A smaller mound, standing close by the one above described, was also excavated, but without any satisfactory results. It is probable the investigation was not sufficiently thorough. p164
Fig. 52.
Fig. 52. This tumulus, selected as a type of the second description of sepulchral mounds, is situated upon the broad and beautiful terrace on which Chillicothe stands; about one mile to the north of that town.[106] It is fifteen feet in height by sixty-five or seventy feet base, and is composed of earth taken up from the surrounding plain. A shaft eight feet square was sunk from the apex. Nothing worthy of remark was observed in the progress of the excavation, until the skeleton at the base of the mound was reached. It was deposited with its head towards the south; and, unlike the one above described, had been simply enveloped in bark,
Fig. 53. instead of having been enclosed in a chamber of timbers. The course of preparation for the burial seemed to have been as follows: The surface of the ground was first carefully levelled and packed, over an area perhaps ten or fifteen feet square. This area was then covered with sheets of bark, on which, in the centre, the body of the dead was deposited, with a few articles of stone at its side, and a few small ornaments near the head. It was then covered over with another layer of bark, and the mound heaped above. This skeleton was better preserved than the one last mentioned, but not sufficiently well to be of much value for purposes of comparison. The skull was found broken into small fragments and completely flattened beneath the weight of the mound, which had been so great as to imbed the bones in the original level; so that, when the fragments were removed, a nearly perfect mould of the skeleton was exhibited. The subject had been a man of the ordinary size, not exceeding five feet ten inches in height. The lower maxillary or jaw-bone, wanting the condyles, was recovered. It exhibited some remarkable features, which will be noticed elsewhere. The articles found with the skeleton were few in number, and consisted of a stone tube and a stone implement or ornament, designed probably for suspension. The latter is three inches p165 long, one and a half broad, and three fourths of an inch in thickness, and weighs five ounces. Both articles are composed of a compact limestone, the surface of which was originally highly polished. Near the head of the skeleton were found a couple of bear’s teeth which, from their position, were probably used as ear ornaments. Just at the head and also at the foot of the skeleton had been placed a small stick of timber, probably to retain the covering of bark in its place. That the envelope of the skeleton, in this case, was bark and not matting, was shown from the texture of the material, which was distinctly to be traced in the decomposed mass, as well as from other circumstances. From certain indications, it was, at first, thought the bark in the vicinity of the skeleton had been painted of a red color, as portions adhered to the bones, giving them a reddish tinge. This probably resulted from other and natural causes.
The charcoal layer was not observed in this mound, though it may have existed to one side or the other of the excavation. Several other large mounds occur on the plain in the vicinity of the one here described, a number of which were examined with similar results. It may be observed that in most instances, in mounds of this description, the skeleton is found enveloped in bark or matting, (it is difficult in some cases to decide which,) instead of being enclosed in a chamber of timber.
Fig. 54.
Fig. 54 exhibits a section of a mound in which burial by fire had been practised.[107] It is situated within the corporate limits of the city of Chillicothe, and was originally above twenty-five feet in height, though now reduced to about twenty. The customary shaft was sunk from its apex. At six feet below the surface a layer of charcoal, corresponding in all respects with that described in connection with the first example of mounds of this class, was found. It was placed a little to the eastern side of the mound, a circumstance not shown in the figure, which exhibits a section from north to south. Upon the original level of the earth was found a deposit or layer of charcoal and ashes six or eight feet square and from six inches to a foot in thickness. In this layer were discovered fragments of human bones; a stone hand-axe; several thin pieces of copper which had been worked into shape; and also a number of stones of the harder and less common kinds, fragments of sienite, gneiss, etc. The stone hand-axe here obtained, it is a remarkable fact, is the only one which has been recovered from the mounds, which incontestibly belonged to p166 the builders. Several of like character have nevertheless been found elsewhere. It is figured under the head of Implements. The fire in this case had been a strong one, as is evidenced from the fact that the skeleton had here been almost entirely consumed. That it had also been heaped over while burning, was shown by the charcoal, which was coarse and clear, and by the baking of the earth immediately above it. In some instances, in which burial by incremation has been practised, the entire skeleton is traceable. In such cases it has been observed that the charcoal occurs beneath as well as above the skeleton, demonstrating that the body had been placed upon a pyre of some sort before burning. Remains of art, for obvious reasons, are not abundant in this description of sepulchral mounds; nor is the supplementary charcoal layer of frequent occurrence.