520 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Post holes and lodge sites 



A large number of post holes, that is small holes from i8" to 24" 

 deep, filled with substances somewhat different from the surround- 

 ing soil, were discovered in -the village layers [see diagram of pits, 

 pi. 4]. The positions of these holes were carefully charted and were 

 found to bear a certain relation one to the other. The character 

 of the soil inclosed by lines bounding these holes was carefully noted 

 and seemed to indicate the dirt floors of lodges. The post holes 

 therefore, were probably the holes made by the stakes that formed 

 the uprights of dwellings. Although a number of lodge sites, so 

 called, were discovered it is not to be thought that there were not 

 other lodges elsewhere. 



Mortuary customs indicated 



The areas of most of the graves were large in proportion to the 

 space occupied by the skeletons. In general the bones rested in 

 the center or at one corner of the excavation, leaving a wide space 

 about the bones. Nearly all the skeletons were arranged in a 

 flexed position. From these circumstances it might be inferred 

 that the dead were carefully placed in the graves and arranged by 

 persons who descended into them. This assumption appears 

 strengthened when it is considered that the pottery vessels which 

 probably contained food could not have been easily dropped into 

 the grave and have remained upright as they were in almost every 

 instance. The whole make-up of the graves and the positions of 

 the articles found in them indicate the hand of design. The de- 

 cayed substances found over the grave bottoms seem to indicate 

 that other perishable possessions were placed in the graves, such as 

 articles of wood, bark, skins and fabrics of bark or reeds. It is 

 not to be supposed that objects were not placed in some graves 

 because none were found. The lack of stone or pottery articles 

 suggests that only perishable substances and utensils have been 

 interred. In the bottoms of many of the grave pits just beneath or 

 mingled with the animal phosphate were layers of charred vege- 

 table matter, either bark, grass or reeds. From this fact it would 

 appear that in such pits fires had been kindled, either to dry the 

 damp earth or to warm the bed for the sleeper whose body must 

 rest so long within it. This is in accord with certain traditions. 

 Thin and sometimes almost imperceptible layers of decayed vege- 

 table matter over some of the skeletons strongly suggests the use 

 of bark or wood as a covering for the bodies before the earth was 

 finally thrown back into the excavation. In a few cases flat pieces 



