Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Anthropology/Mounds in Boyle and Mercer Counties, Kentucky
MOUNDS IN BOYLE AND MERCER COUNTIES, KENTUCKY.
By W. M. Linney, of Harrodsburg, Ky.
In the counties of Boyle and Mercer, State of Kentucky, there are a number of mounds, graves, &c., which were constructed by former inhabitants of the country, and many aboriginal implements have been found. On the map of Boyle and Mercer Counties I have located all points of interest that I have been able to learn. They will be alluded to more particularly in the following notes by the letters that are connected with them. The point of greatest interest (A on the map) is situated on the west bank of Salt River, in Mercer County, a little north of its union with Boyle County, on a farm owned by Dr. Thomas Hyle. The first notice given of this point is found in "Collins' History of Kentucky," under the head of Mercer County. Speaking of ancient towns and fortifications, it says: "There are two of these, both on Salt River, about 4 miles above Harrodsburg, containing ditches and a mound 10 or 12 feet high, filled with human bones and broken pieces of crockeryware. On one side of the mound a hickory tree, about 2 feet in diameter, grew and was blown up by the roots, making a hole 3 or 4 feet deep. Its lower root drew up a large piece of crockery- ware which had been on some fire coals. The handle was attached to it, and human hair lay on the coals. This was probably a place of human sacrifice. The other ruins were about a mile and a half above this, both being on the west bank of Salt River. There is no mound near this, but only the remains dug out of ditches."
The ground has been cleared, and the continual cultivation of the land has filled up the ditches and removed all traces of any lines that once existed. The mound has also been removed by the plow. From it have been taken, as cultivation yearly went on, the bones of a number of human skeletons, none of which were retained, few of them being in a good state of preservation; the skulls crushed to fragments and the soft ends of the bones, with few exceptions, gone entirely, I do not know that any relics have been taken from the mound proper, except some shell beads. The river bank here is only about 15 feet high, and the slope back from the river is not more than 2°. The mound stood 200 yards from the stream. Between those points there must have been a village of huts or some form of habitation; for even now, when the ground is freshly plowed, there is a regular parallelogram, where the uniform lines of black earth, charcoal, and burnt bones show the former presence of fires long continued at that point. Within this area have
been found a great number of specimens of broken crockery, plain and ornamented in crossed lines; grooved axes of greenstone; celts in greenstone, jasper, agate, hornstone, and limestone; pipes, arrow and lance heads, chisels, grinding stones, pestles, sinkers, flint flakes and cores, ornaments in slates and other colored stones; bones of fish and many animals, horns of deer and elk, teeth of bears, &c. Some of these may have been thrown up by the plow and scattered over the space near the mound. From the number of fragments of various stones, it seems that there was a workshop here, and so I have located one on the map. The mound was built of earth taken from the vicinity, and there were evidently some large stones in connection with it, but how they were placed is not known. B, C, D were within a mile of A, and were single graves. They have all been opened, and each contained one skeleton, without implements or ornaments so far as known. In one, the body seemed to have been buried horizontally, on the right side, with the head to the east; the position of the others is unknown. There seemed to have been a stone cist erected on or near the surface of the ground; and then rocks appear to have been set on edge around it, until a space 10 or 12 feet square was inclosed. If ever covered with earth, time has removed it down to the rocks. B is on the farm of Dr. Thomas Hyle, and and D on that of Cornelius Terhune. E and F are points on Salt River, above and below A, where remains of pottery, &c., have been found; but their real character cannot be determined. E is on the farm of John Ludwich, in Boyle County, and F on that of Mrs. Lewis.
G is a grave on the farm of Thomas Knox, but I have not seen it. From description it is like B, C, and D.
H is only a point marked by great numbers of flint chippings and broken arrow-heads.
I represents a space on a farm owned by W. B. Cecil, where a great many pipes, axes, &c., have been found.
J is a mound of earth on the farm of the Misses Craig, about 1½ miles south of Danville, in Boyle County. It is some 5 feet high and 50 feet in circumference. It has been opened, but I know of nothing obtained from it.
K is located on the farm of John F. Tedger. It has been opened, and is similar to B, C, D.
L is in Boyle County, on the land of Wyatt Hughes. It was destroyed by excavating a road-bed for a railroad; and seems to have been like B, C, and D.
M is a small earthen mound on the southern bank of Rolling Fork, Boyle County. It has been razed by cultivation. Some bones, a grooved ax, and a few arrow-heads of hornstone were disclosed.
N is said to be the site of two graves, and is just west of Harrodsburg and "old William s" place. From what I can learn the graves are like B, C, D.
O is a single (?) grave with stones set up around it. I have not examined it, but from appearances it is like B, C, D.
P is an earthen mound, on the farm of J. A. Shuttleworth. It is 4 feet high and 50 feet in circumference, and was opened in 1807 or 1811 and later. From an old man, who was a boy when it was first opened, I learn that a number of bodies had been buried in it, and that an ax or two were found. On the night of the day on which it was opened occurred the earthquake of that year, and the whole neighborhood thought that the Indians had come after them for disturbing their bones.
Q was one or two graves, now obliterated, on the farm of Achilles Davis.
R is a point on the farm of Dr. Walter Davis, where some relics were found in digging the foundation of a house. A lot of bones were near these relics.
S is the site of three graves covered with stones placed on edge, and is on the farm of George Davis, sr. The two near each other have been opened, and a number of human remains were exhumed from each. They had, seemingly, been buried with their heads together and their feet radiating from this center. Plates of mica were found with the crushed skulls, as if they had been placed over their eyes. Only one implement was obtained here. A bone had apparently been buried with one of the bodies, and, when discovered, it was lying upon the arm, at the elbow, and parallel to it.
The third grave has not yet been examined, but will probably be explored in the spring.
T is a group of four earthen mounds on the farm of Thomas Coleman. They have all been excavated at some time. The last examination took place in July past, and yielded one skeleton, and a copper bead almost destroyed by oxidization. Their relative positions as to streams and to each other is shown in diagram T. (See also the accompanying plan.)
U is the site of two mounds 8 feet high, and 60 or 70 feet in circumference, on land owned by Mr. Hugely, upon the bluffs of Dick's River. The mounds seem to be composed of gravel, earth, and limestone. Several persons have examined them, and pronounced them mounds. Partial excavations have been made, but without success. Poplar trees (Liriodendron) 2 feet in diameter are growing upon them. I am disposed to think that the mounds are the remains of lime-kilns made in the first settlement of the State; at any rate the limestone in them has been burned.
V was a large pile of rocks, giving no evidence of ever having been covered with earth. It was opened and some skeletons were found, probably those of Indians killed in some attack on Harrodsburg.
W and X are similar to V.
The above list includes all the points of much interest in these two counties. Nearly every spot mentioned has been examined, and the relics carried off or destroyed. The great majority of those relics, such as pipes, arrow and lance heads, grooved axes, and celts, have been plowed up isolated in fields all over the counties; but the larger number have been found on the farms contiguous to Salt River. No shell heaps have been noticed except at A, where the common mussel of Salt River seems to have been used for some purpose other than pottery manufacture, perhaps as food.
Nothing is known as to our caves or cliff shelters having been used for dwellings. A cave east of Danville, on the farm of Samuel Stone, contained some human skeletons; but as the remains had been thrown down into a sink-hole without other opening, and as there were no implements, I suppose that the persons were Indians, or perhaps murdered whites of a comparatively recent date, and not mound-builders. The bones were in a good state of preservation. Nowhere in this part of the State has anything resembling masonry been observed, to my knowledge.
As far as I can learn, no carving, engraving, or sculpture has been discovered in those counties; but in the Deaf and Dumb Institution at Danville, Professor Dudley, principal, there is a carved image or rather bust of Aztec type, which was plowed up in Marion County, Kentucky. Rock paintings and inscriptions are not found here. The dead are discovered both in mounds and in isolated graves. Some contain one individual, others more. It is difficult to determine the position of the bodies when interred, as the pressure from above and the trees over them have forced them out of place. Some appear to have been buried in a sitting posture, some were stretched out, and others evidently lying on their sides. They were laid, in most cases, toward the east, sometimes toward the west, and again in every direction like spokes in a wheel. A few were placed in cists, others in earth only. Generally only a few of the more solid bones were preserved. At one point in Boyle County some arrow-heads were turned up by the plow, but they were lost or thrown away. No large places are known where flint implements have been manufactured; but chippings, evidently broken off by mechanical means, show that arrow-heads have been made in limited quantities. I am unable to learn whether or not the pottery found at A had been made on the grounds. The presence of many fragments, the quantities of decaying mussel shells, the balls of sand carried from the river, and the proximity to suitable clay all render it likely; yet there are no places, that I could see, which give any reliable evidence of its manufacture.
Plan 1.