THomas.] BURIAL PLACES, WILKES COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. 71 
Shell beads. 
A few small copper beads. 
Specimens of paint and plumbago. 
Three skulls. 
It is evident from the foregoing descriptions that the mode of burial 
and the depositories of the dead of the mound-building tribes of this 
part of North Carolina differed in several marked and important re- 
spects from the mode of burial and burial mounds of the sections pre- 
viously alluded to, and in fact from those of any other district. 
Here the pit seems to have been the important part of the depository 
and the mound a mere adjunct. In some cases the bodies appear to 
have been buried soon after death, while in others —as, for example, the 
groups in the triangle and Lenoir burial pit—the skeletons were prob- 
ably deposited after the flesh was removed. 
We are reminded by these pits of the mode of burial practiced by 
some of the Indian tribes, as mentioned by Lafitau,! Brebeuf,? etc.; but, 
before attempting to draw conclusions, we will give other illustrations 
of the burial mounds of this district, which are far from being uniform 
in character. 
Comparatively few mounds have as yet been opened in North Caro- 
lina; hence the data relating to this region is somewhat meager. As 
bearing upon the subject, and probably relating to a period immedi- 
ately following the close of the mound-building era, I give from Mr. Ro- 
gau’s notes the description of a burial place explored by him on the 
farm of Mr. Charles Hunt, in the central part of Wilkes County : 
This is not a “burial place,” in the usual sense of that term, but is 
probably the site of a camp or temporary village. It is about three 
miles and a half east of Wilkesborough, on the second bottom or terrace of 
the Yadkin River. It differs from the burial places just described in 
having no large pit, the graves being separate and independent of each 
other. A diagram showing the relative positions of the graves and 
small pits accompanies Mr. Rogan’s report but is omitted here, although 
the numbering of the graves is retained in the description. 
No. 1 is a grave or oval-shaped pit 2 feet long and 18 inches wide, 
the top within 8 inches of the surface of the ground, while the bottom is 
24 feet below it. This contained the remains of two skeletons, which 
were surrounded by charcoal; some of the bones were considerably 
charred. In the pit were some fragments of pottery, a few flint chips, 
and a decayed tortoise shell. 
No. 2. A grave 2 feet wide, 6 feet long, and 5 feet deep. It contained 
quite a quantity of animal bones, some of them evidently those of a 
bear; also charcoal, mussel shells, and one bone implement. 

‘Meeurs des Sauvages Amériquains, IT, pp. 447-445. 
* Jesuit Relations for 1636, pp. 128-139. For a translation of the lively description 
of the burial ceremonies of the Hurons by Father Brebeuf, see ‘‘ Supplemental Note,” 
at the end of this paper. 
