Indian Burial Grounds
Many of those mounds have boon explored
iliroii^liout the years in various sections of
ftortli Carolina and have revealed some
interesting data conc«»rning the original
settlers lit»re.
INDIAN burial mound- are 10 I--
found in large numbers in the
along the Atlantic seaboard,
nn«l tlie numbers of skeletons found
therein point to the conclusion that
while the methods followed by the
various tribes may have varied, there
was a universal Indian custom of re¬
interment.
Some of the burial pits of the
Northern tribes, especially those who
lived along the Niagara Diver in New
York, have been found to contain the
remains of several thousand fiersons.
While nothing has been found upon
so large a scale in ('arolina, and while
the methods used here were somewhat
different from those obtaining with
the Northern tribes, n large numlier of
Indian burial mounds have been found
over our State, a mimlM-r of which
have been explored.
Duplin County Mounds
J. A. Holmes, then State Geolo¬
gist, investigated a number of such
mounds in Duplin County. In these,
the bodies were laid on top of the
ground, in a flexed or "doubled up"
position, and earth from the immedi¬
ate vicinity was then heaped upon the
remains. Little has been found in these
mounds other than skeletons, but it
is a singular fact that charcoal i- al¬
ways found beneath the l«»nes.
There was a mound only half a
mile from KcuatiHvillc, circular in
outline, with a diameter of 35 feet,
built to a height of three feet, which
contained fragments of sixty bodie*.
Soil»- of then* ladies had lieen buried
ill layers, one above the other. Noth¬
ing else was found hilt a few frag¬
ments of pottery. Another was exca¬
vated near Dullsville in Duplin, cir-
eular
in outline. 22 feet in diameter.
III
Tl
\v||
115
ich eight
was pro!
skeletons were found,
•ably the mound of n
•inall tribe, bill few of wlmm had died.
Another mound was found in this
vicinity, but it was so ancient that
the bom-, bad decayed to such an ex¬
tent it was impossible to number the
bodies. Also in Duplin . . Sareeta.
was a lnrgc mound containing many
I »ones but nothing else.
By J. L. spi:\ccr
In Sampson, two miles west of
Clinton, a mound was explored, yield¬
ing sixteen skeletons, the usual foun¬
dation of charcoal, and a few frag¬
ments of shells.
In Robeson County
In Ro lie son County Hamilton Mc¬
Millan. noted Indian authority, and
author of the "Lost Colony." explored
several mounds. One near Red Springs
was of tin- same type us those above
described and contained sixty skele¬
tons. In t 'uuiberland, m ar Rockfi-h.
Mr. McMillan in 1882 supervised the
excavation of a large mound con¬
taining many bones, bill they were
loo old to permit any estimate of il»-
number there interred. Several sim¬
ilar mounds were excavated in South¬
ern RolieMin on the South Carolina
line.
In Wake, ten miles South of Ra¬
leigh a mound was examined by the
late W. S. Prinmse in 1
*'•'<»
and found
to contain a dozen skeletons. In a
brochure i- ued by the James Sprimt
Historical Publications and an t lions I
by James Mall Rand, ho gives us a
glimpse of tin- funeral rites of a Caro¬
lina Indian. The body lirst lay in
state for a day, and then while the
relatives feasted, the Conjurer made
oration extolling tin- deceased, and
assuring his hearers that the dead had
gom- to a happy hunting ground-,
where there was plenty of game, many
wives, and where he would experi¬
ence neither hunger, cold nor hard-
-hip. The body was then lowered into
a pit some six feet deep. A frame¬
work of poles and brush was then
built over but not touching the body.
Upon this framework earth was
thrown, leaving the body in what was
really a vault.
After the lapse of time, upon a
designated day, the bone* were taken
up. washed, mourned over, wrapped
in fine deerskins, and then re-interred
in a place called Quiogozon. the final
resting place of great warriors. So
greatly were these mounds revered
by the Indians, that if the tribe moved
its hunting ground.*, the bone.* were
taken up and moved along also.
A large mound near Cameron on
the Harnett- Moore border was ex¬
plored in 1873 bv worker* construct¬
ing the Raleigh and Augusta Air
Line. Approximately 125 skeletons
were found, all in the flexed or
"doubled up" position. These bodies
had been covered with -and on which
brush had been burned. Shell bead*,
bones of deer and fragments of pot¬
tery were found, the kind of pottery
indicating that it came from beyond
the Yadkin. Several similar but small¬
er mounds were located near Aber¬
deen and Pinehurst.
In Montgomery County
A large mound was found on Little
River in Montgomery County, ami in
1937 this mound was conveyed to the
State for park purpn
This was
100 yard* in circumference, ten to
fifteen feet in height, and exploration
resulted in the discovery of many
skeletons and pottery and other frag¬
mentary relies.
Writing ill the Charlotte Ohscrrer
in 1939. Maude Minnish Sutton wrote
interestingly of a trip to the home of
Mr. Kirk
collector of Indian relies,
in Cane creek valley, half way l>e-
tween Rutherford ton and Morganton.
Here, near a lake. Mr. Kirkscv ex¬
plored n grave which, from its con¬
tents. was evidently that of a chief.
This differed from the Raster n
mounds in that the Imdv was buried
singly and in the earth. From this
grave was taken one lnrge peace pipe,
several smaller pipes, all richly
curved, two -mall Indian heads carved
in stone. One of tlie-e was evidently
a copy of a death mask of the de¬
ceased. There was also found a dog’s
head carved in black stone, a star and
orescent moon, and certain symbol*
curved in -tone. These were decorated
on one side with a full moon and
five pointed -tar. and on the other
with a half moon and seven stars.
All had holes bored in them and were
evidently worn as ornaments.
Nine pipes were taken from this
(Continu'd on
род'
twenty-two)