THOMAS. } MOUNDS OF THE KANAWHA VALLEY. 51 
ments of the same character as those from the mound. From this fact, and from the 
character of the burials in the mound, as well as that of the objects found with the 
skeletons, and from the absence of the characteristic ornaments found with so many of 
the human remains in the Turner group and other ancient mounds of the Ohio Valley, 
we are led to look upon this stone mound as the burial place of a tribe of Indians living 
in the region subsequent to the builders of the Turner mounds. The remains found 
in this stone mound, as a whole, indicate that the people here buried were closely con- 
nected with those who made the singular ash-pits in the ancient cemetery near Madi- 
sonville.! 
Passing into West Virginia we notice first the celebrated Grave 
Creek mound. This has been described and figured so often that it is 
unnecessary for me to do more than call attention to certain particu- 
lars in regard to it to which I may desire hereafter to refer by way of 
comparison. It is in the form of a regular cone, about 70 feet high and 
nearly 300 feet in diameter at the base. A shaft sunk from the apex to 
the base disclosed two wooden vaults, the first about half way down 
and the other at the bottom. In the first or upper one was a single 
skeleton, decorated with a profusion of shell beads, copper bracelets, 
and plates of mica. The lower vault, which was partly in an excaya: 
tion made in the natural ground, was found to be rectangular, 12 by § 
feet and 7 feet high. Along each side and across the ends upright 
timbers had been placed, which supported other timbers thrown across 
the vault as a covering. These were covered with a layer of rough 
stones. In this vault were two human skeletons, one of which had no 
ornaments, while the other was surrounded with hundreds of shell beads. 
In attempting to enlarge this vault the workmen discovered around it 
ten other skeletons. While carrying the horizontal tunnel, several 
masses of charcoal and burnt bones were encountered after a distance 
of 12 or 15 feet had been reached. _ 
Before making any comments on the construction of this noted work 
and the mode of burial in it, I will present some facts recently brought 
to light in regard to the burial mounds of the Kanawha Valley by the 
assistants of the Bureau. 
A large mound situated on the farm of Col. B. H. Smith, near Charles- 
ton, is conical in form, about 175 feet in diameter at the base and 35 
feet high. It appears to be double; that is to say, it consists of two 
mounds, one built on the other, the lower or original one 20 feet and 
the upper 15 feet high. 
The exploration was made by sinking a shaft, 12 feet square at the 
top and narrowing gradually to 6 feet square at the bottom, down 
through the center of the structure to the original surface of the ground 
and ashortdistance below it. After removing a slight covering of earth, 
an irregular mass of large, rough, flat sandstones, evidently brought 
from the bluffs half a mile distant, was encountered. Some of these 
sandstones were a good load for two ordinary men. 
The removal of a wagon load or so of these stones brought to light a 

‘17th Report Peabody Museum, p. 344, 
