These mounds invariably cover a skeleton, (in very rare instances more than one, as in the case of the Grave creek mound,) which at the time of its interment was enveloped in bark or coarse matting, or enclosed in a rude sarcophagus of timber,—the traces, in some instances the very casts of which remain. Occasionally the chamber of the dead is built of stone, rudely laid up, without cement of any kind. Burial by fire seems to have been frequently practised by the mound-builders. Urn burial also appears to have prevailed, to a considerable extent, in the Southern States.
With the skeletons in these mounds are found various remains of art, comprising p162 ornaments, utensils, and weapons. The structure and contents of a few mounds of this class will sufficiently explain their general character.
Fig. 50.
Fig. 50 exhibits a section of a large sepulchral mound situated on the third terrace, on the east bank of the Scioto river, about six miles below the city of Chillicothe.[104] It is the largest of the group, represented in the cut (Fig. 49) at the head of this chapter. There are no enclosures nearer than a mile; though there are three or four other mounds of smaller size, on the same terrace, within a few hundred yards. The mound is twenty-two feet high by ninety feet base. The principal excavation was made (as represented in the section) from the west side, commencing at about one third of the height of the mound from the top, and was carried in a slanting direction towards the centre. The soil of the mound is a sandy loam, entirely homogeneous throughout, though much compacted and slightly different in color towards the centre, where water cannot penetrate. At ten feet below the surface occurred a layer of charcoal, a, not far from ten feet square, and from two to six inches in thickness, slightly inclined from the horizontal, and lying mostly to the left of the centre of the mound. The coal was coarse and clear, and seemed to have been formed by the sudden covering up of the wood while burning, inasmuch as the trunks and branches perfectly retained their form, though entirely carbonized, and the earth immediately above as well as
Fig. 51. beneath was burned of a reddish color. Below this layer, the earth became much more compact and difficult of excavation. At the depth of twenty-two feet, and on a level with the original surface, immediately underneath the charcoal layer, and, like that, somewhat to one side of the centre of the mound, was a rude sarcophagus or framework of timber, Fig. 51, now reduced to an almost impalpable powder, but the cast of which was still retained in the hard earth. This enclosure of timber, measuring from outside to outside, was nine feet long by seven wide, and twenty inches high. It had been constructed of unhewn logs laid one upon the other, and had evidently been covered with other timbers, which had sunk under the superincumbent earth, as they decayed. The bottom had also been covered with bark, matting, or thin slabs of wood,—at any rate, a whitish stratum of decomposed material remained, covering p163 the bottom of the parallelogram. Within this rude coffin, with its head to the west, was found a human skeleton, or rather the remains of one; for scarcely a fragment as long as one’s finger could be recovered. It was so much decayed that it crumbled to powder under the lightest touch. Of course, no portion of the cranium, of the slightest value for purposes of comparison, was recovered.
Around the neck of the skeleton, forming a triple row, and retaining their position as originally strung and deposited with the dead, were several hundred beads, made of the compact portion of marine shells and of the tusks of some animal. Several of these still retain their polish, and bear marks which seem to indicate that they were turned in some machine, instead of being carved or rubbed into shape by hand. A few laminæ of mica were also discovered; which completed the list of articles deposited with this skeleton, of which any traces remained. The feet of the skeleton were about in the centre of the mound; a drift beyond it disclosed nothing new, nor was a corresponding layer of charcoal found on the opposite side of the mound. It is clear, therefore, that the tumulus was raised over this single skeleton.
As a general rule, to which this mound furnished one of a very few exceptions, whatever occurs in the mounds, whether they be sepulchral or sacrificial in their purposes, is deposited immediately beneath the apex and on a level with the circumjacent plain.[105] The predominance of storms from a certain direction, and various other circumstances, may have contributed to alter the apparent centre of the mound. In the case of a mound of this kind which was opened at Gallipolis on the Ohio river, the skeleton was found in a cist, or chamber, excavated beneath the original surface. This can always be detected by a strongly marked line and the uniform drab color of the earth below it. The superstructure of the mounds is more or less mottled, as the materials entering into their composition are variant in character and color,—a circumstance which has elsewhere been sufficiently explained.
The charcoal layer is a frequent though by no means an invariable feature in mounds of this class, and would seem to indicate that sacrifices were made for the dead, or funeral rites of some description, in which fire performed a part, celebrated. This is further confirmed by the fact that fragments of bones and some few stone implements have been discovered in the layer of charcoal. The fire in every case was kept burning for a very little time, as is shown from the lack of ashes, and by the slight traces of its action left on the adjacent earth. That it was suddenly heaped over while glowing, is also certain.