Mexico weekly ledger., 1881-10-20
-
THE MOUND BUILDE1S,
An Interesting Discovery 81 Six
Human Skeletons In Indiana.
Iwarsa~ r Reoubl;~ao1


An Interesting Discovery of SIX
Human Skeletons in Indiana.
WARSAW Republican,
Some time since Mr.. o. p. Jacques had
number of hands employed In remov-
ing dirt from q stripof ground belonging
to him, lying between the @. w. and d.
Railroad and the Goshen wagon road,
in the northern part of the city. While
so engaged they found four human skel-
etons that had evidently been buried
in trench, their bodiesin a recumbent
attitude, and after they had been eov-
cred with about foot of dirt, another
body had been buried on top of them
in sitting posture. A short time after,
another trench was uncovered in which
thirteen bodies had been inferred, they
having evidently been laid In regularly.
They were of all ages and Of both
sexes.
On the following day two more bodies
were found, lying near each other, one
of them having q piece of mica (or
isinglass) over his face. A piece about
six inches long and four inches wide
was secured intact, and is now in Dr..
Moro's possession. A flint arrowhead
and stone about three inches long and
one and half inches wide, and nearly
half an inch thick, with . hole bored
through the center, were also found with
the same skeleton. There are evidences
of fire in the trenches, and two small
pieces of what has evidently been .
human skull burned to q substance
resembling charcoal have been found.
1t seems that cremation was pRacticed
long ago.
Who were these peopls3 Ths ee1sv.
head and peculiar shaped stone vefe
common among the Indians, and are
frequently found in Indian graves; but
able from the contrast between them
and those of the Indians or whites, or
indeed of any known race.
A skull of an old man shows some
little evidence of intellectual powelA
the forehead rising nearly one-half inch
above the eyebrows, but Is very narrow
transversely. The back part Of The
head and the width between the eaIo
is immense. He must have been Q
terrible brute. The skull Of . young
woman shows absolutely no forehead
at all. When alive straight stick laid
fat on her head would have touched
her eyebrows and the crown of hel
head. The skull of the man that had
the sheet Of mica over his face il about
half way, as far as intelligence % con.
cerned, between the tvo. @
/: A peculiar thing about the piscs Of
mica is that it appears to have heen
set In an iron frame, q the entire
circumference is covered with Q thick
coat of iron.rust.
Professor Moro made an analysil Of
the substance, in order to be certain
in regard to it, and it is unmistakably
iron. Now the Indians used but little
iron, and it has never been thought
We believe that the Hcund-builders
the race these people belonged q
without doubt, ever uced il It h
of course, impossible TO Ascertdn With
certainty as to this matter, q Iron, In
the course of time, is entirely eeten W
with rust and disappears a. . substance
while copper, bronze and stone with
stand the attacks Of time and the nvAges
of the elements.
Another remarkable thine SbOut tl.s
skulls of these skeletons is their voAder
full thickness. The adult ekulls arc all
of them at least one-fourth Of a incl
in thickness, some of them moro thaz
that. They were evidently 4 h1Rd
headed race. Owing to their great -
it has been found impossible, as yet, K
get complete leg OF arm bone, % q
to make an estimate % to the heiqh'
or size of these people when living
but thigh bone has been got out tha'
shows that the owner Of it was at leas
six feet high; how much over that b,
was, it is impossible to tell.
These people unquestionahly belonges
to a race that existed here before th,
Indians. What q strange story the
could tell could they come back 4
life. Whether their being buried wher'
they were was the result of blood,
battle OF fatal epidemic among them
it is, of course, impossible to say. The,
were probably all buried at nearly th'
same time, and it was probably causet
by one or the other. The plsce wher,
they were buried was marked by thre,
small mounds standing close together
and for years the project has been FIRE
quently discussed Of digging into then
and investigating their contents.