Fig. 49.—Group of sepulchral mounds.

Mounds of this class are very numerous. They are generally of considerable size, varying from six to eighty feet in height, but having an average altitude of from fifteen to twenty or twenty-five feet. They stand without the walls of enclosures, at a distance more or less remote from them. Many are isolated, with no other monuments near them; but they frequently occur in groups, sometimes in close connection with each other, and exhibiting a dependence which was probably not without its meaning. They are destitute of altars, nor do they possess that regularity which characterizes the “temple mounds.” Their usual form is that of a simple cone; sometimes they are elliptical or pear-shaped.

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 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.

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. 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 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.

The gradual slope, resembling a graded way, upon the southern side of this mound, is a feature not easily explained. It would seem at first glance to be designed as a passage to the top. The more probable conclusion however is, that it is a supplementary mound, which by cultivation and the lapse of time has become so merged in the larger one at its side as not to be distinguishable from it. Sepulchral mounds of various sizes, joining and running into each other, are common. This mound is nearer to enclosures than any other of the class yet examined.

Mounds of this, as well as of the first class, were often disturbed by the later Indians. Their remains are frequently found, in some cases in large quantities, as if the mound had been used for a long period as a general burial-place. Such was the case with a large mound, situated six miles above the town of Chillicothe, in which a great number of burials had been made, at various depths, from eighteen inches to four feet. The skeletons were, in places, two or three deep, and placed without arrangement in respect to each other. Some were evidently of a more ancient date than others, showing, from their condition as well as position, that they had been deposited at different periods. One or two were observed in which the skull had been fractured by blows from a hatchet or other instrument, establishing that the individual had met a violent death. With some, rude vessels of pottery, and stone and bone implements, had been deposited; and, in a small mound close by, a silver cross, of French origin, was discovered,—all going to establish the comparatively recent date of these burials. In sinking a shaft five feet square, no less than seven skeletons, the lowest about four feet from the surface, were exposed. Beneath all of these, at the depth of fourteen feet and near the base of the mound, were found traces of the original deposit of the mound-builders. In this case, had the investigation been less complete, it might have been concluded that this mound was a grand receptacle of the dead, and “contained many thousand human skeletons.” Another proof is here furnished of the necessity of thoroughness in explorations of this character, in order to arrive at correct conclusions.

The ceremonies of interment, so far as we are enabled to deduce them from these monuments, were conducted with great regularity and system. None of those disturbances mentioned by various writers, where the remains seem to have been heaped together without order and without care, have been observed in the course of these investigations, except in cases where recent deposits had been made. p167 On the contrary, all the circumstances seem to indicate that burial was a solemn and deliberate rite, regulated by fixed customs of, perhaps, religious or superstitious origin. It is possible that in certain cases, a special practice was prescribed. We may thus account for the presence or absence of the charcoal layers, and also for the practice of incremation in some instances and simple inhumation in others.108

In a very few of the sepulchral mounds, a rude enclosure of stone was placed around the skeleton, corresponding to that of timber in others. No mounds possessing this peculiarity fell under notice during the investigations here recorded: there can, however, be no doubt of the fact. A mound within the limits of Chillicothe was removed a number of years since, in which a stone coffin, corresponding very nearly with the kistvaen of the English antiquaries, was discovered. The stones are said to have been laid up with great regularity.109 In some instances a pile of stones seems to have been heaped carelessly over the skeleton; in others it was heaped upon the timbers covering the sepulchral chamber, as in the mound at Grave creek.

Urn burial does not seem to have been practised in the valley of the Ohio. It is nevertheless undoubted that in some of the Southern States, by either the ancient races or the more modern Indians, burials of this character were frequent. This is sufficiently established by the discovery in the mounds and elsewhere, of earthen vessels containing human remains, generally but not always burned. In the mounds on the Wateree river, near Camden, South Carolina, ranges of vases, filled with human remains, were discovered. A detailed account of these is given by Dr. Blanding, in a preceding chapter. (See page 106.) When unburnt, the skeletons seem to have been packed in the vase, after the flesh had decomposed. Sometimes, when the mouth of the vase is small, the skull is placed, face downwards, in the opening, constituting a sort of cover. Entire cemeteries have been found, in which urn burial alone seems to have been practised. Such a one was accidentally discovered, not many years since, in St. Catharine’s island, on the coast of Georgia. The vases were coarse in material, of rude workmanship, from eighteen to twenty inches in height, and filled with burned human bones. One of the vases from this locality is now deposited in the museum of the Georgia Historical Society.110 p168

The relics of art found in these mounds possess great uniformity of character. Personal ornaments are most common, such as bracelets, perforated plates of copper, and beads of bone, ivory, shell, or metal. Few weapons, such as spear or arrow points, are found; stone implements are more common. Many of these articles are identical with those found in mounds of the first class. Plates of mica are of frequent occurrence; they are sometimes of large size and considerable thickness. Instances are known in which this material has been found in vast quantities, dispersed over and sometimes completely covering the skeleton. It seems not unlikely that a degree of superstitious regard attached to it, or that it was sacred to certain purposes. The plates are often cut into regular figures, discs, ovals, etc. Vases of pottery are occasionally, but not often, found. Of all these varieties of relics appropriate notice will be taken in a subsequent chapter.

In all of the sepulchral mounds opened and examined in the course of these investigations, with a single exception, the human remains have been found so much decayed as to render any attempt to restore the skull, or indeed any portion of the skeleton, entirely hopeless. With this experience, it is considered extremely doubtful whether any of the numerous skulls which have been sent abroad and exhibited as undoubted remains of the mound-builders, were really such. A few are possibly genuine; this can only be determined by a full understanding of the circumstances under which they were obtained. The fact that they were found in the mounds, in view of the variety of deposits which have been made at different periods, is hardly presumptive evidence that they belonged to the builders.

Considering that the earth around these skeletons is wonderfully compact and dry, and that the conditions for their preservation are exceedingly favorable, while they are in fact so much decayed, we may form some approximate estimate of their remote antiquity. In the barrows of the ancient Britons, entire well-preserved skeletons are found, although possessing an undoubted antiquity of at least eighteen hundred years. Local causes may produce singular results, in particular instances, but we speak now of these remains in the aggregate.

It has already been ob­served, that, as a gen­eral rule, each mound was raised over a single in­di­vid­ual. 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.

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, (ba, Fig. 55,) intersecting it at that point by a horizontal drift (aee). 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.

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.

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.

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.