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WORK IN MOUND EXPLORATION OF THE BUREAU OFETllNOLOGY.By OYRUS rrnOMAS.

It seems dusil'Uulc [tt the preseut time to make [t sLatement explain-ing- the llhtlls amI (\'sel'ibing th e work of the 1ll0111t

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Premising tllat accmracy as to details and statements, without regal'llto their bearing on this Ol' that tileory, has been considered the chiefand all important point to be kerlt constautly in view in all the operations of th e divifJion, the methOlls of work developed (except during thenrst year, when want of experience caused some of tile details of aeoumte work to be omitted) have been substantia'!ly as follows:A small division was org,M1ized in 1882 to which the work of exploringam] examining' the antiquities in tllat part of th e Unitcl] States east ofth e Rooky Mountains was assigned. rl'his division was placel] il l mycharge, and one clerical and three fielel assistants were assigned me,with tile oCCaSi01H11 adlliLion of a tempomry field assist ~ . "" . r8 \ "'1-:2. d}1 ~ : i 1 . f . , O '.0:1,92 '1-,J ~ b \" \ t. 1'\~ f ' ! )/9 't' t;rt, ; : , ~ \\ "c'" ,\ '-jF? /[1: f'p \ ' \' , ~ % \ . 'tv, / ;! f." .. 1 >, Q \ '0 )" ./ / ./ t-) fj I'ti.;G5 ~ / ! ; \ ." _> f! ,/ J 1.t.7 /'l3 . I I/! 1/'; ,. ( .' ( ,-II1I'IG. 1."- J:I',htivo pD:Jilion,"1 0(' ~ l . ; c l d o l l : \ ill fill Ensl, ' I ' e l l l l f ' . ~ S ( ~ ~ ; mOfllHl.

In order to IweRl;rve UIl;

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~ . U ' - ' U ~ . ' J , J ~ J l L J . . .J._J"JJ..\'J.J..' ' '-X V.i ' . i i - l l ~

departments to which they go in the National Museum. 'l'his affordsopportunity for a careful comparison of the catalogues with eadl otherand with the specimens. Th e final catalogues coutain not only tue collector's, Bureau, and Museum numbers, which form checks npon oneanother, bn t also th e name of the article, th e locality, the collector'"name, an d remarks indicating th e conditions under wuich cach wasfound. 'rucse particulars are, of course, incomplcte in referencc tospecimens purcuased or clonated.

As an illustration tile heading of the colnmns alHl one line from th egeneral catalogue are given here:

00 s ~ ~ - ~ - - I - -=l , ~ , 1..d'S Nawe of n.l tlcliJ Locality I Collc-etor, Romal'hs.; l ' l lN IJLUUY. J

m1l't,hen pyramid of the South, the emlmnkment, the effigy, the stonecairn, honse site, &c. Every hitherto known variety ,LS to construction, as well as quite a nnmber decidedly differeut iu details, has beenexamined. Some of the latter are very interesting an d furnish important data. Particular attention has been paid to this branch of tllework, because tlle mode of construction and the methods of burial inthe ordinary conical turnuli furnish valuable data in reg'ard to the customs of the builders and aid in determining th c arc1Jrcologieal districts.Many ancient graves and cemeteries amI several caches aud mwe dellosits lI:we also been explored.

The number of speciIilens obtained by th e division since its organization is not less tllan thirty-eigllt thollsanu; fully one-half of these werediscovered by the assistants duriug their explorations; the remainderwere obtained by donations an d purchase, though not more than $500have been expencled by the Bureau for this pnrpose.

The speeilIlens procured by the field assistants in person constituteby far the most valuable portion 01 tlle collection, since the particularsregarding their discovery and surroundings arc known. Among themwill be found not only ncarly every variety as to material, form, [LI1(lonmmentation hitllerto obtained in that part of the United States eastof the Rock.\, Mountains, bn t

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At th e bottom of an nlltlistnrbed Pennsylvania mound, accompanyingthe original interment, of which bu t slight evidences remained, was ajoiut of large eane, wrapped in pieces of thin and evenly wrought silverfoil, smoothly cu t in fa,ncy figures. In addition to these, the ilssistantshave obt'Lilied from monnds snch tllings a,s brass lcettles with iron hail,:;,lJrass Wire, wooden hLdlcs, ghLss bC,Hls, &c. SOllie of thBse 'thing,s clearlypertn,jned to iutrnsivl) lHirials, hu t a htrge portion of them were evidentlyplaced in the mouuds at the time they were construct('d an d with theorigiual interment, as Shown by their position whcn diseovcrc(l.

Of the collections, pcrhaps the most important pOI't.ion in ;Ln areli::eologie'll view is tl](J pottery, of which some fourteen or Ilfteenlllludre(lvessels have been ubt.ained, iUeJucling most of thc known viLrieties andseveral tLat are new rLS to form and ol'l1amentation. Among these aretwo 01' three full faced pols, of wllich bu t a sillgle specimen hall beenpreviously discovered. rrhis collection, which is IH,iug carefully stndie(lby.J\Ir. VV. H. IIolJnes, it is helieveel will hB fouuel to contain most, it'1I0t, all, of the hil.herto known types of textile impressions, as well asSOlite new ones.

All ull1lsnally lilrg'e nnlllllm' of polished and picked celts ha.ve beens ( ~ e \ l r e d , inclndilJg every known pattel'll and "micty ye t !'o\ln

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the Imlians. I t is trne that works and papers 011 American fLrchmologyare full of statements to the contrary, which are generctl1y lmsed on th etheory that the mound builders belonged to a race of mucll higher culture than the Indiaus. Yet, when th e facts on which this opinion isbased are examined with sober, scientific care, th e splendid fabric whichhas been bnilt upon them by that great workman, imagination, farlesfrom sight.

Fourth. That each tribe adopted several different methods of burial,these rJifferences in methods depending, in fLll probability, to some extent, upon the relative position, social stalldillg, and oeeupation of the.individuals. To jllStify this COlielusion it is only neeessary to mentionthe tl'equent occurrence of two or three ditferent modes of burial in asingle gronp of similar mounds.

Fifth. That the custom of removing the Jiesh bef()re th e final bmialprevailed very extensively aUlong the mound builders of the northerndistriets and was no t uneommon among those of th e sonthern distriets.'fbe proofs of tbis enstom are so abnndant an d eonclusivc that it cannotbe doubted. Not only are found the hones of the COlllmon people, whiehhave been gatherecl togetber and cast into a promiscuous heap with amouml bnilt over tbem, bu t grav('fJ formed of stone slabs are frequentlymet wiLh, of less thaH two feet in lellgth and one in width an d rleptll,containing the bones of an adult 'l'he bundled skeletons aud skeletonburials alludeJ.; .L.L.L.L-J

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vftlley of Anahuac 01' plains of Yucatan, I t is ftlso as decidedly ftgainstMorg[m's theory tlJat they pertained to tllO PueLlo tribes of New Mexico.I t likewise gives a decided. lleg-ative to tb e suggestion tlmt the buildersof the Ohio works were pushed south into tile Gull' States and incor]1omted into th e Mnskokee group, A study of th(, pipes, D,side fromany otber evidence, is sufficient to show (,hat this theory is llot tenaLle.Moreover, a study of tile wcrks of Ohio and their contents silould convince the arclwoologist that tiley were built by scveml different tribesaw l perLain to willely tliJIerent eras.'J'llirteentb. Altilongll much tb e larger portion of tho :mcient monuments of our country belong to prehistoric times and some of thempossibly to the distD,nt past, ye t the evidcnue of uontact with Europealleivili,mtion is found. in so ml1ny, wllGre it cannot be attributed to inLrusive lJlHiiLI, alld in suuh widely separD,tetl 1 0 u ~ L l i t i e s , that it liuSt Leconceded a goo I l ly lllllllber of them were built snLsequenL (0 thu discovery of UlO urm tiuen t lJy Enropeaus. Evell some of the 1ll011l11ls ofOhio, in whiull, according to report, snch remarkable disuoveries h:t\'ebeen marle, appeal' to belong to Uti" latter category,

So far as th e mound testimony bean, at all upon the question of th eentry of' the tribes iuto tile Mississippi Valley, it leans toward tIle theorywhich brings those of th e nortlwl'n an d central districts frOID the North-west. But here specuhLtion must form snch an important f