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Show MUMMIES- KENTUCKY. 39 saltpeter and other caves of Kentucky, and it is still a matter of doubt with archaeologists whether any special pains were taken to preserve these bodies, many believing that the impregnation of the soil with certain minerals would account for the condition in which the specimens were found. Charles Wilkins* thus describes one: " * * * exsiccated body of a female * * * was found at the depth of about 10 feet from the surface of the cave bedded in clay strongly impregnated with nitre, placed in a sitting posture, incased in broad stones standing on their edges, with a flat stone covering the whole. It was enveloped in coarse clothes, * * * the whole wrapped in deer- skins, the hair of which was shaved off in the manner in which the Indians prepare them for market. Enclosed in the stone coffin were the working utensils, beads, feathers, and other ornaments of dress which belonged to her." The next description is by Dr. Samuel L. MitchilLf [ A letter from Dr. Mitchill, of New York, to Samuel M. Burnside, Esq., Secretary of the American Antiquarian Society, on North American Antiquities.] " AUG. 24TH, 1815. " DEAR SIR : I offer you some observations on a curious piece of American antiquity now m New York, It is a human body J found in one of the limestone caverns of Kentucky. It is a perfect exsication; all the fluids are dried up. The skin, bones, and other firm parts are in a state of entire preservation. I think it enough to have puzzled Bryant and all the archaeologists. " This was found in exploring a calcareous cave in the neighborhood of Glasgow for saltpetre. " These recesses, though under ground, are yet dry enough to attract and retain the nitrick acid. It combines with lime and potash ; and probably the earthy matter of these excavations contains a good proportion of calcareous carbonate. Amidst these drying and antiseptick ingredients, it maybe conceived that putrefaction would be stayed, and the solids preserved • Trans. Amer. Antiq. Soc, 1820, vol. 1, p. 360. t Trans, and Coll. Amer. Antiq. Soc, 1920, vol. 1, p. 318. X A mummy of this kind, of a person of mature age, discovered in Kentucky, is now in the cabinet of the American Atiqnarian Society. It is a female. Several human bodies were found enwrapped carefully in skins and cloths. They were inhumed below the floor of the cave; inhumed, and not lodged in catacombs. |
