136 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 118 



had the appearance of once having been exposed to surface action. 

 Many were quite large and appeared to be a natural part of the 

 rocky bluff upon which the mound was located. They were, in 

 most part, embedded in heavy clay and rubble and showed no evi- 

 dence of ever having been disturbed by man. 



It would thus appear that prior to the erection of this mound 

 this rocky river bluff had suffered erosion to the point where many 

 large rocks, the top of the underlying strata, had been exposed to 

 weathering. Some clay remained in between these large exposed 

 boulders, and the trees of the forest grew in this thin soil. In 

 these pockets forest humus accumulated to make a 6-inch layer of 

 dark soil between the exposed rocks. The builders of the mound 

 chose this location for their burials, laying down burial after burial, 

 and covering them with clay mixed with dark soil. This clay and 

 soil they obtained wherever they could find it lodged in rock pockets. 

 Available soil was scarce at best in the immediate vicinity, so they 

 also used loose stones of such size as to be easily transported. A 

 quantity of large stones were thus found scattered through the 

 accumulated earth of the mound. In one burial, certainly, possibly 

 in two, there seemed to have been a definite attempt to place the 

 body on a stone pavement or to make for it a stone grave. In all 

 other cases, where stones were used in seemingly definite association 

 with burials, they appeared to have been used to cover the body, or 

 were irregularly placed on the body at the time of burial. Since 

 no evidence of intrusion was noted, although carefully sought, the 

 conclusion is forced upon one that each body was laid upon what 

 was then the surface and covered over by earth brought from else- 

 where. In this way the mound was erected. 



It would appear that this area had never been disturbed by culti- 

 vation and that erosion had had little effect in leveling the mound. 

 This was due to the heavy growth of shrubs and trees on its surface. 



Burials 



Burial No. 1. — Six inches above the original surface of the ground 

 a partially flexed skeleton of an adult was discovered. The body 

 had been buried on the right side with the head to the east. The 

 preservation was poor, and no artifacts were found in association. 

 Two limestone rocks were found in association with the burial. One 

 lay at the feet of the skeleton and the other lay between the femur 

 and the tibia. 



Burial No. 2. — This fully flexed skeleton, which was found 6 inches 

 above the original ground surface, was very poorly preserved. The 

 age of the person could not be determined. No artifacts were found 

 in association. 



