The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1875-09-02
THE MOUND.BUILDERS.
Some Very Tough Stories of Alleged Discov-
cries in Michigan.

cries In Michigan.
The editor of the Marshall (Michignn)
Statesman, who has been lately examin-
ing some ancient mounds in the Grand
Traverse region, gives the following &C
count of his discoveries:
The tumuli were located on q sandy
plateau, between the bay and an inland
lake. They were not placed with refer
ence to order, nor were they uniform in
style. -Four large mounds and two
small ones near by could he easily
traced. The large ones had been par
TALLY opened by some one, but who it
was no one in the party knew. From the
growth of vegetation it was plain that
nearly quarter of century had passed
since the effort to discover the secret had
been made. The pine growth on the
mounds indicated still greater an
tiquity than the mound in the village.
At least five centuries ago the mounds
were built. We assisted in removing
the earth, and were fortunate enough to
be the first one to come upon The re-
mains. Two bodies rested in one grave.
Both had fallen over, but from the posi-
tion of the few remaining bones it was
evident that they had sat side by side
while the years rolled on. The first skull
taken out was that of a female, we
judged. At last we found the remaining
skull. 1t was in remarkable state of
preservation. The teeth were perfect,
and the Uranium had not separatedat Mt the
sutures. The jaw had fallen off, but we
recovered it from its resting place deep
er in the earth. No ornaments were
found. Charcoal was found over the
heads. A few of the larger bones alone
remained, but they were easily broken
and crumbled beneath moderate pres
sure. 1t has been shown that the Gus
tom was to bury the personal ornaments
and war implements either with the
! body or in a separate mound near by.
Hoping to find traces of pottery, etc,
we carefully investigated all hillocks
near, but were unsuccessful.
We preserved the most perfect skulls.
From the plates in Fosters work we are
able to decide that they are not the
skulls of Indians. The larger one is
that of male, and from the size of the
leg bones we conclude that he must have
been person of large stature. A pecu-
liarity of the mound builders is the un-
usual prominence of the nasal bone.
These skulls show that this bone must
have been more than an inch in length,
standing straight out from under the
brow, like the beak of a bird The To-
cality in which we found this skull is
| such one as Foster describes as being
a favorite place of burial with the race.
In fact, there are many reasons for be-
lieving these to be the remains OF
mound builders, which our lack of space
prevents us from mentioning. There are
few, if any, perfect skulls of mound
builders in existence. Prior to the fire
of Chicago some dozen or more were
held by scientists and in museums. By
that fire several were destroyed. From
all that we can learn one of these in oul
possession is the finest yet discovered
and if its genuineness can be established
! Gas nearly as scientists are able toy it is 6
valuable relic. If this article comes un
der the eyes of parties interested in such
matters who desire further information,
we will cheerfully give it.
About three years ago farmers boy
while plowing i'll field not far from the
eastern shore of the bay, turned up {
stone of mysterious shape and peculiar
appearance. The stone was about foul
inches long, three inches wide, ant
three quarters of an inch thick. The
boy took the stone home and washed the
earth from it. The stone showed indi
cations of having been polished, ant
upon one of the broad surfaces bore
characters of an unknown alphabet, evi
IDENTITY. The boys father gave the sin
gular relic to a gentleman in Traverse
City, who was disposed to regard thu
matter as an attempt to perpetrate
practical joke at his expense. Recent!
a gentleman was calling on Judge Rams
dell, who owns q farm about six mile
from where the singular stone wa
found. The Judge knew nothing of tn
matter referred to above. In the course
of conversation he remarked that he hat
just found q remarkable stone, whicl
seemed to be inscribed with cabalisti
signs. The gentleman addressed natur
ally manifested desire to see the stone
and was astonished to find it almost
counterpart of the one in his possession
1t was an unexpected and undeniabl
confirmation of the authenticity of tn
tablet in his collection. The character
resemble Greek letters somewhat, bu
are, as yet, subject of study among
several archeologists, who have bee
consulted. They may, ultimately, throl
some degree of light upon the mysteri
Gus subject of the origin of American
races.
An Imperial Gourmet.
A ,,,ritar coxc II 10 not o;,o,,lor ~ n