1919] BARRETT AND HAWKES, KRATZ CREEK MOUNDS. 43 



above mean lake level, its association with fire, and especially the 

 presence of a fragmentary human jaw of a young person, still 

 retaining two of its teeth, make it clearly of significance. It 

 covered an irregular area some two feet in diameter and had a 

 thickness of about 0.4 of a foot. It was located quite near the side 

 of the bundle re-burials, and was composed of shells and shell 

 fragments intermixed with charcoal and ashes. On top of the 

 altar was the above mentioned fragment of human jaw which 

 showed no evidence of fire, and also a number of charred animal 

 bones. 



One very interesting feature of the construction of this mound 

 was a ring of bright red sand which encircled all the contents of 

 the mound. It had a diameter of about 33 feet as represented by 

 the outer circle at the center of fig. 2. Thus it was well outside the 

 limits of the fire and sacred earth strata, and rested directly on the 

 undisturbed original dark yellow sand of the saucer-shaped bottom 

 of the mound. This ring, a foot or so wide and half as thick on the 

 average, appears to have been placed here after the whole contents 

 of the mound were in position, including the strata of sacred earths 

 and the fire strata surmounting the bundle re-burials. In other 

 words it seems likely that this ring of sacred earth represents the 

 last act in the ceremonial procedure after the entire contents were 

 placed and before the common earth was heaped up over them to 

 finish the mound. 



In considering this mound as a whole we are convinced that 

 it was constructed expressly for the deposition of these bundle 

 re-burials. The presence of three burials in the flesh is, therefore, 

 rather an anomalous feature. One of these, No. 3, was so near the 

 surface, the bones were so well preserved, and certain other of 

 its features differ so greatly from those of the other two that we 

 are forced to conclude that it is an intrusive burial of a later people. 

 Not so, however, with the other two which are so situated as to 

 make it certain that they were buried at the time of the construc- 

 tion of the mound. It is possible that these may represent individ- 

 uals who died while the mound was in course of construction, which 

 must have been a period of weeks or months rather than days. 

 These may have been regular members of the tribe who died from 

 natural causes, or may represent slaves or prisoners of war sacri- 

 ficed in this way. This latter does not seem unlikely in view of the 

 evidence of possible human sacrifices, found on altar No. 5. 



