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WRITINGS OF ARCHEOLOGY. 
 By Clarence B. Moore. 
 
 Certain Shell Heaps of the St. Johns River, Florida, hitherto unexplored. The American Naturalist, Nov., 1892, 
 
 to Jany., 1894, inclusive. Five papers with illustrations in text, and maps. 
 Certain Sand Mounds of the St. Johns River, Florida, Parts I and II. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences 
 
 of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, 1894. Vol. X. Quarto, 130 and 123 pages. Frontispieces, maps, plates, 
 
 illustrations in the text. 
 Certain Sand Mounds of Duval County, Florida; Two Mounds on Murphy Island, Florida; Certain Sand Mounds 
 
 of the Ocklawaha River, Florida. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 189.5. Vol. X. Quarto, 108 pages. 
 
 Frontispiece, maps, plates, illustrations in text. 
 Additional Mounds of Duval and of Clay Counties, Florida; Mound Investigation on the East Coast of Florida; 
 
 Certain Florida Coast Mounds north of the St. Johns River. Privately printed, Philadelphia, 1896. Quarto , 
 
 30 pages. Map, plates, illustrations in text. 
 Certain Aboriginal Mounds of the Georgia Coast. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1897. Vol. XI. Quarto, 
 
 144 pages. Frontispiece, map, plates, illustrations in text. 
 Certain Aboriginal Mounds of the Coast of South Carolina; Certain Aboriginal Mounds of the Savannah River; 
 
 Certain Aboriginal Mounds of the Altamaha River; Recent Acquisitions; A Cache of Pendent Ornaments. 
 
 Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1898. Vol. XL Quarto, 48 pages. Frontispiece, maps, illustrations 
 
 in text. 
 Certain Aboriginal Remains of the Alabama River. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1899. Vol. XL Quarto, 
 
 62 pages. Map, illustrations in text. 
 Certain Antiquities of the Florida West-Coast. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1900. Vol. XL Quarto, 46 
 
 pages. Maps, illustrations in text. 
 Certain Aboriginal Remains of the Northwest Florida Coast, Part I; Certain Aboriginal Remains of the Tombigbee 
 
 River. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1901. Vol. XL Quarto, 100 pages. ]\Iaps, illustrations in text. 
 Certain Aboriginal Remains of the Northwest Florida Coast, Part II. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1902. 
 
 Vol. XII. Quarto, 235 pages. Maps, illustrations in text. 
 Certain Aboriginal Mounds of the Central Florida West-Coast; Certain Aboriginal Mounds of the Apalachicola 
 
 River. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1903. Vol. XII. Quarto, 136 pages. Maps, illustrations in text. 
 Sheet-copper from the Mounds is not Necessarily of European Origin. American Anthropologist, Jan.-March, 
 
 1903. Plates in text. 
 The So-called "Hoe-shaped Implement." American Anthropologist, July-Sept., 1903. Illustrations in text. 
 Aboriginal Urn-burial in the United States. American Anthropologist, Oct.-Dec, 1904. Plate. 
 A Form of Urn-burial on Mobile Bay. American Anthropologist, Jan.-March, 1905. 
 Certain Aboriginal Remains of the Black Warrior River [Moundville] ; Certain Aboriginal Remains of the Lower 
 
 Tombigbee River; Certain Aboriginal Remains of Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound; Miscellaneous In- 
 vestigation in Florida. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1905. Vol. XIII. Quarto, 206 pages. Maps, 
 
 illustrations in text. 
 Moundville Revisited; Crystal River Revisited; Mounds of the Lower Chattahoochee and Lower Flint Rivers; 
 
 Notes on the Ten Thousand Islands, Florida. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1907. Vol. XIII. Quarto, 
 
 144 pages. Maps, illustrations in text. 
 Certain Mounds of Arkansas and of Mississippi (including Doctor Hrdlicka's paper on the Crania). Journ. 
 
 Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1908. Vol. XIII. Quarto, 130 pages. Maps, illustrations in text, eight colored 
 
 plates. 
 Antiquities of the Ouachita Vallej'. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1909. Vol. XIV. Quarto, 170 pages. 
 
 Maps, illustrations in text, eight colored plates. (In addition in this number is Doctor Hrdlicka's paper on 
 
 the skeletal remains.) 
 Antiquities of the St. Francis, White, and Black Rivers. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1910. Vol. XIV. 
 
 Quarto, 112 pages. Maps, illustrations in text, twenty colored plates. 
 Some Aboriginal Sites on Mississippi River. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1911. Vol. XIV. Quarto, 116 
 
 pages. Map, illustrations in text, eight colored plates. 
 Some Aboriginal Sites on Red River. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 1912. ^''ol. XIV. Quarto, 163 pages. 
 
 Map, plans, illustrations in text, eight colored plates. 
 
 
Some Aboriginal Sites in Louisiana and in 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 Atchafalaya River, Lake Larto, Tensas River, Bayou Macon, Bayou D'Arbonne, 
 in Louisiana; Saline River, in Ari<ansas 
 
 BY 
 
 CLARENCE B. MOORE 
 
 A Report on a Collection of Crania and Bones from Sorrel 
 Bayou, Iberville Parish, Louisiana 
 
 BY 
 
 DR. A. HRDLICKA 
 
 Curator, Division of Physical Antliropology, United States National Museum 
 
 Reprint from the JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA, Vol. XVI 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 1913 
 
ARKAN 
 LOUIS 
 
SOME ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 (Atchapalaya River, Lake Larto, Tensas River, Bayou Ma^on, Bayou 
 D'Arbonne, in Louisiana; Saline River, in Arkansas.) 
 
 By Clarence B. Moore. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 Our archseological investigation, this season, occupied parts of November 
 and December, 1912, of January and April, 1913, and all February and March, 
 1913, one hundred and thirty days in all, and embraced portions of Atchafalaya 
 river, of Lake Larto, of Tensas river, of Bayou Magon, of Bayou D'Arbonne, 
 all in the state of Louisiana, and a portion of Saline river, in the state of Arkansas. 
 
 The investigation of these regions, which hitherto, in the main, were unknown 
 from an archseological point of view, proved rather an unproductive task. This 
 result was not unexpected, as our agents, who had conducted a search in advance, 
 had reported unfavorably on nearly all the various localities, and as, in ad- 
 dition, we fully realized that unsatisfactory conditions would, of necessity, be 
 imposed upon us in this territory, most of which is subject to overflow, where 
 the destruction or the impairment of mounds is not permissible. Nevertheless, 
 these various localities seemed to call for investigation owing to their geo- 
 graphical relation to our former work. 
 
 As we have had occasion to explain in earlier reports, our investigation is 
 accomplished by the use of a steamer of light draught as headquarters, in which 
 men and material readily can be transported. The use of a steamer in this 
 connection, however, is open to serious objection, since one's effort is limited 
 to navigable water; but, on the other hand, a far greater amount of work can be 
 accomplished in this way, and this is of vital importance since, in the United 
 States, aboriginal remains are constantly being destroyed, and with deplorable 
 speed, by treasure-seekers, relic-sellers, and by cultivation, while the number 
 of those engaged in legitimate research in the field is very limited. 
 
 In order still further to facilitate the work, it is our invariable custom to 
 have such territory as seems to offer opportunities for investigation, visited in 
 advance, in order that, if a favorable decision as to its desirability is reached, 
 the location of mounds and cemeteries may be determined and permission to 
 investigate may be obtained. 
 
 The regions investigated by us this year had been carefully searched and 
 reported on in part by Capt. J. S. Raybon, and partly by Capt. W. D. Piatt, 
 who, as a rule, with companions, visited all the localities in small boats in summer 
 seasons, making careful inquiries as they went. 
 
MAP OF ATCHAFALAYA KIVER 
 
 Scale in rn iles. 
 J 20 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 9 
 
 Both these gentlemen had been with us in some of our investigations and 
 were fully conversant with the nature of our work. Captain Piatt subsequently 
 commanded our steamer throughout the season. 
 
 Dr. M. G. Miller, this season, accompanied the expedition as anatomist, 
 as has been the case in all our previous archaeological investigations, and has aided 
 in putting this report through the press. 
 
 Mr. S. G. Weir was present as assistant for the third time and aided the 
 expedition in various ways. 
 
 The thanks of the Academy are tendered: Dr. Ales Hrdhcka for his paper 
 on the crania discovered by the expedition,^ which appears at the end of this 
 report; Prof. F. A. Lucas for determination as to bones of lower animals; Dr. H. 
 A. Pilsbry for identification of shells; Mr. F. J. Keeley for determination of 
 minerals and of rocks; Dr. H. F. Keller for chemical tests; Miss H. N. Wardle for 
 aid with the index; and Mr. F. W. Hodge for literary revision of the report. 
 
 The Academy also warmly thanks all owners of properties who so courte- 
 ously placed them at its disposal for investigation, and wishes to assure them that 
 their kindness is most thoroughly appreciated. 
 
 All sites are described in order ascending streams or lakes, though the in- 
 vestigation was not always made in this way. 
 
 ATCHAFALAYA RIVER, LOUISIANA. 
 
 Atchafalaya river, in reality a continuation of Red river, leaves that stream 
 eight miles^ by water from where such waters of Red river as have not been 
 diverted by the Atchafalaya, enter the Mississippi. 
 
 The Atchafalaya, after leaving Red river, follows a course southeasterly 
 in the main, through the lower eastern part of that portion of the state of Louisi- 
 ana that lies west of the Mississippi, and passing through part of the maze of 
 lakes, bayous, and waterways found in that region, ultimately enters the Gulf 
 of Mexico. In following this course, Atchafalaya river, at Butte La Rose, 
 spreads into a swampy region intersected with bayous and lakes, and the name 
 of the river temporarily is dropped. Upper Grand river and Grand river being 
 usually considered as continuations of the Atchafalaya. The stream, however, 
 comes together a few miles above Morgan City, and the name Atchafalaya is 
 resumed, continuing on to the Gulf. 
 
 Atchafalaya river (under its various names) was searched in our behalf 
 previous to our expedition by Capt. J. S. Raybon and a companion, from its 
 junction with Red river to Morgan City, 148 miles by water. ^ In addition, 
 
 ' Only seventeen crania were discovered, this season, in a condition to preserve. Sixteen 
 of these came from the mound on Sorrel Bayou, in the Atchafalaya region, Louisiana, and one 
 from a mound on Saline river, Arkansas. 
 
 ^ These eight miles are given the name Old river on some maps. 
 
 ' All distances by water, of any importance, given in this report, are measured miles from 
 United States Government maps. 
 
10 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Captain Raybon's search included many lakes and bayous connected with the 
 river. No investigation was made by him of that part of Atchafalaya river 
 below Morgan City, which flows mainly through marsh. 
 
 Our own investigation included all the river traversed by Captain Raybon, 
 with the exception of several collateral sites, whose omission will be explained 
 later in our account. 
 
 The Atchafalaya region is low-lying in the main, and inhabitants in parts 
 of it, from whom inquiries can be made, are few. Consequently numerous sites, 
 no doubt, remain unlocated, though such as were found most likely were rep- 
 resentative. 
 
 In this region burials in mounds were numerous, but the custom to inter 
 artifacts with the dead apparently was not practised. 
 
 Sites Investigated. 
 On the Miller Place, Assumption Parish.^ 
 On Bonnet Bayou, Assumption Parish. 
 On Little Pigeon Bayou, Iberia Parish. 
 On Sorrel Bayou, Iberville Parish. 
 Near the Schwing Place, Iberville Parish. 
 Opposite Pigeon Bayou, Iberville Parish. 
 On Lake La Rose, St. Martin Parish. 
 On Bayou La Rose, St. Martin Parish. 
 On the Wilbert property, Iberville Parish. 
 On Bayou Grosse Tete, Iberville Parish. 
 On Alabama Bayou, Iberville Parish. 
 Near Melville, St. Landry Parish. 
 
 Mounds on Lake Verret, Assumption Parish. 
 
 At the lower end of Lake Verret are two mounds on property of Mr. Octave 
 Delaune, reported by our agent who visited them, to be each about 6 feet in 
 height and 60 and 40 feet in diameter, respectively. 
 
 Although permission had been obtained to investigate these mounds, an 
 approaching flood made it inadvisable to do so. 
 
 Mound on the Miller Place, Assumption Parish. 
 This mound, or ridge, more correctly speaking, borders Grand river, on 
 property of Mr. C. P. Miller, who resides on it. The ridge, which has great 
 irregularity of surface, is about 40 paces in width. Its length is hard to determine, 
 as it extends some distance at one end almost at the level of the surrounding 
 ground. Roughly speaking, it may be said to be 250 yards long. Its maximum 
 height, measured from the outside, is 4 feet 8 inches, but a trial-hole put down at 
 this place did not reach undisturbed clay until 7.5 feet had been penetrated. 
 
 ^ Such divisions of the commonwealth as are termed counties in other states of the union 
 are known as parishes in the state of Louisiana. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 11 
 
 As this ridge was under cultivation at the time of our visit, and as its position 
 above the surrounding level made any considerable digging in it undesirable, 
 in view of the oncoming flood (April, 1913), we were restricted in our research. 
 Various trial-holes showed the ridge, so far as we could determine, to be differently 
 composed. Presumably, when of much less extent, the ridge, made up of midden 
 material, including many broken shells, mostly Rangia cuneata (a clam), had 
 been enlarged by the addition of clay. Conseciuently one had to dig but a short 
 distance down in what had been the original ridge to reach the midden debris, 
 while where the sloj^es had been and (luantities of cla}^ had been added to bring 
 them to a general level, it was necessary to dig for several feet through clay before 
 reaching the midden debris of the original sloi)e. 
 
 Over the surface of the ridge lay shells, mostly in fragments. According 
 to Mr. Miller, the owner of the place, much of the ridge, until recently, had been 
 covered with a mass of these shells, which, later, had been towed away in 
 barges to ])ave the town of Franklin on Bayou Teche. yir. Miller said also 
 that, when cultivating the ridge, many human bones had been plowed up, and 
 in point of fact in all directions could be seen on the surface fragments of such 
 bones. According to Mr. Miller, no artifacts had been found with the bones. 
 
 Several of our trial-holes came ujion inconsiderable parts of skeletons, 
 greatly scattered, which presumably were disturbances. 
 
 One trial-hole, that made in the highest part of the ridge, reached the upper 
 surface of a burial at a depth of 14 inches. This burial was a dei)osit of bones, 
 including one skull. In the same hole, 5.5 feet down, a skeleton of a young 
 child was reached, with which was part of the skeleton of an adult, in anatomical 
 order, of which the skull, and the bones of the arms and of the lower extremities 
 below the knees, were missing. 
 
 On the surface of the ridge were found: various fragments of iwttery, some 
 marked with the imi)rint of a wooden stamp,* of a kind shown in Fig. 1; an 
 
 to 
 
 Fig. 1. — Fragments of earthenware with stamped decoration. (Full size ) 
 
 1 We forwarded a fragment selected from a number bearing tlti.s decoration, from this region. 
 Prof. William H. Holmes, who kindly writes of it as follows; 
 
12 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 arrowhead of red flint, slightly more than .5 inch in length, being a flake worked 
 on one side only. There was picked up also an object of earthenware belonging 
 to a class shown in Plate II. These objects, hitherto unreported, were found by 
 us in various sites in Louisiana and will be fully described later in this report. 
 
 Mounds on Bonnet Bayou, Assumption Paeish. 
 
 About two miles up Bonnet bayou, on property of Mr. Gus Drews, of 
 Morgan City, La., are three mounds about 200 yards in from the water. 
 
 The mound nearest the bayou, which, like the other two, has been plowed 
 out of shape and greatly spread, is of tenacious clay and about 2 feet in height. 
 As the mounds on this place were the reliance, in time of flood, of those owning 
 cattle in that region, they were not accorded a thorough investigation; but several 
 holes sunk into the one in question came upon a skeleton near the surface, so 
 badly decayed that the exact form of burial was not determinable, though the 
 skeleton seemed to have been closely flexed on the left side. 
 
 The remaining two mounds differed from the other in that they had been 
 places of abode and contained a large proportion of midden material. They 
 are known as "shell banks" in the neighborhood, though in reality they are far 
 from being shell-heaps, containing as they do a small proportion of shells, mostly 
 Rangia cuneata, with a few Quadrula apiculata, in such parts where shells are 
 present at all. 
 
 The larger of the two "shell banks" was accorded an incomplete investi- 
 gation, the holes indicating that the ridge, which had a maximum height of 4 
 feet where less plowing had been done than elsewhere, perhaps owing to the 
 presence of trees, had increased in height in the main during a period of oc- 
 cupancy, as the material of which it was largely composed seemed to show. 
 An addition, however, of clay had been made to the mound, presumably further 
 to increase its height, probably after a time of unusually high water. 
 
 Scattered bones were found at several points in the mound, but only one 
 burial was encountered. The superficial part of the mound above this burial 
 consisted of a layer, 4 inches deep, of black loam with a mingling of shells. Pre- 
 sumably this layer had been much thicker at one time; in fact we were informed 
 by the custodian of the property that all the mounds had been considerably 
 higher in the past. Beneath the upper layer was a stratum of clay 14 inches deep, 
 almost immediately under which lay the burial in black midden material which 
 contained no shells, though it was noted that the corresponding layer in another 
 part of the mound had a fair proportion of them. The burial, of the kind so 
 
 "The bit of pottery enclosed in your letter is the most westerly example yet fomid of the 
 stamped ware which characterizes the south Appalachian region. The matrix is siliceous, and 
 the pot has been built in the same way as the vessels from the states to the east of the Mississippi. 
 The stamp used has been merely faced with a number of squarish teeth and has been appHed as 
 a paddle over the surface of the vessel." 
 
 This form of stamp has been fully described by Professor Holmes in his "Aboriginal Pottery 
 of Eastern United States," pp. 78, 80", 20th Ann. Rep. Bur. Am. Ethn. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 13 
 
 often found in this region, consisted of a layer of skeletal remains, including nine 
 crania. 
 
 With these bones was a fractured humerus showing a fair union of the parts, 
 all conditions considered. This specimen was sent as a gift to the Army Medical 
 Museum, Washington, D. C, where a large collection of pathological specimens 
 presented by us may be seen. 
 
 No artifact lay with the bones, although these people had pottery, as 
 fragments marked with imprints of stamps were in the soil, and one part of a 
 vessel was found having below the rim, five parallel, encircling, incised lines, 
 each line, at intervals, having punctate markings. 
 
 On the surface of the mound was found part of a celt of igneous rock, having 
 a flaring cutting edge and evidently having formed part of a graceful tool. 
 
 Mound on Little Pigeon Bayou, Iberia Parish. 
 
 On property belonging to Mr. Charles Forgy, of Berwick, La., on Little 
 Pigeon bayou, is a mound in woods, about one-quarter mile SSW. from the 
 landing. This mound, 5 feet in height and 75 feet across its circular base, was 
 investigated by us to a limited extent only, as it was soon to be employed as a 
 refuge in the approaching high water. It was, so nearly as we could determine, 
 composed of raw clay and probably never had been a burial mound. 
 
 Mound^ on Sorrel Bayou, Iberville Parish. 
 
 About a mile and a half along Sorrel bayou from its junction with Grand 
 river is a mound in full view from the water, on property belonging to Messrs. 
 A. Wilbert's Sons, of Plaquemine, La., whose large holdings of real estate in this 
 region were most courteously placed by them at the disposal of the Academy 
 for investigation. 
 
 The mound, most picturesquely situated, about 16 feet in height, is in the 
 form of a truncated cone, with a diameter of 140 feet. It has been used exten- 
 sively for burial purposes during the last seventy years and is covered with 
 crosses and head-stones. Digging into it was deemed inadvisable. 
 
 In contact with and about surrounding the northern half of the mound 
 (ENE. to WSW.) is a kind of platform with some irregularity of surface. The 
 maximum height of this platform at the western end, where it is 100 feet broad 
 (12 feet of which belongs to the slope), is 6 feet. From this end the platform 
 slopes downward somewhat toward the eastern end, where it again ascends, 
 reaching a height of 5.5 feet. At this end the platform is 145 feet across, 20 feet 
 of which is slope. 
 
 Trial-holes sunk in this platform showed that it increased during aboriginal 
 
 ^ This mound is shown on the United States Government "Map of the Alluvial Valley of 
 the Mississippi River, from the head of St. Francis Basin to the Gulf of Mexico." Published 
 by the Mississippi River Commission. A most useful pubhcation for those interested in this 
 region. 
 
14 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 occupancy, as it was composed largely of black soil containing ashes, charcoal, 
 fragments of mussel-shells, remnants of fish-bones and of deer-bones, with 
 occasional fragments of pottery. In the soil was found also a bone identified 
 by Prof. F. A. Lucas as the penis-bone of an otter. Some of the holes were 
 extended to the base of the platform, through this midden material without 
 interval of any kind. On the other hand, in places, layers of clay, several inches 
 in thickness, were present, locally, and perhaps had been placed in connection 
 with burials, as these layers were sometimes found in the neighborhood of 
 some of the skeletal remains; other burials, however, were without such 
 strata. 
 
 The platform apparently was crowded with burials (nearly all our holes 
 reaching them), and at all depths, some beginning one foot from the surface, 
 while one in the high, western part of the platform was only 12 inches above 
 undisturbed clay, which there was found 7.5 feet down.^ 
 
 It was impossible to define the limits of the grave-pits, which seemingly 
 had been dug at different stages in the growth of the platform, as the material 
 of which the platform was made was nearly uniform in color, and the clay layers, 
 when present, did not entirely cover the burials as a rule. These burials, 
 which, with two exceptions, were great deposits of bones mingled and spread 
 and of course out of anatomical order, sometimes connected on the same level, 
 or, at times, layers of bones somewhat below others were dug into when soil 
 was being thrown out to facilitate the removal of upper deposits. 
 
 Burial No. 1 was the skeleton of an adult, at full length on the back. 
 
 Burial No. 2, adult, lay closely flexed on the left side, the upper part of the 
 skeleton being more than 3 feet from the surface. The skull and some of the 
 other bones of this skeleton were saved. 
 
 The remaining burials, for reasons aforesaid, were not separately enumerated. 
 The bones belonging to them included two hundred and sixty-eight skulls, two 
 being of adolescents and five of children. Sixteen crania that were in condition 
 to preserve, including the skull belonging to the single burial referred to, were 
 sent as a gift to the United States National Museum and are described by 
 Dr. Ales Hrdlicka in a paper at the close of this report. 
 
 At least two of the skulls from this place, when unearthed, were filled with clay 
 very light in shade and entirely differing from the soil in which they were found. 
 This fact indicates a reburial, strong evidence of which we found also in the 
 Mayes Mound at Lake Larto, which is described in this report. 
 
 We know that reburial was practised to some extent, at least, throughout 
 this region. Of the Chitimacha,^ who lived in various villages throughout this 
 part of Louisiana, we are told:^ "One year after the death of a head chief, or of 
 
 1 Probably our measurement of the height of the platform was taken from made-ground 
 about 1.5 foot above undisturbed clay. 
 
 2 John R. Swanton, "Indian Tribes of the Lower Mississippi Valley and Adjacent Coast 
 of the Gulf of Mexico," p. .337, et seq., Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 43, 
 
 'Ibid., p. 350, quoting Gatschet. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 15 
 
 any of the village war chiefs, of whom there were four or five, their bones were dug 
 up by a certain class of ministrants called ' turkey-buzzard men ' (Osh hd' tch'na) 
 the remaining flesh separated, the bones wrapped in a new and checkered mat 
 and brought to that lodge. . . . After which the bones were placed in a mound. 
 . . . The burial of the common people was effected in the same way, one year 
 after death; but the inhumation of the bones took place at the village where they 
 had died." 
 
 No artifact of any kind was found in association with the burials. In the 
 midden debris were: four implements of bone, each having the articular part 
 remaining at one end; several broken bone implements; three of those objects of 
 clay to which reference has been made and of which full description will be 
 given later; and a rude knife of chert. 
 
 The fragments of pottery from this place are of good, hard ware, sometimes 
 fairly thin, and indicate vessels presenting a variety 4Df shapes and decoration 
 of average excellence. One fragment shows uniform decoration with red pig- 
 ment, and a number of others bear imprints made apparently by the aid of a 
 stamp. 
 
 Mound near the Schwing Place, Iberville Parish. 
 
 At the Schwing Place, on Grand river, said to belong to Messrs. Wilbert's 
 Sons, of Plaquemine, La., are remains of a railroad extending inland. Fol- 
 lowing this road for about one mile and then entering woods on the south side 
 of the track, a distance of about 200 feet, one reaches a mound between 4 and 
 5 feet in height and about 75 feet in diameter. 
 
 Eleven trial-holes showed the mound to be variously composed, some of 
 the holes reaching clay of a light shade, comparatively well up in the mound, 
 others going through black soil, evidently midden material, down to what 
 seemed to be the base. 
 
 The more central trial-holes came upon six burials, as follows: two bunched 
 burials, each with one skull; a burial at full length, too much decayed to determine 
 if originally it had lain on the back or prone; the skeleton of a child; the skull and 
 the upper half of the trunk of an adult skeleton, the rest missing through some 
 cause that was not apparent; a skeleton at full length on the back. 
 
 The full-length skeleton described as badly decayed lay with six inches 
 of earth above it. Three inches below the skull, or about 15 inches down, was 
 a deposit of objects of earthenware, thirty-two in fairly good condition and a 
 number of imperfect ones and fragments. The deposit was not heaped, but was 
 spread at the same level. These objects are of the kind referred to before in 
 this report, and belong to the type of artifacts found in great numbers at Poverty 
 Point, on Bayou Magon, La., examples of which are shown in Plate II, and which 
 will be fully described in connection with the Poverty Point site. The objects 
 from that place have various shapes, but those under description from the 
 Schwing Place mound belong, such as are whole, to two classes, one having the 
 
16 ABORlCilXAL SITES IX LOUISIANA AND IX ARKAXSAS. 
 
 shape of two cones placed base to Ixisc, ami tlie other, also a double cone but with 
 four lon.iiitudinal furrows. I'Xanii)les of these are shown in Fig. 2. 
 
 Fkj. 2.— ()l)ji.Tls (if cartlu 
 
 ■aiv. SrliwiiiK Plac 
 
 (Full Vizi'. 
 
 All these objects from tliis place, even the fragments, were coated with what 
 Doctor Keller has determined to Ix' chiy, sand, and Hn(^ particles of carbon — ash 
 material. In other words, these ol),ieets had lain in a fireplace, though there was 
 no sign of a former fire where they were found. 
 
 Tln'oughout the movmd, and e\-i()ently midden-delwis, were ^'arious frag- 
 ments of pott(>ry, some of fairly good ciuality, several having simi)le d(>signs 
 comi)Osed of incised lines, and one showing traces of red ]xiint. 
 
 Apart from bon{\s was a Hint arrowi)oint or lancehead about 3 inches in 
 length, one IrAvh of which is missing. 
 
 Mound Opposite Pigkon Bayot, IsEiniLLE P.vhish. 
 
 iMitering woods opposite Pigeon Bayou, belonging to AI(\ssrs. A. ^Ailbert's 
 Sons, of Pla(|uemine, La., and keei)ing a XXL. direction for alxnit 200 yards 
 from the water, one comes to a mound which was visited by ovu' agents at a time 
 when the Atchafalaya river was fairly low. This mound, at that time, was 
 report(Hl to be 100 feet in diameter and 4 feet in height. It was possilile for us, 
 later, owing to high water, to I'cach this mound only l)y boat, but as most of it 
 was under water, no investigation could lie attempted. 
 
 Alouxns ox L.VKE La Po)SE, St. Martin Pauish. 
 
 On the l)ank of Lake La Piose, within sight of one another when not obscured 
 by foliage, are three mounds on jiroperty of Mr. Robert Martin, of St. ^lartinville. 
 La. 
 
 The mound neai'cst the water and in full view from it has been (juadrangular, 
 and i)ro))ably scjuai'e, Init lias been greatly washed and worn, ^^'e were told 
 that on its summit-plateau, now 24 fe(>t by 4S feet in extent, forty jiersons had 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 17 
 
 lived for four months during the great flood of 1912. The plateau, it was said, 
 then was larger than at present, but had worn away under this prolonged and 
 congested occupancy. In height the mound slightly exceeds 11 feet; its diameter 
 of base is about 95 feet each way. 
 
 It was evident the mound had been occupied for a considerable period in 
 aboriginal times, and that graves had been dug into it, probably from the surface, 
 and filled with a black, superficial soil differing in color from the clay of which 
 the mound had been made. Presumably, however, the dark surface soil had 
 been mostly worn away from the mound, as it was present only in graves, of 
 which five were encountered. Four of these graves held scattered fragments of 
 bones, probably disturbances, all about one foot from the surface. One burial, 
 16 inches down, was of the bunched variety, with one skull. 
 
 In view of the reliance placed on this mound as a place of retreat by those 
 living near it, and that the rising water was not far from its base at the time of our 
 visit, we did not feel justified in undertaking more extensive digging into it. 
 
 In a SSW. direction from the quadrangular mound is another in the form of 
 a truncated cone, 8 feet in height and about 90 feet in diameter. This mound 
 had dark soil extending more than two feet down in places, but considerable 
 digging failed to discover burials. 
 
 In the dark soil was found a graceful bead of granite, tubular in the main, 
 but expanding slightly at the center; it measures somewhat more than one and 
 one-half inch in length and one-half inch in maximum diameter. 
 
 This mound is promising in appearance, and under different conditions a 
 large central excavation would have been sunk to its base. 
 
 The third mound, an insignificant affair, is composed of tough clay. A very 
 brief investigation was accorded it. 
 
 Mounds on Bayou La Rose, St. Martin Parish. 
 About 200 yards from the bank of Bayou La Rose is a mound 7 feet in height 
 and about 95 feet in diameter of base. This mound, in woodland belonging 
 to Mr. J. S. Martin, of St. MartinviUe, La., was surrounded by water at the time 
 of our visit, and no digging into it was attempted. Near it was a small mound 
 in part covered by water, which also was left untouched. 
 
 Mound on the Wilbert Property, Iberville Parish. 
 
 About 100 yards in from the east bank of Atchafalaya river, in woodland 
 
 belonging to Messrs. A. Wilbert's Sons, of Plaquemine, is a mound about circular 
 
 in basal outline and 60 feet in diameter. The height is from 18 inches to 2 feet. 
 
 The mound proved to be a mass of roots and tough clay and yielded no return. 
 
 Mounds on Bayou Grosse Tete, Iberville Parish. 
 On Grosse Tete bayou, on property of the L. 0. Landry Co., of Grosse 
 Tete, La., are two mounds which were visited by our agent, one reported to be 
 
18 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 10 feet in height and about 70 feet in diameter; the other about half that size. 
 Though these mounds were placed at our disposal for investigation, the high 
 water prevailing at the time we reached their vicinity was such that digging 
 into them was deemed inadvisable. 
 
 Mound on Alabama Bayou, Iberville Parish. 
 
 In open woods, probably a comparatively recent growth, as the place 
 seemed to have been under cultivation, opposite the mouth of Johnson's bayou, 
 about 200 feet in from the water, is a mound, the name of whose owner we did 
 not learn. This mound, with a base irregularly circular, 60 feet in diameter, is 
 about 4.5 feet in height. It has been used as a refuge for hogs, and the sides are 
 considerably worn. The mound proved to be of tough clay with no sign of 
 interments. 
 
 Seventy paces in a southerly direction from this mound is another about 
 2 feet in height and 50 feet in diameter. In the center of the mound is a water- 
 oak, a tree of no great age, 18 feet in circumference 5 feet from the ground. The 
 roots of this tree made investigation practically impossible. 
 
 Mounds near Cross Bayou Landing, Pointe Coupee Parish. 
 
 About two miles below Melville, but on the opposite, or eastern, side of the 
 river, a mound was visited by our agent who reported it to be about 5 feet in 
 height and 50 feet in diameter of base. As the owner of the mound seemed to 
 consider that the privilege of digging into it should be richly paid for, the ques- 
 tion of its investigation was dropped. 
 
 Mounds near Melville, St. Landry Parish. 
 
 About two miles in a southerly direction from Melville, if a straight line 
 were followed, but somewhat more by the way it is necessary to take, is the 
 property of Mr. E. B. Dubuisson, of Opelousas, La., on the southern bank of 
 Burton lake, which is probably a small bayou across the mouth of which a levee 
 has been built. 
 
 In a cultivated field on this property, but a short distance apart, are a 
 ridge and a mound. 
 
 The ridge, which evidently has been plowed down to a great extent, is 160 
 feet in length. At the western and wider end it is 85 feet across. From this 
 end, where its height is about 4 feet, it slopes gradually downward. No trace 
 of interments was found in this ridge. 
 
 The mound, which has been quadrangular, is considerably worn and prob- 
 ably parts of the sides have been under cultivation. Its height is about 8.5 
 feet. Its basal diameters are 110 feet and 125 feet. There is dark soil on the 
 summit-plateau, which is 45 feet by 50 feet, but hard, red clay is soon reached in 
 digging. We found no sign of burial in this mound, but a thorough examination 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 19 
 
 was not accorded it, as the water was rising rapidly at the time of our visit and 
 the mound was hkely soon to be required as a refuge for stock. 
 
 There is no history of the discovery of aboriginal rehcs at this place. A 
 few small bits of undecorated pottery were seen by us at the base of the mound, 
 and a delicate, barbed arrowhead of flint was picked up on it. 
 
 Bayou Teche, to the westward of the Atchafalaya region, this season was 
 visited by us without advance search, and inquiries were made as to the existence 
 of mounds, almost to St. Martinville, the head of navigation, 85 miles from 
 Morgan City, following the course of the stream. 
 
 The banks of this bayou were under cultivation or occupied by towns or 
 mills without interruption so far as visited by us, and the region evidently has 
 been thickly inhabited for too long a time to offer archaeological returns of much 
 interest. 
 
 Several mounds were reported to us as being in the back country and 
 probably under water at the time (April, 1913). Another mound, visited by us, 
 had been almost plowed away. 
 
 At Moro plantation, St. Mary Parish, belonging to Mr. Oscar Zenor of 
 Calumet, La., are two mounds near together and in full view from the water. 
 
 The mound nearer the bayou, 13 feet in height and about 100 feet in diam- 
 eter of base, had been dug into somewhat previous to our visit, and one side 
 had been removed, perhaps by wash, leaving so steep a section that it was 
 possible to fall from the summit to the base on that side. 
 
 Although this mound was connected with a shell ridge on the eastern side, 
 formed almost entirely of a variety of clam-shell, Rangia cuneata, and midden 
 deposit extending along the bank of the river, such excavations as were made 
 by us in the mound showed only scattering shells, and no mass of shells was 
 apparent at the section where the interior of the mound was laid bare. 
 
 Apparently the mound was made of tough clay. But one skeleton was 
 found; this lay 16 inches below the surface, extended face downward. A previous 
 excavation had cut away the skull and the right side of the thorax. 
 
 The second mound, 10.5 feet high and about 110 feet in basal diameter, had 
 been under cultivation and great furrows remained on its surface, though it was 
 overgrown with underbrush and grass at the time of our visit. 
 
 This mound, so far as excavated by us, was of hard clay without sign of 
 burials . 
 
 Immediately across the bayou from Charenton is the home of Mr. F. C. 
 Viguere. One mile across country from this gentleman's residence, in St. Mary 
 parish, near the border of Grand lake, are five mounds composed largely of shell, 
 and various shell ridges. 
 
 These mounds, with one exception, were covered with growing sugar-cane, 
 so that our investigation was restricted to this one, which was 7 feet high and 
 about 125 feet in diameter. 
 
20 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 13 13 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 21 
 
 It had grown up under aboriginal occupancy and was composed largely of 
 shells, Rangia cuneata, a clam very abundant in this region. No burials were 
 found in it, though human bones are said to have been plowed up from some of 
 the other mounds at this place. 
 
 In midden debris was a sherd of inferior ware, on which was red pigment. 
 
 At Loreauville, Iberia parish, are two mounds a short distance apart, both 
 in sight from the water, each about 5 feet in height and 80 feet in diameter, ap- 
 proximately. Human bones in fragments were visible upon one, and both 
 mounds had an inviting appearance, but multiplicity of owners and of heirs 
 living at a distance made investigation impossible. 
 
 LAKE LARTO, LOUISIANA. 
 
 Lake Larto, in Catahoula Parish, La., has long been famous locally for 
 the discovery of aboriginal relics. 
 
 The lake, somewhat resembling a horseshoe in shape, is about ten miles 
 in length. It is comparatively narrow, but less so at the head of the lake, near 
 which is an island of considerable size. 
 
 Lake Larto is connected by bayous with Catahoula lake, Little river. Black 
 river, and Red river, Big Larto bayou, its main outlet, joining Red river about 
 forty miles by water from Mississippi river. The lake has Little river to the 
 north, Black river nearby, to the east, and Red river to the south. To the 
 west is a region bounded by Red river, and directly -east, beyond Black river, is 
 the Mississippi. Such parts of all these rivers as are near or comparatively near 
 Lake Larto have been investigated by us without results of especial interest. 
 
 Captain J. S. Raybon and a companion searched the lake in our behalf 
 previous to our coming. 
 
 Mayes Mounds, Catahoula Parish. 
 
 About one mile along the western shore of Lake Larto from its union with 
 Big Larto bayou is open woodland, forming part of a property belonging to 
 Miss Josie S. Mayes, of Harrisonburg, La. One-quarter mile in from the landing, 
 approximately, on this property, are two mounds, the one nearer the water 
 being irregularly circular in outline with a basal diameter of 165 feet. The 
 height of the central part of the mound is about 5 feet, though it was doubtless 
 somewhat higher at one time, as indicated by the superficial position of some of 
 the burials in it. Though a few trees are upon the mound at present, it has 
 evidently been under cultivation in the past, and the dark superficial soil, which 
 no doubt covered it to some depth at one time, has now disappeared in places. 
 
 The mound, with pens and a shed upon it, is a refuge for cattle and hogs in 
 periods of high water, therefore an investigation impairing its usefulness was 
 not to be thought of; nevertheless, we were able to put down very many trial- 
 holes in all parts of it, greatly enlarging them in some instances, and after most 
 
 2 JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILA., VOL. XVI. 
 
22 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 careful filling, to leave the mound in almost its normal condition. The Academy 
 feels greatly indebted to Miss Mayes for full permission to make an investiga- 
 tion on her property. 
 
 Fortunately the composition of this interesting mound is of a nature to 
 facilitate exact conclusions. It was composed of homogeneous, hght-brown 
 clay, and a mixture of this clay and black soil from the surface filled the pits, 
 all of which evidently had been dug from the surface at a time when the deposit 
 of black midden-soil thereon was greater than it was at the time of our investiga- 
 tion. Hence delimitation of the graves was a matter of comparative ease. 
 
 The aboriginal burials (there were some comparatively recent ones which 
 we did not permanently disturb) seemed to have been placed in the eastern portion 
 of the central part of the mound. 
 
 The pits contained accumulations of skeletal remains, but were not filled 
 with them; nor were the bones in one mass, they having been placed here and 
 there in different parts of the grave (some always on the base of it) as if, after a 
 deposit, partial filling had taken place and then other deposits had been made and 
 covered. These deposits, the bones of which were all very badly decayed, were 
 made up sometimes of the bones of one individual apparently, sometimes of a 
 number. 
 
 As the burials in this mound present features of considerable interest, they 
 will be described in detail. 
 
 Burial No. 1. This pit, roughly circular, 8 feet by 9 feet and 4.5 feet in 
 depth, contained deposits of bones beginning 18 inches below the surface, among 
 which were sixteen crania. At times, long-bones slanting upward rested along 
 the sides of the pit, as was the case in other burials in this mound. 
 
 Together with skeletal remains lying on the base of the pit were : powdered 
 hematite (red pigment) ; two masses of kaolin (white pigment) each about the 
 size of a fist; a lump of yellow ochre, also a pigment. With these was a flat 
 pebble of flint. 
 
 Near these paints was a bicave of fine-grained sandstone, 2.25 inches in 
 diameter; and on another part of the base of the pit, with bones, lay a fine 
 effigy-pipe of earthenware, 4.3 inches in length and 3.5 inches in maximum 
 height. This interesting pipe (for large efl&gy-pipes of earthenware are of great 
 rarity, effigy-pipes of considerable size usuaUy being of stone) represents a frog, 
 and is shown in three positions in Plate I and in section in Fig. 3. It has had 
 a uniform coating of red pigment, now worn away in places. The pipe has seen con- 
 siderable use, as the interior of the bowl, well blackened by fire, clearly shows. 
 
 Apart from the burials, in the soil in this grave, were the base of an earthen- 
 ware vessel and part of a base with some of the side of another vessel. In 
 one base is a perforation of considerable size; and it is evident, from part of it 
 remaining, there has also been one in another base. These perforations had 
 been made at the time when the vessel was in process of modehng, previous to 
 the firing of the clay. We have here a very interesting feature, namely, the 
 
JOURN, ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILA., 2MD SER., VOL. XVI. 
 
 PLATE I. 
 
 MAYES MOUND, EFFIGY-PIPE OF EARTHENWARE, uhl M/,t..) 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 23 
 
 ceremonial "killing" of vessels, in a region where it was seldom practised. This 
 "killing," as the reader probably is aware, was done to free the "soul" of the 
 vessel that it might accompany the spirit of the owner on his journey. This 
 custom was practised chiefly by aborigines of Florida and southern Arizona, 
 sometimes by knocking a hole in the bottom of a vessel, sometimes by cutting 
 a hole in it, after the completion of the vessel. Ceremonial vessels in Florida 
 also were often made for mortuary rites, with a hole moulded in the base during 
 the process of manufacture, similar to some of those present in this mound, and 
 some vessels even had additional openings made in the body.^ 
 
 Fig. 3. — Pipe. Vertical section. (Full size.) 
 
 Burial No. 2. This pit, an irregular ellipse, 10.5 feet by 7.25 feet and only 
 2 feet in depth, contained skeletal deposits including thirty-three skulls. 
 
 Near a skull was a bicave ear-plug of hard earthenware, 1.3 inch in diameter, 
 flaring on what was no doubt the side presented in front when the ornament was 
 in use. Both faces bear a black polish now somewhat impaired. The circum- 
 ference is comparatively rough. Presumably the remaining ear-plug had fallen 
 from the skull before burial, or possibly had been lost in the process of reburial, 
 which probably had been practised in this mound, to which custom we shall have 
 occasion to refer later in connection with this place. 
 
 Lying above a group of six skulls was a bowl of earthenware, unbroken and 
 
 ' The fullest details as to the "kilHng" of vessels are given in our reports on the archeology 
 of Florida and of nearby regions. 
 
24 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 without basal perforation, 7.75 inches in diameter, bearing no incised decoration, 
 but having an encirchng depression below the rim. The ware, which is inferior, 
 is tempered with gravel or with small bits of pottery. 
 
 In the neighborhood of skeletal remains was a small celt, having the edge 
 entirely chipped away, and part of another. 
 
 Burial No. 3. This burial was a skeleton at full length, 16 inches from the 
 surface, so badly decayed that it was traceable by small fragnients only. 
 
 Burial No. 4. This pit was oblong, with rounded corners, and measured 
 8 feet by 5 feet 9 inches by 4 feet 8 inches deep. Interments were encountered 
 7 inches from the surface and continued down at intervals in the way already 
 described. The skeletal remains included sixty-six skulls. With the bones, 
 in places, were numerous fragments of bones showing marks of fire, but not 
 calcined. 
 
 Unless objects of a perishable nature were placed with the burials in this 
 pit, the aborigines presumably considered their duty to the dead fulfilled when 
 they had deposited with them : part of a very rude knife of flint; a little powdered 
 hematite at one place on the base; probably a rattle, of which but a group of 
 small pebbles remained; a pot of earthenware, having by way of decoration a 
 series of encircling, parallel, incised lines below the rim. This vessel was so 
 badly crushed that determination as to the presence of a basal perforation was 
 impossible. 
 
 Burial No. 5. An elliptical pit, only 14 inches deep at the time of our in- 
 vestigation, and 7.5 feet by 5 feet in extent. Human bones, including twelve 
 skulls, appeared immediately under the surface and continued to the base. It 
 may be well to explain that the skulls in this mound were so badly decayed that 
 they were invariably crushed and that some were represented by fragments only. 
 A fireplace lay beneath part of this pit, but the bones showed no effect of heat 
 and the presence of the fireplace perhaps was adventitious. 
 
 No artifacts accompanied the remains in this grave. 
 
 Burial No. 6. An oblong pit 6 feet 10 inches by 4 feet by 2.5 feet deep, 
 with a small offset at one side. Human remains, mcluding twenty-three skulls, 
 extended down from 3 inches below the surface. With the remains were an 
 undecorated pipe of hard earthenware, shown in Fig. 4, and in section in Fig. 5, 
 and part of a somewhat similar one. There was present also a small vessel, in 
 fragments (as were all the vessels from this mound with the exception of one 
 already described), having in the base a mortuary perforation made before the 
 firing of the clay. Also with bones was a lump of pigment tending toward purple 
 in shade, especially when damp, similar to that found by us in the mound on 
 the Haley Place, ^ on Red river, southwestern Arkansas. It has been determined 
 that pigment of this kind is ordinary red hematite that has been subjected to 
 heat. Presumably the aborigines were acquainted with the method of manu- 
 
 ' "Some Aboriginal Sites on Red River," pp. ,531 and 548. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of 
 Phila., Vol. XIV. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 25 
 
 factucc of this i)i<>;iiicnt and that its occurrence is not owin^ to acci(l(M)tal contact 
 with fire. 
 
 Burials Nos. 7, 10, 11, i'espccti\'c]>- 7 inches, (i inches, 1 foot from the surface, 
 were interments of adults extended on the l;)ack. No artifacts were in association. 
 
 Burial Xo. 8. This ,ti,rave-i)it, which included in its contents twenty-one 
 skulls, was oblong, S feet by 4 feet by 3 feet deep. Piones were fii'st encountered 
 6 inches from the surface. With the remains was a small bowl bearinti' rude, 
 
 Fig. -1. — Pipe of carthriiwarp. Mayc^ 
 (Full sizp.j 
 
 Fi( 
 
 -I'll 
 
 \'<'rli('al .sc:'li()ii. (Full size.) 
 
 incised, scroll decoration. The base of this bowl was not ])resent with the other 
 l)arts recovered by us, and presumably had l)een knocked out ceremonially. 
 Another small bowl was found havina; rude, lined decoration and so badly broken 
 that determination as to a basal hole was not i)ossible. 
 
 A part of a large earthenware pipe from this pit, consisting of most of that 
 portion made for the rece])tion of the stem, bears on each of two opposite sides, 
 two concentric circles surrounding a dot. Around the orifice for the stem is a 
 deeply incised circle, and the beginning of other decoration, also incised, is on 
 the top of the fragment. 
 
 There were also found separately in the pit, a small bica^T of coarse sand- 
 stone, and an arrowhead, or knife, of flint, having but one shoulder, a peculiarity 
 already on record^ as occurring on some flint points from this (Catahoula) 
 parish. 
 
 Burial No. 9. Oblong, with rounded corners, 7.5 feet in length, the two 
 ends being res])ectively 3 feet and 3 feet S inches across. The grave was 1 foot 
 8 inches in depth, and bones, including seven skulls, la>' within four inches of 
 the surface. In association with tjie interments was a lump of yellow ochre in a 
 deposit consisting of a rude lancehead of ([uartzite, slightly more than 5 inches in 
 length; two lanceheads of flint, each about 3 inches long; and a lancepoint or 
 arrowhead, also of flint, having a length of 2.5 inches. 
 
 ' Oerard Fowke, "Stunc Art." Thirteenth An. Hep. Bur. Am. Ethn., p. 156, tig. 218. 
 
26 ABORRilNAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 PMirial No. 1 2. This pit was S feet 1 
 
 ''""«' Wi,itn!^f^i^f^0giti0il^ 
 
 '■••".Vv • -^ 
 
 Fig. 0. — Pipe of sanilsliiiic. .Miiyc^ iiiniiiid. (F 
 
 was 9 feet ):)y o feet 2 inches, and 2.5 
 were twentv-hve crania, were found, 
 some within 3 inches of the surface. 
 
 This grave yielded; a (|uartz 
 pebble slightly l)icoiiA'ex, which had 
 the margin, oi'iginally roughly circu- 
 lar, additionally rounded; an (>artli- 
 enware vessel with a hole in the ])ot- 
 tom, made pi'evious to the tiring; 
 ]:mrt of another vessel which had 
 been similai'ly treated. 
 
 Almost on the base, with bones 
 on all sides, were two pipes innne- 
 diately togethei-. One of these is of 
 earth(>nware, biconical, with scant 
 line-decoration. The otlier, of sand- 
 stone, is 3 inclies in height and has 
 a maximum diameter of ;).2 inches. 
 The decoration, which is incised, 
 consists mainly of series of crescen- 
 tic lines. This pipe is shown in Figs. 
 
 f( 
 
 ong by 4 feet wide anrl had at the southern 
 end an offset 30 inches wide and 
 2 feet in de])th. The depth of the 
 grave was 4 feet, and human re- 
 mains, including forty-nine crania, 
 were pi'csent from 10 inches below 
 the surface, extending at inter- 
 vals to the base. 
 
 Near the surface was a small 
 l)ot with rude line-decoration and 
 having a hole broken through the 
 base. Two pebbles lay near a 
 skull, and in the vicinity of an- 
 other was a sandstone lancehead, 
 4 inches in length, having marginal 
 notches on both sides of the blade. 
 This lancehead can hardly have 
 l)een int(>nded for any practical 
 ])urpose. 
 
 size, I Burial No. Kl This pit, in 
 
 th(> form of an irregular ehipse, 
 
 et deep. Skeletal remains, among which 
 
 ^^■fi II III ■«"*'"'¥. 
 
 Imc, 7. — l'i|ic (if smikIsIoiic, AFivfs mouiKl. (Full size.) 
 
 (i, 7 and in section in Fig. 8. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 27 
 
 Burials Nos. 14 and 18. Pit No. 14, 8 feet by 2 feet 8 inches, and 2 feet 
 4 inches deep, was contiguous to Pit No. 18, which was 6 feet 3 inches by 6 feet 
 10 inches, and 3 feet deep. When these graves were first discovered they were 
 supposed to be a single grave and 
 burials from both of them were noted 
 as belonging to one pit. Later, when 
 it was found that there were two 
 graves in actual contact without divi- 
 sion for a distance of at least 4 feet, 
 it was then too late to determine 
 which burials scored had belonged to 
 each grave, and consequently all from 
 both graves are noted together. 
 
 Human bones were first encoun- 
 tered 10 inches from the surface. With 
 them were forty-one crania. 
 
 Mortuary deposits in this grave 
 were as follows: an earthenware ves- 
 sel having a hole in the base, made 
 after the firing of the clay; another „ „. ,, . , . ,„ „ . s 
 
 , . , , , . „ Fig. 8.— Pipe. Vertical section. (Full size.) 
 
 vessel with the bottom ceremonially 
 
 broken out ; a small undecorated bowl having a hole broken through the base ; 
 
 a lump of yellow ochre. 
 
 Burial No. 15. A pit 10 feet 5 inches long and 5 feet 9 inches across each 
 of its rounded ends, and 3 feet 2 inches in depth. Skeletal remains were within 
 one foot from the surface and included eighteen skulls. 
 
 Artifacts with the remains were: a flint pebble about the size of a fist; 
 another considerably smaller; a pottery vessel through the base of which had 
 been a ceremonial hole, but whether made before or after the firing of the clay 
 we were unable to decide, owing to the condition of the ware. 
 
 Burial No. 16. This pit, circular, so nearly as we could determine, was 34 
 inches in diameter and 13 inches deep. It contained fragments of badly-decayed 
 bones on its base, but if any cranium had been present its parts were not in a 
 condition to identify. 
 
 Burial No. 17. This grave, oblong with rounded ends, 8 feet 5 inches by 
 4 feet 7 inches, and 1 foot 9 inches deep, contained human remains with eight 
 skulls, extending to within six inches of the surface. There were no associated 
 artifacts. 
 
 Burial No. 18 has been described in connection with Burial No. 14, 
 
 Burial No. 19, a long and narrow grave, 8 feet in length, 2 feet 9 inches 
 across at the middle and 2 feet wide at each end. The depth was 2 feet 3 inches. 
 This grave, which held four skulls with other skeletal remains, the bones being 
 within 8 inches of the surface in places, had been somewhat longer than the 
 measurement given, but had been cut across at one end by Burial No. 18. 
 
2.8 
 
 AB()RI(;ix\AL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Burial No. 20. This i^i-avc-pit, wliich was S feet lon,<>,', G feet across at the 
 middle and about 5 feet 8 iuclics at each end. liad a depth of 2 feet 3 inches, the 
 sides slojiing inward somewhat toward the l^ottom, as was the case with all the 
 graves in this moimd. Skeletal remains, among which were twelve crania, were 
 within S inches of the surface. 
 
 The only artifact, if such it may ])e called, coming from this large grave, 
 was a flat jK^bble with some evidence of wear on parts of the margin. 
 
 Fii;. '.I.- -\essi'l dl' cui'llicnwMrc. ,M;ivi's iikmhhI. (Full size.) 
 
 Burial No. 21. A grave 4 feet 2 inches in depth, elliptical in outline, having 
 a length of 7 feet 9 inches and a maxinumi width of 4 feet 3 inches. The bones, 
 which included six skuhs, were found comparatively d(>ep, none being nearer 
 than 21 inch(\s from the sui-face. With th(^ r(>mains was no artifact whatever, 
 but well ui) toward the mouth o\' the grave, as if to do duty for ah below it, a 
 vessel had b(>en placed. This vessel, undecorated but of graceful shape, has a 
 ceremonial hole knocked thi'ough the bottom. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 29 
 
 Burial No. 22. This grave was perplexing. It was irregulaily ol)I()iig, 7 
 feet long with ends 3 feet 9 inches and 3 feet 4 inches, rcspectivel>'. Its dej^th was 
 3 feet 4 inches. Only two skulls were discovered in the pit, accompanied by a 
 limited amount of minute fragments of other bones, some within 8 inches of the 
 surface. It seemed unlikely that the aborigines would make a grave of such 
 large size for so limited an interment. The grave was hlk^d with roots of a large 
 
 ■»'-'aB-."-r^p*'-" .•vi>«#4^j-Tsp- 
 
 Fio. 10. — Vessel of earthenware. JNIayos mound, (Height 5.1 inches.) 
 
 tree, growing nearby, and it is Ijarely i)ossil)le that many of the bones were ab- 
 sorbed b}^ them. 
 
 From this i)it came an undecorated, l)iconical i)ii)e of earthenware, from 
 which a small part of the bowl had lieen l)roken liefore its inhumation. 
 
 This pit ai^i^arently had cut through a narrow and shallow grave in which 
 were a skull and other bones that may have been a burial at length. 
 
 A few inches distant from the larger grave, but clearly separated by the 
 yellow clay, was a small, shallow pit filled with dark soil, in which, however, no 
 bones were found. 
 
30 ABoRICilNAL SITES L\ LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Burial No. 23. This gi'ave, ol)long with rounded corners, 8 feet !:>>' 3.5 feet 
 liy 1 foot 10 inches dec)), contained bones, including thirty skulls, which reached 
 to witliin 8 inclies of the surface in places. 
 
 Part of a pot having a basal i)erforation made before the firing of the vessel 
 was the only artifact accompanying the numerous deposits of bones. 
 
 No bones of children were disco\'ered in this mound, and if any had l^een 
 l^laced in the graves explored by us — and it seems likely that such was the case 
 — all trace of them had disapi)eared. 
 
 An interesting point in conn(>ction with this mound is that none of the four 
 single burials of skeletons from it had any artifact in association. 
 
 As a general I'ule one ex})ects to discover, and general!}' does discover, 
 mor(> artifacts i)laced with single skeletons than with burials of the bunched 
 variety. The reason for this i)resumably is that entire skeletons probably 
 are of individuals dead a shorter time at the period of interment than were those 
 
 to whom the disconnected bones lie- 
 longed, whose ligaments no longer 
 held them together, and consequenth' 
 the affection of those related to the 
 individual biuials had been allowed 
 less time to abate. 
 
 In this mound, as in the one at 
 Sorrel Ijayou, in the Atchafalaya re- 
 gion, already described in this report, 
 reburial of bones evidently had ta- 
 ken place, as a number of skulls were 
 found filled with clay differing en- 
 tirely in shade from that present in 
 the mound. It is true that Lake 
 Larto is somewhat north of the coun- 
 try of the C'hitimachas, by whom it 
 is record(>d reburial was practised; 
 nevertheless it is clear the custom 
 was not confined to that region. 
 
 The pottery from this place, 
 though not of more than medium 
 (quality, shows evidence of consider- 
 able care in finish in some instances, 
 and, as a rule, is graceful in form. 
 One piece bears a high polish, and in this connection it is interesting to note 
 that the pel)bles found in this mound had the appearance of having served as 
 smoothing stones. The decoration of the ware is incised and punctate as a rule, 
 a fa^'orite 
 rim. 
 
 11. 
 
 -W'.sscI (if I'a.illiruwan'. iMaycs ]i 
 (HiMnlit 4.1) inches.) 
 
 11111(1. 
 
 design 
 
 .)eing a series of incised, encircling, parallel lines below the 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 31 
 
 The most interesting feature connected with the pottery from this mound is 
 the presence in the vessels, almost without excei^tion, of the ceremonial, basal 
 perforation. The more interesting vessels from this place arc shown in Figs. 9, 
 10, 11, 12, 13. 
 
 Fig. 12. — \'ess('l of cartlicnwurc. Mayes niouinl. 
 {Hpifrlit 2.7 inches.) 
 
 Fid. 13. — Vessel of eartheinvare. .Mayes mouiiil. 
 (Heighl. S inches.) 
 
 In a trial-hole which did not encounter bones, was a barbed arrowhead of 
 flint, about one inch in length. 
 
 About 130 paces WSW. from the mound just described is the other mound, 
 which is irregularh' circular in outline, about -t feet in height and ISO feet in 
 diameter. This mound was carefully searched without any indication of its 
 former use as a place of burial. 
 
 Wii.EY Place, Cat.\houla Parish. 
 
 The i)lace belonging to ^Ir. Mitchell Wiley, who resides iq^on it, is about 
 at the middle of the southern shore of Lake Larto. It is to this ])lace the lake 
 owes its reputation as a centcn' for the discovery of aboriginal relics, and not to 
 the Mayes mounds, which ])resumably had not been investigated before our 
 coming. 
 
 Immediately on the shore of the lake, on Mr. "\Vile>''s place, are three low 
 mounds of irregular outline, ai)parently greatly worn as each has a building 
 
32 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 upon it and is constantly subjected to the going and coming of persons and of 
 stock. There is also, beyond these mounds but in sight from them, another one 
 3 or 4 feet high and possibly 50 feet in diameter. Into this mound, Mr. Wiley 
 informed us, he had dug centrally a considerable excavation without finding 
 anything. The mound, upon inspection, proved to be of raw clay. 
 
 According to Mr. Wiley, but one of the three low, flat mounds contains burials, 
 so far as his experience goes. While conversing with us Mr. Wiley removed from 
 this mound, with a knife, a human femur, which lay partly exposed on the surface. 
 Some years ago, Mr. Wiley explained, a member of the faculty of a college in 
 New Orleans had dug extensively into this mound, finding pottery and two 
 undecorated pipes of earthenware, evidently of the biconical kind, according to 
 Mr. Wiley's description. 
 
 Mr. Wiley informed us that aboriginal relics were constantly being un- 
 earthed at the place during his cultivation of the fields, but none presented any 
 feature of especial interest, according to the descriptions furnished by him. 
 
 In Mr. Wiley's possession were: a number of small, barbed arrowpoints of 
 flint; an earthenware vessel representing a frog, from which parts were missing; 
 a charm-stone, elongated ovoid in shape, made from a pebble, bearing a groove 
 to facilitate suspension; a discoidal bead wrought from part of a shell, the thick- 
 ness suggesting marine origin; three or four small stone hatchets. 
 
 The effigy-vessel, through the base of which a ceremonial hole had been 
 broken, was rudely made and inferior to many vessels of the same class from 
 other localities. 
 
 As the lake had covered Mr. Wiley's property in the great flood of the 
 preceding year, and as the water, which was again rising was not far from his 
 home at the time of our visit, Mr. Wiley was unwilling to have digging attempted 
 in the mounds on which his buildings were, and, under the circumstances, we 
 cannot see how his decision could have been otherwise. 
 
 TENSAS RIVER, LOUISIANA. 
 
 Tensas river has its source in Lake Providence, in the northeastern part of 
 that portion of Louisiana which lies west of Mississippi river, and keeps a 
 southerly course in the main until, at the town of Jonesville, La., it joins 
 Ouachita and Little rivers, the three forming Black river, which continues to its 
 junction with Red river. 
 
 Tensas river is considered navigable to a settlement called Westwood, 81 
 miles by water from the union of the three rivers, but the stream was searched 
 by our agents from the town of Quebec down, a much greater distance. 
 
 The Tensas was investigated by us up to Indian bayou, about 22 miles by 
 water above Westwood, by dint of felling projecting trees which barred the 
 passage of the narrow stream, and by lopping off interfering boughs. The 
 river could have been explored considerably farther in the high water prevailing 
 
(^ ^ Ploydo 
 
 \ MolleyPlace^ 
 
34 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 at the time, had it not been reported that a mass of entangled logs, trees, and 
 driftwood, known as a jam, formed somewhat above Indian bayou, effectually 
 blocked the stream. Probably with the force at our command and expenditure 
 of time, the jam might have been contended with successfully, but the result of 
 our archaeological work on Tensas river had not been such as to encourage us 
 to proceed, especially as the report of our agent as to the river above was adverse, 
 
 Inspection of the map accompanying this report might lead one to judge 
 that parts of that portion of the Tensas covered by us had been slighted by our 
 expedition, since so few places are shown where archaeological work was done, 
 but in point of fact much of that portion of the Tensas territory investigated by 
 us is uninhabited near the river, — mainly timberland, sometimes with heavy 
 undergrowth or canebrake, — and though mounds may be present in woods or 
 swamps bordering such parts of the stream, these mounds were not visible or 
 in a position to be found by unguided search, nor were inhabitants to be seen 
 from whom inquiries could be made. 
 
 The archaeology of Tensas river is in the main uninteresting. Burials 
 (which were made in mounds and not in cemeteries) had so few artifacts with 
 them that that feature constitutes the most interesting part of the archaeology 
 of the stream. 
 
 Sites Investigated. 
 
 On Indian Village Place, Concordia Parish. 
 
 Near Wildwood Landing, Catahoula Parish. 
 
 On the Flynn Place, Tensas Parish. 
 
 On Alphenia Plantation, Tensas Parish. 
 
 On the Hedgeland Place, Catahoula Parish. 
 
 On the Mound Bayou Place, Tensas Parish. 
 
 On the Lee Place, Tensas Parish. 
 
 At Fool river, Madison Parish. 
 
 Near Indian Bayou, Madison Parish. 
 
 Mound on Indian Village Place, Concoedia Parish. 
 About one-quarter mile in from the landing, on property of Mr. H. C. 
 Luckett, of Natchez, Miss., is a mound about 5 feet high and approximately 
 100 feet in diameter of base. This mound at one time had been quadrangular, 
 with a summit-plateau. There was no history of any discovery of artifacts or 
 bones on the place, and as the mound had been devoted to burial purposes in 
 recent times, no work was done there by us. 
 
 Mound near Wildwood Landing, Catahoula Parish. 
 
 About one-half mile westwardly from Wildwood Landing, in a cultivated 
 
 field forming part of the plantation of Mr. Robert J. Eltringham, who resides 
 
 upon it, is a mound fairly symmetrical and evidently about square originally. 
 
 The sides face the cardinal points. Its diameter of base is 100 feet approximately. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 35 
 
 of which about 60 feet lie beneath the summit-plateau. Its height is 7 feet. 
 
 This mound, which evidently had belonged to the domiciliary class, was 
 filled with recent burials, the headstones extending to the very margin of the 
 summit-plateau. No investigation was attempted. 
 
 Careful search in surrounding territory came upon no indication of an 
 aboriginal cemetery, nor was there any history of discoveries made in the course 
 of cultivation. 
 
 Mound on the Flynn Place, Tensas Pakish. 
 
 The Flynn Place is the property of Mr. H. D. Hassler, of Wildwood, La., 
 a short distance farther down the river. About one-half mile in from the water, 
 in a cultivated field on the upper part of the Flynn Place, is a mound slightly 
 less than 6 feet in height, which at one time, no doubt, had been quadrangular 
 with an extensive summit-plateau — presumably a mound of the domiciliary 
 class. The outer part of the mound, however, has been plowed to such an 
 extent that its basal outline is very irregular. Measurements at the time of 
 our visit gave diameters of base of 70 feet and 95 feet. 
 
 This mound had been extensively used for burial purposes in recent times. 
 A few holes sunk where no sign of former interments was apparent, showed the 
 mound to be of raw clay. 
 
 Two neighboring rises in the field surrounding the mound, on which were a 
 few fragments of flint and of pottery, were investigated by us, but undisturbed 
 soil was soon reached without the discovery of artifact or bone. 
 
 Mounds on Alphenia Plantation, Tensas Parish. 
 
 Alphenia Plantation, bordering Tensas river, the owner of which is Mr. F. E. 
 Bowman, who resides upon it, has in sight from the water three interesting 
 mounds, all of which, with extensive summit-plateaus, probably have been about 
 square at one time, though wash of rain has rounded the corners and in places 
 has cut into the sides of the mounds to a considerable extent. 
 
 For greater convenience in description we shall assign letters to these 
 mounds, calling that nearest the river, A; its nearest neighbor, B; and the third 
 mound, C. These mounds are thus lettered on the accompanying plan (Fig. 14). 
 
 Before proceeding to give the dimensions of these high places it may be 
 well to remind those who are not familiar with mounds through actual work in 
 the field that all measurements of mounds are lacking in exactness, for who can 
 determine, in taking a diameter, precisely where field ends and mound begins, 
 or can say, in a measurement of height, that he has selected the exact level from 
 which to take it? When mounds have suffered considerably through wash of 
 rain or of flood, or by trampling of cattle, the measure of uncertainty is, of 
 course, increased since these agencies tend to augment the irregularity of the 
 sides and to create depressions in the surrounding ground. 
 
 Mound A. Height, 19.5 feet; diameter of base, 170 feet. 
 
36 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Mound B. Height, 14.5 feet; diameter of base, 130 feet. 
 
 Mound C. Height, 18 feet; diameter of base approximately the same as 
 that of Mound A. 
 
 All three mounds had about the same diameters of summit-plateau, namely, 
 70 feet. 
 
 At the side of each mound was a depression, filled with water at the time 
 of our visit, whence came the material for its building. These ponds were, 
 respectively, west of Mound A, north of Mound B, south of Mound C. 
 
 
 WSSmSHmfi 
 
 
 
 
 ^^iiiiiSISte 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^);'iiliiiliiiiiiliiiiliillli!ii!tv^^^5;- 
 
 %///iiiii!iiiiiiiiiiii"ii\m^t 
 
 ^^^^iiiiil^ 
 
 
 Scale in jeet 
 
 Fig. 14. — Plan of mounds. Alphenia Plantation. 
 
 The sides of the mounds all face the cardinal points, and an equally interest- 
 ing feature is that the three mounds have been arranged to form a triangle, the 
 apex of which is directed toward the north, while the base is east and west. 
 Furthermore, to the southward of the base of this triangle is the remainder of a 
 mound, marked D on the plan. This mound at the present time is less than 2 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 37 
 
 feet in height, but has been under cultivation for many years. The owner of 
 the plantation, Mr. Bowman, informed us that it was cleared by his father in 
 1844 and that the mound in question at that time was some feet higher than it is 
 at present. While this mound can never have rivaled the others in size, it no 
 doubt was an important landmark and probably was the nucleus of what was 
 intended to be a much larger mound. 
 
 If this mound be taken in conjunction with the other three, we find a diamond- 
 shaped figure with mounds at the four angles, which angles are directed toward 
 the cardinal points of the compass, or nearly so. In the case of the southern 
 mound it was, of course, impossible to determine the center, owing to the partial 
 demolition referred to. 
 
 Still further, if lines be drawn connecting the centers of opposite mounds 
 (the center of Mound D being to a certain extent assumed) , a cross will be formed 
 whose arms point approximately toward the cardinal points — a cross of the four 
 directions. 
 
 Mounds A and C in comparatively recent years had been devoted to pur- 
 poses of burial, Mound A being the cemetery of the Bowman family. In- 
 vestigation of these mounds, of course, was out of the question. 
 
 Mound B, used as a place of refuge for stock in flood-time, had a summit- 
 plateau whose soil presented a dark appearance. Ten trial-holes, a number of 
 which were afterward greatly enlarged, were put down with a feeling of consider- 
 able confidence, which later was justified by the discovery of eight burials. 
 
 Some of these burials presented an interesting feature. While five of them 
 were comparatively superficial, ranging between 10 inches and 2 feet in depth, 
 and had been put down from the surface, three other burials were from 4.5 to 
 5 feet in depth. These burials were not in pits extending from the present surface, 
 as was shown by the presence of unbroken strata above them, but lay in soil 
 darkened by the presence of organic matter, with which were mingled midden 
 debris and remnants of fireplaces. This deposit of soil evidently marked an 
 earlier stage in the growth of the mound when it had served as a place of abode 
 prior to its increase in height.^ Soil of a much lighter color and undisturbed, 
 as we have said, lay between the upper and the lower dark layers, and this, no 
 doubt, had been brought when the increase of the mound was decided on. We 
 shall describe each burial in detail. 
 
 Burial No. 1, a bunched burial one foot in depth, measured from its upper 
 surface, included eleven skulls, badly decayed and broken, as were all the 
 human remains from this mound. One of the skulls was that of a child. 
 
 The bunched burials in this mound were not symmetrically piled as such 
 burials sometimes are, but, though hmited in width, extended considerable 
 distances. 
 
 Burial No. 2, bunched bones with two skulls, was 20 inches down. 
 
 ^ A notable instance of this was found by us in one of the great mounds of the group at 
 Moundville, Ala. 
 
 3 JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI PHILA., VOL.XVI. 
 
38 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Burial No. 3. At a depth of 22 inches, had been two skeletons of adults, 
 lying at full length on the back, the skulls together, the bodies radiating some- 
 what. A narrow pit from the surface, probably made in recent times, perhaps 
 a post-hole, had removed the skulls and the upper part of each thorax. 
 
 Burial No. 4, a bunch with one skull; depth, 2 feet. 
 
 Burial No. 5, a bunched burial 4.5 feet from the surface, having fifteen 
 skulls. 
 
 Burials Nos. 6 and 7. Each a bunched burial with one skull, at a depth of 
 10 inches and 4.5 feet, respectively. 
 
 Burial No. 8. A bunched burial having three skulls, 5 feet down. 
 
 If mortuary deposits had been made with these burials, such deposits 
 were of a perishable nature, since absolutely nothing lay with the skeletal re- 
 mains that can be considered to have been intentionally put in. With one burial 
 was an unworked astragalus of a deer, and with another, a small bit of stone 
 grooved by use as a hone. In the soil near a burial was a graceful arrowhead 
 of flint, 2 inches in length and slightly more than .5 inch in maximum diameter, 
 the point unfortunately missing. 
 
 Among the few fragments of pottery found in the digging were one with a 
 decoration of faint, trailed lines, and a part of a handle, also with line-decora- 
 tion, which evidently had extended at a right angle from the rim of a vessel. 
 
 On the fields in which the mounds were was considerable midden debris, 
 especially on the surface of Mound D and on a slight rise nearby. Some arrow- 
 heads of flint, small and barbed, were found, and quantities of fragments of 
 pottery could be seen, including some bearing on one side a uniform coating of 
 red pigment. All these were in small fragments, as one would expect them to 
 be, having been plowed up and under through a long period of years. 
 
 On the surface of Mound D was picked up a graceful celt of quartzite, 
 2.5 inches in length. 
 
 Considerable digging in the field surrounding the mounds showed remains 
 of former occupancy but unearthed no sign of skeletons. 
 
 Mounds on the Hedgeland Place, Catahoula Parish. 
 
 The Hedgeland Place, belonging to Mr. H. W. Foeman, has two mounds 
 upon it, both in sight from the landing. That nearest the water, about 13 feet 
 in height, has been quadrangular, but is so greatly washed and worn that meas- 
 urements as to its present diameter of base are practically valueless. One meas- 
 urement gave 125 feet, but others, if taken, would show marked variation. An 
 exposed section of this mound showed it to be of clay, with no evidence of use 
 for burial purposes. 
 
 In a cultivated field is a mound 10 feet in height, which has suffered to an 
 even greater extent by the ravages of time. Two measurements gave diameters 
 of 165 feet; but this was a coincidence, as the basal outline was very irregular. 
 What remained of the summit-plateau had been used as a cemetery in recent 
 times. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 39 
 
 Mound on the Mound Bayou Place, Tensas Parish. 
 
 On the Mound Bayou Place, belonging to Mr. A. Blanche, who resides 
 upon it, is a mound about one-quarter mile back from the landing, slightly less 
 than 12 feet in height. This mound, which borders the road, is quadrangular, 
 the basal diameters being 130 and 110 feet; those of the summit-plateau, 60 and 
 40 feet in the same directions. The sides of this mound do not face the cardinal 
 points, nor are its corners directed toward them. As the summit-plateau of 
 this mound had been used extensively for burials in recent years, no digging 
 into it was attempted. 
 
 Across the road from the mound, in a cultivated field, was a small rise into 
 which we dug unsuccessfully. 
 
 Mounds on the Lee Place, Tensas Parish. 
 
 In a cultivated field in sight from Lee Landing, on property belonging to 
 Mrs. C. L. Lee, of Gilbert, La., is a circular mound 4 feet in height and 65 feet 
 in diameter of base. Nearer the landing, beside the road, is a somewhat smaller 
 mound on which stands a building intended for cattle. We were informed that 
 both these mounds had been made in recent times as places of refuge in high 
 water. 
 
 Mound at Fool River, Madison Parish. 
 
 An angle formed by the union of Fool river with the Tensas is much higher 
 ground than is any neighboring territory, and for this reason, and because bits 
 of pottery lie on the surface there, the whole of this high place has been called 
 an Indian mound by lumbermen and others who occasionally use it as a camping 
 place and whose numerous flasks, drained of their spirituous contents, scattered 
 over the ground are about the only sign of the civilization of the white man to 
 be seen for miles around. 
 
 That this high ground is a natural formation is clearly shown by a wide 
 section exposed by the wash of Tensas river. On the alluvial clay, however, is a 
 thin, superficial stratum caused by aboriginal occupancy, in which is the usual 
 midden debris — hence the sherds found on the surface. 
 
 About fifty yards back from the Tensas river, on this elevated ground, is 
 an irregularly circular mound, about 100 feet in diameter and somewhat more 
 than 4 feet in height. 
 
 Each of seven trial-holes sunk into this mound almost at once encountered 
 human remains, which were found in such quantities in the three trial-holes 
 first investigated that these were greatly enlarged and carefully examined, the 
 digging out of the remaining burials being dispensed with. 
 
 The upper part of the mound was composed of a layer about 16 inches in 
 depth, dark in shade, perhaps from having been gathered from the nearby 
 swamp, but containing no midden debris whatever. Below this was a stratum 
 of soil black from admixture of organic matter, 3 feet 4 inches deep (of course 
 
40 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 the depth of these layers varied somewhat locally), in which were quantities of 
 broken mussel-shells, some fragments of pottery and of bones of lower animals, 
 and a few fireplaces. It was clear that this lower layer, which rested upon 
 undisturbed clay, had been a dwelling-site to which an addition had been made. 
 
 Burials were present in both layers, but no signs of pits were apparent, and 
 if any had been made from the present surface of the mound into the lower layer, 
 they would have been filled with a mixture containing shells and other debris. 
 
 A number of burials lay immediately on top of the lower layer, so that it 
 seems likely that those living on the original, or under, layer buried in it for a 
 period, and that at some time the contents of the bone-house had been spread 
 over the surface of the original mound and the upper layer of clay had been 
 placed upon them. By far the greater number of burials, however, seemed to 
 be in the lower part of the mound, which probably had been built up throughout 
 a long period of occupancy. 
 
 Judging from the three excavations made by us, the lower part of the mound 
 had been buried into to such an extent that in places it had become a complete 
 entanglement of bones. The burials found, none of which was deeper than about 
 3 feet, included sixty-six skulls, thirteen of which had belonged to children or 
 infants. 
 
 The form of burial, in the main, had been at full length on the back (one 
 skeleton lay extended, face down), but to such an extent had grave cut through 
 grave in this mound that onlj^ parts of many extended burials remained, the 
 rest of the skeletons being mixed in the contents of the disturbing graves. 
 
 Also in this mound it had been the custom, when interring a skeleton the 
 bones of which probably were held together by ligaments at the time, to gather 
 up and put with this burial a quantity of loose bones belonging probably to 
 some who had died at an earlier period. For example, one extended burial in 
 the mound had beside it and above it a mingling of bones belonging to skeletons 
 of two adults and of one child. 
 
 With all the skeletal remains removed by us from this mound was not an 
 artifact of any kind. Scattered in the midden debris were a few small fragments 
 of pottery, several bearing decoration of incised, parallel lines and two having a 
 uniform coating of red pigment. 
 
 For some reason, stone of any kind was, so far as our investigation went, 
 of extreme rarity in the mound; only in one instance (a fractured pebble) was 
 any encountered. 
 
 A mound on the bank of the Tensas, about in line with the preceding one, 
 3 feet high and 60 feet in diameter, proved to be of clay and contained no burials 
 so far as could be determined. 
 
 Mounds near Indian Bayou, Madison Parish. 
 Part of the extensive property on Tensas river, belonging to Mr. A. E. 
 Hinds, who lives near Indian bayou, is bounded on the north by that stream 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 41 
 
 and on the east by Tensas river. Near Mr. Hinds' residence are four mounds 
 and a small rise by the roadside, all near together and in sight from the river. 
 The mounds have each a building upon it, and three of them, originally small, 
 have been so worn and washed that they are of inconsiderable size. 
 
 The largest mound, which has been square, with the sides facing the cardinal 
 points, has rounded corners at present, but is otherwise well preserved. The 
 height is 12 feet 8 inches; the diameter of base is about 140 feet. The summit- 
 plateau is 50 feet in diameter. 
 
 Owing to the presence of buildings, these mounds were not dug into by us. 
 
 Following the Tensas river northward about half a mile to Indian bayou, 
 one comes upon a group of eight mounds in woods, which form an irregular ellipse 
 with two mounds facing each other and three mounds on each side. This 
 ellipse is about 88 yards by 54 yards, interior measurement, and the mounds 
 which compose it are visible from the banks of the, stream, some of the mounds 
 in fact bordering the water. These mounds, which are very irregular in outline, 
 are of moderate size, the northernmost being 7 feet 6 inches in height and 120 
 feet by 135 feet in diameters of base. 
 
 These mounds for convenience were assigned letters of the alphabet, be- 
 ginning with the largest mound, A, and continuing in order through the western 
 side of the ellipse and then along the eastern side bordering the water. As the 
 mounds on Mr. Hinds' place are the only refuge in the case of high water, we 
 did not consider it fair to dig into them to any great extent, though Mr. Hinds, 
 with great courtesy, placed no restrictions upon us. All, however, were dug into 
 to a greater or less extent, some giving evidence of being made of raw clay, pre- 
 sumably without burials. 
 
 Mound C, about 2 feet in height, however, had scattered fragments of 
 mussel-shells mingled with the soil that composed it. The skeleton of an adult, 
 extended on the back, was found in this mound at a depth of 28 inches. 
 
 Mound E, on the bank of the stream, has been undermined slightly by the 
 water and has, at the opposite side, a road passing over it. Two diameters of 
 its irregular basal outline were 77 and 90 feet. Its height is 5 feet. 
 
 Two recent burials have been made in this mound, so that our digging in it 
 was somewhat restricted. Aboriginal burials in numbers were reached almost 
 at once by trial-holes, which showed the mound to be composed approximately 
 of a superficial layer of dark soil mingled with organic matter and quantities of 
 fragments of mussel-shells. Below this layer was a stratum of light-brown clay, 
 2 feet 8 inches in depth, which showed no admixture indicating former aboriginal 
 occupancy. Below the clay was a stratum 1 foot 8 inches in depth containing 
 organic matter and broken mussel-shells, but to a less extent than did the super- 
 ficial layer. Below this was undisturbed clay. 
 
 This mound, then, had been a dwelhng-site ; had been increased in size 
 and then had been occupied for a further period as a place of abode. The 
 burials had all been made from the top layer into the stratum of clay below it. 
 
42 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 and could be easily traced by means of the black soil introduced into the clay 
 from above. 
 
 The burials from this place were of the kind we have just described in con- 
 nection with the mound at the mouth of Fool river, which is some miles below 
 Indian bayou, having been burials at length, with loose bones around them, and 
 irregular piles of bones of considerable extent. In all, forty-four skulls, two of 
 which had belonged to children, were encountered, in poor condition. 
 
 With one burial were: a small undecorated bowl; a pot of moderate size, 
 having by way of decoration a few vertical and diagonal incised hnes. The 
 bowl rested on a disk of ferruginous sandstone, 2.5 inches in diameter, pitted on 
 each side. 
 
 With another burial was a pebble 1.5 inch in diameter, on which rude facets 
 
 had been worked. 
 
 No other artifacts were found with burials or apart from bones. 
 
 Our search for burials in other mounds of this group was unsuccessful. 
 
 BAYOU MACON, LOUISIANA.^ 
 
 Bayou Magon (the map showing sites on Bayou Magon is included with 
 that of Tensas river, which precedes) rises in southeastern Arkansas, not far 
 from Mississippi river, and flows in a southerly direction, passing into the state 
 of Louisiana, where it continues in the same direction until its junction with 
 Tensas river. 
 
 The stream flows through comparatively low, alluvial land, considerably 
 higher on the western side so far as our investigation extended, on which side of 
 the stream the most important sites are to be found. 
 
 Bayou Magon is reported navigable from its mouth to the town of Floyd, 
 La., a distance of 112 miles, following the course of the stream. It was explored 
 in advance by our agents. Captain Piatt and a companion, from Floyd to its 
 union with Tensas river, and was investigated by us over the same extent. 
 
 Though no attention has been given by the United States government to 
 the removal of snags or of overhanging trees from the bayou farther up than the 
 town of Floyd, j^et with the high water in the bayou at the time of our visit, no 
 doubt with care and with effort our journey could have been considerably length- 
 ened, had it not been that the stream a short distance above Floyd was hope- 
 lessly blocked, so far as our limited force was concerned, by a long-time accumu- 
 lation of driftwood. 
 
 On the whole, our investigation of Bayou Magon was disappointing. The 
 stream is not far to the eastward of Bayou Bartholomew and Ouachita river, 
 along which were found by us the most beautiful aboriginal pottery known from 
 the Mississippi valley, as to which exact data are to be had. Such earthenware 
 as was found by us along the bayou was not of a kind to uphold the high repu- 
 tation of the best aboriginal ware from the lower Mississippi region. 
 
 ^ The part of Bayou Mayon investigated by us is in Louisiana. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 43 
 
 The most intcrcstinii; part of Bayou Ma(;on, sp('akin<i; from an archtpological 
 point of view, is, so far as our investigation extended, the great al)origina] site 
 at Poverty- Point l)elow the town of Floyd, the height of whose prineiiial mound, 
 70 feet, in this iiart of Louisiana, is a reveLation' to arcli:rologists. 
 
 Sites iNVKSTUiATEO. 
 Hoi)eka Phmtation, Catahoula Parish. 
 On Dean Lake, Franklin Parish. 
 Near Cut-off Landing, Catahoula Parish. 
 The Hickingbottom Place, Franklin Parish. 
 The Brannin Place, Franklin Parish. 
 Near Turkey Point Landing, P'ranklin Parish. 
 The Canebrake Mounds, Madison Parish. 
 The Mott Place, Franklin Parish. 
 Near Hope Landing, Madison Parish. 
 The Montgomery Place, Aladison Parish. 
 The Stevens Place, Aladison Parish. 
 The Insley Place, Franklin Parish. 
 The Mound Place, INIadison Parish. 
 The Lake Place, Aladison Parish. 
 The Crowroot Place, Madison Parish. 
 The Richardson Place, East Carroll Parish. 
 Near Lower Jackson Landing, West ( 'arroll Parish. 
 The Jackson Place, West Carroll Parish. 
 Poverty Point, West Carroll Parish. 
 Alotley Place, West Carroll Parish. 
 
 HopEKA Plantation, Catahoula Parish. 
 
 Ho])eka Plantation, near the union of Bayou Maeon with Tensas river, is 
 the i)roperty of Alessrs. H. & C. Newman, of New 
 Orleans. 
 
 On the lower ])art of Hopcka Plantation is a 
 field in which are several low rises whose surfaces 
 are thickly strewn with bits of pottery and fragments 
 of flint. Among these were a few slender arrowheads 
 of flint. Also on the surface was found one of those 
 objects of earthenware belonging to the class shown 
 in Plate II. This one, of the double cone varietv „ ,-,,,- 
 
 ri(i. ].). — (ilijc.'l (il oarlliciiwarc. 
 
 (Fig. 15), is esi)ecially interesting from the fact that iiopeka Plantation, (Puii .sm..) 
 a groove has been made around one i:)art of it. 
 
 ' This site is referred to in Thomas' "Catalogue of Prehistoric Works," p. 104, in which no 
 height is inentioncnl. There is a reference, however, to Prof. .Samuel H. Lockett, Smithsonian 
 Report, 1872, pp. 429, 430, where the site is l)riefly descril)ed, ])ut tlic lieight of tlie great mound 
 is not given. 
 
44 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Two of the rises were dug into, one of which had on the surface crowns of 
 human teeth, but no indications of burials were found in either rise and it was 
 evident that their former contents had been plowed away. 
 
 On the upper part of the plantation, in a cultivated field, near the water, 
 is considerable dark soil with fragments of pottery, bits of flint, and arrowheads 
 of the same material, broken and whole, on the surface. Trial-holes, however, 
 failed to unearth any signs of interments. 
 
 Still farther up on the plantation, in sight from the water, is an irregular 
 eminence with a wide trench, or barrow-pit, surrounding it. Although we were 
 confident that this mound was modern, both on account of its shape and the 
 presence of the barrow-pit, we did a small amount of digging which came upon 
 raw clay. We were informed also, by persons living on and near the plantation, 
 that the mound was believed to have been made comparatively recently to 
 afford refuge for cattle in periods of high water. 
 
 Mound on Dean Lake, Franklin Parish. 
 
 On Dean lake, which is probably only a former course of Bayou Magon, 
 is a mound which may be reached by going about two miles in a northerly di- 
 rection from Kimball Landing on Bayou Magon. 
 
 The mound, the name of whose owner we were unable to learn, is about 100 
 yards from the eastern bank of Dean lake, in woods which one should enter 
 about one-third up the lake from its southern end. The mound, 3.5 feet in 
 height, is roughly circular, with a diameter of about 80 feet. It has been greatly 
 trampled by cattle. 
 
 Seven trial-holes showed the mound to have a thin surface layer of dark soil 
 and to be otherwise of yellow clay, except where dark earth from the surface 
 filled pits. A base-line was present at a depth of about 4 feet. 
 
 Seven burials were reached by the trial-holes, which were much enlarged 
 before the interments were removed. 
 
 Burial No. 1, a bunch extending down from the surface, included twenty- 
 four skulls. This grave contained dark, superficial soil continuing down from 
 the surface. 
 
 Burial No. 2 was of the bunched variety with one cranium. This burial 
 was in yellow clay, and apparently had been made during the formation of the 
 mound, as none of the dark soil of the surface was around it. 
 
 Burial No. 3, a bunch having thirteen skulls, 6 inches down. With this 
 burial were two bicave stones of quartzite, respectively 2.3 inches and 2.2 inches 
 in diameter, and a small drill of flint. 
 
 Burial No. 4, a bunched burial with four skulls, lay 15 inches down, in un- 
 disturbed, yellow clay. In association was a small lump of sandstone. 
 
 Burial No. 5, just below the surface, was a bunch having nine crania. 
 
 Burial No. 6, a bunched burial with a single skuU, lay 18 inches down, in 
 undisturbed, yellow clay. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 45 
 
 Burial No. 7. This burial, a bunch with a single skull, was in the yellow 
 clay, 22 inches from the surface. 
 
 Mounds neae Cut-off Landing, Catahoula Parish. 
 
 By the side of a disused highroad, about 250 yards in a westerly direction 
 from Cut-off Landing, on property belonging to Mr. H. A. Lewis, of Wisner, La., 
 is a small remant of a mound, the remainder of which has fallen into the Cut-off, 
 a bayou entering Bayou Magon nearby. 
 
 Four holes sunk into this remnant (about all it would accommodate) each 
 came upon skeletal remains, five burials in all being encountered. Of these, 
 three were bunched burials, the bones all badly decayed, not arranged in piles 
 but forming long and comparatively narrow deposits. One of these burials had 
 sixteen skulls; one had nine skulls, three of which had belonged to children; 
 and one had two skulls, one of which was that of a child. There were also two 
 full-length burials of adults, extended on the back. All these burials were 
 without mortuary deposit of any kind. 
 
 About one-quarter mile westwardlj^ from Cut-off Landing, in a fallow field 
 also belonging to Mr. Lewis, is a mound 11 feet in height, which has been so 
 subjected to wash of rain (the earth having perhaps been loosened by trampling 
 of cattle) that the sides are furrowed to such an extent that the mound has no 
 regularity of outline. Measurements taken in two directions gave respectively 
 as diameters of base 127 feet and 118 feet, but other measurements, we are con- 
 vinced, would show a more marked divergence. 
 
 Seven trial-holes put down in the upper parts of the mound went through 
 mixed soil to a depth of slightly more than 3 feet where they reached a layer of 
 dark material 9 inches thick. Below this layer was hard, yellow clay containing 
 no admixture. 
 
 Evidently this mound had been constructed to a certain height and then had 
 served as a place of domicile for a considerable time, as evidenced by the dark 
 layer. Later the mound had been increased in height by about 3 feet, not by the 
 addition of clay dug from one place, but gathered here and there superficially. 
 No sign of interment was encountered. 
 
 About one-half mile above Cut-off Landing, on the bank of the bayou, is 
 the home of Mr. E. L. Lewis. A short distance from the house, by the side of a 
 road which has cut a part from it, is an irregular rise about 2 feet in height and 
 so worn and washed that it is almost impossible to distinguish the mound from 
 the surrounding area. Considerable digging into this rise showed it to be com- 
 posed of raw clay. No evidence of artificial origin was encountered. 
 
 Mound on the Hickingbottom Place, Franklin Parish. 
 
 In woods belonging to Mr. Louis Hickingbottom, residing nearby, is a 
 
 mound, 1 foot 9 inches in height, in sight from the stream. The outline is 
 
 irregular. Two diameters were 75 feet and 95 feet. This mound apparently 
 
 had been built for residential purposes, as no sign of interments was discovered. 
 
46 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Mound on the Brannin Place, Franklin Parish. 
 In a cultivated field forming part of the Brannin Place, of which Messrs. 
 E. H, Ratchff and W. J. Feltus, of Natchez, Miss., are proprietors, is a very 
 symmetrical mound, 15 feet in height, in full view from the water. Its basal 
 diameters are, respectively, N. and S., 143 feet; E. and W., 122 feet. The diam- 
 eters of the summit-plateau in the same directions are 80 feet and 66 feet. The 
 sides of the mound face the cardinal points. The mound, so far as our trial-holes 
 could determine, is of raw clay and contains no trace of burials. There are 
 almost no signs of former aboriginal occupancy in the surrounding fields. 
 
 Mounds near Turkey Point Landing, Franklin Parish. 
 
 In sight from Turkey Point Landing, in a cultivated field belonging to Mr. 
 A. M. Scott, who lives farther inland, is a mound with circular base, somewhat 
 more than 3 feet in height when measured from the outside, but showing a 
 total depth of about 4 feet when the measurement was taken by means of a 
 trial-hole from the surface to a dark stratum presumably the original base. 
 
 The mound, which has been plowed over for a considerable time, and across 
 part of which a private road passes, is composed wholly of dark soil. Its diameter 
 was about 95 feet. In the southwestern part of this mound were numerous 
 burials. Of eleven trial-holes put down, seven in this part of the mound and 
 near it came upon human remains, and in removing these, other burials were 
 found, making the total number thirty-six, all very badly decayed. 
 
 Of these thirty-six burials, which seem to have been interred in graves from 
 the surface and none of which lay at a depth greater than 26 inches, seventeen 
 were extended at full length on the back; sixteen were bunched burials; and three 
 were remains disturbed by the plow. None of the bunched burials had more than 
 three skulls, though several of the larger burials of this class, which had been 
 somewhat disturbed by cultivation on the mound, may have had more than 
 that number originally. 
 
 Various artifacts, mostlj^ vessels of earthenware, lay with some of the burials 
 of both classes. 
 
 With a bunched burial was an undecorated, biconical pipe of earthenware, 
 quadrangular in cross-section, a verj^ ordinary type. 
 
 With another bunched burial were three ear-plugs of claystone, not directly 
 with the skuU but near other bones. These ear-plugs, having cyhndrical bodies 
 with heads, include a pair, undecorated, each 2.1 inches in length. The other, 
 2.2 inches long, has two incised, concentric circles on the head and an incised 
 line surrounding the shank near the end. 
 
 A small, rough arrowhead or knife, of flint, also lay near bones. 
 
 Thirty-seven earthenware vessels, or large parts of them, (evidently some 
 of the vessels had been struck in plowing), lay with the burials, usually with the 
 skulls, even in the case of bunched burials, several vessels in some instances with 
 a single burial. Numerous interments, however, were without artifact of anv kind. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. -1/ 
 
 Fill. Hi. — ^'(•ssol dl' caiilicnWMi-c. \(Mr 'I'lirkcx- Piiiiil I.nnilint;. lUci^liI :; imiii's. ) 
 
 l''i(i 17. — Vcssi-l (if ('ai1li('inviii-(', W'ai' Tuikcv Pdjiil Landin.L!:. (IFciuhl 4..^ inclieii. ) 
 
48 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Tlu' earthenware at this i)hice, tempered as a rule with coarse sand or fine 
 gravel is without pohsli, save in two or three instances where an attempt has 
 l)een made to confer it, and is soft, i)resumal)ly througli insufficient firing. The 
 forms in nearl>' e^•er^• instance embrace^ tlie ])owl and the pot and A'esscls between 
 the two. The lx)ttle appears l)ut onc( — small with a wide mouth. A pentagonal 
 base separated from the rest of th(> vessel was ])resent. 
 
 Fl(_;. IS.— \'csscl 
 
 icinvMic. Xcai' Tiiik('\" I'niiil Laiiiliuij 
 
 (I)i: 
 
 ■j iiii'lit 
 
 As might be ex])ccted in the lower Mississippi region, the vessels are sym- 
 metrical, the ware is fairly thin, and a large proportion of them bear decoration, 
 though the artistic asj^ration that prompted the adornment of the ware was 
 decidedly lacking in the skill or cai'e necessary- to its realization, much of the 
 decoration, most of which is incised, l:)eing faint and with irr(>gular line-work. 
 Parallel lines, and curved lines including the scroll, predominate. No attempt 
 at coloring is exhibited. 
 
 Several of the l)etter vessels from this mound are shown in Figs. 16, 17, IS, 
 19, not because they present any si)ecial feature of interest, but to illustrate the 
 earthenware of the i)lace. One pot, fully eciual to any of th(^m, is omitted from 
 the illustrations as in sha]ie and in decoration (a scroll design on the body and 
 l)arallel lines on the neck) it is almost exactly sinnlar to one found by us at 
 Seven Pines Landing, Morehouse Parish, on Ba>ou Bartholomew, La.^ This 
 vessel from the Turkey Point mound has been sent as a gift to the United States 
 National Museum. 
 
 Presumably a large number of burials remained in the mound when our 
 investigation came to an end, as additional digging was not desirable in view of 
 the rising river. 
 
 Two small rises of the ground, respectively on proi)(>rties of Messrs. T. S. 
 Knight and N. II. Hill, not far north of the mound on the Scott Place, were dug 
 into by us without success. 
 
 1 "Antiquities of the Ouachita \'a]lcy," |i'i>i-, 172. Jduru. Acad. Nat. Sci. of I'liila., Vol. XIV. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 49 
 
 Fig. 11).— Vessel 
 
 irlliiiiwai'e. Xoar 'I'urkey Puiiil LandiiiL'. (Heifi;lil 3.S iiielies.) 
 
 The Canebkake Moi^nds, Madison Parish. 
 
 In canel.)rakc and woods arc three mounds which we shall call ^4, B and C, 
 respectively. 
 
 Mound A is the first reached In- one ascending; the river, and a"s is also the 
 case with Mound B, is le.-s than fifty yards from the water and visibl(> from it 
 when foliage does not intervene, though one seeking these mounds had best 
 obtain a guide. 
 
 The mounds, l)eside each of wdrich was a depression containing water at the 
 time of our visit, are situated in resi)ect to each other as folhnvs: 
 
 From the centcn* of A to the cent(>r of B (so nearly as the centers of mounds 
 shai)ed so irregularly as these were could be determined) was 297 feet 49° 30' E. 
 of N.; from the center of .4 to the center of (' was 2b5 feet 1° 30' S. of E.; from 
 the center of B to the center of C, 207 feet 3° W. of S. 
 
 The mounds, which are a favorite resort of cattle and which, no doubt, 
 had been somewhat trampled down by them and washed by rain, had ap]:)roxi- 
 mately the following dimensions: 
 
 Mound .4, height, 4.5 feet; diameters, 75 f(>et and 100 feet. 
 
 Mound B, height, 3.5 feet; diameter, 95 feet. 
 
 Mound C, height, 4.5 feet; diameter, about 85 feet. 
 
 Mound A had a base-line about 8 inches thick, no doubt marking the original 
 surface. Beneath this line was a yellow-gray mixture of sand and cla^^ showing 
 no disturbance. Above the base-line was yellow claA' about 26 inches in thick- 
 
50 
 
 abork;inal sites in Louisiana and in Arkansas. 
 
 ness ill tlu> ceiilral part of tlic iiiouiid. Then above, came sli.uhtly more than 2 
 feet of dark soil, mainly elay discolored by admixture of organic matter. Doubt- 
 less the mound had been made (»f yellow clay and then dwelt upon while the 
 upper layer of 2 feet, in which were fragments of nuissel-shells and other debris, 
 was forming. 
 
 ''«fa«ioU»</, 
 
 I'^ii;. 20.— \'i'ssi>l nl' cMi-tli 
 
 f ':illi'l>l':lki' lliniiii'ls. ( Di;i 
 
 in. .) ;) ini-lK 
 
 Seven large trial-holes ca.m.e upon human I'emains in one instance only. 
 In the center of the mound, oS in<'hes down, weix^ the legs and feet of a skeleton, 
 extended and in anatomical ord<"r. These bones wei'c well ])reserved, without 
 break and in marked conti-ast to all the other bones found els(nvhere at this 
 l)lace, wdiich wei'e so decayed that they wei'e often represented l\^• friable frag- 
 ments only. 
 
 Th(> bones in Alound A did not s(>em t(.) lie in a grave, noi', so far as we could 
 determine, had anotlier gra\'e cut oh tlie pai1 of tlie skeleton that was missing. 
 Much digging was done in all diicctions around the bones, showing the basal 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 51 
 
 layer beneath to be undisturbed. Some distance from the other bones was 
 part of a left radius in equally good" condition. Presumably there had been some 
 disturbance. 
 
 In other parts of the mound were an arrowhead of flint with shoulders and 
 a stem, and that part of an earthenware platform, or "monitor," pipe, in which 
 the hole is present, having a small part of the bowl. 
 
 Presumably Mound A was domiciliary in the main. 
 
 Mound B was variously composed. Seemingly it had been built upon a 
 dwelling-site of very dark soil containing some mussel-shells. This dark, 
 basal part was reached at different depths. Above this was the later mound, 
 in places made of dark soil, in other parts of a clay lighter in shade. 
 
 Burials in this mound cut through no layer, but lay in and under homoge- 
 neous material so that it was impossible to distinguish pits. 
 
 Fourteen trial-holes, some of which were much 
 enlarged after the discovery of burials, resulted in 
 the finding of seventeen interments, the deepest 
 lying 32 inches from the surface, as follows: ex- 
 tended on the back, two; bunched burials, fifteen. 
 
 Of the bunched burials four were without 
 skulls; one had a single skull; seven were with 
 two crania each; one included five skulls; one, ten 
 skulls; one, eleven skulls. 
 
 The only object with the dead, other than 
 pottery vessels, was a biconical pipe of earthen- 
 ware, quadrangular in cross section, of such infe- 
 rior material that parts adhered to surrounding 
 clay when the pipe was removed. 
 
 A disintegrating pipe of limestone, of the same 
 form as the one just described, was found in clay 
 that had been thrown out in digging and presum- 
 ably had been with an interment. 
 
 Thirty-four vessels, nearly all of coarse ware, of which only two were un- 
 broken, lay with the burials, usually near the skulls. All but five bear decoration 
 of some kind, though, as a rule, it is unambitious and of inferior execution. One 
 symmetrical vessel of excellent ware, globular, with flat base and short neck 
 (Fig. 20), bears on the body an incised decoration consisting of four scrolls 
 radiating from circles, with triangles filling in the design. While the execution 
 of this design is not equal to the highest standard of the lower Mississippi region, 
 it is nevertheless well done, and the vessel as a whole is far above average work. 
 Precisely the same decoration, though the shape of the vessel is different, is on 
 one found by us in a mound at Glass,^ Miss., in which some exquisite examples of 
 
 ' "Some Aboriginal Sites on Mississippi River," Fig. 8. Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., 
 Vol. XIV. 
 
 Fig. 21.- 
 
 -Dcroration on baso. 
 size.) 
 
 (Full 
 
r.O 
 
 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 tlie potter's art \v(>re found. Th(> \-(>sscl from the Ganebrake mound has addi- 
 tionally, however, an incised desii^n on the base, shown in Fig. 21. 
 
 A bottle' from this mound, which has seen much better days and at one time 
 ma>- have presentcnl a rather striking apiiearance, still bears traces, on ui)right 
 bands, of cream, black, and red, alt(>rnately. 
 
 Polychrome decoration on pottery is seldom found south of Arkansas river. 
 
 Fk;. 22, — \'osscl of cartheinvarc. C'ani'l)i'aki' nioiimls. (Hi'i^ht !).l ini'h('> 
 
 Certain other vessels from this mound arc shown in Figs. 22, 23, 2-1. 
 
 Mound C was of lilack soil al)ove a iDase-line about 6 inches in thickness, 
 in which were mussel-shells and otlier debris. B(dow the base-line was an un- 
 disturbed mixture of sand and cla}'. Above the black i^art of the mound was a 
 superficial layer of mixed, y(>llow clay. Both the upper and lower parts of the 
 mound varied somewhat in dei)tli, and it was evident that the lower part had 
 
 ' (liven l)y us, with other vessels, to ilie IjOtiisiana State Aluseuni, New ( )rleans, La. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 53 
 
 been made and lived upon and that later the mixed, yellow clay had been placed 
 above it and around it so that the dei)th of this yellow clay was greatest at the 
 marginal parts of the mound. Measurements taken nearly at the center of the 
 mound showed the ui)per layer of yellow cla>' to be about 2 feet thick, and the 
 dark soil beneath it to have a thickness of al:iout 3.5 feet. 
 
 Fi<;. 23. — ^'pxs('l of earthenware. Canebrake indiiiids. 
 
 (II( 
 
 ;lif 4; 
 
 .■hes.) 
 
 Eleven trial-holes, some of which, later, were greatly increased in size, were 
 carried down to and below the base of the mound, reaching first and last, nineteen 
 burials, the deepest 3 feet S inches from the surface, and all in the black, lower 
 layer. 
 
 All these burials had been made ])rior to the addition to the mound, inasmuch 
 as there was no sign of the yellow clay in the graves in the dark soil. 
 
 Of the nineteen burials, twelve were skeletons of adults, extended on the 
 back. In addition to these were three similar skeletons which had immediately 
 with them collections of bones resembling launched burials, one having one 
 skull; one, four skulls; one, eleven skulls. There was also a burial which had 
 
 4 JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI.PHILA.. VOL. XVI. 
 
54 AB0RK;IXAL sites in LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 been cxtoiuled on the l)ack, l)ut from which the pelvis and two-thirds of the thighs 
 were wanting. Careful search was made al)Ove and l^elow this skeleton for 
 indications of a gra\'e, which, passing through the skeleton in c|uestion, could 
 have removed the missing l)ones, l)iit no such grave was found. 
 
 Thei-(> were also three bimched burials, two with three skulls each and one 
 with six. 
 
 No iiotterv was i)i'esent with the burials, and the only objects found with 
 them wei'c two small celts of metamoi'])hic rock and of ([uartzite, respectiv(>ly, and 
 a mass of sandstone, triangular in jilane, smoothed to slight concavity on four 
 of its Hv(^ sides, ])ossil)ly 1)\' use as a hone. Its lengtli is about 'A inches; its thick- 
 ness, 1.2;") inch; its maximum width, 2.25 inches. 
 
 2(.--\Vs>r 
 
 ■artliciiwarc. ( 'aurlirakf iiMiinids. (HriLiiil :i.'.) inches. ) 
 
 It is intei'csting to note two mounds in this grouj), each containing burials 
 with which, in one instance, wcvo numei'ous vessels, and in the oth(^r, none. 
 
 I\I()rNI)S ON TFIK JMott I'l.vce, Fkanklin' P.\Risn. 
 On the Mott Place, so called from th(> name of a, former owner (also known 
 as the ^^'alnut P)luff Place), is a hue group of mounds, all but one of which are on 
 the ])roperty of Mr. A. D. Simmons, residing on the ])lace. The grou]), nine in 
 number, some in, soine on th(> border of, a cultivated field, form an irr(>gular 
 ellipse of which the two principal mounds constitute the western sid(>, two form 
 the apices of the figure, and the I'cst the eastern side. There are also several 
 I'ises and hum|)s in tlie field and in the line of the elli])se. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 55 
 
 In major diameter the ellipse is about 850 feet, the minor diameter being 
 about 575 feet. The mounds, to which letters will be ascribed for convenience 
 in description, will be considered separately. 
 
 Mound A, within the field, is quadrangular and still preserves a symmetrical 
 appearance. Its height is 28.5 feet. The sides face the cardinal points, or 
 practically do so. The diameters of base are 315 and 285 feet. The summit- 
 plateau, which is under cultivation, is 200 feet by 150 feet. 
 
 Mound B, 4 feet 8 inches in height, is 240 feet NNE. from Mound A, the 
 distance being between the margins of the mounds, as are all such distances 
 given of this group. This mound, which is outside the field, is of very irregular 
 outline, partly through cultivation in the past, furrows being plainly visible upon 
 it, and partly through the presence of a road which passes over part of it. It is 
 between 90 and 100 feet in diameter. 
 
 Mound C, outside the field, 6 feet in height, is 84 feet E. from Mound B. 
 Between wear and wash it has practically no regularity of outline. Its diameter 
 of base is approximately 85 feet. 
 
 Mound D, also 6 feet in height, practically shapeless, is about 70 feet E. 
 from Mound C. It lies without the field. Its diameters of base are 100 feet 
 and 90 feet. 
 
 Mound E, 8 feet in height, lying outside the field, is 265 feet E. from Mound 
 D. This mound has been quadrangular with a flat summit-plateau, but its shape 
 is now very irregular. Its basal diameters are 90 and 100 feet; the diameters of 
 what is left of the summit-plateau are 46 and 63 feet. 
 
 Next in line comes what may possibly have been a mound, but evidently 
 was used as a fortification in the Civil War, which its position commanding the 
 water well qualified it to be. It has been omitted from the group of mounds by 
 us, as it is impossible exactly to determine its nature. 
 
 Mound F, lying outside the field, 12.5 feet high, is 105 feet SSE. from 
 Mound E. It is square and still symmetrical. Its sides approximately face 
 the cardinal points. Its basal diameter is 135 feet. 
 
 Mound G, outside the field, about 4 feet in height, has been plowed out of all 
 semblance of symmetry, though part of a flat summit-plateau still remains. It 
 lies 90 feet S. from Mound F; its diameters of base are 75 feet and 100 feet. 
 
 Mound H, forming part of the cultivated field, is 50 feet SW. from Mound G. 
 It is a mere remnant with a height of 6 feet and a basal diameter of about 80 feet. 
 
 Mound /, 180 feet WSW. from Mound H, is on property belonging to Mr. 
 M. A. McDonald living nearby. Its height is about 17 feet; its diameter of base 
 (it is almost square) is about 190 feet, the diameter of the summit-plateau being 
 somewhat more than 100 feet. This mound is fairly symmetrical, though the 
 sides show the effects of wash in places. Many trees are on the summit-plateau. 
 
 The mounds of this group, as well as various small rises, were carefully 
 investigated by us, but in each instance, with one exception. Mound F, the 
 material of which the mounds are composed (clay, or in one or two instances 
 
56 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 clay and sand) was of a raw appearance and gave no encouragement to look 
 for burials, and neither bone nor artifact was found in them. 
 
 The summit-plateau of Mound F was composed of dark soil, which yielded 
 twenty-six burials to eight trial-holes, some of these burials, of course, being 
 found in the enlargement of the original holes in the process of removing burials. 
 
 The rich, dark soil of the summit-plateau, evidently a later addition to the 
 mound, was variously between 4 and 5 feet in depth. Below it was a dark stra- 
 tum about 6 inches thick, doubtless marking the one-time surface of the mound. 
 Presumably such burials as we found in the dark soil had been buried from the 
 present surface of the plateau, as some were between 8 inches and 16 inches deep. 
 Pits, however, were not distinguishable in this homogeneous soil, which had been 
 subject to no admixture on removal. 
 
 A number of graves, however, had been put down from the original surface, 
 and these were easily traced, as the graves had been dug into clay, often in local 
 strata differing in shade, so that the material, when returned, had a mottled 
 appearance. For example, the bottom of the grave of Burial No. 20, the deepest 
 found, was 6.5 feet below the present surface. At this part of the mound the 
 dark stratum marking the earlier period of occupancy was 4 feet 3 inches from the 
 present surface of the mound, so that the grave originally had been 2 feet 3 inches 
 in depth. 
 
 It is difficult to compile a statement of the twenty-six burials found in 
 Mound F, as some of them were of a composite character, a mingling of bones 
 placed with burials at length. So nearly as could be determined, however, the 
 burials were: 
 
 At full length on the back, 5. 
 
 Bunched burials, 19. 
 
 Single skulls, 2. 
 
 Of the bunched burials: seven had one skull each; one had two skulls; three 
 had three skulls; one, four skulls; one, six skulls; one, seven skulls; one, nine 
 skulls; one, ten skulls; one, thirteen skulls; one, sixteen skulls; one, twenty skulls. 
 
 Of the extended burials, three were associated with collections of bones 
 which might be termed bunched burials, though account has not been taken 
 of them as such in our enumeration. Those in question had respectively: one 
 skull, two skulls, four skulls. 
 
 The bones in this mound were badly decayed, and when crania from it are 
 spoken of reference is made to what once were skulls, though when found but 
 little may have been left of them. 
 
 We shall now describe in detail some of the more interesting burials from 
 Mound F. 
 
 Burial No. 9, an extended skeleton, 32 inches from the surface, had im- 
 mediately with it a number of mingled bones, among which were two skulls. 
 Near one of these four small arrowheads of flint were found, perhaps part of a 
 deposit, the rest of which had been thrown out by the digger, though careful 
 search with a sieve failed to yield additional ones. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 57 
 
 Burial No. 13, a l:)unchcd l)urial including; sixteen skulls, Ix'gan 40 inches 
 from the surface and continued on a downward slope, ending one foot deeper. 
 The space occupied by this burial was about 8 feet by 5 feet, its thickness varying 
 between one inch where long-bones onl>' were i)resent, to about 6 inches where 
 crania were found. 
 
 Burial No. 15, a bunch, 3.5 feet down, with which were thirteen skulls. 
 With this burial was a deposit consisting of nine small, l)arl)ed arrowheads of 
 flint, some imperfect through former l^i-eakage, as were a large proportion of the 
 projectile points from this mound. These particular arrowheads were not in a 
 pile, as such de})osits sometimes are, but were somewhat spread and called for 
 careful search in the moist soil in which the}^ lay singly. 
 
 Burial No. 17, a bunch with seven skulls, 5 feet deei), had twenty-six small 
 arrowheads spread over a considerable area. 
 
 Burial No. 20, to which reference has been mad(\ included twenty skulls 
 and lay in a grave with rounded corners, 5 feet 1 inch !)>- 5 feet 6 inches in area, 
 the depth, as stated, being 2 feet 3 inches below the original sur- 
 face of the mound and 6.5 feet l)elow the ])resent one. The bones 
 in this grave were badly crushed, some retaining their shape in 
 part, others being almost in i^owder. Even the skulls were 
 flattened. 
 
 With this burial, mingled with the remnants of bones and 
 distributed over the base of the grave-pit, were fifty-two small, 
 flint arrowpoints, most of them serrated. 
 
 Three bunched burials, each with a single skull, had, respec- 
 tively, an earthenware vessel, two undecorated, one without 
 adornment except for series of three notches extending around 
 the margin of the opening. These burials, with which had been 
 l)laced the only earthenware vessels found by us in the mound, 
 lay near together and presumal)ly the same impulse i)i'ompted 
 the placing of all three ^'esse]s. 
 
 Beyond the artifacts described, nothing was found l)y us 
 with the burials, an unsatisfactory retinii, taking into considera- 
 tion the nature of the site, which indicates occujiancy by a se- 
 dentary- jwpulation for a consideral^le jieriod. 
 
 In the field near the mounds was little evidence of former aboriginal occu- 
 pancy, though a few arrowheads and knives were gathered from the surface, 
 including an interesting knife of flint, about 2.9 inches in length, showing a curve 
 on the end of the shank, the natural curve of the pebble from which the knife 
 was made (Fig. 25). 
 
 We found this place to be the farthest north on Bayou Magon (so far as 
 our search extended) where arrowheads, as a rule, are small and barbed. Farther 
 up the bayou i")rojectile points are much larger, many having shoulders rather 
 than barbs. 
 
 Fiii. 2r(. — Knilc of 
 llinl. Mott Plafc. 
 (Full size.) 
 
58 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Mounds near Hope Landing, Madison Parish. 
 
 About one-quarter mile in woods, in a westerly direction from Hope Landing, 
 on property whose owner's name we were unable to learn, is a mound with 
 rounded corners which are directed toward the cardinal points, somewhat of an 
 exception, since, as we know, it is the sides of such mounds that usually are so 
 oriented. This mound, which is square and near which is the usual depression 
 filled with water, is 5.5 feet in height. Its diameter of base is 110 feet, the 
 plateau varying between 60 and 70 feet. From the southeastern side a shoul- 
 der, nearly square, projects 70 feet, measured from the summit-plateau of the 
 mound. 
 
 This mound, which was almost entirely of clay, yielded no sign of interment. 
 
 Between the mound just described and the bayou is a circular rise, about 
 75 feet in diameter and 18 inches in height. No evidence of the presence of 
 artifacts or of bones was found in it. 
 
 Mounds on the Montgomery Place, Madison Parish. 
 
 On the bank overlooking the water, on the Montgomery Place, of which 
 Judge E. C. Montgomery, of Tallulah, La., is the owner, are two mounds. The 
 larger, 5 feet in height, according to measurement from the outside, showed a 
 distance of 5.5 feet from the summit to a dark basal line about 3 inches in thick- 
 ness. This mound, hemispherical, having a diameter of 65 feet, without marked 
 summit-plateau, looked what it proved to be, a veritable burial mound erected 
 exclusively for mortuary purposes. 
 
 Seven trial-holes all reached burials, almost immediately, and in the re- 
 moval of these so many other burials were encountered that the central part of 
 the mound was largely dug out. The excavation, it is hardly necessary to say, 
 was carefully refilled, leaving the mound as much a place of refuge in case of 
 high water as it had been before our arrival. 
 
 The mound was made of a mixture of sand and clay. The burials, thirty-six 
 in number, all very badly decayed, were present at all depths, some being just 
 under the surface where apparently they had been disturbed by the plow some 
 time in the past, though the mound is outside the cultivated part of the place 
 at present. Other burials were at intermediate depths, and a number lay on the 
 thin, dark stratum which marked the original surface of the ground. 
 
 The burials were all of the bunched variety, one, however, lying upon, and 
 probably including, the remains of a skeleton which lay closely flexed on the 
 right side. 
 
 Four of the burials had been greatly disturbed in cultivation, one of them 
 so much so that but part of a single bone remained, not enough to distinguish 
 whether or not it was human, but as a celt lay with it, presumably the bone had 
 formed part of a human skeleton. 
 
 The remaining thirtj^-two burials included crania as follows : 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 59 
 
 With one skull 14 
 
 With two skulls ',) 
 
 With three skulls 2 
 
 With four skulls 3 
 
 With hve skulls 1 
 
 With six skulls 1 
 
 With seven skulls ] 
 
 With twenty-seven skulls 1 
 
 In one instance remains of teeth arc included as a skull, tliou^h all other 
 jiarts of the cranium had disappeared. 
 
 Few artifacts were found with the l)urials. With one was a small mass 
 of galena (lead sulphitle) ; with another, a celt of ^'olcanic I'ock, 4 inches in length. 
 
 <-' V 
 
 Fui. 211. — C'luy supports tur rnol^iiig-A-osscls. Aloulgoiucry I'la 
 
 ( Full .sizu 
 
 AMth the great liurial which included twenty-seven skulls and la>' about 
 centrally in the mound, though somewhat above the base, were a rude arrowhead, 
 two oth(^r arrowheads from each of which a barb had been l^roken, and a graceful 
 lance])oint, or large arrowhead. All these were not immediately together, but 
 lay near the bones at short distances apart. The lanccpoint or large arrowhead 
 was in two fragments which were sei:)aratcd b>' about six inches. 
 
 With another burial was an arrowhead of flint (as were all arrowheads 
 from this mound) from which a part had bec^n broken. 
 
 In one i)art of the basal layer had been a circular hreplace about one foot 
 
60 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 in depth and 32 inches in diameter. Within this fireplace was some charcoal 
 and a number of objects of half -fired earthenware, rude, triangular pyramids in 
 shape, from 3 to 4 inches in height. Twenty-five of these objects, which prob- 
 ably were supports for vessels while cooking was in progress, and do not belong 
 to that type of clay objects found by us in various other places this season, 
 were practically unbroken, while many others, in fragments, were also present 
 in the fireplace, in which, however, no parts of pottery vessels were found. 
 
 These pyramids in no instance rest steadily on their bases, which are of 
 irregular surface and often shghtly convex. On examination, however, it is 
 found that each of these supports has one side which is flat and on which it rests 
 firmly. Consequently, the supports were so arranged, doubtless, that three or 
 perhaps four of them, placed on their flat sides, could firmly support a vessel. 
 In Fig. 26 are shown two of these objects, one on its base (on which it rested 
 unsteadily) and one Ijang on the single side which is flat, the other sides being 
 like the base, of uneven surface. 
 
 A few feet from the mound just described was a small rise which proved to 
 be of raw clay and jdelded no evidence of having served as a place of burial. 
 
 Mounds on the Stevens Place, Madison Parish. 
 
 In open woods on the Stevens Place, belonging to the Ashley Land Co., 
 of Tallulah, La., in sight of each other, are two mounds, the road which borders 
 the bayou passing between them. 
 
 The larger, 4.5 feet in height, and 85 by 70 feet in diameters of base, proved 
 on investigation to be of raw clay, with the exception of a small deposit of loam 
 on the surface. No burials were found. 
 
 The second mound, somewhat smaller than the other, had been scooped out 
 like a saucer and as it commanded the water its shape is probably a relic of the 
 Civil War. 
 
 Mounds on the Insley Place, Franklin Parish. 
 
 The Insley Place, belonging to Mr. W. T. Insley, of Delhi, La., has a group 
 of mounds bordering the water, though they are not in line, one being on the 
 opposite side of a road which skirts the bayou, while the other three directly 
 overlook the stream. 
 
 Mound A, the northernmost, has been lessened in extent by the road on 
 one side and by the bayou on the other, not directly by the action of water on its 
 side, as this place was not submerged in the great flood of 1912, but by the effect 
 of the bayou undermining the bank below. 
 
 The mound, 4 feet in height, has a basal diameter of 65 feet through the 
 part which still remains intact. Twelve trial-holes showed the mound to be of rich, 
 brown loam and encountered two burials, both of the bunched variety, 30 inches 
 and 18 inches down, respectively. The deeper burial had four skulls, two of which 
 had belonged to children; the other, a single skull. No objects were found with 
 either burial, 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 61 
 
 Apart from the bones were a good-sized arrowpoint of flint and three of 
 those objects of earthenware of which a number were found throughout the 
 season. 
 
 This mound was somewhat puzzling, as one would expect, with all the digging 
 done, to have come upon more burials. 
 
 Mound B, a short distance below Mound A, has been quadrangular, but its 
 shape has been so greatly altered by the making of the road, by wash of rain, 
 and by the caving bank of the bayou, that it has no uniformity of outline. One 
 diameter, that parallel with the road and with the river, and which no doubt 
 gives some idea of the original size of the mound, is 215 feet. The altitude is 
 24 feet. Trial-holes came at once on raw clay; and great sections of the mound, 
 exposed by wash, showed no signs of its use for burial purposes. 
 
 Mound C, a short distance below Mound B, is at present little more than 
 a hump of compact clay. 
 
 Mound D, across the road, in a field, 10.5 feet in height, is fairly symmetrical. 
 It is quadrangular, with an extensive summit-plateau in which, unfortunately, 
 numbers of burials have been made in comparatively recent years. The mound 
 does not exactly face the cardinal points, the longer side extending N. by W. 
 and S. by E.; the shorter side, of course, E. by N. and W. by S. In the di- 
 rections given, respectively, the diameters of base are 175 feet and 135 feet, 
 and those of the summit-plateau, 140 feet and 70 feet. 
 
 The cultivated fields on this place gave no evidence of former aboriginal 
 occupancy, nor was there any history there of the discovery of bones or of arti- 
 facts. 
 
 The Mound Place, Madison Parish. 
 
 The Mound Place is referred to here only to explain that what is considered 
 a mound at this place is a tongue of the high land beginning on the opposite 
 side of the bayou, and which, cut off by the stream, reappears as the so-called 
 mound on the Mound Place. The few bits of pottery and occasional arrowheads 
 picked up on the surface are relics of the time when this high ground was utilized 
 by the aborigines. 
 
 Mounds on the Lake Place, Madison Parish. 
 
 About 2.5 miles SE. from Delhi, but on the opposite side of Bayou Magon, 
 on the eastern bank of Joe's Bayou lake, in a field on property belonging to Mr. 
 Michael Crudgington, who resides there, is a site including four mounds and 
 several low rises and ridges. 
 
 Mound A, the farthest north on the lake, is a rectangular mound that has 
 been plowed over and has suffered from wash and from trampling of cattle. 
 Its sides about face the cardinal points. The mound is 10 feet in height; the 
 basal diameters are 125 feet and 104 feet, and those of the summit-plateau 68 
 feet and 57 feet. As the mound had been planted over, but two trial-holes were 
 dug, both showing raw, yellow clay. 
 
(;2 A15()lU(ilNAL SITES IX LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 :\I(juikI B, SU i)ac'cs S. l)y K. from Mound .1, lu-ar the bank of the lake, has 
 been f2;reatly worn and ti-anipled li>- stoek. The mound, rectangular, the sides 
 approximately facing the cardinal points, has a height of alwut G.5 feet. The 
 (hameters of the Ixise are 87 feet and 102 feet; those of the summit-plateau, 36 
 feet and 45 feel , 
 
 Ten trial-holes showed the mound to be of dark, >'ellow cla>' and came upon 
 hve burials so badly decayed that small parts onl\' remained, at depths ranging 
 between inches and 2.5 feet. These burials were all alxn'c a dark layer about 
 
 .■1 ..f cartli. 
 
 r.ik. Plan 
 
 (Hci^lil 4.1 iii'lics.) 
 
 3 feet down, prol)ably caused by occupanc>' for a time before enlargement of the 
 mound. 
 
 The l)urials ('onsisted of three Inmches of bones, each with two skulls; 
 one with a single skull;, and a sk(>leton at kaigth on the back. About one foot 
 in depth was a vessel shown in Fig. 27, whicli, broken when found, has since been 
 cemented together and restored. As no bones were with this vessel, presumably 
 the burial had disappeared througli decay, or possibly its dissociation from 
 remains was the result of disturbance. 
 
 Mound (', 4() i)a,ces p]SE. from Mound .1, about 3.5 feet in height and 60 
 fe(>t in diameter, liad be<Mi cadtivaled over and much worked down. Seven 
 trial-hofes showed the mound to be of dai'k, y(>llo\v clay, but cam(> upon no sign 
 of burials. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 63 
 
 Mound D, 98 paces SE. by S. from Mound C, spread by cultivation, has a 
 height of about 2.5 feet and a basal diameter of 85 feet. Seven trial-holes were 
 unsuccessfully put down through light-colored clay of very unpromising ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 Digging in a part of the site produced a fragment of pottery showing red 
 pigment on one side. 
 
 Mound on the Crowroot Place, Madison Parish. 
 This plantation, as to the name of which there seems to be some doubt, 
 has, in view from the river, a mound about square, 6.5 feet in height and 140 
 feet in basal diameter. Its outline has suffered through cultivation on top and 
 along the sides. Digging into this mound yielded no return in artifacts, nor any 
 evidence of its having served as a place of burial. 
 
 Mounds on the Richardson Place, East Carroll Parish. 
 
 About three-quarters of a mile SW. from the regular landing on the Richard- 
 son Place, which belongs to Mrs. John P. Richardson, of New Orleans, La., in 
 sight from each other, are two mounds. One of these, 5.5 feet in height, of 
 irregular basal outline, is about 95 feet in diameter. As this mound had been 
 long in use by the Richardson family as a place of burial, and numerous tomb- 
 stones are upon it, no investigation of it was attempted. 
 
 The second mound has served as a site for a house, the brick chimney of 
 which was standing at the time of our visit. The mound has been greatly altered 
 in outline in the course of years. 
 
 Digging showed the distance from the summit-plateau to a dark stratum of 
 soil, the original surface of the ground, to be 3.5 feet, though a measurement of 
 height from the outside did not indicate so much. 
 
 Eight trial-holes resulted in the discovery of one burial, which was very 
 fragmentary and in the last stage of decay, the skull being represented by remains 
 of the teeth only. In another hole, near together, were fragments of two bowls 
 of inferior ware, each having incised line-decoration of inferior quality. No 
 bones were found with these vessels, and presumably the burial that almost 
 certainly once was with them, had decayed awa3^ No doubt other burials in 
 this mound had likewise completely disappeared, which would account for the 
 ill-success of our trial-holes. 
 
 Mound near Lower Jackson Landing, West Carroll Parish. 
 
 About one-quarter mile in a northerly direction from the lower landing on 
 the Jackson Place is a mound with a circular base, 9 feet in height, the basal 
 diameter being 115 feet. 
 
 This mound has been the cemetery of the Jackson family for more than 
 sixty years, and, in addition, colored persons have been buried along the sides, 
 so that digging on our part was out of the question, though we were kindly 
 
64 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 permitted by Mr. S. T. Jackson, of Pioneer, La., to take measurements of the 
 mound. 
 
 Mounds on the Jackson Place, West Carroll Parish. 
 
 Forming part of the great chain of mounds that begins with the one just 
 described at Lower Jackson Landing and extends several miles up along the river 
 to within sight of the town of Floyd, is a group of mounds on the Jackson Place, 
 from which, unless obscured by trees, the great mound at Poverty Point is 
 visible. 
 
 On the Jackson Place, on property belonging to Mr. George W. Mont- 
 gomery, of Tallulah, La., all in sight from the river bank, is this interesting group 
 of six mounds, excluding various humps and small rises which are fairly numerous 
 on the place. These mounds, to which letters have been assigned for clearness 
 in description, all of which have been quadrangular with summit-plateaus, in 
 some instances have suffered from wash and from a too close proximity of roads. 
 Their relative positions may be seen on the plan (Fig. 28). 
 
 Mound A, the southernmost of the group, has upon it the house of the man- 
 ager of the plantation. The height of this mound is 13.5 feet; the diameters of 
 base are 177 feet N. and S. and 207 feet E. and W. Those of the summit- 
 plateau respectively in the same directions are 96 feet and 135 feet. 
 
 Mound B, 15 feet in height, has been about square, save that a ridge, now 
 in the main cut away by a road, has extended from the eastern side. The di- 
 ameter of base is 122 feet; that of the summit-plateau, 50 feet. 
 
 Mound C, 9 feet high, has been in part cut away by a road on one side and 
 eaten into by water on the opposite side. The basal diameter remaining intact 
 is 82 feet, and that of the summit-plateau 26 feet. 
 
 Mound D, having an altitude of 14 feet, has basal diameters of 155 feet 
 N. and S., and 138 feet E. and W. The summit-plateau, which is about square, 
 is 65 feet across. Probably the mound was square also at one time, but the sides 
 have suffered extension through wash of rain. 
 
 Mound E, 9 feet high, has diameters of base of 78 feet N. and S., and 69 
 feet E. and W. The diameters of the summit-plateau, in the same directions 
 respectively, are 33 and 27 feet. 
 
 Mound F, which has a house upon it, has been plowed out of shape by 
 continued cultivation and has suffered by W^ear and by wash. A representative 
 diameter probably would be about 190 feet, 150 feet of which would be beneath 
 the summit-plateau. The height is 6.5 feet. Long ridges extend from this 
 mound, one toward the north, the other toward the south. 
 
 The usual ponds, caused by the removal of material for the mounds, are 
 present at this place. 
 
 No digging was done in the mounds on which houses stood. All others, 
 with these exceptions, were investigated, but not in as complete a way as would 
 have been possible had the mounds been in a territory where their complete 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 65 
 
 "'«'f/.{'>y/'f: 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 -^. -^////iii 1 1 ti I irtWvs ^ 
 
 ScaUin|e€i. 
 O JO lOO 200 
 
 Fig. 28. — Plan of mounds. Jackson Place. 
 
66 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 destruction would have been a matter of no importance. Several humps and 
 rises also were dug into. 
 
 Mound C alone yielded burials to our investigation. In this mound nine 
 trial-holes, put down from the summit-plateau, came upon human remains in 
 seven instances. About 2 feet below the surface was a thin, dark layer of soil, 
 which seemed to indicate a period of occupancy and a subsequent increase in 
 the height of the mound. The bones found by us had been buried from the sur- 
 face, none of the graves having cut through the layer in question in aboriginal 
 times. One of the seven burials noted had been greatly scattered by an inter- 
 ment of comparatively recent date. With some of the scattered bones was a 
 tubular bead of red jasper, .8 inch in length. 
 
 Two other burials were very fragmentary, one consisting of part of a single 
 bone, perhaps a remnant of another disturbance. With this was what had been 
 an effigy-pipe of coarse limestone or of phosphate rock, greatly disintegrated. 
 A blow from a shovel completed the wreck. The remaining four burials had 
 been extended on the back. These bones were so badly decayed that the form 
 of burial was merely indicated by remnants. 
 
 With one of these burials were two bowls, both badly broken, one decorated 
 with encircling, incised lines, the other with punctate markings. 
 
 The level ground at this place showed few signs of former aboriginal .oc- 
 cupancj^, judged bj^ debris on the surface. Several arrowpoints of flint were 
 found, including one small and serrated. Our agent informed us that when 
 visiting this place the preceding summer, he picked up a "plummet" of hematite, 
 and two others were acquired hj us from a colored woman living on the place. 
 
 Sites on Poverty Point, and on the Motley Place, West Carroll Parish. 
 
 Near the town of Floyd are two adjacent properties bordering the water, 
 but well above reach of the highest flood, in all more than two thousand acres, 
 farm-land and forest, respectively known as Poverty Point and the Motley 
 Place, Poverty Point being the first reached by one ascending Bayou Magon. 
 These places, of great interest from an archaeological point of view, were most 
 courteously placed at the disposal of the Academy for investigation by Mrs. M. J. 
 Redmond, of Floyd, La., whose property they are. To Mrs. Redmond and to 
 Mr. M. C. Redmond, son of Mrs. Redmond, manager of these properties, the 
 Academy wishes to express its sincere thanks. Mr. Redmond, a college graduate, 
 and head of the School Board of West Carroll Parish, took a keen interest in the 
 investigation and aided it in every way. 
 
 In the Smithsonian Report for 1872, ^ Prof. Samuel H. Lockett, of the 
 Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La., writes: 
 
 "While prosecuting my topographical survey of Louisiana this summer, 
 I visited, near Jackson's Ferry, 4 miles south of Floyd, on Bayou Magon, some 
 very remarkable Indian mounds. Six of these are within a mile of Mrs. Jackson's. 
 
 1 Pages 429, 430. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 67 
 
 Four of them are almost perfect; the other two are partly destroyed by the 
 caving of the banks of the Bayou Ma^on. They are connected with each other 
 by a levee or narrow embankment of earth, making a nearly semicircular figure. 
 There are two much larger mounds nearer to Floyd, one on Mr. Mabin's, and one 
 on Mr. Motley's land. The latter must be between 20 and 30 feet in height. 
 [What was formerly known as the Mabin Place is now the Poverty Point Plan- 
 tation.] 
 
 "On all the sides of all of the mounds, and in their vicinity, are found great 
 numbers of relics, such as human bones, arrowheads, 'plumb-bobs' very perfect 
 in form and immense quantities of broken pottery. Many of the pieces of 
 pottery are highly ornamented. From the quantity of pottery, I imagine there 
 must have been a factory of this ware in this locality. Excavations would in 
 all probability reveal some very valuable and interesting specimens and I 
 think it should be done by one accustomed to searching for archaeological re- 
 mains." 
 
 In the opening part of Professor Lockett's statement reference is made to the 
 mounds on the Jackson Place, our description of which immediately precedes this. 
 
 We shall now consider the sites on Poverty Point and on the Motley Place, 
 based on our own investigation. 
 
 At Poverty Point, in full view from the bayou, rising from the flat, cultivated 
 land, is a huge, aboriginal earthwork that at first glance almost impresses even 
 the trained observer as being not a mound, but a hill. 
 
 This mound, which for convenience we shall call Mound A, is in the shape 
 of a ridge extending north and south, the upper, central part being narrow, as 
 may be seen by the survey (Fig. 29) made at the time of our visit by Dr. M. G. 
 Miller. The height of the mound is 70 feet, taken from the southern end, where 
 conditions seemed most favorable for determination, there being at that place 
 no evidence of the depressions and ridges which were present elsewhere about 
 the mound. 
 
 From the central part of the eastern side of the mound extends a platform 
 directed almost due east, the outline of which has been greatly impaired by 
 wash of rain. This platform is connected with the summit of the ridge by a 
 causeway, shown in the plan. The basal diameter of Mound A, north and south, 
 is 680 feet. East and west, including the platform, it is 690 feet. 
 
 To dig into so vast a mound as this seemed almost like the proverbial search 
 for a needle in a haystack; nevertheless, trial-holes were put down on the crest 
 of the mound, coming at once to raw clay, and also superficially in the platform, 
 where burials, however, had such ever been there, evidently had long since been 
 washed away, leaving compact, yellow clay on the surface. 
 
 This great mound (A) forms part of a group of six which at one time may 
 have been in the shape of a rude circle or of an irregular ellipse. At the present 
 time, however, rain has so eroded the high area that rises above the bayou that 
 the only representative of the figure (if there ever was one), between north and 
 
Kr 
 
 iL Mr 
 
 ..j^ m, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -mm 
 
 A 
 
 Scale inlcet 
 
 loo ' 
 
 Fig. 29.— Plan. Mound A. Poverty Point Plantation. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 69 
 
 east, is a mere remnant of a mound (E), about 6 feet in height, part of which 
 has fallen into the bayou and another portion of which has been destroyed by a 
 road. Incidentally we will say here that careful digging into this mound showed 
 it to be entirely of mixed soil down to a base about 6 feet below the surface. In 
 this soil was midden debris, here and there, but no sign of human remains. 
 
 Mound B, 186 yards^ S. by E. from Mound A, 9 feet in height, has been under 
 cultivation, and owing to wash of rain on plowed ground it has been greatly eroded 
 and is, in consequence, of very irregular outline. Presumably it has been about 
 square with a great summit-plateau. Its diameter of base is about 300 feet. 
 This mound is of bright, yellow clay. 
 
 Mound C, 500 yards N. by E. from Mound B, is a well-preserved mound, 
 7 feet in height, in the form of a truncated cone, the diameter of base being 90 
 feet, that of the summit-plateau, 26 feet. This mound has every appearance of 
 having served for burials in aboriginal times, being steep and composed of dark 
 soil. Unfortunately, it has been honeycombed by burials in recent years. 
 
 Mound D, 150 yards E. by N. from Mound C, is shghtly more than 4 feet 
 in height. Its irregularly circular base is slightly more than 100 feet across. 
 This mound, which overlooks the bayou, has served as a cemetery in the past and 
 grave-stones enclosed by an iron railing are upon its plateau. 
 
 Mound E has been described. 
 
 Mound F is 430 yards N. from Mound A, in woods bordering a field in the 
 lower part of the Motley Place, the other mounds described being on the Poverty 
 Point Plantation. This symmetrical mound, 21 feet 6 inches in height and 195 
 feet in diameter of base, is conical, with almost no flattening at the summit. 
 It is evident from its shape that whatever the purpose for its erection was, it 
 cannot have been intended for a domiciliary mound. Seemingly it is composed of 
 raw, yellow clay, and probably is without superficial burials. It may have 
 been erected over some personage of note. Unfortunately, neither our time 
 nor our force of men was sufficient to undertake the demolition of a mound like 
 this. 
 
 These are the mounds (all of which but one we dug into to some extent) at 
 present forming the group on or near the Poverty Point Plantation. Another 
 mound on the Motley Place will be described in due course. 
 
 It is entirely possible that Professor Lockett regarded as hills the huge 
 mound on the Poverty Point Plantation and the great mound on the Motley 
 Place, yet to be described, an error which could easily be made by an untrained 
 observer, and that the figures as to height given by him as to a mound on the 
 Motley Place refer to the mound on that place already described by us. 
 
 About these mounds and between them is cultivated ground on which are 
 numerous low ridges on which, in profusion, lay at the time of our visit, aboriginal 
 artifacts and debris, mainly pebbles; fragments and flakes of flint; arrowpoints, 
 spearheads, and knives, of the same material, some entire; several celts; "plum- 
 
 1 The distances between these mounds were paced. 
 
 5 JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI PHILA.. VOL.XVI. 
 
70 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 mets" of hematite; almost innumerable small objects of earthenware, broken 
 and whole, to be described later; immense quantities of what is known as gravel, 
 by the inhabitants. This material which, to some extent, has the appearance 
 of gravel and small pebbles, and might seem to be such at first sight, proves 
 on closer inspection to be baked clay from fireplaces of aboriginal dwelling-sites, 
 which constant plowing has reduced to small fragments. No traces of human 
 bones were anywhere visible on the surface. 
 
 One feature in connection with these sites impressed us greatly. Almost 
 no fragments of earthenware vessels were in evidence. With the exception of 
 one place in which eight bits of pottery were found, sherds were practically 
 absent not only from the surface but from the soil thrown out in digging. It 
 is difficult to surmise what took the place of pottery during the long time this 
 site was inhabited; possibly vessels of wood were used. Two or three fragments 
 of soapstone pots were found, but had such vessels been in general use, pre- 
 sumably more parts of them would have been discovered. 
 
 Professor Lockett's statement as to the great abundance of fragments of 
 pottery, it must be remembered, was made in a general way, applying to three 
 sites, and, if exact, probably had reference to the Jackson Place or to the Motley 
 Place ; for had pottery fragments been abundant at the Poverty Point Plantation 
 in his time, it is impossible that the sherds alone should have disappeared from 
 there, and that the great variety of other debris should still remain on the 
 surface, as it has done. 
 
 From the surface at this place came more than two hundred entire knives, 
 arrowpoints, and spearheads, of flint, of which thirty-one (selected by us from a 
 much larger number) were acquired from a colored man who cultivated part of 
 the property. No lancehead exceeded 4.25 inches in length, though fragments 
 found in the fields indicated that some of the points must have had a length of 
 8 or 9 inches. A few spearheads and projectile points were found fashioned with 
 but a single barb, such as those which have been described as coming from 
 Catahoula Parish, La., and elsewhere. Certain of the arrowpoints show cur- 
 vature on the end of the stem, which on examination proves to be the curve of 
 the surface of the pebbles from which the arrowheads were made. Secondary 
 work on a few of the points was noted, where apparently broken points had been 
 resharpened or the side of a broken arrowhead had been chipped possibly to 
 serve as a knife. 
 
 The workmanship on these implements is not above the average; serration 
 is almost absent. The small, dehcate, barbed arrowheads found in numbers 
 farther down Bayou Mayon are represented at this place by a single example. 
 
 Of four small celts from the surface of this plantation (which were given to 
 Mr. Redmond) one shows marked excellence of workmanship, being slender and 
 graceful; one is of about average appearance; and two are of rude manufacture. 
 
 That the aborigines who inhabited this great site had considerable skill in 
 working of hard stone, however, is shown by a bead of red jasper (obtained by 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 71 
 
 Fi(i. 30.— "Pluniinots" of lipiiiatito. Poverty Pohil Plan1;i1ion. (Full sizo.) 
 
i z 
 
 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 us from the colored man from whom the arrowheads were acquired), unless 
 the bead was an importation. Tliis Ix'ad, 2.6 inches in length, with a diameter 
 of .36 inch, has an evenly placed perforation of only .14 to .16 inch diameter. 
 
 This large bead of jasper is, howevei', not the record one as to size. In the 
 Louisiana State Museum, at New Orleans, we noticed a jasper bead the measure- 
 m(>nts of which kindly liave be(>n furnished us by Mr. P^obert Glenk, B.S., Ph.C, 
 Curator of the Museum: length, 3.3 inches; diameter, .44 inch; diameter of 
 opening, .125 inch. The bead, Mr. (Uenk informs us, came from St. Landry 
 Parish, La. 
 
 Among tlic aboriginal dwellei's on the Poverty Point site, what are known as 
 "jilummets"' of hematite were greatly in ^'ogue. Persons now living on the 
 sit(> tell of (jnantities of these objects, which they call "pluml)-bobs," that have 
 been found in the course of cultivation of the land, and the colored man from 
 whonr the arrowheads and the bead were obtained spoke 
 of jn-ohts derived hy him from the sale of these "plumb- 
 bobs" to visitors, and displayed a number which, through 
 partial breakage, he had not been able to disi)Ose of. 
 
 There were found by us eleven hematite "])lummets" 
 (Fig. 30), ten on the surface and one in the course of the 
 digging. They varied in length between 3.5 inches and .8 
 inch, some with ])(>rforations, some with grooves for suspen- 
 sion, one having a scmiperforation. Som(> are rude, with- 
 out regularity of outline, haixlly more than masses of ma- 
 terial (jn which but little work has been done. Over the 
 surface were many fragm(>nts l)elonging to "plummets." 
 
 Several small l)alls of hematite were picked up, all of 
 somewhat irregular outline. 
 
 From the surface also came an interesting little figurine 
 of earthenware, representing a f(>male (Fig. 31). 
 
 The objects of baked clay which were discovei'cd in such numl:)ers at this 
 place (sixty-seven- entire ones being obtained), and which resemble most of 
 those we found this season in and sometimes on the surface of various sites in 
 Louisiana, south of Povert>' Point, are of a class hitherto undescribed, so far as 
 we can learn. A selection from those found at Poverty Point, embracing all the 
 various forms obtained there, is shown in Plate II. 
 
 All these objects from Poverty Point lay on the surface with a few excep- 
 
 ' As to "plummets" ami olijccts of hematite, of alioiisinal make, in general, see: W. K. 
 jMooreliead, " Hematite Implements of 1 he t'nited Slates," Ijulletiii \'I, l^epartment of Areha'ol- 
 ORV, I^hillips Aeadeiii}-, Aiulo\'ei', Mass. 
 
 - In addition to a selection from thes<', wliieli has been ])la.eed on exhiljition at tlie Aeademy 
 of Natural Sciences of Pliihidelpliia, othei's were sent to the followintr: t'nited States National 
 Museum, "\"\'asliiiiKton, I). ('.: realiody Museum, ( 'amhrid.n'e, Mass.; Yale Fniversity Museum, 
 New Haven, Conn.; Amei'ican Museum of Natin-al History, New York ("ity; Field Museum of 
 Natural Histoi'y, ( 'liicago, III.; I)e|)ai'tnient oi' Ai'chaM)l(]2,y, Phillips Academy, Andovor, Mass.; 
 Museum of Archa-'olot;y and ]']thnou,r'a]>liy, ( 'ambrid.ii,!', luinland. 
 
 V]<:. :;i. — P'inuriiic iif 
 (■la>-. Po\i-rly ]'()in( 
 Phiiitulioii. (full ^izo.) 
 
JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILA., 2ND SER., VOL. XVI 
 
 PLA TE II 
 
 ■/^ i.s.AHf:>^- 
 
 SITE AT P0\T:RTV POINT, OBJECTS OF EARTHENWARE, (tll si/.l.) 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 73 
 
 tioiis which were duo; up singly in midden matcriah those from the surface l)eins 
 also with the deljris of fireplaces locally known as "gra\-el," above referred to, 
 or, at all events, on ground somewhat higher than the surrounding level and 
 darker than the other ground, which (^A-identl>- had been places of al:)ode. 
 
 By consulting this report it will l)c noted i hat other olijects of this class, 
 found elsewhere by us this season, hiA- on tlie sinface or in midden debris, with 
 one exception (the Schwing place) where a (lei)osit of tliem ^\as f(jund near a 
 burial. As the de])osit of the objects in this way was so exce])tional, it is hardly 
 likely the>' were ceremonialh' connected with burials, but prc^sumaldA' were em- 
 ployed in the general life of the ]ieople. A single deposit proves little. In the 
 great Rose Mound on St. Francis river, Arkansas, we found with a burial a con- 
 siderable dei:)Osit of c>dindrical, earthenware objects such as were used by the 
 aborigines in some regions as supiwrts for vessels while cooking was in jwogress; 
 yet nowhere else was such a deposit found by us, though numbers of the su])ports 
 were disco^-ered in other sites among midden debris. 
 
 We are greatly indebted to Mr. Charles C. Willoughb\', of Peabody Museum, 
 Cambridge, Mass., who has taken much interest in th(> probable use made of these 
 clay objects, for his suggestions on the subject, which follow, and for a i)hotograph 
 of the clay objects used by the Paiute Indians, which is rei)roduced here. Mr. 
 Willoughby writes ; 
 
 "Regarding the three ty])es of biu-nt clay ol^jects of which you sent me 
 drawings, the first form, that of the double cone, is the only one the use of which 
 is at all clear to me. There arc in our museimr two similar specimens (Fig. 32) 
 
 Fi. 
 
 -i2. — Cl:[\' rones. Paiuti' Imlians, soulliiTii Ululi. C'olli'flcd by Eilwani Paliiicv, 1875. (Full size. J 
 
 of clay, obtained from the Paiute Indians by Dr. Edward Palmer in 1875 and 
 called by him gambling cones. These, of course, were used in the well known 
 and widely distributed 'hand game' which is commonly played with two bones, 
 one of them being marked. One of tlie double cones is i)lain, the other has a 
 series of dots arranged in a spiral on one of its sides. The game, as you know, 
 consists in telling in which of the opponcait's hands the unmarked cone is con- 
 cealed. It has occurred to me that the douldc cones found b>- you might have 
 been used in this gam(\ One of your specimens [sec Fig. 15] has a groove which 
 may have served to distinguish it from its fellow, or one of a pair maA'have be(>n 
 marked with paint, all trac(>s of which have disa])pc>ared. 
 
74 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 "It is also possible that they may have been used in slings, as the form is 
 similar to the well-wrought sling stone of Polynesia. You will recall that 
 Professor Holmes obtained from the Stockton mounds of southern California, 
 clay pellets of various forms some of which he thought might have been used in 
 slings. One of these, which resembles somewhat your second form, is illustrated 
 on plate 27 of the Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1900. 
 
 "As to the second form, the lump of clay with six or more depressions, it 
 remotely suggests the worked astragalus of the deer, such as was probably used 
 for gaming. 
 
 "As to the third form, the grooved cylinder, I have no suggestions to offer 
 as to its possible use." 
 
 In a later communication Mr. Willoughby writes: "I have come across a 
 picture and notice of clay balls from Missouri; see Louis Houck's 'History of 
 Missouri,' pp. 45, 46. 
 
 "I also find that there are two or three clay double cones like yours in the 
 Museum of Peabody Academy of Science, Salem, Mass. They are from the 
 bed of Lake Pontchartrain, La., if I am not mistaken." 
 
 The deposit of clay objects found by us in a mound near the Schwing Place, 
 and described in this report, was made up of two varieties, namely, double cones 
 and similar forms having longitudinal furrows in addition (see Fig. 2). 
 
 It has occurred to us that these objects, if used in the hand-game, were em- 
 ployed by making a double cone and one with furrows constitute a pair, the 
 required difference between the two being attained in this way. 
 
 Mr. Stewart Culin, author of "Games of the North American Indians,"^ 
 in reply to a request for his views as to the clay objects in question, kindly has 
 sent the following statement: "I am unable to form an opinion as to the probable 
 use of the clay objects. They may have been used in games, but from any 
 knowledge of existing games I have no assurance that they were thus employed." 
 
 Persistent digging was done at Poverty Point into the various dwelling sites 
 in the fields, to which we have referred, but though soil indicating deposit through 
 long habitation was gone through to considerable depths, and various relics 
 were found, including a number of the small, earthenware objects described and 
 the "plummet" of hematite referred to, no skeletal remains were encountered. 
 Presumably, burials had been made apart from the places of abode or had been 
 destroyed during the long-continued cultivation of the place, especially if buried 
 more or less superficially. It was, of course, impossible to make a thorough ex- 
 amination of so great a site as the one under description, but it is very unlikely, 
 had burials been in the places investigated, we could have failed to find some in 
 the great amount of digging that was done. It is significant, too, that no history 
 of the discovery of human bones is to be had from persons living on the place 
 or connected with it. The bones seen by Professor Lockett at the time of his 
 visit more than forty years ago, may have been on the other sites referred to by 
 
 1 24th An. Rep. Bur. Am. Ethn. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 /o 
 
 him or may long ago have disai)peared from the surface, since fragments of bones 
 arc far more subject to cUsintegration and to decay than are pottery fragments. 
 
 A description has been given of Mound F on the lower part of the Motley 
 Place which, as stated, is adjacent to, and a]:)Ove, the Poverty Point Plantation. 
 
 About one mile N. by E. from ^lound F , across part of the cultivated ])ortion 
 of the Motley Place and in view from Movuid F , is an(jther mound, 51 feet in 
 height, and somewhat resembling the great mound on Poverty Point, as it is in 
 the form of a ridge, but in this instance extending E. and W. It i)resents a steep 
 side to the north. From the southern side of the mound, below the ui)i)er j^art 
 
 Fii;..jo, — Implement of Hint. Motley Place. 
 (Full .size.) 
 
 Fic. oi. — Cliurni-stoTie of ehaleedony. 
 (Full HVM-.) 
 
 Alollev riaee. 
 
 of the ridge, is an extension sloping downward to the south until it reaches a 
 level terrace 50 feet in width and somewhat less than 6 feet in height. This 
 terrace, very symmetrical, sloi)es to eastward and westward, and seemingly 
 joins the general level at the extremities. 
 
 In places in the mound are deej) gullies wrought by wash of rain over clay 
 insufficiently protected by roots of trees, which have impaired the symmetry 
 of parts of the mound. Nevertheless, this superb earthwork, on its terrace 
 facing the plain to the south, has the appearance of a great temple, and such 
 probably it was. 
 
 So nearly as can be determined, the diameters of the mound at the present 
 time are: N. and S., 400 feet (including the extension but not the terrace); E. and 
 W., 560 feet. 
 
 An examination of the gullies which have laid bare large sections of the 
 mound and do more to aid examination of the earthwork than a long period of 
 
76 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 digging could do, showed no sign of mixed soil or of the presence of artifacts or 
 bones. 
 
 A large part of the cultivated portion of the Motley Place has been used 
 for the production of rice, and if any aboriginal debris lay on the surface in the 
 past it was not evident at the time of our visit, when the fields, no doubt, were 
 covered to some extent with sediment from water introduced for the cultivation 
 of this plant. 
 
 A field, however, forming part of this great property, let to a colored man 
 named James Green, had on the surface occasional fragments of earthenware, 
 bits of flint, and a few arrow points, ten of which, unbroken, were gathered by 
 the party. One of these, of somewhat unusual shape, is shown in Fig. 33. 
 
 We were informed by the tenant of this field that he frequently found 
 objects of interest while plowing, and we obtained from him a "plummet" of 
 hematite, 2.5 inches in length, grooved for suspension, and a superb charm-stone 
 of chalcedony, shown in Fig. 34, wrought with the greatest symmetry, elongate- 
 ovoid in form. We were informed by the tenant, from whom this was acquired, 
 that it was the property of his little daughter and that she, at Easter time, when 
 the custom to "pick" eggs obtains (namely to tap eggs together, the egg first 
 showing a break becoming the property of the owner of the unbroken egg), 
 was accustomed to color the ornament and to conceal within her hand that portion 
 which is narrow and grooved and to "pick" the other end against eggs belonging 
 to her playmates. Our informant added that the child had been a constant 
 winner. 
 
 No trace of coloring, however, now mars the milk-white purity of the stone. 
 
 BAYOU D'ARBONNE, LOUISIANA. 
 
 Bayou D'Arbonne, rising in northwestern Louisiana, flows easterly to its 
 union with Ouachita river, a short distance above the city of Monroe, La. This 
 stream is navigable for about 32 miles up to its union with Bayou Corney, while 
 Corney is open for navigation about 8 miles farther, to Stein Bluff, from which 
 point our agent, Capt. W. D. Piatt, preceded us in a search to the union with 
 Ouachita river. 
 
 Our investigation covered Bayou D'Arbonne to a point some miles above its 
 union with Corney and included three or four miles of Bayou Corney to the 
 Scott Place, above which our agent had found no aboriginal sites. 
 
 Most of the lower 20 miles of Bayou D'Arbonne is low-lying and was under 
 water at the time of our visit. Our agent found no aboriginal sites on this part 
 of the Bayou. 
 
 Sites Investigated. 
 
 On the Ouchley Place, Union Parish. 
 
 Near Turkey Bluff, Union Parish. 
 
 Near Johnson Landing, Union Parish. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 77 
 
 Near Ruggs Bluff, Union Parish. 
 On the Scott Place, Union Parish. 
 
 MAP OFP/ART OF BAYOU D^ARBONNE 
 
 scale in m iles 
 
 olVlonroe 
 
 Site on the Ouchley Place, Union Parish. 
 
 The Ouchley Place, belonging to Mr. R. Ouchley, who lives upon it, is 
 about one-half mile back from Bayou D'Arbonne, at a place where it is joined 
 by Rocky Branch bayou. 
 
 Part of the Ouchley Place is a large field along the side of which nearest the 
 bayou are a number of humps and rises. Some of these were dug into by us 
 unsuccessfully, the soil being without evidence of having served as dwelling-sites 
 to any great extent. On the surface of these slight elevations, with one exception, 
 was midden debris in small quantities, and it is probable the sites had served as 
 places of abode for short periods or that the midden material had been washed 
 away. 
 
 One small hump had, superficially, considerable debris, including a number 
 of small, barbed arrowpoints of flint. This rise was dug into with especial care, 
 and black soil showing former occupancy was found to a depth of about one foot. 
 No burials were encountered. 
 
7S ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Site near Turkey Bluff, Union Parish. 
 Immediately back of the landing at Turkey Bluff are low hills. On level 
 ground, at some elevation above the bayou and in sight from it, is a field forming 
 part of a place belonging to Mr. S. J. Wall, of Wall Lake, La. This field, fallow 
 at the time of our visit, had on the surface slight traces of former occupancy by 
 aborigines and has the reputation of having been a camping-site for them. The 
 made-ground, however, presumably had disappeared through cultivation and 
 through wash, taking with it any burials that may have been present. 
 
 Site near Johnson Landing, Union Parish. 
 
 About one-quarter mile in from Johnson Landing is the property of Mr. J. S. 
 Meeks, resident upon it. On a cultivated field forming part of the place was 
 some debris, among which were found several arrowpoints of flint. Mr. Meeks 
 informed us that thirty years ago he had plowed up numerous human skulls in 
 a part of this field, but that for a considerable time he had found no bones of 
 any kind. 
 
 A number of trial-holes put down at the spot designated by Mr. Meeks came 
 upon no sign of burials, though a bicave of fine-grained sandstone, about 2 inches 
 in diameter, was unearthed. Presumably at this place all burials had disappeared 
 in the course of cultivation. 
 
 Site near Ruggs Bluff, Union Parish. 
 A site near Ruggs Bluff, consisting of a field on which were hammer-stones, 
 bits of flint, and a few small fragments of pottery, was dug into by us but found 
 to have lost by cultivation any superficial soil and burials it formerly may have 
 had. 
 
 Site on the Scott Place, Union Parish. 
 
 The Scott Place, on Bayou Corney, which, as stated, is an affluent of 
 Bayou D'Arbonne, belongs to Mr. J. D. Baughman, of Farmerville, La. On 
 this place, in full view from the stream, on ground far above the reach of the 
 water, is a well-preserved, quadrangular mound, with angles slightly rounded 
 by erosion. This mound, somewhat more than 11 feet in height, practically 
 square, has a basal diameter of about 110 feet. Sixty feet, approximately, is the 
 diameter of the summit-plateau. The four corners of this mound are not exactly 
 directed toward the cardinal points, though they are within a few degrees of 
 being so, the eastern corner, for instance, being somewhat south of east, about the 
 direction the aborigines would obtain from the sun in winter. 
 
 In the hope that superficial burials had been made in this mound, which 
 evidently had been domiciliary, trial-holes were sunk over the summit-plateau, 
 but almost at once reached hard, raw clay without any admixture of midden 
 material. 
 
 In sight from the mound just described, in a southerly direction from it, 
 immediately at the farther side of the pubhc road, is a mound with a flat top, 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 79 
 
 somewhat more than 4 feet in height, measured from the western side, though 
 from the eastern side, the mound being on a slope, the height seems considerably 
 greater. The base of the mound, irregularly circular, is about 75 feet in diameter; 
 the summit-plateau is 32 feet across. 
 
 Seven trial-holes dug from the summit-plateau of the mound showed it to 
 be of raw clay and sand without admixture of dark material indicating the 
 presence of burials. These holes, carried below the base-line which was at a 
 depth of from 6.5 to 7 feet, intersected no pits of any kind, nor was there any sign 
 of a central pit extending below the base. 
 
 Five feet below the central part of the summit-plateau was a basin-shaped 
 fireplace, 3 feet 8 inches across at the top and 21 inches deep. Filling the lower 
 part of the fireplace was a layer of ashes and burnt material 9 inches in thickness. 
 
 In sight from the principal mound, in a southwesterly direction, from it, 
 are two other mounds, while a third lies a short distance to the westward. These 
 mounds, irregularly circular as to the bases, the diameter of each of which is 
 about 50 feet, are respectively 2 feet 2 inches, 1 foot, and 2 feet 3 inches in height. 
 They are composed of raw, yellow clay without any indication of use for burial, 
 as was shown by many trial-holes sunk through them to sand on which they rest. 
 
 South of the mound is a great field, fallow at the time of our visit, on which, 
 here and there, were relics of aboriginal life, including two arrowheads of flint. 
 Doubtless the grass covered much that could have been apparent on plowed 
 land, and possibly through the presence of vegetation an aboriginal cemetery 
 was concealed. 
 
 SALINE RIVER, ARKANSAS. 
 
 Saline river has its source in central Arkansas, not far west of Little Rock, 
 and pursues a southeasterly course to its union with Ouachita river, about a 
 dozen miles above the Louisiana border. 
 
 Navigation on this stream is blocked by a bridge, 58 miles by water above 
 its mouth. The territory from this bridge to the river's junction with the 
 Ouachita was searched by Capt. W. D. Piatt prior to our coming, who found great 
 difficulty in obtaining information as to mounds, owing to the sparse population 
 along the banks of the stream. 
 
 The river was investigated by us for a distance of 50 miles, as the river 
 runs, no aborigirial sites of interest having been discovered farther north. 
 
 Along that part of Saline river investigated by us no burials were found in 
 cemeteries, only in mounds, and aU mounds found by us along this stream were 
 low and without symmetry — mere irregular rises of the ground, none apparently 
 having been otherwise in earlier times. 
 
 The custom of placing artifacts with the dead evidently was not practised 
 along that part of Saline river investiga.ted by us, with the exception of pottery, 
 and that to a very fimited extent. This pottery is of inferior ware and without 
 polish, though, as might be expected of a region lying south of Arkansas river, 
 
Warren o 
 
 Wire Fen ceLclg\ ' 
 
 MAP OF PART 0F5ALINE RIVER 
 
 Scale in miles 
 
 ao 
 
 1313 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 81 
 
 a considerable proportion of the vessels bear decoration. This decoration in nearly 
 every case is rude. The use of pigment (red) in the decoration of pottery was very 
 limited. No polychrome combination was found, nor was such expected south of 
 Arkansas river. 
 
 In form the vessels are ordinary. The water-bottle was met with but 
 once. The ware, while soft and coarse, is not thick, and the vessels are fairly 
 symmetrical as a rule. In a word, this pottery belongs to the class found in the 
 lower Mississippi region, but is of an inferior grade in that class. 
 
 Sites Investigated. 
 On Goulett Island, Ashley County. 
 Near Godfrey's Landing, Bradley County. 
 Near Moore's Mill, Bradley County. 
 At Hampton Landing, Bradley County. 
 Near Lowrie Landing, Bradley County. 
 Near Wherry Landing, Bradley County. 
 Near Wire Fence Landing, Bradley County. 
 Near Brooks Landing, Bradley County. 
 Near Sutton Ferry, Bradley County. 
 
 Site on Goulett Island, Ashley County. 
 
 On Goulett Island is a site with a number of small mounds of irregular 
 outline, some in sight from the landing and all near one another, on property 
 under the management of Mr. W. J. Wright, who resides about three miles farther 
 up the river. 
 
 One of these mounds, largely of clay, is 2 feet in height and 50 feet across its 
 irregularly circular base. Of six trial-holes three came to undisturbed, yellow 
 clay at a depth indicated by the height of the mound as determined by us from 
 the outside. 
 
 Three holes, however, extended through disturbed soil, evidently graves, 
 to a greater depth, the deepest being 4 feet 4 inches. 
 
 One of these trial-holes, about centrally placed in the mound, came upon a 
 fragment of human skull at a depth of 2.5 feet, and in another of the holes was 
 a small fragment of pottery, of excellent ware, bearing deep and ev€nly-cut, 
 hned decoration. An arrow head or a knife, of flint, and a small deposit of 
 pebbles also came from the mound. 
 
 Another mound of the group, also circular, having a greater admixture of 
 sand than was present in the preceding mound, is somewhat less than 2 feet in 
 height and 40 feet in diameter. Undisturbed, yellow sand was reached at a 
 depth about equal to the height of the mound, without the discovery of bone or 
 
 of artifact. 
 
 Near these two mounds is a level space covered with rich, black loam to a 
 depth of from 12 to 18 inches, containing midden debris here and there. No 
 human bones were found in it. 
 
82 AB()RI(;iNAL SITES TN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 A little farther north is another movmd which prolmbly had been about 
 circular, but though in thin woods, like this entire site, it most likely had been 
 under cultivation at on(> time and had been plowed down considerably^ and 
 extended. Its height is betwe(>n 2 and 3 feet; its diameter, about SO feet. It 
 is composcnl of clay with an admixture of sand. 
 
 Im( 
 
 .—\i-> 
 
 I lii'inv:ir('. ( loiilcft Island. (Hpighl 0.2 inclics.) 
 
 Twelve trial-holes sunk into what was pi-oba])ly th(> original mound, came 
 upon human remains in many i)laces, sometimes in two or thi'ee parts of a single 
 hole. The burials were all n(>ar tlie surface, the deepest being but one foot 
 down, while the rest were from 4 to S inches in de])th. 
 
 As may l)e sui)pose(l, most of the ])ui'ials had l^een much distiu'bed by the 
 plow; six, how(-ver, were unearthed nearly intact, although all were badly decayed. 
 These six skeletons lay extended on the back; two heading S. ; three, S. by W.; 
 one, SSW. 
 
 At the right of the skull of one skeleton was a pot of inferior ware, having ])y 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 83 
 
 way of decoration incised, upright lines around the neck. The body, which is 
 without decoration, is hemispherical, the neck upright, the rim flaring. 
 
 Near the skull of a badly disturbed skeleton was that part of a vessel which 
 plowing had left. On four sides of the body are double, upright, beaded fillets, 
 the most of the surface being covered with a design of trailed lines (Fig. 35). 
 This vessel has been restored to some extent. 
 
 Near fragments of bones lay a rude knife of chert. 
 
 Another mound, about 3 feet in height and 80 feet by 90 feet in diameter, 
 proved to be of raw clay with no sign of interments. 
 
 Site near Godfrey's Landing, Bradley County. 
 
 About one-quarter mile in a SW. direction from Godfrey's Landing is a 
 small clearing in woods, which has been under cultivation for a considerable 
 period. It is higher than much of the surrounding country, and we were told 
 it was not submerged in the great flood of 1912. This field forms part of a 
 property under management of Mr. W. G. Wright, who resides on the place. 
 
 The field to a depth of about 18 inches is covered with a black, sandy loam 
 which evidently had received its color through aboriginal habitation. Scattered 
 over the surface were fragments of human bones, bits of pottery of inferior ware 
 and rude decoration, parts of mussel-shells, and three arrowheads of flint, two 
 small and barbed, one elongated without barbs. 
 
 Considerable digging by us in this field showed burials to have been com- 
 paratively numerous there. Many, however, had been disturbed, by cultivation 
 in most cases, occasionally by the rooting of hogs. 
 
 The burials lay none deeper than 18 inches, sometimes in the dark loam, 
 sometimes on the undisturbed, yellow sand which underlay the loam. 
 
 In addition to the disturbed burials, five others were unearthed, complete 
 though badly decayed, four of adults, one of an adolescent, all extended at full 
 length on the back, the heads variously directed. No artifact lay with any 
 burial at this place. 
 
 Site near Moore's Mill, Bradley County. 
 
 At a place called Moore's Mill, probably through the former presence of a saw- 
 mill there, and which is known also as the Jack Fogle Place, after the name of a 
 former owner, is a property belonging to Mr. Samuel Clanton, who lives near 
 Johnsville, Ark. 
 
 On this property, which is immediately on the river bank, are three mounds, 
 two within a large cultivated field and one just outside. 
 
 Over the field in places is much dwelling-site debris, including many bits of 
 pottery of rather less than average excellence. 
 
 There were collected by the party: three small celts, given away before iden- 
 tification as to their material; many delicate, barbed arrowheads of flint; one 
 barbless point of the same material, nearly three inches in length; a flint knife 
 with rounded cutting edge. 
 
84 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Toward the NE. end of the cultivated field was a rise above the level of 
 the surrounding territory, having a maximum height of 2 feet. The diameter 
 was about 70 feet. It was apparent, however, that the height of the mound had 
 been impaired through cultivation and that the consequent spreading of material 
 had added to the original diameter. 
 
 Over the surface was much midden debris, including a fragment of pottery 
 on which was red pigment, and bits of human bones, among which was part of a 
 lower jaw. 
 
 With the aid of converging trenches it was determined that a space about 
 27 feet by 43 feet contained what burials remained, most of which, it may be said, 
 were found in the NE. part of the mound where, according to a former owner of 
 the place, burials had been plowed up by him. 
 
 The space described was completely dug out by us to a depth of from 2 to 3 
 feet, where undisturbed material of light color was encountered. The mound 
 itself was mainly a brown mixture of sand and clay, the sand predominating. 
 
 As the digging progressed, it became evident that the mound, when higher, 
 had contained numerous burials, but that many of these, if not most of them, 
 had been plowed away wholly or in part. Many parts of skeletons through which 
 the plow had gone were encountered, and scattered bones also were numerous. 
 The deepest burial was 14 inches down. 
 
 Excluding recent disturbances and several aboriginal ones made by inter- 
 section of graves, seven burials were encountered, all of adults and all extended 
 on the back, except one which lay partly flexed on the right side, the head 
 directed ENE. The other burials headed as follows: NE., 3; ENE., 2; SW., 1. 
 
 With the burials were five vessels of inferior ware, broken and whole, and 
 two vessels, similar to the others in quality, were met with apart from human 
 remains. 
 
 Most of the vessels exhibit some attempt at decoration, scanty as a rule and 
 poorly executed. One pot has incised lines around the neck and a beaded margin; 
 another has a scalloped neck and series of incised, festooned lines on the upper 
 part of the body. Apart from bones was a small celt evidently smoothed from a 
 pebble. 
 
 In the northern corner of the field is a mound or a ridge of irregular shape 
 and height. The maximum height slightly exceeds 2 feet; the greatest breadth 
 is 100 feet. The length of the ridge, which evidently increased under occupancy, 
 is 740 feet approximately. Near each end of it is a kind of hump, that nearer 
 the river having been the cemetery of the Fogle family, we were told by a former 
 owner of the place. 
 
 Holes sunk in the other hump passed through the dark, mixed material of 
 the dwelling-site to hard clay at a depth of about one foot. In other parts of 
 the ridge the mixed soil is deeper, sometimes reaching a depth of about 2 feet. 
 Fragments of human bones were on the surface at one place, and there we came 
 upon a badly decayed skeleton partly flexed on the right side, the head directed 
 to the east. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 85 
 
 Near the ridge are two deposits of mussel-shells, mostly broken — refuse 
 from aboriginal meals. 
 
 Outside the fence, near the river, is a small mound having a large depression 
 in the central part where, presumably, some excavator had been at work. 
 
 This place, no doubt, had been a site of some importance, but long-con- 
 tinued cultivation presumably had destroyed most of the burials that formerly 
 had been there. 
 
 Site at Hampton Landing, Bradley County. 
 
 Immediately at Hampton Landing is cleared ground, higher than most of 
 the surrounding country, belonging to Mr. Edward Outlaw, who lives about one 
 mile distant. On the surface of this clearing were a few scattered bits of flint 
 and of inferior pottery. A small, barbed arrowhead of flint was picked up also. 
 
 The rich laj^er of sandy loam on the cleared ground was not much more than 
 a foot in thickness. Of two burials found in this layer one had been badly dis- 
 turbed and consisted of only a few scattered bones. 
 
 The other burial, an elongated layer of a single thickness of bones, contained 
 parts of at least seven skeletons, as fragments of that number of skulls were 
 found. These skulls had been placed together at one end of the layer. 
 
 Near the skulls was a small lump of red oxide of iron, the only object found 
 with the interment. 
 
 Site near Gee Landing, Drew County. 
 Not far from Gee Landing is a farm on which our agent saw considerable 
 debris on the surface and thought it likely that it marked a former dwelling-site 
 of the aborigines. The owner of the place, however, demanded a price for the 
 investigation, which we were not willing to accord. 
 
 Site near Lowrie Landing, Bradley County. 
 
 Lowrie Landing has behind it a narrow strip of woods which is submerged 
 in periods of high water. Back of this is a large field on elevated ground, forming 
 part of the property of Messrs. Howard and David Webb who live somewhat 
 farther back in the country. At several places in this field the ground was dark 
 and had on the surface considerable midden debris, including bits of coarse 
 pottery, broken arrowheads of flint, hammer-stones, etc. 
 
 In but one of these promising looking places, however, were burials met with, 
 their presence being indicated by fragments of human bones on the surface. 
 Considerable digging unearthed four burials, all badly disturbed and scattered, 
 as hardly could have been otherwise, lying as they did but a few inches below the 
 surface. No artifacts were associated with them. 
 
 Several low, irregular rises of the ground on the borders of the field were 
 dug into without success, one being a shell-heap from which the following shells 
 have been identified by Doctor Pilsbry: Quadrula plicata, Q. nodifera, Q. trigona, 
 
 6 JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILA., VOL. XVI. 
 
Fic. 3(3.— Fcniiir with union after frarture. Wlierry landing. (Full size.) 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 87 
 
 Q. metanever, Q. tuberculata, Q. reflexa, Unio gibbosus, U. crassidens, Obovaria 
 castanea. 
 
 Mound near Wherry Landing, Bradley County. 
 
 In sight from Wherry Landing, in a cultivated field forming part of the plan- 
 tation of Mr. J. M. Ferrell, of Johnsville, Ark., is a mound of irregular outhne, 
 probably averaging about 60 feet in diameter, though its original extent is dif- 
 ficult to determine, as the mound had been under cultivation and, it is said, had 
 been surrounded by water in flood-times. An old colored man, owning an ad- 
 joining field, informed us that the mound had not been cultivated since 1877, 
 when plowing over it was abandoned owing to the number of human bones 
 brought to the surface. The mound, about 3 feet in height, is covered with a 
 growth of pine trees, which somewhat interfered with complete investigation. 
 
 This mound, of sand with a slight admixture of clay, was fairly riddled with 
 trial-holes by us, nearly all of which, except those in the outer parts, after reaching 
 burials, were considerably extended. 
 
 No burial was found at a depth greater than 14 inches from its upper surface, 
 though discolored sand in places in the mound went to a depth of 2 feet 8 inches 
 before yellow, underlying sand was reached. 
 
 There had been considerable aboriginal disturbance in the mound owing to 
 burials cutting through others. When but few scattered bones were encountered, 
 presumably the result of such disturbance, they were not included in our list of 
 burials. 
 
 An interesting feature in this mound was the placing by the aborigines of 
 skeletons in a way that the heads were directed toward the south, so far as we 
 could determine, the heads of all undisturbed burials being thus arranged. 
 
 We shall now detail each burial, the skeletons, when not otherwise described, 
 having been of adults, at full length on the back. No bones were in a condition 
 to save. 
 
 Burial No. 1, a disturbance probably caused by the placing of Burial No. 2. 
 This burial (No. 1) had sustained in life a fracture of the thigh, which had united 
 as shown in Fig. 36. This bone was presented by us to the United States Army 
 Medical Museum, Washington, D. C. 
 
 Burial No. 2, heading SSE., had at the right side of the skull an undecorated 
 pot with flaring rim. 
 
 Burial No. 3, with the skull directed SSE., had over the lower part of the 
 left leg an undecorated vessel, somewhat broken, containing a mussel-shell. 
 
 Burial No. 4, the head pointing SSE., had at the right forearm what re- 
 mained of parts of eight tools made from scapulae of deer. These tools, all of 
 the lower parts of which were missing through decay, each had a perforation 
 made in the following way: the head of the scapula had been removed, a hole 
 had been made down the neck of the scapula to communicate with another hole 
 pierced through one side of the neck. With these fragmentary tools were two 
 parts of the lower jaw of deer. 
 
88 
 
 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Near the pelvis of the skeleton, between the thighs, was a celt less than 2 
 inches long, probably smoothed down from a pebble. 
 
 Burial No. 5, head SE., had near the head a pot bearing, by way of decora- 
 tion, rude impressions of a pointed tool. 
 
 Burial No. 6, head SE. 
 
 Burial No. 7, a cUsturbance, 
 
 Burial No. 8. This skeleton lay with the trunk extended on the back and 
 had the right thigh and leg flexed toward the trunk at somewhat less than a 
 
 Fig. 37. — Pi]>e of sandstone. Wlicrry Landiiif^. (Full size) 
 
 right Jangle. The left extremity was missing, probably through the proximity 
 of another grave. At the left humerus was a vessel with flaring rim, having 
 indistinct trailed decoration. 
 
 Burial No. 9 had the skull directed nearly SSE. 
 
 Burial No. 10 lay with the head i)ointing SSE. At the outer side of the 
 right elbow was an effigy-pipe of sandstone, shown in two positions in Figs. 37, 38 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 89 
 
 and in section in Fig. 39. This pipe, 4.75 inches in height, is coarsely made and 
 has suffered superficial disintegration. It represents a human figure seated on 
 its lower limbs, which extend under and inward diagonally'. The figure, which 
 faces the smoker, holds a biconical pii)e. While in other respects this effigy- 
 pipe is not of especial interest, the fact that it has an entire biconical pipe, that 
 is to say not only the bowl but the portion made for the insertion of the stem, 
 places it among a class that has few representatives. Almost invariably when 
 
 Fifi. 38. — Pipe of .sanilstono. Side view. (Full .'<ize.j 
 
 a human figure is represented holding any part of a pipe, it is the bowl alone, and 
 the stem of the pipe has an orifice to receive it in the back of the figure, and not 
 like the bowl, outside the figure. In fact the only other excei)tion to this rule 
 that we know of (though no doul^t there are others) is the effigy-]ni)e of earthen- 
 ware found by us last season in the mound at Gahagan, La., Red River, and 
 shown in our "Some Aboriginal Sites on Red River,"' Figs. 13, 14, 15, IG, 17. 
 
 1 Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. of Phila., Vol. XIV. 
 
90 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 Mr. McGuire's exhaustive work^ shows no figure holding a biconical pipe. 
 
 Burial No. 11, a bunched burial, had with it a bottle, the body and the neck 
 being a few inches apart, the proximal end of the neck turned from the body of 
 the bottle, showing that the break had occurred before interment. On the body 
 and neck of this bottle, in places, is decoration traced with a point in the rudest 
 possible manner. Here and there in the lines are traces of red pigment. 
 
 Fig. 39. — Pipe. Vertical section. (Full size.) 
 
 Burials Nos. 12 and 13 lay with the heads directed SSE. 
 
 Burial No. 14. This skeleton, heading SSE., is the one whose grave cut 
 through Burial No. 7. On and at the side of this burial (Burial No. 14) bones 
 had been piled, covering the skeleton closely from the skull to the pelvis, inclusive. 
 Farther down, the bones continued, but were less closely placed. In this col- 
 lection of disconnected remains were four skulls. 
 
 'J. D. McGuire, "Pipes and Smoking Customs of tlie American Aborigines," Report of 
 the U. S. National Museum, 1897. 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 91 
 
 ^ With these bones was a rude arrowhead or knife, of flint; a slab of fer- 
 ruginous sandstone; a spherical pebble about the size of a pigeon's egg; nine 
 ulnse of deer, with articular parts remaining. Three of these last were unfinished 
 tools; three had rounded points; one, a sharp point; and two had the points absent 
 through breakage. 
 
 Burial No. 15, another disturbance cut through by Burial No. 14. At 
 the right of the skuH lay a vessel, badly crushed by roots, upon which had been 
 an incised design of some kind. 
 
 Burial No. 16 had the head directed S. At the right of the skull was an 
 undecorated bowl, beside which was another bowl in small fragments, which had 
 borne a rude, trailed design. 
 
 Burial No. 17. A small bunch with an undecorated pot in association. 
 
 Burial No. 18. A skeleton with the head directed S., having a small de- 
 posit of bones in connection with it. 
 
 Burial No. 19, with the head directed S. by E., had nearby a few scattered, 
 human bones, perhaps a disturbance. 
 
 Burial No. 20 lay with the head S. by E. At the right side of the legs 
 was a bunched burial, including four skulls. With this latter burial was an 
 undecorated bowl crushed to fragments. 
 
 The ware of all the vessels from this mound is of inferior quality. 
 
 Site near Wire Fence Landing, Bradley County. 
 
 About one-half mile southwestwardly from Wire Fence Landing is a property 
 including two fields which until very recently belonged to the Bradley Lumber 
 Company, of Warren, Ark., but of which Mr. William Harding, who lives about 
 four miles distant, is now the owner. 
 
 The field nearer the river, fallow at the time of our visit, bore on the surface 
 some evidence of former occupancy by the aborigines, including a number of 
 arrowpoints of inferior make, the smaller ones among which are barbed. 
 
 Partly in the field and in part covered with small pine trees, probably a 
 recent growth, was a low ridge of irregular shape and of undetermined extent, 
 since one end of it seemed to merge with the level of surrounding woods. The 
 highest part of this ridge probably was not more than one foot above the rest 
 of the field. 
 
 The soil of which the ridge was composed was loamy sand which extended 
 about 18 inches to undisturbed brown sand. 
 
 This ridge evidently had served as a place of burial to a considerable extent, 
 as almost every trial-hole sunk by us came upon human remains, and often the 
 discovery of one burial led to that of another, so that the finding of five or six 
 interments resulted from a single hole. 
 
 The two burials which showed no disturbance lay at full length upon the 
 back, but as none of the others encountered by us had been placed more than 
 6 inches into the underlying brown sand, there had been considerable disar- 
 
92 
 
 ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 rangement of these by contact with the plow. Some of the deeper graves had 
 l:)een disturbed by other graves in aboriginal times. 
 
 With the burials was no artifact of any kind, with the exception of eleven 
 vessels of earthenware, some of which were badly broken. The ware from this 
 place is of inferior (luality, the shapes are commonplace (pots and bowls), and 
 
 Fic. 40, — \'esscl of cartlniiwan'. W irr Kciice l/aniliiifj 
 
 ( Diaiii. S,l inrhe? 
 
 decoration, when i)resent, as a rule is crude. One vessel from this place, more 
 interesting than the rest, is shown in Fig. 40. 
 
 Site xear Brooks Laxdixc;, Bradley Oounty. 
 
 About one-half mile southeastwardly from Brooks Landing is a field forming 
 part of a j^roiterty belonging to Mr. Augustus Turner, who lives on another 
 place a short distance from it. At the northeastern end of the field are two 
 
ABORIGINAL SITES IN LOUISIANA AND IN ARKANSAS. 93 
 
 mounds in sight one from another, one in the field, the other just beyond its 
 hmits, in the woods. 
 
 The mound in the field has been under cultivation and is greatly spread 
 in consequence. Its height is about 4.5 feet; the diameter of its base, which is 
 roughly circular, is about 90 feet. Trial-holes in this mound came upon compact, 
 yellow clay. No burial or artifact of any kind was met with. 
 
 The mound in the woods, about 7.5 feet in height, is of irregular basal 
 outhne, its diameter being perhaps about 115 feet. Practically no sign of abori- 
 ginal occupancy was noticed in the field. 
 
 About one-quarter mile SW. from the field just described is another, a 
 small one belonging to the same owner. In one part of this field was considerable 
 midden debris; the soil was black and had a promising appearance. A human 
 skull was said to have been plowed up at this place. Trial-holes, however, soon 
 came upon underlying yellow clay and no burials were discovered. 
 
 Site near Sutton Ferry, Bradley County. 
 
 Following the road about one-quarter mile in from Sutton Ferry, on property 
 of Mr. B. H. Ozment, who lives at the ferry but on the side of the river opposite 
 from the field, is cultivated land having in its vicinity a number of small, low, 
 irregular mounds such as are so often found on aboriginal sites in Arkansas and 
 in which burials seldom are discovered. 
 
 On the surface of the field was considerable midden debris, which included 
 many arrowheads of flint, mostly rude, some being simply flakes given the out- 
 line of projectile points. No burials were found by us in this field, though a 
 place of burial in it or near it most probably was there in the past. 
 
 At Sutton Ferry, said to be nine or ten miles by water from the railroad 
 bridge near Warren, Ark., which is the end of navigation on Saline river, our 
 investigation of that stream came to an end, the reports of our agents as to sites 
 to the northward not being of a nature to warrant further search. 
 
A Report on a Collection of Crania and Bones from Sorrel 
 Bayou, Iberville Parish, Louisiana. 
 
 By Dr. A. Hrdlicka. 
 
 Curator, Division of Physical Anthropology, U. S. National Museum. 
 
 The collection received in the spring of 1913 from Mr. Clarence B. Moore 
 comprises 17 skulls and parts of one skeleton. Of this material, 16 skulls and a 
 few bones come from a mound on Sorrel Bayou, Iberville Parish,' Louisiana, 
 while one skull is from a mound near Wherry Landing in Bradley Co., Arkansas. 
 The latter specimen is a moderately brachycephalic cranium of an adult female, 
 with just a trace of fron to-occipital deformation, and represents a type which 
 was previously described in these reports by the writer and need not here be 
 further considered.^ 
 
 The Sorrel Bayou material was found, according to Mr. Moore, with one 
 exception, in deposits of skulls and bones where the specimens lay in complete 
 confusion. The exception was one skeleton lying in a closely flexed position 
 and on its left side. From this subject it was possible to save a few bones besides 
 the skull. 
 
 The 16 crania include 8 males and 8 females, all adults, and ranging between 
 approximately 35 and 60 years of age. They differ in color from pale dirty 
 yellowish white, to obscure black-splotched brown. This is a somewhat re- 
 markable variety of shade from one burial-place, but it can probably be explained 
 by the assumption that the mound was a secondary place of interment and that 
 before transfer the individual subjects lay in soil of different composition. All 
 the specimens are of good consistency and present no fossilization, but also no 
 traces of greenness. 
 
 None of the crania present any recent or large wounds, or any disease or 
 pathological deformity. On the contrary they are uncommonly normal and well 
 developed. 
 
 The skulls in particular show a good development in size, with strong facial 
 parts and other features, giving the impression that they belonged to people of 
 more than average stature and musculature. 
 
 Regrettably, all of the skulls are artificially deformed, presenting more or 
 less marked fronto-occipital compression. This diminishes the value of their 
 measurements and increases the difficulties of their correct anthropological 
 classification. Fortunately, with three or four exceptions, the deformation is 
 moderate enough to permit a visual appreciation of the true type of the specimens. 
 
 1 See this Journal, XIII, 1908, pp. 558-563; XIV, 1909, pp. 173-240; and XIV, 1912, pp. 639-640. 
 
 95 
 
 7 JOURN. ACAD. NAT. SCI. PHILA., VOL. XVI. 
 
96 CRANIA AND BONES FROM SORREL BAYOU. 
 
 On the whole, it is determinable that the series represents a fairly uniform 
 single strain of people; that this strain was characterized by rather large lower 
 jaws and broad upper dental arches; by a relative fullness of the face, the sub- 
 orbital depressions being but little marked; by a quite pronounced though not 
 extreme prognathism; by large, though at the same time high nasal aperture; 
 and by good sized, mcgaseme orbits. The supraorbital ridges while strongly 
 developed in the males arc not especially heavy, and the forehead, though 
 
 
 
 Fig. la. — The lowest cloi'sal and upper tlu'ce luiiihai- vertebra.' of .skeleton No. 277,730, U. S. N. M., 
 sliowino; diseased eonditioii and Ijend f(jrward. Front \-ie\v. 
 
 sloping slightly more l)ackward than in whites, would have shown evidently in 
 no case a decided natural slant. 
 
 The vault is as a rule of a very fair height; its outline, seen from above, 
 approaches the ovoid or the elliptical. The cephalic index ranged through 
 mesocephaly, with a few of the forms possibly slightly shorter. The skulls 
 resemble in this and other i'(>spects quite closely the crania excavated hy Mr. 
 Clarence B. Moore on a former occasion at Johnson Place, Avoyelles Parish, La. 
 (though those were not deformed), and also a certain ])roportion of the crania 
 collected by Mr. Moore and others in southern Arkansas. They are remarkably 
 like the less narrow typ(> of crania among the Siouan peoi)le and the more southern 
 
CRANIA AND BONES FROM SORREL BAYOU. 
 
 97 
 
 Iroquois. To the southwcstward, they arc related to the few undeformed crania 
 that we now ls;now from the Port Arthur region and from Galveston. 
 
 The above suggestions are about all that can at present be ventured with 
 some safetJ^ The anthropologist works under great difficulties in these regions, 
 on one hand on account of the head deformations, and on the other because of 
 lack of well-identified comparative material from such tribes as the Choctaw and 
 their neighbors on one side, the Chitimacha and Atakapa on the other and the 
 
 l^j,;^ 11) — Xhe lowest dor.sal ;ind upper three luinhar vertebrie of .skeleton Xo. 277,730, U. S. N. 'SI., 
 showiiif^ diseased condition and bend forward. .Side view. 
 
 Natchez people to the north. However, if collections such as those of ]\Ir. Moore 
 continue to be made we shall a few years hence Ix' in a position to give a more 
 definite account of the nature of the remains from these territories than is now 
 
 possible. 
 
 Special Remark.s: With the exception of a few insignificant impressions due 
 to old knocks, occasional traces of arthritis in the glenoid fossa and on the 
 
98 CRANIA AND BONES FROM SORREL BAYOU. 
 
 condyloid process of the lower jaw, and three instances of exostoses in the distal 
 part of the auditory meatus/ the 16 crania show nothing pathological. Even 
 the teeth, though in some cases showing advanced wear, are uncommonly 
 healthy, out of the 401 teeth present only six (in five skulls) presenting slight to 
 moderate caries.^ In three or four instances there evidently existed, however, 
 some pyorrhoea. 
 
 As to anomalies, there are none worthy of special mention; two of the male 
 skulls are however very heavy, one with its lower jaw reaching the weight of 
 fully three pounds. Two of the lower jaws, though otherwise normal, are of 
 extraordinary size even for the Indian. 
 
 Opposed to the very healthy state of the skulls, the bones of the skeleton of 
 No. 277,730 show considerable disease. They present what is either tuberculosis 
 or a very pronounced form of arthritis, of the lowest dorsal and especially the 
 upper lumbar vertebrae — with moderate curvature forward of the spine at this 
 place (Figs, la, 2a); an abscess cavity in the distal end of the left clavicle; more 
 or less marked traces of periostitis on all of the long bones as well as both of the 
 clavicles; and signs of arthritis on one of the condyles of the right femur, as well 
 as the lower articular surface of the right (the left absent) humerus. These 
 bones represent one of the two skeletons in the mound whose parts were found in 
 association and may belong to an intrusive, later burial. 
 
 ' In two males quite marked bilateral, in one male slight unilateral. 
 
 ^ Of those absent all but 15 were lost post-mortem; and 13 of these 15 were lost in life by one of the 
 women. 
 
CRANIA AND BONES FROM SORREL BAYOU. 
 
 99 
 
 ABSTRACT OF MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 Crania. 
 
 Cranial capacity (author's method) 
 
 Mean cranial diameter (cranial module) 
 /' length + breadth + basion-bg. height \ 
 
 Thickness of skull (along and 1 cm. above 
 squamous sut.) 
 
 (a) Total height of face (menton-nasion) 
 
 (b) Upper height of face (alveolar point-nasion) 
 
 (c) Diameter bizygomatic max 
 
 Facial index, total ( — ] 
 
 Facial index, upper ( j 
 
 Index of facial prognathism (angle between 
 lines basion-alveolar point and alveolar point- 
 nasion) 
 
 Index of alveolar prognathism (angle between 
 lines basion-alveolar point and alveolar point- 
 
 subnasal point) 
 
 Orbits: Mean height 
 
 Mean breadth 
 
 Mean index 
 
 Nasal aperture : Height 
 
 Breadth 
 
 Index 
 
 Lower jaw: Height of symphysis 
 
 Thickness at 2d molar 
 
 Diameter bigonial 
 
 Angle 
 
 Circumference, greatest horizontal 
 
 Sagittal arc (nasion-opisthion) 
 
 Nasion-bregma segment 
 
 Bregma-lambda segment 
 
 Lambda-opisthion segment 
 
 Males. 
 
 Average, 
 cm. 
 
 1684 C.C. 
 16. SO 
 
 6 mm. 
 
 13.2 
 
 7.9 
 
 11^.9 
 
 88.5 
 63.2 
 
 71° 
 
 66° 
 3.66 
 4-07 
 
 90. 
 6.6 
 2.8 
 
 60.4 
 
 4. 
 
 1.76 
 11. 
 114° 
 61.6 
 36.9 
 12.8 
 12.1 
 12.0 
 
 Mini- 
 mum, cm. 
 
 1430 c.c. 
 15.30 
 
 ■4r-7 
 
 11.8 
 
 7.2 
 
 13.5 
 
 3.5 
 
 3.8 
 
 5.15 
 2.55 
 
 3.5 
 
 1.55 
 
 9.7 
 
 104° 
 
 49.3 
 
 35.5 
 
 Maxi- 
 mum, cm 
 
 1740 c.c, 
 16.47 
 
 6-8 
 14.2 
 
 8.5 
 15.4 
 
 3.85 
 4.35 
 
 5.85 
 3.3 
 
 4.4 
 
 2. 
 
 12.2 
 125° 
 53.2 
 38.1 
 
 Females. 
 
 Average, 
 cm. 
 
 14.92 
 
 6 mm. 
 
 11.3 
 
 7.1 
 
 13.4 
 
 85.6 
 
 71.6° 
 
 56° 
 3.67 
 3.84 
 
 93. 
 6.1 
 2.6 
 
 50.4 
 3.2 
 1.8 
 
 10.1 
 122° 
 
 48.7 
 
 35. 
 
 12. 
 
 12. 
 
 11. 
 
 Mini- 
 mum, cm. 
 
 1230 c.c, 
 14.43 
 
 4-6 
 10.9 
 
 6.3 
 12.9 
 
 3.25 
 3.55 
 
 4.5 
 2.1 
 
 2.9 
 
 1.35 
 
 9.6 
 
 116° 
 
 47.0 
 
 34.1 
 
 Maxi- 
 mum, cm. 
 
 1445 C.C. 
 
 15.40 
 
 6-8 
 11.7 
 
 7.9 
 14.3 
 
 3.8 
 4.05 
 
 5.6 
 2.9 
 
 3.4 
 
 1.8 
 
 10.5 
 
 129° 
 
 50.3 
 
 36.3 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Absence of artifacts with burials, 10, 11, 15, 30, 34, 
 
 38, 40, 45, 46, 60, 79, 83, 85 
 Absence of sherds from Poverty Point, 70 
 
 Advance search for mounds, . . 7 
 
 Alabama Bayou, mound on, 18 
 
 Alphenia Plantation, mounds on, 35 
 
 Arrowhead of unusual shape, . . .76 
 
 Arrowheads, distribution of types, . . 57, 70 
 Arrowheads, or spear heads, 12, 16, 19, 25, 31, 32, 38, 
 
 43, 44, 46, 51, 56, 57, 59, 61, 66, 69, 70, 76, 77, 
 
 78, 79, 81, 83, 85, 91, 93 
 Arrowheads with single shoulder or barb, 25, 70 
 Astragalus of deer, with burial, .... 38 
 Atchafalaya river, its course, ... 9 
 
 Bayou D'Arbonne,. . . 76 
 
 Bayou Grosse TSte, mounds on, . . 17 
 
 Bayou La Rose, mounds on, . . 17 
 
 Bayou Magon, . 42 
 
 Bayou Teche, . 19 
 
 Bead, discoidal, of shell, . 32 
 
 Bead of granite, . ... 17 
 
 Bead of jasper, of unusual size, . . 72 
 
 Bead of red jasper, 66, 70 
 
 Bicave ear-plug of earthenware, . 23 
 
 Bicave stones, . . 22, 25, 44, 78 
 
 Bone implements, . . . 15, 87, 91 
 
 Bones, pathological, sent to Army Medical 
 
 Museum, . . . 13, 87 
 
 Bonnet Bayou, mounds on, . 12 
 
 Bottle-form, rare in region, . 48, 52, 81, 90 
 
 Brannin Place, mound on, . 46 
 
 Brooks Landing, site near, . . 92 
 
 Bunched burials, paucity of artifacts with, 
 
 discussed,. . . . 30 
 
 Burial customs discussed, . 14, 22, 30, 40 
 
 Burial of incomplete skeletons, . 11, 15, 50, 54 
 
 Burials uniformly with head to south, 87 
 
 Canebrake mounds, ... . . 49 
 
 Celts, . 13, 24, 38, 54, 58, 59, 69, 70, 83. 84, 88 
 
 Ceremonial Idlhne of vessels, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 
 
 28, 30, 31, 32 
 Ceremonial lancehead of sandstone, 26 
 
 Chalcedony, charm-stone of, . 76 
 
 Charm-stone made from a pebble, . 32 
 
 Charm-stone of chalcedony, . . .76 
 
 Chitimacha, reburial practised by, . 14, 30 
 
 Clay objects hitherto undescribed, 12, 15, 16, 43, 61, 
 
 70, 72, 73, 74 _ 
 Crania, few, found in condition to preserve, . 9 
 Cross Bayou Landing, mounds near, 18 
 
 Cross, mounds forming, . 37 
 
 Crowroot Place, mound on, . . 63 
 
 Culin, Stewart, as to clay objects hitherto un- 
 described, . 74 
 Cut-off Landing, mounds near, . 45 
 
 100 
 
 Dean Lake, mound on, ... 44 
 
 Decoration, incised, on pottery, 13, 16, 24, 25, 30, 
 
 40, 48, 51, 63, 66, 81, 83, 84, 90, 91 
 Decoration, incised, with red pigment filling, 90 
 Decoration, polychrome, on pottery, . 52 
 
 Decoration of trailed lines, on pottery, 38, 83, 88, 91 
 Decoration, red pigment, on pottery, . . 15, 81 
 Decoration, stamped, on pottery, . 11, 13, 15 
 Deer, jaw-bone of, fragmentary, with burial, . 87 
 Deer, scapulae of, tools made from, . . 87 
 
 Deer, ulnss of, tools made from, . .91 
 
 Deposits of bones, great, . . . 14, 22 
 
 Discoidal bead of shell, ... 32 
 
 Disk, pitted, of ferruginous sandstone, 42 
 
 Drill of flint, . .44 
 
 Dwelling-sites underlying burials, 24, 40, 41, 51, 59 
 
 Ear-plug of earthenware, . . 23 
 
 Ear-plugs of claystone, . . 46 
 
 Earthenware effigy-pipe, 22 
 
 Earthenware figurine, . . . 72 
 Earthenware objects of new type, 12, 15, 16, 43, 61, 
 
 70, 72, 73, 74 
 
 Earthenware supports for vessels, . . 60 
 
 Effigy-pipe of earthenware, . 22 
 
 Effigy-pipe of limestone, . 66 
 
 Effigy-pipe of sandstone, . . 88 
 
 Effigy-vessel of earthenware, . . 32 
 
 Figurine of earthenware, ... 72 
 
 Fhnt implements from Poverty Point, 70 
 
 Flynn Place, mound on, . . 35 
 
 Fool river, mound at, . . . 39 
 
 Galena, ... 59 
 
 Gee Landing, site near, ... 85 
 
 Glenk, Robert, B.S., Ph.C, . . 72 
 
 Godfrey's Landing, site near, . . 83 
 
 Goulett Island, site on, . .... 81 
 
 Grand Lake, mounds on, . 19 
 
 Granite, bead of, ... 17 
 
 Gravel, so-called, . . .70, 73 
 
 Gravel tempering of pottery, . . 24 
 
 Hampton Landing, site at, . . 85 
 
 Hand-game, objects probably used in, 73, 74 
 
 Hatchets of stone, . . .32 
 
 Hedgeland Place, mounds on, . . 38 
 
 Hematite, balls of , . . . 72 
 
 Hematite, deposits of, for pigment, . . 22, 24 
 Hematite "plummets," . 66,70,72,74,76 
 
 Hickingbottom Place, mounds on, 45 
 
 Hodge, F. W., . . . . . 9 
 
 Holmes, Prof. W. H., as to clay pellets used in 
 
 slings, .... . . 74 
 
 Holmes, Prof. W. H., as to westernmost occur- 
 rence of stamped decoration on pottery, . 11 
 
INDEX. 
 
 101 
 
 Hones, 38 54 
 
 Hopeka Plantation, . ... 43 
 
 Hope Landing, mounds near, . 58 
 
 Hrdlicka, Dr. Ales, . . .9, 14, 95 
 Hrdlicka, Dr. Ales, report on crania and bones 
 from Sorrel Bayou, 94 
 
 Indian Bayou, mounds near, ... 40 
 
 Indian Village Place, mound on, . . . 34 
 
 Insley Place, mounds on, . . . .60 
 
 Introduction, . . ... 7 
 
 Jackson Place, mounds on, 
 Jasper bead of unusual size, 
 Jasper, red, bead of, 
 Johnson Landing, site near. 
 
 . 64 
 
 . 72 
 
 66,70 
 
 78 
 
 Kaolin (white pigment), . 22 
 
 Keeley, F. J., . . 9 
 
 Keller, Dr. H. P., . . . 9, 16 
 
 "Killing," ceremonial, of vessels, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 
 
 27, 28, 30, 31, 32 
 
 Knife of chert, . . 15, 83 
 
 Knife of flint, .... 24, 57, 83 
 Knives, . 15, 24, 25, 46, 57, 69, 70, 81, 83, 91 
 
 Lake La Rose, mounds on, . .16 
 
 Lake Larto, ... 21 
 
 Lake Place, mounds on, . . . 61 
 
 Lake Verret, mounds on, . 10 
 
 Lancehead, ceremonial, of sandstone, . 26 
 
 Lee Place, mounds on, . . . 39 
 
 Little Pigeon Bayou, . . . .13 
 Lockett, Prof. Samuel H., as to sites on Povertv 
 
 Point and the Motley Place, . . 66, 69, 70 
 
 LoreauviUe, mounds at, . . . 21 
 
 Lower Jackson Landing, mound near, 63 
 
 Lowrie Landing, site near, . . 85 
 
 Lucas, Prof. F. A., . . 9, 14 
 
 Map of Atchafalaya river. 
 
 Map of Bayou D'Arbonne, . 
 
 Map of Bayou Magon, 
 
 Map of Lake Larto, 
 
 Map of part of Sahne river, . 
 
 Map of region investigated, . 
 
 Map of Tensas river, 
 
 Mayes, Miss Josie S., 
 
 Mayes mounds, 
 
 Melville, mounds near, . 
 
 Middenheap composition of mounds, . 11, 12, 
 
 Miller, Dr. M. G., . 
 
 Miller Place, mound on, 
 
 Montgomery Place, mounds on, . 
 
 Moro Plantation, 
 
 Mortuary perforation of bases of vessels, 22, 
 
 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32 
 
 Moore's Mill, site near, 
 
 Motley Place, site on, . 
 Mott Place, mounds on. 
 Mound Bayou Place, mound on, . 
 Mound, great, on Poverty Point, 
 Mound, great, on the Motley Place, . 
 Mound Place, .... . . 
 
 McGuire, Joseph D., his exhaustive work 
 
 pipes, . . . . 
 
 8 
 
 77 
 33 
 20 
 80 
 6 
 33 
 21 
 21 
 18 
 
 14, 15 
 
 9, 67 
 
 10 
 
 58 
 
 . 19 
 
 24, 25, 
 
 66 
 54 
 39 
 67 
 75 
 61 
 
 Objects of clay, hitherto undescribed, 12, 15, 16, 43, 
 
 61, 70, 72, 73, 74 
 
 Ochre, yellow,. . ... 22,2.5,27 
 
 Orientation of mounds, 34, 36, 41, 46, 55, 58, 61, 
 
 62, 64, 78 
 
 Otter, penis-bone of, 14 
 
 Ouchley Place, site on, . . 77 
 
 Oxide, red, of iron, ... 85 
 
 13, 
 
 24, 
 
 87 
 42 
 81 
 30 
 14 
 
 Pathological specimens, . 
 
 Pebble, faceted, 
 
 Pebbles, from rattles, 
 
 Pebbles, pottery polishers, 
 
 Penis-bone of Otter, 
 
 Perforation, mortuary, of bases of vessels, 22, 24, 25, 
 
 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32 
 Pigeon Bayou, mound opposite, . . . 16 
 
 Pigment, . . .22, 24, 25, 27, 85 
 
 Pigment coating on pottery, . . 15, 63, 38 
 
 Pigment, red, filling in line decoration, . 90 
 
 Pilsbry, Dr. H. A.,. 9,85 
 
 Pipe, effigy-, of earthenware, . . 22 
 
 Pipe, effigy-, of Umestone, 66 
 
 Pipe, effigy-, of sandstone, . . 88 
 
 Pipe, "monitor," . 51 
 
 Pipe of limestone, . . . 51 
 
 Pipe of sandstone, large, decorated, . 26 
 
 Pipes, 22, 24, 25, 26, 29, 32, 46, 51, 66, 88 
 
 Pipes, bi-conical, . . 26, 29, 32, 46, 51, 89 
 
 Pipes of earthenware, 22, 24, 25, 26, 29, 32, 46, 51 
 Pit burial, 14, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 
 
 Plan of great mound on Poverty Point, . 68 
 
 Plan of mounds on Alphenia Plantation, . . 36 
 Plan of mounds on Jackson Place, . . 65 
 
 "Plummets" of hematite, 66, 70, 72, 74, 76 
 
 Polishing of pottery, . . . 30 
 
 Polychrome decoration on pottery, . 52 
 
 Pottery, characteristics of, discussed, . 48, 81 
 
 Pottery seemingly not used at Poverty Point, . 70 
 Pottery stamp-decorated, . . 11,13,15 
 
 Poverty Point, site on, . . . . 66 
 
 Purple pigment, . . . .24 
 
 Raybon, Capt. J. S., . . 7, 9, 10, 21 
 
 Reburial, . . . . 14, 23, 30 
 
 Red paint on sherds, . ^ 15, 16, 21, 38, 40, 63, 84 
 
 Report by Doctor Hrdlicka, on crania from 
 
 Sorrel Bayou, La., . 95 
 
 Reworking of arrowpoint, 70 
 
 Richardson Place, mounds on, 63 
 
 Ruggs Bluff, site near, . 78 
 
 90 
 
 Saline river, . 
 
 Sandstone, ferruginous, slab of, 
 
 Sandstone, ferruginous, pitted disk of, 
 
 Schwing Place, mound near, 
 
 Scott Place, site on, 
 
 "Shell banks," 
 
 Shell bead, discoidal, 
 
 Sorrel Bayou, mound on. 
 
 Stamped decoration on pottery, 
 
 Stevens Place, mounds on. 
 
 Supports for vessels, earthenware, 
 
 Sutton Ferry, site near, . 
 
 Swanton, Dr. John R., quoted. 
 
 11 
 
 79 
 
 91 
 
 42 
 
 . 15 
 
 . 78 
 
 12, 19 
 . 32 
 . 13 
 
 13, 15 
 60 
 
 . 60 
 
 93 
 
 . 14 
 
102 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tempering of pottery, . 
 Temple-site, mound probably a, 
 Tensas river, 
 Territory investigated, 
 Tools made from deer scapulae, 
 Tubular bead of granite, 
 Tubular beads of jasper, 
 Turkey Bluff, site near, . 
 Turkey Point, mounds near, 
 
 24,48 Weir, S. G., . . ,. .9 
 
 . 75 Wherry Landing, mound near, . 87 
 
 . 32 Wilbert Property, mounds on, .17 
 
 . 7 Wilbert's Son§, Messrs. A., . 13, 15 
 
 . 87 Wildwood Landing, mound near, . . 34 
 
 . 17 Wiley Place, ... . . .31 
 
 70, 72 Willoughby, Charles C, as to objects of clay, 
 
 . 78 hitherto undescribed, . . . 73, 74 
 
 . 46 Wire Fence Landing, site near. . . 91 
 
 Wardle, H. Newell,