Shelby County – 6’7″ in Life
Indian Mound Opened
INDIAN MOUND OPENED. Several Ancient Skeletons and Relics of Great Antiquity
PORTSMOUTH, O., June 27.—The large historic mound that stands near the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, about half a mile above Toggart Creek, KY., on the James King farm, has at last been opened. This mound is the largest of a group of seven which stand close to each other. For years, the people of Kentucky and surrounding states have wondered what it contained, but permission could never be obtained before.
The first find was a large block of mica cut in the shape of a triangle. This was only one foot under the surface, and directly under it were two finely finished broken bowls. These evidently contained food, as there were several small bones and shells mixed in them. Nine inches beneath the bowls, in a deep layer of charcoal, was found the first skeleton. Its position was north and south. Near the hip was a copper badge covered with cloth made of bark, which the salts of the copper had preserved. Near the left shoulder was a fine lance nearly six inches long, and a little to the left was a finely finished spear.
Another skeleton was found a little farther to the south. No relics were found with the same, it being a female skeleton.
Twelve feet of earth was removed below these burials before the last skeleton was uncovered. From the number of relics and the way he had been buried, he was a chief of great importance. The body had been laid with the head in a northeast direction, upon a bed of ashes and charcoal, and had been enclosed in a box made of broken limbs and branches of trees. The impression of these could still be seen in the soil where they had decayed.
- Kentucky The evening bulletin. [volume], June 27, 1893, Image 1