About three hundred yards from the Tennessee River, at Paint Rock Ferry,
is a large mound 40 feet in height, and covering an area of about about
two acres.
Permission could not be obtained to open the mound, on account of the
crop of corn that covered it. Near its base, on opposite sides, were two
smaller mounds. One of these was 5 feet high and 10 in diameter, and
contained a stone grave. The body which it contained had been laid on
the ground and covered a foot deep with earth. A flat rock had been laid
upon this, and slabs of limestone set on edge all around. The inclosed
space was 4 feet in width by 5 in length. Earth had been used to cover
the cist and form the mound.
About this mound were scattered many slabs of stone which had been
plowed up during previous years; and it is stated that human bones and
various objects of art have, at different times, been brought to light.
A short distance from the large mound, and near the river bank, is
another mound on which a barn has been built.
Several hundred yards from the river, in a meadow, is a third mound,
less than half as large as that first mentioned. The owner would not
allow it to be disturbed. Still another mound, near by, was oval in
outline, 28 feet long, by 20 wide, and 12 high. It was composed of clay
and contained nothing but a few pieces of pottery.
62939, 62940, 62945. Fragments of pottery from the mounds at Paint Rock
Ferry.