, 1889-09-12
Al ANCIENT CEMETERY.
PREHISTORIC RELICS UNEARTHEc
-. VCST VIRGINIA.

y
;:-.-oE -I"fr DcrI-Pipes. Bcads, Arrow
iI,I..-. Eu:-IahawI,s and Other Things
Df-c.,avc,i Tcoth Wonderfully Sound.
I.i-I, IE5},s up the Potomac river from
2uwus- " Va. i d small island cut
II .r~u the main line by mill race
-i.- island l., nearly all sand ard made Il
..i,...aG auryiu- place for the abOrigincS
..f'i- country For Il space of so 10y
.f -r,- there are many graves about
.,.., e. three f,,t in depth and contain
.I-. t--i,'- skeletons of Indians, many
peculiar relics. such as beads, shells.
-.i..- arrow heads. bones Of animals
1905. ,.--. for food, pottery. etc.
..,o yr;rs ago the river rose higher
-'..u il iagd been known to rise for years
Il .a..-a-.I out this mil! race, and when
-.s. I.....~ cared in there were exposed
-a ...N many skeletons, as above men
....4 The farmers and boys of the
., ,:.us,rhou.l Visited the place out of
.-..,~ity and carried off many articles,
...aarount was printed at the time, and
..s p.aE.ination of the place was made
a.G The World called the attention of
10. smithsonian men to this find, and
..-.' aaS at once written there to the
..---.i..-tcr. But before a reply came
- well on my way to the scene of the
'.-Cuvcry.
DIGGING Up THE BONES.
Six men were engaged, and the spot
suyrc the graves lay was carefully dug
.-cT. II was found that about forty
.-.l.tons had been exEumed by the
aet and carried away by the waters.
-s.-v more remained, some of which
.aL been disturbed by the plow, for they
,-,.c buried only two feet deep. One of
.hczc was found 10 have inferred with
,hr loIy stone tips for his arrows. beads
- g. necklace, a whole pot of clay rudely
.@-hioncd and holding several dccayed
yuaes Of the deer. This had been his
.an-.ius vessel, and when inferred with
Ii, warrior 1t was filled with deer Joints,
luscious and juicy" the meat of which
sustained his soul in its march through
thc Happy Hunting Grounds.
tEothgT sicl"tCn hal similar outfit
pia.eI with it Aiany of the bodies were
bG..ai in cramPcd positions, few were
extended rs We place our dead, many
Bones were missing and the skulls os
some individuals seemed crushed ard
broken. l therefore drew n conclusion
that most of these warriors were killed
in battle. As it was the Indian custom
u muti,atc the bodies of the slain, in
-nrsa instances to smash the skulls, the
condition of the skeletons is easily ac-
rgIntcl for In the loose earth thrown
oat oI the excavations and everywhere
Jhaut the surface wc found arrow points,
aTH--I pottery, copper beads, glass
..-r.!-, shells, parts of stone tomahawks,
ego. One excavation revealed an old fire
place. We took out about five bushels
,I ashes, the bones of deer, buffalo and
ground hog. The buffalo or bison bones
~ seldom met with in the east. 1t is
Known that the bison roamed all over
tl.is country, but the whites found him
,ur.l:cr west than tbs Mississippi. There
'-' the date OF this burial place can be
.lrci very far back. Tho presence of
lass and copper beads shows the tribe
l-i contact with the whites. But these
.p.ds were found on the surface and not
;iriod with the bodies.
ANOTHER INDIAN VILLAGE
After examining this cemetery l went
.,yelve miles down the river to another
Ian village site. With a force of
.-yl men began work in some high
- banks which fronted the river.
.arc the bodies had never been disturbed
nj lay just a. the Indians had left them.
o. @ took out nearly twenty entire skcle-
al5. Tho skulls of n number were pre-
--:Ccl whole, and when any fell to pieces
"a. fragments were Large enough to ad-
nit Of their being pat together. The
LvoraSo depth of these graves was three
feet. WisA ono We found 4 copper plate,
3 til" ci=,I of clay with handles and hold
iIE Cl the inside 4 shell with strange
....rkiaEi on il. The copper plate was
ut of European manufacture. 1t was
l,sa native Lake Gup"vior copper ham
...r., I aUt IL 4 cold a:atr by the Indians.
'..-i "hJut five inches long. two inches
,',c ".ll perforated for suspension asan
,rlamcnt.
.,noIhcr body had necklace OF sixty
,.n bone beads, while Il third had over
hlec hundred small bc:els. These ll2d
"-l placed iii m:l(' by the left fore
..:n. but had not been strung. y bone
vi almost as sharp as Il needle and
.'mdarfu!ly well preserved accompanied
rs rIGn. The farmer owning the place
resented me with another copper plate
III = stone tomahaw.:. which he had
we'd up not Ion; lr..or,'. also secured
.uoi clay pipe. found witt! ono of the
.'-rloto-s. This pip" Was shaped some
B., ..at like our cigar hnI,lers. only larger,
;...., w.li mude of har,l burned clay, red
in colGr
Tho remarkable feature of all Indian
.,-l.llj il the state Of preservation il which
v., find their teeth. | never, with but
ne ct two exceptions. fould truly pre-
historic skeleton in which the teeth were
ls. without sign of decay Sometimes
whoa the bones are almost ready to fall
.atn dust the tech remain sound.
whether it is due to their diet of meats.
not having known the use of any of our
. modern teeth destroying foods and
-g., ,tmeat3, leave for the consideration
.i The dental fraternity. After this place
..,.i been examined we dug into Il large
mound Of earth and stone. so by 10 feet,
5 i.gt high. IN that VIC found the skelc-
On of Il brave warrior covered with sew
"ral large sheets Of mica. (This may
.:avc been used rs Il lonSiu% glass; Sev-
eral black flint arrow heads lay by his
-idc. and over his breast lay an ornament
Of black slate with two perforatiOns
/ The ornament was highly polished and
presented beautiful appearance. Thus
ended the work. \ total of fifty bodies
IN part or entire, was taken out and the
article corroborated. Probably half 4
do2ai women and eight children conf
prise! the whole number Warren X
Mon I'D in Now York WorId