REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I918 287 



valley, (20) south of the Finger Lakes, especially along the head 

 streams of the Susquehanna and of the Delaware are scattering 

 relics, (21) portions of the Hudson valley, as near Athens. 



Mound Culture Sites 



Mounds in New York have had no systematic examinations 

 despite the large amount of work done by amateurs in excavating 

 them. It is safe to say that the possibility of making a methodo- 

 logical examination is now reduced by two-thirds, through the 

 vandalism of inexperienced relic hunters. Many mounds have been 

 scraped down merely to level the ground and others have been 

 scraped into by spade and horse scraper to find what "valuables" 

 they might contain. Few records have been kept and not all that 

 have been made are reliable. Some of the older antiquarians seem 

 to have been highly imaginative. An examination of the most 

 reliable records available to us makes possible the descriptions of 

 the typical mound culture sites given below : 



I Mound on a terrace above the Connewango valley at Poland 

 Center, Chautauqua county. This mound was first described by 

 T. Apoleon Cheney in the Report of the State Cabinet of Natural 

 History (i8th Report) for i860. 



When examined in 1905 the mound appeared to have been con- 

 siderably demolished by excavations, but in size it still remained 

 the highest of which we have any knowledge within the State. It 

 stands several rods back from the edge of the terrace and amid the 

 gloom of a thick forest growth. It still stands 9 or 10 feet in height 

 and with a diameter of about 64 feet. There seem to be the remains 

 of an outer wall and trench surrounding the mound, but the debris 

 from excavations, the deep leaf mould and fallen trees make this 

 difficult to determine. Some fragments of notched flints are to 

 be found in the soil about the mound and it seems to be set in what 

 was once a village site, but on account of the character of the ground 

 this is not easy to establish. Certain it is, however, that the flat 

 land immediately below the terrace shows signs of occupation. 

 Numerous celts, notched spears, soapstone pipe fragments, a beauti- 

 fully formed stone tube and several gorgets have been found. The 

 cultiu"e represented seems similar to that of the Ohio mound area. 



It is interesting to note that Cheney claims that eight . skeletons 

 buried in a " sitting posture " were excavated from this mound. 



Cheney's report on this site in part is as follows : 



"The mound indeed, from the peculiar form of its construction, 

 as well as from the character of its contents, has much resemblance 



