Indian Grave Yard

After Reading and compiling much research on the Swift mines, A couple journals speak of a old Indian grave yard near the mines. Swift speaks of walking through one while on his way to the mine and wrote it in his journal as we all know. I believe these to be Indian, but who knows what lies buried under these rocks? There was alot of history in this area, but this site has been untouched for many years. I plan to unearth a mound as soon as the cooler weather sets in.... not to be disrespectful but to charm my curiosity and to prove what may lie underneath. What would you do??? What will i maybe find???

I will of course keep a photo dairy of the dig, and keep posting updates of what i may find in the weeks to come... so stay tuned this might get interesting!  

I found these graves back in 2002 around the time i stubbled upon the Indian mine, i will say they are in the same location. Once you find the branch the graves are on you will look and find a line of rocks by a small branch....

 

after you find the line of rocks you are entering the graves... of coarse their are diffrent theory's on this place, who knows what they could be unless the work is done. It could be just a pile of rocks or it could hold something else...

  -ki-

 First those are not graves. They were  stacked for clearing to farm. It is called terrace farming and not uncommon in the mountain and woods. I see it all the  time. You will find nothing.
 Second if they are graves but they are not plan on breaking Federal law by digging any graves intentionally.
 Third I live in an area not unlike yours and the indians did not stack rocks on their graves they buried or burned the body with no marker.
 You are seeing old field clearings for farming even if its on the side of a mountain
  What  you  may want to do is  run a metal detector in the area and look for an  old cellar or foundation.
  Good luck  !
TnMtns

Thanks for your feedback Tnmountain........but I have to disagree alittle with ya.....Indians did burn people, mainly for punishment, or celebrating a captive to be burnt at the stake. Below is a factual history piece on Indians from the 1700's  Although i have heard of farming like that i don't think it was used here, however the area has been logged once before back in the late 1800;s There are huge thick trees here and there and alot of undergrowth, I have looked but their is no foundation or cellar that i could find. No one has ever lived or farmed this land, this is one thing about the place i do know as fact. I am very good friends with a local historian named Larry Meadows, i have asked this same  

here is a small ex-cert from a story about the Indians that were around my area.........

"In 1907 there was a burial mound of Shawnees at (will leave location out), located at the falls of()  Creek, on what was known as the Donnahue place, owned by A. H. Anderson. Indians were buried by laying them on the ground and covering their bodies with stones and dirt. Upright stones were placed around the body. This gradually became a great heap or mound. Two Indian graves were also located on top of the hill, which stood near the road leading from"

My site is close to the place spoke of above, but a couple miles away... I have seen Indian graves that have looked like this before, but i guess I'll never know until i unearth one, now if this is a grave i will treat it with the utmost respect. But there is a treasure legend that ties to this place as well about a Shawnee warparty finding white miners and settlers, and killing them and finding much money on the bodies. Hiding the money for a later return...
A Swift  entry in one of his journals tells of him burying money below a rockhouse with stones..........i wont know until i get out and do the fieldwork.      -Ki-



.....

   GREAT idea to consult local historians; I also think it is burial ground... due to understanding burial "customs" of IMPORTANT ppl (ie. "chief" of "clan").   Looks like WOODLAND
INDIANS era;  had a HUGE rock mound next to house, wife & I rented on Tobacco Row Mountain, in Amherst County, Va. back in '99 - '02, or so.   Chief was buried where he died; various native ppl from nearby clans paid respect to him by putting rocks on top of the grave; musta had lots of respect 'cause the mound was HUGE.   Monacan  Nation is @ two mountain ridges east of where we were, and SACRED ROCK was up the mountain "a piece"; went up there MANY times.   Of course,
SOME ppl thought the Beale Treasure was buried under there... BUT! It was over 50 miles away from the "locale" of THAT story.   BUFFALO River IS near-by... so is the FORK of the BUFFALO.   Check yer local, state, & FED laws re. "digging in".  AND!  the native ppl will NOT be amused... MANY "Indian"
spirits "guard" these "sacred spaces"...  

 The pictures are last years winter pictures? Good luck make sure you have all your permissions in order. Let us know what you find.

just might be a pile of rocks,gold, arrowheads, bones, dirt .dig it up i wanna see.

Your right about the pics, i took these in the late winter- early spring. Before all the leaves and thickets emerged. After the leaves, and thorns come out this place is very hard to reach.... I'm making my pervisions as we speak and keeping in touch with county historians.
and thanks TnMtns, i will keep up-date's as they come along...

Great hearing from ya Rebel, funny you mention spirits... I was camping one night in the winter a few years ago in a rockhouse just above these graves. It was just me and my dog, a rather heavy snow had just fell the day of and the moon was as bright as day. You could see for a good distance with the snow bright and the bright light of the moon. Looking down towards the graves down the branch i seen a ghost light just wondering through the woods, this thing seemed smart as it went around the trees... It was no flashlight, there was no beam from the light as it slowly moved. It was blueish white in color, upon mentioning it to friends and family some spoke of ghost lights known for this region, they mainly occur around faultlines and natural gas wells.... You mentioning spirits brought it all back ...

                                                                                                                                 -Ki-

after you find the line of rocks you are entering the graves... of coarse their are diffrent theory's on this place, who what they coulknows d be unless the work is done. It could b

  -ki-

e just a pile of rocks or it could hold something else...

Stone at top of pile recent does not match. Moss, ect.

Thanks for all the feed back so far on this topic.
Fort Ancient burial sites (those that was occupied after 1400 ad) often occur in groups or clusters through out the villages, or winter camps. These burial clusters may be the graves of related individuals. Hunting camps (winter camps) were connected with the main Indian village. The camps often revealed clusters of smudge-pits filled with carbonized corn, refuse filled pits, "rock piles", post molds, and some evidence of Indian structures. This seems to be evidence of a old Indian hunting camp...... I will keep updates on this site as they come with my fieldwork, and research...

                                                 -Ki-  

Hi Ki,

Great pictures again...keep them coming!

Just found the same thing you picture close to the Little Sandy River last winter….right where I found the rock carvings of several animal tracks. After talking to an archeologist/geologist I know, she mentioned that these are called Cairns…. I think the Indians used these areas to bury the deal…do the rock piles over look running water?  A lot of those type Indian burials seem to be close to water. Check out this link(below) it’s a good description of the Carins …I think you are right on. Just a caution for you....please check out the law on disturbing a “known” burial….you won’t know until you dig…if I remember right though, if you find human bones you have to report it to the local corner.  You know what is buried with a lot of the pre/post Colonial era chiefs? Peace medallions! Worth big bucks…but I don’t think I could bother a grave once I knew that was what it was and then take something…even though it’s just remains it’s the idea I wouldn’t want someone bothering my great-grandfathers final resting place.  I also know the argument…well,… the next guy that finds it will probably take it… each of us are different and I just explained how I felt and do not condemn doing it  nor condone it (removing artifacts). I also want to point out that sometimes you can come on to a large group of mounds and get really excited …only to find out they are ancient  ”rootwads” as grandpa called them…where a big wind or tornado knocked over several trees a couple hundred years ago and the decaying matter leaves a small mound that gets covered with more and more forest litter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairn

Curtis,
        you mention you found a place similar to this, how many rock piles or mounds have you found at your sites??? There seems to be roughly 25 or more rock piles at my site.......I would have thought they was just rock piles, but i kept finding more and more in one certain area.  "Carins" I do remember them being called that now..... I have a Friend that is a local historian, he owns and runs the museum Here in my home town and i consult with him alot....I don't think these are known yet as burial sites, of coarse your right and i wont know until a mound has been uncovered... If i do happen to find bones of any kind i will seek the proper authorities.
I plan to map each mound, and build a layout of the perimeter they lay in if bones are found....i can do this with GPS.
If anything is found of value, like the "peace medalion" It will be preserved in the museum here, same with anything found in the mound.
I'm like you i wouldn't feel comfortable taking anything as well, but know some people would.....also in researching these mounds it could be a piece of unknown history, that could help us to better understand the history we know in this area, as i believe there is alot of unwritten history around my area, and its mainly Indian.

 
 

if a site is found that may be an Indian grave yard,  mark it on a map and send information to the site listed below and this will help them rediscover lost sites of there ancestors. there is a lot of good info on here

Southern Cherokee Nation of Kentucky
Welcome to the official site of the Southern Cherokee Nation. We are Cherokee
citizens of the Great Hill located in Henderson Kentucky.

www.southerncherokeenationky.com 

Thanks boomer, im getting ready to start tracking back out into the woods, this is on my "too do list" for this winter. I'll keep u guys updated

Thought id post a few more pics of this site, I now believe this site to be an old Shawnee winter hunting camp that connected to the main village near by.........also a mine is located very close, next ridge over.....

Curtis,
        these mounds do over look a small branch......

The older chiefs were supposed to like to be buried there by water is what I was told. When i found the ones I was talking about there were 5 of them. I found one in a totally different place and a relative with me really wanted to dig so we did but with the understanding that if we saw bones we were covering it back up...we dug all the rocks out and down below four feet never found anything at all just the pile of rocks. But some of the rocks were a foot or two down into the ground. The archaeologist said many of the really old ones have turned to dust and if you do not know what to look for you will dig right past them.

 I hate to be a naysayer but this is almost a year old. I see and saw many places in the mtns like yours even today.They are not graves in my opinion. I have hunted and dug artifacts for over 40 years with and with out archeologist. The ago of those also with just piling rocks on a body would leave little left remains. A good burial is a couple feet inder the ground. Clear the rocks and use a probe for hollow cavities.
 Please know that digging graves is illegal though,,,,,

TnMountains...  the pictures are from last year, but Ive only begun investigating this place. I'm not sure if the mounds hold body's, other things or just a pile of rocks, but researching the many aspects of the site it turns out to be a old Indian winter camp. "It was never farm land" one of the many things Indians done in there camps was pile rocks, if and when i do uncover a mound no one will know....and if something is found, not sure ill say much about it.....then again i might find something, or i might find nothing.......
thanks for you feed back .... remember open mind   

TnMountains...  the pictures are from last year, but Ive only begun investigating this place. I'm not sure if the mounds hold body's, other things or just a pile of rocks, but researching the many aspects of the site it turns out to be a old Indian winter camp. "It was never farm land" one of the many things Indians done in there camps was pile rocks, if and when i do uncover a mound no one will know....and if something is found, not sure ill say much about it.....then again i might find something, or i might find nothing.......
thanks for you feed back .... remember open mind   

You are right. Good luck on the research and hopefully the area will give up some more clues. Keep us posted . I have enjoyed the journey. Take care KI.
TnMountains

Thanks, I'll research more on this place after i get finished with a swift location I'm at. Haven't had the time to travel back to this place here lately... hope to soon,...

I have found rock piles like these next to cliffs, but usually there is only one or two piles. Would these be graves? I always assumed so and I usually metal detect around them, however I have never found nothing metal in them and don't really want to disturb a grave if I don't have to. However I may dig them just to settle my curiosity; and if I see bones I will stop digging.

The rock piles next tocliffs seems like a great way to waylay rivals!

But they do seem more prevalant in the areas near cliffs and over looking streams. The ones without rocks (just piles of dirt) are usually just the remains of old trees that rootwadded up as grandpa called it.

I agree guys...
Whether something is under these rocks or not, they was placed here for some reason. I cant wait for the weather to break a bit, i plan to check this place out as soon as it does. In a book Ive been reading called "understanding treasure signs and symbols" it talks about rock piles, and having to do with Indians. quoting the author; "he tells of encountering several piles of stones that had been used by Indians as markers", exciting none the less.
I wont know until a pile is uncovered, if i do run into a bone ill quit right then, and contact a local historian i know really well. Hope to do this soon...

Maybe the Piles make a design? Have you mapped it?

This reminds me of a KGC site.  Check nearby for cloistered trees, other strangely shaped trees, and rocks.  Notice anything that seems unusual or out of place.  Notice the layout of the entire area.  You may have to run an angle to another site close by.

Hey guys...
            This is what i have planed for a few days this spring, or at least when the weather breaks... I plan to search this area with a comb, also kinda map the mounds and surrounding area...

Got the mushrooms coming up soon, this is a prime spot for them so i hope to to this towards the end of next month, with camping out should give me enough time to do this...