Page:Anthropology.djvu/21

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20
MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY.

out. From the description we received we could form no idea as to the character of the interment. No implements of any kind were found.

No. 6, on a broad flat in the bend of the creek, is the remains of an Indian encampment; numerous fire-places just beneath the surface of the ground, broken flints, &c., being found.

No. 7 is a group of three mounds. Having been plowed over for years, they were nearly obliterated. The remains in mounds b and c were alike, each containing the bones of several individuals thrown in promiscuously. They were not burned, yet each mound contained great quantities of ashes and bits of charcoal. The bones crumbled on the slightest touch, and presented the appearance of having been leached. In mound a one skeleton in tolerable preservation was found. It had been buried in a sitting posture. Near the head was found a large mussel-shell filled with what appeared to be paint. A little to one side and at bottom of excavation was an ash-pile with about one peck of charcoal in the center of it. Neither ornaments nor implements were found. This group was evidently Indian in origin.

No. 8 is a mound 35 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. Though regular in outline and occupying a commanding position, yet from our examination of its structure we considered its artificial origin as doubtful.

No. 9 is a mound 12 feet in diameter. In it was found one skeleton very much decayed, and near the head a very rude earthern bowl, holding about one pint.

No other mounds are found in the vicinity. Scattered over the bluffs and fields are found quantities of broken pottery, arrow-points, flint chippings, stone axes, &c. A copper spear-point was also found in the vicinity. From my examination of them, I assign to them an origin and date, with possibly the exception of the horizontal burial in No. 2, as of the Illini Indians, and of about the beginning of the seventeenth century.

Plan II is located 4 miles southwest of the city of La Salle, on Cedar Creek, a small stream flowing into the Illinois River from the south. There were three graves two and a half feet deep, on a gravel point projecting out from the ridge. No mounds had been erected over them. They were close together. They were discovered by some laborers while digging for gravel. One of them, possessing a little curiosity, gathered up the bones and relics. One body was deposited in each grave, and in a recumbent position. The relics found consisted of several simple, rude pipes cut from sandstone, a few shell beads, arrow-points, and the fragments of a curious vase, holding, when reconstructed, about four ounces, and representing a man sitting on his knees, with hands folded across the abdomen. The opening was at the back of the head. It was composed of clay and powdered shells baked. The face presents strongly-marked Aztec features, or possibly an exceptional Indian countenance. The bones were very much decayed, with the ex-