MOUND BUEIAL— ILLINOIS. 23 



quarry near by, and was covered with large flat stones. No mortar or 

 cement bad been used. The whole structure rested on the surface of the 

 natural soil, the interior of which had been scooped out to enlarge the 

 chamber. Inside of the dolmen I found the partly decayed remains of eight 

 human skeletons, two very large teeth of an unknown animal, two fossils, one 

 of which is not found in this place, and a plummet. One of the long bones 

 had been splintered ; the fragments had united, but there remained large 

 morbid growths of bone (exostosis) in several places. One of the skulls 

 presented a circular opening about the size of a silver dime. This perfora- 

 tion had been made during life, for the edges had commenced to cicatrize. 

 I later examined three circular mounds, but in them I found no dolmens. 

 The first mound contained three adult human skeletons, a few fragments of 

 the skeleton of a child, the lower maxillary of which indicated it to be about 

 six years old. I also found claws of some carnivorous animal. The sur- 

 face of the soil had been scooped out and the bodies laid in the excavation 

 and covered with about a foot of earth ; fires had then been made upon the 

 grave and the mound afterwards completed. The bones bad not been charred. 

 No charcoal was found among the bones, but occurred in abundance in a 

 .stratum about one foot above them. Two other mounds, examined at the 

 same time, contained no remains. 



" Of two other mounds, opened later, the first was circular, about 4 feet 

 high, and 15 feet in diameter at the base, and was situated on an elevated 

 point of land close to the bank of the river. From the top of this mound 

 one might view the country for many miles in almost any direction. On its 

 summit was an oval altar (J feet long and 4£ wide. It was composed of flat 

 pieces of limestone, which had been burned red, some portions having been 

 almost converted into lime. On and about this altar I found abundance of 

 charcoal. At the sides of the altar were fragments of human bones, some 

 of which had been charred. It was covered by a natural growth of vege- 

 table mold and sod, the thickness of which was about 10 inches. Lame 

 trees had once grown in this vegetable mold, but their stumps were so de- 

 cayed I could not tell with certainty to what species they belonged. Another 

 large mound was opened which contained nothing." 



The next account relates to the grave-mounds near Pensacola, Flu., 



