some must have been seven feet. The bones when exposed seem much decayed, crumbling on the
slightest touch. Articles of pottery ware, stone axes, pipes and various implements have been found,
and some interesting collections have been formed out of these antique relics.
Northern Indianian, April, 1881
Kosciusko County, Indiana On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week Mr. O.P. Jaquest had a number of hands employed in removing dirt from a strip of ground belonging to him lying between the C.W. & A.M., R.R. and the Goshen wagon road, in the northeast part of this city.
While so engaged on Tuesday they found four human skeletons that had evidently been buried in a trench, their bodies in a recumbent altitude, and after they had been covered with about one foot of dirt, another body had been buried on top of that in a sitting posture.
A short time after another trench was uncovered in which 13 bodies had been interred, they have evidently been laid in regular. They were all ages and both sexes.
On Wednesday two more bodies were found lying near each other some having a piece of mica (or isinglass) over his face. A piece about six inches long and four inches wide was secured intact and is now in Dr. Moro's possession.
A flint arrowhead and a stone about three inches long, one and a half inches wide and nearly a half inch thick with a hole bored through the center were also found with the same skeleton.
There is evidence of fire in the trenches, and two small pieces of what has evidently been a human skull burned to a substance resembling charcoal has been found. It seems that cremation was practiced long ago.
Who were these people? The arrowhead and peculiar shaped stone were common among the Indians and are frequently found in Indian graves; but the heads of these skeletons are remarkable from the contrast between them and those of the Indians or White, or indeed of any known race.
A skull of an old man shows some little evidence of intellectual powers; the forehead rising nearly one half inch above the eyebrows, but is very narrow transversely. The back part of the head and the width between the ears is immense.
The skull of a young woman shows absolutely no forehead at all. When alive a straight stick lay flat on her head would have touched her eyebrows and the crown of her head.
The skull of the man that the sheet of mica over his face is about halfway, as far as intelligence is concerned between the two.
A peculiar thing about the piece of mica is that it appears to have been set in an iron frame. As the entire circumference is covered with a thick coat of iron rust. Professor Moro made an analysis of the substance in order to be certain in regards to it, and it is unmistakably iron.
Another remarkable thing about the skull of these skeletons is their wonderful thickness. The adult skulls all of them at least one fourth of an inch in thickness, some of these more than that. A thighbone has been got out that shows the owner of it was at least six feet tall.
The place where they were buried was marked by three small mounds standing close together and for years the project has been frequently discussed digging into them and discussing their contents.
History of the Counties of Whitley and Noble County Indiana, 1882
Noble County This much has been given on the authority of Schoolcraft, Wilson, Pidgeon, Smucker, Foster and the American Encyclopedia, to prepare the way for the classification and detailed description of the ancient earth and stone works in this county. No effort has been made in past years to gather together the prehistoric history of Noble County. No importance or value has been attached to disclosures of skeletons, the majority of citizens through out the county regarding them as belonging to the Indians, and consequently, the mounds which have been opened in years past in different parts of the county were not carefully examined, and no doubt much interesting, and perhaps valuable information has been hopelessly lost...
On Section 2, Elkhart Township, on what is called Sanford’s Point, there are several mounds, one of which was opened some eight or ten years ago by the neighbors, who expected to unearth some valuable trinkets. Quite a number of bones were found, and these were scattered around on the surface of the ground, where they were left. No trinkets were found, an inferior maxillary bone found is said to have been remarkably large and sound.
History of Randolph County, Indiana, by E. Tucker, 1882
There are many antiquities in Randolph County, mounds embankments, ect. some of which are
described below:
One of the best known is to be seen (partly) in the fair grounds northwest of Winchester. It is an
enclosure of forty-three acres in the form of an exact square. The embankment was from seven to ten
feet wide, as also having a mound in the center of the area fifteen feet high. The whole enclosure and
the embankment also, when found by the settlers, was covered with large forest trees exactly like the
adjacent regions. The eastern opening was unprotected, the western one was surrounded outwardly by
an embankment shaped like a horse shoe open toward the gate, joined on the north side to the
embankment, but left open on the south side of the gate for a passage to the outer grounds. The embankment has been considerably lowered throughout the greater portion of its extent by
cultivation, by the passage of highways, ect., but it is still several feet high, and is very plainly
traceable along its entire extent.
Some of the bank on the south side toward the southeast corner still remains, as it existed at the
settlement of the county. That part is now some six feet high, and perhaps twenty-five feet wide. A
large portion of the eastern bank has lately been dug away for the purpose of brick making, and it is
said that charcoal is found scattered throughout the mass of clay composing the embankment. On the side of the creek not very far distant were gravel banks containing great quantities of human
bones, which are said to have been hauled away by wagonloads. These skeletons were many of them
large, but bones were much decayed and crumbled readily when disturbed and brought out to the air.
Indiana Department of Geology and Natural History, 1883
Grant County, Indiana The largest of mounds found in Grant County is that one found two miles south and one mile west of Upland, in Jefferson Township. About forty years ago the mound was five or six rods on diameter and about fifty feet high. At that time it was covered with all kinds of timber.
After people began settling near the mound they began clearing away the timber. The dirt was carried about a quarter of a mile. There is a basin near, rather deep, and at that time it was covered with trees, the same as the same as the mound. The supposition of the old settlers was that the dirt in the mound was carried from where the basin is now.
The owner of the mound gave many people permission to dig into it. One day two men were given permission to dig. They dug a trench north and south about four feet deep. After, digging they found a part of a skeleton of a man, the thighbone, ball and socket joint, and many small bones. When the small bones were exposed to the air they immediately crumbled. The ball and socket and thighbones were taken to a physician in Upland and he estimated the bones were of a man at least nine feet tall and weighing not less than three hundred pounds and the man was not fleshy.
Histories of Pike and Dubois Counties, Indiana, 1885
Pike County, Indiana John Stucky, Mr. Osborn and a few others, whose names are forgotten, were digging a grave on top of a mound near Siple's, and reaching the depth of about three feet came upon the remains of three persons. The first was a huge being, the lower maxillary being large enough to pass over that of a living person, flesh and all. Mr. Stucky further says that the femur bone was several inches longer than that of an ordinary man. Unfortunately these remains have been neglected and lost. Of the remains of the other two, one seemed to have been a women, the other a child. The skeleton of the women was rec
lining between the legs of the huge man, and the child between those of the women.
History of Clay County, Indiana, 1909
Sandy knoll, about a mile west of the Eel River, east of a line from Coffee to Howesville, has attracted more attention, as such, than any other or, perhaps, all other points, in the county...All the skeletons discovered were of gigantic proportions, a stature of seven feet, or thereabout, all in the sitting posture, with fractured femurs, or thigh bones, a phenomenon unexplained. John B. Poe, one of the early pioneers, himself six feet in height and proportionately developed, who made excavations and tests, found the tibia (bone of the lower leg) in all cases from one to two inches longer than his own, and could place the maxillary (lower jaw bone) over his own flesh and all.
History of Lawrence, Orange and Monroe Counties, Indiana 1914
A mound similar to the last at the site of the former county, Palestine, or 'old Palestine', as it is called,
was explored in 1870, by Messrs. Newland, Dodd and Houston. On the surface of the hill a confused
mass of stones, such as a man could conveniently carry, were noticed indicating a circular wall twenty feet in diameter. It was found to be a vaulted tomb. The first or upper vault contained the bones of many women and children; a layer of flat stones divided this from the second which contains the bones of men; another layer of flags, and at the bottom, six feet below the surface, two skeletons were found with their heads placed to the east and faces to the north. The last were persons of great size, being not less than six and a half feet high.
Centinnenial History of Rush County Indiana, 1921 Forty years ago there was such a mound explored on the old Gary farm, also in Posey Township, and in that were disclosed numerous bits of pottery, a considerable quantity of beads of a variated sort and the skeleton of a gigantic man.
Indiana Progress, November 9, 1921
Huge Skeleton Unearthed
Indiana Produces Bones of Man Believed to Have Been Mound Builders
Indianapolis, Ind.-The complete skeleton of one of Indiana’s oldest inhabitants, said by Dr. W. N. Logan, state geologist, to be that of a mound builder, has placed in the state museum.
The skeleton, more than six feet in height, was found by T. C. Heistant of Bloomington and Dick Guernsey of Bedford, in excavating a prehistoric mound, near the east fork of White river, in Lawrence county. Doctor Logan says the time when the mound builders inhabited Indiana cannot be determined as to years, but that it was a long period before the first record of the Indians is certain.
The mound from which the body was taken was in the form of a square with a vault system constructed of slabs of limestone. The skeleton was lying as buried, with all parts intact, and in position, with the exception of some of the more fragile parts.
Nevada State Journal (Reno Nevada) December 30, 1923
Cave Found in Indiana Hints Age Old Race
Giant Skeletons and Metal Strange to America Seen in Ancient Sepulcher
Blind Snakes are found
Bottomless Pit Temporarily Halts Exploration to be Resumed Later
By Loyd Bollett, International News Service Staff Correspondent
Indianapolis, Dec. 29
Recent discoveries in widely separated localities of the hills of Southern Indiana may be expected to add something to the general store of knowledge of natural history. The topography of Indians is interesting from the sand dunes bordering Lake Michigan to the rolling hills, which occupy the southern part.
The opening of an ancient sepulcher built by a race of men antedating the American Indian and probably not related to the mound builders has aroused much curiosity. This occurred in Jennings County, 10 miles from North Vernon in a bend of a small creek where some excavating was done on a mound built by human hands and reaching 100 feet in height and about the same in diameter Bodies Guarded
Protected by great stone slabs skeletons of three men the longest of which measured much beyond that of modern men were found. They showed that infinite care had been taken that the remains be preserved against the ravages of the elements. Metals not common in North Americas also were found.
Although the locality has been settled more than 100 years, residents near Folsomville in the extreme southwestern part of the state, did not know until recently that a cave of mammoth proportions existed close by. The discovery was made by a hunter who accidently stumbled upon the entranced. The cave revealed some things which easily outdo the author of “The Arabian Nights” and have the added advantage of more veracity perhaps.
The discovery was Earl J. Nester, a mail carrier of Boonville. The most interesting “find” was a species of blind snakes which hiss so loudly that the gloom of the earth’s innermost recesses becomes all the more hideous. Nester and some friends succeeded in capturing two specimens alive, and they were sent to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington.
After Nester and his party had proceeded a distance of 1500 feet they came upon a pit which apparently had no bottom. It was sounded to a depth of 2500 feet. One compartment of the cave was warm and comfortable and another extremely frigid, Nester found.
Nester said he believed a race of prehistoric men knew of the cave’s presence and made it their home and added that its size would accommodate thousands as a dwelling place. He found many things to indicate human habitater, including arrow heads and stone implements.
The pit Nester and his party were unable to bridge, and further exploration was halted. At a future date the cave will be thoroughly explored.
Unmistakable evidence abound that Indiana was inhabited long before the dawn of earliest known history. The early men appears to have preferred the hills and caves in their fight against environment and to keep body and soul together, which is not true nowadays, as the most densely populated section is the level country of the north-central part.
Many caves exist along the Ohio River in southern Indiana. This map prepared by the Indiana Geological Society in 1888 shows the Wyandotte caves and the “Giants Ruins.” History of Delaware County, Indiana , 1924
About one mile and a half south of Muncie, in Center Township is another class of these earthworks-
a mound of considerable proportions which is said to have been dug into by some parties in search of
relics. The excavation, however developed the fact that it contained, instead of relics, human bones.
"One of these skeletons was of gigantic proportions. The jaw and thighbones were in a good state of
preservation, and nearly complete. The jaw-bone was so large that it could be easily slipped over the
jaw of the largest man of the party--a tall, big boned six footer, and the the thigh bone of the skeleton
was three inches longer than his” The discovery of these numerous bones fixed the class under which
this specimen should be arranged--the sepulcher--and would also warrant the presumption that there
were specimens of some of the other classes not far distant, though investigation has not developed the
fact.
Iowa
Ft. Wayne Gazette, August 26, 1873
FOUND IN MOUND
Relics of an Ancient Race Discovered in Northeast Iowa
A very interesting archaeological discovery has just been made near Floyd, north of Waterloo Ia., on the Cedar river. For some time past it has been known that several ancient mounds were scattered along the banks of the river, but, though it had been excavated, nothing had been found except near Charles City. A few day ago work was begun excavating the mounds at Floyd. The largest was a circular in shape, thirty feet in diameter and about two feet high. It was situated in a field and had been plowed over for years. After digging down about four feet the bones of five persons were discovered. They were in a sitting posture and faced toward the north. A complet investigation showed that the original excavation had been floored with a layer of gravel, upon which the remains had been placed. The earth was then packed closely around them, another layer of gravel placed a
bove them and the mound placed upon this. Of the remains nearly all the bones were in a good state of preservation, even the bones of the fingers and toes being intact. The bones were evidently of three males and one female and one babe. One of the men appears to have been over six feet high. The skeleton of the woman was, however, of greater interest from the fact that the skull measurements showed that she belonged to one of the lowest types of the human family, and experienced archaeologist claim that in some respects the skull seems to be lower in the scale than the celebrated “Neanderthal” specimen. The distance from the lower portion of the nasal bone to the upper margin of the eye cavities is only four centimeters, and the distance between the eye sockets is only two and three-fourths centimeters.
The forehead is very low and the inner portions of the eyebrow ridges are quite prominent. One of the jaws contained several well preserved teeth. The teeth of the babe were also preserved, but were very small. Its skull was quite thick. One of the male skeletons shows the teeth very much worn, in some instances clear down to the jaw-bone. The earth had been packed so closely around the skeletons that it was with considerable difficulty that it could be penetrated.
There are several other mounds in that vicinity which it is proposed to open, and it is expected that other remains of mound builders will be found. In the mounds near Charles City, which were opened last fall, remains of pottery were found with bones, but nothing of this sort was found at Floyd.
Waterloo Iowa Courier, September 22, 1897
OPENED A MOUND
Skeleton of a Prehistoric Man Exhumed by Relic Hunters
A party of a relic hunters made an excavation yesterday into one of the mounds which are quite numerous along the Cedar in the vicinity of Waterloo. The mound was 40 feet in diameter and about five feet high in the center. At a depth of 41/2 feet, in the center of the mound fragments of a muman skeleton were found. They consisted of portions of a femur and humerus bones and a section of the base of the skull. It is evident that from the diameter of the bones that they belonged to a man of more than ordinary size, and all that was left of the skeleton can be packed in a cigar box it is probable that the body was laid away many centuries ago. No stone implements or copper ornaments were discovered but several pieces of charcoal were found near the bones and fragments of pottery and arrow heads were found near by.
The Nephilim Chronicles: Fallen Angels in the Ohio Valley Page 32