the circular heap of stone, was found a human skeleton, lying on its back, with The head towards the west. Stones had also been placed at the sides and over the body, forming a rude sort of coffin. The bones were very much decayed, and only fragments could be obtained. The plates of the skull were too far gone to be restored.
In the left hand was a pipe of baked clay or pottery, ornamented with holes around the bowl, and also a quantity of red paint. In the right hand was a smaller pipe, cut from a soft kind of stone. They are both very small, and appear to have been articles of fancy, rather than use. At the head were found many fragments of pottery which had been crushed by the weight of the earth; these fragments were originally portions of two vessels, which had the form represented in Fig. 8. They are of the same coarse and rude materials as the fragments so frequently found on and near the surface in many localities throughout the State. The earth immediately over the skeleton was hard and black, indicating the action of fire, though no other evidence of this was discovered. Fragments of fresh-water shells (of the genus Unio1) were found with the fragments of pottery. No wood was found, nor were any vacant places noticed where it might have decayed. Another mound was opened a short distance west of the first, by sinking a shaft in the centre five feet in diameter. We soon reached burnt clay, of a yellow or reddish-yellow color, with stones almost calcined into quicklime by the intensity of the heat. Much charcoal was obtained; showing still the original pores and concentric circles of the wood, which appeared to be oak. The bones of a portion of the leg of a human being were found; but the remainder of the skeleton had evidently been consumed at the time of the interment. There had been no excavation below the natural surface of the ground in this case.
The materials composing these mounds were taken from the surface, so that no perceptible excavations are left in their vicinity; and the whole body of the tumulus consists of black mould, with occasional spots of yellowish clay. The difference between the artificial and natural soil was quite apparent. No articles [page 29:] of ornament or use, indicating any commerce with the white race, were discovered; and we are led to the conclusion that the mound was erected before the discovery of the country. The position of the skeleton, and other indications, show conclusively that no disturbance had taken place since the interment, and that the articles obtained were the original deposits. The skeleton was, without doubt, that of the personage for whom the mound was erected.
In .one of the vases at the head of the skeleton were the remains of a shell, apparently the Unio siliquoides, a very common species in the rivers and lakes of Wisconsin. These shells are often used for spoons; and this vase probably contained a supply of food for the departed while on the journey to the spirit-land.
It is impossible to estimate, with any degree of precision, the length of time that human bones may have remained when placed two feet in the earth, and covered with a mound still retaining an elevation of four feet; but it is certain that all traces of them would be gone in a few centuries, unless they were longer preserved by peculiar circumstances. The skeletons found here were, as before stated, very much decayed; but it is believed that their antiquity could not be very great. Roots of trees had penetrated to the bones, and drawn nourishment from their mouldering remains, thus hastening their decay; and their depth (four and six feet) below the top of the mound, was not so great as to exclude entirely the effects of moisture, especially in wet seasons. It is true, the hard layer of earth and the covering of stone had a preservative influence; but, upon the whole, it is not probable that these mounds have an antiquity of many hundred years.
It is clear, then, that this was one of the latest works of the mound-builders; one that connects them with the present race of Indians; and yet i