66(i KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



graphically pictures the process of mound-inhumation practiced by their ancestors 

 from time immemorial. 



The one characteristic which, it is claimed, distinguishes the mortuary cus- 

 t )ms of the mound-builders from those of the nomadic Indians is the fact that the 

 former never buried their dead beneath the surface of the ground, but invariably 

 placed the remains of their deceased on the ground, or iu very shallow excavations 

 and heaped the earth over them; while the latter disposed of their deceased kins- 

 men by placing the dead bodies either on scaffolds, in graves beneath the earth's 

 surface, or consumed them by burning. If this distinction is admitted, we cannot 

 fail to recognize in the burial of Black Hawk, the great Sauk chief, in 1838, a vestige 

 of the ancient custom of his ancestors, modified by the acquisition of European 

 ideas and arts. The old chief when dead was arrayed in full dress, wrapped in 

 fine new blankets, with all of his trophies, ornaments and sword at his sides; then 

 laid on a pl'^nk and placed on the surface of the ground, with his feet in a shallow 

 excavation about a foot in depth and his head raised a foot or more above the 

 surface. A forked post was planted at his head and another at his feet, across 

 which was placed a ridge pole supporting split boards, or " puncheons," leaning 

 from the ground on either side of the corpse. The gable ends of this roof-like 

 coffin were closed with rough boards, and the whole covered with earth and sod, 

 forming a mound about four feet high. In this instance is presented all the ele- 

 ments of mound burial, only wanting the tribute of a small quantity of earth from 

 each member of the tribe in passing by, or at their annual convocations, to make 

 it, in course of time, a tumulus similar to the most ancient in our country. The 

 •disposition of the corpse in the large mound on the Scioto, six miles below Chilli- 

 cothe, described on page 162 of " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Val- 

 ley ; " and of the remains at the base of the large mound at East St, Louis, re- 

 moved in 1870 to make way for a railroad track; only differ from the inhuma- 

 tion of Black Hawk in having been enclosed with crib-work of cedar logs instead 

 ■of the ridge-pole and split boards. There is also another suggestion offered by 

 the grave of Black Hawk which may, not inappropriately, be mentioned here. 

 It was surrounded, to guard it from the intrusion of men and animals, with strong 

 pickets twelve feet high, planted in the ground, with earth thrown up against 

 them to impart additional stability, in the manner that all Indians built stockades 

 for military defense. Had this grave remained unmolested until the wooden 

 pickets had disappeared by decay, the small mound covering the old chief would 

 have appeared enclosed by an earthen ring, as was the case with the great mound 

 at Marietta, and others of that class. In this may we not trace the origin and 

 purpose of the mysterious ring embankments encircling some of the ancient 

 mounds ? 



"During the progress of this investigation," remarks Col. C. C. Jones, in 

 summing up the result of his researches among the antiquities of the Southern In- 

 dians, "it will be perceived that mound building, which seems to have fallen 

 into disuse prior to the dawn of the historic period, was entirely abandoned very 

 shortly after intercourse was established between Europeans and red men. * 



