The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1871-09-14
The Remai.s Of a tiiaHs Race.

The Petersburg iacra Of yesterday. un,lel
a sensational heading in its local column
gives publicity to the following very remark
able and interesting discovery Of mammoth
remains:
The following information il given us BY
gentlemen ofthe;hl ghas Qh4ractcr and credit
who have seen with their ogn eyes. touched
and tested with heir own hands, the wonder
lul objects Of which they make report
The WORK men engaged 10 opening a way
for the projected railroad between Weldon
and Garysburg struck, Monday about one
mile flom the former place, in bank beside
the river, catacomb Of ,kee,ons, supposed
to be those Of Indians Of remote age and a
lost and forgotten race. The bodies cxhum-
ed were Of strange and remarkable formation.
The skulls were nearly an inch ia thickness;
the teeth were fled sharp. as those of can't
bals-the enamel perfectly preserved; the
banas were of wonderful length and strength
the .fcmur being as long as the leg of an
ordinary man. the stature Of the body being
probably, as great as eight or nine feet. Near
their heads were sharp stone arrows, stone
mortars. Oh which their corn was brayed and
the bowls Of pipes, apparently OF soft friable
soap-stone The teeth Of the skeletons arc
said to be a. large IS those of horses. One OF
them has been brought to the city and pre-
scented to an officer OF the Petersburg railroad
The bodies were found closely packed to-
gethcr. laid tier Oh tier as it seemed There
was no dlscernible ingress into or egress cut
Of the mound The Ioystery is, who the gi-
ants were; to what race they belonged TO
what era, aud how they came to be buried
there. 10 these inquiries no answer has yet
been made, and meanwhile the ruthless spade
continues to cleave skull and body a;under
throwing up in mingled masses the homes OF
this heroic tribe. We hope some efforts will
be made tie preserve authentic and accurate
accounts Of these discoveries, and to throw
some light, if possible, on the lost tribe whose
bones have been thus rudcjy disturbed from
thei- sleep in earshs bosom.
AS a supplement to the above, we copy
the following from the Wheeling Inteiil-
gencer, as the giants and the mound-buila-
ers may have been of the same race:
During last week some workmen, in |
making an excavation in a mound at Mar
tins Ferry.O discovered and exhumed two
human skeletons. One Of them was found |
intact, the other had fallen to pieces. What |
was remarkable about their burial was the |
fact that the bodies had evidently boen |
covered by an arch made of limestone
builders, which were in an irregular heap
about the remains These must have been
carried a considerable distance and placed
in the mound, as they are not found in that
formation. Portions Of the skele-
tons were presented by Captain James
Dean to Professor Marion. Of the Female
College, whore they have been placed in
the museum. These remains are supposed
to be Of persons who belonged to the an.
cient race Of moanabuiltiers, those a;,oriei-
nal inhabitants Of this country who are
said to antedate in their history even the
Indians. All though tha Mississippi VAL
ley, from the lakes to the Gulf, are found
defensive earthworks aud other monuments
Of thora ancient mound builders. There
are said to be ten thousand in Ohio alone
Some were erected for purpose. of military
defence, others as great affairs for religious
worship, and still others as burial places
and monuments for the dead. -Eaqutre,
Sept, Z.