Page:Anthropology.djvu/71

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70
MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY.

I.—A small mound, 3 or 4 feet high and 15 feet in diameter, stands upon a very high hill, perhaps the highest land in the county, and is composed of stone and clay. It was excavated some years ago by Dr. Emerick and a Mr. Long, who are said to have found a skeleton in a kneeling or sitting posture, and a pipe, both near the center. The author was unable to learn what had become of the pipe. Messrs. H. B. Care and J. Freshwater made another examination in 1876, but found nothing. There is a large spring at the foot of the hill, on the east side, but it is nearly half a mile from the spring to the mound on the hill.

J.—This work is said to be located on the west side of the creek. The author has not visited the site.

K.—In 1876 the author, in company with Mr. J. Freshwater, made a slight examination of this mound. It is 25 or 30 feet high, oval in shape, and over 100 feet long. The citizens regarded it as an artificial mound, but we considered it a natural elevation of gravel drift. Excavations might change this view. The mound is located on the west side of the Lake Fork, and just north of the road and bridge leading from Mohican to McZena in Lake Township.

L.—A mound is situated on the lands of J. L. and Cyrus Quick, in Washington Township, Holmes County, Ohio, It stands upon an eminence which slopes gradually for half a mile southward toward the bottom lands of the Lake Fork; northward and westward it declines a short distance to a small valley extending to the southwest. It is about 5 or 6 feet high, and 30 feet in diameter. Some trees were growing upon the mound when the author first visited it, some twenty-seven years ago. The trees were, perhaps, not of more than one hundred years' growth, but were as old as the trees in the immediate vicinity; not far from it, however, were oak trees 2 and 3 feet in diameter. The mound was excavated about 1820-'25 by Isaac and Thomas Quick, Daniel Priest, and others. It is said that, upon making a central excavation, they found a wooden puncheon cist, together with some human remains, and ornaments of muscle shell, which appeared to be strung around the neck. All the remains are reported to have crumbled away on being exposed to the air. It is difficult to ascertain the facts concerning this excavation. It has been said that some pottery was found also. Additional remains might be disclosed by further investigation. The persons who made the excavation are dead.

M.—This mound, located a little southwest of mound L, on the lower ground about half a mile from the same, was probably of an equal size originally, but, having been plowed for nearly fifty years, it is now spread over quite a space. It is, however, still discernible from a distance, and shows the elevation from the flat surface of the field. The yellow clay presents a contrast with the darker soil of the surrounding land. No excavation had been made until 1877, when the author, aided by Mr. Freshwater, removed about 4 square feet from the center. We