Miscellaneous Papers Relating to Anthropology/Mounds in Ralls County, Missouri
MOUNDS IN RALLS COUNTY, MISSOURI.
By George L. Hardy and Fred. B. Scheetz, of Monroe, Mo.
The only ancient remains in Ralls County, so far as known to the writers, are what are commonly called mounds. They are located on Salt River, a western tributary of the Mississippi, passing through townships 55 and 56, in ranges 5, 6, and 7 west of the fifth prime meridian.
The mounds are invariably found within less than a mile of a stream affording a permanent water supply. They are always in the bottoms or on the crests of bluffs and ridges, bordered either by the streams or the bottom lands, mostly by the latter.
It is impossible to state what changes have taken place in the course of the streams since the erection of the mounds, but doubtless in some places they have been very great. The growth of timber is universally the same on the mounds and in the surrounding forests.
Occasionally a single one is found, but they are almost invariably in groups, numbering from 3 to 10, and sometimes more. Commonly they follow the crest of the ridge, but when they occur in the bottoms or on a level bluff they are found in direct lines or in gentle curves, extending generally east and west. They exist in large numbers in almost every bottom and on nearly every bluff, on both sides of the river, throughout the entire county, as well as on its branches near the main stream.
The mounds are usually circular in ground plan, and rise above the present level from 2 to 12 feet. They are composed either wholly of earth, wholly of stone, or of the two combined. Where stone was used at all, the plan seems to have been first to pave the natural surface with flat stones in one or two thicknesses for a foundation. In one case the stones were thrown together indiscriminately. Peculiar constructions will be more fully noted in the descriptions given below of mounds examined by the present writers.
The stones were procured from the beds of the neighboring streams or from beneath the bluffs. Barely can it be determined whence the earth was taken, there being only one example where there was any indication of the removal of the earth in the vicinity.
Human remains are almost invariably met with, only one exception being noted. The boues are generally very much decayed, though each bone is found almost entire, except those of the head. This seems to have always rested on a stone, and to have been covered by one or more, so that it is always found in a crushed condition. In stature the skeletons indicate a variation from 5 to 6 feet. No jaw-bone or even a fragment of one has been found from which the teeth were missing, and of the scores of teeth recovered there has been but one decayed, a wisdom tooth still in place. The teeth invariably indicate mature or advanced age. The human remains found in mounds constructed wholly of stone are generally much more decayed than those in mounds of mixed material. In rare instances stone implements, pipes, &c., are taken from the excavations, but these are more frequently picked up on the surface at no great distauce from the remains.
So far as known, no accounts have been published concerning these mounds, nor have any systematic examinations been made.
As the stones used in their construction were of a kind useful to the early settlers in walling up their wells, laying foundations, building chimneys, &c., nearly all such material has been removed, so that it is rare to find a mound that has not been disturbed to some extent. Since all the bottom lands are now in cultivation, those in such locations have been plowed down for many years. But where they are tolerably large and built principally of stone, as is generally the case, they are still well defined. Those that are situated on timber lands have the same growth of trees upon them as in the surrounding forests, if they are composed wholly of earth. In some cases white-oaks 2 feet in diameter or more are found on the very summit as well as on the slopes.
In the southeast quarter section 6, township 55, range 5, owned by Mr. J. Brashear, on the right bank of Salt River, is a row of mounds on the top of the bluff, which rises precipitously and then slopes back to the interior. There are twelve of them, the three southern ones being in a cultivated field, the others in the native woods. They vary in distance from 20 to 70 yards and in size from 20 to 50 feet in diameter, and in height from 2 to 5 or 6 feet. Except the south one they are of mixed material. That was wholly of stone, which was mainly removed by Mr. Brashear some forty years ago, when he commenced his improvements. He found in it a single human skeleton of large size. The fourth from the south was examined by us a few weeks ago by digging a ditch about 3 feet wide through its center. It is 58 feet in base diameter, and at the center 5£ feet above the general surface, having several white oaks growing upon it as large as any in the woods. The base was of flat limestone, thrown together without order; above this a layer of earth, another of stone, and so on to the top* No relics were found except a small fragment of pottery, a portion of a globular-shaped vessel, the inside of which was coated with a greasy soot, which smutted one's hand like lamp smoke. This was found about 3 feet below the surface. Many such fragments have been, and some can still be, found on the field before spoken of. There was no indication of any decayed substance anywhere to be detected, nor of any action of fire, except on some of the limestones, which had evidently occurred before they were placed in the mound. The earth in this mound appears to have been taken from a portion of the field about 160 yards distant.
Southeast of the house of Mr. Robert M. Spalding, in the southeast quarter section 36, township 56, range 6, about 1 mile from the left bank of the river is a row of mounds, the western one of which was composed of stone of a peculiar color, only found in the vicinity on the right bank of the river at the distance of nearly 1 mile.
On the southeast quarter section 35, township 56, range 6, we opened a mound, one of several on the top of the ridge. On the south side of it the bed stone had been formed into a shallow trough. On removing the flat stones which covered this, and which showed no action of fire, we found a bed of charcoal several inches thick, both animal and vegetable, and the limestone which composed it was burned completely through. Some fragments of a human femur were found in a calcined state. There was no indication of fire elsewhere in the mound, but there were the partial remains of several skeletons, lying in two layers, with stone and earth between them. The implements marked with Mr. Spalding's initials were found in his vicinity, and are sent by him.
On the west half of the southwest quarter section 4, township 55, range 6 west, owned by Mr. Utterback, a row of mounds, four in number, is found, commencing on the brow of the bluff and extending back in nearly a westerly direction, in a slight curve for about 250 yards, at irregular distances. The eastern one is much the largest. The others are all in a field which has been cultivated for thirty years. One was examined and opened. Fragments of human bones were found on the surface, thrown up by the plow. On the north and south sides single skeletons were found, laid at length east and west, and between the two a confused mass of bones, as though a number of bodies had been thrown together indiscriminately. The diameter of this mound was about 30 feet, its height about 2½ feet above the general surface. It was composed of earth and stones.
On the northeast corner of section 8, township 55, range 6 west, owned now by W. Keithley, a mound was opened by one of the present writers (G. L. H.) in 1853. It was on the brow of the bluff, about 50 feet in base diameter, and at the center 5 to 6 feet high, and made wholly of stone; near the middle lay a single skeleton, indicating a person 6 feet 4 inches in height. It was extended at full length, with head to the west. A dry wall was laid up around the remains 1£ feet high, and this covered with large flat stone, on which the remainder were thrown indiscriminately.
Near the northwest corner of section 18, township 55, range 6 west, is an isolated conical hill, called the "Bound Knob." Its crest is a narrow ridge about 150 yards long, on which are four mounds. The northern one was much the largest, and forty years ago portions of a dry wall still were standing, 4 to 5 feet in height. Human remains were found in all these mounds.
In section 24, northeast quarter, township 55, range 7, and on the opposite side (the left) of the river, is a similar but smaller hill, called "Wilson's Knob." Its crest is about 120 feet long, completely covered with stone to the depth of several feet, the pile being about 20 feet wide. On examination, made recently, it was found to have been originally a row of burial-places, nine in number, circular in form, each from 8 to 9 feet in diameter (inner measure), contiguous to each other. The remains of the walls still stand to the height of about 20 inches. Judging from appearances, it would seem that each had been of a conical or dome-like form. They were composed wholly of stone, and the remains found in them were almost wholly decomposed.
On the top of an opposite ridge to the west is another row, four in number, similar to those just described, except that the cists are square instead of circular, the sides being equal to the diameter of the former. In these also only small fragments of bones could be found. These last have been examined within a few days.
On the left bank of the river, about 1 mile below the "Round Knob" above referred to, are what are known as "The Painted Rocks," a number of rough representations of the human figure, about 20 inches in height. They are drawn on the face of the bluff, which overhangs so as to afford almost complete protection from the weather. This bluff rises 180 to 200 feet above the bed of the stream, and these drawings are 60 or 70 feet below the top. At the foot of the bluff are large masses of fallen rock and earth, filling up between the river and the bluff, and rising within 30 feet of the drawings. The central human figure is somewhat larger than the others, who are represented as approaching him in Indian file.
A single mound was found on the northwest corner of the southwest quarter section 12, township 55, range 7, on the point of a secondary ridge, near a small northern tributary of Salt River. It contained two skeletons, one with the head east, the other west. Beneath one of these a trench had been dug and filled up with stone, on which flat stone had been laid, and on which last the body had been placed.