



66 THE MOUND BUILDERS OF TENNESSEE. 





























The manner of burial appeared to have been thus: An — 
excavation of the proper size, according to that of the body — 
of the dead, was made in the ground, and the bottom care- - 
fully paved with flat stones. Long flat stones, or slabs of 
limestone and slaty sandstone, were placed along the sides, 
and at the head and foot of the grave. The body or skeleton 
was then placed within the rude coffin, and the top covered 
with a large flat rock, or with several flat rocks. When a 
number of coffins were constructed together, the side rocks 
of the first coffin frequently constituted the side of the sec- 
ond, and so on. Many of the graves are quite small, only 
eapable of containing the body of a new-born infant. Many 
of the short square graves, not more than eighteen inches, 
or two feet in length, contain the bones of adults piled to- 
gether, the head being surrounded by, or resting upon the . 
arm and leg bones. This class of graves, containing the 
bones of adults packed in a small space, was probably con- 
structed at the general burying festival, or contained the re- 
mains of the dead which had been transported from a great 
distance. 
In a small mound, about forty-five feet in diameter, and 
about twelve feet in height, which I opened, about ten miles 
from Nashville, on the banks of a small stream and spring; 
and which contained perhaps one hundred skeletons, the 
stone graves, especially towards the centre of the mound, 
. were placed one upon the other, forming in the highest part 
of the mound three or four ranges. The oldest and lowest 
graves were of the small square variety, while those near or 
upon the summit, were of the natural length and width of 
the skeleton within. 
: | mound, as in other burial places, i in the small 
; equare. stone graves, the bones were frequently found broken, 
and while some graves contained only a portion of an entire 
— others contained fragments of two or more skele- 
together. The small mound now under con- 
on, which was one of the most perfect in its construc- 
