[to toc] [to preface] [to transcriber notes]

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE. VOL. I. ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

Ancient Works, Marietta, Ohio.

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE.

VOL. I.

EVERY MAN IS A VALUABLE MEMBER OF SOCIETY, WHO, BY HIS OBSERVATIONS, RESEARCHES, AND EXPERIMENTS, PROCURES KNOWLEDGE FOR MEN.—SMITHSON.

CITY OF WASHINGTON:

PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.

MDCCCXLVIII.

PRINTED BY EDWARD O. JENKINS,
114 Nassau street, New York.

FROM THE SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE.

ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.

BY E. G. SQUIER, A.M., AND E. H. DAVIS, M.D.

EVERY MAN IS A VALUABLE MEMBER OF SOCIETY, WHO, BY HIS OBSERVATIONS, RESEARCHES, AND EXPERIMENTS, PROCURES KNOWLEDGE FOR MEN.—SMITHSON.

PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHORS.

NEW-YORK: BARTLETT & WELFORD, 7 ASTOR HOUSE. CINCINNATI: J. A. & U. P. JAMES, WALNUT STREET. MDCCCXLVIII.

PRINTED BY EDWARD O. JENKINS,
114 Nassau street, New York.

ADVERTISEMENT.

This volume is intended to form the first of a series of volumes, consisting of original memoirs on different branches of knowledge published at the expense, and under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. The publication of this series forms part of a general plan adopted for carrying into effect the benevolent intentions of JAMES SMITHSON, Esq., of England. This gentleman left his property in trust to the United States of America, to found at Washington an institution which should bear his own name, and have for its objects “the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” This trust was accepted by the Government of the United States, and an Act of Congress was passed August 10th, 1846, constituting the President and the other principal executive officers of the general government, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Mayor of Washington, and such other persons as they might elect honorary members, an establishment under the name of the “SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, FOR THE INCREASE AND DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE AMONG MEN.” The members and honorary members of this establishment are to hold stated and special meetings for the supervision of the affairs of the Institution, and for the advice and instruction of a Board of Regents, to whom the financial and other affairs are entrusted.

The Board of Regents consists of three members ex officio of the establishment, namely, the Vice President of the United States, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the Mayor of Washington, together with twelve other members, three of whom are appointed by the Senate from its own body, three by the House of Representatives from its members, and six citizens appointed by a joint resolution of both houses. To this board is given the power of electing a Secretary and other officers, for conducting the active operations of the Institution.

To carry into effect the purposes of the testator, the plan of organization should evidently embrace two objects,—one, the increase of knowledge by the addition of new truths to the existing stock; the other, the diffusion of knowledge thus increased, among men. No restriction is made in favor of any kind of knowledge, and hence each branch is entitled to and should receive a share of attention.

The Act of Congress, establishing the Institution, directs, as a part of the plan of organization, the formation of a Library, a Museum, and a Gallery of Art, together with provisions for physical research and popular lectures, while it leaves to the Regents the power of adopting such other parts of an organization as they may deem best suited to promote the objects of the bequest.

After much deliberation, the Regents resolved to divide the annual income, thirty thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars, into two equal parts,—one part to be devoted to the increase and diffusion of knowledge by means of original research and publications,—the other half of the income to be applied in accordance with the requirements of the Act of Congress, to the gradual formation of a Library, a Museum, and a Gallery of Art.

The following are the details of the two parts of the general plan of organization provisionally adopted at the meeting of the Regents, Dec. 8th, 1847.

• DETAILS OF THE FIRST PART OF THE PLAN.
  • I. TO INCREASE KNOWLEDGE.—It is proposed to stimulate research, by offering rewards, consisting of money, medals, etc., for original memoirs on all subjects of investigation.
    • 1. The memoirs thus obtained to be published in a series of volumes, in a quarto form, and entitled “Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge.”
    • 2. No memoir, on subjects of physical science, to be accepted for publication, which does not furnish a positive addition to human knowledge, resting on original research; and all unverified speculations to be rejected.
    • 3. Each memoir presented to the Institution to be submitted for examination to a commission of persons of reputation for learning in the branch to which the memoir pertains; and to be accepted for publication only in case the report of this commission is favorable.
    • 4. The commission to be chosen by the officers of the Institution, and the name of the author, as far as practicable, concealed, unless a favorable decision be made.
    • 5. The volumes of the memoirs to be exchanged for the Transactions of literary and scientific societies, and copies to be given to all the colleges, and principal libraries, in this country. One part of the remaining copies may be offered for sale; and the other carefully preserved, to form complete sets of the work, to supply the demand from new institutions.
    • 6. An abstract, or popular account, of the contents of these memoirs to be given to the public through the annual report of the Regents to Congress.
  • II. TO INCREASE KNOWLEDGE.—It is also proposed to appropriate a portion of the income, annually, to special objects of research, under the direction of suitable persons.
    • 1. The objects, and the amount appropriated, to be recommended by counsellors of the Institution.
    • 2. Appropriations in different years to different objects; so that in course of time, each branch of knowledge may receive a share.
    • 3. The results obtained from these appropriations to be published, with the memoirs before mentioned, in the volumes of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge.
    • 4. Examples of objects for which appropriations may be made:
      • (1.) System of extended meteorological observations for solving the problem of American storms.
      • (2.) Explorations in descriptive natural history, and geological, magnetical, and topographical surveys, to collect materials for the formation of a Physical Atlas of the United States.
      • (3.) Solution of experimental problems, such as a new determination of the weight of the earth, of the velocity of electricity, and of light; chemical analyses of soils and plants; collection and publication of articles of science, accumulated in the offices of Government.
      • (4.) Institution of statistical inquiries with reference to physical, moral, and political subjects.
      • (5.) Historical researches, and accurate surveys of places celebrated in American history.
      • (6.) Ethnological researches, particularly with reference to the different races of men in North America; also explorations, and accurate surveys, of the mounds and other remains of the ancient people of our country.
  • I. TO DIFFUSE KNOWLEDGE.—It is proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge not strictly professional.
    • 1. Some of these reports may be published annually, others at longer intervals, as the income of the Institution or the changes in the branches of knowledge may indicate.
    • 2. The reports are to be prepared by collaborators, eminent in the different branches of knowledge.
    • 3. Each collaborator to be furnished with the journals and publications, domestic and foreign, necessary to the compilation of his report; to be paid a certain sum for his labors, and to be named on the title-page of the report.
    • 4. The reports to be published in separate parts, so that persons interested in a particular branch, can procure the parts relating to it without purchasing the whole.
    • 5. These reports may be presented to Congress, for partial distribution, the remaining copies to be given to literary and scientific institutions, and sold to individuals for a moderate price.
    • The following are some of the subjects which may be embraced in the reports:
      • I. PHYSICAL CLASS.
      • II. MORAL AND POLITICAL CLASS.
      • III. LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS.
  • II. TO DIFFUSE KNOWLEDGE.—It is proposed to publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest.
    • 1. These treatises may occasionally consist of valuable memoirs translated from foreign languages, or of articles prepared under the direction of the Institution, or procured by offering premiums for the best exposition of a given subject.
    • 2. The treatises to be submitted to a commission of competent judges, previous to their publication.
• DETAILS OF THE SECOND PART OF THE PLAN OF ORGANIZATION.
  • 1. To carry out the plan before described, a library will be required, consisting, 1st, of a complete collection of the transactions and proceedings of all the learned societies in the world; 2d, of the more important current periodical publications, and other works necessary in preparing the periodical reports.
  • 2. The Institution should make special collections, particularly of objects to verify its own publications. Also a collection of instruments of research in all branches of experimental science.
  • 3. With reference to the collection of books, other than those mentioned above, catalogues of all the different libraries in the United States should be procured, in order that the valuable books first purchased may be such as are not to be found elsewhere in the United States.
  • 4. Also catalogues of memoirs, and of books in foreign libraries, and other materials, should be collected for rendering the Institution a centre of bibliographical knowledge, whence the student may be directed to any work which he may require.
  • 5. It is believed that the collections in natural history will increase by donation as rapidly as the income of the Institution can make provisions for their reception, and, therefore, it will seldom be necessary to purchase any articles of this kind.
  • 6. Attempts should be made to procure for the gallery of art casts of the most celebrated articles of ancient and modern sculpture.
  • 7. The arts may be encouraged by providing a room, free of expense, for the exhibition of the objects of the Art-Union and other similar societies.
  • 8. A small appropriation should annually be made for models of antiquities, such as those of the remains of ancient temples, &c.
  • 9. For the present, or until the building is fully completed, only one permanent assistant to the Secretary will be required, to act as librarian.
  • 10. The Secretary and his assistants, during the session of Congress, will be required to illustrate new discoveries in science, and to exhibit new objects of art; distinguished individuals should also be invited to give lectures on subjects of general interest.
  • 11. When the building is completed, and when, in accordance with the Act of Congress, the charge of the National Museum is given to the Smithsonian Institution, other assistants will be required.
• This part contemplates the formation of a Library, a Museum, and a Gallery of Art.

The first memoir of the proper character presented after the adoption of the foregoing plan of organization, was the one which occupies the present volume. It was submitted in accordance with the rule adopted, to a commission of examination, consisting of a committee of the members of the American Ethnological Society, and on the favorable report of this committee and the responsibility of the Society, the memoir was accepted for publication. The following is the correspondence which took place on the occasion.

• CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.
  • CHILLICOTHE, OHIO, May 15, 1847.
  • DEAR SIR:—It is proposed in the recognized plan of organization of the Smithsonian Institution, of which you are the executive officer, to publish, under the title of “Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge,” such original papers and memoirs “as shall constitute valuable additions to the sum of human knowledge.” Under the belief that it falls legitimately within the scope of the above plan, the undersigned herewith submit for acceptance and publication, subject to the prescribed rules of the Institution, a MS. memoir entitled “ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY, comprising the results of Extensive Original Surveys and Explorations: by E. G. SQUIER and E. H. DAVIS.” The extent of these investigations, and their general character, are sufficiently indicated in the prefatory remarks to the volume.
  • With high consideration, we are truly yours,
  • E. G. SQUIER,
    • Committee.
      • EDWARD ROBINSON,
      • JOHN R. BARTLETT,
      • W. W. TURNER,
  • “JOSEPH HENRY, Esq., Secretary Smithsonian Institution.
  • E. H. DAVIS.”
  • Princeton, June 2, 1847.
  • “DEAR SIR:—I am authorized by the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, to publish, in the numbers of the ‘Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge,’ any memoir which may be presented for this purpose, provided, that, on a careful examination by a commission of competent judges, the memoir shall be found to be a new and interesting addition to knowledge, resting on original research. The accompanying memoir, entitled ‘ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY,’ etc. etc., having been presented for publication, I beg leave to refer the same, through you, to the American Ethnological Society, with the request that a committee of the members may be appointed to examine and report on the character of the work, with reference to the particulars above mentioned. If the report of the committee be favorable, the memoir, without further consideration, will be accepted for publication; full confidence being placed in the ability of the committee to judge of the article, and in their caution in making up their opinion.
  • “I have the honor to be, very respectfully,
  • “Your ob’t servant,
  • JOSEPH HENRY, “Secretary Smithsonian Inst.
  • “Hon. ALBERT GALLATIN, President American Ethnological Society.”
  • “New York, June 12, 1847.
  • “DEAR SIR:—I have the honor to enclose a copy of the proceedings and resolutions of the New York Ethnological Society, upon the MS. work on American Antiquities, by Messrs. E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis, submitted with your letter of the 2d instant.
  • “I approve entirely of the resolutions and recommendations of the Society. The publication of Mr. C. Atwater, in the first volume of the Transactions of the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, which appeared twenty years ago, is as yet, so far as I know, the only general account of the antiquarian remains of the West, which is entitled to any credit. Yet, many mistakes have been discovered in it, and it is very incomplete, and in no degree to be compared to the extensive researches of the gentlemen above mentioned. What has particularly recommended their labors to me is their love of truth.
  • “Such are the combined effects of the fondness for the marvellous, of the illusions of the imagination, of credulity, thirst of notoriety and lack of discrimination, that, in many specific statements, and in almost all the general accounts of our Western antiquities, which I have seen, the most vague and fabulous reports (independent of most groundless theories), and even flagrant impositions, are so mixed with true accounts, as to render it almost impossible, even for the American reader, to make the proper discrimination, or arrive at a correct estimate of their extent or character.
  • “Whatever may be the intrinsic value of the remains of former times which are found in the United States, it is necessary that they should at least be correctly described, and that existing gross errors should be corrected; and I repeat my conviction that, though ardent, Messrs. Squier and Davis are animated by that thorough love of truth, which renders their researches worthy of entire confidence.
  • “Late Ethnological researches have thrown such light on the History of Man, that it is unnecessary to dwell on their general utility. With respect to those which relate to the Indians of the United States, I am ready to acknowledge, the field is comparatively barren, and the results hitherto attained neither satisfactory nor refreshing. Still, with proper caution, important information may be acquired, on what man, insulated, and without intercourse with other nations, can, by his solitary efforts, accomplish. In order, however, to attain these results, considerations, foreign to the immediate object of this letter, are required, which may hereafter be made the subject of another communication.
  • “I have the honor to be, &c.
  • “ALBERT GALLATIN.
  • “Professor J. HENRY, Secretary Smithsonian Institution.”
  • “At a regular meeting of the American Ethnological Society, held at the house of Hon. ALBERT GALLATIN, on the evening of the 4th of June, the President laid before the members a communication from Professor J. HENRY, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; transmitting for the examination and opinion of the Society, a MS. work on the Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley. On motion, the letter and accompanying MS. were referred to a committee, consisting of EDWARD ROBINSON, D.D., JOHN R. BARTLETT, Professor W. W. TURNER, SAMUEL G. MORTON, M.D., and Hon. GEORGE P. MARSH, to report upon the same. At a subsequent meeting of this Society, the committee submitted the following Report and Resolutions, which were unanimously accepted and adopted:—
  • “REPORT.
  • “The Committee of the American Ethnological Society, to which was referred the communication of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, transmitting a manuscript work entitled ‘ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY; comprising the Results of Extensive Original Surveys and Explorations, by E. G. SQUIER and E. H. DAVIS,’ beg leave to report that—
  • “They have examined the work in question, and regard it not only as a new and interesting, but an eminently valuable addition to our stock of knowledge on a subject little understood, but in which is felt a deep and constantly increasing interest, both in our country and abroad. In their judgment the work is worthy of the subject, and highly creditable to the authors. Its chief features are, a scientific arrangement, simplicity and directness of statement, and legitimate deduction of facts, while there is no attempt at mere speculation or theory. If published, it will be an enduring monument to connect the names of the investigators in honorable and lasting remembrance with the great subject of American Archæology.
  • “The existence and progress of these investigations were made known to the Society by correspondence, early in the year 1846; and in June of that year, specimens of the relics recovered, accompanied by numerous maps and plans of ancient Earthworks and Sectional Views of the Mounds from which the remains were taken, were laid before the Society by Mr. Squier in person. These excited deep interest and surprise in all who saw them; and the Society immediately took measures to encourage further investigation, and secure the publication, under its own auspices, of the important results already obtained. A few months later, the chairman of the present committee, being in Ohio, was enabled, through the kindness of Messrs. Squier and Davis, to visit several of the more important monuments in the immediate vicinity of Chillicothe; and among these ‘Mound City,’ so called, from which very many of the minor relics and specimens were procured. He was struck with the accuracy of the plans and drawings as well as of the accounts which had been laid before the Society; and bears full testimony to the fidelity and integrity with which the process of investigation and delineation has been conducted.
  • “During the last and present season the researches of these gentlemen have been actively prosecuted and widely extended, and the above work, largely illustrated, comprising the results, has been prepared. These results are so numerous and important, and consequently such is the extent and magnitude of the work itself, as to put its publication beyond any means which the Society can command. Under these circumstances, your Committee learn with pleasure that preliminary arrangements have been made for its publication by the Smithsonian Institution, among its ‘Contributions to Knowledge.’ It can only be a matter of sincere gratification to this Society, to see that which it cannot itself accomplish for the history and antiquities of our country, taken up and carried out under such favorable auspices; and they cannot but rejoice that an opportunity is thus afforded to that noble institution of opening its high career, by fostering scientific research into the interesting problems connected with the Ante-Columbian history and Ancient Monuments of our own country.
  • “In view of these facts, your Committee would recommend the adoption of the following resolutions by the Society:—
  • “Resolved, That this Society regard the researches of Messrs. Squier and Davis, as of very great importance in American Archæology, and as casting much light upon our Aboriginal Antiquities, especially upon the character and habits of the earliest races which had their seat in the Mississippi Valley.
  • “Resolved, That we regard the work prepared upon this subject, as one of great general interest, and as worthy to be adopted for publication by the Smithsonian Institution, both as resting on original researches, and as affording remarkable illustrations of the history of the American Continent.
  • “Your Committee would also append to this Report, the accompanying letters from Samuel G. Morton, M.D., of Philadelphia, and Hon. George P. Marsh, of Vermont, both members of this Society, and joint members of this Committee.
  • “All of which is respectfully submitted.
  • “New York, June, 1847.”
  • “New- York. June 9th, 1847.
  • “I have examined, with much interest and attention, the manuscripts, drawings, and ancient remains in the possession of Mr. E. G. Squier, and am happy to say that my previous impressions concerning the value of the researches of that gentleman and his associate, are fully confirmed. It is fortunate for the cause of American Archæology, that the systematic attempt at its elucidation should have been conceived and executed in so truly philosophical a spirit; and, rich as this age already is in antiquarian lore, it has, I think, received few more important contributions than that which the enlightened and generous zeal of these two private gentlemen is about to confer upon it. The Smithsonian Collection could not begin with a more appropriate or creditable essay; and I hope that every facility may be afforded to the investigators, in bringing before the public the results of their honorable labors, in as suitable a form and with as little delay as possible.
  • (Signed) GEO. P. MARSH.”
  • “Philadelphia, June 8, 1847
  • “As a Member of the Committee of the American Ethnological Society, appointed to report on the Memoir on American Archæology, by Messrs. E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis, I have great pleasure in saying, that after a careful and repeated inspection of the materials in the hands of those gentlemen, I am convinced they constitute by far the most important contribution to the Archæology of the United States, that has ever been offered to the public. The number and accuracy of their plans, sketches, &c., have both interested and surprised me; and it is gratifying to learn that the preliminary arrangements have been made for their publication under the honorable auspices of the Smithsonian Institution.
  • (Signed) “Samuel George Morton.”

To ensure accuracy in the present volume, the plates and engravings have been prepared under the supervision of Mr. E. G. SQUIER, who has also had the general direction of the press. The sheets as they were printed, were also examined by Professor W. W. TURNER, of New York, and Mr. F. A. TEALL. The wood engravings were executed by Messrs. ORR & RICHARDSON, and Mr. J. W. ORR, from drawings on the blocks, chiefly by WM. WADE and Mr. HAMILTON BROWN. The Lithographic engraving was executed by Messrs. SARONY & MAJOR, and the printing by Mr. E. O. JENKINS.

• OFFICERS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
  • Ex officio PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE INSTITUTION.
    • THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
  • Ex officio SECOND PRESIDING OFFICER.
    • THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,
  • CHANCELLOR OF THE INSTITUTION.
    • GEORGE M. DALLAS,
  • SECRETARY OF THE INSTITUTION.
    • JOSEPH HENRY,
  • ASSISTANT SECRETARY, ACTING AS LIBRARIAN.
    • CHARLES C. JEWETT,
  • EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
    • WILLIAM W. SEATON,
    • ALEXANDER D. BACHE,
    • JAMES A. PEARCE.

• REGENTS.
  • Vice President of the United States.
    • GEORGE M. DALLAS,
  • Chief Justice of the United States.
    • ROGER B. TANEY,
  • Mayor of the City of Washington.
    • WILLIAM W. SEATON,
  • Members of the Senate of the United States.
    • JAMES A. PEARCE,
    • SIDNEY BREESE,
    • JEFFERSON DAVIS,
  • Members of the House of Representatives.
    • HENRY W. HILLIARD,
    • GEORGE P. MARSH,
    • ROBERT MCCLELLAND,
  • Citizen of Massachusetts.
    • RUFUS CHOATE,
  • Citizen of New York.
    • GIDEON HAWLEY,
  • Citizen of South Carolina.
    • WILLIAM C. PRESTON,
  • Citizen of Pennsylvania.
    • RICHARD RUSH,
  • Mem. of Nat. Inst., Washington.
    • ALEXANDER D. BACHE,
    • JOSEPH G. TOTTEN,

• MEMBERS EX OFFICIO OF THE INSTITUTION.
  • President of the United States.
    • JAMES K. POLK,
  • Vice President of the United States.
    • GEORGE M. DALLAS,
  • Secretary of State of the United States.
    • JAMES BUCHANAN,
  • Secretary of the Treasury of the United States.
    • ROBERT J. WALKER,
  • Secretary of War of the United States.
    • WILLIAM L. MARCY,
  • Secretary of the Navy of the United States.
    • JOHN Y. MASON,
  • Post Master General of the United States.
    • CAVE JOHNSON,
  • Attorney General of the United States.
    • ISAAC TOUCEY,
  • Chief Justice of the United States.
    • ROGER B. TANEY,
  • Commissioner of Patents of the United States.
    • EDMUND BURKE,
  • Mayor of the City of Washington.
    • WILLIAM W. SEATON,

• HONORARY MEMBERS OF THE INSTITUTION.
  • • [No Honorary Members have yet been elected.]

ANCIENT MONUMENTS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY: COMPRISING THE RESULTS OF EXTENSIVE ORIGINAL SURVEYS AND EXPLORATIONS.

BY E. G. SQUIER, A.M., AND E. H. DAVIS, M.D.

ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. JUNE 1847.

TO

HON. ALBERT GALLATIN,

STATESMAN AND PHILOSOPHER,

IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF

HIS PATRIOTIC SERVICES AND SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS,

This work is respectfully

DEDICATED.

CONTENTS.

• Contents, [xviii]
• List of Plates, [ xx]
• List of Wood Engravings, [ xv]
• CHAPTER
  • I.—General Ob­ser­va­tions on the Ancient Mon­u­ments of the Mis­sis­sip­pi Val­ley, [ 1–8]
  • II.—Earth­works; En­clo­sures; Works of De­fence, [ 8–47]
  • III.—Sacred Enclosures, [ 47–104]
  • IV.—Monuments of the Southern States, [ 104–124]
  • V.—Monuments of the North-west, [ 124–139]
  • VI.—Earthworks; the Mounds; Mounds of Sac­ri­fice, [ 139–161]
  • VII.—Mounds of Se­pul­ture, [ 161–173]
  • VIII.—Temple Mounds, [ 173–178]
  • IX.—Anomalous Mounds; Mounds of Ob­ser­va­tion; Stone Heaps, [ 178–186]
  • X.—Remains of Art Found in the Mounds; Pottery and articles of Clay, [ 186–196]
  • XI.—Implements of Metal, [ 196–204]
  • XII.—Ornaments of Metal, [ 204–210]
  • XIII.—Implements of Stone, etc., [ 210–231]
  • XIV.—Ornaments of Stone, Bone, etc., [ 231–242]
  • XV.—Sculptures from the Mounds, [ 242–278]
  • XVI.—Metals Fossils, Minerals, etc., of the Mounds, [ 279–288]
  • XVII.—Crania from the Mounds, [ 288–293]
  • XVIII.—Sculptured or Inscribed Rocks, [ 293–301]
  • XIX.—Concluding Ob­ser­va­tions, [ 301–306]

LIST OF PLATES.

• [I.]
• View of ancient works at Marietta,
• ——
• [II.]
• Map of a section of 12 miles of Scioto valley,
• 3
• [III.]
• Map of a section of 6 miles of Miami valley,
• 4
• No. 2.
• Map of 6 miles of Paint creek valley,
• 4
• [IV.]
• Stone work near Bourneville, Ross co., Ohio,
• 11
• [V.]
• Fort Hill, Highland county, Ohio,
• 14
• [VI.]
• Fortified Hill, Butler county, Ohio,
• 16
• [VII.]
• Fort Ancient, Warren county, Ohio,
• 18
• [VIII.]
• Ancient work, Butler county, Ohio,
• 21
• No. 2.
• Ancient work, Butler county, Ohio,
• 22
• No. 3.
• Ancient work near Piqua, Miami co., Ohio,
• 23
• No. 4.
• Ancient work near Dayton, Montgomery county, Ohio,
• 23
• [IX.]
• Fortified Hill near Granville, Licking co., Ohio,
• 24
• No. 2.
• Fortified Hill at the mouth of Great Miami river,
• 25
• No. 3.
• Ancient work near Lexington, Kentucky,
• 26
• [X.]
• Ancient work, Ross county, Ohio,
• 26
• [XI.]
• Ancient work, Butler county, Ohio,
• 29
• No. 2.
• Ancient work, Butler county, Ohio,
• 29
• No. 3.
• Ancient work, Butler county, Ohio,
• 30
• [XII.]
• Stone work on Duck river, Tennessee,
• 31
• No. 2.
• Ancient work, Preble county, Ohio,
• 33
• No. 3.
• Ancient work, Greene county, Ohio,
• 33
• No. 4.
• Ancient work, Ross county, Ohio,
• 34
• [XIII.]
• Ancient work, Bourbon county, Kentucky,
• 35
• No. 2.
• Colerain works, Butler county, Ohio,
• 35
• [XIV.]
• Ancient work, Pickaway county, Ohio,
• 36
• No. 2.
• Ancient Work, Franklin county, Ohio,
• 36
• No. 3.
• Ancient work, Fayette county, Kentucky,
• 36
• No. 4.
• Ancient work, Fayette county, Kentucky,
• 36
• [XV.]
• Ancient work, Huron county, Ohio,
• 37
• No. 2.
• Ancient work, Ashtabula county, Ohio,
• 38
• No. 3.
• Ancient work, Cuyahoga county, Ohio,
• 38
• No. 4.
• Ancient work, Lorain county, Ohio,
• 39
• No. 5.
• Ancient work, Lorain county, Ohio,
• 39
• No. 6.
• Ancient work, Cuyahoga county, Ohio,
• 40
• No. 7.
• Ancient work Cuyahoga county Ohio
• 40
• No. 8.
• Ancient work Wood county Ohio
• 40
• [XVI.]
• High Bank works Ross county Ohio
• 50
• [XVII.]
• Hopeton works Ross county Ohio
• 51
• [XVIII.]
• Cedar Bank works Ross county Ohio
• 52
• [XIX.]
• Mound City Ross county Ohio
• 54
• [XX.]
• Ancient work Ross county Ohio
• 56
• [XXI.]
• Ancient work Ross county Ohio
• 57
• No. 2.
• Ancient work Ross county, Ohio
• 57
• No. 3.
• Ancient work Ross county Ohio
• 58
• No. 4.
• Ancient work Ross county Ohio
• 59
• [XXII.]
• Junction Group Ross county Ohio
• 60
• No. 2.
• Blackwater Group Ross county, Ohio
• 61
• [XXIII.]
• Dunlap’s works Ross county Ohio
• 63
• No. 2.
• Ancient work Athens county Ohio
• 64
• [XXIV.]
• Ancient work Pike county Ohio
• 66
• [XXV.]
• Newark works Licking county Ohio,
• 67
• [XXVI.]
• Marietta works Washington county Ohio
• 73
• [XXVII.]
• Portsmouth works, Scioto county Ohio
• 77
• [XXVIII.]
• Portsmouth works Group A
• 78
• No. 2.
• Portsmouth works Group B
• 80
• No. 3.
• Portsmouth works Group C
• 81
• [XXIX.]
• Ancient works Montgomery county, Ohio
• 82
• No. 2.
• Ancient works, Scioto county, Ohio,
• 83
• No. 3.
• Ancient works Franklin county, Ohio,
• 84
• [XXX.]
• Ancient works, Butler county Ohio
• 85
• No. 2.
• Ancient works Butler county Ohio
• 85
• No. 3.
• Ancient works Ross county Ohio
• 86
• No. 4.
• Stone work Ross county, Ohio
• 87
• [XXXI.]
• Graded way, Pike county, Ohio,
• 88
• No. 2.
• Ancient work, Butler county, Ohio,
• 90
• No. 3.
• Ancient work Butler county Ohio
• 90
• No. 4.
• Ancient work Butler county Ohio,
• 90
• [XXXII.]
• Ancient work, Butler county Ohio
• 91
• No. 2.
• Ancient work Washington county Ohio
• 92
• No. 3.
• Ancient work Ross county Ohio
• 92
• No. 4.
• Ancient work Ross county Ohio
• 92
• No. 5.
• Ancient work Ross county Ohio
• 92
• No. 6.
• Ancient work Montgomery co Kentucky,
• 93
• [XXXIII.]
• Ancient work Montgomery co Kentucky,
• 93
• No. 2.
• Ancient work Randolph county, Indiana
• 94
• [XXXIV.]
• Ancient work, Clermont county, Ohio,
• 94
• No. 2.
• Ancient work Clermont county, Ohio
• 95
• No. 3.
• Ancient work, Greene county Ohio
• 95
• No. 4.
• Ancient work Greene county, Ohio
• 95
• [XXXV.]
• Great Serpent, Adams county Ohio
• 96
• [XXXVI.]
• The Cross Pickaway county, Ohio
• 97
• No. 2.
• The Alligator, Licking county Ohio
• 98
• No. 3.
• Ancient work, Fairfield county Ohio
• 100
• No. 4.
• Map of section of Newark valley,
• 101
• [XXXVII.]
• Ancient work Wateree District S. C.
• 105
• [XXXVIII.]
• Ancient works on Etowah river, Alabama
• 108
• ----
• Ancient works on Tennessee river, Alabama
• 109
• No. 2.
• Ancient works, Chickasaw surveys, Miss.
• 110
• No. 3.
• Ancient works, Lafayette county, Miss.
• 111
• No. 4.
• Ancient works, Prairie Jefferson, Louisiana.
• 113
• [XXXIX.]
• Ancient work, Madison parish, Louisiana.
• 115
• Ancient work, Bolivar county, Mississippi.
• 116
• [XL.]
• Ancient works, Dade county, Wisconsin.
• 126
• [XLI.]
• Ancient works, Dade county, Wisconsin.
• 127
• No. 2.
• Ancient works, Dade county, Wisconsin.
• 127
• [XLII.]
• Ancient works, Dade county, Wisconsin.
• 128
• No. 2.
• Ancient works, Richland county, Wisconsin.
• 128
• [XLIII.]
• Ancient works, Grant county, Wisconsin.
• 129
• Nos. 2 to 13, various localities.
• 130
• [XLIV.]
• Ancient work on Rock river, Wisconsin.
• 131
• Nos. 2 to 8, various localities.
• 132
• [XLV.]
• View of great mound at Marietta.
• 138
• [XLVI.]
• Pottery from the mounds.
• 139
• [XLVII.]
• Crania from the mounds.
• 288
• [XLVIII.]
• Crania from the mounds.
• 288

• LITHOGRAPHERS.—Sarony & Major, 117 Fulton street, New York.
• WOOD ENGRAVERS.—Orr & Richardson, 90 Fulton street, New York.
• PRINTER.—Edward O. Jenkins, 114 Nassau street, New York.

PLATES SUPPLEMENTAL DATA.

• Plate
• “Date of survey.”
• Surveyors
• Delineators.
• I.
• ——
• Charles Sullivan,
• II.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier,
• III.
• 1840
• James McBride,
• No. 2.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier,
• IV.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis.
• E. G. Squier,
• V.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis.
• E. G. Squier,
• VI.
• 1836
• James McBride.
• James McBride.
• VII.
• 1842
• John Locke, M.D.
• John Locke.
• VIII.
• 1840
• James McBride and J. W. Erwin,
• James McBride,
• No. 2.
• 1840
• James McBride J. W. Erwin,
• James McBride,
• No. 3.
• 1846
• James McBride,
• James McBride,
• No. 4.
• 1846
• James McBride and Sam. Forrer,
• James McBride,
• IX.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis,
• E. G. Squier.
• No. 2.
• ——
• No. 3.
• 1818
• C. S. Rafinesque,
• C. S. Rafinesque.
• X.
• 1845
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis,
• E. G. Squier,
• XI.
• 1836
• James McBride and J. W. Erwin,
• J. W. Erwin,
• No. 2.
• 1832
• James McBride,
• James McBride.
• No. 3.
• 1840
• James McBride and J. W. Erwin,
• James McBride,
• XII.
• ——
• C. S. Rafinesque,
• C. S. Rafinesque,
• No. 2.
• 1846
• James McBride.
• James McBride,
• No. 3.
• 1846
• S. T. Oweins and L. K. Dille,
• S. T. Oweins,
• No. 4.
• 1846
• P. N. White,
• P. N. White,
• XIII.
• 1820
• C. S. Rafinesque,
• C. S. Rafinesque,
• No. 2.
• 1836
• James McBride and J. W. Erwin,
• James McBride,
• XIV.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• No. 2.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• No. 3.
• 1820
• C. S. Rafinesque.
• C. S. Rafinesque,
• No. 4.
• 1820
• C. S. Rafinesque.
• C. S. Rafinesque.
• XV.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• No. 2.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• No. 3.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• No. 4.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• No. 5.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• No. 6.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• No. 7.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey
• Charles Whittlesey
• No. 8.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey
• Charles Whittlesey
• XVI.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• XVII.
• 1845
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• XVIII.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• XIX.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• XX.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• XXI.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier
• E. G. Squier
• No. 2.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• No. 3.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• No. 4.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• XXII.
• 1845
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• No. 2.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• XXIII.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• No. 2.
• 1836
• S. P. Hildreth
• S. P. Hildreth,
• XXIV.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier,
• XXV.
• 1836
• C Whittlesey E. G. S. and E. H. D.
• XXVI.
• 1837
• C Whittlesey and E. G. Squier
• Charles Whittlesey,
• XXVII.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier,
• XXVIII.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and D Morton
• E. G. Squier,
• No. 2.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis,
• E. G. Squier,
• No. 3.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis,
• E. G. Squier,
• XXIX.
• ——
• James McBride
• James McBride,
• No. 2.
• ——
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• No. 3.
• 1823
• Charles Whittlesey,
• Charles Whittlesey,
• XXX.
• 1840
• James McBride,
• James McBride,
• No. 2.
• 1847
• James McBride and J. W. Erwin,
• James McBride,
• No. 3.
• 1845
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier,
• No. 4.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier,
• XXXI.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier,
• No. 2.
• ——
• James McBride and J. W. Erwin
• J. W. Erwin
• No. 3.
• ——
• James McBride and J. W. Erwin
• J. W. Erwin
• No. 4.
• 1842
• James McBride and J. W. Erwin
• James McBride
• XXXII.
• ——
• James McBride and J. W. Erwin
• James McBride
• No. 2.
• 1846
• No. 3.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier,
• No. 4.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier,
• No. 5.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier,
• No. 6.
• 1818
• C. S. Rafinesque
• C. S. Rafinesque,
• XXXIII.
• 1818
• C. S. Rafinesque
• C. S. Rafinesque,
• No. 2.
• 1847
• James McBride,
• James McBride,
• XXXIV.
• 1847
• E. H. Davis,
• E. H. Davis,
• No. 2.
• ——
• Gen Lytle,
• Gen Lytle,
• No. 3.
• 1846
• S. Kyle and L. K. Dillo
• No. 4.
• 1846
• S. Kyle and L. K. Dillo
• XXXV.
• 1846
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• XXXVI.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• No. 2.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• No. 3.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier and E. H. Davis
• E. G. Squier
• No. 4.
• 1847
• E. G. Squier
• XXXVII.
• ——
• William Blanding
• William Blanding
• XXXVIII.
• ——
• C. S. Rafinesque.
• C. S. Rafinesque.
• ----
• ——
• No. 2.
• 1846
• R. Morris.
• R. Morris.
• No. 3.
• 1846
• R. Morris.
• R. Morris.
• No. 4.
• ——
• C. G. Forshey.
• C. G. Forshey.
• XXXIX.
• ——
• James Hough.
• James Hough.
• ——
• James Hough.
• James Hough.
• XL.
• ——
• R. C. Taylor.
• R. C. Taylor.
• XLI.
• ——
• R. C. Taylor and John Locke.
• No. 2.
• ——
• John Locke.
• John Locke.
• XLII.
• ——
• John Locke.
• John Locke.
• No. 2.
• ——
• S. Taylor.
• S. Taylor.
• XLIII.
• ——
• S. Taylor.
• S. Taylor.
• ——
• S. Taylor.
• S. Taylor.
• XLIV.
• ——
• ——
• S. Taylor.
• S. Taylor.
• XLV.
• 1847
• C. Sullivan.
• XLVI.
• ——
• E. G. Squier.
• XLVII.
• ——
• J. French.
• XLVIII.
• ——
• J. French.

LIST OF WOOD ENGRAVINGS.

• [1.]
• View of Great Mound at Miamisburgh, Ohio,
• 3
• [2.]
• Section, exhibiting Septaria,
• 13
• [3.]
• Group of Mounds within an enclosure,
• 27
• [4.]
• Plan of Ancient Work, Lorain county, Ohio,
• 39
• [5.]
• Plan of Ancient Work, Lorain county, Ohio,
• 39
• [6.]
• Plan of Ancient Work, Cuyahoga county, Ohio,
• 40
• [7.]
• Plan of Ancient Work, Cuyahoga county, Ohio,
• 40
• [8.]
• Plan of Ancient Work, Wood county, Ohio,
• 40
• [9.]
• Circle and truncated Pyramid,
• 53
• [10.]
• Plan of Ancient Work, at Circleville, Ohio,
• 60
• [11.]
• Plan of Sacred Enclosure, Pike county, Ohio,
• 66
• [12.]
• Bird-shaped Mound, Newark, Ohio,
• 68
• [13.]
• View of Gateway of Octagon, Newark, Ohio,
• 69
• [14.]
• Truncated Mound covering gateway,
• 69
• [15.]
• Crown-work of Circle,
• 69
• [16.]
• View of “Observatory” at Newark,
• 70
• [17.]
• “Elevated Squares” at Marietta, Ohio,
• 74
• [18.]
• Plan of Ancient Work, Parkersburgh, Virginia,
• 77
• [19.]
• Circle and Mound, Greenup county, Kentucky,
• 82
• [20.]
• Graded Way, Piketon, Ohio,
• 88
• [21.]
• Plan of Ancient Work in Alabama,
• 109
• [22.]
• Plan of Ancient Work in Bolivar county, Mississippi,
• 116
• [23.]
• Public Square of the Muscogulges,
• 121
• [24.]
• Mound at Mount Royal, Florida,
• 122
• [25.]
• Plan of Mound and Parallels,
• 122
• [26.]
• Plan of Works in Wisconsin,
• 133
• [27.]
• Group illustrating the forms of the Mounds,
• 139
• [28.]
• Hill Mounds,
• 141
• [29.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 144
• [30.]
• Structure of Mounds,
• 144
• [31.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 147
• [32.]
• Plan of Altar,
• 147
• [33.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 148
• [34.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 149
• [35.]
• Section of Altar,
• 150
• [36.]
• Section of Altar,
• 150
• [37.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 152
• [38.]
• Plan of Altar,
• 152
• [39.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 153
• [40.]
• Position of recent deposits,
• 153
• [41.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 154
• [42.]
• Plan of Excavation, etc.
• 154
• [43.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 155
• [44.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 156
• [45.]
• Section of Sacrificial Mound,
• 156
• [46.]
• Section of a Stratified Mound,
• 158
• [47.]
• Section of a Mound,
• 159
• [48.]
• View of Elliptical Mound,
• 160
• [49.]
• Group of Sepulchral Mounds,
• 161
• [50.]
• Section of Sepulchral Mound,
• 162
• [51.]
• Plan of Sepulchral Chamber,
• 162
• [52.]
• Section of Sepulchral Mound,
• 164
• [53.]
• Position of Skeleton,
• 164
• [54.]
• Section of Sepulchral Mound,
• 165
• [55.]
• Section of Grave creek Mound,
• 169
• [56.]
• View of Grave creek Mound,
• 169
• [57.]
• Plans of groups of Mounds,
• 170
• [58.]
• Mounds of Oregon,
• 171
• [59.]
• Terraced Mound,
• 173
• [60.]
• Plan of Cahokia Mound,
• 174
• [61.]
• Lozenge-shaped Mound,
• 175
• [62.]
• Section of a truncated Mound,
• 176
• [63.]
• Plan of an Ancient octagonal Terrace,
• 176
• [64.]
• Plan of an Ancient rectangular Terrace,
• 176
• [65.]
• Plan of Temple Mound with graded ascent,
• 177
• [66.]
• Group of Sepulchral Mounds,
• 177
• [67.]
• Plan and Section of Anomalous Mound,
• 178
• [68.]
• Ancient Pipe from the Mounds,
• 179
• [69.]
• Section of Anomalous Mound,
• 180
• [70.]
• Conical Mound,
• 185
• [71.]
• Ancient Pottery, three figures,
• 191
• [72.]
• Ancient Pottery, three figures,
• 192
• [73.]
• Ancient Earthen Vessel,
• 192
• [74.]
• Ancient Earthen Vessel,
• 192
• [75.]
• Ancient Terra Cotta,
• 193
• [76.]
• Terra Cotta from the Mounds,
• 194
• [77.]
• Terra Cotta from the Mounds,
• 194
• [78.]
• Terra Cotta from the Mounds,
• 194
• [79.]
• Terra Cotta from the Mounds,
• 194
• [80.]
• Terra Cotta from the Mounds,
• 194
• [81.]
• Copper Axe from the Mounds,
• 197
• [82.]
• Earthen Pipes, two figures,
• 197
• [83.]
• Adjustment of Ancient Axes,
• 198
• [84.]
• Copper Axe from the Mounds,
• 199
• [85.]
• Copper Gravers from the Mounds, five figures,
• 200
• [86.]
• Copper Spear-head and Knife,
• 201
• [87.]
• Ancient Copper Implements, five figures,
• 201
• [88.]
• Copper Bracelets from the Mounds,
• 204
• [89.]
• Copper Gorgets from the Mounds,
• 205
• [90.]
• Copper Ornament from the Mounds,
• 206
• [91.]
• Copper Ornament from the Mounds,
• 206
• [92.]
• Ancient Work-block of stone,
• 206
• [93.]
• Copper Beads from the Mounds,
• 207
• [94.]
• Copper Fibulæ from the Mounds,
• 207
• [95.]
• Copper Bands, etc.,
• 207
• [96.]
• Silver Beads from the Mounds,
• 207
• [97.]
• Silver Cross,
• 208
• [98.]
• An article of Lead,
• 209
• [99.]
• Flint Spear-heads, three figures,
• 211
• [100.]
• Quartz Spear-head,
• 211
• [101.]
• Ancient Mexican mahquahuitl,
• 211
• [102.]
• Sword of Pacific Islanders,
• 211
• [103.]
• Arrow-heads, nine figures,
• 212
• [104.]
• Hornstone Disks, three figures,
• 214
• [105.]
• Flint Knives, three figures,
• 215
• [106.]
• Hematite Cutting Implements,
• 215
• [107.]
• Slate Cutting Implements,
• 216
• [108.]
• Ancient Stone Axe,
• 216
• [109.]
• Ancient Stone Axe, four figures,
• 217
• [110.]
• Stone Axe from Mounds,
• 217
• [111.]
• Stone Hand-axe,
• 218
• [112.]
• Ancient Stone-axe, four figures,
• 218
• [113.]
• Ancient Scandinavian Axes, two figures,
• 218
• [114.]
• Ancient ornamented Axes, six figures,
• 218
• [115.]
• Ancient ornamented Axe,
• 219
• [116.]
• Ancient Club-head of Stone,
• 219
• [117.]
• Ancient Club-head of Stone,
• 219
• [118.]
• Pestles of Stone, two figures,
• 220
• [119.]
• Implements of Bone, three figures.
• 220
• [120.]
• Ancient Bone Awls,
• 220
• [121.]
• Discoidal Stones, six figures,
• 221
• [122.]
• Tubes of Stone, two figures,
• 224
• [123.]
• Ornamented Stone Tube,
• 225
• [124.]
• Stone Tube,
• 226
• [125.]
• Stone Tubes,
• 227
• [126.]
• Ancient Mound Pipe,
• 227
• [127.]
• Granite Pipe,
• 228
• [128.]
• Modern Indian Pipes,
• 230
• [129.]
• Beads of Shell,
• 232
• [130.]
• Beads of Shell, three figures,
• 233
• [131.]
• Pendants, eight figures,
• 234
• [132.]
• Pendants of Stone,
• 235
• [133.]
• Stone Gorgets, two figures,
• 236
• [134.]
• Stone Gorget,
• 237
• [135.]
• Stone Gorget,
• 237
• [136.]
• Stone Gorgets, seventeen figures,
• 237
• [137.]
• Section of Gorget,
• 238
• [138.]
• Stone Ornaments,
• 239
• [139.]
• Prismatic Tube,
• 240
• [140.]
• Articles of Stone,
• 240
• [141.]
• Mica Ornaments,
• 240
• [142.]
• Sculptured head from the Mounds, two views,
• 244
• [143.]
• Sculptured head from the Mounds, two views,
• 244
• [144.]
• Sculptured head from the Mounds, two views,
• 245
• [145.]
• Sculptured head from the Mounds, two views,
• 245
• [146.]
• Ancient Sculpture,
• 247
• [147.]
• Sculptured Pipe,
• 247
• [148.]
• Sculptured Pipe,
• 248
• [149.]
• Sculptured Pipe,
• 249
• [150.]
• Mask of Stone,
• 250
• [151.]
• Mask of Stone,
• 251
• [152.]
• Mask of Stone,
• 251
• [153.]
• Sculpture of the Manitus,
• 251
• [154.]
• Sculpture of the Manitus,
• 252
• [155.]
• Sculpture of the Beaver,
• 256
• [156.]
• Sculpture of the Otter,
• 256
• [157.]
• Sculpture of the Otter,
• 256
• [158.]
• Sculpture of the Panther,
• 256
• [159.]
• Sculpture of the Panther,
• 256
• [160.]
• Sculpture of the Panther,
• 256
• [161.]
• Sculptured head of Elk,
• 257
• [162.]
• Sculptured Head,
• 258
• [163.]
• Sculptured Head,
• 258
• [164.]
• Sculpture of tufted Heron,
• 259
• [165.]
• Sculpture of Eagle,
• 259
• [166.]
• Sculpture of Hawk,
• 261
• [167.]
• Sculpture of Swallow,
• 261
• [168.]
• Sculpture of Summer Duck,
• 261
• [169.]
• Sculpture of Toucan?
• 261
• [170.]
• Sculpture of Grouse,
• 261
• [171.]
• Sculpture of Turkey Buzzard?
• 261
• [172.]
• Sculpture of Paroquet,
• 263
• [173.]
• Sculpture of Bird
• 263
• [174.]
• Sculpture of Bird
• 263
• [175.]
• Sculpture of Bird
• 263
• [176.]
• Sculpture of Bird
• 263
• [177.]
• Sculpture of Bird
• 264
• [178.]
• Sculpture of Toucan,
• 266
• [179.]
• Sculpture of unknown Bird,
• 267
• [180.]
• Heads of Eagles,
• 267
• [181.]
• Head of Raven?
• 267
• [182.]
• Sculpture of unknown Bird,
• 267
• [183.]
• Sculpture of Toad,
• 269
• [184.]
• Sculpture of Toad,
• 269
• [185.]
• Sculpture of Frog,
• 269
• [186.]
• Sculpture of Rattlesnake,
• 269
• [187.]
• Sculptured head of Goose,
• 269
• [188.]
• Sculptured Death’s Head,
• 269
• [189.]
• Sculptured Head of Bear?
• 271
• [190.]
• Sculptured Head of Wolf?
• 271
• [191.]
• Sculptured Head of unknown animal,
• 271
• [192.]
• Sculptured Head of unknown animal,
• 271
• [193.]
• Sculptured Head of unknown animal,
• 271
• [194.]
• Front View of Tablet found at Cincinnati,
• 275
• [195.]
• Reverse of same,
• 275
• [196.]
• Carving of Rattlesnake, coiled,
• 276
• [197.]
• Shark’s Teeth, fossil,
• 282
• [198.]
• Marine Shell, pyrula perversa,
• 283
• [199.]
• Section of Hill Mound,
• 289
• [200.]
• Inscribed Rock on Guyandotte river, Va.,
• 294
• [201.]
• Inscribed Rock on Guyandotte river, Va.,
• 295
• [202.]
• Inscribed Rock on Guyandotte river, Va.,
• 295
• [203.]
• Inscribed Rock on Guyandotte river, Va.,
• 296
• [204.]
• Inscribed Rock on Guyandotte river, Va.,
• 296
• [205.]
• Inscribed Rock on Guyandotte river, Va.,
• 297
• [206.]
• Inscribed Rock on Ohio river,
• 298
• [207.]
• Site of Sculptured Rocks of the Guyandotte
• 299

PREFACE.

The fact of the existence, within the valley of the Mississippi river and its tributaries, of many ancient monuments of human labor and skill, seems to have escaped the notice of the adventurers who first made known to the world the extent and fertility of that vast region. Except some incidental allusions by La Vega, and the Portuguese chronicler of De Soto’s unfortunate expedition, to structures bearing some analogy to those of the West, (and which seem to have been occupied, if they were not built, by the Indians of Florida,) we find no mention made of these monuments by any of the earlier explorers. No sooner, however, had trade been opened with the Indians beyond the Alleghanies, and the valley of the Mississippi begun to attract the attention of the rival nations that laid claim to this division of the continent, than the less prominent features of the country became subjects of observation and remark. Then, for the first time, we find these ancient monuments distinctly alluded to. It was not however until some time afterwards, when settlements had been established at various prominent points within the valley, and the tide of emigration began to flow thitherward, that any special attention was directed to them. Carver in 1776, and Hearte and others in 1791, were among the earliest of these observers at the North. Their accounts, however, served scarcely to make known the existence of these remains, and failed to convey any clear idea of their extent or character. But as the country became better known and more densely populated, notices of their existence became more numerous, and some detailed accounts of particular groups were presented to the world, in the form of incidental notices in books of travel and local gazetteers, or in contributions to the pages of periodicals, and to the transactions of learned societies. HARRIS, in his “Tour into the Territory north-west of the Ohio,” published in 1805, noticed at considerable length the ancient remains at Marietta on the Ohio river; and H. H. BRACKENRIDGE, one of the most accurate of the early explorers of the West, in his “Views of Louisiana,” published in 1814, and in a paper in the first volume of the new series of the Transactions of the “American Philosophical Society,” presented accounts of ancient remains at various points, together with some general remarks upon our antiquities, distinguished for their comprehensiveness and sound philosophical spirit. Bishop MADISON of Virginia, in 1803, addressed to Dr. Barton, then Vice President of the American Philosophical Society, a communication of considerable length “upon the supposed fortifications of the western country,” which was published in the sixth volume of the old series of the Transactions of that institution. It contains some interesting facts relative to the ancient remains found within the valley of the great Kenhawa river, in Virginia, and is principally devoted to combating the popular notion that all the ancient earthworks were of defensive origin. BARTRAM, in his animated Journal of Travels in Florida, published in 1779, makes frequent mention of the ancient remains which fell under his notice. His accounts have been amply confirmed by later observations, and they may be regarded as presenting a very accurate view of their general character. Previous to Bartram’s expedition, Adair, in his “Account of the American Indians,” published in 1775, mentioned the existence of these remains, but gave no details respecting them.

In 1817, DE WITT CLINTON, whose active mind neglected no department of inquiry, read a paper before the “Literary and Philosophical Society of New York,” (an institution no longer existing,) upon the “Antiquities of the western part of New York,” which was subsequently published in a pamphlet form. It gave a connected view of these antiquities so far as then known, and indicated their character with such clearness, as to identify them at once as belonging to that imposing class of remains found in the valley of the Mississippi. MCCAULEY, in his “History of New York,” published at a later period, (1829,) added considerably to the number of facts presented by Mr. CLINTON.

Among the earliest and more important contributions to the general stock of information respecting the western monuments, is the chapter entitled “Antiquities,” contained in “The Natural and Statistical View of Cincinnati and the Miami country,” by DANIEL DRAKE, M.D., published in 1815. It not only embraces many facts, but is free from the tendency towards exaggeration which has been the prevailing fault of most that has been written upon the subject of American Antiquities. In connection with what was published by Mr. BRACKENRIDGE, and at a subsequent date by the late President HARRISON, (Address before the Historical Society of Ohio, 1832,) it presents a better view of the ancient remains of the region north of the Ohio, than can be obtained from any other source,—Mr. ATWATER’S Memoir, in the Transactions of the American Antiquarian Society, alone excepted.

It would be impossible, as it is unnecessary, particularly to point out all that has been published upon this subject, chiefly consisting, as it does, of detached and incidental observations. In addition to the several authorities above named, we may mention LEWIS and CLARKE, Major LONG, Dr. EDWIN JAMES, HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT, TIMOTHY FLINT, HUGH WILLIAMSON, Dr. BARTON, Rev. JOSEPH DODDRIDGE, President JEFFERSON, Dr. LEWIS C. BECK, Dr. S. P. HILDRETH, KEATING, HAYWOOD, HOWE, NUTTALL, LATROBE, ROCHEFAUCAULT, SHORT, COLLINS, DICKESON, BROWN, FEATHERSTONHAUGH, Professors GERARD TROOST, JOHN LOCKE, and C. G. FORSHEY, R. C. and S. TAYLOR, Prince MAXIMILIAN, Prof. RAFINESQUE, CHARLES WHITTLESEY, etc., etc., as among those who have contributed to the general stock of information upon this subject.

The first attempt towards a general account of the ancient monuments of the West, was made by Mr. CALEB ATWATER, who deserves the credit of being the pioneer in this department. His Memoir, constituting 150 octavo pages, was published in the first volume of the “Archæologia Americana,” in 1819. It contains plans and descriptions of a considerable number of ancient works,—embracing the imposing structures at Marietta, Newark, Portsmouth, Circleville, etc., etc.,—with accounts of a variety of ancient remains found in the mounds. It gives a better conception of the number, magnitude, and more obvious characteristics of the monuments treated of, than was before possessed, and for a time appeared to have satisfied public inquiry. It contains many errors, for which however we can find a ready apology in the unsettled state of the country, and the attendant difficulties of investigation at the time it was written,—errors which, under present advantages of research, would be inexcusable.

The facts presented by the earlier of the authorities above named, have been collected by various authors, either in support of a favorite hypothesis, or with a view of conveying to the world some conception of the antiquities of our country. These compilations, however, have proved eminently unsatisfactory, not less from the vague nature of the original accounts, than from the circumstance that they were in most instances mixed up with the crudest speculations and the wildest conjectures. Even when this was not the case, the fact that the original observations were made in a disconnected and casual manner, served still further to confuse the mind of the student and render generalization impossible. It was under an impression of existing deficiencies in these respects,—the paucity of facts, and the loose manner in which most of them had been presented,—that the investigations recorded in this memoir were commenced and prosecuted. At the outset, as indispensable to independent judgment, all preconceived notions were abandoned, and the work of research commenced de novo, as if nothing had been known or said concerning the remains to which attention was directed. It was concluded that if these monuments were capable of reflecting any certain light upon the grand archæological questions connected with the primitive history of the American Continent, the origin, migrations and early state of the American race, that then they should be more carefully and minutely, and above all, more systematically investigated.

The locality chosen for the commencement of operations, is a section of the Scioto river and Paint creek valleys, of which the city of Chillicothe is the centre, and which possesses a deserved celebrity for its beauty, unexampled fertility, and the great number, size, and variety of its ancient remains. Situated in the middle of southern Ohio, and possessing a mild and salubrious climate, this seems to have been one of the centres of ancient population; and, probably, no other equal portion of the Mississippi basin furnishes so rich and interesting a field for the antiquarian. A glance at the “Map of a Section of Twelve Miles of the Scioto Valley, with its Ancient Monuments,” Plate [II], will fully illustrate this remark.

The plan of operations was agreed upon, and the field-work commenced, early in the spring of 1845. Subsequently, the plan was greatly extended, and the investigations were carried on, over Ohio and the adjacent States, with slight interruption, up to the summer of 1847.

The body of this memoir will indicate with sufficient clearness, the mode in which these investigations were conducted, and the extent to which they were prosecuted. It is perhaps enough here to say, that the surveys of ancient works were, for the most part, made by the authors in person, and that the excavations of mounds, etc., were all of them conducted under their personal direction and supervision. Care was exercised to note down, on the spot, every fact which it was thought might be of value, in the solution of the problems of the origin and purposes of the remains under notice; and particular attention was bestowed in observing the dependencies of the position, structure, and contents of the various works in respect to each other and the general features of the country. Indeed, no exertion was spared to ensure entire accuracy, and the compass, line, and rule were alone relied upon, in all matters where an approximate estimate might lead to erroneous conclusions.

The ancient enclosures and groups of works personally examined or surveyed, are upwards of one hundred in number. Some of these had before been noticed, but most are now for the first time presented to the world. About two hundred mounds, of all forms and sizes, and occupying every variety of position, have also been excavated. Several thousand remains of ancient art were collected in the course of these investigations, chiefly from the mounds themselves. These constitute a cabinet, as valuable in its extent, as it is interesting in the great variety and singular character of the illustrations which it furnishes of the condition of the minor arts, and the connections and communications of the people by whom these monuments were erected.

The prosecution of these researches naturally led to an acquaintance and correspondence with a large number of gentlemen in various parts of the Union, who felt interested in them, or who had devoted attention to the same subject. All of these have kindly rendered their services in cases where they could prove of value, or have freely contributed the results of their own labors to complete the design of the authors, in presenting as full and comprehensive a view of the ancient monuments of our country, as private means and limited facilities would allow.

First among these, it will not be invidious to name JAMES MCBRIDE, Esq., of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, whose valuable contributions constitute an important feature in the memoir herewith presented. This gentleman, residing for a long time in the centre of the fertile valley of the Great Miami river, amidst the numerous evidences of ancient population with which that valley abounds, has devoted a large proportion of his time to their attentive examination. Personally, and with the assistance of J. W. ERWIN, Esq., resident engineer on the Miami canal, he has made numerous surveys of ancient enclosures and groups of works in that valley, distinguished for their minute fidelity. He also, without however resorting very extensively to direct excavations, has collected an interesting cabinet of aboriginal relics. Anxious to contribute his share to whatever might elucidate the subject of American Archæology, Mr. MCBRIDE, with a generous liberality, placed in the hands of the authors his notes, plans, and drawings, without restriction, to be used as they deemed proper. This tender was accepted in the same spirit it was made, and the materials thus furnished have been freely used in the succeeding pages, where they rank second to none in interest and value.

Among the most zealous investigators in the field of American antiquarian research, is CHARLES WHITTLESEY, Esq., of Cleveland, formerly Topographic Engineer of Ohio. His surveys and observations, carried on for many years and over a wide field, have been both numerous and accurate, and are among the most valuable, in all respects, of any hitherto made. Although Mr. Whittlesey, in conjunction with JOSEPH SULLIVANT, Esq., of Columbus, Ohio, originally contemplated a joint work, in which the results of his investigations should be embodied, he has nevertheless, with a liberality which will be not less appreciated by the public than by the authors, contributed to this memoir about twenty plans of ancient works, which, with the accompanying explanations and general observations, will be found embodied in the following pages. Relating principally to the aboriginal monuments of northern Ohio, (as do those of Mr. McBride to the remains of western Ohio,) they contribute much to the interest and completeness of this memoir. It is to be hoped the public may yet be put in possession of the entire results of Mr. Whittlesey’s labor, which could not fail of adding greatly to our stock of knowledge on this interesting subject.

Acknowledgment is also due to Rev. R. MORRIS, of Mount Sylvan, Lafayette county, Mississippi, for valuable facts relating to the monuments of the South. Although but recently commenced, Mr. Morris’s investigations have been prosecuted in a manner which gives promise of important results.

It will be observed that several plans and notices of ancient works are presented in the succeeding chapters, upon the authority of the late Prof. C. S. RAFINESQUE. This gentleman, while living, devoted considerable attention to the antiquities of the Mississippi valley, and published several brief papers relating to them. His notes and plans, for the most part brief, crude, and imperfect, at his death found their way into the possession of BRANTZ MAYER, Esq., of Baltimore, late Secretary of the American Legation to Mexico. This gentleman placed them in the hands of the authors, with liberty to make use of the information which they contained. They, however, have chosen to avail themselves of this permission, only so far as to adopt Prof. Rafinesque’s plans, etc., in cases where they have either been able to verify them in person, or to assure themselves by collateral evidence of their accuracy in all essential particulars. His notes are principally important, as indicating the localities of many interesting monuments, rather than as conveying any satisfactory information concerning them.

To SAMUEL GEORGE MORTON, M.D., of Philadelphia, the eminent author of “Crania Americana,” is acknowledgment especially due, not only for the warm interest manifested in these investigations from their commencement, but for the use of valuable manuscripts relating to our antiquities,—the collections of many years of laborious research in collateral departments. Among these is the brief account of the ancient remains on the Wateree river in South Carolina, by Dr. WILLIAM BLANDING; and also the highly important account of the monuments of the States bordering the Gulf of Mexico, by WILLIAM BARTRAM, the first naturalist who penetrated the dense tropical forests of Florida. The history of the MSS. from which the latter account was taken, is unknown. It found its way by accident into the hands of its present possessor. It consists of answers to a series of questions, by a second person, (probably Dr. Barton,) relating to the history, religion, manners, institutions, etc., of the tribes which composed the Creek confederacy, and is undoubtedly the most complete and accurate account of those Indians in existence.

Dr. S. P. HILDRETH, of Marietta, and Prof. JOHN LOCKE, of Cincinnati, both of whom have devoted much attention to our antiquities, and whose observations upon the subject are distinguished for their accuracy, are also entitled to honorable mention for facts contributed, and assistance rendered. So also, for surveys of ancient works, drawings and descriptions of ancient relics, and facts of various kinds, is acknowledgment due to J. DILLE, Esq., of Newark, Ohio; S. T. OWEINS and W. B. FAIRCHILD, Esqs., of Xenia, Ohio; Col. B. L. C. WAILES, of Washington, Mississippi; J. H. BLAKE, Esq., of Boston; THOMAS REYNOLDS, M.D., of Brockville, Canada West; ARIUS NYE, Esq., and CHARLES SULLIVAN, Marietta, Ohio; HENRY HOWE, R. BUCHANAN, JOSEPH CLARKE, ERASMUS GEST, jr., and U. P. JAMES, Esqs., of Cincinnati; J. E. WHARTON, Esq., of Wheeling, Virginia; DANIEL MORTON, Esq., of New York; L. K. DILLE, M.D., of Cedarville, Ohio; CHARLES O. TRACY, of Portsmouth, Ohio; Prof. W. W. MATHER, Jackson, Ohio; Rev. W. B. STEVENS, Athens, Georgia; Hon. T. H. CLINGMAN, North Carolina; ASHEL AYLESWORTH, Granville, Ohio; P. N. WHITE, Esq., Circleville, Ohio; C. J. ORTON, Lower Sandusky, Ohio; Lieut. JOHN H. ALLEN, now of Easton, Md.; T. B. HUNT, Esq., of New Haven; WM. F. CLEMSON, Esq., of Chillicothe, Ohio; and JOSEPH SULLIVANT, Esq., Columbus, Ohio.

And while rendering these acknowledgments, it is but proper to express the obligations which the authors of these investigations feel themselves under to gentlemen in the various Atlantic cities, who, if they have not been able to add to the number of facts here presented, have nevertheless by their thorough appreciation of the subject, friendly encouragement, and disinterested aid, extended in various ways, facilitated this new attempt towards the elucidation of the antiquities of our own country. To the learned and venerable President of the American Ethnological Society, Hon. ALBERT GALLATIN, the closing years of whose long, active, and useful life have been closely and successfully devoted to researches in the wide field of American Ethnological Science, are our grateful acknowledgments especially due. His assistance and enlightened approbation have had a controlling influence in sustaining and carrying on these investigations. To JOHN R. BARTLETT, Esq., of New York, Foreign Corresponding Secretary of the Ethnological Society, distinguished for his zeal and energy in organizing and promoting historical and ethnological research, we cannot sufficiently express our obligations. His assistance, in a variety of ways, has been of value, especially in directing public attention to the importance of a subject, the extent and bearings of which were but imperfectly understood.

Hon. GEO. P. MARSH, of Burlington, Vermont, whose disinterested exertions have mainly contributed to the appearance of this memoir in its present form, has kindly examined the following chapters and given them the benefit of his sound and critical judgment. To Prof. EDWARD ROBINSON, D.D., and to Prof. W. W. TURNER, both of New York, and both officers of the American Ethnological Society, are we also indebted. The gentleman last named has supervised the memoir, and his suggestions have been deferred to with a readiness implying a confidence in his critical abilities, which is shared alike by the authors and by the public.

To Professors B. SILLIMAN and B. SILLIMAN, jr., of New Haven; Prof. JEFFRIES WYMAN, of Boston; Prof. LEWIS AGASSIZ, of Cambridge; S. F. HAVENS, Esq., Librarian of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester; and to numerous other gentlemen in various parts of the Union, and particularly to GEO. R. GLIDDON, Esq., whose lectures and publications upon the subject of Egyptian Archæology have given a new and powerful impulse to cognate researches in America, and invested them with a popular interest indispensable to their successful prosecution,—to all of these are the warmest thanks of the investigators due.

It will not be improper here to mention, that the literary part of the present work, the responsible task of arranging and embodying for publication the original MSS. and other materials jointly got together in the course of these investigations, has devolved mostly upon the gentleman whose name stands first upon the title-page, who has also prepared the plans, drawings, and other illustrations. The other gentleman has been engaged for a number of years in researches connected with our ancient monuments, and in collecting relics of aboriginal art; and it is due to him to say, that the investigations here recorded, so far as they involve inquiries in natural science, have principally been made by him. He has also sustained the larger proportion of the expenses attending these explorations, and devoted considerable time to the restoration and arrangement of the relics recovered from the mounds.

Before concluding these prefatory remarks,—already extended beyond the original design,—we may be permitted to say that it has been a constant aim in the preparation of this memoir, to present facts in a clear and concise form, with such simple deductions and generalizations alone, as may follow from their careful consideration. With no hypothesis to combat or sustain, and with a desire only to arrive at truth, whatever its bearings upon received theories and current prejudices, everything like mere speculation has been avoided. Analogies, apparently capable of reflecting light upon many important questions connected with an enlarged view of the subject, have seldom been more than indicated. Their full consideration, as also that of the relations which the ancient monuments of the Mississippi valley bear to those of other portions of America and the world, has not been attempted here. To such an undertaking, involving long and careful research, as also a more comprehensive view of the monuments of the central parts of the continent, this memoir is only preliminary. It yet remains to be seen whether all the ancient monuments of the Mississippi valley were constructed upon similar principles; whether they denote a common origin, and whether they were probably contemporaneous or otherwise in their erection. It remains to be settled whether the singular and anomalous structures of Wisconsin and the North-west are part of the same grand system of defensive, religious, and sepulchral monuments found in the valley of the Ohio, and the more imposing, if not more regular remains which abound in the Southern States. The work of investigation has been just commenced; its future progress may, and no doubt will, result in new and perhaps more important disclosures than any hitherto made.

The importance of a complete and speedy examination of the whole field, cannot be over-estimated. The operations of the elements, the shifting channels of the streams, the levelling hand of public improvement, and most efficient of all, the slow but constant encroachments of agriculture, are fast destroying these monuments of ancient labor, breaking in upon their symmetry and obliterating their outlines. Thousands have already disappeared, or retain but slight and doubtful traces of their former proportions. Such an examination is, however, too great an undertaking for private enterprise to attempt. It must be left to local explorers, to learned associations, or to the Government. And if this memoir shall succeed in directing that attention to the subject which it merits, and thereby in some manner secure the thorough investigation of these monuments, that result will prove an ample recompense for labors performed in a field of absorbing interest, and one which holds out abundant attractions to the Antiquary and Archæologist.

CHILLICOTHE, OHIO, June, 1847.

p001

ANCIENT MONUMENTS. CHAPTER I. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

The ancient monuments of the Western United States consist, for the most part, of elevations and embankments of earth and stone, erected with great labor and manifest design. In connection with these, more or less intimate, are found various minor relics of art, consisting of ornaments and implements of many kinds, some of them composed of metal, but most of stone.

These remains are spread over a vast extent of country. They are found on the sources of the Alleghany, in the western part of the State of New-York, on the east; and extend thence westwardly along the southern shore of Lake Erie, and through Michigan and Wisconsin, to Iowa and the Nebraska territory, on the west.[1] We have no record of their occurrence above the great lakes. Carver mentions some on the shores of Lake Pepin, and some are said to occur near Lake Travers, under the 46th parallel of latitude. Lewis and Clarke saw them on the Missouri river, one thousand miles above its junction with the Mississippi; and they have been observed on the Kanzas and Platte, and on other remote western rivers. They are found all over the intermediate country, and spread over the valley of the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. They line the shores of the Gulf from Texas to Florida, and extend, in diminished numbers, into South Carolina. They occur in great numbers in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Texas. They are found, in less numbers, in the western portions of New-York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North and South Carolina; as also in Michigan, Iowa, and in the Mexican territory beyond the Rio Grande del Norte. In short, p002 they occupy the entire basin of the Mississippi and its tributaries, as also the fertile plains along the Gulf.

It is a fact but recently made known, that there are an abundance of small mounds, or tumuli, in the territory of Oregon. We are not informed, however, whether there are any enclosures, or other works of like character with those usually accompanying the mounds of the Mississippi valley, nor whether the mounds of Oregon are generally disseminated over that territory.[2] That they are of frequent occurrence upon the river Gila, in California, and also upon the tributaries of the Colorado of the West, is also a fact but recently ascertained. Whether these mounds possess features identifying them with those of the Mississippi valley, or indicating a common origin, remains to be decided.

It is not to be understood that these works are dispersed equally over the area above indicated. They are mainly confined to the valleys of the rivers and large streams, and seldom occur very far back from them. Occasional works are found in the hill or broken country; but they are not frequent, and are always of small size.

Although possessing throughout certain general points of resemblance, going to establish a kindred origin, these works, nevertheless, resolve themselves into three grand geographical divisions, which present, in many respects, striking contrasts, yet so gradually merge into each other, that it is impossible to determine where one series terminates and the other begins. In the region bordering the upper lakes, to a certain extent in Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri, but particularly in Wisconsin, we find a succession of remains, entirely singular in their form, and presenting but slight analogy to any others of which we have an account, in any portion of the globe. The larger proportion of these are structures of earth, bearing the forms of beasts, birds, reptiles, and even of men; they are frequently of gigantic dimensions, constituting huge basso-relievos upon the face of the country. They are very numerous, and in most cases occur in long and apparently dependent ranges. In connection with them, are found many conical mounds and occasional short lines of embankment, in rare instances forming enclosures. These animal effigies are mainly confined to Wisconsin, and extend across that territory from Fond du Lac, in a south-western direction, ascending the Fox river, and following the general course of Rock and Wisconsin rivers to the Mississippi. They may be much more extensively disseminated; but it is here only that they have been observed in considerable numbers. In Michigan, as also in Iowa and Missouri, similar elevations, of more or less regular outline, are said to occur. They are represented as p003 dispersed in ranges, like the buildings of a modern city, and covering sometimes an area of many acres.

[♠] II. Map of a section of twelve miles of the Scioto Valley with its ancient monuments.

Further to the southward, in the region watered by the Ohio and its tributaries, we find ancient works of greater magnitude and more manifest design. Among them are a few animal-shaped structures; but they seem to have been erected on different principles and for a different purpose from those just noticed. Here we find numberless mounds, most of them conical but many pyramidal in form, and often of great dimensions. The pyramidal structures are always truncated, sometimes terraced, and generally have graded ascents to their summits. They bear a close resemblance to the Teocallis of Mexico; and the known uses of the latter are suggestive of the probable purposes to which they were applied. Accompanying these, and in some instances sustaining an intimate relation to them, are numerous enclosures of earth and stone, frequently of vast size, and often of regular outline. These are by far the most imposing class of our aboriginal remains, and impress us most sensibly with the numbers and power of the people who built them. The purposes of many of these are quite obvious; and investigation has served to settle, pretty clearly, the character of most of the other works occurring in connection with them.

Proceeding still further southwards, we find, in the States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, the mounds increasing in size and regularity of form, if not in numbers. Conical mounds become comparatively rare, and the Teocalli-shaped structures become larger and more numerous, and assume certain dependencies in respect to each other, not before observed. The enclosures, on the other hand, diminish in size and numbers; and lose many of the characteristic features of those of a higher latitude, though still sustaining towards them a strong general resemblance. Here, for the first time, we find traces of bricks in the mounds and in the walls of enclosures.

The peculiarities of these several divisions will be more particularly pointed out in the progress of this work; when the points of resemblance and difference will become more apparent. The succeeding observations relate more especially to the remains included in the central geographical section above indicated, where the investigations recorded in this volume were principally carried on, and which, in the extent, variety, and interesting nature of its ancient monuments, affords by far the richest and most important field for archæological research and inquiry.

The number of these ancient remains is well calculated to excite surprise, and has been adduced in support of the hypothesis that they are most, if not all of them, natural formations, “the results of diluvial action,” modified perhaps in some instances, but never erected by man. Of course no such suggestion was ever made by individuals who had enjoyed the opportunity of seeing and investigating them. Simple structures of earth could not possibly bear more palpable evidences of an artificial origin, than do most of the western monuments. The evidences in support of this assertion, derived from the form, structure, position, and contents of these remains, will sufficiently appear in the progress of this work.

• PLATE II, exhibiting a section of twelve miles of the Scioto valley, with its ancient p004 monuments, will serve to give some general conception of the number of these remains. The enclosures are here indicated by dark lines, the mounds by simple dots. Within the section represented, it will be observed that there are not less than ten groups of large works, accompanied by a great number of mounds, of various sizes. Within the enclosure designated by the letter E are embraced twenty-four mounds. The enclosures D, H, I, K, have each about two and a half miles of embankment; and H and K enclose but little less than one hundred acres each. It is proper to observe, to prevent misconception, that there are few sections of country of equal extent which embrace so large a number of ancient works. The fertile valley of the Scioto river was a favorite resort of the ancient people, and was one of the seats of their densest population. The various works indicated in these maps, will be described at length in the subsequent pages. An enlarged plan of the enclosure designated by the letter A is given on Plate [XXIII]; B, on Plate [XVIII]; C, Plate [XVIII]; D, Plate [XVII]; E and F, Plate [XIX]; G, Plate [XXII]; H, Plate [XXI]; I, Plate [XVI]; K, Plate [XX].
• PLATE III, No. 1, exhibits a section of six miles of the Valley of Paint Creek, a tributary of the Scioto river. The village of Bourneville is ten miles west of Chillicothe. Within this limit are embraced three works of extraordinary size, besides several smaller ones. The works, designated by the letters A and B, have each upwards of two miles of heavy embankment, and contain not far from one hundred acres. The stone work C has an area of one hundred and forty acres, enclosed within a wall upwards of two and a fourth miles long. Enlarged plans of the various works here indicated are given in the following pages. A and B, Plate [XXI]; C, Plate [IV]; D and E, Plate [XXX].
• PLATE III, No. 2, presents a section of six miles of the Great Miami valley, included principally within the limits of Butler county, Ohio. Not less than seven enclosures, of considerable size, occur within these bounds. The work indicated by the letter G contains ninety-five acres. An enlarged plan of the work marked A, is given on Plate [VI]; of B, on Plate [XI]; C and F, on Plate [XXX]; D, Plate [XXXI]; and G, on Plate [XIII].

Not far from one hundred enclosures of various sizes, and five hundred mounds, are found in Ross county, Ohio. The number of tumuli in the State may be safely estimated at ten thousand, and the number of enclosures at one thousand or fifteen hundred. Many of them are small, but cannot be omitted in an enumeration. They are scarcely less numerous on the Kenhawas in Virginia, than on the Scioto and Miamis; and are abundant on the White river and Wabash, as also upon the Kentucky, Cumberland, Tennessee, and the numerous other tributaries of the Ohio and Mississippi.

• [♠]
  • Map exhibiting a section of six miles of the Great Miami Valley, with its ancient monuments.
  • No. 2. Map exhibiting a section of six miles of the Paint Creek Valley, with its ancient monuments.
• III.

Nor is their magnitude less a matter of remark than their great number. Lines of embankment, varying in height from five to thirty feet, and enclosing areas of from one to fifty acres, are common; while enclosures of one or two hundred acres area are far from infrequent. Occasional works are found enclosing as many as p005 four hundred acres.[3] The magnitude of the area enclosed is not, however, always a correct index of the amount of labor expended in the erection of these works. A fortified hill in Highland county, Ohio, has one mile and five-eighths of heavy embankment; yet it encloses an area of only about forty acres. A similar work on the Little Miami river, in Warren county, Ohio, has upwards of four miles of embankment, yet encloses little more than one hundred acres. The group of works at the mouth of the Scioto river has an aggregate of at least twenty miles of embankment; yet the entire amount of land embraced within the walls does not probably much exceed two hundred acres.

The mounds are of all dimensions, from those of but a few feet in height and a few yards in diameter, to those which, like the celebrated structure at the mouth of Grave Creek in Virginia, rise to the height of seventy feet, and measure one thousand feet in circumference at the base. The great mound in the vicinity of Miamisburgh, Montgomery county, Ohio, is sixty-eight feet in perpendicular height, and eight hundred and fifty-two in circumference at the base, containing 311,353 cubic feet.

Fig. 1. Great Mound at Miamisburgh, Ohio.

From a sketch by Henry Howe, Esq.

The truncated pyramid at Cahokia, Illinois, has an altitude of ninety feet, and is upwards of two thousand feet in circumference at the base. It has a level summit of several acres area. The great mound at Selserstown, Mississippi, is computed to cover six acres of ground. Mounds of these extraordinary dimensions are most common at the south, though there are some of great size at the north. The usual dimensions are, however, considerably less than in the examples here given. The greater number range from six to thirty feet in perpendicular height, by forty to one hundred feet diameter at the base.[4] p006

All the above-mentioned constructions are composed of earth or stone; though a combination of these materials in the same work is by no means rare. When there are no ditches interior or exterior to the embankments, pits or “dug holes,” from which the earth for their formation was taken, are generally visible near by. These are sometimes very broad and deep, and occasionally quite symmetrical in shape.[5] In the vicinity of large mounds such excavations are common. The earth and stone composing these works are sometimes foreign to the locality which they occupy, and must have been brought from considerable distances.

A large, perhaps the larger, portion of these enclosures are regular in outline, the square and the circle predominating. Some are parallelograms, some ellipses, others polygons, regular or irregular. The regular works are almost invariably erected on level river-terraces, great care having evidently been taken to select those least broken. The irregular works are those which partake most of the character of defences, and are usually made to conform to the nature of the ground upon which they are situated,—running along the brows of hills, or cutting off the approaches to strong natural positions. The square and the circle often occur in combination, frequently communicating with each other or with irregular works directly, or by avenues consisting of parallel lines of embankment. Detached parallels are numerous. The mounds are usually simple cones in form; but they are sometimes truncated, and occasionally terraced, with graded or winding ascents to their summits. Some are elliptical, others pear-shaped, and others squares or parallelograms, with flanking terraces. Besides these, there are others already alluded to, most common in the extreme north-west, which assume the forms of animals and reptiles. Another variety of remains are the causeways or “roads,” and the graded descents to rivers and streams, or from one terrace to another. These several classes of works will be described at length, under appropriate heads.

As already remarked, these remains occur mainly in the valleys of the Western rivers and streams. The alluvial terraces, or “river-bottoms,” as they are popularly termed, were the favorite sites of the builders. The principal monuments are found where these “bottoms” are most extended, and where the soil is most fertile and easy of cultivation. At the junction of streams, where the valleys are usually broadest and most favorable for their erection, some of the largest and most singular remains are found. The works at Marietta; at the junction of the Muskingum with the Ohio; at the mouth of Grave Creek; at Portsmouth, the mouth of the Scioto; and at the mouth of the Great Miami, are instances in point. Occasional works are found on the hill tops, overlooking the valleys, or at a little distance from them; but these are manifestly, in most instances, works of defence or last resort, or in some way connected with warlike purposes. And it is worthy of remark, that the sites selected for settlements, towns, and cities, by the invading Europeans, are often those which were the especial favorites of the mound-builders, and the seats of their heaviest population. Marietta, Newark, Portsmouth, Chillicothe, p007 Circleville, and Cincinnati, in Ohio; Frankfort in Kentucky; and St. Louis in Missouri, may be mentioned in confirmation of this remark. The centres of population are now, where they were at the period when the mysterious race of the mounds flourished.[6]

The aboriginal monuments of the Mississippi valley, the general character of which has been thus briefly and imperfectly indicated, fall within two general divisions, namely, CONSTRUCTIONS OF EARTH OR STONE, comprising Enclosures, Mounds, etc.; and MINOR VESTIGES OF ART, including the Implements, Ornaments, Sculptures, etc. of the ancient people.

The Earth and Stone Works resolve themselves into two classes, viz: ENCLOSURES, bounded by embankments, circumvallations, or walls; and simple tumuli, or MOUNDS.[7] They constitute, together, a single system of works; but, for reasons which will satisfactorily appear, it is preferred to classify them as above. These grand classes resolve themselves into other subordinate divisions: ENCLOSURES FOR DEFENCE, SACRED AND MISCELLANEOUS ENCLOSURES; MOUNDS OF SACRIFICE, TEMPLE MOUNDS, MOUNDS OF SEPULTURE, etc.

• FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER I.
  • [1] Some ancient works, probably belonging to the same system with those of the Mississippi valley, and erected by the same people, occur upon the Susquehanna river, as far down as the Valley of Wyoming, in Pennsylvania. The mound-builders seem to have skirted the southern border of Lake Erie, and spread themselves, in diminished numbers, over the western part of the State of New-York, along the shores of Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence river. They penetrated into the interior, eastward, as far as the county of Onondaga, where some slight vestiges of their works still exist. These seem to have been their limits at the north-east.
  • [2] The only reference we have to the mounds of Oregon is contained in a paragraph in the Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, vol. iv. p. 313:
  • “We soon reached the Bute Prairies, which are extensive, and covered with tumuli, or small mounds, at regular distances asunder. As far as I can learn, there is no tradition among the natives concerning them. They are conical mounds, thirty feet in diameter, about six or seven feet above the level, and many thousands in number. Being anxious to ascertain if they contained any relics, I subsequently visited these prairies, and opened three of the mounds, but found nothing in them but a pavement of round stones.”
  • [3] Lewis and Clarke describe one on the Missouri river which they estimated to contain not far from six hundred acres.—Travels, p. 47.
  • [4] “We have seen mounds which would require the labor of a thousand men employed upon our canals, with all their mechanical aids, and the improved implements of their labor, for months. We have more than once hesitated, in view of one of these prodigious mounds, whether it were not really a natural hill. But they are uniformly so placed, in reference to the adjacent country, and their conformation is so unique and similar, that no eye hesitates long in referring them to the class of artificial erections.”—Flint’s Geography, p. 131.
  • [5] These are the “wells” of Mr. Atwater and other writers on American antiquities. It is barely possible that a few were really wells, or secondarily designed for reservoirs.
  • [6] “The most dense ancient population existed in precisely the places where the most crowded future population will exist in ages to come. The appearance of a series of mounds generally indicates the contiguity of rich and level lands, easy communications, fish, game, and the most favorable adjacent positions.”—Flint.
  • “The most numerous, as well as the most considerable of these remains are found precisely in any part of the country where the traces of a numerous population might be looked for.”—Brackenridge.
  • [7] The term Mound is used in this work in a technical sense, as synonymous with Tumulus or Barrow, and in contradistinction to embankment, wall, &c.

p008

CHAPTER II. EARTHWORKS—ENCLOSURES.

The Enclosures, or, as they are familiarly called throughout the West, “Forts,” constitute a very important and interesting class of remains. Their dimensions, and the popular opinion as to their purposes, attract to them more particularly the attention of observers. As a consequence, most that has been written upon our antiquities relates to them. A considerable number have been surveyed and described by different individuals, at different times; but no systematic examination of a sufficient number to justify any general conclusion as to their origin and purposes has heretofore been attempted. We have therefore had presented as many different hypotheses as there have been individual explorers; one maintaining that all the enclosures were intended for defence, while another persists that none could possibly have been designed for any such purpose. Investigation has shown, however, that while certain works possess features demonstrating incontestibly a military origin, others were connected with the superstitions of the builders, or designed for other purposes not readily apparent in our present state of knowledge concerning them.

It has already been remarked that the square and the circle, separate or in combination, were favorite figures with the mound-builders; and a large proportion of their works in the Scioto valley, and in Ohio generally, are of these forms. Most of the circular works are small, varying from two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet in diameter, while others are a mile or more in circuit. Some stand isolated, but most in connection with one or more mounds, of greater or less dimensions, or in connection with other more complicated works. Wherever the circles occur, if there be a fosse, or ditch, it is almost invariably interior to the parapet. Instances are frequent where no ditch is discernible, and where it is evident that the earth composing the embankment was brought from a distance, or taken up evenly from the surface. In the square and in the irregular works, if there be a fosse at all, it is exterior to the embankment; except in the case of fortified hills, where the earth, for the best of reasons, is usually thrown from the interior. These facts are not without their importance in determining the character and purpose of these remains. Another fact, bearing directly upon the degree of knowledge possessed by the builders, is, that many, if not most, of the circular works are perfect circles, and that many of the rectangular works are accurate squares. This fact has been demonstrated, in numerous instances, by careful admeasurements; and has been remarked in cases where the works embrace an area of many acres, and where the embankments, or circumvallations, are a mile and upwards in extent. p009

To facilitate description, and to bring something like system out of the disordered materials before us, the enclosures are, to as great a degree as practicable, divided into classes; that is to say, such as are esteemed to be works of defence are placed together, while those which are regarded as sacred, or of a doubtful character, come under another division.

WORKS OF DEFENCE.

Those works which are incontestibly defensive usually occupy strong natural positions; and to understand fully their character, their capability for defence, and the nature of their entrenchments, it is necessary to notice briefly the predominant features of the country in which they occur. The valley of the Mississippi river, from the Alleghanies to the ranges of the Rocky Mountains, is a vast sedimentary basin, and owes its general aspect to the powerful agency of water. Its rivers have worn their valleys deep into a vast original plain; leaving, in their gradual subsidence, broad terraces, which mark the eras of their history. The edges of the table-lands, bordering on the valleys, are cut by a thousand ravines, presenting bluff headlands and high hills with level summits, sometimes connected by narrow isthmuses with the original table, but occasionally entirely detached. The sides of these elevations are generally steep, and difficult of access; in some cases precipitous and absolutely inaccessible. The natural strength of such positions, and their susceptibility of defence, would certainly suggest them as the citadels of a people having hostile neighbors, or pressed by invaders. Accordingly we are not surprised at finding these heights occupied by strong and complicated works, the design of which is no less indicated by their position than by their construction. But in such cases, it is always to be observed, that they have been chosen with great care, and that they possess peculiar strength, and have a special adaptation for the purposes to which they were applied. They occupy the highest points of land, and are never commanded from neighboring positions. While rugged and steep on most sides, they have one or more points of comparatively easy approach, in the protection of which the utmost skill of the builders seems to have been exhausted. They are guarded by double, overlapping walls, or a series of them, having sometimes an accompanying mound, designed perhaps for a look-out, and corresponding to the barbican in the system of defence of the Britons of the middle era. The usual defence is a simple embankment, thrown up along and a little below the brow of the hill, varying in height and solidity, as the declivity is more or less steep and difficult of access.

Other defensive works occupy the peninsulas created by the rivers and large p010 streams, or cut off the headlands formed by their junction with each other. In such cases a fosse and wall are thrown across the isthmus, or diagonally from the bank of one stream to the bank of the other. In some, the wall is double, and extends along the bank of the stream some distance inwardly, as if designed to prevent an enemy from turning the flanks of the defence.

To understand clearly the nature of the works last mentioned, it should be remembered that the banks of the western rivers are always steep, and where these works are located, invariably high. The banks of the various terraces are also steep, and vary from ten to thirty and more feet in height. The rivers are constantly shifting their channels; and they frequently cut their way through all the intermediate up to the earliest-formed, or highest terrace, presenting bold banks, inaccessibly steep, and from sixty to one hundred feet high. At such points, from which the river has, in some instances, receded to the distance of half a mile or more, works of this description are oftenest found.

And it is a fact of much importance, and worthy of special note, that within the scope of a pretty extended observation, no work of any kind has been found occupying the first, or latest-formed terrace. This terrace alone, except at periods of extraordinary freshets, is subject to overflow.[8] The formation of each terrace constitutes a sort of semi-geological era in the history of the valley; and the fact that none of the ancient works occur upon the lowest or latest-formed of these, while they are found indiscriminately upon all the others, bears directly upon the question of their antiquity.

In addition to the several descriptions of defensive works above enumerated, there are others presenting peculiar features, which will be sufficiently noticed in the plans and explanations that follow. These plans are all drawn from actual and minute, and in most instances personal survey, and are presented, unless otherwise specially noted, on a uniform scale of five hundred feet to the inch. When there are interesting features too minute to be satisfactorily indicated on so small a scale, enlarged plans have been adopted. This is the case with the very first plan presented. Sections and supplementary plans are given, whenever it is supposed they may illustrate the description, or assist the comprehension of the reader. To shorten the text, the admeasurements are often placed upon the plans, and the “Field Books” of survey wholly omitted. The greatest care has, in all cases, been taken to secure perfect fidelity in all essential particulars. In the sectional maps, in order to show something of the character as well as the positions of the works, it has been found necessary to exaggerate them beyond their proportionate size. Some of the minor features of a few works are also slightly exaggerated, but in no case where it would be apt to lead to misapprehension or wrong conceptions of their character. p011

[♠] IV. Ancient Stone Work near the village of Bourneville, Ross Co. Ohio, 12 miles west of Chillicothe.

PLATE IV.[9] STONE WORK, NEAR BOURNEVILLE, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

This work occupies the summit of a lofty, detached hill, twelve miles westward from the city of Chillicothe, near the village of Bourneville. The hill is not far from four hundred feet in perpendicular height; and is remarkable, even among the steep hills of the West, for the general abruptness of its sides, which at some points are absolutely inaccessible. It is the advance point of a range of hills, situated between the narrow valleys of two small creeks; and projects midway into the broad valley of Paint creek, so as to constitute its most prominent natural feature. It is a conspicuous object from every point of view. Its summit is a wide and fertile plain, with occasional considerable depressions, some of which contain water during the entire year.

The defences consist of a wall of stone which is carried around the hill, a little below the brow; but at some places it rises, so as to cut off the narrow spurs, and extends across the neck that connects the hill with the range beyond. It should not be understood by the term wall, that, at this time, anything like a wall of stones regularly laid up exists; on the contrary, where the line is best preserved, there is little evidence that the stones were laid one upon the other so as to present vertical faces, much less that they were cemented in place. At a few points, however, more particularly at the isthmus D, there are some indications of arrangement in the stones, tending to the belief that the wall here may have been regularly faced on the exterior. The appearance of the line, for the most part, is just what might be expected from the falling outwards of a wall of stones placed, as this was, upon the declivity of a hill. Upon the western, or steepest face of the hill, the range of stones covers a space varying from thirty to fifty feet in width, closely resembling the “protection walls” carried along the embankments of rail-roads and canals, where exposed to the action of rivers or large streams. But for the amount of stones, it might be taken for a natural feature,—the debris of the out-cropping sand strata. Such, certainly, is the first impression which it produces upon the visitor; an impression, however, which is speedily corrected upon reaching the points where the supposed line of debris, rising upon the spurs, forms curved gateways, and then resumes its course as before.

Upon the eastern face of the hill, where the declivity is least abrupt, the wall is heavier and more distinct than upon the west, resembling a long stone-heap of fifteen or twenty feet base, and from three to four feet in height. Where it crosses the isthmus it is heaviest; and although stones enough have been removed from it, p012 at that point, to build a stout division wall between the lands of two proprietors, their removal is not discoverable. This isthmus is seven hundred feet wide, and the wall is carried in a right line across it, at its narrowest point. Here are three gateways opening upon the continuous terrace beyond. These are formed by the curving inward of the ends of the wall for forty or fifty feet, leaving narrow pass-ways between, not exceeding eight feet in width. At the other points, A and C of the plan, where there are jutting ridges, are similar gateways. It is at these points that the hill is most easy of access. At A is a modern roadway; at C is a pathway leading down into the valley of “Black Run.” At B appears to have been a similar gateway, which for some reason was closed up; a like feature may be observed in the line D. At the gateways, the amount of stones is more than quadruple the quantity at other points, constituting broad, mound-shaped heaps. They also exhibit the marks of intense heat, which has in some instances vitrified their surfaces, and fused them together. Light, porous scoriæ are abundant in the centres of some of these piles. Indeed, strong traces of fire are visible at many places on the line of the wall, particularly at F, the point commanding the broadest extent of country. Here are two or three small mounds of stone, which seem burned throughout. Nothing is more certain than that powerful fires have been maintained, for considerable periods, at numerous prominent points on the hill; for what purposes, unless as alarm signals, it is impossible to conjecture.[10]

It will be observed that the wall is interrupted for some distance at E, where the hill is precipitous and inaccessible. There are, as has already been remarked, several depressions upon the hill which contain constant supplies of water. One of them covers about two acres, and furnishes a supply estimated by the proprietor as adequate to the wants of a thousand head of cattle. Water is obtained in abundance at the depth of twenty feet.

The area enclosed within this singular work is something over one hundred and forty acres, and the line of the wall measures upwards of two and a quarter miles in length. Most of the wall, and a large portion of the area, are still covered with a heavy primitive forest. Trees of the largest size grow on the line, twisting their roots among the stones, some of which are firmly imbedded in their trunks.

That this work was designed for defence, will hardly admit of doubt; the fact is sufficiently established, not less by the natural strength of the position, than by the character of the defences. Of the original construction of the wall, now so completely in ruins, we can of course form no very clear conception. It is possible that it was once regularly laid up; but it seems that, if such were ever the case, some satisfactory evidence of the fact would still be discoverable. We must consider, however, that it is situated upon a yielding and disintegrating declivity; and that successive forests, in their growth and prostration, aided by the action of the elements, in the long period which must certainly have elapsed since its p013 construction, would have been adequate to the total demolition of structures more solid and enduring than we are justified in supposing any of the stone works of the ancient people to have been. The stones are of all sizes, and sufficiently abundant to have originally formed walls eight feet high, by perhaps an equal base. At some points, substantial fence-lines have been built from them, without sensibly diminishing their numbers. It can readily be perceived that, upon a steep declivity, such as this hill presents, so large an amount of stones, even though simply heaped together, must have proved an almost insurmountable impediment in the way of an assailant, especially if they were crowned by palisades.

In the magnitude of the area enclosed, this work exceeds any hill-work now known in the country; although the wall is considerably less in length than that of “Fort Ancient,” on the Little Miami river. It evinces great labor, and bears the impress of a numerous people. The valley in which it is situated was a favorite one with the race of the mounds; and the hill overlooks a number of extensive groups of ancient works, the bearings of which are indicated by arrows on the plan.

Paint creek washes the base of the hill upon the left, and has for some distance worn away the argillaceous slate rock, so as to leave a mural front of from fifty to seventy-five feet in height. It has also uncovered a range of septaria, occurring near the base of the slate stratum; a number of which, of large size, are to be seen in the bed of the creek, at a. These, most unaccountably, have been mistaken for works of art,—“stone covers” for deep wells sunk in the rock. This notion has been gravely advanced in print; and the humble septaria, promoted to a high standing amongst the antiquities of America, now figure prominently in every work of speculations on the subject. The reason for sinking wells in the bed of a creek, was probably never very obvious to any mind. The supposed “wells” are simple casts of huge septaria, which have been dislodged from their beds; the cyclopean “covers” are septaria which have resisted the disintegrating action of the water, and still retain their places. Parallel ranges of these singular natural productions run through the slate strata of this region: they are of an oblate-spheroidal figure, some of them measuring from nine to twelve feet in circumference. They frequently have apertures or hollows in their middle, with radiating fissures, filled with crystalline spar or sulphate of baryta. These fissures sometimes extend beyond them, in the slate rock, constituting the “good joints” mentioned by some writers. The slate layers are not interrupted by these productions, but are bent or wrapped around them. The following cut illustrates their character. A is a vertical section: a exhibiting the water, b the rock. At c the septarium has disintegrated, or has been removed, and its cavity or bed is filled with pebbles. At d the nodule still remains. B exhibits the appearance presented by d from above.

Fig. 2.

A stone work, somewhat similar in character to that here described, exists near the town of Somerset, Perry county, Ohio. It is described by Mr. Atwater in the Arch­æ­o­log­ia Amer­i­ca­na, vol. i. p. 131. p014

Still another, of small size and irregular outline, is situated on Beaver creek, a branch of the Great Kenhawa, in Fayette county, Virginia, of which an account was published by Mr. I. Craig of Pittsburgh, in the “American Pioneer,” vol. i. p. 199.

PLATE V. “FORT HILL,” HIGHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.[11]

This work occurs in the southern part of Highland county, Ohio; and is distant about thirty miles from Chillicothe, and twelve from Hillsborough. It is universally known as “Fort Hill,” though no better entitled to the name than many others of similar character. The defences occupy the summit of a hill, which is elevated five hundred feet above the bed of Brush creek at its base, and eight hundred feet above the Ohio river at Cincinnati. Unlike the hills around it, this one stands detached and isolated, and forms a conspicuous object from every approach. Its sides are steep and precipitous; and, except at one or two points, if not absolutely inaccessible, extremely difficult of ascent. The points most easy of access are at the southern and northern angles, and may be reached on horseback. The top of the hill is level, and has an area of not far from fifty acres, which is covered with a heavy primitive forest of gigantic trees. One of these, a chestnut, standing on the embankment near the point indicated by the letter e, measures twenty-one feet in circumference; another, an oak, which also stood on the wall, at the point f, though now fallen and much decayed, still measures twenty-three feet in circumference. All around are scattered the trunks of immense trees, in every stage of decay; the entire forest presenting an appearance of the highest antiquity.

[♠] V. Fort Hill, Highland Co. Ohio.

Thus much for its natural features. Running along the edge of the hill is an embankment of mingled earth and stone, interrupted at intervals by gateways. Interior to this is a ditch, from which the material composing the wall was taken. The length of the wall is eight thousand two hundred and twenty-four feet, or something over a mile and a half. In height, measuring from the bottom of the ditch, it varies from six to ten feet, though at some places it rises to the height of fifteen feet. Its average base is thirty-five or forty feet. It is thrown up somewhat below the brow of the hill, the level of the terrace being generally about even with the top of the wall; but in some places it rises considerably above, as shown in the sections. The outer slope of the wall is more abrupt than that of the hill; the earth and stones from the ditch, sliding down fifty or a hundred feet, have formed a p015 declivity for that distance, so steep as to be difficult of ascent, even with the aid which the trees and bushes afford. The ditch has an average width of not far from fifty feet; and, in many places, is dug through the sandstone layer upon which the soil of the terrace rests.[12] At the point A, the rock is quarried out, leaving a mural front about twenty feet high. The inner declivity of the ditch appears to have been terraced. It descends abruptly from the level for a few feet, then declines gently for some distance, and again dips suddenly, as it approaches the wall. The vertical section a b exhibits this feature.

There are thirty-three gateways or openings in the wall, most of them very narrow, not exceeding fifteen or twenty feet in width at the top: only eleven of these have corresponding causeways across the ditch. They occur at irregular intervals; and some of them appear to have been rather designed to let off the water which might otherwise accumulate in the ditch, than to serve as places of egress or ingress. Indeed, most of them cannot be supposed to have been used for the last named purposes, inasmuch as they occur upon the very steepest points of the hill, and where approach is almost impossible. At the northern and southern spurs or angles of the hill, the gateways are widest, and the parapet curves slightly outwards. The ditch is interrupted at these points.

There are three depressions or ponds within the enclosure; the largest of these, g, has a well-defined artificial embankment on its lower side, which has recently been cut through, and the water principally drawn off. When full, the water must have covered very nearly an acre. Bog-clumps are growing around its edges, and it is free from trees. It does not seem to have any perennial sources of supply. There are several other small circular depressions, a number of which occur together at the bluff A; there are also traces of other excavations, not clearly defined, at various points on the hill.

An inspection of the plan of the work, shows that it is naturally divided into three parts; that at A being, in many respects, the most remarkable. It is connected with the main body of the work by a narrow ridge but one hundred feet wide, and terminates at a bold, bluff ledge, the top of which is thirty feet above the bottom of the trench, and twenty feet above the wall. This bluff is two hundred feet wide. It is altogether the most prominent point of the hill, and commands a wide extent of country. Here are strong traces of the action of fire on the rocks and stones; though whether remote or recent, it is not easy to determine. The connection between the two principal divisions of the work is also narrow, being barely two hundred and fifty feet in width.

Such are the more striking features of this interesting work. Considered in a military point of view, as a work of defence, it is well chosen, well guarded, and, with an adequate force, impregnable to any mode of attack practised by a rude, or semi-civilized people. As a natural stronghold, it has few equals; and the p016 degree of skill displayed and the amount of labor expended in constructing its artificial defences, challenge our admiration, and excite our surprise. With all the facilities and numerous mechanical appliances of the present day, the construction of a work of this magnitude would be no insignificant undertaking. And when we reflect how comparatively rude, at the best, must have been the means at the command of the people who raised this monument, we are prepared to estimate the value which they placed upon the objects sought in its erection, and also to form some conclusion respecting the number and character of the people themselves.

It is quite unnecessary to recapitulate the features which give to this the character of a military work; for they are too obvious to escape attention. The angles of the hill form natural bastions, enfilading the wall. The position of the wall, the structure of the ditch, the peculiarities of the gateways where ascent is practicable, the greater height of the wall where the declivity of the hill is least abrupt, the reservoirs of water, the look-out or citadel, all go to sustain the conclusion.

The evidence of antiquity afforded by the aspect of the forest, is worthy of more than a passing notice. Actual examination showed the existence of not far from two hundred annual rings or layers to the foot, in the large chestnut-tree already mentioned, now standing upon the entrenchments. This would give nearly six hundred years as the age of the tree. If to this we add the probable period intervening from the time of the building of the work to its abandonment, and the subsequent period up to its invasion by the forest, we are led irresistibly to the conclusion, that it has an antiquity of at least one thousand years.[13] But when we notice, all around us, the crumbling trunks of trees half hidden in the accumulating soil, we are induced to fix upon an antiquity still more remote.

It is worthy of note, that this work is in a broken country, with no other remains, except perhaps a few small, scattered mounds, in its vicinity. The nearest monuments of magnitude are in the Paint creek valley, sixteen miles distant, from which it is separated by elevated ridges. Lower down, on Brush creek, towards its junction with the Ohio, are some works; but none of importance occur within twelve miles in that direction.

[♠] VI. Fortified Hill, Butler Co. Ohio, 3 Mile S. W. of the town of Hamilton.

PLATE VI. FORTIFIED HILL, BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO.

This fine work is situated in Butler county, Ohio, on the west side of the Great Miami river, three miles below the town of Hamilton. The plan is from a p017 survey by JAMES MCBRIDE, Esq., and the description is made up from his notes. The hill, the summit of which it occupies, is about a half mile distant from the present bed of the river, and is not far from two hundred and fifty feet high, being considerably more elevated than any other in the vicinity. It is surrounded at all points, except a narrow space at the north, by deep ravines, presenting steep and almost inaccessible declivities. The descent towards the north is gradual; and from that direction, the hill is easy of access. It is covered with a primitive forest of oak, hickory, and locust, of the same character with the surrounding forests.

Skirting the brow of the hill, and generally conforming to its outline, is a wall of mingled earth and stone, having an average height of five feet by thirty-five feet base. It has no accompanying ditch; the earth composing it, which is a stiff clay, having been for the most part taken up from the surface, without leaving any marked excavation. There are a number of “dug holes,” however, at various points, from which it is evident a portion of the material was obtained. The wall is interrupted by four gateways or passages, each twenty feet wide; one opening to the north, on the approach above mentioned, and the others occurring where the spurs of the hill are cut off by the parapet, and where the declivity is least abrupt. They are all, with one exception, protected by inner lines of embankment, of a most singular and intricate description. These are accurately delineated in the plan, which will best explain their character. It will be observed that the northern gateway, in addition to its inner maze of walls, has an exterior work of a crescent shape, the ends of which approach to within a few feet of the brow of the hill.

The excavations are uniformly near the gateways, or within the lines covering them. None of them are more than sixty feet over, nor have they any considerable depth. Nevertheless, they all, with the exception of the one nearest to gateway S, contain water for the greater portion, if not the whole of the year. A pole may be thrust eight or ten feet into the soft mud, at the bottom of those at E.

At S and W, terminating the parapet, are two mounds, each eight feet high, composed of stones thrown loosely together. Thirty rods distant from gateway N, and exterior to the work, is a mound ten feet high, on which trees of the largest size are growing. It was partially excavated a number of years ago, and a quantity of stones taken out, all of which seemed to have undergone the action of fire.

The ground in the interior of this work gradually rises, as indicated in the section, to the height of twenty-six feet above the base of the wall, and overlooks the entire adjacent country.

In the vicinity of this work, are a number of others occupying the valley; no less than six of large size occur within a distance of six miles down the river. [See Plate [III]. No. 2. This work is marked A on the map.]

The character of this structure is too obvious to admit of doubt. The position which it occupies is naturally strong, and no mean degree of skill is employed in its artificial defences. Every avenue is strongly guarded. The principal approach, the only point easy of access, or capable of successful assault, is rendered doubly secure. A mound, used perhaps as an alarm post, is placed at about one-fourth of the distance down the ascent; a crescent wall crosses the isthmus, leaving but p018 narrow passages between its ends and the steeps on either hand. Next comes the principal wall of the enclosure. In event of an attack, even though both these defences were carried, there still remains a series of walls so complicated as inevitably to distract and bewilder the assailants, thus giving a marked advantage to the defenders. This advantage may have been much greater than we, in our ignorance of the military system of this ancient people, can understand. But, from the manifest judgment with which their defensive positions were chosen, as well as from the character of their entrenchments, so far as we comprehend them, it is safe to conclude that all parts of this work were the best calculated to secure the objects proposed by the builders, under the modes of attack and defence then practised.

The coincidences between the guarded entrances of this and similar works throughout the West, and those of the Mexican defences, is singularly striking. The wall on the eastern side of the Tlascalan territories, mentioned by Cortez and Bernal Diaz, was six miles long, having a single entrance thirty feet wide, which was formed in the manner represented in the supplementary plan A. The ends of the wall overlapped each other, in the form of semicircles, having a common centre.[14]

PLATE VII. “FORT ANCIENT,” WARREN COUNTY, OHIO.[15]

[♠] VII. Fort Ancient, East Bank of the Little Miami River, 33 miles above Cincinnati.

One of the most extensive, if not the most extensive, work of this class, in the entire West, occurs on the banks of the Little Miami river, about thirty-five miles north-east from Cincinnati, in Warren county, Ohio. It has not far from four miles of embankment, for the most part very heavy, rising, at the more accessible points, to the height of eighteen and twenty feet. The accompanying map is from a faithful survey, made by Prof. LOCKE, of Cincinnati, and published by him amongst the papers of the American Association of Geologists and Naturalists, in p019 1843. One or two slight additions have been made to his map, to indicate features which may be of some importance in a consideration of the work and its character. The description of Prof. Locke, accompanying the map, though brief, and written with a view to certain geological questions, may not be omitted in this connection.

“This work occupies a terrace on the left bank of the river, and two hundred and thirty feet above its waters. The place is naturally a strong one, being a peninsula, defended by two ravines, which, originating on the east side near to each other, diverging and sweeping around, enter the Miami, the one above, the other below the work. The Miami itself, with its precipitous bank of two hundred feet, defends the western side. The ravines are occupied by small streams. Quite around this peninsula, on the very verge of the ravines, has been raised an embankment of unusual height and perfection. Meandering around the spurs, and re-entering to pass the heads of the gullies, it is so winding in its course that it required one hundred and ninety-six stations to complete its survey. The whole circuit of the work is between four and five miles. The number of cubic yards of excavation may be approximately estimated at six hundred and twenty-eight thousand eight hundred. The embankment stands in many places twenty feet in perpendicular height; and although composed of a tough, diluvial clay, without stone, except in a few places, its outward slope is from thirty-five to forty-three degrees. This work presents no continuous ditch; but the earth for its construction has been dug from convenient pits, which are still quite deep, or filled with mud and water. Although I brought over a party of a dozen active young engineers, and we had encamped upon the ground to expedite our labors, we were still two days in completing our survey, which, with good instruments, was conducted with all possible accuracy. The work approaches nowhere within many feet of the river; but its embankment is, in several places, carried down into ravines from fifty to one hundred feet deep, and at an angle of thirty degrees, crossing a streamlet at the bottom, which, by showers, must often swell to a powerful torrent. But in all instances the embankment may be traced to within three to eight feet of the stream. Hence it appears, that although these little streams have cut their channels through fifty to one hundred feet of thin, horizontal layers of blue limestone, interstratified with indurated clay marl, not more than three feet of that excavation has been done since the construction of the earthworks. If the first portion of the denudation was not more rapid than the last, a period of at least thirty to fifty thousand years would be required for the present point of its progress. But the quantity of material removed from such a ravine is as the square of its depth, which would render the last part of its denudation much slower, in vertical descent, than the first part. That our streams have not yet reached their ultimate level, a point beyond which they cease to act upon their beds, is evident from the vast quantity of solid material transported annually by our rivers, to be added to the great delta of the Mississippi. Finally, I am astonished to see a work, simply of earth, after braving the storms of thousands of years, still so entire and well marked. Several circumstances have contributed to this. The clay of which it is built is not easily penetrated by water. The bank has been, and is still, mostly covered by a forest p020 of beech trees, which have woven a strong web of their roots over its steep sides; and a fine bed of moss (Polytrichum) serves still further to afford protection.”

Upon the steep slope of the hill, at the point where it approaches nearest to the river, are distinctly traceable three parallel terraces, which were not represented in the original map, but which are indicated here. It is not impossible that they are natural, and were formed by successive slips or slides of earth, a feature not uncommon at the West. They nevertheless, from their great regularity, appear to be artificial, and are so regarded by most persons. A very fine view of the valley, in both directions, is commanded from them; though, perhaps, no better than may be obtained from the brow of the hill along which the embankment runs. It has been suggested that they were designed as stations, from which to annoy an enemy passing in boats or canoes along the river. This feature is illustrated in the section r s.

From a point near the two large mounds on the neck of the peninsula, start off two parallel walls, which continue for about thirteen hundred and fifty feet, when they diverge suddenly, but soon close around a small mound. As this outwork is in cultivated grounds, it has been so much obliterated as to escape ordinary observation, and is now traceable with difficulty. These parallels are shown in the Supplementary Plan A. They are almost identical, in all their dimensions, with similar parallels attached to ancient works in the Scioto valley.

It is a feature no less worthy of remark in this than in other works of the same class, and one which bears directly upon the question of their design, that at all the more accessible points, the defences are of the greatest solidity and strength. Across the isthmus connecting this singular peninsula with the table land, the wall is nearly double the height that it possesses at those points where the conformation of the ground assisted the builders in securing their position. The average height of the embankment is between nine and ten feet; but, at the place mentioned, it is no less than twenty. At the spur where the State road ascends the hill, and where the declivity is most gentle, the embankment is also increased in height and solidity, being at this time not less than fourteen feet high by sixty feet base.

There are over seventy gateways or interruptions in the embankment, at irregular intervals along its line. For reasons heretofore given, it is difficult to believe they were all designed as places of ingress or egress. We can only account for their number, upon the hypothesis that they are places once occupied by block-houses or bastions composed of timber, and which have long since decayed. These openings appear to have been originally about ten or fifteen feet in width.

• [♠]
  • Nos. 1–2. Butler Co. Ohio.
  • No. 3. Miami Co. Ohio.
  • No. 4. Montgomery Co. Ohio.
• VIII. Ancient Works

This work, it will be seen, consists of two grand divisions, the passage between which is long and narrow. Across this neck is carried a wall of the ordinary dimensions, as if to prevent the further progress of an enemy, in the event of either of the principal divisions being carried,—a feature which, while it goes to establish the military origin of the work, at the same time evinces the skill and foresight of the builders. This foresight is further shown, in so managing the excavations necessary for the erection of the walls, as to form numerous large reservoirs; sufficient, in p021 connection with the springs originating within the work, to supply with water any population which might here make a final stand before an invader. Even in the absence of these sources, surrounded as the work is on every hand by streams, it would be easy, in face of the most formidable investment, to procure an adequate supply.

At numerous points in the line of embankment, and where from position they would yield the most effective support, are found large quantities of stones. These are water-worn, and seem, for the most part, to have been taken from the river. If so, an incredible amount of labor has been expended in transporting them to the places which they now occupy,—especially will it appear incredible, when we reflect that all of them were doubtless transported by human hands.

A review of this magnificent monument cannot fail to impress us with admiration of the skill which selected, and the industry which secured this position. Under a military system, such as we feel warranted in ascribing to the people by whom this work was constructed, it must have been impregnable. In every point of view, it is certainly one of the most interesting remains of antiquity which the continent affords.

PLATE VIII. No. 1. [From the Surveys and Notes of JAMES MCBRIDE.]

This work occurs on the bank of the Great Miami river, four miles above the town of Hamilton, in Butler county, Ohio, and is one of the most interesting hill-works known. It corresponds in all essential particulars with those of the same class already described. It occupies the summit of a promontory cut from the table lands bordering the Miami river, which upon three sides presents high and steep natural banks, rendered more secure for purposes of defence by artificial embankments thrown up along their brows. The remaining side is defended by a wall and ditch, and it is from this side only that the work is easy of approach. The walls are low, measuring at this time but about four feet in height. The area enclosed is level, subsiding somewhat towards the north, so as to form a sort of natural terrace along the river. Previous to the construction of the Miami canal, this terrace was eight or ten rods wide, having a perpendicular bank next the river, some fifty or more feet high. Upon this terrace are situated several small mounds. The point indicated by c in the plan is the most elevated within the enclosure. The ground here was intermixed with large stones, most of which were removed in building the canal. Among them, it is said, were found several human skeletons, and also a variety of carved stone implements.

The most interesting feature in connection with this work is the entrance on the south, of which the enlarged plan can alone afford a fair conception. The ends p022 of the wall curve inwardly as they approach each other, upon a radius of seventy-five feet, forming a true circle, interrupted only by the gateways. Within the space thus formed, is a small circle one hundred feet in diameter; outside of which and covering the gateway is a mound, e, forty feet in diameter and five feet high. The passage between the mound and the embankment, and between the walls of the circles, is now about six feet wide. The gateway or opening d is twenty feet wide. This singular entrance, it will be remarked, strongly resembles the gateways belonging to a work already described (Plate [VI].), although much more regular in its construction.

The ditches, f f, which accompany the wall on the south, subside into the ravines upon either side. These ravines are not far from sixty feet deep, and have precipitous sides, rendering ascent almost impossible. The mound h is three feet high.

The area of the work is seventeen acres; the whole of which is yet covered with a dense primitive forest. The valley beyond the river is broad, and in it are many traces of a remote population, of which this work was probably the fortress or place of last resort, during turbulent periods.

PLATE VIII. No. 2.

This work is situated six miles south-west of the town of Hamilton, in Butler county, Ohio. It has no very remarkable features, although possessing the general characteristics of this class of works. It consists of a simple embankment of earth carried around the brow of a high, detached hill, overlooking a wide and beautiful section of the Miami valley. The side of the hill on the north, towards the river, is very abrupt, and rises to the height of one hundred and twenty feet above the valley. The remaining sides are steep, though comparatively easy of ascent. The walls are scarcely four feet high, and seem to have been much reduced by time. There are six gateways, two of which open upon natural bastions or look-outs, and the remaining four towards copious springs, as shown in the plan. The ground within the walls rises gradually to the centre, from which an extended view of the valley and surrounding country may be obtained. There are two mounds of earth placed near together on the highest point within the enclosure, measuring respectively ten feet in height.

South-east of the work, and nine hundred feet distant, is an eminence A, about fifty feet higher than the one occupied by the above mentioned work,—being much the highest point in the neighborhood. The area on the top is, however, inconsiderable. There are some traces of ancient occupation here, though they are far from being distinct or considerable. p023

PLATE VIII. No. 3.

The enclosure here represented is situated on the left bank of the Great Miami river, two and a half miles above the town of Piqua, Miami county, Ohio, upon the farm of Col. John Johnston, a prominent actor in the early history of Ohio. It occupies the third terrace, which here forms a bluff peninsula, bounded on three sides by streams. The banks of the terrace vary from fifty to seventy-five feet in height. The embankment is carried along the boundaries of the peninsula, enclosing an oval-shaped area of about eighteen acres. It is composed of earth intermixed with large quantities of stone, and is unaccompanied by a ditch. The stones that enter into the composition of the rampart are water-worn, and must have been brought from the bed of the river; which, according to Dr. Drake, for two miles opposite this work, does not at present afford a stone of ten pounds weight. A mound, five feet high and surrounded by a ditch, occurs within the work. There is also another, exterior to the walls, upon the second terrace, towards the river. This is classed as a defensive work, for very obvious reasons.[16]

Below this entrenchment, and on the present site of the town of Piqua, a group of works formerly existed, consisting of circles, ellipses, etc. These have been described at length, by Major Long.[17] There are also various small works on the opposite bank of the Miami. Indeed, the whole valley is here covered with traces of a former dense population.

PLATE VIII. No. 4.[18]

This work resembles one already described, No. 2 of this Plate. It is situated on the bank of the Great Miami river, three miles below Dayton, Montgomery county, Ohio. The side of the hill towards the river is very steep, rising to the p024 height of one hundred and sixty feet. The remaining sides are less abrupt. Upon the south is the principal gateway, and here the declivity is gentle. This gateway is covered upon the interior by a ditch, c c, twenty feet wide, and seven hundred feet long. At d d d are dug holes, from which it is apparent a portion of the earth composing the embankments was taken. At b is a natural depression forty feet deep, and covering not far from one and a half acres. At the northern slope of the narrow ridge which intersects the work, and within the line of the embankment of which it forms a part, is a small mound. From its top a full view of the surrounding country, for a long distance up and down the river, may be obtained. A terrace, apparently artificial, skirts the north-west side of the hill, thirty feet below the embankment. As remarked in a former instance, this terrace may be natural; it has, however, all the regularity of a work of art.

PLATE IX. No. 1. FORTIFIED HILL, NEAR GRANVILLE, LICKING COUNTY, OHIO.

The work here represented is situated two miles below the town of Granville, Licking county, Ohio. It encloses the summit of a high hill, and embraces an area of not far from eighteen acres. The embankment is, for the most part, carried around the hill at a considerable distance below its brow, and is completely overlooked from every portion of the enclosed area. Unlike all other hill-works which have fallen under notice, the ditch occurs outside of the wall; the earth in the construction of the latter having been thrown upwards and inwards. This is observed equally at the points where the hill is steepest; and the result has been, in the lapse of time, that the ditch is almost obliterated, while the accumulating earth has filled the space above the wall, so that the appearance of the defence, at these points, is that of a high, steep terrace. The height of the wall varies at different places; where the declivity is gentle and the approach easy, it is highest,—perhaps eight or ten feet from the bottom of the ditch; elsewhere it is considerably less. The embankment conforms generally to the shape of the hill. It is interrupted by three gateways, two of which open towards springs of water, and the other, or principal one, upon a long narrow spur, which subsides gradually into the valley of Raccoon creek, affording a comparatively easy ascent.

• [♠]
  • No. 1. Fortified Hill, Near Granville, Licking Co. Ohio.
  • No. 2. Fortified Hill, Near the mouth of the Great Miami River, Hamilton Co. Ohio.
  • No. 3. Ancient Work, near Lexington, Kentucky.
• IX.

Upon the highest part of the ground enclosed in this work, is a small circle, one hundred feet in diameter, within which are two small mounds. There is also another truncated mound, a little distance to the northward of the circle. The mounds within the circle, upon excavation, were found, in common with all similar structures occurring within enclosures, to contain altars. No enduring remains seem to have been deposited upon these altars, which were covered with ashes, intermixed with small fragments of pottery. This is the only hill-work which has p025 been observed to embrace a minor work of the description here represented. The character of the principal enclosure can hardly be mistaken; it is palpably a defensive work, although deficient in that grand essential, a supply of water. If we concede, what can hardly admit of doubt, that the minor structure had a sacred or superstitious origin, we must of necessity arrive at the conclusion that the altars of the ancient people sometimes accompanied their defences.

This work constitutes one of the Newark Group, and is indicated by the letter B in the “Map of six miles of the Newark Valley,” presented upon a succeeding plate. This section of country was once densely populated, as is evidenced by the number and extent of the ancient remains which it includes; and it is probable that the work here noticed, together with one of like character upon the opposite side of the valley, three miles distant, constituted the places of last resort of the ancient inhabitants. The extensive works in the immediate vicinity of Newark, of which a full account is elsewhere given, can hardly be supposed to partake of a military character.

PLATE IX. No. 2.[19] FORTIFIED HILL AT THE MOUTH OF THE GREAT MIAMI RIVER, HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO.

This work is strictly analogous to the other hill-works already described, and is so well exhibited in the engraving as to need little explanation. It occupies the summit of a steep, insulated hill, and consists of a wall carried along its brow, composed of earth, thrown as usual in such cases from the interior. The wall conforms strictly to the outline of the hill, except at the west, where there is a considerable promontory, which is left unenclosed. Upon this promontory is a mound, corresponding doubtless in its purposes with the one on the principal avenue of approach to the remarkable fortified hill, higher up on the Miami, in Butler county (Plate [VI].) The late President Harrison regarded this work as admirably designed for defence, and as evincing extraordinary military skill. He says:

“The work at the mouth of the Great Miami was a citadel, more elevated than the Acropolis of Athens, although easier of access, as it is not like the latter a solid rock, but upon three sides is as nearly perpendicular as could be, to be composed of earth. A large space of the low ground was, however, enclosed by walls uniting it with the Ohio. The foundation of that (being of stone as well as those of the citadel) which formed the western defence, is still visible where it crosses p026 the Miami river, which, at the period of the erection of the work, must have discharged itself into the Ohio at a point much lower down than it now does. I have never been able to discover the eastern wall of the enclosure; but if its direction from the citadel to the Ohio was such as it should have been, to embrace the largest space with the least labor, there could not have been less than three hundred acres enclosed.”[20]

PLATE IX. No. 3. ANCIENT WORK NEAR LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY. [From the RAFINESQUE MSS.]

This work is situated at the junction of the Town and South forks of the Elkhorn river, seven miles from the town of Lexington, Kentucky. Its character is sufficiently explained by the engraving. It is entirely singular in having a stream, of considerable size, running through it. The river has probably encroached upon its original proportions. About one hundred yards to the eastward of this work is a small, oblong enclosure, and a large, elliptical, truncated mound. Other mounds and enclosures occur in the vicinity.[21]

PLATE X. CLARK’S WORK; NORTH FORK OF PAINT CREEK.[22]

The work here presented is one of the largest and most interesting in the Scioto valley. It has many of the characteristics of a work of defence, and is accordingly classified as such, although differing in position and some other respects from the entrenched hills just described. The minor works which it encloses, or which are in combination with it, are manifestly of a different character, probably religious p027 in their design, and would seem to point to the conclusion, that this was a fortified town, rather than a defensive work of last resort.

[♠] X. North Fork, Works, Ross Co. Ohio.

It is situated on the North fork of Paint creek, on the estate of W. C. CLARK, Esq. and occupies the entire width of the second terrace, which here presents a broad and level plain, of exceeding beauty and fertility. Its general form is that of a parallelogram, twenty-eight hundred feet by eighteen hundred, with one of its corners somewhat rounded. On the side next the creek, it is bounded by a wall four feet high, running along the very edge of the terrace-bank, and conforming to its irregularities; these however are slight. Its remaining sides are bounded by a wall and exterior ditch; the wall is six feet high by thirty-five feet base, and the ditch of corresponding dimensions. The lines ascend the declivity of the table land back of the terrace, and extend along its brow, dipping into the ravines and rising over the ridges into which it has been cut by the action of water. Wherever the ravines are of any considerable depth, the wall has been washed away; but in all cases leaving evidences that it once extended uninterruptedly through. The bank of the terrace is thirty, that of the table-land fifty feet in height.

The area thus enclosed is one hundred and eleven acres. To the right of the principal work, and connecting with it by a gateway at its centre, is a smaller work of sixteen acres area. It is a perfect square; its sides measuring respectively eight hundred and fifty feet. It has gateways at the middle of each side, thirty feet wide, and covered by small mounds, which are placed fifty feet interior to the walls. There are gateways also at the two outer corners, which are unaccompanied by mounds. The opening which leads to the principal enclosure is twice as wide as the others. The walls of the smaller work are much lighter than those of the large one, and have no attendant ditch.

Fig. 3.

Within the area of the great work, are two small ones: one of them is a perfect circle, three hundred and fifty feet in diameter, bounded by a single slight wall, with a gateway opening to the west; the other is a semi-circular enclosure, two thousand feet in circumference, bounded by a slight circumvallation and ditch as represented in the plan. Within this last enclosure (of which Fig. 3 is a view) are seven mounds; three of which are joined together, forming a continuous elevation thirty feet high by five hundred feet long, and one hundred and eighty broad at the base. (See longitudinal section n o.) The ground within this work appears to be elevated above the general level of the plain, whether designedly or by the wasting of the mounds it is impossible to say. There are other mounds at the points indicated in the plan, most of which have been explored; with what results will appear in the chapter on mounds. It may nevertheless be proper to remark, that nearly all the mounds examined were places of sacrifice, containing altars; thus confirming the opinion already confidently expressed, respecting the character of the work.

Where the defences descend from the table lands to the left, is a gully or p028 torrent-bed, which, before the construction of this work, kept the course indicated by the dotted line x. It was turned by the builders from its natural channel into the ditch, along which it still runs for a considerable distance; but at one place it has broken over the wall, obliterating it for nearly two hundred feet. It is dry at most seasons of the year; and, unless much swollen by the rains, keeps the course of the ditch, terminating in a deep gully, formed by the flow of water from a copious and unfailing spring. This gully is made to answer as a ditch, for the space yet intervening, to the edge of the terrace. It is fifteen feet deep, by sixty or seventy wide. In several other instances, this artificial change in water-courses has been observed.

The gateways of this work are six in number; one opening into the smaller enclosure to the east, two upon the table lands, one to the spring first mentioned, and two others towards the creek. Two considerable springs occur within the walls. It is not necessary, however, upon the hypothesis already advanced in respect to this work, to suppose its ancient population wholly dependent upon these sources for their supply of water; inasmuch as it is very evident that many centuries have not elapsed since the creek, now one hundred rods distant, washed the base of the terrace upon which it stands. Indeed, until recently, and until prevented by dykes above, the creek at its highest stages continued to send a portion of its waters along its ancient channel.

The slight wall along the terrace bank is composed chiefly of smooth, water-worn stones, taken from the creek, and cemented together by tough, clayey earth. The wall of the square is wholly of clay, and its outlines may be easily traced by the eye, from a distance, by its color. It appears, as do the embankments of many other works, to have been slightly burned. This appearance is so marked, as to induce some persons to suppose that the walls were, in certain instances, originally composed of bricks partially baked, but which have in process of time lost their form, and subsided into a homogeneous mass. That they have in some cases been subjected to the action of fire, is too obvious to admit of doubt. At the point z in the lower wall of the square, stones and large masses of pebbles and earth, much burned, and resembling a ferruginous conglomerate, are turned up by the plough. May not this feature be accounted for by supposing the walls to have been originally surmounted by palisades, which were destroyed by the action of fire? Such a cause, however, seems hardly adequate to produce so striking results.

The broken table land upon which the main work extends, forms natural bastions at T and S, which have gateways opening to them. At the point marked C in the embankment, a quantity of calcined human bones are observable.

[♠] XI. Ancient Work, Butler Co. Ohio.

Such are some of the features of this interesting work; and if their detail has been tedious, it may be urged in extenuation of such minuteness, that descriptions have hitherto been quite too vague and general. Minute circumstances are often of the first importance in arriving at correct conclusions. The comparative slightness of the wall and the absence of a ditch, at the points possessing natural defences,—the extension of the artificial defences upon the table lands overlooking and commanding the terrace,—the facilities afforded for an abundant supply of water, as well as the large area enclosed, with its mysterious circles and sacred p029 mounds,—all go to sustain the conclusion, that this was a fortified town or city of the ancient people. The history of its fall, if its strange monuments could speak, would perhaps tell of heroic defence of homes and altars, and of daring achievements in siege and assault.

The amount of labor expended in the construction of this work, in view of the imperfect means at the command of the builders, is immense. The embankments measure together nearly three miles in length; and a careful computation shows that, including mounds, not less than three millions cubic feet of earth were used in their composition.

Within this work, some of the most interesting discoveries recorded in this volume were made.

PLATE XI. No. 1. [From the Surveys and Notes of JAMES MCBRIDE.]

This highly interesting work is situated in Butler county, Ohio, on the banks of Seven Mile creek, five miles north of the town of Hamilton. It is formed by two irregular lines of embankment, and an exterior ditch, cutting off a jutting point of the second terrace; and has an area of twenty-five acres. These embankments are parallel throughout, and were evidently both made from the same ditch. The outer one has an average height of four, the inner one of three feet. The ditch is between five and six feet deep, by thirty-five feet wide. At the southern portion of the work, both walls and the ditch have their greatest dimensions. The side of the work next the stream is bounded by an abrupt natural bank, eighteen feet high. Distant a few rods from the north-eastern angle of the work, is an elliptical mound eleven feet high; its conjugate and transverse diameters are ninety-two and one hundred and eighteen feet respectively.

This work has a single gateway thirty feet wide. The inner wall, near its southern extremity, curves inward along the terrace-bank for a considerable distance. The first, or creek terrace, is a low alluvion, not subject to overflow. It is evident, however, that the creek once ran at the base of the natural bank (now bounding one side of this work), probably at the period of its construction and occupancy.

PLATE XI. No. 2.

This work affords a very fair illustration of one portion of the defensive structures of the West, already alluded to in the general remarks on the subject, at the p030 beginning of this chapter. It occurs in Oxford township, Butler county, Ohio (Lot 6, Sec. 31, Tp. 5, Range 2, E. M.), at a point on Four Mile creek, where that stream forms a remarkable bend, constituting a peninsula one thousand and sixty feet across at its neck, and one thousand three hundred and twenty feet deep. This peninsula is, in fact, a bold head-land, with precipitous banks, rising sixty feet above the water in the creek, and overlooking the low bottoms that surround it. Across the neck of this peninsula is carried a crescent-shaped wall with an outer ditch. The wall is now but little over three feet in height, and the ditch of corresponding depth. Formerly it was much higher, precluding cultivation. It has been reduced by the present occupant, who has ploughed along it longitudinally, throwing the furrows into the ditch,—a common practice, which is fast reducing and obliterating these interesting monuments of antiquity. A single gateway twenty feet wide leads into the enclosure, which has an area of twenty acres. A terrace, apparently artificial, and thirty feet wide, occurs on the northern bank, at about midway from the water to the top. It may be a natural feature, and caused by the subsidence of the bank from the undermining of the stream. The creek, at one time, unquestionably ran close under the banks of the peninsula; whether or not the recession, leaving the intervening low bottom, B, took place subsequently to the erection of the work, it is of course impossible to determine.

In this work will be remarked the lapping round of the parapet, on the natural bank of the stream at b,—a feature heretofore mentioned, as probably designed to protect the flank of the defence.

PLATE XI. No. 3.

Among the works remarkable as possessing double walls, is the one here presented. It is situated on the Great Miami river, four miles south-west of the town of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio. The plan obviates the necessity of a detailed description. The outer line of defence consists of a simple embankment five feet high, with an exterior ditch four feet deep. It has a single gateway fifteen feet wide. There are apparent gateways at a a, but the ditch only is interrupted.

Interior to this line of embankment, is another of less dimensions, having also but one opening. At b is a large broad mound, over which, and somewhat below the summit on the outer side, the inner line of embankment is carried. The ditch also continues uninterruptedly over the mound, which is thirty feet high. From its summit, a view of the entire work and surrounding country is commanded. Another mound, ten feet high, occurs at the point indicated in the plan. It is composed of stone and gravel, apparently taken from the river, and probably belongs to the class of mounds denominated “sacrificial,”—the characteristics of p031 which are explained in another chapter. At c, the outer wall appears to have formerly extended down to a lower level; but it has been much obliterated by the washing of the bank. The natural banks, on the side towards the river and next to Big Run, are inaccessibly steep, and between sixty and seventy feet high.

• [♠]
  • No. 1. Duck River, Franklin Co. Tennessee.
  • No. 2. Preble Co. Ohio.
  • No. 3. Greene Co. Ohio.
  • No. 4. Ross Co. Ohio.
• XII. Ancient Works:

The area, embraced within the exterior lines, is a trifle less than eighteen acres. The defensive character of this work can hardly be doubted. It has been suggested that the large mound, over which the inner wall is carried, was designed as a look-out, or alarm post. This may not have been its primary, but it is not impossible that such was its secondary purpose.

PLATE XII. No. 1. STONE WORK, ON DUCK RIVER, TENNESSEE.[23]

This work is situated in Franklin county, Tennessee, at the junction of the east and west branches of Duck river, and near the main road from Nashville to Winchester.

“It includes an area of about thirty-two acres. The walls are composed of stones of various sizes, collected from the surface of the surrounding country, and rudely thrown together; there is no appearance of their having been united by cement, nor do they exhibit any marks of the hammer. The wall on the south is covered with a layer of earth from one to two feet deep, and is about sixteen feet in thickness at the base, about five feet at the top, and from eight to ten feet high.

“At the northern extremity, near the front wall, are two conical mounds of stone, designated by M, M, in the plan. Each of these mounds is about six feet high, and ten feet in diameter at the base; originally they may have been of somewhat greater altitude, and being on the exterior of the wall, may have been intended as watch towers. In the rear of the mounds is the northern wall, extending to a high bank on either branch of Duck river, and opposite to a waterfall on each, of ten or twelve feet in height. In the northern wall is an entrance or gateway, and in the rear of the gateway are what appear to be the remains of two stone buildings p032 (exaggerated in the plan), one about sixteen feet square, the other about ten feet; the stones are rough and unhewn. Stretching south, the walls are continued on both sides until they reach the points a a, at a bold limestone bluff, which forms a good natural defence. South of the bluff the walls are continued of the same height and thickness, until they reach the angles of the wall fronting the south, which wall also extends from the bank of one river to the other, and has a gateway nearly opposite to that in the northern wall. At the points a a, it is supposed by many who have examined this work, there were formerly excavated passages leading to each branch of Duck river, with steps cut in the rock. There does not, however, appear to be sufficient evidence to sustain this conclusion. The ascent or descent is not very difficult; the steps appear to be formed by the projection of the rock strata; and it was no doubt by these passages that the occupants of the work gained access to the river, and were supplied with water.

“Near the base of the wall on the south side is a ditch, from sixteen to twenty feet wide, and six or eight deep. A short distance farther from the southern wall is another and much more extensive ditch or excavation. In some places it is seventy or eighty feet wide, and from twenty-five to thirty feet deep. The earth from these ditches was probably removed to cover the walls of the fort, or employed in the erection of the neighboring mounds, while the ditches themselves constituted an additional means of defence.

“About three quarters of a mile north of this work is a mound of an oblong form, about twenty-five feet high, one hundred feet long, and twenty broad. On the north-west, about half a mile distant, is another mound of similar form, twenty feet high, eighty long, and sixty wide. These mounds are constructed with the same regularity that distinguishes all the other works of similar character. On both these mounds, trees are growing as large as any in the surrounding forests.

“This work differs in its form, and in the material used in its construction, from all others in the vicinity; but it does not exhibit greater evidence of skill. The difference in form was probably owing to its location; it having evidently been made to conform in all respects to the nature of the ground. Stones were employed because they could be readily procured. Although the hammer had nothing to do with the preparation of the materials, it was nevertheless a work of great labor, and the place of location was selected with a military eye.”

Numerous other defensive works are represented to exist in Tennessee; but very few of them have been surveyed and described. In Bedford county there is a stone work of considerable size, the walls of which are said to be from sixteen to twenty feet wide at the base, and four to five feet wide on the top. Other works adjoin it. It is generally believed to have been erected by De Soto; but in 1819 an oak-tree standing on the wall was cut down, which exhibited three hundred and fifty-seven annual layers, and must consequently have been seventy-eight years old when De Soto landed in Florida.[24]

A stone work, less in size, but of the same general character, occurs in Larue p033 county, Kentucky. It is situated on one of the bluffs of the Rolling Fork of Salt river, where the creek makes a sharp bend. A plan of it is published in Collins’s History of Kentucky, p. 398. An account of another, of much the same character, in Allen county, is published in the same work, p. 167.

PLATE XII. No. 2.

This work is situated at the junction of the two principal forks of Twin creek, an affluent of the Great Miami river, six miles south-east of the town of Eaton, Preble county, Ohio, on S. E. corner of Sec. No. 10, Township 5, of Range 3, E. M. The plan is from a survey by Mr. MCBRIDE.

In position and mode of construction, this work does not differ materially from a number of others already described. The embankment has an average height of about four feet, and the ditch is not far from five feet deep. The bluff bordering upon the Franklin fork of the creek is for the most part precipitous, and has an average height of between fifty and sixty feet. At its base are several never-failing springs. The height of the bluff fronting upon the other fork varies from thirty feet near the end of the wall, to sixty feet at the junction of the two streams. At its highest part, the bluff consists of a conglomerate, composed of gravel and stones of considerable size. It is very porous, and overhangs about ten feet. There are a number of large cavities in it, which were once supposed to be artificial, and the entrances to subterranean chambers. They are formed by the disintegration of the materials composing the bluff.

Nearly in the centre of the work, in the position indicated in the plan, is a line of large stones. They occupy a space about seven hundred feet long, by twelve broad, and are laid compactly together. Though much sunk in the earth, they are yet distinctly traceable.

PLATE XII. No. 3.[25]

The fortification here presented affords a fine illustration of the character of the ancient defences of the West. It is situated on Massie’s creek, a tributary of the Little Miami river, seven miles east from the town of Xenia, Greene county, p034 Ohio; and consists of a high promontory, bounded on all sides, excepting an interval at the west, by a precipitous limestone cliff. Across the isthmus, from which the ground gradually subsides towards the plain almost as regularly as an artificial glacis, is carried a wall of earth and stones. This wall is now about ten feet high by thirty feet base, and is continued for some distance along the edge of the cliff where it is least precipitous, on the north. It is interrupted by three narrow gateways, exterior to each of which was formerly a mound of stones, now mostly carried away. Still exterior to these are four short crescent walls, extending across the isthmus. These crescents are rather slight, not much exceeding, at the present time, three feet in height. The cliff has an average height of upwards of twenty-five feet, and is steep and almost inaccessible. At d d are breaks in the limestone, where the declivity is sufficiently gentle to admit of a passage on horseback. At E is a fissure in the cliff, where persons may ascend on foot. The valley, or rather ravine, C C, is three hundred feet broad. Massie’s creek, a considerable stream, washes the base of the promontory on the north. The area bounded by the cliff and embankment is not far from twelve acres. The whole is now covered with the primitive forest.

The natural strength of this position is great, and no inconsiderable degree of skill has been expended in perfecting its defences. A palisade, if carried around the brow of the cliff and along the summit of the wall, would render it impregnable to savage assault. About one hundred rods above this work, on the opposite side of the creek, is a small circle, two hundred feet in diameter, enclosing a mound. About the same distance below, upon the same bank, is a large conical mound, thirty feet in height and one hundred and forty feet in diameter at the base. No other works of magnitude are known to exist, nearer than the great defensive structure on the Little Miami (Plate [VII].), twenty-one miles distant.

PLATE XII. No. 4.

This work, unlike those just described, occurs upon the high table-land bordering the Scioto river bottoms, on the west bank of that stream, twelve miles above the city of Chillicothe. It consists of a single wall and ditch, cutting off a high promontory, formed by the declivity of the table land, and the bank of a wide and deep ravine. These banks are not far from one hundred feet in height, and at most points are absolutely inaccessible. It has a single gateway, opening towards a copious spring, at the head of the ravine just mentioned. The wall is four feet high, and the ditch of corresponding depth. There are no mounds within this enclosure, nor in its immediate vicinity; but a number of natural elevations are discernible, which an unpractised eye might mistake for works of art. In this instance, they may have subserved some of the purposes of the mounds. p035 The water flowing through the ditch has formed deep gullies at the points where it terminates. The soil is here clayey and hard. The level at the foot of the promontory upon which this work stands, is the first or latest-formed terrace of the Scioto; indicating that the river, at one period, swept along where the Ohio canal now passes.

• [♠]
  • No. 1. In Bourbon Co. Kentucky.
  • No. 2. Near Colerain, Butler Co. Ohio.
• XIII. Ancient Works:

PLATE XIII. No. 1. [From the RAFINESQUE MSS.]

This work, which seems incontestibly of a defensive character, is situated on Stoner’s creek, at the mouth of Flat Run, in Bourbon county, Kentucky. The wall throughout is composed of earth, and is slight, not exceeding three or four feet in height. A number of mounds and excavations occur within the enclosure, together with other remains, consisting of raised outlines, two or three feet broad and one foot high. These are indicated by the letter a, and are denominated “remains of dwellings” by Rafinesque. Twenty of them are found within, and fourteen without the walls; the latter occupying the point of land to the north of the enclosure. The larger one is called “the palace” by our fanciful authority, and is represented to be eighty feet long by seventy-five broad. To the north of “the palace” is an elliptical, hollow area, fifteen feet deep; it is indicated by the letter c. A number of irregular excavations are marked by the letter d. The Lexington road passes through this work.

PLATE XIII. No. 2.[26] [From the Surveys and Notes of JAMES MCBRIDE.]

This work is one of the first magnitude; and in many respects bears a close resemblance to the great work on the North fork of Paint creek. (See Plate [IX].) It is situated near the village of Coleraine, Hamilton county, Ohio, on the right bank of the Great Miami river, and encloses an area of ninety-five acres. The walls have an average height of nine feet, and have an exterior ditch of proportionate dimensions. The terrace upon which the work is located is thirty feet above the usual stage of water in the river. p036

The outwork, of which A is an enlarged plan, possesses all the features of a bastion, and was perhaps designed as such. It could hardly have been intended as a gateway; for, although the ditch is interrupted for a narrow space at c, the embankment is unbroken.

The transverse section of the wall, a b, demonstrates the artificial origin of the work, which it is not probable any one would be disposed to deny. The upheaved gravel upon the exterior side of the wall, wherever it is under cultivation, supports dwarfed and sickly maize; while on the inner side, the grain is luxuriant. This feature and its cause are indicated in the section.

This work, which was undoubtedly defensive, commands a large peninsula, two miles in circumference, formed by a singular bend in the river. About two hundred paces distant from this enclosure, in a southern direction, is the site of old Fort Dunlap, somewhat celebrated in the early history of the Miami valley. It was invested by the notorious Simon Girty, with a force of six hundred Indians, in 1791, without success. Some distance from the fort, and still further to the south, is a hill three hundred feet in altitude, upon the top of which are two mounds, measuring five and ten feet in height, respectively. They are composed of earth and stones, considerably burned.

• PLATE XIV.
  • NUMBER 1.—This work is situated near the north line of Pickaway county, Ohio, on the right bank of the Scioto river. It is entirely analogous to many of those already described; and is only remarkable as possessing three lines of embankment, with corresponding ditches, as shown by the section a b. “The ditches are here interior to the walls, which circumstance is adverse to the idea of a defensive origin. The situation, however, with a steep bank and deep water on one side, and deep ravines with precipitous banks on the others, is one of great natural strength and adaptation for defence. The walls are now very slight.”
    • [♠]
      • No. 1. Pickaway Co. Ohio.
      • No. 2. Franklin Co. Ohio.
      • No. 3. Fayette Co. Kentucky.
      • No. 4. 6 miles from Lexington, Fay­ette Co. Ken­tucky.
    • XIV. Ancient Works:
  • NUMBER 2.—This work is, in most respects, similar to the one last described. It is situated four and a half miles north of Worthington, Franklin county, Ohio, on the left bank of Olentangy creek. The artificial defences consist simply of an embankment of earth, three feet in height, with an exterior ditch of corresponding depth. The natural defences are sufficiently obvious. Both of these plans are from surveys by CHARLES WHITTLESEY, Esq.
  • NUMBERS 3 AND 4.—The character of these works is sufficiently explained by the engravings. From the position of the ditch and other obvious circumstances, they have been classed as of defensive origin. They are from the Rafinesque MSS. p037

• PLATE XV. ANCIENT WORKS IN NORTHERN OHIO.
  • [♠]
    • No. 1. Norwalk, Huron Co. Ohio.
    • No. 2. Near Conneaut, Ashtibula Co. Ohio.
    • No. 3. 3 Miles S. E. of Cleve­land, Cuy­a­hoga Co. Ohio.
  • XV. Ancient Works:
  • NUMBER 1. Ancient Works near Norwalk, Huron county, Ohio.—“The relative positions of the various works composing this group are given by the eye; they are nevertheless sufficiently accurate. The individual works are laid down from actual survey.
  • “The enclosure A is principally in a field long cultivated, and is scarcely traceable. The ditch is exterior to the wall, and exists only upon the north-west and south-west sides. The walls were very much reduced: when first seen by the whites, they scarcely exceeded eighteen inches in height. The ditch was of corresponding depth.
  • “The enclosure B occupies a promontory of gravelly land, elevated about forty feet above the creek. The detached circular work D is nearly obliterated by the plough. It had a slight exterior ditch, as had also a part of the main work B. The present height of the wall is from one to two and a half feet; depth of ditch somewhat less. The breadth of the embankments, at the base, varies from fifteen to thirty feet. Within the enclosure B is an elevation of earth, a, of a rectangular form, about three feet high, from which a low embankment extends to the outer wall. At b is a similar elevation connected with the wall. Exterior to the work, and occupying the point of the headland on which it stands, is a small mound, from which a skull was taken some years since, and deposited in the museum of the Willoughby University of Lake Erie. In it were also found the two valves of what is described as a clam shell, each having three holes near the beak, suggesting the probability of a handle having been attached at that point, so as to constitute a spoon or ladle. Besides these were found two pipes of clay, and one of white marble, partly disintegrated, about two and a half inches high; also, a flat piece of a hard grayish slate, half an inch thick, wrought to an edge at the broad end, with a hole pierced obliquely through it, called by the finders ‘a hoe.’ A small earthen vessel, of coarse material and rude finish, holding about a pint, accompanied these relics. All these articles were taken from the vicinity of coals and ashes, and burned human bones. In the hands of one of the skeletons were pieces of clay, which had evidently been placed in them while in a plastic state, inasmuch as they still retained the impressions of the fingers, joints, and palms.[27] p038
  • “The work C occupies a corresponding position with those already described, as belonging to this group. The peninsula upon which it is situated is approachable only from the south. Upon this side the ditch is irregular. The mounds of the central group have been opened; but it is not known with what results. They are quite low, not exceeding three feet in height. The wall of this work is very slight. At the south-west is a graded passage to the lower level of the river bottom.
  • “Huron river or creek, several branches of which join it at this point, is always fordable; and the bluffs which surround the enclosures are not very difficult of ascent. These works may have been designed for defence,—perhaps they were ‘walled towns;’ but they do not occupy positions of great natural strength. The grounds adjacent to the river are low, and in places swampy: the river evidently once ran at the base of the bluff occupied by the enclosure B.”
  • NUMBER 2. Ancient Work near Conneaut, Ashtabula county, Ohio.—“This work is at present very slight, but distinctly traceable. The sketch is a mere coup d’œil, without measurements. The elevation of the bluff upon which it stands is about seventy feet; and the banks of aluminous slate are, upon the north, very precipitous. It would be entirely impracticable for a body of men to ascend upon this side, without ladders and scaling apparatus. Upon the south side it would be practicable for an assailant to ascend, unless prevented by some artificial obstacle. Upon this side, the wall which skirts the brow of the hill is accompanied by an outer ditch, while upon the north there is a simple embankment. The ascent, C C, is gradual and easy. Within the enclosure the earth is very black and rich; outside of the walls it is a stiff clay. The adjacent bottoms are very fertile, and the creek is everywhere fordable. There can be no doubt that this was a fortified position.”
  • Near the village of Conneaut are a number of mounds, and other traces of an ancient population, among which is an aboriginal cemetery regularly laid out, and of great extent.
  • NUMBER 3. Ancient Work three miles south-east of Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, Ohio.—“This stronghold is on the great plain which extends some miles back from the shores of Lake Erie, gently declining towards it, and by many supposed to have been its ancient bed. Many portions of this plain are two hundred feet above the present surface of the lake. The marl, sand, and gravel deposits, of which this formation is made up, are from one hundred to three hundred feet thick.
  • “These materials are readily washed away by rains, springs, and rivulets; so that the flat region is intersected by numberless deep and narrow ravines, leaving bluff headlands, and furnishing the ancient people with numerous positions protected on nearly every side by deep gullies and high precipitous banks, and capable, with little artificial aid, of easy defence. These features of the country, and the manner in which they were made available for defensive purposes, are well illustrated in the example here presented. The isthmus connecting this promontory with the general table is but about two hundred feet wide, and is defended by parallel lines p039 of embankments accompanied by exterior ditches. There seems to be no gateway or opening through the outer line; the inner one, however, terminates before reaching the bank of the ravine on the left, leaving a narrow passage-way upon that side. The natural banks have an angle of forty-five to sixty degrees with the horizon, and are in many places wet and slippery, and utterly inaccessible. About one-fourth of a mile to the eastward of this work, is a mound ten feet high, by sixty feet in diameter at the base.”
  • Fig. 4.
  • FIG. 4.—“This work is situated on the right bank of Black river, in Sheffield township, Lorain county, Ohio. The bank of the river is here nearly perpendicular and quite impossible of ascent, except by ropes or something equivalent, and is about sixty feet high. The water level of the lake reaches to this spot, and the river is in consequence too deep to be forded. The position seems to have been selected for the purpose of defence, although the land back of it is on the same level.
  • “The artificial defences consist of double embankments, with an intermediate ditch. The embankments are very slight, not much exceeding a foot in height. It is not improbable that the ditch was occupied by wooden pickets, supported by embankments on either side. The work could not have afforded any protection, except with additional defences,—palisades, or something of the sort. Within the enclosure the soil is very rich; but without, it is clayey and poor. The gateway, opening to the north, is forty feet wide.”
  • Fig. 5.
  • FIG. 5.—“This work is situated in the same township with that last described. It is bounded upon three sides by a vertical slate bluff, and defended upon the fourth by a double line of embankments, with accompanying exterior ditches. The height of the walls is about eight feet, measuring from the bottom of the ditches. There is an opening or passage-way through the outer line, but none through the inner. We may account for this circumstance by supposing the latter to have been thrown up after the commencement of a siege. As usual, the soil within this work is very rich compared with that without the walls. Under any mode of attack known to barbarians, this must have been an impregnable work. Upon the other side of the creek, are bluffs of equal height with that upon which this defence is located; but they are too far distant to afford positions of annoyance to besiegers.” p040
  • Fig. 6.
  • FIG. 6.—“This work is situated upon the Cuyahoga river, eight miles above Cleveland, Ohio. It corresponds, in all essential particulars, with the one on the same stream, five miles below, which has already been described. The ground has been so long under cultivation that the parallels are with difficulty traced; they are not more than a foot or eighteen inches high. The ditch is of corresponding depth. Between the lines there is a depression,—undoubtedly artificial in its origin, but now much deepened by rains. The soil is a clay-loam, and the area very difficult of access from all sides. The bluff is here from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high.”
  • Fig. 7.
  • FIG. 7.—“This work is situated on the Cuyahoga river, two miles below that last described, with which it coincides in respect to position. It has, however, but a single wall and ditch; the latter is from two to four feet deep, the former of proportionate height. There is a gateway or unexcavated passage across the ditch, but no corresponding opening in the embankment. There is, however, a narrow, unprotected space between the left end of the defences and the bluff. The elevation of the ground is here about two hundred feet above the river, the soil sandy, and lately put under cultivation. The bluff is steep and difficult of ascent. Water is found in the adjacent ravines, which are narrow and deep.”
  • Fig. 8.
  • FIG. 8.—“This work is situated on the right bank of the Maumee river, two miles above Toledo, in Wood county, Ohio. The water of the river is here deep and still, and of the lake level; the bluff is about thirty-five feet high. Since the work was built, the current has undermined a portion, and parts of the embankment are to be seen on the slips at a a. The country for miles in all directions is flat and wet, though heavily timbered, as is the space in and around this enclosure. The walls, measuring from the bottoms of the ditches, are from three to four feet high. They are not of uniform dimensions throughout their extent; and as there is no ditch on the south-west side, while there is a double wall and ditch elsewhere, it is presumable that the work was abandoned before it was finished.” p041
  • “Nothing can be more plain, than that most of the remains in northern Ohio, particularly those on the Cuyahoga river, are military works. There have not yet been found any remnants of timber in the walls; yet it is very safe to presume that palisades were planted on them, and that wooden posts and gates were erected at the passages left in the embankments and ditches.
  • “All the positions are contiguous to water; and none of them have higher land in their vicinity, from which they might in any degree be commanded. Of the works bordering on the shore of Lake Erie, through the State of Ohio, there are none but may have been intended for defence; although in some of them the design is not perfectly manifest. They form a line from Conneaut to Toledo, at a distance of from three to five miles from the lake; and all stand upon or near the principal rivers. There are probably five of them as yet unknown, to one that has been publicly noticed. In the interior of the State, so far as my observation has extended, this class of works is wanting. Their place is supplied by larger works, situated on low lands, their strength depending more on artifice than on position.[28] They are so different, that I am disposed to regard them, not only as designed for other purposes, but as the work of another and probably later people.
  • “The most natural inference in respect to the northern cordon of works is, that they formed a well-occupied line, constructed either to protect the advance of a nation landing from the lake and moving southward for conquest; or, a line of resistance for a people inhabiting these shores and pressed upon by their southern neighbors. The scarcity of mounds, the absence of pyramids of earth, which are so common on the Ohio, the want of rectangular and other regular works, at the north,—all these differences tend to the conclusion that the northern part of Ohio was occupied by a distinct people.
  • “At the north there is generally more than one wall of earth, and the ditches are invariably exterior. There are sometimes passages, or ‘sally-ports,’ through the outer parallel, and none through the inner one. There is also, in general, a space between the parallels sufficiently large to contain a considerable body of fighting men. By whatever people these works were built, they were much engaged in offensive or defensive wars. At the south, on the other hand, agriculture and religion seem to have chiefly occupied the attention of the ancient people.
  • “In view of the above facts, we may venture to suggest a hypothesis, without undertaking to assign to it any more than a basis of probability. Upon the assumption that two distinct nations occupied the State,—that the northern were warlike, and the southern peaceful and agricultural in their habits,—may we not suppose that the latter were overcome by their northern neighbors, who built the military works to be observed upon the Ohio and its tributaries, while the more regular structures are the remains of the conquered people?” p042
  • The differences between the northern and southern earthworks, pointed out by Mr. Whittlesey, are not greater than would naturally be exhibited between the structures of a sparse frontier population, and those erected by more central and dense communities. Works, generally corresponding with those here described, are found still further to the northward and eastward; extending to the Genesee river and its tributaries in New-York, and even to the head waters of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania,—which seems to have been the extreme limit to which the mound-builders penetrated in that direction. From plans previously presented, it will be seen that precisely analogous works occur in Kentucky and Tennessee. It will be seen also, in a succeeding chapter, on the “Antiquities of the Southern States,” that similar structures are found in Mississippi, and elsewhere along the Gulf.
  • The examples of defensive works here presented will serve to give a very accurate conception of this class of structures. By a minute attention to their various details, we are prepared to estimate the judgment, skill, and industry of their builders. No one can rise from such an examination, except with the conviction that the race, by whom these works were erected, possessed no inconsiderable knowledge of the science of defence,—a degree of knowledge much superior to that known to have been possessed by the hunter tribes of North America previous to the discovery by Columbus, or indeed subsequent to that event. Their number and magnitude must also impress the inquirer with enlarged notions of the power of the people commanding the means for their construction, and whose numbers required such extensive works for their protection. It is not impossible that, like the defensive enclosures of the Polynesian Islanders, they were to a certain extent designed to embrace cultivated fields, so as to furnish the means of subsistence to their defenders, in the event of a protracted siege. There is no other foundation, however, for this suggestion, than that furnished by the great size of some of them. The population that found shelter within their walls must have been exceedingly large, if their dimensions may be taken as the basis of a calculation.
  • There is no positive evidence that the mound-builders fully understood the value of the bastion in their works of defence; although they seem, in some instances, to have secured the projecting points of the hills on which their defences are situated, with a view of enfilading the walls. The fortified hill near the mouth of the Great Miami, (Plate [IX],) and Fort Hill, in Highland county, afford examples. These projecting points could however, from their wide distance apart, but very imperfectly answer the purpose of bastions; and the supposition that they were thus used is rendered less probable, from the fact that the walls oftener cut off these points than accommodate themselves to them. It is not improbable, notwithstanding the absence of direct evidence to that effect, that bastions of wood were erected at intervals along the walls. Such constructions would undeniably be the most simple and efficient for the purposes desired. The numerous openings in the walls of many of these works, although indiscriminately denominated gateways, were clearly not always designed as such. It is not unwarrantable to suppose that they mark the positions of wooden constructions, like the block-houses of later times, p043 which projected beyond the walls, and answered the double purpose of bastions and watch-towers. The very regular intervals between these openings, particularly in the great work on the Little Miami, (Plate [VII],) and the Fortified Hill in Highland county, just mentioned, (Plate [V],) would seem to favor this hypothesis. Of course we cannot now expect to find any traces of wooden structures, even if such entered into the original defences.
  • The walls of earth and stone which constitute all that remains to us of these aboriginal fortifications, although often high and heavy, would nevertheless, in themselves, furnish very imperfect means of protection and resistance. Earth cannot be heaped up so as very much to impede an assailant; and the stone works, as far as noticed, do not appear to have been constructed of stone regularly laid, so as to present a vertical or inaccessible front to an enemy. These circumstances render it sufficiently obvious that the walls were surmounted by palisades, or by something equivalent. We are sustained in this conclusion by the concurrent practices of all nations, known to construct permanent works of this description. The ramparts of the Roman camps were strengthened by stakes fixed on the top; and to this day, the walls of E’Pas, or entrenched hills of the New Zealanders, are surmounted by palisades. Such also is the present practice of some of the tribes on the Missouri,—the Minatarees, Rickarees, and others. The walls of some works, which, from their position and other circumstances, are manifestly of defensive origin, are so slight that it would be absurd to suppose them designed for protection, unless crowned with palisades. Most of those of northern Ohio are subject to this remark. It has been asserted by certain writers on American antiquities, that traces of palisades are yet to be seen in some of them. Aside from the palpable improbability of anything of the sort, it is proper to remark that no such evidences have been observed in the course of our own investigations. A very few years of exposure would suffice to obliterate all traces of wood in these constructions.
  • We have already had occasion to remark the skill with which the gateways or entrances to these enclosures are sometimes protected by over-lapping or concentric walls, horn-works, etc. It is rational to conclude that means were made use of by the builders to close the entrances effectually, when desired. How this object was accomplished is, of course, entirely a matter of conjecture. The Australians, in case of alarm, completely close their entrenchments with stones or other obstructions. Entrance is effected only by a succession of posts of different lengths, like a stile, or by the aid of notched trees.
  • In connection with many of the defensive structures, mounds are occasionally to be found, so placed as to suggest the purposes of watch-towers, look-outs, or alarm-posts. They are sometimes exterior, and sometimes interior to the walls of the enclosures, and occasionally incorporated with them. Plate [XI] (Nos. 1 and 3) affords examples. It is possible that this was not the primary, perhaps not even the secondary purpose of these mounds. Proper excavations would settle the question. In the absence of these, we can only appeal to such light as analogy affords us in our inquiry. Such mounds were erected by the ancient Britons for purposes of observation, both in advance of their other defences and within them; p044 and the early Spanish writers speak of similar erections, for similar purposes, by the Floridian Indians. The New Zealanders compass the same ends by raising a tree, the branches of which have been lopped off within a few inches of the trunk, at some elevated point within their works.
  • The almost invariable presence of water within, or in immediate proximity to these enclosures, has been the occasion of frequent remark in the foregoing descriptions. In the absence of springs and streams, as also where, from position, access to such supplies of water is impracticable, we find their place supplied by reservoirs; an evidence of the forethought of the builders, as also an index to the true character of the works in which these features occur.
  • The vast amount of labor necessary to the erection of most of these works precludes the notion that they were hastily constructed to check a single or unexpected invasion. On the contrary, there seems to have existed a System of Defences extending from the sources of the Alleghany and Susquehanna in New York, diagonally across the country, through central and northern Ohio, to the Wabash. Within this range, the works which are regarded as defensive are largest and most numerous. If an inference may be drawn from this fact, it is that the pressure of hostilities was from the north-east; or that, if the tide of migration flowed from the south, it received its final check upon this line. On the other hypothesis, that in this region originated a semi-civilization which subsequently spread southward, constantly developing itself in its progress, until it attained its height in Mexico, we may suppose that from this direction came the hostile savage hordes, before whose incessant attacks the less warlike mound-builders gradually receded, or beneath whose exterminating cruelty those who occupied this frontier entirely disappeared, leaving these monuments alone to attest their existence, and the extraordinary skill with which they defended their altars and their homes. Upon either assumption, it is clear that the contest was a protracted one, and that the race of the mounds were for a long period constantly exposed to attack.[29] This conclusion finds its support in the fact that, in the vicinity of those localities, where, from the amount of remains, it appears the ancient population was most dense, we almost invariably find one or more works of a defensive character, furnishing ready places of resort in times of danger. We may suppose that a condition of things prevailed somewhat analogous to that which attended the advance of our pioneer population, when every settlement had its little fort, to which the people flocked in case of alarm or attack.
  • It may be suggested that there existed among the mound-builders a state of society something like that which prevailed among the Indians; that each tribe had its separate seat, maintaining, with its own independence, an almost constant warfare against its neighbors, and, as a consequence, possessing its own “castle,” as a place of final resort when invaded by a powerful foe. Apart from the fact, p045 however, that the Indians were hunters averse to labor, and not known to have constructed any works approaching in skilfulness of design or in magnitude those under notice, there is almost positive evidence that the mound-builders were an agricultural people, considerably advanced in the arts, possessing a great uniformity throughout the whole territory which they occupied, in manners, habits, and religion,—a uniformity sufficiently well marked to identify them as a single people, having a common origin, common modes of life, and, as an almost necessary consequence, common sympathies, if not a common and consolidated government.
  • The question whether the North American Indians constructed defensive works of this description, is one of much importance, but which cannot be fully discussed in this connection. All the early writers concur in representing that the Indian tribes, from Florida to Canada, possessed common modes of defending their villages and protecting themselves from the attacks of their enemies. Their fortifications consisted of rows of pickets firmly fixed in the ground, sometimes wattled together, but occasionally placed so far apart, as to permit missiles of various kinds to be discharged between them upon an assailant.[30] They seldom had more than a single entrance, which, among the Floridians, was not direct, but circuitous. Entrenchments of earth, consisting of an embankment and ditch, do not appear to have been constructed by them. It seems, however, that of late years, the Indians to the westward of the Mississippi, particularly the Mandans and Rickarees, have constructed entrenchments of earth, surmounted by palisades.[31] But whether the practice is of recent introduction or otherwise, it is difficult to say. It is stated by Prince Maximilian, in his Travels in America, that the defences of the Mandan village of Mih-tutta-hang-kush, which consisted of a wall and ditch, were built by whites, who were employed by the Indians for that purpose.[32]
  • The defences of the nations of the central portion of the Continent, and especially those of the Mexicans and Peruvians, so far as we are informed concerning them, bore a close resemblance to those of the mound-builders, although exhibiting a superiority entirely consonant with the further advance which we are justified in supposing they had made in all the arts, including the art of defence.[33] Some reference has already been had to the actual identity which a few of the defences of the West exhibit with those of Mexico, in some of their most interesting features. These resemblances might be pointed out in detail, but they will readily suggest themselves to the Archæologist. The usual mode of fortification in Peru consisted in throwing up a series of embankments around the summits of isolated hills,—a practice which was common among the ancient Celts, and which is still preserved among the Australian and Polynesian islanders.[34] Ulloa observes, p046 in respect to their numbers, that “one scarcely meets with a mountain without them.” Precisely similar modes of defence prevailed among the savage South American tribes, who invariably crowned their entrenchments of earth with palisades of wood.[35]
  • The traces of ancient fortifications in the northern part of the State of New York, and upon the head waters of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania, may, it is believed, be referred with entire safety to the same hands with those of the Mississippi valley. It will be seen that they have a close resemblance to those of northern Ohio, both in position and structure.
• The succeeding plans and descriptions, relating to aboriginal monuments of northern Ohio, were communicated by CHARLES WHITTLESEY, Esq., of Cleveland, whose archæological researches have been both extensive and accurate.

• FOOTNOTES TO CHAPTER II.
  • [8] This observation is confirmed by all who have given attention to the subject, in the Ohio and Upper Mississippi valleys. Along the Gulf, and at points on the Lower Mississippi, where the entire country is low, and subject to inundation, and where the operation of natural causes is rather to elevate than depress the beds of the streams, some of the ancient works are invaded by water.
  • [9] This work is marked C in the “Map of a Section of Six Miles of the Paint Creek Valley,” Plate [III].
  • [10] It has been suggested that perhaps the walls of stone were sustained or surmounted by wooden structures of some sort, the destruction of which, in whole or in part, by fire, caused the appearances noticed in the text. The suggestion that these are the traces of “ancient furnaces,” is not to be entertained for an instant.
  • [11] This work was first described, though not first surveyed, by Professor LOCKE, of Cincinnati, in 1838. His description and plan—to the accuracy and fidelity of which every visitor can bear witness—were published in the “Second Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Ohio.”
  • [12] This sandstone, it should be remarked, to prevent misapprehension, is the “Waverley sandstone,” underlying the coal series, and which is found capping most of the hills in this region. It occurs in successive layers, of from a few inches to several feet in thickness. It is quite friable, and quarries readily.
  • [13] “One of the mounds at Marietta must be more than eight hundred years old; for Dr. Hildreth counted eight hundred rings of annual growth in a tree which grew upon it.”—Lyell’s Travels in North America, vol. ii. p. 29. See also Second Geological Report of the State of Ohio, p. 268.
  • [14] De Solis describes this Tlascalan work as “a great wall which ran from one mountain to the other, entirely stopping up the way: a sumptuous and strong piece of building which showed the power and greatness of the owner. The outside was of hewn stone cemented with mortar of extraordinary strength. It was twenty feet thick and a fathom and a half high; and on the top was a parapet after the manner of our fortifications. The entrance was narrow and winding; the wall in that part dividing and making two walls, which circularly crossed each other for the space of ten paces.”—History of the Conquest of Mexico, p. 139.
  • [15] An account of this work, accompanied by a very good plan, appeared in the “Portfolio,” (a periodical published in Philadelphia,) for the year 1809. Both plan and description were copied by Mr. Atwater, in his memoir, in the first volume of the “Archæologia Americana.” It was also briefly described by Dr. Drake, in the chapter on Antiquities contained in his “View of Cincinnati.” Since that period, it has been the object of frequent visit and remark.
  • [16] Dr. Drake, in the chapter on antiquities, in his “View of Cincinnati,” has the following notice of this work:
  • “The adjacent hill, at the distance of half a mile, and at the greater elevation of about one hundred feet, is the site of a stone wall, mainly circular, and enclosing perhaps twenty acres. The valley of the river on one side, and a deep ravine on the other, render access to three-fourths of this fortification extremely difficult. The wall is carried generally along the brow of the hill, in one place descending a short distance, so as to include a spring. The silicious limestone of which it was built, must have been transported from the bed of the river, which, for two miles opposite these works, does not at present afford one of ten pounds weight. They exhibit no marks of the hammer or any other tool. The wall was laid up without mortar, and is now in ruins.”
  • [17] Long’s Second Expedition, vol. i, pp. 54–66.
  • [18] Surveyed by JAMES MCBRIDE, Esq and SAMUEL FORRER, Esq of the Ohio Board of Public Works.
  • [19] The above plan is copied from the map accompanying Harrison’s published Address before the Historical Society of Ohio.—Transactions, vol. i. p. 217.
  • [20] Transactions Historical Society of Ohio, vol. i. p. 225.
  • [21] This work is not placed in the connection which it was designed to occupy. Its position in the text was determined by circumstances; and its character will be better understood in the progress of this chapter.
  • [22] This plan is from an original, minute survey by the authors. A plan and description of the same work were published by Mr. Atwater in the “Archæologia Americana.” It will be found to differ in some important respects.
  • [23] Two plans of this work exist among the MSS. of Rafinesque, which differ slightly from each other. One of them coincides, however, in all important particulars with a plan published some years ago in the “Western Messenger,” and has therefore been adopted as probably essentially correct. The description in the “Messenger,” which seems to have been written by an intelligent observer, is also adopted. It is amply sustained by the account of Judge Haywood, and by other evidence, and it is thought may be relied on in all respects.
  • [24] Haywood’s Tenn. vol. ii.
  • [25] This work is laid down from surveys made by S. T. OWEINS, surveyor of Greene county, and by L. K. DILLE, M.D. The survey by Mr. Oweins was kindly communicated by W. B. Fairchild, Esq. of Xenia. The work has also been personally examined by the authors.
  • [26] This work is marked C, in the map of a “Section of six miles of the Miami valley,” Plate [III].
  • [27] These relics, as also the skeletons found with them, were probably those of the more recent Indians, and constituted a second and comparatively late deposit. The burned remains, doubtless, resulted from the original burial by fire. Incremation was extensively practiced by the mound builders.
  • [28] “There is a small enclosure on the south line of Franklin county, and another in Pickaway county, which closely resemble those along the lake shore.” See Plate [XIV], Nos. 1 and 2.
  • [29] “The Ohio fortresses were not erected for defence against a casual invasion. The size of the walls, and the solidity of their construction, show that the danger which they were designed to arrest was of constant recurrence.”—Harrison’s Discourse, Transactions Ohio Historical Society, vol. i. p. 263.
  • [30] Charlevoix, Canada, vol. ii. p. 128; Loskiel, p. 53; Du Pratz, Louisiana, p. 375; Herrara, History of America, vol. v. p. 324.
  • [31] Catlin’s North American Indians, vol. i. p. 81; Lewis and Clark, ubi supra.
  • [32] Travels in North America, pp. 173, 243.
  • [33] De Solis, History of Mexico, p. 54; Juarros, History Guatemala, p. 462; Stephens’s Yucatan, vol. i. pp. 165, 230; Molina, vol. ii. pp. 10, 68; Ulloa, vol. ii. p. 27.
  • [34] Ellis’s Polynesian Res. vol. i. pp. 313, 314; Cook’s Second Voyage, ubi supra; Pollack’s New Zealand, vol. ii. p. 26.
  • [35] Charlevoix, History of Paraguay, vol. i. p. 156.

p047

CHAPTER III. EARTHWORKS—SACRED ENCLOSURES.

The structure not less than the form and position of a large number of the Earthworks of the West, and especially of the Scioto valley, render it clear that they were erected for other than defensive purposes. The small dimensions of most of the circles, the occurrence of the ditch interior to the embankments, and the fact that many of them are completely commanded by adjacent heights, are some of the circumstances which may be mentioned as sustaining this conclusion.[36] We must seek, therefore, in the connection in which these works are found, and in the character of the mounds, if such there be within their walls, for the secret of their origin. And it may be observed, that it is here we discover evidences still more satisfactory and conclusive than are furnished by their small dimensions and the other circumstances above mentioned, that they were not intended for defence. Thus, when we find an enclosure containing a number of mounds, all of which it is capable of demonstration were religious in their purposes, or in some way connected with the superstitions of the people who built them, the conclusion is irresistible, that the enclosure itself was also deemed sacred, and thus set apart as “tabooed” or consecrated ground,—especially where it is obvious, at the first glance, that it possesses none of the requisites of a military work. But it is not to be concluded that those enclosures alone, which contain mounds of the description here named, were designed for sacred purposes. We have reason to believe that the religious system of the mound-builders, like that of the Aztecs, exercised among them a great, if not a controlling influence. Their government may have been, for aught we know, a government of the priesthood; one in which the priestly and civil functions were jointly exercised, and one sufficiently powerful to have secured in the Mississippi valley, as it did in Mexico, the erection of many of those vast monuments, which for ages will continue to challenge the wonder of men. There may have been certain superstitious ceremonies, having no connection with the purposes of the mounds, carried on in enclosures specially dedicated to them. The purposes of the minor enclosures within and connected with the great defensive work already described on the banks of the North fork of Paint creek, (Plate [X],) would scarcely admit of a doubt, even though the sacred mounds which they embrace were wanting. It is a conclusion which every day’s p048 investigation and observation has tended to confirm, that most, perhaps all, of the earthworks not manifestly defensive in their character, were in some way connected with the superstitious rites of the builders,—though in what precise manner, it is, and perhaps ever will be, impossible satisfactorily to determine.

The general character of these works has already been briefly indicated. They are mostly regular in their structure, and occupy the broad and level river bottoms, seldom occurring upon the table lands or where the surface of the ground is undulating or broken. They are usually square or circular in form; sometimes they are slightly elliptical. Occasionally we find them isolated, but more frequently in groups. The greater number of the circles are of small size, with a nearly uniform diameter of two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet, and invariably have the ditch interior to the wall. These have always a single gateway, opening oftenest to the east, though by no means observing a fixed rule in that respect. It frequently happens that they have one or more small mounds, of the class denominated sacrificial, within the walls. These small circles occasionally occur within larger works of a different character. Apart from these, numerous little circles, from thirty to fifty feet in diameter, are observed in the vicinity of large works. They consist of very slight embankments of earth, and have no entrances or passage ways. It has been suggested that these are the remains of ancient lodges or buildings. The accounts which we have of the traces left of the huts of the Mandans and other Indians, at their deserted villages, render this supposition not improbable. It sometimes happens that we find small circles embracing large mounds: these can hardly be regarded as of the same character with that numerous class already noticed.

The larger circles are oftenest found in combination with rectangular works, connected with them directly, or by avenues. Some of these circles are of great extent, embracing fifty or more acres. They seldom have a ditch; but whenever it occurs, it is interior to the wall. As in the case of the square or rectangular works to which they are attached, (and which, it is believed, never have ditches, exterior or interior,) the walls are usually composed of earth taken up evenly from the surface, or from large pits in the neighborhood. Evident care appears in all cases to have been exercised, in procuring the material, to preserve the surface of the adjacent plain smooth, and as far as possible unbroken. This fact is in itself almost conclusive against the supposition of a defensive design, especially as we have abundant evidence that the mound-builders understood perfectly the value of the external fosse in their works of defence. The walls of these works are, for the most part, comparatively slight, varying from three to seven feet in height. Sometimes they are quite imposing; as in the case of the great circle at Newark, Licking county, Ohio; where, at the entrance, the wall from the bottom of the ditch has a vertical height of not far from thirty feet. The square or rectangular works, attending these large circles, are of various dimensions. It has been observed, however, that certain groups are marked by a great uniformity of size. Five or six of these are noticed in the succeeding pages; they are exact squares, each measuring one thousand and eighty feet side,—a coincidence which could not possibly be accidental, and which must possess some significance. It certainly establishes the p049 existence of some standard of measurement among the ancient people, if not the possession of some means of determining angles. The rectangular works have almost invariably gateways at the angles and midway on each side, all of which are covered by small interior mounds or elevations. In some of the larger structures the openings are more numerous. A few of this description of remains have been discovered which are octagonal. One of these of large size, in the vicinity of Chillicothe, has its alternate angles coincident with each other, and its sides equal.

Another class of works, probably akin to those here noticed, are the parallels, consisting of slight embankments seven or eight hundred feet in length and sixty or eighty feet apart. Indeed, so various are these works, and so numerous their combinations, that it is impossible, through the medium of description alone, to convey an adequate conception of their character. If we are right in the assumption that they are of sacred origin, and were the temples and consecrated grounds of the ancient people, we can, from their number and extent, form some estimate of the devotional fervor or superstitious zeal which induced their erection, and the predominance of the religious sentiment among their builders.

Their magnitude is, perhaps, the strongest objection that can be urged against the purpose here assigned them. It is difficult to comprehend the existence of religious works, extending, with their attendant avenues, like those near Newark, over an area of little less than four square miles! We can find their parallels only in the great temples of Abury and Stonehenge in England, and Carnac in Brittany, and must associate them with sun worship and its kindred superstitions.

It was originally proposed to include within another division those structures which were regarded as anomalous, or to which it was impossible to assign a definite purpose. Reflection, however, has tended to strengthen the opinion, that those works not manifestly defensive were connected with the superstitions of the builders, and that all the enclosures of the West (except perhaps some of the petty circles to which allusion has been made) were either military or religious in their origin. Those only which are obviously defensive have been classed under the head of Defences, and all others have been thrown together into this chapter. It is not impossible, therefore, that some which follow should be included in the former division; nor is it improbable that a few were designed to answer a double purpose. p050

PLATE XVI.[37] HIGH BANK WORKS, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

The beautiful group here represented is situated on the right bank of the Scioto river, five miles below the town of Chillicothe, near the road from that place to Jackson. It occurs at a place where the river has cut its way up to the third terrace, which in consequence here presents a bold bank, rising seventy-five or eighty feet above the water. This point is generally known as the “High Bank,” and gives its name to these works. The third terrace here spreads out into a beautiful, level plain of great extent. The principal work consists of an octagon and a circle; the former measuring nine hundred and fifty feet, the latter ten hundred and fifty feet, in diameter. The coincidences, in the dimensions, between this and the “Hopeton Works,” (Plate [XVII],) will be at once observed. The octagon is not strictly regular; although its alternate angles are coincident, and its sides equal. The circle is a perfect one. In immediate connection with the work are two small circles, which are shown in the plan, each measuring two hundred and fifty feet in diameter.

[♠]

XVI. High Bank Works, Ross Co., Ohio.

The walls of the octagon are very bold; and, where they have been least subjected to cultivation, are now between eleven and twelve feet in height, by about fifty feet base. The wall of the circle is much less, nowhere measuring over four or five feet in altitude. In all these respects, as in the absence of a ditch and the presence of the two small circles, this work resembles the Hopeton Works already alluded to. There are no mounds, except the small ones covering the gateways of the octagon. About half a mile to the southward, and connected with this work by lines of embankment, much reduced but still traceable, is a small group of works, partially destroyed by the river. A fourth of a mile below this subordinate group, on the bank of the terrace, is a large truncated mound, thirty feet in height. It does not fall within the area exhibited on the map.

At various points around this work are the usual pits or dug holes, some of which are of large size. To the left of the great circle, on the brow of the terrace, is an Indian burial place. The construction of a farm road down the bank disclosed a large quantity of human bones, accompanied by a variety of rude implements. A short distance below this point, on the same bank of the river, is the former site of an Indian town.

A number of small circles occur about a hundred rods distant from the octagon, in the forest land to the south-east. They measure nearly fifty feet in diameter, and the walls are about two feet in height. It has been suggested that they are p051 the remains of structures of some kind, and also that they were the bases of unfinished mounds. There are no indications of entrances or passage ways, a circumstance which favors the latter hypothesis. Similar small circles occur within or in the immediate vicinity of several other large works.

[♠]

XVII. Hopeton Work, Ross Co. Ohio (four miles north of Chillicothe).

PLATE XVII.[38] HOPETON WORKS, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

Four miles above the city of Chillicothe, on the east bank of the Scioto river, is situated the singular group of works figured in the Plate. They are found upon the third “bottom” or terrace, just at the base of an elevated plain, upon which, five hundred paces distant, and to the right of the main works, the minor group B is situated. They consist of a rectangle, with an attached circle, the latter extending into the former, instead of being connected with it in the usual manner. The rectangle measures nine hundred and fifty by nine hundred feet, and the circle is ten hundred and fifty feet in diameter. The centre of the circle is somewhat to the right of a line drawn through the centre of the rectangle, parallel to its longest sides. The exterior gateways are twelve in number, and have an average width of about twenty-five feet. The chord of that part of the circle interior to the rectangle is five hundred and thirty feet. On the east side are two circles, measuring two hundred, and two hundred and fifty feet in diameter respectively; one covering a gateway, the other extending into, and opening within, the work. About two hundred paces north of the great circle is another smaller one, two hundred and fifty feet in diameter.

The walls of the rectangular work are composed of a clayey loam, twelve feet high by fifty feet base, and are destitute of a ditch on either side. They resemble the heavy grading of a railway, and are broad enough, on the top, to admit the passage of a coach. The wall of the great circle was never as high as that of the rectangle; yet, although it has been much reduced of late years by the plough, it is still about five feet in average height. It is also destitute of a ditch. It is built of clay, which differs strikingly in respect of color from the surrounding soil. The walls of the smaller circles are about three feet in height, with interior ditches of corresponding depth.

Parallel walls extend from the north-western corner of the rectangle, towards the river to the south-west. They are twenty-four hundred feet, or nearly half a mile p052 long, and are placed one hundred and fifty feet apart. They terminate at the edge of the terrace, at the foot of which, it is evident, the river once had its course; but between which and the present bed of the stream, a broad and fertile “bottom” now intervenes. They are carried in a straight line, and although very slight, (nowhere exceeding two and a half feet in height,) are uninterrupted throughout. They do not connect directly with the main work; at least, they are not traceable near it.

There is a dug hole, of considerable size, near the south-east angle of the rectangular portion of the work, exterior to the walls. In the bank of the table land, which approaches to within three or four hundred feet of the walls, are several excavations, d d d, from which large quantities of earth have been taken, though much less, apparently, than enters into the composition of the embankments.

There are no mounds of magnitude in connection with these works. There are two slight elevations of an oval form, and also one or two very small mounds, within the square, as shown in the plan. There is a large group, however, on the opposite bank of the river, in the direction pursued by the parallels above mentioned.

The truncated pyramid and accompanying circle, shown in the plan of the “Cedar Bank Works,” (Plate [XVIII],) are situated about one-fourth of a mile to the north-east, upon the superior plain. The coincidences between this circle and the small one C of the plan will be observed at once. The feature of an inner wall or platform, of the description here indicated, is of frequent occurrence. (See “Newark Works,” Plate [XXV].)

From the height and solidity of the walls, it might be inferred that this was a work of defence. But its position, in respect to the third terrace which commands it, strongly opposes that conclusion. Still, this objection would not be insuperable, could we suppose that the walls were palisaded; for, in such a case, the interior of the work would be unassailable by any missiles known to barbarous or half-civilized nations,—in fact, proof against anything except artillery, and affording no mean protection against an assault of that description.

PLATE XVIII.[39] CEDAR BANK WORKS, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

This work is situated upon the table lands bordering the Scioto river, at a point five miles above the town of Chillicothe, and about a mile above the works last p053 described. It consists of a wall and outer ditch, which constitute three sides of a parallelogram. The fourth side is protected by a natural bank or bluff, seventy feet high, and so steep as to admit of no ascent, except at one point where it has been gullied by the flow of water.

[♠]

XVIII. Cedar-bank Works, Ross Co. Ohio.

The walls of this work are about six feet high by forty feet base; the ditch five feet deep by forty wide. The ditch upon the longer or eastern side is formed, for two thirds of its length, by a “runway” or water-course. It is here from eight to ten feet deep. The wall upon this side is fourteen hundred feet long. The northern and southern walls are each ten hundred and fifty feet in length, and placed at right angles to the first; the southern extending to the very edge of the bluff, the northern terminating within twenty-five feet of it. It is possible that a fourth wall originally bounded the enclosure on the west, which has been destroyed by the river, in its encroachments. There are gateways, each sixty feet wide, at the centres of the northern and southern sides. Covering the northern gateway, and two hundred feet interior to it, is an elevated square, two hundred and fifty feet long by one hundred and fifty broad, and four feet high. It is ascended from the ends by graded ways, thirty feet broad, and in all respects resembles the truncated pyramids or “elevated squares” of the Marietta Works (Plate [XXVI]).

On the line of the southern embankment, and three hundred feet distant from the main work, are singular parallel walls, eight hundred and seventy feet long and seventy feet apart, connected at the ends. These walls have no ditch, and have been partially obliterated by the Chillicothe and Columbus turnpike, which passes through them. In the timbered land, where they are undisturbed, they are between two and three feet high.

Fig. 9.

About one third of a mile south of the principal work, is a truncated pyramid, and a small circle, Fig. 9: the former is one hundred and twenty feet square at the base, and nine feet in height; the latter is two hundred and fifty feet in diameter, and has an entrance from the south, thirty feet wide. The sides of the pyramidal structure correspond to the cardinal points. The circle has a ditch interior to the embankment; and has also a broad embankment of about the same height with the outer wall, interior to the ditch, upon the side opposite the entrance. This feature, which is found in many of the smaller circles, is illustrated by the plan, and by the section b a. This group is so disposed as to command a fine view of the river terraces below it; and the headland upon which it is situated seems to have been artificially smoothed and rounded. The spot is well chosen. The “elevated square” has been excavated, but was found to contain no remains. Upon the edge of the table land, both above and below this peculiar group, there are various inconsiderable remains, consisting of small, low terraces, and little mounds and circles.

It is difficult to determine the character of this group of works. The principal enclosure partakes of the nature of a defence; but the broad gateways and the p054 regular terrace embraced in the walls, are features hardly consistent with the hypothesis of a military origin. The long parallel lines, found in connection with this and other works, are entirely inexplicable in their design and purposes. The most plausible suggestion concerning them is, that they were devoted to the celebration of certain games; they may, however, have been connected with religious observances. It has been suggested that the gully or “wash” towards the river was originally a graded way to the water, and that its present irregularity has been occasioned by the rains and storms of centuries.

It is a singular fact that there are no mounds of magnitude in connection with these works. Upon the opposite side of the river, however, there are a large number, as will be seen in the succeeding Plate.

PLATE XIX.[40] MOUND CITY, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO.

This plate presents a very interesting group of works. They are situated on the left bank of the Scioto river, four miles north of the town of Chillicothe. The enclosure, designated, from the great number of mounds within its walls, “Mound City,” is in many respects the most remarkable in the Scioto valley. Through the generous kindness of HENRY SHRIVER, Esq., upon whose estate it is situated, the mounds were all permitted to be investigated; and the work will, in consequence, be often referred to in the course of this volume, particularly when we come to speak of “Mounds.”

In outline it is nearly square, with rounded angles, and consists of a simple embankment, between three and four feet high, unaccompanied by a ditch. Its site is the beautiful level of the second terrace, and it is still covered with the primitive forest.

The first and most striking feature in connection with this work is the unusual number of mounds which it contains. There are no less than twenty-four within its walls. All of these, as above observed, have been excavated, and the principal ones found to contain altars and other remains, which put it beyond question that they were places of sacrifice, or of superstitious origin. [The evidence in support of this conclusion will appear in a subsequent chapter on the mounds and their purposes.]