I 
 
 7H- 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN OHIO. 
 
 CONDUCTED FOR 
 
 THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF AMEEICAN ARCHEOLOGY 
 
 AND ETHNOLOGY, IN CONNECTION WITH 
 
 HARVARD UNIVERSITY. 
 
 BY C. L. METZ AND F. W. PUTNAM. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE MARRIOTT MOUND, No. 1. 
 
 FROM THE EIGHTEENTH REPORT OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM, 1884. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE : 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON. 
 
 1886. 
 
EXPLORATIONS IN OHIQ. 
 
 CONDUCTED FOR 
 
 THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF AMEEICAN AKCH^OLOGY 
 
 AND ETHNOLOGY, IN CONNECTION WITH 
 
 HAEVAED UNIVEESITY. 
 
 BY C. L. METZ AND F. W. PUTNAM. 
 /f 
 
 I. 
 
 THE MARRIOTT MOUND, No. 1. 
 
 FROM THE EIGHTEENTH REPORT OF THE PEABODY MUSEUM, 1884. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON. 
 
 1886. 
 
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 *..<* UbM? 
 
 EXPLORATIONS IN OHIO. 
 
 BY C. L. METZ AND F. W. PUTNAM. 
 THE MARRIOTT MOUND, NO. 1, AND ITS CONTENTS. 
 
 BY F. W. PUTNAM. 
 
 IN October, 1884, we explored a mound on the land of Mr. 
 Benjamin Marriott, adjoining Michael Turner's farm. This is one 
 of two mounds situated west of the hill on which is the mound and 
 earth-circle forming part of the Turner group in the Little Miami 
 valley. Through this hill, cutting it from east to west, run two 
 deep curved trenches, and the two mounds on Mr. Marriott's farm 
 are opposite the western ends of these trenches. The southern one 
 has been long used as a family cemetery, so we could not explore 
 it. The other, which we explored, has been ploughed over for 
 many } r ears, and is consequently much reduced in height. 
 
 At the time of our work it was about two feet high and sixty feet 
 in diameter. Over this lower portion there had been a covering of 
 water- worn stones, brought from the creek bottom. They had been 
 much disturbed b} r the plough, but they seem to have been arranged 
 as shown in Fig. 1, representing a section of the mound. We 
 dug the mound completely away, and found at its centre a mass of 
 burnt clay in the form of a rude basin about two feet in diameter 
 (Figs. 1, 2, A). The clay (34358 J ) of which the basin had been 
 formed was placed on the surface of the ground over which the 
 mound had been erected. 
 
 This basin contained a little ashes, in which were a few bits of 
 charcoal, burnt acorns, and several fragments of burnt bones, a few 
 of which are evidently pieces of implements (34359). In the 
 
 1 The numbers given in parentheses are those under which the objects are 
 recorded in the Museum catalogue. 
 
 REPORT OF PEABODY MUSEUM, III. 29 (449). 
 
FIG. 1. SECTION OF MARRIOTT MOUND, No. 1. DIAMETER 
 
 SCALE, 
 
 FT. 
 
 FIG. 2. GROUND PLAN OF MARRIOTT MOUND, No. 1. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF FIGURES 1 AND 2. 
 
 A. Basin of burnt clay in centre of mound. 
 
 B. Burnt earth, stones, and ashes. 
 
 C. Burnt earth, stones, and ashes. 
 
 D. Skull surrounded by stones. 
 
 E. Skeleton with implements in handles. 
 
 F. Skeleton with perforated bear's teeth and copper plate 
 
 G. Extended skeleton with ear ornaments. 
 H, H, H. Post-holes. 
 
 I. Shell. 
 
 K, K. Beds of sandy clay. 
 
451 
 
 basin were also eleven pottery beads, spherical in shape and half 
 an inch in diameter (34362), four beads cut from shell and finely 
 polished, about half an inch in length and a quarter-inch in width 
 (34363), and five small shells of the genus Marginella, each of 
 which had its apex cut off so as to permit of stringing as orna 
 ments (34364). 
 
 Partly surrounding this mass of burnt clay was a mass of burnt 
 earth, stones, ashes, and charcoal, from eight to ten inches in 
 depth, irregular in outline, and extending about fifteen feet to the 
 west, eight feet to the south, and ten feet to the east (Figs. 1, 2, B). 
 The bottom of this burnt material was about seven inches above 
 the surface over which the mound had been made. About six feet 
 northeast of the centre of the mound was a similar burnt space, 
 about ten feet in width and fifteen in length (Fig. 2, C). Under 
 these burnt portions was a thin layer of sand}' cla} 7 , which had been 
 placed on the surface of the ground. Over the rest of the base of 
 the mound were one or two layers of stones. 
 
 In the ashes and earth on these burnt areas, and in the adjacent 
 earth, were over six hundred fragments of pottery (34408-34437), 
 varj'ing in size from one to five inches in length. These fragments 
 are pieces of bowls and pots of common sizes, which were well 
 made and well burnt. The clay apparently was mixed with a fine 
 sand. A few of the pieces contain bits of shell. Many of the 
 pieces show that the bowls were decorated neatly with incised lines 
 and punch-marks in different designs. Others are cord-marked, 
 and many are plain. One fragment is that of a conical foot, prob 
 ably one of three around the base of the vessel. Among all the 
 pieces there is not a single handle, although there are many por 
 tions of the lips and sides of vessels. 
 
 Scattered about in the same manner were between two and three 
 thousand broken and split pieces of bones of animals (34407), 
 principally of the deer and bear, but including several other species 
 of mammals and a few of birds, which have not }'et been deter 
 mined. With these were found nearly a hundred shells of river 
 clams, Unionidse (34388), a portion of a clam-shell (34389) which 
 had been cut around the edge, possibly a piece of a spoon ; many 
 small pieces of mica (34360), some of which are fragments of orna 
 ments ; and also several objects of bone and stone, as follows. 
 
 A needle (34390) made from a splinter of bone, nearly five inches 
 long, an eighth of an inch in diameter in its upper part, flattened 
 
452 
 
 at the head, through which a small eye has been drilled. This 
 needle is well made and highly polished. It is shown in Fig. 3. 
 Pieces of four other needles (34390) of the same character and size 
 were also found. 
 
 FIG. 3. BONE NEEDLE. FIG. 4. BONE AWL. 
 
 An ornamented awl (34392), formed from a piece of bone, prob 
 ably the metatarsal of a deer. As shown in Fig. 4, the handle is 
 ornamented with rows of fine cross-cut lines, on each of the two 
 surfaces shown in the figure. On the ridge of bone between these 
 
453 
 
 two carved surfaces are eleven slight notches. The end of the 
 handle is squarely cut, and has two distinct grooves. The under 
 surface is unfinished, showing the cavity of the bone. The cellular 
 portion of this part of the bone is so slightly worn that it seems 
 probable this portion was filled with some substance the better to 
 adapt it to the hand. The total length of this implement is four 
 and one eighth inches. 
 
 Eleven other awls or points of bone (34391) are made by simply 
 sharpening splinters of bone from two to three and a half inches 
 long. These are made from pieces of ribs and splinters of mammal 
 and bird bones, and are similar to hundreds of other bone points 
 which have been found in various places the world over. 
 
 There are also pieces of five other bone implements with more or 
 less chisel and spatula-shaped ends. One of these (34393) is a 
 fragment two inches long, made of a piece of thick bone ground on 
 one side to a narrow chisel-like edge one fourth of an inch wide. 
 Another (34394) is made from a piece of a deer's bone about three 
 inches long and one inch wide, and has a round, smooth, and thin 
 edge at one end. Three others (34394, a) are pieces of ribs which 
 have been split, and rounded and smoothed at one end. An ulna 
 of a deer (34397), the olecranon of which is so often used for 
 making implements, has had the slender portion detached by 
 cutting the bone partly through from opposite sides, and then 
 snapping off the end. The cuts made by a flint knife or flake are 
 distinctly seen in this specimen. Three points cut from deer's 
 antlers (34396), and another (34395) which has been hollowed, 
 probabty as a socket for some implement, close the list of objects 
 of bone and antler. 
 
 Of objects of stone we found four small masses of gray flint, 
 from which pieces had been struck off, and one hundred and eleven 
 chert, jasper, and chalcedony flakes of various colors and sizes 
 (34403). Of the same material are seventy-seven thin flakes from 
 one and a half to two and a half inches long and from a quarter to 
 about half an inch wide (34406), and also a core (34405) from 
 which such long narrow flakes had been struck. Nine of these 
 flake-knives are shown in Fig. 5, of natural size. They are of the 
 same character as the obsidian flake-knives from Mexico, and evi 
 dently were made for similar purposes. We have found hundreds 
 of these narrow flakes during our explorations of the Ohio mounds, 
 and also several of the cores. A trial at cutting wood, antler, 
 
454 
 
 bone, and mica with these flakes, is at once convincing that they 
 were well adapted for knives. Three thin flint flakes (34404) from 
 one and a quarter to two inches long and about one inch wide, are 
 of interest, as they show secondary and fine chipping along their 
 edges. 
 
 FIG. 5. FLAKE-KNIVES. 
 
 Five fragments, points, and bases of large chipped points of 
 flint (34400) are evidence of good work of this character, while 
 a slender point about two and a quarter inches long, with a 
 simple shank, is very rudely chipped from a poor piece of chert 
 (34399). 
 
455 
 
 
 
 The only fine chipped implement found in the burnt portions of 
 the mound is shown of natural size in Fig. 6. This has serrated 
 edges, and ma}' be a large arrow-head (34398). It is made from 
 a dark gray flint. A fragment of polished stone (34401) , probably 
 the central part of a celt, is another evidence that considerable 
 refuse material was gathered at the spot where the mound was 
 made, as well as ornaments and implements of value and im 
 portance to the people. A piece of clay slate (34402), a quarter 
 of an inch in thickness, has been cut into the shape shown by Fig. 7, 
 which represents the stone of full size in outline. Fragments of a 
 fossil plant (34361), the cavities of which contained considerable 
 oxide of iron, were also found in the ashes. 
 
 FIG. 6. CHIPPED FROM GRAY FLINT. FIG. 7. CUT FROM SLATE. 
 
 Five feet north of the centre of the mound, and between the 
 southern and northern burnt portions (Fig. 2, D), were a number of 
 small stones, arranged on the surface of the ground at the bottom 
 of the mound, surrounding a human skull (34365) with its under 
 jaw. No other bones were with the head, not even fragments, ex 
 cept those belonging to the skull ; neither were there any objects 
 of any kind buried with it. The skull is brachy cephalic, 1 and is 
 that of a youth who was just getting his wisdom teeth. A hole 
 a quarter of an inch in diameter has been bored through the oc 
 cipital bone at a point three eighths of an inch back of the centre 
 of the margin of the foramen magnum. The position of the hole 
 
 1 Length, 170 ; breadth, 142 ; breadth index, 835. Height, 140 ; length, 170 ; 
 height index, 824. 
 
456 
 
 naturally suggests that a cord was passed through it and out of 
 the great foramen for the purpose of suspending the skull. In this 
 connection it is well to recall the several perforated skulls surround 
 ing the two skeletons in the intrusive pit in the large mound of tkis 
 group to which reference is made in a former report. 
 
 Nine feet north of the centre, near the western edge of the north 
 eastern burnt space were the following human bones (34370), prob 
 ably of a man : a piece of the left parietal, a right molar, and the 
 left condyle of the lower jaw ; pieces of a right femur, humerus and 
 ulna of each side, a right radius, and a right scapula ; several finger 
 and toe bones, fragments of ribs, vertebrae, and long bones, all 
 representing a single skeleton. These bones were in a group, out 
 of natural order, eighteen inches above the base of the mound, and 
 were surrounded by small stones (Fig. 2, E). The fact that many 
 of the bones of the skeleton were missing, while those which were 
 found were fairly well preserved and out of natural order, suggests 
 a secondary burial. Ploughing over the spot may have caused 
 some of the fractures, and some of the pieces may have been pulled 
 from their place of deposit by the plough, but there were no frag 
 ments about to suggest that such was the case. The broken lower 
 end of the left femur has been gnawed by rodents. 
 
 Mixed with the human bones were a couple of handsful of frag 
 ments of bones of animals (34378) , a few of which had been burnt, 
 and pieces of a small antler of a deer. There were also two pieces 
 of bone and a piece of antler (34372) which had been cut, and are 
 probably portions of pointed implements. BANCROFT LIBRARY 
 
 In a pile, in one corner of the enclosure and partly under some 
 of the human bones, were ten handles, more or less perfect, made 
 of antler (34371). Five of these had holes in one end, and while 
 they vary in size from three to four inches in length, and from half 
 an inch to an inch in diameter, they are of the shape and character 
 of the handle shown in Fig. 8, which is a full-size illustration of one 
 of the lot in which a point of bone was still inserted in the handle 
 (34374). Another of the handles, made from a point of an antler, 
 has a groove cut across its widest end, in which was resting a tri 
 angular point, chipped from a dark chert (34373), as shown in 
 Fig. 9, also of full size. Of course this is a knife, and it is a good 
 illustration of the transition from arrow-points to knives. These 
 specimens were taken up with care, and both Dr. Metz and ni3'self 
 made careful observations of the handles with their points in place 
 
457 
 
 1 
 
 AAICIIOIT 
 
458 
 
 as they lay in the earth. The method by which this stone point 
 was fastened to the handle is a matter of conjecture, but it is prob 
 able that it was held in its place by a lashing of sinew and a mass 
 of glue or gum. 
 
 With the group of handles was a finery chipped point (34375) 
 of light banded flint, with slight tangs and a broad stem, which is 
 broken off. This point is finely serrated, and is about the size 
 of the one figured in the handle. It is probable that it also was 
 formerly mounted in one of the handles. 
 
 Two triangular flakes of white flint (34376) and three small bits 
 of pottery (34377) conclude the list of objects found with the hu 
 man bones in this small grave. 
 
 Twelve feet west of the centre of the mound (see Fig. 2, F), and 
 about one foot above the bottom, were portions of another human 
 skeleton, also surrounded by stones. The bones (34366) were out 
 of natural position, and were probably a secondary burial. They 
 are probably those of a man of middle age. The portions preserved 
 consist of a nearly perfect but much warped cranium, the under 
 jaw, vertebrae, ribs, a nearly perfect pelvis, and fragments of the 
 right tibia and fibula. The teeth are all present and in good con 
 dition, except the left lower wisdom tooth, which has a large cari 
 ous spot just above the neck. A few of the ribs and a portion of 
 the pelvis are stained green by a large copper plate which lay 
 partly upon these bones, and over several bear's teeth described 
 farther on. 
 
 The copper plate (34367) is of the same shape and character as 
 several found in the large mound of the Liberty works, but is the 
 first of the kind we have found in the Little Miami valley. This 
 plate is represented of one-quarter size in Fig. 10. Although this 
 large plate, at first sight, has the appearance of having been cut 
 from a sheet of rolled copper, a careful examination of its surface 
 leads to the belief that it was hammered from a sheet of native 
 copper. There are inequalities over the surface, and several places 
 where the copper is distinctly laminated, and the edge of the outer 
 piece has separated from the mass, as can be seen by a close in 
 spection of the figure, which is made by the photo-engraving pro 
 cess. The edges, particularly at the rounded corners of the plate, 
 are thinner than other portions, and the plate varies in thickness 
 from one to one and a half millimeters. I have tried the experi 
 ment of hammering a sheet of native copper, placing the piece on 
 
459 
 
 a flat stone and pounding the opposite surface with an ordinary 
 hammer-stone, and I find that I can produce a surface, on a sheet 
 of the same thickness with the plate, which is as hard and compact 
 as the surface of the plate. The copper of which this plate is com 
 posed is considerably corroded, and the outer surface has changed 
 to a green color, probably a carbonate. One surface is smoother 
 
 than the other, and there are slight traces of this having been in 
 contact with a woven fabric, the meshes of which are indicated by 
 minute lines on the copper. I ma}' state here, that on similar cop 
 per plates from the Libert} 7 group, in a few instances, cloth was well 
 preserved by the action of the copper ; and I may add, also, that one 
 
460 
 
 of these plates was found in the large mound of the Liberty group 
 resting on bones of the chest of a skeleton, which was extended at 
 full length, and it is probable that such plates are ornaments which 
 were suspended over the breast by passing a cord through the two 
 holes. The several plates of this character which I have seen are 
 of the same general shape, but they vary in size from considerably 
 smaller to slightly larger than the one from the Marriott mound. 
 On one surface of the plate before me there are several minute 
 wavy and curled lines close together and covering each other. 
 These are made evidently by a formation of a carbonate of copper 
 about hair of some kind, perhaps of the person with whose bones 
 the plate was found. 
 
 The following are the dimensions of the plate. Width across 
 lower edge, nine inches ; across upper edge, eight and one fourth 
 inches ; across centre, eight and one eighth inches. Length, five 
 and one eighth inches. Distance between holes, two and five eighths 
 inches. Diameter of holes, about one eighth of an inch. Distance 
 of holes from upper margin, one and a quarter inches. 
 
 Lying together immediately under the copper plate, and partly in 
 contact with it, were six canine teeth of bears. These teeth are 
 from three and a quarter to three and a half inches in length, 
 measured in a straight line from base to point, and although they 
 are slightly larger than several teeth of black bears with which I 
 have been able to compare them, I presume they are of the same 
 species. Four of these teeth (34369) are probably from one ani 
 mal. Each tooth is perforated by a lateral hole bored near the edge 
 at the point of greatest curvature of the root, as shown in Fig. 11, 
 
 FIG. 11. BEAR'S TOOTH, SHOWING LATERAL, PERFORATION. 
 
 which represents the tooth of natural size. By passing a cord 
 through this hole, the tooth could be fastened to any object, or 
 worn as an ornament. Two of the teeth (34368), perforated on 
 
461 
 
 
 
 one side in the same manner as the others, have an additional hole 
 bored through near the end of the root. On the side opposite the 
 lateral perforation, this hole is counter-sunk in order to receive a 
 large spherical pearl, about three eighths of an inch in diameter. 
 The pearls, although now chalky from decay, were in place, as 
 shown in Fig. 12, when the teeth were found. 
 
 FIG. 12. BEAR'S TEETH WITH PEARLS INSERTED. 
 
 Seven feet northwest of the centre of the mound we found a 
 human skeleton, extended at full length and surrounded by stones 
 (Fig. 2, G). The body had been laid on its back in a grave dug 
 in the hard clay, and it is evident, from the fact that the foot of 
 the grave was under a portion of the mass of burnt stones, earth, 
 and ashes, that it was a primary burial over which the mound was 
 erected after the rites which here took place. 
 
 The parts still remaining of this skeleton (34379) are light and 
 crumbling, and consist of fragments of the cranium, the under jaw, 
 parts of all the long bones, portions of the pelvis, a piece of scapula, 
 and fragments of ribs and vertebrae. These show that the individ 
 ual was an adult of light frame, possibly a woman. The condition 
 of the jaws points to considerable disease of the teeth, for all the 
 molars of the lower jaw except the wisdom tooth of the left side, 
 with the first right molar of the upper jaw, had been lost during 
 life, while the first upper molar of the left side has its roots enlarged 
 by inflammation. The remaining teeth are somewhat worn. 
 
462 
 
 Four inches from the left side of the head were the remains of 
 four of the spool-shaped ear ornaments made of copper (34386), 
 with which were about a dozen large pearl beads (34381, a). In 
 contact with what remained of the bones of the neck were four 
 bear's canine teeth (34384) and more than two hundred pearl beads 
 (34385). With the copper-stained bones of each hand were por 
 tions of an ear ornament of copper (34380), of the same shape as 
 those near the head, but in each instance with one disk covered 
 with a thin plate of native iron. With each of these ornaments 
 were pearl beads, about fifty in all. On the bones of the chest 
 rested the beautifully chipped point of white flint (34383), shown in 
 Fig. 13. This chipped point is from two to seven millimeters thick, 
 eighty long, and thirty-four wide, and, very likely, is the blade of a 
 knife. 
 
 FIG. 13. POINT CHIPPED FROM WHITE FLINT. 
 
 The pearl beads found in the several positions mentioned are 
 natural pearls, probably obtained from the several species of Unio- 
 nidae in the Ohio rivers. In size they vary from a tenth of an 
 inch to a half-inch in diameter, and many are spherical. They are 
 neatly drilled, the larger from opposite sides. These pearls are 
 now chalkjr, and crumble on handling; but, when fresh, they 
 would have formed brilliant necklaces and pendants. 
 
 The four canine teeth found at the neck of the skeleton are 
 a little larger than those found with the skeleton previously 
 mentioned, three of which are shown in Figs. 11 and 12. If they 
 are those of the black bear, that species must have been larger 
 than at present, judging by the size of these teeth, of which 
 the smallest is three and a half inches, and the largest three and 
 nine tenths inches long. Is it not likely that these are the teeth 
 
463 
 
 
 
 of the grizzly bear? Upon one side of each tooth are two ob 
 lique perforations, meeting at a common point, so that a string 
 pushed down through one hole passes up out of the other. (See 
 Fig. 11.) 
 
 The ear ornaments mentioned as found near the head of the 
 skeleton, and with the bones of the hands, are like those found in 
 other mounds of this instructive group, to which I have called at 
 tention in former Reports. The first which came into my hands 
 were described in 1882 in my account of " Copper Objects from 
 North and South America, contained in the Museum " (15th 
 Report, p. 83). Since then a large number of objects of copper 
 have been added to the Museum, principally from explorations in 
 Ohio, and among them many of these ornaments. In 1882, follow 
 ing Dr. Rau, I used the term " spool-shaped ornaments," as their 
 proper designation was not then known. In that paper the method 
 of their manufacture is pointed out. and in part illustrated by fig 
 ures (Figs. 18, 18 a, and 19) of the two specimens found with burnt 
 human bones in a mound at Franklin, Tenn. Ali of these orna 
 ments since obtained, particularly those from the altar of the large 
 mound in the Turner group, mentioned on page 117, 16th Report, 
 show that, with slight individual modifications, such as strengthening 
 cross-bars of copper between the disks, and slight variations in the 
 method of forming the central part connecting the opposite disks, 
 there is little to add to the published description. That these ob 
 jects are unquestionably ear ornaments, I regard as conclusively 
 proved by the fact that, in our explorations of the Turner group, to 
 which this mound belongs, in three instances we have found pairs, 
 one on each side of the skull, in contact with the temporal bones, 
 as mentioned on page 174, 16th Report, and that the small terra 
 cotta figurine of a man (p. 173, same Report) has such a stud-like 
 ornament, of large size, in each ear. Many of these ornaments 
 were found in the mass of material from the altar of the large 
 mound, and among them there were several either partty made 
 of, or covered with, thin plates of meteoric iron (p. 171, 16th 
 Report) . 
 
 In the mounds of the Liberty group in the Scioto valley we also 
 found several of these ornaments of copper (pp. 405-407, 18th 
 Report), some of them covered with thin plates of meteoric iron,' 
 like the two with the finger-bones of the skeleton now under 
 consideration, one of which is represented in Fig. 14. The cor- 
 
464 
 
 responding disk from the other hand is covered in like manner, 
 but the thin covering of iron has nearly rusted away. 
 
 Fig. 14 shows the outer of the three concavo-convex plates 
 
 which, closely overlaid, form 
 one disk of an ear ornament; 
 and in Fig. 15 are seen the two 
 inner plates, with the central 
 cylindrical column, which after 
 passing through them is split at 
 each end and clinched. These 
 
 FIG. 14. OUTER SURFACE OF EAR 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 FIG. 15. CENTRAL PORTION OF 
 EAR ORNAMENT. 
 
 plates rotate loosely upon the column, around which a twisted 
 vegetable fibre is wound three times. 
 
 Fig. 16 represents the surface of the middle one of three plates, 
 showing a small central hole. A bit of copper, carried through the 
 central column, passed through these holes, holding together the 
 
 FIG. 16. UNDER SURFACE OF CEN 
 TRAL PLATE. 
 
 FIG. 17. UPPER SURFACE OF UNUER 
 CONCAVE PLATE. 
 
 inner and middle plates, which were further secured by turning the 
 edge of the middle plate under the rim of the inner plate, shown in 
 Fig. 17, where may be seen the end of the cylindrical column in the 
 
465 
 
 FIG. 18. OUTER SURFACE OF EAR 
 ORNAMENT. 
 
 central depression. Over the inner and middle pieces, thus closely 
 applied, was laid the outer piece, whose edge turned in secured all 
 three plates together. 
 
 Fig. 18 is an accurate representation of the outer surface of 
 one of the copper ornaments 
 found near the skull. Over 
 the surface figured are little 
 ridges of green carbonate of 
 copper that appear to have 
 been formed in the little fur 
 rows of the skin, probably of 
 the neck, when it was in con 
 tact with the ornament. This 
 disk and the corresponding 
 one of the pair are thicker than 
 usual, and the edges of both 
 show that they are made up 
 of two plates closety united to 
 a third or under plate, as de 
 scribed above. 
 
 Two of these ear ornaments found near the head have vegetable 
 fibre wound around the central column, as represented in Fig. 15. 
 One of these is so well preserved as to retain all the parts in place, 
 while all the others are more or less in pieces. The number of 
 these ornaments found with this single skeleton, six in all, or three 
 pairs, none of them in such a position as to indicate that they were 
 in the ears of the body at the time of burial, might be taken as 
 evidence that they are not ear ornaments, if it were not for the 
 conclusive evidence to the contrary referred to above. These may 
 have been placed with the dead as tributes, and need not have been 
 the personal property of the individual in life. The number of 
 these ornaments found on the altar of the great mound, some cov 
 ered with native iron, others with native silver, shows that they 
 were regarded as valued offerings, in keeping with the thousands 
 of pearls and other ornaments thrown upon the altar fires during 
 the ceremonies which there took place. Among the terra-cotta 
 figurines from one of the altars are several representing women ; 
 but it is only the men who are represented with ear ornaments. 
 This fact also suggests that those found with the skeleton were 
 offerings, as it is probably that of a woman. 
 
 REPORT OF PEABODY MUSEUM, III. 30. 
 
466 
 
 Two feet north of the head of the grave containing the skeleton 
 and objects last described was a large marine shell (34387). The 
 shell is much decayed and broken, but its central portion had been 
 cut out. Its position in the mound is indicated by the letter I in 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 It only remains to add to this description of the mound and its 
 contents, that in the northern portion, fourteen to twenty-two feet 
 from the central basin, we found three soft spots in the hard cla}* 
 under the mound, such as we have found to indicate places where 
 posts or large stakes have been. The position of these post-holes 
 is shown by H, H, H, Fig. 2. It is likely that these posts pro 
 jected through the mound ; but as they had long since gone to 
 decay, leaving only a little fine vegetable mould at the bottom of 
 the holes, and as the mound had been planted over for so many 
 years, this could not be determined. I may add, that in many of 
 our explorations of mounds we have found similar holes, some showr 
 ing where the outer layer of wood or bark of the post had been by 
 a deposit of bog iron, formed by infiltration from the clay above ; 
 and, following out the arrangement of the holes, we have been able 
 to show that in some cases a wooden structure had occupied the 
 site where the mounds were afterwards built, and by tracing the 
 position of the posts have even ascertained that the mounds some 
 times enclosed such structures, which were not simply central 
 chambers, but structures which included extensive rows of posts, 
 as in the case of the largest mound of this group.