Fig. 55. The mound at Grave creek furnishes the only exception to the remark within the range of our observation. The mounds of the Southern States are probably of different construction, and some of them may perhaps be regarded as general cemeteries.
Fig. 56.—Great Mound at Grave Creek.
The Grave creek mound, although it has often been described, deserves, from its size and singularity of construction, more than a passing notice. It is situated on the plain, at the junction of Grave creek and the Ohio river, twelve miles below Wheeling, in the State of Virginia. It occurs in connection with various works now much obliterated, but is not enclosed by circumvallations. It is one of the largest in the Ohio valley; measuring about seventy feet in height, by one thousand p169 in circumference at the base. It was excavated by the proprietor in 1838. He sank a shaft from the apex of the mound to the base, (b a, Fig. 55,) intersecting it at that point by a horizontal drift (a e e). It was found to contain two sepulchral chambers, one at the base, (a,) and another thirty feet above (c). These chambers had been constructed of logs, and covered with stones, which had sunk under the superincumbent mass as the wood decayed, giving the summit of the mound a flat or rather dish-shaped form.[111] The lower chamber contained two human skeletons (one of which was thought to be that of a female); the upper chamber contained but one skeleton in an advanced stage of decay. With these were found between three and four thousand shell beads, a number of ornaments of mica, several bracelets of copper, and various articles carved in stone. After the excavation of the mound, a light three-story wooden structure was erected upon its summit. It is indicated by b in the section. p170
In respect to the number of sepulchral chambers and enclosed skeletons, this mound is quite extraordinary. It may be conjectured with some show of reason, that it contained the bones of the family of a chieftain, or distinguished individual among the tribes of the builders.
It is common to find two or three, sometimes four or five, sepulchral mounds in a group. In such cases it is always to be remarked that one of the group is much the largest, twice or three times the dimensions of any of the others; and that the smaller ones, of various sizes, are arranged around its base, generally joining it, thus evincing a designed dependence and intimate relation between them.
Fig. 57.
Plans of three groups of this description are herewith presented, Fig. 57.
- NUMBER 1 is situated six miles below Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio. The relative sizes, positions, etc., of the mounds composing it, are indicated in the plan. The largest is twenty-seven feet high; the rest range from four to ten feet in height. p171
- NUMBER 2 occurs upon the plain in the immediate vicinity of Chillicothe, and is numbered 4 in the Map of a section of the Scioto valley, Plate [II]. The small one indicated by the letter j was excavated, and found to contain the skeleton of a girl enveloped in bark, in the manner already described. The largest of the group is about thirty feet in height.
- NUMBER 3 is situated in Pike county, Ohio, and is indicated in the plan of the “Graded Way” near Piketon, Plate [XXXI].