AN ERIE INDIAN VILLAGE AND BURIAL SITE 479 



Every pit, pocket or post hole was charteJ, the varying character 

 of the soil and the manner of its disturbance was noted and it is 

 possible for any one familiar with our methods to take a specimen 

 from the collection and after examining its number and referring 

 to the records, point out on the map or on the actual site itself 

 exactly where that object was found. 



To insure accuracy in field records, three of a different kind 

 were made, so that any circumstance omitted in one might be found 

 in one of the others. The first record was made in a " trench book " 

 and written as the actual work progressed; the second record was 

 made on data slips and supplemented the trench book in'the matter 

 of measurements, locations, positions etc. of trenches, pits and 

 objects, and added the details of the particular thing described 

 on the slip ; the third was a survey record, in which every pit, 

 grave or trench cutting was charted to a degree of mathematical 

 exactness. All these records are supplemented by drawings, dia- 

 grams, maps and photographs. 



Method of excavating graves 



The burial section was staked out in the same manner as the 

 village section. The workmen in excavating removed the disturbed 

 top soil for a distance of 3 feet leaving a working space of 3 feet 

 by 16. Excavations were continued until signs of deeper disturb- 

 ance appeared. These " signs " were foreign substances in the 

 regular strata, such as fire-burned stone, flint chips, charcoal and 

 lumps of clay. Earth of the character here found once disturbed is 

 never as compact again as originally and even if there were no 

 intruding substances in the sand its very looseness as distinguished 

 from the rather compact sand surrounding it was a sign of its 

 disturbance. The top soil over the grave was removed and its out- 

 line ascertained. The superincumbent earth was removed for a 

 foot, and a. depth of 6 inches below explored for signs of the 

 grave bottom, and if not found the earth for another 6 inches was 

 shoveled out with great care, the shovel scooping up the earth 

 rather than spading into it. The trowel was used again to dig 

 down and the process repeated until the skull or pottery vessel top 

 v/as reached. The soil was then removed carefully with trowels. 

 The skeleton and grave bottom were cleaned with fine pointing- 

 trowels and finally swept with a brush, care being taken not to 

 move any bone or other object in the grave. A diagram of the 

 grave and its contents was made, the exact position of these objects 



