136 The American Naturalist. [February, 



for burial purposes when the first white men settled in the 

 State. 



In many places near the surface of the mound separate bones, 

 or portions of skeletons not in anatomical order, were brought 

 to light, suggestive of a custom of (be earlier Indians, who are 

 known to have exposed bodies to the elements or to have buried 

 them until, through decomposition they were more readily 

 enabled to separate the flesh from the bones, which were 

 gathered together and buried at stated periods. It is possible, 

 however, that separate bones (and these bones were always near 

 the surface) were due to the disarrangement of previous inter- 

 nients caused by intrusive burials. 



The teeth in all the jaws exhumed were remarkably perfect. 

 In no case was any decay apparent and almost never was there 

 a missing tooth, though many were unusually worn as from 

 chewing upon hard substances, possibly fragments of shell 



solute evidence as to the 

 among the Indians wb 

 origin of which disease 

 would produce like resu 



Were 



: Study of Pre-Columbian Sy 



