ANTIQUITIES OF KNOX COUNTY, INDIANA, ETC. 413 



pottery, several flint arrow-heads, and one stone knife having the form 

 and size of an ordinary knife-blade, and very sharp on both edges. 

 There were bones, but too tender to handle. Bones and pottery were 

 found under the stump. I send specimens from this mound marked 

 " Bottom Mound." Prof. John Collett, who made a geological survey of 

 Knox County in June and July last, thinks there are 300 ancient mounds 

 in this county. 



The mounds in Lawrence County, Illinois, have produced much better 

 results in an archeological aspect than any examined iu Knox County, 

 Indiana. I had a very large mound excavated that is situated on Mr. An- 

 tone Eitchirdville's farn], one mile from this city, from which was obtained 

 one cranium in a fine state of preservation, and which presents some 

 very interesting points for the consideration of the ethnologist 5 but as 

 it is to be submitted to the examination of an expert, I will give no 

 descriptions and express no opinion of it. I send with it one femur and 

 one humerus, a tibia, fibula, and nlna. There was found near this skele- 

 ton, which was about 4 feet below the surface, a very large shell, a Pyrula 

 caniculata ; it is 11 inches long, and 6 inches at the widest point. 

 There were pieces of well-polished stone, one of which has a hole through 

 its center. There is a white-oak tree {Quercus alba) growing on the 

 mound, under which were found fragments of crania and some pottery. 

 It seems to have been burned until charred. 



There are fifteen mounds standing near each other, forming a circle, 

 with one in the center, situated about 400 yards from the river, in the 

 valley, two miles southwest of Vincennes, where there is an annual over- 

 flow. They are constructed of materials obtained around them, and 

 contain nothing of interest so far as examined, with the exception of a 

 skeleton, which had been inclosed in a rough plank coffin, and was 

 evidently an intrusive burial by our own people, probably a boatman. 

 I send the cranium merely for comparison with the others. I have had 

 five mounds opened that are situated on the Embarras River, near Brown's 

 old mill, in Lawrence County, Illinois. They are eight miles south- 

 west of this place, and have proved rich in relics. The cranium marked 

 "Brown's Mill Mound" was obtained by Mr. Carl Busse, who kindly 

 f)resented it to our public- school cabinet. It presents some points of 

 scientific interest. The skeleton was found in a sitting-posture. Near 

 it was found a beautiful pipe, also a bunch of long straight hair bound 

 together with a deer-skin thong, and having wrapped around it a piece 

 of cloth that is curiously woven, and once had bright colors, but has 

 faded considerably since it was removed from the mound. There were 

 twelve skeletons removed from this mound, but the crania were all 

 rotten, with the single exception of the one I send to the Institution, 

 In the five mounds lately opened there was nothing of interest disco7- 

 ered, with the exception of human bones, very much decayed. In the 

 first one there was a single skeleton, but the bones literally crumbled 

 into dust when attempted to be removed. In the second, there were 



