The Irish standard., 1900-03-24
A PREHISTORIC RACE,
First Settlers of Pennsylvania Were
More Intelligent Than
the Indians.

! Conclusive evidence that western
pennsylvania was inhabited by some
prehistoric race more intelligent than
the North American Indian was discov-
cred at Logan's Ferry, Allegheny coun-
~, not long ago.
n mound long supposed to be an In
dian grave, but now believed to be the
! work of the mound builders, was opened
and in it were found the distintegrated
bones of two human beings. Many flint
Instruments and several strings of cop
per beads Of crude manufacture also
We're found, the beads still intact upon
the substance on which they originally
were strung.
The mound is on the summit of a hill
back from the Allegheny river. 1t
stands out prominently in sloping
meadow, surrounded on two sides by
forests. The form of the mound is like
the frustrum of Il cone, the diameter
at the base measuring about so feet.
The diameter Of the superior plane is
Slightly less.
The mound was about five feet in
height. It's symmetrical appearance
has been destroyed more or less by
| blowing around it and by the trampling
OF domestic animals seeking shade UNI
uer four large locust trees which adorn
its crest. There also are the stumps
of many trees, showing that the mound
probably never has been disturbed since
1T was built centuries ago.
| Among some of the residents of this
locality. there has been story handed
down from generation to generation
from the early settlers that the mound
contained buried treasure. This has
been traced back for more than a CEN
fury, but no person thought worth
while investigating. Many doubted that
the mound WIS anything more than a
mark of nature, and set down tales
about it as idle fancy. Last fall, how
ever, scientific authority vouched for
its genuinencss as a monument OF the
mound builders. Prof. Thomas Harper,
curator of the Carnegie museum in
Pittsburgh examined it and said it was
the work of the prehistoric race whose
mounds are found in several parts of
the Ohio valley.
| Plans for opening the mound were de-
veloped, and a party of eight men start
ed out to explore il, more to satisfy
curiosity than for chronological enlight-
eminent. Each man took shovel or
pick. The party was divided into two
gangs. Two trenches We're started on
the west side of the mound, at such an
angle as to meet at the center. Each
was about two feet wide and dug to
depth slightly below the level of the
ground surrounding. From the start
every shovelful OF dirt was examined
carefully and anything of interest was
laid aside.
Pieces of flint were found in album
dance, the most Of them having the APP
pcarance of having been burned. After
digging in to the mound for about three
feet the earth was taken from the top
in strata. Large fiat stones and bowl
dcrs seemed to have been used as floor
ing.
When the mound had been penetrated
for about five feet and is inches below
the surface Il bright green shade was
noticed on the soil. BY taking the earth
away carefully several copper beads
We're exposed verdigris from them
causing the green tinge on the earth.
Soon after the beads were unearthed
the outline of a skeleton was made out.
The beads were around the neck of it.
Great precautions were used in uncov-
ering the skeleton. 1t was in a sitting
posture, as could be seen by the dark,
carbonaceous earth. Surrounding it
were large stones, making a cist, and
on the bottom was what appeared to be
layer of ashes and burnt stone.
Efforts were made to remove the
skeleton intact, but the bones broke
they were exposed to air. Roots of in
Vulnerable trees were also interviewer
with the rocks, which greatly retarded
the progress Of the explorers.
More than 40 beads were found, and
more than half of them remained intact
on the material on which they had been
strung originally. They are Of ham
mered copper, about one-siNteenth of
an inch in thickness, and are simply
coilcd over, having no trace of welding
or fastening Of any KIND. They vary
from one-eighth to more than an inch
in length. The material on which they
are threaded has the appearance CT
some peculiar fiber.
In the second trench a skull almost
complete and the ribs and bones of the
trunk Of Il second human body were
found. They were perfect when first
removed. but, like the others, soon
crumhlcd to dust. No beads or orna-
ments were found in this trench, nor
were the stones as large as those found
in the other excavations.
How old the bones or the copper
beads found may be cannot be deter
mined by men versed in ethnology who
have examined them. The mound
builders existed long before the Indi-
ans and some scientists have estimated
that they inhabited this section more
than 20 centuries ago. The copper used
in the beads is supposed to have come
from the shores of Lake SUPERIOR
Philadelphia Press.
hits of Fcmininity.
The heads of small fur animals,
n,olrtcl far hat ninS arc cb,r1nin ~