Scene 20

Huge Mound and the Manner of Opening Them

Dickeson used this cross section of a burial mound to explain his excavations and the types of objects and remains he found. He believed that the horizontal skeletons were ancient burials,while the seated skeleton represented a more recent interment. In his writings, Dickeson explained that enslaved African Americans did much of the excavation and located a number of the finest artifacts he collected in the course of his travels.