Something like this arrangement was observed by Com. WILKES, in the mounds of Oregon. They occurred in groups of five, as shown in Fig. 58,—the largest occupying the centre.
Fig. 58.
May we not conclude that these groups are family tombs; the principal mound containing the head of the family, the smaller ones its various members? In the case of the Grave creek mound, it is possible that, instead of building an additional mound, a supplementary chamber was constructed upon a mound already raised,—a single mound being thus made to fill the place of a group. This suggestion derives some support from the fact that the second chamber is placed, above the lower vault, at about the usual height of the larger sepulchral mounds.[112]
It is not to be supposed that the mounds were the sole cemeteries of the race that built them. They were probably erected only over the bodies of the chieftains and priests, perhaps also over the ashes of distinguished families. The graves of the great mass of the ancient people who thronged our valleys, and the silent monuments of whose toil are seen on every hand, were not thus signalized. We scarcely know where to turn to find them. Every day the plough uncovers crumbling remains; but they elicit no remark,—are passed by and forgotten. The wasting banks of our rivers occasionally display extensive cemeteries, but sufficient attention has never been bestowed upon them to enable us to speak with any degree of certainty of their date, or to distinguish whether they belonged to the mound-builders or a subsequent race. These cemeteries are often of such extent, as to give a name to the locality in which they occur. Thus we hear, on the Wabash, of the “Big Bone Bank,” and the “Little Bone Bank,” from which, it is represented, the river annually washes many human skeletons, accompanied by numerous and singular remains of art, among which are more particularly mentioned vases and other vessels of pottery, of remarkable and often fantastic form. At various places in the States north of the Ohio, thousands of graves are said to occur, placed in ranges parallel to each other. The extensive cemeteries of Tennessee and Missouri have often been mentioned, and it has been conjectured that the caves of Kentucky and Ohio were grand depositories of the dead of the ancient people. We have, however, nothing at all satisfactory upon the subject, p172 which still continues to invite investigation. It is not improbable that many of the dead were burned, and that their ashes were heaped together, constituting mounds. Such an inference may not unreasonably be drawn from certain facts which will be presented when we come to speak of the anomalous or unclassified mounds. It may however be remarked in this connection, that no very distinct traces of the ancient burial-places can be expected to be found. If, from the mounds where, from their protection from the action of moisture and other decomposing causes, the enclosed remains would be most likely to be well preserved, it is found almost impossible to recover a single entire bone, it is not to be wondered at that the remains of the common dead are now nearly or quite undistinguishable from the mould which surrounds them. The apparent absence therefore of any general cemeteries of the era of the mounds, may be regarded as another and strong evidence of the remote antiquity of the monuments of the West.
It should be remarked before proceeding further, that the position of the mound-skeletons, in respect to the east or any other point of the compass, is never fixed. They are nearly always found disposed at length, with their arms carefully adjusted at their sides. None have been discovered in a sitting posture, except among the recent deposits; and, even among these, no uniformity exists: some are extended at length, others lie upon their sides bent nearly double, others still in a sitting posture; and in a few cases it seems that the bones, after the decomposition of the flesh, had been rudely huddled together in a narrow grave.[113]
- FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER VII.
- [104] Numbered 1, in the “Map of a section of twelve miles of the Scioto valley,” Plate [II].
- [105] “In the investigation of barrows, marks of interment are frequently found near the surface; but investigation must not terminate upon such a discovery. Experience has convinced me that these were subsequent interments, and that the primary deposit was always laid on the floor of the barrow, or within a cist in the native soil”—Sir R. C. Hoare on the Barrows and Tumuli of Great Britain.
- [106] Numbered 2 in Map Plate [II].
- [107] Numbered 3 in the Map, Plate II
- [108] Among the ancient Mexicans the dead were burned, except in cases where death had been caused by leprosy or other incurable disease of that order. Boys under seventeen years of age were also denied that sacred rite. The Hurons, on the other hand, burned the bodies of those who had been drowned or killed by lightning.
- [109] This feature was remarked by Mr. LESUEUR, in some of the mounds opened by him, in the vicinity of New Harmony, Indiana. He found, at the base of several, a level space, upon which was a right-angled, oblong parallelogram, formed of flat stones, set edgewise and covered over with similar stones. Some decayed bones were found in them.—Travels in North America by Prince Maximilian, p. 80.
- [110] Rev. WM. B. STEVENS, Athens, Ga.
- [111] In the construction of this mound the builders had availed themselves of a small natural elevation, above which the tumulus was raised. The vault a had been sunk in this elevation. It was an exact parallelogram, constructed by setting upright timbers around the sides and covering these with logs placed horizontally, above which were piled a quantity of loose stones. The second vault appears to have been smaller than the first, but corresponded with it in structure.
- For detailed descriptions of this mound and its contents, see an account by Dr. CLEMENS, published in 1839, in Morton’s Crania Americana, p. 221; by the proprietor of the mound, Mr. TOMLINSON, in the American Pioneer for 1843, vol. ii. pp. 195–203; and by HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT, Esq., in the first volume of the Transactions of the American Ethnological Society, 1846.
- It should be remarked that some discrepancies exist between these several accounts. That of Dr. Clemens, which is the earliest, states that in carrying in the horizontal excavation, “at the distance of twelve or fifteen feet, were found numerous masses composed of charcoal and burnt bones. Before reaching the centre, a passage-way was discovered to a vault at the base; this passage had an inclination of ten or fifteen degrees, and had been covered with timbers, of which the impression in the earth alone remained. The vault itself appeared to have been covered with timbers and loose stones. After removing all the rubbish from the vault, two skeletons were found, one on the east, the other on the west side. The former was the smaller and more perfect of the two. * * * On reaching the lower vault from the top it was determined to enlarge it for the accommodation of visitors. In so doing ten more skeletons were discovered, all in a sitting posture, but in so fragile a state as to defy all attempts at preservation.”
- It may be suggested, that the smaller or female skeleton in the vault, as well as those surrounding it, were the remains of victims sacrificed, in accordance with barbarian practice, as attendants in the world of spirits upon the chieftain, in honor of whom this mound was erected. This practice was common among the Natchez, Mexicans, Peruvians, and other aboriginal nations.
- [112] The barrows denominated the “Bell Barrows,” of England, are thought, by English antiquarians, to be a modification of the “Bowl Barrow,” formed by placing a new top upon the latter, and otherwise enlarging it, for the purpose of fresh interment. It is common in this description of barrows, to find one burial above the other, as at Grave creek.
- [113] The North American Indians, in their burials by inhumation, very generally placed the body in a sitting posture. Their customs of burial were, however, extremely variant. Some of the tribes to this day, after enveloping the bodies of their dead, place them on scaffolds or in the forks of trees. Among some of the Southern Indians, they were exposed until the flesh parted from the bones, which were then gathered with various ceremonies and deposited in the huts of the relatives, the temples of the tribe, “the medicine house,” or in buildings specially dedicated to the purpose. The Mexicans, in cases where burial by inhumation was practised, placed their dead in a sitting position: so too did the Central Americans and Peruvians, as is sufficiently evidenced by an examination of their tombs. It is a great mistake, however, to suppose that the custom was anything like universal either among the ancient inhabitants of more recent tribes.
p173
CHAPTER VIII. EARTHWORKS—TEMPLE MOUNDS.
