The McKees Rocks Mound was the Carnegie Museum's first excavation in 1896. Carnegie Archives hold no report, but the Smithsonian's newspaper clippings describe giant skeletons in bone crowns and bracelets — plus brachycephalic and miniature 'Mexico type' skulls. The only documented excavated mound in the Pittsburgh area.
McKees Rocks mound excavation of 1896 uncovered giant skeletons and tiny skulls
Site mentioned
📍 McKees Rocks Mound
Key facts
- The McKees Rocks mound was the first excavation project of the Carnegie Museum in 1896
- Carnegie Archives hold no report for this excavation; however, the Smithsonian Archives contained a scrapbook of contemporaneous newspaper clippings about it
- Sensational finds included skeletons described as giants wearing bone crowns, bone bracelets, and bone anklets, similar to depictions of K'inich B'alam in the Cross Group at Palenque
- Two distinct skull types were found: brachycephalic skulls and miniature skulls referred to as "Mexico type"
- An envelope dated April 5, 1935 from Albert B. Reagan of Brigham Young University's Department of Anthropology was found in the Smithsonian's McKees Rocks mound folder
- The McKees Rocks mound is the only documented excavated mound in the Pittsburgh area
Sources
ExplorePAHistory.com - Imageexplorepahistory.com
Carnegie Museum conducted the first excavation of the McKees Rocks Mound and discovered three construction layers, each of which contained human burials.
McKees Rocks Native American Burial Mound - ReligYinzreligyinz.pitt.edu
The only part of the mound that has been preserved are artifacts recovered when the mound was excavated by the Carnegie Museum in 1896.
How The Ancients Honored The Dead: The McKees Rocks Moundwesanews.org
The McKees Rocks burial mound used to sit atop the bluff overlooking the Ohio River. Humans have lived in the region for close to 16,000 years.
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