Burial Mounds of the Northern Sections of the United States Part 3

Without further discussion of this group, which, as before intimated, presents, so far as the mounds are concerned, some features which appear to ally the latter to one cla.s.s of burial mounds found in Wisconsin, we will now refer to some other works of this district explored by the Bureau a.s.sistants.

On the land owned by Mr. Fish, in Iowa, near the Mississippi River, a short distance below where the Little Iowa joins it, is a group of mounds placed on the crest of a ridge running parallel with the former stream about one-fourth of a mile therefrom. There are in all about thirty of these mounds, circular in form, and varying from 20 to 40 feet in diameter. These are all burial mounds, but one singular feature observed is that those on the higher sandy ground, although about the same size and having cores of clay similar to those on the firm clay portion of the ridge, have a layer of sand, some two feet or more added to them, yet when opened the contents and mode of construction of the two cla.s.ses were found to be the same, to wit, a layer of hard clay covering decaying human bones, fragments of pottery, and rude stone implements. There were generally two or more skeletons in a mound, which were placed horizontally side by side on the natural surface of the ground.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 8.--Section of mound showing stone vault (Iowa).]

Upon the terrace below the group were found the remnants of a row of comparatively large burial mounds. A railroad line having been carried along here, the larger portion of these works were destroyed; still, enough remained to show that the height varied from 6 to 15 feet, that they were composed chiefly of sandy loam similar to that around them, and that each had a hard central core of clay mixed with ashes, usually covering but a single skeleton. The relics found in them when opened consisted chiefly of stone axes, arrow and spear heads, and a few copper celts. In one, which was 32 feet in diameter and 8 feet high and less injured than the others, was a circular vault, walled as represented in Fig. 8. This was built of flat, unworked stones, laid up without mortar, gradually lessening as it ascended, and covered at the top by a single flat stone. In it was a single skeleton in a squatting posture, with which was a small earthen vase of globular form.

A singular fact was observed in a group near the town of Peru, Dubuque County. This group is situated on a dry, sandy bench or terrace some 20 feet or more above a bayou which, makes out from the Mississippi. It consists chiefly of small circular tumuli, but at the north end are four oblong mounds varying in length from 40 to 110 feet and in height from 1-1/2 to 4 feet; there is also an excavation about 30 feet in diameter and 6 feet deep, and scattered throughout the group are a number of circular earthen rings varying in diameter from 12 to 30 feet and from 1 to 2 feet in height.

Quite a number of the circular mounds were opened, but only detached portions of a skeleton were found in any one, as a skull in one, and a leg, arm, or other part in another, four or five adjacent ones apparently together containing the equivalents of an entire skeleton.

Some of these bones were charred, and all were much decayed, indicating by their appearance great age. The inner portion of the mounds consisted of hard, compact earth, chiefly clay, resembling in this respect most of the burial mounds of this region.

Unfortunately the examination of this group was too partial and too hastily made to enable us to form any theory as to the meaning of this singular mode of burial, or even to be satisfied that the idea of our a.s.sistant in this regard is correct.

As possibly having some bearing upon the question, the following facts relating to another similar group at Eagle Point, three miles above Dubuque, are given.

This group, which is situated on a bluff about 50 feet above high-water mark, consists of about seventy mounds, all of which, except two oblong ones, are small and conical in form. Eleven of these circular tumuli were thoroughly explored, but nothing was found in them except some charcoal, stone chips, and fragments of pottery. But in an excavation made in the center of a long mound just west of the group were found two decayed skeletons. Near the breast of one of them were a blue stone gorget and five rude stone sc.r.a.pers; with the other, thirty-one fresh-water pearls, perforated and used as beads. Excavations were made in an oblong and circular mound near the extreme point of the bluffs.

Each was found to have a central core of very hard clay mixed with ashes, so hard in fact that it could only be broken up with the pick, when it crumbled like dry lime mortar, and was found to be traversed throughout with flattened horizontal cavities. These cavities were lined with a peculiar felt-like substance, which Colonel Norris, who opened the mounds, was satisfied from all the indications pertained to bodies which had been buried here, but from lapse of time had entirely crumbled to earth save these little fragments. We are therefore perhaps justified in concluding that a more thorough and careful examination of the mounds of the other group would have shown that the skeletons had so far decayed as to leave but a small part in a mound. Nevertheless it is proper to state that Colonel Norris does not coincide with this conclusion, but thinks that the dismembered skeletons were buried as found. Possibly he is correct.

In this connection, and before referring to the mounds of this district on the Illinois side of the Mississippi, I desire to call attention to some modern Indian burials in this region. As the statements here made are from one claiming to be an eye-witness, I give them as related to the Bureau a.s.sistant.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9.--Plat of Indian burying-ground, Wapello County, Iowa.]

The locality is a level plat in a bend of the Des Moines River between Eldon and Iowaville, Wapello County. The plat of this area and the sites of the burial places, as shown in Fig. 9, are based upon the statements of Mr. J. H. Jordan (the person referred to), who has resided here since the close of the Black Hawk war, and was the agent of the Sacs and Foxes from their removal hither after the war until Black Hawk's death, September 15, 1838.[19]

The extreme width of the area represented is about 2 miles. Close to the point of the bend formerly stood the agency building, near which is the present residence of Mr. Jordan. The triangle marks the position of Black Hawk's grave; the parallel lines, the race-tracks; the rings in the upper corner, the mounds of the Iowas; those in the lower corner, near Iowaville, the mounds of the Pottawattamies; and the open dots, near the same point, the place where the scaffolds for their dead stood.

Mr. Jordan says:

"This valley had long been a famous haunt for the warring Indians, but was, at the time of my first personal acquaintance with it, in possession of the Iowas, whose main village was around the point where my present residence now stands. The race-course consisted of three hard beaten parallel tracks nearly a mile in length, where the greater portion of the Iowa warriors were engaged in sport when Black Hawk surprised and slaughtered a great portion of them in 1830. After Black Hawk and his warriors had departed with their plunder, the remaining Iowas returned and buried their dead in little mounds of sod and earth, from 2 to 4 feet high, at the point indicated on the diagram.

"After the Black Hawk war was over, the remnant of the Iowas, by treaty, formally ceded their rights in this valley to the Sacs and Foxes. At this place this noted chief was buried, in accordance with his dying request, in a full military suit given him by President Jackson, together with the various memorials received by him from the whites and the trophies won from the Indians. He was placed on his back on a 'puncheon' [split slab of wood], slanting at a low angle to the ground, where his feet were sustained by another, and then covered with several inches of sod. Over this was placed a roof-shaped covering of slabs or 'puncheons,' one end being higher than the other; over this was thrown a covering of earth and sod to the depth of a foot or more, and the whole surrounded by a line of pickets some 8 or 10 feet high."

Here we have evidence that some at least of the Indians of this region were accustomed to bury their dead in mounds down to a recent date.

One of the most important burial mounds opened in this district by the employes of the Bureau is situated on the bluff which overhangs East Dubuque (formerly Dunleith), Jo Daviess County, Illinois. As I shall have occasion to refer to others than the one mentioned, I give in Fig.

15, Plate III, a plan of the group, and in Fig. 16, same plate, a vertical section of the bluff along the line of mounds numbered 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, in which is seen the general slope of the upper area.

The mounds of this group are conical in form, varying from 12 to 70 feet in diameter and from 3 to 12 in height. All appear to have been built for burial purposes.

In No. 5, the largest of the group, measuring 70 feet in diameter and 12 feet in height, a skeleton, apparently an intrusive burial, was found at the depth of 2 feet immediately below the apex. Near the original surface of the ground, several feet north of the center, were the much-decayed skeletons of some six or eight individuals of every size from the infant to the adult. They were placed horizontally at full length with the heads toward the south. A few perforated _Unio_ sh.e.l.ls and some rude stone skinners and sc.r.a.pers were found with them. Near the original surface, some 10 or 12 feet from the center, on the lower side, was discovered, lying at full length on its back, an unusually large skeleton, the length being something over 7 feet. It was all distinctly traceable though it crumbled to pieces immediately after removal from the hard earth in which it was encased. With it were three thin, crescent-shaped pieces of roughly-hammered native copper, respectively 6, 8, and 10 inches in length, with some small holes along the convex margin; also a number of elongate copper beads, made by rolling together thin sheets, and a chert lance-head 11 inches long; the latter was placed near the left thigh. Around the neck were the remains of a necklace of bears' teeth. Lying across the thighs were dozens of small copper beads, evidently formed by rolling slender wire-like strips into small rings. The a.s.sistant who opened this mound, and who is personally well acquainted with Indian habits and customs, suggests that these beads once formed the ornamentation of the fringe of a hunting s.h.i.+rt.

As No. 4 of this group presents some peculiarities, I take the description from Colonel Norris's notes:

During a visit to this locality in 1857, he partially opened this mound, finding ma.s.ses of burned earth and charred human bones mingled with charcoal and ashes. At his visit in 1882, on behalf of the Bureau, a further examination revealed, on the lower side, the end of a double line of flat stones set on edge, about a foot apart at the bottom and leaned so as to meet at the top and form a roof-shaped flue or drain.

Following this up, he found that it extended inward nearly on a level, almost to the center of the mound, at which point it was nearly 3 feet below the original surface of the ground. Here a skeleton was discovered stretched horizontally in a vault or grave which had been dug in the ground before the mound was cast up. Over that portion below the waist (including the right arm) were placed flat stones so arranged as to support one another and prevent pressure on the body, but no traces of fire were on them; yet, when the upper portions of the body were reached, they were found so burned and charred as to be scarcely traceable amid the charcoal and ashes that surrounded them.

It was apparent that a grave had first been dug, then the right arm had been dislocated and placed by the side of the skeleton below the waist, and this part covered with stones as described, and then the remainder burned by a fire kindled over it.

A section of the mound showing the grave and stone drain is given in Fig. 10, in which 1 is the outline of the mound on the hill slope; 2, the pit; and 3, the stones of the drain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 10.--Section of mound 4, East Dubuque, Illinois.]

No. 13 was found to contain a circle or enclosure, 10 feet in diameter, of stone slabs set on edge at the natural surface of the ground. Within this circle, but some 2 feet below the surface, were five skeletons: two adults, two children, and one infant. They were all lying horizontally, side by side, with heads south, the adults at the outside and the children between them.

We are reminded by the mode of burial in this case of that in the mound opened by Dr. Lapham at Waukesha, Wisconsin, before referred to. In that the remains of a single individual were discovered, but in this it would seem that the skeletons of an entire family, gathered from their temporary resting places, had been carefully buried side by side, a silent testimonial to parental love and affection of friends among the mound-builders.

No. 1, 6 feet high and 45 feet in diameter, was found to be an ossuary.

Beneath the top layer was an arched stratum of clay and ashes mixed, so firm and hard as to retain its form unsupported over a s.p.a.ce of several feet. This covered a confused heap of human bones, many of which were badly decayed.

The marked feature of the group was found in No. 16, a remarkably symmetrical mound 65 feet in diameter and 10 feet high. After pa.s.sing downward 6 feet, mostly through a hard gray layer, a vault partly of timber and partly of stone was reached. A vertical section of the mound and vault is shown in Fig. 11, and the ground plan of the vault in Fig.

12.

This vault or crypt was found to be rectangular in form, inside measurements showing it to be 13 feet long and 7 feet wide, surrounded by a sandstone wall 3 feet high. Three feet from each end was a crosswall or part.i.tion of like character, thus forming a main central chamber 7 feet square, and a narrow chamber or cell at each end something over 2 feet wide and 7 feet long. The whole had been completely covered with a layer of logs from 6 to 12 inches in diameter, their ends reaching slightly beyond the side walls in the manner shown in Fig. 12.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PL. III. GROUP OF MOUNDS AND VERTICAL SECTION OF BLUFF, EAST DUBUQUE, ILL.]

In the center chamber were found eleven skeletons: six adults and five children of different ages, including one infant, the latter evidently buried in the arms of one of the adults, possibly its mother. Apparently they had all been buried at one time, arranged in a circle, in a squatting or sitting posture, against the walls. In the center of the s.p.a.ce around which they were grouped was a fine specimen of _Busycon perversum_, which had been converted into a drinking-cup by removing the columella. Here were also numerous fragments of pottery.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 11.--Section of mound 16 (Pl. III) showing vault.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 12.--Plan of vault, mound 16 (Pl. III).]

The end cells, walled off from the main portion, as heretofore stated, were found nearly filled with a very fine chocolate-colored dust, which gave out such a sickening odor that the workmen were compelled to stop operations for the day in order to allow it to escape.

The covering of the vault was of oak logs, most of which had been peeled and some of the larger ones somewhat squared by slabbing off the sides; and the slabs and bark thus removed, together with reeds or large gra.s.s stems, had been laid over them. Over the whole was spread layer after layer of mortar containing lime, each succeeding layer harder and thicker than that which preceded it, a foot or so of ordinary soil completing the mound.

As there can be scarcely a doubt that the mounds of this group were built by one tribe, we have here additional evidence that the same people were accustomed to bury their dead in various ways. Some of the skeletons are found lying horizontally side by side, others are placed in a circle in a sitting or squatting posture, while in another mound we find the dismembered bones heaped in a confused ma.s.s. In one place is a single huge frame decked with the ornaments of savage life, while in other places we see the members of a family lying side by side, and in others the bones, possibly of the ordinary people, heaped together in a common ossuary.

The timber-covered vault in mound No. 16 calls to mind very vividly the similar vaults mentioned by Squier and Davis,[20] found in the valley of the Scioto in Ohio. In the latter the walls as well as the covering were of logs, instead of stone, but the adaptation to circ.u.mstances may, perhaps, form a sufficient explanation of this difference. While there are several very marked distinctions between the Ohio works and those of the district now under consideration, there are also some resemblances, as we shall see as we proceed, which cannot be overlooked, and which seem to indicate relations.h.i.+p, contact, or intercourse between the people who were the authors of these different structures.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 13.--Pipe from Illinois mound. (After Smithsonian Report.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 14.--Pipe from Illinois mound, 1/2. (After Smithsonian Report.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 15.--Pipe from Illinois mound, 1/2. (After Smithsonian Report.)]

In additional support of this view, I call attention to the carved pipes found by members of the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, in the mounds near Davenport, Iowa, already referred to, which are represented on Plates IV and x.x.xIV of Vol. I of the Proceedings of that society, and to others obtained by Judge J. G. Henderson from some mounds near Naples, Illinois, and described in the Smithsonian Report for 1882. The latter are shown in Figs. 13, 14, and 15. The relation of these to the pipes found in the Ohio works by Squier and Davis is too apparent to be attributed to accident, and forces us to the conclusion that there was intercourse of some kind between the two peoples, and hence that the works of the two localities are relatively of the same age.

The mode of burial in one of the mounds near Naples is so suggestive in this connection that I quote here Judge Henderson's description:

The oval mound No. 1 was explored in April, 1881, by beginning a trench at the north end and carrying it to the original surface and through to the south end. Lateral trenches were opened at intervals, and from these and the main one a complete exploration was made by tunneling.

Near the center of the mound a single skeleton was found in a sitting position, and no objects were about it except a single sea-sh.e.l.l resting on the earth _just over the head_, and a number of the bone awls, already described, _sticking in the sand around the skeleton_. The individual had been seated upon the sand, these awls stuck around him in a circle 4 or 5 inches in the sand, and the work of carrying dirt begun.

When the mound had been elevated about 6 inches above the head the sh.e.l.l was laid on and the work continued.

The sh.e.l.l alluded to is a fine specimen of _Busycon perversum_, with the columella removed in order to form a drinking cup.