50 BURIAL MOUNDS OF THE NORTHERN SECTIONS

wasfound; at thefeet wereten stonesorsmall bowlders,suchas areconiniou inthe driftgravel. Itisevident thatthisinterestingtnnmhiswaserectedover the grave whichwasduginthe underlying gravel, and that the human bones placed in the burnt mass abovethe grave,withthefewstoneimplements found inoron the mass, had someconnectionwith the funeral ceremonieswhichtook placeinconnectionwith thebnrialof thebodyinthepitbelow. Theregnlarityof (he deposits over thepit,

which was underthe center of themound, seemstobesufficientproof ofthis.

Another

uiouiid, nearer the river,situated on an elevated portion of bottom land,

was

found todifl'erin construction from

any

ofthe others explored inthis vicinity. This ^is described as follows:

'

According to Mr. William Edwards, sixtyyearsagoit wasabout9 feet high,and coveredbyaheavyforestgrowth, whichal.soextendedover the region about. Over

fiftyyearsagothelaudwasclearedandthemoundscrajieddownbyMr.Edwards, who, afterremoving about4feetofearthfromitssummit,cametoa large(juantityofstones, withwhich weremany human bones. Since that time themouud ^lias been plowed overandstoneshave been taken from^ituntilithas beenso nearly leveledashardly tobenoticed. Thus only the base of the mound could be explored; but that has provedofgreatinterest inconnectionwiththeotherworksofthevalley. Onremov- ing the eartharound the base it was found thatstones, many of considerablesize,

had been soarrangedas toformamoundabout5 feethighinthe center and90feet indiameter,over which the earthhad beenplacedto the height ofabout4 feet, as statedbyMr. Edwards. In heightaboutone-half of the stone portion of themound wasundisturbed. On removingtheoutercovering of stonesitwasfoundthatmany

burials,probably at least oneInindred,hadbeenmade in themound. Theremains ofseventy-one skeletonswereobtained. Theseskeletonswereallmoreorlesscrushed bythe stoneswhich surrounded them,as,inadditiontothe outer stonesofthemound, each body had been surrounded with stones atthetimeofitsburial. In manyin- stances largeslabs oflimestone hadbeennsed,andina few casesthey weresot on edgearoundthebody. In other cases small stoneshad beenpiledaroundand over thebodies,which had beenplacedinvariouspositions,some extended andothersflexed in variousways. Withmanyof the skeletonswerestoneimplementsandornaments,

among which wereseveralof theflatstoueswithtwoormoreperforations, generally

known as gorgets. There were also many bone implements,shell and bone orna- ments,andcut teethof bears. Several small copper awlsinbono handles, and the shellsofbox-tnrtles,wereal.so found withtheskeletons. Many^{fragmentsof pottery} and brokenbones ofanimalswerescattered through the massof stonesandhuman

bones. Atthefeetoftheskeleton, inthe center of themound,therewasan upright slab of limestone 2^feetlong by20 incheswide,andwith thisskeletonwerethefol-

lowingobjects: Resting onthe chestwasa large ornamentmadefromtheapexof a conchshell, witha hole atone edge for suspension; below this, on the ribs,was a spear-shapedgorget,withonehole,andbyitssidewere.severalshellornaments,also perforated. Lying near the right femur and parallel with it wasa carved bone, groovedontheundersideand havingtwoholes: betweenthisand the legbone were foursmallpiecesof carvedbone about an inchin length. Intlic bonesof the right hand was a small awlmadeof native copperand insertedin a^little round handle madeof bone, similarto others found with other skeletons inthe mound. At the southsideofthemound, on the originalsurface, wasa burntspace, on whichwasa largequantity,.severalbushels,ofbroken bonesof animals,clamshells,and fragments ofpotterymixed withashes. Thismass seemsto haveexisted beforethemound was made,or atallevents completed, asliveof the burialshad takenjilaceabove^it. On

the plainaboutthemonndareevidences of thesiteofaformervillage,andtheannual plowingbringsto lightmanyauimalremains, fragmentsofi)ottery,andstone imple-

'17thReportPeabody Museum,pp. 342-343,

THOMAS.1

MOUNDS OK THE KANAWHA VALLEY.

₅₁

ineiits"fthesame characterasthosefrom theiiioiuid. From thisfact,and fromthe character of theburials in the mound,aswell asthat of tlie objectsfound with the skeh'tons,and fromtheabsence of (hecharacteristicornanjeutsfound withsomanyof (hehuman remainsintheTurnergronjiandother ancientmoumlsoftheOhioValley,

weare led tolookni)on thisstonemoundasthe burial place ofatrilieof Indiansliving intheregion subsecjuent to the builders of (heTurner mounds. The remains found

in thisstonemound, as awhole, indicate that the people here buriedwereclosely con- nected with thosewhomadethe singular ash-pitsinthe ancientcemeterynearMadi- sonville.'

Passing into

West

Virginia

we

notice first tbe celebrated

Grave

Creek niouud. This has been described and figured so often tbatit is

nnnccessary for

me

todo

more

than call attention to certain particu- lars in regard to it to which I

may

desire liereafter to refer by

way

of cotnparison. It is in the form ofa regular cone, about 70feethighand nearly 300 feetin diameter atthe base.

A

shaft snnic from theapexto the base disclosed two

wooden

vaults, tbe first about half

way down

and the otherat tbe bottom. In tbe first or upper one

was

a single skeleton, decorated with a profusion of shell beads, copper bracelets, and plates of mica.

Tbe

lowervault, which

was

partly in an excava tion

nmde

in tbe natural ground,

was

found toberectangular, 12 by 8 feetand ⁷ feet high.

Along

each side

and

across the ends upright timbers

bad

been placed, which supported other timbers thrown across tbe vault as a covering. These were covered with a layer of rough stones. In this vault were two

human

skeletons, oneof which had no ornaments, while tbe other

was

^surroundedwithhundredsofshellbeads.

In attemptingtoenlarge thisvault the

workmen

discovered around it

ten other skeletons.

While

carrying the horizontal tunnel, several massesof charcoal

and

burnt bones were encountered aftera distance of12 or 15 feet

had

been reached.

Before

making

any

comments

on the construction of this noted

work

and the

mode

ofburial in it,I will present

some

facts recently brought to lightin regard to the burial

mounds

of the

Kanawha

Valley

by

the assistants oftheBureau.

A

large

mound

situated on thefarm ofOoi. B.H.Smith, near Charles- ton, is conical in form, about 175 feetin diameter at the base

and

.35

feet high. It appears to bedouble; that isto say, it consists of two mounds, one builton the other, the loweror original one20 feet and the upper 15feethigh.

The

exploration was

made

by sinking a shaft, 12feet square at the top and narrowing gradually to G feet square at tbe bottom,

down

tliiough tbecenter ofthe structure totbeoriginal surfaceofthe ground anda sbortdistancebelowit. Afterremovingaslightcovering ofearth, an irregular mass of large, rough, flat sandstones, evidently brought from the blufts half a mile distant,

was

encountered.

Some

of these sandstoneswere a goodload for

two

ordinarymen.

Tbe

removalofa

wagon

load or so of these stonesbrought to lighta

'17thReportPeabodyMuseum, p.344.

62 HURIAL MOUNDS Of THK NORTHERN

SECTIONS.

stone vault 7feetlongand 4feetdeep,in thebottomofwliieh

was

found a large anU

much

decayed

human

skeleton, but wanting the head, which the mostcareful examination failed todiscover.

A

^singlerough spearhead was the only

accompanying

^article found iu this vault.

At

the depth of G feet, in earth similar to that around the base of the njound,

was

found a second skeleton, also

much

decayed, of an adult of ordinary size.

At

9 feeta third skeleton

was

encountered, in a mass of loose, dry earth, surrounded by the remainsof a bark coffin.

This was in a

much

better state of preservation than the other two.

TheskuU,

whichwasi)reserved,isofthecompressedor"flat-head"type.

For

some

3 or 4 feetbelow this the earth

was

foundtobe

mixed

with ashes.

At

thisdepth in his

downward

progress Colonel Norris began toencounter theremains of

what

further excavation

showed

to have been a timber ^vault, about 12 feet square and 7 or 8 feet high.

From

the conditioninwhich theremainsofthecover werefound,he concludes thatthis

must

have beenroof-shaped,and,having

become

decayed,

was

crushedin

by

the weight of the addition

made

tothe

mound. Some

of the walnuttimbers of this vault were as

much

as 12inchesindiameter.

In this vault were foundfiveskeletons,one lying prostrateonthefloor atthedepthof 19feetfrom thetopofthe

mound,

andfourothers,which, from the positions in which they were found, were supposed to have been placed standing in the four corners.

The

first of these was dis- covered at the depth of 14 feet,

amid

a

commingled mass

of earth

and

decaying bark and timbers, nearly erect, leaning against the wall,

and

surrounded by the remains ofa barkcoffin. Allthebonesexcept those of the left forearm were too far decayed to be saved; these were pre- served by two heavy copper^bracelets whichyet surrounded them.

The

^{skeleton foundlying in the middle of the floor of the vault}

was

of unusually large ^size, "measuring 7 feet6 inches iu length

and

19

Fig.21.

—

Copper gorgot frommound,KanawhaCounty,WestVirginia.

inches between the shoulder sockets." It

had

also been inclosed iu a wrappingorcoffinofbark,remainsofwhichwere^{stilldistinctly visible.}

It lay upon theback, head east, legs together,

and arms

by the sides.

Tliere were six heavybraceletson each wrist; four others were found under thehead, which, together with a spear-point of black ^flint, were incasedin a

mass

of mortarlike substance, which

had

evidently beeu

wrapped

iu

some

textile fabric.

On

the breast

was

acoppergorget(Fig.

THOMAS.I

MOUNDS OP THE KANAWHA VALLEY. 53

21). In each

baud

were three .spear-heads of black ^flint, and others were aboutthe head, knees, and feet.

Near

the right

hand

weretwo

lieuiatite celts, and on the shoulder were threelarge andthick jjlatesof luica.

About

the shoulders, waist, and thighs were

numerous

minute perforatedshellsand shell beads.

While

filling in the excavation, the pipe representedin Fig. 122 was

Fig.; Pipe from mound,KanawhaCounty,West^Virginia.

foundinthedirt which had been

removed

from it. This pipehasbeen carved out ofgray steatite and highly polished. It is worthy of note that it is precisely of the form described

by

Adair as

made

by the Cherokees,

and

also that it approaches very near to an Ohio type (Fig. 23).

Fir.23.— ripe from mouuil. Butler County,Ohio.

Another mound

ofrather largesize, in the

same

locality,

was

opened by the Bureau assistant.

In order that ^all the facts bearing on its uses

may

be understood it isnecessary to noticeits immediate surroundings.

Plate

V

^is a

map

^showing the ancient works in the valley of the

Kanawha,

from 3 to 5 miles below Cluirleston, and Plate

VI

is

an enlargedplatoftheareaembracingthose

numbered

I, IIand 1,3,and 4on themap.

As

willbe seen by an ^inspection of the latteri)late, the worksincludedaretwocircular enclosures,1 and2^;oneexcavation;one included

mound,

2; threemounds, 3, 1,and 4,outsideofthe enclosures;

and a graded way.

As

our attention at present ^is directed only to thelarge

mound,

1, it is unnecessary to notice the otherworks further thau to add that each enclosure isabout 22(» feetin diameter, and con- sistsof a circular wall

and

an inside ditch.

The

excavation is nearly circular

and

about 140feet in diameter.

The

large

mound

^isconicalin

form, 173 feetin diameter, and 33 feet high. ^{It is} slightlytruncated, the top having been leveled^ofl'

some

forty years ago for the purpose