the remains of several human skeletons, all of
which had been burnt to such an extent as to leave but small
fragments of the bones, which were mixed with the ashes and
charcoal. Mr. Curtiss thought that in one chamber he found the
remains of 5 skeletons and in another 13. With these skeletons there
were a few flint implements and minute fragments of vessels of clay.
A large mound near the chambered mounds was also opened, but in this
no chambers were found. Neither had the bodies been burnt. This
mound proved remarkably rich in large flint implements, and also
contained well-made pottery and a peculiar "gorget" of red stone.
The connection of the people who placed the ashes of their dead in
the stone chambers with those who buried their dead in the earth
mounds is, of course, yet to be determined.
It is quite possible, indeed probable, that these chambers were used for
secondary burials, the bodies having first been cremated.
In the volume of the proceedings already quoted, the same investigator
gives an account of other chambered mounds which are, like the
preceding, very interesting, the more so as adults only were inhumed
therein, children having been buried beneath the dwelling-floors:
Mr. F. W. Putnam occupied the rest of the evening with an account of
his explorations of the ancient mounds and burial places in the
Cumberland Valley, Tennessee.
The excavations had been carried on by himself, assisted by Mr.
Edwin Curtiss, for over two years, for the benefit of the Peabody
Museum at Cambridge. During this time many mounds of various kinds
had been thoroughly explored, and several thousand of the singular
stone graves of the mound builders of Tennessee had been carefully
opened. * * * Mr. Putnam's remarks were illustrated by drawings of
several hundred objects obtained from the graves and mounds,
particularly to show the great variety of articles of pottery and
several large and many unique forms of implements of chipped flint.
He also exhibited and explained in detail a map of a walled town of
this old nation. This town was situated on the Lundsley estate, in a
bend of Spring Creek. The earth embankment, with its accompanying
ditch, encircled an area of about 12 acres. Within this inclosure
there was one large mound with a flat top, 15 feet high, 130 feet
long, and 90 feet wide, which was found not to be a burial mound.
Another mound near the la
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