Ohio History Journal

EXPLORATIONS OF THE SEIP GROUP OF PRE-

HISTORIC EARTHWORKS

BY HENRY C. SHETRONE AND EMERSON F. GREENMAN

CONTENTS

Prefatory Note

Introductory

The Earthworks in General

Structural Aspects of the Central Mound

The Primary Mound

The Retaining Walls

The Floor

Crematory Basins, Depressions, Pits and Post-molds

Burial Platforms

Burials and Deposits of Major Interest

The Great Multiple Burial (Burials 2-7)

The Burnt Offering

The Ceremonial Cache

Burials 1, 10, 19, 26, 28, 32, 34,42, 48, 49, 52, 58, 60, 66,

73, 79, 86.

Description of Artifacts

Inorganic Materials

Organic Materials

Complete list of Artifacts from Seip Mound Number 1

Other Burials of Mound Number 1

Burials 9, 11, 12, 14, 17, 22, 23, 24, 27, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38,

39, 40, 41, 43, 45, 46, 53, 57, 59, 61, 63, 64, 65, 67, 68, 71,

74, 81, 85, 88, 89, 90, 97, 98

Intrusive Burials

Grave south of Mound Number 1

Burials without Artifacts

Burials 8, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 25, 29, 30, 31, 44, 47,

50, 51, 54, 55, 56, 62, 69, 70, 72, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82,

83, 84, 87, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 99, 100.

Mound Number 3

Mound Number 4

Analysis of Burial Practices

Conclusions

Summary of the Hopewell Culture

(343)

PREFATORY NOTE

Examination of the Great Central Tumulus of the

Seip Group occupied four successive summers from

1925 to 1928. Headquarters were established perma-

nently at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Zimmerman,

who occupied the Seip farm during the entire period of

exploration. The mound itself is but an eighth of a mile

distant from the farmhouse, which is situated upon a

part of the remaining portion of the great circle of the

Seip Group.

Henry C. Shetrone was in immediate charge of ex-

cavation during the first three seasons. Assisting him

during that period were Robert Redfield, of the Uni-

versity of Chicago; J. Arthur MacLean, of the Toledo

Museum of Art; Frank M. Setzler, of Ohio State Uni-

versity; Robert Goslin, of Lancaster, Ohio; and Frank

C. Hibben of Cleveland. Upon the death of Director

William C. Mills and the advancement of Mr. Shetrone

to his position, explorations of the fourth season were

concluded by Emerson F. Greenman, newly appointed

Curator of Archaeology, with the assistance of Robert

Goslin, Frank C. Hibben and Samuel T. Orton, Jr.

Mr. John Seip of Chillicothe and the members of his

family tendered constant assistance and cooperation to

the Survey, and deeded to the Society that part of the

eastern portion of the mound which was situated upon

their property, together with additional adjoining land

to provide space for continuation of a roadway around

(345)

346      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

the Mound. For this valuable service the Society here-

with expresses its gratitude.

Mr. Albert C. Spetnagel and Mr. John Blosser of

Chillicothe rendered valuable assistance throughout the

four seasons of excavation and the thanks of the Society

are tendered to them at this time.

In view of the fact that most students of Ohio

archaeology are familiar with the details of the subject,

from previous reports on the Society's explorations, and

in this particular instance from that of Dr. William C.

Mills on the examination of Seip Mound number 2, it

is deemed unnecessary to inflict upon the reader of the

present report the minutiae of the investigation con-

tained in the Survey's field notes.  These of course

are available to those who may be interested in them.

EXPLORATIONS OF THE SEIP GROUP

OF PREHISTORIC EARTHWORKS

BY HENRY C. SHETRONE AND EMERSON F. GREENMAN

INTRODUCTORY

For the benefit of those readers who may not have

found time and opportunity to acquaint themselves with

the fundamentals of Ohio archaeology, this brief outline

of the mound-building peoples of the State is offered.

Throughout the valleys of the lower Mississippi and

the Ohio rivers, together with many of their tributaries

and adjacent territory, there have been observed pre-

historic mounds and earthworks, popularly attributed

to the so-called Mound-builders. Exploration of these

tumuli and study of their burials and relics show that

they were constructed, not by a separate and distinct

race of people, but by various tribes and nations of

American Indians. In a word, the trait of building

mounds as monuments to the dead and of constructing

earthworks for religious, social and defensive purposes,

was almost world-wide among primitive peoples, and

the native American Indians were no exception.

Within the confines of the State of Ohio three or

more kinds or cultures of prehistoric inhabitants had

developed the trait of mound-building. Two of these

are of foremost importance. The people of the so-called

Fort Ancient culture were wide-spread and numerous

(349)

350      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

and left behind them extensive village sites. Those of

the Hopewell culture, the most highly developed of all

the mound-building peoples, were responsible for the

erection of a score or more of great geometric earth-

works and accompanying mound groups, throughout

southern Ohio and contiguous territory.

Lack of space precludes mention of more than a few

of the outstanding characteristics of this and other cul-

tures of the State. Origin, antiquity and disappearance

are perhaps the three phases of the subject concerning

which information most often is desired. As indicated

above, the mound-building peoples belonged to the native

American race, so that the question as to their origin

becomes a part of the broader question as to the origin

of the American Indian. Most persons are aware that

scientific opinion now inclines strongly toward Asia as

the place of such origin.

While it is a recorded fact that in certain sections of

the country mounds have been built and used within

historic times, there is no evidence of contact between

the builders of Ohio mounds and white men; however,

there is no reason to believe that the building of mounds

in the Ohio area may not have prevailed well up to the

time of the appearance of Europeans in the territory.

The question of antiquity of the mounds, therefore, can-

not be specifically answered, since a given mound might

be not more than two or three centuries old while an-

other may have witnessed the lapse of ten or twenty

centuries.

There appears to be but a single historical incident

having a possible bearing upon the disappearance from

Ohio of the mound-building cultures: namely, the so-

Explorations of the Seip Group     351

called Iroquoian invasion, which occurred about the

year 1650. While the mound-building trait in the terri-

tory in question obviously had reached and passed its

greatest development by that time, there is reason for

believing that it may not have been entirely obsolete, in

which case the Iroquoian conquest is a conceivable factor

in its extermination. Other possible causes are those

which have obtained throughout the history of human

society--social and physical decadence, famine and pesti-

lence, conquest and resultant assimilation or even anni-

hilation.  Archaeologists continue the search for evi-

dence that may link the mound-building peoples with one

or another of several historic cultures, but in so far as

the Hopewell culture is concerned there appears to be

little to indicate affinity with another stock.

The known facts with respect to these questions may

be found in the various publications of the Ohio Ar-

chaeological and Historical Society, particularly in the

Archaeological History of Ohio, by Gerard Fowke. A

comparative study of the several cultures is contained

in a paper entitled "The Culture Problem in Ohio Ar-

chaeology," by H. C. Shetrone, published in the Ameri-

can Anthropologist, (N. S.), Volume XXII, 1920. A

more recent study by the same authority is The Mound

Builders, embracing the various mound-cultures of

North America, published in 1930 by D. Appleton & Co.,

New York.

NOTE: The foregoing is reprinted from "Explorations of

the Hopewell Group," by H. C. Shetrone, Ohio Archaeological

and Historical Publications, Volume XXXV, 1926.

352      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

THE EARTHWORKS IN GENERAL

The Seip Group of mounds and earthworks is situ-

ated 17 miles southwest of the city of Chillicothe, Ross

County, about at the center of a large bend of Paint

Creek. At low water this stream has an average width

of 70 feet. Its valley, nearly a mile wide at the point

selected by the builders, is bordered by hills many of

which attain an elevation of 500 feet above the creek.

This rugged topography covers southern Ohio and is

part of the foothill system of the Appalachian Moun-

tains. The Seip Group is within 12 miles of the north-

ern limit of these foothills.

Ross County contains a known total of 455 aborig-

inal earthworks,1 a larger number than is credited to any

other county in the State of Ohio. In the immediate

vicinity of the Seip Group are the Baum Group of

mounds and geometrical earthworks and Baum village

site, some three miles northeast in the valley of Paint

Creek; Spruce Hill Fort, a defensive inclosure of stone

covering the point of a hill which projects into the val-

ley of the Creek from the south; a conical mound 15

feet high four miles to the southwest; a square inclosure

on the opposite (west) side of Paint Creek, and a minor

system of earthen circles and walls on the edge of the

town of Bainbridge, three miles southwest. There are

in addition a score or more of small burial-mounds

within four miles up and down the valley.

According to the Squier and Davis map (Figure 1),

there were originally four mounds and a small circle

within the great circle of the Seip Group. During exca-

1 Mills, William C., Archaeological Atlas of Ohio, page 71.

354      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

these excavations2 this mound was called "The Seip

Mound," as it lay upon land belonging to the Seip fam-

ily of Chillicothe. The central and largest mound, with

all but the eastern 40 feet lying upon the Pricer farm,

was referred to as "The Pricer Mound," from the name

of the owner of that farm at the time. In the present

report the great central mound is designated as Seip

Mound Number 1, while the mound excavated by Dr.

Mills will be called Seip Mound Number 2.

The report on Seip Mound Number 2 by Dr. Mills

contains a description of the group as a whole and in-

cludes abstracts from the accounts of the early ar-

chaeologists, Caleb Atwater and Messrs. Squier and Da-

vis who became familiar with the group during the fore-

part of the nineteenth centruy.

The walls of the earthworks, with the exception of

about 100 feet on the north, have been almost entirely

obliterated. This surviving portion, which can only be

traced by the experienced eye, is a part of the larger

circle and owes its preservation to the fact that it lies

within the farmyard beyond the reach of plow and culti-

vator.

Seip Mound Number 1 is by far the largest burial-

mound in the Paint Creek valley. The long axis does

not lie due east and west, but in a position pointing six

and one-half degrees north of east. From end to end the

measurement was taken as 250 feet. Owing to certain

low irregularities in the surface of the ground, the edge

of the mound could not at all points be determined accu-

2 Mills, William C., "Explorations of the Seip Mound," Ohio Ar-

cheological and Historical Society Publications, Volume XVIII, Columbus,

1909, page 269.

356      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

rately, and this measurement, therefore, is correct only

within three or four feet. This is unimportant however

since the dimensions of the essential structural details,

the floor and the stone circumvallation, were definite and

easily determined. The width of the mound at center

was 150 feet. The greatest height, 32 feet, was main-

tained for a distance of 25 or 30 feet parallel to the main

axis in a strip about ten feet wide on top of the mound,

which therefore was approximately level within this

area.

The work of excavation was begun on August 10,

1925, and completed September 10, 1928. Three subse-

quent seasons were occupied in restoration of the mound

and about 200 feet of the circular wall between the

mound and the highway. The site is now a state park

ten acres in extent (Figure 77).

STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF THE CENTRAL MOUND

The Primary Mound. Of first importance in under-

standing the structure of the interior of the mound is

the fact that there was a primary or original mound

consisting of three conjoined lobes.  This primary

mound was overlaid throughout its entire extent by

a stratum of heavy gravel varying from six inches to

two feet in thickness. Where this stratum met the

floor of the mound it spread out to a horizontal width

of eight or ten feet beyond the edges of the primary

mound (Figures 3 and 4). This layer of gravel on

the floor, the inner line of which delimits the extent

of the primary mound, is shown on the floor plan as the

second or inner circle of stones. The outer ring is a

pavement of flat angular slabs of sandstone and lime-

Explorations of the Seip Group    361

able that what is represented in this delta is a cloudburst

which occurred at a time when the mound was but par-

tially built, with an elevated area acting as a catch-basin

and overflowing on the east end of the mound.

In the 18-foot section in the drawing, the gravel at

the bottom of the primary mound is shown at the left

or west end, with the edge of the primary mound indi-

cated as (b). Stratum (a), lying directly over the gravel,

was composed of rich black earth. The inserted draw-

ing represents a close-up view of a foot-long section

three feet beyond the edge of the gravel of the primary

mound. The wavy lines in Stratum 1 were dark lenses

of sand about one-quarter of an inch thick. The four

lenses in Stratum 3 were about one-eighth of an inch

thick and were made up of reddish fine sand. Only a

part of Stratum 4 is shown in the insert and Stratum 5

is omitted.

The Retaining Walls. Both the primary mound

and the outer surface of the mound proper were over-

laid with a heavy deposit of gravel (Figure 5). The

purpose and manner of construction of these retain-

ing walls were easily apparent. In erecting both parts

of the mound, using ordinary soils and clays, erosion

was a factor to be met and disposed of. The builders

of the mound would have learned this from the wash,

ing down of the materials of the delta if from no

other source. Erection of the entire mound took sev-

eral seasons at the least, and the apparent function

of the retaining walls was to prevent washing both by

flood and storm during this period. The gravel wall

at the surface of the mound proper (C in Fig. 5) was

362     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

related only to that portion lying outside and above

the primary mound. The gravel stratum lying di-

rectly upon the primary mound (D in Fig. 5) bore

the same relationship to the primary, and differed

from the outer wall only in lacking a base of flat stone

slabs. The erection of both of these walls was probably

a continuous process with the piling up of the earth

which they covered. For example, the primary mound

was not first entirely completed and then covered with

gravel, but the height of the gravel stratum probably

was kept equal with that of the primary mound to pre-

vent erosion. An effect, if not an intended purpose of

the gravel over the primary, seems to have been to keep

surface water from reaching the burials on the floor.

The spaces between the gravelstones were not complete-

ly filled with sand and it was apparent that water, seep-

ing downward, had been deflected by this gravel layer

down the sides of the primary to its edges. Just above

this gravel layer was a stratum of solid yellow clay. At

the top center of each lobe of the primary this stratum

was from 28 to 32 inches in thickness, tapering grad-

ually down to 12 inches at the depressions where the

lobes joined one another and then disappearing within

three or four feet of the edges of the primary on the

floor. The upper line of this yellow clay conformed to

the contour of the lobes and was overlaid directly by the

mixed earth of the upper portion of the mound.

The pavement of stone slabs forming the base of

the outer retaining wall was on the floor of the mound

at its outer margin. The slabs forming this base were

not all laid flat, and there was a tendency for those on

the outer edge to be in a perpendicular position. This

Explorations of the Seip Group    363

pavement consisted for the most part of blocks of sand-

stone ranging from six to 100 pounds in weight. At

some points they were piled on top of one another to a

height of a foot or two. Above this base, forming a

retaining wall proper and conforming to the slope of

the surface of the mound, heavy gravel was piled. At

the base the thickness of this gravel was generally the

same as that of the stone pavement beneath, from eight

to ten feet; it decreased in thickness as it extended up

the sides of the mound and disappeared about 15 feet

from the apex excepting at certain points where it con-

tinued over the top of the mound to form a complete

covering. It is apparent that the gravel originally cov-

ered the entire mound and was partly washed down dur-

ing the centuries following its erection. This retaining

wall was covered at all points by a foot or two of earth

which was thicker at the base of the mound than at the

top, where at some points the gravel was at the surface.

There can be little doubt that the height of this retain-

ing wall, like that over the primary, was kept equal with

that of the earth above the primary as it was built up,

to prevent undoing by the elements of the arduous labor

of the builders. Doubtless the outer retaining wall had

the same effect as that over the primary in deflecting the

seepage of water, though to a lesser degree, for the earth

of the upper part of the mound was less compact than

the clay of the primary. The layer of clay over the in-

ner retaining wall offered further obstruction to the

downward course of surface water and lessened the

amount which would reach the floor of the mound.

The Floor. Before erection of the mound the sur-

face soil from the corresponding area had been removed

364      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

to a depth of from six to 12 inches. This comparatively

level area was then covered with a layer of dark clay or

muck varying from six inches to a foot or more in depth.

It was firm in texture and throughout as solid as a fre-

quently used path in clay soil. Certain areas, moreover,

had been hardened by fire, which colored the surface

and the underlying three or four inches in reds, yellows

and browns. This hard-packed clay and muck under-

laid the entire mound, becoming mixed with the loose

surface soil of the site only beneath the pavement of

stone slabs encircling the primary at the edge of the

mound proper. The floor was the same beneath all three

lobes of the primary, without a break between one and

another. A lens of rather coarse water-washed sand

lay upon the floor, varying in thickness from a quarter

of an inch to an inch. While at times this lens could

not be distinguished it probably covered the entire area,

a characteristic and intentional feature of Hopewell

floors.

The only constructions extending beneath the floor-

level were the so-called crematory basins; holes formerly

occupied by posts and stakes of wood, which had de-

cayed; irregular depressions, apparently prepared for

the reception of offerings of a special nature; and pits

which contained refuse material, ashes and charcoal.

Occasional areas were found where the clay and

muck fill of the floor was two feet or more in depth. A

view is shown in Figure 8 of one of these areas near

the east end of the mound, after its excavation in ter-

races showing the different levels. Six levels were found

at this point, each separated from the others by a very

thin lens, light brown in color, which appeared to con-

366      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

ways baked to a degree of hardness about that of the

utility type of pottery found in the mounds. The clay

is generally a coating not more than three inches

thick, lying in and exactly conforming to a corresponding

depression in the hard-baked mixture of muck and gravel

forming the floor. As the name indicates, it is believed

that these basins were connected with the process of

cremation, but in just what manner is not understood.

Their surfaces are usually colored bright red or yellow

by the action of heat, supposedly incidental to cremation.

While they are generally devoid of contents, cremated

remains and artifacts have been found in them. By some

early writers they were termed "altars."

Crematory Basin Number 1 was very symmetrical

and carefully made. It was filled to the brim with clean

charcoal, mostly portions of limbs and twigs up to one

and one-half inches in diameter, which had apparently

been burned in situ. Mixed with the charcoal were

numerous shell and pearl beads and 30 canine teeth of

the bear, both the native black bear and the grizzly.

These teeth were perforated in the usual manner and

several were set with pearls. All artifacts were badly

burnt.

Crematory Basin Number 2 was the smallest ever

found in Ohio. No artifacts were found in it, but at the

southwest corner on the adjacent floor was a mass of

charred grass and twigs covering about a square yard,

in which were found fragments of woven fabric and a

flint-flake knife. This basin, very beautifully made,

was removed intact and taken to the Museum.

Crematory Basins Numbers 3, 4 and 5 were devoid

of contents.

368      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Pits. Two pits, four feet apart, extended beneath

the floor just north of Burials 95 and 96, one of them

lying directly beneath Burial 93. Their positions are

indicated on the floor plan. The outline of Pit 1 can

be seen in the background in Figure 8. It was 30 inches

in diameter and 25 inches deep. It contained, mixed

with a fill of clay and gravel, a flint flake, a few pot-

sherds and two pieces of animal bone. Pit Number 2

was 27 inches in diameter and 30 inches deep, and con-

tained a quantity of potsherds. Another pit containing

the remains of Burial 77 will be described later.

Post-molds. The molds of more than 200 posts and

stakes were found in the floor of the mound, usually

adjacent to platforms and occasionally piercing them.

They varied in diameter from one to 15 inches and in

depth from two to four feet. The solid mixture of clay

and muck comprising the floor preserved the shape of

these posts and in some instances even the impressions

of the bark. Plaster casts of several revealed blunt,

crudely chopped ends which were not sufficiently pointed

to admit driving the posts into the ground by the use of

mauls. The builders of the mound must first have dug

holes for the posts and then packed the dirt around

them. One post at the southwest corner of the platform

of Burial 43, 11 inches in diameter, was held in position

by several split stakes wedged in around it at the ground

level. Most of these post-molds extended above the

floor to a height not ascertainable since the loose earth

of the mound had given way in every instance. There

were large post-molds at each corner of the platforms

of Burials 39 and 50, the only two instances of orienta-

tion or symmetrical arrangement. While these may

Explorations of the Seip Group       369

have been the remains of the support for structures, the

greater majority of the post-molds, particularly those

in or adjacent to burial platforms, appear to be the re-

mains of posts upon which trophies or tributes to the

dead were hung, before erection of the primary mound.

This practice prevailed among certain aboriginal groups

in historic times.⁵ The smaller holes were the remains

of stakes which supported the timbers of the log cribs

around the burial platforms.

Burial Platforms. The great majority of burials

were on small platforms built up a few inches above the

floor, of clay, sand, charcoal and occasionally of gravel.

With one exception these platforms were quadrilateral

and all were bordered by the imprints of horizontal logs

in one, two or three vertical tiers. These log-molds were

the remains of small log cribs which originally sur-

rounded the platforms, over which there had been a roof

of logs or bark (See Figures 75 and 76). In several in-

stances the platforms were surrounded by both log-

molds and angular blocks of stone placed vertically in a

circle or rectangle. Covering the original log cribs and

platforms were small individual primary mounds two to

three feet in height, of sand or gravel.

BURIALS AND DEPOSITS OF MAJOR INTEREST

The Great Multiple Burial. Six burials (Numbers 2

to 7 inclusive) were grouped together in a specially con-

structed chamber of logs covered with a canopy of

woven fabric. This chamber lay at the west end of the

5 See "Native Cemeteries and Forms of Burial East of the Mississippi,"

by David I. Bushnell, Jr. Bulletin 71, Bureau of American Ethnology,

Washington, 1920, pp. 24, 41.

Vol. XL--24.

370      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

western or largest lobe of the primary mound, and at

the time of its discovery was completely filled with earth

owing to a cave-in shortly after the completion of the

primary mound over and around it. In size, in the va-

riety of materials used in its construction and in the

complicated nature of the structure, this chamber ex-

ceeded all other inclosures around burials in the entire

mound.   This fact, together with the richness and

abundance of the artifacts which were placed with the

burials, points to the conclusion that the individuals here

represented were of extraordinary importance in the

lives of those who built the mound.

All of these burials were inhumations, of which there

were only 11 in the mound, excluding the intrusive

burials. Of the six under discussion four were the

skeletons of adults. These lay side by side in the ex-

tended dorsal position, heads to the east, on a level ele-

vation four feet above the floor of the mound. The

skeletons of Burials 6 and 7, both infants under one

year of age, lay just east of Burials 4 and 5.

The burial-chamber, originally constructed perhaps

to keep the earth from crushing the six skeletons, meas-

ured 12 feet east and west and 15 feet north and south.

The height was indeterminable. The chamber had been

constructed of logs placed above one another and se-

cured in place by large stones, both outside and inside;

most of the stones however were inside, placed thus to

assist the logs in withstanding the pressure of the earth

around the sides and from above. The original vault

could not have been more than two feet in height. The

evidence for this statement lies in the interpretation

of the strata resulting from the collapse of the roof

372      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

The canopy, perhaps intended as a ceremonial

shroud, was secured in place by a hundred or more bone

skewers, embedded peglike through the fabric to their

heads. One of them had been broken in penetrating

the earth. The broken piece, about two inches of the

"handle" end, still attached to the rest by strands, lay

horizontally on the fabric line. These skewers or pegs

were from six to 12 inches long and were made of the

leg-bones of the deer (Figure 63).

Where the canopy terminated at the surface of the

primary mound its place was taken by a thin line of red-

dish sand intermingled with a slight organic material

resembling disintegrated bark. This line of sand and

bark, if such it was, no more than one-eighth of an inch

thick, connected with the gravel covering which form a

thin line of gravel at the top, terminated at the lower

or outer margin of the primary mound in a heavy layer

more than a foot thick, consisting of gravel stones vary-

ing in size up to four inches in diameter.

The four adult burials (Figure 11) at the west end

of the vault were not upon small clay platforms as were

the great majority of burials, but lay directly upon the

top of the clay and gravel platform which rose between

three and one-half and four feet above the floor. This

eminence may itself be regarded as a common platform

for the four interments, differing only in size from the

usual type of platform found in Hopewell mounds. The

four skeletons lay parallel and each was separated from

the next by a small log, of which nothing remained but

the mold or impression in the clay and a thin layer of

white ashlike material.

All six skeletons were in a very poor state of preser-

374      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

outspread wings resembling the whippoorwill (Figure

43, upper). The others are in effigy of animals. One

portrays a dog eating a human head (Figure 40), one

represents another dog or perhaps a wolf (Figure 41,

middle), and the other is a tubular specimen the front

end of which is fashioned into the head of what is prob-

ably the bear (Figure 41, lower). These five pipes, to

be described later, were unaccompanied by human or

other remains.  Apparently they were intentionally

placed in the position in which they were found as offer-

ings or symbols of guardianship, subsequent to the seal-

ing of the communal sepulchre.

All four adult skeletons of the Multiple Burial were

outlined from head to foot with pearl beads of all sizes

and shapes, the total number running into thousands.

Burial Number 2 (Figure 12) was the northern-

most of the four adult skeletons. Around and beneath

the skeleton and at the neck and head were many hun-

dreds of pearl beads, ranging from seed pearls to very

large and shapely specimens; at the left foot, the image

of a swan cut from tortoise-shell (Figure 57); at both

hands and opposite the right humerus, portions of tor-

toise-shell engraved with the figure of a bird (Figure

59) ; between the femurs, three tubular beads, two cover-

ings for stone buttons, three small boat-shaped objects

and part of another object, all of meteoric iron (Figure

37, B, C, D, E); opposite the left hand but possibly be-

longing to Burial 3, the cut jaws of a wolf; extending

from beneath the skull on either side down to the ster-

num, were poker-shaped rods of copper on which the hair

braids had evidently been secured (Figure 34, C, D); on

the skull was a pair of imitation copper nostrils (Figure

376     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

beads. At the pelvis were several button-shaped ob-

jects of clay and stone covered by copper foil. At the

position of the heart there was an arrow-point of an un-

usual type, of light-colored flint (Figure 48, right end,

lower row).

Burial Number 4 (Figure 13), probably that of a

female, occupied the third position from the left in the

burial-chamber. It was accompanied by numerous pearl

beads, at the neck and encircling the skeleton, and be-

neath the head and neck reposed a large copper breast-

plate. Beneath it was a portion of fabric or burial-

shroud bearing a design in color.

Burial Number 5 (Figure 13), of unusual size and

apparently that of a male, lay extended on the back in

a position similar to the others of the Multiple Burial

Beneath the bones of the skull, which in the photo-

graph are laid to one side, lay a large rectangular cop-

per breastplate underneath which, preserved by the

chemical action of the copper, was a corresponding por-

tion of fabric bearing colored designs (Figure 66). At

the neck and in a thin line encircling the skeleton were

numerous pearl beads.

Burials Number 6 and 7, the skeletons of two in-

fants, lay on the southeast side of the burial-vault just

east of the four adult skeletons. Burial 6, the northern-

most, lay in a prepared depression seven inches deep and

17 inches in diameter. Burial 6 was on a small plat-

form raised a few inches above the main platform. Both

were almost entirely decomposed but several fragments

of the long bones and pieces of the skulls and jaws

showed them to be but a year or less in age at death.

With Burial 6 were about a quart of small pearl and

378      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Burials 13, 14 and 15 rested upon the surface of this de-

posit above the clay covering, but were not otherwise

related to it.

Nearly all the materials found elsewhere in the

mound were represented in this deposit, as ornamental

and symbolical objects: fragments of carved and cop-

per-banded sections of the os penis of the raccoon, claws

of the bear, beads, ear-spools and other objects of cop-

per; articles made from diorite, flint, obsidian, crystal

quartz, shale, steatite and chlorite; fragments of mica

designs (Figure 38); potsherds, both utility and cere-

monial; thousands of shell beads; uncounted perforated

canine teeth of the raccoon, opossum, fox, mountain

lion and other animals; alligator and shark teeth; bones

from the spadefish (Figure 64); pearl beads, woven

fabric, and several fragments of a wooden bowl. At

one point there were five flaked flint knives of Flint

Ridge material, one carefully laid over another in a pile.

There were in addition many objects burned beyond

recognition.

Among the objects of major interest which were not

damaged by heat are two hollow effigies of the owl and

the vulture, carved out of black steatite (Figure 44);

another effigy, apparently of the pupa of an insect, of

about the same size as the others but not hollow, carved

out of shale (Figure 47); five steatite spheres about the

size of marbles with designs incised on their surfaces

(Figure 45); three plummets, one of copper, one of

chlorite (Figure 39) and one of diorite; 28 spherical

chlorite beads (Figure 39); an unnotched obsidian

blade (Figure 49), and tubular beads of copper.

About five feet directly north of Burial 15 (see

Explorations of the Scip Group      379

Floor-plan), and included within the area of the Burnt

Offering, was a pile of objects, mostly of shell, which

had apparently been cast into the fire together. They

were fused to one another and imbedded in an indurated

calcareous matter mixed with clay and gravel, this ma-

trix so resistant that it was impossible to lift or separate

the objects. A section of the floor-earth on which they

lay was removed intact and the specimens worked out

in the laboratory. A large part of this pile, which was

about ten inches high, was covered with a film or layer

of tough calcareous ash up to three-quarters of an inch

in thickness.

Most of the objects in this deposit were plummet-

shaped, probably used as talismans or charms. Twenty-

two of them are made from the columellae of large sea-

shells (Figures 55, 56). The plummets of chlorite, cop-

per and diorite previously mentioned were found in this

deposit. Other artifacts in the lot were three pearl

beads, a small copper disc, several flint-flake knives, per-

forated raccoon canines and one-half of a boat-shaped

object of crystal quartz. All but the last-named three

plummets were damaged by fire.

With this great variety of artifacts, the only objects

of a strictly utilitarian nature were a few pieces of flint,

some potsherds of the utility type and possibly the un-

notched obsidian blade. An interpretation of the mean-

ing of this deposit must take into consideration the

abundance of artifacts, the artistic excellence of many

of them and their situation on the floor of the mound

only a few feet from the Multiple Burial. Apparently

it was intended that all the objects in the deposit should

be destroyed by fire, thus ceremonially "killing" or de-

380      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

stroying them that they might accompany the spirits

of the dead.

The Ceremonial Cache. This was a deposit of arti-

facts of an unusual type on a platform without human

remains. The platform was typical in every way and

measured four feet square. The log structure over it

had been of considerable size as was indicated by a cave-

in larger than those usually found over burial plat-

forms. This platform lay nearly four-square with the

cardinal points. Toward the west end lay a deposit

consisting of 12 copper breastplates and a copper celt

nearly 20 inches long, weighing 28 pounds (Figure 28).

Covering the surface of the platform was a reed mat,

of which the portion beneath the copper celt had been

preserved in good condition (Figure 67, E), while the

remainder was blackened and fragile through disintegra-

tion. Covering the celt the 12 breastplates were piled in

a gable, six on a side overlapping one another at the

ends. Beneath the breastplates and between them where

they overlapped were layers of woven fabric, as many

as 13 in one instance, preserved, like the portion of the

reed mat, by the copper. With these objects were sev-

eral large pearl beads and three bear canines, each set

with a pearl.

Burial Number I. This burial (Figure 14) lay ten

feet beyond the western border of the primary mound

and was the only one on the floor of the mound situated

outside the interior structure. The remains were those

of a young adult, partially cremated, with the vertebrae

and pelvis in normal articulation. These, with the upper

ends of the femurs and tibias, lay over seven copper

artifacts neatly arranged in a row parallel to the long

382      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

mated burials in the mound with the exception that it

was accompanied by more artifacts than any of the

others. In five of the seven, however, the upper ends of

the long bones, the pelvae and the spinal column were

unaffected by fire and the vertebrae lay in their natural

order either in a reversed curve, as in Burial Number 1,

or in a loop surrounding some of the cremated bones of

the skull and other parts of the skeleton. In most cases

the partially cremated remains represented individuals

of unusual size and this raises the question whether the

great size of these individuals may not have offered such

resistance to total incineration that the process was left

uncompleted.

Burial Number 10. This burial (Figure 15), the

best example of stone-lined grave in the entire mound,

lay between Burials 9 and 11 immediately east of the

platform of the Multiple Burial, underneath the caved-in

portion of the primary (Figure 16). The platform of

Burial 10 was surrounded by large slabs of sandstone

and shale with a covering of the same nature which had

collapsed. The cremated remains comprised the bones

of an adult and a child. These bone fragments were

rather sparse and badly burnt and were scattered about

on the surface of the platform. There were quantities

of small stones at the northern and southern ends of

the platform, inside the inclosure of stone slabs. The

artifacts accompanying the remains were: a diorite celt,

finely polished; two copper ear-spools; a few barrel-

shaped shell beads; a fragment of tortoise-shell; a cop-

per head-plate in fragmentary condition (Figure 36);

part of a copper breastplate, and a pair of well-pre-

served lower jaws of the wildcat, cut and drilled for

Explorations of the Seip Group    387

therefrom toward the center of the platform. These

two piles merged into one another and the arrangement

of the artifacts gave no clue to the number of individ-

uals represented. The calcined bones at the end of the

platform lay upon a sheet of mica ten inches in diameter

and at each corner of the platform was a chunk of

galena or lead ore, each weighing about three pounds.

On and among the bones of this pile were a few pearl

beads and 24 barrel-shaped shell beads; a copper celt, a

pair of copper ear-spools, several imitation eagle-claws

made of bone and two copper objects resembling the

bowls of teaspoons, with small perforations at each end.

Burial Number 28. The platform    measured five

feet, five inches by five feet, seven inches. It was bor-

dered by unusually large log-molds. Eight smaller log-

molds encircled the structure, apparently the remains of

supports to the original log crib. Adjacent to the west

log-molds was the imprint of fabric which had origi-

nally covered part of the platform. Despite the unusual

size of this platform it contained the remains of only a

single adult individual, cremated, and placed at the cen-

ter. Part of a wooden disk and a portion of a tubular

object of the same material, both reduced to charcoal,

were found among the bone fragments. These articles

had apparently been burned when the body was cre-

mated. Other artifacts were eight imitation alligator

teeth of copper, fragments of imitation bear claws made

of bone, a copper breastplate, and two pieces of the jaws

of the wildcat, finely carved in a geometrical pattern

(Figure 56).

Burial Number 32. The platform of this burial was

fairly large, measuring three by five feet, and was sur-

388      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

rounded by three tiers of log-molds. Covering the cre-

mated bones were several strips of bark, probably the

remains of the caved-in roof of the log crib. These

strips ran in the opposite direction to the puncheons

on the platform of Burial 26, that is, with the long axis.

It is possible however, that they were a covering for the

human remains and the artifacts with them, in which

case they lay in their original position when uncovered.

Within the northeast corner of the grave was a small

post-mold and others were near-by outside the log-

molds.

The cremated remains were those of a large adult,

probably a male. Toward the southwest side of the plat-

form were six small flaked knives; intermixed with the

calcined bone fragments were three burned bear canines,

all drilled; a few barrel-shaped shell beads, and frag-

ments of a wooden object reduced to charcoal. The

bones rested directly on two overlapping copper breast-

plates of the usual plain type but rather small. Beneath

the breastplates were preserved, in an area coextensive

with them, some finely woven fabric and three pieces of

leather. Beneath the fabric, resting directly on the clay

surface of the platform, were two copper ear-spools.

The platform of this burial was constructed of coarse

charcoal and charred fragments of limbs, in which was

intermixed charred grass and other burnt vegetable

matter. A small arrowhead was found with this ma-

terial and at the northeast corner of the platform adja-

cent to a large post-mold were portions of a large plain

pottery vessel.

Burial Number 34. The cremated remains of an

adult lay at the center of the platform (See Figure 19).

390      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

On the pile of cremated bones lay four pearl beads, a

diminutive copper crescent, a small hollow hemisphere

of the same material and two unique copper objects re-

sembling andirons (Figure 32). These unusual objects

bear some resemblance to an insect known as the pray-

ing mantis, of which they may be effigies.

Burial Number 42. This platform contained the un-

cremated skeleton of a child from eight to ten years of

age, lying extended on the back with the left leg slightly

flexed. The skull was in fragments but the rest of the

skeleton was in fair condition. At the neck were sev-

eral canine teeth of the black bear, perforated for at-

tachment. Each canine tooth was set with a pearl. The

platform measured six by three feet and was three feet

above the floor of the mound, just within the north edge

of the primary mound and so near its top that decay of

the enclosing logs had permitted the heavy gravel cover-

ing to drop to the level of the skeleton and cover it. The

primary mound seems to have been carried out beyond

its usual limits for the purpose of including this burial

(See Floor-plan).

Burial Number 48. The platform, elevated four

feet above the floor, contained the skeleton of a child

about five years of age extended along the east side, the

long axis of the platform lying north and south. Be-

neath the shoulders of the skeleton was a copper celt.

At the west edge of the platform lay the skull of an

adult male about 25 years of age, on a pile of cremated

bones which probably were a part of the body to which

the skull belonged. At each side of the skull, in the ear

position, was a copper ear-spool. Beneath the remains

of these two individuals lay a pile of cremated bones up-

394      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

it into place diagonally. The skull rested on the north-

east corner and the feet were at the southwest. While

it had apparently been intended to place the body on the

back, the cramping due to lack of space forced the arms

akimbo, with the fingers of both hands doubled under.

At each wrist were half a dozen large pearl beads which

had apparently been strung together, bracelet-like. At

the right side of the head and neck were several hundred

seed-pearl beads which seem to have been deposited un-

strung. There was evidence of considerable heat on the

surface of the platform, particularly at the north end.

Burial Number 58. This burial had a well-prepared

platform 40 inches by 25 inches. The log-molds were

three in height. With the cremated remains of an

adult were the following objects: three finely chipped

obsidian ceremonial knives, two of which were highly

curved in two planes, and notched (Figure 49, A, B, D);

a unique chipped obsidian specimen, roughly butterfly

shaped, 3 3/4 inches long (Figure 49, C); a drill punch of

meteoric iron about the size and shape of a lead pencil

(Figure 37, A); 18 bear claws, several with perforations

at the proximal ends; 10 flaked knives of Flint Ridge

material; fragments of bone needles, four pearl beads

and a small button-shaped object.

Burial Number 60. The platform was nearly square,

measuring about four feet in each direction. It was

well prepared and the surface consisted of a layer of

fine clean charcoal two inches thick. The cremated

remains of an adult lay in a slight depression in the char-

coal at the center of the platform.  The artifacts were

as follows: One small bar-shaped gorget of chlorite with

an incomplete perforation at the center and a finished

396      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

by decomposition. The head of the skeleton lay to the

south. The lower jaw-bone pointed downward in line

with the axis of the body, the skull resting on the right

side. The vertebral column was much twisted. At the

neck were four small bear canines, each set with a pearl;

at the right side was a medium-sized copper breastplate

with two large pearls at the perforations. Traces of fab-

ric indicated that the body had been covered by a shroud,

which had been pegged in place by large bone awls, one

at each corner of the platform. The platform was com-

posed entirely of earth and measured seven feet by 32

inches. Small stake holes at each corner were the re-

mains of supports to the log crib. The log-molds were

unusually wide. The edge of Crematory Basin Number

3 was disclosed beneath the north end of this burial

platform.

Burial Number 73. The foundation of the platform

of this burial was clay, covered with charcoal at the sur-

face. The log-molds were three in height and were or-

iginally supported by stakes at the west end.  Sev-

eral large granite boulders lay on the floor at each end

of the platform. The cremated remains, at the center,

were those of an adult. The following artifacts were

found: 12 undrilled bear teeth, one cut mountain lion

jaw (Figure 60, B), one circular and three rectangular

shell gorgets (Figure 54, A, B), nine flaked knives of

flint, one sea-shell container, one platform pipe in effigy

of a bird (Figure 50), 17 small bone awls (Figure 61),

and about 200 pearl beads, seed pearls predominating.

Burial Number 79. This was the only stone vault

burial in the mound whose roof of stone slabs had not

caved in (Figure 24). Three of the flat slabs in the fore-

400      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

identified as an adult female. Just to the west of the

charred bones lay a sea-shell container on each side

of which was a copper ear-spool. About two dozen pearl

beads were found beneath the shell container. Several

pieces of burnt cane and four potsherds were taken from

beneath the human remains. It was impossible to ascer-

tain the sex of the adult individual represented in Cre-

mation 3, which lay at the south end of the platform.

Two inches to one side of the pile of bone-fragments

lay a copper breastplate beneath which had been pre-

served the fragments of a pattern in yellow and red on

woven fabric. Between the breastplate and the bone

fragments lay two copper ear-spools.

DESCRIPTION OF ARTIFACTS

INORGANIC MATERIALS

Of the 188 copper artifacts from the mound, 122

were celts, breastplates and ear-spools. Of this number

23 celts and one chisel are utilitarian in purpose. The

large ceremonial celt is not included herein. The celts

are all of the same general type shown in Figure

27. They range in length from one and five-eighths

to eight and three-eighths inches; in width from one

to four and one-eighth inches. The ceremonial celt,

shown in Figure 28, measures 19 1/8 inches in length; the

greatest width is four and one-eighth inches and the

thickness at center is 1 11-16 inches. The specimen

weighs 28 pounds, obviously too heavy and cumbersome

for practical use. It gives some idea of the high regard

of the Hopewell people for copper, alike for its useful-

ness in making tools and for its bright color.

Explorations of the Seip Group     403

been destroyed or broken by weathering. On most cop-

per objects the layer of verdigris is rarely more than a

fortieth of an inch thick, although on many of the celts

there are large irregular flakes a quarter of an inch or

more in thickness. The middle celt in Figure 27, from

Burial 35, shows part of the layer of verdigris in which

it was completely encased. Such incrustations probably

result from the replacement of pieces of bark or other

material surrounding the copper rather than from ex-

foliation directly from the surface.

The breastplates are all plain with the exception of

one, which has a scroll in one corner (Figure 30). This

plate, from Burial 19, is the longest one taken from the

mound. The 46 breastplates vary in length from five

and one-fourth to ten and seven-eighths inches; in width

from three to six inches. Most of them have the usual

two holes, the purpose of which seems to have been to

facilitate suspension from the neck by a cord or attach-

ment to clothing. Many specimens of woven fabric,

several bearing colored designs preserved by oxidation

of the metal, were found on both sides of these cere-

monial pieces. All but 12 breastplates were found in

graves.

Two only of the 52 ear-spools merit special com-

ment. These are the miniature pair shown in Figure 30,

on the breastplate of corresponding size, the smallest

from the mound. These three pieces were found in

Burial 36, quite curiously that of an adult rather than a

child. The remainder of the ear-spools, a few of which

are covered with a thin foil of silver, are of average

size, from one and one-half to two inches in diameter.

The imprint of woven fabric was found on some of them

408      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

have been regarded as inadequate without the other, by

their aboriginal owner. In other words, apparently they

are a pair, like ear-spools, which are very rarely found

in odd numbers. The possibility of dividing these two

objects into head, legs, neck and body suggests the effigy

motive, perhaps of the praying mantis. Effigies identi-

cal in shape have never been found in pairs, although

this circumstance does not necessarily invalidate the in-

terpretation. On both pieces there is an expansion of

the top of the "head," giving a diameter about an eighth

of an inch greater than that of the "neck" for a distance

of a quarter of an inch.

The pair of copper effigy nostrils in Figure 33 is the

only one taken from the mound. It was found on the

crushed skull of Burial 2 of the Multiple Burial. Burial

2, it will be recalled, was an inhumation, apparently the

skeleton of a female in the early thirties. The copper

nostrils are one of three pairs which have been found

in Hopewell mounds. The other two were discovered

in position in the nasal cavities of both skulls of Burials

6 and 7, Mound 25 of the Hopewell Group.¹⁰ One of

these skulls was that of a male and the other a female.

These nostrils consist of two cones closed at the small

ends and fastened together at the open ends. Whether

they were originally separate, becoming fused by corro-

sion, cannot be said. The specimen from the present

mound is two and one-eighth inches in length.

Effigy nostrils are an interesting feature of Hope-

well culture inasmuch as they apparently represent the

only purposeful extension of the cult of the dead to the

manufacture of objects. Presumably these objects were

10 Shetrone, H. C., Op. cit., p. 65.

410     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

the skulls extending from just below the ears downward

to the sternum. The two rods from Burial 2 in the

mound under discussion, shown in Figure 34 as (C) and

(D), are nine and one-fourth and eight and five-eighths

inches in length. Both are square in cross-section. The

shorter of the two has been bent, possibly by the collapse

of the sepulchral chamber of the Multiple Burial. Both

rods taper to a blunt point at one end. Two other rods

were found (Figure 34, A and B), each with what ap-

pears to be a handle, cylindrical and made of bone and

horn. Both taper to a blunt point at the end opposite

the handle. It is something of a puzzle whether to class

them with utilitarian, ceremonial or decorative objects.

The larger of the two was found with one of the two

cremations in Burial 49. The other lay three feet be-

neath the surface of the mound unaccompanied by hu-

man remains.

Eight effigy copper teeth of the alligator were taken

from Burial 28. Three of them, falling apart on re-

moval, reveal the method of construction. Sheet cop-

per, about one thirty-second of an inch thick, probably

cut according to a pattern devised from previous expe-

rience, was folded around wooden cores of the same gen-

eral shape as alligator teeth but somewhat smaller, the

difference in size being made up by the copper. The

wood cores are black and show unmistakable signs of

heat.

In Figure 35 is a copper object with an open-work

pattern which must be classed with those of an orna-

mental or symbolical nature. It was taken from the

Burnt Offering.

416      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Of the 30 artifacts made of chlorite, 28 are spherical

beads found in the Burnt Offering. One of them, split

in half, reveals a micaceous structure which shines like

silver in contrast to the present surfaces of the beads,

which as a result of weathering and subjection to heat

are dull gray in color. These beads are all of the same

size and shape, slightly flattened spheres seven-six-

teenths of an inch in diameter in the direction of the

perforation and nine-sixteenths of an inch in the other

diameter (Figure 39). Also from the Burnt Offering

was taken the green micaceous chlorite plummet in Fig-

ure 39. This piece is three inches long and has a shal-

low groove at one end. The bar-shaped gorget in the

illustration, of the same material, was taken from Burial

60. It has an incomplete perforation at each end and a

completed one at center.

Steatite forms the material of 14 objects, all of

which are of exceptional interest.

Five large effigy tobacco-pipes made of steatite

were found above the Multiple Burial. Three of the

pipe are animal effigies and two are effigies of birds.

The pipe in Figure 40 represents a dog in the act

of eating a decapitated human head, held between

the fore-paws. The same animal apparently is por-

trayed in the pipe in Figure 41 (middle). Originally

something was held in the mouth of this piece, possibly

the same object. All four feet of this effigy were broken

off when found and perforations through the legs indi-

cate that the broken parts had been re-united. These

minor parts, unfortunately, were not recovered, so the

exact nature of the specimen can only be surmised. The

sculptural finish of this pipe is somewhat better than that

Explorations of the Seip Group     419

ure 41, just above the broken ends. Another hole of

about the same diameter extends three-quarters of an

inch into the mouth, or more precisely, into the frag-

ment of the object which is held in the mouth. This

effigy represents a female. There is no mark of sex on

the other.

The pipe in Figure 41 (lower) resembles the bear

more closely than any other animal. The fore-paws are

executed conventionally. Raised little more than a thirty-

second of an inch above the surface, they extend down

to within an inch and a quarter of one another and then

disappear. This pipe, like the others, shows consider-

able wearing down of the surface, but there is no break-

age.

The two bird effigies show an even greater difference

in conception and execution than those representing ani-

mals. On the owl (Figure 42, upper) the tertiary and

covert feathers are brought out in considerable detail

by incision. Only the forward edges of the folded

wings are in relief; elsewhere the outline of the wings

is defined by a narrow incised line. A symmetrical con-

ventionalized arrangement of the feet and claws of the

owl, portrayed on the under side of the pipe, is shown

in the lower view. Traces of a similar design are to be

found on the bottom of the other bird effigy.

The broad flat head and short beak on the effigy in

Figure 43 (Middle and upper) both favor identification

of the model as a whippoorwill or night-hawk. The

only incised lines on this pipe, with the exception of in-

cisions on the face, represent the spaces between the tips

of the primary feathers. The effigy does not occupy the

entire pipe; three inches of unembellished "stem" pro-

Explorations of the Seip Group      423

trude beyond the tail-feathers. The broken wing, the

detached part of which was not recovered, shows the

method by which the piece was mended.

The material of the owl effigy contains considerable

quantities of yellow mica in the form of small flakes.

A micaceous structure is observable in the other four,

but the flakes in them are silver-colored. The eyes of

both bird effigies, of about the same diameter and one-

eighth of an inch deep, show the remains of a red pig-

ment.

In The Antiquities of Tennessee,^l2 six pipes are il-

lustrated and described which resemble closely in major

features these five pipes from above the Multiple Burial.

All but one are made of steatite; the material of the ex-

ception is talcose schist. The Tennessee pipes are in

effigy of the duck, a bird resembling the toucan, an un-

identified flying bird, a bird represented in the act

of walking on the ground, and an animal, described

by the author as a wolf or fox. In size, in the posi-

tion of the bowls of the pipes and in style, these pipes

are identical with those from Seip Mound Number 1.

In fact it would be difficult for a casual observer of illus-

trations of the flying bird and the wolf or fox pipes to

distinguish them from those in Figures 43 and 41. It

is very evident that the five effigy pipes from the Seip

Mound do not pertain to the Hopewell culture, and that

they are typical of the Tennessee-Cumberland region.

In view of the fact that the Hopewell peoples drew

largely upon the southland for supplies of raw materials,

it is not surprising to find that they at times availed

12 Thruston, Gates P. The Antiquities of Tennessee, Robert Clarke &

Co., Cincinnati, 1890,

424      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

themselves of finished specimens, obtained through bar-

ter or in any manner from peoples of that region.

The three bird effigies in Figure 44, representing the

owl, duck and vulture, are of black steatite. The duck

(C) was found with Burial 60 and the other two are

from the Burnt Offering. All three are hollow, the owl

and vulture from end to end and the duck only in the

portion representing the body. The latter, in effigy of

the roseate spoonbill, or perhaps the shoveler duck, dif-

fers further in having a plain surface. On the vulture

(B) incised lines representing primary, secondary and

tertiary feathers are very shallow and are not more than

a sixty-fourth of an inch in width. The incisions mark-

ing the eye and those for the nostrils are about twice as

wide and a little deeper. All three sets of wing-feathers

in addition to those on the breast are brought out in low

relief on the owl (A). The incisions for the feathers on

the top and sides of the head and on each side of the

beak are shallow and narrow. Two holes about one-

eighth of an inch in diameter perforate the body of the

owl.

The five steatite spheres shown in Figure 45 were

found in the Burnt Offering, adjacent to Burial 13,

which was the cremation of a child on a poorly con-

structed platform. This coincidence suggests that these

engraved spheres were used as marbles and that they

had been intended for the remains of the child. The

design on the piece to the left in Figure 45 appears to be

a conventionalization of the human face.