MILLS— THE TREMPER MOUND 



crematories were situated, as well as several small depositories. Of 

 the three large circular additions built onto the eastern end of the 

 structure, the most southerly, 45 by 50 feet in size, contained three 

 large crematories and apparently was given over entirely to the pur- 

 pose of cremation. The floor of this room was covered to a depth of 

 about an inch with charred leaves and straw. The room directly 

 north, being the central one of the three additions at the eastern end 

 of the main structure, appears to have been given over entirely to 

 the great cache of pipes and associated artifacts, described elsewhere. 

 It contained, however, in addition to the cache, a rectangular pre- 

 pared basin or depository, unused, a cremated burial of a single indi- 

 vidual, and a large fireplace. In this room, the floor of which had 

 been covered with sand, no posts had been placed interiorly. This 

 provided a large space around the fireplace, entirely clear from 

 obstruction, a condition not noted in any other part of the structure. 

 The room just north of the one containing the cache held a very 

 large prepared depository for the ashes of the dead, and a large fire- 

 place. This room doubtless was the main vault, in which the greater 

 part of the cremated remains of the entire structure was deposited. 

 The smaller additions along the northern side appear to have been 

 mainly in the nature of long passageways and small rooms. The floors 

 of these, in great part, were covered with charred leaves, cloth, and 

 other substances, strewn in places to a depth of several inches. The 

 most definitely outlined of these rooms along the northern side is 

 that shown as number 25 in figure 2. This room appears to have been 

 a veritable workshop and kitchen, the floor being strewn with the 

 bones of animals, such as the deer, elk, bear, turkey, and raccoon. 

 None of these bones had been worked, but all were broken, indicating 

 the use of the animals as food. Broken pottery, apparently associated 

 with the preparation and containing of food, was also abundant on 

 this floor, as was Ohio black shale, in pieces of a size suggesting their 

 use in the making of ornaments. Practically the entire floor of this 

 room was covered with mica flakes, in size from the smallest bits to 

 fragments an inch or more in diameter, many of them apparently 

 refuse from the large crystals of mica found in the great cache. South- 

 eastward from this room, and adjacent thereto, was a room below the 

 floor of which were found the two graves containing cremated burials 

 and described elsewhere. 



Study of the map of the floor-plan and of the data pertaining to 

 the mound enables one to picture rather vividly the activities, carried 

 on doubtless through a considerable length of time, of the builders 

 in disposing of their dead. 



[34i] 



