Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-14
RELICS OF MOUND BUILDERS
NJ. G. Mock the Possessor ola Very Valuable
Collection.
More Than Ten Thousand Specimens
Taken From Mounds and Other He
Observation-Disclosures Objects.

NJ. G. Mock of Muncie. Ind, who has a
large collection of Indian and mound
| builders relics and curiosites, was at the
Smithsonian Institution yesterday. Mr..
Mock was probably 10G30 objects in his
! collection, which he has gotten toy Their
simply to crafty a taste of his own in
| this regard. He has been making the col
| lection for thirteen years, ard is exceed
| ingly proud of his acquisitions.
Whenever Mr.. Mock is in Washington he
visits the Smithsonian to have a chat with
the heads of the department of prehistoric
| anthropology, compare notes with them and
examine any new objects of interest which
| may have been secured by the institution
since his previous visit. He had with him
yesterday a beautiful little relic. with
which he would not part for large
amount. 1t was found near his home in
Indiana, and is a miniature Indian battle
AK, made of granite, perfectly formed. 1t
is the smallest object of the sort Mr..
Mock has ever seen. and is much smaller
than any weapons OF similar form in the
institution. 1t is only about an inch or so
in length, and was evidently made as a toy
and great care taken in its manufacture,
for 1t is without blemish. 1t would make
an excellent watch charm
DclvinE for Relics.
Mr.. Mock has been in mounds in many
of the states, delving for the relics of the
mysterious race who buried their dead and
then erected the mounds as monuments
In number of these, particularly in his
own state, the collector has discovered
relics which have more than ordinary in
terest. In one of the mounds skull was
found lying on conch shell collar, the
latter having evidently been around the
neck of the corpse when it was buried, as
the two pieces of shell forming the collar
were directly underneath the chin, where
the neck would have been.
This forms one of Mr.. Mock's most treas
ured relics 1T proves that the people be-
longing to that race were in the habit of
travelling" Mr.. Mock said to the reporrer
for Indiana is a long way from the sea
shore, where the conchs are found.
Il have red stone pipe in my collection,
which was dug up in the streets of Mua-
Gle. The stone from which 1t is made is
found only in the quarries existing in Da
kota and Minnesota. The pipe must have
been brought from there, or the material
from which ii was manufactured.
Il have found objects in noun is often
times which could have come Only frcm
distant points. Take the wanpum. for
instance, the Indian money which Is made
from the inner portion of sea shells. 1
have found it in mounds in wholly INLAND
states.
Mounds Are Small.
I'm Indiana the majority of the mounds
are small There is one, however, thirteen
or fourteen miles from Muncie, which is
thirty forty feet high. 1t has never
been examined carefully, as the persons
who own the property on which 1t is locat-
ed object to this being done. There are an
cient earth works about sixteen miles west
of the town whose origin has never be IN
satisfactorily explained.
1.-The skeletons found in the mounds are
jnxa ri a dfScnvarad in, sir
position. The head touches the knees 1t
is u fact, and curious one. that the more
prominent were the pernens buried the
will most likely be inferred in a hole about
eight feet deep. while a child is put under
ground but few inches. comparatively.
The more prominent the persons are, too
the more relics are found about them
Pottery Is often found In the mounds but
1t is generally in imperfect condition. Some
of the skeletons found In the mounds have