The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1890-05-18
THIS LOOKS PREHISTORIC!
EXPLORER CHENOHITH THINKS lie
mas STUMPED MS CRITICS.

| A tsIx-foot-four Six eletOn Found Wrapped in
| the Roots OF Cedar Stump All Under
death tho Roots OF nm Aged LIvInE Tree.
Mr.. Alexander Crawford Chenoweth OF Wash
nKton Heights, whose archaeological re-
searches In the hillock at Klngsbridge road
! and Inwood street we're described In TIE Sun
several weeks ago. has made some new and
! important discoveries within the last week.
| Last Monday, while digging into the east side
| OF the mound. he came upon q well-defnod
| layer OF ashes between the black sur
face soil and the clean white sand in
which he had found the skeletons al
ready removed Mr.. W. II. ]. Sieber. q
young Archaeological who worked with Prof.
Putnam in Ohio during his famous mound exc
plorations there Immediately recognized the
nosition and nature OF these ashes to be indi-
cations OF prehistoric burials, The same kind
OF ashes. Mr.. Iceberg said we're around bodies
in the Ohio mounds. and 1t was supposed that
the dead bodies, when placed In the graves,
had been surrounded by burning ashes, which
shrivelled up the flesh.
This information inspired Mr.. Chenoweth to
dig hard. He cut small trench all around
the east and southeast sides Of the section con-
tanning the ashes, and learned thereby that the
ashbed was about thirty feet in diameter.
almost circular, and varying in thickness be-
tween ak and eighteen inches. Il hen he cut
bare the successive cross: sections of black soil.
ashes and white sand. Eventually he found q
the sod. They belonged to headless skeleton
which sat erect in Its soft sandstone sepulchre.
It's Legs b at fp lepEa he arms TeFe
Hardly four feet from this grave Mr. Cheno-
was between ga and feet underground. Tho
layer of ashes was somewhat disturbed above
the leR6 OF the SkoletODB In many places they
had filtered down into the white sand in depos-
its fe q two snd be as6es
are shown to be full OF tiny shells and half
Tho most remarkable OF Mr.. .Chenoweth's
discoveries, however. was made, yesterday
afternoon, He began digging In the midst OF
pie tree. A few inches beneath the sod he
struck the charred stump Of cedar tree; The
half fs covered We're By the I roots Of the Ivn tree
FEET in dlam0tor and ,TndOpRStsdly b;
s sSnf'0 when had fsa hundTed years
ago and had fourished two or three hundred
and covered with roots OF 1.-THE size Of mans
leg lay another human skeleton. 1t was on its
at the wrists. Its mouth was Wide. open.
Every tooth. sound and white was in the
hsSy The sku Ta b1 he
strongly marked! The cheek bones prominent
and almost at the lower edges OF The eye sock:
cts. ;, The forehead was SO low that It could
hardly be properly called a forehead at all.
There were heavy protuberances over the
al the back Of the head. The SKULL was the
counterpart Of Mr. Chenoweth's Gaiigula skull,
from which II differed only in the exaggera;,
ton OF all tho chronological Indications OF
cruelty. cunning. and low intelligence. The
length of the skeleton. as 1t lay undtsturbed in
it's sandstone sepulchre, was feet inches;
few feet from the head OF the skeleton Mr. Che
noweth found in the sand some thirty clean.
cut triangular and rectangular stones.
His last discovery seems to do away with all
the theories to the elect that Mr. Chenoweth
has dug into a burylng ground OF revolution
airy first families or Hcssians or negroes. The
age OF the cedar stump above the skeleton.
combined with the age OF the tree above the
cedar stump. indicates, that the Indian. or
other prehistoric man. In The grave has not
been alive for at least 400 years. The fact that
the skull Of the acknowledgements skeleton was
full OF sand. Mr. Chenoweth snid was proof OF
great antiquity. as was mentioned In the con-
sultation OF the New York Academy Of Sciences
last Monday evening concerning Mr. Cheno-
weth's explorations.
Mr. Chenoweth has found more crockery on
the liock almost daily since he began his in
vestigation. He has three vessels almost half
completed One Is marked with the herring
bone pattern. another with the basket or net
pattern. and the third with the so.ca!lod TN
cised pattern which is pretty much like the
herring bone. save tn at 1t is more complicated.
and runs horizontally instead Of perpendicu-
lary on the vessel.