Prehistoric Mounds and Relics of North West District, B.G. 15 



shells were a few fragments of plain pottery and several very crude stone 

 implements consisting of spindles, celts, and chipped quartz arrow points. 

 (Fig. 9) 



Near the summit of the hill three skeletons were unearthed from the 

 shell deposit. The first was of a man of enormous size (for an Indian) the 

 thigh bone measuring 17 inches in length. Above the occiput and 

 about 6 inches beneath the surface of the ground was placed an inverted 

 conical dish or vessel of earthenware which was luckily secured whole and 

 almost perfect. (Fig 10) This evidently served in place of the rude 

 earthen slabs found above the skulls on Barambima Hill and probably 

 denoted a chief or man of prominence. What the purpose of these slabs or 

 earthen covers may have been is largely guesswork, for I believe this 

 method of burial has never been described or found previously and is an 

 entirely new discovery. Very probably the covering served to protect 

 feather crowns or ornaments buried with the bodies or it may have been 

 placed over the head to prevent the earth from striking the occiput when 

 tilling in the grave or perchance, it was to protect the skull from injury 

 from above and to support the earth and avoid the chances of the grave 

 caving in after decomposition of the bodies. This skeleton like those at 

 Barambima Hill, was in perfect condition and in situ when uncovered, 

 but most of the smaller bones fell to bits, the larger bones cracked and 

 broke of their own weight and the skull went to pieces as soon as 

 removed. The jaws, much of the pelvis, the leg and arm bones 

 and large pieces of the skull were, however, preserved intact. (Fig. 11) 

 Close to this, and on either side were two other skeletons, apparently 

 of women, and perhaps wives of the chief who had been sacrificed and 

 interred with him. Neither of these had any covering of any sort over 

 the head. All three skeletons were in a kneeling position with faces 

 turned towards the east. No pottery of any description was found 

 associated with these remains, but a few very crude stone implements 

 were found. (Fig. 12) These may have been interred with the bodies or 

 they may have been in the shell deposit when the bodies were buried, for 

 the condition of the shells proved that the dead had been placed in graves 

 dug in the shell mound. 



The skeletons were apparently of the same type as those in the 

 Barambima mound, although the teeth were normal and the molars and 

 premolars large. All three possessed 32 teeth. 



A very careful search of the entire hill failed to reveal any other 

 human bones, but numerous bones of huge fishes, reptiles, mammals and 

 some remains of unidentified and apparently extinct creatures were found 

 associated with the shells and human bones. 



The nearby hills were also carefully searched but no relics of any 

 sort were obtained except on a low " red hill " where several earthen 

 ware heads and fragments of decorated pottery were found. 



