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112 While many of the usual indications which mark such deposits as artificial, such as the remains of fires, &c., are present, there are two peculiarities worthy of especial notice. One of which is a stratum of river bowlders which divides the deposit of shells, which is over 2 feet in thickness, into two very equal parts through its entire exposure. These bowlders were evidently selected with great care for uniformity in size and are about 3 inches in diameter, and are packed as closely as in a pavement. The remains of the fires show both above and below these bowlders, but none immediately upon them. The other peculiarity is the abundance of human bones found mixed with the shells, but these are probably of later origin, and, if so, show that the place has subsequently been used for a burial place.

The large mound at Moundsville, W. Va., was opened in 1838 by Mr. Tomlinson, who, in opening, drove two shafts into it, one on the plane of the base to its center, the other from the top to the base. The horizontal shaft was through a loamy clay as far as driven, which was some 12 or 15 feet at the time I was there, and for 3 or 4 feet in from the surface on the sides and top was marked with fine dark lines which formed segments of circles springing from each other in successive rows, after the manner of what is sometimes termed the "shell-pattern." These lines were from 12 to 16 inches from point to point of contact and 2½ to 3 inches apart at their greatest vertical separation. These lines suggested the idea that the mounds had been faced with turf. In support of this hypothesis, it would be necessary to remember the high angle of elevation of the faces of the mound, the height of the mound and the material of which it is composed, and while the angle of inclination of the faces is no more than nature willingly tolerates under such circumstances, yet, unless the faces were protected, they would be much wasted and gullied by the rains before they would be protected by spontaneous vegetation. The adaptation of the means to the end is apparent in the facility with which the material could be obtained and applied, and in the perfect protection which such a casing would afford.

 

In view of the fact that in the States of Ohio, Indiana, and especially Wisconsin, ancient remains have been so carefully investigated, it must appear strange that the many indicia of a prehistoric race in the western part of Pennsylvania and in the State of West Virginia should be so little known. At the present date these indicia have been largely decreased by vandalism and by the action of the elements. Many mounds have been plowed down to the surface of the surrounding ground or leveled to make way for towns. Many of the 