New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-11-23
THE MOUND BUILDERS

Society," has been exploring the Shenandoah ""
under the auspices of the Smithsonian In.,;.-'y
and examining the mounds and other rel,c. !"
parted races found there. His researchs. y"
proved beyond question that the Mound pr,'s
did extend their operations east of the Auaas''
Mountains. Many mounds were examined
them was thirty feet high by fifty in d;.,.S.
Another was seventy feet in length They 49,
ated about eleven miles southwest Of Lurav ~
following is an extract from paper prens,.a ~ ~
Professor Reynolds describing his opcratio,. "
their results:
In company with Mr. Philip Long and sen
Mr.. Benton p. StebbiDs, of Lnray, under,oO, y
open the central mound no. q. We frat rsvn-''
the sod on the surface, and made an 0bono or.,.
five feet by six, extending east and west Eioh,s
inches below the surface We found pine cba,co.,
which Mr. Long concluded must be the remain. -
resinous stump which h. had burned IN foe,
years. The soil now changed from sandy o,,,.'
tenacious compound of sand and CLAW. We,
with few stones in our progress, and these v.
probably thrown in at random whom the mon,
was constructed. The day was quite hot, and VIA
we had reached a depth Of thirty inches copel.d.
to discontinue work on this mound until tho ~
went down behind the mountain. At this po,l -.
ground was so hard and dry that we could sc,,...
cut 1t with a Dlckaxe.
We next began digging III Mound No. 8 and :.
we had experienced 80 much labor with the for
/ concluded to abrldge the work by making Ana,
rover excavation. Accordingly we dug iren.,
seven feet long east and west, and twenty ipsIs
wide. The earth changed in character and deo,..
| of hardness as we descended. Two feet below In
suffice we came to Layer OF riyer-worn boolas.
crossing the trench at right angles. As these a.,
| pearcd to have been placed In position with ma,
lcular degree OF care. naturally concluded tb,,
we were approaching the sanctuary. After remov
ing the b0ulders we found that they formed N.
upper portion Of an arch. Below this came auotb.,
stratum OF hard clay which descended betzssn
two walls of stone to the bottom a
the sepulchre. Forty two inches below the ont,
surface and eighteen inches below the arch Of III.
vault a stratum of red clay and charcoal appesred
The clay was intensely hard and required consider
able effort 10 break 1t up without inJuring the oon
tents of the vault The first object brought TO isb.
IN this stratum was a beautifully finished tablet of
a bulsh-gray stone. three inches in length BY oDs
and Il half inches in BREADTH with two pertoratlon,
near the centre In consequence of crOsslng thu
vault right angles. 1t became necessary 70 enlarge
the opening by ssectiOn or continue ths eXea.
walton by tunuelling. Owing to the hardness Of the
proved much easier. as the rocks in the vault veu
readily dislodged alter the soil had been cut agq
beneath.
After the opening had been sufficie ntly enlarg,i
aud the loose earth and stones removed contluusd
to dig with small pocketknife, and carefully e.
anime the earth az 1t was taken out After fcs
minutes work large mass of arrows and kniya
was uncovered. They were all placed in the eIay
noiute doynyva ard Many had bepoUa hroLan al
faxed by the intense heat of the cremation fr,
Thore were forty-three arrows, knives and spsaa
in all. Forty of them were of black jasper and
three of "quartzte" In size they ranged from on,
and half to two inches in length. Some OF the
Jasper arrows had been turned to light rel.
dlsh-brOwn color by the fire. Below tn.
arrows an unfinished slate stone tablet
was found. This was also about three inches in
length. and plainly showed the coarse grain of the
stone on which it was ground. the next object was
an oblong "grlndstone" two and half inches In
length by one and three-quarters wide One end
had been broken of-probably by the heat-and the
whole bore strong tokens of the heat 1t was sub.
jected to. Two deep and well-worn grooves on the
under side showed the manner III which it had been
used to sharpen bone avis and other mplementso Of
kindred use. Pine charcoal was found somewhat
sparngly. which was matter of surprise, mas
much strong fire was undoubtedly requlredp
carbonze the bones and other perlshabe objects.
Three pieces Of roughly dressed "quartzite' were
next found. They were probably intended for orps
ments but never finished. This stone is not found
III Page Valley, and must have been brought from,
long distance by the savages, who undoubtedly
priced it very highly. the fragments weigh from
three 10 six ounces each. Six pieces of translucent
rock crystal were next uncovered. With them %
attempt at a change by grinding or boring seemsto
have been made, unless, perhaps. the cearsge may
indicate an attempt at improvement; this feature
however, may have been due to the action Of The
fire. One piece oniy-a hexagon about an inch long
appears to have been worn as an ornament. Tie
others were either designed to be finished or kept
as relics. Several unfinished fakes of jasper wer
found among the cInders. Four irregular-shsped
scrapers of quartz " and "quartzlte" were found
in group. Following these were three Other
scrapers about two inches in length. One wSd
jasper, one of hornstone and the third of Opaque
milky chacedony, which in shape simllarn
the obsIdian knives of the AZtoes. The next objecs
were roughly made arrow Of "quartzlte,s
quarfzlte" spear-head, broken and "Cei
knife" three and half inches long, with the point
missing
All of these objects appear TO have been grouped
around the head of the defunct cbieftain. for lh
next lind consisted OF four plates OF mica from thres
W ioui III lcnglu DS tNO w luttc
breadth. Under these plates was found a sectond
jaw-bone, the inferior maxIllary with three wef
worn teeth still in position. No portions OF IN
skull were to be found, nor could | determine den
nltely whether any portions Of the yertebrs rnM
had escaped the fire. Following the nay
ural position of the body in the, vsqu
portions of the long bones could o
observed, but with one exception no amount "
patient care was sufficient toseparate them from @
surrounding clay without destroying their Identity.
by removing large mass of clay with the bcoa
~ sitaa was able TO preserve about six inches OF
hbi9 which possesses In a marked degree the peeo
liar tattening so characteristic Of the true Moena
Builders and which also has been noticed by Prolcs
sor jeffrey Wyman among the ancient remaius ~
the 81. Johns River III Florida. This feature WIN
be discussed at length in forthcoming paper w
the Osteo ogy of the Potomac Indians. -.
Two fragments OF pottery were found among .ss
charred remains. They belonged to a small dIsa
ana show traces of extreme heat. The fragments
belong TO the usual type, with the exception OF 'ng
degralsant which is of pounded shells nstetd u
stone. No pipe was found, nor was there an axe
The grave. This seems quite contrary to the usssn
"A pn no faAf nr IA