AN OSSUARY AT THE INDIAN VILLAGE SITE OF 

 PATAWOMEKE (POTOMAC) 



By T. D. STEWART 



Associate Curator, Division of Physical Anthropology 



U. S. National Museum 



During the latter part of the field season of 1939 an ossuary was 

 discovered near the center of the historic Indian village site on 

 Potomac Creek, in Stafford County, Va., known as Patawomeke. 

 Circumstances prevented the exposure at that time of more than a 

 third of the skeletal remains. Although these remains were not too 

 well preserved, owing perhaps to the weight of the superimposed 

 earth and its heavy clay consistency, the arrangement of the bones 

 and the meager accompanying cultural material furnished important 

 new information regarding local burial customs. The complete ex- 

 amination of this ossuary, then, was the primary reason for spending 

 another field season at this site. Secondarily, we wished to search the 

 neighborhood for related sites. 



A trip to the site in May of 1940 revealed that the field in which 

 the ossuary was situated had just been planted in corn. This circum- 

 stance dictated the date for beginning operations there, namely, in 

 the fall after the corn was cut. James Ashby, the owner of the farm, 

 again kindly gave permission to excavate. Arrangements were made 

 also for Karl Schmitt, Jr., and Chandler Rowe, graduate students 

 of the department of anthropology, University of Chicago, to serve 

 as assistants. 



We set up camp on August 20 and were immediately adopted by a 

 kitten that had wandered away from the farmhouse and was living 

 in the cornfield. "Ho cat," as he was called, besides furnishing enter- 

 tainment and company, served us well by keeping the tents free of 

 crickets and grasshoppers, a diet upon which he seemed to thrive. 



From this headquarters we made daily trips over a period of a 

 week — until the corn was cut — to various points along the Rappahan- 

 nock River in search of Indian sites showing relationships to Pata- 

 womeke. Although we had the advantage of Mr. Bushnell's reports 

 on this part of the river, the season was unfavorable for such inves- 

 tigations ; many of the sites were under cultivation. Nevertheless, we 

 became convinced that a Rappahannock type of pottery constitutes 

 a minor element at Potomac Creek. 



