cloth- 
ing and human hair, 1 copper kettle of modern pattern, 3 copper 
bracelets (hammered from native copper), 1 silver locket, 10 silver brace- 
lets (one having the name ‘“ Montreal,” and another the letters “A B” 
stamped on it), 2 silver earrings, 6 silver brooches, 1 copper finger-ring, 
1 double silver cross, 1 knife-handle, and 1 battered bullet. In fact 
the top layer to the depth of 3 or 4 feet seemed to be packed as full of 
skeletons and relics as possible. 
Carrying the trench down to the original surface of the ground, he 
found at the bottom, near the center, a single skeleton of an adult in 
the last stages of decay. With it were the following articles: 2 stone 
scrapers, a small stone drill, fragments of river shells, and pieces of a 
mammoth tusk. The earth below the upper layer was mixed with clay 
and ashes, evidently different from the surrounding soil. 
Several mounds opened by him in Grant County contained charred 
human bones, and one or two covered confused masses of bones, being 
similar in this respect to some of those heretofore mentioned. 
A mound which he opened in Sheboygan County, containing a single 
skeleton, is described as about 50 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. 
After passing through 18 inches of surface soil, the central mass, com- 
posed of earth mingled with charcoal, ashes, and loose stones, was 
reached. Near the center of this mass, and at the bottom of the mound, 
a large human skeleton was discovered, apparently holding between 
the hands and knees a large clay vase. Immediately over this skele- 
ton was an irregular layer of flat bowlders. 
Another mound of this group, about the same size as the preceding, 
was found literally filled with skeletons to the depth of 25 feet, evi- 
dently intrusive burials, as they were accompanied with iron imple- 
ments, silver ornaments, etc. Beneath these was a layer of rounded 
drift bowlders aggregating several wagon loads. Below these and ina 
shallow excavation in the natural surface of the ground were some 
forty or more skeletons in a sitting or squatting posture, disposed in 
zircles around and facing the central space, which was occupied by an 
unusually large shell (Busycon perversum). 
It is worthy of notice in this connection that there are no effigy mounds, 
so far as known, in the immediate section where the two works just 
mentioned are situated, but there is near by. one small oval enclosure 
about 50 feet in diameter. 
In studying the burial mounds of the district now under considera- 
tion, of which the foregoing may be considered as types, there appears 
to be no marked distinetion between the intrusive burials of modern 
Indians and the original burials for which the mounds were constructed. 
