The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-05
RELICS OF MOUND BUILDERS.
Skeletons and Ornaments Found i'm
the Adena Mound I'm Ohio.

Chillicothe Letter in New York Tribune.
The work OF opening the great Adena
mound, just north of this city. has just
been completed by DIR. W. c. Mills, work.
ing under the auspices of the State His
torical and Archaeological Society, and it
has been lone in a manner so thorough
that not a spadeful of the original mound
remains. The magnitude Of this task, which
has occupied a force of laborers all sum-
MGR, will be understood when it is stated
that the mound was originally twenty-six
feet in height and LIS feet in diameter. But
the work was rich in results, a total OF
tw~enty-four skeletons having been eX-
humed, together with numberIess imple-
ments and ornaments of rare workman
ship.
Perhaps the most interesting find in the
entire mound was almost at the exact CEN
ter of the base. Here a carefully construct
ed mausoleum of logs was found, and in it
an adult skeleton in a fine state of preser-
walton. This was evidently the chieftain in
whose honor the mound was begun. for
with the skeleton were found a string of
avis and spearheadS of slate and horn and
a remarkable pipe, eight inches in length
and beautifully carved. Other pipes have
been found in the mound, but none so elab-
crate as this.
Two other large mausoIeums had beer
constructed on the base line a short dis
lance from the center. In one OF these was
found the body of a child. about twelve
years old. About the loins had been wrap
ped bands of cloth, much of which is still
in fine condition. and then, over all, was
wound sheet after sheet of birchbark, held
in place by splints of wood. The floor OF
this mausoleum was covered with fine
white sand, and under this was "a layer OF
black sand, which had been tamped down
hard. The dome of the mausoleum was
about five feet and a half in height. Here
tofore pieces of cloth woven by the mound
builders were rare. but from the Adens
mound DR.. Mills has secured some hun.
dreds of pieces in a fine state of preserVa-
ton. The fabric is of two textures. one oi
about the hneness of coarse cotton cloth
and the other burlap. About
this vault a barricade had been built origi
nally, and the holes made by the post:
! were still plainly visible.
The third mausoleum was V~-shaped, anC
i'm this an adult skeleton was found. i
had on its arms a number OF bracelets o
beaten copper. Lying on the arm bone!
by one of the bracelets. With il was
large quantity of pearls, many of them a!
large as peas. A fourth mausoleum wa
found. made OF logs a foot in diameter. bu
nothing was found in it except one speaI
head.
All Of the other skeletons were found
either around the edge OF the mound o
In the upper strata. Most of them haC
been protected by a covering of logs. anC
were in excellent condition. Some few ha(
been put in hurriedly. as though brough
from a distance. and crumbled az soon d.
the air struck them. With nearly all o
them were found beads. copper ornament
pearls, gorgetS, spearheadS and arrow
heads. so that the total collection Sc
cured from the mound is one of the riches
and most varied ever found i'm the State.
This is the last of the big mounds i'm thi
neighborhood that has been left undis
turbed. 1t was originally in the estat,
purchased n hundred years ago by Cover
4 NOR ThnrNac NUnrfhfpoFon al - L
nor his descendants would ever permit !
TO be disturbed. Recently, however. i
passed out of the family's hands. and il
exploration was at once arranged for b
DIR. Mills. This practically completes TN
story of the mound builders, so far as /
can be discovered in this State, and archae
~ologists will now have to turn their atten
ton to the mounds I'm Illinois and Indian.
and down the valley of the Mississippi.