28 H. A. Chase—Indian Mounds on the Coast of Oregon. 
died, an excavation was made in this debris, and he was placed 
in the grave ina sitting posture, facing the east. His arm: 
trinkets, all that he possessed, were then disposed about his 
person, the grave was filled up, and a rude fence erected around 
1 is house, or hut, was then burned down, and the ashes 
cast over the grave. ; 
Of course in the lapse of years, the accumulation of debris on 
the mound was immense, and completely covered the original 
hill often to a depth of 25 or 30 feet. 
n Oregon farmer owning the land on which one of these 
mounds was situated, cut a portion of it away for the purpose 
of getting a secure foundation for his house, and also to use the 
shells and debris for manuring his lands. 
Being on the spot, I was afforded an excellent opportunity of 
observing the formation of the mound, and also of securing the 
different stone implements to be described. The vertical section 
exposed was about twenty-five or twenty-six feet. The original 
ground being a stiff clay, the accretions were easily distinguished 
from it. For the first two or three feet, the shells and bones 
were so far decomposed that they formed a fine black loam. 
The articles found in this stratum were of the rudest con- 
struction ; and, of course, only those of stone remained In the 
next stratum, however, articles of bone and ivory and an occa: 
sional perfect skull were exhumed, while ten feet from the sur- 
face the skeletons were intact, and articles of bone and ivory 
and even of wood perfect. 
The articles obtained may be divided into four classes, and 
in giving a description of characteristic specimens of each, 
shall endeavor to account for its use, basing my information on 
the present habits of the old Indians remaining and the tradi- 
tions of the whites. These classes are, first, objects of super- 
stition and personal ornament; second, implements used in 
preparing food; third, implements of warfare and the chase; 
and fourth, those used in manufacture. 
Of the first class, the most remarkable are knives, or swords, 
of black and bluish obsidian. The bones found with these 
implements were of unusual size, the skull being especially 
large. The owner was probably a chief, or perhaps a medicine 
man or doctor. 
One of these obsidian knives is double edged and double 
G ‘ 
ended, in shape not unlike a Greek sword, 142 inches long, 
2 inches broad at one end, 12 inches at the other, tapering 
toward both ends and edges, and 4 of an inch thick at the center. 
This knife is most carefully knapped, and considering the brittle 
character of the material, must have required no mean amount 
of ingenuity and patience to fashion. A second is of the same 
material, but not so large, being 84 inches long with a uniform 
