By A.S. LOGAN.
Recently, a party consisting of engineers and employes of the Missouri
River Improvement Commission began an exploration of one of the
mounds, a work of a prehistoric race, situated on the bluff, which
overlooks the Missouri River from an elevation of one hundred and
fifty feet, located about six miles below Jefferson City.
This mound is one of about twenty embraced in a circle one quarter of
a mile in diameter.
The above party selected the mound in question apparently at
haphazard; all the mounds presenting nearly a uniform outline,
differing only in size and mostly circular in form, and from twenty to
twenty-four feet at the base, rising to a height of eight feet and
under. A trench was cut on a level with the natural soil, penetrating
the mound about eight feet. A stone wall was encountered which was
built very substantially, making access in that direction difficult,
in consequence of which the earth was removed from the top for the
purpose of entering from that direction. The earth was removed for a
depth of four feet, when the top of the wall was exposed. Further
excavation brought to light human bones, some of them fairly well
preserved, especially the bones of the legs. On the removal of these
and a layer of clay, another layer of bones was exposed, but
presenting a different appearance than the first, having evidently
been burned or charred, a considerable quantity of charcoal being
mixed with the bones. In this tier were found portions of several
skulls, lying close together, as if they had been interred without
regard to order. They were, in all probability, detached from the body
when buried.
The portions of the skulls found were those of the back of the head,
no frontal bones being discovered. Some jaw bones with the teeth
attached were among the remains, but only that portion of the jaw
containing the molar teeth.
A few pieces of flint weapons were found in the upper layers, and
nothing else of any significance.
At this juncture the diggers abandoned the search, and some days later
the writer, desirous of seeing all that was to be seen, resumed the
work and removed the earth and remains until the bottom of the vault
was reached; several layers being thus removed. All of these had
evidently been burned, as charcoal and ashes were mixed with the bones
of each succeeding layer. The layers were about an inch in thickness,
with from two to four inches of earth between, and small flat stones,
about the size of a man's hand, spread on each different layer, as if
to mark its division from the next above.
Between the bottom layers, mixed with charcoal, ashes and small
portions of burned bones were found what gives value to the search,
numbering about fifty tools and a smoking pipe.
The material of the tools is the same as the rock forming the vault,
locally known as "cotton rock." I would consider it a species of
sandstone.
Overlying the edge of "cotton rock" in the bluff is flint in great
quantities, and in every conceivable shape, that these people could
have resorted to had they been so disposed, and why they used the
softer material I will leave to some archæologist to determine. The
tools themselves are made after no pattern, but selected for their
cutting qualities, as they all have a more or less keen edge which
could be used for cutting purposes, and were no doubt highly prized,
as they were found all in a pile in one corner of the vault and on top
of which was found a stone pipe. The pipe is made bowl and stem
together, and it is curious that people of such crude ideas of tools
and weapons should manufacture such a perfect specimen of a pipe. It
is composed of a very heavy stone, the nature of which would be
difficult to determine, as it is considerably burned.
A description of the vault will be found interesting to many. The wall
of the vault rests upon the natural surface of the ground, about three
feet high and eight and a half feet square, the inside corners being
slightly rounded; it is built in layers about four inches in thickness
and varying in length upward to three feet, neither cement nor mortar
being used in the joints; the corners formed a sort of recess as they
were drawn inward to the top, in which many of the stones were found.
The stone for constructing the vault was brought from a distance of
about a quarter of a mile, as there is none in sight nearer.
I assume from all these circumstances that these people lived in this
neighborhood anterior to the age of flint tools, as the more recent
interments indicate that they were then entering upon the flint
industry, and it may be that the "cotton rock" had become obsolete.
These people buried their dead on the highest ground, covering and
protecting them with these great mounds, when it would seem much
easier to bury as at the present day; but instead, they, with great
labor, carried the rock from a great distance, and it is reasonable to
suppose, also, that the earth was brought from a distance with which
they are surrounded, and piled high above, as there is no trace of an
immediate or local excavation.
In my view from the mounds and their surroundings I would
unhesitatingly say the water, the foot hills of the glacier and the
swamps left in its wake were but a short distance to the north of
them, and during the summer months the melting ice would send a volume
of water down this valley that the Missouri River of to-day is but a
miniature of, and therefore the highest hills were the only land that
could be used by that ancient race.
In this connection I would make the following suggestions that may
lead to more important disclosures: My object is the hope of a more
thorough investigation at some future time. Nearer to the top of the
mound was found, certainly, the remains of a people of more recent
date than those found in the vault, as their bones were larger, which
would indicate a more stalwart tribe, and also their mode of burial
was different, as there was no indication of fire being used, as was
the case with the lower burials. I would pronounce the upper
interments those of Indians of the present day; the tools found with
these were weapons of the chase. On the other hand, those found in the
vault were of a peaceful character, and their surroundings would
readily comport, in my opinion, to the glacial period. The entire
absence of flint in the bottom of the mound would show one of two
things, either they were unacquainted with the use of flint or at that
time there was no flint to be had. It is there now in great abundance,
in such forms for cutting purposes that would render the "cotton rock"
almost useless. The flint is found in a hill close to the river bank,
about half a mile from the mound, and the upper portion of the ledge
has the appearance, to me, of glacial action and probably forms a
moraine, as it has, evidently, been pushed over the underlying ledge,
and been ground and splintered in a manner that could not have been
without great crushing force. It would be reasonable enough to suppose
that the action of the river may have uncovered this flint by washing
away the softer material since the occupation of the older race.
In relation to the Indian interment in the examined mound, I could not
say distinctly whether the Indian burials had been such as to make
them aware of former burials or not, but I think from the thickness of
the clay between the two that they were ignorant of former burials.
The mounds of the modern Indian, so far as my investigations are
concerned, would indicate a more rudely formed structure which would
appear to be an imitation of the older mounds, as they are not
finished with like care nor have they the ulterior structures.--_The
Scientist_.
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