MILLS— THE TREMPER MOUND 



close proximity to the mound site, and within the encircling earth- 

 work. Squier and Davis state that the mound is composed of loose 

 broken sandstone and earth; however, we found but few pieces of 

 sandstone, these occurring only in connection with intrusive burials. 

 Within the body of the mound, now and then small pockets of gravel 

 were unearthed, while the central portion of the floor, surrounding 

 the large communal grave and the cache of artifacts, was covered 

 with fine sand to a depth of several inches. 



The remarkably distinct floor, which in every part of the mound 

 was readily distinguishable from the earth composing the mound 

 itself, greatly facilitated the locating of the rows of postmolds mark- 

 ing the outline of the structure, as well as of the various rooms and 

 apartments thereof. 



Approximately six hundred of these postmolds were noted. Many 

 of them were clean cavities extending both below and above the 

 floor-line, this condition being found where the posts had not been 

 entirely consumed in the burning of the structure, leaving them 

 gradually to decay, their places being marked only by the hollow 

 mold. In other instances, the proof of the burning of the structure 

 when its purpose had been served, and preparatory to the erection 

 of the mound, was seen in the partly burned and charred posts. 

 These were present both in the molds at the floor-line and also where 

 they had fallen during the conflagration, and had been covered before 

 they were consumed. Specimens of the charred sections of posts 

 were taken out intact and placed on display in the Museum. 



SITE OF THE MOUND A SACRED PLACE 



The work of exploration soon disclosed that the Tremper mound 

 is of the great Hopewell culture, but, with the possible exception of 

 Mound No. 8, Mound City group, differing in several important par- 

 ticulars from mounds of that culture already explored. These differ- 

 ences, which presented themselves as the work of excavation pro- 

 gressed, were the depositing of the ashes from the crematories in 

 communal depositories, the burial of cremated remains beneath the 

 base-line of the mound, and the placing of the artifacts of the dead 

 in common caches. In this last respect, Mound No. 8, Mound City 

 group, was analogous, and it is probable that the communal idea 

 extended also to the disposition of the cremated remains, although 

 this, as well as interment of cremated remains below the base-line, 

 cannot at present be determined, as the explorations of Squier and 

 Davis in that mound were of so desultory a character as to pre- 

 clude any very definite or extended information. Therefore, insofar 



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