8 



sitting posture, but a portion of one leg- was wanting - , and 

 this near the excavation mentioned. The skull had been 

 twisted out of its original position by the weight of stone 

 lying against it. A second small skeleton, apparently that 

 of a child, was found close beside this, but the confusion 

 produced either by previous diggers or by the pressure of 

 the stones made it impossible to come to any reliable con- 

 clusion, except that the flat stones were chiefly above and 

 around the skeletons. These seemed of similar age to the 

 erect skeleton. 



No implements, pottery, paint, nor charcoal were found 

 accompanying these remains. The only thing found was 

 what had possibly been a shell for ornament similar to that 

 described, but it was much broken. It will be remembered 

 that half the mound was gone, so that there may have been 

 other, what we may call, base interments in the lost parts of 

 the mound. 



Having given a description of the objects found, it now 

 remains to give a theory which may satisfactorily include the 

 facts. In doing so, whatever is said is in a spirit of hesita- 

 tion. The whole subject of the mound builders is involved 

 in mystery, though a good deal of attention has been paid 

 to it by a number of observers in the United States. 



First, then, who were the people who made the earlier 

 interments represented by the two full-grown skeletons and 

 that of the child? The erect skeleton was buried facing the 

 east. This has been taken by archaeologists, in discussing 

 Scandinavian and Celtic remains, to indicate a difference 

 between Christian and pagan times. As, however, the eastern 

 view was that towards the river, it would not be wise to 

 make much of this. The other skeletons were in so con- 

 fused a state that nothing could be inferred from their pos- 

 ture. The absence of all utensils of cookery or means of 

 livelihood, such as are found in the graves of ~"~q.n Indians 

 even to the present day, would indicate to some a higher faith 

 than that of the savage who thinks he is but transferred to 

 another hunting-ground when death overtakes him. 



The presence of the heavy shells of natica in the neck- 

 lace would point out travellers from the sea. The construc- 

 tion of the mound is very similar to that of those found in 

 the north of Europe, and the fewness of the bodies buried 

 would seem to indicate either a people in course of transit, 

 or a people dying out, if it be not granted that distinguished 

 individuals were thus buried. In any case, a vast amount 

 of labour must have been spent in these early times even in 



