A Narrative of Explorations in New Mexico, Arizona, Indiana, Etc; Together with a Brief History of the Department

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905. Excerpt: ... EXPLORATIONS AT THE MOUTH OF THE WABASH. About August 1st, 1897, Mr. Peabody instructed the writer to proceed down the Ohio river from Cincinnati and examine various sites, mounds, and other remains, as far as the Missisippi. The services of Mr. Clifford Anderson, of Fort Ancient, Ohio, were procured, and he continued working for Mr. Peabody practically all of his time for the next three years. Anderson had served the writer faithfully on the Ft. Ancient, Hopewell, Oregonia, and other surveys, and was not only a careful and intelligent field man but seemed to know by intuition the most likely places for explorations. Previous to the Ohio River trip, more Scioto valley specimens were obtained. Scioto types exhibit as high stone age art as have been found in the entire Mississippi valley. The writer called upon many farmers in Ross and Pickaway counties in Ohio, and secured several hundred interesting specimens. In a gravel pit east of Circleville, while workmen were removing material to be placed upon the roads, fifteen or twenty skeletons were found one to one and a half meters below the crest of the gravel knoll. Among the ribs of one of these bodies was found a hematite plummet. Near the head of another skeleton was a bone knife handle and a tubular pipe. An ordinary flint knife lay near the bone handle, and originally may have been fastened to it. Two mounds near Waynesville, Ohio, were on the high terrace overlooking the Little Miami river ten miles above Fort Ancient. Both mounds were promising, but the exploration of each was a disappointment. Burnet mound was about five hundred yards north of the river. It is two meters in height and about 30 by 20 meters in diameter. An ash pit, two cremated skeletons, and three decayed skeletons were observed. Th...