368 



ETHNOLOGY. 



A few years ago a great part of the mound was removed, and some im- 

 portant results were obtained, the relics being of unusual interest. Eleven 

 skeletons were exhumed, with a large number of burial vases; stone 

 implements in great variety and of superior workmanship, consisting 

 chiefly of axes, spears, arrow-heads, chisels, drillers, and sinkers; pipes; 

 ornaments of shell aud stone; also, a peculiar implement of unknown 

 use formed from an antler; and two articles manufactured from copper, 

 one the remains of a necklace, consisting of a number of beads; the 

 other a needle several inches in length. 



One of the skulls is noticed by Professor Wyman as remarkable for 

 its diminutive size, though adult, its capacity being only 56 cubic inches, 

 or less than 67 per cent, of that of the average Indian cranium, which 

 is given as 84 cubic inches by Morton and Meigs, the minimum observed 

 by them being 69 cubic inches. In speaking of this skull, Professor 

 Wyman says : " In ordinary skulls the ridges of the temporal muscles 

 on the two sides of the head are separated by a space of from 3 to 4 

 inches, seldom less than 2, while in the Detroit-mound skull this space 

 measures only three-quarters of an inch; and in this respect it presents 

 the same conditions as the skull of a chimpanzee."* 



It is interesting to remark here that " the flattest tihiw on record," 

 already referred to, were taken by me from this mound. I regret to 

 have to add that in the rude method pursued in opening this mound 

 many choice relics were destroyed ; a large number also were carried 

 away, scattered, and lost. 



In the following table I give the dimensions of a few of the tibiw, of 

 which I was able to obtain measurements, from the great mound on the 

 Eouge Eiver and the circular mound on the Detroit Kiver. All these 

 bones have more or less saber-like curvature : 



Table I. — Dimensions, i^-c, of tihimfrom the Eouge and Detroit Elvers, Michigan. 



CO 



a 



Length, in inches aud 

 decimals. 



Transverse diame- 

 ter, proximal end, 

 in inches and deci- 

 mals. 



II 



tw :x 



a 3 

 o " 

 ■hM 



g.5g 



Antero-posterior di- 

 ameter aud traus- 

 verFO diameter of 

 shaft, iu inches. 



.5 ° 



[. a a 

 P-i 



.So 



'S '3 



1 





2.9 

 2. 7 



3.5 



167 by 97 

 145 by 70 

 156 by 73 

 117 bv(i8 

 148 by 67 

 142 by 69 



168 by BO 

 l.T2tV64 

 154 by 62 





0.580 



2 







0. 4ea 



3 









0.5G0 



4 







2.7 



2.65 



2.8 



o.'ieo'""' 



0.185 



0. 5)r!l 



5 



C 



7 



14.7 



14.9 



2.8 

 2.7 



0.452 

 0,485 

 0.470 



8 



14.6 

 15.0 





2! 9 



0.184 

 0. 193 



0. 421 



9 





0.402 









Mean 



14.8 



2.73 



2.87 



150 by 72 



0.185 



0.486 



* Sixth Annual Kepoit of the Trustees of the Peabody Museum of American ArchEeol- 

 ogy and Ethnology. 1873. American Journal of Science aud Arts, third series, vol 

 vii, p. 1, January, 1874. 



