In these a basin-shaped excavation some 2 or 3 feet deep was first made in the soil in which the bodies were deposited, as shown in Fig. 1.
Mr. Middleton, one of the Bureau assistants, in 1883, opened quite a number of small burial mounds in Crawford and Vernon counties, belonging to the same type as those just described; some with the excavation in the original soil in which the skeletons were deposited, though in others there were no such excavations, the skeletons being deposited on the original surface or at various depths in the mounds. I give here descriptions of a few of them from his notes:
The one numbered 16, of the Courtois group, is about 20 feet in diameter, and at present scarcely more than 1 foot high, the ground having been in cultivation for several years and the mound considerably lowered by the plow. A vertical section is given in Fig. 2, a a, indicating the natural surface of the ground, b the part of the mound removed, and c the original circular excavation in the natural soil to the depth of 2 feet.
Four skeletons were found in this excavation, two side by side near the center, with heads south, faces up, one near the north margin with head west, and the other on the south side with head east, all stretched at full length.
In another mound of the same group with a similar excavation nothing save a single skull was found. In another of exactly the same kind some of the skeletons were folded, while others were extended at full length.
In all these cases, and in a majority of the small burial mounds opened in this western part of the State, there was no stratification; still there were found some exceptions to this rule.
Vestiges of art were comparatively rare in them, yet here and there were found an arrow-point, a chipped flint scraper or celt—in some instances remarkably fine specimens—a few large copper gorgets, evidently hammered from native copper, copper beads, etc. Very few vessels of pottery were obtained from them, but one was discovered, shown in Fig. 3, which I believe is of the finest quality of this ware so far obtained from the mounds of the United States. There were intrusive burials in a few of these mounds, but these have been wholly omitted from consideration in the descriptions given.
In a few instances the mounds seem to have been built solely for the purpose of covering a confused mass of human bones gathered together after the flesh had disappeared or had been removed. Similar mounds are described by Mr. Thomas Armstrong as found near Ripon, Fond du Lac County. Speaking of these, Mr. Armstrong says:
As to how these bones came to be placed in these mounds, we can of course only conjecture; but from their want of arrangement, from the lack of ornaments and implements, and from their having been placed on the original surface, we are inclined to believe that the dry bones were gathered together—those in the large mounds first and those in the smaller ones afterwards—and placed in loose piles on the ground and the earth heaped over them until the mounds were formed.[5]
There can be no doubt that the bones in this case were gathered up from other temporary burial places or depositories, as was the custom of several tribes of Indians.
A number of burial mounds opened by Mr. W. G. Anderson, near Madison, were found to be of the same general type as those mentioned by Mr. Middleton. These he describes as being very low and poorly made. Eight were opened, all having been built in the same way, with only one layer of black earth, so hard as to make the work of excavation exceedingly laborious. These were circular, and about 4 feet high. Skeletons were found as near as 12 or 13 inches to the surface, but badly decayed. There were no sarcophagi or coffins, and in all cases the heads pointed towards the west.[6]
In some instances the mound contained a circular stone wall, within which a pit had been dug to the depth of 2 or 3 feet in the original soil, as, for example, the one near Waukesha, described by Dr. Lapham.[7]
A mound in Crawford County, opened by Colonel Norris, one of the Bureau assistants, in 1882, shows a similar vault or pit, but differs from the preceding in being distinctly stratified and wanting the stone wall. The construction of this tumulus and the mode of burial in it were as follows:
Proceeding from the top downwards, there was first a layer of soil and sand about 1 foot thick; next, nearly 2 feet in depth of calcined human bones, without order, mingled with which were charcoal, ashes, and a reddish-brown mortar-like substance, burned as hard as pavement brick. This layer is numbered 4 in the annexed cut (Fig. 4), which represents a vertical section of the mound. Immediately below this was a layer about 1 foot thick (No. 3) of clay or mortar mixed with sand, burned to a brick-red color. Below this, in the space marked 2 in the cut, were found the bones of fifteen or twenty individuals, in a confused heap, without order or arrangement. Mingled with these were firebrands, charcoal, and ashes. The bones were charred, some of them to charcoal, and some were glazed with melted sand. The mass appears to have been first covered with soft clay-mortar, which ran into and filled the spaces, and the burning to have been done afterwards by means of brush or wood heaped on the top, as among the bones were lumps of hard burned clay.
The bottom of this layer corresponded with the original surface of the ground, but the excavation being continued, a circular vault or pit, 6 feet in diameter, was found extending downwards, with perpendicular sides, to the depth of nearly 3 feet. The bottom of this pit was covered to the depth of an inch with fine chocolate-colored dust. Although the filling of this pit was chiefly sand, there was a cavity at the bottom a foot high in the center, over which the sand filling was arched as shown in the figure.
It is evident that the skeletons in this mound were buried after the flesh had been removed, as we can on no other supposition explain the fact that the clay or mortar had filled the interstices between the bones, and that in some cases it had even penetrated into the skulls.
Another mound, opened by Colonel Norris in the same neighborhood, presented some peculiarities worthy of notice, although not sufficient to mark it as belonging to a distinct type.
According to his report, the southern portion had previously been explored by Judge Branson, who found at the base some six or eight skeletons lying stretched out horizontally, and covered by a dry, light-colored mortar which must have been spread over them while in a soft condition, as it had run between the bones and encased them, and in some cases, as in the mound just described, filled the skulls. As only the southern portion had been opened he removed the remainder. The dried mortar-like substance was very hard and difficult to dig through, but the pick soon struck some rough, flat limestone rocks which proved to be parts of a rude wall about 3 feet high and 8 feet long, built on the natural surface of the ground. In the opposite side of the mound, 12 feet distant from and parallel with it, was another similar wall. Between them and on the natural surface of the ground, side by side, were a number of skeletons lying flat and lengthwise and parallel with the walls. A vertical section of this mound is shown in Fig. 5. The little circles at the bottom between the walls indicate the heads of the skeletons; No. 4, the layer of mortar over the bones; 3, a layer of hard clay mixed with ashes; 2, a layer of clay; and 1, the top covering of sand and soil about 18 inches thick. Before being disturbed this mound was 35 feet in diameter and 6 feet high.
As it is evident that the burials in this case were made at one time, and as the mortar-like substance had run into the interstices, it is more than probable that the skeletons were deposited after the flesh had been removed.
The following description of a mound with a single original and several intrusive burials is also taken from Colonel Norris' notes of work in Crawford County:
One large mound of this group, 70 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, still unexplored, was opened. It had been considerably defaced, especially on the west side. According to tradition it was a noted burial place with the Indians, which was certainly confirmed by the result. The surface or top layer was composed of sand and alluvial earth to the depth of some 3 or 4 feet. Scattered through this in almost every part of the mound were human skeletons in various stages of decay and in different positions, but mostly stretched horizontally on the back. Scattered among the remains were numerous fragments of blankets, clothing and human hair, 1 copper kettle of modern pattern, 3 copper bracelets (hammered from native copper), 1 silver locket, 10 silver bracelets (one having the name "Montreal," and another the letters "A B" stamped on it), 2 silver earrings, 6 silver brooches, 1 copper finger-ring, 1 double silver cross, 1 knife-handle, and 1 battered bullet. In fact the top layer to the depth of 3 or 4 feet seemed to be packed as full of skeletons and relics as possible.
Carrying the trench down to the original surface of the ground, he found at the bottom, near the center, a single skeleton of an adult in the last stages of decay. With it were the following articles: 2 stone scrapers, a small stone drill, fragments of river shells, and pieces of a mammoth tusk. The earth below the upper layer was mixed with clay and ashes, evidently different from the surrounding soil.
Several mounds opened by him in Grant County contained charred human bones, and one or two covered confused masses of bones, being similar in this respect to some of those heretofore mentioned.
A mound which he opened in Sheboygan County, containing a single skeleton, is described as about 50 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. After passing through 18 inches of surface soil, the central mass, composed of earth mingled with charcoal, ashes, and loose stones, was reached. Near the center of this mass, and at the bottom of the mound, a large human skeleton was discovered, apparently holding between the hands and knees a large clay vase. Immediately over this skeleton was an irregular layer of flat bowlders.
Another mound of this group, about the same size as the preceding, was found literally filled with skeletons to the depth of 2½ feet, evidently intrusive burials, as they were accompanied with iron implements, silver ornaments, etc. Beneath these was a layer of rounded drift bowlders aggregating several wagon loads. Below these and in a shallow excavation in the natural surface of the ground were some forty or more skeletons in a sitting or squatting posture, disposed in circles around and facing the central space, which was occupied by an unusually large shell (Busycon perversum).
It is worthy of notice in this connection that there are no effigy mounds, so far as known, in the immediate section where the two works just mentioned are situated, but there is near by, one small oval enclosure about 50 feet in diameter.
In studying the burial mounds of the district now under consideration, of which the foregoing may be considered as types, there appears to be no marked distinction between the intrusive burials of modern Indians and the original burials for which the mounds were constructed. In both we observe from one to many skeletons in a place; in both we find them stretched out horizontally and also folded; in both we sometimes notice evidences of fire and partially-consumed bones; in both we find instances where the mortar-like covering has been used, and in both we meet occasionally with those confused masses of bones which seem to have been gathered from graves or other temporary burial places into these mounds as common depositories. Moreover the transition from one to the other is so gradual as to leave us nothing save the position in the mound and the presence of vestiges of civilized art to distinguish the former from the latter.
A large portion of these mounds, as has already been stated, are unstratified, and each was probably thrown up and completed at one time; yet skeletons are found at various depths in some of these, as, for example, one opened by Mr. Middleton, in Vernon County, a vertical section of which is shown in Fig. 6, a a indicating the original surface of the ground and the stars the positions of the skeletons, some of which were stretched out at full length while others were folded. The heads were towards different points of the compass and the bones of all were so much decayed that none could be preserved. Several instances of this kind were observed, in some cases those skeletons near the surface or top of the mound indicating burial after contact with the whites.
It is apparent, therefore, that although some of the burial mounds of this district must be attributed to the so-called mound-builders, others were certainly built by the Indians found inhabiting it at the advent of the whites. There can scarcely be a doubt that some of the small unstratified tumuli described are the work of the Indians. If this is conceded there would seem to be no halting place short of attributing all of this class in this district to the same race.
Dr. Hoy's statement that in some cases there was evidence that the bodies had been "covered with a bark or log roofing," is in exact accord with a well-known burial custom of some of the tribes of the Northwest.
According to Mr. M. B. Kent, the Sacs and Foxes, who formerly resided in the region now under consideration, buried the body "in a grave made about 2½ feet deep, which was laid always with the head towards the east, the burial taking place as soon after death as possible. The grave was prepared by putting bark in the bottom of it before the corpse was deposited, a plank covering made and secured some distance above the body."
Another method followed by the same people, according to Mr. J. W. Spencer[8], was to make a shallow hole in the ground, setting the body in it up to the waist, so that most of the body was above the ground. A trench was then dug about the grave, in which pickets were planted. But the usual method was to place split pieces of wood about three feet long over the body, meeting at the top in the form of a roof, on which dirt was thrown to keep them in place.
According to Potherie[9], the Iroquois were accustomed to cover the bodies, after being deposited in the "fosse," with bark of trees, on which they cast earth and stones.
According to Schoolcraft[10], the Mohawks of New York—
make a large round hole in which the body can be placed upright or upon its haunches: which after the body is placed in it is covered with timber to support the earth which they lay over, and thereby keep the body from being pressed. They then raise the earth in a round hill over it.[11]
The burial customs of northern tribes, known to have occupied portions of the effigy mound district, agree so exactly with what we see in the sepulchral tumuli of this district as to justify the conclusion reached by Dr. Lapham, after a long and careful personal study of them, that they are to be attributed to Indians. Some he was rather inclined to ascribe to tribes which had migrated, had been driven off by other tribes, or been incorporated into them previous to the advent of the white race. But he maintained that the subsequent tribes or those found occupying the country "continued the practice of mound-building so far as to erect a circular or conical tumulus over their dead." And he adds significantly, "This practice appears to be a remnant of ancient customs that connects the mound-builders with the present tribes."[12]
The evidence in regard to these unstratified mounds appears to lead directly to the conclusion that they are all the work of the Indians found occupying the country at the time it was first visited by whites or of their ancestors. If it is conceded that the small unstratified tumuli are in part the work of these aborigines, there would seem to be no escape from the conclusion that all the burial mounds of this district are to be ascribed to them; for, although there are some two or three types of burial and burial mounds, the gradation from one to the other is so complete as to leave no marked line of distinction, and Dr. Lapham is fully justified in asserting that the evidence connects the mound-builders with the modern Indians. The stratified mounds in which the hard clay or mortar covering over the remains is found, and which we shall again meet with in the adjoining district, may be the work of different tribes from those which constructed the small unstratified tumuli, but the distinctions between the two classes are not such as to justify the belief that they are to be attributed to a different race or to a people occupying a higher or widely different culture-status.
Having reached this conclusion it is impossible for us to halt here; we are compelled to take one step farther in the same direction and ascribe the singular structures known as "effigy mounds" to the same people. The two classes of work are too intimately connected to admit of the supposition that the effigy mounds were built by one race or people, and the conical tumuli by another. We might as well assume that the enclosures of Ohio were the work of one people, but the mounds accompanying them of another.
That works of different tribes or nations may frequently be found intermingled on areas over which successive waves of population have passed is admitted, but that one part of what is clearly a system is to be attributed to one people and the other part to another people is a hypothesis unworthy of serious consideration. The only possible explanations of the origin, object, or meaning of these singular structures are based, whether confessedly so or not, on the theory that they are of Indian origin. Remove the Indian element from the problem and we are left without even the shadow of an hypothesis.
The fact that the effigy mounds were not used as places of sepulture, and that no cemeteries save the burial mounds are found in connection with them, is almost conclusive proof that the two, as a rule, must be attributed to the same people, that they belong to one system. If this conclusion is considered legitimate, it will lend much aid to the study of these works. It is true it is not new, but it has been generally ignored, and hence could not aid in working out results.
The following extract from Dr. Lapham's "Antiquities of Wisconsin" will not be considered inappropriate at this point:[13]
The ancient works in Wisconsin are mostly at the very places selected by the present Indians for their abodes, thus indicating that the habits, wants, modes of subsistence, &c., of their builders were essentially the same.
If the present tribes have no traditions running back as far as the time of Allouez and Marquette, or even to the more recent time of Jonathan Carver, it is not strange that none should exist in regard to the mounds, which must be of much earlier date.
It is by considerations of this nature that we are led to the conclusion that the mound-builders of Wisconsin were none others than the ancestors of the present tribes of Indians.
There is some evidence of a greater prevalence than at present of prairie or cultivated land in this State at no very remote age. The largest trees are probably not more than five hundred years old, and large tracts of land are now covered with forests of young trees where there are no traces of an antecedent growth. Every year the high winds prostrate great numbers of trees and frequent storms pass through the forest, throwing down nearly everything before them. Trees are left with a portion of the roots still in the ground, so as to keep them alive for several years after their prostration. These "wind-falls" are of frequent occurrence in the depths of the forests and occasion much difficulty in making the public surveys. The straight lines of the sections frequently encounter them.
The amount of earth adhering to the roots of a tree when prostrated by the wind is, under favorable circumstances, very considerable, and upon their decay forms an oblong mound of greater or less magnitude, and a slight depression is left where the tree stood. These little hillocks are often by the inexperienced mistaken for Indian graves. From the paucity of these little "tree-mounds" we infer that no very great antiquity can be assigned to the dense forests of Wisconsin; for, during a long period of time, with no material change of climate, we would expect to find great numbers of these little monuments of ancient storms scattered everywhere over the ground.
Whether the greater extent of treeless country in former times was owing to natural or artificial causes it is now difficult to determine, but the great extent of ancient works within the depths of the present forests would seem to indicate that the country was at least kept free from trees by the agency of man.
Many of these tree-mounds were observed on and about the ancient works.
Another curious circumstance that may be noticed by inspection of the figures of mounds accompanying this work is the gradual transition, as it were, or change of one form into another. Examples can be found of all forms, from a true circle through the oval and elongated oval to the oblong mounds and long ridges. Again, there is a succession of mounds, from the simple ridge of considerable size at one end and gradually diminishing to a point at the other, through the intermediate forms, having one, two, three, or four projections to the "turtle-form." In this way, also, we may trace a gradual development (so to speak) of nearly all the more complicated forms.
It is not pretended to assert that this was the order in which the mounds were erected; or that the aborigines gradually acquired the art by successive essays or lessons. Indeed, we are led to believe that the more complicated forms are the most ancient.
The relative ages of the different works in Wisconsin, so far as they can be ascertained from the facts now before us, are probably about as follows:
First and oldest. The animal forms, and the great works at Aztalan.
Second. The conical mounds built for sepulchral purposes, which come down to a very recent period.
Third. The indications of garden-beds planted in regular geometrical figures or straight lines.
Fourth. The plantations of the present tribes, who plant without system or regularity.
Thus the taste for regular forms and arrangements, and the habits of construction with earthy materials seems to have been gradually lost, until all traces of them disappear in our modern degenerate red men.
The animal-shaped mounds and accompanying oblongs and ridges, constituting the first of the above series, are composed of whitish clay or of the subsoil of the country.
The mounds of the second series, or burial mounds, are usually composed of black mould or loam, promiscuously intermixed with the lighter-colored subsoil.
This district, as heretofore stated, includes eastern Iowa, northeastern Missouri, and northern and central Illinois as far south as the mouth of the Illinois River.
Although we are justified in concluding that this area was occupied during the mound-building age by tribes different from those residing in the Wisconsin district, yet the distinguishing characteristics are more apparent in the forms of the works than in the modes of burial and internal construction of the burial mounds. We shall see by the illustrations hereafter given that at least one of the types found in one district is common in the other. But this is to be expected and is readily explained by the supposition that the tribes which have occupied these regions moved back and forth, thus one after another coming upon the same area. The absence of evidence of such movements would indicate that the mound-building period was of comparatively short duration, a theory which I believe has not been adopted by any authority, but to which I shall have occasion again to refer. One class of the burial mounds of this district is well represented in a group, explored by the members of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, on the Cook farm, near Davenport, Iowa. The mounds of this group are situated on the immediate bank of the Mississippi at a height not exceeding 8 to 12 feet above high-water mark; they are conical in form and of comparatively small size, varying in height from 3 to 8 feet. Nine of them were opened, of which we notice the following:
In No. 1 the layers from above down were, first, a foot of earth; then a layer of stones 1½ feet thick; then a layer of shells 2 inches thick; next a foot of earth, and lastly a second layer of shells 4 inches thick. Immediately under this, at the depth of 5 feet, were found five skeletons stretched horizontally on the original surface of the ground, parallel to each other, three with heads toward the east and two with heads west. With them were found one sea-shell (Busycon perversum), two copper axes, to which fragments of cloth were attached, one copper awl, an arrow-head, and two stone pipes, one representing a frog.
Mound No. 2, though similar in form and external appearance to the preceding, presented a quite different arrangement internally, as is evident from the vertical section shown in Fig. 7. Here there were no layers of shells, but two distinct layers of stones. At the depth of 5 feet eight skulls (five only are shown in the figure), with some fragments of bones were unearthed; these were lying in a semicircle of 5 feet diameter, each surrounded by a circle of small stones (shown at a in the figure). From the position of the skulls and bones it was evident these bodies had been buried in a sitting posture. The articles found accompanying the skeletons were two copper axes, two small hemispheres of copper and one of silver, a bear's tooth, and an arrow-head.
No. 3, though the largest of the group, was apparently unstratified, the original burial consisting of the bones of two adults and one infant, at the original surface of the ground, under a thin layer of ashes, and surrounded by a single circle of small red stones. With these were found copper axes, copper beads, two carved stone pipes (one in the form of a ground-hog), animal teeth, etc. Near the surface of the mound were two well-preserved skeletons, with evidences of an "oakwood" covering over them and accompanied by glass beads, a fire steel, clay pipe, and silver ear-ring—evidently an intrusive burial.
No. 4 was found similar in construction and in all other respects to No. 3, except that at the feet of the skeletons was a round heap of stones, 3 feet high, neatly laid up, and that in the earth where the skeletons lay could be distinctly seen traces of cloth or some woven material, in which they had probably been enveloped.
No. 5 was similar to No. 2, except in the following respects: The skeletons (probably two) were in a confused heap at the bottom under a 6-inch layer of hard clay (probably similar to what Colonel Norris calls "mortar"). Near these, but outside of the clay layer, was a stone heap similar to that in No. 4. "On this lay two very strong thigh bones and three ribs placed diagonally across each other. There were also a few bones leaning against the heap at one side. The stones were partly burned to lime, and all of them showed more or less marks of fire, while the bones in the mound showed not the slightest trace of it."
Four or five feet south of the stone heap was a large quantity of human bones in complete confusion. The relics were broken pots, arrow-heads, a stone pipe, etc.
Nos. 7, 8, and 9 were similar to No. 1, varying only in minor details.[14]
My object in noticing the construction of so many mounds in a single group and the modes of burial in them, is to call attention to the differences in detail where there can be no doubt that they were built by one tribe and probably by one clan, as the size of the group indicates a comparatively limited population. In these nine mounds we notice the following differences: some are stratified, others not; in some the skeletons are placed horizontally on the ground, in others they are in a sitting posture, while in others they are dismembered and in confused heaps; in some there are altar-like[15] structures of stone which are wanting in others; in some the skeletons are covered with a hard clay or mortar coating which is wanting in most of them, and lastly, we see in one or two, evidences of the use of fire in the burial ceremonies, though not found in the others.
In some respects these mounds remind us of some of the stratified tumuli of Wisconsin, especially those opened by Colonel Norris in Sheboygan County, to which they bear a strong resemblance.
In the latter part of 1882 Colonel Norris examined a group of works in Allamakee County, Iowa, which presents some peculiarities worthy of notice in this connection.
This group, which is represented in Plate I, consisting of enclosures, lines of small mounds, and excavations, is situated on the farm of Mr. H. P. Lane, about 7 miles above New Albin. It is on a bluff in one of the numerous bends of the Little Iowa River, the character of the locality indicating that it was selected as one easily defended. I shall at present only notice those particulars which seem to have some bearing on the character of the burial mounds and mode of interment.
Although there are no effigy mounds in the group, the relative positions and forms of the tumuli, as shown in the figure, and other particulars to be noticed, leave no doubt in my mind that the works, in part, are to be attributed to the people who built the figure mounds of Wisconsin. But, as will be seen from the particulars mentioned, there is conclusive evidence that the locality has been occupied at different times by at least two distinct tribes or peoples, differing widely in habits and customs.
The largest work is an enclosure marked A in Plate I, and shown on an enlarged scale in Plate II. It is situated on the margin of a bluff overlooking the Little Iowa and an intervening bog-bayou, probably the former channel of the river. It is almost exactly circular, the curve being broken on the east side, where it touches the brink of the bluff, being here made to conform to the line of the latter, though probably never thrown up to the same height as the other portion. The ends at the southeast overlap each other for a short distance, leaving at this point an entrance way, the only one to the enclosure. A ditch runs round on the inside from the entrance on the south to where the wall strikes the bluff on the north, but is wanting along the bluff and overlapping portion. The north and south diameter, measuring from outside to outside, is 277 feet; from east to west, 235 feet; the entire outer circumference is 807 feet, the length of the portion along the bluff 100 feet, and of the overlapping portion at the entrance 45 feet. The wall is quite uniform in size, about 4 feet high and from 25 to 27 in width, except along the bluff, where it is scarcely apparent; the entrance is 16 feet wide, and the ditch 5 to 6 feet wide and 3 feet deep. On the north, adjoining the wall on the outside and extending along it for about 100 feet, is an excavation (c, Plate II) 35 feet wide at the widest point and 3 feet deep.
As this ground, including the circle, has been under cultivation for fifteen years, it would be supposed the height of the wall is considerably less than it originally was, but this is probably a mistake. On the contrary, it was originally probably but 20 feet wide and not more than 3 feet high, composed mainly of yellowish brown clay obtained, in part at least, from the ditch, but during occupancy the accumulation of countless bones of animals used as food, stone chips, river shells, broken pottery, and dirt, and, since abandonment, the accumulation of sand drifted by the winds from the crumbling sandstone butte (C, Plate I) overlooking it, have not only filled the ditch but elevated the wall and whole interior area 2 feet or more. This accumulation of sand is so great and so uniform over the plateau that fifteen years of cultivation have not sufficed to reach the clay of the original surface nor to unearth or even penetrate to the bones, pottery fragments, and other refuse matter covering the original surface in the circle.
Trenches cut across the wall at various points indicate, first, a layer of sand about 1 foot thick; immediately below this an accumulation of refuse matter forming a layer from 1 to 2 feet thick; under which was the original clay embankment 2 feet thick, resting on the natural surface of the ground. A section of the ditch, embankment, and excavation is shown in Plate II. The dotted line a b indicates the natural surface; No. 1 the original clay layer of the wall; No. 2 the layer of earth and refuse material with which the ditch is filled; and No. 3 the top layer of sand.
In No. 2 were found charcoal, ashes, fragments of pottery, fractured bones, etc.
A broad belt of the inner area on the east side was explored, and the same conditions were found to exist here as were revealed by the trenches across the wall and ditch, except that here the shells were more abundant in layer No. 2, and there were many burnt stones.
On the southeastern portion of the plateau (B, Plate I) are six nearly parallel lines of mounds running northeast and southwest, mostly circular in form, varying from 15 to 40 feet in diameter, and from 2 to 6 feet in height; a few, as indicated in the figure, are oblong, varying in length from 50 to 100 feet. The number in the group exceeds one hundred.
While engaged in excavating these mounds Colonel Norris observed a number of patches of the level area quite destitute of vegetation. The owner of the land, who was present, could give no explanation of this phenomenon, simply remarking that they had always been so, never having produced a good crop of anything, although there was no apparent difference between the soil of these spots and the surface around them. As some of these extended across the area occupied by the mound group, he concluded to explore them, and was surprised to find them to be burying places, and scattered here and there among the graves, if such they could be called, were stone chips, shells, charcoal, and ashes. He was surprised at this, as he supposed the mounds alone were used as depositories of the dead, and was at first disposed to attribute these burials to a people who had occupied the ground long subsequent to the authors of the works. Possibly this may be the correct solution, but if so, they were certainly the same as those who buried in the mounds of this group, as no difference in the contents and internal arrangement could be observed. In both cases there was a compact layer of hard, light-colored earth, having the appearance of lime-mortar, possibly clay and ashes mixed together, which had been subject to the action of fire. As the burials in these sterile spots were seldom more than 18 inches deep, the only layer above them consisted of sand from the butte, while the mounds were uniformly covered with a layer of richer soil, although below this and covering the skeletons was a layer of hard, light-colored earth. Skeletons and bones were found in great abundance in the mounds and under the surface of the plateau, though none were discovered in the circle or nearer than 200 yards of it. They were sometimes mingled promiscuously with charcoal and ashes, but were usually in whole skeletons lying horizontally, though some were in a sitting posture; they were within from 1 to 3 feet of the surface, without any apparent system, except that they were always covered with a layer of hard earth.
A trench cut through the long mound of this group, No. 1, revealed near the center an oblong pile of sandstones, beneath which was found a rude stone coffin, formed by first placing flat sandstone slabs on the natural surface of the ground, then other slabs at the sides and ends, and a covering of similar stones, thus forming a cist or coffin about 6 feet long and 18 inches wide. Within this, extended at full length, with the head west, was the skeleton of an adult, but too much decayed for preservation. With it were some stone chips, rude stone scrapers, a Unio shell, and some fragments of pottery similar to those dug up in the circular enclosure.
The mounds on the sand butte marked C, Plate I, which is something over 100 feet high, were opened and found to be in every respect similar to those already mentioned, showing them to be the work of the same people who built the others.
The three mounds in the square enclosures marked D, (Plate I), were also opened, with the following results: The largest, oval in form, 30 feet long, about 20 feet broad and 4 feet high, was found to consist of a top layer of loose sand 1 foot thick, the remainder of hard yellowish clay. In the latter were found several flat sandstone fragments, and beneath them, on the original surface of the ground, a much decayed skeleton, with which were a few stone chips, Unio shells, and fragments of pottery.
The second in size, 18 feet in diameter and 3 feet high, although covered with a layer of sand, was mainly a loose cairn of sandstones, covering traces of human bones, charcoal, and ashes. The third was found to be similar to the second, but in this case the pile of stones was heaped over a mass of charred human bones, mingled with which were charcoal, ashes, and fragments of pottery.
Fragments of pottery were found in abundance in the circle, in the mounds, in the washouts, and in fact at almost every point in the area covered by the group. Judging by the fragments, for not a single entire vessel was obtained, the prevailing forms were the ordinary earthen pot with ears, and a flask or gourd-shaped vase with a rather broad and short neck, often furnished with a lid. The paste with which this pottery was made had evidently been mixed with pounded shells. The only ornamentation observed consisted in the varied forms given the handles or ears and indentations and scratched lines.
Nearly all the implements found were of stone, exceedingly rude, being little else than stone flakes with one sharp edge; many of them having been resharpened and used as knives, scrapers, and skinners. Some had been worked into moderately fair perforators or drills for making holes in horn, bone, and shell—specimens of all these, with such holes, having been found here.
The immense quantity of charred and fractured bones, not only of fish, birds, and the smaller quadrupeds, such as the rabbit and the fox, but also of the bear, wolf, elk, deer, and buffalo, shows that the occupants of this place lived chiefly by the chase, and hence must have used the bow and arrow and spear; yet, strange to say, although careful search was made for them, less than a dozen arrow and spear heads were found, and these so rude as scarcely to deserve the name. A single true chipped celt, three sandstones with mortar-shaped cavities, and a few mullers or stones used for grinding were obtained; also, some fragments of deer-horn, evidently cut round by some rude implement and then broken off, and several horn and bone punches and awls, one barbed and another with a hole through the larger end.
The object in view in presenting these details is to give the reader an opportunity of judging for himself in reference to some inferences drawn from them.
The form of the circular enclosure reminds us at the first glance of the palisade enclosures figured by De Bry,[16] which, according to Lafitau,[17] was the form usually adopted by the Indian tribes who were accustomed to erect such structures. We have here the almost exact circle, save where interrupted by the margin of the bluff, the overlapping of the ends, and the narrow entrance-way. We have here also the clay with which it was the custom, at least in the southern section, to plaster the palisades or which was cast against their bases as a means of supporting or bracing them at the bottom, a custom not entirely unknown among the northern tribes in former times.
The indications are therefore very strong that this enclosing wall was originally a palisade which had been in part plastered with clay, or against which clay had been heaped to assist in rendering it firm and secure, and, if so, then it is probable it was built by Indians.
Be this supposition right or wrong the evidence is conclusive that the area on which this group is situated has been the abode of at least two tribes or peoples: first, it was occupied by the authors of the enclosures, whose stay was probably not very protracted, and after they had abandoned the locality or been driven from it by a second tribe, evidently comparatively numerous, that made it for a long time a dwelling place; a tribe differing in customs from its predecessor, and one that did not rely upon enclosures for protection. By no other supposition can we account for the fact that the refuse layer which covers the interior of the circle also spreads in equal depth over the ditch and clay remains of the enclosing wall, as those who left this refuse layer could have made no possible use of the wall as a defensive work, for which the position chosen and other particulars show it was designed.
The form of this enclosure, as we have before intimated, seems to connect it with some one of the Indian tribes; its age is uncertain but the accumulation of refuse matter and sand since the abandonment by the first occupants indicates considerable antiquity.
Although we cannot say positively that the second occupants were the builders of the mounds, as the investigation was not as thorough as it should have been, still I think we may assume, with almost absolute certainty, that such was the fact. The mounds in the square work marked D, in Plate I, present considerable differences from those in the group, and are probably the work of those who built the enclosures.
The stone grave in the oblong mound indicates the presence of individuals of a more southern tribe[18] at this place, during its second occupancy. The position of the cist in the mound would seem to forbid the idea of an intrusive burial, otherwise I should certainly suppose such to be the fact. I cannot, in the present paper, enter into a discussion of the question "to what tribe or people are the box-form stone graves to be attributed," but will state my conviction to be, after a somewhat careful study of the question, that they are to be ascribed to the Shawnees, Delawares, and Kickapoos.