Rare Charnel House Indian Mounds are Photographed in Noble County, Indiana

History of Noble and Whitley Counties, Indiana 1882
    Mr. Denney opened two mounds on the farm of Samuel Myers, Orange Township, both containing nothing but Charcoal; he also opened three more near there, on the farm of Otis Grannis, one of them being eight feet in height and about eighty feet in diameter at the base. Three quite well-preserved skeletons were taken from the mound, one of the skulls being almost in entirety, and having a much better frontal development than the average. On this mound was an oak tree four feet in diameter and probably more than three hundred years old. This mound is probably the largest in the county. Two other mounds near it, of average size, contained a bed of charcoal each. 

The three Iroquois burial mounds are all visible in this photo, with the largest burial mound in the background. The fact the smaller burial mounds consisted of charcoal is evident that they were the sites of charnel houses where the skeletons had been burned.  

The largest Iroquois burial mound of the group located on the Otis Grannis farm.