The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-06-13
PREHISTORIC SKELETONS
AN OHIO MAN MAKES AN IMPORTANT
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.
Burned Bones of Great Chief I'M
earthed-Five Large Nuggets of Sill
yer Found in the Same Mound.

| for many years was accomplished by Prof.
| Clarence Loveberry, a few days ago, near
Ringgold, Pickaway county. The discovery
| of the skeletons establishes the fact that
the mound builders practiced cremation
and erected stone crematories to accom-
plish the desired result. Professor Love-
berry is the assistant curator of the Ohio
State Archaeological and Historical Socie-
ty. He is one of the most able of the mod
ern school of archaeologists. and the dis
covery referred to will bring him lasting
| fame, for it has been equaled only by the
famous Hopewell finds. Professor Love-
berry relates the story of the find in the
| following statement, over his own sigma
| ture:
THE group upon which I worked for
several weeks before making the diseov-
| cry of the skeletons of the mound builders
| is located on the farm of Dildine Snyder,
near East Ringgold, in Pickaway county.
| The group of mounds is located on hill
over $50 feet in height. commanding a
beautiful outlook over the surrounding val
| leys, and consisting of a stone mound,
circle of half stone and half
clay and a clay mound, the cir
Gle forming the connecting link between
| the stone mound on the west and the earth
mound on the east. The stone mound is
twelve feet high and 125 feet in diameter.
The circle is 10 feet in diameter and the
clay mound 105 feet in diameter. About
twenty feet east of the group is another
circle $50 feet in diameter Within the wall
is ditch which surrounds large platform
about three feet lower than the outer bank
ard perfectly level on the surface. The hill
curves around, hiding part of the view. On
the other bank, about two hundred yards
east of the circle. is another clay mound
twelve feet high and 100 feet in diameter.
North of this mound is a third circle $50
| feet in diameter. This circle and mound are
generally considered part of the snake den
| group, though they do not really belong
| to it.
BEGINNING WORK.
1--WE commenced work first on the earth
mound, running trench from east to west,
ten feet in width. We dug in about twenty
five feet making an excavation about
twenty feet square. AT the bottom of the
mound we found eight skeletons, the skele-
tons being those of seven adults and one
| child. With the child's skeleton was found
a handsome bone awl and small piece of
graphite. A piece of pottery and some flint
knives and disks were found with the other
bones.
Leaving the earth mound, two of our
party started to work on the circle, one on
the west side and one on the south After
some digging on the south side, q layer OF
large black stone was removed, below
which the workmen found some half dozen
concretions which are various sized round
shaped, solid stone-like formations. By
placing two halves of these concretions to-
eether dish-shaped article was found, re-
semblng one inverted dish over another.
| [ believe these were intended as recepta-
ces for small articles of value or sacred
ness, which could be thus hidden and pre-
served.
The entire exploring force then went to
work on the south part of this circle. After
uncovering a large deposit of geological
| and archaeological specimens, to which L
will refer later, we uncovered a box two
feet Ions by eighteen inches wide, formed
of large fiat stones. Within this box were
the remains of a cremated skeleton, some
burnt bones and perhaps a shovelful of
ashes-all that remained of what must
have been great chief among the mound
builders. As DR.. Orion laughingly said to
me, he must have been great prehistoric
geologist.
"A remarkable fact which caught my at
| tention at once was that the earth in and
about the box showed no signs whatever of
| any action by fire, from which l am forced
| to conclude that the body was cremated
| before burial. This conclusion is well borne
| out by further exploration of what ap-
| pears to be a large stone crematory within
the circle on the west side. l found this to
| be made up of burnt stones l looked in vain
! for a wall or traces of some system regard
! ing the laying of the stone, but found none.
The crematory was twelve feet long, nine
| feet wide, nine feet deep on the east side
| and five feet deep on the west side. 1t
! looked to me if the mound builders had
! given the crematory this slope in order to
make it draw well, and undoubtedly it was
| fired from the east end, as that was near
the center of the mound, while the west end
| came up near the wall.
| THE crematory was formed of sandstone,
limestone, quartz, granite. etc. and there
were found within it many glacial bowl
ders. commonly called niger heads. All
the stones had evidently been carried to
the place, as none of them would have
proved an excessive burden for a man.
| They were burnt all conceivable coIors.
black, yellow, red and gray Some were
melted into a CLASSY lava or cinder, While
others had melted together, forming con-
| gIomerate. Still others were made friable
| by the fire and broke into little spalls,
| showing the grain of the stone when re-
| moved. But little charcoal and no bones
were found in the oven, although we dis
| covered what seemed TO be ashes. All this
| must have been due to the effects of an
intense fire, long continued.
WHAT WAS FOUND.
eve also unearthed on the south part of
| the circle ifty-fve concretions, ranging III
| size from that of a common marble to
! specimens a foot in diameter, in weight
| from half an ounce to seventy-fve pounds.
The largest connections were found toward
| the north. With them were found forty
| seven fossils of the variety commonly
known as cows horn, two septaria three
fossil plants, one piece of granite, a speci-
men of quartz crystal and fifty peculiar
| formations. Among the geological specf-
mems were twelve different varieties Of fos-
| sill coral.
With these specimens we found the fol-
| lowing relics Of the mound builders: Six
hammers five pestles, one tube pipe, one
unfinished pipe, one large stone bead one
| gulf shell bead, three paint grinders, ten
| round paint grinders or plumb hobs, one
| stone punch or awl, and one unfinished
| effigy. In the southern part OF the colec-
! ton of relics ! found the most important
| and interesting object in all this valuable
| discovery. In a peculiar mussel she'll