20 . Chronicles of the Cape Fear Rwer

and filling up the old ones. In this way all the soil of the
mound, and for two feet below its base, was carefully examined.
The soil below the base of the mound did not appear to have
been disturbed at the time the mound was built. The contents
of the mound included fragments of charcoal, a few small frag-
ments of pottery, a handful of small shells, and parts of sixty
human skeletons. No implements of any kind were found.
Small pieces of charcoal were scattered about in different por-
tions of the mound, but the larger portion of the charcoal was
found at one place, 3 or 4 feet square, near one side of the
mound. At this place the soil was colored dark and seemed to
be mixed with ashes. There were here, with the charcoal, frag-
ments of bones, some of which were dark colored, and may have
been burned; but they were so nearly decomposed that I was
unable to satisfy myself as to this point. I could detect no evi-
dence of burning, in case of the bones, in other portions of the
mound. Fragments of pottery were few in number, small in
size, and scattered about in different parts of the mound. ‘They
were generally scratched and cross-scratched on one side, but no
definite figures could be made out. The shell “beads” were
small in size—10 to 12 mm. in length. They are the Margi-
nella roscida of Redfield, a small gasteropod, which is said to be
now living along the coasts of this State. The specimens, about
75 in number, were all found together, lying in a bunch near
the skull and breastbones of a skeleton. The apex of each one
had been ground off obliquely so as to leave an opening passing
through the shell from the apex to the anterior canal—probably
for the purpose of stringing them.

The skeletons of this mound were generally much softened
from decay—many of the harder bones falling to pieces on be-
ing handled, while many of the smaller and softer bones were
beyond recognition. They were distributed through nearly
every portion of the mound, from side to side, and from the base
to the top surface, without, so far as was discovered, any definite
order as to their arrangement. None were found below the level
of the surface of the soil outside the mound. In a few cases the
skeletons occurred singly, with no others within several feet;
while in other cases, several were found in actual contact with
one another; and in one portion of the mound, near the outer
edge, as many as twenty-one skeletons were found placed within
the space of six feet square. Here, in the case last mentioned,

* several of the skeletons lay side by side, others on top of these,

 

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Exploration and Settlement 21

parallel to them, while still others lay on top of and across the
first. When one skeleton was located above another, in some
cases, the two were in actual contact; in other cases, they were
separated by a foot or more of soil. _

As to the position of the parts of the individual skeletons,
this could not be fully settled in the present case on account of
the decayed condition of many of the bones. The following ar-
rangement of the parts, however, was found to be true of nearly
every skeleton exhumed. The bones lay in a horizontal position,
or nearly so. Those of the lower limbs were bent upon them-
selves at the knee, so that the thigh bone (femur) and the bones
of the leg (tibia and fibula) lay parallel to one another, the
bones of the foot and ankle being found with or near the hip

I . The knee cap, or patella, generally lying at its proper
place, indicated that there must have been very little disturbance

of the majority of the skeletons after their burial. The bones
of the upper limbs also were seemingly bent upon themselves at

the elbow ; those of the forearm (humerus) generally lying quite
or nearly side by side with the bones of the thigh and lee: the
elbow joint pointing toward the hip bones, while the bones of
the two arms below the elbow joint (radius and ulna) were in
many cases crossed, as it were, in front of the body. “The ribs
and vertebre lay along by the side of, on top of, and between the
bones of the upper and lower limbs, generally too far decayed
9 indicate their proper order or position. The skulls generally
ay directly above or near the hip bones, in a variety of posi-
ee in some cases the side, right or left, while in other cases
t s top of the skull, the base, or the front, was downward.
— ut abe of the crania (A and B of the following table)
ained from this mound were sufficiently well preserved for
ee and both of these, as shown by the teeth, are
skulls of adults. C of this table is the skull of an adult taken

- from Mound No. 2, below.

 

 

 

Crania. Length. Breadth. Height Index of Index of Facial
te - Breadth. Height. Angle.
2 eee
< me ne 151 mm. 144 mm. 746 746 74°
C ra m. 133 mm. 136 mm. 772 -790 66°
mm, 137 mm. 147 mm. -761 816 63°