76 BURIAL MOUNDS OF THE NORTHERN SECTIONS

the dirt,twelve stone graves orvaults, built of the

same

kindof stones, each containing asitting skeleton, as

shown

ⁱⁿ Fig. 37.

One

of these gravesor vaults wasexactlyin thecenter, theother eleven being placed inacirclearound ^it.

and

aboutequally-spaced, as

shown

intheduigram.

Fig.37.—Moundou HolstouKivci-,SulUviiu County, Tennessee.

In the centergrave he found ^shell beads aroundtheneckoftheskel- eton, and near the

mouth

the pipe

shown

in Fig.38.

.^-%

Fig.38.—PipeIroiuujouiul,SullivanCounty, Tennessee.

The

bottom of the area within the circular wall was covered to the depthofabout3 incheswithcharcoal,

and

the graveswere ^builtonthis layer.

Both

ofthese

mounds

were on thebench or upperbottom,

and

aboutthree-fourthsofa milefrom the river.

THOMAS.)

BURIALS

IX

EAST TENNESSEE. 77

Mr. iMiiiiuTt .says belearned that tbere

was

a tradition of tlie neigb- boi-liood that ^tlie Indians once foughta great battk^ at this place, and that one jiartyburied

some

of their (U^ad in

mound

No. 2,and theother jiarty buried their deadon the opposite side of the river,

where

there

isalargepik' or

mound

of ^''riverrode."

He

opened one of the rock

mounds

occurring in this region lialf a mik^ from the riverand near the foot of the mountain.

A

kxrge tree bad

grown up

tlirongh it. the

stump

ofwhich

was

yet standing,or the

mound

bad been built around it. After removing the rock

and

dig- ging

np

the stump, he found, atthe depthof i feet

and

directlyunder the stump, two stone axes, a large

number

of arrow-heads, two pol- ishedcelts, and

some

piecesofmica.

Another mound

on the IlolstonEiver, 2 miles abovethe two hereto- foredescribed,

was

examined. This

was

60feet indiameter

and

4.i feet high.

The

^original surfaceof the earth

had

been first covered over about 3 inches thick with charcoal,then the bodiesorskeletons laid on

it,

and

each walled

up

separately with river rock. These were then covered with black earth, overwhich

was

cast a layer of sand about the

same

thickness, the remainderbeing top^soil.

Mr. Eiumert,

who

oi>eued this,

commenced

cutting a ditch ^-4 feet wide, proceeding until he struck the bed of charcoal; then followed around the outeredge of it, finallyremoving all the dirtinside thecir- cle.

One

side of the circle

had

six skeletons in it, all wallecl up, as before stated, separately,but sothoroughlydecayed thatonly oneskull could be saved.

The

other side of the ujouud had nothing in it except a fine pipe which he found on the bed ofcoals,

some

10or12 feetfrom the nearest skeleton^:

some

beautiful arrow-heads, shell beads, a polished ^celt, and twosmall stones with holesin

them

were also discovered.

In addition to the foregoing descriptions from the reports of

my

assistants, I present the following, from accounts of earlier explora- tions in this region

:

A

burial

mound

situated on the left

bank

of the Tennessee I'iver,

about 1 milefrom Chattanooga,

was

opened by Mr.

M.

O.

Eead

^{in ISfij.}

This

was

oval in form

and

tlat on top, the diameters of the base158 and 120feet, and those of the top 82 and 44feet: height,10 feet. IMr.

Kead

says:'

I'or the j)urpo.si> of examination, a tunnel was excavated into the monnil fiom the east,a^little one side ofthecenterand on a levelwith the uatnral surface ^of the ground.

When

thepointdirectlyunder the outer edgeofthe top of the mound was reached.h(des were found containing fragments of rotted wood showing that stakes or iialisades had been erected here when the moundwas commenced. The sound of the pick indicating a cavity or ditlereut material below, the excavation wascarrieddownwardabout 2feet, when twoskeletonswereuncovered, fragments ofwhichpreserved are markedNo. 1. Thebones were packedina smallspace, as though thebodies were crowded down, without muchregardto positionof hands,

'Smitlisonian Report18ii7, p. 401.

78

BL'KIAL

MOrXDS OF THE NORTHERN

SECTIONS.

intoa i)itnotexceeding3 feetinlength. Oneofthesknilsisofespecial interest,as possibly indicating that the remainsare thoseof victonis immolated insome sacvi- licialor burialrites. Thesidewas crushedin, asif withaclub. Ihave connected together thepiecesof theupperjawsothatthey retain the jiosition in which they werefound, aposition which cannot with probability be supi)osed to be the result of thesettlingof the eartharound ^{it, if} unbrokenwhenburied. Thebonesofthe bodies,althoughso friablethattheycouldnotbopreserved,wereentire, inpositions indicatingthatthe bodieshadnotbeendismemberedand forbidding the supposition thatthey weretheremainsofacannibalfeast.

Theexcavationwas carriedforward as indicated on thejilatand ona levelwith the location of the skeletons^firstfound. Itbecame evident.atonce that the material ofwhichthemound was constructed"was taken from the immediate neighborhood,

itbeing comjioeed of thesamealluvialsoil,fulloftheshellsfound onthesurface,butin amuch^betterstateof preservation; butno arrow-heads, chippings offlints,or frag- mentsofpotterynowcovering the surface-werefound. Thesewouldhave been.ibnn- d.antifthemoundhadbeenerectedsubsequenttothemanufactureofthe potteryand arrow-headsatthat place. Single fragmentsof potterywere found,but thesewere paintedandofmuchbetterqualitythanthosefound onthesurface.

Themoundwas composed ofalternate layers of earthand ashes, showing that a surfaceof thesizeofthetop,whenfinished,waskeptsubstantiallylevel,andraisedonly 2 to 3 feet ata time,whenfireswere kindled,which must have been large or con- tinuedfor,alongtime,astheamount^ofthe .ashesandeharco.alabundantlyindicates.

Nearthe center of themound rowsof stake-holes were fouud,.as far as followed, marking two sides of a rectangular parallelogram, which continued would have formed <au enclosure around the center. lu someofthese were theremains of the woodand bark,notenoughtoshowthemarksof tools,ifanj-hadbeenused. They peuetratedthen.aturalsurfaceofthegrouudtothedei)thof about2feet.

Hero andat aboutthe same level as atNo.1 were foundthe skeletons ofwhich theskullbonesandother partsare markedNo.2. Theywereapparently theremains ofa youngishwomanand twochildren,allso fardecomposed thatonly the parts sent could bepreserved. The^larger skeleton wasin such a position asa personwould take onkneelingdown, thensittinguponthefeet; thehandswere broughttothehead andthebodydoubleddownupon the knees. The head wastowardthe south. The remainsof the children were foundatthe right sideofthisbody, thebonesmingled together.

About2feetdirectly underthese the skeleton of whichthe skullismarked No. 3

was^{found, in}a similari>osition,it issaid(I was not presentwhen itwastakenout), with theoneabove it.

Iattempt nodescriptionandindulgeinnospeculationsinregardtothese remains, asIhavedecidedtoforwardthemtoyou fortheexaminationofthosewhocancom- parethemwithotherskullsand arebetter qualifiedto makea ^jiroperuseofthem.

Theyareunquestionablyoftheageofthemouud-builders.

We

^areremimled,

^by

^theremainsof upright timbersfoundhere,ofthe

wooden

vaults of the

Grave

Creek

and

other

mounds

of

West

Virginia, butin the form of the

mound we

have an indication thatit belongs to thesouthern class ofancient works.

Eev. E. O.

Dunning

mentions' a stone-grave

mound

which he exam- ined inthe valley of the Little Tennessee. Speakingofthis

mound

he remarks

:

Ididnot expect to findrockgraves in auiouudof earth,but afterclearingaway

rubbishand i)enetrating6 feetbelow thetop,nearthe center the workmanstrucka slabofslate,whichprovedtobepart of the covering of a stonetomb. Itwasmuchlike

'Smithsonian Report1870,p. 378,