. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 699 '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-shell resting in the earth just over the head, and a number of the bone awls already de- scribed 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
. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 699 '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-shell resting in the earth just over the head, and a number of the bone awls already de- scribed 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 began. When the mound had been elevated about 6 inches above the head, the shell was laid on and the work continued. Although the many perfect bone imple- ments found in this mound fully repaid the expense and labor of ex- ploration, some disappointment was felt, since, from the size and beauty of outline of the mound, we exjiected some fine discoveries in tlie way of pipes, copper axes, &c. This mound was raised to about the height of 6 feet with hard clay, and then finished with sand. The skeleton was about 10 feet below the surface. The shell, a fine specimen of Fyrula perversa with the inner whorls removed, so as to be used for a drink- ing cup, is rei^resented in the following figure:. Fig. 20. Pyrula drinking-cup, from mound near Naples, HI. Mound No. G, upon the river bank, is the finest in the vicinity. It is a truncated cone, about 13G feet in diameter at the base, 15 feet high, and 30 feet across the top. It is perfectly symmetrical, and from the success in the mounds upon the high ground great hopes were enter- tained of this, though the anticipations were not realized, yet what was found and the information we obtained fully paid the expense of opening the mound. The character of the earth was the same as that found in mound No. 3, but still much harder. More than once the workmen had to take their steel picks to the blacksmith shop and have them dressed.
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsmithsonianinstitutio, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840