AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



197 



No. 1. 



No. 2. 



Notes of a Naticralist. By Jacob Geeen, M. D. 

 INDIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



In the early part of June (1S31,) I passed a da}'' or two 

 at Wheeling, in Virginia. M.j visit was rendered exceed- 

 ingly interesting, by the examination of some of tliose curi- 

 ous objects of antiquity which are aiiiong the few wrecks of 

 the history of the former inhabitants of our country, and are 

 certainly the work of a people much farther advanced in the 

 arts, and greatly superior in power and civilization to the 

 rude Indian tribes which now inhabit our western regions. 

 These vesti2;es of the arts and manners of our aboriorines are 

 gradually disappearing, and, at no very distant period, the 

 American antiquary will have to lament, that his predeces- 

 sors, in this curious field of inquir}'-, did not rescue from 

 oblivion more of these remarkable relics. 



There appears to have been no ancient fort, camp, or 

 military work in the immediate vicinity of Wheeling, but 

 on the western bank of the Ohio river, on the site of this 

 flourishing town, there was once a village, a place of public 

 worship, or perhaps merely the habitation of some distin- 

 guished chieftain. 



A few years since, a little to the north of the town, a 

 hearth or fire place was discovered, not many yards from 

 the bank of the river, and about four feet below the surface 

 of the ground. The floor of the hearth was composed of 

 large flat stones, and was strewed with pieces of charred 

 wood and with ashes. There were no bricks,* or any 

 earthen ware found near the place. This spot, I concluded, 

 must either have been an altar, where religious rites were 



* I saw part of a brick found some miles further down the river. Its surface 

 was fluted, some mould beinir impressed upon the clay before it was burnt. 

 3 D 



performed, or a hearth for the ordinary culinary operations 

 of a family. 



Some distance to the south of this altar or hearth, was the 

 place of burial or cemetery. This was first noticed some 

 years ago, by my friend, Dr. J. W. Clemens, an intelligent 

 physician and a zealous antiquary, now residing in Wheel- 

 ing. He informed me, that some workmen, while digging 

 a cellar for him, in one of the principal streets of the town, 

 observed a number of human bones, and some fragments of 

 earthen ware. On offering them a small premium, they suc- 

 ceeded in gettincc out of the tumulus, three or four small 

 earthen vessels, and a number of arrow heads, stone axes, 

 and rude ornaments of clay; enough of the skeleton was 

 also ascertained, to convince Dr. Clemens, that it was buried 

 in a sitting attitude. Two of the earthen vases, or urns, I 

 had the pleasure of examining. One of them is in the pos- 

 session of a gentleman in Wheeling, and the other is now 

 deposited in the Lambdin Museum, at Pittsburg, Pa. They 

 were all nearly of the same figure and capacity, and would 

 contain about one quart. Figure 1, of the accompanying 

 sketch, is an accurate drawing of the vase in the Museum. 

 It differs from the others, in being ornamented on the out- 

 side near the brim, by a line of bead-like protuberances; the 

 others were entirely plain. The symmetrical proportions 

 of these vessels, and the smooth surface they present, ren- 

 ders it highly probable that they were formed in a lathe, 

 in the same manner as potters ware is now modelled. The 

 inside of the urns appears to have been blackened either by 

 smoke, or the articles which they contained. The compo- 

 sition of which these vessels are made, is a mixture of 

 talcose earth, clay, and pounded muscle shells, the unios of 

 the Ohio river. They are without glazing, and have not 

 been burned in a kiln, as our common earthen ware, but 



