54 BURIAL MOUNDS OF THE NORTHERN SECTIONS

FIFTHANNUALiiEPOHT PL.V

JLXBANATTOyS.

Mounds.

Enclosvres-XolidlinesindicaleDitches.

Grade M-ays

- ITullmYjlockJlIeapa^

THOMAS.)

MOUNDS OF THE KANAWHA VALLEY. 55 One

20feet in diameterand 7 feet liigli, with a beech tree 30 inches indiametergrowing on^it,

was

o]ienedby runningabroadtrenchthrongh

it.

The

material of whi(!h it was

composed was

yellow clay,evidently from an excavation in the hillside nearit. Stretched horizontallyon thenaturalsurfaceoftheground,laces

up

and iieadssouth, werese%'en skeletons, six adults and one ^{child, all charred.}

They

were covered severalinches thick with ashes,charcoal, and fire-brands, evidently the remains of a very heavy fire which

must

have been smotheredbefore^it

was

fullyburned out. Three coarselanceheads were found

among

the bonesoftheadults,and aroundtheneckofthe child threecopperbeads, apparently of

hammered

native copper.

Another mound,

50 feet in diameterand ^.5 feethigh, standing guard, asit were, atthe entrance of an inclosure,

was

opened, revealing the following particulars:

The

top

was

strewn with fragments offlat rocks, mostofwhich were

marked

withoneor

more

small, artificial,cup-shaped depressions.

Below

these, to the depth of 2 or 3 feet, thehardyellow clay was mixed throughout with similar stones, charcoal, ashes, stone

chi])s,

and

fragmentsofrude pottery.

Near

the center and 3 feetfrom the top of the

mound

werethe

much

decayed remainsofa

human

skele- ton, lying on itsback, in a very rude stone-slabcoflQn. Beneaththis

wereother flatstones,and under

them

charcoal, ashes,andbakedearth, covering the decayed bones of

some

three or fourskeletons which lay upontheoriginal surfaceofthe ground. Sofarascouldbeascertained, the skeletons in this

mound

lay with their heads toward the east.

No

relicsofany kind worthy ofnotice were found with them.

Another mound

ofsimilar size,

upon

adry terrace,

was

found to con- sistchiefly ofveryhard clay, scattered throughwhich werestone chips and fragments ofrude pottery.

Near

the natural surface of theground alayerof ashes

and

charcoal

was

encountered, in which were found the remains ofat least two skeletons.

A mound some

200 yards south of the inclosure, situated on aslo])e

and measuring50 feet in diameter

and

G feetin height, gave a some-

what

differentresult. Itconsistedwhollyofvery hardclay

down

tothe natural surface of the hill-slope.

But

further excavation revealed a vault orpit in theoriginalearth 8feetlong, 3 feetwide,

and

3 feetdeep attheupperend. In this

was

found a decayedskeleton,with thehead up hill ortoward the north.

Upon

the breast.was asandstone gorget, and upon it a leaf-shaped knife of blackflint

and

a neatly polishedhem-

atitecelt.

The

bones of the right

arm

were foundstretchedoutat right angles to the body, along a line of ashes.

Upon

the bones of the open

hand

werethreepiles (fiveineach) of small leaf-shapedflintknives.

As

the four smallmoundsjust mentionedi)ertaintotlieCliftongroups, in theElkKiverValley,

we

will callattention to

oneortwoof

theCharles- ton group, forthe purpose of affording the reader the

means

of com- parison.

Below

the centerof No. 7 (see Plate), sunk ^into the original earth,

was

a vault about S feet long,3 feet wide,

and

3 feet deep. Lyingex-

56 BURIAL MOUNDS

Ol-"

THE NORTHERN

SECTIONS.

tended on thebackin thebottom of this, auiid the rotten fragments of a bark coffin,

was

a decayed Imiiiiui skeleton, fnlly 7 feet long, with head west.

No

evidence of fire

was

to be seen,nor were any stone im- plements discovered,but^lying in acirclejustabovethe hipswere^fifty circular})iecesofwhite perforatedshell,eachabout1inchindiameterand aneighth ofauinch thick.

The

bones of the left

arm

laybythe sideof thebody, but those of therightarm, asin oneof the

mounds

heretofore mentioned, were stretched at right angles to the body, reaching outto a small oven-shapedvault, the mortar or cementroof ofwhich was ^still unbroken.

The

capacity ofthissmall circular vault

was

probablytwo bushels,andthe peculiarappearanceofthe dark-colored deposittherein, and otherindications, led to the belief that it

had

been filled with corn (maize) in tlie ear.

The

absence of

weapons

wouldindicatethatthe in-

dividual buried here

was

not a warrior,thougha person of

some

impor- tance.

Mound

No. 23 ofthis group presents

some

peculiarities worthj-ofno- tice. Itis 312 feet in circumference atthe base

and

25 feet high, cov- ered witha second growth of timber,

some

of the stumps ofthe former growth yetremaining. It is unusually sharp

and

symmetrical.

From

the top

down

the material

was

found to bea light-gray and apparently mixedearth, sohard as torequire the vigorous use ofthe pick to pene- trateit.

At

the depth of 15 feet the explorers began to find the casts

and

fragmentsof polesor

round

timbers less than a footin diameter.

These casts and rotten remains of

wood

and bark increased in abun- dance from this point until the original surface of the ground

was

reached.

By

enlarging the lowerendof theshaft to^1-1 feetin diameter

it

was

ascertained thatthisrotten

wood and

bark were the remainsof

what had

once been acircular or polygonal, timber-sided,

and

conical- roofedvault.

Many

ofthetinibei-s of the sides

and

roof, beingconsid- erablylonger than necessary,

had

been allowed toextend

beyond

the points ofsupportoften 8 or10feet, those on thesides

beyond

thecross- ing

and

those of theroof

downward beyond

the wall.

Upon

the floor

and amid the remains of the timber were

numerous human

bones and also two whole skeletons,thelatter but slightly decayed, though badly crushed by the weight pressing on them, but unaccompanied by an or-

nament

orau implementofany kind.

A

^{further excavation ofabout4}

feet below thefloor, or

what was

supposed to be thefloor, ofthis vault, and below the original surface of the ground,brought to light sixcir- cular,oven-shaped vaults,each about3feetin diameter

and

the

same

in depth.

As

these six were so placed as to form asemicircle, itis pre-

sumed

there are others under that portion of the

mound

not reachedby the excavation. All were filled with dry, dark dust or decayed sub- Stances,supposedto be the remains ofIndian corn in the ear, as it

was

similar tothat heretofore mentioned. In the center of the circle indi- cated by the positions oftheseminor vaults, andthe supposed centerof thebaseofthe

mound

(the shaftnot being exactlycentral),andbut2 feet below thefloorof the

main

vault,

and

in afine mortarorcement, were

THOMAS.I

A SO-CALLED

"

ALTAR MOUND," WEST

VIRGINIA.

57

found twocavities resemblingin form the _{bottle or} gourd shaped ves- sel so frequently

met

with in the

mounds

of southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas. Unfortunately the further investigation of this

work was

stopped at this stage of progress

by

cold weather.

In another

mound

ofthis grou[) theburial was in a box-shapedstone vault, not of siibs in the usual method,but built

up

of rough, angular stones.

-Mound 31 of this group seems to furnish a connecting link between the

West

Virginia

and

the Ohio mounds. It is sharpin outline, has a steep slope,

and

isflattened on the top; is 318feet in circumferenceat thebase and about25 feet high. It

was

opened by digging ashaft 10 feet in diameter from the centerof the top to the base. After passing through the top layer of surfacesoil,

some

2 feet thick, alayer of clay and ashes 1 foot thick

was

encountered. Here, near the center of the shaft, were two skeletons, lying horizontally, one immediatelyover the other, theupper and largerone with the face

down

and thelower with thefiice up. There were no indications of fire about them.

Immedi

ately over the heads were one celt and three lance-heads.

At

the depth of 13 feet and a little north of the center of the

mound

weretwo very large skeletons,iu asitting posture, withtheirextendedlegsinter- locked tothe knees. Their

arms

were extended

and

theirhandsslightly elevated, as if together holding

up

a sandstone mortar which

was

be- tween theirfaces. This stone is

somewhat

hemispherical, about 2feet in diameter across the top, which ishollowed iu the shape ofashallow basin or mortar. It had been subjected to the action of Are until burnedtoa brightred.

The

cavity

was

tilled with whiteashes, contain- ing small fragments of bones burned to cinders. Immediately over this,

and

of sufficient size to cover it,

was

a slab of bluish-gray lime- stone about3 inches thick, which hadsmall cup-shai)ed excavations on the under side. This bore no

marks

of fire.

Near

the hands of the eastern skeleton were a small hematite celt anda lance-head,and

upon

the left wrist of the other two copper bracelets.

At

the depth of 25 feet,

and

on the natural surface,

was

found

what

in an Ohio

mound

would have beendesignatedan^"altar." This

was

notthoroughly traced throughout, but

was

about 12 feet long

and

over8 feet wide, of the form

shown

in Fig.24.

Fig.24. -Moiiuilwithso-called"altar."KanawhaCounty,WestVirginia.

..-^.iili.

It consisted of a layer of well-prepared mortar, apparently clay, slightly mixed withashes. This was not

more

thanG or8incliesthick in thecenter of the basin-shaped depression, where it

was

about1 foot