A smaller mound, standing close by the one above described, was also excavated, but without any satisfactory results. It is probable the investigation was not sufficiently thorough. [p164]
Fig. 52. This tumulus, selected as a type of the second description of sepulchral mounds, is situated upon the broad and beautiful terrace on which Chillicothe stands; about one mile to the north of that town.[106] It is fifteen feet in height by sixty-five or seventy feet base, and is composed of earth taken up from the surrounding plain. A shaft eight feet square was sunk from the apex. Nothing worthy of remark was observed in the progress of the excavation, until the skeleton at the base of the mound was reached. It was deposited with its head towards the south; and, unlike the one above described, had been simply enveloped in bark, instead of having been enclosed in a chamber of timbers. The course of preparation for the burial seemed to have been as follows: The surface of the ground was first carefully levelled and packed, over an area perhaps ten or fifteen feet square. This area was then covered with sheets of bark, on which, in the centre, the body of the dead was deposited, with a few articles of stone at its side, and a few small ornaments near the head. It was then covered over with another layer of bark, and the mound heaped above. This skeleton was better preserved than the one last mentioned, but not sufficiently well to be of much value for purposes of comparison. The skull was found broken into small fragments and completely flattened beneath the weight of the mound, which had been so great as to imbed the bones in the original level; so that, when the fragments were removed, a nearly perfect mould of the skeleton was exhibited. The subject had been a man of the ordinary size, not exceeding five feet ten inches in height. The lower maxillary or jaw-bone, wanting the «condyles», was recovered. It exhibited some remarkable features, which will be noticed elsewhere. The articles found with the skeleton were few in number, and consisted of a stone tube and a stone implement or ornament, designed probably for suspension. The latter is three inches [p165] long, one and a half broad, and three fourths of an inch in thickness, and weighs five ounces. Both articles are composed of a compact limestone, the surface of which was originally highly polished. Near the head of the skeleton were found a couple of bear’s teeth which, from their position, were probably used as ear ornaments. Just at the head and also at the foot of the skeleton had been placed a small stick of timber, probably to retain the covering of bark in its place. That the envelope of the skeleton, in this case, was bark and not matting, was shown from the texture of the material, which was distinctly to be traced in the decomposed mass, as well as from other circumstances. From certain indications, it was, at first, thought the bark in the vicinity of the skeleton had been painted of a red color, as portions adhered to the bones, giving them a reddish tinge. This probably resulted from other and natural causes.