
THE MOUND BUILDERS OF TENNESSEE. 61 
tion, the lids of the upper sarcophagi being so arranged as to 
form an .even-rounded, shelving rock surface, was situated 
upon the western slope of a beautiful hill covered with the 
magnificent growth of the native forest. The remains of an 
old Indian fortification were still evident, surrounding an 
extensive encampment and several other mounds. Ina large 
and carefully constructed stone tomb, the lid of which was 
formed of a flat rock, over seven feet in length, and three 
feet wide, I exhumed the bones of what was supposed to 
have been an ancient Indian chief who had passed his hun- 
dred summers. The skeleton was about seven feet in length, 
and the huge jaws had lost every vestige of teeth, the alveo- 
lar processes being entirely absorbed. 
The hill upon which the residence of Col. Overton stands, 
about nine miles from Nashville, was in ancient times cov- 
ered with a flourishing Indian village. The circular depres- 
sions of their wigwams are still visible. The aborigines 
appeared to have been attracted to this locality by the noble 
spring which bursts out at the foot of the hill. Thousands 
of bones were exhumed in excavating the cellar of the family 
mansion. The crest and south-eastern slope of the hill are 
covered with stone graves, many of which have been opened 
by curiosity hunters. A large number are concealed by the 
rank growth of weeds and grass. Those which I examined — 
-aat this locality were all constructed upon the same plan. 
Here, as elsewhere, the graves were of various sizes, from 
that just sufficient to enclose the remains of a little child, up 
to the long stone coffin of eight feet. Some have supposed 
that these little graves enclosed a race of pigmies, but upon 
careful examination of many, at various localities, we dis- 
covered that they were simply the graves of the young; for 
we found the teeth in all stages of development, from the 
toothless child, through the period of dentition, up to the 
appearance of the wisdom teeth. Some of the small graves 
contained the bones of small animals, apparently of dogs, 
rabbits, squirrels and wild cats, and of birds, such as the wild 

