"While exploring mounds in Ohio this season, under the direction of
the National Bureau of Ethnology," says Mr. Gerard Fowke, in a paper
prepared for _Science_, "I used great care in the examination of one
mound in Pike County, in order to ascertain, if possible, the exact
method of its construction.
"The mound was built upon the site of a house, which had probably been
occupied by those whose skeletons were found. The roof had been
supported by side posts, and at intervals by additional inner posts.
The outer posts were arranged in pairs a few inches apart, then an
interval of about three feet, then two more, and so on. They were all
about eight inches in diameter, and extended from two and a half to
three feet into the ground, except one a few feet from the center,
which went down fully five feet. All the holes were filled with the
loose dark dirt which results from decay of wood; a few contained
fragments of charcoal, burned bones or stone, but no ashes; nor was
the surrounding earth at all burned.
"Around the outside a trench from three to four feet wide, and from
eighteen to twenty inches deep, had been dug, to carry away the water
which fell from the roof. Near the middle of this house, which
measured about forty feet from side to side, a large fire had been
kept burning for several hours, the ashes being removed from time to
time. The ash bed was elliptical in form, measuring about thirteen
feet from east to west, and five from north to south. Under the center
of it was a hole, ten inches across and a foot deep, filled with clean
white ashes in which was a little charcoal, packed very hard. At the
western end, on the south side (or farthest from the center of the
house), was a mass of burned animal bones, ashes, and charcoal. This
was continuous with the ash bed, though apparently not a part of it.
The bones were in small pieces, and were, no doubt, the remains of a
funeral feast or offering.
"After the fire died down, rude tools were used to dig a grave at the
middle of the house. It measured ten feet in length, from east to
west, by a little more than six in breadth. The sides were straight,
slanting inward, with rounded corners. The bottom was nearly level,
fourteen inches deep, but slightly lower at the center. Over the
bottom, ashes had been thinly sprinkled, and on these a single
thickness of bark had been laid. The sides had been lined with wood or
bark from two to four inches thick. When this was done, two bodies
were placed side by side in the grave, both extended at full length on
the back, with heads directly west. One, judging from the bones and
condition of the teeth, was a woman of considerable age. She was
placed in the middle of the grave. Her right arm lay along the side,
the left hand being under the pelvic bones of the other skeleton. This
was apparently of a man not much, if any, past maturity. The right arm
lay across the stomach, the left across the hips. This skeleton was
five feet ten inches in length; the other, five feet four inches.
"The space between the first skeleton and the south side of the grave
was covered with the ashes that had been removed from the fire.
Beginning at the feet in a thin layer--a mere streak--they gradually
increased in thickness toward the head, where they were fully six
inches thick. The head was embedded in them. They extended to the end
of the grave, reaching across its entire width and coming almost, but
not quite, in contact with the other head. A considerable amount of
the burned bones lay in the southwestern corner of the grave, and the
ashes along this part curved up over the side until they merged into
what remained of the ash bed. This had extended to the west slightly
beyond the end of the grave.
"As the earth removed from the grave had been thrown out on every
side, the bodies were in a hole that was nearly two feet deep. The
next step was to cover them. There was no sign of bark, cloth, or any
other protecting material above them. They were covered with a black
sandy earth, which must have been brought from the creek not far
distant. This was piled over them while wet, or at least damp enough
to pack firmly, as it required the pick to loosen it, and, besides,
was steeper on the sides than dry dirt would have been. It reached
just beyond the grave on every side, and was about five and a half
feet high, or as high as it could be conveniently piled.
"So far, all was plain enough; but now another question presented
itself that puzzled me not a little; and that was, What became of the
house? That there had been one, the arrangement of the numerous post
holes plainly showed; but the large earth mound above the tumulus or
grave was perfectly solid above the original surface, giving not the
slightest evidence that the posts or any part of the house had ever
reached up into it. I incline to the opinion that the great fire near
the middle of the house had been made from the timbers composing it;
that the upper timbers had been torn down, and the posts cut off at
the surface, the whole being a kind of votive offering to the dead. At
any rate, it is plain that a house stood there until the time the
mound was built; and it was not there afterward.
"For the purpose of covering the grave, sand was brought from a ridge
a short distance away. There was no stratification, either horizontal
or curving. Earth had been piled up first around the black mass
forming the grave mound, and then different parties had deposited
their loads at convenient places, until the mound assumed its final
conical arrangement. The lenticular masses through almost the whole
mound showed that the earth had been carried in skins or small
baskets. The completed mound was thirteen feet high, and about one
hundred feet in diameter.
"Two and a half feet above the original surface was an extended
skeleton, head west. It lay just east of the black earth over the
grave. Sixteen feet south of the grave, on the original surface, and
within the outer row of post holes, were two skeletons extended, heads
nearly west. It would seem that the flesh was removed before burial,
as the bones were covered with a dull red substance, which showed a
waxy texture when worked with a knife blade.
"No relics of any description were found with any of the skeletons;
but a fine copper bracelet was picked up in a position that showed it
was dropped accidentally."
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