XO. 1 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I92I 



119 



The exploration of mound No. i showed that the Indians had 

 selected for its site the summit of a l^eautiful little knoll on the edge 

 of the steep bluff-like bank of Split Rock River. In the soil of this 

 summit they dug a shallow pit. al)out 12 feet by 6 feet, and 2 feet deep. 

 In this shallow pit bones belonging to five bodies had been placed. 

 Several of these bodies appeared to have been buried after decay of the 

 flesh. One body appeared to have been buried in the flesh, closely 

 flexed, and this human bundle placed in the pit. The position of the 



Fig. 122. — A portion of the layer of human bones on floor of charnel pit. 



skeleton of a horse with a crushed frontal bone showed that when 

 this body-bundle had been placed in the pit. a large horse, about seven 

 years of age, had been led to the knoll and there killed, on the edge 

 of the pit, by the side of this body-bundle. Then, over all these, a low, 

 round-topped mound, 60 feet across base and si ^eet in height, had 

 been raised. 



]\Iound No. 2. the largest mound of the group, was near the center 

 of the village. It was round-topped, 1 10 feet across base, and 10 feet 

 high. This mound proved to be of considerable importance. In 

 beginning its construction, a rectangular charnel pit. 12 feet by 14 

 feet, and 2 feet deep, had been dug in the surface of the soil near the 

 center of the town. This empty pit was then thoroughly coated with 

 a white layer, about ^ inch in thickness. This white coating was 

 made from calcined bones. 



