Burial Mounds in the North (Illustrated). Cyrus Thomas
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deposited after the flesh had been removed.
The following description of a mound with a single original and several intrusive burials is also taken from Colonel Norris' notes of work in Crawford County:
One large mound of this group, 70 feet in diameter and 10 feet high, still unexplored, was opened. It had been considerably defaced, especially on the west side. According to tradition it was a noted burial place with the Indians, which was certainly confirmed by the result. The surface or top layer was composed of sand and alluvial earth to the depth of some 3 or 4 feet. Scattered through this in almost every part of the mound were human skeletons in various stages of decay and in different positions, but mostly stretched horizontally on the back. Scattered among the remains were numerous fragments of blankets, clothing and human hair, 1 copper kettle of modern pattern, 3 copper bracelets (hammered from native copper), 1 silver locket, 10 silver bracelets (one having the name "Montreal," and another the letters "A B" stamped on it), 2 silver earrings, 6 silver brooches, 1 copper finger-ring, 1 double silver cross, 1 knife-handle, and 1 battered bullet. In fact the top layer to the depth of 3 or 4 feet seemed to be packed as full of skeletons and relics as possible.
Carrying the trench down to the original surface of the ground, he found at the bottom, near the center, a single skeleton of an adult in the last stages of decay. With it were the following articles: 2 stone scrapers, a small stone drill, fragments of river shells, and pieces of a mammoth tusk. The earth below the upper layer was mixed with clay and ashes, evidently different from the surrounding soil.
Several mounds opened by him in Grant County contained charred human bones, and one or two covered confused masses of bones, being similar in this respect to some of those heretofore mentioned.
A mound which he opened in Sheboygan County, containing a single skeleton, is described as about 50 feet in diameter and 5 feet high. After passing through 18 inches of surface soil, the central mass, composed of earth mingled with charcoal, ashes, and loose stones, was reached. Near the center of this mass, and at the bottom of the mound, a large human skeleton was discovered, apparently holding between the hands and knees a large clay vase. Immediately over this skeleton was an irregular layer of flat bowlders.
Another mound of this group, about the same size as the preceding, was found literally filled with skeletons to the depth of 2½ feet, evidently intrusive burials, as they were accompanied with iron implements, silver ornaments, etc. Beneath these was a layer of rounded drift bowlders aggregating several wagon loads. Below these and in a shallow excavation in the natural surface of the ground were some forty or more skeletons in a sitting or squatting posture, disposed in circles around and facing the central space, which was occupied by an unusually large shell (Busycon perversum).
It is worthy of notice in this connection that there are no effigy mounds, so far as known, in the immediate section where the two works just mentioned are situated, but there is near by, one small oval enclosure about 50 feet in diameter.
In studying the burial mounds of the district now under consideration, of which the foregoing may be considered as types, there appears to be no marked distinction between the intrusive burials of modern Indians and the original burials for which the mounds were constructed. In both we observe from one to many skeletons in a place; in both we find them stretched out horizontally and also folded; in both we sometimes notice evidences of fire and partially-consumed bones; in both we find instances where the mortar-like covering has been used, and in both we meet occasionally with those confused masses of bones which seem to have been gathered from graves or other temporary burial places into these mounds as common depositories. Moreover the transition from one to the other is so gradual as to leave us nothing save the position in the mound and the presence of vestiges of civilized art to distinguish the former from the latter.
Fig. 6. —Section of burial mound, Vernon County, Wisconsin.
A large portion of these mounds, as has already been stated, are unstratified, and each was probably thrown up and completed at one time; yet skeletons are found at various depths in some of these, as, for example, one opened by Mr. Middleton, in Vernon County, a vertical section of which is shown in Fig. 6, a a indicating the original surface of the ground and the stars the positions of the skeletons, some of which were stretched out at full length while others were folded. The heads were towards different points of the compass and the bones of all were so much decayed that none could be preserved. Several instances of this kind were observed, in some cases those skeletons near the surface or top of the mound indicating burial after contact with the whites.
It is apparent, therefore, that although some of the burial mounds of this district must be attributed to the so-called mound-builders, others were certainly built by the Indians found inhabiting it at the advent of the whites. There can scarcely be a doubt that some of the small unstratified tumuli described are the work of the Indians. If this is conceded there would seem to be no halting place short of attributing all of this class in this district to the same race.
Dr. Hoy's statement that in some cases there was evidence that the bodies had been "covered with a bark or log roofing," is in exact accord with a well-known burial custom of some of the tribes of the Northwest.
According to Mr. M. B. Kent, the Sacs and Foxes, who formerly resided in the region now under consideration, buried the body "in a grave made about 2½ feet deep, which was laid always with the head towards the east, the burial taking place as soon after death as possible. The grave was prepared by putting bark in the bottom of it before the corpse was deposited, a plank covering made and secured some distance above the body."
Another method followed by the same people, according to Mr. J. W. Spencer8, was to make a shallow hole in the ground, setting the body in it up to the waist, so that most of the body was above the ground. A trench was then dug about the grave, in which pickets were planted. But the usual method was to place split pieces of wood about three feet long over the body, meeting at the top in the form of a roof, on which dirt was thrown to keep them in place.
According to Potherie9, the Iroquois were accustomed to cover the bodies, after being deposited in the "fosse," with bark of trees, on which they cast earth and stones.
According to Schoolcraft10, the Mohawks of New York—
make a large round hole in which the body can be placed upright or upon its haunches: which after the body is placed in it is covered with timber to support the earth which they lay over, and thereby keep the body from being pressed. They then raise the earth in a round hill over it.11
The burial customs of northern tribes, known to have occupied portions of the effigy mound district, agree so exactly with what we see in the sepulchral tumuli of this district as to justify the conclusion reached by Dr. Lapham, after a long and careful personal study of them, that they are to be attributed to Indians. Some he was rather inclined to ascribe to tribes which had migrated, had been driven off by other tribes, or been incorporated into them previous to the advent of the white race. But he maintained that the subsequent tribes or those found occupying the country "continued the practice of mound-building so far as to erect a circular or conical tumulus over their dead." And he adds significantly, "This practice appears to be a remnant of ancient customs that connects the mound-builders with the present tribes."12
The evidence in regard to these unstratified mounds appears to lead directly to the conclusion that they are all the work of the Indians found occupying the country at the time it was first visited by whites or of their ancestors. If it is conceded that the small unstratified tumuli are in part the work of these aborigines, there would seem to be no escape from the conclusion that all the burial mounds of this district are to be ascribed to them; for, although there are some two or three types of burial and burial mounds, the gradation from one to the other is so complete as to leave no marked line of distinction, and Dr. Lapham is fully justified in asserting that the evidence connects the mound-builders with the modern Indians. The stratified mounds in which the hard clay or mortar covering over the remains