The Afro-American advance., 1900-03-17
A PREHISTORIC RACE.
First settlers of rennssIvania Were
More inteiIIRent Than
the IntlIRmA.

Conclusive evidence that western
Pennsy lNauia was inhabited by some
prehistoric raee more intelligent.than
the North American Indian was diseoy-
cred a Lugau's Ferry, Allegheny eoun-
y, not long ago.
\ mound long supposed TO be an In
dian grave, but now httteVed TO be the
work of the mound builders, was opened
aud Ia IL 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
We're strung,
The mound is on the summit OF a hill
back from the Allegheny river II
stands out prominently in sloping
mraduw, surrounded on two sides by
forests. The form of the mound Is like
the frustrum of u cone, the diameter
ntZ the hase measuring about 50 feet.
The diameter of the superior plane il
slightly less.
The mound was about five feet I'm
height. It's Smmrtrieal. appearance
| haA been destroyed more or less by
| plowiug around II and 10y the trampling
| of domestic animals seeking shade un~
uer four large locust trees which udorn
| its crest. There also are the stumps
OF many trees, showing that the mound
probably never has been disturbed since
II 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 mouna
contained buried treasure. This has
been traced back for more than cen-
turN, but uo person thought worth
while leinVestgntiug, Many doubted that
the mound waS AnNthing more than n
mark of nature. aud sci down tales
about II IA idle fancy. Last fall, hove
ever, scientific authority Nouchcd for
its Ernuiueuess as "A monument Of the
mound builders. Prot. Thomas Harper,
curator If the Carnegie museum in
! Pittsburgh, examined ii aud said II 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. aud party of eight men start
ed out to explore IL, more TO satisfy
curiosity than for chronological enliRht-
eumcnt Each man took n shovel or
pick. The party was divided into two
gangs, Two trenches were sturted on
the west side of the mound, at such an
angle MS To meet at the center, Each
was about two feet wide and dug Ia Il
depth slightly below the level of the
ground surrounding. From the start
every shoeelful OF dirt was examined
carefully and anything Of interest was
laid aside,
Pieces Ut nnt were found In ahun-
dance. the most Of them having the ap-
pcnranee Of having been burned, After
digging into the mound for about three
feet the earth was taken from the TOP
in strata. Large Hat stones and bowl
dcrs seemed to have been used ns n floor.
ing
When the mound had been penetrated
for about five feet aud - Inches below
the surface bright green shade was
noticed ON the soil by taking the earth
away carefully several copper behdi
were exposed. serdipris from then
causing the green tinEc on the earth,
Soon after the beads were uncnrthet
thc outline Of a skeleton was made out
The beads were around the neck ~ II
| Great precautions we're used In uncuv
erinr the skeleton. II was IN n sitting
posture, as could he seen by the dark
carbonncenus earth. Surrounding II
were large stones. making cist, and
on the bottom was what appeared 10 hs
layer of ashes and burnt stone.
Efforts were made 20 remove the
skeleton intact, but the bones broke
and crumbled to dust almost ns soon hs
they were exposed to air. Roots of In
| Vulnerable trees were also iutrtwovFu
with the rocks, which greatly retarded
the progress ~ 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-sixieenth ot
an inch IN thickness. and are simply
colled over. having no trnce 81 welding
| or fastening of any Kind. They vary
from onc-eiRbth tn more than an inch
| IN length. The material ON which they
are threaded has the appearance Of
Eome peculiar fiber.
H. the sccond trench n skull almost
complete and thc ribs and bones Of the
trunk ~ second human body we're
found. They wrre perfect when hrst
removed. bot, Hike the Others, soon
crumhled 30 dust No beads or prhh-
meuts we're found 10 this trench, nos
were the stones ~ large az those found
/ IN The other excavations.
How old the bones or the copper
beads found may be- cnuunt be- deter
mined by men ,erstd IN ethnoi0Ry who
| have examined them. Tho mound
builders existed long before the Indi-
ana and some scicbiisis have estimated
| that thcy Inhabited this section more
! thar 2n centuries ago. The copper used
IN the beads IL suppased "a hhso come
| from the shores ~ Lake Superior s-.
/ Philadelphia Press.
]