CERTAIN ABORIGINAL REMAINS OF THE TOMBIGBEE RIVER. 503 



About 100 yards N. N. W. from the preceding, in woods bordering the field, is 

 a mound on property of Messrs. Halbert and Vaughn, Columbus, Miss. The 

 mound is of sandy clay. Wash of freshets has made its outline irregular. It is 5 

 feet 3 inches in height and 90 feet by 104 feet across the base. The mound was 

 largely dug into by us to the base, including central parts, resulting in the finding 

 of several bunched burials and a number of isolated bones. We may say here, 

 for the benefit of those not familiar with mound work, that the bunched burial 

 consists of a lot of loose bones piled together in a heap. It was often the aboriginal 

 custom to expose the dead until the flesh disappeared and to bury the bones at 

 certain intervals of time. One small, rude, clay pot with a loop-shaped handle at 

 either side of the rim was found unassociated. 



In the Burrell field, about one-half mile in a straight course N. E. from Wild 

 Cat Bend, is a mound on the property of J. T. W. Hairston, Esq., of Martinsville, 

 Va. It is of clayey sand, 3 feet 2 inches high, and 60 feet by 70 feet across the 

 base. This mound was largely excavated without result. 



In the same field, which was a dwelling site, apparently, considerable sound- 

 ing was done with iron rods. About one foot below the surface one skeleton was 

 met with, buried on the left side with the thighs at right angles to the body and 

 the legs parallel to the thighs. 



Coleman Mound, Lowndes County, Miss. 



This mound, well known through all the district, probably originally was a 

 parallelogram in shape, but the washing of high water has made the outline irregu- 

 lar. It is about one mile in a northerly direction from Union Bluff, on property of 

 J. T. W. Hairston, Esq., of Martinsville, Va. Though the owner courteously gave 

 us permission to dig, we refrained from doing so, as the mound was of the regular 

 domiciliary type and, farthermore, its great value as a place of refuge, and the 

 presence of a number of houses upon it, made investigation inexpedient. 



Mounds neae Goose Pond, Pickens County, Ala. 



Goose Pond is in the swamp about one mile in a westerly direction from Mc- 

 Fatton Landing. Near the pond are three mounds, within a few feet of one 

 another, on property of B. B. Cohen, Esq., Sheffield, Ala. 



The most northwesterly, about 30 feet in diameter and 2 feet 3 inches in 

 height, had a previous excavation in the center, about 5 feet in diameter. Con- 

 siderable digging on our part in the loamy sand yielded one bunched burial — a pile 

 of bones surmounted by a skull. 



The middle mound had been cut to pieces by previous digging. 



The most southeasterly of the mounds, of loamy sand, 24 feet diameter of base, 

 1 foot 9 inches in height, though previously untouched, yielded nothing to a care- 

 ful examination. 



