May 30, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



327 



partly on the island, and partly on the south bank. On the 

 latter map, group No. 2 corresponds with "Toskegee'' of 

 Timberlake's map; No. 3, with "Tommotley;" No. 4, with 

 ■'Toqua;" No. 5, with "Tennessee;" No. 6, with "Ohote;" 

 No. 7, with "Settacoo;" No. 8, with "Half-way Town;" No. 

 9, with "Chilhowey;" and No. 10, with "Tellassee." Such 

 reoaarkable coincidence cannot be attributed to mere chance. 

 There is also the additional fact that the evidences of village 

 sites which must have been left by the Cherokee towns were 

 found only about the groups, though careful search was 

 made by the Bureau agents along the valley. 



As these mounds, when explored, yielded precisely the kind 

 of ornaments and implements used by the Cherokees, it is 

 reasonable to believe they built them. 



Eamsey also gives a map of the Cherokee towns in his 

 ■^'Annals of Tennessee;" but his list, although corresponding, 

 so far as it goes, with the order given by Timberlake, evi- 

 dently refers to a date corresponding with the close of their 

 occupancy of this section. Bartram gives a more complete 

 list. This includes some towns on the Holston (his "Chero- 

 kee") River and some on the Tellico Plains, the localities 

 corresponding with mound groups discovered by the Bureau 

 agents. For example: some three or four groups are in the 

 region of the Tellico Plains, and five or six on the Little 

 Tennessee below Fort Loudon, and on the Holston near the 

 junction of the two. One large mound and a group were 

 discovered on the "Big Island" mentioned by Bartram, on 

 which he locates a town, but fails to give the name. 



The largest of these groups is situated on the Little Ten- 

 nessee above Fort Loudon, and corresponds with the position 

 of the ancient "Beloved town of Chota" ("Great Chote" of 

 Bartram) as located by tradition and Timberlake's map. 

 According to Eamsey, at the time the pioneers, following 

 in the wake of Daniel Boone near the close of the eighteenth 

 century, were pouring over the mountains into the valley of 

 the Watauga, a Mrs. Bean, who was captured by the Chero- 

 kees near Watauga, was brought to their town at this place, 

 bound, and taken to the "top of a mound " to be burned, 

 when Nancy Ward, then exercising in the nation the func- 

 tions of the "beloved " or " pretty woman," interfered, and 

 pronounced her pardon. Ramsey does not give his authority 

 for this statement, but, in all probability, obtained the in- 

 formation from the descendants of Mrs. Bean, who, as the 

 writer knows, were residing in Hawkins County as late as 

 1850, and probably at the present time. " Nancy Ward " 

 probably received her English name from some while family 

 that resided for a time in that section. 



During the explorations of the mounds of this region by 

 the Bureau agents, a peculiar type of clay beds was found in 

 several of the larger tumuli. These were always saucer- 

 shaped, varying in diasneter -from six to fifteen feet and in 

 thickness from four to twelve inches. In nearly every in- 

 stance there was a series one above another, with a layer of 

 coals and ashes between. A series usually consisted of from 

 three to five beds, sometimes only two, decreasing in diam- 

 eter from the lowest one upwards. These apparently marked 

 the stages of the growth of the mound, the upper one always 

 being near the present surface. 



The large mound on the supposed site of Chota, and pos- 

 sibly the one on which Mi-s. Bean was about to be burned, 

 was thoroughly explored, and found to contain a series of 



these clay beds, which always show the action of fire. In 

 the centre of some of these were found the charred remains 

 of a stake, and about them the usual layer of coals and 

 ashes; but in this instance immediately around where the 

 stake stood were the charred fragments of human bones. 

 There may be no connection between this fact and Ramsey's 

 statement, yet the coincidence is suggestive. 



The burials in this mound, which was a large one some 

 twelve feet high, were at various depths, from two and a 

 half to nine feet, and, although the series of clay beds indi- 

 cated growth, there was nothing to indicate separate and 

 distinct periods, or to lead to the belief that any of these 

 were intrusive. On the contrary, the evidence is pretty clear 

 that all these burials were by one tribe or people. It is be- 

 lieved that no satisfactory evidence of intrusive burials has 

 been discovered in this entire Appalachian region. By the 

 side of nearly every skeleton in this mound were one or 

 more articles, as shell masks, engraved shells similar to 

 those heretofore mentioned, shell pins, shell beads, perforated 

 shells, discoidal stones, polished celts, arrow-heads, spear- 

 heads, stone gorgets, bone implements, clay vessels, and 

 copper hawk-bells. The last-named articles were with the 

 skeleton of a child found at the depth of three feet and a 

 half. They are precisely of the form of the ordinary sleigh- 

 bell of the present day, but with pebbles and shell beads for 

 rattles. 



That this child belonged to the people by whom the other 

 burials, some of which were at less depth, were made, there 

 is no reason to doubt ; and that the bells indicate contact 

 with Europeans must be conceded. 



In another mound a little farther up the river, one of a 

 group marking the site of one of the " Over-hill towns," were 

 discovered two carved stone pipes of a comparatively mod- 

 ern Cherokee type. 



During the fall of 1888, a farmer of East Tennessee, while 

 examining a cave with a view of storing potatoes in it dur- 

 ing the winter, unearthed a well-preserved human skeleton, 

 which was wrapped in a large piece of cane matting. This, 

 which measures about six by four feet, is quite pliant, and, 

 with the exception of a rent in the corner, perfectly sound. 

 It has a broad, submarginal stripe of red running around 

 it. Enclosed with the skeleton was a piece of cloth made of 

 flax, about fourteen by twenty inches, almost uninjured, 

 pliant, but apparently unfinished. The stitch in which it is 

 woven is precisely the same as that imprinted on pottery 

 shown in a cut in Mr. Holmes's paper on "Mound-Builders" 

 Textile Fabrics " ("Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of 

 Ethnology "). Although the earth in the cave contains 

 salts which would aid in preserving any thing buried in it, 

 these articles cannot be assigned to any very ancient date, 

 especially as there were with them the remains of a dog 

 from which the skin had not all rotted away. These were 

 in all probability placed here by the Cherokees of modern 

 times, and form a link between the historic and prehistoric 

 times not easily broken. 



Another important find was made in this locality by one 

 of the Bureau agents in 1889. This is a small stone on 

 which some characters have been rudely etched, and is 

 shown in the figure on p. 328. An examination by those 

 familiar with the subject will probably soon satisfy them 

 that some of the characters, if not all, are letters of the 



