ABORIGINAL SITES ON TENNESSEE RIVER. 391 
skull; a fragment of a femur. All these bones had belonged to adults. They 
were not, so far as we could determine, in pits. 
Burial No. 6, at about 33 inches from the surface, in the central part of the 
mound but not immediately under Burial No. 1, was a grave-pit 3 feet 6 inches 
by 4 feet 6 inches, filled with musselshells, with which were mingled large pebbles, 
fragments of pebbles, masses of silieious rock, and one fragment of limestone. 
The thickness of this deposit was 10 inches. While the sides of the grave-pit 
surrounding the shells were clear-cut and perpendicular, it was impossible to say 
if the pit began with the shells or above them, as the material above the shells 
was precisely similar to the clay and sand of which the mound was composed. 
Under this mass of shell and stone was the skeleton of a child lying at full 
length on the back, on whose skull had been placed a flat, quadrangular mass of 
mica schist, 11 inches by 9 inches by 3 inches, which had crushed the cranium. 
At the neck were many small, marine shells of two varieties (Marginella apicina 
and Olivella mutica), used as beads, apparently similar to others found with 
burials along the river. At the outer side of the right elbow and of the right 
femur, respectively, was the columella of a conch (Busycon), both ends of which, 
in each instance, had been clearly cut across and not broken. These columella 
probably were material in the rough for the manufacture of beads or of pendants, 
and probably are the “hearts” of shells such as were carried by Cabeça de Vaca 
on his journey early in the sixteenth century, to trade with the Indians. 
The mound contained no fireplaces and, as we have said, no midden-debris. 
The upper part was yellow, sandy clay, varying in thickness from 3.5 feet to 
4.5 feet; next came from 2 to 3 feet of similar material, though of a slightly 
darker shade; then the yellow soil of the upper part of the mound. Our excava- 
tion was carried through these strata and beyond to a depth of one foot, bringing 
the depth of the excavation to the measured height of the mound, but no basal 
line was encountered, nor were two good-sized holes sunk from the floor of our 
excavation to a considerable depth successful in determining the base. 
Seven feet eight inches from the surface of the mound were two badly decayed 
tibiz of an adult, side by side, no foot-bones or any other parts of a skeleton 
being present. These bones seemed to lie in a grave, judging from the fact that 
around them the soil was somewhat looser than elsewhere. Incidentally, it 
may be said that it is remarkable for what length of time, in some cases, soil 
that has been disturbed gives evidence of the fact through a certain lack of 
compactness. 
It is impossible to say how far up the grave had extended, it having been 
dug down upon by one of our men. With the bones were: a mass of red pigment 
(hematite), on which rested a celt of slate, about 4.5 inches in length; part of a 
femur of some lower animal; a tine of stag-horn; a triangular flint point, 3 inches 
in length; a mass of manganese ore, about 1.5 inches in diameter, ground flat 
on two faces; an irregular mass of limestone, about 2.5 by 1.5 inches; a rude dise 
1 This bone went astray when submitted for identification. 
