George Washington Flowers 
 Memorial Collection 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 ESTABLISHED BY THE 
 FAMILY OF 
 
 COLONEL FLOWERS 
 
PRE-HISTORIC 
 
 RACES. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/prehistoricraces01fost 
 
Sketch. — Ancient Works at Marietta, Ohio. 
 
PRE-HISTORIC RACES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 BY J. W. FOSTER, LL.D., 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE “PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY-''' ETC. - JOINT 
 AUTHOR OF FOSTER AND VUITNEY’S REPORT OP THE “GEOLOGY OF 
 LAKE SUPERIOR REGION;’’ LATE PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN 
 ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE * PRESIDENT 
 OP THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES; AND MEMBER 
 OF OTHER LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 U 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 C. GRIGGS AND COMPANY. 
 LONDON: TRUBNER & CO. 
 1873 . 
 
 Al 
 
 rl 
 
 IT 
 
 ‘.d 
 
 
 ^HSOKUa* 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress^ in the year 1873, by 
 
 SAMUEL C. GRIGGS, 
 
 in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
Cl T. MASON, 
 
 9/3,y3 
 
 F7f.:p 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 TN early manhood, when for the first time I gazed 
 upon the works of that mysterious people known as 
 the Mound-builders, my mind received a class of im¬ 
 pressions which subsequent years have failed to efface. 
 These works are in the vicinity of Newark, Ohio ; and 
 although not the most stupendous, are the most elabo¬ 
 rate in the whole series. It was a bright summer’s 
 morning, and the sunlight, streaming through the open¬ 
 ings of the dense canopy of foliage above, fell upon the 
 ground in flickering patches. A slumberous silence 
 filled the air; and I confess that, as I traced out the 
 labyrinthine system of earthworks here displayed, with 
 its great circles and squares, its octagons, gateways, 
 parallel roads, and tumuli, the whole spread over an 
 area of several square miles; and as I speculated upon 
 the purposes of their construction, and on the origin 
 and extinction of the people by whom they were reared, 
 I was profoundly impressed. 
 
 Gibbon relates that it was among the ruins of the 
 Roman capital he first conceived the idea of writing 
 the history of the decline and fall of that empire. I 
 
 iii 
 
IV 
 
 PKEFACE. 
 
 cannot say, “ comparing small things with great,” that 
 it was amid the sepulchres of a vanished race, I con¬ 
 ceived the idea of writing this work; but I cau say, 
 that, in after life, I have never passed one of their 
 monuments, however humble, without experiencing 
 feelings akin to my first impressions. 
 
 In exploring the physical geography of the Missis¬ 
 sippi Valley and the Lake Region, I have had abundant 
 opportunities for examining the most notable of the 
 Mound-builders’ works. At various times I have pub¬ 
 lished papers on the Archgeology of this Continent, 
 among which I may enumerate the following : 
 
 A Chapter on ancient Copper-mining. (Foster and 
 Whitney’s Report on the Geology of the Lake Superior 
 Region. Washington, 1850. Printed for the House 
 of Representatives.) 
 
 Description of Samples of Cloth, from the Mounds 
 of Ohio. (Transactions of the American Association 
 for the Advancement of Science, 1852.) 
 
 On the Antiquity of Man in North America, and 
 
 Descriptions of certain Stone and Copper Implements 
 used by the Mound-builders. (Transactions of the 
 Chicago Academy of Sciences, vol. i, part ii. 1869.) 
 
 On recent Discoveries in Ethnology as connected with 
 Geology:—An Address delivered at Troy, New York, 
 as the retiring President of the American Association 
 for the Advancement of Science. (Transactions, etc., 
 for 1870.) 
 
 On certain Peculiarities in the Crania of the Mound- 
 
PREP ACE. 
 
 V 
 
 builders. (Transactions of the American Association 
 for the Advancement of Science. 1872.) 
 
 On the Pottery of the Mound-builders. (American 
 Naturalist, February Number, 1873.) 
 
 I have also written for the magazines of the day, several 
 articles relating to American Archaeology which I do 
 not deem of sufficient importance to enumerate in this 
 connection. The substance of these papers has been 
 incorporated in the following pages, without the desig¬ 
 nation of quotation marks, and the fact that they were 
 published at different intervals, will account for the 
 repetition, in some instances, of the same ideas. 
 
 It will thus be apparent that I enter upon this work, 
 not as a mere compiler, but as an original observer. 
 Most of the illustrations have been derived from 
 materials now for the first time brought together. As 
 this volume is intended only as a Compendium of our 
 Antiquities, to be restricted to a given number of 
 pages, I have been compelled for the most part to 
 represent groups by a single illustration, and on a 
 greatly reduced scale, and to discuss many questions 
 relating to our Ethnology in a summary, and in what 
 some may consider a superficial, manner. 
 
 The Smithsonian Institution is entitled to much credit 
 for having brought out such admirable works as “ The 
 Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley,” by 
 Squier and Davis; “ The Antiquities of Wisconsin,” 
 by I. A. Lapham ; and “ The Archeology of the United 
 States,” by S. F. Haven; to say nothing of the brief 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 papers on local antiquities which have appeared in the 
 Annual Reports. It has also caused to be translated 
 and published many valuable papers by foreign authors, 
 which have been essential aids to the American Eth¬ 
 nologist in keeping him advised as to the progress of 
 scientific opinion abroad, and affording him the means 
 of comparison in his individual researches. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the honored Secretary of this 
 Institution, Professor Henry, will bring out anillustrated 
 catalogue of American Antiquities, not restricted to the 
 Smithsonian Collections, but embracing those of indi¬ 
 viduals throughout the United States. 
 
 Before closing this preface, I desire to express my 
 thanks to many private individuals and Scientific Asso¬ 
 ciations for having given me access to their Archaeologi¬ 
 cal Collections, and in many instances for having fur¬ 
 nished me with explanatory notes. These courtesies I 
 have endeavored to acknowledge in the body of the 
 work. So great, indeed, has been the profusion of 
 materials placed at my disposal by the kindness of 
 friends, that I soon found, after entering seriously upon 
 this work, that to properly figure and describe them, 
 would defeat the object in view, by making a volume 
 too costly and too cumbersome for popular reading. 
 
 If the public manifest sufficient interest in questions 
 relating to our Pre-historic Archaeology to justify the 
 expense, I may hereafter, if fife and health are spared, 
 draw more liberally from the materials at my command. 
 
 Chicago, May 1, 1873. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN-EVIDENCES IN EUROPE. 
 
 p>aB. 
 
 PROGRESS of Ethnology—Retarded by popular dogmas — 
 Epochs in the career of the Pre-historic Man — Contemporary 
 with cave-bear and mammoth — Progress of discovery—In 
 France — In England — Bone-caves — Cave of Aurignac — 
 Climate of the Drift Period—Reindeer Epoch—Character of 
 the Pre-historic Man — Engraving by Cave-men — Epoch of 
 domesticated existing animals—Danish antiquities—Climatic 
 changes — Lacustrine habitations of Switzerland — Era of 
 domesticated animals and plants — Pre-historic remains in Nile 
 Valley — Note; Earliest traces of man___ 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 ANTIQUITY OF MAN-EVIDENCES IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 T T UMAN relics in gold-drift of California — Calaveras skull — 
 Plummet from San Joaquin Valley—Basket-work at Petit 
 Anse, La.— Human bone in Loess, at Natchez — Arrow-heads 
 in connection with bones of mastodon, in Missouri — Stone- 
 hatchet in Drift, Jersey County, Illinois — Pre-historic remains 
 in Colorado and Wyoming— Pottery found with the remains of 
 megatherium — Human skeleton at New Orleans— In a calcare¬ 
 ous conglomerate in Florida — Ancient hearths in the Ohio Val¬ 
 ley — Marine shells in the Alluvium of Ohio — The works of the 
 Mound-builders — Parallelism of the Antiquity of Man in the 
 two hemispheres — Contemporary mammals — The elephant 
 and mastodon — Rhinoceros—Musk-ox — The great musk-ox 
 — Reindeer—Irish elk’- and his American congener—The 
 aurochs — The bison and his American congener—The great 
 
 vii 
 
VUl 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ox — The horse — The cave-lion and great American lion — 
 
 The great American tiger — The cave-bear and its American 
 congener — Cave-hyena — The great beaver—Northern types 
 common to both hemispheres — Southern types widely divergent 
 — Probable connection between the two hemispheres in former 
 times — Faunae of the Miocene and Pliocene compared — Man 
 amid these changes — His fertility in resources — Note : Human 
 remains in the bone-caves of Brazil — Along the Coast of 
 Ecuador_______ 52 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS-THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 
 
 OF THEIR WORKS. 
 
 I 'HEIR works as distinctive as those of the Pelasgi — Ancient 
 works in the Northwest—Animal mounds in Wisconsin — 
 Works at Aztalan — On the Upper Mississippi — In the Lower 
 Valley of the Missouri — At St. Louis and in the American 
 Bottom — Great mound at Cahokia — Ancient cemeteries on the 
 Merrimac River — At Chester, Illinois—In Perry County, Mis¬ 
 souri— In Southern Indiana—In Tennessee — Similar mode 
 of burial practised in Great Britain — Ancient works on the 
 Lower Mississippi — At New Madrid — At Florence, Ala.— 
 Along the Yazoo — The great mound at Seltzertown, Miss.— 
 Works in Arkansas—In Louisiana — On the Gulf Coast — On 
 the Etowah River—At the Falls of Little River—At Macon — 
 Ancient works in the Ohio Valley — At Newark — At Marietta 
 — Great mound at Grave Creek—Near Miamisburg—Grottoes 
 occupied by Mound-builders — Walled fort in Illinois— Mounds 
 on the Wabash — At Vincennes — At Merom — On the Kanka¬ 
 kee—Ancient works in Northern Ohio and Western New York— 
 
 In New Mexico — On the Atlantic Coast — Burial cases used in 
 North Carolina — Ancient works on Pacific Coast—In the 
 Montanic Region — Colorado —y pper Missouri —Garden-beds. 97 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SHELL-BANKS-THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 T ARINE accumulations—Gnathodon beds on the Gulf Coast 
 ^ —On the Teche — On the Alabama River — Shell-heaps of 
 Florida — On the waters of the Chesapeake — In Nova Scotia — 
 In Maine — In Massachusetts—-On the Pacific Coast—Fresh- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 IX 
 
 water shell-heaps — In the American Bottom of Illinois — At 
 New Harmony and other points in Indiana—In Tennessee — 
 
 On the banks of the Yazoo, Mississippi—In Florida—Their 
 antiquity — Character of the crania found in this association... 156 
 
 C II A P T E R V . 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 ''HEIR situation in reference to topographical features — Classi¬ 
 fication of mounds and enclosures—For defence — Altar or 
 sacrificial mounds — Their structure— Human sacrifices prob¬ 
 ably offered up — False inferences drawn from their stratifica¬ 
 tion — The British barrows often stratified— Temple mounds — 
 
 The truncated pyramidal form predominant — No analogy 
 between them and the Egyptian pyramids —The teocallis of 
 Mexico— Sepulchral mounds—Mode of burial—Position of 
 the corpse — Both cremation and inhumation practised — Ex¬ 
 ploration of the Grave Creek mound—Scythian customs similar 
 to those of the Mound-builders — Exploration of a mound at 
 Vincennes — Of the great mound at St. Louis — Of Lick Creek 
 mound, Tenn.— Universality of mounds among primitive nations 
 — Urn burial — Cave burial — Mounds of observation _ 171 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS-THEIR ARTS AND MANUFACTURES. 
 
 OTRIKING similarity in implements of barbarous races — Of 
 little value in tracing ethnic affinities — Flint and greenstone 
 well adapted to the manufacture of crude implements — Arrow¬ 
 heads, how made— Their classification—Rimmers and borers 
 — Agricultural implements — Celts — Axes — Fleshers — 
 Scrapers — Pipes — Tobacco, indigenous — Pestles — Bark- 
 peelers — Discoidal stones — Their uses — The game of 
 "Chungke”—Textile fabrics, regularly spun and woven — 
 Gaugers —Weights— Shuttles— Spindle-whorls— Shell-work— 
 Beads — Pottery —Water-jugs — Statuettes—Vases — Drinking 
 cups — Pipes — Sepulchral urns — Kettles — Colored pottery — 
 Copper implements — Chisels — Axes — Daggers — Spear and 
 arrow - heads — Knives — Awls — Bracelets — Implements 
 show'ing marks of moulds _ ■ _ 203 
 
X 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ANCIENT MINING BY THE MOUND - BUILDERS. 
 
 EOLOGICAL structure of the southern shore of Lake Superior, 
 with its associated veins of native copper — The Jesuits unac¬ 
 quainted with the true source of the copper boulders—The 
 Indians also ignorant, holding them in superstitious reverence 
 
 — The region resorted to by a Pre-historic race — Character of 
 their mining—Its antiquity — Implements employed — The 
 wide distribution of copper in the mounds — Mica extensively 
 mined — The ancient mines in the mountain region of North 
 Carolina — Galena mined, but seldom reduced — Specular ores 
 of Missouri employed as a stone —Ribbon-marked slate mined 
 
 — Greenstone and porphyry everywhere abundant — Chert 
 extensively used in arrow-heads — Seats of their manufacture •— 
 Eras of human progress — Position of the Mound-builders in 
 
 the scale of humanity___ 261 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 T])ERMANENCE of type in crania—Those of the Mound-builders 
 unique — Skulls from the region of Chicago — Figures—Low 
 type — Skulls from the region of Merom, la. — Low type main¬ 
 tained— “ Ossa Wormensia” — Skull from Kankakee Valley — 
 Skulls from the region of Dubuque — Previous descriptions of 
 Mound-builders’ skulls—Classification of skulls—Flatheads — 
 Distinctive characters of Mound-builders’skulls — Their mental 
 traits contrasted with .those of the Indian — As to the former 
 existence of an autochthonous race — Preponderance of the 
 brain-case the mark of mental activity — Artificial compression, 
 how far practised — The Peruvian skull—^ Contours of the most 
 anomalous skulls—Cranial measurements — Note: Mound- 
 builders’ crania from Kentucky — Flattened tibia; characteristic 
 of the inferior races - 275 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS AS THE BASIS OF ETHNIC RELATIONS. 
 
 CIMILARITY of manners and customs an uncertain guide in 
 tracing ethnic relations— Manners and customs of the Mound- 
 builders, how far identical with those of other nations — Sacred 
 observances— Sun-worship — Probably practised by the Mound- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XI 
 
 builders — Burial ceremonies — Consecrated offerings traced 
 back to the highest antiquity— Human sacrifices probably made 
 by the Mound-builders — Its prevalence among other races — 
 Scalping the dead not peculiar to the Indian —Flint and stone 
 implements, their similarity in form the world over — Language 
 
 — That of the Indians distinct, and of a primitive character — 
 Picture-writing of the Indians and Aztecs— Hieroglyphics used 
 by Central Americans — American language shows no trace of 
 the “ Lost Tribes” — The form of the crania an authentic guide 
 
 — Morton’s views as to the separate and peculiar character of 
 the Indian type — Controverted by Retzius—Both types, Doli- 
 cocephali and Brachycephali, found — The artificial deforma¬ 
 tion of skull not peculiar to the people of this country — Civil¬ 
 ization, manifested in the higher forms of art, a valuable guide 
 
 — The ancient civilizations of this Continent distinct from those 
 of the Old World — The outgrowth of a people domesticated to 
 the soil—Iron, its use once known always retained — Known 
 in the Old World before the Historic Period — Unknown to the 
 Pre-historic peoples of this Continent—No domesticated animals 
 
 — No domesticated cereals, except maize — Stability of manners 
 
 among an isolated people — Effects of culture in modifying the 
 physiognomy — The great problem of the first origin of man 
 incapable of solution__ 310 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 WHO WERE THE MOUND - BUILDERS ? 
 
 HEIR origin to be sought in the tropics, rather than in a migra¬ 
 tion from the Old World — Identity in their crania with those 
 of the ancient races of Brazil and Central America — The early 
 civilizations of both hemispheres probably originated in the 
 tropics — Are due to the prodigality of nature—Historical 
 evidence—The Aztecs, their origin — Not an indigenous race 
 
 — Their proficiency in astronomy — Ancient Mexican records 
 
 — The Toltecs, or Nahuas, identical with the Mound-buijders 
 —The empire of Huehue Tlapalan—The migration of the people 
 southward—The date of this migration—They attain supreme 
 power—Colhuan civilization—The people of Central America, 
 found in possession of the country at time of the Spanish Con¬ 
 quest, a part of the dismembered Toltecan empire — Tyranny 
 of the Governing power—That power based on slavery—The 
 ancient civilizations of the Old World indicate a similar con- 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XU 
 
 dition of society — The Mound-builders' Empire undoubtedly 
 based on slavery — An efficient government, the subjugation of 
 the masses, and cheap food, presupposed to account for the 
 magnitude of their structures— Maize the national food — EvU 
 dences of methodical agriculture — Shiftless habits of the Indian 
 — Their democratic form of government — Character of the 
 people who erected the mounds—Ethnology of the Mound- 
 builders— Summary of their predominant traits- 338 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 .MPERFECTION of the received chronological record — The 
 remote antiquity of man as indicated by geology — Permanence 
 of types — Views of Dr. Prichard — Of Dr. Thompson on 
 Egyptian antiquities — Of Mr. Smith on Assyrian monuments 
 
 — Of the author of “Genesis of Earth and Man” — Of Sir 
 Charles Lyell — Of Mr. Darwin, as to the value of specific char¬ 
 acters applied to the races of man — Arguments for and against 
 the unity of the race— Points of resemblance in body and mind 
 
 — Primitive condition of man — Slight influence of the direct 
 
 action of the conditions of life — Sexual selection the all- 
 important agency — Humboldt on the unity of the race— His 
 protest against the assumption of superior and inferior races_353 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CHRONOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS AS APPLIED TO THE 
 ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 an inconsiderable part in the career 
 
 Mound-builders — Inferences drawn 
 
 from the condition of the skeletons — From the character of 
 the arborescent vegetation covering the mounds—Unreliability 
 of Indian traditions — Age of the gorge of the Niagara River — 
 Man's existence under greatly changed conditions of climate — 
 
 Due probably to astronomical causes — The excentricity of the 
 earth’s orbit — Periods of glaciation in remote times — Con¬ 
 clusion ___ 368 
 
 Appendix 
 Index_ 
 
 387 
 
 401 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAon. 
 
 1. Ancient works at Marietta, Ohio, from a sketch by Charles Sul¬ 
 livan, prefixed to “ Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Val¬ 
 ley.” ( Frontispiece.) 
 
 2. Plummet iiwm the Modified Drift of the San Joaquin Valley, 
 
 California---- - 55 
 
 3. Hatchet ? from the Modified Drift, Jersey County, Illinois_ 67 
 
 4. Elephas primigenitis and Mastodon giganteus, restored_ 82 
 
 5. Animal mounds in Wisconsin___ gg 
 
 6. “ “ “ ___loi 
 
 7. Plan of ancient works at Aztalan, Wisconsin, from a survey by 
 
 Dr. I. A. Lapham, “Antiquities of Wisconsin”_ 102 
 
 8. Plan of ancient works in Madison Parish, Louisiana, from a 
 
 survey by James Hough, “Ancient Monuments,” etc.-.. I20 
 
 g. Plan of ancient works near Newark, Ohio, from a survey by 
 Col. Charles Whittlesey, “ Ancient Monuments,” etc._ 125 
 
 10. Plan of Fort Azatlan, Indiana, by J. H. Emerton, " bulletin 
 
 of Essex Institute ”____ _ 134 
 
 100. Plan of ancient works at Hutsonville, Illinois, from a plan by 
 
 J. H. Emerton, “ Boston Natural History Society”_ _ _ I3g 
 
 11. Gnathodon cuneatus, illustrative of the shell-heaps on the Gulf 
 
 Coast........ 156 
 
 12. Plan of an altar or sacrificial mound.-__ I7g 
 
 13. Section of a sacrificial mound in the Scioto Valley, “ Ancient 
 
 Monuments," etc.__ _ 180 
 
 14. View of Grave Creek Mound, West Virginia, “ Ancient Monu¬ 
 ments,” etc...-... igo 
 
 15. Different forms of arrow-heads.. - . 205 
 
 16. “ “ “ __ 206 
 
 17. Rimmer or borer...-. 207 
 
 18. Spades for cultivating the soil, from near Alton, Illinois_20q 
 
 xiii 
 
xiv LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. 
 
 19. Axes or hatchets, creased_ 
 
 20. “ “ not creased_ 212 
 
 21. Double-edged axe, from Wisconsin__ 213 
 
 22. Fleshers_ _ 215 
 
 23. Scrapers- 216 
 
 24. Porphyry pipe, polished, from a mound at Laporte, Indiana_217 
 
 25. Pestles for pulverising maize_218 
 
 26. Discoidal stone__ _222 
 
 27. Sculptured stone, ornamental_ 222 
 
 28. Implement, use unknown_ 222 
 
 29. Textile fabrics_ _ _225 
 
 30. Gauges ? employed in spinning_ 229 
 
 31. Weights? for keeping taut the thread_ 230 
 
 32. Shuttle ? used in weaving_ 233 
 
 33. Button? for spindle-whorl_ _ 234 
 
 34. Plemispherical implement. Use unknown- 234 
 
 35. Busycoti perversum, used in shell-work_ 234 
 
 36. Discs from the same__ 235 
 
 37. Marginella apicina, used as bead.._ _ _235 
 
 38. Water-jugs, from Missouri____ 237 
 
 39. Water-jug, front and profile views, from a mound in Missouri 239 
 
 40. Statuette, profile and back view, from a mound in Missouri_241 
 
 41. Water-jug, from an ancient cemetery on the Wabash River, Ind. 243 
 
 42. Water-jug, from Belmont, Missouri_ 244 
 
 43. Ancient vessel, from San Jose, Mexico_ 244 
 
 44. ' Chevron markings of the Bronze Age of Switzerland_ 245 
 
 45. Drinking cup, from Perry County, Missouri_ 246 
 
 46. Pipe, female head and body, from a mound at Laporte, Indiana, 246 
 
 47. Sepulchral urn, from Laporte, Indiana_ 247 
 
 48. Two urns from the same locality_ 247 
 
 49. Vessel of pottery, from near the mouth of Big Sandy River, Ky. 248 
 
 50. Ancient pottery, from Merom, Indiana__ 250 
 
 “ “ “ New Mexico_ 250 
 
 51. “ “ “ Aztalan, Wisconsin_ 251 
 
 52. Copper implements — chisels, axes and daggers...253 
 
 53. “ “ of warfare and the chase_ 255 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 XV 
 
 PAGB. 
 
 54. Copper implements — knives, awls and bracelets__ 256 
 
 55. “ “ showing marks of moulds_ 258 
 
 56. Stone mauls, from Lake Superior_ 267 
 
 57. Skull, from Slimpson’s mound, near Chicago_ 277 
 
 58. Frontal bone, from Kennicott’s mound, near Chicago_ 280 
 
 59. Child’s skull, from Haas’s Park, near Chicago_ 281 
 
 60. Skull, from Merom, Indiana_ 282 
 
 61. “ “ “ “ 283 
 
 62. “ " •’ “ 284 
 
 63. “ “ “ “ 285 
 
 64. Posterior view, showing “ Ossa Wormensia”__ _ 286 
 
 65. Skull, from Dunleith, Illinois___ 289 
 
 66. “ “ Tennessee__ 291 
 
 67. “ “ the Upper Mississippi__ 292 
 
 68. Vertical view of skull, from Merom, Indiana. . 293 
 
 69- “ " “ “ " “ -..293 
 
 70. “ “ '■ •' •' “ . . 294 
 
 71. Skull of a Flathead__ 295 
 
 72. Comparative scale of skulls_ 305 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OP MAN — EVIDENCES IN EUROPE. 
 
 T he combined investigations of geologists and 
 ethnologists, prosecuted during the last quarter 
 of a century, have thrown much light upon the origin of 
 the human race, and developed facts which require us 
 to essentially modify our pre-existing views as to the 
 length of time during which it has occupied our 
 planet. That man lived at a time far too remote to be 
 embraced in our received system of chronology, sur¬ 
 rounded by great quadrupeds Avhich have ceased to 
 exist, and under a climate very different from what 
 now prevails, has been so clearly demonstrated that 
 the fact must now be accepted as a scientific truth. 
 
 Revelations so startling, have been received with 
 disquietude and distrust by those Avho adhere to the 
 chronology of Usher and Petavius, which would bring 
 the various migrations of men, the confusion of tongues, 
 the peopling of continents, the development of types, 
 and everything relating to human history, within the 
 short compass of little more than four thousand years. 
 
 Those great physical revolutions in the face of Europe, 
 such as the contraction of the glaciers within narrow 
 limits, the gradual change of the Baltic from salt to 
 brackish water, the submergence and subsequent ele¬ 
 vation of a larger portion of Southern Russia and 
 B 17 
 
18 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 Northern Germany, the conversion of a portion of the 
 bed of the Mediterranean Sea into the desert of Sahara, 
 the severance of France from England, Europe from 
 Africa, and Asia from Europe, by the straits of Dover, 
 Gibraltar, and the Dardanelles, and the dying out of 
 the volcanic fires of Auvergne — all these great physi¬ 
 cal changes which geologists, by universal consent, 
 admitted were infinitely older than any authentic 
 history or tradition, must now be comprehended in the 
 Human Epoch. 
 
 “Ethnology,” remarks Sir John Lubbock, “in fact, 
 is passing through a phase from which other sciences 
 have safely emerged, and the new views in reference 
 to the Antiquity of Man, though still looked upon with 
 distrust and apprehension, will, I doubt not, in a few 
 years, be regarded with as little disquietude as are now 
 those discoveries in astronomy and geology, which at 
 one time excited even greater opposition.”* 
 
 A brief glance at the progress of scientific inquiry 
 will show how vastly our views of the grandeur of the 
 universe have been enlarged by casting aside the dogmas 
 of former ages. The battle-field on which Science and 
 Popular Belief were the contending hosts, has been 
 repeatedly fought over, in which the former has always 
 come off victorious; not as against Christianity, but 
 against the narrow and bigoted views of the times. In 
 the fourth century, to believe in the Antipodes was 
 deemed heretical. In 1430, Copernicus completed his 
 immortal work on the Revolution of the Heavenly Bodies, 
 and for thirteen years retained it in his possession ; and 
 when he put it forth, as a safeguard against oppression, 
 he propounded his theory in the form of an hypothesis. 
 It was permitted to slumber for nearly eighty years, and 
 
 * Sir John Lubbock, “ Pre-historic Times,” preface. 
 
POPULAR DOGIVIAS. 
 
 19 
 
 when Galileo revived it in explanation of the phases 
 of Venus, the Italian astronomer was silenced. 
 
 Fifty years ago, no popular belief was more fixed 
 than that the work of creation was accomj)lished in 
 six days, each occupying a period of twenty-four hours. 
 Geologists, in investigating the structure of the earth, 
 saw that, to account for all the mutations which it had 
 undergone, required the lapse of an indefinite period 
 of time, stretching back so far remote as to defy 
 computation. To this requirement, every intelligent 
 investigator at this day assents. 
 
 Geologists now find that the Antiquity of Man far 
 antedates the era assigned to his creation by the 
 received system of chronology, and submit the evi¬ 
 dences of their belief to an enlightened public senti¬ 
 ment. 
 
 Thus, within the present generation, has been opened 
 a sphere of investigation which has enlisted an able 
 body of observers, whose labors have thrown a flood of 
 light upon the questions relating to our common human¬ 
 ity. Ethnography has been raised to the rank of the 
 noblest of sciences. However strange these new views 
 with regard to the origin and history of our race may 
 appear, they can not be disregarded. We must weigh 
 the value of observations, and press them to their legiti¬ 
 mate conclusions. The investigator at this day must 
 not be trammeled, in the language of Humboldt, by 
 “ an assemblage of dogmas bequeathed from one age 
 to another,” — “ by a physical philosophy made up of 
 popular errors.” 
 
 A summary of the facts on which the Antiquity of 
 Man is based will form an appropriate introduction to 
 this work ; for if the geologist demands time to account 
 for the formation of the successive deposits in which 
 
20 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OE MAN. 
 
 the vestiges of the human race are preserved, the eth¬ 
 nologist is equally imperative in his demand for time 
 to enable him to account for the migrations of men, 
 their physical peculiarities as manifested in types, and 
 the diversities in their written and spoken languages, 
 in their civilizations, and in their manners and customs. 
 The historical period of 4,000 years, they claim, is 
 inadequate to explain these diversities. 
 
 M. Lartet, whose discoveries in ethnography have 
 placed him in the front rank of observers, divides the 
 period of the Pre-historic Man into two ages, and sub¬ 
 divides the first age into three epochs, and the second 
 into two. 
 
 Epochs. 
 
 I. 
 
 I. STONE AGE. < 2. 
 
 3 - 
 
 V 
 
 That of the extinct animals, such as the 
 mammoth and cave-bear. 
 
 That of the migrated existing animals (Rein¬ 
 deer Epoch). 
 
 That of the domesticated existing animals 
 (Polished stone Epoch). 
 
 II. METAL AGE. 
 
 1. That of Bronze. 
 
 2. That of Iron. 
 
 Sir John Lubbock divides Pre-historic Archaeology 
 into four periods. 
 
 1. “ That of the Drift; when man shared the possession of Europe with 
 
 the mammoth, the ca-ve-bear, the wooly-haired rhinoceros, and 
 other extinct animals.” This he calls the “ Palaeolithic ” period. 
 
 2. “ The later or Polished stone Age ; a period characterized by beauti¬ 
 
 ful weapons and instruments made of flint and other kinds of 
 stone, in which, however, we find no trace of the knowledge of 
 any metal, excepting gold, which seems sometimes to have been 
 used for ornaments.” This he calls the “ Neolithic” period. 
 
 3. “ The Bronze Age ; in which bronze was used for arms and cutting 
 
 instruments of all kinds.” 
 
PKOGRESS OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 21 
 
 4. “ The Iron Age ; in which that metal superseded bronze for arms, 
 
 axes, knives, etc. ; bronze, however, still being in common use for 
 ornaments, and frequently also for the handles of swords and other 
 arms, but never for the blades.” * 
 
 1. Man as the contemporary of the extinct animals^ such 
 as the mammoth and cave-bear. — Up to a recent time, it 
 was the belief of geologists that the remains of man 
 were restricted to the most superficial deposits, such as 
 are now accumulating on the face of the earth, and 
 little significance was attached to discoveries which 
 served to unsettle this belief. As early as 1823, M. 
 Bou^, an accomplished French geologist, found human 
 bones in the undisturbed Loess, at Lahr, in the valley 
 of the Rhine, which were shown to Cuvier, who, while 
 admitting that they were human, insisted that they 
 came from a modern burial-ground. Thus the dictum 
 of the great comparative anatomist was sufficient to 
 override the careful observations of the painstaking 
 geologist. 
 
 In 1828, Christol and Tournal, in investigating the 
 cavern of Bize, in the south of France, observed human 
 bones and teeth and fragments of pottery, intermixed 
 with the bones of mammals now extinct, the whole 
 cemented by stalagmite, and exhibiting the same degree 
 of fossilization ; but the scientific world failed to recog¬ 
 nize the just value of these observations. 
 
 In 1833, Schmerling found in the cave deposits of 
 Li^ge, human bones and rude implements of stone, 
 commingled with the remains of the elephant, rliinoce- 
 ros, etc.; and, resisting the full force of the evidence 
 before his eyes, he suggested that the bones of the 
 extinct species might have been washed out of the 
 older alluvium which exists in the vicinity. 
 
 * “ Pre-historic Times,” p. 3. 
 
22 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OE MAN. 
 
 In 1841, M. Boucher de Perthes, a resident of Abbe¬ 
 ville, in the valley of the Somme, France, observed flint 
 implements, evidently the work of man, in the terrace- 
 gravel which was there dug out to repair the roads and 
 fortifications of the city, and after having collected 
 quite a number, in connection with the bones of the 
 elephant, rhinoceros, bear, hyena, stag, ox, horse, and 
 other animals, in 1847 he published the results in a 
 work called “ Antiquites Celtiques,” but the scientific 
 world had no faith in the discoveries. Dr. Rigolet, 
 however, who lived at Amiens, forty miles further 
 inland, and who had written a memoir on the Fossil 
 Mammalia of the valley, was induced to inspect de 
 Perthes’ collection, and on returning home resolved to 
 look for similar implements, and he soon found several 
 to reward his exertions. These discoveries he com¬ 
 municated to the scientific world. Dr. Falconer, an 
 eminent English geologist, having stopped at Abbeville 
 and inspected de Perthes’ collection, became satisfied 
 that the implements were the work of man, and accord¬ 
 ingly wrote to Messrs. Prestwich and Evans, of England, 
 to go to the valley and examine the deposits. Suffice 
 it to say, that they confirmed the results of M. Boucher 
 de Perthes’ observations. 
 
 The Valley of the Somme, which has now become to 
 the archaeologist classical ground, is about a mile wide 
 between Abbeville and Amiens, and is excavated in the 
 Chalk formation with its accompanying flints. The 
 strata repose nearly horizontally. The bluffs which 
 bound the valley are often two and three hundred feet 
 in height, and these surmounted, the country stretches 
 out into a nearly level plateau, which is covered with a 
 layer of brick earth about five feet thick, and is desti¬ 
 tute of fossils. Occasionally patches of sand and clay 
 
VALLEY OF THE SOIMME. 
 
 23 
 
 with Eocene fossils are observed, and the probability is 
 that tliis formation once stretched continuously over 
 the chalk, but has been broken up and removed by 
 denudation, and these materials contributed largely to 
 form those beds of gravel in which the flint implements 
 and the mammalian remains are entombed. Descending 
 into the valley, we liave, according to Sir Charles Lyell, 
 who has carefully investigated its structure, and whose 
 results I shall state in a condensed form,* the following 
 
 Section across the Valley of the Somme. 
 
 1. Peat twenty to thirty feet thick, resting on gravel deposited on the 
 
 chalk. (Newest deposit.) 
 
 2. Lower level gravel, forming the first bench, with elephants’ bones 
 
 and flint too)s, covered with fluviatile loam, twenty to forty feet 
 thick. 
 
 3. Upper level gravel, forming the second bench, with similar fossils, 
 
 and with overlying loam, in all thirty feet thick. 
 
 4. Upland loam, without shells, five or six feet thick, spread over the 
 
 plateau, as before described. 
 
 5. Eocene tertiary strata, resting on the ch.alk strat.a in patches. 
 
 The peat, as before stated, is the most recent of all 
 these deposits, and occupies the lower parts of the 
 valley all the way from the sea to far above Amiens, 
 including Abbeville, and in places is thirty feet thick. 
 All of the imbedded mammalia, as well as the shells, 
 are the same species as those now inhabiting Europe. 
 At some depth in this formation, near Abbeville, are 
 seen trunks of alders standing erect as they grew, with 
 their roots fixed in the ancient soil. Stems of the hazel, 
 and nuts of the same, and trunks of the oak and walnut 
 abound. Traced to the sea-coast, the peat is seen pass¬ 
 ing under the sand-dunes and below the water-level. 
 
 * “ Antiquity of Man,” ch. vii, et seq. 
 
24 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 This would indicate that there had been a submergence 
 of the land; of what was once a continuance of the 
 valley into what is now a part of the British Channel. 
 The workmen who cut this peat, declare that none of the 
 hollows during their lives have ever been refilled, and 
 therefore that peat does not grow; but this is a mistake, 
 the increment in one generation not being appreciable 
 by the ordinary observer. Near the surface of this 
 deposit occur Gallo-Roman remains, and still deeper, 
 Celtic weapons of the Stone Period, but this is no sure 
 test of age, for in a semi-fluid mass, heavy weapons 
 would sink down by their own gravity. In one case, 
 however, M. Boucher de Perthes observed several large 
 dishes of Roman pottery, lying in a horizontal position, 
 the shape of which must have prevented them from 
 sinking through the underlying peat. Allowing about 
 fourteen centuries for the growth of the superincum¬ 
 bent vegetable matter, he calculated that the thickness 
 gained in a hundred years would be no more than three 
 French centimetres, say about three English inches. 
 “ This rate of increase,” observes Sir Charles, “ would 
 demand so many tens of thousands of years for the 
 formation of the entire thickness of thirty feet, that we 
 must hesitate before adopting it as a chronometric 
 scale.” 
 
 The materials making up the deposit designated No. 
 2 are almost devoid of stratification, and are probably 
 formed of the mud or sediment thrown down by the 
 waters of the river when they overflowed the ancient 
 alluvial plain of that day. Its upper surface has been 
 deeply furrowed by water, at the time when the earthy 
 matter of No. 1 was superimposed. The mammalia 
 most frequently found in this deposit, as well as No. 3, 
 are the following: Elephas primigenius^ Rhinoceros 
 
PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 25 
 
 tichorhinus^ Equus fossilis, Bos prhnigenius, Cervus 
 somonensis, 0. tarandus prisms, Felis speloea, Hycena 
 speloea. 
 
 The deposit No. 3 is made up of a succession of beds 
 chiefly of a fresh-water origin, but occasionally a mix¬ 
 ture of marine and fluviatile shells is observed. In the 
 lowest beds of gravel and sand in contact with the 
 chalk, flint hatchets, some perfect, others much rolled, 
 have been found. Above this bed occurs a white sili- 
 cious sand, in which are found the remains of numerous 
 fresh-water shells now common to the region, exeept 
 Cyrena fluminalis, which has disappeared from Europe, 
 but inhabits the Nile and many parts of Asia. 
 
 The flint implements found in this conneetion exhibit 
 rude workmanship. The two prevailing forms are oval 
 and pear-shaped. Their edges are more or less fractured 
 or worn, either by use as instruments before they were 
 buried in the gravel, or by being rolled in the river’s 
 bed. Many of them are stained ochreous-yellow, while 
 others have acquired white or brown tints, according 
 to the matx’ix in which they have been enclosed. The 
 surface in many instances is encrusted with a film of 
 carbonate of lime, while in others they exhibit those 
 ramifying markings known as dendrites, which is a use¬ 
 ful test of their antiquity. The most general test, how¬ 
 ever, is a varnish-like or vitreous gloss, as contrasted 
 with the dull aspect of freshly-fractured fliuts. 
 
 In the British Museum there is a flint implement 
 deposited as far back as 1715, with the statement that 
 it was found “ near Grayes Inn Lane,” with an elephant's 
 tooth, in the presence of Mr. Conyers. Tlius it is evi¬ 
 dent, that the fact that man was the contemporary of 
 the extinct animals, was known a century and a half 
 ago, but it had been passed over by geologists. 
 
26 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 In 1842, Mr. Godwin-Austen, in a paper communi¬ 
 cated to the Geological Society of London, stated that 
 he had observed the association of human remains with 
 those of extinct animals at Kent’s Hole, Devonshke, 
 and inferred that they must have been introduced before 
 the stalagmite floor was formed. Another communica¬ 
 tion to the same effect, from another observer, Mr. 
 Vivian, was denied publication. This example shows 
 how reluctantly new truths are received, where they 
 conflict with our preconceived ideas. 
 
 It was, however, the confirmation of the correctness 
 of de Perthes’ discoveries, by such eminent geologists 
 and palaeontologists as Lyell, Falconer, and Prestwich, 
 that arrested the attention of observers throughout 
 Europe, and induced them to re-examine the bone- 
 caves and gravel-pits of their respective regions; and 
 the result has been, that the association of human 
 remains with those of extinct animals has been detected 
 in many thousand instances, constituting a mass of evi¬ 
 dence which can be no longer gainsayed. So great was 
 the interest excited in England by these discoveries 
 that, under the auspices of the Royal Society of London, 
 Mr. Pengelly, with a supervisory committee of men 
 eminent in science, was deputed to explore the cave of 
 Brixham, near Torquay, who with scrupulous care 
 records the exact position of each fossil bone or flint 
 implement exhumed, and the results which he is 
 developing, must convince the most skeptical, that man 
 existed in that region contemporary with the large 
 mammalia. Among these, are the great fossil elephant 
 (^Elephas primigenius),^Q rhinoceros QR. tiehorhinus'), 
 the horse, the bison, the reindeer (^Oervus tarandus), 
 the stag (^Cervus elaphus and O. eapreolus), the great 
 cave-bear ( Ursus spelceus') and two other species ( U. 
 
GROTTOES WITH HUMAN REMAINS. 
 
 27 
 
 ferox and U. arctos}, the cave-hyena (^H. spelcea), and 
 the cave-lion (^Felis spelcea). The same association has 
 been observed in the gravel-pits of Middlesex, Surrey, 
 Bedfordshire, and Sulfolk. 
 
 On the continent, the progress of discovery in this 
 branch of palaeontology has been quite as rapid, and 
 the results have been still more wonderful, Dupont, 
 under the auspices of the government, has carefully 
 explored the Belgian caves, and Lartet and Christy, 
 and others, have explored those of France. Among 
 those belonging to the oldest epoch, may be enumerated 
 the grottoes of Moulin Quignon, Aurignac, Vallieres, 
 Arcy-sur-Yonne, Moustier (Perigord), and the caves 
 of Fontaine, Madelaine, and Pontil. But these do not 
 exhaust the list. The cave of Gailenreuther, in Fran¬ 
 conia, that of Laglio, on Lake Como, and the grotto of 
 Macagnome, in Sicily, have revealed abundant reliquse 
 of man in connection with the bones of extinct animals. 
 In other parts of the earth, in Syria and Brazil, the 
 same association has been observed. 
 
 These caverns may be classified under three heads: 
 
 1, Those which have served for human habitations; 
 
 2, Those which have served as tombs for the reception 
 of the corpses of the departed; and, 3, Those which 
 have been occupied as lairs by the wild beasts. In the 
 first class, even in the absence of human remains, the 
 former presence of man is indicated by the mammalian 
 bones being cleft lengthwise to extract the marrow. 
 In the second class, the passage is narrow, and the 
 entrance was secured by a flat stone to protect the 
 manes from wild beasts. In the third class, the bones 
 are gnawed and never split lengthwise, thus showing 
 that they were dragged thither by the carnivorous 
 animals. In many of the caves are found two or more 
 
28 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 strata, belonging to different epochs and separating two 
 distinct faunse. 
 
 The exploration of the cave of Aurignac, by Lartet, 
 afforded the most interesting results. When first dis¬ 
 covered, in 1852, the narrow entrance was found to 
 be barred by a flat stone. This being removed, there 
 were disclosed seventeen human skeletons, which the 
 mayor, in the discharge, as he supposed, of a conscien¬ 
 tious duty, had caused to be removed and buried in the 
 church-yard; and so faitlffully was this order executed, 
 that Avhen M. Lartet, eight years after, visited the town, 
 no one could point out the spot. He, however, insti¬ 
 tuted further researches. He removed the rubbish 
 which for ages had been accumulating from the summit 
 of the hill, so as to expose the original surface. Here 
 he found the remains of an ancient hearth, as well as 
 the bones of many different animals. On the floor of 
 the grotto were found, without being broken or gnawed, 
 the bones of the cave-bear, the aurochs, the horse, and 
 the reindeer, all of which animals were eaten by the 
 primeval man, together with implements of flint and 
 bone, and discs made from marine shells. Outside the 
 tomb, the bones had all been fractured to extract the 
 marrow, and they bore traces of the flint knives which 
 were used in detaching the flesh. It was evident, too, 
 that after the human feast, the hyenas resorted there 
 to gather whatever was left in the way of offal, for the 
 bones showed the marks of their fangs, and their excre¬ 
 ments were distinguishable in the ashes. The number 
 of distinct animals here found is wonderful, compris¬ 
 ing not less than nineteen speeies. 
 
 Cave-bear f Ursus spelaus), Polecat f Putorius vulgaris). 
 
 Brown bear f U. arctos ?), Cave-lion f Pelts spelaa). 
 
 Badger (Meles taxus). Wild cat fF. eatusj, 
 
DRIFT PERIOD. 
 
 29 
 
 Cave-hyena (Ilyana spelaa), 
 Wolf (Canis lupus). 
 
 Fox (C. vulpes), 
 
 Mammoth (Elephasprimigenius). 
 Rhinoceros (R. tichorhinus), 
 Horse f Equus caballus). 
 
 Ass? (E. asinusj, 
 
 Boar (Sus scrofaJ, 
 
 Stag ( Cervus elaphus), 
 
 Irish elk (A/egaceros hibemicus). 
 Roebuck (C. capreolus), 
 Reindeer ( C. tarandus), 
 
 Aurochs (Bison etiropatis). 
 
 The bones of the carnivorous animals found around 
 the hearth were entire, thus showing that they were 
 rejected both by man and beast. 
 
 M. Lartet gives this interpretation to the facts here 
 presented: The burial-place is of the highest antiquity, 
 as shown by the many extinct species of animals here 
 collected. The stone which closed the entrance to the 
 grotto was from time to time rolled away to receive a 
 new occupant, while the friends, as indicated by the 
 depth of the layer of ashes and the quantity of bones, 
 held a funeral feast outside. The uninjured bones 
 within the grotto, as well as the flint implements and 
 shell beads, were offerings consecrated to the dead. 
 It seems strange, in the nineteenth century of the 
 Christian era, to have thus vividly brought before us a 
 burial scene which took place at a time which goes 
 back far beyond all history and even tradition. Com¬ 
 pared with this sepulchral vault, the pyramid of Cheops 
 is modern. 
 
 The climate of the northern hemisphere just preced¬ 
 ing the Drift Period, Avas far milder than at present. 
 Fossil acorns and fir cones are found in the interior of 
 Banks’s Land, far within the Arctic Circle. In Green¬ 
 land are the remains of large forests encased in ice. 
 At Disco’s Island, the northern verge of European 
 settlement, the strata are full of the leaves, branches, 
 and trunks, and even seeds and frnit cones of trees, 
 comprising firs, sequoias, eTms, magnolias and laurels,— 
 
30 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 a vegetation characteristic of the Miocene Period of 
 Central Europe. Spitzhergen was clothed Avith a lux¬ 
 uriant forest, and the lignite beds of Iceland yield large 
 arborescent forms, where now the vegetation is dwarfed. 
 
 The Drift Period, which was one of long continuance, 
 was ushered in by a marked change in physical influ¬ 
 ences. In the higher regions we find a predominating 
 growth of mosses and saxifrages, where formerly 
 flourished the sequoia and magnolia. The northern 
 region even as low as the temperate zone, was encased 
 in ice. The rigor of the climate was fatal to human 
 life. Whether at that time man existed in the warmer 
 regions of Asia and Africa, and in the tropics of America, 
 remains to be discovered. But at length there came a 
 change. The clhnate was mitigated. The casing of 
 ice was dissolved, and the glaciers reluctantly retreated. 
 It was at this time that man made his appearance in 
 Europe as the contemporary of the hairy elephant and 
 rhinoceros, and of the great carnivorous animals. After 
 the lapse of time, whose interval cannot be measured, 
 there ensued another period of refrigeration, but of 
 shorter duration. The glaciers again advanced, a flood 
 succeeded, which covered the low lands and the caves, 
 and forced the cave-dwellers to withdraw to the higher 
 grounds. In Belgium, the water, according to Dupont, 
 rose to the height of four hundred and fifty feet. The 
 calcareous mud and gravelly clay which fill many of 
 the valleys of France and Belgium, and known as Loess, 
 attest the retreat of this flood. The “ bone earth ” 
 which forms the division, in many of the caves, between 
 two distinct faunte, is also referred to this inundation. 
 At this era commenced 
 
 2. The Reindeer Epochs or that of the migrated existing 
 animals .—While the reindepr existed during the pre- 
 
PRIMEVAL MAN — HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 31 
 
 ceding epoch, yet from the great abundance of his 
 remains in the caves of Dordogne, Aude, and other 
 parts of the south of France, M. Lartet inferred that he 
 re-appeared in greatly augmented numbers. The ele¬ 
 phant still survived. There were also the aurochs 
 (^Bison europceus), the horse (ancestor of the present 
 race), the wild ox (^Bos primigemus'), the musk-ox ((9. 
 moschatus), the Irish stag (^Megaceros hibernicus), the elk 
 ((7. aloes), and the roebuck ((7. damn), together with 
 the goat and chamois, and smaller quadrupeds. 
 
 Scanty as are the materials, European ethnologists 
 have not hesitated to generalize upon the condition of 
 the pre-historic man during these two epochs. He was 
 a barbarian, and low in intellectual development; a 
 small brain, a retreating forehead and projecting jaws, 
 with great superciliary ridges, the result, perhaps, of 
 the wariness which he was compelled to exercise. He 
 was short in stature, but robust and broad-shouldered, 
 for the exposures to which he was subjected sifted out 
 the weak and diseased. He was a raw-flesh eater, for 
 in many of the jaws which have been disinterred, the 
 incisors are much worn,—a peculiarity which has been 
 observed in the flesh-eating Esquimaux. This fact 
 ought not to be cited to his disadvantage, for in an 
 Arctic chmate, where the heat is so rapidly extracted, 
 the system requires a highly nitrogenous food. Our 
 own countryman Kane, when imprisoned by the ice in 
 Rensselaer Harbor, bears witness that nothing was so 
 grateful to the appetite as raw walrus meat. He was 
 a cannibal, for, in Scotland, Owen found upon the bones 
 of children, the marks of human teeth, and the same 
 fact was brought out at the Copenhagen Congress. 
 The conditions of climate rendered agriculture im¬ 
 practicable, but at the same time the soil sustained 
 
32 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OE MAN. 
 
 a class of vegetation adapted to the support of the 
 higher orders of quadrupeds; hence he must have been 
 a hunter and fisherman. In his physical development 
 and habits, the result of his conflict with circumstances, 
 he must have approached the Esquimaux more nearly 
 than any other of the existing types. These Arctic High¬ 
 landers are thus described by Sherard Osborn. 
 
 “ Although dwarfed in stature, they are thick-set, 
 strong-limbed, deep-chested, and bass-voiced, and 
 capable of vigorous and prolonged exertion. . 
 
 I cannot discover an instance of their ever having been 
 seen to partake of a single herb, grape or berry, grown 
 on shore. Of vegetables and cereals, they have, of 
 course, no conception, and I know of no other people 
 on the earth’s surface, who are thus entirely carnivor¬ 
 ous.”* 
 
 Although the pre-historic man was surrounded by 
 the most formidable animals, and his weapons were of 
 the rudest character, yet it must not be inferred that 
 he declined to encounter them in a personal contest. 
 The bone-caves, where we find their commingled 
 remains, attest this fact. By his watchfulness in noting 
 their habits, and by his sagacity in constructing traps 
 and pitfalls, he would come off victor in nearly every 
 conflict. Again recurring for an illustration to the 
 Arctic Highlander, who has no wood except the frag¬ 
 ments of a wreck which a favoring gale may have cast 
 upon the shore, and hence no kaiyah in which to traverse 
 the water, no bow and arrows with which to kill the 
 musk-ox or reindeer, with his spear and harpoon, made 
 of bone or pointed with meteoric iron found in the 
 country, or scraps of iron-hoops which reach the coast 
 
 *“ Exploration of the North Polar Region.” Journal Royal Geo¬ 
 graphical Society, vol. xxiv, p. 287. 
 
BURIAL BITES. 
 
 33 
 
 upon the casks of wrecked whalers, he slays the seal, 
 the bear, and walrus. 
 
 Thus it will be seen that man, supplied with the 
 rudest weapons, by the exercise of cunning, approaches 
 and fearlessly attacks the most formidable animals. 
 
 They clothed themselves in the skins of animals cap¬ 
 tured in the chase, and in this respect, too, they imitated 
 the habits of the Esquimaux. Bodkins and needles for 
 piercing and sewing the hides, and implements for 
 pressing and smoothing the seams, have been found. 
 The reindeer, which evidently must have existed in 
 vast herds, was, to the primeval man of Europe, the 
 most useful of animals. Every portion of the carcass 
 was economized. His flesh furnished food; his skin, 
 clothing; his sinews, thread ; the metacarpal bone of 
 the fore-leg, awls and needles ; and his antlers were 
 fashioned into harpoons, dirks, arrow and si)ear-heads. 
 
 The primeval man may have had movable tents, con¬ 
 structed of skins and poles, for summer residences, and 
 during the winter may, like the Esquimaux, have bur¬ 
 rowed in snow, but the caves and grottoes were largely 
 resorted to for shelter, and also employed as sepulchres 
 for the departed. He did not regard death as an endless 
 sleep, as shown by the implements and ornaments found 
 in these sepulchres. That homage which in all ages, 
 and among all nations, the living pay to the dead ; those 
 ceremonies which are observed at the hour of flnal 
 separation; that care which is exercised to protect the 
 manes from all profane intrusion; and those delicate 
 acts, prompted by love or affection, which, we fondly 
 hope, will sootlie the passage of the parting spirit to the 
 Happy Land — all these observances our rude ancestors 
 maintained. These facts show that, deep as man may 
 sink in barbarism, brutal as he may be in his instincts. 
 
34 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF IMAN. 
 
 there is still a redeeming spirit which prompts to higher 
 aspirations, and that to him, even, there is no belief so 
 dreary as that of utter annihilation. 
 
 The men of the Reindeer Epoch made considerable 
 advances in the arts over those of the preceding epoch. 
 Their hatchets are more symmetrically wrought; their 
 saws are dexterously notched; their needles of bone 
 and ivory have eyes drilled with consummate skill, but 
 there is found no metallic instrument, and there is no 
 evidence of an attempt to grind and polish their stone 
 implements. 
 
 It is only within a limited area in the south of France, 
 that the succession of the Reindeer Epoch is clearly 
 made out. From the caves and grottoes have been 
 recovered many implements which show that, while 
 the fabricators fitted them for useful purposes, they at 
 the same time bestowed upon them a degree of orna¬ 
 mentation, such as the representation of animals in 
 motion, which is artistically far above caricature, or a 
 school-boy attempt at delineation. The substances 
 employed are sometimes slate, at others plates of ivory 
 from the tusks of the fossil elephant, but most gener¬ 
 ally, the antlers of the reindeer. There are staffs 
 pierced at the base with one or more holes, which M. 
 Lartet regards as batons, or insignia of office. There 
 are lance-points elaborately sculptured. A large plate 
 of ivory, found at Madelaine, in Dordogne, contains an 
 engraving, after the manner of etching, of the fossil 
 elephant with his characteristic markings; the small 
 oblique eye, the ponderous trunk, the recurved tusks, 
 the shaggy mane, and the tufted tail. The design 
 clearly shows that the existing species were not in the 
 mind of the artist, and how could he have become 
 aware of these peculiarities in the now extinct species, 
 except that he was then living ? 
 
ENGRAVING BY CAVE-MEN. 
 
 35 
 
 On an official baton of reindeer’s horn, obtained 
 from Laugerie-Basse, in the same Department, there is 
 an elephant’s head, with swelling forehead, large ears, 
 and a small eye, while the trunk extends along the 
 base of the baton. Another reindeer horn, found under 
 the shelter of a rock at Bruniquel, has carved upon it 
 an entire mammoth. The legs are straight, massive, 
 without sensible joints, and terminated by large flat 
 feet. From the front extends the haft of a poinard; 
 and if the stump were removed, it will be seen that the 
 animal has his head lowered, and the trunk extends 
 down between the forelegs. 
 
 We have, also, an unfinished carving of a reindeer 
 on a poniard handle; a sketchy representation, upon a 
 flat surface of slate, of an amorous combat between 
 two male reindeer, which is witnessed with apparent 
 indifference by the female ; a spotted fawn accompanied 
 by its dam, carved on a baton; a cave-tiger, perfectly 
 rendered, on a similar implement; the cave-bear, traced 
 with rude lines on a pebble ; and also, the stag, aurochs, 
 horse, wild goat, and, what may perhaps be regarded 
 with the highest interest, man. In one instance, on the 
 fragment of an official staff, is engraved a small human 
 figure. The head is indicated by a circular line. The 
 haunches and thighs are lean, while the abdomen is 
 prominent, as among the Australians. The figure is 
 placed between two horses’ heads, and behind is 
 dangling an eel or serpent. There is, also, a statuette 
 in ivory of a female figure, which the Marquis de 
 Vibraye, to whom we owe this discovery, regards as an 
 obscene idol. Birds such as the goose, fishes like the 
 barbel, reptiles like the tadpole, and even flowers, l)ut 
 sparingly as compared with the animals, are represented. 
 
 In reference to this collection of pre-historic relics, 
 M. Mortillet remarks: 
 
S6 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF HIAN. 
 
 “ The contemporaneity of man and the various extinct 
 animals, and with the indigenous reindeer in France," is 
 broadly, firmly, incontestably proven by the discovery 
 of these products of human industry and skill, so abund¬ 
 antly mingled with the exuviae of these extinct or emi¬ 
 grated animals in the undisturbed Quaternary beds, 
 and in the midst of cave deposits which have never 
 been manipulated. Man is not only perfectly repre¬ 
 sented, but the reindeer, an animal now emigrated to 
 the north, the great cave-bear, the cave-tiger, the mam¬ 
 moth, which are extinct, and habitually the carvings 
 are executed on the spoils of the reindeer and mammoth 
 themselves. Beyond all question, man was the contem¬ 
 porary of those animals, parts of which he used for his 
 sustenance, and which he has represented so truly by 
 his art. No more convincing demonstration could be 
 desired or expected.” 
 
 3. Epoch of the domesticated existing animals (Polished 
 stone Age). — In this phase of human progress, we are 
 to contemplate man as the contemporary of the existing 
 flora and fauna, but under modified conditions of soil 
 and climate. Between the Reindeer Epoch and that 
 of the Polished stone, during which the reindeer, the 
 musk-ox and the great stag ( Oervus alces') —the Ameri¬ 
 can moose — migrated to the Circumpolar regions, a 
 considerable lapse of time is supposed to have inter¬ 
 vened. At all events, there is a broadly-marked change 
 in climatic conditions — one of those physical events in 
 the world’s history from which the geologist can assume 
 new lines of latitude and departure. 
 
 Thus man survived a revolution which was fatal to 
 the great pachyderms and ferocious beasts of prey, and 
 wdiich forced the hyperborean animals to seek a more 
 congenial climate. 
 
DANISH ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 37 
 
 Danish antiquities. — Denmark, though for the most 
 part low and level, much of the surface having been 
 wrested, as in Holland, from the sea by immense 
 mounds or dykes, yet possesses a high degree of interest 
 to the geologist and archaeologist. The whole region, 
 at one time, appears to have been studded with tumuli 
 and other structures — the monuments of pre-historic 
 races.* 
 
 The shell-mounds, known as “ kjokkenmbddings,” and 
 which, long ago, were supposed to be raised beaches, 
 are not less replete with human relics. These mounds 
 are from three to ten feet in height, and from one 
 hundred to a thousand feet in length, and are composed 
 of shells of the oyster, cockle, and other mollusks, inter¬ 
 mingled with instruments of bone, horn, flint, etc., thus 
 showing that these accumulations were made by man. 
 Whilst these shells are of full growth, as compared 
 with those living in the most favored localities, yet the 
 relative mingling of fresh and salt water has so far 
 changed, that their descendants are now excluded from 
 certain parts of the coast, whilst in other parts they show 
 a stunted growth. In these refuse-heaps, no metallic 
 implements have been detected, and the bones of ani¬ 
 mals belong to species still living in Europe, and com¬ 
 mon to the region, except where their extirpation, as 
 
 * “ It is estimated,” says Sir John Lubbock, “that not a day passes 
 without witnessing the destruction of one or more of these tumuli, and 
 the loss of perhaps some irrecoverable link in the history of the human 
 race. Many of the burrows, indeed, contain in themselves a small col¬ 
 lection of antiquities, and the whole country even may be considered as 
 a museum on a great scale. The peat bogs, which occupy so large an 
 area, may almost be said to swarm with antiquities ; and Professor Steen- 
 strup estimates that, on an average, every column of peat three feet square, 
 contains some specimen of ancient workmanship.” — (“Pre-historic 
 Times,” pp. 223 and 224.) 
 
38 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 in the ease of the heaver, can be traced to the direct 
 agency of man. The bones of the emigrated anunals, 
 such as the reindeer and musk-ox, are wanting, but in 
 those of the dog, we meet for the first time, with evi¬ 
 dences of the domesticated animals. 
 
 From these relics we can gather certain definite ideas 
 as to the manners and customs of man at that day. The 
 food which he drew from the ocean consisted of shell¬ 
 fish, such as the oyster, the coclde, the mussel, and 
 periwinkle; and of the vertebrated fishes, such as the 
 herring, the dorse, the dab, and the eel. Of the feathered 
 tribe, he captured almost exclusively the aquatic birds, 
 such as the swan, the goose, and several species of the 
 duck, and, also, the great auk, now supposed to be 
 extinet, although living within the memory of man. 
 Of land animals, the stag, the roedeer, and the wild 
 boar, were the great sources of food, constituting 
 ninety-seven per cent, of the bones ; while those of the 
 urus, dog, fox, wolf, marten, beaver, wild-cat, hedge¬ 
 hog, lynx, and bear are occasionally met with. This 
 list is instructive, for we find that the dog, at this 
 period, first became the companion of man; a com¬ 
 panionship which has since been maintained by man in 
 all his migrations the world over. There is no evidence 
 of the existence of the other domestic animals, such 
 as the horse, the ox, sheep, or hog. 
 
 The skulls which have been recovered would indi¬ 
 cate that the people resembled the Lapps, and it would 
 appear that their front teeth did not overlap as ours do, 
 but met together like a vise—a peculiarity observed at 
 this day in the Esquimaux. In the shell-heaps, the 
 stone implements are almost exclusively of flint, rudely 
 flaked into knives, lance-heads, hammers, etc.; but 
 there is no attempt at polishing. In the large tumuli, 
 
DANISH ANTIQmTIES. 
 
 39 
 
 the stone implements are dexterously worked. From 
 this difference in the relics, Professor Worsaac has pro¬ 
 posed to divide the Stone Age into an older and later 
 epoch, but Professor Steenstrup considers that the two 
 classes of implements represent two different phases of 
 one single condition of civilization; the tumuli being 
 the burial places of chiefs, and the shell-heaps the refuse 
 of fishermen. 
 
 The climate, at this period, must have become less 
 rigorous than during the Reindeer Epoch, and the soil 
 was undoubtedly adapted to agriculture, yet we meet 
 with no remains of the cerealia, with no implements 
 which would suggest an application for cultivating the 
 ground. 
 
 The magnificent collection of bronze implements in 
 the museum of Copenhagen, by their beauty of form 
 and curious workmanship, show an immense stride on 
 the part of the pre-historic Danes in a knowledge of 
 the practical arts; and to have attained to this perfec¬ 
 tion, implies a lapse of time to be measured only by 
 thousands of years. To smelt copper and alloy it with 
 a nearly fixed percentage of tin to form bronze, shows 
 a considerable knowledge of metallurgy. To obtain 
 the requisite heat requires something in the nature of a 
 furnace, supplied with pipes for maintaining a constant 
 blast. Successful in reducing copper, it Avould be but 
 natural for these ancient smelters to experiment on the 
 more refractory ores, and hence it has been inferred, 
 perhaps too rashly, that the Iron Age rapidly succeeded 
 to that of Bronze. 
 
 In the lower beds of peat, flint implements have been 
 taken out beneath the embedded trunks of the Scotch 
 fir (Pinus sylvestris)^ a tree which has not been indig¬ 
 enous to the region within the Historic Period, and 
 
40 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 which, when introduced, grows with a sickly growth— 
 thus showing that the climate has undergone marked 
 changes since these flint implements were deposited. 
 To the fir succeeded the oak, now nearly extinct, asso¬ 
 ciated with bronze implements; while implements of 
 iron are associated with the beech. 
 
 Denmark, when first known to the Roman, was 
 covered with magnificent forests of beech, and to this 
 day it is the predominating tree; and yet among the 
 recovered bones of the feathered tribe, from the peat 
 bogs, are those of the capercailzie {Tetrao urogallus'), 
 which feeds principally upon the buds of the pine, 
 which has ceased to exist. 
 
 The geological succession of events, as disclosed by 
 the Danish discoveries, would appear to be after the 
 following order: The Reindeer Epoch had closed, and 
 the animals fitted for an Arctic climate, which formerly 
 roamed over France, and almost to the shores of the 
 Mediterranean, had retired to the far north, before the 
 earthen tumuli and shell-heaps, and other relics of 
 human occupancy had been erected; and were suc¬ 
 ceeded by a fauna now indigenous to the region. On 
 the land, changes in the character of the arborescent 
 vegetation were going on. The pine — associated with 
 the oldest stone implements, and on whose buds the 
 capercailzie fed, gave place to the oak—associated with 
 bronze implements, which in turn gave place to the 
 beech — associated with iron implements, the predom¬ 
 inant type of vegetation at this time. Thus, this suc¬ 
 cession in climatic changes corresponded very closely 
 with the archaeological changes of the ages of Stone, 
 Bronze and Iron, bringing down the record to the 
 Historical Period. 
 
 In the inland seas, the changes were no less marked. 
 
SWISS LAKE-DWELLINGS, 
 
 41 
 
 The waters of the Baltic had become so far brackish that 
 certain marine univalves and bivalves, which attained 
 their full size in the Pre-historic Period, have now ceased 
 to live in their ancient habitats, or have become dwarfed 
 in their dimensions. The inference, therefore, is, that 
 at the time of the Stone Age, the ocean poured a great 
 volume of salt water into the Baltic, through channels 
 from which it is now excluded.* 
 
 Lacustrine habitations of Switzerland .— “ It had long 
 been known to the inhabitants upon the shores of the 
 Swiss lakes,” says M. Desor, “ that there existed in 
 many of them ancient posts or piles, which, without 
 reaching the surface, rose to the height of from one to 
 two feet above the bottom. On Lake Neuchatel, they 
 were especially known to the fishermen, who dreaded 
 them as a cause of injury to their nets. Doubtless also 
 boatmen, in crossing the bay of Auvernier or coasting 
 along the southern shore when the weather was calm, 
 have now and then stopped for a moment above these 
 piles, wondering meanwhile to whom the strange idea 
 could have occurred of driving them at such a depth, 
 and as no inhabitant, not even the oldest fisherman, 
 could tell anything about their origin, the only conclu¬ 
 sion arrived at was, that ‘ all must be very ancient.’ 
 More than once, too, from the ooze of the lake, had 
 been drawn at low water, large horns of the deer, and 
 strange utensils whose origin was unknown; among 
 other occasions, at the lake of Zurich, in 1820, and still 
 later, at the lake of Bienne. These things, however, 
 remained a dead letter; the circumstance was thought 
 to be curious, but nothing more. An idea has sufficed 
 to restore life, in some sort, to those ancient remains, 
 and draw from them surprising inferences. A man of 
 
 * Lyell’s “ Antiquity of Man,” p. 372. 
 
42 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OP MAN. 
 
 true science hap^Dens to pass in the neighborhood of the 
 works which, during the low stage of water in the 
 winter of 1853-4, were executing at Meilen, on Lake 
 Zurich. To him are shown the half-decomposed posts 
 drawn up from the dark mud, which the lake had 
 temporarily abandoned, and here and there some rude 
 fragments of pottery, evidently very ancient, but not 
 Roman, for it is black, imperfectly baked, and fashioned 
 by hand, without the aid of the potter’s wheel. The 
 utensils, the arms, the posts, which accompany them, 
 have a still more primitive aspect; they recall analogous 
 objects collected in the peat mosses of Scandinavia, and 
 must consequently be of a very high antiquity. What 
 had escaped all notice was the relation which these 
 objects bear to one another, and especially to the piles 
 imbedded in the ooze. Yet the arms and pottery are 
 not dispersed at hazard; they are limited to a particu¬ 
 lar stratum, having a thickness of two feet, which has 
 received the name of ‘ the archaeological stratum.’ 
 Moreover, they are accumulated around the piles, where 
 they are found in large quantities, while they diminish 
 and disappear in proportion as you recede from them, 
 thus showing that there is a connection between the 
 pits and the antique objects. It was this connection 
 which M. Ferdinand Keller, guided by his practised 
 eye, was enabled to detect, and which, once caught 
 sight of, has become the torch to conduct us to the dis¬ 
 covery of an unknown world. In effect, such an asso¬ 
 ciation of arms and implements indicated, beyond a 
 doubt, traces of man. The piles, upright in the midst 
 of these objects, had been placed there by design, evi¬ 
 dently to support some construction, but as their founda¬ 
 tion is below the mean water-level, they must evidently 
 have been planted in the water. There had existed. 
 
SWISS mPLEMENTS. 
 
 43 
 
 therefore, habitations or storehouses, built intentionally 
 on the water, at the places indicated by the piles. The 
 number of scattered utensils corresponding with the 
 thickness of the bed which contains them, bore witness, 
 in turn, to a prolonged sojoui’n. Consequently there 
 had been an epoch during which the inhabitants of that 
 country constructed places of refuge on the water, if, 
 indeed, they did not dwell there. It was the period of 
 Lacustrine Constructions. 
 
 “ The hint being first given by the publication of M. 
 Keller, in the Memoirs of the Archaeological Society of 
 Zurich, the zeal and activity of our Swiss antiquarians 
 might safely be relied upon to elaborate this new vein, 
 which, indeed, did not long delay to furnish us with 
 scientific treasures. They began by seeking for piles in 
 other Swiss lakes. The fishermen could almost every¬ 
 where point them out, and these piles, became in turn, 
 valuable guides in conducting to unexpected discoveries. 
 At Meilen, with the exception of a single object in 
 metal, only utensils of bone and stone had been brought 
 to light. Elsewhere, and more especially in the lakes 
 of Eastern Switzerland, besides stations recalling those 
 of Lake Zurich, were discovered other stations which, 
 instead of objects of silex and bone, yielded numbers of 
 utensils in bronze. These articles bore witness to a 
 much more advanced civilization. The Lacustrian 
 Period, therefore, embraced several distinct phases. It 
 became an interesting problem to investigate and fix, if 
 possible, the peculiar character of these different phases 
 or epochs. . . . Hence, as in the North, three 
 
 epochs were distinguished: That of Stone, Bronze, and 
 Iron.” * 
 
 It may be remarked that the oldest of these epochs, 
 
 * M. Desor, “ Palafittes, or Lacustrine Constructions,” etc., pp. 3, 5, 6. 
 
44 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF IVIAN. 
 
 as in Scandinavia, does not extend back to the Rein¬ 
 deer Epoch of Southern France. 
 
 More than two hundred of these lake habitations 
 have been discovered in Switzerland alone, and appear 
 to be common to the three epochs. The trees selected, 
 for the piles during the Stone Age, from three to six 
 inches in diameter, were felled by stone axes, and the 
 end to be driven into the ground was sharpened by 
 burning. The piles are embedded in mud from one to 
 five feet, but where the bottom was hard, stones were 
 brought and filled in, forming what are known as 
 “ tenevieres.” The upper end of the piles projected, 
 probably from four to six feet above the surface of the 
 water, and upon these was laid a platform, serving as 
 the foundation of the hut. It is supposed that as many 
 as three hundred of these huts were grouped together, 
 giving shelter to as many as a thousand people, with a 
 narrow causeway connecting with the shore. The 
 offal and ashes were allowed to drop into the lake, but 
 it is difficult to explain why so many human relics, 
 useful in their rude arts and the product of much labor, 
 were permitted to share the same destination. These 
 relics, thus embedded in a medium which resisted 
 decay, when dredged at this day from their long resting 
 place, appear fresh and uninjured. The arrow-heads 
 of the Swiss lake-dwellers were made of flint, but some¬ 
 times of rock-crystal. In their axes, jade or nephrite 
 was used—a mineral which, strange to say, geologists 
 have not found in place on the continent of Europe. 
 Deer’s horn was employed for hammers, war-clubs, and as 
 handles for hatchets. Their pottery, of which no entire 
 vessels have been found, was rude and coarse. They 
 probably clothed themselves to a great extent in skins, 
 yet fragments of cloth, regularly spun and woven, and 
 
DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 
 
 45 
 
 of a flax fibre,. have been found. This is the first 
 instance we have of weaving, unless it be in the case 
 of the Mound-builders of this country. 
 
 The remains of contemporary animals, which have 
 been ably investigated by Professor Rutimeyer,possess 
 the highest interest. All the wild animals still survive, 
 except the wild bull (Ros primigenius), whose descend¬ 
 ants, it is conjectured, are to be found in our larger 
 cattle. Among the domesticated animals were the dog, 
 and, for the first time noticed, the pig, horse, goat, 
 sheep, and at least two kinds of oxen. I need hardly 
 pause to describe how essentially these domestic ani¬ 
 mals contribute to the support and comfort of man; 
 some in supplying him with food and raiment, and some 
 in lightening his daily toil, and in removing heavy ob¬ 
 stacles with ease and expedition, which would require 
 the combined labor of many men, and would occupy a 
 very considerable time. The horse, perhaps, was the 
 most useful ally of all. 
 
 Here, too, we meet with the first evidences of the 
 use of cereals as an article of human food. Three 
 varieties of wheat, two of barley, and two of millet 
 have been found, together with peas ; but rye and oats 
 were unknown. The cultivated plants, according to 
 fleer, differ from the existing varieties, and invariably 
 have smaller seeds or fruits. Carbonized apples have 
 also been met with, cut in two or more parts, as though 
 dried and put aside for winter’s use. The seeds of the 
 raspberry, blackberry, strawberry, the shells of the 
 hazel-nut and beech-nut, and the stones of the wild 
 plum, have been recovered. This, then, was the era of 
 domesticated animals and plants—an important stride 
 in human progress. Heer has further shown that these 
 civilized plants are not of Asiatic, but of African, and to 
 a great extent, of Egyptian origin. 
 
46 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 The Bronze Epoch was signalized bj an advance still 
 more important. The art of hardening copper furnished 
 man with a class of weapons far more efficient in fell¬ 
 ing the forests and turning up the soil, than he had 
 hitherto possessed. Few of us realize how formidable 
 a barrier a luxuriant forest interposes to a people pos¬ 
 sessed only of rude implements, in all that relates to an 
 interchange of commodities and agricultural develop¬ 
 ment. At this day, an Amazonian forest, by its very 
 rankness of vegetation, resists all attempts of man, with 
 his vastly-improved implements, to subdue it. 
 
 While copper is not sparingly distributed throughout 
 Europe, tin is restricted to two or three known locali¬ 
 ties, and the fact that widely-separated peoples, like 
 those of Ireland, England, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, 
 etc., were able to supply themselves with this rare and 
 essential metal, implies that there must have existed 
 at that early period, a maritime nation with whom they 
 cultivated close commercial relations. The implements 
 manufactured from this compound consist of axes, 
 swords (invariably leaf-shaped, as though used for 
 thrusting), javelins, daggers, and knives, together with 
 personal ornaments, such as bracelets, torques, brooches, 
 and hair-pins. 
 
 The Iron Epoch comes down so near to the Historic 
 Period, that it may be dismissed with a single remark. 
 It is, emphatically, to a knowledge of the art of reducing 
 and tempering iron that man is so largely indebted for 
 the mastery which he has been able to acquire over the 
 forces of nature. This art has enabled him to replace 
 his rude implements with others far more efficient, and 
 consequently to add greatly to his comforts. To iron 
 we owe the steam-engine, the railway, the steamship, 
 the magnet, the telegraph, and a thousand combinations 
 
AGE OF PALAFITTES. 
 
 47 
 
 of labor-saving machinery, and each year new applica¬ 
 tions are devised and brought into use. Possessed of 
 these tremendous resources, there is no danger that the 
 enlightened nations will ever relapse into barbarism. 
 
 With regard to the relative age of the j^alafittes, M. 
 Desor remarks: 
 
 “ It is beyond doubt that the duration of each of the 
 periods which we have been reviewing, was very long. 
 They bear each their peculiar stamp, which can be 
 impressed only by time, among j^opulations which have 
 a fixed residence, and whose prolonged sojourn in the 
 different stations of our lake (Neuchatel) is attested 
 by a considerable accumulation of ruins. It is equally 
 certain that the lacustrine constructions ascend to a 
 very remote epoch, since there exists no tradition, no 
 legend, which makes any allusion to them, since ancient 
 chronicles are wholly silent with regard to them, and 
 none of the authors of antiquity, who have spoken of 
 Helvetia, make any mention of them.”* 
 
 M. Morlot, taking advantage of a section, made in 
 constructing a railway across the delta of the Tiniere, 
 an affluent of Lake Geneva, which is in the form of a 
 flattened cone, and whose structure implies that it has 
 been formed very gradually and by the uniform action 
 of the same causes, has undertaken to compute the du¬ 
 ration of these several ej)ochs, each of which is repre¬ 
 sented by an ancient stratum. By comparing the depths 
 of these different strata and estimating the rate of their 
 deposition, he has been led to assign to the Bronze 
 Epoch a date of between 3000 and 4000 years, and to 
 the Stone Epoch a date of from 5000 to 7000 years. 
 
 M. Gilleiron, from a study of the lake of Bienne, by 
 adopting the known rate of the gain of the land in seven 
 
 * “ Lacustrine Constructions,” p. 52. 
 
48 
 
 THE AHTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 and one-half centuries, has arrived at a result nearly 
 analogous with regard to the date of the Stone Epoch 
 — sixty-seven and one-half centuries. 
 
 Lacustrine constructions exist in Austria, Bavaria, 
 and Italy. Pliny had his country seat in their vicinage, 
 upon the banks of Lake Como. “ If this celebrated 
 writer,’’ remarks M. Desor, “ had not a single word to 
 bequeath to us upon lacustrine habitations, we feel 
 authorized to conclude that these constructions existed 
 no longer at that date (a. d. T9), but that they had 
 even perished from the memory of men.” The Phoeni¬ 
 cians and Etruscans were acquainted with the use of 
 iron, and, therefore, if they were the importers of the 
 tin which enters into the composition of the bronze 
 instruments of Scandinavia and Switzerland, it is diffi¬ 
 cult to account for the entire absence of iron imple¬ 
 ments in those countries during the Bronze Epoch. 
 “We must look, then,” says M. Desor, “ beyond both the 
 Etruscans and Phoenicians, in attempting to identify 
 the commerce of the Bronze Epoch with our palafittes.” 
 
 Pre-historic remains in the Nile Valley. — Another 
 class of researches which throws light upon the high 
 antiquity of man may properly^be adverted to. Be¬ 
 tween 1851 and 1854, Mr. Leonard Horner, under the 
 joint auspices of the Royal Society of London and the 
 Egyptian Government, carried two series of shafts 
 and borings across the Nile Valley, between Heliopolis 
 and Memphis. Jars, pots, and vases, and, in one in¬ 
 stance, a copper knife, were brought up within the first 
 sixteen feet, which consisted of excavation, when, in 
 consequence of water, the auger was substituted and 
 carried to the depth, in some instances, of seventy-two 
 feet. Almost everywhere, and at all depths, fragments 
 of burnt brick were brought up ; nor did the workmen 
 
RELICS IN THE NILE MUD. 
 
 49 
 
 penetrate to the bottom of the alluvial sediment. All 
 the bones met with belonged to living species, such as 
 the ox, dog, ass, and dromedary, and all the shells were 
 of fresh-water origin and common to the region. 
 
 Mr. Horner instituted experiments with a view of ob¬ 
 taining an accurate scale for determining the age of a 
 given amount of Nile sediment. M. Rosiere, who ac¬ 
 companied the expedition of Napoleon to that country, 
 had estimated that the Nile mud accumulated at the 
 rate of five inches in a century. Mr. Horner did not 
 deem it proper to adopt this as a chronometrie scale, but 
 preferred to examine the accumulation which had taken 
 place around monuments of a known age, and for this 
 purpose selected the obelisk of Heliopolis, which is 
 believed to have been erected 2300 years B. c., and 
 adding 1850, there had elapsed 4150 years, in which 
 eleven feet of sediment had been deposited, which i« at 
 the rate of 3.18 inches a century. “ Entire reliance 
 cannot be placed on this conclusion,” says Mr. Horner, 
 “ principally because it is possible that the site origin¬ 
 ally chosen for the temple and city of Heliopolis was a 
 portion of land somewhat raised above the level of the 
 rest of the desert.” * In the case of the colossal statue 
 of Memphis, the surface is 10 feet 6f inches above the 
 base of the platform. Assuming that this platform was 
 sunk 14| inches below the surface of the ground, at the 
 time it was laid, the accumulation would be OJ feet. 
 Raineses is supiiosed to have reigned between 1394 and 
 1328 B. c., which would give an antiquity of 3215 years, 
 and consequently a mean increase of 3^ inches of sedi¬ 
 ment in a century. 
 
 If we take 2J inches as the scale, a work of art 72 
 feet deep must have been buried more than 30,000 
 
 * “ Philosophical Transactions,” 1858, p. 73. 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OP MAN. 
 
 years ago. The pottery found by Mr. Horner, at the 
 depth of 39 feet, according to his scale, must have been 
 buried 13,000 years. 
 
 Experienced Egyptologists do not regard his data as 
 sufficient; but the fact is unquestioned that deep down 
 in the Nile mud, beneath the foundations of monuments 
 whose origin reaches back to the dawn of the Historic 
 Period, are found the relics of a still older people, who 
 flourished at a time when the conditions of soil and 
 climate were apparently the same as at this day; and 
 yet these people were modern as compared to those who 
 were the contemporaries of the great Siberian elephant 
 and rhinoceros. 
 
 Here, in the Nile valley, are the ruins of mighty cities 
 which we have been accustomed to regard as among 
 the oldest monuments of man’s work. Here stand the 
 Pyramids, upon which Moses and his fellow captives 
 are supposed by some to have toiled, when in Egyptian 
 bondage. The deserted temples, the prostrate obelisks, 
 and other mouldering structures are inscribed with 
 characters which have challenged the antiquarian’s skill 
 to interpret. In our reckless curiosity we have invaded 
 the chambers of the dead, and dragged forth to light, 
 forms, embalmed with rich spices and ointments, which 
 were once instinct with life, and whose minds were 
 agitated by the same passions and swayed by the same 
 motives that control us; and yet the tread of these men 
 was above the dust of generations whose name and 
 nation, even then, had perished from the earth. 
 
 Note. — It has been argued from palaeontological analogies, that we 
 may expect to find the relics of man in the Miocene Tertiary, and there 
 are some obscure facts which sustain such an opinion. 
 
 M. Desonyers, in the Comptes Rendus for June 1863, has described 
 certain markings on some bones obtained by him from the Upper Pliocene 
 
EABLIEST TRACES OF MAN. 
 
 51 
 
 beds of St. Prest, which are analogous to those produced by flint knives 
 and several of the deer skulls were broken in the same way, as if by a blow 
 at the base of the horns. M. I’Abbe Bourgeois, at the same place, has 
 discovered worked flints ; but the true position of the bed in which these 
 relics were found has not been satisfactorily determined. Professor G. 
 Ramorino, of Italy, at a meeting of the Society of Natural History, in 
 1867, exhibited some bones from the Pliocene, which showed the marks of 
 knives. M. Bourgeois, from the Miocene of Pontlevoy, recovered many 
 flints which showed the marks of fire, and others which showed, in his 
 opinion, evident marks of human workmanship. The marks of fire do 
 not absolutely prove that they were produced by human agency. 
 
 M. Tardy has described a flint flake found by him in the Miocene beds 
 of Aurillac (Auvergne). 
 
 The ancestors of the European man, probably, originated in the warm 
 regions of Africa or Asia, and it is to researches in those regions, which 
 are comparatively unknown, that the ethnologist now looks with the 
 keenest interest. 
 
 There are two admirable English works relating to the subject of the 
 foregoing chapter,—Sir Charles Lyell’s “ Antiquity of Man ” and Sir 
 John Lubbock’s " Pre-historic Times,” which should be read by those 
 desirous of fully investigating the evidence upon this subject. 
 
CHAPTER II. . 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OP MAN — EVIDENCES IN THE UNITED 
 
 STATES. 
 
 I HAVE given, in the preceding chapter, a brief 
 summary of the European evidences of the antiquity 
 of our race, as collected and collated by men of the 
 highest scientific attainments. A deep feeling of dis¬ 
 trust pervades the public mind of this country, in 
 reference to every discovery which is supposed to carry 
 back the origin of man to a period antecedent to the 
 Historical Era; and yet, reasoning from palseontological 
 analogies, we ought to expect to find evidences of the 
 human occupancy of this continent, reaching back to 
 an antiquity as remote as on the European continent. 
 Nor are such evidences wanting, although less abundant 
 and less conclusive; but when our superficial deposits 
 shall have been as thoroughly investigated as those of 
 Europe, we may expect to find proofs of the existence 
 of the elder man equally authentic. The results hitherto 
 obtained are of a nature to stimulate us to renewed 
 exertions, and to encourage the hope that this country 
 will afford the materials to aid in the interpretation of 
 one of the most interesting pages in the history of the 
 past. 
 
 Evidences of man's works in the gold-drift of Cali¬ 
 fornia .— In 1857, Dr. C. F. Winslow sent to the Boston 
 
 52 
 
(;ALAVERAS SKULL. 
 
 53 
 
 Natural History Society, the fragment of a human 
 cranium found in the “pay-dirt,” in connection with 
 the bones of the mastodon and elephant, one hundred 
 and eighty feet below the surface of Table Mountain, 
 California. Dr. Winslow has described to me all the 
 particulars in reference to this “ find,” and there is no 
 doubt in his mind, that the remains of man and the 
 great quadrupeds were deposited contemporaneously. 
 
 Another discoveiy of a human cranium, in this State, 
 deep down in the gold-drift, and covered with five 
 successive overflows of lava, was looked ui^on with 
 incredulity by what might be called the intelligent 
 portion of the community, and the reputed finder was 
 accused of an attempt to perpetrate a scientific fraud; 
 but Professor Whitney, who succeeded in securing this 
 relic for the museum of the State Geological Survey, 
 after a careful examination of the locality where it was 
 said to be found, and after having questioned the per¬ 
 sons who had had it in their possession, arrived at the 
 conclusion that the find was authentic. 
 
 This skull was found in a shaft one hundred and fifty 
 feet deep, two miles from Angelos, in Calaveras County. 
 The shaft passed through five beds of lava and volcanic 
 tufa, and four beds of auriferous gravel. The upper 
 bed of tufa was homogeneous, and without a crack 
 through which a human relic could have been intro¬ 
 duced into the lower Ijeds. The skull was given to 
 Professor Wyman to describe, who found great difficulty 
 in removing the cemented gravel with wdiich it was 
 incrusted. It was subsequently submitted to the 
 American Association for the Advancement of Science, 
 at the Chicago meeting, in 18G9, and Professor Whitney 
 communicated a statement of the conditions under 
 which it was found, but no report of his remarks was 
 
THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 54 • 
 
 made. Portions of the cemented gravel yet adhered to 
 the rehc. This skull, admitting its authenticity, carries 
 back the advent of man to the Pliocene Epoch, and is 
 therefore older than the stone implements of the drift- 
 gravel of Abbeville and Amiens, or the relics furnished 
 by the cave-dirt of Belgium and France. 
 
 With regard to the gold-drift of California, according 
 to Mr. Whitney, there is nothing to indicate the former 
 existence of the Great Northern Current, whose course 
 on the eastern part of the continent is so conspicuously 
 marked by the grooving and polishing of the rocks, and 
 the deposit of long trains of erratic blocks; and the 
 absence of these phenomena is observed along the whole 
 Pacific Coast of the United States, and the eastern 
 flanks of the Rocky Mountains. But there is evidence 
 that the Sierra Nevada was once occupied by glaciers 
 which, in their descent, ground up and dispersed the 
 gold-bearing quartz, and entombed the remains of the 
 fossil elephant and other contemporary animals. The 
 age of these gravels is referred by Professor Whitney 
 to the Pliocene, or the age before the volcanic eruptions 
 which cover a greater part of the State, took place. 
 Since the introduction, then, of man, the physical feat¬ 
 ures, as well as the climate of this region, have under¬ 
 gone great changes. The volcanic peaks of the Sierra 
 have been lifted up, the glaciers have disappeared, the 
 great canons themselves have been excavated in the 
 solid rock, and what were once the beds of streams 
 now form the Table Mountains. 
 
 A few years ago, Mr. J. Stanley Grimes presented to 
 the Chicago Academy of Sciences, on behalf of Mr. John 
 Shipman, of Knightstown, Indiana, an implement from 
 the gravel deposits of California, which is represented 
 in the following figure : 
 
PLUMMET IN GRAVEL-BEDS. 
 
 •55 
 
 The material is sienite, and the Fig. 2 . = ^. 
 instrument is ground and polished so 
 as to display in marked contrast the 
 pure white of the feldspar and the 
 dark-green or black of the horn¬ 
 blende. It is in the form of a double¬ 
 cone, one end terminating in a point, 
 while the other end is blunted, where 
 it is pierced with a hole which instead 
 of being a uniform gauge, is rimmed 
 out, the rimming having been started 
 from the oiiposite sides. 
 
 In examining this beautiful relic, 
 one is led almost instinctively to 
 believe that it was used as a plum- (?) from San 
 
 Joaquin Valley, Cal. 
 
 met for the purpose of determining 
 the perjrendicular to the horizon. So highly-wrought 
 a stone would hardly have been used as a sinker for 
 a fishing-net: it may have been suspended from the 
 neck as a personal ornament. When we consider its 
 symmetry of form, the contrast of colors brought out 
 by the processes of grinding and polishing, and the deli¬ 
 cate drilling of the hole through a material so liable to 
 fracture, we are free to say it affords an exhibition of 
 the lapidary's skill superior to anything yet furnished 
 by the Stone Age of either continent. 
 
 This instrument was discovered by some workmen 
 who were digging a well on the lands of Mr. Lafayette 
 Nealy, in the valley of San Joaquin. It was imbedded 
 in the gravel, thirty feet below the surface, and was 
 taken possession of by Mr. Nealy, who transferred it to 
 Mr. Shipman. 
 
 Professor Whitney, to whom I rvrote, suggesting tlie 
 propriety of examining into the matter, replied, that it 
 
56 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 was not necessary to investigate that particular locality; 
 that elephant and mastodon hones were found all over 
 the State, at the surface and at the depth of a hundred 
 feet or more, in the Post-pliocene ; and that the occur¬ 
 rence of artificial implements, in this connection was 
 very common, and concluded by saying: “ The ques¬ 
 tion to be investigated is, whether the works of man 
 and his bones are older than the Post-pliocene ?” He 
 stated, further, that he had two or three similar imple¬ 
 ments, and that they were generally regarded as sinkers 
 for use in fishing. 
 
 Mr. W. P. Blake exhibited at the Paris Exposition, 
 several flint implements which were found in the aurif¬ 
 erous gravel of California. 
 
 Ancient haslcet-work from Petit Anse Island, Ver¬ 
 milion Bay, Louisiana .—The first scientific notice of 
 the occurrence of human remains in connection with 
 those of extinct mammalia at this point, was given by 
 Professor Henry, on the verbal statements of T. F. 
 Cleu, Esq., who contributed a specimen of ancient 
 basket-work to the Smithsonian Institution.* 
 
 “ Petit Anse Island is the locality of the remarkable 
 mine of rock salt, discovered during the late Rebellion, 
 from which, for a considerable time, the Southern States 
 derived a great part of their supply of this article. The 
 salt is almost chemically pure, and apparently inex¬ 
 haustible in quantity, occurring in every part of the 
 island (which is about 5000 acres in extent), at a depth 
 below the surface of the soil of fifteen or twenty feet. 
 
 “ The fragment of matting was found near the sur¬ 
 face of the salt, and about two feet above it were 
 remains of tusks and bones of a fossil elephant. The 
 
 * This specimen was figured by me in the Transactions of the Chicago 
 Academy of Sciences, vol. i. part ii. 
 
RELICS AT PETIT ANSE. 
 
 57 
 
 peculiar interest in regard to the specimen is in its oc¬ 
 currence, in situ, two feet below the elephant remains, 
 and about fourteen feet below the surface of the soil; 
 thus showing the existence of man on the island prior 
 to the deposit in the soil of the fossil elephant. The 
 material consists of the outer bark of the common 
 southern cane (^Arundinaria macrosperma), and has 
 been preserved for so long a period, both by its silici- 
 ous character and the strongly saline condition of the 
 soil.” 
 
 In 1867, this locality was examined by Professor E. 
 W. Hilgard and Dr. E. Fontaine, Secretary of the New 
 Orleans Academy of Sciences. The latter states, that 
 at the depth of twelve feet below the surface and im¬ 
 mediately overlying the salt-rock, incredible quanti¬ 
 ties of pottery were thrown out of the pits by miners, 
 mingled with fragments of the bones of the elephant 
 and other huge extinct quadrupeds. “ The animals 
 seem to have been ‘ bogged,’ and perished in the miry 
 clay above the salt. . . . The aborigines used the rock 
 salt; and there seems to have been immense quantities 
 of it required for their various purposes, from the 
 heaps of the fragments of baskets and clay vessels im¬ 
 bedded in the valley;” but Dr. Fontaine maintains 
 that none of these remains, human and quadrupedal, 
 can claim a high antiquity, for all the formations of the 
 island are Quaternary, belonging to the “Bluff” for¬ 
 mation—the remnant of the ancient valley of the great 
 river—and overlying the “Orange” sand. I may re¬ 
 mark that the Orange sand spread over the Southern 
 country is regarded as the equivalent of the Drift, and 
 the Bluff formation as the equivalent of the Loess ; and 
 that if these human remains are really covered by the 
 latter deposit, they are as old as any thoroughly- 
 
58 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF M AN . 
 
 accredited relics observed in Europe. The statements 
 of Dr. Fontaine are not clear upon tliis point. On one 
 page he states that these remains are found in “ allu¬ 
 vium washed from the surrounding hills,” and on 
 another page he gives a section in which they are re¬ 
 presented as surmounted by strata of loam, clay, sand, 
 and pebbles, embracing an aggregate thickness of about 
 180 feet. Upon the main point he is decided: “ that 
 they are so mingled that we can only infer that the men 
 and animals Avere coeval.”* 
 
 Professor Hilgard regards the deposit in which these 
 commingled remains are found as a mass of detritus 
 Avashed doAvn from the surrounding hills. “ The pot¬ 
 tery,” he says, “ at some points, forms veritable strata, 
 three and six inches thick ; ” and he adds in a note that 
 “ It is very positively stated that mastodon bones were 
 found, considerably above some of the human relics. 
 In a detrital mass, hoAvever, this cannot be considered 
 a crucial test.”f 
 
 Leaving out the question whether or not the Loess 
 covers these commingled remains, it Avould appear, by 
 the statement of one of these observers, who has written 
 a work to refute the high antiquity of man, that the tAvo 
 classes of remains were coeval; and the other does not 
 gainsay the positive statements of men familiar with the 
 modern workings, that bones of the mastodon were 
 found considerably above some of the human relics. It 
 may be said, however, that in an island, whose area is 
 less than eight square miles, there would be few floods 
 of sufficient power to transport such heavy bones as 
 
 * " How the AVorld was Peopled,” by Rev. Ed. Fontaine, pp. 67-g. 
 
 f “ Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge,”No. 248. “On the Geol¬ 
 ogy of Lower Louisiana and the Salt Deposit on Petit Anse Island.” By 
 E. W. Hilgard, p. 14. 
 
THE NATCHEZ HUMAN BONE. 
 
 59 
 
 the tusks and molars of mastodons to any considerable 
 distance. 
 
 Human remains in the Loess of the Mississippi Valley. 
 —The immediate channel of the Lower Mississippi, 
 throuo’hout its entire course from Cairo to Natchez, ac- 
 cording to Humphreys and Abbot, is excavated in the 
 Cretaceous clays. The terraces which border the val¬ 
 ley near the Gulf consist of Eocene tertiary, succeeded 
 by a thin stratum of sand and pebbles, and surmounted 
 by fifty or sixty feet of yellowish comminuted loam, 
 which Sir Charles Lyell was the first to point out as the 
 equivalent of the Rhenish Loess. The Tertiary beds 
 are of marine origin, while those of the Loess are of 
 fresh-water, and contain numerous shells, all of which 
 are of terrestrial origin, now living and common to the 
 region, together with the remains of the great pachy¬ 
 derms, the megalonyx, tiger, lion, etc. In the bottom 
 of one of the ravines, cut through this deposit. Dr. 
 Dickeson, of Natchez, many years ago, found the pel¬ 
 vic bone of man, os innominatum., mingled with those 
 of extinct animals. The question is, whether both 
 classes of remains had been washed from the same 
 deposit. 
 
 Sir Charles Lyell, in 1846, visited that region, care¬ 
 fully studied the structure of the bluff, and inspected 
 the bone in Dr. Dickeson’s collection. “ It appears,” 
 he remarks, “ to be quite in the same state of preserva¬ 
 tion, and even of the same black color as the other 
 fossils, and was believed to have come, like them, from 
 a depth of about thirty feet from the surface. 
 
 “In my ‘ Second Visit to America’* I suggested as a 
 possible explanation of this association of a human bone 
 with remains of a mastodon and megalonyx, that the 
 
 * Vol. ii, p. 197. 
 
60 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 former may possibly have been derived from the vege¬ 
 table soil at the top of the cliff; whereas the remains 
 of extinct mammalia were dislodged from a lower posi¬ 
 tion, and both may have fallen into the same heap or 
 talus at the bottom of the ravine. The pelvic bone 
 might, I conceived, have acquired its black color by 
 having lain for so many years or centuries in a dark, 
 superficial, peat}^ soil, common in that region. 
 
 No doubt, had the pelvic bone belonged to any recent 
 mammifer, other than man, such a theory would never 
 have been resorted to ; but so long as we have only one 
 isolated case, and are without the testimony of a geol¬ 
 ogist who was present to behold the bone when still 
 engaged in the matrix, and to extract it with his own 
 hands, it is allowable to suspend our judgment as to 
 the high antiquity of the fossil.” * 
 
 Dr. Joseph Leidy arrives at substantially the same 
 conclusions. “ The specimen,” says he, “ with its re¬ 
 puted associates (bones of the megalonyx and mylodon) 
 is preserved in the museum of the Academy of Natural 
 Sciences of Philadelphia, and all present the same ap¬ 
 pearance of preservation and color. They are not pet¬ 
 rified, but have preserved their original consistence of 
 composition, with little change, other than being stained 
 chocolate-brown, from ferruginous infiltration. 
 
 “ The human bone consists of about half of an ilium, 
 together with the back part of an ischium to where its 
 tuber begins to turn forward ; the ilium is broken at its 
 border, except at the ischiatic notch and about an inch 
 and a half of the crest where this is thickest anteriorly. 
 The bone is mature, and exhibits no trace of epiphysial 
 separation, as has been stated. Placed in correspond¬ 
 ence with an ilium of recent Man, it presents no 
 
 * Antiquity of Man,” p. 203. 
 
THE NATCHEZ HUMAN BONE. 
 
 61 
 
 distinctive character. The specimen may have heen 
 contemporary with the remains of extinct animals, with 
 which it is said to have been found, though it appears 
 to me to be equally, if not more probable, that it may 
 have fallen into the formation from an Indian grave 
 above, at a comparatively recent date, and become 
 stained, like the true fossils, from ferruginous infiltra' 
 tion.”* 
 
 In this connection I would introduce the testimony 
 of a highly competent observer, Professor C. G. For- 
 shey. t He states: 
 
 “I examined the spot where the bone was found — 
 in Bernard’s Bayou, just above the bridge, on the Pine- 
 ridge road, two and one-half miles from Natchez. The 
 material from which it was taken was a dark loam in 
 the bottom of the thirty-feet bayou. It was probably 
 not in situ^ but this loam, and the bone too, probably, 
 had caved in from some point above, and had been 
 drifted thither from fields of several miles square, above 
 the road. A dozen plantation burial places, and Indian 
 mounds and camps had been exposed above for cen¬ 
 turies ; and in recent years, since inhabited by the 
 whites (for a hundred years), the drains had cut through 
 the surface to the depth of twenty and even forty feet 
 in the bluff loam-beds. The probabilities are a hundred 
 to one, that this bone was not of the Bluff (mastodon) 
 formation, but of the recent era. 
 
 “ The mastodon bones and all others, of which there 
 were many, whelmed in the floods which deposited the 
 bluffs, were all rotten. We had the utmost difficulty 
 in preserving any of them—tusks or bones, and only 
 succeeded when we had varnish or glue at hand to pro- 
 
 * “ Extinct Mammalia of North America," p. 365. 
 
 f ‘‘ MS. Notes,” communicated to the Author. 
 
62 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF IHAN. 
 
 tect them. No human bones of any kind were ever 
 found, unless this pelvic bone be an exception.” 
 
 Arrow-heads in connection with the hones of the masto¬ 
 don .—The late Dr. Koch, of St. Louis, who disinterred, 
 in the Osage Valley of Missouri, the skeleton of the 
 mastodon which now forms so conspicuous a feature in 
 the palaeontological department of the British Museum, 
 stated that, in connection therewith, were found flint 
 arrow-heads and remains of charcoal, as though the 
 aborigines had attacked and destroyed the animal when 
 mired. This statement, at the time, was received by 
 the scientiflc world with a sneer of contempt. It was 
 my fortune to be thrown in company with Dr. Koch 
 for several days, during the last year of his life, and 
 among other things I questioned him very pointedly as 
 to the possibility of his having been mistaken, when he 
 assured me in the most solemn and emphatic manner, 
 that his statement was true. He was an indefatigable 
 collector, and few men in this country, by individual 
 effort alone, have been more successful in bringing to 
 light so many of the skeletons of the huge animals that 
 roamed over the land or swarmed the seas of past 
 ages. His knowledge in many branches of Natural 
 History was considerable, but not of that exact charac¬ 
 ter to bring out important generalizations. No one who 
 knew him will question but that he was a competent 
 observer, and to deny the accuracy of his statement is 
 to accuse him of having attempted to perpetrate a 
 scientiflc fraud. It may be said, however, that the 
 scientific opinion of this country regarded his state¬ 
 ments in about the same light as the French geologists 
 did those of M. Boucher de Perthes, when he brought 
 out his “ Antiquites Celtiques,”—that is with absolute 
 distrust: but the one lived to see the truth of his obser- 
 
MASTODON BEDS. 
 
 63 
 
 vations acknowledged and their value appreciated; the 
 other died with a cloud hanging over his reputation. 
 
 The following extracts are taken from Dr. Koch’s 
 paper communicated to the St. Louis Academy of Sci¬ 
 ences : 
 
 “ In the year 1839, I discovered and disinterred in 
 Gasconade County, Missouri, at a spot in the bottom of 
 the Bourbeuse River, where there was a spring distant 
 about four hundred yards from the bank of the river, 
 the remains of the above-named animals. The bones 
 were sufficiently well preserved to enable me to decide 
 positively that they belonged to the Mastodon gigan- 
 teus. Some remarkable circumstances were connected 
 with the discovery. The greater portion of these bones 
 had been more or less burned by fire. The fire had 
 extended but a few feet beyond the space occupied by 
 the animal before its destruction, and there was more 
 than sufficient evidence on the spot that the fire had 
 not been an accidental one, but on the contrary, that it 
 had been kindled by human agency, and according to 
 all appearance, with the design of killing the huge crea¬ 
 ture which had been found mired in the mud and in an 
 entirely li^pless condition. This was sufficiently proven 
 by the situation in which I found, as well those parts 
 of the bones untouched by the fire, as those which were 
 more or less injured by it, or in part consumed ; for I 
 found the fore and hind legs of the animal in a perpen¬ 
 dicular position in the clay with the toes attached to 
 the feet, just in the manner in which they were when 
 life departed from the body. I took particular care in 
 uncovering these bones, to ascertain their position be¬ 
 yond any doubt, before I removed any part of them, and 
 it appeared during the whole excavation, fully evident 
 that, at the time when the animal in question found its 
 
64 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 untimel}'' end, the ground in which it had been mired, 
 must have been in a plastic condition, being now a 
 greyish-colored clay. All the bones which had not 
 been burned by the fire had kept their original position, 
 standing upright, and apparentl}^ quite undisturbed in 
 the clay, whereas those portions which had been ex¬ 
 tended above the surface had been partially consumed 
 by the fire, and the surface of the clay was covered, as 
 far as the fire had extended, by a layer of wood-ashes, 
 mingled with larger or smaller pieces of charred wood 
 and burnt bones, together with bones belonging to the 
 spine, ribs, and other parts of the body, which had been 
 more or less injured by the fire. 
 
 “ The fire appeared to have been most destructive 
 around the head of the animal. Some small remains of 
 the head were left unconsumed, but enough to show 
 that they belonged to the mastodon. There were also 
 found, mingled with these ashes and bones, and partly 
 protruding out of them, a large number of broken pieces 
 of rock, which had evidently been carried thither from 
 the shore of the Bourbeuse River, to be hurled at the 
 animal by his destroyers, for the above-mentioned layer 
 of clay was entirely void even of the smallest pebbles; 
 whereas, on going to the river I found the stratum of 
 clay cropping out of the bank and resting on a layer of 
 shelving rocks of the same kind as the fragments, from 
 which place it Avas evident they had been carried to the 
 scene of action. The layers of ashes, etc., varied in 
 thickness from two to six inches, from which it may be 
 inferred that the fire had been kept up for some length 
 of time. It seemed that the burning of the victim and 
 the hurling of rocks at it, had not satisfied the destroy¬ 
 ers, for I found also among the ashes, bones, and rocks, 
 several arrow-heads, a stone spear-head, and some stone 
 
IVIASTODON BEDS. 
 
 65 
 
 axes, which were taken out in the presenee of a num¬ 
 ber of witnesses, consisting of the people of the neigh¬ 
 borhood, attracted by the novelty of the excavation. 
 The layer of ashes, etc., was covered by strata of allu¬ 
 vial deiDOsits, consisting of clay, sand, and soil, from 
 eight to nine feet thick, forming the bottom of the 
 Bourbeuse in general, and on the surface, near the 
 centre of the spot on which the animal had perished, 
 was situated the spring, the water of which was used 
 for domestic purposes; and it was in digging to clear 
 out the spring that the existence of bones there had 
 first been discovered by the owner of the land. 
 
 “ It was about one year after this excavation that I 
 found at another place, in Benton County, in the bot¬ 
 tom of the Pomme-de-Terre River, about ten miles 
 above its junction with the Osage River, several stone 
 arrow-heads, mingled with the bones of a nearly entire 
 skeleton, mentioned above as the 3Iissourium. This 
 discovery is already so well known that I will merely 
 mention the circumstance in this connection, that the 
 two arrow-heads found with the bones were in such a 
 position as to furnish evidence still more conclusive, 
 lierhaps, than in the other case, of their being of equal 
 if not older date than the bones themselves, for besides 
 that they were found in a layer of vegetable mould, 
 which was covered twenty feet in thickness with al¬ 
 ternate layers of sand, clay, and gravel. One of the 
 arrow-heads lay underneath the thigh-bone of the skele¬ 
 ton, the bone actually resting in contact iipon it, so 
 that it could not have been brouiiht thither after the 
 deposit of the bone, a fact which I carefully thought 
 to investigate. 
 
 “ Tlie layer of vegetable mould was some five or six 
 feet thick, and the arrow-heads and bones were found 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 THE AHTIQUITY OF MAN, 
 
 buried in it, together with fragments of wood and roots 
 and logs and cones of cypress, but no pebbles were ob¬ 
 served in it. Above this layer of mould there were six 
 undisturbed layers of clay, sand, and gravel, viz: three 
 of greyish clay and three of pebbly gravel mixed with 
 coarse sand, in all twenty feet in thickness, and a for¬ 
 est of old trees was standing on the surface soil. The 
 bottom is still subject to occasional overflow, in very 
 high stages of water.” * , 
 
 Section of the Mastodon Bed on the Pomme-de-Terre Branch 
 OF the Osage River, Missouri. 
 
 Feet. Inches, 
 
 Loam_ 
 
 Gravel_ 
 
 Yellow clay 
 
 Gravel_ 
 
 Blue clay... 
 
 Gravel_ 
 
 Peat-._ 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 3 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 i6 00 
 
 Resting on loam, which contained the remains of the mastodon. 
 
 The position of the ground would indicate that it 
 was originally an erosion in the pre-existing surface, 
 and filled with fluviatile deposits. Several springs of a 
 brackish sulphur water come to the surface, to which 
 the animals of the country resorted, and the area is 
 provincially known as a “ lick.” This lick is estimated 
 to have yielded not less than eighty distinct skeletons. 
 
 Stone-hatchet (?) in the Modified Drift of Jersey County,, 
 Illinois. — Professor Worthen, the Director of the Geo¬ 
 logical Survey of Illinois, in his detailed report of Jersey 
 County, has described the Loess and Modified Drift as 
 filling the lateral valleys to a depth varying from sixty 
 
 * “ Transactions St. Louis Academy of Sciences,” vol. i, p. 62. 1857. 
 
STONE-HATCHET IN* DRIFT. 
 
 67 
 
 to one hundred feet, and the Modified Drift, he states, 
 often contains hands of sandstone and conglomerate. 
 “ One of the most satisfactory natural sections observed 
 in the county, was found on Otter Creek, on the lands 
 of Mr. McAdams, where the beds had been cut through 
 by the waters of the creek. The exposure at this 
 locality exhibited about twenty feet of yellowish-brown 
 clay at the top, below which was seen from twenty to 
 thirty feet of sand and gravel with boulders; and this 
 was underlaid by about fifteen feet of blue plastic clay, 
 extending below the bed of the creek. Boulders of 
 granite, sienite, greenstone, quartz-rock, and porphyry 
 are often met with.”* 
 
 From a mass of these cemented pebbles and sand, 
 which had become detached and had fallen to the margin 
 of the stream, the hatchet was procured which is repre¬ 
 sented in the annexed figure. 
 
 Fig. 3 = i. 
 
 Stone-hatchet (?j from the Modified Drift of Jersey County, Illinois. 
 
 Mr. William McAdams, who forwarded to me the 
 specimen and had described the mode of its occurrence 
 
 * “ Geological Survey of Illinois,” vol. iii, p. io6. 
 
68 
 
 THE Antiquity op man. 
 
 before the Jersey ville Scientific Association, in his letter 
 states that “ it was so tightly fastened in the rock that 
 it required considerable force to break it out. The 
 position in which it lay, and the depth to which it was 
 imbedded in the rock will at once be made plain by 
 examining the relic.” A portion of the cemented 
 gravel adhered to the specimen when he first exhibited 
 it to the Association. 
 
 There can be no doubt as to the geological position 
 in which this specimen was found, and the only question 
 is. Can it be of human workmanship ? The material is a 
 finely-crystallized sienite, and under a magnifier the 
 three minerals, hornblende, quartz and feldspar, can be 
 recognized. The portion which projected from the 
 matrix has been so long exposed to atmospheric agents 
 as to present a nearly uniform surface, except along the 
 line a, which appears to be a thin leaf of more durable 
 material, standing slightly out from the general ground ; 
 and the bold ridge 6, which differs in no respect from 
 the mass in chemical composition, and extends obliquely 
 around the whole specimen. I can conceive that if the 
 lower part had been imbedded in a conglomerate rock 
 for a time, the upper part might have weathered so as 
 to leave a projection, but this projection is equally 
 jirominent on the lower side. If this had been a finished 
 hatchet, the workman would not have left the ridge 
 which we have described, as it would have interfered 
 with its cutting properties. On the other hand, it may 
 be claimed that, after having worked out the head, he 
 undertook to flake off a portion to form the edge, but 
 the fracture extended too deep, and the work was 
 spoiled; and the conchoidal nature of the fracture on 
 one side, lends plausibility to this view. 
 
 On the whole, I will not positively assert that this 
 
PEE-HISTORIC KEMAIXS IN WYOMING. 
 
 69 
 
 specimen is of human workmanship,* hut I affirm that 
 if it had been recovered from a ploughed field, I should 
 have unhesitatingly said that it was an Indian hatchet. 
 
 Pre-historic remains in Wyoming and Colorado .— INIr. 
 E. L. Berthoud has recently described in the Proceed¬ 
 ings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Phila¬ 
 delphia,* the evidences of man’s workmanship observed 
 by him on the banks of Crow Creek, lat. 40° N., long. 
 104° W. While investigating the bluffs he found many 
 beautiful moss agates, and numerous flakes of stone 
 implements, mixed in Tertiary gravel and seemingly 
 coeval with it. On leaving Crow Creek, he states: 
 
 “ I obtained a complete suite of stone imjilements 
 and rude fragments which occur mixed in a gravel and 
 sand deposit that composes the summit and sides of the 
 low bluff on the east bank. I found them in the gravel, 
 in the soil, in every kind of position, and sometimes 
 weather-beaten or stained by weather and rain. The 
 accompanying gravel is composed of pebbles of quartzite, 
 jasper, agate, granite, mica-slate, basalt, with a few 
 shells, fossil wood or wood-opal; while in the low 
 grounds at the foot of the bluffs, ancient fire-places, 
 burnt fragments of bone and wood with flint and agate 
 chips and implements, almost distinct from those on the 
 summit of the low hills bordering Crow Creek, are ob¬ 
 served. So much is this the case that the two seem to 
 point to a distinct era, the latter presenting some pro¬ 
 gress and refinement even in stone implements. 
 
 “ The evidences of the oldest and rudest do not even 
 show traces of fire or fire-places ; rough implements, 
 irregular piles of pebbles are all that are left us to show 
 and identify to the observer the obscure seat of a still 
 more obscure barbarism. 
 
 * Part i, 1872. 
 
70 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 “ Another fact puzzles me, that whenever on C^che la 
 Poudre, Big Thompson River, Clear Creek, Crow Creek, 
 and Platte River, we find evidences of pre-aboriginal oc¬ 
 cupation, it is invariably on the low bluffs bordering these 
 valleys, and in a Tertiary gravel deposit ; but if we go 
 back into the higher region of the prairies, they almost 
 disappear, or present a difference in form or material. 
 
 “ The shape, the location, the rude barbarism of these 
 first attempts of art irresistibly lead us to compare them 
 to the rude tools of Abbeville in France, or the imple¬ 
 ments of Kent in England. J am glad to be able to 
 give a few shells from this place, which will serve to 
 guide us in determining the age of the gravel beds of 
 Crow Creek. 
 
 “We are fast nearing the high table-land between 
 South Platte River, Crow Creek, and Pole Creek. This 
 is a dividing ridge capped by conglomerate in many 
 places, and under this on Low Wet, Little Crow Creek, 
 etc., Miocene beds with Oreodon, Titanotherium, and 
 freali-water turtles. The gravel beds of Crow Creek 
 may be Quaternary (?) but they seem made up from the 
 decomposed capping north of us, and at Golden City 
 apparently underlie the Newer Tertiary beds capped 
 with basalt (?).” 
 
 Following up Crow Creek he noticed “ in two places 
 in the steep bluff bordering the stream the burnt stones 
 and black carbonaceous remains of old fire places, from 
 four to eight feet below the present surface.” 
 
 On a small dry affluent of Crow Creek, he continues, 
 “ I found at the foot of the first ridge the evidences of 
 the deserted site of an ancient village, the stone-heaps 
 and circles, the projecting and polished boulders, the 
 stray flint tools and weapons, the multitudes of broken 
 flakes or fragments left in the primeval workshop ; while 
 
CONTEMPORARY WITH MEGATHERIUM. 
 
 71 
 
 all around dispersed in rude circles, the boulders of 
 quartzite, of jaspery rocks, yellow, red or grey, nowhere 
 else in situ, speak of some method or manner of industry, 
 totally unlike our modern Indian or Mound-builder’s 
 vestiges.” 
 
 The shells referred to in the preceding account, ac¬ 
 cording to Professor Cope, comprised four species, and 
 were submitted to Mr. T. A. Conrad, who pronounced 
 one of them to be a Corhicula, another Rangia, the third 
 not determinable. The two species recognized are 
 estuary shells “certainly not later than Older Pliocene, 
 or possibly Miocene, but there is no trace of Eocene." 
 
 Pottery in connection ivith the bones of the Mega¬ 
 therium .—Dr. Holmes, several years ago, made a com¬ 
 munication to the Philadelphia Academy of Natural 
 Sciences, * in which he described the occurrence of frag¬ 
 ments of pottery in connection with the bones of the 
 mastodon and megatherium, on the Ashley River of 
 South Carolina, but it is one of those isolated cases 
 which require further investigation before full credence 
 can be attached to it. 
 
 I have thus enumerated all the instances which have 
 been recorded in the United States, where the remains 
 of man have been observed in deposits which entomb 
 also those of extinct animals. The evidence, it must be 
 confessed, rests in most cases, upon the testimony of a 
 single observer, and besides, there has not been that 
 recurrence of “ finds,” in the same deposit (except in 
 the gravel beds of Colorado and Wyoming, which re¬ 
 quire further investigation to command an unqualified 
 belief), as in the valley of the Somme and in the Euro¬ 
 pean caves, which is so conclusive as to the existence 
 of man as contemporary with the great pachyderms. 
 
 * “Proceedings,” etc., July, 1859. 
 
72 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 Our coluitiy is yet new, and much of its surface has 
 never been disturbed by the labors of man. It is only 
 recently that attention has been directed to these in¬ 
 vestigations, and those who are the most ajit to make 
 discoveries in this branch of knowledge — day laborers— 
 are the least apt to appreciate their value. It is hardly 
 to be expected that a competent observer will be present 
 at the precise time when any relic of the past is disin¬ 
 terred. If such relic pertain to a horse or any other 
 quadruped, we take the statement of the workmen with 
 absolute trust; but if it were to prove of human origin, 
 we discredit it. I have in my possession many drawings 
 of relics said to be found under conditions which would 
 indicate a very high antiquity, but to describe them 
 would add, I conceive, nothing to the strength of this 
 argument. With the evidence before us that both 
 hemispheres have been subjected to the same dynamic 
 action, and peopled in the northern latitudes by the 
 same races of animals, often identical in species, is it 
 not philosophical to infer that man also, who is capable 
 of the most extended migrations, and of braving every 
 climate, here found an abode in times primeval ? 
 
 Descending to a period more recent, but still remote 
 as compared with the chronological record, we have re¬ 
 ported instances of man’s existence as the contemporary 
 of the present flora and fauna, but when the topo¬ 
 graphical features of the country were somewhat dif¬ 
 ferent. 
 
 Human skeleton found at New Orleans .— The plain, 
 according to Dr. Dowler, on which New Orleans is 
 situated, rises only nine feet above the sea, and exca¬ 
 vations are often made below the level of the Gulf of 
 Mexico. In these excavations successive forests of 
 cypress trees have been passed through. In excavating 
 
SKELETON FOUND AT NEW OIILEANS. 
 
 73 
 
 for the foundations of the gas-works in that city, it was 
 necessary to cut through not less than four of these 
 buried forests. At the depth of sixteen feet, the work¬ 
 men came upon burnt wood and the skeleton of a man. 
 It was beneath the roots of a cypress tree of the fourth 
 forest level. The type of the cranium was of the 
 aboriginal American race.* 
 
 Dr. Dowler divides the history of the delta into three 
 epochs: 1, That of the grasses, as seen in the lagoons 
 of the sea-coast; 2. That of the cypress basins ; 3, That 
 of the live-oak platform. Existing types, from the 
 Balize to the highlands, show this order of succession, 
 and all geological history proves that a very considerable 
 period of time must elapse before the surface of the 
 earth becomes fitted for the reception of a different 
 kind of vegetation. Cypress trees ( Taxodium distichum')^ 
 ten feet in diameter, and whose age was computed at 
 5,700 years, were found in the lowest forest level, be¬ 
 neath which these human remains reposed. Dr. Dowler 
 gives the following estimate of the periods of time which 
 must have elapsed; 
 
 Epoch of the aquatic plants..__i,500 years. 
 
 Epoch of the cypress basin, in which he assumes only 
 
 two successive growths_11,400 
 
 Epoch of the live-oak platform.. 1,500 
 
 Total- 14,400 I 
 
 Connected with the antiquity of these remains, is the 
 age of the delta with regard to which great diversity of 
 opinion prevails. Sir Charles Lyell, in his “ Travels in 
 North America,” has undertaken to show that the de¬ 
 posits forming the delta and alluvial plain of the Missis- 
 
 * “ Types of Mankind," p. 336. 
 
 f “ Tableau of New Orleans." 1852. 
 
74 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 sippi extend over an area of 30,000 square miles, and 
 form beds in some parts, several hundred feet thick. 
 “ The lowest estimate of the time required would lead 
 us to assign a high antiquity, amounting to many tens of 
 thousands of years (probably more than 100,000) to the 
 existing delta. Whether all, or how much of this for¬ 
 mation may belong to the recent period, as above defined, 
 I cannot pretend to decide.”* 
 
 The late Professor Hitchcock estimated that “ the 
 Mississippi carries forward 28,188,383,892 cubic feet, or 
 one cubic mile in five years and eighty-one days. The 
 whole delta contains 2720 cubic miles, and therefore, at 
 the rate above indicated, 14,204 years would have been 
 requisite to form it.”t 
 
 Referring to Humphreys and Abbot’s work on the 
 physics and hydraulics of this river, we find that many 
 of the statements of previous writers with regard to its 
 regimen, the area of its delta, etc., have been erroneous. 
 Regarding the delta of the Mississippi as beginning 
 where it first sends off a branch to the sea, it may be 
 divided into four parts : 1, The Atchafalaya basin ; 2, 
 The Terre Bonne district; 3, La Fourche district; 4, 
 The Lake Pontchartrain district. The combined area 
 is 12,300 square miles; or if we regard the alluvial tract 
 betAveen Cape Girardeau and the head of the delta, as 
 above given, as part and parcel of the same, the area 
 instead of being 30,000 square miles, is only 19,450. So, 
 too, the thickness of the alluvial matter has been greatly 
 overstated. It is but twenty or twenty-five feet, on the 
 river bank, along the St. Francis Swamp; thirty-five 
 feet, along the Yazoo Swamp; which thickness holds 
 
 * “ Antiquity of Man,” p. 43. 
 
 f “ Smithsonian Contributions,” “ Surface Geology,” by Edward 
 Hitchcock, p. 92. 
 
DELTA OP THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 75 
 
 as far down as Baton Rouge; and the borings of the 
 Artesian well at New Orleans show that there it does 
 not extend more than forty feet below the level of the 
 gulf. 
 
 The mean annual discharge of sedimentary matter 
 equals one square mile of deposit, two hundred and 
 forty-one feet in depth. Besides the amount held in 
 suspension, the river pushes along into the gulf large 
 quantities of earthy matter. No exact measurement of 
 the amount furnished from this source can be made, 
 but from the yearly rate of progress of the bars in the 
 gulf, it is estimated that it would cover a square mile, 
 twenty-seven feet deep. 
 
 The total yearly contributions, then, amount to a 
 prism two hundred and sixty-eight feet in height with 
 a base of one square mile. “ To determine the age of 
 the delta from such data, the extent of the area upon 
 which the sedimentary matter is deposited, and the 
 depth below the surface of the former bottom of the 
 gulf must be known. Neither has been ascertained 
 with sufficient accuracy to make the computation of 
 any value.” * 
 
 These authors infer that the original mouth of the 
 Mississippi was near the effiux of Bayou Plaquemine, 
 where the alluvial soil does not extend much, if any, be¬ 
 low the level of the gulf, and hence that its prolonga¬ 
 tion has been two hundred and twenty miles. If it be 
 assumed that the rate of progress has been uniform to 
 the present day, the number of years since the river 
 began to advance into the gulf can be computed. The 
 present rate of progress of the mouth may be obtained 
 by a careful comparison of the progress of all the mouths 
 of the river, as shown by the maps of Captain Talcott, 
 
 * “ Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi,'’ p. 150, et passvn. 
 
76 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 U. S. Engineer, 1838, and of the U. S. Coast Survey 
 in 1851, the only maps which admit of such comparison. 
 They give two hundred and sixty-two feet for the mean 
 yearly advance of all the passes, which represents cor¬ 
 rectly the advance of the river, because in the changes 
 which take place, each pass in succession may become 
 the main pass. Adopting this rate of progress, 4,400 
 years have elapsed since the river began to advance 
 into the gulf.* 
 
 Thus, then, with these c.arefully observed computa¬ 
 tions before us, we are not prepared to accept the high 
 antiquity assigned by Dr. Dowler to the human remains 
 found beneath the surface at New Orleans. What he 
 regards as four buried forests, which once flourished 
 on the spot, may be nothing more than drift-wood 
 brought down by the river in former times, which be¬ 
 came embedded in the silts and sediments deposited 
 on what was then the floor of the gulf.f 
 
 Human remains, in a calcareous conglomerate^ in Florida. 
 — In Nott and Gliddon’s “ Types of Mankind,”} it is 
 stated, on the authority of Agassiz, that Count Pour- 
 tales found the jaws and teeth, and some bones of the 
 foot, belonging to man, in a calcareous conglomerate 
 forming part of a series of coral reefs, which were sup¬ 
 posed by that distinguished naturalist, in accordance 
 with his mode of estimating the rate of growth of those 
 reefs, to be about 10,000 years old. This statement, 
 which has been widely copied, is essentially erroneous. 
 
 * Ibidem, p. 435. 
 
 f Since the above was written, I have seen the remarks of Professor 
 C. G. Forshey, made before the New Orleans Academy of Sciences, in 
 which he discredits the observations of Humphreys and Abbot, as to the 
 nature of the river bed, the meagre thickness of the alluvium, and the in¬ 
 sufficient age of the delta. 
 
 t Page 352 . 
 
KELICS ESr OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 77 
 
 Count Pourtales states: “■ The human jaws and other 
 bones, found by myself in Florida, in 1848, were not in 
 a coral formation, but in a fresh-water sandstone, on 
 the shore of Lake Monroe, associated with fresh-water 
 shells of species still living in the lake (^Paludma, 
 Ampullaria, etc.')- No date can be assigned to the for¬ 
 mation of that deposit, at least from present observa¬ 
 tion.” * 
 
 Ancient hearths in the Ohio Valley. — Colonel Whit¬ 
 tlesey thus states: “ In 1838, in examining the Iluviatile 
 deposits on the Ohio River, at Portsmouth, Ohio, I 
 saw in two places, in the east part of the town, the 
 remains of very ancient fires. At low water, and thence 
 up to a height of twelve and fifteen feet, is a bed of 
 sand and transported gravel, containing pebbles of 
 quartz, granite, sandstone, and limestone, derived partly 
 from the adjacent Carlioniferous and Devonian rocks, 
 and partly from the Northern Drift, the upper part 
 much the coarsest. On this is a layer of blue quick¬ 
 sand, from one to five feet thick, in which is a timber 
 bed, including large numbers of the trunks, branches, 
 stumps, and leaves of trees, such as are now growing 
 on the Ohio, principally birch, black-ash, oak and 
 hickory. Over the dirt bed is the usually loamy yellow 
 clay of the valley, fifteen to thirty feet thick, on which 
 are very extensive works of the IMound-builders. In 
 and near the bottom of this undisturbed homogenous 
 river-loam, I saw two places where fires had been built 
 on a circular collection of small stones, a jiart of which 
 were then embedded in the bank. The stones were 
 colored red by heat, and among them Avas charcoal 
 covered by clay, of which I haA^e specimens. Around 
 and near to the fire-beds, Avere what appeared to be the 
 
 * ‘‘American Naturalist,” vol. ii, p. 434. 1868. 
 
78 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OP MAN. 
 
 exterior membrane-like covering of river shells ( Unios), 
 but no shells. It was several rods from one of the 
 charcoal beds to the other, and they were not on pre¬ 
 cisely the same level. They were from eighteen to 
 twenty feet above low water, and about fifteen feet 
 below the surface.”* 
 
 Marine shells in the Alluvium of Ohio. — Francis Cleve¬ 
 land, C. E., who, in 1828, had charge of the excavation 
 known as the “ deep cut” on the Ohio Canal, informed 
 Colonel Whittlesey that, at the depth of twenty-five 
 feet in the Alluvium, several shells belonging to the 
 species Busycon perversum were taken out. 
 
 The works of the Mound-builders. — Descending to 
 times still more recent, and falling probably within the 
 Historic Period, we find the evidences of man’s exist¬ 
 ence vastly multiplied, and to such an extent that we 
 can form reasonable conjectures as to his advancement 
 in civilization, his mode of life, and his commercial 
 intercourse. I refer to the Mound-builders. The sur¬ 
 face of the country, during their occupancy of the Mis¬ 
 sissippi Valley, presented the same configuration which 
 we now behold, nor were the conditions of climate 
 essentially different. The long lines of earthworks 
 stretching for miles, and often enclosing large areas of 
 alluvial soil, are more recent, by ages, than the terraces 
 which are often found in the immediate vicinity. The 
 nature and extent of their works will be described in 
 subsequent chapters. 
 
 * “On the Antiquity of Man in the United States,” by Col. Charles 
 Whittlesey. Transactions of American Association for Advancement of 
 Science, Chicago Meeting, p. 283. 
 
PARALLELISM AS TO THE ANTIQUITY OF 
 MAN IN THE TWO HEMISPHERES. 
 
 Assuming as authentic the more obscure traces of 
 human art and human remains found in the United 
 States, I submit the following classification of the respec¬ 
 tive deposits: 
 
 MIOCENE (?) 
 
 Europe. 
 
 Flints in Calcaire de Beauce, Pont- 
 levoy, with Acerotherium, Mas¬ 
 todon, Dinotherium, Rhinoce¬ 
 ros. 
 
 Flint flake in the beds of Aurillac, 
 Auvergne, with the remains of 
 Dinotherimn giganteum, and 
 Machairodus latidens. 
 
 Hacked bones at Pouance, Maine 
 et Loire, with Halitherium fos- 
 sile. (All these instances require 
 further authentication.) 
 
 North America. 
 
 Flint flakes, etc., in the gravel beds 
 of Colorado and Wyoming, with 
 shells belonging to the genera 
 Corbicula Rangia. (Further 
 authentication required.) 
 
 PLIOCENE (?) 
 
 Hacked bones in the beds of St. Human skull found in Calaveras 
 Prest, associated with Elephas County, California. 
 meridioftalis, Rhuioceros leptor- 
 hinus, Hippopotamus major. 
 
 (Evidence not conclusive.) 
 
 DRIFT (closing period). 
 
 Epoch of the Extinct Animals .— 
 Terrace gravels of the Somme, 
 Seine, in France ; Surrey, Kent, 
 and Middlesex, in England, with 
 flint implements, etc. The caves 
 of France, Belgium, England, 
 and Wales (in part) with flint 
 implements. 
 
 Epoch of the Migrated Existing 
 Animals (Reindeer Period).— 
 Dordogne caves, France. Bel¬ 
 gium caves (in part). Loess of 
 the Rhine, not recognized in 
 Great Britain. Skeletons, im¬ 
 proved flint implements, etc., 
 found with the remains of living 
 and extinct mammals. 
 
 Plummet from the San Joaquin 
 Valley. 
 
 Stone hatchet (?) found in Jersey 
 County, Illinois. 
 
 Loess of the Mississippi Valley, 
 Natchez, enclosing os innomin- 
 atum of man, with bones of ex¬ 
 tinct mammals. 
 
 Flint implementsfound in the lacus¬ 
 trine deposit in the Osage Valley 
 and Bourbeuse Valley, of Mis¬ 
 souri, in connection with the 
 bones of the mastodon. 
 
 79 
 
80 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 CONTEMPOEANEOUS TEKRESTRIAL ANIMALS OP THE 
 TWO CONTINENTS: 
 
 Europe. 
 
 Urstts spelaus (cave-bear). 
 
 * U. arctos ? (brown bear). 
 
 *Meles taxus (badger). 
 
 *Putorius vulgaris (polecat). 
 Felis spelma (cave-lion). 
 
 Hycma spelcea (cave-hyena). 
 *Canis lupus (wolf). 
 
 Elepkas pri)nigenitts{xs\s.ramot\i). 
 E. anliqtius (elephant). 
 Rhinoceros tichorhinus (Siberian 
 rhinoceros). 
 
 R. hemitcechus. 
 
 *Ei]UUs caballus (horse). 
 
 *E. asijius (ass). 
 
 *Cervus elaphus (stag). 
 
 *C. capreohts (roebuck). 
 
 *C. tarandus (reindeer). 
 Megaceros hibernicus (great Irish 
 stag). 
 
 *Bison europoeus (aurochs). 
 *Ovibos moschatus (musk-ox). 
 Hippopotamus major, etc. 
 
 North America. 
 
 Ursus americanus (bear). 
 
 U. amplidens. 
 
 Felis atrox (great lion). 
 Trucifelis faialis (great tiger). 
 Canis hidianaensis (wolf). 
 
 C. occidentalis. 
 
 *C. latrans. 
 
 Elephas primige7this (great 
 Siberian elephant). 
 
 E. atnericanus (mammoth of 
 United State.s). 
 
 Mastodoit a?nericanus syn. gigan- 
 teus (great mastodon). 
 
 Equus fossilis (horse). 
 
 E. major. 
 
 E. frat emus. 
 
 E. excelsus. 
 
 E. paeijictts. 
 
 E. parvulus (Pliocene ?). 
 Hipperion venustuni. 
 
 *Cervus virginianus (Virginian 
 deer). 
 
 *(7. canadensis (elk). 
 tarandus (reindeer). 
 
 C. america/ztis (approaching the 
 great Irish stag). 
 
 *Bison americanus (buffalo). 
 
 B. priscus. 
 
 B. latifrons. 
 
 *Ovibos moschatus (musk-ox). 
 
 O. bombifrons. 
 
 0. cavifrons. 
 
 Platygonus compressus (Suidas). 
 Dicotyles leziis (Suidse). 
 
 D. tiasutus. 
 
 * Castor canadezisis (beaver). 
 Castoroides ohioensis (great 
 beaver). 
 
 Megatherium mirabilc. 
 Megalonyx yejff'ersozii. 
 
 M. dissimilis. 
 
 M. validus. 
 
 Ereptodon priscus. 
 
 Mylodon Harlani. 
 
 Tapirus azziericanus (tapir). 
 
 T. Haysii. 
 
 * Those thus indicated are still existing. 
 
FOSSIL ELEPHANT. 
 
 81 
 
 RECENT. 
 
 Works of art, associated with the remains of Ma 7 nnialia wild and domes¬ 
 ticated, and for the most part common to the region. 
 
 Epoch of the Domesticated Existing 
 A nimals. 
 
 Shell-banks of Denmark (kitchen 
 middens). 
 
 Stone implements in Danish (Scotch 
 fir) peat mosses. 
 
 Lacustrine constructions in Swit¬ 
 zerland (in part) of the Stone 
 Age. 
 
 Clyde marine strata with canoes. 
 
 Human bones and works of art in 
 the peat of the Somme Valley. 
 
 ‘ Crannoges ’ of Ireland. 
 
 Works of art in the Nile mud. 
 
 Human skeleton in the delta of the 
 Mississippi ? 
 
 Ancient hearths in the alluvium of 
 Ohio Valley. Shells of the 
 Busycon in the alluvium. 
 
 Shell accumulations on the Gulf 
 coast (in part). 
 
 MORE RECENT. 
 
 Bronze Epoch. — Bronze imple¬ 
 ments of Switzerland, Denmark, 
 Ireland, and England. 
 
 Works of the Mound-builders of 
 the Ohio and Mississippi Val¬ 
 leys. 
 
 Shell accumulations, marine and 
 fresh-water, on the Gulf Coast 
 and in the Interior (in part). 
 
 To the student of ethnology the bare catalogue above 
 given of mammals that lived in the distant age of the 
 Drift, as the contemporaries of man, would be unsatis¬ 
 factory. The great Siberian elephant {E. primigemus')., 
 with his compound covering of wool and hair which 
 fitted him to endure an Arctic climate, is supposed to 
 have appeared in Asia at the close of the Tertiary 
 Period, whence he passed over to Europe during the 
 Quaternary Period, appearing in England and France, 
 and ranging as far south as Central Italy and the 
 P 3 a'enees ; while to the north, his carcass is often found 
 encased in ice-cliffs, almost entire. He survived into 
 the Reindeer Epoch. 
 
 “ The preservation,” says Sir Roderick Murchison, 
 “ of so many entire animals of this size in such high 
 
 b' 
 
82 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 northern latitudes, induces me to modify the views I 
 formerly entertained,* and to suggest that all Northern 
 Siberia, which is now so glacial, was, during the age in 
 which the mammoth lived, a continent covered with a 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 
 The Siberian Elephant (E. primigenhis) and Mastodon (M. gigantens) 
 
 restored. 
 
 vegetation adequate to support vast herds of these huge 
 animals, even up to 75° N. latitude. This view is, 
 indeed, sustained by the researches which have been 
 made from north to south, for when we travel south¬ 
 wards we find the mammoth remains becoming much 
 scarcer, and instead of whole animals, we meet with 
 their broken and disjointed bones only, as if they had 
 
 * Vide “ Russia in Europe,” etc., vol. i, p. 492, et, seq. 
 
FOSSIL ELEPHANT. 
 
 83 
 
 been transported from the north. Having satisfied 
 myself by wide personal examination that other drifted 
 materials which proceed from north to south, cover 
 large regions of European Russia and Northern Germany 
 — in places superseded by those great erratic blocks 
 which were conveyed in former icebergs — and seeing 
 in our own islands similar evidences, I now infer that 
 the chief marshes of such marine drift were deposited 
 whilst a prodigious change of climate was being effected 
 over the northern hemisphere, large i^ortions of which, 
 like Northern Siberia, antecedent to such perturbations, 
 , were low lands, indented by marine estuaries, whilst 
 other countries, like Russia in Europe, and Northern 
 Germany, were then entirely under sea. The simple 
 fact alone of the absence of all northern drift, or of any 
 erratic blocks over all Siberia, is, indeed, in direct con¬ 
 trast to the state of the surface of European Russia, 
 Northern Germany, and the British Islands, and shows 
 us that when the great and possibly sudden changes of 
 climate occurred, by which the mammoths were des¬ 
 troyed and entombed in situ, Northern Siberia was 
 largely inhabited by those animals.”* 
 
 I am not aware of the bones of the fossil elephant 
 having been found in Europe, except in a single instance 
 in Scotland, given by Lyell, in the old Glacial Drift, and 
 it is not until towards the close of that period, the Ter¬ 
 race Epoch, that they are abundantly met with, in con¬ 
 nection with the relics of man. 
 
 The remains of the Elephas primigenius occur on this 
 continent under similar geological conditions. He 
 probably appeared on the Pacific Coast during the 
 closing period of the Tertiary, for there, as in Siberia, 
 is wanting all evidences of a great Glacial Epoch. 
 
 * •' Address before the Royal Geographical Society,” 1866. 
 
84 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 At Eschscholtz Ba}^, Alaska, his remains, nearly entire, 
 are found in the frozen mud-cliffs ; and all the streams 
 of that territory, as I am informed by Mr. Dali, are 
 strewn with fossil ivory. 
 
 The Elephas aviericanus, whose remains appear in 
 our river-gravels, and comminuted beds known as Loess, 
 is closely allied to the E. primigenius^ and such differ¬ 
 ences as our comparative anatomists have been able to 
 detect, are probably due to variation, resulting from 
 long isolation under modified conditions of soil and 
 climate. 
 
 The Mastodon of the United States (ilfi giganteus ')— 
 another pachyderm which rivalled the elephant in size, 
 but surpassed him in the massiveness of his frame — ap¬ 
 pears to have had, during the Post-pliocene Epoch, no 
 representative on the European continent. According 
 to our existing knowledge, he does not appear to have 
 ranged north of the St. Lawrence Valley, but he can 
 be traced south to the Gulf of Mexico. He evidently 
 was fitted for a warmer climate, but not a tropical one, 
 for the contents of his stomach which have been found 
 well preserved, would indicate that he browsed on the 
 branches of the fir, and other resinous trees. It is 
 probable, too, as I long ago pointed out,* that the mas¬ 
 todon appeared subsequent to the great elephant and 
 survived his extinction. No remains of the mastodon 
 have been found in deposits older than the Loess, while 
 those of the elephant are characteristic of the Terrace 
 Epoch. The peat swamps are the great sepulchres of 
 the former, as though the animal, while living, had be¬ 
 come mired, and was thus left to perish on the spot, and 
 the antiseptic properties of the peat have preserved to 
 
 * " T ransactions American Association for Advancement of Science.’ 
 Albany Meeting, 1856 
 
RANGE OF MUSK-OX. 
 
 85 
 
 us many entire skeletons, with which our museums are 
 enriched. The remains of the elephant, on the other 
 hand, have been mainly found in river-gravels, as dis¬ 
 jecta membra^ floated from a distance by currents of 
 water more or less turbulent; and the result is, that 
 not a museum in the United States affords the materials 
 for reconstructing the head of this great pachyderm. 
 
 While thus, then, the anatomy of the mastodon, in its 
 minutest parts, is thoroughly understood, so far as re¬ 
 lates to the fossil elephant we are eompelled to base 
 our determinations almost exclusively on the tusks and 
 teeth. A perfect cranium would determine how far the 
 E. frimigenius of Europe deviated from the E. ameri- 
 canus of this eontinent. 
 
 The Rhinoceros tichorhinus, the Siberian rhinoceros, 
 was closely assoeiated in his range with the great Si¬ 
 berian elephant, and like him, had a eompound covering 
 of wool and hair. While three species of the rhinoceros 
 inhabited Europe during the Quaternary Period, we 
 find no representative of the genus in the United States, 
 but going back to the Tertiary Period we find that there 
 existed two forms of this mammal, one of which, R. 
 occidentalis Leidy, was about three-fourths as large as 
 the East Indian species, and the other, R. nebrascensis 
 Leidy, was half as large. 
 
 The Miisk-ox, or rather the musk-sheep, for he belongs 
 to the Caprid(L\ lived in Central Europe simultaneously 
 with the cave-dwellers, his remains having been found 
 in the older alluvium of the Oise Valley of France, and 
 in a similar deposit in the Valley of Avon, England. 
 He is an animal whose range is restricted to the Polar 
 region, and the presence of his remains in Central 
 Europe is justly cited as conclusive proof, that since 
 the advent of man, the climate of that I'egion has under- 
 
86 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 gone marked modifications for the better. At that 
 period it must have been hyperborean almost to the 
 northern border of the Mediterranean, where now 
 flourish the olive and the vine. 
 
 The musk-ox has disappeared from Europe, and is 
 now found only in the coldest parts of North America, 
 seldom wandering south of the parallel 68, or further 
 east than Melville Island. Dr. Kane observed their 
 tracks and skeletons in the vicinity of Rensselaer Har¬ 
 bor, nearly as far north as man has been able to pene¬ 
 trate, and he conjectured that their range towards the 
 pole was greater even than that of the reindeer.* 
 
 According to Sir John Richardson, the musk-ox does 
 not exist in Greenland or Labrador, nor in the chain of 
 islands extending north from the peninsula along the 
 west side of Davis Straits, but inhabits the hilly 
 “ Barren Grounds,” between the Welcome and Copper 
 Mountains, from the 63d or the 64th parallels to the Arc¬ 
 tic Sea, and northward to Parry’s Islands, or as far as 
 European research has yet extended. Herds of these 
 animals travel from place to place in search of pasture, 
 but do not penetrate deep into wooded districts, and 
 are able to procure food, in winter, on the steep sides of 
 hills which are laid bare by winds, and up which they 
 climb with an agility which their massive aspect would 
 lead one, ignorant of their habits, to suppose them to 
 be totally incapable of. “ In structure,” continues Sir 
 John, “ they differ from the domestic ox in the short¬ 
 ness and strength of the bones of the neck, and the 
 length of the dorsal processes which support the pon¬ 
 derous head. The swelling bases of the horns spread 
 over the foreheads of both sexes, but are most largely 
 developed in the old males. The musk-ox has also the 
 
 *“ Arctic Explorations,” vol. i, p. 8i, note. 
 
GREAT FOSSIL MUSK-OX. 
 
 87 
 
 peculiarity of the want of a tail; the caudal vertebrae, 
 only six in number, being very flat and nearly as short, 
 in reference to the pelvis, as in the human species, the 
 extreme one ending with the tuberosities of the ischium. 
 A tail is not needed by this animal, as in its elevated 
 summer haunts, musquitoes and other winged pests are 
 comparatively few, whilst its close, woolly and shaggy 
 hair furnishes its body with sufficient protection from 
 their assaults.’’ * 
 
 The only evidence, to my knowledge, of the occur¬ 
 rence of the remains of the musk-ox in a fossil state, on 
 this continent, outside of his present range, is the brief 
 statement of Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Racine, that it once ex¬ 
 isted in the State of Wisconsin.! 
 
 While there is no evidence, then, that the musk-ox 
 ranged to the lower latitudes of the United States, there 
 is conclusive evidence that there existed an allied form, 
 but far surpassing him in magnitude, which seems never 
 to have penetrated to the European Continent. This 
 was the great Ovibos bombifrons, and perhaps the Ovibos 
 cavifrons. Our eminent comparative anatomist. Dr. 
 Leidy, classes these as two species, but Riitimeyer is 
 disposed to merge them into one — the 0. cavifrons re¬ 
 presenting the male, and the 0. bombifrons the female. 
 The great musk-ox ranged as far south, and even below, 
 the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, for in the 
 earthquake convulsions of 1811-12, which disturbed 
 that region so profoundly, a cranium belonging to this 
 species was thrown out from a Assure which formed 
 near New Madrid, Missouri. I am not aware that, in 
 its northern range, it has been found beyond Dubuque. 
 
 * Richardson’s “Arctic Expedition,” pp. 193, 194. 
 
 f “ Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences,” 1870-2, 
 p. 192. 
 
88 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF ]MAN. 
 
 The Reindeer (^Cervus tarandus') is common to both 
 continents. He appeared in Europe contemporary with 
 the mammoth at the beginning of the Quaternary Period, 
 but at a time when the mammoth was rapidly disappear¬ 
 ing, this animal was vastly augmenting in numbers. In 
 his feeding grounds, he closely conforms to the musk¬ 
 ox. He formerly ranged as far south as the Pyrenees, 
 but after the last great movement of the waters which 
 deposited the “ red diluvium,” he retired to the coldest 
 parts of Northern Europe, and to the wooded summits 
 of the Caucasus and the Oural. 
 
 On this continent, according to Leidy, the reindeer is 
 found in a fossil state as far south as Big-Bone Lick, 
 Kentucky, also in New Jersey, and as far north as the 
 frozen cliffs of Eschscholtz Bay, Alaska. How far the 
 reindeer differs from the caribou, comparative anato¬ 
 mists, I believe, have not fully determined ; but I have 
 seen the latter in living herds, upon the northern shore 
 of Lake Superior, while De Kay has met with their 
 disjecta membra in Northern New York. 
 
 The Great Irish Elk {Megaceros liihernicus') was the 
 monarch of all the stag tribe. He exceeded ten feet in 
 height, with antlers which spread from tip to tip, eleven 
 feet. It is doubtful whether he can be traced back to 
 the Pliocene Epoch, and he certainly became extinct at 
 the time of the formation of the lacustrine marl which 
 underlies the peat bogs. His remains are abundantly 
 found in Ireland and England, and sparingly in France, 
 as far as the Pyrenees i in Germany, as far as Silesia ; 
 and in Central Italy. The Cervus americanus^ found in 
 the Big-Bone Lick, Kentuck}^, according ’to Leidy, ap¬ 
 proximated to, if it did not exceed in size, this magnifi¬ 
 cent elk. A specimen disinterred at Waukegan, Ill. 
 — destroyed in the Chicago fire — from imperfect com- 
 
ANCESTOR OF THE OX. 
 
 89 
 
 parisons, nearly rivalled in height of stature and spread 
 of horns, the great Irish elk. 
 
 The Aurochs (^Bison europoeus') a23peared early in the 
 Quaternary, and his remains are found among the jiile- 
 works of the Swiss Lakes. He still survives, thanks to 
 the provident care of the Emperor of Russia, in the 
 imperial forests of Lithuania. 
 
 The Bison prisons of Northern Europe is represented 
 on this continent in the frozen mud of Eschscholtz 
 Bay. Leidy has described two extinct S 2 '»ecies of buf¬ 
 falo as occurring in the United States, Bison antiquus 
 and Bison cavifrons. Riitimeyer views the former as 
 the male and the latter as the female of the B. prisons^ 
 but Leidy remarks that “ this is reversing the usual 
 order of things, for the more characteristic fossil first 
 referred to B. latifrons^ is of much greater 2 U’oj)ortions 
 than that referred to B. antiquus." 
 
 The American Buffalo may be allied to the B. prisons., 
 the diversities being due to laj)se of time and altered 
 conditions of climate. 
 
 The Great Ox (Res j)rimigemus') appeared after the 
 termination of the Tertiary Period, and is supjjosed by 
 Riitimeyer to be the progenitor of our domestic ox, 
 originating in Europe, and imj^orted to this country in 
 historic times. The wild cattle of Chillingham, Eng¬ 
 land, are supposed to be the descendants of this ancient 
 urus. In the time of Csesar he existed in Gaul in a wild 
 state, and is represented by him as swift of foot and 
 formidable as an adversary ; whilst his descendant, un¬ 
 der the effects of domestication, is slow, docile, and 
 patient of toil, and of less massive structure, seen espe¬ 
 cially in the diminished size of the horns, which are no 
 longer required as a means of defence. His organism, 
 in every part, when his services are no longer required, 
 
90 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OP MAN. 
 
 is appropriated to the wants and conveniences of man. 
 Kind culture and regular supplies of food have modified 
 his disposition and even his anatomical traits. 
 
 The Horse (^Equus fossilis) appears in the Quaternary- 
 Period of Europe, and is thought to be the ancestor of 
 the existing species (^E. cahallus), although smaller in 
 size, resembling the variety now living in Iceland. He 
 does not appear to have been domesticated by the cave- 
 dwellers, but was very largely used for food. The re¬ 
 mains of the same species of horse are found in this 
 country, entombed in the frozen mud-cliffs of Esch- 
 scholtz Bay. There was also a large horse in the South¬ 
 ern States, described by Leidy as E. major^ and on the 
 Plains existed another species, described by Marsh as 
 E. parvulus, which was less than three feet high. A 
 large horse also existed on the Pacific Coast. The two 
 latter may belong to the Pliocene Epoch. Besides 
 these, there are two other species described, hardly dis¬ 
 tinguishable anatomically from the existing horse. I 
 have a metacarpal bone of another species from the Drift 
 of Iowa, which could not have exceeded four feet in 
 height. Conspicuously, then, as the horse figures in 
 our palseontology, yet he had so long disappeared from 
 this country at the time of its discovery that the Indians 
 had no teadition of his existence. 
 
 The Cave-lion (^Felis spelceaj appears to have 
 been of the age of the mammoth, and to have disap¬ 
 peared about the same time. Dr. Falconer, an eminent 
 authority, conjectures that this great feline animal was 
 the same as that which is now found on the slopes of the 
 Altai and in the north of China, and which is supposed 
 to be identical with the Bengal tiger, driven before the 
 advance of civilization into inaccessible retreats. It 
 may be the lion of Thessaly, as described by Herodotus, 
 
CAVE-HYENA. 
 
 91 
 
 which attacked the camels attached to the army of 
 Xerxes. 
 
 Messrs. Boyd-Dawkins and Sanford regard this ani¬ 
 mal as the representative of the F. atrox^ described by 
 Leidy as occurring in a fossil state, near Natchez — 
 some of the bones found in the caves of the Mendip 
 Hills being apparently identical — but such a supposition 
 seems hardly probable, in view of the restricted range 
 of the Felidce northward. 
 
 While in this country, the Felis atrox Leidy, larger 
 than the existing lions, roamed along the Gulf Coast, 
 there was another feline animal which frecpiented the 
 coast of Texas, the Trucifelisfatalis Leidy, rivalling the 
 Bengal tiger in size. 
 
 The Cave-bear (^Ursus spelceus}, the largest of the 
 species known, according to Owen and Pomel, first 
 made its appearance in England and France towards 
 the end of the Tertiary Period, and became extinct be¬ 
 fore the Reindeer Epoch. It was abundant in Central 
 Europe, the southern parts of Russia, and also in Italy, 
 but its remains are wanting further north. According 
 to Vogt, every gradation between the cave-bear and the 
 common species ( U. arctos), may be traced, and Mr. 
 Busk has asserted recently, that the remains of the bear 
 found in the British caves and gravels, identify him 
 with the U. ferox or grizzly bear of the Rocky Moun¬ 
 tains. In this country, we have two specimens of fossil 
 bear, the TJ. amerieanus and U. amplidens, whose habi¬ 
 tats were in a southern region. 
 
 The Cave-hyena (^Hycena spelcea) seems to have been 
 an attendant on the Pre-historic Man, as his remains are 
 abundantly met with in the caves of Europe. Whether 
 he originated in the Pliocene Epoch of the Tertiary, is 
 not known. While some maintain that he disappeared 
 
92 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 during tlie Reindeer Epoch, others insist that he is but 
 the spotted hyena {Syoena crotiica) of Southern Africa. 
 At all events, the change of his habitat indicates a vast 
 change in physical conditions. In this country, we ap¬ 
 pear to have had no representative of this scavenger-like 
 animal, the nearest approach to whom would be the 
 prairie wolf (^Canis latrans). 
 
 The Suidce were represented on this continent during 
 these times in the peccary and another allied form, 
 while on the European continent we have the boar (^Sus 
 scrofa). 
 
 The Great Beaver (^Castoroides ohioensis Foster), 
 which ranged from Northern Illinois to South Carolina, 
 finds no fit representative during this period in Europe. 
 
 In the review, thus far, of the fauna of the two con¬ 
 tinents during the Quaternary Period, it will be seen 
 that those animals, such as the elephant, horse, bison, 
 reindeer, musk-ox, etc., whose habitats fitted them to 
 endure a high northern latitude, were common to both 
 continents, which would imply that, at one time there 
 existed an uninterrupted communication, probably by 
 way of Behring’s Strait. As we trace the range of this 
 fauna on the respective continents, to its southern limits, 
 we find it inosculating with tropical forms, which are 
 widely diverse. Thus in Europe, are found the hippo¬ 
 potamus and hyena, whilst in the United States, we 
 have the megatherium, the megalonyx, the mylodon, and 
 the tapir. From the presence of these fossil forms so 
 far outside the tropics, it has been inferred that, even 
 during the Drift Period, which must have been long- 
 continued, there may have been an interval in which 
 the climate was warmer than at present.* 
 
 * To those who would investigate our fossil mammals, I would com¬ 
 mend the admirable and comprehensive work “On the Extinct Faunae of 
 
TERTIARY FAUNA AND FLORA. 
 
 93 
 
 If we compare the faunse of the Miocene and Quater¬ 
 nary Periods, as exhibited on this continent, particularly 
 the land animals which are supposed to he peculiarly sus¬ 
 ceptible to atmospheric changes, we shall find that there 
 are marked modifications of forms. Dr. Leidy, in his 
 late work “■ On the Extinct Mammalian Faume of Dakota 
 and Nebraska,” states that, of the thirty-two genera of 
 Miocene animals, not one occurs in the Quaternary for¬ 
 mation. In comparing the Miocene and Pliocene faun® 
 with each other, as represented mainly by the remains 
 of the Mauvaises Torres and the Niobrara River, scarcely 
 a genus is common to both. “ In view,” he continues, 
 “ of the consecutive order and the close approximation 
 of position of the two formations and faun®, such ex¬ 
 clusiveness would hardly be suspected.” The greater 
 similitude of the Miocene and Pliocene faun® with the 
 contemporaneous faun® of the Old World, has led him 
 to suggest that the North American continent was peo¬ 
 pled during the Tertiary Period from the west. “ Per¬ 
 haps this latter extension,” he continues, “ occurred 
 from a continent whose area now forms the bottom of 
 the Pacific Ocean, and whose Tertiary fauna is now re¬ 
 presented east and west by the fossil remains of America 
 on the one hand, and of Asia, with its peninsula Europe, 
 on the other.” 
 
 Professor Asa Gray arrives at substantially the same 
 results as to the distribution of the fiora of the two 
 continents during the Tertiary Period: “ The occurrence 
 of peculiarly North-American genera in Europe, might 
 be best explained on the assumption of early interchange 
 
 Nebraska,” etc., by Dr. Joseph Leidy, whose labors, extending through a 
 long series of years, have aided so much in elucidating this department 
 of our Natural History. 
 
94 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 and diffusion through North Asia, rather than by the 
 fabled Atlantis.”* 
 
 The topographical features of the two continents, as 
 well as the hydrographical soundings of the two oceans, 
 render this supposition probable. Between Ireland and 
 Newfoundland there is a great plateau which an eleva¬ 
 tion of the earth’s crust to the extent of a few thousand 
 feet would convert into dry land; and Behring’s Strait, 
 which now'separates Asia from North America, is at its 
 narrowest point, but thirty miles wide, and its shal¬ 
 lowest depth is but twenty-five fathoms. Many of those 
 mammalian types, represented by the Proboscidians and 
 Ruminants contemporary with the elder man, originated 
 during the Pliocene Epoch. None of these large ani¬ 
 mals could have passed over the strait which now 
 divides the two continents, and the close alliance of 
 form would indicate a common origin. We infer, there¬ 
 fore, that a subsidence during or preceding the Drift 
 Epoch cut off the communication, and the refrigeration 
 which then took place served to disperse the colossal 
 animals, who sought by migration to lower latitudes 
 a climate congenial to their nature. 
 
 Lyell has remarked that it is truly wonderful how 
 the primitive man, in such an inhospitable climate, 
 taking shelter in caves and grottoes, in possession of no 
 more formidable weapons than have yet been unearthed, 
 and surrounded by gigantic and ferocious animals, which 
 he was compelled to hunt for his sustenance, could main¬ 
 tain his existence under such adverse circumstances. 
 This record clearly shows that he possesses traits which 
 place him immeasurably above all other animals. 
 
 Man by nature is almost the weakest and most de- 
 
 * Address as President of American Association for Advancement of 
 Science, Dubuque, 1872. 
 
MAN — HIS FORCE OF INTELLECT. 
 
 95 
 
 fenceless of beings. Brought forth in sorrow, he requires 
 for a long time nutrition from the mother, and a long 
 tuition to enable him to walk. How different from the 
 young of other animals! It is necessary that his food 
 be cooked, and that his body be artificially clothed; and 
 in these respects, too, he dilfers from the other mammals. 
 In the acuteness of the senses and in muscular develop¬ 
 ment, he is confessedly inferior. The flea has a thousand 
 times his agility ; the passenger pigeon, in a half-hour will 
 pass over an intervening space which to man would be 
 a toilsome day’s march. The condor, soaring so high in 
 the air as to appear a mere speck, can sight his prey on 
 the surface, while to man it would be invisible at the 
 distance of a thousand feet ; and in the paw of the 
 lion is concentrated the strengtii of a score of jirize- 
 fighters. 
 
 But man is endowed with reason, by the exercise of 
 which he makes up for all these deficiencies, repels or 
 subdues all other anunals, and places himself at the head 
 of creation. He soars in the air above the eagle’s flight; 
 he sounds the depths of the sea beyond the fishes’ range; 
 he outstrips the pigeon in his flight over the land; his 
 vision, aided by art, pierces the realms of space infin¬ 
 itely deeper than that of the condor’s; and by the pres¬ 
 sure of his fore-finger, exerting less strength than would 
 be required to lift a pound weight, he stretches the 
 lordly lion in the dust. Other animals have a restricted 
 geographical range, but man is found amid the icebergs 
 of the north, and beneath the burning heat of a tropical 
 sun. Is it singular, then, that a being thus endowed 
 and so far capable of protecting himself against climate 
 and disease, should be able to survive changes which 
 have extinguished other mammals ? 
 
 Note. —It is probable that, in the New World, as in the Old, we shall 
 
96 
 
 THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 detect the earliest traces of man within the tropics. Dr. Lund, a dis¬ 
 tinguished Swedish comparative physiologist, in a paper which will be 
 hereafter referred to (p. 301), has described human crania as occurring in 
 the bone-caves of Brazil, associated with the remains of extinct genera and 
 species of quadrupeds; and more recently, in i860, Mr. James S. Wilson, 
 at various points along the coast of Ecuador, found pottery, vessels, images, 
 and other implements highly wrought, and some even in gold, in a stratum 
 of ancient surface earth, (dirt-bed), covered with a marine deposit six feet 
 thick, which he considers as old as the Drift deposit of Europe, and 
 identical with that of Guyaquil, in which the bones of the mastodon are 
 met with. He traced six terraces in going up from the sea through the 
 province of Esmeraldas towards Quito, and in all cases these relics were 
 found below high-tide mark, which proves that this region, after human 
 occupancy, must have been submerged and again elevated to its present 
 position ; a process which must have involved a very considerable lapse 
 of time. In no region of the earth have relics indicating so high a degree 
 of skill, been found in deposits so old ; but this statement, though accepted 
 by Murchison, requires verification. (Address before the Royal Geo¬ 
 graphical Society, 1862.) 
 
THE MOUND - BUILDEKS — THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRI¬ 
 BUTION OP THEIR WORKS. 
 
 ‘HE evidences of the former existence of a pre- 
 
 1- historic race, known as the Mound-builders, who 
 at one time occupied the principal affluents of the Mis¬ 
 sissippi, the Gulf Coast, and the region of the Great 
 Lakes, are too conclusive to admit of doubt. These 
 evidences consist of tumuli symmetrically raised and 
 often enclosed in mathematical figures, such as the 
 square, the octagon, and circle, with long lines of cir- 
 cumvallation; of pits in the solid rock, and rubbish- 
 heaps formed in the prosecution of their mining opera¬ 
 tions ; and of a variety of utensils, wrought in stone or 
 copper, or moulded in clay, which evince a knowledge 
 of art and methodical labor foi’eign to the Red man. 
 While the character of these structures, as traced over 
 wide areas, differs in minor particulars, still there is a 
 general uniformity which stamps the authors as one 
 people and subjects of one controlling government. 
 
 The Mound-builders were, in the distinctive character 
 of their structures, as marked a people as the Pelasgi, 
 whose pre-historic works can yet be traced throughout 
 Greece and Italy. These Pelasgi were the “ Wall- 
 builders,” for wherever they went, they threw up forti¬ 
 fications made of polygonal blocks, known as cyclopean, 
 G 97 
 
98 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDBES. 
 
 and aptly fitted together without cement or mortar. 
 Their unwaiiike character led them to shun the open 
 combat, and the numerous Larissas or strongholds 
 define the points at which they paused in their migra¬ 
 tions. So we can track the Mound-builders by their 
 structures from the shores of the Great Lakes to the 
 milder regions of Mexico and Central America. 
 
 Ancient ivorks in the Nortlmest. — The northernmost 
 limits to which the Mound-builders penetrated, so far 
 as their vestiges have been observed, were Isle Royale 
 and the northern and southern shores of Lake Superior.* 
 They do not appear to have made permanent settle¬ 
 ments, but to have resorted to those regions during the 
 summer months, for the purpose of mining copper. 
 Proceeding south, we find their mounds at frequent 
 intervals along the western shore of Lake Michigan, 
 and in the interior along the water-courses which flow 
 into the Mississippi. 
 
 The mounds of Wisconsin differ so widely from those 
 found in other sections of the country, that some ob¬ 
 servers have been led to infer that they were constructed 
 by a different race, but Lapham finds general resem¬ 
 blances which connect them with a common origin. 
 These differences consist in the fact that, instead of the 
 predominant type being circular or pyramidal, the forms 
 for the most part consist of imitations on a gigantic 
 scale of animate objects which were characteristic of the 
 region, such as the buffalo, bear, fox, wolf, and otter, 
 among the mammals ; and of the lizard and turtle, among 
 the reptiles ; of the eagle and night-hawk, among the 
 birds ; and, in many instances, the human form is unmis¬ 
 takably portrayed. 
 
 * Mr. D. Gunn describes some mounds observed by him in the valley 
 of the Red River of the North. (Smithsonian Report, 1867.) 
 
ANIMAL MOUNDS OF WISCONSIN. 
 
 99 
 
 Dr. Lapham’s attention was called to the peculiar 
 character of these mounds as far back as 1836, and he 
 communicated the fact of their existence to the public, 
 through the newspapers of the day. In 1838, Mr. R. 
 C. Taylor contributed an article on their occurrence to 
 “ Silliman’s Journal,” accompanied by plans of surveys ; 
 and subsequently. Dr. Locke, in the Geological Report 
 of Iowa and Wisconsin, embodied information which 
 greatly enlarged our knowledge of these structures; 
 but in 1855, Dr. Lapham, under the auspices of the 
 Smithsonian Institution and the American Antiquarian 
 Society, brought out a work,* illustrated by numerous 
 plates, which is replete with all the information to be 
 desired. 
 
 Fig. 5 . 
 
 No. I. This is called by Lapham, a “ Turtle” mound, and is pronounced 
 by him to be a fine specimen of mound-building. It occurs at Wau¬ 
 kesha, and its dimensions are as follows: Length of body, 56 feet; 
 length of tail, 250 feet; height, 6 feet. 
 
 * “ Antiquities of Wisconsin,” “ Smithsonian Contributions to Knowl¬ 
 edge.” 
 
100 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 Nos. 2 and 7 also occur in this vicinity, and are what our author calls 
 “ Lizard” mounds, and some of them are remarkable for having curved 
 tails. (Fig. 8.) 
 
 No. 9. At Trenton, occur the Cruciform figures. One cross is 185 feet 
 long in the trunk ; the head 24 feet ; and each arm 72 feet. The 
 height is about 4 feet, and the width 28 feet. 
 
 Nos. 3 and 4. These forms, which occur at Mayville, are pronounced by 
 Lapham horse-like, but as the horse was unknown on this continent 
 during the Mound-builder Epoch, I am disposed to regard them as 
 fox-like. 
 
 No. 5 is undoubtedly designed to represent a bear, and is one in a group 
 of mammal and bird-like forms which occur on the dividing ridge 
 between the Kickapoo and Mississippi Rivers. 
 
 No. 12 is one of the bird-like forms in the above group. 
 
 No. 6 is another bird-like form known as the “ Spread Eagle.” 
 
 No 14 is the form of a buffalo. This figure is often duplicated in a long 
 line, which is designed to represent the procession-like movement of 
 these animals. 
 
 Nos. 6 and 10 represent winged forms which occur on the Fox River of 
 Illinois, above Burlington. 
 
 These animal forms attain no great elevation, their 
 height varying from one to four feet above the surround¬ 
 ing prairie : nor are they, in all instances, thrown up 
 as basso-relievos, but are sometimes represented in¬ 
 taglio. 
 
 To represent the various groupings of these animal 
 forms would far transcend the limits of this work, and 
 I have therefore contented myself with selecting such as 
 are predominant, premising that they are not restricted 
 to a single locality, but are reproduced at numerous 
 points in the southern counties of Wisconsin. 
 
 Mr. W. H. Canfield has given figures of mounds in 
 Sauk County, representing living forms which differ 
 somewhat from any of those above described. 
 
ANIJIAL MOUNDS IN OHIO. 
 
 101 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
 No. I represents a man in the act of walking, one foot being partly raised. 
 The figure is 214 feet long. 
 
 No. 2 represents an animal with a wondrous length of tail — 320 feet — 
 while the body is about 160 feet. 
 
 No. 3, Mr. Canfield regards as representing the night-hawk, the expanded 
 wings reaching 240 feet.* 
 
 These animal mounds occur abundantly in the valley 
 of the Lower Wisconsin River, and about the Baraboo 
 Rapids. 
 
 Squier and Davis mention two instances of their 
 occurrence in Ohio ; the “ Great Serpent,” in Adams 
 County, “ with its head conforming to the crest of a hill, 
 and its body winding back for 700 feet, in graceful 
 undulations, terminating in a triple coil at the tail;” 
 and the “ Alligator,” in Licking County, whose length 
 “ from the point of the nose following the curves of the 
 tail to the tip, is about 250 feet, the breadth of the 
 body 40 feet, and the length of the legs or paws, each 
 36 feet.”t 
 
 * “ Sketches of Sauk County, Wisconsin.” 
 f “Ancient Monuments,” pp. gy, and gg. 
 
Fig. 7 . 
 
 Plan of the Ancient Woeks at Aztalan, Wis, 
 
 Surveyed by Dr. 1 . A. Lapham, 1850. 
 
 Length of inside trench of south line.... 700 feet. 
 
 “ “ “ west line_1,419 “ 
 
 “ “ “ north line_ 637 “ 
 
 The deeply-shaded parts represent excavations. 
 a, b, c, d. Pyramidal structures. 
 
 e, /, Deep depressions. g. Ruins of mud-huts. 
 
 “ The main feature of these remains,” adopting 
 the language of Dr. Lapham, “ is the enclosure 
 or ridge of earth, extending around three sides of 
 
 102 
 
EAKTHWORKS AT AZTALAN, 
 
 103 
 
 an irregular parallelogram, the west branch of Rock 
 River forming the fourth side on the east. The space 
 thus enclosed is seventeen and two-thirds acres. The 
 corners are not rectangular, and the embankment or 
 ridge is not straight. The earth of which the ridge is 
 made, was evidently taken from the nearest ground, 
 where there are numerous excavations of very irregular 
 form and depth ; precisely such as may be seen along 
 our modern railroad and canal embankments. 
 
 The ridge or wall is about twenty-two feet wide, and 
 from one foot to five in height. The wall of earth is 
 enlarged on the outside, at nearly regular distances, by 
 mounds of the same material. They are called but¬ 
 tresses or bastions, but it is quite clear that they were 
 never designed for either of the purposes indicated by 
 these names. . . . They are about forty feet in 
 
 diameter, and from two to five feet in height. On the 
 north wall, and on most the west wall, they have the 
 same height as the connecting ridge, but on the south 
 wall and the southern portion of the west wall, they are 
 higher than the ridge, and at a little distance resemble 
 a simple row of mounds. . . 
 
 “ On opening the walls near the top, it is occasionally 
 found that the earth has been burned. Irregular masses 
 of hard reddish clay, full of cavities, bear distinct im¬ 
 pressions of straw, or rather wild hay, with which they 
 have been mixed before burning. These places are of 
 no considerable extent, nor are they more than six inches 
 in depth. Fragments of the same kind are found scat¬ 
 tered about, and they have been observed at a great 
 distance from these ancient ruins. This is the only 
 foundation for calling these brick-walls. The bricks 
 were never made into any regular form, and it was even 
 doubtful whether the burning did not take place in the 
 
104 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 wall, after it was built. The impression of the grass is 
 sometimes so distinct as to show its minute structure, 
 and also that it was of the angular stems and leaves of 
 a species of Car ex, still growing abundantl}^ along the 
 margin of the river. As indicating the probable origin 
 of this burnt clay, it is important to state, that it is 
 usually mixed with pieces of charcoal, partially burnt 
 bones', etc. Fragments of potteiy are also found in the 
 same connections.”* 
 
 The highest point in the interior of these works, 
 according to the above-cited authority, is at the south¬ 
 west corner, and is occupied by a square truncated 
 mound a, which when seen from the high ground at e, 
 presents the appearance of a pyramid, rising by succes¬ 
 sive steps, like the gigantic structures of Mexico. The 
 level area on the top is fifty-three feet on the west side, 
 and was probably originally square. There was a road¬ 
 way leading from the mound towards the east, at the 
 point c. 
 
 At the north-west angle of the enclosure b, there is 
 another similar structure, sixty by sixty-five feet on the 
 top, with the remains of a graded way at the southeast 
 corner, and also another square structure at d. 
 
 The rings or circles connected with the ridges, about 
 two feet high, are supposed to be the remains of mud- 
 houses ; the materials of the walls having fallen in, left 
 only a circular mound of earth to mark the original 
 site. 
 
 There are two excavations, e and/, the first triangu¬ 
 lar and the last circular, which, from their greater depth, 
 regular shape, and distance from the walls, were not 
 made in the process of obtaining materials for the struct¬ 
 ures. That at e is so deep and the soil so tenacious, 
 
 *“ Antiquities of Wisconsin,” p. 42. 
 
WORKS ON UPPER MISSISSIPPI. lOfi 
 
 that water stands in the bottom of it much of the time. 
 The circular ridge at /, consists, doubtless, of the 
 materials thrown out in digging. Besides the burnt 
 clay, charcoal, fragments of pottery, and human bones, 
 which have been revealed to the explorer of these 
 works, Mr. Boynton, who resides in the vicinity, states, 
 that several feet below the surface of the large square 
 mound 5, was found what appeared to be the remains 
 of cloth, apparently enveloping a portion of a human 
 skeleton. Its texture was open, like the coarsest linen 
 fabric, but the threads were so entirely rotten as to 
 make it quite uncertain of what material it was made.* 
 
 The animal mounds of Wisconsin are associated with 
 those of a circular form, but the latter nowhere attain 
 a conspicuous height, and, with the exception of those 
 at Aztalan, they are devoid of enclosures. There is 
 nothing to indicate, according to Lapham, that they 
 were erected for defensive purposes.! 
 
 In the vicinity of Chicago, the mounds, whilst abund¬ 
 ant, are inconspicuous but of exceeding interest, inas¬ 
 much as they have yielded skulls of a singular confor¬ 
 mation, whicli will be hereafter described. 
 
 Ancient works on the Upper Mississip^ri. — Crossing to 
 the Mississippi, where it forms the boundary between 
 Iowa and Illinois, we find both banks, at frequent inter¬ 
 vals, crowned by ancient works, for the most part in 
 the form of circular mounds, rising to no great height, 
 and invested by no earthen walls. In the region of 
 Dubuque and Dunleith, they rarely attain a height of 
 more than twelve feet, and sometimes are only two or 
 
 * Ibidem, p. 47. 
 
 f To those who wish to study the minute details of these structures, I 
 commend the admirable work of Dr. Lapham, from which these details 
 have been extracted. 
 
106 
 
 THE MOUND-BTJILDEKS. 
 
 three feet, so that it requires a practised eye to distin¬ 
 guish them from the accidents of the soil. 
 
 The subordinate valleys of the Rock River, the Fox, 
 Kankakee, and Illinois, show abundant evidences of 
 former occupancy by the Mound-builders, and whilst 
 the mounds are inconspicuous, they are not destitute of 
 relics, and the human remains are indicative of a race 
 whose skulls are marked by peculiarities which distin¬ 
 guish them from the Red man. 
 
 In the lower valley of the Missouri, Professor Swallow, 
 in some MS. notes kindly placed at my disposal, remarks 
 that mounds occur on the bluff's at the mouth of Moni¬ 
 teau Creek ; also above Boonville, in a similar position ; 
 and between that point and the mouth of La Mine 
 River. Stone mounds were observed by him on the 
 naked rock bluffs of the Osage River above Warsaw. 
 They were about twenty feet in diameter and five feet 
 high. Similar mounds were observed by Mr. Conant 
 on the Gasconade. These probably are of a more recent 
 origin than the earthen mounds. Stone heaps are found 
 in the “ Cherokee Country ” of the South, where their 
 origin is directly traceable to the Indians. 
 
 Professor Swallow also observed earthen mounds on 
 the Kansas River at the mouth of the Republican, 
 and at Manhattan at the mouth of the Blue River. In 
 none of these instances were they enclosed by walls. 
 
 The site of St.'Louis was originally so thickly studded 
 with ancient works that it acquired the title of “ Mound 
 City.” In the American Bottom, on the Illinois side of 
 the Mississippi, there is a vast assemblage of mounds, 
 and the whole series cannot fall much short of two 
 hundred in number. They are isolated, or in other 
 words, not invested with lines of circumvallation, as in 
 the Ohio Valley. They present, too, a variety of forms : 
 
EAETHWORKS IN MISSOURI. 
 
 107 
 
 some are oblong, some square, some ellipsoidal, and some 
 conical. The group lying between Alton and East St. 
 Louis, is computed to contain not less than sixty struc¬ 
 tures, in which was included the great mound of 
 Cahokia, the monarch of all similar structures in the 
 United States. When this magnificent mound was in 
 all its integrity, for alas ! it has been swept away by the 
 levelling influence of modern improvement, it rose up 
 in the form of a parallelogram with sides at the base, 
 respectively 700 and 500 feet in length, to the height 
 of 90 feet. On the southwest there was a terrace 
 160x300 feet, which was reached by a graded way, 
 and the summit was truncated, affording a platform 
 200x450 feet. From this platform rose a small conical 
 mound about 10 feet high, which, on exploration, 
 yielded human bones, funeral vases, and various imple¬ 
 ments of stone. It is probable that upon this platform, 
 was reared a capacious temple, within whose walls the 
 high priests, gathered from different quarters at stated 
 seasons, celebrated their mystic rites, whilst the swarm¬ 
 ing multitude below looked up with mute adoration. 
 
 The entire area occupied by this mound, comprised 
 about six acres, and in close proximity were four elevated 
 platforms, varying from 250 to 300 feet in diameter. 
 The subordinate mounds were rich in relics, as attested 
 by many collections in the hands of persons residing in 
 the vicinity. 
 
 The great mound of St. Louis, which it was found 
 necessary to remove in 1869, was thirty-five feet high 
 — about the height of the celebrated mound at Marietta, 
 Ohio. 
 
 On the banks of the Merrimac River, fifteen miles 
 southwest of St. Louis, on the farm of a Mr. Lamb, were 
 discovered a vast number of low tumuh, which, when 
 
108 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 explored, were found to contain stone slabs, forming 
 the several sides of graves in which were contained 
 human skeletons. This incident is mentioned by Priest, 
 who wrote as far back as 1834, but he adds the improb¬ 
 able statement that these skeletons indicated a race of 
 pigmies. 
 
 Seventy miles below St. Louis, in the vicinity of 
 Chester, Illinois, there is an ancient cemetery, described 
 by Dr. Wilizenus,* in which the grave-hills are but 
 slightly heaped up. Each grave when explored is found 
 to contain a cist, enclosing a skeleton for the most 
 part far gone in decay. These cists are built up and 
 covered with slabs of limestone, which here abound. 
 
 On the opposite side of the river, in Perry County, 
 Missouri, similar cists are found, and often near the 
 head of the corpse, beautiful specimens of pottery in 
 the form of drinking vessels, statuettes, and funeral 
 urns are encountered, some of which I shall figure 
 under an appropriate head. This mode of burial has 
 not been noticed in the upper portion of the Ohio or 
 Mississippi Valleys, but in the region of the junction of 
 these two rivers, it was not uncommon. 
 
 Dr. H. F. Harper, of Merom, Indiana, in some MS. 
 notes communicated to me, describes similar stone cists 
 as occurring at that place. There are mounds in that 
 vicinity, in which the ordinary mode of burial was 
 practised by heaping up the earth, and hence it has been 
 inferred, erroneously, I think, that there have been two 
 distinct races of people, apart from the Red man, who 
 successively occupied that region. 
 
 Mr. E. O. Dunning has observed similar cists in the 
 Chilhowee Valley, in Tennessee. “ They are built,’’ 
 he says,“ of slabs of slate, nicely fitted together, about 
 
 “Proceedings of the St. Louis Academy of Sciences.” 
 
LOWER MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 109 
 
 three inches thick, four feet long, and two feet broad, 
 enclosing receptacles not of uniform spaee—generally 
 5x1x2 feet, covered, by flat pieees resting upon upright 
 slabs, and conforming to the rounded corners of the tomb. 
 They were found to contain, for the most part, frag¬ 
 ments of human bones, too mueh decomposed to be 
 removed in considerable portions, implements of stone, 
 and broken vessels of clay. . . . Charcoal, ashes, 
 
 and burned clay indicated that fire had been used at 
 the burial, by which the bones and many other relics 
 were consumed.”* 
 
 It would seem that the great naturalist Lesueur was 
 the first to observe this mode of interment in some of 
 the mounds in the vicinity of New Harmony, Indiana, 
 and communicated the fact to Prince Maximilian, who 
 recorded it in his “ Travels in North America.” 
 
 To show how widely-separated peoples often adopt 
 the same mode of burial, I may quote the testimony 
 of Mr. Bateman, who has recorded the systematic open¬ 
 ing of more than four hundred British tumuli. The 
 fundamental design is pretty nearly the same in most 
 plaees ; the leading feature of these sepulchral mounds 
 is, that they enclose either an artless stone vault, or 
 chamber, or stone chest, otherwise called a kistvaen^ 
 built with more or less care, and in other cases, a grave 
 cut out more or less below the natural surface, and lined 
 if need be, with stone slabs.” f 
 
 Ancie'nt works on the Loiver Mississippi. — There are 
 evidences which would lead us to believe that the 
 junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers was the 
 seat of the Mound-builders ’ empire; not that the mounds 
 are the most conspicuous, or the investing lines are more 
 
 * '* Smithsonian Report,’’ 1870. 
 
 f Cited by Lubbock, “ Pre-historic Times,” pp. 335-336. 
 
110 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 intricate — for the latter are almost entirely absent,— 
 but it formed a radiating point between widely separated 
 regions. The navigable streams were the great high¬ 
 ways, and when we glance at a map, and trace the 
 courses of the various tributaries of the Great River, we 
 see how vast a region could be traversed by an easj^ and 
 expeditious communication, without resort to artificial 
 constructions. The relics, too, and especially the pot¬ 
 tery, indicate a higher style of art than is observed else¬ 
 where. A series of low mounds occur in Mississippi 
 County, Missouri, twelve miles from the battle-field of 
 Belmont, on the Cairo and Fulton Railroad. These, 
 so far as explored, are rich in relics of a high order of 
 art, such as water-jugs and statuettes, some of which 
 I shall describe in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 The mounds in the vicinity of New Madrid have been 
 explored by Professor Swallow, and were found to be 
 remarkably rich in pottery and stone ornaments. The 
 results, I am advised, will ere long be given to the 
 public. 
 
 There are many mounds, according to Humphreys 
 and Abbot,* in the St. Francis bottom, some of which 
 are reported to be very large. A collection of them is 
 to be seen on the premises of Mr. Edmondson, about 
 fifteen miles from Memphis, on the line of the Little 
 Rock and Memphis Railroad. Scattered over them are 
 fragments of pottery, and many curiosities are turned 
 up in ploughing, such as jugs, hatchets of flint or hard 
 slate, human bones, etc. 
 
 With respect to the southern extension of these 
 ancient works, Mr. Edward Fontaine remarks: “ That 
 part of the Mississippi Valley including the area between 
 the Cumberland Mountains, where they terminate near 
 
 * “ Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi,” p. 54. 
 
EARTHWORKS IN TENNESSEE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Tuscumbia and Florence, and the mouth of Big Black 
 River, and which embraces the valleys of the upper 
 tributaries of the Tombigbee, with the country watered 
 by the Wolf River, and all the affluents of the Yazoo 
 and Big Black, was once densely peopled by the Mound- 
 builders. All the more fertile parts of the lands of the 
 Choctaws and Chickasaws, which lie within the limits 
 of Mississippi, and formerly in a part of Alabama and 
 Tennessee, show the former occupancy of a much more 
 numerous and more highly civilized race, whose remains 
 are found wherever I have examined the rich lands of 
 the West, between the Alleghany and the Mississippi. 
 Tlie whole valley from Cairo to the mound of Pointe a 
 la Hache, on the bank of the river fifty miles below New 
 Orleans, is full of them. They are found not only on 
 the Ohio and the Trinity River of Texas, but in every 
 situation between these points, which would be selected 
 as a favorable spot for planting and farming, by a skill¬ 
 ful agriculturist of the present age. The Choctaws 
 and Chickasaws did not claim the builders of these 
 tumuli as their ancestors, and knew nothing about their 
 history.” * 
 
 Mr. Fontaine claims that this ancient race, if they 
 did not cut numerous channels, at least constructed 
 “levees” to control and utilize the bayous of the Mis¬ 
 sissippi for the purposes of agriculture and commerce. 
 The Yazoo River, whose valley is interspersed with pre¬ 
 historic monuments, in the Choctaw language, is called 
 Yazoo-ok-liinnali — The River of Ancient Ruins. 
 
 The tumuli of this region, conspicuous examples of 
 which are to be seen near Florence, in the valley of the 
 Tennessee River, are of the truncated pyramidal form. 
 They are constructed with a geometrical precision, and 
 “How the World was Peopled, ” pp. 278-9. 
 
112 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 tlieir sides correspond with the cardinal points. One 
 of these mounds, seen by him in 1847, when little 
 mutilated, he describes as being, nearly seventy feet 
 high, and covering an acre of ground. 
 
 He also describes a group of mounds in Chickasaw 
 County, Mississippi, which are in the form of a truncated 
 pyramid, enclosed in an irregular earthen wall or ditch, 
 and occupying six acres of ground. 
 
 The great mound at Seltzertown, Mississippi, is of 
 such dimensions as almost to preclude the belief of its 
 artificial origin. It is a truncated pyramid, about 600 
 feet long and 400 broad at its base, and covering nearly 
 six acres of ground. It is placed very nearly in refer¬ 
 ence to the cardinal points, its greater length being 
 east and west. Its height is forty feet, accessible by a 
 graded way which leads to a platform of four acres 
 on the summit. From this platform rise three conical 
 mounds, one at each end and one in the centre. Both 
 of the extreme mounds are truncated, the western¬ 
 most rising to the height of forty feet, and the eastern¬ 
 most is somewhat less. Eight other mounds, incon¬ 
 spicuous in size, but placed at regular intervals, are 
 traceable. The great mound itself or the platform from 
 which rise these minor structures, is surrounded by a 
 ditch of an average depth of ten feet. 
 
 Dr. Dickeson, in exploring the mound, found numer¬ 
 ous skeletons and specimens of pottery, including vases 
 filled with pigments, ornaments, ashes, etc., indicative 
 of burnt offerings. The north side of the mound is 
 supported by a Avail of sun-dried bricks, two feet thick, 
 filled with grass, rushes, and leaves. Angular tumuli 
 mark the corners which were formed of large bricks 
 retaining the impression of human hands.* Professor 
 *“ Ancient Monuments,” etc. pp. 117-118. 
 
WORKS IN ARKANSAS. 
 
 113 
 
 Swallow has also observed the imprint of human hands 
 in the clay which enters into some of the ancient struct¬ 
 ures in the region of New Madrid. 
 
 In some of the older works which treat of the antiqui¬ 
 ties of the United States, we frequently find allusions 
 to a magnificent city which, at one time, was supposed 
 to exist within the limits of Arkansas. Minute explora¬ 
 tions, however, have not confirmed this belief. The 
 pre-historic ruins in this State are not conspicuous for 
 their magnitude, but differ somewhat in the mode of 
 their construction from what has been observed else¬ 
 where. Professor Cox remarks that, “ In Phillips 
 County there are many remains of old fortifications or 
 aboriginal towns to be seen — monuments of a by-gone 
 race, of whose history no tradition known to the 
 white man, has been preserved by the occupants of the 
 country. One of these ancient works of art, four miles 
 west of Helena, at the terminus of Crowley’s Ridge, 
 was visited. The embankments, now nearly destroyed 
 by the washing of the rains and a cultivation of a part 
 of the lands, were built of sun-dried bricks, mixed with 
 stems and leaves of the cane. The vegetable structure 
 of the cane is still well preserved in the clay matrix, 
 and I could, in no instance, find any evidence of the 
 cane having been charred by the fire hence the con¬ 
 clusion is, that it received no greater drying heat than 
 that given by the sun. Nor is there any appearance of 
 finished brick, of which it has been said this wall was 
 built. The clay and stems of cane appear to have been 
 mixed together and moulded into a wall, somewhat 
 after the manner of pese . The northern boundary of 
 the enclosure is formed by the hills, and within the 
 interior there are a number of small mounds. Old Toavii, 
 fifteen miles below Helena, on the Mississippi River, 
 H 
 
114 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 derives its name from the evidence afforded of its having 
 been the site of an aboriginal village.”* 
 
 At Cave Hill, Washington County, there is a stone 
 fortification — a wall of loose rubble — whose origin has 
 been referred to the Spaniards, but their leader, De 
 Soto, could hardly have constructed, in a hasty march 
 through the country, all the works which are ascribed 
 to him. 
 
 Mounds in the Southwest .—To be able to trace these 
 structures with their distinctive features to the confines 
 of Mexico, becomes a strong link in the chain of national 
 affiliations. Professor C. G. Forshey, whose labors as a 
 physicist in connection with the hydraulics of the JMis- 
 sissippi, and the many public works executed by him 
 in the Southwest as a civil engineer, have prominently 
 identified his name with all questions relating to the 
 antiquities and physical geography of the Lower Mis¬ 
 sissippi Valley, has kindly placed at my disposal his 
 MS. notes relating to the character and geographical 
 distribution of the mounds in that region, from which I 
 shall make liberal extracts in the progress of this work. 
 I desire to express my thanks for this unqualified 
 appropriation of the abundant materials which he had 
 accumulated during a long scientific career. 
 
 Many years ago he described a group of mounds, 
 accompanied by a plan, situated on Prairie Jefferson, 
 Louisiana,! the largest of which is 180 by 35 feet at the 
 base, and attains an elevation of 40 feet, with a level 
 area on its summit 51 by 45 feet, which is reached from 
 the west by a winding graded way. Connected with 
 these works are two artificial reservoirs, formed by 
 
 * “ Report on the Geology of Arkansas,” vol. ii, p. 414. 
 
 f “ American Journal of Science,” vol. xlix, p. 38. See also “ Ancient 
 Monuments,” etc., p. 113. 
 
WORKS IN LOUISIANA. 
 
 115 
 
 throwing up lines of earth around them, by which the 
 builders could command a perennial supply of water. 
 
 Recurring to his MS. notes, he says: “ Mounds! 
 
 mounds !! yet without number. I have described many, 
 figured many, surveyed many, fari cursu^ which 1 have 
 never had time to copy, or even to turn back to, in my 
 note-books. Right before me, in my field-notes of seven 
 surveys, in October, 1871, is a rich group rudely figured, 
 that I had not seen before, though often passing near 
 them. . 
 
 “ The first of these groups is some fifty miles above 
 Vicksburg, on the west bank of the Mississippi, two 
 miles back, on the estate of Dr. Keene Richards, called 
 Transylvania. 
 
 “ The temple, which is the central figure of twelve 
 mounds, looms up grandly from the level of the alluvial 
 plain. Arrow-heads and pottery have always been 
 abundantly found on these mounds. I made no excava¬ 
 tions. One of them is used as a cemetery for the colored 
 population of the plantation. 
 
 “ The next set, or village mounds, lies some twenty 
 miles nearly due south, on the same side of the river, 
 but about seven miles back, on Walnut Bayou, embraced 
 in the Compton estate. ‘ I made an extemporaneous 
 survey of these mounds in 1850, but have not access at 
 this time to my journals, in which the survey has slum¬ 
 bered. The temple, in this case, is not so large, but is, 
 I think, thirty-five feet high, with variable slopes. 
 Half a dozen smaller mounds are grouped around the 
 central object. 
 
 “ The third set of mounds I surveyed with some care, 
 and described in 1840, with a topographical drawing 
 made of them at the time. I think there are ten mounds in 
 a form nearly circular, facing the temple. The largest 
 
116 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDEKS. 
 
 is similar to the largest in the Compton group. They 
 are on the Hollywood plantation, on the^ southwest 
 bend of Lake St. Joseph — one of the ‘ old river lakes’ 
 — in the parish of Tensas. 
 
 “ All over the alluvial region north of Red River, and 
 up that river, there are occasional isolated mounds, 
 besides groups. Of the latter, by far the greatest is 
 that at Trinity — the junction of the Ouachita, the 
 Tensas, and the Ocatahoola Rivers, — in the parish of 
 Catahoola, Louisiana. They are about thirty miles west- 
 southwest from Natchez, and on the right bank of the 
 river below the triple junction which forms the Black 
 River. In this group, the great temple is about 1,500 
 feet from Black River, and 800 feet from Little or Ocata¬ 
 hoola River, and is 42 feet high to the plane square 
 crown—a conical tumulus 40 feet in diameter on the 
 summit, looking at a distance like a female breast and 
 nipple,— a similitude which strikes every beholder. This 
 group alone, of all the mounds I have ever seen south 
 of the Ohio River, has a causeway or breastwork around 
 it for defence, which is continued across from Black to 
 Little River. The embankment may have been raised 
 as a levee to keep the back water from the rear of the 
 group, but if so, it is very insufficient, since all the river- 
 banks were left open. The temple has a base of more 
 than one acre — some 300 feet square. 
 
 “ From this point, along the right bank of this stream 
 up to Ocatahoola Lake, fifteen miles distant, there are 
 a number of mounds of like magnitude, with the minor 
 ones arranged round the temple, perhaps twenty or 
 more, manifestly of like character, and erected by the 
 same people. 
 
 “ One notable fact is of great value as probably con¬ 
 necting these mounds with the Natchez Indians. Read 
 
NATCHEZ INDIANS. 
 
 117 
 
 Le Sage du Pratz, whose writings I consulted at the 
 time, and satisfied myself that, after the massacre of the 
 French at Natchez, in 1729, these people took refuge 
 on Little River, and either built these mounds or 
 denuded them of their forests, settling upon and occu¬ 
 pying them. The French, learning a year or two there¬ 
 after of their place of refuge, ascended the Mississippi 
 in boats, and then deviating through the Red and 
 Black Rivers, suddenly came upon the poor Natchez 
 and put them to the sword.* These are the most west¬ 
 erly mounds in Louisiana, except far up the Red River, 
 above Grand Ecore. 
 
 * The Natchez Indians, so far as I can gather, were first visited by La 
 Salle, 1681-82 ; and Tonty, his faithful lieutenant, entering the great 
 town of the Taensas, an allied people, gazed at it with astonishment. 
 “He had seen nothing like it in America: — large square dwellings, 
 built of sun-baked mud, mixed with straw, arched over with a dome¬ 
 shaped roof of canes, and placed in regular order around an open area. 
 Two of them were larger and better than the rest. One was the lodge of 
 the chief; the other was the temple, or the House of the Sun. . 
 
 The Frenchmen repaired to the temple, wherein were kept the bones of 
 the departed chiefs. In construction it was much like the royal dwelling. 
 Over it were rude wooden figures, representing three eagles turned towards 
 the east. A strong mud wall surrounded it, planted with stakes, on which 
 were stuck the skulls of enemies, sacrificed to the sun. . . . There 
 
 was a structure in the middle which Membr6 thinks was a kind of altar, 
 and before it burned a ‘ perpetual fire,’ fed with three logs, laid end to 
 end, and watched by two old men devoted to the sacred office.” (Park- 
 man, “ Discovery of the Great West,” p. 277.) 
 
 Charlevoix, who followed after, describes their chiefs as claiming to be 
 the “Children of the Sun,”—as combining in their office the civil and 
 sacerdotal powers. Temples were erected upon the foundations of the 
 mounds, where the people assembled on stated occasions, and lodges were 
 set apart in which was maintained the “ eternal fire.” The Natchez 
 Indians, now extinct, distinguished by religious observances, and pos¬ 
 sessed of a language which had no affinity, so far as observed, with those 
 of surrounding tribes, are supposed by many, to have been a remnant of 
 the Mound-builders. 
 
 Du Pratz has but followed the observations of his predecessors, when 
 
118 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 “ There are several large mounds twenty miles west 
 of this group, on the east bank of Little Eiver, only a 
 mile or two above its mouth, where it passes into Lake 
 Ocatahoola. They stand on a bluff some forty feet 
 above the river. One is about one hundred feet square 
 at the base, with very steep sides, and covered with the 
 ordinary pine forest. It is the only mound with stone 
 masonry in its structure, which I have seen south of the 
 Ohio. A caving face exposed blocks some twelve to 
 eighteen inches in size, rudely carved or broken in shape, 
 supporting its steep sides. The stone was taken from 
 the immediate vicinity—the soft sandstone of the Ter- 
 tiaries, or, perhaps, the indurated materials of the Drift, 
 as seen at Grand Gulf. 
 
 he describes the Natchez Indians as sun-worshippers ; as having temples 
 in which were maintained “perpetual fires,” and whose chiefs were high- 
 priests, claiming descent from the sun ; whose dwellings were reared 
 upon mounds ; and who ruled with despotic sway. 
 
 Professor Forshey states that before he had known of these mounds, 
 he met in Philadelphia (1840), Mr. Peter S. Duponceau, who has done so 
 much in tracing out the affinities of American language. The great 
 linguist asked him, a citizen of Natchez, with regard to the traditions 
 touching the Natchez Indians, but never having read Du Pratz, he was 
 dumb. Duponceau said that the Natchez and “ White Apples ” were one 
 and the same people. The latter. Professor Forshey knew about, as he 
 had been upon their mound-houses—twelve miles southeast of Natchez— 
 on Second Creek, and their customs had been well described by Sir 
 William Dunbar and Winthrop Sargent, who was the first Governor of 
 the Mississippi Territory. Duponceau said that only a few of the Natchez 
 Indians were left after the massacre on the Ocatahoola (?) and these few 
 became mingled with the Caddos and the Delawares, he thinks, or with 
 the Alabamas. 
 
 When he returned, he read Du Pratz, and examined until he satisfied 
 himself that the last place of refuge and the scene of the massacre, was 
 as above stated; but whether they built the mounds or only occupied 
 them, was a matter of doubt. Certainly there were no trees upon them 
 older than a century, while all around were trees which, from their size, 
 indicated a growth of four or five centuries. 
 
WORKS IN LOUISIANA. 
 
 119 
 
 “ Below Natchez, near the bluff on the alluvial bot¬ 
 tom, and only a thousand feet from its base, a mound of 
 some fifty feet square on the summit and with steep 
 sides, twenty-five feet high, stands up isolated in the 
 swamp. The trees, not very large, grow over it. Such 
 positions are not unusual, and yet they appear uncalled 
 for, since the bluffs rise up one hundred and fifty feet 
 high in the immediate vicinity. 
 
 “ There is another mound, similar in form and posi¬ 
 tion, near the mouth of St. Catharine’s Creek, fifteen 
 miles below, on the Laurel Hill estate of Dr. Mercer. 
 These are among the many surveys and observations 
 made by me more than a quarter of a century ago, and 
 are described from memory. 
 
 “ A large number of mounds are distributed over the 
 Atchafalaya basin, which I have not personally exam¬ 
 ined. In the rear of Baton Rouge, and all along the 
 uplands of Lake Pontchartrain, are many small mounds, 
 indicative of the vestiges of a pre-historic race.” 
 
 “ Upon the high and gently undulating banks of 
 Bayou Gros Tdte,” according to Humphreys and Abbot, 
 “ there are ten or twelve earthen mounds, arranged 
 mostly in groups of two or three. The largest of these 
 is at the mouth of Bayou Fordoche, it being conical in 
 shape and rising to the height of twenty-five feet. 
 There are two mounds, situated about eight hundred 
 feet apart on the north bank of this bayou, about two 
 miles above Rosedale, both of the same dimensions, 
 having the form of a square truncated pyramid, twelve 
 feet in height, the slope of the sides being about 2.5 
 upon 1, and the length of each side, on the top, being 
 about fifty feet. The western mound had a ramp on its 
 eastern side, with a slope of about 3.5 upon 1.” * 
 
 * “ Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi,” p. 433. 
 
120 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 As an illustration of the platform mound, which is 
 predominant in the Southwest, I introduce the follow¬ 
 ing plan of a group in Madison Parish, Louisiana, made 
 by Mr. Thos. Hough, for Mr. McBride, of Ohio, and 
 incorporated in the work of Squier and Davis: * 
 
 Fig. 8 . 
 
 Platform Mounds, Madison Parish, Louisiana. 
 
 A, the largest mound, is 250 yards distant from Walnut Bayou. It is 
 225 by 162 feet at the base, and 30 feet high, with a level area on the 
 summit, 120 by 75 feet. On the north, it has a terrace 10 feet wide 
 and extending the entire length of the mound. On the south, it has 
 an avenue 20 feet broad, reaching to the top. At each end is an 
 inclined platform 75 by 60 feet. 
 
 B is a mound less elevated, 180 by 120 at its base, and 15 feet high. 
 The area on the summit is 120 by 60 feet. A graded way leads to the 
 top from the north. At the east end is a similar approach 75 by 60 
 feet, and 8 feet high, where it joins the main structure. At the west 
 end is a similar way 120 by 60 feet. 
 
 C is a similar mound, 96 feet square at the base, 10 feet high, with a 
 platform of 48 feet square on the top. Two other mounds, each 
 
 * “Ancient Monuments,” etc., p. 115. 
 
INEXPLICABLE MOUNDS. 
 
 121 
 
 6o feet square and 8 feet high, are connected with the main mound 
 by elevated terraces, 40 feet by 4, the length of one being 125 feet, 
 and the other 75 feet. 
 
 D is a less conspicuous mound, square in form, with a graded way from 
 the south, leading to its summit. 
 
 E and F are square mounds which are, in a measure, isolated. 
 
 G is a double quadrangular mound, by no means conspicuous. 
 
 H represents the eastern extremity of a wall or roadway running parallel 
 with Walnut Bayou, 3 feet high, 75 feet broad, and 2,700 feet in 
 length. Upon either side of this roadway are depressions in the 
 nature of a ditch, and in one place they are so deep as to give origin 
 to a pool of water. 
 
 “ There is a class of mounds,” remarks Professor 
 Forshey in his MS. notes, “ west of the Mississippi 
 Delta, and extending from the Gulf to the Arkansas 
 and above, and westward to the Colorado in Texas, 
 that are to me, after thirty years’ familiarity with them, 
 entirely inexplicable. 
 
 “ In my Geological Reconnoissance of Louisiana, in 
 1841-2, I made a pretty thorough report upon them. 
 I afterwards gave a verbal description of their extent 
 and character before the New Orleans Academy of 
 Sciences. These mounds lack every evidence of artificial 
 construction, based on implements or other human 
 vestigia. They are nearly all round, none angular, and 
 have an elevation hemispheroidal, of one foot to five 
 feet, and a diameter from thirty feet to one hundred 
 and forty feet. They are numbered by millions. In 
 many places, in the pine forests and upon the prairies, 
 they are to be seen nearly tangent to each other, as far 
 as the eye can reach, thousands being visible from an 
 elevation of a few feet. 
 
 “On the Gulf marsh margin, from the Vermillion to 
 the Colorado, they appear barely visible, often flowing 
 into one another, and only elevated a few inches above 
 
122 
 
 THE MOUND - BXnLDEES. 
 
 the common level. A few miles interior they rise to 
 two and even four feet in height. The largest I ever 
 saw were perhaps one hundred and forty feet in diameter, 
 and five feet high. These were in Western Louisiana. 
 Some of them had abrupt sides, though they are nearly 
 all of gentle slopes. There is ample testimony that the 
 pine trees of the present forests antedate these mounds. 
 The material for their construction is like that of the 
 vicinity everywhere, and often there is a depression in 
 close proximity to the elevation.” 
 
 Professor Forshey then proceeds to state that he 
 encountered hundreds of these mounds between Gal¬ 
 veston and Houston, and between Red River and the 
 Ouichita; and they were so numerous as to forbid the 
 supposition of their having been the foundations of 
 human habitations; that the burrowing animals com¬ 
 mon to the region piled up no such heaps; and finally 
 that the winds, while capable of accumulating loose 
 materials, never distribute them in the manner above- 
 mentioned. In conclusion, he adds, “ In utter despera¬ 
 tion I cease to trouble myself about their origin, and 
 call them ‘ inexplicable mounds.’ ” 
 
 Ancient works on the Grulf Coast .— From the Missis¬ 
 sippi River, these ancient structures are traced through 
 the Gulf States to Florida. Those occurring on the 
 Etowah River, in Alabama, were first described in “ Sil- 
 liman’s Journal,” by Mr. E. Cornelius.* The principal 
 mound, enclosed in a semicircular ditch, is described as 
 attaining an altitude of over 75 feet, and over 1,200 feet 
 in circumference at its base. It is truncated, and has 
 a graded avenue leading to its summit. 
 
 On the Etowah River, near Cartersville, Georgia, 
 there is, according to Mr. M. F. Stephenson, a group of 
 * Vol. i, p. 223. 
 
WORKS IN OHIO VALLEY. 
 
 123 
 
 ten mounds, situated in the bend of the stream, and 
 protected on the land side by a moat, which is from 
 twenty to thirty feet deep. The central mound is 
 square, and measures one hundred and fifty feet on the 
 top, with a raised platform on the east side, twenty feet 
 high and forty wide — evidently where sacrifices were 
 offered, as a sandstone idol was ploughed up on it, 
 together with excavated discs or mortars, six inches in 
 diameter, and of translucent quartz, elegant in Avork- 
 manship, stone-axes, a small native-copper vessel, per¬ 
 forated shells (which are found in all the mounds), 
 mica mirrors, and the only gold beads ever found— 
 native gold being found in the neighborhood. This 
 mound is eighty-eight feet high, and a few rods from 
 it is a circular one, sixty feet high which twenty years 
 ago had a parapet on the top five feet in height. The 
 remainder are only about twenty feet high. 
 
 At the Falls of Little River, near the Alabama line, 
 according to the same authority, in the crest of the fall, 
 are three chambers hewn out of the solid sandstone; 
 and at Nacoochee, the crest of a conical hill was cut off 
 at about fifty feet, so as to embrace an acre and one- 
 half, which, on two sides, is quite precipitous, and on 
 the others has a ditch and wall; the latter was formerly 
 six feet high, enclosing about twenty acres. 
 
 At Macon are stupendous remains; also in Campbell 
 County, on the Chattahoochee. The Yond Mountain, 
 4,000 feet high, of solid granite, is a cone crested Avith 
 trees, but perpendicular on all sides, except one space 
 Avhich is walled with stone ; so is the Stone Mountain, 
 which is 2,360 feet high, and accessible on one side 
 only, Avhich is also Availed.* 
 
 Ancient works in the Ohio Valley .—The ancient earth- 
 
 *“ Smithsonian Report,” 1870. 
 
124 
 
 THE MOIJND-BUILDEBS. 
 
 works in this valley have been so elaborately described 
 by Squier and Davis, that I shall only refer to their 
 labors so far as may be necessary to illustrate the ethno¬ 
 graphy of the United States. Not only are the banks 
 of the Ohio at frequent intervals, crowned by these 
 structures, but those of the subordinate streams, such 
 as the Wabash, the Scioto, the Miami, and the Muskin¬ 
 gum, entering from the north; and those from the 
 opposite side, such as the Kenawhas, the Cumberland, 
 and Tennessee. The number of tumuli in Ohio alone is 
 estimated by the authors before referred to at 10,000, 
 and the number of enclosures at from 1000 to 1500. 
 Ross County, of which Chillicothe is the capital, con¬ 
 tains 100 enclosures and 500 mounds. These facts, 
 I think, clearly indicate that this region must formerly 
 have sustained a dense population, who derived their 
 support mainly from agriculture. 
 
 In many of these works we meet with a feature which 
 plays but a subordinate part in those before described, 
 but which here becomes the most conspicuous, and 
 impresses the beholder most forcibly as to the unity of 
 design and mathematical precision which have been 
 carried out in their construction. I refer to the elabo¬ 
 rately-constructed walls of earth or stone, with which 
 the mounds are enclosed. In these walls the geo¬ 
 metrical figures of the square, the circle, the octagon, 
 and the rhomb are represented; there are, too, gateways, 
 parallel lines, outlooks, and other forms — the whole 
 forming an intricate and yet harmonious system. I give 
 two illustrations from Squier and Davis’s admirable 
 work, of the combination of mound and enclosure; the 
 one occurring at Newark, and the other at Marietta, 
 Ohio. 
 
WORKS IK OHIO. 
 
 125 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 Plat of Ancient Works near Newark, Ohio. 
 Scale, 2600 feet=one inch. 
 
 The most intricate, if not the most gigantic of all the 
 Mound-builders’ works, occur in the Licking Valley, 
 near Newark. They occupy a plain between Raccoon 
 
126 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDEES. 
 
 Creek and the south fork of Licking Creek, which is 
 elevated from thirty to fifty feet above those water¬ 
 courses, and extends over an area of two square miles. 
 The preceding plat is from a survey made by Colonel 
 Whittlesey.* 
 
 I can only give a general description of the magnifi¬ 
 cent system of works here displayed. Starting at the 
 east the observer finds himself enclosed in a nearly 
 circular embankment twelve feet high and fifty feet 
 broad at the base, with an interior ditch seven feet deep 
 and thirty-five feet wide. At the gateway, which is 
 marked by two parallel lines eighty feet apart, the para¬ 
 pets rise to the height of sixteen feet, with a ditch thirteen 
 feet deep, making the altitude in the interior about thirty 
 feet. These walls do not form a true circle, the respective 
 diameters being 1250 and 1150 feet. The area enclosed 
 is upwards of thirty acres ; and this site was fixed upon,- 
 and none could be more picturesque, for holding one of 
 the annual state fairs. In the centre is a mound in the 
 shape of a huge bird-track, the middle toe being 155 
 feet, and the other two, 110 feet, in length. In front 
 is a semilunar embankment, slightly elevated, which is 
 about 200 feet in length. No one whose mind is sus¬ 
 ceptible to whatever is grand in nature or in art, can 
 view with indifference this magnificent work ; not in 
 ruins, except so far as it may have been crowned with 
 palisades, but as perfect as on the day of its abandon¬ 
 ment. “ Here,” as Squier well remarks, “ covered with 
 tire gigantic trees of a primitive forest, the work truly 
 presents a grand and impressive appearance; and in 
 entering the ancient avenue for the first time, the visitor 
 does not fail to experience a sensation of awe, such as 
 he might feel in passing the portals of an Egyptian 
 * “ Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley," p. 67. 
 
WORKS AT NEWARK. 
 
 127 
 
 temple, or in gazing upon the ruins of Petra of the 
 Desert.” 
 
 Passing out of the gateway, a broad passage lined by 
 walls of no great height, leads to an irregular square, 
 containing about twenty acres. A low mound marks 
 each corner and also each central entrance, except in 
 the west wall. From the northeastern gateway, there 
 extend parallel lines connecting with a series of low 
 walls, as intricate almost as a Cretan labyrinth, and 
 there is an arched line of circumvallation, embracing 
 numerous low mounds and one small circle. Near the 
 centre of the northwest wall there is another gateway, 
 with a broad and gently-curved avenue, leading to the 
 octagon, which encloses an area of fifty acres. The 
 angles of this structure are not coincident, although the 
 sides are nearly equal. Opposite each entrance, there 
 is a pyramidal mound, about five feet high, and eighty 
 by one hundred feet at the base. From the gateway 
 on the southeast side, parallels, three hundred feet long 
 and sixty feet apart, conduct the observer into another 
 true circle, about one-half mile in circumference, and 
 enclosing an area of twenty acres. Outside the circle 
 and opposite the gateway, there is a work of peculiar 
 structure. “ It would seem,” remarks Mr. Squier, “ that 
 the builders had originally determined to carry out 
 parallel lines from this point, but after proceeding one 
 hundred feet, had suddenly changed their minds and 
 finished the enclosure by throwing up an immense 
 mound across the uncompleted parts. This wall which 
 may be taken as constituting a part of the wall of the 
 enclosure, is one hundred and seventy feet long, eight 
 feet higher than the general level of the embankment, 
 and overlooks the entire work.” 
 
 From the octagon, parallel lines diverge southwest. 
 
128 
 
 THE MOUND-BUELDEBS. 
 
 which may be traced for two miles. Similar parallels, 
 nearly a mile in extent, diverge eastward, enclosing a 
 series of circles about two hundred feet in diameter, 
 together with a series of less diameter, and form a line 
 of communication between the different parts of the 
 system. 
 
 A pond occupying an area of about one hundred acres, 
 now drained, existed just outside the works, and its 
 western margin was marked by four inconspicuous 
 mounds. 
 
 No one, I think, can view the complicated system of 
 works here displayed, and stretching away for miles, 
 without arriving at the conclusion that they are the 
 result of an infinite amount of toil, expended under the 
 direction of a governing mind, and having in view a 
 definite aim. At this day, with our iron implements, 
 with our labor-saving machines, and the aid of horse 
 power, — to accomplish such a task would require the 
 labor of many thousand men continued for many months. 
 These are the work of a people who had fixed habita¬ 
 tions, and who, deriving their support, in part at least, 
 from the soil, could devote their surplus labor to the 
 rearing of such structures. A migratory people, depend¬ 
 ent upon the uncertainties of the chase for a living, 
 would not have the time, nor would there be the motive, 
 to engage in such a stupendous undertaking. 
 
 The ancient works at Marietta, are on nearly as grand 
 a scale as those which I have described, a perspective 
 view of which is given as a Frontispiece to this volume, 
 being a reduced copy of the one prefixed to Squier and 
 Davis’s “ Ancient Monuments.” 
 
 When in the spring of 1788, the first settlers, under 
 the Ohio Land Company’s purchase, arrived at the 
 mouth of the Muskingum, where they proposed to lay 
 
WORKS AT JIARIETTA. 
 
 129 
 
 the foundations of a town, they were astonished at 
 these evidences of former occupancy by a people who 
 had some claims to be ranked as civilized. The Direc¬ 
 tors passed a resolution, reserving the two truncated 
 pyramids and the great mound, with a few acres attached 
 to each, as public squares. The latter is now used as a 
 public cemetery ; and the rites of Christian burial, as 
 enacted there each year, are probably not more solemn 
 and impressive than those which were enacted upon the 
 same spot centuries ago, by a people whose very name 
 and lineage have become lost. 
 
 These works, as shown by the survey of Colonel 
 Whittlesey, occupy the river-terrace or second bottom, 
 being bounded by the alluvium on the one hand and 
 the hills on the other. The area covered is about three- 
 fourths of a mile long, and half a mile broad. There 
 are two irregular squares — one containing fifty acres, 
 and the other twenty-seven acres,—together with the 
 crowning work standing apart, which is a mound thirty 
 feet high, elliptical in form, and enclosed by a circular 
 embankment. The walls of the larger square, are 
 between five and six feet high, and twenty or thirty 
 feet broad at the base. Within the enclosure are four 
 truncated pyramids, three of which have graded passage¬ 
 ways to the summit. The largest is one hundred and 
 eighty-eight feet long, one hundred and thirty-two feet 
 wide, and ten feet high. These pyramidal forms are 
 interesting, as establishing an affinity between their 
 builders and those of the Gulf States, who, to a great 
 extent, as has been shown, discarded the circular form. 
 From the southern wall a graded way, one hundred and 
 fifty feet broad, and lined by embankments from eight 
 to ten feet high, extends for six hundred feet to the 
 immediate valley of the Muskingum. 
 
 I 
 
130 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDEES. 
 
 The walls bounding the smaller square, are less con¬ 
 spicuous, and there is an absence of all pyramidal struct¬ 
 ures, but at the entrance of each gateway there is a 
 low circular mound. From the central gateway in the 
 southeast wall, there is an embankment extending nearly 
 to the entrance of the circle which encloses the great 
 mound, and to the south and east, at an early day, 
 similar embankments could be traced, crowning the 
 brow of the terrace which is here delta-shaped. 
 
 The great mound at Grave Creek, West Virginia, the 
 most conspicuous of all the mounds in the Ohio Valley, 
 will be described in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 The great mound near Miamisburg, Ohio, sixty-eight 
 feet high and eight hundred and fifty feet in circum¬ 
 ference, far surpasses in dimensions that which the 
 Greeks erected over the body of Patroclus: 
 
 “ They, still abiding, heaped the pile. 
 
 An hundred feet of breadth from side to side 
 They gave to it, and on the summit placed 
 With sorrowing hearts the body of the dead.” 
 
 G-rottoes occupied hy Mound-builders .— The conglom¬ 
 erate at the base of the Coal Measures, and other for¬ 
 mations in the Ohio Valley, often crop out in bold 
 ledges, and in many places have weathered into deep 
 recesses with overhanging roofs, thus forming grottoes, 
 which were undoubtedly used by the Mound-builders 
 for shelter, and also for sepulchres, but it is difficult in 
 most instances, to discriminate between their vestiges 
 and those of the modern Red man. 
 
 About two miles west of Rome, Perry County, Indi¬ 
 ana, in the Ohio Valley, according to MS. notes placed 
 in my possession by Professor E. T. Cox, in one of the 
 rock houses, formed by a projecting ledge of Sub-car¬ 
 boniferous sandstone, fifty feet in thickness without a 
 
STONE FORT IN ILLINOIS. 
 
 131 
 
 visible seam (interposed between the two horizons of 
 Archimedes limestone), occur two ancient graves, the 
 dimensions of which are about 4ix2i feet, oval in 
 shape, and planted with flat stones sloping inward, 
 which form a perfect casing throughout. One had been 
 dug into, exposing fragments of a human skeleton, but 
 the other remains intact. The bottom of the rock 
 house is made up of fragments of stone which have 
 fallen from the overhanging roof, intermixed with clay. 
 This deposit has not been penetrated in the search of 
 human relics. Without the line of the eaves’ drip¬ 
 pings, is a mass of sandstone, 3x8 feet, tumbled from 
 above, in which, and running with the rift, are two 
 mortar-like excavations about two feet apart, ovoidal 
 in shape, 6x8 inches, and tapering down to the depth 
 of 20 inches. Two excavations of a similar character 
 were observed by Professor Cox, near Leopold, and he 
 was informed that others exist near Rome. Their posi¬ 
 tion far above the neighboring streams, and their 
 direction in reference to the bed rock of the reerion, 
 convinced him that they were not “ pot-holes” formed 
 by an imprisoned boulder, but that they were of arti- 
 flcial origin. 
 
 According to the same authority, there is a high hill 
 bordering the valley of the Saline River, in Illinois, on 
 which there is a walled fort, —the walls being from 
 four to five feet high, and enclosing less than an acre. 
 On the south side, access is cut off by a precipitous 
 descent, in the form of a cliff from forty to fifty feet in 
 height, but on the north side, the slope is gradual and 
 very rocky. The walls conform to the crest of the hill, 
 which is very narrow, and the form of the fortified 
 position is that of an irregular square. Inside a number 
 of holes, now nearly filled, are seen which may have 
 
132 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 been eddies for storing provisions. A narrow and zig¬ 
 zag passage, easily defended, leads down to the river. 
 The inhabitants call tliis locality “ Stone Fort.” 
 
 The region embracing the mouth of the Wabash 
 River, in Indiana, and the Kentucky shore opposite, 
 including Greenup and Union Counties, is thickly stud¬ 
 ded with mounds. These were explored by the late 
 Sidney S. Lyon, who in a private letter remarks, that 
 he has seen the works of the Mound-builders in many 
 States, but in no other locality has he ever seen anything 
 to compare in extent and importance with those at this 
 point. “ If the mounds, ash-heaps, bone-beds, etc., are 
 any evidence of a formerly populous and settled country, 
 it is to be found here. In my examinations, I find nearly 
 one hundred mounds in an area of one hundred acres.” 
 
 Proceeding up the valley, we find the high banks of 
 the river crowned at frequent points, by these ancient 
 works. At Vincennes, the Wabash is bordered by a 
 broad alluvial tract, and the bluffs of Loess attain a 
 height of one hundred and fifty feet. The highest 
 mounds occur near the line of junction, and I am of the 
 opinion that the builders shaped into form some of the 
 knolls formed at a time when the river extended to the 
 foot of the bluffs. In 1859, according to Mr. William 
 Pidgeon, it became necessary to remove a mound on 
 the alluvial tract in the suburbs of the city. It Avas 
 about sixteen feet in height, with a diameter of sixty- 
 six feet, and a section exhibited five distinct strata. 
 The first or lowest, consisted of a bed of human bones, 
 arranged in a circle, eighteen feet in diameter, closely 
 pressed together. Around the outer edge of this circle, 
 the stratum was thinner than in the centre. Skulls, 
 tibiae, ribs, and vertebrae were promiscuously mingled, as 
 though a pile of bodies had been heaped up. Over chis 
 
FORT AZATLAN, INDIANA. 
 
 133 
 
 was a uniform layer of tough greyish clay, thirty-three 
 inches in thickness, succeeded by a layer of what 
 appeared to have been ashes, with occasional fragments 
 of bone; and above this a twelve inch stratum of sur¬ 
 face soil; and the whole was covered with clay. From 
 the numerous skeletons disclosed in this excavation, 
 and the promiscuous manner in which they were mingled, 
 Mr. Pidgeon was disposed to regard this as a “ battle- 
 burial mound.”* 
 
 The ancient works at Merom have been so elaborately 
 described by Mr. F. W. Putnam, in the “ Bulletin of the 
 Essex Institute,”! that for the purpose of illustration, I 
 shall incorporate the greater portion of his description. 
 I do this for the additional reason that these mounds 
 have yielded a number of skulls of a peculiar conforma¬ 
 tion, which will form the basis of certain ethnic specu¬ 
 lations as to the character of the Mound-builder, and 
 his affiliation Avith other distant and widely-disseminated 
 peoples; and therefore, as to the nature of the structures, 
 and the conditions under which these skulls were found, 
 I am happy to avail myself of the observations of so 
 competent an observer. 
 
 “ The fort is situated on a plateau of Loess, about 
 170 feet in height above low water, on the east bank 
 of the river. On the river side, the bank, which princi¬ 
 pally consists of an outcrop of sandstone, is very steep, 
 and forms the western line of the fortification, while 
 deep ravines add to its strength on the other sides; the 
 weak points being strengthened by earthworks. The 
 general course of the work is from the north, where 
 it is very narrow, not over fifty feet, owing to the 
 formation of the plateau, south along the river bank 
 
 * " Smithsonian Reports.” 1867. 
 
 f Vol. iii. No. II. Nov. 1871. 
 
134 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 Plan of the Works at Fort Azatlan, 
 
 On the Wabash River, at Merom, Indiana, reduced from a plan executed 
 by J. H. Emerton, assisted by Messrs. Kearns and Collett. 
 
FORT AZATLAN, INDIANA. 
 
 135 
 
 about 725 feet to its widest portion (at h) which is 
 here about 375 feet east and west. From this point it 
 follows a deep ravine southerly about 460 feet to the 
 entrance end of the fort. The bank traversed by the 
 entrance road is here much wider than at other por¬ 
 tions, and along its outer wall, running eastward, are 
 the remains of what was evidently once a deep ditch. 
 The outer wall (a, b) is about 30 feet wide and is now 
 about li feet high; a depressed portion of the bank, 
 or walk-way then ruiiij parallel with the outer wall, and 
 the bank (c, d) is then continued for about twenty feet 
 farther into the fort, but of slightly less height than the 
 front. Through the centre of these banks there are 
 the remains of a distinct road-way about ten feet in 
 width. 
 
 “ From the northeastern corner of this wide wall 
 the line continues northwesterly about 350 feet, along 
 the eastern ravine to a point where there is a spring, 
 and the ravine makes an indenture of nearly 100 
 feet to the southwest. The mouth of the indenture is 
 about seventy-five feet in width and the work is here 
 strengthened by a double embankment (e, f). The 
 natural line of the work follows this indenture and then 
 continues in about the same northerly course along the 
 banks of the ravine, to the narrow portion of the plateau 
 about 550 feet to the starting point. 
 
 “ There is thus a continued line, in part natural and 
 in part artificial, which if measured in all its little ins 
 and outs would not be far from 2450 feet. 
 
 “ Besides the spring mentioned as in the indenture of 
 the eastern ravine, there is another spring in the same 
 ravine about 175 feet to the north of the first, and a 
 third in the southwestern ravine about 125 feet to the 
 west of the southwestern corner of the work. 
 
136 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 “ Looking at all the natural advantages offered by 
 this location it is the one spot of the region, for several 
 miles along the river, that would be selected to-day for 
 the erection of a fortification in the vicinity, with the 
 addition of the possession of a small eminence to the 
 north, which in these days of artillery would command 
 this fort. Having this view in mind, a careful examina¬ 
 tion was made of the eminence mentioned, to see if 
 there had ever been an opposing or protective work 
 there, but not the slightest indication of earthwork 
 fortification or of mounds of habitation was discovered. 
 . . . On crossing the outer wall, a few low mounds 
 
 are at once noticed, and all around are seen large cir¬ 
 cular depressions. At the southern portion of the fort, 
 these depressions, of which there are forty-five in all, 
 are most numerous, thirty-seven of them being located 
 south of a line drawn from E on the northern side of the 
 indenture of the eastern ravine to the projecting extreme 
 western point of the fort at H. 
 
 “ These depressions vary in width from ten to twenty- 
 five or thirty feet, and are irregularly arranged, as shown 
 by the accompanying engraving, where they are repre¬ 
 sented by the black circles. One of the six depressions 
 opposite the indenture of the eastern ravine is oval in 
 shape, and is the only one that is not nearly circular, 
 the others varying but a foot or two in their diameters. 
 
 “ Two of these depressions were dug into, and it was 
 found that they were evidently once large pits that had 
 gradually been filled by the hand of time with the 
 accumulation of vegetable matter and soil that had been 
 deposited by natural action alone. In some instances 
 large trees are now growing in the pits, and their many 
 roots make digging difficult. A trench was dug across 
 one pit (j) throwing out the soil carefully until the for- 
 
FORT AZATLAN, INDIANA. 
 
 137 
 
 mer bottom was reached at a depth of about five feet. 
 On this bottom, ashes and burnt ^lay gave evidence of 
 an ancient fire, and at a few feet on one side, several 
 pieces of pottery, a few bones of animals, and one stone 
 arrow-head were found. A spot had evidently been 
 struck where food had been cooked and eaten, and 
 though there was not time to open other pits, there is 
 no doubt but that they would tell a similar story, and 
 the legitimate conclusion to be drawn from the facts is, 
 that these pits were the houses of the inhabitants or 
 defenders of the fort, who were probably further pro¬ 
 tected from the elements and the arrows of assailants, 
 by a roof of logs and bark or boughs. The great num¬ 
 ber of the pits would show that they were for a definite 
 and general purpose, and their irregular arrangement 
 would indicate that they were not laid out with the sole 
 idea of acting as places of defence, though those near 
 the walls of the fort might answer as covers from which 
 to fire on an opposing force beyond the walls ; and the 
 six pits near the eastern indenture, in front of three 
 of which there are ti’aces of two small earth-walls, 
 would strengthen this view of the use of those near the 
 embankment. 
 
 “ The five small mounds were situated in various 
 parts of the enclosure. The largest (G) wms nearly 
 fifty feet in diameter and was probably originally not 
 over ten feet in height. It had been very nearly dug 
 away in places, but about one-fifth of the lower portion 
 had not been disturbed. From this was exhumed one 
 nearly perfect human skeleton and parts of several 
 others that had been left by former excavators. This 
 mound also contained several bones of animals, princi¬ 
 pally of deer, bear, opossum, and turtles ; fragments of 
 pottery, one arrow-head, a few flint chips, and a number 
 
138 
 
 THE MOtJND-BIJILDBES. 
 
 of thick shells of Unios, two of which had been bored 
 near the hinge. This mound has yielded a number of 
 human bones to the industry of Dr. H. Frank Harper. 
 
 “ The second mound (i) which was partly opened, 
 .was some twenty-five feet in diameter and a few feet in 
 height, though probably once much higher. In this, a 
 number of bones of deer and other animals were found, 
 several pieces of pottery, a number of shells, and a 
 few human bones. The other three mounds, one of 
 which is not over ten or twelve feet in diameter and 
 situated the furthest to the north, were not examined 
 internally. 
 
 “ The position of all the mounds, within the enclos¬ 
 ure, which are indicated by the white circles on the 
 cut, is such as to suggest that they were used as observ¬ 
 atories, and it may yet be questioned if the human and 
 other remains found in them were placed there by the 
 occupants of the fort, or are to be considered under the 
 head of intrusive burials by the later race. Perhaps a 
 further study of the bones may settle the point. That 
 two races have buried their dead within the enclosure 
 is made probable by the finding of an entirely different 
 class of burials at the extreme western point of the 
 fortification, indicated on the engraving by the three 
 quadrangular figures at H. At this point, Dr. Harper, 
 the year previous, had discovered three stone graves, 
 in which he found portions of the skeletons of two 
 adults and one child. These graves, the stones of one 
 being still in place, were found to be made by placing 
 thin slabs on end, forming the sides and ends, the tops 
 being covered by other slabs, making a rough stone 
 coffin in which the bodies had been placed. There was 
 no indication of any mound having been erected, and 
 they were placed slightly on the slope of the bank. 
 
O" 
 
 0^3 
 
 0=2 
 
 Fig. 10a. 
 
 Hutsonville (Illinois) Mounds. 
 From a Plan by J. H. Kmerton. 
 
 139 
 
 
140 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 This kind of burial is so distinct from that of the burials 
 in the mound, that it is possible that the acts may be 
 referred to two distinct races who have occupied the ^ 
 territory successively, though they may prove to be 
 of the same time and simply indicate a special mode 
 adopted for a distinctive purpose.” 
 
 “ A group of fifty-nine mounds,” according to the 
 same authority, “ is to be seen a few miles up the river 
 from Merom, on the Illinois side. The relative position 
 and size of the mounds in this group are shown by the 
 preceding cut, from a plan made by Mr. Emerton, 
 assisted by Mr. Collett. This group commences just 
 beyond the river-terrace, and widens out to the east 
 and west, covering a distance of about 1,000 feet from 
 the mound, on the extreme east to that furthest west, 
 and continues southward, back from the river, on the 
 second, or prairie-terrace, some 1,400 or 1,500 feet. 
 
 The greater number of the mounds forming the group 
 are situated in the northern half of the territory covered, 
 while only ten are on the south of this central line. 
 
 The mounds are very irregularly dispersed over the 
 territory included in the limits mentioned, and vary in 
 size from fourteen to eighteen feet to forty-five or fifty 
 in diameter, and are now from a foot and a half to five 
 feet in height, though probably formerly much higher. 
 Four of the mounds at the southern portion of the group 
 were surrounded by a low ridge, now somewhat indis¬ 
 tinct, but still in places about a foot in height. These 
 ridges are composed of dirt, evidently scooped up from 
 round the base of the mound, as between the ridge and 
 the mound there is still a slight and even depression. 
 
 The ridges about the two southernmost mounds (o, p) 
 have openings nearly facing each other, while the one 
 to the north of them (m) has the ridge broken on both 
 
HUTSONVILLE MOUNDS. 
 
 141 
 
 the eastern and western sides, and the one still farther 
 to the north (u) has the ridge entire. 
 
 “ In referring to this group of mounds I have called 
 them mounds of habitation, and it seems as if that was 
 most likely to have been their use. First, from the 
 character of the surrounding country, which is level, 
 and only some twenty-five or thirty feet above the 
 present river, with every indication of a clear, damp 
 soil in former times, though now the part not under 
 cultivation is covered with a heavy growth of trees, 
 several large trees even growing immediately on some 
 of the mounds. What would be more natural to per¬ 
 sons wishing to avail themselves of this terrace-prairie 
 and proximity to the river, than to make a mound on 
 which to erect their dwelling ? 
 
 “ Secondly, their great variation in size and irregu¬ 
 larity in position, would indicate that a number of per¬ 
 sons had got together for some common purpose, and 
 each family, working with a common view to provide 
 for certain ends, had erected a mound, varying in size 
 according to the number at work upon it, or the degree 
 of industry with which its makers worked during the 
 time at their disposal. 
 
 “ Thirdly, four of the mounds, marked K, M, N and o 
 on the cut, were most carefully examined, to ascertain 
 if they were places of burial, one of them (k) being 
 opened by digging a trench through it some three or 
 four feet in width, and to a depth of about one to two 
 feet below the level of the surface on which the mound 
 was built. The other three were opened from the top, 
 by digging down in the centre until the original under¬ 
 lined surface was reached. None of these excavations 
 brought a single bone, or an implement of any kind to 
 light, but, on the contrary, showed that the mounds 
 
142 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 had been made of various materials at hand, and in one 
 case ashes were found which had probably been scraped 
 up with other material and thrown upon the heap. 
 
 “ Fourthly, the ridges surrounding four of the mounds 
 may be the dirt thrown up to help support a palisade, 
 or stake fence enclosing these particular mounds for 
 some special purpose. The absence of human remains 
 and all refuse in the shape of ‘ kitchen-heaps,’ as well 
 as implements, would seem to indicate that the place 
 was not inhabited for any great length of time, and 
 that it may have been simply a place of resort at spe¬ 
 cial seasons, or for some particular purpose. That the 
 mounds, are of quite ancient date there can be no ques¬ 
 tion ; but beyond the fact that at least a second growth 
 of trees has taken place on some of them, we have no 
 data for indicating their age.” * 
 
 Mr. John Collett, in his report of the Geological 
 Survey of Sullivan County, in which Merom is situated, 
 remarks: “Numerous earth-works are found in this 
 region of such an extent as to require for their con¬ 
 struction time and the persistent labor of many people. 
 Situated on the river-bluffs, their location combines 
 picturesque scenery, susceptibility for defence, and con¬ 
 venience to transportation, water, and productive lands. 
 These are not requisites in the nomadic life of the Red 
 men, and identify the Mound-builders as a partly civilized 
 agricultural people. 
 
 “ Over one hundred small mounds, from two to four 
 feet high, may be seen about one mile northwest of 
 Middletown. On the Hunt farm, conical knolls of 
 Loess have been artificially rounded, and used for sepul¬ 
 chral purposes. On Mr. Drake’s farm, are two large 
 
 * Putnam, “ Proceedings Boston Society Natural History,” Feb. 7, 
 1872, pp. 32-35. 
 
MOUNDS AT LAPORTE. 
 
 143 
 
 mounds, one two hundred feet in diameter, and eighteen 
 feet high ; the other, twenty-eight feet high, and cover¬ 
 ing an elliihical base, one hundred and eighty feet wide, 
 and three hundred and fifty feet long.” * 
 
 Mounds occur near Covington and to the north of 
 Attica; in fact, the whole valley of the Wabash must 
 have been, in former times, the seat of a numerous 
 population, forming as it did the great artery of com¬ 
 munication between the Ohio River and the Lake Region 
 to the north. 
 
 Passing over the low water-shed between the Wabash 
 and the Kankakee, the mounds reappear in the valley 
 of the latter stream. About twelve miles from Laporte, 
 on the banks of a small tributary of the Kankakee, there 
 are not less than twenty in number, some of which have 
 been explored by Dr. Higday, with highly satisfactory 
 results. He found that, at different times, the farmers 
 of the vicinity had dug into four of them, and had taken 
 out two copper hatchets, a piece of galena, two imperfect 
 earthen vessels, and one skull, all of which he was enabled 
 to secure. On further examination, he was enabled to 
 recover the enamel of a human molar tooth and a pipe 
 representing a female figure. “ Selecting a tumulus 
 ten feet high,” he continues, “ we sank a pit thirteen 
 feet deep, where we struck the skeletons of two adults 
 and one child. Near the heads we found an earthen 
 vessel containing black mould, a pipe representing a 
 bear (puma?), several large pieces of mica, a piece of 
 galena, two copper needles (awls), a piece of plate-cop¬ 
 per, and two rude copper hatchets. We next excavated 
 two mounds each about six feet in height, but found 
 nothing. The fourth one examined, originally, perhaps, 
 about twenty feet in height, bad been partially under- 
 
 * “Second Report on the Geology of Indiana,” p. 237. 
 
144 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 mined and washed away by the creek. We found under 
 this, an adult skeleton, a copper needle (awl), several 
 flint knives, and an earthen vessel filled with black 
 mould and numerous pieces of tortoise shell. In the 
 last one explored, which was over fifteen feet in height, 
 a channel was cut down through the centre with teams 
 and scrapers. A horizontal layer of ashes, two inches thick 
 in the middle, and thinning out towards the circumfer¬ 
 ence, was struck, thirteen feet from the top. Thr^e feet 
 below the ashes, we came upon a pipe, a copper needle, 
 pieces of pottery, and two adult skeletons, one of which 
 was nearly entire, lying upon what must have been a log of 
 wood, but now so decayed that it could be readily pulver¬ 
 ized by the hand. Only one small piece of shell was 
 found, which proves to be the Cardmm magnum^ and 
 which must have been brought from the Gulf of Mexico, 
 as this species does not exist at a nearer point. The 
 fact that both the earthen vessels were full of a black 
 mould, and that one of them, also, contained numerous 
 pieces of tortoise shell, may indicate that they were 
 filled, when buried, with food for the departed.” * 
 
 Ancient works of Northern Ohio and Western New York. 
 — The region adjacent to Lake Erie, comprehending 
 Northern Ohio and Western New York, contains ancient 
 earthworks which differ somewhat from those of the 
 Ohio Valley. There is the same combination of mound 
 and enclosure, but with the ditch invariably on the out¬ 
 side of the parapets. Squier was disposed to regard these 
 works as much more recent than those of the true Mound- 
 builders, in fact, as belonging to the Iroquois. Colonel 
 Whittlesey, however, claims for them as high an 
 antiquity, but belonging to a different nation. He 
 would classify the ancient works into three great divi- 
 
 * Communication to “ The Chicago Academy of Sciences.” 1870. 
 
THEIR UNITY OF ORIGIN. 
 
 145 
 
 sions, and assign their construction to three distinct 
 nations: 1, Those of the Ohio Valley, as the works of 
 the Agricultural Nation; 2, Those of the Fort-builders 
 on the Lakes, as those of the Military Nation ; 3, Those 
 between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan, as those 
 of the Nffiyy Nation.* 
 
 I hardly see the necessity for this assignment, for the 
 Fort-building people penetrated to the Ohio River, as 
 shown by some of the surveys given by Sc^uier and 
 Davis; and as I write, I have before me a recent letter 
 from Professor E. B. Andrews, one of the Geologists of 
 the Ohio Survey, in which he describes an earthwork 
 recently discovered by him in Vinton County, in the 
 southern part of the State, with the ditch outside the 
 parapet. Recognizing these minor distinctions, it might 
 be claimed that the earthworks of the Upper Mississi^ipi 
 were constructed by a different people, for the reason 
 that all the mounds are destitute of enclosures ; and 
 that those of the Lower Mississippi were the work of 
 still another people, because the truncated-pyramidal 
 form predominates, and are rarely enclosed. In what 
 may be called the frontier of the Mound-builders’ 
 empire, as I shall endeavor to show, it became necessary 
 to fortify against sudden irruptions of the enemy, and 
 hence the enclosures ; but as we penetrate tlie heart of 
 the empire, these structures disappear. If our country 
 were to become a desolation, the future antiquary would 
 find the sea-coast studded with fortifications of a com- 
 plex form, and as he penetrated to the interior, they 
 would disappear altogether. Hence, in tracing national 
 affinities, the ethnologist should not hastily ascribe to 
 different races, structures which show a very consider- 
 
 *“ Ancient Fort-works of the Cuyahoga Valley, ” by Charles Whittle¬ 
 sey, p. 5, 
 
 K 
 
146 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 able divergence in form, and which grew out of condi¬ 
 tions, not applicable to the whole country. 
 
 Ancient works in New Mexico and Arizona. — The 
 banks of the Colorado Chiquito, according to Mr. 
 Leroux, as quoted by Lieutenant Whipple, are covered 
 with the ruins of stone houses and regular fortifications, 
 which appear to have been the work of civilized men, 
 but which have not been occupied for centuries. They 
 are built upon the most fertile tracts in the valley, 
 where there are signs of acequias and of cultivation. 
 The walls are of solid masonry, of rectangular form, 
 some twenty to thhty paces in length, and yet remain¬ 
 ing ten or fifteen feet in height. The buildings were 
 of two stories, with small apertures or loop-holes, 
 for defence when besieged. The style of building 
 seems to be similar to the cliichitacle or red house, 
 above the Pimas, rather than like the Indian towns of 
 New Mexico. The large stones of which they are 
 built were often transported from a great distance. 
 
 At another place, he saw a well-built town and 
 fortification, about eight or ten miles from the nearest 
 water, and he inferred that the climate of the country, 
 since their construction, had changed so as to con¬ 
 vert springs and a fertile soil into a dry and barren 
 waste. 
 
 Extensive traces of ancient ruins in this region have 
 been observed and well represented in the report of 
 Captain Sitgreaves. The Cosnino caves, according to 
 this authority, had been plastered with mortar, showing 
 more artistic skill than is practised by the present occu¬ 
 pants of the country. At Pueblo Creek were found 
 remains of towns and fortifications crowning the sur¬ 
 rounding heights ; and overlooking Aztec Pass are simi¬ 
 lar ruins. Westward, down Williams River to the Rio 
 
RUINS IN NEW MEXICO. 
 
 147 
 
 Colorado, and thence to the Pacific, no vestiges of 
 such ruins were seen.* 
 
 Lieutenant Whipple, in the report before referred to, 
 describes many ruins of ancient workmanship, which 
 fell under his own observation.! 
 
 At El Moro, on the top of a sandstone cliff, are the 
 remains of an ancient pueblo, the walls of which still 
 remain ^lerfect to the height of six or eight feet — ver¬ 
 tical, straight, and smooth. The masonry is well done, 
 the stones being of uniform size, about fourteen inches 
 in length, and six inches wide. The layers are hori¬ 
 zontal, and each successive layer, with some appearance 
 of regularity, breaks joints with that below. The 
 beams, whose ends seem to have been mangled by a 
 stone axe rather than cut with a sharp instrument, are 
 of cedar, and in excellent preservation. Arrow-heads of 
 obsidian and colored pottery abound. “ Old Zuni ” he 
 describes as presenting a mass of crumbling walls, from 
 two to twelve feet high, and extending over several 
 acres of ground. He found that the standing walls 
 rested upon ruins of still greater antiquity, which must 
 have been about six feet thick. These ruined cities are, 
 no doubt, more recent than the mounds of the Missis¬ 
 sippi Valley, and were built by the ancestors of the 
 present occupants of the region. 
 
 The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, who, it has been 
 conjectured, may be a remnant of the ancient Aztecs, 
 present in their habits strong contrasts to most of the 
 other tribes. As described by Whipple, J “ they remain 
 living in towns, irrigating and cultivating the soil, nearly 
 
 *“Pacific Railroad Reports,” vol. iii., Art. “Indian Tribes,” pp. 14 
 and 15. 
 
 f Ibidem, part i., pp. 63, 6g. 
 
 X “ Pacific Railroad Survey,” vol. iii.. Art. “ Indian Tribes,” p. 9 et. seq. 
 
148 
 
 THE MOUND - BUILDERS. 
 
 in tlie same manner as was their custom previous to the 
 Spanish Conquest. . . . For the greater part of two cen¬ 
 turies they have been characterized by peaceful dispo¬ 
 sitions, and noted for honesty and sobriety. 
 
 Although most friendly in their intercourse with their 
 white neighbors, they live exclusively by themselves, 
 and neither intermarry with, nor adopt the habits of, 
 any other race. They anticipate a return to them of 
 the prosperity which their traditions commemorate as 
 belonging to the Saturnalian or Montezuma Era.” * 
 
 They claim to be descendants of the great Mexican 
 emperor, who, born at Acoma, where their ancestors 
 dwelt, became a leader and guide in their subsequent 
 migration. He taught them to build pueblos with 
 lofty houses and estufas, and to kindle sacred fires, to 
 be guarded by priests. Acoma was strongly built 
 and fortified, and Pecos was one qf the principal towns. 
 From the latter place Montezuma continued his march 
 southward, founding pueblos far and wide, and finally 
 established himself on the throne of Mexico. 
 
 Ancient works qf the Atlantic Coast .—There are few 
 authentic vestiges of the Mound-builders on the Atlan¬ 
 tic sea-board. Some ancient structures are to be seen 
 on the banks of the Wateree River, near Camden, 
 South Carolina, consisting of circular walls enclosing a 
 group of low mounds. These are described by Dr. 
 William Blanding, in a letter to the late Dr. Morton, 
 of Philadelphia, f 
 
 In the mountainous region of North Carolina, as I 
 shall show elsewhere, were situated the great mica 
 mines, yielding a mineral which entered largely into the 
 
 * As to the condition of the inhabitants of New Mexico, at the time 
 of the Spanish Conquest, see Appendix D. 
 
 f Quoted in the “ Ancient Monuments,” etc., p. 105. 
 
BURIAL CASES. 
 
 149 
 
 trappings of the Mound-builder. In this secluded re¬ 
 gion, secluded even at this day, with all our railroad 
 facilities — for it can only be reached by a rough ride 
 of two days on horseback, — we meet with the graves of 
 this mysterious race, differing somewhat in their mode 
 of construction from those at distant points. To Mr. 
 Silas McDowell, a gentleman who has resided in this 
 region (Franklin, jNIacon County) for more than lialf a 
 century, I am indebted for the subjoined information. 
 
 Up to 1819 the Cherokees lield possession of this 
 region, when, in pursuance of a treaty, they vacated a 
 portion of the lands lying in the valley of the Little 
 Tennessee River. In 1821 Mr. McDowell commenced 
 farming. During the first season's operations, the 
 plough-share, in passing over a certain portion of a 
 field, produced a hollow, rumbling sound, and, in 
 exploring for the cause, the first object met with was a 
 shallow layer of charcoal, beneath which was a slab of 
 burnt clay, about seven feet in length and four feet 
 broad, which in the attempt to remove, broke into sev¬ 
 eral fragments. Nothing beneath this slab was found, 
 but on examining its under side, to his great surprise, 
 there was the mould of a naked human figure. Three 
 of these burned clay sepulchres were thus raised and 
 examined during the first year of his occupancy, since 
 Avhich time none have been found until recently. 
 These fragments were so little appreciated that they 
 were suffered to remain in the field, subject to the dis¬ 
 integrating agency of the elements and the tramping 
 of cattle. During the past season (1872) the plough 
 brought up another fragment of one of these moulds, 
 revealing the impress of a plump human arm. 
 
 Colonel C. W. Jenkes, the superintendent of the 
 corundum mines which have recently been opened in 
 
150 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 that vicinity, advises me thus: “We have Indians all 
 about us, with traditions extending back for five hun¬ 
 dred years. In this time they have buried their dead 
 under huge piles of stones. We have at one point 
 the remains of six hundred warriors under one pile; 
 but a grave has just been opened of the following con¬ 
 struction : A pit was dug into which the corpse was 
 placed, face upwards ; then over it was moulded a 
 covering of mortar, fitting the form and features. On 
 this was built a hot fire, which formed an entire shield 
 of pottery for the corpse. The breaking up of one 
 such tomb gives a perfect cast of the form of the occu¬ 
 pant.” 
 
 Colonel Jenkes, fully impressed with the value of 
 these archaeological discoveries, detailed a man to 
 superintend the exhumation, who proceeded to remove 
 the earth from the mould, which he reached through a 
 layer of charcoal, and then with a trowel, excavated 
 beneath it. The clay was not thoroughly baked, and 
 no impression of the corpse was left, except of the 
 forehead and that portion of the limbs between the 
 ankles and the knees, and even these portions of the 
 mould crumbled. The body had been placed east and 
 west, the head towards the east. “ I had hoped,” 
 continues Mr. McDowell, “ that the cast in the clay 
 would be as perfect as one that I found fifty-one years 
 ago, a fragment of which I presented to Colonel Jenkes, 
 with the impression of a part of the arm on one side, 
 and on the other of the fingers that had pressed down 
 the soft clay upon the body interred beneath.” 
 
 The Mound-builders of the Ohio Valley, as has been 
 shown, often placed a layer of clay over the dead, 
 but not in immediate contact, upon which they builded 
 fires; and the evidences that cremation was often 
 
WORKS ON PACIFIC COAST. 
 
 151 
 
 resorted to in their disposition are too abundant to be 
 gainsaid. The recovery of a perfect mould of a 
 Mould-builder’s form would be a matter of the highest 
 scientific interest; as much so as of those Roman forms 
 whose impress has been left on the volcanic ashes 
 that settled down upon the ill-fated Pompeii nearly 
 two thousand years ago. 
 
 No authentic works of the Mound-builders have been 
 found in the other Atlantic States. There is a mound 
 of considerable elevation in the valley of the Kenne¬ 
 bec, in Maine, and traces of enclosures exist near San¬ 
 born and Concord, New Hampshire, but their origin is 
 involved in doubt. 
 
 Ancient works on the Pacific Coast .—It has been 
 supposed that the Pacific Coast contained no pre-his- 
 toric remains, but Wilkes, in his narrative of the 
 Exploring Expedition, describes groups of mounds as 
 occurring on the Bute Prairies of Oregon: “ They 
 
 are conical, thirty feet in diameter, about six or eight 
 feet above the level, and many thousands in number.” * 
 
 From a British Columbia newspaper of recent date, 
 I quote the following: “ There is a large mound, three 
 hundred feet high and three hundred yards in diameter 
 at the base, f at the southern end of the prairie, about 
 tAventy-five miles from Olympia, and scattered over the 
 prairie for a distance of fifteen miles are many smaller 
 mounds, not more than four feet high and twenty or 
 thirty in diameter. Many conjectures have been made 
 in the last twenty years as to what could have caused 
 so singular a formation, but no one was ever curious 
 enough until within the last few days to make any 
 examination of the interior of these mounds. A few 
 
 * Vol. iv., p. 313. 
 
 f This is undoubtedly a natural eminence, artificially rounded. 
 
152 
 
 THE MOHND-BUILDERS. 
 
 days ago one of the engineers of the North Pacific 
 Railroad opened one of them and found the remains 
 of pottery, and a more thorough examination of others 
 revealed other curious relics, evidently the work of 
 human hands; in fact, in every mound that has yet 
 been opened, there is some relic of a long-forgotten 
 race discovered. The theory now is that this prairie 
 was the cemetery of the people who inhabited the 
 countiy in pre-historic times.” 
 
 To a mere mound, or group of mounds, little 
 importance is to be attached in tracing national affini¬ 
 ties, for, as will be shown, this is the rudest form by 
 which a people seek to perpetuate the memory of a 
 signal event, or commemorate the death of a hero ; and 
 hence they are common to all ages and all nations. If 
 these mounds were connected with those elaborately- 
 constructed enclosures, or exhibited the form of the 
 truncated pyramid, which I have described as occurring 
 east of the great water-shed of the continent, they 
 might be cited as an evidence of a common origin on 
 the part of the builders. 
 
 Ancient works in the Montanic Region .—“ The Den¬ 
 ver News,” not long ago, stated that a mound had 
 been discovered in Southern Utah, which, on excava¬ 
 tion, yielded relics showing much artistic skill; and in 
 a later issue further stated, that, on the extreme summit 
 of the Snowy Range, were found large granite blocks 
 in an upright position, conforming to the general out¬ 
 line of the ridge. These are in the nature of “ dol¬ 
 mens,” a class of structures rarely seen in the United 
 States. 
 
 “ About half a mile west of Golden City, Colorado,” 
 according to Mr. E. L. Berthoud, “ are ruins formed 
 of an old broken-down circumvallating circle of rough 
 
WORKS IN DAKOTA. 
 
 153 
 
 stone, derived from the neighboring mountains and a 
 sandstone ridge south of them. These ruins are at the 
 junction of a ravine ten feet in depth, and the bed of 
 Clear Creek, which is about twenty feet vertically below 
 the walls. A large amount of stone has been taken for 
 foundation walls, but enough remain to give an outline 
 of its position and shape. The stones are, in many cases, 
 embedded in the soil, and are mossy with age. On the 
 south side is a pit twelve feet wide, and about fifteen 
 to eighteen inches deep, shaped like a saucer. The 
 central mound, very plainly discernible, nowhere over 
 one foot high, is formed of granitic sand, and around 
 its circumference are evidences of five or six shallow 
 pits, surrounded by a stone enclosure, now almost gone, 
 and traced by broken fragments of stone, burnt bone, 
 etc.”* 
 
 Mr. A. Barrandt states that archeeological remains 
 occur on the Upper Missouri, between the mouth of the 
 Yellowstone and at intervals, as far down as Bonhomme 
 Island, below Fort Randall. 
 
 “ Among the most important and well-preserved, is 
 one existing about nine miles southeast of the Missouri, 
 and within half a mile of Clark’s Creek, in Dakota. 
 The main work is in the form of a parallelogram, three 
 hundred and forty feet long, one hundred and ninety 
 feet wide, and twenty and twenty-five feet high. The 
 walls on an average, are seven feet thick on the summit. 
 There are two openings, one facing west twenty-four 
 feet, and the other facing south, only nine feet wide. 
 The space inside was full of cotton-wood and ash trees. 
 Several large blocks of sandstone, roughly hewn, were 
 found, but the walls, and a ruined portion of what 
 appeared to be the remains of a smaller enclosure, were 
 
 *“ Smithsonian Report." 1866. 
 
154 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDEES. 
 
 of calcined clay, changed by burning, into a brick 
 color. . , . 
 
 “ About two hundred and fifty miles up the Bighorn 
 River, we found, also, another mass of ruins, where was, 
 probably, the site of a large mound city, but none are 
 now existing ; they have all crumbled away, and from 
 a large oak that we felled, I found that they must have 
 occupied this spot at least six hundred years ago, as the 
 tree grew on the remains of what was probably the 
 largest mound. . . . 
 
 “ Further up the Yellowstone, I found the remains 
 of an ancient City of Mounds, which seems to have 
 been regularly laid out: the streets are regular and the 
 mounds are equidistant from one another.” 
 
 He found the largest one sixty-three feet in diameter 
 at the summit, and twenty-seven feet high. From the 
 smaller ones, he gathered fragments of sun-dried pot¬ 
 tery, arrow-heads, etc. Eighty-seven mounds were in a 
 state of preservation, and sixty-three in ruins. 
 
 On the banks of the Moreau River, a few miles from 
 its mouth, he discovered another Mound City contain¬ 
 ing about two hundred mounds. Two and one-half 
 miles to the north, there was another group of the 
 largest mounds he had ever seen. Another group he 
 observed on the banks of the Great Cheyenne.* 
 
 The remains of fortifications described by Lewis and 
 Clarke, in the Journal of their Expedition up the 
 Missouri, in 1804-5-6, occur on Bonhomme Island. 
 
 Whether the pre-historic races who threw up the 
 structures on the Pacific Coast and in the Montanic 
 Region, were identical with the Mound-builders, is a 
 matter of uncertainty. Future explorations, aided by 
 a careful comparison of relics, may solve the question. 
 
 **’Smithsonian Report.” 1870. 
 
GARDEN-BEDS. 
 
 155 
 
 Garden-heds in the Northwest .— In portions of the 
 region bordering Lake Michigan, particularly in Lower 
 Wisconsin; in the valleys of Grand River and St. 
 Joseph’s, Michigan; and in Northern Indiana, occur a 
 series of ancient works, first pointed out by Schoolcraft,* 
 which are different from any hitherto described, and 
 known as garden-beds. Many of the lines of the plats 
 are rectangular and parallel; others are semicircular and 
 variously curved, forming avenues, differently grouped 
 and disposed. Dr. Lapham describes those of Wiscon¬ 
 sin as consisting of low parallel ridges, as if corn had been 
 planted in drills. They average four feet in width, and 
 twenty-five of them have been counted in the space of 
 one hundred feet. The depth of the walk between them 
 is about six inches. He also draws the inference that 
 these “garden-beds” were not constructed until after 
 the mounds, as they sometimes extend across them in 
 the same manner as over the adjoining grounds.f 
 
 Mr. Canfield states that these garden-beds, in Sauk 
 County, occupy fields of from ten to one hundred acres, 
 and have different directions, as though each family 
 had had a separate patch for cultivation. 
 
 They certainly indicate a methodical cultivation which 
 was not practised by the Red man, but perhaps it is 
 going too far to infer that they were constructed by a 
 different race from the Mound-builders, for the reason 
 only that they often extend over mounds which the 
 builders are supposed to have regarded as sacred, and 
 that such cultivation would have been a desecration. 
 
 *“ Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes," etc., vol. i, p. 55. 
 f " Antiquities,” etc., p. 10. 
 t “ Sketches of Sauk County, Wisconsin.” 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SHELL-BANKS — THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 HERE is another class of accumulations of human 
 
 A origin, existing in many parts of the country, some 
 of which have claims to a very considerable antiquity, 
 while others are comparatively recent. These are 
 known as shell-banks, and the materials are both of 
 marine and fresh-water origin. 
 
 Marine accumulations .— The most remarkable of these 
 accumulations occur on the Gulf Coast, and consist, for 
 the most part, of the G-natliodon cuneatus. 
 
 The habitat of this shell is 
 in brackish water, and it 
 buries itself in the mud-banks 
 where the tide ebbs and flows 
 every twelve hours. No one, 
 except from observation, can 
 form a just idea of the magni¬ 
 tude of these accumulations. 
 Mobile is built upon beds of 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 Gnatliodon cuneatus. 
 
 them; the famous “shell-road” out of New Orleans 
 to Lake Pontchartrain, is Macadamized with them, 
 and a lucrative traffic is driven in exporting them to 
 distant parts for garden-walks and other ornamental 
 purposes. 
 
 Professor Forshey has in his MS. notes furnished me 
 
 156 
 
GNATHODON BEDS. 
 
 157 
 
 with very exact descriptions of the shell-heaps in the 
 region of New Orleans. 
 
 “ Descending the Mississippi, we find the Gulf Coast 
 lined with an infinite number of bayous, lakes, and 
 lagoons, with Gnathodon shells, and occasionally with 
 some muscles, piled up in reefs or ridges along their 
 banks. Most of these accumulations are artificial, 
 though many are apparently natural. They may be dis- 
 . tinguished, in this respect, by the presence or absence of 
 pottery, fiint-flakes, and occasionally pipes, stone niul- 
 lers, and hatchets. 
 
 “ These ridges and occasional mounds are very num¬ 
 erous near the city of New Orleans and along Lakes 
 Pontchartrain and Maurepas, and the small bayous that 
 pass from one into the other, and from the river to 
 these lakes. At about fifteen miles above the city, 
 measured by the river, was a very small bayou, called 
 Metairie—an outlet prior to the levees,— which passed 
 in the rear of the city midway to Lake Pontchartrain. 
 A ridge of land some seven feet higher than the swamp- 
 level, skirted the bayou on either side some thousand 
 feet wide. The bayou kept its course with a depth 
 anterior to the levees of some six feet. In the middle 
 of the old city, this ridge seems to have been traversed 
 by Bayou St. John, which started within lialf a mile of 
 the river, and by aid of some violent crevasse, broke 
 through the Metairie Ridges and Bayou, and created a 
 deep channel into Lake Pontchartrain, at a point six 
 miles from the river. This is the channel through 
 which the city has long been drained into the lake. 
 The Bayou Metairie here loses its name and is called 
 Gentilly below the Bayou St. John, and passes on 
 southeasterly, its channel discharging into Lake Bourge. 
 
 “ Shell-mounds and shell accumulations abound along 
 
158 
 
 SHELL - BANKS. 
 
 the Metairie, the Gentilly, and the lake-shores, but none 
 along the Mississippi. One shell-heap occurs in the 
 rear of Carrolton, and on the rear slope of Metairie 
 Ridge, several hundred feet in extent, though somewhat 
 angular. The accumulation is about seven feet high, 
 and is covered with trees which apparently are of the 
 same age as those of the swamp it lies in. Broken 
 pottery of clay and pulverized shells were found upon it. 
 
 “ On the right bank of the river, nearly opposite New 
 Orleans, rises up the Bayou Barataria, which drains 
 the lakes between the Mississippi and La Fourche, 
 passing into the Gulf at Barataria Bay, famous as the 
 rendezvous of the pirate Lafitte. Along the banks of 
 this bayou are vast shell accumulations, which, for 
 years, like the others I have named, have been used for 
 street grading and garden-walks in New Orleans. A 
 constant trade in small sail-boats and barges is kept up, 
 and this trade is fast exhausting these supplies. 
 
 “ On this bayou, as elsewhere off the sea and lake- 
 shores, all these accumulations are artificial. The pre¬ 
 historic inhabitants doubtless lived upon these shell-fish, 
 either in great numbers, or through many centuries of 
 time ; yet they are found in the banks, like oysters else¬ 
 where, as if placed where we find them, by natural 
 causes. 
 
 “ At the junction of this bayou with Bayou Perrot, 
 near Lake Larto, is a very large mound, perhaps 600 
 feet in length, and 200 feet in width, and some nine feet 
 in height, made up of a mass of shells. There were for¬ 
 merly other banks, I believe, which showed artificial 
 construction, but they have been mutilated for gain, 
 just as this ‘ Little Temple ’ is now being destroyed 
 —many thousands of cubic yards of these shells being 
 annually brought to the city. 
 
GNATHODON BEDS. 
 
 159 
 
 “The ‘Little Temple,’ is so called to distinguish 
 it from the ‘ Grand Temple,’ near the mouth of Bayou 
 Des Allimans, on Lake Pallourde. An island is called 
 ‘ Temple I,’ from this greatest of all shell-mounds, 
 it being much larger and higher than that on the 
 Barataria. 
 
 “ Some fifteen miles further south on the Chinese 
 Bayou, there are several mounds of a like character, 
 and of considerable magnitude. 
 
 “ Another and larger than either of these stood on 
 the west side of Berwick’s Bay, just above and opposite 
 Brashear. It was built of shells and loam, and was 
 some twenty feet high, and more than two hundred 
 feet square, but was destroyed in 1863, because the 
 Confederates used it for cover. This is the lowest 
 and farthest west of all the artificial mounds I have 
 seen, although others may exist. Shell-mounds abound 
 at Pointe la Hache, forty miles below New Orleans. 
 The church and cemetery at that point stand upon 
 them.” 
 
 West of the Mississippi these shell-heaps are contin¬ 
 ued. At Grand Lake, on the Teche, as I am informed 
 by Mr. George C. Walker, the accumulations reach 
 from six to ten feet in height, forty feet in breadth, 
 and extend in length three-fourths of a mile, and 
 large live-oaks are seen growing upon them. This 
 region is now fifteen miles inland, thus showing that 
 marked changes in the sea-level have occurred in com¬ 
 paratively recent times. These shell-mounds have 
 yielded unique specimens of axes of haematitic iron ore 
 and glazed pottery, transferred by the kindness of Dr. 
 Dungan to the Chicago Academy of Sciences, but 
 unfortunately destroyed in the memorable fire. 
 
 The same class of accumulations, according to Nott 
 
160 
 
 SHELL-BANKS. 
 
 and Gliddou, occurs on the Alabama River, fifty miles 
 inland, and the evidence is irresistible that the aborig¬ 
 ines collected these molluscs for food when Mobile Bay 
 occupied that region. “The shells,” say they, “have 
 all been opened, and we find in them the marks of fire 
 extending over considerable spaces; the shells converted 
 into quicklime are mingled with charcoal, so that the 
 successive accumulations of shells may be plainly 
 traced. Fish-bones and other remains of Indian feasts, 
 are common; also fragments of Indian pottery and of 
 human bones, that can be identified by their crania. 
 Some of these beds are covered over with a vegetable 
 mould from one to two feet thick, which must have 
 been a very long time forming, and upon this are 
 growing the largest forest trees, beneath whose roots 
 these Indian remains are often discovered.” * 
 
 Sir Charles Lyell has described a shell-bank on 
 St. Simon’s Island, near the mouth of the Altamaha 
 River, Georgia, covering ten acres, with a depth of from 
 five to ten feet.f 
 
 Dr. Brinton has described similar accumulations in 
 Florida. At Fernandina, on Amelia Island, a layer of 
 shells exists along the bluff for one hundred and fifty 
 yards, extending inland for a quarter of a mile. In 
 parts the deposit is three feet in depth, composed 
 almost entirely of oyster shells, with a few shells of 
 clams and conchs. Similar deposits occur on both 
 sides of the entrance to the St. John’s River, and on 
 Anastasia Island. Near Smyrna is seen Turtle Mound, 
 which is almost entirely a mass of oyster shells, thirty 
 feet thick. Another very similar shell-mound occurs 
 opposite Smyrna ; and on Crystal River, four miles from 
 
 * “ Types of Mankind,” p. 272. 
 
 f “ Second Visit to United States,” vol. i., p. 252. 
 
IN NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 161 
 
 its mouth, there is a mass of shells, forty feet thick and 
 thirty broad, with a nearly level surface.* 
 
 Professor Vanuxem was the first in the United States 
 to call attention to the artificial origin of many of 
 these banks. As far back as 1841 he described the 
 large accumulations of oyster shells ( Ostrea virginica) 
 which occur on many parts of the Atlantic coast, and 
 particularly on the waters of the Chesapeake. Some 
 of the deposits are described by him as enormous, 
 covering acres of ground. After much doubt he was 
 disposed to refer some of them, at least, to human 
 origin, for the reasons that those employed in collecting 
 them were unable to find any two valves which fitted 
 each other, and that in the progress of the investiga¬ 
 tion, arrow-heads and fragments of pottery were dis¬ 
 closed ; and, besides, the deposits reposed on a yellowish 
 loam — the surface-soil of the region, — which was 
 penetrated by the roots of the red cedar.f 
 
 Mr. J. M. Jones, President of the Institute of Nat¬ 
 ural Science of Nova Scotia, describes shell accumu¬ 
 lations (intermingled with flint implements, charcoal, 
 and the bones of existing birds and animals) similar to 
 those found on the coast of Denmark. 
 
 They occur at St. Margaret’s Bay, about twenty-two 
 miles southwest of Halifax, on a knoll some twenty 
 feet above the water, and are fifty yards or more in 
 length, and eight yards in breadth. When the soil, 
 which covers the mass to the depth of a few inches, is 
 removed, there is found a layer of compact shells, such 
 as the quahog, clam, scallop, etc., perfect and imperfect, 
 in which lie the bones of animals, such as the moose, 
 bear, beaver, and porcupine ; and of birds, some of 
 
 *“ Notes on the Floridian Peninsula.” 
 
 t“ Proceedings American Association of Geologists,” vol. i., p. 22. 
 
162 
 
 SHELL-BANKSo 
 
 tliem belonging' to a form larger than the great northern 
 diver; and fish vertehrse, like those of the Norway 
 haddock; together with fiint and quartz arrow-heads, 
 and broken pieces of rough pottery, bearing evident 
 traces of attempts at ornament. In this connection 
 were found bones sharpened into awls. Granite boulders 
 are scattered in heaps, which served as ancient seats, 
 for, when dug about, greater masses of shells and 
 more evident traces of fire were observed. The char¬ 
 coal, in some instances, had lost but little of its con¬ 
 sistency.* 
 
 Professor Wyman has described the shell-banks 
 occurring at Frenchman’s Bay and Crouch’s Cove, in 
 the State of Maine, consisting of the quahog, scallop, 
 muscle, periwinkle, etc., with remains of charcoal, but 
 without the association of stone implements. He also 
 describes similar accumulations as occurring at Ipswich, 
 Salisbury, and Cotrick Point, in Massachusetts. At the 
 first-named point, a human under-jaw has since been 
 obtained by Professor Baird. 
 
 From his survey of these deposits, he arrives at the 
 conclusion that they yield nothing which indicates as 
 high an antiquity as the kitchen middings of the Old 
 World. 
 
 These deposits contain the remains of the elk, which 
 has now retired beyond the Alleghanies, and the wild 
 turkey, now virtually extinct in New England, and of 
 the great auk, which has probably receded to the Arctic 
 Circle, or become extinct.f 
 
 While thus the shell-heaps of New England may be 
 comparatively modern, those of the Gulf Coast have 
 a comparatively high antiquity, going back to the 
 
 * “ London Athenaeum.” 
 
 •{•“American Naturalist,” Feb. No., 1868. 
 
ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 
 
 163 
 
 Mound-builder Era and possibly beyond, for the region 
 has undergone marked physical changes since they were 
 accumulated. 
 
 On the Pacific Coast .— Shell-banks exist in vast num¬ 
 bers on the Pacific Coast. A newspaper correspondent * 
 describes those which occur near San Francisco : 
 
 “ San Pablo is about fifteen miles from Oakland, and 
 lies almost due north. Within three miles of the town 
 a shell-mound rises up from the plain to almost the dig¬ 
 nity of a hill, which is now covered with a growth of 
 shrubbery. The mound is almost a mile long and half 
 a mile wide. Fragments of pottery made of red earth, 
 not to be obtained anywhere in this State, are found on 
 the surface and near the top. About two years ago 
 Mr. McHenry, the owner of the land, dug a trench, and 
 at a depth of twenty feet, sixty feet in from the west, 
 near the base, found numerous skeletons of Indians of 
 all sizes, and some bones of dogs and birds, and many 
 implements of stone. One baby had been rolled in a 
 long piece of red silk, like the mummies, which had 
 been covered with a coating of a sort of asphaltum. Mr. 
 jMcHenry also found in other parts of the hill evidences 
 enough to show that this mound was a burying place 
 for some extinct tribe of Indians, as the skulls are dif¬ 
 ferent from all others known, in some particulars. All 
 the skeletons were in a sitting posture, with their faces 
 turned northward. The shells that form this mound 
 are the oyster, clam, and muscle; all having been 
 exposed to the action of fire, and nearly all are broken. 
 Very rarely are entire shells found. The same kind of 
 mounds, though not so large, are found near San Mateo, 
 on the San Francisco side. They are all near the shores 
 of the bay, and have been made of shells of oysters 
 * “ St. Louis Globe.” 
 
164 
 
 SHELL-BANKS. 
 
 and muscles that the Indians used as food, and which 
 they evidently roasted to open.” 
 
 The corpse “ rolled in a long piece of silk,” instead 
 of being marvellous, would indicate that this was an 
 intrusive burial made since this region was known to 
 the whites.. The presence of the bones of dogs, too, 
 would confirm this supposition. 
 
 Fresh-ivater sheM-heaps .— These occur in large banks, 
 at many points along the principal streams of the Mis¬ 
 sissippi Valley, and under conditions which would refer 
 their origin to human agency. They consist of the com¬ 
 mon Unios and Anodons, now inhabiting those streams, 
 which were undoubtedly gathered for human food, for it 
 is difiicult to find the corresponding valves. Intermixed 
 with the mass are often found fragments of pottery, 
 stone implements, remains of charcoal, etc. Banks of 
 this kind occur in the American Bottom in Illinois, in 
 close proximity to the mounds. 
 
 Similar banks have been observed by Professor Cox, 
 at numerous points in Indiana. At New Harmony, or 
 rather about a mile and one-half south of that village, 
 one is to be seen, whose artificial origin was determined 
 by those eminent naturalists, C. A. Lesueur and Thomas 
 Say, as far back as 1826, mention of which is made in 
 the magnificent work “ Travels in the United States,” 
 by the Prince Maximilian. This is, probably, the 
 earliest notice of the existence of such artificial accumu¬ 
 lations to be found in our Natural History literature. 
 The locality was, at a later date, visited by Sir Charles 
 Lyell, and is described in the volume known as his 
 “ Second Visit to the United States.” 
 
 This bank consists, for the most part of Unios, belong¬ 
 ing to those species which may be described as gre¬ 
 garious and reef-building, among which are the U. 
 
IN INDIANA. 
 
 165 
 
 'plicatus, U. pyramidalis, U. ebenus, U. crassus^ and U. 
 tuherculatus. Associated with them are univalves such 
 as Paludina ponderosa^ and a few Melanias. Intermixed 
 with these are found the bones of animals indigenous to 
 the country, belonging, for the most part, to small 
 quadrupeds, together with fragments of charcoal. 
 
 The position of this bank is on one of the highest 
 hills in the region, one hundred and seventy feet above 
 the “Cut-off,” an arm of the Wabash River, and the 
 area occujiied is about one-fourth of an acre. The 
 ridge, which terminates near the Cut-off, is very narrow, 
 has a very precipitous descent, and is marked by a series 
 of spurs. These positions were selected by the Mound- 
 builders for burial places, and are indicated by low 
 mounds. When explored, the graves, as first deter¬ 
 mined by Lesueur, are found to be encased with flags 
 of sandstone, within which the corpse was placed. The 
 geological formation consists of Loess, fifteen feet thick, 
 resting on a layer of Drift-accumulated pebbles. 
 
 In Perry County, Indiana, according to the authority 
 above quoted, about three-fourths of a mile above Rome, 
 on the second l)ottom of the Ohio River, is an artificial 
 shell-heap which has been so repeatedly ploughed over 
 as to render it impossible to compute its original dimen¬ 
 sions. Great quantities of stone implements, sucli as 
 arrow-heads, axes, bark-peelers, etc., have been picked 
 up. 
 
 At Aydelotte, just below New Albany, in an old 
 orchard, there is a shell-bank which has yielded a large 
 assortment of implements both of stone and bone, most of 
 which are preserved in the museum of the New Albany 
 Natural History Society. Of the former may l)e enum¬ 
 erated axes and ornaments; and of the latter, fish-hooks, 
 knives, awls, and needles. 
 
166 
 
 SHELL-BANKS. 
 
 In Martin County, there is a shell-bank on the top of 
 a hill one hundred and fifty feet high, overlooking the 
 east fork of White River, and just beloAv the town of 
 Shoales; and another in whieh are found intermingled 
 ashes, chareoal, bones of quadrupeds, birds, and fishes, 
 bone needles, bone fish-hooks, ete.* 
 
 Another shell-heap is mentioned in Professor Cox’s 
 MS. notes as occurring near Edwardsport, on a hill-side, 
 thirty feet above the road-bed, which he has been unable 
 to explore. 
 
 Shell-banks are also found on the Tennessee River, 
 between Chattanooga and Muscle Shoals. Mr. J. 
 Parish Stelle has examined two deposits occurring near 
 Savannah, on both sides of that stream. That on the 
 eastern side covers half an acre of ground, and is 
 eighteen inches in thickness ; that on the west side 
 occupies a somewhat smaller area, is two feet thick, and 
 lies about three feet below the surface ; that is, the river 
 has made a sedimentary deposit on the shell-heap three 
 feet deep. There is now growing upon it a burr-oak 
 fully six feet in diameter. Extensive earth-works — 
 mounds and enclosures — exist in the vicinity. Broken 
 pottery was found in great abundance with the shells 
 and other refuse. Evidences of former fires were seen 
 on a level with the bottom of the shell-bed. The earth 
 was burned hard and red, and at one point he observed 
 stones arranged as if to support cooking utensils.f 
 On the banks of the Yazoo River, Mississippi, accord¬ 
 ing to Humphreys and Abbot, { many shell-mounds are 
 to be seen. They are above overflow, and are composed 
 of the shells of fresh-water muscles, such as are now 
 
 * “ Referred to in the “ Second Indiana Report,” p. iii. 
 t “ Smithsonian Report,” 1870. 
 
 t “ Physics and Hydraulics of the Mississippi,” p. 89.. 
 
IN FLORIDA. 
 
 167 
 
 found in the river. No traditions relative to their origin 
 are preserved among the Indian tribes of the present 
 day. 
 
 The fresh-water shell-heaps of Florida, which have 
 been explored by Dr. Wyman, are on a scale of magni¬ 
 tude which almost surpasses belief. They are distributed 
 over an area of more than one hundred and fifty miles, 
 between Palatka and Salt Lake, and nearly all are 
 restricted to knolls. Among the forms most common, 
 are Ampxdlaria depresm^ Paludina viultilineata, and Unio 
 Buckleyi. In size the mounds vary from circular heaps, 
 fifteen or twenty feet in diameter, to long ridges several 
 hundred feet in length, and from four to five, and in 
 some instances, fifteen feet thick. The shell-mound at 
 King Philip’s Town is about four hundred and fifty feet 
 long and from one hundred to one hundred and twenty 
 feet broad, and at its greatest thickness is about eight 
 feet. Fragments of pottery and broken animal bones 
 were found intermingled. At Black Hammock, on the 
 St. John’s River, a mound occurs which is about nine 
 hundred feet long and varies in breadth from one hun¬ 
 dred to one hundred and fifty feet. 
 
 The following are the principal objects obtained by 
 Dr. Wyman which indicated the agency of man in their 
 accumulation: Marine shells, such as the Strombus 
 gigas, Pyrula carica. and P. perversa, with the inner 
 whorls removed. These shells were manufactured into 
 gouges, chisels, and hatchets. Stone implements are 
 rare. A chisel and twenty-five arrow and spear-heads 
 were collected near, but not in the mounds themselves. 
 Tlie animal remains include the bear, deer, raccoon, 
 opossum, terrapin, turtle, alligator, cat-fish and garpike. 
 Bones of birds are rare.* 
 
 *" American Naturalist,” vol. ii, Nos. 8 and 9. 
 
168 
 
 SHELL-BANKS. 
 
 In reference to tlie immense accnmnlations of these 
 two small convoluted shells, the Ampullarias and 
 Paludinas, Professor Wyman, in a subsequent report,* 
 remarks : “It seems incredible to one who searches the 
 waters of St. John's and its lakes at the present time, 
 that the two small species of shells above-mentioned, 
 could have been obtained in such vast quantities as are 
 seen brought together in these mounds, unless at the 
 times of their formation the shells existed more abund¬ 
 antly than now, or the collection of them extended 
 through very long periods of time. When it is borne in 
 mind that the shell-heaps afford the only suitable surface 
 for dwellings, being mostly built up in swamps, or on land 
 liable to be annually overflowed by the rise of the river, 
 they appear to be necessarily the result of the labors of 
 a few living on a limited area at any one time. At the 
 present it would be a very difficidt matter to bring 
 together in a single day enough of these shells for the 
 daily meals of an ordinary family. That they formerly 
 existed in larger numbers than now is by no means 
 improbable.” 
 
 Professor Wyman proceeds to cite numerous examples 
 within the Human Epoch, in which both animals and 
 plants, after flourishing for considerable periods within 
 given areas, have been compelled to yield in their 
 struggle for existence, against changed conditions. 
 
 With reference to the age of these mounds, he states 
 that there is to be seen near Silver Spring, where exists 
 a shell-heap which is reported to cover nearly twenty 
 acres, a grove of live oaks, a few survivors of a race of 
 giants once common in the forests near the river. “ Six 
 of these, at five feet from the ground, measured as fol¬ 
 lows : One, thirteen feet; three, fifteen feet; one, nine- 
 
 r •* “ Fifth Annual Report Peabody Museum,” etc. 
 
CRANIA IN SHELL-BANKS. 
 
 169 
 
 teen ; and one between twenty-six and twenty-seven 
 feet in circumference. This last had been destroyed by 
 fire — an act of vandalism committed for the purpose of 
 collecting the moss hanging from its liranches. 
 
 These trees are not on the highest part of the mound, 
 but on the slope furthest from the water. Excavations 
 made beneath the largest of them showed that the tree 
 Avas of more recent origin than the mound itself. If at 
 the beginning of the second century of the life of the 
 live oak, there are twelve rings at least to the inch, then 
 the above-mentioned tree, having a semi-diameter of fifty 
 inches, would have an age of not less than six hundred 
 years, and was near the second century of its existence 
 at the time of the landing of Columbus. On the same 
 basis of calculation, the least age of the mounds near 
 Blue Spring, and at Old Town, would be about four 
 hundred years. Though these estimates are to be 
 regarded only as approximations to the truth, they, 
 Avithout doubt, carry back the origin of the mounds 
 beyond the reach of history or tradition, and certainly 
 one or tAvo centuries before the discovery of America. 
 Although they cannot be more recent than the trees 
 groAving upon them, they may have been and probably 
 Avere, finislied long before the life of the trees above- 
 mentioned began.” 
 
 The crania from the shell-heaps of Florida, according 
 to those obtained by Professor Wyman from a small 
 sand-mound a feAV miles from Cedar Keys, have peculi¬ 
 arities Avhich distinguish them from those of the Mound- 
 builders. Tlie capacity of the skulls is greater, being 
 1375 cubic centimetres, or nearly eighty-four cubic 
 inches ; they shoAV no signs of distortion; they are 
 remarkable for massiveness and thickness, the aAmrage 
 thickness through the parietal bones in eight of them 
 
170 
 
 SHELL-BAKKS. 
 
 being 10.5 millimetres or 0.42 incli, which is almost 
 double the usual thickness; and all are quite heavy, the 
 heaviest of the series weighing 995 grams; and notwith¬ 
 standing the loss of its organic matter, is heavier than 
 any of the three hundred skulls in the collection, the 
 next heaviest being those of the Negro, weighing 975 
 grams, of a Hawaiian Islander, weighing 845 grams, and 
 of a Tsuktshi, weighing 860 grams.* 
 
 *“ Fourth Annual Report,” etc., p. 13. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 HE Mound-builders, in selecting sites for their 
 
 JL structures, appear to have been influenced by the 
 same motives which governed their successors of Euro¬ 
 pean descent. Timothy Flint long ago called atten¬ 
 tion to the fact that nearly every considerable town in 
 the Ohio, and he might have added in the Mississippi 
 Valley, is founded on the ruins of pre-existing struct¬ 
 ures. Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, all 
 are thus founded, and the list might be enlarged to an 
 almost indeflnite extent. The river-terraces and bot¬ 
 toms were, for the most part, selected, and for obvious 
 reasons. In the first settlement of a continent, rivers 
 are the great highways ; in fact, until after the lapse 
 of a considerable period, they afford almost the only 
 means of communication between widely-separated 
 points. The history of Anglo-Saxon civilization on 
 this continent shows how great a task it has been, even 
 with the aid of iron and steel, and of those animals 
 which are the allies of man, to subdue the primeval 
 forest; and yet how much greater the task to a people 
 who could only resort to stone and copper axes, and the 
 additional aid of fire. 
 
 The river-valleys abound in game, fish, and spontane¬ 
 ous fruits and nuts. Every hunter knows that the 
 deep recesses of the forest are shunned by mammals 
 and birds, and every one Avho has plunged into those 
 
172 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 recesses must cat times have been oppressed by the still¬ 
 ness which reigns throughout. In the valleys the veg¬ 
 etable-eaters find their best feeding-grounds, and the 
 carnivorous animals, both mammals and birds, naturally 
 follow in their track. The valleys, too, let in the sun¬ 
 light, which is essential to the development of both 
 animal and vegetable organisms. 
 
 In selecting, therefore, the river-terraces and bot¬ 
 toms as the sites for their structures, they but availed 
 themselves of the natural advantages of the country,— 
 ready access to living water, natural highways, a vari¬ 
 ety of wild fruits and nuts, streams stocked with fish 
 and natural parks with game, and, above all, a warm 
 and quickening soil, easily tilled, in which to plant 
 their great agricultural staple—maize. They had in 
 view, too, the picturesque, for many of their mounds 
 are reared on the highest bluffs, from which the eye 
 ranges over a sweep of country diversified by wooded 
 steeps and rolling prairies, with a broad river winding 
 its way through the landscape, whose course can be 
 traced until it mingles with the horizon. 
 
 In view of the beauty and fertility of their empire, the 
 Mound-builders might appropriate to themselves the 
 words of the Great Spirit, as recorded in the legend of 
 Hiawatha: 
 
 “ I have given you lands to hunt in, 
 
 I have given you streams to fish in, 
 
 I have given you bear and bison, 
 
 I have given you elk and antelope, * 
 
 I have given you brant and beaver. 
 
 Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl, \ 
 
 Filled the river full of fishes.” 
 
 Squier and Davis hastily stated that none of these 
 works occupied the alluvial bottoms (an error which 
 
 * I trust that our great poet will pardon me for having substituted the 
 words “ elk and antelope ” in the place of “ roe and reindeer.” The 
 
CLASSIFICATION OF MOUNDS. 
 
 173 
 
 Mr. Squier subsequently correeted), and from this 
 statement the most erroneous conclusions as to their 
 antiquity have been drawn. There is nothing to indi¬ 
 cate but that these works were constructed after the 
 surface had assumed its present configuration, and that 
 the climate had become essentially as it is now. That 
 they should not occur as abundantly on the bottoms as 
 on the terraces, is not to be wondered at, when we con¬ 
 sider the great fluctuations of the Mississippi and its 
 tributaries. The extreme range between low and high- 
 water of the Upper Mississippi, at its mouth, is thirty- 
 five feet; that of the Missouri, at its mouth, about,the 
 same; and that of the Ohio, at Louisville, forty-two 
 feet. Hence, during flood-time, a greater portion 
 of the bottom-lands are subject to overflow, and it 
 would be but natural for the Mound-builders to shun 
 such situations. Where the immediate valleys lie 
 above high-water, we find their works. Of this the 
 “ American Bottom ” is a notable instance. 
 
 Wliilst mounds and enclosures constitute but parts 
 of one system, Squier and Davis have seen proper to 
 classify them in reference to their purposes, under the 
 following heads : 
 
 For Defeitce. 
 
 I. ENCLOSURES. < Sacred. 
 
 I Miscellaneous. 
 
 term “ roe ” is not applied to any species of our Cervidee, and the domin¬ 
 ion of the Indians only extends to the confines of the reindeer’s range. 
 On the other hand the elk and antelope are two forms of quadrupedal 
 animals, highly characteristic of our Western Plains, 
 
174 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 Enclosures .—There can be little doubt that such 
 works as those near Bourneville, Hamilton, and Gran¬ 
 ville, and those on the banks of both the Miamis, in 
 Ohio; on the bluffs of the Saline River in Illinois; on 
 the mountain summits of Northern Georgia ; and at 
 other points, were erected for purely defensive pur¬ 
 poses, and were selected in reference to military con¬ 
 siderations. They are almost natural fortresses, which 
 could only be approached by an enemy uncovering his 
 front to the full force of such missiles as the besieged 
 might employ. The parapets are often constructed of 
 stc^e, not laid in regular courses, but heaped together in 
 the form of rubble; and these blocks of stone may 
 have been among the available weapons to repel an 
 assault by rolling them down the declivity, which in 
 many instances is so steep that they would descend by 
 their own momentum. It is to be observed that in 
 most of these works, which are regarded as purely 
 defensive, the ditch is on the inside ; and were it other¬ 
 wise, it would have seriously interfered with the mode 
 of defence which I have suggested. 
 
 Those works in Northern Ohio and Western New 
 York, which exhibit the trenches on the outside of the 
 parapets, are also classed as defensive, while those 
 which occupy level plateaux in the valley of the Ohio, 
 with the trench inside, which are by far the most 
 numerous, are classed as sacred enclosures. I do not 
 recognize the importance of this distinction. Many 
 writers, who have speculated upon this feature, seem 
 to have adopted the idea that the enemy, whoever he 
 may have been, settled down before these works, as the 
 Greeks did under the walls of Troy, and engaged in a 
 protracted siege. Now every one acquainted with 
 Indian warfare knows that it consists in surprises. A 
 
DEFENSIVE LINES. 
 
 175 
 
 blow is struck, a massacre ensues, and a retreat follows. 
 Savages have not the means of subduing a fortification 
 by regular approaches, nor the accumulated provisions to 
 sustain them while awaiting the result. A company 
 of infantry on the Plains, protected by an enclosure of 
 palisades — trunks of trees set upright and sharpened 
 to a point, — may defy the combined power of the 
 Indians indefinitely, or until their supplies give out. 
 The Mound-builders, if their enemy were like modern 
 Indians, had only to guard against sudden attacks, 
 and a row of pickets, without reference to whether the 
 trench were inside or outside, would be effectual. Gat¬ 
 lin has shown that the Mandans, in fortifying 
 their villages, constructed the ditch inside, the warriors 
 using the embankment as a shelter while they shot their 
 arrows through the interstices of the pickets. 
 
 These enclosures are the most conspicuous along 
 what may be called the frontier of the Alleghanies, 
 and disappear altogether as we enter the immediate 
 valley of the Mississippi, which contains the most stu¬ 
 pendous of the mounds. This would seem to imply 
 that there was another race, occupying the mountain 
 region to the east, and perhaps the Atlantic coast — a 
 race of Highlanders, essentially different in habits, for 
 they have left no permanent structures — who from time 
 to time, made predatory excursions into the Mound- 
 builders’ country, and succeeded at last in extirpating 
 the inhabitants. On the west, it may be inferred, the 
 country was secure against such irruptions. A great 
 line of defence, I think, is traceable all the way from 
 Western New York to the Ohio River, and even 
 beyond. 
 
 Upon this head, Squier and Davis remark: “ There 
 seems to have existed a system of defences extending 
 
176 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 from the sources of the Alleghany and Susquehanna, in 
 New York, diagonall}’" across the country, through Cen¬ 
 tral 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 he 
 drawn from tliis fact, it is that the presence of 
 hostihties was from the northeast; or that if the tide 
 of migration flowed from the south, it received its flnal 
 check upon this line. On the other hypothesis, that 
 in this region originated semi-civilization, which subse¬ 
 quently spread southward, 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, con¬ 
 stantly exposed to attacks.”* 
 
 The foundations of the stockades which are main¬ 
 tained at this time at many points on the Plains, a 
 century hence, will be less conspicuous than almost the 
 obscurest of these enclosures. I can imagine other 
 purposes to which they were applied. The large ones 
 may have been walls, surrounding their towns and cul¬ 
 tivated flelds, and used even to protect their crops 
 from predatory animals. The smaller ones may have 
 been designed to guard their temples and sepulchral 
 mounds from j)rofane intrusion. Every nation has its 
 games, and the ruder the nation is, the greater the 
 
 * “ Ancient Monuments,” p. 44. 
 
ALTAR-MOUNDS. 
 
 177 
 
 attempt at barbaric pomp and magnifience. There can 
 be little doubt that the Mound-builders had their 
 national games which were celebrated within these 
 enclosures. They had, too, their religious observances, 
 their funeral ceremonies, and their grand councils ; but 
 no clear line, I think, can be drawn in reference to the 
 different purposes of these structures. 
 
 Altar or sacrifice mounds .— “The general character¬ 
 istics of this class of mounds,” as pointed out by Squier 
 and Davis, “ are: 1. That they occur only within the 
 vicinity of the enclosures or sacred places; 2. That 
 they are stratified 3. That they contain symmetrical 
 altars of burned clay or stone, on wliich were deposited 
 various remains, which in all cases have been more or 
 less subjected to the action of fire.”* 
 
 This class of mounds, which occurs in the Scioto 
 Valley, may be said to be unique, not so much in any 
 one feature, but in the coml)ination of features. The 
 sacred enclosure, as we have seen, is not recognized in 
 the “ American Bottom,” where the mound-system is so 
 magnificently developed. In the “ Battle-mound ” at 
 Vincennes, the stratified structure was recognized, 
 arching over a large number of bodies, but the enclosure 
 was absent. Whilst the evidences of fire, sufficiently 
 long-continued to change the natural color of clay to a 
 brick-red, and even to convert it into a burial-case, as 
 seen in the graves of North Carolina, are in a great 
 number of instances recognized; yet, it may be said, 
 that the explorations made in other fields have not 
 revealed the existence of symmetrical altars. The 
 numerous sections given by our authors show a dish¬ 
 like nucleus of clay which served as a hearth, upon 
 which a fire was built, offerings were made, and other 
 
 * “Ancient Monuments,” etc., p. 143. 
 
 M 
 
178 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 ceremonies performed, when a mound was heaped up, 
 composed of alternate layers of sand and earth, not 
 horizontal, but conforming to the convexity of the 
 structure. In the mound near Middletown, Butler 
 County, Ohio, sixteen feet in height, which will be 
 particularly described hereafter, the following structure 
 was observed: About ten feet from the top, there was 
 a fii’in, compact stratum of fine clay, an inch thick, 
 which appeared to have been burned until it was red. 
 Under this, midway in the mound, was another stratum 
 of cream-colored clay, different from any material in 
 the vicinity ; beneath this was a mass of charcoal, cloth 
 perfectly carbonized as though first ignited and then 
 smothered, and charred bones. The charcoal was out¬ 
 side the cloth. It is to be regretted that the explora¬ 
 tions were not continued sufficiently far to determine 
 the nature of the hearth on which the fire was kindled. 
 The strata of burnt and yellow clay did not extend 
 through the whole mound, but occupied an area of only 
 five or six feet in diameter. 
 
 In this mound we recognize an internal arrangement 
 somewhat analogous to that in the Scioto mounds, 
 which are regarded as sacrificial, and we can trace the 
 successive stages in its construction. Upon a hearth 
 of cla}^ probably, corresponding with the altar, was 
 built a funeral pyre, upon which the body, invested 
 with cloth, was placed and the fire lighted. This is 
 the inference from the charred bones and the rim of 
 charcoal outside the matted folds of cloth. Whether 
 this ceremony was designed simply to reduce the corpse 
 to ashes, or whether it was the offering up of a living 
 victim, cannot be clearly determined. While the 
 embers were yet glowing and before even the cloth 
 was consumed, the fire was extinguished by covering it 
 
ALTAR-MOUNDS 
 
 179 
 
 a layer of cream-colored clay, which, to the mod¬ 
 em explorer, showed no marks of fire. The mound 
 was then heaped up with earth, when another layer of 
 clay was added, upon which a fire was built and con¬ 
 tinued sufficiently long to change the natural color to a 
 brick-red. The object of this observance cannot be 
 determined, as there were found no human remains in 
 this association. Upon this layer was placed ten feet 
 of earth, rounded up, which completed the structure. 
 
 Thus, I think, it is evident that this mound was used 
 for sepulchral purposes, or if for sacrificial purposes, 
 human victims were the offerings. The absence of an 
 enclosure shows that this class of structures is not 
 necessarily excluded from the “sacred places.” I 
 am inclined, therefore, to concur in the opinion of Sir 
 John Lubbock, that in these instances “ we have before 
 us a sepulchre rather than a temple.” * 
 
 As, however, this class of mounds forms one of the 
 most interesting chapters in the explorations of Stpiier 
 and Davis, I propose to give a full abstract of their 
 views. 
 
 “ The altars or basins found 
 in these mounds,” observe 
 these authors, “ are almost 
 invariably of burned clay, 
 although a few of stone have ^ , 
 
 been discovered. They are 
 
 symmetrical, but not of uniform size and shape. Some 
 are round, others elliptical, and others sipiare or paral¬ 
 lelograms. Some are small, measuring barely two feet 
 across, while others are fifty feet long by twelve or 
 fifteen feet wide. The usual dimensions are from five 
 to eight feet. All appear to have been modelled of fine 
 
 **• Pre-Iiistoric Times, ' p. 271. 
 
180 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 cla 3 % brought to the spot from a distance, and they rest 
 on the original surface of the earth. In a few instances 
 a la^^er or small elevation of sand has been laid down, 
 upon which the altar was formed. The height of the 
 altars, nevertheless, seldom exceeds a foot or twenty 
 inches. This is hardly to be explained by any degree 
 or continuance of heat, though it is manifest that in 
 some cases the heat was intense. On the other hand, 
 a number of these altars have been noticed which are 
 very slightly burned, and such, it is a remarkable fact, 
 are destitute of remains.”* 
 
 The authors give the following section of a mound 
 explored by them at “ Mound City,” near Chillicothe, 
 Ohio, as illustrative of this peculiar stratification, 
 although no two are alike in all their details: 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 o c d e / e d c o a 
 
 Section of an Altar Mound. 
 
 a. Layer of gravel and pebbles, I fooL 
 
 b. Layer of earth, 3 feet. 
 
 c. A thin stratum of sand. 
 
 d. Layer of earth, 2 feet. 
 
 e. Stratum of sand. 
 
 f. Position of the altar. 
 
 The altar was in the form of a parallelogram, meas¬ 
 uring at its base 10x8 feet, and at the top, 6x4 feet. 
 
 *“ Ancient Monuments.” etc., p. 143, et. seq. 
 
ALTAR-MOUNDS. 
 
 181 
 
 Its height was eighteen inches, and the dip of the basin 
 was nine inches. Within the basin was a deposit of 
 ashes, unmixed with charcoal, three inches thick, much 
 compacted by the weight of the superincumbent earth, 
 intermingled with which were fragments of pottery and 
 shell-beads. The lower sand stratum rested directly on 
 the outer sides of the altar. About three feet below 
 the apex of this mound were found two well-preserved 
 skeletons, which, from the interruption of the upper 
 layers, showed that the Indians had resorted to it for 
 intrusive burials. 
 
 From one of the mounds in this vicinity our authors 
 obtained not far from two hundred pipes carved in 
 stone, many pearl and shell-beads, discoidal in form, 
 tubes of copper, and a number of other copper orna¬ 
 ments covered with silver. The pipes were much 
 broken, and some of them were calcined by heat 
 which had been sufficiently strong to melt copper, 
 masses of which were found fused together in the basin 
 of the altar. The pipes were mostly composed of a 
 red porphyritic stone, somewhat resembling the pipe- 
 stone of Coteau des Prairies, excejiting that it was of 
 greater hardness, and was interspersed with small vari¬ 
 ously-colored granules. Nearly all the articles carved 
 in limestone were calcined. 
 
 In another excavation, instead of finding an altar at 
 the base of the mound, our authors found two layers of 
 hornstone chipped in the form of discs and spear-heads, 
 placed side by side a little inclining. In an excavation 
 six feet long and four wide, not less than six hundred 
 of these articles were thrown out. The material must 
 have been brought from a long distance and fashioned 
 with great toil, and, therefore, the offering, for whatever 
 purpose designed, must have been a costly one. 
 
1.82 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 Dr. Hoy, in investigating some of the mounds in the 
 vicinity of Racine, Wisconsin, met with a somewhat 
 similar deposit. 
 
 What strange rites were practised around these altars 
 will forever, in some degree, be veiled from our com¬ 
 prehension, but the past is not altogether inscrutable. 
 The Mound-builders worshipped the elements—the sun, 
 the moon, and particularly fire. They erected their 
 fire-altars for sacrifice, on the highest summits. Like 
 the Persian sun-worshippers, they, undoubtedly, had 
 their Magi, without whose presence the sacrifice could 
 not go on. No gifts were too costly to be offered up. 
 The most elaborately carved pipes, precious stones 
 brought from a distance, and garments woven with 
 patient toil, were freely condemned to undergo the 
 ordeal of fire. But this was not all. The numerous 
 rehquiee of charred bones leave behind the terrible 
 conviction that, on these occasions, human victims were 
 offered uj) as an acceptable sacrifice to the Elements. 
 
 Herodotus, I opine, has described the counterpart of 
 some of the scenes which were enacted in the Missis¬ 
 sippi Valley in ancient times. 
 
 “ The customs which I know the Persians to observe, 
 are the following: . . . Their wont is to ascend 
 
 the summits of the loftiest mountains and there offer 
 sacrifice to Jupiter, which is the name they give to the 
 whole circuit of the firmament. They likewise offer to 
 the sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water, and to 
 the winds. These are the only gods whose worship has 
 come down to them from ancient times. . . . To 
 
 these gods, the Persians offer sacrifice in the following 
 manner: They raise no altar, light no fire, pour no 
 libations; there is no sound of the flute, no putting on 
 of chaplets, no consecrated barley-cake ; but the man 
 
HUMAN SACKIFICES. 
 
 183 
 
 who wishes to sacrifice, brings his victim to a spot of 
 ground which is pure from pollution, and there calls 
 upon the name of the god to whom he intends to offer. 
 It is usual to have the turban encircled with a wreath, 
 most commonly the myrtle. The sacrificer is not allowed 
 to pray for blessings on himself alone, but he prays for the 
 king and for the whole Persian people, among whom 
 he is of necessity included. He cuts the victim in 
 pieces, and having boiled the flesh, he lays it out on the 
 tenderest herbage that he can find, trefoil especially. 
 When all is ready, one of the Magi comes forward and 
 chants a hymn, which they say recounts the origin of 
 the gods. It is not lawful to offer sacrifice unless a 
 Magus is present.”* 
 
 The sun-worshippers of Mexico practised the same 
 horrible rites, of which Bernal Diaz was an eye-witness. 
 “ On a sudden,” he relates, “ our ears were struck by 
 the horrific sound of the great drum, the timbrals, horns, 
 and trumpets in the temple of the war-god. We all 
 directed our eyes thither, and, shocking to relate! saw 
 our unfortunate countrymen driven by force, cuffs, and 
 bastinades to the place where they were to be sacrificed, 
 which bloody ceremony was accompanied by the mourn¬ 
 ful sound of all the instruments in the temple. 
 
 “ We perceived that when they had brought the unfor¬ 
 tunate victims to the flat summit of the body of the 
 temple, where were the adoratories, they put plumes 
 upon their heads, and with a kind of fan in the hand of 
 each, made them dance before their accursed idols. 
 When they had done this, they laid them upon their 
 backs, on the stone used for the purpose, where they 
 eut out their hearts, alive, and having presented them 
 yet palpitating to their gods, they drew the bodies down 
 
 *" Herodotus,” book i, chaps. 131-132. 
 
184 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 the steps by their feet, where they were taken by others 
 of their priests.” * 
 
 Man has not yet learned that the incense of human 
 blood is not acceptable to his Maker! 
 
 Neither among the ancient Persians nor among the 
 Aztecs, does fire appear to have been employed in these 
 human sacrifices, but we find closer analogies among 
 the ancient Britons and the modern Hindoos. 
 
 The fact of the stratification of these mounds has led 
 to the rash inference that they were not of artificial 
 origin. The historian of the United States, basing 
 his conclusions on the assertion of the late President 
 Hitchcock, who never investigated their structure, has 
 declared that the Mississippi Valley has no monuments ; 
 that where the antiquarian of vivid imagination sees the 
 vestiges of artificial walls, the geologist sees but crumbs 
 of decaying sandstone ; that Avhere the one sees parallel 
 intrenchments, the other sees but a trough that sub¬ 
 siding waters have ploughed through the centre of a 
 ridge; and that where the one sees a tesselated pave¬ 
 ment, the other sees but a layer of pebbles aptly joined 
 by water.f 
 
 With a vast accumulation of facts before us, bearing 
 on the artificial origin of these works, it is not necessary 
 to go into the serious refutation of such hastily-adopted 
 conclusions; — to show that water does not throw up 
 ridges in mathematical figures, such as the square and 
 circle; that in its excavating power it does not leave 
 behind polygons and pyramids; that, without disturb¬ 
 ing the impalpable ashes upon the hearths of a pre¬ 
 historic race, it cannot arch them over with a stratum 
 of sand; and that it has no power to transport mica 
 
 *'‘The True History of the Conquest of Mexico,” 1568. Quoted in 
 Flint Chips,” pp. 314-315. 
 
 t Bancroft’s “ History of the United States,” vol. lii, p. 307. 
 
ENGLISH BARROWS. 
 
 185 
 
 plates for a thousand miles, and arrange them with the 
 precision of scales upon an ancient corselet. 
 
 Stratified mounds have been noticed in other parts of 
 the world. Thus, according to Canon Greenwell, two 
 mounds, in the group known as the “Three Hones,” on 
 Egton South Moor, Yorkshire, England, were found to 
 be composed of alternate layers of sand and turf ; “the 
 bands of yellow sand and dark-colored turf showed a 
 beautiful section as we proceeded.” A still more 
 remarkable mode of construction was noted in a mound 
 on Hall Moor, near Castle Howard. A stratum of sand, 
 gravel, and clay, eighteen inches in thickness, burnt 
 into a hard mass, was met with, at the depth of three 
 feet from the surface of the barrow. At and around 
 the centre it was almost as hard and red-colored as 
 brick, and must have been subjected to strong, long- 
 continued heat. The calcined human remains reduced 
 to a small compass, were found near the centre of the 
 mound, resting on this burnt stratum, in a barrow made 
 of sand near the above mound. The remains of a burnt 
 body had been deposited in a simple cist sunk about six 
 inches below the level of the surface soil. Over this 
 cist and overlapping it, was a layer of charcoal, one inch 
 in thickness, and above this was a stratum of clay and 
 sand hardened by fire, about four inches in thickness, 
 which extended through the whole barrow. 
 
 Chambers constructed of timber similar to those 
 described by Squier and Davis, have been observed in 
 the Yorkshire tumuli. In one was found an inhumed 
 skeleton with a “ food-vessel,” and in the mound 
 were one long and four round flint scrapers, and a flint 
 spear-head delicately chipped.* 
 
 * Greenwell, “ Account of Grave-hills in North Riding.” “Archaeo¬ 
 logical Journal,” vol. xxii, p. 113, et seq. Quoted by Stevens. “Flint 
 Chips,” p. 404, et seq. 
 
186 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 Temple-mounds .— Under this head Squier and Davis 
 include such mounds “ as are distinguished by their 
 great regularity of form and general large dimensions. 
 They consist chiefly of pyramidal structures, truncated 
 and generally having graded avenues to their tops. In 
 some instances they are terraced or have successive 
 stages. But whatever their form, whether round, oval, 
 octangular, square, or oblong, they have invariably flat 
 or level tops.” * The summits of these structures were 
 probably crowned with temples, but having been con¬ 
 structed of perishable materials, all traces of their 
 existence have disappeared. 
 
 The truncated pyramidal form, which often rises to 
 no great height, was obviously the foundation for such 
 structures. In the works at Aztalan, Wisconsin, we 
 trace the outlines of this form of mounds at the angles 
 of the bastions, and this may be said to be their northern 
 limit. They are not recognized on the southern slope 
 of Lake Erie, and are seen at only three points in 
 southern Ohio, viz: Marietta, Newark, and Chillicothe. 
 The stupendous mound at Cahokia, in Illinois, with its 
 graded way, its terrace, and level summit, was the best 
 representative of this class. In Kentucky, they are not 
 rare; the great mound near Florence is of this character, 
 and that near Claiborne — fifty feet in height — has a 
 level summit with a gradual slope on the east, and a 
 succession of ten terraces on the west. In this class, 
 too, must be included the great mound at Seltzertown, 
 Mississippi, and most of those in the Gulf States. In 
 Mexico and Central America, we see the culmination of 
 this form in the Teocallis, which were faced with flights 
 of steps, and surmounted by temples of stone. 
 
 The temple-mounds were also used as sepulchres. In 
 
 *“ Ancient Monuments,” etc. p. 173. 
 
TEOC ALLIS. 
 
 187 
 
 that at Seltzertown, Dr. Dickeson found “ vast quanti¬ 
 ties of human skeletons;” and Mr. Hill, the former 
 owner of the Cahokia Mound, in sinking a well on its 
 platform, encountered charcoal at the depth of twenty- 
 five feet. The Grave Creek Mound, which is in the 
 form of a truncated cone — the flattened area on the top 
 being fifty feet in diameter, and therefore coming under 
 the classification of temple-mounds, — was found to 
 enclose two vaults originally constructed of wood, which 
 contained human skeletons. 
 
 There are those who, in the truncated pyramids, see 
 evidences of Egyptian origin. The pyramids, like the 
 temple-mounds, were used for sepulchres ; but here the 
 analogy ends. The Mound-builders burned the bodies 
 of the dead, or left them to be resolved into dust by 
 the slow process of decay; but the Egyptians, believing 
 that the soul would again tenant the body, resorted to 
 expensive processes for its preservation. The same 
 remarks will apply when we institute a comparison 
 between the Teoeallis of Central America and the Pyr¬ 
 amids. They differ, both in the mode of construction 
 and the object aimed at. The pyramids are complete 
 in themselves, and as they tower up in the Nile Valley, 
 the eye at once takes in the coherence of the several 
 parts. The Teoeallis form but a part of the general 
 plan ; — they wei'e but the foundations for more elab¬ 
 orate structures. “ There is no pyramid in Egypt,” says 
 Stevens, “ with a palace or temple upon it; there is no 
 pyramidal structure in this country (Central America) 
 without.” * The ))yramids, according to Herodotus, 
 were originally coated with stone from base to summit; 
 the Teoeallis have flattened summits, with flights of 
 steps descending to the base. 
 
 * “ Central America," vol. li., p. 440. 
 
188 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 The truncated pyramid is among the strongest links 
 in the chain which connects the ancient inhabitants of 
 the Mississippi Valley with those of Mexico and Central 
 America. In the rude earthworks we see the germ of 
 the idea which was subsequently wrought out in pro¬ 
 portions of beauty and harmony, giving origin to a 
 unique style of architecture. 
 
 Sepulchral mounds .— These consist, ofteil, of a simple 
 knoll, or a group of knolls, of no considerable height, 
 without any definite arrangement. Examples of this 
 character may be seen at Dubuque, Merom, Chicago, 
 and Laporte, which, on exploration, have yielded skulls 
 differing Avidely from the Indian type. It often happens 
 that in close proximity to a large structure there is an 
 inconsiderable one, which will be found rich in rehcs. 
 Squier and Davis have stated that it is rare to find more 
 than one skeleton entombed in a mound, but subsequent 
 explorations have shoAvn that they were often used as 
 places for general burial. The corpse was almost 
 invariably placed near the original surface of the soil, 
 enveloped in bark or coarse matting, and in a few 
 instances, fragments of cloth have been observed in 
 this connection. Sometimes a vault of timber was 
 built over it, and in others it was enclosed in long and 
 broad flags of stone. Sometimes it was placed in a sit¬ 
 ting position, again it was extended, and still again it was 
 compressed within contracted limits. Trinkets were often 
 strung about the neck, and water-jugs, drinking-cups, and 
 vases, which probably contained food, were placed near 
 the head. The comparative absence of warlike imple¬ 
 ments is a noticeable fact, which will hereafter 
 be commented upon. Over the corpse thus arrayed, a 
 circular mound was often raised, but sometimes nothing 
 more than a hillock. This fact has led some to infer. 
 
BURIAL RITES. 
 
 189 
 
 on what I think insufficient grounds, that these differ¬ 
 ent elasses of grave-hills indieate the work of sepa¬ 
 rate races. If the “ future New Zealander ” were 
 to visit one of our ehureh-yards, whieh had been 
 abandoned for a thousand years, and, groping among 
 the ruins and finding one elass of graves marked by 
 elaborately-wrought monuments, and another by simple 
 head-stones, were to infer that they were the work of 
 different races, it is evident how erroneous would be 
 his inferences. 
 
 Dr. Morton has said “ that from Patagonia to Canada, 
 and from oeean to oeean, and equally in the civilized 
 and uncivilized tribes, a j^eculiar mode of placing the 
 body in sepulture has been practised from immemorial 
 time. This peeuliarity consists in the sitting posture.” * 
 No assertion could be more sweeping and less consist¬ 
 ent with facts. No prevailing system of burial ob¬ 
 tained among the iNIound-builders, as we have shown, 
 nor was this posture peculiarly an American usage. 
 
 Both cremation and inhumation were practised, and 
 I doubt not at the same time. The chareoal layer is a 
 frequent aeeompaniment, but it is often wanting. “ The 
 eeremonies of interment,” Squier and Davis aptly 
 remark, “ so far as we are able to deduce them from 
 these monuments, were conducted with great regularity 
 and system. . . . All the circumstances seem to indi¬ 
 eate that burial was a solemn and deliberate rite, regu¬ 
 lated by fixed customs of perhaps religious or super¬ 
 stitious origin.” f 
 
 The details of explorations at points far asunder, will 
 give the reader a elearer idea of the funeral ceremonies 
 
 * “ Crania Americana,” p. 244. 
 t “ Ancient Monuments,” pp. ig6 and 197. 
 
190 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 practised by the Mound-builders than a general 
 description. 
 
 The Grave Creek Mound, twelve miles below Wheel¬ 
 ing, in West Virginia, is the most notable of all those 
 in the Ohio Valley. 
 
 Fig. 14., 
 
 Grave Creek Mound West Virginia.* 
 
 It is seventy feet in height by nine hundred in cir¬ 
 cumference, and is destitute of lines of circumvallation. 
 In 1838, Mr. A. B. Tomlinson, the owner of the prem¬ 
 ises, carried a drift along the original surface of the 
 ground to the centre of the mound, and sank a shaft 
 from the summit to intercept it. “ At the distance of 
 one hundred and eleven feet,” he states, in a pamphlet 
 published after the completion of the explorations, “ we 
 came to a vault, which had been excavated before the 
 mound was commenced, eight by twelve feet and seven in 
 depth. Along each side and across the ends, upright tim¬ 
 bers had been placed, which supported timbers thrown 
 across the vault as a ceiling. These timbers were cov¬ 
 ered with loose unhewn stone, common to the neigh- 
 
 * This sketch is reduced from Squier and Davis. 
 
GRAVE CREEK MOUNDS. 
 
 191 
 
 borhood. The timbers bad rotted and had tumbled 
 into the vault. ... In this vault Avere two human 
 skeletons, one of which had no ornaments; the other 
 was surrounded by six hundred and fifty ivory (shell) 
 beads, and an ivory (bone) ornament, six inches long.” 
 
 In sinking the shaft, at thirty-four feet above the first 
 or bottom vault, a similar one was found, enclosing a 
 skeleton which had been decorated Avith a profusion of 
 shell-beads, copper-rings, and plates of mica. To form 
 a just idea of the profusion of these ornaments, it may 
 be stated that the discs, ciit from the shell of the 
 Busycon ferveruim^ numbered 2,350 ; the small shells, 
 knoAvn as Marginella apicina^ which had been 
 pierced at the shoulder for stringing, numbered 500 ; 
 and the specimens of mica reached 250. About tAvo 
 years after the excaA’ation, a small flat stone, inscribed 
 with antique al))habetical cliaracters, was produced by 
 the proprietor, Avhich, he claimed, Avas one of the relics 
 taken from the mound. This stone has been the sub¬ 
 ject of much archcEological learning, and the characters 
 are pronounced by Schoolcraft “to be such as Avere used 
 by the Pelasgi, Avhich is the parent of the modern 
 Runic, as Avell as the Bardic.” Like the “ Cincinnati 
 Stone,” and the “ Holy Stone of Newark,” it is 
 undoubtedly a stupid forgery. 
 
 Another observer. Dr. Clemens, states that “ in car¬ 
 rying in the horizontal excavation, at a distance of 
 tAvelve or fifteen feet, Avere found numerous masses 
 composed of charcoal and burnt bones. . . . On reach¬ 
 ing the lower vault from the top, it Avas determined to 
 enlarge it for the accommodation of visitors, Avhen ten 
 more skeletons were discoAxred.” 
 
 These facts show that the principal occupant of this 
 mound, as indicated by its magnitude, was a royal per- 
 
192 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSUEES. 
 
 sona-ge; and can we not draw the further inference 
 that many of his attendants were strangled, and others 
 were sacrificed as a burnt offering ? Have we not an 
 explanation of many of these facts, in the ceremonies 
 which attended the burial of a Scythian king, as 
 described by the Father of History ? 
 
 “The body of the dead king,” says Herodotus, “is 
 laid in the grave prepared for it, stretched upon a mat¬ 
 tress ; spears are fixed in the ground on either side of 
 the corpse, and beams are stretched across above it to 
 form a roof, which is covered with a thatching of osier 
 twigs. In the open space around the body of the king, 
 they burn one of his concubines, first strangling her, 
 and also his cup-bearer, his cook, his groom, his lacquey, 
 his messenger, some of his horses, firstlings of all his 
 other possessions, and some golden cups, for they use 
 neither silver nor brass. After this they set to work 
 and raise a vast mound above the grave, all of them 
 vymg with each other, and seeking to make it as tall 
 as possible.” * 
 
 Note. —The tomb of a Scythian king was opened at Kertch, the ancient 
 Panticapjeum, about a quarter of a century ago. The tumulus which 
 was erected over it was one hundred and sixty-five feet in diameter, 
 formed partly of earth and partly of rough stones. In the centre was a 
 sepulchral chamber, fifteen feet by fourteen, with a vestibule about six 
 feet square. Both were built of hewn stones, three feet long and five 
 feet high. The vestibule was empty, but the chamber contained a 
 number of most curious relics. The chief place was occupied by a 
 large sarcophagus of yew wood, divided into two compartments, in one of 
 which lay a skeleton of unusual size, shown by its ornaments, especially 
 a golden crown or initra, to be the king, while in the other were a 
 golden shield, an iron sword, with a hilt richly ornamented and plated 
 with gold, a whip, the remains of a bow and bow-case, and five small 
 statuettes. By the side of the sarcophagus, in the open space of the 
 tomb, were, first, the bones of a female, and among them a diadem and 
 other ornaments in gold and electrum, showing that she was the queen; 
 
 “ Herodotus,” book iv., chapter 71. 
 
ST, LOUIS MOUND. 
 
 193 
 
 In a mound removed at Vincennes, Indiana, in 1859, 
 the lowest stratum consisted “ of a bed of human bones 
 arranged in a circle eighteen feet in diameter, closely- 
 packed and pressed together. . . . Skulls, tibioe, ribs, 
 and vertebrae were promiscuously mingled, as though a 
 pile of bodies had been heaped up.” 
 
 Mr. Collett describes a burial vault at Merom, Indi¬ 
 ana, “ three stories high,” on each floor of which “ from 
 five to seven human skeletons were found.”* 
 
 In removing the mound at St. Louis, according to Mr. 
 James M. Loring, f which was about thirty-five feet 
 high, there was found at-the depth of twenty-five feet, 
 what was once apparently a trench or grave, four feet 
 deep, eighteen feet broad, and seventy feet long, in 
 which had been buried several human bodies. The 
 bones, which had advanced very far towards decompo¬ 
 sition, indicated that they belonged to individuals 
 rather above the ordinary size. The heads were placed 
 towards the east, and the skeletons occupied a 
 reclining posture. In this connection were found 
 patches of cloth of a coarse texture, and more or less 
 carbonized ; two copper vessels, formed like a spoon- 
 bowl ; a quantity of beads which evidently had been 
 strung and wound around the neck and head of the 
 
 secondly, the bones of an attendant ; and thirdly, in an excavation in 
 one corner, the bones of a horse. There were also found electrum beau¬ 
 tifully chased, two silver vases containing drinking cups, four amphorae 
 in earthen-ware which had held Thasian wine, and three large bronze 
 cauldrons, containing mutton bones. There was sufficient evidence to 
 show that suits of clothes had been hung from the walls, and even frag¬ 
 ments of musical instruments were discovered. The antiquity of this 
 tomb has been estimated at only 400-350 B. C. (Rawlinson’s note on 
 Herodotus.) It must be confessed that these Scythic burial rites have a 
 strong resemblance to those of the Mound-builders. 
 
 * “ Second Report on Geology of Indiana,” p. 238. 
 f “ Missouri Democrat,” April 17, 1869. 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 reciimbent warrior; and also a quantity of small sea- 
 shells of the same character as those found at Grave 
 Creek. 
 
 Mr. E. O. Dunning has recently explored what is 
 known as the Lick Creek Mound, in East Tennessee. 
 
 “ I began,” he states, “my operations on the east side 
 nearest the ‘ Dry Creek,’ as it is called, by digging a 
 trench ten feet wide to the centre. The surface earth 
 was composed of sandy loam, with such an intermixture 
 of clay as would come from the removal of the top 
 alluvium of the surrounding plain with portions of the 
 substratum. Charcoal and ashes were observed for six 
 or eight feet, when we came to a layer of sand a foot in 
 thickness and several yards square. Over this was one 
 of burnt clay, upon which lay a mass of charcoal and 
 animal bones. The last had been broken before they 
 were laid on the pile. Underneath the stratum of sand 
 was a layer of decayed wood and bark, covering a human 
 skeleton. This rested on its side and was doubled up, 
 the leg bones pressing on the ribs — the usual position 
 of such remains in all the mounds I have examined. 
 Implements were deposited Avith the skeleton, com¬ 
 monly at the head, and, if a vessel of earthen ware, at 
 the back of the skull. In one instance four vessels were 
 deposited together. In an excavation fifteen feet in 
 length, eight skeletons were observed too much decayed 
 to be removed in considerable portions, each one under 
 a layer of wood or bark — the common mode of sepul¬ 
 ture throughout the structure. Near the centre were 
 the remains of what appeared to have been a vault of 
 cedar wood, indicated by rotted posts set in an upright 
 position, describing a rectangular figure. Slabs or logs 
 of the same material as the post had evidently connected 
 the frame of a rude coffin or vault. Tavo of these tombs 
 
MOUNDS IN OHIO. 
 
 195 
 
 were observed, one above the other, a few feet apart; 
 within each space lay a skeleton with some of the most 
 valuable objects sent you.” * 
 
 Mr. Dunning further states that other excavations 
 were made from the circumference to the centre, reveal¬ 
 ing the remains of fifty skeletons lying like those before 
 exhumed. While he inferred that this large mound 
 might have contained the common dead, he opened a 
 small one near by, which from the profusion and beauty 
 of the ornaments, he inferred was devoted to the chiefs. 
 The wood and bark layer was present over all the 
 skeletons, and a pavement of river stones a few rods 
 square supported each frame. Whenever he struck 
 one of these stone layers a rich deposit was sure to be 
 his reward. The ornaments consisted of carved pipes, 
 beads, and ornamental pins in shell, discs of chalcedony, 
 polished axes of greenstone, serpentine, and quartz, and 
 lance and arrow-heads. 
 
 Squier and Davis have given us a minute account of 
 the results attending the excavation of a sepulchral 
 mound near Chillicothe, Ohio. The mound was twenty- 
 two feet high and ninety feet at the base. At ten feet 
 l)elow the surface occurred a layer of charcoal, from two 
 to six inches in thickness. The coal was coarse and 
 clean, and seemed to have been formed by the sudden 
 covering up of the wood while burning, inasmuch as the 
 trunks and branches perfectly retained their form, 
 though entirely carbonized, and the earth above as 
 beneath, was burned to a reddish color. 
 
 At the depth of twenty-two feet, and on a level with 
 the original surface was a iu;de sarcophagus, or frame¬ 
 work of timber, seven by nine feet and twenty-two 
 
 *“ Fifth Annual Report Peabody Museum,” by Professor Jeffreys 
 Wyman, p. 12. 
 
196 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 inches high, reduced to an almost impalpable powder, 
 but the cast of which was still retained in the hard 
 earth. The top had evidently been covered by other 
 timbers, and at the bottom was laid a matting of bark, 
 or thin strips of wood. 
 
 Within this rude coffin were the remains of an 
 extended skeleton with the head to the west.* In 
 another mound explored in the vicinity at the base of 
 which a skeleton was discovered enveloped in bark, 
 the head was directed towards the south. 
 
 In the so-called bastions at Aztalan, Wisconsin, Lap- 
 ham found the corpse occupying a sitting posture, and 
 I have observed the same fact in excavating the mounds 
 in the regions of Dubuque and Chicago. 
 
 This usage of burying in a sitting posture was not 
 confined to this hemisphere. Herodotus, speaking of 
 the wandering tribes of Northern Africa, says: “They 
 bury their dead according to the fashion of the G-reeks. 
 . . . They bury them sitting, and are right careful 
 
 when the sick man is at the point of giving up the ghost, 
 to make him sit, and not to let him die lying down.” f 
 
 The ancient Britons often buried their dead in the 
 same position, the hands raised to the neck, and the 
 elbows brought to the knees. 
 
 These details show three important facts: 1, That 
 the corpse occupied no particular position in reference 
 to the cardinal points; 2, That its posture was in no 
 degree uniform; and, 3, That many of the mounds were 
 used for miscellaneous burial. 
 
 The stone cists surmounted by hillocks of earth, which 
 occur in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee, have 
 been described with sufficient minuteness in chapter iii. 
 
 * “ Ancient Monuments,” p. 162. 
 
 f‘‘ Herodotus,” book iv, chapter 19O. 
 
GREEK BURIALS. 
 
 197 
 
 The comparative absence of warlike implements in 
 the mounds is a peculiarity which also characterizes the 
 decorations of Palenque and Copan, and hence Stevens 
 infers that the people were not warlike, but peaceable 
 and easily subdued. It is, certainly, a singular fact, 
 that whilst other nations illustrated their glory by 
 depicting battles and sieges, there should, on these 
 monuments, be an entire absence of these representa¬ 
 tions of human conquest. 
 
 That men in the early stages of society should resort 
 to the practice of erecting mounds over the dead, seems 
 but natural. There is an instinctive desire on the part 
 of the living to indicate the last resting place of a 
 departed friend by some permanent memorial, and at 
 the same time, to protect, his remains from all profane 
 intrusion; and no method is more effective or more 
 easily accomplished, among barbaric tribes, than that 
 of rearing a mound. Hence, the almost universality 
 of the custom. Among the ancient Greeks, when a 
 hero died, each warrior cast a shieldful of earth upon 
 his remains, until there rose up a mound destined to 
 form a conspicuous landmark in the coming ages. 
 
 In the Odyssey, book xxiv, the following ceremo¬ 
 nies are described as having taken place at the funeral 
 of Achilles:— 
 
 1. The lamentation over the dead body was continued 
 
 for seventeen days and nights. 
 
 2. Numerous fat sheep and oxen were sacrificed at the 
 
 pile. 
 
 3. The body was burnt in an embroidered robe, amidst 
 
 jars of sweet unguent and honey. 
 
 4. A war-dance was performed round the pyre. 
 
 5. The bones of the deceased were collected from the 
 
198 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 ashes, laid in sweet unguent and wine, and de¬ 
 posited in a golden urn. 
 
 6. In the same urn were placed those of his dearest 
 
 friend, Patroclus; but in a separate urn, those of 
 liis next dearest friend, Antilochus, the son of 
 Nestor. 
 
 7. Round or upon these urns a great and symmetrical 
 tumulus was raised. 
 
 8. This stood on a conspicuous headland, expressly that 
 it might be seen from afar by living and by future 
 generations of men.* 
 
 In the Iliad, book xxiv, the following facts are stated 
 with regard to the burial of Hector :— 
 
 1. For nine days wood for the pyre was collected in 
 
 carts, to which oxen and mules were yoked. 
 
 2. The body was laid on the top of the pyre, which 
 
 continued burning for twenty-four hours. 
 
 3. The part of the pyre which had been ignited and 
 
 was still smouldering, was completely extinguished 
 by pouring on wine. 
 
 4. The white and calcined bones were carefully picked 
 
 out of the ashes by the friends of the deceased. 
 
 5. These bones were placed in a metallic urn. 
 
 6. The urn was deposited in a hollow grave, and cov¬ 
 
 ered over with large stones. 
 
 7. A mound, with all speed, was erected over the 
 
 grave, after which the friends returned home and 
 partook of a funeral banquet. 
 
 To show the expensiveness of these structures, in a 
 single instance, it may be stated that, in later times, 
 Alexander the Great caused a tumulus to be heaped 
 over the remains of his friend Hepheestion, at the enor- 
 
 * Quoted by Stevens, “ Flint Chips,” p. 184. 
 
URN - BURIAL. 
 
 199 
 
 mous cost of 1,200 talents — a sum in excess of 
 
 11,000,000. 
 
 Semiramis, the great queen of Babylon, buried her 
 husband within the precincts of the palace, and raised 
 over his grave a great mound of earth. 
 
 The Thracians, according to Herodotus, either burnt 
 the body of the departed, or buried it in the ground, 
 raising a mound over the grave, and holding games of 
 all sorts.* * * § 
 
 Cremation, as well as tumulus-building, as shown by 
 Jacob Grimm, was practised, according to Caesar, by 
 the Gauls and Celtic races; according to Tacitus, by 
 the Germans and by the Scandinavian races, as well 
 as by the Greeks and Romans.f 
 
 Thus we find in Western Europe, many structures 
 of this character ; — in Brittany, Denmark, in the Ork¬ 
 neys, and in England; and turning to the remoter parts, 
 we find them in India, Algeria, etc. Mounds, then, are 
 of no particular value in tracing national affinities. 
 
 Urn burial appears to have been practised to some 
 extent by the Mound-builders, particidarly in some of 
 the Southern States. In the mounds on the Wateree 
 River, near Camden, South Carolina, according to Dr. 
 Blanding,J ranges of vases, one above the other, filled 
 with human remains, were found. “ Sometimes, when 
 the mouth of the vase is small, the skull is placed with 
 the face downwards in the opening, constituting a sort 
 of cover. Entire cemeteries have been found, in wliich 
 urn burial alone seems to have been practised. Such 
 a one was accidentally discovered, not many years since, 
 in St. Catherine’s Island, on the coast of Georgia. § 
 
 * Book V, chap. 8. 
 
 t “ Ueber das Verbrennen der Leichen," Leipsic, 1850. 
 
 t Cited by Squier and Davis, p. 167. 
 
 § “ Ancient Monuments,” ibidem. 
 
200 
 
 MOUNDS AND ENCLOSURES. 
 
 Professor Swallow informs me that from a mound at 
 New Madrid, Missouri, he obtained a human skull, 
 enclosed in an earthen jar, the lips of which were too 
 small to admit of its extraction ; it must therefore have 
 been moulded on the head after death. 
 
 A similar mode of burial was practised by the Chal¬ 
 deans, where the funeral jars often contain a human cra¬ 
 nium much too expanded to admit of the possibility of its 
 passing out of it; so that, “ either the clay must have been 
 modelled over the corpse, and then baked, or the neck 
 of the jar must have been added subsequently to the 
 other rites of interment.” * 
 
 Cave hurial was also probably resorted to by the 
 Mound-builders. Human remains have been found 
 under such circumstances in Kentucky, Indiana, Ten¬ 
 nessee, and in other States, but as it is impossible to 
 identify these cave-tenants clearly with the Mound- 
 builders, I content myself with this passing notice. 
 
 Mounds of observation .— Crowning the conspicuous 
 points which overlook the valleys, are often seen 
 mounds which Squier and Davis suggest, may have 
 been signal or alarm posts. 
 
 “ Between Chillicothe and Columbus, on the eastern 
 border of the Scioto Valley,” say they, “ not far from 
 twenty may be selected, so placed in respect to each 
 other, that it is believed, if the country were cleared 
 of forests, signal fires might be transmitted in a few 
 minutes along the whole line. On a hill opposite Chil¬ 
 licothe, nearly six hundred feet in height, the loftiest in 
 the entire region, one of these mounds is placed. . . . 
 A fire built upon it would be distinctly visible for 
 fifteen or twenty miles up, and an equal distance down 
 the valley.” The works at Merom, Indiana, are situ- 
 
 * “ Rawlinson’s ‘ Herodotus,’ ” Book i., chapter iq8 — note. 
 
LOOKOUTS. 
 
 201 
 
 ated on a narrow ridge, one hundred and seventy-five 
 feet above the Wabash Valley. The boldest bluffs in 
 the vicinity of Dubuque are crowned with mounds, from 
 which an immense reach of the Mississippi can be com¬ 
 prehended by the observer. At Vincennes, an outlier 
 of the upper terrace has been rounded into a mound, 
 which forms the most eonspicuous feature in the land¬ 
 scape. Whether these mounds were used merely as 
 lookouts may well be doubted. Their position shows 
 that the sites were selected in reference to their pictur¬ 
 esque beauty, and were eligible, whether for oecupancy, 
 for sacrificial, or sepulchral purposes. 
 
THE MOUND - BUILDEKS — THEIR ARTS AND MANU¬ 
 FACTURES. 
 
 HERE is a striking similarity in the implements of 
 
 -L barbarous nations, however widely-separated, and 
 this similarity extends not only to their form, but to the 
 material employed. Too much importance must not be 
 attached to these coincidences in tracing national affini¬ 
 ties. If we were to suppose that a person in the full 
 possession of his physical jDowers, but with no previous 
 experience, were placed on an uninhabited island and 
 compelled to rely on his own ingenuity for acquiring a 
 subsistence, he would first resort to the pebhle as an 
 auxiliary power. With this, like some of the monkey 
 tribes, he could crack nuts; and when hurled, it would 
 be more effective than a blow dealt with the clenched 
 hand. If he succeeded in capturing any small game, 
 he would learn that this pebble, chipped to a sharp edge, 
 would materially aid him in stripping off the hide or dis- 
 embowelhng the carcass. A brief experience would 
 teach him that certain kinds of stone possessed this 
 property to a greater extent than others, but that of all 
 kinds, obsidian, flint, and chert were the most readily 
 cleavable, and that with these, he could cut, or saw, or 
 pierce, or drill, or bore. With his new experience, he 
 wordd, ere long, find that a slender reed, tipped with a 
 
 202 
 
OBSroiAl^ FLAKES. 
 
 203 
 
 flint-point and pear-shaped, could be hurled more accu¬ 
 rately and more effectively than a pebble, and hence the 
 javelin. Improving on this idea, and finding that the 
 branches of trees had an elastic force, and the sinews 
 and entrails of the deer had great tensile strength, he 
 would construct a bow and reduce his javelin to the size 
 of an arrow. He now finds himself in possession of a 
 weapon capable of repeated discharges, and with which 
 he can bring down the largest as well as the smallest 
 game. Still experimenting, he finds that if his arrow¬ 
 head is barbed, it will cling to the side of his victim, 
 and he has but to follow in the trail to secure his prey. 
 Thus equipped, the Indian, at this day, brings down 
 the buffalo on the plains, and shrinks not from an 
 encounter with the ferocious grizzly bear of the moun¬ 
 tains ; and the Hottentot undaunted assails the lion and 
 rhinoceros. 
 
 While our unenlightened Crusoe finds in the flint- 
 flake so many applications, there are other processes, 
 such as hacking and pounding, to which, by reason of its 
 frangibility, flint or obsidian is not adapted. A tougher 
 material is required, and this he finds in greenstone and 
 porphyry. He selects a water-worn pebble as near the 
 desired shape as possible, and to secure it to a handle 
 for the purpose of being wielded, he cuts a groove at one 
 end, and with the deer’s sinew lashes it securely ; and 
 that the mass sliall o^ipose the least resistance to the 
 surface to be cut away, it is ground down wedge-shaped. 
 Greenstone, flint, and chert are common to almost 
 every region of the earth, and the human race, where- 
 ever dispersed, appear, as it were, instinctively to have 
 become possessed of a knowledge of their respective 
 properties. In the volcanic regions of Mexico, at this 
 day, obsidian is largely employed, where iron is attain- 
 
204 THE MOUND-BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 able. In Colorado, I have seen beautiful arrow-heads of 
 chalcedony; and the Indian of the mountains will econo¬ 
 mize the tliick parts of a junk-bottle which some 
 traveller has cast aside, by chipping it into such weapons. 
 
 These flint-flakes are made very rapidly, not by blows 
 but by strong pressure. Torquemada, as quoted by 
 Tylor,* has given us a description of the manner in 
 which the Aztecs obtained their obsidian flakes. One 
 of the Indian workmen sits upon the ground, and 
 selecting a piece of this stone, say, eight inches long 
 and as thick as one’s leg, with a stick as large as the 
 shaft of a lance, and a little more than three cubits long, 
 to the end of which is firmly fastened another piece of 
 wood eight inches long to give it more weight, he com¬ 
 mences operations. He brings his feet together, securing 
 the stone as in a vise, then taking the stick in both 
 hands, and pressing one end against his breast and setting 
 the other well home against the edge of the front of the 
 stone, and exerting a strong pressure, off flies a knife, 
 which is sharpened on a stone to give it a fine edge. 
 “ In a very short time,” says our author, “these work¬ 
 men will make more than twenty knives in the aforesaid 
 manner.” f 
 
 Arrow-heads .— The arrow-heads of Europe have been 
 classified by Sir R. W. Wilde into five divisions: 1, 
 Those which are triangular ; 2, Those which are indented 
 at the base; 3, Those which are stemmed; 4, Those which 
 are harhed; and, 5, Those which are leaf-shaped. All 
 these forms are represented in the United States, as 
 will be seen by the subjoined illustrations taken from 
 specimens in the Collection of the Historical Society of 
 Chicago. 
 
 * “ Anahuac,” etc. 
 
 t As to the mode of manufacture, see Lubbock, “ Pre-historic Times,” 
 p. 84. 
 
ABROW-HEADS. 
 
 205 
 
 Fig. 15= §• 
 
 1 2 3 4 5 
 
 Different forms of arrow-heads. 
 
 Three other forms occur which are sufficiently dis¬ 
 tinctive to justify an enlargement of the above classifi¬ 
 cation. They may be designated, 6, Those which are 
 lozenge-s^haped; 7, Those which are dirk-shaped; and, 
 8, Those which are bevelled* 
 
 Fig. 16 = 1. 
 
 Different forms of arrow-heads. 
 
 * For the purpose of comparison with European forms, vide Lubbock’s 
 Pre-historic Times,” p. 103. 
 
206 THE MOUND-BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Nos. 6 and 7 are common, but No. 8 is rare. The 
 specimen represented is from Professor Cox’s Collection, 
 and the two edges are symmetrically bevelled, as if to 
 give it a rotary motion. The angle measures exactly 
 45°. The material is yellow chert. 
 
 As most of the arrow-heads in the various collections 
 have been picked up in ploughed fields, and have no 
 local history attached to their discovery, it is impossible 
 to determine how far they are the work of the Mound- 
 builders ; in fact, it may be said they are rarely found 
 in the mounds. 
 
 Colonel Long states that the Indians of the West use 
 two kinds of arrows; the one for hunting, the other for 
 war. The hunting arrow is armed with a leaf-shaped 
 or triangular head, sometimes with a stemmed head, 
 but never with one possessing barbs. The war-arrow 
 has invariably a barbed head. This is very slightly 
 attached to the shaft, so that if the arrow enters the 
 body of an enemy, it cannot be withdrawn without the 
 Fig 17 ^ head being left in the wound. The 
 
 ~ hunting arrow, on the contrary, has the 
 head firmly attached to the shaft by the 
 binding of a deer’s sinew.* 
 
 Rimmers and borers. — Many of the 
 implements of the Mound-builders, such 
 as their pipes, discs, and gorgets, are 
 bored and rimmed, and there is little 
 doubt that for this purpose, where the 
 material was soft, they employed an 
 instrument like that represented in the 
 margin. They are very common in most 
 Rimmer of chert. Collections. 
 
 (Prof. Cox’s Collection.) In somc of thc pierced implements 
 
 *“ Expedition to Rocky Mountains,” vol. i, pp. 2go-i. 
 
AGETCULTUTtAL IMPLE^fENTS. 
 
 207 
 
 left unfinished, a core has been found in the bottom, 
 and this circumstance has led Mr. Charles Rau to sug¬ 
 gest that the drilling was accomplished by a hollow 
 tube, perhaps a joint of the cane, attached to a bow- 
 drill to give it a rotary motion, and feeding it with sharp 
 sand.* The holes are sunk with perfect accuracy, 
 showing that the implement was turned by an apparatus 
 which was far more efficient and precise than the human 
 hand. In those specimens where the hole displays con¬ 
 centric rings and a funnel-like form, there can be little 
 doubt that the rimmer was employed. 
 
 Agricultural implements .— Their agricultural instru¬ 
 ments, which are chipped out of chert or quartzite, 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 
 Spades found in the vicinity of Alton, Illinois. (Chicago Historical 
 Society’s Collection.) 
 
 a. Dimensions, five and one-half by thirteen inches. 
 
 A “ four and one-half by seven and one-half inches. 
 
 * “ Smithsonian Report,” 1868, p. 398. 
 
208 THE MOUND - BHH^DERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 evince great skill. The finest specimens are obtained 
 from the American Bottom, opposite St. Louis. Above 
 are represented two forms in the nature of spades, from 
 the vicinity of Alton, Ilhnois, but so far reduced 
 as to convey an inadequate idea of their magnitude, 
 except by protraction. 
 
 These implements show superior workmanship, and 
 are the largest which I have ever seen, in which the 
 flaking process has been employed. They are flat on 
 one side and slightly oval on the other, and the smaller 
 end was undoubtedly attached to a handle, for it shows 
 the conchoidal fracture unobliterated, while the broader 
 end is polished as if from digging. Mr. Ran has 
 figured, in the report before referred to, a hoe from a 
 mound near Illinoistown, seven and one-half by six 
 inches, and about half an inch thick in the middle, 
 with two notches in the upper part for the attachment 
 of a handle.* 
 
 In the collection of Mr. Perkins, to which I shall have 
 occasion to refer more particularly, there are twelve 
 ovoid implements of chert, sharp-pointed at each end, 
 perfectly symmetrical in form, most dextrously chipped, 
 I and variable in size. The one before me is nine and 
 one-half by five and three-fourths inches in diameter, 
 and is the third in size. I am disposed to think that 
 
 * I may not have given proper space to the description of flint 
 implements, but I feel the necessity of abridgement. Mr. Perkins has 
 many arrow-heads which are almost as delicately, serrated as a shark’s 
 tooth, and many spear-heads of chert and quartzite, which evince exquis¬ 
 ite skill in their manufacture, as though each blow was designed to pro¬ 
 duce a definite result, and nothing beyond. 
 
 The same exquisite finish is to be observed in many of the spear¬ 
 heads secured by Dr. Veile, in Yucatan. Classifying these implements as 
 appertaining to the Stone Age, according to the received authorities, I 
 have only to say that they evince a higher degree of skill than is dis¬ 
 played in the ground and polished axes. 
 
STONE-AXES. 
 
 209 
 
 they were designed for agricultural purposes. (Found 
 in Lake County, Illinois, in a nest, one above the other, 
 the largest at the bottom.) 
 
 Celts .—I now proceed to the description of a class of 
 utensils represented by the axe, chisel, flesher, amulet, 
 pendent, etc., of ground and often polished stone; and 
 by the spear-head, arrow-head, knife, dagger, etc., of 
 metallic copper ; which are supposed to display a higher 
 degree of skill, and a greater advance in civilization, 
 than belonged to the Stone Age. These utensils are 
 known as “ Celts,” and no discrimination is made by 
 archaeologists, whether the material be bronze, copper, 
 or stone. 
 
 Fig. 19 = L 
 
 a. Toi-phyry ; crystals of feldspar, in a red paste. 
 
 b. Greenstone. (Chicago Historical Society’s Collection.) 
 
 Axes .—The stone-axe was among the most efficient 
 utensils of the Mound-builder. With it he could attack 
 the forest, and, aided by fire, could fashion the tree- 
 trunk into a pirogue,— a form of boat which was V 
 adopted by European pioneers in those regions where 
 the canoe-birch does not flourish. 
 
 o 
 
210 THE MOUND-BUn^DEKS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Greenstone and porphyry were the materials ordin¬ 
 arily selected, and they were fashioned into two pre¬ 
 vailing forms ; one was cut with a crease near the head, 
 and the other was ground down wedge-shaped, but both 
 tapered to an edge. The first form is represented in 
 the preceding figures, and is common to the whole 
 region from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, including 
 New England. 
 
 The crease, as in i, is continued only on three sides, 
 and the back of the axe is left flat, so that, when lashed 
 to the handle, it could be tightened by wedging. The 
 average weight of these axes is about two pounds ; the 
 smallest weigh not more than one ounce, while some 
 weigh eight or nine pounds. It is rare to find them in 
 the mounds, but many have undoubtedly as high an 
 antiquity as the mounds themselves. 
 
 The second form is represented in 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 a. Stone-axe from Alton, Illinois. 
 
 b. Stone-axe from Jackson, Indiana, 
 
STONE - AXES. 
 
 211 
 
 Three stone-axes have recently heen found at Mil¬ 
 waukee, and Mr. Perkins has one in his collection, 
 which differ from all hitherto described. They are of 
 the usual form, but the surface is ornamented with a 
 series of longitudinal flutings of uniform depth and 
 width, and but slightly depressed. The axes are of 
 large size and well finished, and the material is of the 
 toughest greenstone (diorite). These are the only 
 examples observed where ornamentation has been 
 attempted in this class of implements. 
 
 The mode of attachment, in these instances, was by 
 inserting the axe-head in a cleft stick, and binding it 
 firmly with a leather thong or deer’s sinew. Examples 
 of such attachment are to be seen in the ancient Per¬ 
 sian bronze axes, and in the modern African axe. The 
 deer’s antler, mortised out to receive the head, may also 
 have been used as a handle, as among the Swiss pile- 
 drivers, affording, as it does a material in which are 
 united strength and toughness.* 
 
 Sometimes the material employed in these axes was 
 brown haematite, which was often ground and polished 
 with elaborate care. An axe of this character, about 
 inches long, broad, and thick, was taken from 
 a shell-heap on the banks of Grand Lake, Louisiana, by 
 Dr. Dungan of St. Jeaneret’s. What was remarkable, 
 it exhibited a concentric structure, perfectly conforming 
 to the outline of the axe, and where the outer layer had 
 partly peeled off, beautiful dendritic markings were to 
 be seen. I had observed this concentric structure in 
 other implements made of this material, and as it is 
 difficult to conceive that the artizan could have selected 
 an iron nodule of the precise shape of the implement he 
 wished to fabricate, I am forced to the conclusion that 
 
 * For the mode of attachment, see Lubbock, pp. 25 and 92. 
 
212 
 
 THE MO END-BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 this concretionary structure is the result of oxidation 
 from exposure since the implement was finished. 
 
 It is not unusual to meet with perforated objects 
 which are classified as axes, but when we consider the 
 character of the material, a green-colored silicious slate 
 of a banded structure, ill adapted to withstand repeated 
 shocks, we are led to the conclusion that they were 
 designed for ornament and not for use. A representa¬ 
 tion of this class of objects is given in 
 
 Fig. 21=1. 
 
 Axe(?) perforated, from Paris, Kenosha County, Wisconsin. (In the 
 Collection of Mr. F. S. Perkins, of Burlington, Wisconsin.) 
 
 The length of the specimen is six inches, and midway 
 it is pierced with a hole not quite half an inch in 
 diameter, which is perfectly symmetrical, having parallel 
 circular lines, as though it had been perforated by a drill 
 in a fixed position, and subjected to a rotary motion. 
 
 I have before me, as I write, a collection of stone 
 implements, gathered by Dr. J, W. Veile, in Yucatan. 
 For the most part they conform in shape to the figures 
 above given. The material employed is porphyry. 
 Some of them are less than two inches in length, and 
 the edges are polished as if from use. At the first glance 
 it would be said that many of these implements were 
 too small for practical purposes, but when we reflect 
 that the material out of which the ancient inhabitants 
 of that region cut their basso-relievos, was a soft 
 coralline limestone, I find, by experiment, that such a 
 tool is almost as effective as one of steel. 
 
FLESHEKS. 
 
 213 
 
 Some of these implements, however, are cylindrical 
 in shape, with the convex surface brought to an edge, 
 and the opposite side ground out like a gouge ; and 
 while the instrument does not exceed two inches in 
 length, I can imagine that it would be etfective in 
 working out minute details in their sculptured forms. 
 
 The hammers and mauls, which will be figured in 
 the chajjter relating to “ Ancient Mining,” consisted of 
 boulders of porphjTy or greenstone, which were cut 
 with a crease for the reception of a withe. Of the 
 creased axes I find no representations in European spec¬ 
 imens ; but of the wedge-shaped, almost exact counter¬ 
 parts are found in Ireland and in the Swiss Lakes.* 
 
 Fig. 22. 
 
 
 Fleshers ; a is of steatite, seven inches by three. (Chicago Historical 
 Society’s Collection.) b is of greenstone, eleven inches by four. 
 (Chicago Academy of Sciences’ Collection, presented by Mr. Ches- 
 brough.) 
 
 Fleshers .— The stripping of the hide from animals of 
 the chase, and its subsequent preparation to fit it for 
 
 * Compare Lubbock’s figures, •’Pre-historic Times,” pp. g2 and i88, 
 with those given in the text. 
 
214 THE MOUND-BUILDEES THEIR ARTS. 
 
 human raiment, must have been, among the Mound- 
 builders, an important industrial art. With their cop¬ 
 per or flint knives, the hide was first incised, and tlieu 
 detached from the flesh, making use of such implements 
 as are represented above. 
 
 Mr. Titian E,. Peale, the naturalist who accompanied 
 Colonel Long’s Expedition to the Rocky Mountains, 
 has given the method employed by the Indians for the 
 preservation of skins, a method analogous probably to that 
 in use among the Mound-builders. “ The material used,” 
 he states, “ is principally the brains of the animal from 
 which they were taken. While the skins are fresh or 
 in their green state, they are stretched on the ground, 
 and scraped with an implement of bone or stone, resem¬ 
 bling an adze; the adhering portions of flesh are removed, 
 and the surface is then plastered over with the brains, 
 mixed in some cases with the liver, and on this is poured, 
 from time to time, warm water in which meat has been 
 boiled. The whole is then suffered to dry, after which 
 the skin is again subjected to the action of the brain 
 and hot water, further stretched, and while still wet, 
 scraped and rubbed with stones until perfectly dry. It 
 IS further softened by rubbing and passing it back¬ 
 ward and forward over a twisted sinew, stretched hori¬ 
 zontally.” * 
 
 In the following figure we have undoubtedly a repre¬ 
 sentation of a scraper which was employed in this pro¬ 
 cess. 
 
 * “ Smithsonian Report," 1870, p. 390. 
 
PIPES. 
 
 215 
 
 Fig. 23 == h 
 
 Scraper of greenstone, seven inches by six, and three-quarters of an incli 
 at the base ; ground to an edge on three sides. Found in Sullivan 
 County, Indiana. (Professor Cox’s Collection.) 
 
 This instrument from its size, was probably held in 
 both hands, and used very much as the currier’s stretch¬ 
 ing iron is at this day;—to remove any traces of tan, to 
 press out the thick places in the hide, and to close the 
 pores of the leather. 
 
 Pipes. — The Mound-builders were well aware of the 
 narcotic properties of tobacco, a plant which is indigen¬ 
 ous to America, and wliich, since the discovery of the 
 western continent, has been domesticated in every 
 region of the earth where the soil and climate are favor¬ 
 able to its cultivation. No habit, at this day, it may 
 be said, is more universal or more difficult to eradicate 
 than that of smoking. With the Mound-builder tobacco 
 was the greatest of luxuries ; his solace in his hours of 
 relaxation, and the choicest offering he could dedicate 
 to the Great Spirit. Upon his jiipes he lavished all the 
 skill he possessed in the lapidary’s art. 
 
 “ From the red stone of the quarry 
 With his hand he broke a fragment, 
 
 Moulded it into a pipe-head. 
 
 Shaped and fashioned it with figures.” • 
 
216 THE MOHHD - BHHLDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Squier and Davis have given several representations 
 of these objects, where we have the sculptured figures 
 of birds, quadrupeds, and marine animals, many of which 
 belong to a different latitude, such as the manati or sea- 
 cow, which inhabits the warm waters of the Atlantic; 
 the toucan, a tropical bird; the Carolina parrot, etc. 
 Many of these pipes are sculptured from the most obdu¬ 
 rate stones and display great delicacy of workmanship. 
 The features of animals are so truthfully cut that often 
 there is no difficulty in their identification, and even the 
 plumage of birds is delineated by curved or straight 
 lines which show a close adherence to nature. The 
 bowl and stem piece, wrought from a single block, are 
 as accurately drilled as they could be at this day, by 
 the lapidary’s art. This latter process was undoubtedly 
 accomplished by machinery, but it is difficult to conceive 
 how machinery could have cut the sharp curved lines 
 and the ridges and depressions represented in the 
 animal forms. 
 
 Fig. 24 . 
 
 I submit one figure of this kind, the original of which 
 is wrought from a light-colored porphyry, and is highly 
 polished. It was obtained from a mound near Laporte, 
 Indiana, by Dr. Higday. 
 
PESTLES. 
 
 217 
 
 It is not quite clear what animal the unknown sculp¬ 
 tor intended to represent, but the short broad head and 
 massive jaws would indicate that it is one of the Car¬ 
 nivora, perhaps the puma or panther. 
 
 Pestles .— To grind maize so as to fit it for cooking, 
 undoubtedly entered largely into the domestic economy 
 of every Mound-builder’s family. This was accom¬ 
 plished by the mortar and pestle. Of the latter, there 
 is a variety of forms. Some are cylindrical, some 
 bell-shaped, and some cone-like. The materials are also 
 various; consisting of greenstone, sienite, quartz, etc., 
 and sometimes of sandstone. The latter, however, has 
 not the toughness to make a good implement. I give 
 two illustrations. 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 
 Pestles for pulverizing maize. (ProfessorCox’s Collection. Indianapolis.) 
 
 Specimen a is composed of sienite with a well-marked rim at the base, 
 and was found at Corydon, Crawford County, Indiana. 
 
 The other specimen, b, is bell-shaped ; the material is quartzite, and the 
 locality was on the first terrace-bank of the Ohio River, near an arti¬ 
 ficial shell-heap. Perry County, Indiana. 
 
218 THE MOUND-BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 There is another pestle in this collection,of quartzite, found in Marion 
 County, Indiana, which differs from the preceding, it being semi- 
 cylindrical throughout. The dimensions are eleven by two and one- 
 fourth, by one and three-quarter inches. 
 
 The foregoing examples approach in their general 
 form, those given by Squier and Davis, Fig. 118. 
 
 Barh-peelers .— In Professor Cox’s Collection, is an 
 implement, long and cylindrical, but brought to an edge, 
 which I am disposed to think was used as a bark-peeler, 
 having been held in the hand. The material is a dark- 
 colored hornblende. 
 
 Discoidal implements. — There is another class of 
 implements of frequent occurrence, which are often 
 symmetrically wrought and polished from the hardest 
 materials. They are circular in form, capsule-shaped, 
 and pierced in the centre with a hole. One of these is 
 represented in the subjoined 
 
 Fig. 26 = i. 
 
 a b 
 
 a. Discoidal stone found in Kentucky. 
 
 b. Cross section of the same. (Professor Cox’s Collection.) 
 
 This specimen is of an amber-colored translucent 
 quartz, and is symmetrically ground and polished ; and, 
 taking into consideration the hardness of the material 
 which resists a steel edge, we have results which at 
 this day can only be attained by the lapidary's 
 
DISCS. 
 
 219 
 
 wheel, armed with emery or diamond dust. Nothing 
 which I have seen among the Mound-builders’ imple¬ 
 ments, with the exception of the pipes, evinces a higher 
 degree of skill than is displayed in this specimen. 
 
 There is another implement in this collection, from 
 the same region, of a similar form but slightly ovoid 
 and somewhat larger, where the material employed is 
 greenstone, and still another of sandstone, flat on one 
 side and discoidal on the other, but without a hole in 
 the centre. Squier and Davis have given several 
 representations of specimens like the above, in Fig. 121 
 of their work. 
 
 Much speculation has been indulged in as to the uses 
 of these discoidal stones. Schoolcraft^ has suggested 
 that they were used as quoits, and that the object of 
 casting them was to ring an upright peg, set m the 
 ground, but the hole is so small in many instances as to 
 admit of no such a supposition, and in other instances 
 it is wanting. Besides, would they employ an imple¬ 
 ment on which they had bestowed such an amount of 
 toil in a "ame where it would be liable to fracture ? The 
 
 O 
 
 edges are not notched, nor is there any indication that 
 these stones had been subjected to rough usage. 
 
 Squier and Davis have quoted a number of authori¬ 
 ties as to Indian pastimes, in which a similar implement 
 is used.f Thus, Mr. J. B. Finley, formerly a mission¬ 
 ary to the Ohio Indian tribes, has described a popular 
 game among them, much resembling “ tenpins,” in 
 which the stone was grasped on the concave side by 
 tlie thumb and second Anger, while the foreflnger 
 pressed upon the periphery, 
 
 Du Pratz notices the same game, and shows that 
 
 * “ Archseology of Aboriginal Knowledge,” vol. i., p. 407. 
 
 f “ Ancient Monuments,” p. 223. 
 
220 
 
 THE MOUND - BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 these stones, when rolled, would describe a convolute 
 figure. 
 
 Adair, in his “ History of American Indians,” 
 describes a favorite game among the warriors, called 
 Cliungke, played on a piece of level ground, kept clear, 
 and occasionally strewn with sand. Only one or two 
 on a side play at this game. They have a stone about 
 “ two fingers broad at the edge, and two spans round ; ” 
 each party has a pole about eight feet in length, smooth 
 and tapering at each end, the points flat. The players 
 start off abreast of each other, at six yards from the 
 play-ground, and one of them rolls the stone on its 
 edge, in as direct a line as he can, a considerable dis¬ 
 tance towards the middle of the other end of the 
 ground. When they have run a few yards, each darts 
 his pole after the stone. Should either spear touch 
 the stone, the player counts two of the game; and in 
 proportion of the nearness of the poles to the mark, 
 one is counted, unless by measurement both are found 
 to be an equal distance from the stone. In this manner 
 they will continue running most of the day at half 
 speed, under the violent heat of the sun, staking their 
 ornaments and even their wearing apparel. “ All the 
 American Indians are much addicted to this game 
 which appears to be a task of stupid drudgery ; it seems, 
 however, to be of early origin. The hurling stones, 
 which they still use, have been, from time immemorial, 
 rubbed smooth on the rocks, and with prodigious labor. 
 They are kept with the strictest religious care from one 
 generation to another, and are exempt from being buried 
 with the dead. They belong to the town where they 
 are used, and are carefully preserved.”* 
 
 Du Pratz, Breckenridge, Lewis and Clarke, and Gatlin, 
 
 * Adair’s “ History,” etc., p. 402. 
 
TOTEMS. 
 
 221 
 
 all describe a somewhat similar pastime among the dif¬ 
 ferent tribes of Indians with whom they were brought 
 in contact. Bartram describes the Gliunky-yard^ in the 
 Creek villages, in which a similar game was played. 
 
 When we^see represented on the monuments of 
 Egypt the game of “ ball,” played apparently as at this 
 day, by tossing and catching, we can well conceive how 
 national pastimes can be perpetuated from time imme¬ 
 morial. 
 
 “ In the plains and upon the mountains” (of Chili), 
 says Molina, “ are to be seen a great number of flat 
 circular stones, of five or six inches in diameter, with a 
 hole through the middle. These stones, which are of 
 either granite or porphyry, have doubtless received this 
 form by artificial means, and I am induced to believe 
 that they were the clubs or maces of the ancient Chili¬ 
 ans, and that the holes were perforated to receive the 
 handles.” * 
 
 Colonel C. W. Jenkes, from the mountain region of 
 North Carolina, communicates to me the information 
 that there have recently been found in the vicinity of 
 the ancient sepulchres before described, two specimens 
 of quartz which have been very symmetrically wrought. 
 They are perfectly circular, eight inches in diameter, 
 three inches thick on the outer rim, and hollowed to 
 the depth of an inch on each side, as perfectly as 
 though turned in a lathe. He was strongly impressed 
 with their beauty of form and color, and the mechanical 
 skill displayed, far above anything in mere Indian 
 relics. 
 
 Totem ? — Another implement of no practical use, 
 but undoubtedly designed as an ornamentor perhaps a 
 totem, is represented on the following page. 
 
 * Molina, vol. i., p. 56 . 
 
222 
 
 THE MO TTN35 - BUILDERS-THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Fig. 27= §. 
 
 Ornamental figure, found at Jackson, Wisconsin. (In the Collection of 
 Mr. F. S. Perkins.) 
 
 The material is the ribhoned-silicious slate, so often 
 described, and the figure, which approaches the bird 
 more nearly than any animate object, is symmetrically 
 carved and polished. It is, notwithstanding its incon¬ 
 gruity, a beautiful specimen of pre-historic work¬ 
 manship. Dr. Lapham sends me a similar figure in 
 serpentine, but the eye-like appendages have been 
 broken off. 
 
 The following implement is unique, so far as I have 
 observed, and I have no conjecture to offer as to its use. 
 It is of sienite, rubbed down smooth. The bottom is 
 hollowed out boat-shaped, and it is pierced, at either 
 end, with a hole. 
 
 Fig. 28=i. 
 
 Implement found near Danville, Illinois. (Dr. J. C. Winslow’s 
 Collection.) 
 
 Textile fabrics and the implements employed in their 
 manufacture .— The Mound-builders clothed themselves, 
 
TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 223 
 
 in part at least, not in skins like the Indian ; not like 
 the Sandwich Islander, in cloth made of the macerated 
 bark of certain trees; nor hke the dwellers of the Swiss 
 Lakes, in matted sheets of vegetable fibre ; but in cloth 
 regularly spun with a uniform thread, and woven with 
 a warp and woof. This evidence of their advance in 
 civilization beyond a mere barbaric race, was first dis¬ 
 covered by me as far back as 1838, and desci’ibed in 
 1851; * and it is a matter of such importance in the 
 ethnology of this mysterious race, that I will here 
 recapitulate the facts. 
 
 As far back as 1838, while engaged in geological 
 investigations in Southern Ohio, I procured from a per¬ 
 son residing at Charlestown, Jackson County, several 
 fragments of cloth wdiich had been taken a few days 
 previously from a low mound in that vicinity. It was 
 found near the original surface, enveloping several sets 
 of copper bracelets, and for the most part was so far 
 decayed as to exhibit only the textile structure, but 
 some of the fragments were in a good state of preser¬ 
 vation. 
 
 This fact was so novel in itself and so at variance 
 with the prevailing ideas as to the degree of civilization 
 and knowledge of the arts among the Mound-builders, 
 that I hesitated about making it public, fearing that 
 the cloth might be a modern substitution, and that by 
 publishing the fact, I might be the means of propa¬ 
 gating an error. 
 
 Subsequently, in 1851, Mr. John Woods, a gentleman 
 of high character and who occupied a responsible official 
 position in Ohio, sent me additional samples, together 
 
 * “ Description of samples of ancient cloth, from the Mounds of 
 Ohio.” Proceedings American Association for the .Advancement of 
 Science, p. 375. (Albany Meeting, 1851.) 
 
224 
 
 TBffi MOUND-BUILDEKS-THEIR ARTS. 
 
 with a minute description of the circumstances under 
 which they were found. This evidence was so con¬ 
 clusive that I no longer hesitated as to the authentic 
 character of my previous discoveries. 
 
 The following is a condensed statement of the facts 
 communicated by Mr. Woods. The cloth which he sent 
 me was taken from a mound on the west side of the 
 Great Miami River, in Madison Township, Butler 
 County, Ohio, two miles north of Middletown. The 
 mound originally was about twenty feet high, and when 
 Mr. Woods first saw it, thirty years previously, it was 
 probably sixteen feet high. Fifty years ago, according 
 to the testimony of the old settlers, it was covered with 
 large forest trees. The Cincinnati, Hamilton, and 
 Dayton Railway cuts one side of the mound, half of 
 which had been removed to form the track. The 
 workmen said that, in making the excavation, they had 
 found an arrow-head and a Considerable quantity of 
 charcoal, cloth, and bones. Mr. Woods states that he 
 took a shovel, and after removing the earth until he 
 was sure that he was down as far as the formation had 
 been disturbed, took out several shovelsful of earth, 
 charcoal, and cloth , the charcoal belonging apparently 
 to the oak and sugar maple. The workmen said that 
 they had found pieces of cloth connected with tassels 
 or ornaments. 
 
 About ten feet from the top of the mound there 
 occurred a firm, compact stratum of fine clay, an inch 
 thick, which appeared as if it had been burned until it 
 was red; under this, near the middle of the mound, was 
 another stratum, of a beautiful fine-yellow or cream- 
 colored clay, entirely different from anything in the 
 neighborhood. Under this stratum he found the char¬ 
 coal, cloth, and bones. The mass was so loose that he 
 
TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 225 
 
 could almost with his hand, sink down the shovel 
 eighteen or twenty inches, very little earth being inter¬ 
 mixed. The charcoal was outside the cloth ; the latter 
 was in thick folds and very much charred; the bones 
 were few and small. The strata of burnt and yellow 
 clay did not extend through the whole mound, but 
 occupied an area of only five or six feet broad. 
 
 The fabric in both the samples which I have described, 
 appears to be comjiosed of some material allied to hemp, 
 but less readily recognized in the charred specimens 
 from Butler County than in those from Jackson County, 
 and the separation between the fibre and the wood 
 appears to have been as thorough and effectual as at 
 this day by the process of rotting and heckling. 
 The threa'd, though coarse, is uniform in size, and regu¬ 
 larly spun. Two modes of weaving are 
 recognized: in one by the alternate inter¬ 
 section of the warp and woof; and in 
 the other the weft is wound once around 
 the warp,— a process which could not be 
 accomplished except by hand. In the 
 illustration the interstices have been 
 enlarged to show the method of weaving, 
 but in the original the texture was 
 about the same as that in coarse sail¬ 
 cloth. In some of the Butler County 
 
 specimens, there is evidently a fringed , 
 
 ^ •/ o Cloth irom mounds 
 
 border. in Ohio. 
 
 In the specimens of pottery where the human figure 
 is represented, there is, most generally a head-dress 
 which, without doubt, was of cloth, and there is one 
 statuette of a captive bound with a twisted band. 
 Lapham states that a skeleton was found in one of 
 the mounds of Wisconsin, wrapped apparently in a 
 p 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 
226 THE MOUND - BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 cloth of an open texture, like the coarsest linen fabric, 
 but the threads were so rotten as to make it quite 
 uncertain of what material it was made; and in the 
 removal of the great mound at St. Louis, a few years 
 ago, patches of cloth of a coarse texture, more or less 
 carbonized, were found in connection with human 
 skeletons. 
 
 I see no reason, then, why cloth-manufacture should 
 not be included among the arts of the 'Mound-builders. 
 There is no evidence that the Indians possessed this art 
 when first known to the White man,— an art which, when 
 once acquired, would not be permitted to lapse; nor is 
 the supposition plausible that this cloth was a European 
 fabric, obtained by the Indians and substituted in the 
 mounds with their intrusive burials, for the reason that 
 the material employed is not such as a civilized race 
 would manufacture to traffic with a barbarous one, it 
 being more costly than wool, and less adapted, by rea¬ 
 son of its rigidity and lack of warmth, to the pur¬ 
 poses of clothing. Besides, the supposition of intru¬ 
 sive burial, so far as relates to the Butler County 
 mound is not to be entertained, for Mr. Woods’s state¬ 
 ment is exphcit, that the cloth was beneath two 
 strata of clay, one burnt red, and the other cream- 
 colored, neither of which had been disturbed. 
 
 These facts have an important bearing upon the eth¬ 
 nology of the people by whom the mounds were 
 built. They go far to dissever the present race of 
 Indians from the Mound-builders, and to link the latter 
 to the civilized races of Central America. 
 
 When Columbus, in 1502, met a party of the Mayas 
 from Yucatan, at an island near Kuatan, off the 
 coast of Honduras, he found that they had come in 
 a vessel of considerable size equipped with sails, and 
 
PERUVIAN FABRICS. 
 
 227 
 
 that its cargo consisted of a variety of textile fabrics 
 of divers colors, wearing,apparel, etc. This testimony 
 is emphatic, that the people of Yucatan used woven 
 cloth, at a time when first discovered by the Euro¬ 
 peans. 
 
 The art of spinning and weaving was also practised 
 by the Peruvians when their country was first invaded 
 by the Spaniards; and samples of cloth, and the dis¬ 
 taffs oil which the thread was spun, are associated 
 with the oldest monuments. In corroboration of this, 
 I quote the verbal statements made to me by Mr. E. O. 
 Carter, a gentleman who passed several years in that 
 country, and pei'sonally assisted in the exploration of 
 many of the antiquities. Thus at Pachacamao, thirty or 
 forty miles from Lima, where stands the Temple of 
 the Sun, there are numerous remains of walls built of 
 adobes or sun-dried bricks, indicating the site of a 
 onee large and compact town, but now a mass of ruins. 
 In the liuacas or burial-places are found numerous 
 mummies TiTa^sitting posture, wrapped in many folds 
 of cloth, with an exterior covering of coarse matting. 
 The cloth is composed of a regular warp and woof, 
 the thread being twisted or spun, and often wrought 
 into variegated patterns. The fabric consists of the 
 wool of the llama or alpaca, and perhaps in some 
 instances of cotton which there grows spontaneously. 
 In this connection it is not unusual to find spindles, 
 with the yarn upon them, which are sticks nine or ten 
 inches long, terminated at one end by a button ; also, 
 various utensils indicative of the occupation of the 
 deceased; and in some instances, personal ornaments, 
 consisting of gold and silver, such as chaplets and 
 bracelets. Artieles of pottery, filled sometimes with 
 maize and sometimes with cotton are abundant. 
 
228 THE MOUND - BHHiDEKS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 The Indians of New Mexico, when visited by Coro¬ 
 nado, in 1540, were found wearing mantles of raw 
 cotton, and “ there was found in their houses certain 
 yarn made of raw cotton.” 
 
 It is not necessary to suppose that complicated 
 machinery is required to produce a good textile 
 fabric.* 
 
 It is not known precisely in what manner the Mound- 
 builders carried on the processes of spinning and 
 weaving, but the following implements, of which those 
 of an analogous structure are quite numerous, were 
 probably employed. (Vide Fig. 30.) 
 
 Squier and Davis have figured no less than seventeen 
 of these implements, some of which are square, some 
 oblong, and others oval, cruciform, or lozenge-shaped, 
 and most of which are elegantly finished. Whilst they 
 are often found in the ploughed fields, which would 
 give them an uncertain origin, they are also found in 
 the mounds in connection with skeletons. 
 
 * The Hindoo, according to Ure (Dictionary of Arts, etc.,— Article 
 “Weaving’'), at this day readily extemporizes a loom by employing two 
 bamboo rollers, one for the warp and one for the woven cloth, with a 
 pair of treadles for parting the warp, to permit the weft to be drawn 
 across between the upper and under threads. The shuttle is a slender 
 rod, like a large netting needle, rather longer than the web is broad, and 
 is made use of as a batten or lay, to strike home and condense each 
 successive thread or weft against the closed fabric. He carries this 
 simple apparatus, with his water-pitcher, rice-pot, and hooks, to the 
 foot of any tree which may afford him a comfortable shade. He then 
 digs a large hole to receive his legs, along with the treadles or lower part 
 of the harness; he next extends his warp by fastening his two bamboo 
 rollers at a proper distance from each other, with pins into the sward ; he 
 attaches the treadles to a convenient branch of the tree overhead, inserts 
 his great toes into two loops under the gear, to serve him for treadles ; 
 lastly, he sheds the warp, draws through the weft, and beats it close up 
 to the web with his rod-shuttle or batten, and thus makes a cloth which 
 formerly found its way to the European markets. 
 
GAUGES. 
 
 229 
 
 Fig. 30 = i. 
 
 a b 
 
 Gauges to regulate the size of the thread. 
 
 a is symmetrically wrought, flat on one side, and rounded on the other. 
 It is rimmed out on both sides, but the diameter of the hole is only 
 sufficient to pass ordinary pack-thread. This specimen was found in 
 a ploughed field, in Marion County, Indiana, and is in the Collection 
 of Professor Cox, of Indianapolis. 
 
 b represents a similar implement, found near Franklin, Catfaraugus 
 County, New York, which is now in the possession of Benjamin 
 McCleur, of Dubuque, Iowa. The second figure is very similar to 
 one given by Schoolcraft,* and Squier and Davis have figured several 
 relics of this description, which they regard as gorgets.f 
 
 * “ Researches,” etc., vol. i, p. 8o. 
 
 j- “ Ancient Monuments,” p. 237. In Professor Cox’s Collection, is a 
 specimen, found near Indianapolis, of a beautifully banded slate, which 
 is similar in outline to No. 4 of their illustrations. The material in both 
 the illustrations which I have given, is of the same character. This 
 silicious slate seems to have been highly-prjzed by the Mound-builders. 
 Its uniform grain, its ribbon-like structure, and the ease with which it 
 could be chipped and ground into symmetrical forms, proved a most 
 attractive material, and we find this class of utensils distributed over 
 nearly the whole area of the Mississippi Valley, and even the Atlantic 
 Coast. 
 
230 
 
 THE MOUND - BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Weightsl — Another class of implements which may 
 have been used in the process of weaving, is represented 
 in the following 
 
 Fig. 31 = 1. 
 
 Weights (?) to keep the thread taut. 
 
 Specimen a is from Quincy, Illinois, and is in the cabinet of Professor 
 Worthen. It was found in connection with several others, in digging 
 a post-hole. 
 
 Specimen l> was found near Newport, Indiana, and is in the cabinet of 
 Mr. John Collet, who states that in the vicinity where found, there are 
 numerous mounds. 
 
 Specimen c is as interesting perhaps as any in this group, as it had been 
 chipped out preparatory to grinding and polishing. It is in the State 
 Collection of Illinois. The material of all these specimens is specular 
 iron ore, from the Iron Mountain of Missouri. 
 
 To what use were these implements, upon which the 
 Mound-builder expended so much labor and skill, 
 applied ? The popular idea is that they were plumb- 
 bobs or sinkers to fishing-nets. With regard to the 
 first supposition, it may be said that they would have 
 made the attachment at the obtuse end so as to enable 
 the observer to fix his point with greater accuracy,— a 
 consideration which would not have been overlooked 
 by the Mound-builder, had he employed this instru- 
 
BOLAS. 
 
 231 
 
 inent for determining terrestrial gravity, and the 
 attacliment of a string to the crease would tend to 
 throw the plumb-bob out of perpendicular. With 
 regard to the second supposition, it may be said that 
 the crease is fitted to receive only a very small stringf 
 and that the Mound-builders would hardly use so costly 
 an implement, when an ordinary pebble would answer 
 just as well. The danger of entanglement and the 
 consequent loss would be too great to be incurred. As 
 personal ornaments they would be too cumbersome. 
 I am inclined, on the whole, to believe that they were 
 used to keep the thread taut in weaving, or to pass it 
 through the warp. The creases are too small to admit 
 of the attachment of a thread, except of delicate pro¬ 
 portions. 
 
 Another use to which these implements may have 
 been applied is that of the bolas, a weapon almost 
 peculiar to the Patagonians, which according to Falk*, 
 ner, is of three sorts. “ That used in war is a single 
 rounded stone or ball of hardened clay, weighing about 
 a pound, and fastened to a short rope or sinew of skin. 
 This they sometimes throw at their adversary, rope and 
 all, but generally they prefer to strike at his head with 
 it. For hunting, the}’ use two similar stones fastened 
 together by a rope which is generally three or four yards 
 long. One of the stones they take in their hand, and 
 then whirling the other round their head, throw both at 
 the object they wish to entangle. Sometimes several 
 balls are used, but two appear to be the usual number. 
 They do not try to strike their victim with the balls 
 themselves, but with the rope, and then of course the 
 balls swing round in different directions, and the thongs 
 become so ‘laid up’ or twisted, that struggling only 
 makes the captive more secure. It is said that a man 
 
232 THE MOUND-BUH^DERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 on horseback can use the bolas effectually at a distance 
 of eighty yards.” * 
 
 Carver, in Iris Travels, 1776, says: “The Indians 
 that inhabit still further to the westward, a country 
 which extends to the South Sea, use in fight a warlike 
 instrument which is very uncommon. Having a great 
 plenty of horses, they always attack their enemies on 
 horseback, and encumber themselves with no other 
 weapon than a stone of middling size, curiously wrought, 
 which they fasten to a string, about a yard and a half 
 long, to their right arms, a little above the elbow. 
 These stones they conveniently carry in their hands, till 
 they reach their enemies, and then swinging them with 
 great dexterity, as they ride full speed, never fail of 
 doing execution.” f 
 
 In another work J I have described and figured eight 
 of these relics, collected all the way from Northern Ohio 
 to the Mississippi River. The Ohio specimen is of a grey 
 sub-crystalline limestone and tapers equally towards 
 both extremities. Five of them have the same general 
 shape as figure a, and with one exception, all are creased 
 at the sharp end. They are symmetrically wrought and 
 beautifully polished, and in some of them at the small 
 end is to be seen a slight hole, as though the block, 
 after having been chipped to the general shape, had 
 been secured in a lathe, and received its ultimate 
 fashioning and polishing while subjected to a revolving 
 motion. In Mr. Perkins’s Collection is one of dark por¬ 
 phyry— a black base with large crystals of feldspar 
 interspersed. The contrast of colors makes it a very 
 beautiful object. 
 
 * Cited by Lubbock, “ Pre-historic Times,” p. 334. 
 
 f Carver’s “ Travels in North America,” p. 188. 
 
 t " Transactions Chicago Academy of Sciences,” vol. i, part ii, p. 258. 
 
SHUTTLES. 
 
 233 
 
 It is difficult to conceive how, in the absence of steel 
 tools, so obdurate a material could be so symmetrically 
 wrought. There are two of these specimens of specu¬ 
 lar iron in the State Collection of Illinois, the localities 
 of which are unknown ; three in the possession of Pro¬ 
 fessor Worthen, the State Geologist; one in the pos¬ 
 session of Mr. John Collett of Eugene, Indiana ; one in 
 the Collection of Professor Cox; one in the Iowa 
 Institute at Dubuque; and one in the Museum of the 
 Chicago Academy of Sciences. 
 
 There can be no doubt as to the source from which 
 the material was derived. It is well-known that on the 
 shores of Lake Superior and in Southeastern Missouri, 
 occur mountain masses of specular iron. It is highly 
 compact in structure, of a steel-gray color, and takes a 
 good polish, with a metallic lustre. At both localities, 
 this ore often contains imbedded 
 crystals of feldspar, decomposing into 
 kaolin. This peculiarity is seen in 
 many specimens, and as the greater 
 number were found within one hun¬ 
 dred and fifty miles of the Iron 
 Mountain of Missouri, the proba¬ 
 bility is that they were derived from 
 that source, rather than from Lake 
 Superior. 
 
 Sometimes these implements are 
 worked out of a brown hsematite, and 
 are highly polished. 
 
 Another implement which may have 
 been used for a shuttle, is represented 
 in the margin, and was found in a 
 ploughed field, near Stanford, Mon¬ 
 roe County, Indiana, and is in the 
 
 Fig. 32= 
 
 Weaver’s shuttle 
 
234 THE MOUND - BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Button for the head 
 of a spindle ? 
 
 Fig. 33 — ^. possession of Mr. Fellows, of Bloom¬ 
 ington. It is very symmetrically 
 wrought, and the hole shows by its 
 creases that the rimming instrument 
 had an irregular bit, such as would 
 be presented by a chert edge. The 
 next figure, I am disposed to think, 
 is a button which formed the head of a spindle. It is of 
 heematitic iron ore, and is in the cabinet of the Iowa 
 Institute, Dubuque. 
 
 This figure represents a hemi¬ 
 spherical implement of brown 
 haematite highly polished. It is 
 not a perfect half-globe, there 
 being slight irregularities. It is 
 in Mr. Collett’s Collection, and 
 was found in the Wabash Val¬ 
 
 FiG. 34=j 
 
 From the Wabash Valley. 
 
 Fig. 35. 
 
 ley, near Eugene. I have no suggestions to offer as to 
 its applications. 
 
 Shell-worli. — The Mound- 
 builders made use, princi¬ 
 pally, of two kinds of marine 
 shells: the Busycon and the 
 Marginella, but the Olivia and 
 Fasciolaria are occasionally 
 met with, all of which are 
 inhabitants of the Gulf of 
 Mexico. Of the Busycon, 
 two species were employed : 
 the B. perversum and the B. 
 earica, but the former was 
 the more highly prized, as it 
 yielded plates of considerable 
 size and thickness. These 
 
 Busycon pervostun (greatly reduced). 
 
SHELL-WORK. 
 
 23 .*) 
 
 plates were worked into rounded forms, pierced in the 
 centre. strung, and worn as beads — the ivory beads so 
 often described as occurring in the mounds. Such 
 specimens were found in the great Grave Creek Mound, 
 in West Virginia ; in the ancient ossuary near Beverly, 
 in the Dominion of Canada; and in the great mound 
 at St. Louis. According to Mr. .James M. Loring, 
 who witnessed the progress of excavation in the last- 
 named structure, at the depth of twenty-five feet lay 
 the form of a recumbent warrior, around whose head 
 and neck had evidently been strung a great num¬ 
 ber of beads, consisting of discs cut from 
 a thick-plated shell, and small sea-shells 
 entire. Through the kindness of Dr. Win. 
 
 H. Boyd, I was furnished with samples of 
 these shells. The discs were cut from 
 plates of the Busycon perversum^ whilst 
 the small sea-shells proved to be the Mar- ge^d from thef 
 ginella apicina, which were pierced near 
 the shoulder for the reception of a string. 
 
 These species were also found at Grave 
 Creek and at Beverly, points widely 
 asunder, which indicate the close com¬ 
 mercial relations which must have been 
 maintained during the Mound-building 
 epoch. 
 
 The OKvia porphyra was prepared for 
 stringing by grinding down its short spire. 
 
 The columella of the Busycon, often six inches in 
 length, was wrought into a pin-shaped instrument with 
 a hemispherical head, an inch and a quarter in diameter, 
 and the shaft half an inch, with a somewhat blunted 
 point. The most expanded portion of the shell was cut 
 into plates, on which were engraved various devices. 
 
 M. 
 
 Louis mound, 
 cut from the 
 Busycon. 
 
 Fm. 37. 
 
 Marginclla api- 
 cina. 
 
236 THE MOUND-BUELDERS — TBLEER ARTS. 
 
 One large shell yielded a plate six by eight inches. Dr. 
 Jones, in the “ American Naturalist,” was the first to 
 describe these engraved plates, found by him in the 
 mounds of Tennessee. Professor Wyman describes 
 similar plates, taken by Mr. Dunning from the Lick 
 Creek Mound, in the same State. 
 
 “ They are mostly perforated with two holes, appar¬ 
 ently for strings, but in some, they are surrounded 
 by circles, representing eyes; between these there is a 
 raised ridge in place of a nose, and below this a third 
 hole which, in some of the pieces, is surrounded by a 
 raised portion, which takes the place of a mouth. . . 
 
 These objects were apparently worn as gorgets.” * 
 
 Pottery. — In the plastic arts, the Mound-builders 
 attained a perfection far in advance of any samples 
 which have been found characteristic of the Stone, and 
 even the Bronze Age of Europe. We can readily con¬ 
 ceive that, in the absence of metallic vessels, pottery 
 would be employed as a substitute, and the potter’s art 
 would be held in the highest esteem. From making 
 useful forms, it would be but natural to advance to the 
 ornamental. Sir John Lubbock remarks that “few of 
 the British sepulchral urns, belonging to the ante-Roman 
 times, have upon them any curved lines. Representations 
 of animals and plants are also almost entirely wanting. 
 They are even absent from all articles belonging to the 
 Bronze Age in Switzerland, and I might almost say in 
 Western Europe generally, while ornaments of curved 
 and spiral lines are eminently characteristic of this 
 period. The ornamental ideas of the Stone Age, on 
 the other hand, are confined, so far as we know, to com¬ 
 positions of straight lines, and the idea of a curve 
 scarcely seems to have occurred to them. The most 
 
 * “ Fifth Annual Report Peabody Museum of Archaeology.” 
 
WATER-JUGS. 
 
 237 
 
 elegant ornaments on their vases, are impressions made 
 by the finger nail, or by a cord wound round the soft 
 clay.” * 
 
 The commonest forms of the Mound-builders’ pottery 
 represent kettles, cups, water-jugs, pipes, vases, sepul¬ 
 chral urns, etc. Not content with plain surfaces, they 
 frequently ornamented those surfaces with curved lines 
 and fret-work. They even went farther, and moulded 
 images of birds, quadrupeds, and of the human form. 
 The clay, except for their ordinary kettles, where 
 coarse gravel was often intermixed, is finely-tempered, 
 so that it did not warp or crack in baking,— the utensil 
 when completed having a yellowish or greyish tint. 
 Most of their pottery is unglazed, but I have seen speci¬ 
 mens from Louisiana, which had this peculiarity, corre¬ 
 sponding, in this respect, with the pottery of Yucatan. 
 
 Fig. 38 = 
 
 Water-coolers from Perry County, Missouri. 
 
 Water-jugs. —I present above forms of these utensils. 
 These, being unglazed, would permit water to permeate 
 slowly through them and evaporate, creating a tem¬ 
 perature far below that of the surrounding air,— a device 
 adopted at this day in tropical countries to keep water 
 
 * “ Pre-historic Times,” p. 257. 
 
238 
 
 THE MOUND - BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 cool. The first forms represented, are similar in shape 
 to the decanters which used to be furnished the guests 
 of a hotel before the days of water-works. They were 
 taken from the ancient cemetery, in Perry County, 
 Missouri, and had been placed at the head of a corpse. 
 (Height, eight inches.) 
 
 There are barbaric races so utterly degraded as to be 
 incapable of availing themselves of the commonest 
 materials about them to aid in the processes of pre¬ 
 paring and cooking their food. The Indians of the 
 Lake region, as shown by the testimony of the Jesuit 
 missionary Dablon, hereinafter quoted, were accustomed 
 to cook their food by making a pail of birch-bark, folded 
 up so as to retain water, and casting therein heated 
 stones until the liquid was brought to the boiling point. 
 To make use of hollow vessels rudely-moulded of clay, 
 implies a considerable advance in art, and a still greater 
 advance when a people could make use of such sym¬ 
 metrical forms as are exhibited in the above figure. A 
 still higher advance in art is implied, when a people, 
 discarding simply useful forms, boldly launch out into 
 artistic designs, such as the scroll, the indentation, and 
 above all the portrayal of the human features, not as 
 uncouth caricatures, but as veritable delineations of 
 individuals in actual life. 
 
 Such delineations would indicate the setting apart 
 of a special body of artists who, not content to model 
 useful forms, aspired to represent human figures having 
 the physiognomy of their race. 
 
 In the subjoined figure these suggestions are sup¬ 
 posed to be carried out. (Fig. 39.) 
 
WATER-JUGS FROM NEAR BELMONT,-MISSOURI. 
 
 230 
 
 L 
 
 Fig. 39 
 
240 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 The body consists of a compressed globe, with a neck 
 surmounted by a human head. The orifice is in the 
 occipital region, and is about an inch in diameter. 
 The entire vessel is about eight and one-half inches 
 high. 
 
 When we critically examine the head, we are con¬ 
 vinced that the unknown artist had the skill to impress 
 upon the plastic clay the features of his race. Those 
 features are not characteristic of the Indian. The facial 
 angle is one indicating intelligence ; the lips are not 
 prominent; the eyes have not the obliquity of the Red 
 man; the jaws are not prognathous; and the contour 
 of the face is such as distinguishes the enlightened 
 races. 
 
 It is generally supposed that the moulding of pottery, 
 among barbaric tribes, is left to the women, and that 
 therefore we are to look only for crude delineations 
 which do not display the highest range of art which 
 may have prevailed among such tribes; but I think, 
 from the examples submitted, that the modelhng of 
 particular utensils, such as drinking cups, statuettes, 
 funeral vases, etc,, was confided to skilled artists, who 
 impressed upon the plastic clay an individuality which 
 is not to be confounded with mere general forms. 
 Society had so far advanced among the Mound-builders 
 as to give origin to a well-marked division between the 
 artizan and the artist ; or rather the latter, combining 
 the two occupations, sought to give expression to his 
 ideas in forms of decorative art. 
 
 On the next page is given a rear and side view of a 
 human figure in the form of a statuette (Fig. 40). 
 While the anatomy of the spine and shoulder-blades is 
 well enough represented, the other parts are grossly 
 incongruous. 
 
STATUETTE FROM NEAR BELMONT, MISSOURI 
 
 Fig. 40 
 
242 
 
 THE MOUND - BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Fig. 40 represents a captive. His head is covered with 
 several plaits of cloth ; his eyes are closed ; his features 
 are contorted as with pain 3 and his arms are pinioned 
 by twisted bands athwart the back, so tightly as to 
 bring out the muscles of his shoulders. The lower 
 portion of the body is crudely moulded, and the legs 
 are unnaturally bent beneath. This figure may have 
 been designed to commemorate the capture of some 
 dangerous enemy or some notorious malefactor; and as 
 the Mound-builders offered up human sacrifices, it may 
 rej)resent a victim prepared for the altar. 
 
 There is an opening at the top of the head, and the 
 marks of the gouge with which the artist extracted 
 some of the superfluous clay, are plainly visible. (Height, 
 eight inches.) The two figures last described were 
 exhumed by the late Sylvester Sexton, of Chicago, from 
 one of a group of low mounds in Mississippi County, Mo., 
 about seven miles from the battle-ground of Belmont. 
 There was also found a plain water-jug, similar in form 
 and capacity to Fig. 35. Statuettes have also been 
 found in the ancient cemetery in Perry County, Mis¬ 
 souri, where they occupied a position near the head of 
 the corpse. They are gross and incongruous, infinitely 
 beneath the figures above given, in artistic skill. 
 
 About twenty miles above the mouth of the Wabash 
 River, on the Indiana shore, is a high bluff, where 
 there is situated an ancient cemetery, in which great 
 quantities of human relics have been unearthed by 
 the excavating power of the river. Among these 
 may be enumerated bones, ash-heaps, stone-axes, 
 arrow-heads, pipes, and vessels of pottery. At a point 
 still further south was recovered a water-jug which, 
 in its general form and adaptation, is similar to those 
 from Missouri. The body and neck are similarly- 
 
WATER - JUGS. 
 
 243 
 
 shaped, the orifice in both examples is in the back of 
 the head, but the head itself, instead of being human, 
 is part human and part owl-like,— an incongruous com¬ 
 bination. The following is a representation. 
 
 Fig. 41 = -^. 
 
 Water-jug found near the mouth of the Wabash, by David Septer, 
 and presented to Prof. Cox, by Dr. J. W. Berry. 
 
 It is difficult to determine precisely what the artist 
 designed to represent, but tbe nearest approach, among 
 the feathered tribe, would be the horned owl. The 
 eyes are large and circular, the beak is short and 
 divided, the head is crowned by two projections 
 which might be taken for tufts of feathers, and yet on 
 the cheeks there is the appendage of human ears which* 
 are pierced for the reception of ornaments. 
 
24-i THE MOUND - BUILDERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Fig. 42=i. 
 
 It is not often that we meet 
 with vessels supported by 
 legs, 3 "et a few such instances 
 occur. Below I give a re^Dre- 
 sentation of one belonging to 
 this class, Avhich Avas found in 
 a ploughed field near Bel¬ 
 mont, jMissouri, by William 
 J. Hough, of Paducah, Ky., 
 and kindly loaned by the 
 present OAvner, Dan’l Hough, 
 of Indianapolis, for this illus¬ 
 tration. This feature is com¬ 
 mon in the ancient pottery of 
 IMexico and Central America. 
 For the purposes of comparison, I introduce an illus¬ 
 tration of a vessel from San Jose, near Mexico, one of 
 the Scammon Collection of Ancient Pottery, belonging 
 to the Chicago Academy of Sciences. It is very sym¬ 
 metrically moulded, and 
 
 Water-jug from near Belmont, 
 Missouri. 
 
 Fig. 43=i. 
 
 Ancient vessel from 9an Jos§, near 
 Mexico. 
 
 is ornamented by a series 
 of chevrons or small tri¬ 
 angles. This chevron 
 mode of ornamentation 
 appears to have been 
 Avidely preA’alent. The 
 most beautiful specimen 
 of pre-historic pottery 
 that I have ever seen, 
 was a cup recovered 
 from the shell-banks of 
 Grand Lake, Louisiana, 
 by Dr. Dungan, of Jean- 
 eret’s, and deposited in 
 
DRIKKING CUPS. 
 
 245 
 
 the Collection of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, but 
 unfortunately destroyed in the great conflagration of the 
 8th of October, 1871. It was hemispherical in shape, 
 and ornamented about the rim with the same chevrons 
 seen in the above-described specimen, but with the 
 further addition, that below the line of demarkation 
 there was a scroll-like border. What was remarkable, 
 however, was this; that the surface was uniformly 
 glazed — the only instance hitherto observed by me,— 
 and the general tint was of an umber color. In the 
 accuracy of detail, it reminded me of the best specimens 
 of .Japanese pottery of the present day. From this 
 similarity in the markings between the pottery from 
 Louisiana and INIexico, an argument might be drawn, 
 showing affinities between the two peoi)le ; but when 
 we come to enlarge our sphere of observation, we find 
 that other people, widely-separated, adopted the same 
 style of marking. In illustration of this fact, I intro¬ 
 duce the following figure of pottery belonging to the 
 Bronze Age of Switzerland, 
 being a reproduction of Fig. 
 
 25 ffl, given by M. Desor, in his 
 paper on the Palafittes of Lake 
 Neuchatel. The chevrons Avith 
 which it is decorated are almost 
 identical Avith those above des¬ 
 cribed. 
 
 Drinking These relics Svv£eiknT'^ 
 
 often display much taste in form 
 
 and ornamentation. I give a representation of one 
 obtained from the ancient cemetery in Ferry County, 
 jMissouri, before referred to. 
 
 Fig. 44=J. 
 
246 THE MOUND - BUILDERS—THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Fig. 45 = i. 
 
 Drinking cup from Perry County, Missouri. (Collection of the Chicago 
 Academy of Sciences.) 
 
 There is a flat lip attached to the rim,' and the handle 
 is surmounted by a female head. In the occipital 
 region there is a small orifice, leading to a larger cavity, 
 which was found to be filled with pellets about the size 
 of piUs. This is one of the most beautiful specimens 
 
 of antique pottery that I 
 Fig. 46. have ever seen. The clay 
 
 was properly tempered ; it 
 is moulded as evenly as 
 though turned on a pot¬ 
 ter’s lathe ; its form is 
 graceful, and the face is far 
 from being a caricature. 
 
 Pipes .—Under this head 
 I give but a single exam¬ 
 ple, and that because it 
 affords us the features of 
 the female countenance, 
 Pipe from a mound near Laporte modelled with Some artistic 
 
 skill. We have, in this 
 
SEPULCHRAL URNS. 
 
 247 
 
 figure, the narrow 
 and receding fore¬ 
 head and the broad 
 cheeks, caused by the 
 outward curving of 
 the zj'gomatic arches, 
 seen in the Mound- 
 builders’ skulls. The 
 posterior parts are 
 carried out in detail, 
 making this the only 
 obscene figure I have 
 
 seen in the Mound- Sepulchral urn from Laporte, Indiana, 
 builders’ art. 
 
 Sepulchral urns. — I give three representations of 
 sepulchral urns, taken from the mounds at Laporte, by 
 Dr. Iligday. The first (Fig. 47) is of finely-tempered 
 clay, and is symmetrically moulded. 
 
 Fig. 48 = L 
 
 Sepulchral urns from Laporte, Indiana. 
 
 The other two are of a coarse texture, and are by no 
 means comparable, in the artistic skill displayed, to 
 
248 THE MOUND - BUHjDEES — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 Fig. 49=4. 
 
 the pottery from Missouri. The ornamentation was 
 accomplished hy indenting the clay when in a plastic 
 state, using a sharp-pointed instrument for the curved 
 lines and a square-pointed instrument to stamp the 
 indentations. 
 
 Appended is a representation of a vessel from an 
 
 ancient grave near the mouth 
 of Big Sandy River, in Green¬ 
 up County, Kentucky, in 
 which the ornamentation dif¬ 
 fers from that of all the 
 specimens heretofore repre¬ 
 sented. The body is corru¬ 
 gated by a series of irregular 
 lines, which assume a nearly 
 
 vertical direction, and Avhat 
 Vessel from Greenup County, Ky. handles 
 
 (Prof. Cqx s Collection.) . , 
 
 &p t u 9/C xl. 0 Cl • 
 
 Kettles .—On the Saline River, Gallatin County, Illi¬ 
 nois, according to the ms. notes of Professor Cox, there 
 is just above low-water mark, a salt spring which was 
 resorted to in the earliest settlement of the country, by 
 those of European descent, for the purpose of procur¬ 
 ing salt by evaporating the brine. Here occur, 
 however, numerous fragments of pottery, shoAving 
 that a pre-historic people had resorted to the same 
 spring, and for the same purpose. From the slight 
 curvature of the fragments it is evident that the vessels 
 were of large capacity. The material is coarse, and 
 the general thickness of the vessel is about one-half an 
 inch, but at the rim it is three-quarters of an inch. The 
 exterior is marked by vertical lines of depression about 
 half an inch apart, vath bars less conspicuous and close 
 together, sometimes at right angles, and at others 
 
COLORED POTTERY. 
 
 249 
 
 oblique. When I first saw these specimens, I was 
 somewhat surprised that the maker’s should bestow so 
 much ornamentation* on vessels so coarsely made and 
 applied to such ordinary uses, but a slight examination 
 showed me that these figures had been impressed and 
 not carved; or in other words, that a basket of rushes 
 or willows had first been constructed, inside of which 
 the clay was moulded and allowed to dry before 
 burning.* 
 
 It is rare to meet with specimens which are decorated 
 with colors, yet such relics are found at Merom, Indi¬ 
 ana, in this respect resembling the pottery of the Indians 
 west of the Rio Grande, in New Mexico, collected by 
 Professor Cox. In both instances the fragments are 
 marked by broad stripes of black around the rim, and 
 
 * Since this chapter was written, I have seen a paper of Mr. Charles 
 Ran, of New York, on the aboriginal pottery of this country, in which he 
 refers to this locality and arrives at the same conclusions as myself : “ I 
 had occasion to examine a fragment of a vessel, sent to Dr. Davis, in 
 1859, by Mr. George E. Sellers, who obtained it at the 'Salt Springs’ 
 near the Saline River. . . Several acres, Mr. Sellers states, are covered 
 with broken vessels, and heaps of clay and shells, which indicate that they 
 were made on the spot. They present the shape of semi-globular bowls 
 with projecting rims, and measure from thirty inches to four feet across 
 the rim ; the thickness varies from half to three-quarters of an inch. The 
 earthenware has evidently been moulded in baskets. It is solid and 
 heavy, and must have been tolerably well baked. The impressions on 
 the outside are very regular and are really ornamental, proving that these 
 aboriginal potters were also skillful basket-makers.” 
 
 Mr. Rau quotes from Hunter, as to the aboriginal mode of making 
 pottery. “ Another method practised is to coat the inner surface of 
 baskets, made of rushes or willows, with clay, to any required thickness, 
 and when dried to burn them, as above described.” 
 
 Breckenridge (Views of Louisiana, 1814,; states ; “ The Saline below St. 
 Genevieve, Missouri, cleared out some time ago, and deepened, was found 
 to contain wagon-loads of earthenware, some fragments bespeaking ves¬ 
 sels as large as a barrel, and proving that the Salines had been worked 
 before they were known to the whites.” 
 
250 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS-THEIR ARTS. 
 
 the body is ornamented by circular spots; in the one 
 instance the effect is produced by a dark background, 
 while in the other the effect is produced by the reversed 
 process. 
 
 Subjoined are representations of the two specimens. 
 Fig. 50. 
 
 a h 
 
 a Ancient pottery from Merom, Indiana. 
 b " “ “ New Mexico. 
 
 (Professor Cox’s Collection.) 
 
 Professor Cox was informed that the New Mexican 
 Indians colored their pottery black by using the gum of 
 the mezquite, which has much the appearance and 
 properties of gum arabic, and then baking it. Much of 
 the ancient pottery from the Colorado Chiquito is 
 colored, the prevailing tints being white, black, and 
 red.* 
 
 The pottery found at Aztalan, Wisconsin, is of a 
 coarse texture, but the ornamentation is similar to that 
 from other regions.f 
 
 * Vide “ Pacific Railroad Reports," vol. iii. Whipple’s “ Report on 
 the Indian Tribes,” p. 48. 
 
 f Compare these figures with those given by Lubbock of ancient 
 pottery from West Kennet, England. (“ Pre-historic Times," p. 162, Fig. 
 154.) Also with that from New Jersey, figured by Abbot, Fig. 86, in the 
 “ American Naturalist ” for April, 1872. 
 
COPPER - SMELTING. 
 
 251 
 
 In the first example, the ornamentation was effected 
 probably by a twisted band pressed into the plastic 
 clay ; and in the other example by a square implement 
 such as was employed by the Mound-builders of La- 
 porte. 
 
 Fig. 51. 
 
 a and b. Ancient pottery from Aztalan, Wisconsin. 
 
 Copper implements. — Copper-manufacture played a 
 very important part in the domestic industry of the 
 Mound - builders. They wrought this material into 
 knives, chisels, axes, awls, spear and arrow-heads, and 
 daggers, and used it in personal ornaments. It has been 
 supposed that, unlike the pre-historic peoples of Ireland, 
 Denmark, and Switzerland, they were ignorant of the 
 art of reducing and casting it into the desired forms, and 
 this opinion was based on the fact that many specimens of 
 utensils or ornaments displayed blemishes which no ham¬ 
 mering could eradicate, and others showed macles of silver 
 which would not result from the smelting of two metals 
 of so nearl}^ equal fusibility. These specimens may 
 have been the product of their earlier art, but I think 
 that the evidence now in my possession, derived from 
 an inspection of a large number of their relics, is con¬ 
 clusive, that in the later stages of their career moulds 
 were employed. Many of these specimens, as I shall 
 
252 THE MOUND-BUILDERS-THEIR ARTS. 
 
 show hereafter, bear marks which could never have 
 resulted from hammering or any degree of oxidation. 
 
 They had no tin, and therefore could not, like the 
 ancient inhabitants of the Swiss Lakes, of Nineveh, of 
 the Nile Valley, of Ireland, and Peru, impart to it 
 almost the hardness of steel.* They have left behind 
 no evidences of stone structures, built of uniform blocks 
 and carved into ornamental forms. It is probable, 
 therefore, that the copper implements were used only 
 for warlike and domestic purposes. They do not appear 
 to have known the mystery of soldering, although they 
 had an excellent cementing material in native silver, 
 for the ends of their bracelets are brought in contact 
 simj)ly by bending. 
 
 The subjoined illustrations represent in part only, 
 the variety of forms into which the Mound-builders 
 wrought this material. While these forms are sym¬ 
 metrical, there seems to have been no attempt, as among 
 the makers of the bronze implements of Denmark and 
 Switzerland, to resort to ornament. 
 
 * Examination has shown that in order to get the greatest hardness 
 and cutting power in bronze, the alloy should contain about nine parts of 
 copper to one of tin ; and about this proportion is shown in the bronze 
 instruments of Assyria, Egypt, and Ireland. 
 
 The ancient Pemvians certainly had a knowledge of bronze, obtaining 
 their tin from Mexico and Chili. Lieutenant Gibbon (Valley of the 
 Amazon, vol. ii.) figures a hatchet from the grave of a warrior near Cuzco, 
 “ made of copper hardened with tin,” and also bronze ear-ornaments and 
 an armlet “ so thin as to spring open, when drawn over the hand,” and 
 also human effigies in the same metal. Humboldt carried with him to 
 Europe a chisel from a silver mine opened by the Indians, not far from 
 Cuzco, which on analysis was found to contain 94 parts of copper with 
 6 per cent, of tin. They executed, with bronze implements, many sig¬ 
 nificant works in porphyry and granite, wrought hard veins of silver, and 
 are supposed to have engraved the emerald. 
 
CHISELS, AXES, AND DAGGERS. 
 
 Copper Implements. — Fig. f > 2 . 
 
254 THE MOUND - BUH^DERS — THEIR ARTS. 
 
 I give above representations of the common forms of 
 copper implements employed by the Mound-builders. 
 
 Tlie copper chisel a is ten inches by one and a quarter , slightly concave 
 on one side, while on the other it is bevelled. (Found at West Bend, 
 Washington County, Wisconsin. Dr. Lapham’s Collection.) 
 
 Copper axe b is semilunar on cross section, and is almost identical in form 
 with one from Ireland, figured by Lubbock.* (From a mound near 
 Laporte. Chicago Academy of Sciences’ Collection.) 
 
 The copper axes c d differ somewhat in form, but agree in having flaring 
 edges, as in the modern axe. They show no marks of use. (Found in 
 a ploughed field ten miles north of Milwaukee, on the Green Bay 
 Road. German Natural History Society’s Collection.) 
 
 f represents a dagger or pike head, which is nearly a foot long and half 
 an inch broad. (It was found in excavating Bloody Mound, near 
 Neenah, Wisconsin.) 
 
 In the subjoined figure are represented several spear¬ 
 heads and arrow-heads, and the mode of attachment to 
 the shaft. This was accomplished by bending over the 
 edges so as to form a socket at the base, and drilling a 
 hole for the purpose of rivetting the head to the shaft. 
 In one instance, c?, there is a haft which was driven 
 home in a hole made for its reception. 
 
 Specimen a, from an unknown locality is in the Collection of the German 
 Natural History Society of Milwaukee. 
 
 Specimens b c are from Menasha, Wisconsin, and are in the Collection of 
 Dr. Lapham. 
 
 Specimens d e are in the Collection of the Chicago Historical Society ; 
 locality unknown. 
 
 * “ Pre-historic Times,” p. 25. 
 
OF WARFARE AND THE CHASE 
 
 255 
 
 Copper Tistplements.— Fig. 53. 
 
Copper Implements.— Fig. 54. 
 
 Ik 
 
 
 
 
 %> 
 
 KNIVES, AWLS, AND BRACELETS. 
 
COPPER IMPLEMENTS, 
 
 257 
 
 The copper knives show the same method of attach¬ 
 ment as that resorted to in the spear-heads; and those 
 found in the region of Lake Superior, among the debris 
 of ancient mining, do not differ essentially from those 
 found 111 Lower Wisconsin and Illinois. 
 
 a represents a knife in the Collection of the German Natural History 
 Society of Milwaukee ; locality unknown. 
 b was found near Sterling, Illinois.* The entire length of the blade is 
 9.5 inche.s; greatest breadth 1.5 inches. (Deposited in the Chicago 
 Academy of Sciences by Rev. Dr. Burroughs.) 
 c is reproduced from Lapham.f and is from the Lake Superior region. 
 Awls have been found at points widely separated. Specimen d is from 
 a mound at Laporte, Indiana ; e was found in the interior of Wiscon¬ 
 sin, and there is one in Professor Cox’s Collection, which was found 
 in Spencer County, Indiana, adjoining, on the north, the Ohio River. 
 f represents a bracelet, which is not an uncommon ornament. The 
 original was obtained by me from a mound in Charlestown, Ohio, and 
 is one of two sets, which were found enveloped in cloth. 
 
 * Mr. James Shaw, Assistant Geologist of the State of Illinois, writes 
 me thus . " The knife (above described) was in my possession for two or 
 three months, while I was making geological examinations in that part 
 of the State. I saw the exact place where it was found,— in a sort of 
 river-drift, composed of black alluvium and gravel mixed, and five or six 
 feet beneath the surface of the ground. I found the bone of a mastodon, 
 from the fore-leg of that animal, in exactly the same formation, and at 
 about the same depth, a few miles higher up Rock River. They both 
 seemed to be of the same age, and in the same position. The bone was 
 much decayed and was porous and quite light.” 
 
 The observations of Mr. Shaw would assign to the copper knife a far 
 higher antiquity than I am disposed to accord to it. From the similarity 
 in the construction of the socket to the many copper implements which 
 I have described, and to the fact that thus far no metallic implements 
 have been found in Europe, associated with the bones of extinct mam¬ 
 malia, I am disposed to refer this implement to the Mound-builder Age. 
 
 One of two suppositions is true: either that here has been an inter¬ 
 mingling of the relics of two distinct ages; or that if the synchronism is 
 established, man on this continent, as contemporary with the mastodon, 
 was far in advance, in the mechanical arts, of man as the contemporary 
 of the fossil elephant, on the European continent. 
 
 f “ Antiquities of Wisconsin,” p. 77. 
 
 R 
 
Copper Implements,— Fig. 55. 
 
 
 SHOWING TRACES OF MOULDS, 
 
COPPER IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 259 
 
 a represents a dagger, ten inches long and one inch wide where broad¬ 
 est. The flat surface is corrugated, and on each side there is a 
 continuous ridge for a considerable distance, as if left by the imperfect 
 junction of the two parts of the flask. (Locality, Waukesha, Wis.) 
 
 3 is a chisel, seven inches long, one and a fourth inches broad at widest 
 point, and a little more than a quarter of an inch thick. Both of the 
 broad surfaces are roughly ridged, and the sides show the marks of a 
 mould. (Locality, Waterford, Wis.) 
 
 r is a spear-head, with a haft for insertion into a handle. Length, nine 
 inches ; breadth, at the widest part, one and an eighth inch. The gen¬ 
 eral surface is quite smooth, showing little corrosion. On either side 
 there is a sharp ridge, which I think clearly indicates the marks left by 
 the mould. (Locality, Trenton, Wis.) 
 d is an awl sixteen inches long, and three-eighths of an inch in its 
 greatest diameter. It is traversed longitudinally by three thin ridges, 
 such as would be left by a sand-mould now in use. Mr. Perkins had 
 another specimen, similar in design, three feet long, and nearly an 
 inch in its greatest diameter, which was unfortunately lost. (Locality, 
 Barton, Wisconsin.) 
 
 ^ is a symmetrical spear-head, four and a half inches long. The surface 
 displays a set of delicate longitudinal lines, with the marks of the 
 mould strongly ridged on each side. (Locality, Farmington, Wis.) 
 y is a spear-head, with a socket, five and a quarter inches in length. 
 The thrusting part is ground down smooth, and the socket, at the point 
 of attachment, has the appearance of having been cast, not formed by 
 hammering. There are seven indentations, which Mr. Perkins con¬ 
 jectures were, perhaps, the record of events in the life of the possessor. 
 
 Mr. Perkins, to whose archteological collections, I 
 have had occasion so often to refer, has not less than 
 sixty copper implements, representing all the known 
 forms, such as knives, chisels, and spear-heads, besides 
 several anomalous forms. He had arrived at the same 
 conclusion as myself; that by reason of certain mark¬ 
 ings, it was evident that the Mound-builders possessed 
 the art of smelting copper, and he has furnished me with 
 the foregoing illustrations, in which the traces of the 
 mould are clearly defined. It is impossible to infer, after 
 a careful examination of these specimens, that the ridges 
 could have been left in the process of hammering, or 
 
260 THE MOUND - BUrLDEES — THEIE AETS. 
 
 In treating of the various implements of the Mound- 
 builders, I have encroached, in a slight degree only, 
 upon the materials at my command. The expense of 
 illustration, and the necessity of bringing this work 
 within reasonable limits, compel me to exercise, reluct- 
 antly I confess, the duty of abridgment. The more 
 thorougiy I investigate their arts and manufactures, the 
 stronger becomes my conviction that they were some¬ 
 thing more than a mere barbaric people. 
 
 Note.— A brief enumeration of some of the other forms of copper 
 in Mr. Perkins’s Collection, may not be out of place in this connection. 
 There is a copper chisel, eight by one and a half, by one-third inches, 
 ribbed on one side and ground on the other, and resembling in its general 
 outlines a, Fig. 46. It would be difficult to conceive how such an 
 implement could have been hammered out. The farmer who recovered 
 it, affirmed that it was found twelve feet below the surface. 
 
 There are three chisels with flaring bits, like d. Fig. 49, one, eight and 
 a half, by one half inches, three and a half inches broad at the cutting 
 edge, and one at the head ; the second, six by three inches, three and 
 three-fourths inches broad at the cutting edge, and one and one-quarter 
 at the head ; the third is of about the same dimensions, except that it is 
 an inch longer ; another is oblong, four, by two and three-fourths inches ; 
 and another of the same form, five, by two and a half inches, which is 
 flat on one surface and ridged on the other. 
 
 There is a pike-head, symmetrically shaped, wrought to a sharp point, 
 and with a gradual taper towards the head, which is also sharp but bent 
 over, as if designed as a clamp. The length of the implement is nearly 
 eight inches, and the form or cross-section is square, the greatest diameter 
 being one-half inch. There is another instrument of a somewhat similar 
 character, nearly six inches long, oblong on cross-section, one-half by 
 one-fourth inch, one side of which is grooved for two-thirds the distance, 
 one end brought to a point, and the other bent over like a fish-hook. 
 
 There is a copper awl, of the general form of d, Fig. 51, but only four 
 and three-fourths inches in length. 
 
 There aye five copper knives, one very rude, of the same general form 
 as a, Fig. 51, with hafts for the attachment of a handle, and one with a 
 socket, as in 6 , c, Fig. 51. The blade which is leaf-shaped, is only two 
 and a half inches long. 
 
 The spear-heads present a variety of forms. There are two of the 
 same general shape as e. Fig. 50, with sockets and holes for inserting and 
 attaching the handle. 
 
CHAPTER VTI. 
 
 ANCIENT MINING BY THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 T he southern shore of Lake Superior for nearly one 
 hundred and fifty miles, is bounded by alternate 
 beds of trap and conglomerate of the Lower Silurian 
 Age. Associated with these beds are veins of native 
 copper, sometimes cutting this assemblage of rocks 
 vertically, and sometimes running with the formation. 
 Native silver, chemically pure, is often found embedded 
 in the copper, in the form of blotches or macles, whilst 
 the copper which serves as the paste or matrix, is lean 
 in the precious metal. It is hardly necessary to add 
 that native copper is not mined elsewhere in the United 
 States, and hence its presence in the mounds, at remote 
 points, is an infallible guide in tracing the commercial 
 intercourse of the Mound-builders. 
 
 The two districts of Keweenaw Point and the Onton¬ 
 agon, are well known at this day as the great mining 
 centres, giving employment to a vast capital, and yield¬ 
 ing a product in copper about equal to the national 
 consumption. 
 
 Isle Royal, near the northern shore of the lake, in its 
 geological structure is the counterpart of Keweenaw 
 Point. 
 
 Copper boulders are frequently found on the lake- 
 shore, and in the Drift as far south as Central Indiana 
 
 261 
 
262 
 
 ANCIENT MINING. 
 
 and Illinois ; but while conjecture, half a century ago, 
 was rife that they were derived from the rocks forming 
 the water-shed between Lake Superior and Lake Michi¬ 
 gan, the real character of the copper-bearing rocks and 
 the mode of occurrence of the native metal, were not 
 known until the year 1841, when Dr. Douglass Houghton 
 presented a geological report upon the region to the 
 legislature of Michigan. 
 
 The Jesuit missionaries penetrated this region as early 
 as 1660, and whilst in their “ Relations ” they made 
 frequent mention of the occurrence of loose masses of 
 copper on the shores of the lake, and questioned their 
 Indian voyageurs as to their origin, yet they were enabled 
 to glean but scanty information as to their true source. 
 
 “ It frequently happens,” says Father Alloiiez, “ that 
 pieces of copper are found weighing from ten to twenty 
 pounds. I have seen several such pieces in the hands 
 of the savages, and since they are very superstitious, 
 they esteem them as divinities, or as presents given 
 them to promote their happiness by the gods that dwell 
 beneath the water. For this reason they preserve these 
 pieces of copper wrapped up with the most precious 
 articles. In some families they have been kept more 
 than fifty years; in others they have been kept time 
 out of mind, being cherished as domestic gods.” 
 
 Dablon, who followed in the footsteps of Alloiiez, 
 states that the savages did not agree as to the source of 
 the copper. Some said that it was where the river 
 (Ontonagon) began ; others that it was close to the lake 
 in the clay ; and others at the forks and along the east 
 branch of the river. He dwells, too, on the superstitious 
 reverence with which the Indians regarded these copper 
 masses, and in the “Relation” for 1669-70, gives the 
 following legend: 
 
INDIAN MYTHS. 
 
 263 
 
 “We have learned from the savages some secrets 
 which they did not want at first to communicate, so that 
 we were obliged to use some artifice. We do not, how¬ 
 ever, vouch for everything contained in the following 
 account. 
 
 “ After entering the lake, the first place met with 
 containing copper, is an island about forty or fifty 
 leagues from the Saut, towards the north shore, oppo¬ 
 site a place called Missipicooatong (Michipicoten). 
 The savages relate that it is a floating island, being 
 sometimes near, and at others afar off. A long time 
 ago, four savages landed there, having lost their way in a 
 fog with which the island is frequently invested. It was 
 previous to their acquaintance with the French, andth^y 
 knew nothing of the use of kettles and hatchets. In 
 cooking their food, as is usual among savages, by heat¬ 
 ing stones and casting them into a birch-bark pail con¬ 
 taining water, they found that most all of them were 
 copper. After having completed their feast, they 
 hastened to re-embark, for they were afraid of the 
 lynxes and hares which here grow to the size of dogs. 
 They took with them copper stones and plates, but had 
 hardly left, before they heard a loud voice exclaiming 
 in an angry tone, ‘ Who are the thieves that carry off 
 the cradle and the toys of my children ? ’ They were 
 very much surprised at the sound, not knowing whence 
 it came. One said it was thunder; another said it was 
 a certain goblin called 3Iissil)izi, the spirit of the waters, 
 like Neptune among the heathen ; another, that it came 
 from the Memogovissioois, who are marine men, living 
 constantly under water like the tritons and sirens, 
 liaving long hair reaching to the waist; and one of the 
 savages asserted that he had certainly seen such a being. 
 At any rate, this extraordinary voice produced such fear 
 
264 
 
 ANCIENT MINING. 
 
 that one of them died before landing. Shortly after two 
 others died, and one alone reached home, who, after 
 relating what had happened, also died. Since that 
 time the savages have not dared to visit the island, or 
 even to steer in that direction.” 
 
 The good father explains this legend by supposing 
 that they were poisoned by using the copper stones in 
 cooking their food; that the supernatural voice was 
 but an echo of their own ; and that the vanishing and 
 reappearing of the island were due to the fogs and haze 
 which hang about it. 
 
 These citations show that the Indians, when first 
 visited by the white man, had no traditions as to their 
 ancestors having mined copper; that they had but vague 
 ideas as to the source from which it was derived; that 
 they regarded it as “ big medicine,” to be preserved as 
 the most precious of their treasures; and that they made 
 no use of it in the practical arts. 
 
 That the whole extent of the copper-bearing region, 
 embracing both shores of the lake, was resorted to in 
 remote times for mining purposes, by a race of whom 
 the Indians preserve no tradition, there is the most 
 abundant evidence. This evidence consists in numerous 
 excavations in the solid rock, from which the vein-stone 
 has been extracted ; of heaps of rubble and dirt along 
 the courses of the veins; of copper utensils fashioned 
 into knives, chisels, and spear and arrow-heads; of 
 stone hammers, creased for the attachment of withes ; 
 of wooden bowls for bailing water from the mines; of 
 wooden shovels for throwing out the debris ; of props 
 and levers for raising and supporting the mass copper ; 
 and of ladders for ascending and descending the pits. 
 
 The high antiquity of this mining is inferred from 
 these facts : That the trenches and pits were filled even 
 
STONE HAMMERS. 
 
 265 
 
 •with the surrounding surface, so that their existence 
 was not suspected until many years after the region had 
 been thrown open to active exploration ; that iipon the 
 piles of rubbish were found growing trees which 
 differed in no degree, as to size and character, from 
 those in the adjacent forest; and that the nature of the 
 materials with which the pits were filled, such as a fine- 
 washed clay enveloping half-decayed leaves, and the 
 bones of sueh quadrupeds as the bear, deer, and caribou, 
 indicated the slow accumulation of years, rather than a 
 deposit resulting from a torrent of water. 
 
 The most extensive excavations occur in the Onton¬ 
 agon region, and to Mr. Samuel O. Knapp, the former 
 superintendent of the Minnesota Mining Company, the 
 public are indebted for the first knowledge of their 
 nature and extent. It was in the winter of 1847-8, 
 while passing over a portion of the company’s grounds, 
 that he observed a eontinuous depression in the soil, 
 which he rightfully eonjectured was formed by the 
 disintegration of a vein. There was a bed of snow on 
 the surface three feet deep, but it had been so little dis¬ 
 turbed by the wind that it conformed to the inequalities 
 of the soil. Following up these indieations, as dis¬ 
 played along the southern escarpment of a hill, he came 
 to a cavern into which he erept, dispossessing several 
 porcupines which had resorted there to hibernate. lie 
 saw numerous evidences to convince him that this 
 was an artificial excavation, and at a subsequent day, 
 with the assistance of two or three men, proceeded to 
 explore it. In clearing out the rubbish, they found 
 numerous stone hammers, showing plainly that they 
 were the mining implements of a rude race. At the 
 bottom of the excavation was seen a vein with ragged 
 projeetions of copper, which the ancient miners had not 
 detached. 
 
266 
 
 ANCIENT MINING. 
 
 The following spring he explored some of the exca¬ 
 vations farther west. One artificial depression was 
 twenty-six feet deep, filled with clay and a matted mass 
 of mouldering vegetable matter. When he had pene¬ 
 trated to the depth of eighteen feet, he came to a mass 
 of native copper, ten feet long, three feet wide and 
 nearly two feet thick, and weighing over six tons. On 
 digging around the mass, it was found to rest on billets 
 of oak, supported by sleepers of the same material. 
 This wood, from its long exposure to moisture, was 
 dark-colored and had lost all its consistency. It 
 opposed no more resistance to a knife-blade than so 
 much peat. The earth was so firmly packed as to sup¬ 
 port the mass of copper. The ancient miners had evi¬ 
 dently raised it about five feet and then abandoned the 
 work as too laborious, having first knocked off all the 
 projecting points. 
 
 The vein was wrought in the form of an open trench, 
 and where the copper was most abundant, there the 
 excavations were deepest. The trench was filled nearly 
 flush from the wash of the surrounding surface. The 
 rubbish was thrown up in piles, which could readily be 
 distinguished from the general contour of the ground. 
 
 A few rods further west was to be seen another exca¬ 
 vation in a cliff, where the miners had left a portion of 
 the vein-stone, in the form of a pillar, to prop the hang¬ 
 ing wall.* 
 
 The evidences of ancient mining were to be seen on 
 this location for the distance of two and one-half miles. 
 Upon a mound of rubbish we saw a pine stump, the 
 trunk having been broken fifteen feet from the ground, 
 ten feet in circumference, which must have sprouted, 
 
 * A sketch of this mode of mining is given in Foster and Whitney’s 
 Report, 1850. 
 
WOODEN BOWLS. 
 
 267 
 
 flourished, and died since the earth was thrown up. 
 Mr. Knapp counted three hundred and ninety-five 
 annular rings on a hemlock growing in a similar posi- 
 tion, which he felled near one of his shafts. 
 
 The number of ancient hammers which he took from 
 these excavations exceeded ten cart-loads, and with 
 little reverence for the past, he employed a portion of 
 them in walling up a spring.- They were made of 
 greenstone and porphyry boulders, which are found 
 very abundantly at certain localities 
 on the lake-shore. Selecting a stone 
 of the desired size and form, the 
 ancient miner cut a groove, single or 
 double, around it, so that it might be 
 secui’ed with a withe, and thus 
 wielded as a sledge-hammer. The 
 accompanying figure a represents one 
 of the larger class, whose dimensions 
 are twelve, by five and a half, by four 
 inches, and the weight is thirty-nine 
 pounds. The smaller class, 5, was 
 probably wielded with one hand. 
 
 Mr. William IT. Stevens discov¬ 
 ered other workings in the vicinity of 
 
 the Forest Mine, of nearly equal Stone hammers, used 
 
 ^ by the ancient mi- 
 
 interest and extent. They occurred ners in the Lake 
 
 on the southern slope of a hill, and Superior region, 
 consisted of a series of pits, some of which were four¬ 
 teen feet deep. They were arranged in four lines, 
 following the courses of four veins or feeders. In 
 cleaning out one of these pits the workmen came upon 
 the remains of a wooden bowl which, it was inferred, 
 from the splintery fragments of rock embedded in the 
 rim, must have been employed in bailing out water. 
 
 Fig. 56. 
 
 b 
 
268 
 
 ANCIENT mNING. 
 
 Remnants of charcoal were found, not only there, but 
 at other points, lying on the surface of the rock. Some 
 have supposed that fires had been kindled for the pur¬ 
 pose of melting the copper, hut the more reasonable 
 supposition is that the purpose was to heat the rocks, 
 and then dash on water, and thus shatter and destroy 
 the cohesion between the particles. This method was 
 practised by civilized nations before the invention of 
 gun-powder, and even at this day in the mining districts 
 of the Hartz and Altenherg. We can hardly conceive 
 how those old miners broke down the tough compact 
 rocks with such implements as they have left behind, 
 except that they resorted to the agency of fire. 
 
 In the Ontonagon region for the distance of thirty 
 miles, such evidences abounded. Upon Keweenaw 
 Point, they could be traced along the trap range from 
 Eagle River for twelve miles eastward. In describing 
 these works we have used the past tense, for the 
 explorers of that region, when they found that these 
 mounds and depressions had been made by a pre-historic 
 race, were sure to upturn the soil not as a matter of 
 scientific interest, but with the hope of finding copper 
 veins. 
 
 Mr. C. G. Shaw pointed out to us similar workings 
 on Isle Royal. They occur on what is known as the 
 “ Middle Finger,” and can be traced for the distance of 
 a mile. On opening one of these pits he found that it 
 had been worked to the depth of nine feet. At the 
 bottom was a vein of native copper eighteen inches 
 thick, enclosing a sheet of that metal lying near the 
 foot-wall. Hammers, similar to those before described, 
 abounded. 
 
 Mr. S. W. Hill writes me at this time (1872), that he 
 has found during the past season, on this island ancient 
 pits fifty feet deep. 
 
MICA MINES. 
 
 269 
 
 These facts show how extensively copper-mining was 
 prosecuted by a pre-historic race. It may be said that 
 there is hardly a productive vein in that region but 
 what shows traces of its having been previously 
 wrought.* 
 
 To connect the Copper-miners with the Mound- 
 builders, is no difficult task. Copper wrought into 
 various utensils, is found in the mounds all the way 
 from Wisconsin to the Gulf Coast, and the supply is 
 too abundant to authorize the supposition that it was 
 derived from the boulder drift. Its wide distribution is 
 an evidence, too, of an extensive commerce. To pene¬ 
 trate that distant region from the Ohio Valley, involved 
 on the part of the Mound-builders, a voyage of a thou¬ 
 sand miles. The passage to and fro was made in the 
 summer season, for there is no evidence, such as mounds, 
 village plots, or house foundations, to indicate perma¬ 
 nent occupancy. The climate is too hyperborean to 
 admit of the maturing of maize, and hence they must 
 have had a well-organized commissariat, with no inter¬ 
 ruption in their lines of communication. It is true, the 
 lakes and streams afforded an abundance of fish of the 
 finest flavor ; but man cannot thrive on a fish diet 
 alone. 
 
 The Mound-builders carried on mining operations of 
 a different nature, and in a region equally remote. We 
 
 * In the foregoing account of the ancient mining on Lake Superior, I 
 have availed myself, with the occasional omission of a sentence or the 
 substitution of a word, of a chapter prepared by Mr. Whitney and myself, 
 and contained in our “ Report on the Geology of the Lake Superior 
 Region,” Part I, published by the authority of Congress, 1850. This was 
 the first connected account of these ancient explorations. The facts 
 embodied in that chapter have since been appropriated by subsequent 
 writers, and often, I regret to say, without any acknowledgment of the 
 source from which they were derived. 
 
270 
 
 ANCIENT MINING. 
 
 have seen that mica was in great demand among them, 
 being used probably for mirrors and personal ornaments. 
 Two hundred and fifty plates were taken from the 
 Grave Creek mound. Squier and Davis, from a mound 
 near Chillicothe, extracted several “ round sheets, ten 
 inches or a foot in diameter, overlapping each other like 
 the scales of a fish,” and a plate of this material is said 
 to have been found in a mound at Circleville, which 
 was three feet in length, one and one-half feet in breadth, 
 and one-half inch in thickness. 
 
 It was not until the past year that I became aware of 
 the source from which these large plates were derived; 
 for whilst mica is an abundantly-distributed mineral, its 
 occurrence in large plates, suitable for use in the arts, 
 is rare. Professor Kerr, in charge of the Geological 
 Survey of North Carolina, informed me that he was 
 lately called upon to examine some ancient pits in the 
 mountainous region of that State, which were supposed 
 to have been excavated by De Soto and his followers in 
 search of silver, although history does not indicate that 
 the Spanish hero took that region in his route to the 
 Mississippi. In clearing out these pits, which were 
 apparently of great antiquity, it became evident that 
 the mineral sought for was mica, and there is little 
 doubt that this work was done by the Mound-builders. 
 These mines have been re-discovered, and under modern 
 enterprise, the market of this country is now supplied 
 from the same source to which the Mound-builders 
 resorted. 
 
 Lead, although easily reduced, does not appear to 
 have been used to any considerable extent. Mr. Wood¬ 
 man, of Dubuque, informed me that he detected its 
 presence in one of the mounds in the American Bottom, 
 and Dr. Hoy recovered from a mound in Wisconsin, 
 
ARROW-HEADS. 
 
 271 
 
 a pipe which had been fractured and subsequently- 
 mended with a ferule of the same material. The scarcity 
 of this metal is the more singular, since the lead region 
 of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois is dotted with their 
 works. Galena is frequently met with in the mounds 
 as far south as the Ohio River. 
 
 The specular iron ores of Missouri, as we have seen, 
 were wrought as a stone into what are ordinarily called 
 “ plumb-bobs,” which are among the most beautiful of 
 the Mound-builders’ ornaments. 
 
 Very many of their implements, as has been shown, 
 are wrought out of a greenish fine-grained and ribbon- 
 marked silicious slate, and from their wide diffusion, it 
 is evident that these people resorted to some special 
 quarry for the supply. It is a rock of metamorphic 
 origin, whose counterpart is not to be found in the 
 Mississippi Valley, unless it be upon the rim of the 
 basin. I am inclined to believe that it was obtained 
 from the novaculite slates which are found on the 
 sources of the Menomonee. 
 
 The greenstones and porphyries which are the 
 materials of their axes, occur in places upon the water¬ 
 shed of Lake Superior, but the Drift affords an abundant 
 supply, obviating the necessity of resorting to that dis¬ 
 tant source. 
 
 The chert, associated with the limestones, was the 
 material employed for arrow-heads, spear-heads, hoes, 
 and spades. On what is known as “ Flint Ridge,” in 
 Muskingum County, Ohio, there are numerous chip- 
 pings often covered with dendritic markings which, while 
 a strong, are not an absolutely certain proof of antiquity. 
 The deposit is in the form of chert, often approaching 
 chalcedony and jasper in external characters, and it 
 afforded an admirable material for arrow-heads. From 
 
272 
 
 AJSrCIBNT MINING. 
 
 the abundance of chippings, this locality was evidently 
 resorted to by both the Mound-builders and the modern 
 Indians. 
 
 “ There the ancient arrow-maker 
 Made his arrow-heads of sandstone ; 
 
 Arrow-heads of chalcedony, 
 
 Arrow-heads of flint and jasper, 
 
 Smoothed and sharpened at the edges. 
 
 Hard and polished, keen and costly.” * 
 
 This formation, which is a member of the Coal series, 
 can be traced almost uninterruptedly from the central 
 portion of the State to the Ohio River, and at several 
 points, similar evidences of arrow-head manufacture 
 have been observed. 
 
 Chert is abundantly associated with the Silurian and 
 Devonian limestones which underlie a great portion of 
 the Mississippi Valley, so that the Mound-builder had not 
 to resort to remote sources for his flaked implements. 
 
 A writer upon our ethnology, who is often quoted — 
 Schoolcraft,— has informed us that flint implements are 
 rarely found in our mounds. Had he been a geologist, 
 he would have said, never. Whilst we have the 
 Cretaceous system developed on a magnificent scale, we 
 have not the chalk formation with its accompanying 
 
 * Sandstone was never used by the Mound-builders as a material for 
 arrow-heads. It has not those frangible properties which admit of its 
 being “ sharpened at the edges,” nor that adhesion between the particles 
 which admits of its being “ polished.” Quartz fulfills these conditions ; 
 and chalcedony and jasper are but varieties of this mineral. True flint 
 is unknown in this country, but chert approaches it very nearly. The 
 mineralogist, therefore, would interpret this passage thus : 
 
 “ There the ancient arrow-maker 
 Made his arrow-heads of quartz-rock — 
 
 Arrow-heads of chalcedony. 
 
 Arrow-heads of chert and jasper,— 
 
 Smoothed and sharpened,” etc. 
 
ERAS OF PROGRESS. 
 
 273 
 
 nodules of flint; but adopting flint as a generic term, 
 we have ancient spear and arrow-heads represented in 
 quartz, chert, hornstone, jasper, chalcedony, carnelian, 
 and in the alkaline-earthy mineral, obsidian which in 
 its capacity to flake with a large conchoidal fracture, 
 leaving sharp, but brittle edges, is surpassed by mo 
 other form. Squier and Davis found obsidian arrow¬ 
 heads in Ohio, and Mr. Perkins has one found in 
 Wisconsin. 
 
 Uras of human progress .—Ethnologists have divided 
 the progress of man into three periods — the Age of 
 Stone, when he makes use of the crudest and simplest 
 instruments to provide the means of subsistence, and 
 when he is purely a barbarian; the Age of Bronze, 
 which implies a marked improvement in his social con¬ 
 dition ; and the Age of Iron, which is manifest in his 
 mastery over the forces of nature, and in the attain¬ 
 ment of the highest civilization. 
 
 It would be presumptuous to infer that the successive 
 ages known as Stone, Bronze, and Iron, like certain 
 geological epochs, were synchronous the world over. 
 A rude people, cut off from intercourse with surrounding 
 nations, and therefore incapable of adopting the 
 prevailing knowledge in arts and inventions, would 
 make slow progress in civilization. At this day, on 
 many of the isles of the Pacific, and in the mountainous 
 region of our own country, are living tribes whose 
 weapons of warfare and the chase, the archaeolo¬ 
 gist, without knowing their history, would refer to 
 the Stone Age. Whilst the primitive condition of man, 
 perhaps, was that of a barbarian, and the natural state of 
 society that of warfare, yet the emergence from this 
 state, as shown by all history, among the different tribes 
 of the human family, has been unecpial, and few have 
 s 
 
274 
 
 ANCIENT MINING. 
 
 attained, at this day even, to a high scientific and 
 moral enlightenment. 
 
 In reviewing the arts and manufactures of the 
 Mound-builders, as set forth in the preceding pages,— 
 the vast number and magnitude of their structures, 
 their skill in weaving, in pottery, in fabricating stone 
 implements, the extent to which they substituted cop¬ 
 per in the place of bronze, and the wide range of their 
 commercial intercourse, implied in bringing together 
 the products of distant regions, such as the native 
 copper of Lake Superior, the specular iron ores of 
 Missouri, the mica of North Carolina, the shells of the 
 Gulf Coast, and the obsidian of Mexico, we are justified 
 in assigning to them a place in the scale of civilization 
 as high as that of the Bronze Age of the eastern hemi¬ 
 sphere. 
 
 Their exclusion from the beautiful valley of the 
 Mississippi, which contains so many memorials of their 
 industry and greatness, is not the only example which 
 history affords of the extermination of a people con¬ 
 siderably advanced in civilization, by a people more 
 vigorous and less inclined to the arts of peace. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 HILE the individual variations in the crania of 
 
 V V a particular race are so great as to present inter¬ 
 mediate gradations all the way from one extreme to 
 another, thus forming a connecting link between widely- 
 separated races, yet, in a large assemblage of skulls 
 derived from a particular race, there is a general con¬ 
 formation, a predominant type, which appears to have 
 been constant as far back as human records extend; 
 to have been unaffected by food, climate, or personal 
 pursuits ; and which has been regarded among the 
 surest guides in tracing national affinities. Hitherto 
 our knowledge of the Mound-builders’ crania has been 
 exceedingly scant — restricted to less than a dozen 
 specimens — which, if authentic, clearly indicate for 
 the most part the Indian type. The results of my 
 observations have led me to infer that the Mound- 
 builders’ crania were characterized by a general con¬ 
 formation of parts, which clearly separated them from 
 the existing races of man, and particularly from the 
 Indians of North America. 
 
 I propose to discuss these distinctive characters, 
 based on crania derived from points somewhat widely 
 asunder. 
 
 275 
 
276 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDEES. 
 
 1. From the region of Chicago, Flinois. 
 
 2. From the region of Merom, Indiana. 
 
 3. From the region of Dubuque, Iowa. 
 
 The similarity of tj^pe in these crania, apart from the 
 similarity in rveapons of warfare, pottery, personal orna¬ 
 ments, and earthworks, would indicate a homogeneous 
 people distributed over a Avide area. 
 
 1. From the region of Chicago. — A portion of the 
 crania described in this chapter were collected from 
 two groups of low mounds about five miles apart, situ¬ 
 ated on the banks of the Des Plaines River. Dr. Stimp- 
 son, now deceased, but whose memory will be honored 
 by every cultivator of science in this country, Avas first 
 attracted to one of these groups by observing circular 
 trenches investing knolls two and one-half feet above the 
 surrounding plain, which led him to believe that they 
 were artificial, and, under his direction, Mr. Charles 
 Kennicott, assisted by Dr. Durham, entered upon their 
 exploration. There were portions of eleven skeletons 
 found in the first group, but they were so far decayed 
 that only one skull and three frontal bones, sufficiently 
 well preserved to admit of measurement and comparison, 
 were obtained. 
 
 The other group of mounds, situated near Haas’s 
 Park, yielded human remains Avhich evidently belonged 
 to tAvo distinct epochs. In them were found well- 
 marked Indian skulls, in a condition slightly changed, 
 and two skulls, evidently belonging to Half-breeds,— 
 thus showing that up to a comparatively recent time, 
 these mounds had been used as places of sepulture by 
 different races. In addition to these evidences of recent 
 entombment, were found, far gone in decomposition, 
 quite a number of crania, presenting features Avhich 
 readily distinguished them from those of the Indian 
 
FROM NEAR CHICAGO. 
 
 Zi i 
 
 and Half-breed. These relics have a high value, as 
 without doubt, they are the authentic skulls of the 
 Mound-builders. 
 
 Fig. 57 = 
 
 a Superciliary ridge and glabella. 
 
 6 Coronal suture. 
 c Apex of lambdoidal suture. 
 d Occipital protruberance. 
 e Squamosal suture. 
 f Position of the foramen magnum, j- 
 
 The best preserved skull belonging to this pre-historic 
 race was taken from what is called “ Stimpson’s Mound,” 
 
 * The dotted line inside shows the contour of the Australian skull — 
 the lowest of existing races ; the outer dotted line that of the European 
 — the highest. 
 
 f As these points, in the subsequent illustrations, will bear the same 
 letters, the names will not be repeated. 
 
278 
 
 CRANIA OP THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 one of the group first described. The gelatinous matter 
 had been dissolved away, and the bony matter, as 
 saturated Avith moisture, presented a soft spongy mass, 
 exceedingly fragile, which when di’ied, readily adhered 
 to the tongue. The soil was not unfavorable to the 
 preservation of human remains, being a fine loam which, 
 when packed, resisted the leaching of the waters. To 
 these remains, then, we may assign a very considerable 
 antiquity. 
 
 This skull is imperfect, the left parietal being want¬ 
 ing, and also the base, and therefore will not be the 
 subject of minute description. There are, however, a 
 few general points displayed, which will be found 
 characteristic to a greater or less degree of the crania 
 subsequently represented, to which I would direct 
 attention. 
 
 1. The low development, both in the anterior and 
 posterior regions at the apex of the coronal (5) and 
 that of the lambdoidal suture (c), as well as the low 
 frontal eminences, whereby the form of the Gothic 
 arch is given to the profile view. 
 
 2. The obliquity of the line which starts from behind 
 the foramen magnum, and runs to the occipital 
 crest (cZ). 
 
 3. The tendency at the union between the parietal 
 and squamous bone (e) towards a straight line. 
 
 4. The occipital point as forming the posterior 
 extremity of the skull. 
 
 6. The projection of the nasal bones beyond the gen¬ 
 eral outline of the skull. 
 
 6. The vertical parietal walls, the deeply-notched 
 orbital processes, and the bulging out of the zygomatic 
 arches (not represented in the figure) in an extraordi¬ 
 nary degree, as compared with the European skull. 
 
FKOM NEAK CHICAGO. 
 
 279 
 
 Many of these characteristics, which are not conspic¬ 
 uous in a well-developed European skull, indicate an 
 approach towards the lower animals of the anthropoid 
 type ; but still, between the lowest form of the one 
 and the highest form of the other, there is a broad 
 chasm which cannot be spanned by intermediate 
 gradations. 
 
 The measurements of this skull Avill be given in a 
 tabulated form. In its general outline it is Orthoce- 
 phalic. In brain capacity, it is about that of the 
 Borreby skull of Denmark — figured by Huxley — 
 which is referred to the Stone age; — a time just suc¬ 
 ceeding the last great physical changes in Europe, and 
 when man was the contemporary of the Urus and Bison, 
 but not of the Hairy Elephant and Rhinoceros. This 
 Danish skull, with the exception of the famous Nean¬ 
 derthal skull, is of the lowest conformation yet observed 
 in Europe, and when compared with the Stimpson 
 skull, there will be found a striking parallelism in their 
 general outlines,—the latter rising a little higher at the 
 vertex, and receding a little in the region of the super¬ 
 ciliary ridges, and at the base in the line of d f. While 
 other Danish skulls of the Stone Age exhibit a higher 
 development, other Mound-builders’ skulls, as I shall 
 show, are more depressed. 
 
 The “ Kennicott Mound” yielded three frontal bones 
 — the only parts of the skeleton capable of preserva¬ 
 tion— which were also indicative of a low t 3 fpe. In 
 two instances there was a rapid narrowing in the 
 temporal region; the plates were extraordinarily thick: 
 the superciliary ridges were massive, standing out like 
 ropes ; the orbital processes were profoundly notched ; 
 and the frontal bone was much prolonged towards the 
 coronal suture. Fig. 58, reduced one-haLf, represents 
 
280 
 
 CKAJSriA OF THE MOUND-BUILDBES. 
 
 one of these bones. No one, I think, can view this 
 fragment of a skull, with the superciliary ridges pro¬ 
 jecting far beyond the general contour, both laterally 
 and in front, and the low, flat forehead, with its thick, 
 bony walls, without coming to the conclusion that its 
 possessor was a ferocious brute. The prize-fighter of 
 this day might envy such a frontispiece, adapted to 
 withstand any amount of pommelling, or almost even 
 to turn a musket ball. 
 
 Fig. 58=i. 
 
 Frontal portion of a skull from “Kennicott’s Mound,” near Chicago. 
 a, a. Superciliary ridges, b, Coronal suture. 
 
 The Haas’s Park mounds yielded two crania which 
 were too imperfect to give all the salient points. One 
 is represented by a part of the frontal and parietal bone, 
 and is characterized by an almost entire absence of a 
 forehead. The nasal bones are prolonged from the 
 point of union with the frontal bones, like the beak of a 
 bird or the superior jaw of a gar-pike. The bony 
 
FROM NEAR CHICAGO. 
 
 281 
 
 plates are of almost pasteboard thinness; the orbital 
 rings are sharp and delicate; the sutures are imper¬ 
 fectly joined; and there is an absence of frontal sinuses, 
 which are supposed to be formed only after puberty,— 
 so that the skull evidently belonged to a young person. 
 
 This is, undoubtedly, the most remarkable skull 
 hitherto observed, affording the nearest approximation 
 to the anthropoid forms. It is so far anomalous that I 
 shall hereafter omit to compare it with existing types. 
 Granting all of the effects of pressure, whether artifi¬ 
 cially applied or the result of superincumbent earth 
 after burial, still, it is difficult to bring it within 
 the reasonable bounds of conjecture as to our ideas of 
 the conformation of what a human cranium, in its 
 widest deviation from a supposed type ought to be. 
 
 Fig. 59 =i. 
 
 a Glabella, v Vertex. 
 
 There was another skull, fragmentary in character, 
 having about the same contour as that from the “Stimp- 
 
282 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 son Mound,” which I have not deemed it necessary to 
 figure.* 
 
 2. From the mounds in the region of Merom, Indiana. 
 — In a preceding chapter I have given a description of 
 these mounds, and for the skulls recovered in their 
 exploration I am indebted to Dr. H. F. Harper, of that 
 place, who very kindly placed them in my possession. 
 
 Fig. 60=^. 
 
 Profile view of a Mound-builder’s skull, from Merom, Indiana. 
 
 * That portion of this chapter, descriptive of the Mound-builders’ 
 skulls, found in the valley of the Des Plaines, and the generalization as to 
 the former existence on this continent of an anomalous race, charac¬ 
 terized by a remarkably depressed forehead, was submitted by me to the 
 Chicago Academy of Sciences, in the winter of 1869-70, and the subse¬ 
 quent discoveries which have been made but confirm me in the views 
 originally entertained as to the low type of the Mound-builders’ skulls. 
 The specimens unfortunately perished in the great fire of Oct. 8, 1871. 
 
FROM MEROM. 
 
 283 
 
 This skull has about the same brain capacity as that 
 from Stimpson’s Mound (Fig. 57), rising a little higher 
 in the vertical region, and bulging out at the frontal 
 eminences and supra-orbital ridges. It is a good illus¬ 
 tration of what I regard as typical of the Mound- 
 builder’s skull: — the Gothic arch outline ; the very 
 considerable space between the occipital crest and fora¬ 
 men magnum ; the approach in the squamosal suture to 
 a horizontal line; and the great development of the 
 occipital crest, forming the extreme posterior part. 
 Tlie back view shows the joyram'daZ form, caused by the 
 flattening of the parietal plates, and the zygomatic 
 arches, as seen in the vertical view (not represented) 
 sweep out beyond the general contour. 
 
 Fig. 61=J. 
 
 Profile of a Mound-builder’s skull,- from Merom, Indiana. 
 
284: CKANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDEES. 
 
 In this specimen, the frontal eminences are more 
 conspicuous; the superciliary ridges are less developed; 
 the space between the foramen magnum and occipital 
 crest is less; but still the latter point forms the 
 posterior extremity, and the squamosal suture ap¬ 
 proaches a straight line. 
 
 If we regard a high forehead as the index of mental 
 power — a feature which is due to the retreat of the 
 facial bones, and therefore indicating a divergence in 
 the development in these parts from the corresponding 
 parts in the lower animals, we have in this skull an 
 example intellectually above those previously described. 
 The facial angle is less acute, and the brain capacity is 
 greater; but still, in these respects, this skull falls far 
 below that of the average Teuton. 
 
 Fig. 62=i. 
 
FROM MEEOM. 
 
 285 
 
 This skull differs from the preceding illustrations, 
 being of a less elongated form, but has other character¬ 
 istics which link it to the race of Mound-builders, such 
 as the wide interval between the points d /, and its 
 posterior occipito-extremity. The frontal sinuses are 
 inconspicuous, and there is a deficiency of develop¬ 
 ment, judged by the European standard, in the frontal 
 and parietal regions. That it belonged to a mature 
 individual is inferred from the fact that the coronal 
 suture is nearly obliterated. The parietal walls are 
 flattened, and the vault is pyramidal. The left lobe of 
 the cerebrum is unduly developed, as will be seen by 
 reference to the vertical view (Fig. 70), but not more 
 so than is to be seen in European skulls at this day. 
 
 Fto. fifl =h. 
 
 Fragment of a Mound-builder’s skull, from Merom, Indiana. 
 The dotted line represents the contour of the Neanderthal skull. 
 
286 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 Fig. 64 = 
 
 Posterior view of the same, showing the “Ossa Wormensia." 
 
 In Fig. 63 representing the fragmentary portion of a 
 skull extending from the posterior margin of the foramen 
 magnum to the coronal suture, we have a lower develop¬ 
 ment than in the famous Borreby skull from Denmark. 
 
 In the posterior view, Fig. 64, it will be seen that 
 there is an extra suture just above the occipital ridge 
 c 1, giving origin to what anatomists call the Ossa 
 Wormensia. This peculiarity I observe in the skull of a 
 Flathead now before me, and traces of the former 
 existence of such a suture I detect in many of the 
 Mound-builders’ skulls which I have figured. While 
 this Wormian bone is not uncommon in European skulls, 
 it is an interesting inquiry whether it is not of more 
 frequent occurrence in the lower races of mankind. 
 
FKOM NEAB LAPOKTE. 
 
 287 
 
 The above profile views of four skulls from this region 
 have certain points of resemblance among themselves, 
 and also as compared with those which I have already 
 described. 
 
 When my attention was first directed to these low 
 forms, I tried to argue that they were the result of arti¬ 
 ficial pressure, or that in their long entombment, they 
 had become warped and distorted. Had I seen but a 
 single specimen, I might have said that it was anomalous, 
 that it belonged to an idiot; but when I find the same 
 typical characters pervading the crania from widely- 
 separated points, and that in their outlines they are 
 symmetrical, I am led to the irresistible conclusion that 
 these characters are congenital.* 
 
 In the exploration of the mounds in the valley of 
 Kankakee, near Laporte, Indiana, by a party of which 
 Dr. Higday formed one, a single cranium only was taken 
 out entire, which he regards in some respects as remark¬ 
 able. 
 
 “ Anteriorly,” he remarks, “ this skull is not only 
 very low, but also extremely narrow, while posteriorly 
 the space of the cerebellum is very much depressed and 
 small, the occipital bone being flattened from its base 
 upwards and forwards, so as to encroach greatly on tlie 
 space which in well-developed skulls is occupied by the 
 
 * 1 have but a single specimen — from Merom —which clearly shows 
 the effects of artificial pressure. It is a large skull, and a flattened plane 
 occupies the space between the occipital crest and the vertex. The sur¬ 
 face for the muscular attachments, unlike most of the other specimens, is 
 very much roughened. Whether this flattening resulted from attachment 
 to the cradle-board in infancy, or from pressure deliberately applied in 
 after life, I am not prepared to say,— perhaps the latter. In this case the 
 flattening is in the occipital region, and therefore entirely different from 
 the usage which prevails among the Flatheads of the Northwest Coast. 
 This flattening has given an undue expansion to the parietals, amounting 
 to a deformity. 
 
288 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 posterior lobes of the cerebrum. The extremely deficient 
 development, which can be much better appreciated by 
 an examination than by a description, explains the 
 possibility of a skull having at once diameters of such 
 respectable length and capacity, and yet being so 
 extremely small (sixty inches). That this skull is that 
 of an adult, is evident from the partial consolidation 
 of some of its sutures, and that it is not a dwarf or an 
 idiot, we must infer from its possessor having had the 
 honor of a mound being built over his remains.” * 
 
 3. From the mounds in the region of Dubuque, Iowa. 
 — The mounds in this vicinity have been described in 
 a preceding chapter. They are by no means conspicu¬ 
 ous in size and are destitute of those long lines of cir- 
 cumvallation which so often invest those of the Ohio 
 Valley. 
 
 During the recent session of the American Associa¬ 
 tion for the Advancement of Science (1872), several of 
 these mounds were opened, and yielded the remains of 
 human skeletons far gone in decomposition. Three 
 skulls were secured sufficiently preserved to afford a 
 correct idea of their contour, one of which passed into 
 the possession of Mr. Oliver N. Ryan, of Marshall Hall, 
 Maryland, and two were secured by Mr. F. W. Putnam, 
 of the “ American Naturalist.” Mr. Ryan has kindly 
 furnished me the data for describing the skull in his 
 possession. It was exhumed b 3 '’Dr. Augustus Campbell, 
 of Dubuque, from a mound about twelve feet high, at 
 Dunleith, Illinois, opposite that city. The corpse was 
 buried about two feet below the surface, and was 
 covered with wood and stone. Appended is a figure of 
 this skull, which is one of the most anomalous ever 
 found. 
 
 *“ Proceedings Chicago Academy of Sciences.” 1870. 
 
FROM DUNLEITH. 
 
 289 
 
 Fig. 65 = i. 
 
 Fragment of a Mound-builder’s skull, from Dunleith, Illinois. 
 
 Dotted line ; — outline of the Neanderthal skull. 
 
 Although this skull is fragmentary, sufficient remains 
 to enable us to protract its general outlines. In brain 
 capacity it is as low as the Neanderthal skull; and that 
 it belonged to a mature individual is inferred from the 
 fact that all the sutures are closed. It differs from the 
 Neanderthal skull in this ; that while in the former there 
 is a prodigious development of the superciliary ridges, 
 such as have never before been observed in a human 
 cranium, in the latter they are not unduly prominent. 
 It has a marked resemblance in its contour to that from 
 Haas’s Park, near Chicago (Fig. 59),but is a little more 
 depressed in the frontal region. The nasal bones, as in 
 that specimen, form a bird-like appendage, though not 
 quite so conspicuously marked. 
 
 The Neanderthal skull, it need hardly be remarked, 
 
 T 
 
290 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND - BUILDERS. 
 
 affords the nearest approach hitherto observed, to the 
 confines of that gulf which separates man from the 
 anthropoid types.* • 
 
 In a review of this nature courtesy requires that I 
 recognize the labors of my predecessors; and I must 
 
 * As this work is passing through the press I acknowledge the receipt 
 of photographs of two characteristic Mound-builders’ skulls, preserved at 
 Milwaukee, with a descriptive note, from my valued friend Dr. Lapham. 
 This testimony as to the former existence of an anomalous race, by so cool 
 and accurate an observer as Dr. L., I regard the more valuable, since he 
 was inclined to believe, in his “ Antiquities of Wisconsin,” that the 
 mounds were heaped up by the ancestors of the Red man. 
 
 “ Two skulls of the ancient Mound-builders, preserved at Milwaukee, 
 possess characteristics confirming the views lately advanced by you, first 
 at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of 
 Science, at Dubuque (1872), and again in the “ American Naturalist” for 
 December. One of these skulls from a mound at Wauwatasa, has a 
 breadth of seventy-eight per cent, of its length and would be ranked as 
 Orthocephalic or regularly formed head. It is so much flattened behind as 
 to suggest the possibility of artificial compression when young. The 
 other skull has a breadth of only seventy per cent, of its length and there¬ 
 fore ranks as a Dolicocephalic or long-head. The peculiar characteristics 
 indicating a low grade of humanity common to both, are a low forehead, 
 prominent superciliary ridges, the zygomatic arches swelling out beyond 
 the walls of the skull, and especially the prominence of the occipital ridge. 
 The anterior portion of these skulls besides being low is much narrowed, 
 giving the outline, as seen from above, of an ovate form. 
 
 “ It seems quite probable that men with skulls of this low grade were 
 the most ancient upon this continent; that they were the first to heap 
 up those curiously-shaped mounds of earth which now so much puzzle the 
 antiquary ; that they were gradually superseded and crowded out by a 
 superior race, who adopting many of their customs continued to build 
 mounds and to bury their dead in mounds already built. Hence we 
 find Mound-builders with skulls of this ancient form, associated with 
 others of more modern type. 
 
 “ The discovery of these skulls with characteristics so much like those 
 of the most ancient of pre-historic types of Europe, would seem to indi¬ 
 cate that if America was peopled by emigration from the Old World, that 
 event must have taken place at a very early time — far back of any of 
 which we have any record.” (Private Correspondence.) 
 
 I regret that I cannot give the figures of these skulls, but hope to be 
 able to do so hereafter. 
 
FEOM TENNESSEE. 
 
 291 
 
 say, that, with a single exception, in the figures hereto¬ 
 fore given of Mound-builders’ skulls, I fail to recog¬ 
 nize the typical characters. Squier and Davis in their 
 admirable work, profess to have collected but one skull 
 which they regarded as authentic of the Mound-builders, 
 but any comparative anatomist, on referring to their 
 plate, will instantly recognize it as of the Indian type. 
 
 Dr. Morton justly describes it as perhaps the most 
 admirably formed head of the American race hitherto 
 discovered. It possesses the national characteristics in 
 perfection, as seen in the elevated vertex, flattened 
 occiput, great interparietal diameter, ponderous bony 
 structure, salient nose, large jaws, and broad face.”* 
 
 Comparing this skull with those which I have figured, 
 it will be seen that the Scioto skull differs widely from 
 the true Mound-builder’s skull in its most characteristic 
 features. 
 
 Morton gives figures of two supposed Mound-builders’ 
 skulls, one of which was furnished by the late Dr. 
 Troost, from a mound near the junction of the Broad, 
 French, and Holstein Rivers in Tennessee, represented 
 in the annexed 
 
 Fig. 66 = i. 
 
 Supposed Mound-builder’s skull from Tennessee. 
 * Morton, “ Crania Americana/’ p. 220, pi. xxxix. 
 
292 
 
 CKANIA OP TELE MOUND - BUILDERS. 
 
 This skull is remarkable for its great vertical and 
 parietal diameter, and its elevated occiput,—characters 
 which do not belong to the skulls which I have described. 
 The following are the measurements: Longitudinal 
 diameter, 6.6 inches ; Parietal, 5.6 ; Frontal, 4.1 ; Ver¬ 
 tical, 5.6; Internal capacity, 87.5 cubic inches. The 
 left portion of the middle lobe of the brain-case is dis¬ 
 torted, which may have resulted from the individual, 
 in infancy, having been strapped to a cradle board. 
 
 The second example, given by Morton,* is of a skull 
 from a mound on the Upper Mississippi, one hundred 
 and fifty miles above the mouth of the Missouri, repre¬ 
 sented in 
 
 Fig. 67 = i. 
 
 Supposed Mound-builder’s skull from the Upper Mississippi. 
 
 The skull from the Grave Creek mound. West Vir¬ 
 ginia, figured by Morton and reproduced in School¬ 
 craft’s work, is of the Indian type. 
 
 Lapham, in his “ Antiquities of Wisconsin,” has 
 figured a skull from a mound, which has some of the 
 characteristics of the Flathead. 
 
 * Ibidem, p. 229, pi. vi. 
 
THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 
 
 293 
 
 Classification of skulls. — In the classification of skulls, 
 comprehending the relation of breadth to length, those 
 which are less than seventy-three to one hundi’ed are 
 called long or Dolicocephalic ; those whose proportions 
 are less than seventy-four and seventy-nine to one 
 hundred are medium, or Orthoceplialic ; and those whose 
 proportions reach eighty and eighty-nine to one hun¬ 
 dred are Br achy cephalic. The Mound-builders’ skulls 
 which I have examined, differ on the one hand, from the 
 Indian type, which is Br achy cephalic, and from the 
 Teutonic, on the other, which is Bolicocephalic. They 
 are intermediate, or Orthocephalic, as will be apparent 
 from the following figures, reduced to one-fourth the 
 natural size: 
 
 Fig. 68. Fig. 69. 
 
 Vertical views of Mound-builders’ skulls, from Merom, Indiana. 
 
 Fig. 68 is a vertical view of the skull represented in 
 Fig. 60, and Fig. 69 of that represented in Fig. 61. 
 The vertical view represented in Fig. 70 is the skull 
 represented in Fig. 62. The latter approaches the 
 
294 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 Fig. 70. 
 
 short-liead form, and wliile 
 the corresponding walls 
 are not symmetrical, there 
 is nothing to indicate arti¬ 
 ficial distortion. In Figs. 
 68 and 69 the relation of 
 breadth to length is about 
 seventy-three to one hun¬ 
 dred, and in Fig. 70 it 
 reaches seventy-four to one 
 hundred. This ellipsoidal 
 form, or in other words, 
 this deviation from the 
 
 From Merom, Indiana. g^^at interparietal diam¬ 
 
 eter, which is charac' 
 
 teristic of the Indian type, and which gives to the 
 savage his ferocious and untamable character, is a broad 
 distinction which cannot be overlooked. From these 
 examples of a want of conformity in craniological devel¬ 
 opment, apart from other evidences, I think we are 
 • justified in drawing the conclusion that the Mound- 
 builders were not the ancestors of the North American 
 Indians. 
 
 The question arises, whether this singular conforma¬ 
 tion of skull is congenital, or the result of artificial 
 pressure. We know that the Flatheads and Chenooks 
 of the Columbia River indulge in this usage at the 
 present day, and there is reason to believe that other 
 tribes did formerly. But, with regard to the Mound- 
 builders’ skulls, it may be said that, while the volume 
 of the brain is small, the brain-case is as symmetrical 
 as that of the European. Where artificial pressure is 
 resorted to, as pointed out by Morton, the brain in volume 
 is not diminished, but is extraordinarily developed in 
 
DISTINCTIVE CHAKACTEKS. 
 
 295 
 
 those parts of the case where the pressure is not 
 applied, and hence we have the most grotesque distor¬ 
 tions. The coui-se of every bandage is marked by a 
 corresponding cavity in the bony structure. This is 
 illustrated in the following figure, the original of which 
 was furnished me by Dr. W. H. Boyd i 
 
 Fig. 61=i. 
 
 
 Skull of a Flathead, in the Museum of the Chicago Medical College. 
 
 The distortion of this skull, as seen in the profile, is 
 enormous, but in the vertical view, not given, it is still 
 more exaggerated, the left parietal wall bulging out 
 like a great tumor. There were apparently two band¬ 
 ages applied to effect this distortion,— one across the 
 frontal bone, just above the superciliary ridges, and one 
 just back of the coronal suture. 
 
 Distinctive characters .— The skulls which I have 
 described possess peculiarities which ally them more 
 nearly with the Mongolian race than with the Negro or 
 European. They belong in one respect to what Dr. 
 
296 
 
 CRANIA OP THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 Prichard calls the Pyramidal type^ but in other respects 
 they present characters wliich are sui generis. The 
 pyramidal form, seen in cross section, arises from the 
 pecuhar conformation of the malar bones, giving an 
 outward sweep to the zygomatic arches. 
 
 I append a synopsis of what I regard as the distinct¬ 
 ive characters of the Mound-builder’s skull, selecting for 
 the purpose the one represented by Fig. 60, which belongs 
 to neither the lowest nor the highest forms; and that 
 the reader may compare these peculiarities with those 
 of the idiot as given by Humphry, I shall, as far as 
 convenient, follow his order of description.* It is to 
 
 * “ The skull of the idiot,” says Humphry, " presents in many respects 
 an approximation to the skull of the lower animals, especially that of the 
 ape, in the following particulars : The facial bones are proportionately 
 large ; the brain case is contracted in every direction, more particularly 
 in front and above, causing lowness and narrowness of the forehead, but 
 also behind and below ; the space behind the foramen magnum is small, 
 and the bone slopes obliquely upward from it to the occipital crest; the 
 foramen itself partakes somewhat of this slant ; the occipital condyles 
 are small and preternaturally convex, and the basilar portion of the 
 occipital bone ascends with unusual obliquity from them ; the temporal 
 fosss are deep ; the temporal ridge is well-marked and ascends to a 
 comparatively high level, and this, together with the flattening of the 
 parietal bones, and the prominence of their sagittal portion, constitutes 
 an approximation to a ‘ sagittal crest.’ The line of union of the tem¬ 
 poral with the parietal bones is straighter than usual, and the post-glenoid 
 process is rather more marked. The frontal bone projects far backward, 
 in the situation of the anterior fontanelle between the parietals ; the pos¬ 
 terior and middle cerebral fossae are shallow. . . . The foramen magnum 
 and the other foramina for nerves are comparatively large ; the foramina 
 for vessels, as well as the grooves for the sinuses are, on the other hand, 
 comparatively small. The cranial bones are generally thick', and the 
 sutures early obliterated. 
 
 “ The orbits are comparatively large, their anterior outlines are oblique, 
 and the superciliary ridges prominent and project beyond the general 
 width of the cranium.” (“ A treatise on the Human Skeleton,” by G. W. 
 Humphry, Lecturer on Surgery, in the Cambridge, England, University 
 Medical School, p. 233.) 
 
DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS. 
 
 297 
 
 be regretted that in all my specimens, with a single 
 exception, the facial bones are wanting. 
 
 In examining this skull in its general outlines the 
 observer is struck by the scantiness of brain capacity, 
 seen in the narrow forehead, the receding frontal bone, 
 and a similar recession in the region of the lambdoidal 
 suture, which give to the vertex an undue prominence, 
 and to the longitudinal arc an outline approaching in 
 form a Gothic arch. 
 
 That portion of the occipital bone behind the fora¬ 
 men magnum, instead of being continued in a nearly 
 straight line, as seen in the European skull, curves up to 
 the occipital crest. The occipital condyles are small, 
 and “ the basilar portion of the occipital bone ascends 
 with unusual obliquity from them.” “ The foramen 
 magnum and the other foramina for nerves at the 
 base, are comparatively large ; the foramina for vessels 
 as well as the grooves for the sinuses are, on the other 
 hand, comparatively small.” The post-glenoid pro¬ 
 cess, as in the Negro, is strongly marked ; the occipital 
 crest is highly ridged, and arched convexly like the 
 figure and the point where these arches intersect 
 forms the extremity of the skull; the temporal fossae are 
 deep and the temporal ridge is prominent; the apex is 
 about midway between the coronal and lambdoidal 
 suture; the parietal plates, instead of swelling into 
 a rounded outline, are flattened; the suture con¬ 
 necting the squamous bones with the parietal is less 
 convex than in the European, and in this respect 
 approaches that of the chimpanzee and the lower 
 animals, in whom it is nearly straight; the superciliary 
 ridges are strongly marked and project beyond the 
 general contour of the brain-case; and the glabella 
 forms the extreme point of the anterior portion of 
 
298 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 the skull. The orbits, where bounded by the super¬ 
 ciliary ridges and the nasal septum, owing to the deep 
 supra-orbital notch, are of a quadrangular shape ; the 
 frontal eminences are very slight, which makes the 
 superciliary ridges more conspicuous and the forehead 
 more retreating ; and the zygomatic arches swell out 
 beyond the parietal walls, which in the European skull 
 so far overhang as to conceal them in the vertical 
 view. From this point of observation it may be said that 
 all the exterior prominences are visible,—the occipital 
 protuberance, the zygomatic arches, and the super¬ 
 ciliary ridges. 
 
 The frontal bone is of great strength and slopes 
 backward, encroaching on the parietals, and giving 
 origin to a low forehead. In the lower animals this 
 bone becomes nearly horizontal and is placed behind 
 the eyes. “ In proportion,” says Humphry, “ as the 
 cranial portion slopes backward, so do its facial but¬ 
 tresses — the nasal and angular processes — slant 
 forwards; and in proportion as the brain is well 
 developed and the cranial part of the bone is upright, 
 so are the facial processes directed perpendicularly 
 downwards. In the lower animals, for instance, they 
 grow directly forwards, in the lower races of mankind 
 they grow downwards and forwards, and in the best 
 formed human skulls they grow almost vertically down¬ 
 wards.” 
 
 Such are the characters which seem to predominate 
 in the Mound-builders’ skulls, — characters which 
 distinguish them from the Negro on one hand and the 
 Teuton on the other. Individual variations occur, as 
 might be expected, for we are not to suppose that all 
 have been cast in a single mould. All the specimens 
 indicate a low intellectual organization, little removed 
 from that of the idiot. 
 
MENTAL TRAITS. 
 
 299 
 
 On comparing the figure with a European skull, these 
 anatomical traits will be apparent by contrast, particu¬ 
 larly the increased development of the frontal and 
 panietal regions, the outward curving of the occiput, the 
 horizontality of the line between the occipital ridge and 
 the foramen magnum, and the convexity of the squa¬ 
 mosal suture. 
 
 It is the preponderance of the brain-case over the 
 facial portion of the head, that gives to man his supe¬ 
 riority as compared with the lower animals, and we 
 estimate the mental grasp and the capacity for improve¬ 
 ment in the several races of men by the same standard. 
 The skull, in size and outline, has a general conformity 
 to the enclosed brain; the bony walls take their shape 
 from the nervous tissue, as the shell of the oyster is 
 shaped to accommodate its living tenant. The brain is 
 undoubtedly the seat of mental activity, and, without 
 endorsing phrenology in all its details, we may affirm 
 that a particular form of skull is indicative of particu¬ 
 lar traits of character. We place the seat of the intel¬ 
 lectual faculties in the anterior lobe; of the propensities 
 which link us to the brute, in the middle lobe ; and of 
 those which appertain to the social affections, in the 
 posterior lobe. The predominance of any one of these 
 divisions in a people would stamp them as either 
 eminently intellectual, or eminently cruel, or eminently 
 social. The Mound-builders, assuming these skulls to 
 be typical, were doubtless neither eminent for great 
 virtues nor great vices, but were a mild, inoffensive 
 race, who would fall an easy prey to a crafty and cruel 
 foe. Under the guidance of a superior mind, we can 
 imagine that they would be content to toil, without 
 weighing deliberately the nature or amount of the 
 reward. Like the Chinese, they could probably imitate 
 
300 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND - BUILDERS. 
 
 but not invent ; and, secure from the irruption of 
 enemies, they would, in time, develop a rude civil¬ 
 ization. 
 
 The Indian possesses a conformation of skull which 
 clearly separates him from the pre-historic Mound- 
 builder, and such a conformation must give rise to 
 different mental traits. His brain, as compared with the 
 European, according to George Combe, differs widely 
 m the proportions of the different parts. The anterior 
 lobe is small, the middle lobe is large, and the central 
 convolutions on the anterior lobe and upper surface, are 
 small. The brain-case is box-like, with the corners 
 rounded off; the occiput extends up vertically ; the 
 frontal ridge is prominent; the cerebral vault is pyra¬ 
 midal ; the interparietal diameter is great; the super¬ 
 ciliary ridges and zygomatic arches sweep out beyond 
 the general line of the skull; the orbits are quad¬ 
 rangular ; the forehead is low ; the cheek-bones high; 
 and the jaws prognathous. His character, since first 
 known to the white man has been signalized by treachery 
 and cruelty. He repels all efforts to raise him from his 
 degraded position ; and whilst he has not the moral 
 nature to adopt the virtues of civilization, his brutal 
 instincts lead him to welcome its vices. He was never 
 known voluntarily to engage in an enterprise requiring 
 methodical labor ; he dwells in temporary and movable 
 habitations ; he follows the game in their migrations; 
 he imposes the drudgery of life upon his squaw ; he 
 takes no heed for the future. To suppose that such a 
 race threw up the strong lines of circumvallation and 
 the symmetrical mounds which crown so many of our 
 river-terraces, is as preposterous, almost, as to suppose 
 that they built the pyramids of Egypt. 
 
 Was there an autochthonous race having this form of 
 
ANCIENT BRAZILIANS. 
 
 301 
 
 skull? — In the results of archaeological explorations at 
 other points on this hemisphere, we have evidence of 
 the existence of nations whose skulls had many of the 
 distinctive features which appertain to those of the 
 Mound-builder. 
 
 Dr. Lund, a distinguished Swedish naturalist, many 
 years ago, in the bone caves of Minas Geraes, Brazil, 
 found the remains of men associated with those of 
 extinct quadrupeds under circumstances which led him 
 to believe that the whole were contemporaneous. In 
 his communication to the Geographical and Historical 
 Society of Brazil, an abstract of which was forwarded 
 to Dr. Morton by Lieutenant Strain, he says: 
 
 “ The question then arises, who are these people ? 
 Of what race, and what their intellectual perfections? 
 The answers to these questions are, happily, less difficult 
 and doubtful. He examined various crania, in order to 
 determine the place they ought to occupy in anthro¬ 
 pology. The narrowness of the forehead, the promi¬ 
 nence of the zygomatic bones, the maxillary and orbital 
 conformation, all assign to these crania a place among 
 the characteristics of the American race, and it is 
 known that the race which approximates nearest this 
 is the Mongolian ; and the most distinctive and salient 
 character by which we distinguish between them is the 
 greater depression of the forehead in the former. In 
 this point of organization, these ancient crania show 
 not only the peculiarity of the American race, but this 
 peculiarity, in many instances, is in excessive degree, 
 even to the entire disappearance of the forehead. 
 
 “We know that the human figures found sculptured 
 on the ancient monuments of Mexico, represent, for the 
 greater part, a singular conformation of head, being with¬ 
 out forehead, the crania retreating backward immedi- 
 
302 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 ately above the superciliary arch. This anomaly, which 
 is generally ascribed to an artificial disfiguration of the 
 head or taste of the artist, now admits of a more natural 
 explanation, it being proved by these authentic docu¬ 
 ments, that there really existed in this country a race 
 exhibiting this anomalous conformation. The skeletons 
 which were of both sexes, were of the ordinary height, 
 although two of them were above the common stature. 
 These heads according to the received opinion in crani- 
 ology, could not have occupied a high position intel¬ 
 lectually.”* 
 
 Upon the altar-tablets and bass-reliefs of Copan and 
 Uxmal, in Central America, as reproduced by Cather- 
 wood, we have this type of skull delineated by artists 
 who had the skill to portray the features of their race. 
 These artists would not select the most holy of places 
 as the groundwork for their caricatures. This form, 
 then, pertained to the most exalted personages. 
 
 Humboldt and Bonpland were the first to draw atten¬ 
 tion to this remarkable configuration of skull. The 
 former, as far back as 1808, thus stated: 
 
 “ This extraordinary flatness is found among nations 
 to whom the means of producing artificial deformity are 
 totally unknown, as is proved by the crania of Mexican 
 Indians, Peruvians, and Atures, brought over by M. 
 Bonpland and myself, of which several were deposited 
 in the Museum of Natural History of Paris.” f 
 
 Mr. Pentland supposed this conformation to be con¬ 
 genital, and states that this view was confirmed by 
 Cuvier, Gall, and many celebrated anatomists. Tiede- 
 mann’s expressions are: “ A careful examination of 
 these skulls has convinced me that their peculiar shape 
 
 * “Journal Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,” 1844. 
 
 jf " Political Essays,” vol. i, p. 159. 
 
ARTIFICIAL DEFORMATION. 
 
 303 
 
 cannot be owing to artificial pressure. The great 
 elongation of the face, and the direction of the plane 
 of the occipital bone are not to be reconciled with this 
 opinion, and therefore we must conclude that the 
 peculiarity of shape depends on a natural conformation.” 
 Knox says: “ The form of the head I speak of, is pecu¬ 
 liar to the race; it may be exaggerated somewhat by 
 such means (pressure), but cannot be so produced.” 
 
 Sir Robert Schomburgh found on some of the affluents 
 of the Orinoco, a tribe known as the Frog Indians, 
 whose heads were flattened by nature. A child was 
 born while he was with them, which he saw an hour 
 after its birth, that had all the characteristics of the 
 mother’s tribe, “ and the flatness of its head, as com¬ 
 pared with the heads of other tribes, was remarkable.” * 
 Rivero and Tschudi, whose researches in South 
 America command confidence, believe that the artificial 
 disfigurement of the skull which prevailed among the 
 Inca-Peruvians, owed its origin to the prior existence 
 of an autochthonous race, having this peculiarity ; and 
 they further state that it is seen in the foetus of Peruvian 
 mummies. 
 
 Retzius, contrary to the opinion of Morton, has shown 
 that the ancient Peruvians and tlie Huanchas of Tschudi, 
 were Dolicocephali^ although he regards their skulls as 
 much disfigured by artificial compression, while the 
 Aztecs belonged to the Brachycephali. He has further 
 shown that this practice of artificial deformation instead 
 of being confined to this continent, was in vogue among 
 some of the Oriental nations, among the Swiss Lake- 
 dwellers, and that it still exists in France, f 
 
 Upon the question whether this peculiarity, if the 
 
 *“ Journal Royal Geographical Society,” xv., pp. 53-34. 
 f Retzius, “In relation to the Form of the Human Skull,” 
 
304 
 
 CEAJSriA OF THE MOUND - BUILDERS. 
 
 result in the first instance of artificial pressure and per¬ 
 sisted in for generations, would become congenital, the 
 following authorities may be cited. “ In all changes 
 wliich are produced in the bodies of animals by the 
 action of external causes, the effect terminates in the 
 individual; the offspring is not in the slightest degree 
 modified by them.” * 
 
 “ Nothing,” says Dr. Prichard, “ seems to hold true 
 more generally, than that all acquired conditions of 
 body, whether produced by art or accident, end with 
 the life of the individual.” 
 
 Darwin would probably account for this peculiarity 
 on the ground of Sexual Selection.! 
 
 These authorities would indicate that there was a 
 conformity in the craniology of the earlier races on this 
 hemisphere, embracing the primeval people of Brazil, 
 the Huanchas of Peru, the Teocalli-builders of Mexico, 
 and the Mound-builders of the Mississippi Valley. 
 
 The Peruvian skull, as compared with the Indian, is 
 deficient in capacity, being, according to Morton, no 
 greater than that of the Hottentot or New Hollander. 
 In measuring 155 crania of the former, they gave but 
 seventy-five cubic inches for the bulk of the brain, while 
 the Teutonic crania gave ninety-two inches. The 
 average between the Peruvian and Indian is nine inches 
 in favor of the latter. J 
 
 How is it, then, it has been asked, that with this low 
 mental power, these Peruvians should have been able 
 to construct such stupendous works, and develop a very 
 considerable civilization, while the Indian, with far 
 
 * Lawrence, ‘ ‘ Lectures," etc., p. 436. For the compilation of many of 
 these authorities,"*! am indebted to Mr. S. F. Haven, “ Archseology of the 
 United States," (Smithsonian Contributions.) 
 
 t See “ Descent of Man,” chap. viii. 
 
 X Morton’s “ Crania Americana.” 
 
SIZE OP SKULLS. 
 
 305 
 
 greater volume of brain, exhibits such slight construct¬ 
 ive power, and has resisted all attempts to elevate his 
 condition ? Mr. J. S. Phillips has attempted to answer 
 this question : 
 
 “ The intellectual lobe of the brain of these people, if 
 not borne down by such overpowering animal propensi¬ 
 ties and passions, would, doubtless, have been capable 
 of much greater efforts than any with which we are 
 acquainted, and have enabled these barbaric tribes to 
 make some progress in civilization. . . . The intel¬ 
 
 lectual and moral qualities of the Mexicans and Peru¬ 
 vians are left more free to act, not being so subordinate 
 to the propensities and violent passions.”* 
 
 Fig. 72. 
 
 A 
 
 Comparative size of different skulls. 
 
 A Contour of European skull. 
 
 B “ “ that from Stimpson’s Mound, No. 57. 
 
 C “ “ that of the Neanderthal Skull. 
 
 D " “ that from the Dunleith Mound, No. 65. 
 
 E *' “ the Chimpanzee skull. 
 
 a The glabella. 
 b The occipital crest. 
 
 * Appendix to Morton’s “ Physical Tvne of the (Xmerican Indian.” 
 
306 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND-BUILDEES. 
 
 Above, I give the contours of the most anomalous 
 skulls referred to in this chapter, reduced to a uniform 
 scale. 
 
 So great is the range of variation in the crania of the 
 living tribes of men that it is unsafe to pronounce upon 
 their average capacity except from an examination of a 
 large collection. Thus far but few authentic Mound- 
 builders’ skulls have been exhumed, and they indicate 
 that that race must have ranked intellectually below 
 the lowest types of Australia and New Caledonia. 
 
 Leaving out the Engis skull which shows a good 
 degree of mental grasp, it may be said that the earliest 
 types of man are inferior, as indicated by the Neander¬ 
 thal skull, as well as by those recovered from the Danish 
 and British tumuli, to say nothing of the strange human 
 jaw found by Dupont in Belgium, which approaches those 
 of the anthropomorphous apes, and another of analo¬ 
 gous traits found by the Marquis de Vibraye in France, 
 both of which are supposed to be referable to the dawn 
 of the human period. There is nothing to indicate 
 modern degeneracy, whether applied to the intellectual 
 or physical capacity of the Teutonic race. So far from 
 it, there are strong grounds for believing that our remote 
 ancestors lived in brutal barbarism, with modes of 
 thought and daily pursuits far different from those of 
 the educated and much-planning man of to-day ; and 
 that, through a state of progression, long continued, 
 often checked, but still acquiring strength to advance, 
 a portion of the human family have been able to attain 
 a high degree of civilization — a civilization which 
 implies intellectual culture and an ability to render the 
 forces of nature subservient to human wants and con¬ 
 veniences. 
 
 That the investigator may comprehend the relative 
 
MEASUEEMENTS. 
 
 307 
 
 rank which the Mound-builder occupied in what I may- 
 call the scale of humanity, I give the following table 
 of measurements of the crania of the superior and 
 inferior races of mankind, as they exist at this day; — 
 those from the United States being taken from “The 
 Military and Anthropological Statistics of the War of 
 the Rebellion,” published by the Sanitary Commission 
 under the editorship of Dr. B. A. Gould,* * and those 
 from foreign sources being reproduced from Huxley : 
 
 Table of Measurements. 
 
 Note. If the hair and scalp were re¬ 
 moved, the circumference would be reduced 
 from one to one and one-half inches. 
 
 White Soldiers. 
 
 Iroquois_ 
 
 Mulattoes.. 
 
 Negroes... 
 
 Circ’f. around forehead and 
 occiput. 
 
 Distance between condy¬ 
 loid processes. 
 
 P’rph’ry from eyebrows to | 
 1 occipital crest, j 
 
 Over^ forehead and 
 occiput. 
 
 Overtopofthe head. 
 
 Over occiput. 
 
 22.13 
 
 II.31 
 
 13-31 
 
 11.82 
 
 14.48 
 
 22.48 
 
 12.08 
 
 13.71 
 
 11.58 
 
 14-45 
 
 22.00 
 
 12.34 
 
 I4.II 
 
 12.24 
 
 13-55 
 
 21.91 
 
 10.98 
 
 13-95 
 
 11-55 
 
 14.40 
 
 In the following table, while giving the measurement 
 of English and Australian skulls, as well as of those 
 known as the Engis and Neanderthal skulls belonging 
 to a pre-historic race, I also append, for the purpose of 
 comparison, the measurements of the true Mound- 
 builders’ skulls described in this chapter : 
 
 * This truly admirable work is a great storehouse of facts, to which 
 everyone who would study the Anthropology of our country should resort. 
 Crude notions have been expressed that our climate is so baneful to the 
 European, that were it not for fresh accessions from abroad, our continent 
 would soon be depopulated. We have here ample materials for com¬ 
 paring the physical development of Americans, not only among them¬ 
 selves, but with those of other nationalities ; and the effects of climate 
 and regimen are clearly set forth. 
 
308 
 
 CRANIA OF THE MOUND - BUILDEES. 
 
 Table of Measurements. 
 
 NATIOWALITY. 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 C 
 
 D 
 
 B 
 
 F 
 
 English_ _._ 
 
 21 
 
 13.75 
 
 12.50 
 
 4.40 
 
 7.87 
 
 5-33 
 
 Australian (No. i)... 
 
 20.50 
 
 13 
 
 12 
 
 4.75 
 
 7-50 
 
 5-40 
 
 “ (No. 2)_ 
 
 22 
 
 12.50 
 
 10.75 
 
 3.80 
 
 7.90 
 
 5-75 
 
 Engis, Belgium___ 
 
 20.50 
 
 13-75 
 
 12.50 
 
 4.75 
 
 7-75 
 
 5.25 
 
 Neanderthal, Prussian Empire.. . 
 
 23 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 3-75 
 
 8 
 
 5.75 
 
 Merom, Indiana (No. 60)_ 
 
 20.50 
 
 12.87 
 
 11.25 
 
 4 
 
 7-25 
 
 5-50 
 
 “ “ (No. 61)_ 
 
 20.62 
 
 12.87 
 
 12 
 
 3-87 
 
 7.37 
 
 5-37 
 
 ” " (No. 62)_ 
 
 19-50 
 
 12.50 
 
 11.62 
 
 4-37 
 
 6.62 
 
 5.62 
 
 “ (No. 63)- 
 
 21 
 
 13-50 
 
 12.50 
 
 4.12 
 
 7.12 
 
 6 
 
 Chicago, Illinois (No. 57)_ 
 
 20.25 
 
 12.50 
 
 
 3.80 
 
 7.60 
 
 5-75 
 
 Laporte, Indiana 
 
 18.50 
 
 10.50 
 
 10.30 
 
 3.80 
 
 6.50 
 
 5 
 
 A The horizontal circumference in the plane of a line joining the glabella 
 with the occipital protuberance. 
 
 B The longitudinal arc from the nasal depression along the middle line 
 of the skull to the occipital tuberosity. 
 
 C From the level of the glabello-occipital line on each side, across the 
 middle of the sagittal suture to the same point on the opposite side. 
 
 D The vertical height from the glabello-occipital line. 
 
 E The extreme longitudinal measurement. 
 
 F The extreme transverse measurement. 
 
 Note. — Professor Jeffreys Wyman, Curator of the Peabody Museum of 
 American Archaeology, in his “ Fourth Annual Report” (1871), which has 
 fallen under my notice since the text of this chapter has been prepared, 
 thus speaks of the collection of Mound-crania from Kentucky, made by 
 the late S. S. Lyon, under the joint patronage of that Museum and the 
 Smithsonian Institution ; 
 
 “A comparison of these crania with those of the other and later 
 Indians, shows that they have certain marked peculiarities, though these 
 are better appreciated when the two kinds are placed side by side, than 
 from any tables of measurement or verbal descriptions. 
 
 “ The twenty-four crania measured, show a mean capacity of 1313 
 centimmes, which is greater than that of the Peruvians, but less than that 
 of the North American Indians generally (viz; 1376 c. c., or 84 cubic 
 inches). They differ, also, from those of the ordinary Indians in being 
 lighter, less massive, and in having the rough surface on the muscular 
 attachments less strongly-marked. The top of the head shows a moder¬ 
 ately angular or roof-shaped arrangement of the parietal bones, and the 
 sides are vertical. In proportions, they present very considerable variations 
 
FLATTENED TIBI^. 
 
 309 
 
 amongst themselves, Assuming the length of the skulls to be i.ooo, the 
 breadth ranges from 0,712 to 0,950 of the length. The average propor¬ 
 tion IS 0,857, which places them in the short-headed group. This result 
 is influenced, but not to any great extent, by the fact that the crania have 
 been somewhat distorted by a flattening of the occiput. In the majority, 
 this flattening is very slight, and is indicated by a nearly plane surface 
 just above the protuberance, and which would not materially diminish 
 the length of the skull. The position of the foramen magnum is quite 
 far back. We have shown elsewhere, that in the North American Indians 
 generally it is further back than in the Negro and other races with which 
 they have been compared. In the Mound-crania the distance of the 
 anterior edge of the foramen magnum from the occiput, is only 0,372 the 
 long diameter of the skull. This position can be only partially due to 
 distortion, since in three skulls, in which the foramen was farthest back, 
 the occiput was not in the least flattened," 
 
 The flattening of the tibiae has been found to prevail among the 
 skeletons belonging to the pre-historic nations of the Old World, pre¬ 
 senting in this respect a resemblance to the corresponding bones of the 
 ape. Dr. Wyman recognizes this peculiarity in a large series of bones 
 obtained from the mounds of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Michigan,and 
 from the shell-heaps of Florida. He, hqwever, remarks that " this can 
 hardly be considered a race character, since it is found in only about one- 
 third of all the individuals observed.” (Fourth Annual Report, pp. 21, 22.) 
 
 Dr. H. F. Harper recognized the same peculiarity in the skeletons 
 recovered from the mounds of Merom, Indiana. He remarks: “ I have 
 six tibiae in my possession which were taken from a mound, besides the 
 fragments sent you, which were the most flattened of any. By measure¬ 
 ment, all have a transverse diameter of from ten to fifty per cent, less 
 than the antero-posterior, while the extremities are enlarged transversely, 
 as in our race. Two of the six are shorter and heavier than the others, 
 and are curved anteriorly and full half an inch or more out of line. These 
 two have also a transverse diameter almost equal to the antero-posterior 
 one.” (Private Memoranda.) 
 
CHAPTER IX» 
 
 MAliNEES AKD CUSTOMS AS THE BASIS OE ETHKIC 
 RELATIONS. 
 
 O undertake to trace ethnic relations between 
 
 A widely separated peoples, by similarity of man¬ 
 ners and customs, is an uncertain guide. Man, apart 
 from his improvable reason, has what we call, in the 
 higher animals, instinct; and as the beaver everywhere 
 constructs his dam according to a definite plan, so will 
 man perform certain acts instinctively, after a certain 
 manner. Hence, among barbarous nations, we may 
 expect to find a similarity of manners and customs, 
 without necessarily supposing that they are the result 
 of inheritance ; but when we come to the higher mani¬ 
 festations of art, the result of improvable reason, there 
 are found certain characters original and unique, which 
 become infallible guides in tracing national affinities. 
 
 In this chapter I propose to inquire how far similarity 
 of customs, such as sacred observances, funeral cere¬ 
 monies, consecrated offerings, uniformity of weapons, 
 linguistic expressions, craniological types, civilization 
 as manifested in art, the domestication of animals and 
 plants, etc., may be employed in establishing ethnic 
 relations between the peoples of the two hemispheres, 
 and in tracing back their origin to a common fountain 
 
 of life. 
 
 310 
 
SUN-WOKSHIP. 
 
 311 
 
 With regard to the manners and customs of that 
 mysterious people, the Mound-builders, the past is not 
 altogether speechless. Enough of their monuments 
 survive to enable us to form an intelligible opinion as 
 to their architecture, their system of defense, their pro¬ 
 ficiency in art, their habits and pursuits, their religious 
 observances, and the routes of their migrations. 
 
 Sacred observances have prevailed among every 
 branch of the human family, from the earliest historical 
 period, and, in fact, such customs can be traced back to 
 the pre-historic peoples. Few tribes have been found 
 so far degraded as not' to have some vague ideas of an 
 Overruling Power; few that believed that death was 
 utter annihilation. The cultivated man rises to the con¬ 
 ception of a purely Spiritual Essence, but the savage 
 must embody that Power in some visible object.* As 
 the sun is the most striking object in nature, it is not 
 surprising that he should have been worshipped by rude 
 tribes in all ages as the Visible Deity. 
 
 Sun-worship, practised by the ancient inhabitants 
 of Central America, Mexico, by the Natchez Indians, 
 and undoubtedly by the Mound-builders, can be traced 
 back to the remotest antiquity. According to Rawlinson, 
 it was the religion of the Scythic tribes, who thickly 
 spread themselves, in ancient times, over the whole 
 extent of Western Asia. It crept into the religion of 
 the Persians some time after their great migration to the 
 West. Zoroaster, whose name is closely associated with 
 primitive Magism, is represented by various writers as 
 an early Bactrian or Scythic king. The Sun-God was 
 probably one of the earliest objects of Babylonian wor¬ 
 ship, and was personified in the Apollo of Grecian 
 
 * “ The God of the savages was what the metaphysicians endeavored 
 to express in the word substance.” (Bancroft.) 
 
312 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 mythology. To him were applied sueh epithets as 
 “ The Great Mover,’’ “The Regent of the Heavens and 
 Earth,” and “ He who sets everything in motion.”* In 
 the later period of the Roman Empire, even, the sun 
 was worshipped at Emesa, under the name of Elaga- 
 balus, and typified in the form of a black conical stone, 
 wdiich it was believed had fallen from heaven. Con¬ 
 stantine, before his conversion to Christianity, paid his 
 devotions to the genius of the sun, and crowned his 
 altars with votive offerings. Julian, after his apostasy, 
 dedicated a domestic chapel to his tutelar deity, the 
 sun, and every morning saluted the parent of light with 
 a sacrifice, and another victim was offered the very 
 moment when he sank below the western horizon.f 
 
 It is not strange, then, that, in primitive times, men, 
 in recognizing the manifest agency of the great lumin¬ 
 ary in stimulating the powers of nature, should be 
 disposed to recognize that agency as extending to 
 human affairs, and therefore bow in adoration at his 
 rising and setting. 
 
 Burial with the deceased of those articles which were 
 the most useful or most highly-prized by them while 
 living, seems to have prevailed, at one time or another, 
 among nearly every nation. It clearly shows that even 
 the rudest tribes have certain definite ideas as to the 
 immortality of the soul,— of a continued state of exist¬ 
 ence, on which the spirit enters through the portal of 
 the grave. The burial cave of Aurignac, France, as 
 has been shown, contained human remains which are 
 regarded as of the highest antiquity; yet here we 
 meet with the evidences of funeral feasts, and of offer¬ 
 ings consecrated to the dead. 
 
 * Rawlinson’s Herodotus," vol. i, p. 341, et sequitur. 
 
 •)• Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall," chap, vi, passim. 
 
FUKEKAL OFFERINGS. 
 
 313 
 
 Offerings were placed in the grave of the Mound- 
 builder,—urns, supposed to have contained food, water- 
 jugs, statuettes, j)ipes, beads, and other ornaments, that 
 the spirit might be presentable on his introduction to a 
 new sphere of existence. 
 
 The Indian is buried with his bow and arrows, his 
 war-paint, his moccasins and other trappings, that he 
 may be prepared at once to enter upon his favorite pur¬ 
 suits in the shadowy land ; and, day after day, the 
 choicest viands are placed at the head of his grave, 
 that his spirit may not flag. 
 
 An American poet (Philip Freneau) has embodied 
 this supposed shadowy existence in the following lines : 
 
 “ By midnight moons o’er moistening dews, 
 
 In vestments for the chase arrayed, 
 
 The hunter still the deer pursues. 
 
 The hunter and the deer a shade.* ” 
 
 Schiller, too, has commemorated this custom in the 
 beautiful lines beginning “ Bringet her die letzten 
 Gaben,” which have been truthfully rendered by Sir 
 E. L. Bulwer: f 
 
 “ Here bring the last gifts !— and with these 
 The last lament be said : 
 
 Let all that pleased and yet may please. 
 
 Be buried with the dead. 
 
 “ Beneath his head the hatchet hide. 
 
 That he so stoutly swung. 
 
 And place the bear’s fat haunch beside — 
 
 The journey hence is long ! 
 
 “ And let the knife new-sharpened be. 
 
 That on the battle-day 
 
 Shore with quick strokes — he took but three — 
 
 The foeman’s scalp away. 
 
 * Quoted by Bancroft, “ History of the United States,” chap. 23. 
 
 + Quoted by Lycll. “ Antiquity of Man,”p. i8g. 
 
314 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 “ The paints that warriors love to use, 
 
 Place here within his hand, 
 
 That he may shine with ruddy hues 
 Amidst the spirit-land.” 
 
 The Aryan of the Vedas burns the priestly sacri¬ 
 ficial implements with the dead man’s body, for his use 
 in the next world. The Mound-builders practised the 
 same usage. The Chinese provides his dead ancestor 
 with food, clothing, and money, but with the thieving 
 propensity characteristic of his race, he contrives to 
 palm off on the defunct a pasteboard coin, covered with 
 silvergilt leaf. He prepares, with pious care, a feast of 
 souls, but if, after waiting a reasonable time, the 
 invited ghosts fail to arrive, he and his friends fall to 
 and eat it. The Indian, more scrupulous, holds his fes¬ 
 tivals in honor of the dead, when part of the food is 
 given to the flames, that the hunger of his ancestors 
 may be appeased. 
 
 Ovid sings how these offerings of food in ruder times, 
 had, in his day, become merged in an affectionate, 
 sentimental ceremony: 
 
 Parva petunt manes — pietas pro divite grata est 
 Munere. Non avidos Styx habet ima deos. 
 
 Slight are the gifts demanded by the dead, 
 
 The pious thought subserves as well instead. 
 
 For Styx contains no greedy gods. 
 
 The early Christians kept up the usage of burying 
 ornaments with the dead, and putting the playthings of 
 the child in its grave, just as the Indian mother does at 
 this day, 
 
 “ When we see a wreath of everlastings,” says Mr. 
 Taylor, “ laid upon the tomb, or a nosegay of fresh 
 flowers thrown into an open grave, a full knowledge of 
 the history of funeral offerings seems to justify us 
 
HUMAN SACRIFICES. 
 
 315 
 
 in believing what we should hardly have guessed with¬ 
 out it, that even here we see a relic of the thoughts of 
 the rudest savages who claim a common humanity with 
 us, a funeral offering vastly changed in signification, 
 but nowhere broken in historic sequence.”* 
 
 Human sacrifices .—Akin to this usage was that of 
 sacrificing human beings as well as animals at the shrines 
 of the dead. This usage, it is inferred from the charred 
 human bones, prevailed among the Mound-builders, and 
 also, as we have seen, in Mexico and Central America. 
 
 Among the ancient Scythians, when a king died, in 
 the open space around the body, were buried one of his 
 concubines, his cook, lacquey, cup-bearer, messenger, 
 etc., they having been previously strangled, together 
 with some of his horses, and the firstlings of all his 
 other possessions. After the lapse of a year, fifty of 
 the deceased king’s attendants were strangled, together 
 with fifty of the most beautiful horses. The horses were 
 disembowelled and stuffed with chaff, and then 
 mounted, all bitted and bridled, upon strong stakes. 
 The fifty strangled youths, having undergone a similar 
 manipulation, were mounted on the horses, and were 
 thus ranged round the tomb and left, presenting a 
 ghastly spectacle.! 
 
 The Thracian custom, according to the same author¬ 
 ity, was this: “ Each man among them has several 
 
 wives, and no sooner does a man die than a sharp 
 contest ensues among the wives upon the question, 
 which of them all the husband loved most tenderly. 
 
 * Edward Bennett Taylor, “ On traces of the early mental condition 
 of Man.” (Proceedings Royal Institute, Great Britain, republished in 
 Smithsonian Report, 1868). I acknowledge myself indebted to him for 
 many of the historical illustrations here brought together, 
 f Vide “ Herodotus," book iv, chap. 72. 
 
316 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 The friends of each largely plead on her behalf, and she 
 to whom the honor is adjudged, after receiving the 
 praises of both men and women, is slain over the grave 
 by the hand of her next of kin, and then buried with 
 her husband. The others are sorely grieved, for nothing 
 is considered such a disgrace.”* 
 
 The chief within whose domain De Soto died, is said 
 to have killed two young men to wait upon him. The 
 burning of captives at the stake by the Indians is in part 
 the result of a religious sentiment. 
 
 During the Stone Age of Great Britain it is inferred 
 that slaves were sacrificed at their masters’ graves; .and 
 it is not improbable that wives were burnt with their 
 husbands, and children were buried with their mothers, 
 — a dreadful custom which prevails at this day among 
 some of the Esquimaux families. Among the Feegees 
 it is usual, on the death of a chief, to sacrifice a certain 
 number of slaves, whose bodies are called “ grass for 
 bedding the grave.” f In others of the South Sea 
 Islands, when the husband dies, the wife is strangled, 
 that her soul may accompany his to the spirit land, 
 there to catch fish and cook yams for him. The Hindoo 
 widow mounts the funeral pyre, that liberated, she 
 may perform similar menial services for her deceased 
 lord. 
 
 These horrible customs are all founded on the belief 
 that the offerings will accompany the spirit in its pass¬ 
 age to the other world, and there minister to its com¬ 
 forts ; and it is evident that they have prevailed in 
 almost every country, and from the remotest time. “ A 
 slight acquaintance with the spiritualism of the savage,” 
 
 * Ibidem, book v, chap. 4. 
 
 f Vide citations from Bateman, as to ancient British burials; Williams 
 as to the Feegee customs, in “ Pre-historic Times,” p. 171. 
 
SIMILARITY OF IMPLEMENTS. 
 
 317 
 
 remarks Mr. Taylor,* “ has sometimes led to its being 
 considered as the result of a degeneration from the 
 opinions of more cultivated races; hut more complete 
 knowledge of the facts tends to show that such an 
 opinion inverts the real history of events.” 
 
 Scalping a dead enemy, it has been supposed, was a 
 custom peculiar to the Indian of this country, but it 
 prevailed, according to Herodotus, among the aneient 
 Scythians. 
 
 “ The Scythian soldier,” he states, “ drinks the blood 
 of the first man he overthrows in battle. Whatever 
 number he slays, he cuts off all their heads and carries 
 them to the king; since he is thus entitled to a share 
 of the booty, where he forfeits all claim if he does not 
 produce a head. In order to strip the skull of its 
 covering, he makes a cut round the head near the ears, 
 and laying hold of the scalp, shakes the skull out; then 
 with the rib of an ox he scrapes the scalp clean of flesh, 
 and softening it by rubbing it between the hands, uses it 
 thenceforth as a napkin. The Scyth is proud of these 
 scalps, and hangs them from his bridle-rein ; the greater 
 number of such napkins that a man can show, the more 
 highly is he esteemed among them.” t 
 
 Flint and stone implements^ which attest man’s first 
 attempts to subdue nature, present such marked 
 resemblances the world over, that generalizations as 
 to ethnic affinities, drawn from this source, are of little 
 value. 
 
 “ It is now a generally accepted canon,’’ says Mr. 
 Westropp, “that there are common instincts implanted 
 by nature in all the varieties of the human race which 
 lead mankind in certain climates and at certain stages 
 
 * “ Traces of early mental condition,” etc., before referred to. 
 
 f Book iv, chap. 64. 
 
318 
 
 MANNEKS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 of civilization, to do the same thing in the same way, 
 or nearly so, without teaching or without previous com¬ 
 munication with those who have done so before. This 
 has been remarkably confirmed in the analogous and 
 almost identical forms of flint and stone implements 
 found all over the world, and also in the identity of 
 ornamentation, such as the zigzag, guilloche, etc., 
 designed independently, by races the most widely 
 apart.” * 
 
 The best material to be employed, and the shape best 
 adapted to produce the desired result, would be the 
 offspring of experience, and not of inheritance. 
 
 The study of languages affords a reliable guide in 
 tracing the migrations of tribes, even where they have 
 become intermingled Avith other tribes. In the social 
 relations thus established, there would not result a total 
 obliteration of the language of the one tribe, but cer¬ 
 tain words and forms of speech would be adopted and 
 perpetuated. “Nothing,” saysBancroft, “is so indelible 
 as speech. Sounds that, in ages of unknown antiquity, 
 were spoken among the nations of Hindostan, still live 
 in their significancy in the language which we daily 
 utter.” Palgrave echoes the same sentiment. “Lan¬ 
 guage adheres to the soil when the lips which spoke it 
 are resolved into dust. Mountains repeat, and rivers 
 murmur the voices of nations denationalized or extir¬ 
 pated in their own land.” 
 
 All European languages can be traced back to the 
 Sanscrit as an approximate common source ; but the 
 language of the American Indian throws no light upon 
 his origin, except that that origin was so far remote 
 that all attempts, by this clue, to establish a common 
 
 *“ Journal of Ethnological Society.’’ Quoted in “Nature,” June 2, 
 1869. 
 
AMERICAN LANGUAGE. 
 
 319 
 
 centre of human creation, are utterly futile. Gallatin, 
 Duponceau, and others, who have made this language 
 the subject of profound study, find that it is of different 
 branches, traceable perhaps to a single root, but primi¬ 
 tive in its character, and differing radically from those 
 of other continents. According to Gallatin, when the 
 vast variety of dialects came to be compared, there 
 were found, east of the Mississippi, not more than eight 
 radically distinct languages, of which five still constitute 
 the speech of powerful communities, and three belong 
 to tribes that have almost disappeared. In the forms 
 of grammatical structure and in the modes of associ¬ 
 ating and of expressing ideas without regard to the 
 meaning of particular words, the Indian tongues would 
 seem to be the result of the instinctive impulses of the 
 human mind to express ideas of relation, quality, and 
 action. “No theories of derivation from the Old 
 World,” says Hayden, “ have stood the test of gram¬ 
 matical construction. All traces of the fugitive tribes 
 of Israel, supposed to be found here, are again lost. 
 Neither Phoenicians, nor Hindoos, nor Chinese, nor 
 Scandinavians, nor Welsh have left an impress of their 
 national syntax behind them. But the dialects of the 
 people of the Western Continent, radically united 
 among themselves, and radically distinguished from all 
 others, stand in hoary brotherhood by the side of the 
 most ancient vocal systems of the human race.” * As 
 the human voice articulates not more than twenty dis¬ 
 tinct sounds, whatever resemblances there may be in 
 the particular words of different languages, are of no 
 ethnic value, but it is upon this test that many American 
 writers have undertaken to trace the origin of the Red 
 man, 
 
 * Hayden, “ Archaeology of the United States” (Smithsonian Contribu¬ 
 tions), p. 54. 
 
320 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 Mr. Bancroft has given an elaborate review of the 
 dialects of America, and arrives at these results; 
 
 “No American language bears marks of being an 
 arbitrary aggregation of separate parts ; but each is 
 possessed of an entire organization, having unity of 
 character, and controlled by exact rules. Each appears, 
 not as a slow formation by painful processes of inven¬ 
 tion, but as a perfect whole, springing directly from the 
 powers of man. A savage physiognomy is imprinted on 
 the dialect of the dweller in the wilderness, but each 
 dialect is still not only free from confusion, but is almost 
 absolutely free from irregularities, and is pervaded and 
 governed by undeviating laws. . . . Each Ameri¬ 
 
 can language was competent of itself, without improve¬ 
 ment of scholars, to exemplify every rule of the logician, 
 and give utterance to every passion. Each dialect 
 that has been analyzed, has been found to be rich in 
 derivatives and compounds, in combinations and forms. 
 . . . Human consciousness and human speech exist 
 
 everywhere, indissolubly united. A tribe has no more 
 been found without an organized language than without 
 eyesight or memory. . . . 
 
 “ If we search for the distinguishing traits of our 
 American languages, we shall find the synthic charac¬ 
 ter pervading them all and establishing the rules. The 
 American does not separate the component parts of the 
 proposition he utters; he never analyzes his expres¬ 
 sions ; his thoughts rush forth in a troop. The picture 
 is presented at once and altogether. 
 
 “ It has been asked if our Indians were not the 
 wrecks of more civilized nations. Their language 
 refutes the hypothesis ; every one of its forms is a wit¬ 
 ness that their ancestors were, like themselves, not yet 
 disenthralled from nature.”* 
 
 ^ “ History of the United States ”vol. iii., pp. 234, 235, 265. 
 
AMERICAN LANGUAGE. 
 
 321 
 
 Mr. Gallatin thus sums up his conclusions as to the 
 character of the American languages : “ That from the 
 Arctic Ocean to Cape Horn, while they number more 
 than one hundred, differing in their vocabulary, they 
 have, as far as has been investigated, a distinct charac¬ 
 ter common to all, and apparently different from those 
 of the other continent with which we are most familiar ; 
 that they bear the impress of primitive languages, and 
 assumed their form from natural causes, and afford no 
 proof of their being derived from a nation in a more 
 advanced state of civilization, and that they attest the 
 antiquity of the population, — an antiquity the earliest 
 we are permitted to assume.” 
 
 The high antiquity of man, which has since been 
 revealed by the discoveries of the geologist, was not 
 dreamed of when Mr. Gallatin wrote, and hence he felt 
 it necessary to express no opinions “ inconsistent with 
 the opinion of an Asiatic origin and with the received 
 chronology.” 
 
 To account for the radical diversity and great multi¬ 
 plication of languages, “ we want the longest time we 
 are permitted to assume,” and therefore he infers that 
 this continent was peopled at a very remote epoch, 
 “ probably not much posterior to that of the dispersion 
 of mankind.” * 
 
 Wliile thus, then, the Indian spoken language has all 
 the elements of a primitive character and of a high 
 antiquity, there must have been another language, the 
 vehicle of more exact expression and of more refined 
 ideas, spoken by the inhabitants of Central America, 
 which has become irrevocably lost. A people who can 
 express their ideas by arbitrary symbols must be im¬ 
 measurably superior to a people who use a notched 
 
 * See synopsis of Mr. Gallatin’s views in H.ayden, pp. 6i, 64. 
 
 W 
 
322 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 stick as the record of events, or trace rude figures on 
 the smooth bark of a tree. The North American Indian 
 has never advanced beyond mere picture-writing to per¬ 
 petuate his ideas. He takes to himself a name, repre¬ 
 sented by some animate or inanimate object in nature, 
 which he can grave with an arrow-point or trace with 
 a charred bit of wood. He can link together his sym¬ 
 bolical devices so as to convey to some extent consecu¬ 
 tive ideas, but those ideas do not resolve themselves 
 into words. 
 
 The Aztec system of writing, while s3rmbolical, was 
 carried to a higher development, and separate words 
 were indicated. It became a species of mnemonics, 
 intelligible only to the initiated, and incapable of a 
 literal interpretation. The hieroglyphics displayed 
 upon the walls of Copan, in horizontal or perpendicular 
 rows, would indicate a written language in which the 
 pictorial significance had largely disappeared, and a 
 kind of word-writing had become predominant. Inter¬ 
 mingled with the pictorial devices are apparently purely 
 arbitrary characters which may be alphabetic. This, 
 however, may be said, that in the Central American 
 hieroglyphics we have a highly artificial system of 
 writing, to interpret which the Aztec picture-writing 
 affords no aid. 
 
 The slight resemblances which have been discovered 
 between the roots of words in the American language 
 on the one hand, and of the Hebrew on the other, and 
 a single text in the apocryphal book of Esdras, have 
 been the foundation of a belief heretofore quite preva¬ 
 lent among writers upon American ethnology, that this 
 continent was originally peopled b}^ the lost tribes of 
 Israel, whose descendants were to be recognized in the 
 Red man. The missionaries Mayhew and Elliot enter- 
 
THE LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL. 
 
 323 
 
 tained. this belief; distinguished theologians, such as 
 Stiles, Smith, and Bourdenot, wrote treatises to prove 
 it; and the Jews themselves were ready to recognize 
 the relationship. Not content with hypotheses merely, 
 some of these works contained absurd myths, such as 
 that a messenger from the “ Ten Tribes ” had appeared 
 in Palestine, to inquire into the condition of the 
 remnant of their people ; and that another adventurer 
 had found a community of Jews in Peru, by whom 
 he had been entertained for several days, and that this 
 statement had been sworn to before “ Manasseh Ben 
 Israel, the chief Rabbi, at Amsterdam.” 
 
 It is hardly necessary at this day to advert to a be¬ 
 lief which was profoundly entertained a century ago, 
 except as an evidence of the progress of ethnological 
 knowledge. The historian of the United States, how¬ 
 ever, has seen proper to seriously enter upon its refuta¬ 
 tion. “It is chiefly on supposed analogies of customs 
 and of language that the lost tribes of Israel ‘ who 
 took counsel together to go forth into a far country, 
 where never mankind dwelt,’ have been discovered, 
 now in the bark cabins of North America, now in the 
 secluded valleys of Tennessee, and again as the authors 
 of culture on the plains of the Cordilleras. We cannot 
 tell the origin of the Goths and Celts ; proud as we are 
 of our lineage, we cannot trace our own descent; and 
 we strive to identify, in the most western part of Asia, 
 tlie very hills and valleys among which the ancestors 
 of our Red men had their dwellings. Humanity has a 
 common character. The ingenious scholar may find 
 analogies in language, customs, institutions, and reli¬ 
 gions, between the aborigines of America and any na¬ 
 tion whatever of the Old World; the pious curiosity 
 of Christendom, and not a peculiar coincidence, has 
 
324 
 
 MANjNEUS and customs. 
 
 created a special disposition to discover a connection 
 between them and the Hebrews. Inquirers into Jew¬ 
 ish history, observing faint resemblances between their 
 own religious faith, have sought to trace the origin of 
 common ideas to tradition from the same nation and the 
 same sacred books, when they should not have rested 
 in their pursuit of a common source till they had 
 reached the Fountain of all Knowledge and the Author 
 of all Being.”* 
 
 The form of the skull is a valuable guide in tracing 
 ethnic relations. That of the American Indian has 
 been regarded by Morton so far unique as to justify 
 him in making the following emphatic declaration: 
 
 “ Our own conclusion, long ago derived from a patient 
 examination of the facts, is, that the American race is 
 essentially separate and peculiar, whether we regard it 
 in its physical, moral, or its intellectual relations. To 
 us there are no direct or obvious links between the Old 
 World or the New; for, even admitting the seeming 
 analogies to which we have alluded, these are so few 
 in number, and evidently so casual, as not to invalidate 
 the main position. And even should it hereafter be 
 shown that the arts, sciences, and religion of America 
 can be traced to an exotic source, I maintain that the 
 organic characters of the people themselves, through 
 all their endless ramifications of tribes and nations, 
 prove them to belong to one and the same race, and 
 that this race is distinct from all others.”! 
 
 * Vol. iii, pp. 2II, 212. 
 
 f “ Ethnology and Archaeology of American Aborigines,” p. 9. 
 That singular race, confined to the Circumpolar regions of both hemi¬ 
 spheres, and known on this continent as Esquimaux, and on the other 
 as Lapps, Morton and other comparative physiologists regard as distinct 
 from the North American Indian. Retzius classes them as “ Prognathic 
 Dolicocephali.” The Esquimaux, since known to the white man, have 
 
INDIAN TRIBES. 
 
 325 
 
 The late Anders Retzius, of Stockholm, who has 
 done so much in the field of craniometry, strongly dis¬ 
 sents from these views. “ It is scarcely possible,” he 
 says, “to find anywhere a more distinct distribution 
 into Dolicocephali (long-heads) and BracJiycephali (sliort- 
 heads) than in America. From all that T have lieen 
 able to observe, I have arrived at the opinion that the 
 dolicocephalic form prevails in the Carib Islands, and 
 in the whole eastern j^art of the American continent, 
 from the extreme northern limits to Paraguay and 
 Uruguay in the south; while the brachycephalic pre¬ 
 vails in the Kurile Islands and on the Continent, from 
 the latitude of Behring’s Strait, through Oregon, Mexi¬ 
 co, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chili, the Argentine Repub¬ 
 lic, Patagonia, to Terra del Fuego. 
 
 “ There can be no doubt that the Carib race was the 
 predominant one, not only in the Lesser Antilles, but 
 on the neighboring continent, Avhere we now find Vene¬ 
 zuela and Guiana, and all the Carib skulls which I have 
 examined are dolicocephalic.” 
 
 The Indians of Brazil he assigns to the “Tupi” of 
 the Portuguese, who, farther to the south, received 
 from the Spaniards the name of Guarani ■— a great 
 race, which, according to Prichard, “ is spread over 
 the whole eastern coast of South America, from the 
 mouth of the river La Plata to the Amazon.” “The 
 
 evinced no disposition to encroach on the domain of the neighboring 
 Indians, although their superiors in warfare. “ They are truly,” says Sir 
 John Richardson, “a littoral people, neither wandering inland nor cross¬ 
 ingwide seas.” (Arctic Explorations, p. 202.) So, too, the Lapps on the 
 other hemisphere, have never shown a disposition to penetrate to Central 
 Europe, but have rather retreated before the advance of civilization. 
 Thus, with no formidable physical barrier to intercommunication between 
 the two hemispheres, these people have not shown a disposition to seek, 
 by migration, a different climate from that in which they were born and 
 reared. 
 
326 
 
 JVIANNEKS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 ancient Peruvians^ of Morton,” says Retzius, “and the 
 Muanchas of M. de Tschudi, are also Guarani.” 
 
 The skulls of this race are dolicocephalic, and of 
 much capacity, with the jaws quite large. Towards 
 the north, on the Atlantic, he recognizes this type in 
 the Algonquins and Iroquois, and in the Cherokees of 
 the Gulf Coast. 
 
 He regards the Dolicocephali of America as nearly 
 related to the Guanches of the Canary Islands, and to 
 the Atlantic populations of Africa — the Moors, Tu- 
 aricks, Copts, etc. “We find, then, one and the same 
 form of skull in the Canary Islands in front of the 
 African Coast, and in the Carib Islands on the opposite 
 coast which faces Africa. The color of the skin on 
 both sides of the Atlantic is represented in all these 
 populations as being of a reddish brown, resembling 
 somewhat leather tanned brown ; the hair is the same; 
 the features of the face and build of the frame, as I am 
 led to believe, presenting the same analogy.” 
 
 The Br achy cephalic he maintains, are found, for the 
 most part, on that side of our continent which looks 
 towards Asia and the isles of the Pacific, and they seem 
 to be related to the Mongol races — a view first ex¬ 
 pressed by Humboldt. Some of these Brachycephali 
 possessed a high degree of culture at the period of the 
 Spanish Conquest. The Aztec skulls are described as 
 being remarkable for the shortness of their axis, their 
 large flattened occiput obliquely truncated behind, the 
 height of the semicircular line of the temples, and the 
 shortness and trapezoidal form of the parietal plane. 
 They present an elevation or ridge along the sagittal 
 suture; the base of the skull is very short, and the face 
 slightly prognathic, as among the Mongol-Kalmucs. 
 They bear a strong analogy to the skulls of Peruvian 
 Brachycephali delineated by Morton. 
 
DEFORMATION OF SKULL. 
 
 327 
 
 This type he recognizes in the following tribes which 
 are restricted to the limits of the United States: The 
 Natchez, Chetimanchees, Creeks, Seminoles, Osages, 
 and Menomonees. He regards the skulls figured by 
 Morton from mounds in Tennessee, Ohio, and West 
 Virginia as belonging tP this type.* 
 
 The opinions of this eminent comparative physiolo¬ 
 gist appear to be conclusive against those who maintain 
 the unity of all the American tribes; and whilst he pays 
 a deserved tribute to the profound researches of Mor¬ 
 ton, he avows that “ this remarkable man has allowed 
 the views of the naturalist to become warped by his 
 linguistic researches.” 
 
 The artificial deformation of the shull, at the time of 
 the publication of Morton’s work, was supposed to be 
 a usage restricted to several tribes of Indians now 
 living, and to the ancient Peruvians and inhabitants of 
 Central America; and this usage has been cited as a 
 strong argument to show the filiation between the 
 ancient and modern inhabitants of this continent; but 
 Retzius has shown that this pagan custom has been 
 referred to by various writers. Oriental, Greek, and 
 Roman. In 1849, M. Rathke stated that artificially- 
 formed skulls had been found near Kertch, in the 
 Crimea, and called attention to certain passages in 
 the works of Hippocrates and Strabo, overlooked by 
 medical writers, in which these authors speak of the 
 practice of modifying the shape of the head by means 
 of bandages, as being in use among the macrocephalic 
 (long-headed) Scythians. 
 
 In 1854, Dr. Fitzinger published a memoir on the 
 
 * Retzius, “ Present state of Ethnology in relation to the Form of the 
 Skull.” Translated for Smithsonian Report, i860, p. 264, et seq. See 
 also Wilson (“ Pre-historic Man,” ch. xxi). 
 
328 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 skulls of the Avars, a branch of the Uralian Turks, 
 and pointed out that ancient authors mentioned this 
 usage as having prevailed in several parts of the Empire 
 of the East, and at the same time described an ancient 
 skull, greatly distorted by artificial means, -which had 
 been found in Lower Austria. 
 
 In 1854, Retzius received from M. Troyan, of Switzer¬ 
 land, two skulls of ancient date, artificially compressed, 
 derived from that region, which he described in a report 
 to the Academy of Stockholm. He, also, showed that 
 this custom still prevails in the South of France, and 
 from a passage in Vesalius, he was led to believe that 
 it exists also in various parts of Turkey. 
 
 “ Among the greater part of them,” he concludes, 
 “ the compression seems to have been effected on the 
 occiput with a view of rendering it flat and short. 
 The compression of the top of the head among the 
 Indians of Oregon (Flatheads) has, no doubt, sprung 
 from their proximity to the Esquimaux, whose heads 
 are full and large. The frontal depression among the 
 Huanchas and Caribs seems to have been designed to 
 render the head more dolicocephalic, and was exclu¬ 
 sively practised by the DolicocephalV * 
 
 Thus, then, this usage becomes of little value in 
 tracing national affinities. 
 
 Civilization^ as it develops itself in permanent struct¬ 
 ures which combine elegance of form, grace of outline, 
 and elaboration of ornament, affords the means of deter¬ 
 mining how far it is the result of inheritance, and how 
 far it is something which has grown out of the conception 
 of the artist. As in the human face there are distinct 
 
 * Retzius, p. 269. Dr. Wilson (“ Pre-historic Man,” chap, xxi.) has also 
 elaborately discussed this question and accumulated additional authorities 
 as to the prevalence of this usage. 
 
AMERICAN CIVILIZATION. 
 
 329 
 
 types, at once recognizable by the practised eye, so 
 in the various civilizations, as manifest in art, there is 
 something inherent in it and created with it, which can 
 never be confounded with pre-existing forms. There is 
 the impress of genius, original, unique, and which 
 stands out in bold relief. 
 
 “ The art of Egypt,” says Wilkinson, “ was of native 
 growth, and was original and characteristic ; but the 
 Egyptians, like other people, borrowed occasionally 
 from those with whom they had early intercourse.” * 
 
 The pyramids, the sphynxes, and obelisks are not to 
 be confounded with the structures of any other civilized 
 nation; and what is remarkable, none of these monu¬ 
 ments have a rude or archiac style. 
 
 The Assyrian monuments, also, have a national char¬ 
 acter. The colossal bulls, lions, and winged circles, are 
 characteristic features, and the bass-reliefs wrought 
 with great elaboration, even to the individual hairs 
 of the beard, and to every stitch in the embroidery 
 of the dress, find no counterpart in the art of other 
 peoide. 
 
 The grace of outline and correctness of detail which 
 are so inimitably displayed in Grecian art, form a broad 
 contrast to the stiff and spiritless delineations of the 
 human figure, seen on the Egyptian tombs. 
 
 In the ruins of Central America we have the most 
 elaborate forms of sculpture adorning the altars, idols, 
 and temples. “ It is the spectacle,” says Stevens, “ of 
 a people skilled in architecture, sculpture, and drawing, 
 and beyond doubt, other more perishable arts, and pos¬ 
 sessing the cultivation and refinement attendant upon 
 these, and not derived from the Old World, but origi¬ 
 nating and growing up here without models or masters, 
 
 * Note on “ Herodotus,” book ii, chap. 155. 
 
330 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 having a distinct, separate, independent existence, like 
 the plants and fruits of the soil, indigenous.” * 
 
 In reference to the architecture of the “ House of the 
 Governor,” at Uxmal, he further observes: “ There is no 
 rudeness or barbarity in the design or proportions. On 
 the contrary, the whole wears an air of architectural 
 symmetry and grandeur. . . . If it stood at this 
 
 day, on its great artificial terraces in Hyde Park or the 
 garden of the Tuileries, it would form a new order; I 
 do not say equalling, but not unworthy to stand side by 
 side with the remains of Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman 
 art.” t 
 
 In the platform mounds of the Mississippi Valley, we 
 have the rude or archiac type which subsequently cul¬ 
 minated in forms of beauty, as seen in the foundations 
 of the temples of Central America. 
 
 We seek, then, in vain for any analogies in art which 
 would connect the civilization of this country with that 
 of the Old World. That art was not derived from a 
 remote source ; it was the outgrowth of a people dom¬ 
 esticated to the soil. These artists, by copying nature, 
 have left behind a series of figures in graceful attitudes, 
 and with a finish of execution, which command the 
 admiration of every beholder. 
 
 In the arts, at this day, two methods are employed to 
 produce the desired result: 1, Manipulation —strictly 
 handicraft; and 2, Machinery, in which the forces of 
 nature are made available. In the former process, it 
 may be said, we have not surpassed the ancients; in fact, 
 their works in sculpture, in architecture, in clay, and in 
 gem-cutting, are models for us,— beautiful in design and 
 accurate in execution. We now by a corruption of 
 
 *“ Incidents of Travel in Central America,” vol. ii, p. 311. 
 
 t Ibidem, p. 429. 
 
mON KKOWN TO ANCIENTS. 
 
 331 
 
 language employ the word manufactures —hand-made 
 —to designate the products of machinery ; and it is in 
 this department alone that we display our immense 
 superiority over our ancestors. As to the relative degree 
 of intellectual development, it may be said that the 
 mind of him who superintends a machine which turns 
 off certain forms with a precision and certainty which 
 are unattainable by handicraft, is taxed only in a slight 
 degree; and he whose life-labor has been restricted to 
 grinding needles to a point, or in attaching heads to 
 pins, while he may have attained the highest proficiency, 
 dies with very limited conceptions of the forces of 
 nature, or the grandeur of the universe. He, on the 
 other hand, who devises processes in a particular art, 
 and executes them with his own hands, while he may 
 be less skillful than his mechanical competitor, far out¬ 
 ranks him in range of intellect. Among the ancients, we 
 find the artist and artizan combined, and, hence, while 
 we may surpass them in mechanical execution, there is 
 a fertility of design which we have failed to approach. 
 
 In comparing the ancient civilizations of the two 
 hemispheres, if they were derived from a common origin, 
 there are certain arts which, it would seem, when once 
 acquired, would never be permitted to lapse. Take for 
 example the art of iron smelting, and the additional 
 art of converting the product into steel. How manifold 
 its uses and applications! Leaving out those of a 
 modern date, which are, indeed, the most wonderful, 
 our ancestors at the dawn of the Historic Period knew 
 many of its uses. The hoe, the axe, the plough, the 
 saw, the sword, the ship-bolt, the pruning hook, the 
 needle, the chisel, the chain, the arrow and spear-head, 
 and the anchor, were among the forms into which it was 
 wrought. What a tremendous implement was placed 
 
332 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 in the hands of man to subdue nature, when he could 
 wield a steel axe in the place of a stone hatchet! With 
 the chisel, the refractory block of stone could be readily 
 fashioned into ornamental forms. With bolts, galleys 
 could be bound together so firmly as to withstand the 
 heaviest seas, and the sword became so effective an 
 implement of warfare that it has been retained to the 
 present day. 
 
 Iron was known to the principal nations, whose man¬ 
 ners and customs have been described by Herodotus. 
 Thus, in the Egyptian process of embalming, we are 
 informed that the embalmers extracted the brain through 
 the nostrils with “ a crooked piece of iron.” The blue 
 color of the swords and other weapons on the painted 
 tombs of Thebes, shows that they employed steel as 
 well as bronze. Butchers, too, are represented as 
 sharpening their knives with a steel attached to their 
 aprons. 
 
 Among the rude Scythians, we are informed by the 
 same authority, that the worship of the cimeter pre¬ 
 vailed, which consisted in planting on the top of a 
 mound an antique iron sword, which served as the 
 image of Mars, and yearly sacrifices of cattle and horses 
 were made to it. 
 
 Iron was known long before the Trojan war. Hesiod, 
 the eldest of the European poets, sings of it, and Homer 
 uses this simile in reference to the plucking out of 
 Polyphemus’s eye: “ As when a brazier dips a large 
 hatchet or axe in cold water, greatly-sounding, temper¬ 
 ing it,/or this is the strength of steely so his eye hissed.” * 
 
 The allusions to iron in the early Scriptures are 
 frequent. Tubal-Cain, we are informed, was “an 
 instructor of every artificer in a knowledge of brass 
 
 * “ Odyssey,” ix, line 390, et. seq. 
 
IKON UNKNOWN IN AMERICA. 
 
 333 
 
 andiron.” Egypt is likened to the “iron furnace.”* * * § 
 
 Og, king of Bashan, had an iron bedstead, f Job 
 informs us that “ Iron is taken out of the earth, and 
 brass is molten out of the stone.” J The Phoenicians 
 knew its uses, and it was employed in tools for building 
 Solomon’s temple. 
 
 The use of iron, then, by the civilized nations of the 
 Old World reaches back to the Historic Era. 
 
 No implement of iron has been found in connection 
 with the ancient civilizations of America. The Mound- 
 builders, as we have seen, wrought as a stone, the rich 
 specular ores of Missouri, into various instruments 
 which they ground and polished with elaborate care, 
 little conscious that the same material, subjected to a 
 high heat, could be cast into any required form, and 
 converted into much more efficient weapons. 
 
 “Iron abounds in Mexico,” according to Mr. Tylor,y - 
 
 “ not only in the state of ore, but nearly pure in aerolites ' ' 
 
 of great size, as at Cholula and at Zacatecas, so that 
 ignorance of its qualities alone could have led to the 
 neglect of this useful metal by the Mexicans. Not far 
 from Huetamo, on the road towards the Pacific, there 
 is a conical hill composed entirely of magnetic u’on ore. 
 
 It is so easily wrought that the blacksmiths in the neigh¬ 
 borhood, with no other apparatus than their common 
 forges, make it directly into wrought iron, which they 
 use for all ordinary purposes.” § 
 
 From these facts the inference is inevitable that if 
 this continent was peopled by migrations from the Old 
 World, it must have been at a period far remote, and 
 
 * “ Deutronomy,” iv, 20. 
 
 t Ibidem, iii, ii. 
 
 I “ Job,” xxviii, 2. 
 
 § E. B. Tylor, “ Anahuac,” p. 102. 
 
334 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 at a time when mankind was unacquainted with the 
 use of iron. 
 
 An argument equally apposite and forcible might 
 be drawn from the absence of those domesticated ani¬ 
 mals and plants which constitute the visible wealth of 
 a nomadic people. The Scyths of Herodotus have dis¬ 
 appeared from the face of Europe, and many have sup¬ 
 posed that they found a refuge in America. They cer¬ 
 tainly had many of the habits and customs of the 
 Indian of the plains. They were indifferent to the 
 cultivation of the soil, and spurned the restraints of a 
 sedentary life. Their houses were movable huts, which 
 sheltered promiscuously the youth of both sexes. 
 Their wanderings were regulated by the seasons. On 
 the approach of summer they moved, with their flocks 
 and herds, to the north, and camped beside some clear- 
 running stream ; but as winter approached, they retired 
 south, and sought shelter behind some bluff which 
 overhangs the Volga or the Borysthenes. They were 
 bold and skillful riders, and it was supposed by 
 strangers that they ate and drank, and even slept, 
 without dismounting from their steeds. They formed 
 a sort of movable camp, in which family and property 
 were always included. They were fond of rapine, and 
 were the only nation of whom we read who scalped 
 their victims. With such habits, and with such slight 
 attachments to the soil, they were always in a condition 
 to emigrate, the only motive being the improvement of 
 their condition.* But would they voluntarily move 
 through the vast and desolate region of Siberia to 
 Behring’s Strait, abandoning their flocks and herds, 
 which furnished them with an unfailing supply of food, 
 
 * As to the character of the ancient Scyths, consult Gibbon, “ Decline 
 and Fall,” vol. iii. p. 4, et seq. 
 
PEE.1VIANENCB OF TYPE. 
 
 335 
 
 and cheir ][iorses, whicli enabled them to accomplish the 
 most distant marches ? The dog, too, from the time we 
 first detect his existence, indicated by the presence of 
 his bones in the shell-heaps of Denmark, to the present 
 day, has been the attendant on the European in all his 
 migrations. He can brave all climates, and to the wan¬ 
 dering tribes he becomes not simply a companion, but 
 a useful ally. In the hyperborean regions his services 
 are invaluable. 
 
 The entire absence of all the domesticated animals 
 in North America, when first known to the white man, 
 and of the domesticated cereals of the Old World, 
 would lead to the inference that if this continent was 
 peopled from Asia, it must have been at a period far 
 more remote than is embraced in the received chro¬ 
 nology, and when society was in a purely hunter state. 
 
 Causes which lead to permanence of type .—Gibbon 
 has appositely remarked that “ the savage tribes of 
 mankind, as they approach nearer to the condition of 
 animals, preserve a stronger resemblance to themselves 
 and to each other. The uniform stability of their man¬ 
 ners is the natural consequence of the imperfection of 
 their faculties. Reduced to a similar situation, their 
 wants, their desires, their enjoyments, still continue the 
 same ; and the influence of food or climate, which in 
 a more improved state of society is suspended or sub¬ 
 dued by so many moral causes, most powerfully con¬ 
 tributes to form and to maintain the national character 
 of barbarians.”* 
 
 Ruskin has reproduced the same observation. “ Na¬ 
 tions in the savage, like animals in the wild, state are 
 devoid of any striking individual differences. Where 
 the life is the same for all, and no variety of external in- 
 
 * “ Decline and Fall,” vol. iii. ch. 26. 
 
336 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 fluences calls forth various powers and qualities in the 
 sentient being, a sameness pervades the class.”* Ne¬ 
 groes, Caffres, Esquimaux, North American Indians, 
 Calmucks, Chinese, Bushmen, have this peculiarity in 
 common, and even among the Arabs of the Desert, a 
 far higher type of humanity, this fact holds good. “ I 
 was now,” says the author of Ebthen, “ amongst the 
 true Bedouins; almost every man of his race resembles 
 his brethren.” 
 
 Carl Vogt has remarked: “There can be no doubt 
 that as man approaches more nearly in bodily conforma¬ 
 tion to the animal, and especially his nearest relative, 
 the ape, the lower his stage of culture. As times go 
 on, these characteristics gradually vanish ; the forehead 
 becomes more upright, the skull higher and more dome¬ 
 shaped, and the projecting countenance gradually re¬ 
 cedes under the skull. These changes are the result 
 of man’s conflict with his circumstances, and to the 
 mental labor which that conflict entails.”! 
 
 The Negroid type is believed by many to be the prim¬ 
 itive type of mankind, and has remained constant to 
 this day; while the Caucasian type is the result of a 
 more improved state of society, and of more favorable 
 external influences. This question of type will be dis¬ 
 cussed in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 From this hasty review of the languages, civilizations, 
 manners and customs, and cerebral types of the peoples 
 of the two hemispheres, it would appear that there are 
 no sufficiently discriminating features for establishing 
 ethnic relations between them. Every region of the 
 earth, fitted to sustain human life, when first known to 
 the European explorer, was found to be inhabited;—the 
 
 * “ Modern Painters,” vol. ii, p. io6. 
 
 + “ Report to Congress of German Naturalists.” 
 
FIKST OKIGIN OF MAN. 
 
 337 
 
 entire extent of North and South America, Australia, 
 New Zealand, and the isles of the Pacific; and the 
 occupancy of these regions dated so far back as to de¬ 
 velop in the inhabitants, under the operation of certain 
 laws, but imperfectly understood, distinctive traits of 
 national character. 
 
 The primitive condition of these people, for the most 
 part, was that of barbarians, but in a few instances, 
 under favorable conditions of natural forces, they cul¬ 
 tivated the arts, and developed a very considerable 
 degree of civilization. 
 
 We confess, in attempting to trace the career of man, 
 that there are no continuous streams which enable us 
 to ascend to the common fountain of life. The ancestry 
 even of the most intellectual races, when traced back 
 for a few thousand years, becomes involved in a Cim¬ 
 merian darkness. Whence sprang the Celt or the 
 Teuton? When did the Negroid type assume its dis¬ 
 tinctive features, and by what influences has it been 
 perpetuated ? How can we explain the primitive and 
 unique character of American language ? How explain 
 the peopling of continents and the isles of the sea, girt 
 by barren waters ? In vain do we seek in the old civili¬ 
 zations for any connecting links; in vain do we search 
 the languages of the two hemispheres for common forms 
 of expression. 
 
 “It is in vain,” says William Von Humboldt, “that 
 we direct our thoughts to the solution of the great 
 problem of the first origin, since man is too intimately 
 associated with his own race, and with relations of 
 time, to conceive of the existence of an individual inde¬ 
 pendently of a preceding generation and age.”* 
 
 * Quoted in “ Cosmos," vol. i, p. 365. 
 
 X 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 WHO WERE THE MOUND - BUILDERS ? 
 
 I NSTEAD of seeking to establish ethnic relations 
 between the Mound-builders and any of the races 
 of the Old World, founded on the apparent similarity 
 of manners and customs, I would look rather for their 
 origin to that race who, in times far remote, flourished 
 in Brazil, some of whose crania are found in the bone- 
 caves of Minas Geraes, in connection with mammalian 
 bones belonging to genera and species now extinct. 
 
 These crania, as has been shown, were characterized 
 by a remarkable deficiency of the frontal eminences, 
 amounting to an almost entire absence of the forehead;— 
 a type which we find delineated on the monuments of 
 Mexico and Central America, and which is seen in the 
 crania recovered from the shores of Lake Michigan and 
 the banks of the Wabash and Mississippi. 
 
 If we examine the bass-reliefs of the temples of 
 Palenque and the altar-tablets of Copan, as dehneated 
 by Catherwood, we shall find that all the figures possess 
 the peculiarity of a low forehead, the prominence of 
 which at this day is regarded as the type of intellectual 
 force. These sculptured figures are not caricatures, 
 but display an ability on the part of the artists to 
 represent the human form in every posture, and with 
 anatomical fidelity. Nor are the people in humble life 
 
 338 
 
SEATS OF OLD CIVILIZATIONS. 
 
 339 
 
 here delineated. The figures are regal or priestly; some 
 are engaged in offering up sacrifices, or are in an atti¬ 
 tude of devotion; many hold a sceptre or other baton 
 of authority; their apparel is gorgeous; their head¬ 
 dresses are elaborately arrayed, and decorated with 
 long feathers, probably of the quezal, which was the 
 sacred bird of that region. Ornaments depend from 
 their ears; beads are entwined in their hair or encircle 
 their necks; costly tunics are thrown over their 
 shoulders ; their loins are girt with rich furs ; their feet 
 are shod with sandals; in fact, all their paraphernalia 
 indicate a barbaric pomp which an Oriental monarch 
 might envy. Thus, it is evident that this peculiar con¬ 
 formation of skull was characteristic of the most exalted 
 personages; and, admitting that it was the result of 
 artificial compression, which is only in exceptional cases 
 established, still it is clear that there existed a prototype 
 of what they regarded as manly beauty, to which they 
 wished to conform. That prototype, as we have seen, 
 can be traced back to the remotest antiquity of man on 
 this hemisphere. 
 
 The civilizations of the Old World, in the light of 
 modern ethnological discoveries, probably originated in 
 the tropics, and extended with slow advances to the 
 temperate climates. These civilizations resulted, as 
 has been shown, from the profusion of nature, in regions 
 where vegetation is perennial, furnishing man with the 
 spontaneous fruits of the earth, and requiring little or 
 no exertion beyond the plucking of them, and where 
 few precautions are to be taken to guard against cold. 
 Whilst such a climate is not adapted to develop the full 
 power, physical and intellectual, of man, it would form 
 the starting point in his career. Hence, in undertaking 
 to trace the migrations of the Mound-builder, I would 
 
340 
 
 WHO WERE THE MOUND-BUILDERS? 
 
 direct attention to the warm climate of Central America, 
 rather than to the hyperborean regions of Siberia and 
 Behring’s Strait, as marking the line of his departure. 
 
 The primitive lines of emigration, so far as they relate 
 to North America, were probably from the south to the 
 north; nor is there wanting historical evidence of such 
 a movement. 
 
 The traditions as well as the monuments of Mexico 
 and Central America, would indicate that there was an 
 older civilization, and of a higher order than that 
 attained by the Aztecs. The latter were the Brachy- 
 cephali; they subjugated the Bolicocephali, probably 
 allied to the old Carib race, and, without obliterating 
 their civilization, asserted their physical sway. 
 
 As to the origin of the Aztecs, the authorities are 
 conflicting. Torquemada, Boturini, and Clavigero 
 assign to them a northwestern or western origin, and 
 Prescott states that this theory derives stronger con¬ 
 firmation from the light of tradition; whilst Bartlett 
 says that he sees no satisfactory evidence of its truth, 
 and Squier goes still further, and declares that the 
 hypothesis of a migration from Nicaragua and Cuscut- 
 lan to Anahuac, is altogether more consonant with 
 probabilities.* The Indians of New Mexico, as we have 
 seen, claim that Montezuma was born in their country, 
 and signalized his early career by founding pueblos as 
 he moved southward ; and finally attained supreme 
 power as emperor of Mexico. Whatever their origin, 
 this fact stands out in the history of that country : that 
 the Aztecs moved into the valley of Anahuac only about 
 three hundred years before the Spanish Conquest, and 
 that up to that time had failed to consolidate the 
 Mexican Empire, for it was through an alliance with 
 
 * Consult Hayden, “ Archseology,” etc., p. 148. 
 
THE TOLTECS. 
 
 341 
 
 the Tlascalans and other tribes, who were unfriendly to 
 the Aztec dominion, that Cortez was enabled to over¬ 
 throw it. 
 
 The Aztecs were not barbarians, but like the Goths 
 in invading the Roman Empire, were disposed to adopt 
 the arts, the civilization, and perhaps even the religion 
 of the conquered. The older ruins show a refined skill 
 which was not attained in those of a more modern date ; 
 and the picture-writing on the Aztec monuments fails 
 to interpret the inscriptions of Palenque and Copan. 
 
 The Aztecs, grafting their ideas on an older and 
 higher order of civilization, had made themselves skill¬ 
 ful artificers, and Bernal Diaz, in describing the splendors 
 of their capital, remarks, that he could compare them to 
 nothing but “ the enchanted scenes we had read of in 
 Amadis de Gaul, from the great towers and temples, 
 and other edifices of lime and stone, which seemed to 
 rise up out of the water.” They attained a know¬ 
 ledge of the more intricate movements of the solar sys¬ 
 tem ; they solved the cause of eclipses, and calculated 
 the length of the solar year. It is quite probable that 
 these astronomical problems, which indicate a high 
 range of intellect, were not wrought out by their 
 own ingenuity, but were derived from the subjugated 
 race. 
 
 As to the conquered race, the Abbd Brasseur de 
 Bourbourg, * perhaps the ablest interpreter of the 
 ancient Mexican records, maintains that they were 
 Toltecs or Nahuas — a people identical with the Mound- 
 builders of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. These 
 ancient records make repeated mention of an empire 
 
 * Mr. J. D. Baldwin, in his “Ancient America,” p. 201, et scq., has 
 given an elaborate resum6 of de Bourbourg’s “ Quatre Lettres ” and 
 “ Soured de ITIistoire du Mexique,” of which I shall avail myself. 
 
342 
 
 WHO WERE THE MOUND - BUILDERS ? 
 
 situated at a distance to the northeast, and known as 
 Huehue Tlapalan, from which they came to Mexico, in 
 consequence of domestic insurrection or outside invasion. 
 Their migration was long and toilsome. Some came by 
 land and others by sea. The simple name of the country 
 was Tlapalan, but it was called Huehue (old) Tlapalan, 
 to distinguish it from three other places wliich they 
 founded in the new region, and to which they attached 
 the same name. One company settled near the Tampico 
 River, and built a town called Panuco. It was con¬ 
 ducted by twenty chiefs and followed by a numerous 
 retinue of people. Torquemada found an old record 
 which describes this people as of fine appearance, intel¬ 
 ligent, and of industrious and orderly habits, and skilled 
 in the working of metals and stones. They went for¬ 
 ward into the country and were well received. 
 
 Another account as to the forced emigration of the 
 Toltecs, is to the effect that they were assailed by the 
 Chichimecs—a name applied to all the barbarous tribes 
 of the New World—who were united under one great 
 leader ; that there was a terrible struggle, but that after 
 about thirteen years of conflict, the Toltecs, no longer 
 able to resist successfully, were obliged to abandon their 
 country to escape complete subjugation ; that two chiefs 
 guided the march of the emigrating nation; and that 
 at length they reached a region near the sea, named 
 Tlapalan Conco, where they remained several years; 
 but that they finally undertook another migration, and 
 reached Mexico, where they built a town called Tollan- 
 zinco, and later the city of Tullan, which became the 
 seat of their government. 
 
 The oldest certain date, according to the Abbd Bras- 
 seur, in the Nahuatal or Toltec language, reaches hack 
 955 years before Christ; and as the Toltecs dwelt for 
 
TOLTEC CIVILIZATION. 
 
 343 
 
 some time in the country of Zibalba, before they seized 
 upon the supreme power, their migration must have 
 begun more than a thousand years before the Christian 
 Era. The race whom they dispossessed, was known as 
 the Colhuas, who came in ships probably from South 
 America,— a remnant of the people, as conjectured by 
 the Abb^, who had escaped the terrible calamity 
 involved in the destruction of Atlantis, by the com¬ 
 bined forces of fire and water. They were not bar¬ 
 barians, but are described as a people who first planted 
 among them the seeds of civilization and erected great 
 cities. They taught the Chichimecs — the rude tribes 
 —how to cook food and cultivate the soil. These 
 tribes, according to tradition, were the Autochthones — 
 the people by whom the region was occupied “at the 
 beginning of time.” It was through an alliance with 
 them that the Toltecs gained supreme power, which 
 appears to have become disintegrated, leaving the 
 country disorganized, two or three centuries before the 
 appearance of the Aztecs. 
 
 Some of the seats of the Colhuan civilization were in 
 the region now covered by the great forest, but whether 
 the highest manifestations of art, exhibited in the ruined 
 cities, are to be ascribed to them or to the Toltecs, is a 
 matter of doubt. History presents few examples of a 
 people utterly exterminated ; the vanquished, generally 
 absorbed by the victors, and reduced to slavery or 
 obedience, become an element of material wealth, but 
 not of political strength, in building up an empire, just 
 as the Helots were used by the ancient Athenians to 
 cultivate their lands and attend them in battle. What¬ 
 ever of civilization the Colhuas possessed, was probably 
 adopted and grafted upon by the Toltecs ; and that it 
 culminated under their supremacy, is inferred from the 
 
344 
 
 WHO WERE THE MOUND - BTJILDEES ? 
 
 truncated pyramid, which characterises the foundations 
 of all their elaborate and ornamented structures. 
 
 Stevens is disposed to adopt the hypothesis that the 
 people found in possession of Central America at the 
 time of the Spanish Conquest, formed a part of the dis¬ 
 membered Toltecan empire, who, while cut olf from the 
 central source of communication, were not wholly 
 reduced to Aztec sway. Simple in tastes and content 
 to toil, they exercised little or no influence in the choice 
 of their master ; and, as among most of the nations of 
 antiquity, it mattered not to the people whether that 
 master was called king, or caique, or inca, or tyrant. 
 There was exacted a personal servitude ; there was an 
 abnegation of every form approaching popular sover¬ 
 eignty. The state controlled the labor of the masses, 
 and its supervision extended to the domestic economy 
 of every household; to the place where the citizen 
 should reside, to the occupation he should follow, and 
 to the wife even he should marry. * 
 
 It is to such a condition of society, a condition based 
 on human slavery, that we trace the origin of most of 
 the monuments of antiquity, imposing by their vastness, 
 but frivolous as to their objects. Buckle, in reference 
 to the erection of the pyramids of Egypt, aptly remarks: 
 “ No wealth however great, no expenditure however 
 lavish, could meet the expense which would have been 
 incurred, if they had been the work of free men, who 
 received for the labor a fair and honest reward. . . . 
 We may form some idea of the incredible waste (of 
 labor), when we hear that two thousand men were 
 occupied for three years in carrying a single stone from 
 Elephantine to Sais; that the canal of the Red Sea 
 alone cost the lives of one hundred and twenty thousand 
 
 * Buckle, “ History of Civilization,” vol. i, p. 8i. 
 
PYRAMIDS. 
 
 345 
 
 Egyptians; and that to build one of the pyramids 
 required the labor of three hundred and sixty thousand 
 men for twenty years.”* 
 
 When we read of the great national highway of 
 Peru, Macadamized or paved with slabs of stone, 
 stretching for more than a thousand miles, and con¬ 
 necting together the most distant parts of the empire ; 
 of the “princely palaces” of the Incas, built of hewn 
 stone, and supplied with water by aqueducts of costly 
 structure ; and when we see such cities in Central 
 America as Palenque, Copan, and Uxmal, magnificent 
 even in their ruins, we must admit the former existence 
 of a well-organized government. When in Mexico, we 
 behold such a vast structure as the terraced pyramid 
 of Cholula, one hundred and seventy-two feet in height, 
 with a base of thirteen hundred and thirty-five feet — 
 nearly double that of the Great Pyramid of Egypt, 
 — with its masonry of brick, and covering an area of 
 forty-five acres ; and find that the object of this immense 
 expenditure of human labor was to enshrine, in an inte¬ 
 rior chamber of stone, two corpses, whose living names 
 have long since perished from the recollection even of 
 their own people, we are brought to the sad conclusion 
 that the industry of the great mass of the population 
 was at the absolute command of the few. These 
 ancient civilizations, in both hemispheres, as attested by 
 monuments which elicit the admiration of posterity, 
 are, in the language of Buckle, “ an evidence of a state 
 of things altogetlier depraved and unhealthy ; a state 
 in which the skill and the arts of an imperfect refine¬ 
 ment injured those whom they ought to have benefited ; 
 so that the very resources which the people had created 
 were turned against the people themselves.”! 
 
 * Ibidem, vol. i, p. 66. f p. 66. 
 
346 
 
 WHO WERE THE MOHOT) - BUILDERS ? 
 
 The platform mound of Cahokia, in the Mississippi 
 Valley, was supposed to contain one-fourth the cubic 
 contents of the great pyramid of Ghizeh; and that of 
 Grave Creek is nearly equal to the third pyramid or 
 that of Mycerinus; and when we consider that these 
 vast piles were heaped up by a people who were desti¬ 
 tute of a knowledge of iron, and were compelled to 
 rely on implements of stone, flaked from materials 
 brought often from long distances; and further, that 
 they could not avail themselves of the auxiliary aid of 
 the domesticated animals, such as the ox and the horse ; 
 
 — we must arrive at the inevitable conclusion that the 
 condition of society among the Mound-builders was not 
 that of free men; or, in other words, that the state 
 possessed absolute power over the lives and fortunes of 
 its subjects. This condition of affairs implies a very 
 considerable advance in society, and a complex system 
 of government; and to maintain and perpetuate such 
 a system, there must have been cheap food, whereby 
 only a portion of the labor of the community was re¬ 
 quired to provide the means of subsistence, leaving a 
 certain portion — a moiety of the whole — to be applied 
 to the construction of those objects which did not di¬ 
 rectly subserve human wants and conveniences. 
 
 As in India rice, and in Egypt the date, furnished 
 the national food, without taxing to an undue extent 
 the energies of the people; so in the Mississippi Valley, 
 maize undoubtedly constituted the great staple of sub¬ 
 sistence, and the monuments of its ancient civilization 
 are mainly restricted within the area adapted to its cult- ) ^ 
 ure. It is a plant highly prolific and easily cultivated, 
 and the product of a single acre furnishes rations suf¬ 
 ficient to sustain, for an entire year, all the way from 
 one hundred and twenty, to two hundred and forty able- 
 
INDIAN CHARACTER. 
 
 347 
 
 bodied men. The area of forest-belt, abundantly 
 stocked with game, required to support an equally nu¬ 
 merous population, would vary from nearly eight hun¬ 
 dred thousand, to more than a million and one-half acres. 
 
 That the Mound-builders cultivated the soil in a 
 methodical manner, far different from the mode pursued 
 by the present Indians, is evident from the vestiges of 
 ancient garden-beds which have been particularly de¬ 
 scribed in a preceding chapter. They relied upon the 
 constantly-recurring seasons of seed-time and harvest 
 as a means of support, rather than upon the precarious 
 chances of hunting and fishing. 
 
 A broad chasm is to be spanned before we can link 
 the Mound-builders to the North American Indians. 
 They were essentially different in their form of govern¬ 
 ment, their habits, and their daily pursuits. The latter, 
 since known to the white man, has spurned the re¬ 
 straints of a sedentary life, which attach to agriculture, 
 and whose requirements, in his view, are ignoble. He 
 was never known to erect structures which should sur¬ 
 vive the lapse of a generation. His lodges consist of a 
 few poles, one end planted in the ground and the other 
 secured with withes at the top, and over which are 
 stretched plaits of matting, or of birch bark, or the 
 skins of the buffalo. This frail structure constitutes 
 his shelter from the elements ; and these miserable wig¬ 
 wams are the promiscuous habitations of both sexes. 
 The sanctity of the domestic relation is unknown. 
 Youth and age there find an abiding place for the time 
 being, to be abandoned whenever the inclemency of the 
 season or the scarcity of game supervenes. An eye¬ 
 witness myself, in early manhood, to the primitive man¬ 
 ners and simplicity of this race, I am compelled to con¬ 
 fess that the pleasing vision of a people “ clothed with 
 
348 
 
 WHO WERE THE MOUND - BUELDERS ? 
 
 the fairest attributes of peace and innocence,” was 
 forcibly dispelled, when I witnessed the fierce passions 
 and cruel hates by Avhich their conduct was swayed. 
 The Arcadian virtues, sung by the poets, as character¬ 
 istic of primitive society, were entirely wanting.* Cot¬ 
 ton Mather, in a rugged and forcible way, describes the 
 Indians, before they had become contaminated with 
 the vices of civilization, as “ those doleful creatures, 
 the veriest ruins of mankind to be found on the face of 
 the earth; ” “ whose clothing was the skin of a beast; ” 
 who cured their fish by drying, and not by salting, “ for 
 they had not a grain of salt in the world who abode 
 in a place until they “ had burnt up all the wood there¬ 
 abouts ; ” and whose “ way of living was infinitely bar¬ 
 barous.” f 
 
 * General G. A. Custar, in one of his chapters, “ Life on the Plains ” 
 (Galaxy, January, 1873) says : “ My firm conviction, based upon an inti¬ 
 mate and thorough analysis of the habits of character, and natural in¬ 
 stinct of the Indian, and strengthened and supported by the almost 
 unanimous opinion of all persons who have made the Indian problem a 
 study, and have studied it, not from a distance, but in immediate contact 
 with all the facts bearing thereupon, is, that the Indian cannot be ele¬ 
 vated to that great level where he can be induced to adopt any policy or 
 mode of life varying from those to which he has ever been accustomed, 
 by any method of teaching, argument, reasoning, or coaxing, which is not 
 preceded and followed closely in reserve by a superior physical force. 
 In other words, the Indian is capable of recognizing no controlling influ¬ 
 ence but that of stern, arbitrary power. To assume that he can be 
 guided by appeals to his ideas of moral right and wrong, independent of 
 threatening or final compulsion, is to place him far above his more civil¬ 
 ized brothers of the white race, who, in the most advanced stage of refine¬ 
 ment and morality, still find it necessary to employ force, sometimes 
 resort to war, to exact justice from a neighboring nation. And yet there 
 are those who argue that the Indian, with all his lack of moral privileges, 
 is so superior to the white race as to be capable of being controlled in 
 his savage traits and customs, and induced to lead a proper life, simply 
 by being politely requested to do so.” 
 
 f Mather, “ Life of Elliot,” etc. 
 
SUMMARY. 
 
 349 
 
 The government existing among these people is 
 simply patriarchal. The authority of the chief is held 
 by a slender thread, liable to be severed at any mo¬ 
 ment ; and the questions whether to defend their own 
 borders, or invade those of neighboring tribes, must be 
 determined after numerous smokes and pow-wows, in 
 which the medicine-man with his incantations, plays 
 an important part; so that in the conduct of the In¬ 
 dian, instead of looking to an artless credulity, we are 
 to look to overmastering superstition as his governing 
 motive. As the democratic principle is recognized and 
 acted upon in all their tribal relations, we may well com¬ 
 prehend how distasteful would be an order to throw up 
 a structure such as that at Cahokia or at Grave Creek, 
 involving an amount of personal servitude at which 
 all the free instincts of their nature, fostered by their 
 roving habits, would revolt. No chief would dare issue 
 such a command ; no subaltern would engage in the work. 
 The domestic economy of the Indian, then, as contrasted 
 with that of the Mound-builder, exhibits two widely- 
 different conditions of society. In the one case, the 
 people had fixed habitations and methodical pursuits, 
 and the day’s labor was crowned with definite and accu¬ 
 mulated results : in the other, the people led a nomadic 
 life ; a feast followed a famine ; and, with their shift¬ 
 ing habitations, the accumulation of personal property 
 would prove an incumbrance rather than a convenience. 
 
 A summary of the conclusions arrived at in the pre¬ 
 ceding pages with regard to the origin, customs, and 
 ultimate fate of the Mound-builders, may appropriately 
 form the conclusion of this chapter. 
 
 1. That as a race their origin extends back to a re¬ 
 mote antiquity ; but all attempts to trace that origin to 
 a common fountain of life, as with other races now in- 
 
350 
 
 WHO WERE THE MOUND - BUH^DEES ? 
 
 habiting the earth, soon involve the investigator in the 
 mazes of conjecture. 
 
 2. That they possessed a conformation of skull 
 which would link them to the autochthones of this hem¬ 
 isphere,—a conformation which was subsequently repre¬ 
 sented in the people who developed the ancient civih- 
 zation of Mexico and Central America. 
 
 3. That whilst their manners and customs conformed 
 in many respects to those of ancient races of the Old 
 World, they may be regarded as the result of man’s 
 contact with external nature, rather than of inheritance 
 through successive generations, and, therefore, that 
 they are of little importance in tracing ethnic relations. 
 
 4. That during their occupancy of the Mississippi 
 Valley, they developed traits in their domestic economy 
 and their civil relations, which distinguished them by a 
 well-marked line of division from the Indian who was 
 found in possession of the continent at the time of its 
 European discovery. Their monuments indicate that 
 they had entered upon a career of civilization: they lived 
 in stationary communities, cultivating the soil and rely¬ 
 ing on its generous yield as a means of support: they 
 clothed themselves, in part at least, in garments regu¬ 
 larly spun and woven : they modelled clay and carved 
 stone even of the most obdurate character, into images 
 representing animate objects, including even the human 
 face and form, with a close adherence to nature: they 
 mined and cast copper into a variety of useful forms: 
 they quarried mica, steatite, chert, and the novaculite 
 slates, which they wrought into articles adapted to 
 personal ornament, to domestic use, or to the chase: 
 unlike the Indians, who were ignorant of the curative 
 properties of salt, they collected the brine of the salines 
 into earthen vessels moulded in baskets, which they 
 
SUMMARY. 
 
 351 
 
 evaporated into a form which admitted of transporta¬ 
 tion : they erected an elaborate line of defense, 
 stretching for many hundred miles, to guard against 
 the sudden irruption of enemies: they had a na¬ 
 tional religion, in which the elements were the objects 
 of supreme adoration: temples were erected upon 
 the platform mounds, and watchfires lighted upon the 
 highest summits: and in the celebration of the mys¬ 
 teries of their faith, human sacrifices were probably 
 offered up. The magnitude of their structures, in¬ 
 volving an infinitude of labor, such only as could be 
 expended excei)t in a community where cheap food 
 prevailed, and the great extent of their commercial re¬ 
 lations, reaching to widely separated portions of the 
 continent, imply the existence of a stable and efficient 
 government, based on the subordination of tlie masses. 
 As the civilizations of the Old World, growing out of 
 the peculiar conditions of soil and climate, developed 
 certain forms of art which are original and unique, so 
 on this continent we see the crude conception in the 
 truncated pyramid, as first displayed in Wisconsin, Ohio, 
 and Illinois, and the accomplished result in the stone¬ 
 faced foundations of the temples of Uxmal and Pal- 
 enque. And finally, the distinctive character of the 
 Mound-builders’ structures, and also the traditions 
 which have been preserved, would indicate that this 
 people were expelled from the Mississippi Valley by a 
 fierce and barbarous race, and that they found refuge 
 in the more genial climate of Central America, where 
 they developed those germs of civilization, originally 
 planted in their northern homes, into a perfection which 
 has elicited the admiration of every modern explorer. 
 
 5. That regarding human crania in their identity of 
 conformation as among the surest guides in tracing 
 
352 
 
 WHO WEEB THE MOUND - BUILDERS ? 
 
 national affinities, the generalization of Morton that all 
 the tribes of this hemisphere, whether living or extinct, 
 from the Arctic Sea to Cape Horn, exhibit no physical 
 diversity, and are essentially one race, is undoubtedly 
 erroneous; that the two great divisions into Dolico- 
 cephali and Bracliycepliali are as well-marked as in the 
 Old World ; and that if any distinction is to be drawn, 
 it is to the effect that the former were the autochthonous 
 race, and the first to develop the germs of civilization. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 I N the discussion of questions relating to the high 
 antiquity of man ; his dispersion over the habitable 
 portions of the earth ; the diversity of languages ; the 
 permanence of types as indicated by color of skin, 
 texture of hair, configuration of skull, and other ana¬ 
 tomical peculiarities which appear to be in no degree 
 dependent on climate or personal habits; the query 
 must have suggested itself to every comparative physi¬ 
 ologist, Can these diversities be reconciled on the sup¬ 
 position that the whole human race is the offspring of 
 a single pair? 
 
 If we admit that the various races of living men, 
 represented by such extremes as the Negroid type on 
 the one hand, and the Caucasian on the other, are the 
 descendants of a common progenitor who lived some 
 four thousand years ago, we find it impossible to explain 
 why these distinctive forms should have manifested 
 themselves at so early a period in the human career, 
 and have remained constant to the present day. Six 
 hundred years before the Christian Era the prophet 
 asked, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin?” and 
 modern science has failed to answer the question in the 
 affirmative. Profane records, too, show that these types 
 were well-defined at a time when human history begins, 
 Y 353 
 
354 
 
 UNITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 and that no variety has originated within the lapse of 
 recorded time. 
 
 As the readiest solution of this Gordian knot, many 
 ethnologists would look to numerous independent 
 creations in different parts of the earth, and would 
 even separate the genus Homo into a sufficient number 
 of species to accommodate all the well-marked varieties 
 of the human race. “Were we to admit,” says Lyell, 
 “ a unity of origin of such strongly-marked varieties as 
 the Negro and European, differing as they do in color 
 and bodily constitution, each fitted for distinct climates, 
 and exhibiting some marked peculiarities in their osteo- 
 logical and even in some details of their cranial and cere¬ 
 bral conformation, as well as in their intellectual endow¬ 
 ments ; if in spite of the fact that all these attributes 
 have been faithfully handed down unaltered for hun¬ 
 dreds of generations, we are to believe that in the course 
 of time they have all diverged from the common stock, 
 how shall we resist the argument of the transmutationist 
 who contends that all closely-allied species of animals 
 and plants have, in like manner sprung from a common 
 parentage ? ” * 
 
 If, in accordance with the combined investigations of 
 geologists and ethnologists, we carry back the antiquity 
 of man to a period indefinitely remote, we can perhaps 
 imagine a set of causes operating almost silently and 
 unseen through thousands of generations, which would 
 be adequate to explain these diversities, but which have 
 exercised no perceptible influence within the Historic 
 Epoch. So long as the investigator felt the necessity 
 of limiting his inquiries to causes operating within the 
 period of our received chronology, little progress was 
 made ; but now the whole question of the origin of man 
 
 * “ Antiquity of Man,” p. 338. 
 
HEBREW CHRONOLOGY. 
 
 355 
 
 must be reopened and adjusted in accordance with the 
 discoveries of modern science ; and I doubt not that 
 there will be found continuous and uninterrupted causes 
 which shall explain all the diversities in the different 
 branches of the human family, without the necessity of 
 resorting to independent creations. 
 
 As representing the aspect in which this question is 
 at present regarded, I quote the sentiments of many of 
 the most eminent men of the present generation, who 
 have made it the subject of profound study. 
 
 Thus Dr. Prichard says: “ Many writers, who have 
 been by no means inclined to raise objections against 
 the authority of the Sacred Scriptures, and particularly 
 Michaelis, have felt themselves embarrassed by the 
 shortness of the interval between the Noachic Deluge 
 and the period at which the records of the various 
 nations commence, or the earliest date to which their 
 historical memorials lead us back. The extravagant 
 claims to a remote and almost fathomless antiquity, made 
 by the fabulists of many ancient nations, have vanished 
 before the touch of accurate criticism; but after 
 abstracting all that is apparently mythological from the 
 early traditions of the Indians, Egyptians, and some 
 other nations, the probable history of some of them 
 seems still to reach up to a period too remote to be 
 reconciled with the short chronology of Usher and 
 Petavius. This has been so universally felt by all those 
 writers who have entered upon the investigation of 
 primeval history that it is superfluous to dwell upon the 
 subject.” * 
 
 Baron Bunsen is forced to claim for the human race 
 an antiquity of 20,000 years, basing his conclusions on 
 the common origin of language. 
 
 * “ Researches into the Physical History of Mankind,” vol. v. p. 553. 
 Quoted by Lubbock, “ Pre-historic Times,” p. 385. 
 
356 
 
 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 “ The oldest monuments of Egypt,” says the Rev. 
 Dr. Thompson, “ can hardly be brought within the 
 date of the flood of Noah, according to the Hebrew 
 chronology. The date assigned to the three great 
 pyramids by most Egyptologists is older than the flood, 
 as this is reckoned in the margin of our bibles; and the 
 lowest date to which Professor Piazzi Smith and other 
 advocates of the shorter chronology would reduce them 
 by astronomical modes of computation, is still far too 
 old to be fairly accommodated to the Hebrew date of 
 the flood. . . . The tablet of Sethos I., recently 
 
 discovered in the great temple of Abydos, introduces a 
 new element of complication into these calculations. 
 Upon this tablet a monarch, whose period is pretty 
 clearly determined as of the fifteenth century before 
 Christ, is represented as offering sacrifice to his royal 
 predecessors, of whom there are seventy-six in an un¬ 
 broken line up to Menes ; and this line tallies with the 
 fragmentary lists from other sources, showing that this 
 was the official list of recognized sovereigns in regular 
 succession. Eight reigns in a century would, by the 
 analogy of history in long periods, be a large allow¬ 
 ance. But even an average of ten reigns in a century 
 would require the whole time from Sethos I., back to 
 the Flood of our common chronology, to dispose of the 
 seventy-six predecessors of that king; and when we 
 arrive at Menes, we find already an empire consolidated 
 into distinct governments, and capable of building the 
 great city of Memphis, with its magnificent temples 
 and towers, and its huge dyke which turned the course 
 of the Nile. Either, then, we must place the Flood 
 much farther back upon the chronological scale, or must 
 admit not only that it was not universal in territorial 
 extent (which is altogether probable), but that it was 
 
EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS. 
 
 357 
 
 not universal in the destruction of mankind, which 
 would seem to contradict both the letter and spirit of 
 the Sacred Record.”* 
 
 Mr. George Smith, the decipherer of the seventh 
 tablet of Assyrian history, finds a veritable date, that 
 of the conquest of Babylonia by Kudur-nanhundi, the 
 Eamite, which extends back to B. c. 2280, or nearly to 
 the received date of the Deluge. At this time reigned 
 monarchs in the Euphrates Valley, who* founded great 
 cities, reared magnificent temples and palaces, exca¬ 
 vated canals, and upon their more durable structures 
 engraved characters which modern ingenuity lias been 
 able to interpret. 
 
 Tlie ingenious author of “ The Genesis of Earth and 
 Man” has forcibly commented upon the difficulties 
 which beset us when we attempt to account for the de¬ 
 scent of all mankind from a single pair. The greatest 
 of these difficulties “lies in the fact of our finding 
 upon Egyptian monuments, mostly of the thirteenth, 
 fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries before the Christian 
 Era, representations of individuals of numerous nations, 
 African, Asiatic, and European, differing in physical 
 cliaracteristics as widely as any equal number of na¬ 
 tions of the present age that could be grouped together ; 
 among these being negroes of the true Nigritian stamp, 
 depicted with a fidelity as to color and features, hardly 
 to be surpassed by a modern artist. That such diver¬ 
 sities had been produced by natural means in the inter¬ 
 val between that remote age and the time of Noah, 
 probably no one versed in the science of anatomy and 
 physiology will consider credible.” 
 
 Mr. Alfred Wallace, whose keen powers of observa¬ 
 tion as a naturalist, and whose comprehensive range as 
 
 * J. P. Thompson, “ Man in Genesis and Geology," p. lOO. 
 
358 
 
 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 a philosopher have so essentially enlarged the bounda¬ 
 ries of our knowledge of Natural History, has under¬ 
 taken to reconcile the conflicting opinions of the two 
 parties ; the one who holds that man is a species, and 
 essentially one, and that all differences are but local 
 and temporary variations, produced by the different 
 physical and moral differences by which he is sur¬ 
 rounded ; the other, that man is a genus of many spe¬ 
 cies, each of which is unchangeable, and has ever been 
 as distinct, and even more distinct, than we now behold 
 him. These differences, he thinks, are due to natural 
 selection; and whilst he believes in the unity of the 
 race, “ the best of the argument is on the side of those 
 who maintain the primitive diversity of man.”* 
 
 In the expression of these opinions he coincides with 
 Sir Charles Lyell, the Gamaliel of the present genera¬ 
 tion of physicists, at whose feet we have all been con¬ 
 tent to sit and receive lessons in geology and the kin¬ 
 dred sciences. “ So long,” says Sir Charles, “ as phy¬ 
 siologists continue to believe that men had not existed 
 on the earth above six thousand years, they might, with 
 good reason, withhold their assent from the doctrine of 
 a unity of origin of so many distinct races; but the 
 difficulty becomes less and less, exactly in proportion as 
 we enlarge our ideas of the lapse of time during which 
 different communities may have spread slowly and be¬ 
 come isolated, each exposed for ages to a peculiar set 
 of conditions, whether of temperature, or food, or 
 danger, or ways of living. The law of the geometrical 
 rate of the increase of population, which causes it al¬ 
 ways to press hard on the means of subsistence, would 
 insure the migration, in various directions, of offshoots 
 from the society first formed, abandoning the area 
 
 * “ Anthropological Review,” May, 1864. 
 
STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES. 
 
 • 359 
 
 where they had multiplied. But when they had gradu¬ 
 ally penetrated to remote regions by land or water — 
 drifted sometimes by storms or currents in canoes to an 
 unknown shore,—barriers of mountains, deserts, or 
 seas, which oppose no obstacle to mutual intercourse 
 between civilized nations, would insure the complete 
 isolation of tens of thousands of centuries of tribes in 
 a primitive state of barbarism.”* 
 
 Mr. Darwin in his work, “ The Descent of Man,” has 
 devoted a chapter f to the discussion of this question, 
 which is marked by that extensive knowledge of facts, 
 and that power of philosophical analysis which are 
 characteristic of all the speculations of this distinguished 
 naturalist. 
 
 He commences by applying to the races of men, those 
 generally-admitted principles which naturahsts make 
 use of in determining among the lower orders whether 
 two or more allied forms ought to be ranked as species 
 or varieties,— such as the amount of difference between 
 them, and whether such differences relate to a few or 
 many points of structure, and whether they are of 
 physiological importance ; but more especially whether 
 they are constant. “ There is no doubt,” he remarks, 
 “ that the various races, when carefully compared and 
 measured, differ very much from each other, as in the 
 texture of the hair, the relative proportions of all parts 
 of the body,J the capacity of the lungs, the form and 
 capacity of the skull, and even the convolutions of the 
 brain ; § but it would be an endless task to specify the 
 
 * “ Antiquity of Man,” p. 386. 
 
 t Vol. i., chap. vii. 
 
 t See “ Military and Anthropological Statistics of American Soldiers,” 
 by Dr. B. A. Gould, pp. 298 - 358. 
 
 § Marshall, “ .\ccount of the brain of a Bush-woman,” in Philosophical 
 Transactions, 1864, p. 519. 
 
3G0 
 
 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 numerous iioints of structural difference. The races 
 differ also in constitution, in acclimatization, and in 
 liability to certain diseases. Their mental character¬ 
 istics are likewise very distinct; chiefly as it would 
 appear in their emotional, but partly in their intellectual, 
 faculties. Every one who has had the opportunity of 
 comparison, must have been struck with the contrast 
 between the taciturn, even morose aborigines of South 
 America and the light-hearted, talkative Negroes. There 
 is nearly a similar contrast between the Malays and 
 Papuans,* who live under the same physical condi¬ 
 tions and are separated from each other only by a 
 narrow space of sea. 
 
 “ If a naturalist were to compare a Negro, Hottentot, 
 Australian, or Mongolian, he would at once perceive 
 that they differed in a multitude of characters, some of 
 slight, and some of considerable, importance. On inquiry 
 he would find that they were adapted to live under 
 widely-different climates, and that they differed some¬ 
 what in bodily constitution and mental disposition. If 
 he were then told that hundreds of similar specimens 
 could be brought from the same countries, he would 
 assuredly declare that they were as good species as many 
 to which he had been in the habit of affixing specific 
 names. This conclusion would be greatly strengthened 
 as soon as he had ascertained that these forms had all 
 retained the same character for many centuries ; and 
 that negroes apparently identical with existing negroes, 
 had lived at least 4,000 years ago. He would also hear 
 from an excellent observer. Dr. Lund, that human skulls 
 found in the caves of Brazil, entombed with many extinct 
 mammals, belonged to the same type as that now pre¬ 
 vailing throughout the American continent. 
 
 * Wallace. “ The Malay Archipelago,” vol. ii, p. 178. 
 
ZOOLOGICAL PROVINCES. 
 
 361 
 
 “Our naturalist would then, perhaps, turn to geo¬ 
 graphical distribution, and he would probably declare 
 that forms differing not only in appearance, but fitted 
 for the hottest and dampest or driest countries, as well 
 as for the Arctic regions, must be distinct species.” 
 
 By way of illustration, Mr. Darwin proceeds to show 
 that among the Quadrumana, the group next to man, 
 no one species has been able to resist a low temperature 
 or any considerable change of climate ; that the differ¬ 
 ent races of man, as first pointed out by Agassiz, are 
 distributed over the world in the same zoological pro¬ 
 vinces as those inhabited by undoubtedly distinct 
 species and genera of mammals; that this is the case 
 with the Australian, Mongolian, and Negro races ; in a 
 less well-marked manner with the Hottentots; but 
 plainly with the Papuans and Mala 3 's, who are separated, 
 as Mr. Wallace has shown, by nearly the same line 
 which divides the Malayan and Australian zoological 
 provinces ; and that the Esquimaux, like other Arctic 
 animals, extend round the whole Polar regions. 
 
 Mr. Darwin then calls attention to the fact, that, as 
 among the domestic animals certain external parasites 
 attach to different species, so among the human races. 
 According to Mr. Murray,* the Pediculi, which attach 
 themselves to the different races of man, differ not 
 onl^' in color, but in the structure of their claws and 
 limbs. The Pediculi which infest the bodies of the 
 Sandwich Islanders, when domiciled on the bodies of 
 English sailoi’s, died in the course of three or four days. 
 This might be urged as an argument that the races 
 themselves ought to be classed as distinct S 2 )ecies. 
 
 Mr. Darwin next proceeds to show, that, according 
 to Professor Broca and others, some races are quite fer- 
 
 *“ Transactions Royal Society of Edinburgh," vol. xwi, p. 567. 
 
362 
 
 UNITY OF THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 tile when brought together; that, contrary to an opinion 
 extensively propagated, mulatto families, according to 
 Dr. Bachman,* which have intermarried for several 
 generations, have continued as prolific as either pure 
 blacks or pure whites ; and Sir Charles Lyell, from per¬ 
 sonal inquiries when in this country, arrived at the 
 same conclusion. Lessened fertility and vitality do not 
 necessarily accompany one another, as seen in the com¬ 
 mon mule; so that the perfect fertility of the inter¬ 
 crossed races of man, if established, would not absolutely 
 preclude us from ranking them as distinct species. 
 
 “On the other side of the question,” argues Mr. 
 Darwin, “if our supposed naturalist were to inquire 
 Avhether the forms of man kept distinct, like ordinary 
 species, when mingled together in large numbers in the 
 same country, he would immediately discover that this 
 was by no means the case. In Brazil he would behold 
 an immense mongrel population of Negroes and Portu¬ 
 guese : in Chiloe and other parts of South America he 
 would behold the whole population consisting of In¬ 
 dians and Spaniards blended in various degrees: in 
 many parts of the same continent he would meet with 
 many of the most complex crosses between Negroes, 
 Indians, and Europeans ; and such triple crosses afford 
 the severest test, judging from the vegetable kingdom, 
 of the fertility of the parent forms. . . . Hence, 
 
 the races of man are not sufficiently distinct to co-exist 
 without fusion; and this it is which, in all ordinary 
 cases, affords the usual test of distinctiveness.” 
 
 Mr. Darwin next proceeds to show that the distinctive 
 characters of every race are variable ; that the negro 
 slaves in Brazil, imported from every part of Africa, 
 
 * “ An Examination of Professor Agassiz’s sketch of Natural Provinces 
 of the Animal World,” p. 44. 
 
CLIMATE INOPERATIVE. 
 
 363 
 
 are not uniform in character ; that the Hottentot women 
 offer certain strongly-marked peculiarities, but that 
 these are not of constant occurrence ; that in several 
 American tribes, color and hairiness differ considerably ; 
 that the shape of the skull varies much in some races; 
 and that so far as relates to other characteristics, 
 they graduate into each other, so that at this day com¬ 
 parative physiologists are disputing whether man should 
 be classed as one species or race, or many, all the way 
 up to sixty-three. That notwithstanding these differ¬ 
 ences, yet if the whole organization be taken into con¬ 
 sideration, they are found to resemble each other so 
 closely in a multitude of points that it is extremely 
 improbable that they should have been independently 
 acquired by aboriginally distinct species or races. 
 
 “ Of all the differences between the races of man,” 
 continues Mr. Darwin, “ the color of the skin is the 
 most conspicuous and best marked. Differences of this 
 kind, it was formerly thought, could be accounted for 
 by long exposure under different climates ; but Pallas 
 first showed that this view is not tenable, and he has 
 been followed by almost all anthropologists. The view 
 has been rejected chiefly because the distribution of the 
 variously-colored races, most of whom must have long 
 inhabited their present homes, does not coincide with 
 corresponding differences of climate. Weight must 
 also be given to such cases as that of the Dutch fami¬ 
 lies who, as we hear on excellent authority, have not 
 undergone the least change of color, after residing for 
 three centuries in South Africa. The uniform appear¬ 
 ance in various parts of the world of gypsies and Jews, 
 though the uniformity of the latter had been somewhat 
 exaggerated, is likewise an argument on the same side. 
 A very damp or a very dry atmosphere has been sup- 
 
364 
 
 UNITY ON THE HUMAN RACE. 
 
 posed to be more influential in modifying the color of 
 the skin than mere heat; but as D’Orbigny in South 
 America, and Livingstone in Africa, arrived at dia¬ 
 metrically opposite conclusions with respect to damp¬ 
 ness and dryness, any conclusion on this head must be 
 considered very doubtful.” 
 
 The well-attested fact of the immunity of the negro 
 from yellow fever seems to be partly inherent, depend¬ 
 ing on some unknown peculiarity of constitution, and 
 partly on the result of acclimatization, but in no degree 
 connected with the color of his skin. 
 
 While Mr. Darwin infers that the characteristic dif¬ 
 ferences between the races of men cannot be accounted 
 for in a satisfactory manner by the direct action of the 
 conditions of life, nor by the effects of the continued 
 use of parts, nor through the principle of correlation, 
 he would rather look to Sexual Selection as the im¬ 
 portant agency. 
 
 After having shown, by historical references, that 
 with the lowest savages, the people of each tribe ad¬ 
 mire their own characteristic qualities — the shape of 
 the head and face, the squareness of the cheek-bones, 
 the prominence or depression of the nose, the color of 
 the skin, the length of the hair on the head, the ab¬ 
 sence of the hair on the face and body, or the presence 
 of a great beard, etc., — he infers that “such points 
 could hardly fail to be slowly exaggerated from the 
 more powerful and able men in each tribe, who would 
 succeed in rearing the largest number of offspring, 
 having selected during many generations as their wives 
 the most strongly-characterized, and therefore the most 
 attractive women. For my own part, I conelude that 
 of all the causes which have led to the differences in 
 external appearance between the races of man, and to 
 
RACES MERE VARIETIES. 
 
 365 
 
 a certain extent between man and the lower animals, 
 Sexual Selection has been by far the most efficient.”* 
 
 Upon the question of the unity of the human race, 
 the opinions of Humboldt, a man whose long scientifie 
 career was unfettered by the dogmas of the past, who 
 was always ready to hail every new discovery, and 
 whose extended travels brought him in contact with 
 the most intellectual as well as the most abject indi¬ 
 viduals of his species,— the opinions of such a man are 
 not to be lightly disregarded by the comparative physi¬ 
 ologist. 
 
 “ As long as attention,” he remarks, “ was directed 
 solely to the extremes in the varieties of color and of 
 form, and to the vividness of the first impression of the 
 senses, the observer was naturally disposed to regard 
 races rather as originally different species than as mere 
 varieties. The permanence of certain types in the 
 midst of the most hostile influences, especially of cli¬ 
 mate, appeared to favor such a view, notwithstanding 
 the shortness of the interval of time from which the 
 historical evidence was derived. In my opinion, how¬ 
 ever, more powerful reasons can be advanced in sup¬ 
 port of the theory of the unity of the human raee, as, 
 for instance, in the many intermediate gradations in 
 the color of the skin and in the form of the skull, which 
 have been made known to us in recent times by the 
 rapid progress of geographical knowledge — the analo¬ 
 gies presented by the varieties in the species of many 
 wild and domesticated animals,— and the more correct 
 observations collected regarding the limits of fecundity 
 in hybrids. The greater number of the contrasts 
 which were formerly supposed to exist have disappeared 
 before the laborious researches of Tiedemann on the 
 *. 
 
 ‘ Descent of Man,” vol. ii, p. 367. 
 
366 
 
 UNITY OF THE HUMAN EACE. 
 
 brain of Negroes and Europeans, and the anatomical 
 investigations of Vrolik and Weber on the form of the 
 pelvis. On comparing the dark-colored African nations, 
 on whose physical history the admirable work of 
 Prichard has thrown so much light, with the races in¬ 
 habiting the islands of the South Indian and West Aus¬ 
 tralian Archipelago, and with the Papuas and Alfour- 
 ous, we see that a black skin, wooly hair, and a negro¬ 
 like cast of countenance are not necessarily connected 
 together. So long only as a portion of the earth was 
 known to the western nations, partial views necessarily 
 predominated, and tropical heat and a black skin con¬ 
 sequently appeared inseparable.”* 
 
 He then quotes approvingly the following passage 
 from Johannes Muller’s “ Philosophy of Man ” : 
 
 “ The different races of mankind are forms of one sole 
 species, by the union of two of whose members descend¬ 
 ants are propagated. They are not different species of 
 a genus, since in that case, their hybrid descendants 
 would remain unfruitful. But whether the human race 
 have descended from several primitive races of men, or 
 from one alone, is a question which cannot be deter¬ 
 mined by experience.” 
 
 Again Humboldt remarks : “ Whilst we maintain the 
 unity of the human species, we at the same time repel 
 the depressing assumption of superior and inferior races 
 of men. There are nations more susceptible of cultiva¬ 
 tion, more highly civilized, more ennobled by cultivation 
 than others—but none in themselves nobler than others. 
 All are in like degree designed for freedom; a free¬ 
 dom which in the ruder conditions of society belongs 
 only to the individual, but which in the social states 
 enjo 3 dng political institutions, appertains as a right to 
 the whole community.” 
 
 * “ Cosmos,” vol. i, p. 362. 
 
OUR COMMON HUMANITY. 
 
 367 
 
 He then proceeds to quote from his hardly less illus¬ 
 trious brother, the following noble sentiments as to the 
 unfulfilled aspirations and ultimate hopes of man : 
 
 “ If we could indicate an idea which throughout the 
 whole course of history, has ever more and more widely 
 extended the empire, or which more than any other, 
 testifies to the much contested and still more decidedly 
 misunderstood perfectibility of the whole human race, 
 it is that of establishing our common humanity — of 
 striving to remove the barriers which prejudice and 
 limited views of every kind have erected amongst men, 
 and to treat all mankind without reference to religion, 
 nation, or color, as one fraternity, one great community, 
 fitted for the attainment of one object,—the unrestrained 
 development of the physical powers. This is the ulti¬ 
 mate and highest aim of society, identical with the 
 direction implanted by nature in the mind of man 
 towards the indefinite extension of his existence. He 
 regards the earth in all its limits and the heavens as far 
 as his eye can scan their bright and starry depths, as 
 inwardly his own, given to him as the objects of his 
 contemplation, and as a field for the development of his 
 energies. Even the child longs to pass the hills or the 
 fields which enclose its narrow home; yet when his 
 eager steps have borne him beyond those limits, he pines, 
 like the plant, for his native soil; and it is by this touch¬ 
 ing and beautiful attribute of man — this longing for 
 that which is unknown, and this fond remembrance for 
 that which is lost—that he is spared from an exclusive 
 attachment to the present. Thus deeply rooted in the 
 innermost nature of man, and even enjoined upon him 
 by the highest tendencies,— the recognition of the bond 
 of humanity becomes one of the noblest leading prin¬ 
 ciples in the history of mankind.” * 
 
 * “ Cosmos,” vol. i, p. 368. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 OHRONOMETEIC MEASUREMENTS APPLIED TO TBDE 
 . ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 
 
 I N tracing back the Antiquity of Man to the earliest 
 monuments which indicate his presence on the earth, 
 the Historic Period forms but an inconsiderable part in 
 the great cycle of events. When we read in Herodotus, 
 the oldest of European historians, of populous nations 
 organized under stable governments, and possessed of a 
 knowledge of the arts which, in many respects, we have 
 failed to improve upon, and when we reflect that the 
 origin of these nations goes back of all authentic tra¬ 
 dition, we feel that there is a void in human history 
 which will forever baffle our researches to penetrate. 
 To use the simile of Sir Isaac Newton, “ we are like 
 children playing upon the sea-shore, picking up here 
 and there a smoother or a prettier shell,” while beyond 
 stretches out an expanse over which hang clouds and 
 impenetrable darkness. 
 
 The history of man, as measured by any chronometric 
 scale at our command, is exceedingly vague ; as much 
 so as if the geometrician were to attempt to calculate 
 the dimensions of a pyramid from the form of its apex, 
 without knowing the length of its base or its per¬ 
 pendicular height. Whilst its angles may be maintained, 
 its expansion downward is an unknown quantity. 
 
 368 
 
ANTIQUITY OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 
 
 369 
 
 There are, however, certain tests which may be applied 
 in determining the relative antiquity of certain events 
 in human progress, which I will proceed briefly to dis¬ 
 cuss. 
 
 Antiquity of the Mound - builders .— It is evident that 
 the works of these people were constructed long after 
 the region which they occupy had assumed its present 
 topographical features, and that nearly the same condi¬ 
 tions of soil and climate prevailed as are manifested at 
 the present time. The lapse of a few thousand years is 
 all the time required to cover the most ancient of their 
 structures; and in attempting to estimate that antiquity, 
 I am governed, perhaps, as much by the evidences which 
 they have left of their proficiency in art, as by physical 
 considerations. 
 
 Civilization is a plant of slow growth. Among a 
 people cut off from commercial intercourse and sub¬ 
 jected, generation after generation, to the same aspects 
 of nature, the increment would be very slow. I have 
 seen growing in the crevices of the rocks which gird to 
 so great an extent the shores of Lake Superior, a spruce 
 tree whose trunk was no thicker than one’s thumb, in 
 which, when cut in cross section, the observer, aided by 
 a microscope, could detect annular rings which would 
 imply a lapse of time equal to a generation of men. 
 There it struggled year after year, to maintain a pre¬ 
 carious existence ; feebly fructifying, during the short¬ 
 lived summer, and taking in just sufficient of sustenance 
 to prolong its life during the Arctic interval. 
 
 So I have thought it has been with human progress. 
 To undertake to estimate that progress as manifested at 
 this day, when by reason of steamships and railways, 
 almost every region of the earth is laid open to human 
 enterprise, when machinery is silently performing what 
 z 
 
370 
 
 CHKONOMBTRIC MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 would be the labor of many millions of men, and when 
 the inventions and discoveries of one nation become 
 almost at once the common property of mankind,—would 
 be, as applied to the past, no safe criterion. 
 
 The Chinese, with their non-intercourse policy, are 
 not probably farther advanced in civilization at this 
 time than in the days of Confucius. 
 
 Such a civilization as that indicated by the ruins of 
 Central America, was the growth of many centuries, 
 and yet these ruins, I am disposed to believe, are more 
 recent than the mounds of the Mississippi Valley. To 
 some of the evidences of their antiquity I will now 
 direct attention. 
 
 Inferences drawn from the condition of skeletons 
 form no reliable guide as to the lapse of time in which 
 they have lain in the earth. Their condition depends, 
 to a great extent, on the mechanical texture of the soil, 
 and the presence or absence of antiseptic properties held 
 in chemical solution by the filtrating waters. I may 
 remark, however, that where the bodies were deposited 
 in the Loess, the bones are far better preserved than 
 where the sandy loam of the river-bottoms forms the 
 enclosing material. The crania recovered from the 
 former deposit have a good degree of consisteney, except 
 that the gelatinous matter has leached out; but those 
 recovered from the latter, are so far gone in decay, that 
 the utmost precautions must at once be resorted to, 
 such as applying a solution of glue or melted sper¬ 
 maceti, to prevent their crumbling. Mastodon bones, 
 however, of a much older date, recovered from peat 
 swamps, have so much of the gelatinous matter yet 
 remaining in them, that a nourishing soup might be 
 extracted. 
 
 Sir John Lubbock, in speaking of the Swiss-lake habi- 
 
A 2 JTIQUITY OF THE MOU 2 H) - BUILDEES. 371 
 
 tations and the relics found in their midst, which are 
 supposed to have an antiquity varying all the way from 
 4,000 to 7,000 years, remarks that “ when for the first 
 time I saw them through the transparent water — the 
 remnants of piles with fragments of bone, horn, and pot¬ 
 tery lying among them,— a momentary feeling of doubt 
 as to their age rose in my mind. So fresh are they, and 
 so unaltered, they look as if they were only things of 
 yesterday, and it seems hard to believe that they can 
 have remained there for centuries.” * 
 
 So, too, upon bones invested with stalagmite, we can 
 imagine the lapse of centuries would have no perceptible 
 effect. 
 
 The human skeleton, found in the solid limestone on 
 the island of Guadaloupe, is probably of very recent 
 origin, inasmuch as the materials of this limestone are 
 made up of fragments of sea-shells and corals, cast upon 
 the shore by the retiring waves containing a cement in 
 the form of carbonate of lime, which rapidly consolidates. 
 
 The character of the arborescent vegetation found 
 covering the works of the Mound-builders maybe taken 
 to some extent, but not absolutely, as a chronometric 
 scale in estimating the time which has elapsed since 
 their abandonment. This vegetation in character and 
 in development differs in no respect from that of the 
 surrounding forest. When, therefore, we see growing 
 upon the mounds trees whose annular rings indicate an 
 age of four or five centuries, and the decaying trunks 
 of others which flourished on the same sites, and have 
 perished from natural causes, we are justified in infer¬ 
 ring that these works could not have been occupied 
 within the period of six or eight centuries; but as to 
 the time when they were abandoned we have no certain 
 criterion to guide us. 
 
 *“ Pre-historic Times,” p. tRj 
 
372 
 
 CHRONOMETKIC MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 Schoolcraft has erroneously assumed that the age of 
 these trees marks the entire lapse of time which has 
 intervened since the happening of that event. Thus, 
 in reference to the antiquity of the great mound at 
 Grave Creek, he remarks ; “The cortical layers, counted 
 in the mature and heavy forest trees, denoted its com¬ 
 pletion to have been at, or soon after, the twelfth cen¬ 
 tury, but there is no proof that it had been commenced 
 centuries earlier.” And again ; “ These data indicate 
 parts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries as the 
 active period of tumult among the Mississippi Valley 
 tribes.”* 
 
 While I have not made the study of the longevity 
 of our forest trees a specialty, I had, from general ob¬ 
 servation, arrived at the conclusion that five or six cen¬ 
 turies would mark the extreme age of those species ordin¬ 
 arily found growing on the mounds and on the rubbish 
 heaps thrown up in mining operations, and that there 
 was no evidence to disprove the belief that successive 
 generations of trees might not have sprung up, flour¬ 
 ished, and died on the same sites. To test the correct¬ 
 ness of my own conclusions in this matter, I applied 
 for information to our distinguished botanist, Dr. Asa 
 Gray, and from his letter in response I make the fol¬ 
 lowing extracts: 
 
 “ There is no sense at all, that I see, in Schoolcraft’s 
 notion that the age of the trees now growing on the 
 mounds is a measure of the time which has elapsed 
 since their abandonment. All it tells is, that they were 
 already abandoned when these trees began to grow; 
 quite as likely that one, two, or more generations of 
 these same trees grew there before the present ones 
 necessarily flourished and decayed. Also, they may 
 
 * “History and Condition of North American Indians,’’vol. v, p. 6i. 
 
LONGEVITY OF TREES. 
 
 373 
 
 have been preceded by other trees of other species, 
 and that without involving any sensible change of cli¬ 
 mate, just as we see pines succeed oaks, and vice versa. 
 This occurs after a wholesale destruction of a tree- 
 growth at a given locality, to be sure ; but that may 
 have occurred through fires, and these may have re¬ 
 peatedly swept the ground at any station, either 
 through human agency or the action of the elements 
 without it. Hemlocks are not long-lived trees, and 
 balsam-firs still less ; but what we see on any hill-side 
 in untouched hemlock and fir-woods, decayed and de¬ 
 caying trunks under foot, and trees of various ages 
 overhead, slowly dying off one by one, toppled by 
 winds, and younger ones now getting a better chance, 
 taking their place, to fall in their turn; just this, I sup¬ 
 pose we might have seen four or six hundred, or per¬ 
 haps a thousand years ago, had we been there to see. 
 
 “ Many species of trees may be said to have a certain 
 average attainable age, answering to our ‘ threescore 
 and ten,’ but just as some of our race, ‘ by reason of 
 strength ’ and ‘ good luck,’ may much exceed that limit, 
 so may any given tree.” 
 
 Trees, then, growing upon the mounds, by the num¬ 
 ber of cortical layers displayed in their trunks, do not 
 afford a chronometric scale by which to estimate the 
 absolute lapse of time since their abandonment.* 
 
 * Since the text was prepared, I have received, in response to my in¬ 
 quiries, the following valuable communication from Dr. I. A. Lapham, 
 of Milwaukee : 
 
 Age ok Forest Trees in Wisconsin. —By placing the edge of a sheet 
 of paper across a newly-felled tree, in the direction of the radius, one 
 may with a sharp pencil mark the thickness of the several annual rings 
 of growth ; and by measuring a number of such rings we may find the 
 average increase of wood each year. It was thus that the items were 
 collected for the following table, showing the number of rings measured. 
 
374 
 
 CHRONOJIETRIC MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 Indian traditions .— Little credence is to be attached 
 to Indian traditions; and yet so far as those traditions 
 go, they are to the effect that the Mound-builders were 
 
 their aggregate width, the average annual growth thus found, and the 
 number of years required for an increase of one foot in diameter, of a 
 number of our common forest trees : 
 
 Growth of Native Forest Trees of Wisconsin. 
 
 Names. 
 
 No. of rings 
 
 measured. 
 
 ! Width in 
 
 inches. 
 
 Growth in 
 
 one year, 
 
 inches. I 
 
 No. of years 
 
 for one foot j 
 
 of growth. 
 
 Basswood ( Tilia Americana) ....... 
 
 <)4 
 
 5.70 
 
 .1212 
 
 99 
 
 Sugar Maple (Acer saccharimim) _ 
 
 83 
 
 2.45 
 
 .1166 
 
 103 
 
 Wild Cherry (Frunus seroiina) _ 
 
 44 
 
 2.03 
 
 .0922 
 
 130 
 
 White Ash (Fi-ajcinus Americana) _ 
 
 172 
 
 10.09 
 
 .1172 
 
 102 
 
 Elm (Ubnus Americana) _ 
 
 179 
 
 9-45 
 
 .1056 
 
 114 
 
 White Oak (Quercus alba) __ 
 
 160 
 
 9.00 
 
 .1124 
 
 107 
 
 Burr Oak (Quercus macrocarpa) _ 
 
 12 
 
 0.60 
 
 .1000 
 
 120 
 
 Red Oak (Quercus rubra) __ 
 
 62 
 
 6.90 
 
 .2226 
 
 54 
 
 Beech (Fagus ferruginea) ... 
 
 160 
 
 9-45 
 
 .1180 
 
 102 
 
 Yellow Birch (Betula excelsa) __ 
 
 20 
 
 1.28 
 
 .1280 
 
 94 
 
 White Pine (Finns strobus) __ 
 
 60 
 
 5-40 
 
 .1800 
 
 67 
 
 Hemlock (. 4 foVf Canadensis) ___ 
 
 42 
 
 3-72 
 
 .1770 
 
 68 
 
 Tamarack (Larix Americana) __ 
 
 192 
 
 12.95 
 
 ■1344 
 
 89 
 
 White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) __ . 
 
 [Fossil wood. Pike’s Peak, Coniferoe) _ 
 
 Mean (omitting the last). . 
 
 82 
 
 4.00 
 
 .0976 
 
 123 
 
 83 
 
 8.80 
 
 .2120 
 
 98 
 
 A more thorough and systematic investigation of the annual growth 
 of trees would lead to results of greater certainty ; but the measure¬ 
 ments already made and embodied in this table are sufficient to show 
 that there cannot be any great age assigned to the average trees of our 
 present forests. 
 
 It will be seen that it requires the lapse of from fifty-four to one 
 hundred and thirty years for trees to increase their diameter one foot, 
 and with the average of the trees measured the time is less than one 
 hundred years. Three or four feet diameter is a large tree; few exceed 
 that size ; and hence we may infer that few of the trees now growing in 
 Wisconsin can antedate the discovery of this continent by Columbus. 
 An occasional tree exceeds these dimensions, but they are exceedingly 
 rare. Perhaps the largest and oldest tree in the State is the one noted 
 by the Government .surveyor near Manitowoc, a white cedar twenty-two 
 feet in circumference. By the table it will be seen that this tree is one 
 of the slowest growth, requiring one hundred and twenty-three years to 
 
INDIAN TRADITIONS. 
 
 375 
 
 a distinct race from themselves. Whilst the Indians 
 are notoriously superstitious and invent legends which 
 they attach to almost every unusual aspect of nature, 
 with regard to the origin of the mounds their statements 
 are uniform, that their antiquity reaches hack to a 
 period beyond the memory of their ancestors who saw 
 them as they see them, reposing in an unbroken solitude, 
 and shaded by an apparently primeval forest. I would 
 not make these traditions the basis of an argument for 
 the high antiquity of these works; for among a people 
 who have no written language, the lapse of a few gene¬ 
 rations would obliterate all knowledge even of the most 
 signal events.* 
 
 add one foot to its diameter. Seven times this quantity, or eight hundred 
 and sixty years, is therefore the age of this exceptionally large tree. 
 
 Further south, where trees attain a larger size, they have had, at the 
 same time, owing to the more genial climate and more fertile soil, a much 
 more rapid growth, so that they probably do not exceed the trees of Wis¬ 
 consin in age. 
 
 There can be no means of determining how many successive forests 
 may have preceded the present, and occupied the soil since any given 
 epoch, as that of the Mound-builders—all traces of the former trees 
 having been long since effaced. A few years suffice to convert a fallen 
 trunk into humus that cannot be distinguished from the other portions 
 of the accumulating soil. 
 
 Having recently had an opportunity of examining some fossil wood 
 of the so-called petrified forest near Pike’s Peak, Colorado, brought 
 home by Mrs. L. E. Hewitt, whose beautiful paintings of the Alpine 
 scenery of that region are so much admired, I am able to compare the 
 growth of the Coniferous wood of Tertiary times with that of the present 
 day. It will be seen that the growth was then equal to the more rapid¬ 
 growing trees of our own times. The remains of the base of one of 
 these ancient fossil trees was measured, and found to have a circumfer¬ 
 ence of fifty-nine feet, almost equal to that of the largest of the big trees 
 of California. The time required for the growth of this tree, supposing 
 the section measured to be an average of the whole, was more than a 
 thousand years. 
 
 * Sir John Lubbock (“ Pre-historic Times,” p. 425) has shown that the 
 New Zealanders, when visited by Captain Cook, had no knowledge of 
 
376 
 
 CHRONOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 The gorge of Niagara .— This gorge, in the rate of its 
 excavation, since first observed by Hennepin, affords 
 data for approximately estimating the length of time 
 which has elapsed since the region assumed nearly its 
 present topographical features, or rather, perhaps, since 
 existing causes began to operate. 
 
 Professor James Hall* was the first to discuss the 
 phenomena here exhibited, and subsequently Sir Charles 
 Lyell, Desor, Hitchcock, and other geologists passed 
 over the same field; and while they all agree as to the 
 immense period required to excavate this gorge, as com¬ 
 pared with the Historic Epoch, they differ widely as to 
 the chronometric scale to be applied. 
 
 The present position of the Falls is six and one-half 
 miles from Lake Ontario, at Lewiston. Through the 
 whole of this distance the river is confined within a 
 rocky gorge three hundred feet deep at its mouth, and 
 one hundred and sixty feet, where the cataract leaps 
 over the ledge. The formations cut through are the 
 Niagara limestone, forming the rim, and the least 
 destructible of the series ; the Clinton group ; and the 
 Medina sandstone. The dip of the strata is about 
 fifteen feet to the mile, up stream, or fn the direction of 
 Lake Erie. The present scarp of the Falls is made up 
 of eighty feet of limestone, with about the same thick¬ 
 ness of shale beneath ; and the process of excavation is 
 accomplished by the eddying waters undermining and 
 carrying away the friable shales, so that the incumbent 
 
 Tasman’s visit, which occurred less than one hundred and thirty years 
 before. The Indians of the Mississippi Valley, after the lapse of a few 
 generations, had lost all tradition of De Soto’s expedition, which must 
 have impressed their ancestors with dread at the sight of horses ridden by 
 men, and the sound of fire-arms which they must have likened to thunder. 
 
 * “Geology of the Fourth District of New York,’’ p. 389. 
 
GORGE OF NIAGARA. 
 
 377 
 
 limestone, deprived of support, plunges into the chasm 
 in large masses. 
 
 On both sides of the Whirlpool, three miles below 
 the Falls, and also on Goat Island above, there are 
 deposits of Modified Drift, containing fresh-water shells 
 such as Unios, Melanias, and Paludinas—forms which 
 are common to the still waters near the lake, but which 
 are not found in the rapid waters of the river. In this 
 connection was found a tooth of the common masto¬ 
 don, M. giganteus. These facts indicate that this deposit 
 was formed in comparatively quiet waters, and at a 
 time when the topographical features were different 
 from what are now observed. It is evident, therefore, 
 that the present channel of the river has been excavated 
 since the epoch of the Modified Drift, which forced the 
 waters to find an outlet over their present rocky bed, 
 instead of accommodating themselves to the more 
 readily-yielding Drift materials. 
 
 Over a rocky plateau, then, the Falls have been reced¬ 
 ing since the epoch of the Modified Drift, until they 
 have now reached a distance of six and one-half miles 
 from the debouche into Lake Ontario. Hall and Lyell 
 estimated the recession at the average rate of a foot a 
 year, but Desor inferred that it was more nearly three 
 feet a century than three feet a year. ' Taking the esti¬ 
 mate of the former, the lapse of time since the Falls 
 commenced their recession from Lake Ontario, would 
 amount to more than 31,000 years ; and the estimate of 
 the latter would require 380,000 years.* At all events, 
 the Historic Era forms but an inconsiderable portion 
 in the duration of time since the deposit was thrown 
 down, in which the remains of the mastodon were 
 entombed. 
 
 *“Les Cascades du Niagara, par E. Desor." Neuchatel, 1854. 
 
378 
 
 CHRONOMETEIC MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 Astronomical changes within the Human Period .— 
 That there have been cycles of heat and cold in our 
 earth’s history, within the Human Period, and embrac¬ 
 ing long durations of time, is attested by many geological 
 monuments. Physicists, at this day, in speculating 
 on the causes of these cycles, are disposed to trace them 
 to an astronomical, rather than a telluric origin. To 
 these views I directed attention on another occasion.* 
 
 We are assured that ours is not a central sun, but 
 one in the great procession of stars which is sweeping 
 towards the constellation Hercules ; and that in the 
 region of ether there are spaces which are comparatively 
 barren of stars, while in others they are thickly clus¬ 
 tered. Now every star is a sun, emitting light and heat, 
 a portion of which is transmitted to us. Our planet at 
 this time is moving through one of those starless spaces, 
 and therefore is not in a position to receive the full 
 influence of such a cause. The distinguished Swiss 
 botanist Heer, to whom we are so largely indebted for 
 our knowledge of the semitropical character of Mio¬ 
 cene flora, has suggested that it is to this source, 
 rather than telluric causes, we are to resort to 
 explain the varying distribution of temperature as 
 manifested in past geological times. But to this 
 view objections have been raised,—that to produce 
 glaciers, heat, as well as cold, is required. “It is per¬ 
 fectly manifest,” remarks Professor Tyndall, “ that by 
 weakening the sun’s action, either through a defect of 
 emission, or by steeping of the entire solar system in 
 space of a low temperature, we shall be cutting off the 
 glaciers at their sources.” f 
 
 * Address on retiring from the Presidency of the American Association 
 for the Advancement of Science; Nineteenth Meeting (Troy), 1870. 
 
 i “ Heat considered as a Mode of Motion." 
 
THE GREAT YEAR. 
 
 379 
 
 Again: Have we the right to assume that, through¬ 
 out all past ages, the poles of our planet have pointed 
 in the same direction? We can conceive that, if its 
 axis were to form with the plane of the ecliptic, the 
 same angle which it now forms with the equatorial 
 plane, there would ensue an entire change of climate, 
 and consequently of organic forms. Why should the 
 astronomer insist on the immutability of the sidereal 
 system, when to the geologist is unfolded a record of 
 seas displaced and continents elevated; of great cycles 
 of heat and cold; of the disappearance of old and the 
 appearance of new forms of organic life ? Change, not 
 constancy, is inscribed on every leaf in the volume of 
 Nature. 
 
 The speculations of the French savant, Adhemar,* 
 in explanation of these phenomena, are not to be over¬ 
 looked, based as they are on the precession of the equi¬ 
 noxes and the movement of the apsides,— a movement 
 which, I believe, was unknown to the elder astrono¬ 
 mers. If we compare the movement of the earth with 
 the stars, it requires the lapse of 25,000 years to bring 
 the equinox to correspond with the same point in space 
 it now occupies; but the orbit itself being movable, 
 this period is reduced to about 21,000 years. This is 
 called the Great Year, being the measure of time before 
 the winter solstice will exactly coincide with the peri¬ 
 helion, and the summer solstice with the aphelion, and 
 before the seasons will again harmonize with the same 
 points of the terrestrial orbit.t 
 
 * “ Revolutions de la Mer,” J. Adhemar. 
 
 f “ The mean value of the precession of the equinoxes on the fixed 
 ecliptic, and also on the apparent ecliptic, in a Julian year, is equal to 
 50.'438239 ; whence it follows that the equinoxes perform a complete 
 revolution in the average interval of 25,694.8 years ; but on account of 
 the secular inequalities in their motion, the time of their revolution is 
 
380 
 
 CHRONOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 The earth at this time approaches nearest the sun in 
 the northern hemisphere during autumn and winter, 
 and it is only when it recedes the farthest from the 
 source of heat that the northern hemisphere receives 
 the full effect of its vivifying warmth. As the earth 
 between the vernal and autumnal equinox traverses a 
 longer circuit than during the other half of the year, 
 and also experiences an accelerated movement as it 
 draws near the sun, the result is, that the northern 
 summer is longer than the southern by about eight 
 days; but after the lapse of 10,500 years these condi¬ 
 tions will be reversed. It was in the year 1248, ac¬ 
 cording to M. Adh4mar, that the Great Northern Sum¬ 
 mer culminated, since which time it has continued to 
 decrease, and that decrease will go on until the year 
 11748, when it will have attained its minimum. 
 
 This compound movement, the precession of the 
 equinoxes and the shifting of the line of the apsides, 
 it is claimed, exerts a marked influence on the earth’s 
 temperature. While the Great Winter prevails at the 
 north pole, the refrigeration is so excessive that the 
 heats of summer are insufficient to melt the snow and 
 ice precipitated during the winter, and hence, year after 
 year, and century after century, they go on accumu¬ 
 lating, until the Circumpolar region is in a state of 
 glaciation, and the added weight becomes sufficient to 
 displace the centre of gravity, which would be equiva¬ 
 lent to a subsidence at one pole and an elevation at the 
 other. M. Adh^mar has even calculated the extent of 
 this movement, and states that it would amount to about 
 5,500 feet. Now let it be borne in mind that Professor 
 
 not always the same, but may differ from the mean time of revolution by 
 281.2 years.’ (Stockwell, on “ Secular Variations,’’p.xii. “Smithsonian 
 Contributions.”) 
 
THE GREAT WINTER. 
 
 381 
 
 Ramsey has shown that in Wales the submergence of 
 the land during the Drift Epoch amounted to 2,300 
 feet, and our own observations show that in the northern 
 portions of the United States the glacial action proper 
 can be traced to the height of 2,000 feet, although 
 there were mountains which served as radiating cen¬ 
 tres, on whose flanks glacial action may be traced much 
 higher. These geographical points, roughly estimated, 
 are about midway between the equator and the pole, 
 and the extent of the subsidence would correspond 
 very well with the conditions of this theory. 
 
 In the year 1248 the Great Winter terminated at the 
 south pole, where for 10,500 years the accumulation 
 of snow and ice had been going on, attended with the 
 phenomena which we have described. “ Here, then,” 
 says M. Julien, an advocate of this theory, “is an irre¬ 
 sistible force, which, following the invariable law of 
 the irregular precession of the equinoxes, must make 
 the earth’s centre of gravity periodically oscillate.” 
 
 As evidences of the shifting of vast amounts of water 
 from one pole to the other, the advocates of this theory 
 point to the marked differences in the topographical 
 features of the two hemispheres. In the Austral region 
 we meet with projecting headlands and peninsula-like 
 terminations of continents, and groups and chains of 
 islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans extending over 
 vast areas, which rise up like the peaks and crests of 
 mountains. These are the evidences of a gradually 
 engulfed hemisphere. In the Boreal region we have 
 wide expanses of land diversified by mountains, prairies, 
 and plains ; elevated sea-beaches and river-terraces, 
 most conspicuously displayed on the borders of the 
 Arctic Sea ; vast oceanic shoals; a marine fauna of a 
 northern type preserved in beds 1400 feet above the 
 
382 
 
 CHRONOMETEIC MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 ocean level; clusters of lakes yet retaining their bitter 
 waters; shallow seas once salt, but each decade becom¬ 
 ing more brackish; vast desert tracts which up to a recent 
 time formed the ocean-bed; — all these phenomena, of 
 which man has been the witness, indicate a hemisphere 
 gradually emerging from the waters. Perhaps the 
 physicist can discern in these great periodic oscillations, 
 the method by which Nature perpetually renews the 
 youth of our planet, and maintains its fertility. 
 
 Sir Charles Lyell does not think that this change, 
 which he claims could hardly produce more than a dif¬ 
 ference of half a degree between the cold of the present 
 winter and that of 1248, would be appreciable, and adds 
 that the whole effect which can be produced by secular 
 astronomical changes must always be subordinate to 
 geographical conditions ; and Sir John Herschel is very 
 far from supposing it competent to account for so great 
 an alteration. The effect, however, increases with the 
 excentricity of the earth’s orbit, which shows variations, 
 within the last million of years, sufficient to produce 
 marked changes of climate. Mr. Croll, in a series of 
 papers in the “Edinburgh New Philosophical Maga¬ 
 zine,” has elaborately discussed this question, and, in 
 connection with Mr. Stone, has calculated that excen¬ 
 tricity for the last million of years. He infers that a 
 glacial period occurs when the excentricity is at its 
 maximum, and the solstices fall when the earth is in 
 perihelio and in aphelio; and that only one hemisphere 
 has a glacial climate at the same time, which occurs 
 when the winter is in aphelio. Mr. John Garrick Moore 
 published a little work a few years ago, in which, 
 adopting the table of Croll as to the excentricity of the 
 earth’s orbit, he added its difference of distance in 
 millions of miles from the sun ; the number of days by 
 
EXCENTRICITY OF EARTH’S ORBIT. 
 
 383 
 
 which winter, occurring in aphelion, is longer than the 
 summer in perihelion; the mean temperature of the 
 hottest summer month in the latitude of London when 
 the summer occurs in perihelion ; and that of the cold¬ 
 est winter month in the same latitude, when the winter 
 occurs in aphehon. 
 
 Table showing the variations in the excentricity of the 
 earth's orbit for a million of years before A. D. 1800, and 
 some of the elimatal effects of such variations. 
 
 
 Number of years before a.d. 1800. 
 
 Excentricity of orbit. 
 
 1 Difference of distance in millions 
 
 1 of miles. 
 
 j Number of winter days in excess. 
 
 1 Mean of hottest month in latitude 
 of London. 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 Mean of coldest month in latitude 
 
 1 of London. 
 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 .0151 
 
 23/ 
 
 7-3 
 
 83 ° F. 
 
 21 ° F. 
 
 D 
 
 950,000 
 
 •0517 
 
 qX 
 
 251 
 
 109 ° 
 
 3 “ 
 
 
 900,000 
 
 .0102 
 
 iX 
 
 4-9 
 
 80 “ 
 
 23 ° 
 
 ( a 
 
 850,000 
 
 .0747 
 
 
 36.4 
 
 126 ° 
 
 7 ° 
 
 cn 
 
 800,000 
 
 .0132 
 
 
 6.4 
 
 82 ° 
 
 22 ° 
 
 
 750,000 
 
 •0575 
 
 loyi 
 
 27.8 
 
 113 » 
 
 0 ° 6 
 
 
 700,000 
 
 .0220 
 
 4 
 
 10.2 
 
 87 ° 
 
 17 ° 
 
 
 650,000 
 
 .0226 
 
 4 
 
 II 
 
 88 “ 
 
 16 " 
 
 
 600,000 
 
 .0417 
 
 lYz 
 
 20.3 
 
 loi °9 
 
 7 °9 
 
 
 5=;o,ooo 
 
 .0166 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 84° 
 
 20 "" 
 
 
 500,000 
 
 .0388 
 
 7 
 
 18.8 
 
 99 ^ 
 
 9 ° 
 
 
 450,000 
 
 .0308 
 
 s'A 
 
 15 
 
 94 ° 
 
 13 ° 
 
 
 400,000 
 
 .0170 
 
 3 
 
 8.2 
 
 84 “ 
 
 20 ** 
 
 
 350,000 
 
 .0195 
 
 31^ 
 
 9-5 
 
 86 ° 
 
 18 ° 
 
 
 300,000 
 
 .0424 
 
 7H 
 
 20.6 
 
 102 ° 
 
 7 ° 
 
 
 250,000 
 
 .0258 
 
 4 /^ 
 
 12.5 
 
 90 ° 
 
 15 ° 
 
 
 210,000 
 
 •0575 
 
 lo'A 
 
 27.8 
 
 113 ° 
 
 o°7 
 
 
 200,000 
 
 .0567 
 
 lO'X 
 
 27.7 
 
 113 ° 
 
 I °9 
 
 
 150,000 
 
 ■0332 
 
 6 
 
 16. I 
 
 95 ° 
 
 12 ® 
 
 
 100,000 
 
 .0473 
 
 ^'A 
 
 23 
 
 105 » 
 
 5 ^ 
 
 A 
 
 50,000 
 
 .0131 
 
 2^ 
 
 6.3 
 
 82 ° 
 
 22 ® 
 
 
 0 
 
 .0168 
 
 3 
 
 8.1 
 
 84“ 
 
 20 ° 
 
384 
 
 CHKONOMETKIC MEASUREMENTS. 
 
 Mr. Stockwell * has computed the excentricity of the 
 earth’s orbit, at intervals of 10,000. years, during a 
 period of 2,000,000 years, by employing the constants 
 which correspond to the assumed mass of the earth 
 increased by its twentieth part, and finds that it will 
 always be included within the limit of 0 and 0.0693888. 
 He explains how the climate can be modified by this 
 excentricity. “ At present,” he remarks, “ the sun is 
 north of the equator scarcely 186^ days, and south of 
 the same circle about 178| days; thus making a dif¬ 
 ference of 7| days between the length of the summer 
 and winter; but when the excentricity of the orbit is 
 nearly at its maximum, and its transverse axis also 
 passes through the solstices, both of which conditions 
 have in past ages been fulfilled, the summer in one 
 hemisphere will have a period of 198| days, and the 
 winter of only 166J days, while in the other hemisphere 
 these conditions will be reversed,— the winter having a 
 period of 198| days, and the summer of only 166^ days. 
 The variations of the sun’s distance from the earth in 
 the course of a year, at such times, are also enormous, 
 amounting almost to one-seventh part of its mean dis¬ 
 tance,— a quantity scarcely less than 13,000,000 miles.’’f 
 Perhaps the fluctuations in climate resulting from this 
 cause will account for the presence of the remains of 
 the hippopotamus and African elephant in Europe, and 
 of the megatherium and megalonyx in the lower lati¬ 
 tudes of the United States. 
 
 Recurring to the table, it will be seen that there are 
 four periods marked A, B, c, D, in which there has 
 
 * “ Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, No. 232.” “ Memoir 
 
 on the Secular Variation of the Elements of the Orbits of the Eight 
 Principal Planets,” etc., by John N. Stockwell. 1872. 
 
 J “ Introduction,” xiii. 
 
EXOENTRICITY OF EARTH’S ORBIT. 
 
 385 
 
 been a large excentricity of the earth’s orbit, and con¬ 
 sequently attended with excessive variations in the 
 climate. The periods marked A and B, 200,000 and 
 210,000 years ago, are considered by Mr. Croll and Sir 
 John Lubbock sufficiently remote to embrace all the 
 geological changes, as well as the variations in the range 
 and distribution of aquatic and terrestrial animals since 
 the dawn of the Glacial Epoch; but Sir Charles Lyell 
 would rather go back to the periods marked c and D, 
 representing 800,000 and 950,000 years, as affording 
 the necessary conditions to explain the varying phe¬ 
 nomena which characterize the later phases in the 
 physical history of our planet. 
 
 AA 
 

 bit. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 That the reader may comprehend the condition of the 
 inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere when first known to 
 the European, I append extracts from early historians. 
 
 A. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE INDIANS OF THE ATLANTIC SEA - BOARD. 
 
 Cotton Mather, in his Life of Elliot, thus describes their 
 condition : “ Know, then, that these doleful creatures are the 
 veriest ruins of mankind which are to be found on the face 
 of the earth. No such estates are to be expected a^ong 
 them, as have been the baits which the pretended converts in 
 other countries have snapped at. One might see among 
 them what an hard master the devil is to the most devoted 
 of his vassals. These abject creatures live in a country full 
 of mines. Among us there lies copper [probably iron pyrites] 
 enough to supply the world, besides other mines to be here¬ 
 after explored. But our shiftless Indians were never the 
 owner of so much as a knife till we came among them. 
 Their name for an Englishman was a knife-nian. Stone was 
 used, instead of metal, for their tools, and for coins they had 
 only little beads with holes in them. 
 
 “ They live in a country where we now have all the con¬ 
 veniences of human life. But as for them, their housing is 
 but a few mats tied about poles fastened in the earth, where 
 a good fire is their bed-clothes in the coldest seasons. Their 
 clothing is but the skin of a beast, covering their hind parts, 
 their fore parts having a little apron where nature calls for 
 
 B80 
 
390 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 secrecy. Their diet has not a greater dainty than their 
 nokchick, that is, a spoonful of their parched meal, with a 
 spoonful of water, which will strengthen them to travel a day 
 together, except we should mention the flesh of deers, bears, 
 moose, raccoons, and the like, which they have when they can 
 catch them; as also a little fish, which if they would pre¬ 
 serve, ’t was by drying, not by salting, for they had not a grain 
 of salt in the world, I think, till we bestowed it upon 
 them. 
 
 “ They live in a country full of the best ship-timber under 
 heaven, but never saw a ship till some came from Europe 
 hither. . . They cross the water in canoes, made some¬ 
 
 times of trees, which they burn and hew till they have hol¬ 
 lowed them; and sometimes of barks, which they stitch into 
 a light sort of vessel, to be carried easily overland. 
 
 “ Their way of living is infinitely barbarous ; the men are 
 most abominally slothful, making their poor squaws or wives 
 to plant, and dress, and beat their corn, and build their wig- 
 wama for them. . . 
 
 “ They ’ll continue in a place till they have burnt up all the 
 wood thereabouts, and then they pluck up stakes to follow 
 the wood which they cannot fetch home unto them¬ 
 selves. . . No arts are understood among them, unless 
 
 just so far as to maintain their brutish conversation, which is 
 little more than is to be found among the very beavers on 
 our streams.” 
 
 B. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE ANCIENT MEXICANS. 
 
 Bernal Diaz, who accompanied Cortez in his expedition 
 of the Conquest of Mexico, states that: “ On approaching 
 Yucatan, we perceived a large town at the distance of two 
 leagues from the coast, which from its size — it exceeding any 
 town in Cuba — we named Cairo.” Upon the invitation of 
 the chief, who came off in a canoe, they went ashore, but were 
 ambuscaded. “ Near the place of this ambuscade were three 
 
ANCIENT MEXICANS. 
 
 391 
 
 buildings of lime and sio7je, wherein were idols of clay with 
 diabolical countenances.” “ The buildings of///w and 
 and the gold, gave us a high idea of the country we had dis¬ 
 covered.” At another point he speaks of meeting “fifty 
 Indians dressed in cotton mantles,” who invited them to 
 their town, having buildings similarly constructed, “ with 
 figures of serpents and idols painted upon the walls.” March¬ 
 ing towards the capital, and arriving at Cempoal, he was 
 struck “with the beauty of the buildings.” Those of the 
 great square “ had been lately whitewashed and plastered, in 
 which art these people are very expert,” and one of the 
 advanced guard was so struck with the splendor of their 
 appearance in the sun, that he rushed back and told Cortez 
 that the walls of the houses were of silver. As they 
 approached the territory of Mexico, he continues, “ appear¬ 
 ances demonstrated that we had entered a new country, for 
 the temples were very lofty, and together with the terraced 
 dwellings and the houses of the caiques, being plastered and 
 whitewashed, appeared very well and resembled some of our 
 towns in Spain.” At Tehuacingo they entered “a strong 
 and spacious temple.” Arrived at Cholula, “ a city much 
 resembling Valladolid,” Cortez sent some men to a “ great 
 temple to bring, as quietly as they could, two priests.” “ One 
 of them was a person of rank and authority over all the tem¬ 
 ples of the city.” As to the City of Mexico, he could com¬ 
 pare it to nothing but “ the enchanted scenes we had read of 
 in Amadis de Gaul, from the great towers and temples, and 
 other edifices of lime and stone, which seemed to rise up out 
 of the water. . . We were received by the great lords of 
 
 that country, relations of Montezuma, who conducted us to 
 our lodgings there in palaces magnificently built of stone, 
 the timber of which was cedar, with spacious courts, and 
 apartments furnished with canopies of the finest cotton. The 
 whole was ornamented with works of art, painted, and admir¬ 
 ably plastered and whitened, and it was rendered more 
 delightful by numbers of beautiful birds.” 
 
392 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The inhabitants of Central America were abundantly sup¬ 
 plied with copper implements. When Columbus, in his 
 fourth voyage, was visited at the Guanaja Islands by a trading 
 canoe from Yucatan, the crew, according to Herrara, had 
 “ small hatchets made of copper, small bells and plates, cru¬ 
 cibles to 77ielt copper” etc. 
 
 So, too, when the Spaniards, under Cortez, entered Tus- 
 pan, they mistook the bright copper or bronze axes of the 
 natives for gold. Bernal Diaz relates that “ each Indian had, 
 besides his ornaments of gold, a copper axe, which was very 
 highly polished, with the handles curiously carved, as if to 
 serve equally for an ornament and for the field of battle. We 
 first thought that these axes were made of an inferior kind of 
 gold ; we therefore commenced taking them in exchange, and 
 in the space of two days had collected more than six hun¬ 
 dred, with which we were no less rejoiced, as long as we were 
 ignorant of their real value, than the Indians with our glass 
 beads.” 
 
 Dupaix says that the axe-heads, cast of alloyed copper, 
 “ are much sought by silversmiths on account of their fine 
 alloy.” 
 
 C. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE ANCIENT PERUVIANS. 
 
 When the Spaniards invaded Peru, they found a people 
 far advanced in civilization. The country was developed by 
 a magnificent system of internal improvements. A road. 
 Macadamized or paved with slabs of stone, stretched for more 
 than a thousand miles through the several provinces of the 
 empire, by which an easy and expeditious communication 
 was maintained between the most distant parts. It was 
 marked at regular distances by mile-stones, or some unit of 
 measurement; and at suitable positions were erected station- 
 houses. Deep ravines and rapid rivers were spanned by 
 bridges, sometimes of stone and sometimes of wood or ropes, 
 and the crests of mountains were scaled by long flights of 
 
INDIANS OF NFW MEXICO. 
 
 393 
 
 steps cut in the rock, with resting places provided. As the 
 Peruvians used no wagons, although they had subdued the 
 llama, this arrangement was sufficient. The engineering 
 skill thus displayed, excited the wonder of the conquerors. 
 Sarmiento, who saw the roads of Incas while they were yet 
 in a state of preservation, expresses surprise that a people 
 unacquainted with the use of iron should be able to com¬ 
 plete such grand works in so high and rocky a region, extend¬ 
 ing from Cuzco to Quito on the one hand, and to the coast 
 of Chili on the other. “ The Emperor Charles,” he adds, 
 “ with all his power, could not accomplish even a part of 
 what the well-ordered government of the Incas effected 
 through the obedient people over whom they ruled.” 
 
 Hernando Pizarro, the brother of the Conqueror, adds, 
 that “ in the whole of Christendom, there are nowhere such 
 fine roads as those which we here admire.” Humboldt, who 
 saw their ruins, states that nothing he had ever seen of the 
 remains of Roman roads in Italy, in the south of France, and 
 in Spain, was more imposing than these works of the ancient 
 Peruvians. 
 
 Aqueducts were constructed to carry water to the caravan¬ 
 saries and to the palaces of the Incas, and also cisterns and 
 reservoirs to furnish water for irrigation. The “princely 
 palaces ” were built of hewn stone, and they used for this 
 purpose bronze instruments. They spun and wove cotton 
 and the wool of the alapaca. They were, probably, quite as 
 civilized, and less cruel than their conquerors. 
 
 D. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE ANCIENT INDIANS OF NEW MEXICO. 
 
 The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico probably occupied at 
 the time of the Conquest the frontier posts of the empire of 
 Montezuma. When first known to the Spaniards they were 
 living in towns, cultivating and irrigating the soil. Their 
 vessels of pottery in shape and material correspond very 
 closely with those found in the mounds. 
 
394 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Coronado, who in 1540 invaded the country of Cibola, in 
 his “Relations” speaks of seeing “great houses of stone,” 
 for he adds, “although they be not wrought with turquasses, 
 nor with lime, nor with brick, yet they are very excellent 
 houses of three, or four, or five lofts high, wherein are good 
 lodgings and fair chambers, with ladders instead of stairs, 
 and certain cellars under ground very good and paved. . . 
 
 In this town, where I now remain, there may be some two 
 hundred houses, all compassed with walls; and I think that, 
 with the rest of the houses which are not so walled, there 
 may be together five hundred.” In describing the domestic 
 habits of the people, he remarks : “ They have no cotton¬ 
 wool growing, because the country is too cold, yet they wear 
 mantles thereof, and true it is that there was found within 
 their houses certain yarn made of cotton wool. . . The 
 
 kingdom of Totonteac is much extolled by the Father Pro¬ 
 vincial, who said there were wonderful things there, and such 
 great matters, and that they made clothes there.” 
 
 These extracts clearly show that, in their habits and pur¬ 
 suits, the inhabitants of Central and South America were 
 widely different from those of North America : in the one 
 instance the people had made considerable progress in civil¬ 
 ization ; in the other they were sunk in brutal barbarism. 
 
 E. 
 
 THE ATLANTIC THEORY. 
 
 “The Story of Atlantis,” recorded by Plato in his Tineeus, 
 as communicated to Solon by an Egyptian priest, has, in the 
 light of modern geographical discovery, been generally 
 regarded as a myth; but within a few years it has been 
 revived, and there are not wanting investigators of profound 
 learning who regard it as authentic. The following is the 
 version of the Greek philosopher : 
 
 “Among the great deeds of Athens, of which recollection 
 is preserved in our books, there is one which should be 
 
ATLANTIC THEORY. 
 
 B95 
 
 placed above all others. Our books tell that the Athenians 
 destroyed an army which came across the Atlantic Sea and 
 insolently invaded Europe and Asia; for this sea was then 
 navigable, and beyond the strait where you place the Pillars 
 of Hercules, there was an island larger than Asia [Minor] 
 and Libya combined. From this island one could pass easily 
 to other islands, and from these to the Continent which lies 
 around the interior sea. The sea on this side of the strait 
 (the Mediterranean) of which we speak, resembles a harbor 
 with a narrow entrance; but there is a genuine sea, and the 
 land which surrounds it is a veritable continent. In the 
 Island of Atlantis reigned three kings with great and mar¬ 
 velous power. They had under their dominion the whole 
 of Atlantis, several other islands, and some parts of the 
 Continent. At one time their power extended into Libya, 
 and into Europe as far as Tyrrhenia, and, uniting their 
 whole force, they sought to destroy our countries at a blow; 
 but their defeat stopped the invasion and gave entire inde¬ 
 pendence to all the countries this side of the Pillars of Her¬ 
 cules. Afterward, in one day and one fatal night, there came 
 mighty earthquakes and inundations which engulfed the 
 warlike people. Atlantis disappeared beneath the sea, and 
 then that sea became inaccessible, so that navigation on it 
 ceased on account of the quantity of mud which the engulfed 
 island left in its place.” 
 
 Plutarch, in his life of Solon, relates that when that law¬ 
 giver was in Egypt “he conferred with the priests and learned 
 from them the story of Atlantis.” 
 
 Diodorus Siculus states that: “Over against Africa lies a 
 very great island, in the vast ocean many days’ sail from 
 Libya westward. The soil there is very fruitful, a great part 
 whereof is mountainous, but much likewise champaign, which 
 is the most sweet and pleasant part, for it is watered by sev¬ 
 eral navigable streams, and beautiful with many gardens of 
 pleasure, planted by divers sorts of trees and an abundance 
 ot orchards. The towns are adorned with stately buildings 
 
396 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 and banqueting houses pleasantly situated in their gardens 
 and orchards.” 
 
 These passages from the ancient classics as to the exist¬ 
 ence of a Western Continent, coupled with certain traditions 
 to be found in the ancient Mexican records of a great catas¬ 
 trophe, the combined result of earthquakes and inundations, 
 by which a large area in Central America became submerged 
 and a greater portion of the population destroyed, have 
 reopened the discussion whether Plato’s “ Story of Atlantis ” 
 does not belong to the sobrieties of truth. Among the most 
 zealous of these advocates is the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, 
 who has brought out these traditions in his translation of the 
 “ Teo Amoxtli,’"*" which is the Toltecan mythological history 
 of the cataclysm of the Antilles; and the late George Catlin 
 published a little workf in which this theory is vigorously 
 maintained. Among the Indian tribes of North America, 
 Catlin found the tradition of such a cataclysm. The tribes 
 further south relate that the waters were seen coming in 
 waves like mountains from the east, and of the tens of thou¬ 
 sands who ran for the high grounds to the west, according to 
 some traditions one man only, and according to others, two, 
 and still according to others, seven, succeeded in reaching 
 places of safety, and from these have descended the present 
 races of Indians. 
 
 “ The tribes in Central America and Mexico, in Venezuela, 
 and in British and Dutch Guinea, distinctly describe these 
 cataclysms,— one by water, one by fire, and the third by the 
 winds. The tribes nearer the vicinity of the terrible con¬ 
 vulsions were cognizant of the whole effects of fire and 
 winds, when the remote tribes were sensible only of the flood 
 of waters which went to the base of the mountains. 
 
 * “ Quater Lettres sur le Mexique,” and “ Sources de I'Histoire Prim¬ 
 itive du Mexique.” 
 
 f Catlin, “ The Lifted and Subsided Rocks of America.” London, 
 Triibner & Co., 1870. 
 
 Ibidem, p. 145. 
 
ATLANTIC THEORY. 
 
 397 
 
 From amidst “the thunder and flames that came out of 
 the sea,” whilst “ mountains were sinking and rising,” the 
 terror-stricken inhabitants sought every expedient of safety. 
 Some fled to the mountains, and some launched their rafts and 
 canoes upon the turbulent waters, trusting that a favorable 
 current would land them upon a hospitable shore, and thus 
 in this elemental strife this ancient civilized people became 
 widely dispersed. 
 
 The festival of “ Izcalli ” was instituted to commemorate 
 this terrible calamity, in which “ princes and people humbled 
 themselves before the Divinity and besought Him not to 
 renew the frightful convulsions.” 
 
 It is claimed that by this catastrophe, an area larger than 
 that of the kingdom of France became engulfed, including 
 the Lesser Antilles, the extensive banks at their eastern base, 
 which at that date were vast and fertile plains, the peninsulas 
 of Yucatan, Honduras, and Guatemala, and the great estuaries 
 of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. With the pen¬ 
 insulas of Yucatan and Guatemala, went down the splendid 
 cities of Palenque and Uxmal, and others whose sites are now 
 in the ocean bed, with most of their living inhabitants; and 
 the Continent has since risen sufficiently to restore many of 
 these ancient sites. 
 
 The Abbe Brasseur boldly asserts that he has found proofs 
 that the first civilization of the earth was on the ground which 
 sank in the cataclysm of the Antilles; that the first ceremo¬ 
 nial religion commenced there, as well as the first Age of 
 Bronze, which spread over the two hemispheres ; and that 
 there we have the beginning and basis of American ethnology. 
 
 He appeals to comparative philology to support his views. 
 The words Atlas and Atlantic have no satisfactory etymology 
 in any language known to Europe. They are not Greek, 
 and cannot be referred to any known language of the Old 
 World.* But in the Nahuatal (or Toltecan) language we find 
 immediately the radical a, atl^ which signifies water, man, 
 * Molina, “ Vocab. en lengua Mexicana y Castellana,” etc. 
 
398 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 and the top of the head. From this comes a series of words, 
 such as atlan — on the border of, or amid the water,— from 
 which we have the adjective Atlantic. We have, also, atla^a — 
 to combat, or to be in agony; it means also, to hurl or dart 
 from the water, and in the preterit makes atlaz. A city 
 named Atlan existed when the continent was discovered by 
 Columbus, in the Gulf of Urba, Darien, with a good harbor; 
 but it is now reduced to an unimportant pueblo named Ada. 
 
 The authority of Charles Martins is appealed to, showing 
 that “ hydrography, geology, and botany agree in teaching 
 us that the Azores, the Canaries, and Madeira, are the 
 remains of a great continent which formerly united Europe 
 to North America.”* 
 
 The Abbe might also have appealed to the authority of 
 Retzius, that the primitive Dolicocephali of America, compre¬ 
 hending not only the Caribs of the Lesser Antilles, but the 
 neighboring continent of Venezuela and Guiana, are nearly 
 related to the Guanches in the Canary Islands, and the Atlantic 
 populations of Africa — the Moors, Tuaricks, Copts, etc. 
 
 Catlin f asserts that the ruined cities of Palenque and 
 Uxmal have within themselves, the evidences that the ocean 
 has been their bed for thousands of years, and that the earth 
 on which one treads, and the whole face of the country in 
 which they stand, bear incontestable proofs of the same fact. 
 Now, in opposition to this claim to a very remote antiquity, 
 it may be stated that these structures are composed of a soft 
 coralline limestone of a comparatively recent geological for¬ 
 mation, probably of the Tertiary period, and upon the struct¬ 
 ures themselves there are no water-lines, such as would be 
 left by a gradually emerging continent. Besides, to show 
 the comparatively recent origin of these cities, by which I 
 mean since the soil and climate have assumed a nearly unva¬ 
 rying phase, it may be stated that over the doorways of Uxmal, 
 Stevens observed that the lintels were formed of wood, belong- 
 
 = 1 = “ Revue des Deux Mondes,” March, 1867. 
 
 f Ibidem, p. 154. 
 
ANTE - COLUIUBIAN DISCOVERIES. 
 
 399 
 
 Ing to a tree which is harder than lignum vilcB, many of which 
 were in a perfect state of preservation at the time of his 
 explorations, and this, too, in a climate which is most des¬ 
 tructive to all perishable things. 
 
 It may be further remarked that the earlier observers of 
 the ruins of Palenque describe structures which have now 
 crumbled to dust, and that in that moist climate, giving birth 
 to a luxuriant vegetation, ready to eliminate whatever of 
 nutrition there may be derived from a perishable limestone, 
 these abandoned cities, since the Spanish Conquest, embrac¬ 
 ing a period of more than three hundred and fifty years, have 
 assumed to a greater extent the character of undistinguish- 
 able ruins. How different from the dry atmosphere of Egypt, 
 which has preserved every touch of the graver’s chisel, 
 every shade of the artist’s brush, and whose soil is fertilized, 
 not by descending showers, but by the annual inundations of 
 the Nile! Had such a climate reigned there, those monu¬ 
 ments, reaching back to the dawn of the Historic Period, 
 would have been undecipherable. The brilliant colors of 
 the paintings, and the texture of the finer handiwork fade and 
 perish when exposed for a generation to the moist climate of 
 Paris or London. 
 
 It maybe further remarked — a point well taken by M. 
 Claparede,— that the disappearance of so large an area as was 
 embraced in the supposed Atlantis, would have produced a 
 very considerable refrigeration in the climate of the northern 
 hemisphere, attended with a marked change in the flora and 
 fauna, especially in the basin of the Mediterranean,— an event 
 which would have permanently engraved itself upon the 
 memory of the Egyptians. 
 
 F. 
 
 ANTE-COLUMBIAN DISCOVERIES. 
 
 I have purposely declined to discuss the ante-Columbian 
 relations which many conjecture to have existed through 
 the voyages of the Northmen to Vinland, and of the 
 
400 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Welsh, under Prince Madog, to some supposed point in 
 the Southern States, for the reason that if such an inter¬ 
 course was ever established, these peoples have left behind 
 no memorials. The Runic inscription which the Danish 
 antiquarians profess to recognize on the Dighton rock, is to 
 the American ethnologist but the crude picture-writing of the 
 savage. The alphabetical characters inscribed on the “Grave 
 Creek Stone,” and the “ Holy Stone of Newark ” with its 
 Hebrew letters, which have called out from philologists a 
 wonderful amount of learning, one is disposed involuntarily 
 to associate with the famous stone which served as the basis 
 of Mr. Pickwick’s fame. 
 
 The “ Cincinnati Tablet,” which was supposed to bear “ a 
 singular resemblance to the Egyptian cartouche,” was fresh 
 with the dust of the graver when the artist first attempted to 
 palm it off as a genuine relic of the Mound-builders.* “ The 
 Round Tower of Newport,” instead of being a Norse monu¬ 
 ment, turns out to be but a wind-mill built by one. of the 
 Rhode-Island governors; and “The Skeleton in Armor” 
 which the poet has wrought into a fine ballad, represented 
 simply all that was mortal of a Narragansett Indian rigged out 
 in European trappings. 
 
 The Rev. Morgan Jones, who swore that in his travels 
 among the “ Doegs ” of the Tuscarora Nation, he found a 
 people with whom he could converse familiarly in the Welsh 
 language, may have been a very worthy man; but we are 
 disposed to question the truthfulness of a statement at this 
 day, when the author deems it necessary to fortify it by a 
 self-sought oath, f 
 
 * Whittlesey, “Archaeological Frauds,” 1872. 
 
 JSee “ Gentleman’s Magazine,” 1740. 
 
INDEX. 
 

 ' rl, 
 
 
 ' y 
 
 ,,:i, .h. 
 
 
 
 y ';,: ^ Vi/i'y 
 
INDEX 
 
 A. 
 
 Abbeville, France, gravel beds of, 
 23 - 
 
 Adair, Mr., on Indian games, 220. 
 Adhemar, M., on precession of equi¬ 
 noxes, 379. 
 
 Adobe, used by Mound-builders, 
 112, 113. 
 
 Agriculture of Mound-builders, 155, 
 
 346. 
 
 Agricultural implements, 207. 
 Alexander the Great, mound by, 
 over Hephaestion, igS. 
 
 Alaska, fossil ivory of, 84. 
 
 Allouez, explores Lake Superior, 262. 
 Altar mounds, 177. 
 
 Ancient history of Mexico and Cen¬ 
 tral America, 340, 389. 
 
 Ancient mining, 261. 
 
 Animal mounds of Wisconsin, 99. 
 Anse, Petit, ancient basket-work at, 
 
 56- 
 
 Ante-Columbian discoveries, 399. 
 Antiquity of Man, in Europe, 17. 
 in America, 51. 
 
 Antiquity of Mound-builders, 369. 
 Arctic Highlander, 32. 
 
 Arkansas, ancient works in, 113. 
 Arrows, stone, of Mound-builders, 
 204. 
 
 copper, 255. 
 
 Articles interred with the dead, 312. 
 Art, see Civilization. 
 
 Arts and manufactures of the 
 Mound-builders, 202. 
 arrow-heads, 204. 
 spades, 207. 
 axes, 209. 
 fleshers, 213. 
 pipes, 215. 
 pestles, 217. 
 discs, 218. 
 
 Arts and manufactures of the 
 Mound-builders — 
 totems, 222. 
 textile fabrics, 223. 
 gauges, 229. 
 weights, 230. 
 shuttles, 233. 
 spindle-whorls, 234. 
 shell-work, 234. 
 water-jugs, 237. 
 drinking cups, 246, 
 sepulchral urns, 247. 
 kettles, 248, 
 colored pottery, 25c. 
 copper implements, chisels, 
 axes, and daggers, 253. 
 spear and arrow-heads, 255. 
 knives, awls, and bracelets, 256, 
 other implements, with mould 
 marks, 258, 
 
 Assyria, civilization of, 329. 
 
 Astronomical causes affecting tem¬ 
 perature, 378. 
 
 Atlantis, story of, 394. 
 
 Auk, great, extinct, 38, 162. 
 
 Aurignac, bone cave at, 28. 
 
 Aurochs, or bison, of Europe, 89. 
 
 Awls, 256. 
 
 A.xes of Mound-builders, 209, 253. 
 
 Aryan customs, 314. 
 
 Aztalan, Wis., works at, 102. 
 
 Aztecs, their origin, 340. 
 their crania, 326. 
 their civilization, 341. 
 subdued by Cortez, 341. 
 
 B. 
 
 Baldwin, Mr., “Ancient Races” 
 cited, 341, note. 
 
 Baltic, changes in its waters, 41. 
 
 Bancroft, Mr., erroneous views as to 
 mounds, 184. 
 
404 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bancroft, Mr., on American lan¬ 
 guages, 320. 
 
 on the “ Lost Tribes,” 323. 
 Barrandt, Mr., on antiquities of the 
 Upper Missouri, 153. 
 
 Bateman,Mr.,on British tumuli,log. 
 Bartram, Mr., cited, 221. 
 
 Beads, found in mounds, 235. 
 
 Bear, fossil, gl. 
 
 American, gi. 
 
 Behring’s Strait, gq. 
 
 Belgium, bone-caves of, 27, 30. 
 human jaw from, 306. 
 
 , Berthoud, Mr., on antiquities of 
 Colorado and Wyoming, 6g, 152. 
 Bible notices of iron, 333. 
 
 Bison, how far common to two hem¬ 
 ispheres, l8g. 
 
 Blanding, Dr., on antiquities of 
 South Carolina, 148. 
 
 Bolas, described, 231. 
 
 Bootherium, or great musk-ox of 
 America, 87. 
 
 Borreby skull, 27g. 
 
 Boucher de Perthes, M., 22, 23. 
 Boue, M., 21. 
 
 Bourbeuse Valley, mastodon bed of, 
 64. 
 
 Boyd, Dr., 235, 2g5. 
 
 Boyd-Dawkins and Sanford,Messrs., 
 gi. 
 
 Brasseur de Bourbourg, Abbe., on 
 early history of Central Ameri¬ 
 ca. 341. 
 
 his theory of Atlantis, 3g6. 
 Brachycephali, defined, 2g3. 
 
 distribution of, in America, 326. 
 Brazil, bone-caves in, 301. 
 
 Brinton, Dr., on shell-heaps of 
 Florida, 160. 
 
 British tumuli, log, 185. 
 
 ancient burial rites, 316. 
 
 Buckle, cited, 344, 345. 
 
 Buffalo, American, 8g. 
 
 Bunsen, Chev., cited, 355. 
 
 Burial, ancient modes of, 188, 310. 
 Busk, Mr., gi. 
 
 C. 
 
 Castoroides (great beaver), range 
 of, g2. 
 
 Catherwood, Mr., his drawings of 
 Central American monuments, 
 
 338. 
 
 Cahoika, great mound at, 107. 
 Calaveras skull, 53.' 
 
 Canfield, Mr., 100, 155. 
 
 Catlin, Mr., 175, 3g6. 
 
 Cave-bear, gi. 
 hyena, gi. 
 lion, go. 
 men, 33. 
 
 Caves and grottoes, European, 27. 
 
 American, 130. 
 
 Celts, 2og. 
 
 Central America, civilization of, 32g. 
 
 hieroglyphics of, 321. 
 
 Charlevoix, 117, note. 
 
 Chichimecs, 342. 
 
 Chert, ancient quarries of, 271. 
 
 implements,, 205. 
 
 Chimpanzee, skull of, 305. 
 
 Chisels, 253. 
 
 Christol and Tournal, 21. 
 Chronology, defects of, 17, 355. 
 Chronometric measurements, 368. 
 Chungke, game of, 220. 
 
 Chunky, “ “ 221. 
 
 “Cincinnati Tablet,” 400. 
 Civilization, forms of, their ethnic 
 value, 328. 
 
 of Eastern hemisphere, 32g. 
 of Central America, 32g, 343, 3go. 
 originated in tropics, 33g. 
 Claparede, M., 3gg. 
 
 Classification of Human Period, 7g. 
 Clavigero, cited, 340. 
 
 Clemens, Dr., igi. 
 
 Cleveland, Mr., 78. 
 
 Climate, changes in Europe, within 
 the Human Epoch, 2g, 378. 
 conditions preceding the Drift 
 Epoch, 30. 
 
 during the Stone Age of Denmark, 
 40 - 
 
 Cloth found in mounds, 222. 
 Colhuas, ancient, of Central Ameri¬ 
 ca, 343 - 
 
 Collett, Mr., on mounds of the 
 Wabash, 142, ig3. 
 on burial vault, at Merom, la., lg3. 
 Colorado, pre-historic remains in, 
 6g. 
 
 Combe, Geo., on the Indian skull, 
 300. 
 
 Conrad, Mr., on Tertiary .shells of 
 Colorado, 71. 
 
 Copan, ruins of, 338. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 405 
 
 Cope, Prof., cited, 71. 
 
 Copper, smelted by pre-historic 
 people of Europe, 39, 46. 
 smelted by Mound-builders, 259. 
 mined on shores of Lake Superior, 
 261. 
 
 implements of, 251. 
 
 Cornelius, Mr., on Etowah mounds, 
 122. 
 
 Corn-hills, 155. 
 
 Coronado, cited, 394. 
 
 Cortez, his conquest of Mexico, 341. 
 
 Cox., Prof., on antiquities of Arkan¬ 
 sas, 113. 
 
 on sepulchral grottoes in Indiana, 
 130. 
 
 on shell-heaps in Indiana, 164. 
 on ancient fort in Illinois, 131. 
 
 Cremation practised by Mound- 
 builders, 189. 
 
 Crania of ancient Danes, 279. 
 character of, in Florida shell- 
 heaps, 169. 
 
 character of, from Engis, 306. 
 character of, from Neanderthal, 
 289, 305. 
 
 from bone-caves of Brazil, 289. 
 profiles of, on bass-reliefs of Cen¬ 
 tral America, 302. 
 of Mound-builders, 275. 
 
 from the region of Chicago, 
 276. 
 
 Merom, la., 282. 
 
 Laporte, la., 287. 
 
 Dubuque, Iowa, 289. 
 review of, as figured by others, 
 291. 
 
 classification of, 293. 
 profile of Flathead, 295. 
 distinctive characters of, in 
 Mound-builder, 295. 
 in the Red man, 300. 
 
 Peruvian, compared with Hotten¬ 
 tot and New Hollander, 303. 
 Aztec, 326. 
 
 deformation of, how far artificial, 
 295, 303, 325. 
 
 deformation among Central and 
 South American tribes, 302. 
 contours of most anomalous, 305. 
 tabulated measurements of, 307. 
 a guide in tracing ethnic rela¬ 
 tions, 324. 
 
 how modified by culture, 336. 
 
 Crania,brachycephalic, range of,326. 
 
 dolicocephalic, range of, 325. 
 Croll, Mr., on excentricity of earth's 
 orbit, 382. 
 
 Custar, Gen., on Indian character, 
 348, note. 
 
 Customs, see Manners and Cus¬ 
 toms. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dablon, Father, visits Lake Superi¬ 
 or, 262. 
 
 Daggers, copper, 253. 
 
 Dakota, antiquities in, 153. 
 
 Dali, Mr., on fossil ivory of Alaska, 
 84. 
 
 Danish discoveries in America. 399. 
 Darwin, Mr., on the unity of the 
 human race, 359. 
 
 Denmark, antiquities in, 37. 
 
 peat swamps of, 37, note. 
 
 Desor, M., on Swiss antiquities, 41, 
 47 . 48. 
 
 on age of Niagara gorge, 376. 
 Diaz, Bernal, on Mexican human 
 sacrifices, 183. 
 
 on Mexican civilization, 341, 390. 
 Dickeson, Dr., on Natchez bone, 59. 
 
 on Seltzertown mound, 112. 
 Dighton rock, 400. 
 
 Discoidal stones, 218. 
 
 Disco Island, 29. 
 
 Dogs, bones of, first recognized in 
 Denmark, 38. 
 
 absence of, in America, 334. 
 Dolicocephali, defined, 293. 
 
 distribution of, in America, 325. 
 Domestic animals and plants, first 
 recognized among Swiss Lake- 
 dwellers, 45. 
 
 absence of, in America, 334. 
 Dowler, Dr., on New Orleans skele¬ 
 ton, 72. 
 
 Drinking cups, 245. 
 
 Dungan, Dr., 211, 244. 
 
 Dunning, Mr., on cists in Tennessee, 
 108. 
 
 his exploration of Lick Creek 
 mound, 194. 
 
 Dupaix, M., 392. 
 
 Duponceau, Mr., 118 note, 319. 
 Dupont, M., his exploration of Bel¬ 
 gian caves, 27, 30, 306. 
 
 Du Pratz, 117, 118 note, 219. 
 
406 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 E. 
 
 Earth’s axis, alteration of, 379. 
 Earthworks, see Mounds. 
 
 Ecuador, antiquities in, g6, note. 
 Egyptian civilization, 328. 
 
 chronology, 356. 
 
 Elephant, fossil, in France, 24. 
 in England, 25. 
 
 his distribution over both conti¬ 
 nents, 81. 
 
 great American, fossil, 84. 
 
 Elk, Irish, 88. 
 
 American, fossil, 88. 
 moose, 36. 
 
 Emerton, Mr., plan of works at 
 Merom, la., 134. 
 
 plan of works at Hutsonville, Ill., 
 139 - 
 
 Engraving, by Cave-men, 34. 
 
 “ Edthen,” cited, 335. 
 
 Eras of human progress, 273. 
 
 Epoch of extinct animals, 21. 
 of migrated existing animals, 30. 
 of domesticated animals, 36. 
 of bronze, 39, 46. 
 of iron, 46. 
 
 Equinoxes, precession of, 379. 
 Esquimaux, their habits, 31, 324. 
 crania, 323. 
 
 Ethnic relations, see Manners AND 
 Customs. 
 
 Etowah River, works on, 122. 
 Excentricity of earth’s orbit, 382. 
 
 F. 
 
 Falconer, Dr., 26, 90. 
 
 Falkner, Mr., 231. 
 
 Faunae, extinct, of Europe and 
 America, 93. 
 
 Fitzinger, Dr., 327. 
 
 Flathead, skull of, 295. 
 
 Fleshers, 213. 
 
 Flint implements, uniformity in, 
 202, 317. 
 how made, 204. 
 of Mound-builders, 204. 
 
 Flint, Timothy, 171. 
 
 Florence, Ala., earthworks at, ill. 
 Florida, skeleton found in, 76. 
 
 shell-heaps of, 160, 167. 
 
 Fontaine, Mr., on relics at Petit 
 Anse, 52. 
 
 Fontaine, Mr., on mounds of South¬ 
 ern States, no. 
 
 Forest-trees, longevity of, 371. 
 Forshey, Prof., on Natchez bone, 59. 
 on earthworks of Southwest, 114. 
 on “inexplicable mounds,’’ 121. 
 on shell-heaps near New Orleans, 
 157 - 
 
 Fortifications of Mound - builders, 
 
 174- 
 
 France, bone-caves in, 27. 
 
 Freneau, Mr., 313. 
 
 Funeral offerings, 181, 312. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gallatin, Mr., on American lan¬ 
 guage, 319, 321. 
 
 Galena,rarely found in mounds, 270. 
 Games, Indian, 219. 
 
 Garden-beds, ancient, 155. 
 
 Gauges, 229. 
 
 “ Genesis of Earth and Man,’’ 357. 
 Gibbon, on Scythian habits, 334, 
 note. 
 
 on Roman sun-worship, 312, note, 
 on permanence of type, 335. 
 Gilleiron, M., on Lake Berne, 47. 
 Glacial action in California, 54. 
 
 Epoch, climate incident to, 30. 
 Gnalhodon shell-heaps, 156. 
 Godwin-Austen, Mr., 26. 
 
 Gould, Dr., “ Anthropological Sta¬ 
 tistics ’’ cited, 307. 
 
 Grave Creek mound, 130, 190, 
 
 Gray, Prof., on Tertiary flora, 93. 
 
 on age of forest trees, 372. 
 
 Greek mode of burial, 196, 197, 
 Greenstone, its properties, 203. 
 Greenwall, Mr., on British tumuli, 
 185. 
 
 Grimes, Mr., cited, 54. 
 
 Grimm, Jacob, on cremation, 199. 
 Grottoes, see Caves. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hall, Prof., on age of Niagara gorge, 
 
 376- 
 
 Hammers, stone, 209. 
 
 Harper Dr., on stone cists of Indi¬ 
 ana, 108. 
 
 on tibiae of Mound-builders, 308. 
 Haven, Mr., “Archaeology of United 
 States,” 5, preface. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 407 
 
 Haven, Mr., on American language, 
 
 319- 
 
 cited, 304, note. 
 
 Hearths, ancient, in Ohio, 77. 
 in Colorado, 6g. 
 
 Heer, Prof., on cereals used by Lake- 
 dwellers, 45. 
 
 on Swiss domesticated plants, 
 ■+ 5 - 
 
 on variations in climate, 378. 
 Heliopolis, relics found at, 49. 
 Henry, Prof., his interest in Am¬ 
 erican ethnology, 6, preface, 
 on ancient basket-work in Louisi¬ 
 ana, 56. 
 
 Herodotus, on Persian sun-worship, 
 182. 
 
 on the structure of the Pyramids, 
 187. 
 
 on Scythian customs, 176, 334. 
 on modes of burial, lg6. 
 on Thracian customs, 199. 
 on use of iron, 332. 
 
 Hesiod, sings of iron, 332. 
 
 Higday, Dr., 143, 287. 
 
 Hilgard, Prof., on Petit Anse de¬ 
 posits, 57. 
 
 Hill, Mr., on ancient mining, 268. 
 Hippocrates, on the Macrocephali, 
 
 327- 
 
 Hitchcock, Prof., on Mississippi 
 delta, 74. 
 
 on structure of mounds, 184. 
 
 Hog, not indigenous to America, 
 92 - 
 
 Holmes, Dr,, 71. 
 
 Homer, on Grecian burials, 197. 
 
 on tempering steel, 332. 
 
 Horner, Mr., explorations of, in Nile 
 Valley, 48. 
 
 Horse, common to Europe, go. 
 extinct, at the discover)’of Ameri¬ 
 ca, 70. 
 
 Hough, Mr., 120. 
 
 Houghton, Dr., 262. 
 
 Hoy, Dr., on fossil musk-ox, 87. 
 cited as to flint implements, 182. 
 as to Mound-builders using lead, 
 270. 
 
 Huehue Tlapalan, 342. 
 
 Human progress, eras of, 273. 
 Human sacrifices, 182, 315. 
 Humboldt, Alex. Von, on unity of 
 the human race, 365. 
 
 Humboldt,\Villiam, on man’s origin, 
 
 337 - 
 
 Humboldt and Bonpland, on Am¬ 
 erican crania, 302. 
 
 Humphreys and Abbott, cited, 74, 
 no, 119. 
 
 Humphry, Dr., on skull of the idiot, 
 note, 296, 298. 
 
 Hutsonville, Ilk, works at, 139. 
 Huxley, Prof., on crania of the in¬ 
 ferior races, 308. 
 
 Hyena, cave, of Europe, 91. 
 
 1 . 
 
 Iceland, fossil flora of, 30. 
 Implements of the inhabitants of 
 the Somme Valley, 25. 
 of the Mound-builders, 202. 
 Indiana, earthworks in, 130, 192. 
 
 shell-heaps in, 165. 
 
 Indians of North America, their 
 character, 300, 347, 389. 
 their language, 318. 
 their crania, 300. 
 their funeral observances, 313. 
 the slight value of their traditions, 
 374 - 
 
 Irish elk, 88. 
 
 Iron, its manifold applications, 46. 
 art of smelting once acquired 
 would never lapse, 331. 
 its use older than the Historic 
 Period, 332. 
 
 Bible notices of, 332. 
 unknown to America, 333. 
 
 Iron specular, used as a stone by 
 Mound-builders, 233, 333. 
 Israelites, did not people America, 
 322. 
 
 J- 
 
 Jenkes. Col., on clay cists in North 
 Carolina, 149. 
 
 on discoidal stones found in, 221. 
 Jones, Dr., 261. 
 
 Jones, Mr., on Shell-heaps of Nova 
 Scotia, 161. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Morgan, 400. 
 
 Jersey County (Illinois) hatchet, 66. 
 Jesuits, first explore Lake Superior, 
 262. 
 
 their mention of copper, 262. 
 
408 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kane, Dr., on habits of Esquimaux, 
 31 - 
 
 on range of musk-ox, 86. 
 
 Keller, M., on Swiss lake-dwellings, 
 
 42 . 
 
 Kentucky, earthworks in, 124, 132. 
 Kerr, Prof., as to mica mines of 
 North Carolina, 270. 
 
 Kettles of Mound-builders, 248. 
 Knapp, Mr., on ancient copper¬ 
 mining, 265. 
 
 Knives, copper, 256. 
 Kjokkenmdddings of Denmark, 37. 
 Koch, Dr., his explorations of mas¬ 
 todon beds, 62. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lake-habitations in Switzerland, 41. 
 in other parts, Austria, Bavaria, 
 and Italy, 48. 
 
 Lake Superior, ancient copper¬ 
 mining near, 265. 
 
 Language a guide in tracing ethnic 
 relations, 318. 
 
 American, unique and primitive, 
 
 319-. 
 
 Sanscrit, source of European, 318. 
 
 Languages of Central America, 322. 
 
 La Salle, first visits Natchez In¬ 
 dians. 117. 
 
 Lapham, Dr., his “ Antiquities of 
 Wisconsin,” gg. 
 on the works at Aztalan, loi. 
 on effigy mounds, gg. 
 on ancient garden-beds, 155. 
 on mound crania, 2go, note, 
 on age of forest trees, 373, note. 
 
 Lartet, M., on palaeontological chro¬ 
 nology, 20. 
 
 on the bone-cave of Aurignac, 23. 
 on the Reindeer Epoch, 31. 
 
 Lead used by Mound - builders 
 sparingly, 271. 
 
 Leidy, Prof., on the Natchez human 
 bone, 60. 
 
 on the extinct mammals of Am¬ 
 erica, 85, 87, 8g, go. 
 on the former union of the two 
 hemispheres, g3. 
 
 Leidy, Prof., his comparison of the 
 Miocene faunae, g3. 
 
 Leroux, M., on New Mexican an¬ 
 tiquities, 146. 
 
 Lesueur, M., the first to describe 
 stone cists of Mound-builders, 
 log. 
 
 and the artificial shell-heaps of 
 Indiana, 164. 
 
 Lew'is and Clarke, on ancient works 
 near the Upper Missouri, 154. 
 
 Lion, cave, go. 
 
 fossil, of America, gi. 
 
 Loess, Rhenish, conditions under 
 which formed, 30. 
 at Natchez, 5g. 
 at Petit Anse, 57. 
 
 Loring, Mr., on St. Louis mound, 
 193 - 
 
 Long, Col., 206. 
 
 Longfellow, H. W., quoted, 172, 
 215, 272. 
 
 ‘‘ Lost Tribes,” did not people Am¬ 
 erica, 322. 
 
 Lubbock, Sir John, cited, on the 
 grandeur of ethnology, 18. 
 his classification of the Human 
 Period, 20. 
 
 on Danish antiquities, 37, note, 
 on Swiss-lake relics, 371. 
 on European pottery, 236. 
 on barbarian traditions, 375, note. 
 
 Lund, Dr., on the bone-caves of 
 Brazil, 301. 
 
 Lyell, Sir Charles, on the geological 
 structure of the Somme Valley, 
 23 - 
 
 on changes of climate in Den¬ 
 mark, 41. 
 
 on habits of the primeval man, 
 94 - 
 
 on human remains in the Loess of 
 Natchez, 5g. 
 
 on the delta of the Mississippi, 
 71 - 
 
 on shell-heaps of St. Simon s 
 Island, 160. 
 
 on the unity of the human race, 
 354 . 358. 
 
 on astronomical causes as affect¬ 
 ing earth’s climate, 382, 385. 
 
 Lyon, Mr., on mounds of the Wa¬ 
 bash Valley, 132. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 409 
 
 M. 
 
 Maize, the basis of American civil¬ 
 izations, 346. 
 
 cultivated by Mound - builders, 
 155 - 
 
 Mammalia, extinct, of Somme Val¬ 
 ley, France, 24. 
 
 in Brexham cave, England, 26. 
 in the cave of Aurignac, 28. 
 of the Reindeer Epoch, 31. 
 list of, in the two hemispheres, 
 80. 
 
 Mammoth, see Elephant, fossil. 
 
 Man, antiquity of, in Europe, 17. 
 contemporary with extinct mam¬ 
 malia, 20. 
 
 primeval, character of, 31. 
 traces of his works in the Tertiary 
 of Europe, 50. 
 
 traces of his works in America, 95. 
 his habits during Reindeer Epoch, 
 31 - 
 
 funeral observances by, 33. 
 his engravings on ivory, slate, etc., 
 
 34 - 
 
 his superiority and fertility in re¬ 
 sources, 94. 
 
 antiquity of, in United States, 52. 
 his remains in the gold-drift of 
 California, 53. 
 
 plummet from San JoaquinValley, 
 Cal., 55. 
 
 basket - work from Petit Anse, 
 Louisiana, 56. 
 
 his remains in the Loess of 
 Natchez, Miss., 59. 
 
 Hint-heads in connection with 
 mastodon. Mo., 62. 
 stone-hatchet? in Drift of Jersey 
 Co., Illinois, 67. 
 
 flint-heads in Tertiary of Colo¬ 
 rado, 69. 
 
 his skeleton in the Alluvium of 
 New Orleans, 72. 
 his skeleton in a calcareous con¬ 
 glomerate of Florida, 76. ' 
 
 his earthworks in the Mississippi 
 Valley, see Mounds and , 
 MOUND-IiUILDERS. ' 
 
 associated with extinct mammals | 
 in Brazil, 96, note, 
 his works in the Quaternary of 
 Ecuador, 96, note. 
 
 Mandans, their fortifications, 175. 
 Manners and customs, how far a 
 guide in tracing ethnic rela¬ 
 tions, 310. 
 
 sacred observances, 311. 
 burial rites, 312. 
 human sacrifices, 315. 
 scalping, 317. 
 
 comparison of languages, 318. 
 form of skull, 324. 
 civilization as manifest in art, 328. 
 in iron smelting, 332. 
 in the domestication of animals 
 and plants, 334. 
 
 Marietta, Ohio, earthworks at, 128. 
 Marsh, Prof., 90. 
 
 Martins, M., 398. 
 
 Mastodon, of the United States, his 
 range, 84. 
 in Missouri, 62. 
 in Mississippi, 61. 
 in Louisiana, 58. 
 
 Mather,Cotton, on Indian character, 
 348, 389. 
 
 Mayas Indians, cloth - weaving of, 
 224. 
 
 McAdams, Mr., on hatchet in Drift, 
 Jersey County, Ilk, 67. 
 McDowell, Mr., on clay cists in 
 North Carolina, 149. 
 Megatherium, indigenous to Ameri¬ 
 ca, 92. 
 
 Merom, Ind., works at, 133. 
 
 Metal Age, 20. 
 
 Memphis, Egypt, ancient relics found 
 at, 49 - 
 
 Mexicans, their human sacriflces, 
 183. 
 
 Mexico, its Pre-historic races, 340, 
 
 390- 
 
 specular iron in, 333. 
 its ancient civilization, 341. 
 conquest of, by Cortez, 341. 
 Miamisburg, mound at, 130. 
 
 Mica, mined by Mound-builders, 
 270. 
 
 found in Grave Creek mound, 
 
 '91- 
 
 Mining, ancient, near Lake Superi¬ 
 or, 264. 
 
 in North Carolina, 270. 
 
 Miocene flora and fauna, 93. 
 shells in Colorado, 71. 
 
410 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Mississippi, State of, antiquities in, 
 
 II2. 
 
 delta of, 74. 
 
 Valley, antiquities in, 105, 109. 
 fluctuations of, 173. 
 
 Missouri, State of, antiquities in, 106. 
 
 Valley, antiquities in, 153. 
 
 Molina, quoted, 221, 397. 
 Montezuma, his birth-place, 148. 
 Moore, Mr., cited, 382. 
 
 Morlot, M., on the antiquity of Swiss 
 Lake-constructions, 47. 
 
 Mortillet, M., on the engravings of 
 Reindeer Epoch, 36. 
 
 Morton, Dr. S. G., on American 
 crania, 291, 204, 304, 324. 
 on Indian mode of burial, 189. 
 Moulds, marks of, 258. 
 Mound-builders, their works, in the 
 Northwest, 98. 
 
 on the borders of Lake Superior, 
 264. 
 
 in Wisconsin, their unique char¬ 
 acter, 98. 
 
 plan of works at Aztalan, r02. 
 works in the vicinity of Chicago, 
 
 105. 
 
 on the Upper Mississippi, 105. 
 on the Lower Missouri, 106. 
 in the region of St. Louis, 106. 
 great mound of Cahokia, Ilk, 107. 
 great mound of St. Louis, 107. 
 cemetery on the banks of the 
 Merrimac, Mo., 107. 
 at Chester, Ilk, 108. 
 in Perry County, Mo., 108. 
 at Merom, la., 108. 
 in Tennessee, 109. 
 their similarity to British barrows, 
 no. 
 
 works on the Lower Mississippi, 
 no. 
 
 in the region of New Madrid, 
 Mo., no. 
 
 in the region of Belmont, i lo. 
 in St. Francis Bottom, no. 
 in Mississippi, in. 
 great mound at Seltzertown, 112. 
 works in Arkansas, 113. 
 in the Southwest, 114. 
 plan of, in Madison Parish, La., 
 120. 
 
 on the Gulf Coast, 122. 
 
 Mound - builders’ works on the 
 Etowah River, Georgia, 122. 
 in the Ohio Valley, 123. 
 plan of, at Newark, O., 125. 
 
 at Marietta, O., 128. 
 great mound at Grave Creek, W. 
 Va., 190. 
 
 at Miamisburg, O., 130. 
 sepulchral grottoes in Indiana, 
 130. 
 
 Fort Hill, Illinois, 131. 
 works in the Wabash Valley, 132. 
 at Vincennes, 132. 
 plan of, at Azatlan, 133. 
 house foundations at Hutsonville, 
 139- 
 
 works at Laporte, 143. 
 
 in Northern Ohio and Western 
 New York, 144. 
 
 stone structures in New Mexico, 
 146. 
 
 works on the Atlantic Coast, 148. 
 
 on theWateree River, S.C., 148. 
 clay caskets in North Carolina, 
 149- 
 
 mounds on Pacific Coast, 151. 
 works in the Montanic Region, 
 T52. 
 
 dolmens in Southern Utah, 152. 
 ancient hearths at Golden City, 
 Cok, 153. 
 
 works on Upper Missouri, 153. 
 garden beds of Wisconsin and 
 Michigan, 155. 
 
 Mound-builders, their arts, seeARTS. 
 their crania, see Crania. 
 their origin, probably tropical, 
 
 338- 
 
 links connecting them with people 
 of Central America, 338. 
 probable identity with the Tol- 
 tecs, 341. 
 
 their expulsion from the Missis¬ 
 sippi Valley, 342. 
 their occupancy of the Aztec 
 plateau, 342. 
 
 their assumption of supreme 
 power, 342. 
 
 not to be identified with the Red 
 man, 347. 
 
 their government despotic, 346. 
 their agriculture, 155, 345. 
 summary of their character, 349. 
 the antiquity of their works, 369. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 411 
 
 Mound-builders, the condition of 
 their skeletons, 370. 
 the condition of the trees covering 
 their works, 371. 
 
 Mounds and enclosures, their eligi¬ 
 ble sites, 171. 
 
 common to the terraces rather 
 than the alluvial bottoms, by 
 reason of inundations, 172. 
 classification of, 173. 
 many of them for defensive pur¬ 
 poses, 174. 
 
 enclosures characteristic of the 
 region fronting the Alleghanies, 
 175 - . . . . 
 
 not recognized in the Mississippi 
 Valley, 175. 
 
 altar or sacrificial mounds, 177. 
 in the Scioto Valley, Ohio, 177. 
 in Butler County, Ohio, 178. 
 description of the altars and 
 offerings, 179. 
 
 sun-worship probably practised, 
 182. 
 
 human sacrifices probably of¬ 
 fered up, 182. 
 
 erroneous inferences deduced 
 from their artificial stratifica¬ 
 tion, 184. 
 
 stratified mounds, their occur¬ 
 rence elsewhere, 185. 
 temple mounds, 186. 
 
 pyramidal structure predomin¬ 
 ant, 186. 
 
 first recognized in Wisconsin, 
 
 186. 
 
 sparinirlv displayed in the Ohio 
 ^Valley, 186. 
 
 conspicuous in the Mississippi 
 Valley, 187. 
 
 not analogous to the pyramids, 
 
 187. 
 
 sepulchral mounds, 188. 
 
 sometimes erected over a single 
 occupant, 188. 
 
 often used for general burial, 
 189. 
 
 position of the corpse, 188. 
 both cremation and inhumation 
 practised, i8g. 
 
 Grave Creek mound, sepulchral 
 in character, 190. 
 exploration of the St. Louis 
 mound, 193. 
 
 Mound-builders, sepulchral mounds, 
 exploration of Lick Creek mound, 
 Tennessee, 194. 
 of Scioto Valley mounds, 195. 
 the posture of the corpse vari¬ 
 able, 196. 
 
 Mound-building, common to rude 
 nations, 197. 
 among the Greeks, 197. 
 ceremonies at the funeral of 
 Achilles, 197. 
 
 at the funeral of Hector, 19S. 
 cost of, erected by Alexander over 
 the remains of Heplnestion, 
 ig8. 
 
 custom observed by Semiramis, 
 199. 
 
 Thracians observe the custom, 
 199- 
 
 cremation practised by many races 
 of Europe, 199. 
 
 urn-burial practised by Mound- 
 builders, 199. 
 
 cave-burial practised by Mound- 
 builders, 200. 
 
 Mounds of observation, on high 
 summits, 200. 
 
 signal fires probably lighted, 200. 
 Murchison, Sir R., on the former 
 range of fossil elephant, 81. 
 Musk-ox, range of, 86. 
 great fossil, 87. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nahuas, see Toltfxs. 
 
 Natchez, human bone found at, 59. 
 Natchez Indians, supposed remnant 
 of the Mound-builders, 117. 
 their extermination by the French, 
 117. 
 
 first visited by LaSalle, 117, note, 
 were sun-worshipers, 117, note. 
 Charlevoix’s visit, 117, note. 
 Neanderthal skull, its low type, 289. 
 Negroid type, permanence of, 353. 
 Newark, Ohio, earthworks at, 125. 
 New Mexico, antiquities in, 146. 
 character of people of, 147, 393. 
 their pottery, 249. 
 
 New Orleans, skeleton found at, 72. 
 
 Gnathodon beds near, 156. 
 
 New York, State of, antiquities in, 
 144. 
 
412 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Niagara gorge, age of, 376. 
 
 Nile Valley, pre-historic remains 
 in, 48. 
 
 Northmen, their supposed voyages 
 to America, 400. 
 
 Nott and Gliddon, cited, 76. 
 
 on Gnathodon beds of Alabama, 
 159- 
 
 O. 
 
 Objects buried with the dead, 181. 
 Ohio, antiquities in, 123, 195. 
 
 Osage mastodon bed, Missouri, 62, 
 Osborn, Mr,, on the habits of the 
 Esquimaux, 32. 
 
 “ Ossa Wormensia,” 286, 
 
 Ovid, 314. 
 
 Owen, Prof,, 31, 91. 
 
 Ox, the great, 89. 
 
 Oxen, fossil, of America, 8g. 
 
 P. 
 
 Pacific Coast, antiquities of, 151. 
 
 shell-heaps of, 162. 
 
 Palafittes of Switzerland, 41. 
 Palenque, its monuments, 326, 338. 
 Palgrave, Mr... 318, 
 
 Parallelism in man’s existence on 
 the two hemispheres, 79, 
 
 Peale, Mr,, 214, 
 
 Peat-bogs of the Somme, 23, 
 of Denmark, 37. 
 
 Pelasgi, their peculiar habits, 97. 
 Pengelly, Mr,, investigations of, in 
 Brixham cave, 23, 
 
 Pentland, Mr., 302. 
 
 Perkins, Mr., 208, 212, 222, 259. 
 Peru, its ancient civilization, 345, 
 395; 
 
 Peruvians, textile fabrics of, 224. 
 crania of, 304. 
 sun-worshipers, 311. 
 
 Pestles, 217, 
 
 Petit Anse, salt-deposit at, 56, 
 Phillips, Mr,, on American crania, 
 
 305. 
 
 Phoenicians, their knowledge of 
 iron, 333. 
 
 Pidgeon, Mr., on “ Battle mound ” 
 at Vincennes, 132. 
 
 Pile-work of Switzerland, 41. 
 
 Pipes of Mound-builders, 181, 215, 
 246. 
 
 I Plato, his account of Atlantis, 394. 
 Pliny, his silence as to Lake-dwell¬ 
 ings, 48. 
 
 Plutarch, cited, 395. 
 
 1 Polished-stone Age, 20. 
 Pomme-de-Terre mastodon bed, 65. 
 Pottery of Mound-builders, 236. 
 Pourtales, Count, on Florida skele¬ 
 ton, 76. 
 
 Pre-historic races, 20. 
 
 Prescott, Mr., cited, 340. 
 
 Prichard, Dr., on defects of received 
 chronology, 355. 
 
 Priest, Mr., 108. 
 
 Pueblo Indians, distinctive habits 
 of. 147. 393- 
 
 Putnam, Mr., on the mounds at 
 Merom, Ind., 133. 
 at Hutsonville, Ill., 139. 
 Pyramidal mounds, 120. 
 
 Pyramids of Egypt, 50. 
 
 R. 
 
 Races of men, permanence in, 335. 
 Rathke, Dr., 327. 
 
 Rau, Mr., on mode of drilling, 207. 
 
 on aboriginal pottery, 249, note. 
 Rawlinson’s Herodotus, see Hero¬ 
 dotus. 
 
 Reindeer, his range, 88. 
 
 Reindeer Epoch, in France, 30. 
 Retzius, Dr., on American crania, 
 
 303, 325- 
 
 on Esquimaux, crania, 10, 324, 
 note. 
 
 on deformation of skull, 303, 327. 
 Rhinocero.s, extinct, of two hemi¬ 
 spheres, 85. 
 
 Richardson, Sir John, on range of 
 musk-ox, 86. 
 
 I on habits of Esquimaux, 325, note. 
 Rimmers, 206. 
 
 I Rivero and Tschudi, on Peruvian 
 crania, 303. 
 
 Rivers, the great highways, 171. 
 Rosiere, M„ on age of Nile mud, 
 49- 
 
 Ruskin, Mr., cited, 325. 
 
 Riitimeyer, Prof., on Swiss domes¬ 
 ticated animals, 45. 
 on the bison. 89. 
 on the musk-ox of America, 87. 
 
 , Ryan, Mr., 288. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 413 
 
 S. 
 
 Sacred observances, 311. 
 
 Sacrificial mounds, 177. 
 
 Sanscrit, source of European lan¬ 
 guages, 318. 
 
 Salt, made by Mound-builders, 248. 
 Scalping, practised by Scyths, 317. 
 Schiller, quoted, 313. 
 
 Schmerling, Dr., on bone-caves of 
 Liege, 21. 
 
 Schomburgh, Sir R., cited, 303. 
 Schoolcraft, Mr., on ancient garden- 
 beds, 155. 
 
 on apocryphal stone of Grave 
 Creek, igl. 
 
 on discoidal stones, 219. 
 on age of mounds, 372. 
 
 Scioto Valley, earthworks in, 124, 
 177 - 
 
 skull from, 291. 
 
 Scrapers, 215. 
 
 Sculptures, stone, 215. 
 
 Scythians, funeral ceremonies of, 
 192. 
 
 royal tomb of, explored, 192, note, 
 scalping by, 317. 
 their knowledge of iron, 332. 
 their personal habits, 334. 
 Seltzertown mound, 112. 
 
 Sepulchral mounds, 188. 
 urns, 247. 
 
 Shaw, Mr., 257, note. 
 
 Shell-banks of Gulf Coast, 156. 
 in Florida, 160, 167. 
 on the Chesapeake, 161. 
 in Nova Scotia, i6i. 
 on New England Coast, 162. 
 on Pacific Coast, 163. 
 in Mississippi Valley, 164. 
 Shell-heaps of Denmark, 37. 
 Shell-work, 234. 
 
 Shuttle, 233. 
 
 Sitgreaves, Capt., 146. 
 
 Skins, preparation of, 214. 
 
 Skulls, see Crania. 
 
 Smith, Mr., on Assyrian chronology, 
 
 357 - 
 
 Smithsonian Institution, its publi¬ 
 cations on ethnology, 5, preface. 
 Somme Valley, its antiquities, 22. 
 Spades, 208. 
 
 Spear-heads, copper, 255. ! 
 
 Specular iron, used for ornaments. 
 230, 271. 
 
 Spindle-whorl, 234. 
 
 Spitzbergen, fossil flora of, 30. 
 Squier and Davis, “Ancient monu¬ 
 ments,” etc., 123. 
 on reptilian mounds in Ohio, loi. 
 on the extent of mounds and en¬ 
 closures in Ohio, 124. 
 quoted on Newark works, 125. 
 their sketch of Grave Creek 
 mound, 190. 
 on temple mounds, 186. 
 on a “ great defensive line,” 175. 
 on sacrificial mounds, 177. 
 on sepulchral mounds, 179. 
 their explorations of sepulchral 
 mounds. 180. 
 
 on mounds of observation, 200. 
 Squier, Mr., on the origin of the 
 the Aztecs, 340. 
 
 Stelle, Mr., on shell-heaps in Ten¬ 
 nessee, 166. 
 
 Stephenson, Mr., on ancient works 
 in Georgia, 122. 
 
 Stevens, Mr., on dissimilarity of the 
 Pyramids, with the Teocallis, 
 187. 
 
 on absence of warlike scenes in 
 bass-reliefs of Central America, 
 197. 
 
 on civilization of Central America, 
 
 329- 
 
 on the ruins of Uxmal 398. 
 Stimpson, Dr., 276. 
 
 Stockwell, Mr., on the precession of 
 the equinoxes, 379, note, 
 on the excentricity of the earth’s 
 orbit, 384. 
 
 Stone-heaps, 106. 
 
 Stone Age, 20. 
 
 not synchronous, 273. 
 
 Stone implements, 202. 
 
 Strain, Lieut., 301. 
 
 Sun-worship, practised by Natchez 
 Indians, II 7 - 
 
 probably by Mound-builders, 182. 
 by Central Americans, 311. 
 by Persians, 182, 311. 
 by Romans, 312. 
 
 I Swallow, Prof., on the mounds of 
 Missouri, 106, 112. 
 
 ! Switzerland, antiquities in, 41. 
 
414 
 
 IJSDKX. 
 
 T. 
 
 Taylor, Mr., on savage customs, 314, 
 315 - 
 
 Temple mounds, 186. 
 
 Tenevieres of Switzerland, 44, 
 
 Tennessee, earthworks in, 108, 194. 
 shell-heaps in, 166. 
 
 Teocallis of Mexico, 187. 
 
 Textile fabrics, 222. 
 
 Thompson, Dr., on Egyptian chron¬ 
 ology, 356. 
 
 Thracians, their customs, 315, 
 
 Tibiae, flattened, 309, note. 
 
 Tiedemann, M., on Peruvian skulls, 
 302. 
 
 Tiger, of Europe, go. 
 fossil, of America, gl. 
 
 Tin, its use known to the pre¬ 
 historic peoples of Europe, 47. 
 unknown to Mound-builders, 253. 
 
 Tlapalan, ancient empire of Mound- 
 builders, 342. 
 
 Tlascalans, of Mexico, 341. 
 
 Tobacco, used by Mound-builders, 
 215. 
 
 Toltecs, their origin, 341. 
 their migration, 342. 
 their arts, 343. 
 
 Tomlinson, Mr., his exploration of 
 Grave Creek mound, 190. 
 
 Torquemada, cited, 204, 340, 342. 
 
 Totem, 221. 
 
 Traditions, Indian, unreliable, 374. 
 
 Truncated pyramid, not analogous 
 to the Egyptian, 187. 
 
 Tumuli, see Mounds. 
 
 Tylor, Mr., on the retention of use¬ 
 ful arts, 333. 
 
 Tyndall, Prof., on the formation of 
 glaciers, 378. 
 
 U. 
 
 Unity of the human race, 353. 
 
 permanence of type considered, 
 . 353 - 
 
 difficulties of supposed descent, 
 according to received chron¬ 
 ology, 354- 
 
 opinions of various physiologists, 
 357 -. 
 
 Urn-burial practised by Mound-, 
 builders, igg. 
 
 Urn-burial, by ancient Chaldeans, 
 199. 
 
 Ure, Dr., cited, 228, note. 
 
 Uxmal, rums of, 330. 
 
 V. 
 
 Vanuxem, Prof., on shell-heaps of 
 Chesapeake Bay, 161. 
 
 Vegetables, first use of, 45. 
 
 Veile, Dr., stone implements from 
 Yucatan, 208 note, 212. 
 Vincennes, mounds at, 132. 
 
 Vivian, Mr., 26. 
 
 Vogt, Carl, cited, gi. 
 
 on effects of culture, 336. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wallace, Mr., on unity of race in 
 man, 357. 
 
 Water-jugs, 237. 
 
 Westhropp, Mr., cited, 317. 
 
 Walker, Mr., 159. 
 
 Weights, 230. 
 
 Welsh, their supposed voyage to 
 America, 400. 
 
 Whipple, Lieut., on antiquities of 
 New Mexico, 146. 
 on distinctive habits of Pueblo 
 Indians, 147. 
 
 Whitney, Prof., on age of Calaveras 
 skull, 53. 
 
 on age of gold-drift of California, 
 
 54 - 
 
 on absence of Drift action in 
 California, 54. 
 
 on prevalence of man’s works in 
 Drift gravels, 56. 
 
 Whittlesey, Col., on ancient hearths 
 in the Ohio Valley, 77. 
 his survey of Newark works, 125. 
 his classification of mounds, 144. 
 on archaeological frauds, 400, 
 note. 
 
 Wilkes, Com., 151. 
 
 Wilkinson, Mr., cited, 329. 
 Winslow, Dr., his discovery of man’s 
 remains in the Gold-drift of Cali¬ 
 fornia, 52. 
 
 Wilde, Sir R. li., on classification 
 of arrow-heads, 204. 
 
 Wilson, Dr., “ Pre-historic Man,” 
 cited, 327, 328, note. 
 
IKDEX. 
 
 415 
 
 Wilson, Mr., his researches in Ecu¬ 
 ador, g6. 
 
 Wisconsin, antiquities in, 98. 
 Woods, Mr., 223. 
 
 Woorsac, Prof., 39. 
 
 Worship, see Sun-worship. 
 Worthen, Prof, on the Drift de¬ 
 posits of Jersey County, Ill., 66. 
 Writing, pictorial, of Indians, 521. 
 of Aztecs, 322. 
 
 hieroglyphic, of Central America, 
 322. 
 
 Wyman, Prof, on the shell-heaps of 
 New England, 162. 
 on .shell-heaps of Florida, 167, 
 
 Wyman, Prof, antiquity of shell- 
 heaps of P'lorida, 168. 
 character of crania, l6g. 
 on Mound-builders’ crania, 308, 
 note. 
 
 on aboriginal shell-work, 236. 
 Wyoming, pre-historic remains in, 
 69. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zoroaster, 311. 
 
 Zuni, ruins of, 147. 
 
 Zuni Indians, supposed remnant of 
 the Aztecs, 147. 
 
 Zurich, Lake, 41. 
 
1