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��and for some lime previous thereto was occu- pied by a bitnd of Seneca Indians.
Tbe cbief features of this mound, as shown in fig. 1, which represents a vertical section of it, are the pit and large central atone vault (No. 1). The former was found to be two and a half feel deep below the natural surface- line, ab, and about forty feet in diameter, the diameter probably indicating the original ex- tent of the mound.
The upper portion of the vault had fallen in, ' ■ ' the stones bo tiglitlr together that it
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��was somewhat difficult to remove them ; bnt the original form and mode of construction could easily be made out without the aid of imagination, as the lower portion was undis- turbed. The builders had evidently miscalcu- lated the proportions necessary for stability ; as the diameter, from outside to outside, was fifteen feet, though the walls were very thick near the base, while the height coutd not have exceeded seven feet : hence it is probable that it had fallen in soon after the dirt was thrown over it. The stones of which it mas built were obtained in part fVom the bed of the neigh- boring stream, and partly fVom a bluff about half a mile distant, and were of rather large size ; many of them being, singly, a good load for two men.
The bottom was formed of two layers of flat stones, separated by an intermediate lavcr ol sand, charcoal, and remains, five inches thick (at the lime it was excavated). It was ap- parent that these layers had not been disturbed save by the pressure of the superincumbent mass, since they were placed there. The m tennediate layer was composed in great part of decomposed or finely pulverized charcoal. In this were found the teeth, decaying jaws, a single femur, and a few minute, badly decayed fragments of the bones of an adult individual, and with these the joint of a large reed or cane, wrapped in thin, evenly-hammered sUver- foU. The latter had been wrapped in soft, spongy bark of some kind, and this coated over tbickl}' with mud or soft clay. The weight of the stones was so great that the femur was found pressed into a flat strip, and the reed split. I was unable to determine certainly whether the burning had taken place
��in the mound or not. Tbe few bones foui did not appear to be charred, and the sami was true of the cane-joint : on the other band, tbe bark, although wrapped in clay, distinctly charred.
A careful analysis of the metal-foit baa bei made by Professor Clark, the chemist of thi geological bureau, who pronounces it ooi ' paratively pure natjve silver, containing alloy. Although wrapped around the cane, portion of it appears to have been cut small pieces of various shapes, two of whU
are represented ^ 2, a and ft. Where the
remain unin- jured, they are smoothly and evenly cut. The joint of cane which hasi Ptmi. been taken between th*i
nodes is nine inchoa; long, and must have been .-ibout au inch ini diameter. A small stone gorget was obtaiDedl from the eame layer.
At No. -J, on the north-cast side of the pitfj were a few large stones which may have formeclj a rude vault, but were in such a confused con< dition, this being the point disturbed by the first slight excavation, that it was impossible to ascertain their original arrangement. Among them were found parts of an adult skeleton. The person who dug into the pit at this point, finding human remains, stopped work, and^re- filled the opening he had made.
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���Ihe Senecas as I am informed b\ 'Dr. Inine who has resided here since 1S22 pro- tested that they did not know who built these mounds ; which statement seems to be boma out by the fact that intrusive burials, probably of their dead, were discovered in the othat. tumulus. CvRua TnoMiS.
��A FOSSIL ELK OR MOOSE FROM TBB QUATERNARY OF NEW JERSEY.
Last summer Rev. A. A. Haines presented^ to the museum of Princeton college a remaHE' ably perfect skeleton of a large elk or moose,
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