base. At the depth of 4 feet, in a very hard bed of earth and ashes
mixed, were found two much decayed human skeletons, both stretched
horizontally on their backs, heads south, and near their heads several
stone implements. From this point until a depth of 24 feet was reached
the shaft passed through very hard earth of a light-gray color,
apparently clay and ashes mixed, in which nothing of consequence was
found. When a depth of 24 feet was reached the material suddenly changed
to a much softer and darker earth, disclosing the casts and some decayed
fragments of timbers from 6 to 12 inches in diameter. Here were found
fragments of bark, ashes, and also numerous fragments of animal bones,
some of which had been split lengthwise. At the depth of 31 feet was a
human skeleton, lying prostrate, head north, which had evidently been
enclosed in a coffin or wrapping of elm bark. In contact with the head
was a thin sheet of hammered native copper. By enlarging the base of the
shaft until a space some 16 feet in diameter was opened, the character
and the contents of the base of the mound were more fully ascertained.
This brought to light the fact that the builders, after having first
smoothed, leveled, and packed the natural surface, carefully spread upon
the floor a layer of bark (chiefly elm), the inner side up, and upon
this a layer of fine white ashes, clear of charcoal, to the depth,
probably, of 5 or 6 inches, though pressed now to little more than 1
inch. On this the bodies were laid and presumably covered with bark.
The enlargement of the shaft also brought to view ten other skeletons,
all apparently adults, five on one side and five on the other side of
the central skeleton, and, like it, extended horizontally, with their
feet pointing toward the central one but not quite touching it. Like the
first, they had all been buried in bark coffins or wrappings. With each
skeleton on the east side was a fine, apparently unused lance-head about
3 inches long, and by the right side of the northern one a fish-dart,
three arrow-heads, and some fragments of _Unio_ shells and pottery. No
implements or ornaments were found with either of the five skeletons on
the west side, although careful search was made therefor. In addition to
the copper plate, a few shell beads and a large lance-head were found
with the central skeleton. As there were a number of holes resembling
post-holes, about the base, which were filled with rotten bark and
decayed vegetable matter, I am inclined to believe there was a vault
here similar to the lower vault in the Grave Creek mound, in which the
walls were of timbers set up endwise in the ground. But it is proper to
state that the assistant who opened the mound is rather disposed to
doubt the correctness of this explanation.
In order to show the character of the smaller burial mounds of this
region, I give descriptions of a few opened by Colonel Norris.
[Illustration: PL. V. PLAT OF ANCIENT WORKS, KANAWHA COUNTY, W. VA.]
One 20 feet in diameter and 7 feet high, with a beech tree 30 inches in
diameter growing on it, was opened by running a broad trench through it.
The material of which it was composed was yellow clay, evidently from an
excavation in the hillside near it. Stretched horizontally on the
natural surface of the ground, faces up and heads south, were seven
skeletons, six adults and one child, all charred. They were covered
several inches thick with ashes, charcoal, and fire-brands, evidently
the remains of a very heavy fire which must have been smothered before
it was fully burned out. Three coarse lance-heads were found among the
bones of the adults, and around the neck of the child three copper
beads, apparently of hammered native copper.
Another mound, 50 feet in diameter and 5 feet high, standing guard, as
it were, at the entrance of an inclosure, was opened, revealing the
following particulars: The top was strewn with fragments of flat rocks,
most of which were marked with one or more small, artificial, cup-shaped
depressions. Below these, to the depth, of 2 or 3 feet, the hard yellow
clay was mixed throughout with similar stones, charcoal, ashes, stone
chips, and fragments of rude pottery. Near the center and 3 feet from
the top of the mound were the much decayed remains of a human skeleton,
lying on its back, in a very rude stone-slab coffin. Beneath this were
other flat stones, and under them charcoal, ashes, and baked earth,
covering the decayed bones of some three or four skeletons which lay
upon the original surface of the ground. So far as could be ascertained,
the skeletons in this mound lay with their heads toward the east. No
relics of any kind worthy of notice were found with them.
Another mound of similar size, upon a dry terrace, was found to consist
chiefly of very hard clay, scattered through which were stone chips and
fragments of rude pottery. Near the natural surface of the ground a
layer of ashes and charcoal was encountered, in which were found the
remains of at least two skeletons.
A mound some 200 yards south of the inclosure, situated on a slope and
measuring 50 feet in diameter and 6 feet in height, gave a somewhat
different result. It consisted wholly of very hard clay down to the
natural surface of the hill-slope. But further excavation revealed a
vault or pit in the original earth 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet
deep at the upper end. In this was found a decayed skeleton, with the
head up hill or toward the north. Upon the breast was a sandstone
gorget, and upon it a leaf-shaped knife of black flint and a neatly
polished hematite celt. The bones of the right arm were found stretched
out at right angles to the body, along a line of ashes. Upon the bones
of the open hand were three piles (five in each) of small leaf-shaped
flint knives.
As the four small mounds just mentioned pertain to the Clifton groups,
in the Elk River Valley, we will call attention to one or two of the
Charleston group, for the purpose of affording the reader the means of
comparison.
Below the center of No. 7 (see Plate), sunk into the original earth, was
a vault about 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet deep. Lying extended
on the back in the bottom of this, amid the rotten fragments of a bark
coffin, was a decayed human skeleton, fully 7 feet long, with head west.
No evidence of fire was to be seen, nor were any stone implements
discovered, but lying in a circle just above the hips were fifty
circular pieces of white perforated shell, each about 1 inch in diameter
and an eighth of an inch thick. The bones of the left arm lay by the
side of the body, but those of the right arm, as in one of the mounds
heretofore mentioned, were stretched at right angles to the body,
reaching out to a small oven-shaped vault, the mortar or cement roof of
which was still unbroken. The capacity of this small circular vault was
probably two bushels, and the peculiar appearance of the dark-colored
deposit therein, and other indications, led to the belief that it had
been filled with corn (maize) in the ear. The absence of weapons would
indicate that the individual buried here was not a warrior, though a
person of some importance.
Mound No. 23 of this group presents some peculiarities worthy of notice.
It is 312 feet in circumference at the base and 25 feet high, covered
with a second growth of timber, some of the stumps of the former growth
yet remaining. It is unusually sharp and symmetrical. From the top down
the material was found to be a light-gray and apparently mixed earth, so
hard as to require the vigorous use of the pick to penetrate it. At the
depth of 15 feet the explorers began to find the casts and fragments of
poles or round timbers less than a foot in diameter. These casts and
rotten remains of wood and bark increased in abundance from this point
until the original surface of the ground was reached. By enlarging the
lower end of the shaft to 14 feet in diameter it was ascertained that
this rotten wood and bark were the remains of what had once been a
circular or polygonal, timber-sided, and conical-roofed vault. Many of
the timbers of the sides and roof, being considerably longer than
necessary, had been allowed to extend beyond the points of support often
8 or 10 feet, those on the sides beyond the crossing and those of the
roof downward beyond the wall. Upon the floor and amid the remains of
the timber were numerous human bones and also two whole skeletons, the
latter but slightly decayed, though badly crushed by the weight pressing
on them, but unaccompanied by an ornament or an implement of any kind. A
further excavation of about 4 feet below the floor, or what was supposed
to be the floor, of this vault, and below the original surface of the
ground, brought to light six circular, oven-shaped vaults, each about 3
feet in diameter and the same in depth. As these six were so placed as
to form a semicircle, it is presumed there are others under that portion
of the mound not reached by the excavation. All were filled with dry,
dark dust or decayed substances, supposed to be the remains of Indian
corn in the ear, as it was similar to that heretofore mentioned. In the
center of the circle indicated by the positions of these minor vaults,
and the supposed center of the base of the mound (the shaft not being
exactly central), and but 2 feet below the floor of the main vault, and
in a fine mortar or cement, were found two cavities resembling in form
the bottle or gourd shaped vessel so frequently met with in the mounds
of southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas. Unfortunately the
further investigation of this work was stopped at this stage of progress
by cold weather.
In another mound of this group the burial was in a box-shaped stone
vault, not of slabs in the usual method, but built up of rough, angular
stones.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.--Mound with so-called "altar," Kanawha County,
West Virginia.]
Mound 31 of this group seems to furnish a connecting link between the
West Virginia and the Ohio mounds. It is sharp in outline, has a steep
slope, and is flattened on the top; is 318 feet in circumference at the
base and about 25 feet high. It was opened by digging a shaft 10 feet in
diameter from the center of the top to the base. After passing through
the top layer of surface soil, some 2 feet thick, a layer of clay and
ashes 1 foot thick was encountered. Here, near the center of the shaft,
were two skeletons, lying horizontally, one immediately over the other,
the upper and larger one with the face down and the lower with the face
up. There were no indications of fire about them. Immediately over the
heads were one celt and three lance-heads. At the depth of 13 feet and a
little north of the center of the mound were two very large skeletons,
in a sitting posture, with their extended legs interlocked to the knees.
Their arms were extended and their hands slightly elevated, as if
together holding up a sandstone mortar which was between their faces.
This stone is somewhat hemispherical, about 2 feet in diameter across
the top, which is hollowed in the shape of a shallow basin or mortar. It
had been subjected to the action of fire until burned to a bright red.
The cavity was filled with white ashes, containing small fragments of
bones burned to cinders. Immediately over this, and of sufficient size
to cover it, was a slab of bluish-gray limestone about 3 inches thick,
which had small cup-shaped excavations on the under side. This bore no
marks of fire. Near the hands of the eastern skeleton were a small
hematite celt and a lance-head, and upon the left wrist of the other two
copper bracelets. At the depth of 25 feet, and on the natural surface,
was found what in an Ohio mound would have been designated an "altar."
This was not thoroughly traced throughout, but was about 12 feet long
and over 8 feet wide, of the form shown in Fig. 24.
It consisted of a layer of well-prepared mortar, apparently clay,
slightly mixed with ashes. This was not more than 6 or 8 inches thick in
the center of the basin-shaped depression, where it was about 1 foot
lower than at the other margin. It was burned to a brick-red and covered
with a compact layer of very fine white ashes, scattered thickly,
through which were small water-worn bowlders, bearing evidences of
having undergone an intense heat. Mingled with this mass were a few
thoroughly charred human bones. The material of the shaft, after the
first 3 feet at the top, consisted almost wholly of finely packed ashes,
which appeared to have been deposited at intervals of considerable
length and not at one time.
It is evident from this description, which is abridged from the report
of the assistant, that we have here a true representation of the
so-called "altars" of the Ohio mounds. But, contrary to the usual
custom, as shown by an examination of the Ohio works, this mound appears
to have been used by the people who erected it as a burial place, for
the mode of construction and the material used for the body of it forbid
the supposition that the lower burial was by a different people from
those who formed the clay structure at the base.
It is proper to state that around and near the inclosure (No. 7 of Plate
V) were a number of stone graves of the ordinary box shape, constructed
in the usual way, of stone slabs.
At this place was also discovered a pit or cache resembling those found
at Madisonville, Ohio. A more thorough examination will probably bring
to light others.
The descriptions of other burial mounds of this region, differing
slightly in minor details from those mentioned, might be presented, but
the foregoing will suffice to give the types and show the character of
the structures of this kind in this section. The details given will, I
think, satisfy any one that the authors of these structures were also
the authors of the Ohio works, or that they belonged to tribes so
closely related that we may justly consider them as one people.
I have been and am still disposed to connect the mound-builders of the
Kanawha valley with those of western North Carolina, but our
explorations in the two sections have convinced me of their close
relation to the people whose mysterious monuments dot the hills and
valleys of Ohio. That they were related in some way to the
mound-builders of North Carolina and East Tennessee is more than
probable, but the key to unlock this mystery, if it exists anywhere, is
most likely to be found in the history, traditions, and works of the
Cherokees, and the traditions relating to the Tallegwi.
As a result of my examination and discussion of the burial mounds of
Wisconsin, I reached the conclusion that they were built by the Indian
tribes found inhabiting that section at the advent of the whites, or by
their ancestors. The data, of which but a comparatively small portion
is given, seem to justify this conclusion. But the case is somewhat
different in reference to the works of the Ohio district. Although the
data obtained here point with satisfactory certainty to the conclusion
that Indians were the authors of these works, it cannot be claimed that
all or even the larger portion of them were built by Indians inhabiting
the district when first visited by the whites, or by their ancestors.
[Illustration: PL. VI. ENLARGED PLAN OF PART OF THE WORKS SHOWN IN PL.
V.]
Hence the mystery which enshrouds them is deeper and much more difficult
to penetrate than that which hangs about the antiquities of some of the
other districts; in fact, they present probably the most difficult
problem for solution in this respect of any ancient works of our
country. That some of the burial mounds, graves, and other works are to
be attributed to Indians who entered this district after the Europeans
had planted colonies in Canada and along the Atlantic coast is probably
true, but that much the greater portion of the typical works belong to a
more distant period must be conceded. It is a singular fact that in the
latter half of the seventeenth century, when European explorers began to
penetrate into this region, what is now the State of Ohio was
uninhabited.
The Miami confederacy, inhabiting the southern shore of Lake
Michigan, extended southeasterly to the Wabash. The Illinois
confederacy extended down the eastern shore of the Mississippi
to about where Memphis now stands. The Cherokees occupied the
slopes and valleys of the mountains about the borders of what
is now East Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. The great
basin bounded north by Lake Erie, the Miamis, and the Illinois,
west by the Mississippi, east by the Alleghanies, and south by
the headwaters of the streams that flow into the Gulf of
Mexico, seems to have been uninhabited except by bands of
Shawnees, and scarcely visited except by war parties of the
Five Nations.[35]
With the exception of some slight notices of the Erie or Cat Nation
dwelling south of Lake Erie, the mere mention of the Tongarias (possibly
but another name for the Eries, with whom Colden identifies them),
located somewhere on the Ohio, and the tradition regarding the Tallegwi,
the only history which remains to us regarding this region previous to
the close of the seventeenth century, is to be gathered from the ancient
monuments which dot its surface. Even conjecture can find but few
pointers on this desert field to give direction to its flight. But it
does not necessarily follow, because we are unable to determine the
direction in which the goal we are seeking lies, that we cannot tell
some of the directions in which it does not lie, and thus narrow the
field of our investigation. I will therefore venture to offer the
following suggestions:
As the evidence in regard to the antiquities of the northwestern, the
southern, and the Appalachian districts points so decidedly to the
Indians as the authors, I think we may assume that the works of Ohio are
attributable to the same race. As they bear a strong resemblance in
several respects to the West Virginia and North Carolina works, and as
the geographical positions of the defensive works indicate pressure
from the north and north-west, we are perhaps justified in excluding
from consideration all tribes known to have had their principal seats
north of the Ohio in historic times, except the Eries, which form an
uncertain and so far indeterminable factor in the problem.
The data so far obtained seem to me to indicate the following as the
most promising lines of research: The possible identity or relation of
the Tallegwi and the Cherokees; the possibility of this region having
been the ancient home of the Shawnees or their ancestors (though I
believe the testimony of the mounds is most decidedly against this and
the following supposition); and the theory that the builders of these
works were driven southward and were merged into the Chahta-Muscogee
family.
Be our conclusion on this question what it may, one important result of
the explorations in this northern section of the United States is the
conviction that there was during the mound-building age a powerful tribe
or association of closely allied tribes occupying the valley of the
Ohio, whose chief seats were in the Kanawha, Scioto, and Little Miami
Valleys. We might suppose that one strong tribe had occupied
successively these various points, yet the slight though persistent
differences in methods and customs indicated by the works seem to favor
the other view. Moreover, the data furnished by the burial mounds lead
to the conclusion that all the works of these localities are relatively
contemporaneous. Not that those of either section are all of the same
age, perhaps by some two or three or possibly more centuries, but that
those of one section, as a whole, are relatively of the same age as
those of the other sections. Nevertheless a somewhat careful study of
all the data bearing on this subject leads me to the conclusion that the
Cherokees are the modern representatives of the Tallegwi, and that most
of the typical works of Ohio and West Virginia owe their origin to this
people.
In each section there are some indications that the authors of these
works followed the custom of erecting burial mounds down to the time the
Europeans appeared on the continent. These evidences have not been given
here, as it is not my intention to discuss them in this paper.
In Ohio there are undoubted evidences of one, if not two, waves of
population subsequent to the occupancy of that region by the builders of
the chief works. But these were of comparatively short duration, and
were evidently Indian hordes pressed westward and southward by the
Iroquois tribes and the advance of the whites.
THE APPALACHIAN DISTRICT.
This district, as already defined, includes East Tennessee, western
North Carolina, southwestern Virginia, and the southeastern part of
Kentucky. It is probable that northeastern Georgia and the northwestern
part of South Carolina should be included, but the investigations in
most of the sections named have not been sufficiently thorough to
enable us to fix with any degree of certainty the boundaries of the
district.
Although there is uncertainty in reference to the area occupied by the
people who left behind them the antiquities found in this region, there
can be no doubt that here we find a class of burial mounds differing in
several important respects from any we have so far noticed.
Some of the most important mounds of this class found in this district
were discovered in Caldwell County, North Carolina, and opened in 1882
by Mr. J. P. Rogan, one of the Bureau assistants, aided by Dr. J. M.
Spainhour, a resident of the county.
As Mr. Rogan's descriptions are somewhat full, I give them substantially
as found in his report:
_The T. F. Nelson mound._--This mound, so insignificant in appearance as
scarcely to attract any notice, was located on the farm of Rev. T. F.
Nelson, in Caldwell County, North Carolina, on the bottom land of the
Yadkin, about 100 yards from the river-bank. It was almost a true circle
in outline, 38 feet in diameter, but not exceeding at any point 18
inches in height. The thorough excavation made revealed the fact that
the builders of the mound had first dug a circular pit, with
perpendicular margin, to the depth of 3 feet, and 38 feet in diameter,
then deposited their dead in the manner hereafter shown, and afterwards
covered them over, raising a slight mound above the pit.
A plan of the pit, drawn at the time (after the removal of the dirt),
showing the stone graves and skeletons, is given in Fig. 25.
The walled graves or vaults and altar-shaped mass were built of water
worn bowlders and clay or earth merely sufficient to hold them in place.
No. 1, a stone grave or vault standing exactly in the center of the pit.
In this case a small circular hole, a little over 3 feet in diameter and
extending down 3 feet below the bottom of the large pit, had been dug,
the body or skeleton placed perpendicularly upon its feet, and the wall
built up around it from the bottom of the hole, converging, after a
height of 4 feet was reached, so as to be covered at the top by a single
soapstone rock of moderate size. On the top of the head of the skeleton
and immediately under the capstone of the vault were found several
plates of silver mica, which had evidently been cut with some rude
implement. Although the bones were much decayed, yet they were retained
in position by the dirt which filled the vault, an indication that the
flesh had been removed before burial and the vault filled with dirt as
it was built up.
[Illustration: FIG. 25.--Appearance of T. F. Nelson mound after
excavation.]
Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, although walled around in a similar
manner, were in a sitting posture on the bottom of the pit. In the grave
of No. 2 was found a polished celt, in that of No. 3 a single discoidal
stone, in that of No. 6 two polished celts, and immediately over No. 9 a
pitted stone.
Nos. 11, 12, and 13 are three skeletons in a squatting posture, with no
wall around them and unaccompanied by relics of any kind.
Nos. 14 and 15 are two uninclosed skeletons, lying horizontally at full
length. With the former some pieces of broken soapstone pipes were
found, and with the latter one polished celt.
No. 16, an uninclosed "squatter," of unusually large size, not less than
7 feet high when living. Near the mouth was an uninjured soapstone pipe.
The legs were extended in a southwest direction, upon a bed of burnt
earth.
The faces of all the squatting skeletons were turned away from the
standing central one.
At A was found a considerable quantity of black paint in little lumps,
which appear to have been molded in the hull of some nut. At B was a
cubical mass of water-worn bowlders, built up solidly and symmetrically,
24 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 18 inches high, but with no bones,
specimens of art, coal, ashes, or indications of fire on or around it.
Many of the stones of the vaults and the earth immediately around them,
on the contrary, bore unmistakable evidences of fire; in fact, the heat
in some cases left its mark on the bones of the inclosed skeletons,
another indication that the flesh had been removed before burial here,
either by previous burial or otherwise.
Scattered through the dirt which filled the pit were small pieces of
pottery and charcoal. The bottom, and sides of the pit were so
distinctly marked that they could be traced without difficulty.
This mound stood about 75 yards south of the triangular burial pit
described below.
[Illustration: FIG. 26.--Burials in the T. F. Nelson triangle, Caldwell
County, North Carolina.]
_The T. F. Nelson triangle._--This is the name applied by Mr. Rogan to
an ancient triangular burying ground found on the same farm as the mound
just described and about 75 yards north of it.