A Gigantic Human Skeleton is Unearthed in A Clark County, Ohio Burial Mound
20th Century History of Springfield and Clark County, Ohio by Hon. William A. Rockel Chicago: Biographical Publishing Co., 1908
Mr. Altick and Mr. Cusick began excavations at the summit of the mound, where a perpendicular shaft was sunk eight feet square, and one foot from the surface in the black leaf mold they found a complete skeleton lying face downward, in horizontal position ; however, the bones crumbled when they were lifted from the earth. They excavated another six inches, carefully removing the sand and gravel in order not to injure any deposit they might find ; the material removed was screened so that small objects would not escape their notice, and here they came across another skeleton lying face upward, with only six inches separating them. It lay in a sandy mixture, and was in a better state of preservation than the first skeleton, and while due precaution was taken in removing it, the bones crumbled as they handled them. The shaft was then sunk eighteen inches deeper when three more skeletons were unearthed; they were in excellent condition, the bones being firm and hard, due to the greater depth at which they found them. One was the skeleton of a female, one was a child and the other was a male of gigantic stature. As a matter of comparison, Altick held up the femur of the male skeleton by Cusick's leg, and it extended eight inches below his knee; he is six feet in height. The ribs of this skeleton had petrified to a grayish slate color, but none would withstand the contact with the air. When the shaft on this mound was three feet deep, the two amateur antiquarians enlarged it by sending out a lateral to the north, and they found a skull through which an elm root had penetrated ; it was an inch in diameter, and its fine roots were matted and twisted within this bony enclosure.
The high cheekbones and low receding forehead were very pronounced; the skeleton was in standing posture, while the others were all in horizontal positions. In all the skeletons exhumed, the most perfectly preserved portions where the teeth; it was a peculiarity of the aborigines that their teeth were worn almost to the maxillary bones, and yet the remarkable thing about them was their excellent condition. No cavities were found, and yet they were the teeth of older persons as indicated by their worn condition. Other skeletons found in this lateral were those of little children, as indicated by the size of the bones and the thickness of the skulls ; some of the bones were from persons of larger stature; at this point the interment ranged in depth from one foot and a quarter to four feet.
