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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 66 



for measurement and study, the bones in most cases consisting" of 

 only a pasty mass. 



As mentioned above, most of the burials were ifhmarked. The 

 exceptions consisted of two graves encased and covered with slabs 

 of stone, both unearthed near the very base of the mound. One of 

 these stone graves contained a skeleton the bones of which were 

 largely of the consistency of corn-meal, owing to the ravages of 

 insects ; but what was lacking in the remains themselves was more 

 than compensated by the finding, near the skull, of a beautiful effigy 



Fig. 93. — Sectional view of hre-pit 10 feet in length, showing indurated ash. 



vase of painted jjottery, the only piece of painted ware, whole or frag- 

 mentary, found in the entire mound. The occurrence of this type of 

 vessel and the presence of the stone graves at the bottom of the 

 mound suggest the possible occupancy of the site by Indians before 

 the settleiuent of the Cherokee in the Nacoochee Valley. 



Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the mound was the large 

 number of smoking pipes of pottery, mostly broken, but in many 

 forms and of varying degrees of workmanship. Some of the pipes 

 are of excellent texture and are highly ornamented with conven- 

 tionalized figures of birds, etc., or luarked with incised designs. An- 

 other feature of the mound was the great amount of broken potter}' 

 found, especially in the refuse at the base and covering the slopes. 



