Sunday Washington globe., 1902-06-01
OLDER THAN THE INDIANS.
Bones Of Prehistoric Men Unearthsd
by the Recent Tennessee Floodo.

Bones Of Prehistoric Men Unearthsd
by the Recent Tennessee Floodo.
After noticing the more material de.
struction wrought by the recent food
! there are interest and fascination in
studying some of its freaks which ap-
/ peal more to sentiment and the stu.
dent Ancient graves were washed
up at several places. The editor visit.
ed one of these Monday On Dave
Wade's farm. between his residence
and Richland Mills the flood washed
up what is called an "old Indian
graveyard" The burying place was
| located on a knoll rising gently from
the creek and evidently supposed to
be above high water by the prehis-
tOric people who buried their dead
there with such care. But all trace
of q graveyard had long since disap-
peared and not even a tradition re-
NAMED among the old negroes in the
neighborhood.
The field was worth SEQ an acre
before the food aud last year sixteen
acres. including the old graveyard
produced fourteen bales Of cotton.
The land had been in cultivation long
before it came into possession Of Mr..
Wade, and as stated. there was
neither trace nor tradition of a grave
yard
But when the creek spread over
the bottoms as never before, this knoll
extending down into the bend of the
creek suffered great destruction by
the swift current flowing across it.
The soil was swept away and when
the food receded the graves we're ex-
posed. We cannot tell how deep the
bodies were originally buried, nor how
many graves are yet uncovered. nor
how many were swept away, leaving
no trace. About a dozen graves were
left exposed Some of these weR evil
IDENTIFY graves of adults and some are
graves of small children.
The vaults were formed som ewhat
similar TO vaults in graves Of today
Thin slabs OF limestone. evidently
brought from some distance perhaps
across the creek. are placed edge
ways along the sides and ends. The
graves are about two feet to six feet
in length, and ten to sixteen inches
wide, indicating that the bodies were
buried on the side as they are too
narrow to permit body to lie fat on
the back as we bury; and persons
who first looked into the graves say
the skeletons were lying on the side.
The body had been placed in the
vault which was covered by other
fiat rocks, and thus it was expected
placed it there that the body would
rest undistmbel to the end Of time.
But when the flood exposed these care
fully prepared vaulty. they We're soon
opened and in the absence Of other
souvenirs. the bones Of these ancient
people were carried away. A seashell
was found in one grave, but the others
contained nothing ut decaye ed bones.
Ahe Indians who occupied this
country up to about one hundred years
ago, did not usually bury their dead
with such care. They simply opened
grave wrapped blanket about the
dead body. laid it in the shallow grave
and filed in the earth. Students OF
ethnology claim this country was in
hab-. I'd by a race OF idol-worshipping
people, commonly called tie Mound
Builders" who were driven out by the
Indians. These mound builders are
believed to have been superior to the
Indian in many respects. but they
worshipped idols while the Indian
worshlpped the "Great Spirit"
The graves recently washed up on
the Wade farm may have some con-
nection with a discovery made about
thirty years ago in the bluff on the
opposite side Of the creek. Dave In
mann, who then lived at the Mrs Hays
place. went to some dogs that had
chased a rabbit into the rocks on the
bluff. Among the rubbish he found
two small clay figures, one the form
of a man. the other a woman. They
were in sitting posture, perhaps four
or five inches high.-Pulasl.L Citizen.