Madison County, Ohio - Chapter 1, 1883

Implements Used By The Mound Builders Class And Size

ARCHAEOLOGY - MOUND BUILDERS AND INDIANS - ANTIQUITIES - THE DIFFERENT CLASSES OF MOUNDS, EFFIGIES AND INCLOSURES - SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS - SACRIFICIAL MOUNDS - TEMPLE MOUNDS - MOUNDS OF OBSERVATION - MEMORIAL OK MONUMENTAL MOUNDS - EFFIGIES OR ANIMAL MOUNDS - INCLOSURES - COVERED WAYS - SACRED INCLOSURES - LESSONS TAUGHT BY THESE WORKS - THE IMPLEMENTS USED BY THE MOUND BUILDERS AND INDIANS - MOUNDS OF MADISON COUNTY - THEIR LOCATION, CLASS AND SIZE.

~TT~THEN the wave of white emigration reached the Ohio and Missis- VV sippi Valleys, the discovery was made of strange looking mounds of earth here and there, and, after a time, learning that these and other similar works were of pre-historic origin - the work of an unknown race of people - they were called in a general way "Ancient Mounds," and in time the lost race that erected them came to be appropriately named the " Mound Builders." There is no authentic history regarding this people. The known records of the world are silent - as silent as these monuments that perpetuate their memory. There are many theories regarding them, but this is all that can be said, as nothing of their origin or end is certainly known. They probably antedate the various Indian tribes who anciently occupied and claimed title to the soil of Ohio. It may have been that many centuries elapsed between the first occupancy here by the Mound Builders and the advent of the earliest Indian tribes or nations, though this is only conjecture.

The archaeologist has found the territory embraced within the limits of Ohio a most excellent one. It is probably the most interesting field for the scientist and antiquarian in the United States. It was once, and, peradventure, continued to be through many passing centuries, the most favored locality of this mysterious people. The extent, variety, elaborate, and labyrinthian intricacies of their works, still found in many sections of the State, clearly indicate the plausibility of this view. Here they dwelt for ages, erected their works, and made a long chapter of history, although yet unwritten - a history whose leading features and general characteristics can be gathered only from those of their works that yet exist. It must be collected scrap by scrap and item by item, after a thorough examination and patient investigation of their works, and by careful, laborious, faithful study of their wonderful remains. The principal events and leading incidents in the strange career of this mysterious and apparently now extinct people, can be traced out and recorded only so far as they are clearly indicated by those of their works which yet remain, but which, it is to be regretted, are, to a large extent, in a state of mutilation and partial ruin, and rapidly tending to utter extinction under iconoclastic wantonness and the operations of the agriculturist ; also from the devastating effects of the elements, and the destructive tendencies of the great destroyer - Time.

There is little reason to believe that the Mound Builders ever had a written language, and, if they had not, it must be manifest that very few authentic facts pertaining to their domestic and local history can be verified by reliable testimony, other than that deduced from their works, which are the sole memorials left by them to enable us to work out the problems of their origin, their history, habits, manners, customs, general characteristics, mode of life, the extent of their knowledge of the arts, of husbandry, their state of civilization, their religion and its rites, their ultimate fate, and the manner and circumstances of their final disappearance, whether by process of absorption from intermingling and intermarrying with other and more vigorous races, by dispersion or captivity, or by extinction through war, pestilence, or famine.

Although generation after generation of Mound Builders here lived and flourished, and, peradventure, reached the acme of their glory, then passed through age after age of decadence and decrepitude into 'k the receptacle of things lost upon earth," without leaving anything that may properly be called history ; and though no records of their exploits have come down to this generation through the intervening centuries, yet their enduring works furnish the laborious student some indications, even though they be slight, of the characteristics of their builders, and afford some data as to the probable history they made during the unknown, perchance barren, uneventful cycles of their indefinitely long career as a nation or race.

As the history of the Mound Builders is yet unwritten, it is certainly a matter of gratulation that so many way-marks and traces of this race yet remain within the boundaries of Ohio. Their works in the State, still existing in a tolerably perfect condition, are approximately estimated at ten thousand, but they, doubtless, far exceeded that number at the time of the first permanent white settlement here, in 1788.

Only such monuments or remains of ancient works can be properly ascribed to the Mound Builders, as were really regarded by the Indian tribes, at the period of the first settlement at Marietta, as antiquities, or as the ruins and relics of an extinct race, and "concerning the origin of which they were wholly ignorant, or only possessed a traditionary knowledge." These consisted of mounds, effigies and inclosures. which are known and designated as the three general classes of ancient works that can be appropriately regarded as belonging to the Mound Builders. Mounds are subdivided into sepulchral, sacrificial, temple, or truncated ; also of observation, and memorial or monumental. Effigies are sometimes called animal mounds, sometimes emblematic, and frequently symbolical. Inclosures are of several kinds, one class being known as military or defensive works; another as parallel embankments or covered ways; and the third as sacred inclosures.

Under the general title of inclosures are also walls or ramparts constructed for military or defensive works, while others were doubtless walls surrounding the residence of the reigning monarch ; perchance others were erected for the performance within them of their national games and amusements, while, perhaps, many also served a purpose in the observance of their religious rites and ceremonies, and facilitated indulgence in some superstitious practices. Most of the above-named works were constructed of earth, a few of stone, and, perhaps, fewer still of earth and stone combined. The title each bears indicates, in a measure, the uses they are supposed to have served.

Sepulchral mounds are generally conical in form, and are moro numerous than any other kind. They are of all sizes, ranging from a very small altitude to about eighty feet in height, and always contain one or more skeletons, or parts thereof, or present other plausible indications of having been built or used for purposes of sepulture, and were unmistakably, memorials raised over the dead. By some archaeologists it is maintained that the size of these mounds bears a certain relation to the importance, when living, of the person over whose remains they were erected.

In this class of mounds are often found implements and ornaments, supposed to have been buried with the person or persons there interred under the superstitious and delusive notion still entertained by some tribes of American Indians who indulge in similar practices, that they might be useful to them in the happy hunting grounds of the future state. The practice being one common to both the Indians and Mound Builders, apparently connects the former with the latter, and raises the presumption that the Indians may have descended from the Mound Builders. That fire was used in the burial ceremonies of the Mound Builders is manifest from the fact that charcoal is often, if not always, found in close proximity to the skeleton. The presence of ashes, igneous stones, and other traces of the action of fire in these tombs, renders it quite probable that this element was employed in their burial ceremonies. Mica is often found in proximity to the skeletons, as well as specimens of pottery, bone and copper beads and animal bones. The name given to this description of tumuli clearly indicates that they were erected chiefly for burial purposes. They generally contain but a limited number of skeletons, indeed, often but a single one ; but Prof. Marsh, of the Sheffield Scientific School, connected with Yale College, a few years ago opened a mound in Licking County, Ohio, which contained seventeen skeletons in whole or in part.

The most remarkable of all mounds in the State was one in Hardin County, in which were found about three hundred skeletons. A doubt has, however, been expressed that these were all Mound Builders' skeletons, some antiquarians entertaining the belief that they were Indian remains, as it is well known that the Indians frequently buried their dead on or near these mounds. About one mile southeast of Miamisburg, Montgomery County, on the east side of the Miami River, is located the largest mound in Ohio. The elevation of the land at this point is more than 150 feet above the Miami. The mound measures 800 feet around the base, and about 65 feet in height, though archaeologists claim that this mound was originally more than 80 feet in height as about twenty feet has been cut from the cone by explorations, and the wear and tear of the elements to which it has been exposed for centuries. In the first settlement of the Miami Valley this great mound was covered with forest trees, a large maple growing from its summit. It is supposed to be the sepulcher of a chief or ruler of the Mound Builders. In July, 1869, a shaft five or six feet in diameter was sunk from the top to two feet below the base. At eight feet from the top, a human skeleton in a sitting posture, facing due east, was discovered. A deposit of vegetable matter, bones of small animals, also wood and stone, were surrounding the skeleton, while a cover of clay several feet in thickness, with a layer of ashes and charcoal, seems to have been the burial. At the depth of twenty-four feet was discovered a triangular stone planted perpendicularly in the earth, with the point upward. Around this stone at an angle of forty-five degrees, and overlapping each other like the shingles upon a roof, were placed rough stones averaging about one foot in diameter, of nearly uniform size, and similar to those quarried in the neighboring hills.

Sacrificial mounds are usually stratified, the strata being convex layers of clay and loam, alternating with a layer of fine sand. They generally contain ashes, charcoal, igneous stones, calcined animal bones, beads, stone implements, pottery and specimens of rude sculpture. These mounds are frequently found within enclosures, which are supposed to have been in some way connected with the performance of the religious rites and ceremonies of the Mound Builders. An altar of stone or burnt clay is usually found in this class of mounds. These altars, which sometimes rest upon the surface of the original earth at the center of the mound, are symmetrically shaped, and are among the chief distinguishing characteristics of sacrificial mounds. Upon these altars sacrifices of animals, and probably of human beings were offered, the fire being used to some extent in the performance of that religious rite. Some of this class of mounds seem also to have been used for purposes of sepulture as well as sacrifice ; the presence of skeletons, in some of them at least, suggest their sepulchral, as well as sacrificial character. In common with sepulchral mounds, these likewise contain implements of war, also mica from the Alleghanies, shells from the Gulf of Mexico, obsidian, and, in some instances, porphyry from Mexico, as well as silver and copper articles, both for use and ornament.

Temple mounds are less numerous, and generally larger than the preceding classes, and in form are oftenest circular or oval ; but, whether round, square, oblong, oval, octangular, or whatever form, are invariably truncated, having the appearance of being in an unfinished condition. They are frequently surrounded by embankments, and many of them have spiral pathways, steps, or inclined planes leading to their summits. They are generally of large base, and of comparatively limited altitude. The supposition is, that the summits of these mounds were crowned with structures of wood that served the purposes of temples, all traces of which, however, have disappeared. They were also used to a limited extent for burial purposes,' as well as for uses connected with their religion.

Mounds of observation are generally situated upon eminences, and were doubtless "observatories," "alarm posts," "watch-towers," "signal stations," or " look-outs," serving the purposes indicated by their title. They are said, by some writers, to occur in chains or regular systems, and that many of them still bear traces of the beacon fires that were once burning upon them. They are sometimes found in connection with embankments and incisures, forming a portion, though greatly enlarged, of the banks of earth or stones that compose said embankments and inclosures. This class of mounds is numerous in some portions of the State.

Memorial or monumental mounds belong to the class that were erected to perpetuate the memory of some important event, or in honor of some distinguished character. They are mostly built of earth, but some of the stone mounds found in some portions of the State probably belong to this not numerous class.

Effigies or animal mounds are simply raised figures, or gigantic basso relievos of men, beasts, birds, or reptiles, and in some instances, of inanimate objects. They are on the surface of the earth, raised to a limited height, generally from one foot to six feet above the natural surface of the ground. Mr. Schoolcraft, a recognized authority on the mounds, and Mound Builders of Ohio, calls this class of ancient works emblematic mounds, and expresses the belief that they were "totems," or "heraldic symbols." Prof. Daniel Wilson, the learned author of ki Pre-Historic Man," and other writers of distinction, call them symbolical mounds, and hold the opinion that they were erected as objects of worship, or for altars upon which sacrifices were offered, or that they served some other purposes connected with the religious worship of their idolatrous constructors.

Inclosures, defensive and sacred, have been briefly mentioned. Most of them are earthworks, though a tow are of stone. Defensive inclosures are of irregular form, are always on high ground, and in naturally strong positions, frequently on the summits of hills and steep bluffs, and are often strengthened by exterior ditches. The walls generally wind around the borders of the elevations they occupy, and where the nature of the ground renders some points more accessible than others, the height of the wall and the depth of the ditch at those points are proportionally increased. The gateways are narrow, few in number, and well guarded by embankments placed a few yards inside of the openings or gate-ways, parallel with them, and projecting somewhat beyond them at each end, thus fully covering the entrances, which, in some cases, are still further protected by projecting Avails on either side of them. These works are somewhat numerous, and indicate a clear appreciation of the elements, at least, of fortification, and unmistakably point out the purpose for which they were constructed. A large number of these defensive works consists of a line of ditch and embankments or several lines carried across the neck of peninsulas or bluff head-lands, formed within the bends of streams, an easy and obvious mode of fortification, common to all rude people.

Covered ways are parallel walls of earth of limited height, and are frequently found contiguous to inclosures, sometimes, indeed, connecting them by extending from one to another. One of their purposes, at least, seems to have been the protection of those passing to and fro within them.

Sacred inclosures are mainly distinguished from those of a military character by the regularity of their form, their different construction, and their more frequent occurrence. They are of all shapes and forms, and where moats or ditches exist, they are invariably found in the inside of the embankments. They are generally in the form of geometrical figures, of surprising accuracy, such as circles, squares, hexagons, octagons, ellipses, parallelograms, and of various others. They are sometimes found within military inclosures, and evidently had some connection with the religious ideas and ceremonies of their builders. Frequently, there is situated in the center of this class of works a mound, or elevation, supposed to have served the purposes of an altar upon which sacrifices were offered, or which was, at least, in some way, used in conducting their religious services. Within these sacred inclosures were doubtless celebrated religious festivals, and upon those central mounds or altars, were undoubtedly performed the rites and ceremonies demanded by their religion. Some archaeologists, however, maintain that many works called sacred inclosures were erected for and used as places of amusement, where these ancient people practiced their national games, and celebrated their great national events, where they held their national festivals, and indulged in their national jubilees, as well as performed the ceremonies of their religion. , It may be that those inclosures, within which no central elevation or altar occurs, were erected for the purposes last mentioned, and not exclusively (if at all) for the observance of their religious rites, and are, therefore, erroneously called sacred inclosures.

It is natural to indulge in speculations regarding these ancient works. Probably none of them have been constructed since Christopher Columbus reached America in 1492, as trees have been found growing on those works which were definitely estimated to be nearly six hundred years old. Authorities differ regarding many matters connected with the Mound Builders, but a few facts seem to be fully established by their works. There can be no doubt that they were a numerous people. Works so elaborate, so gigantic, could not have been erected by a people insignificant in numbers. This is the more apparent when it is considered that they were without iron, or any suitable metal instruments or tools with which to perform their herculean labors.

It could scarcely have been otherwise than that they were also the subjects of a single strong government, because, under any other, the performance of such an immense amount of, probably, enforced labor could not have been secured. Very likely some sort of vassalage or servitude prevailed. There is abundant evidence that they were a warlike people, and probably, like some savage nations now existing, they made slaves of their prisoners. The number and magnitude of their works, with their extensive range and uniformity, prdve that they were essentially homogeneous in customs, habits, religion and government. The general features common to all their remains identify them as appertaining to a single grand system, owing its origin to men moving in the same direction, acting under common impulses, and influenced by similar causes. That they possessed military skill, and were not without some knowledge of mathematics, is quite evident. Building their defensive works in naturally strong positions, and constructing many of their other works in the form of various geometrical figures, show such to have been the case.

The construction of military works would indicate that they were, occasionally, at" least, at war either among themselves, or with some other nation or tribe. Perhaps it was with the North American Indians, to whom the country may have belonged before the Mound Builders entered it. There are various scraps of history relating to the antiquity of the Indian. For instance, Sir Charles Lyell says : " A human cranium, of the aboriginal type of the red Indian race; had been found in the delta of the Mississippi, beneath four buried forests, superimposed, one upon another, implying, as estimated by Dr. Dowler, an antiquity of 50,000 years." Lyell, himself, estimated the age of the delta at 100,000 years.

It may be conjectured from many historical facts, that the Mound Builders were a foreign people who invaded the soil of America, as there is but little evidence that they spread themselves over the continent, but much, that they passed through it from northeast to southwest, covering a broad belt of country, on which they constructed their mysterious mounds. The time occupied by them in crossing the continent can only be conjectured. It is a well-known historical fact that the northmen reached the coast of North America from Greenland in 999, and from this it has been theorized, that, perhaps' the mysterious Mound Builders were no other than these. They came in great numbers, attempted to conquer the country, found the Indians too strong for them, but conquered a certain portion of the territory, clung together, moved gradually southwest, protecting themselves on the way by forts and other earthworks, finally disappearing in Mexico, either conquering that country or intermingling with and becoming absorbed by that people.

The Mound Builders cherished a belief in some religious system. The amount of labor bestowed upon those of their works that were erected in the interest of their religion shows a strong tendency toward a sacrificial faith. Some writers have not hesitated to assert that this race were worshipers of the elements ; that they also worshiped the sun, moon and stars ; and that they offered up human victims as an acceptable sacrifice to the gods they worshiped. They deduced these facts from the charred or calcined bones that cover their altars. There are other high authorities who unhesitatingly assert that there is convincing proof that the Mound Builders were fire worshipers.

It may be well in this connection to notice, briefly, the implements made and used by this people, especially as far as investigation has revealed their character. Very few copper implements have been found in this part of Ohio, owing partly to the fact of the unexplored condition of many of the mounds in this portion of the State, and to the fact that little, if any, copper exists in this part of the United States. What does exist is in loose fragments that have been washed down from the upper lake region. When mounds are explored, 'great care is necessary lest these small utensils be lost, as they are commonly scattered through the mass, and not always in close proximity to the skeletons. The copper deposits about Lake Superior furnished the pre-historic man with this metal, and, judging from the amount of relics made of this metal now found, it must have been quite abundant. The population of the country then must have been quite numerous, as occasional copper implements, tempered to an exceeding hardness, are still found about the country. These implements are small, generally less than half a pound in weight, and seldom exceeding three pounds. There were millions of these in use during the period of the ancient dwellers, which must have been hundreds of years in duration. The copper implements left on the surface soon disappeared by decomposition, to which copper is nearly as liable a3 iron. Only a part of the dead Mound Builders were placed in burial mounds, and of these only a few were buried with their copper ornaments and implements on and about them. Of those that were only a small part have been discovered, and, in many instances, the slight depth of earth over them has not prevented the decay and disappearance of the copper relics.

Articles of bronze and brass are not found with the builders of the mounds. It is evident they knew nothing of these metals in the Ohio Valley, nor did they possess any of the copper that had been melted or cast in molds.

Stone relics are very numerous and well preserved. Stone axes, mauls, hammers, chisels, etc., are very plentiful yet, and were the common implements of the pre-historic man in this part of the West. None were made with holes or eyes for the insertion of a helve or handle, but were grooved to receive a withe twisted into the form of a handle. Under the head of axes, archaeologists include all wrought stones with a groove, a bit and a poll. They are found unpolished, partly polished, and polished. The bit was made sharp by rubbing, and the material is hard and tough, generally of trachyte, greenstone, granite, quartz or basalt. Most of them are straight on one edge. In Ohio, it is very rare that stone axes are found in the mounds, indicating that they are modern, or were not so much prized by the Mound Builders as to be objects of burial. Occasionally, axes of softer material are found, such as slate, hematite and sandstone, but these are small in size and not common. They appear to have been manufactured from small, oblong bowlders, first brought into shape by a pick or chipping instrument, the marks of which are visible on nearly all of them. They were made more perfect by rubbing and polishing, probably done from time to time after they were brought into use. A handle or helve made of a withe or split stick was fastened in the groove by thongs of hide. The bit is narrower than the body of the ax, which is generally not well enough balanced to be of much value as a cutting instrument. It is very seldom that the material is hard enough to cut green and sound timber. The poll is usually round, but sometimes flat, and rarely pointed. It is much better adapted to breaking than cutting, while the smaller ones are better fitted for war clubs than tools. As a maul to break dry limbs, they were very efficient, which was probably the use made of them. In weight, they range from half a pound to sixteen pounds, but are generally less than three pounds. The very heavy ones must have been kept at the regular camps and villages, as they could not have been carried far, even in canoes. Such axes are occasionally found in the Indian towns on the frontier, as they were found in Ohio among the aborigines. The Mound Builders apparently did not give them as much prominence among their implements as their savage successors. Double-headed hammers have the groove in the middle. They were made of the same material as the axes, so balanced as to give a blow with equal force at either end. Their mechanical symmetry is often perfect, and as a weapon in war they were indeed formidable, for which purpose they are yet used among the Indians on the Pacific Coast.

Implements, known as "fleshers" and "skinners," chisel-formed, commonly called "celts," were probably used as aids in peeling the skins of animals from the meat and bones. For the purpose of cutting tools for wood, they were not sufficiently hard, and do not show such use, excepting in a few flint chisels. They may have been applied as coal scrapers where wood had been burned ; but this could not have been a general thino- without destroying the perfect edge most of them now exhibit. The grooved axes were much better adapted to this purpose.

Stone pestles are not plentiful in this portion of the State, while stone mortars are rare, indicating that they were made of wood, which is lighter and more easily transported. Most of the pestles are short, with a wide base, tapering toward the top. They were probably used with one hand, and moved about in the mortar in a circle. The long, round instrument usually called a pestle does not appear to be fitted for crushing seeds and grain by pounding or turning in the mortar. It was probably used as a rolling-pin, perhaps on a board or leveled log, but not upon stone. It is seldom found smooth or polished, and varies from seven to thirteen inches in length. In outline they taper toward each end, which is generally smooth, and circular in form, as though it had been twirled in an upright position.

There is almost an endless variety of perforated plates, thread-sizers, shuttles, etc. They are usually made of striped slate, most of which have tapering holes through them flatwise, the use of which has been much discussed. They are generally symmetrical, the material fine-grained, and their proportions graceful, as though their principal use was that of ornamentation, as many of them may well have been worn suspended as beads or ornaments. Some partake of the character of badges or ensigns of authority, while others, if strung together on thongs or belts, would serve as a coat of mail, protecting the breast or back against the arrows of an enemy. A number of them would serve to size and twist twine or coarse thread made of bark, rawhide or sinew. The most common theory regarding their use is, however, lacking one important feature. None of them show signs of wear by use. The edges of the holes through them are sharp and perfect, and this objection applies equally well to their use as suspended ornaments. Some of them are shuttle- form, through which coarse thread might have been passed for weaving rude cloth of bark or of fibrous plants. There are also double-ended and pointed ones, with a cross section, about the middle of which is a circle and through which is a perforation.

A great variety of wands or badges of distinction are found. They are nearly all fabricated from striped and variegated slate, highly finished, very symmetrical and elegant in proportion, evidently designed to be ornamental. The material is compact and fine-grained, but the eyes or holes for handles or staves are quite small, seldom half an inch in diameter. Their edges are not sharp but rounded, and the body is thin, usually less than one-fourth of an inch in thickness. The form of badges known as " double-crescents " are the most elegant and expensive of any yet brought to notice. They were probably used to indicate the highest rank or office, and the single crescent, perhaps, signified a rank next below the double. In the collection of John B. Matson, of Richland County, there is a ruugh-hewn double-crescent in process of construction, the horns of which turn inward, while in nearly or quite all the finished ones the points turn outward. The finish around the bore of all winged badges and the crescents is the same, and the size of the bore in either is from two-fifths to three-fifths of an inch. On one side of all is a narrow ridge; on the other a fiat band lengthwise, like a ridge that has been ground down to a width of one to two tenths of an inch. Badges and crescents are invariably made of banded slate, generally of a greenish shade of color. The other forms of wands or badges, such as those with symmetrical wings or blades, are also made of green striped slate, highly polished, with a bore of about one-half inch in diameter, apparently to insert a light wooden rod or staff. They were probably emblems of distinction but not ornaments, and as nothing like them is known among the modern tribes in form or use, they have been attributed to the Mound Builders.

In addition to stone ornaments, the pre-historic man seems to have had a penchant, like hi3 savage successors, to bedaub his body with various colors, derived from different colored minerals. These compounds were mixed in hollowed stones or diminutive mortars - "paint cups" - in which the mineral mass of colored clay was reduced to powder and prepared for application to the body. Such paint cups are not common in this State ; in fact, they are quite rare, but one being known to exist - that in the collection of Dr. Craig, of Mansfield, Richland County.

The comparative rarity of aboriginal smoking pipes is easily explained by the fact that they were not discarded as were weapons when those by whom they were fashioned entered upon the iron age. The advances of the whites in no way lessened the demand for pipes, nor did the whites substitute a better implement. The pipes were retained and used until worn out or broken, save the few that were buried with their dead owners, and what was the ultimate fate of these can only be conjectured. In very few instances does an Indian grave contain a pipe, and if the practice of burying the pipe with its owner was a common one, it is probable that the graves were opened and robbed of this coveted article by members of the same or some other tribe.

It only remains to notice the "flints," in addition to which a few other archaeological relics of minor importance are found about the country, but none of sufficient import to merit mention, or to throw additional light on the lost tribes of America. Arrow and spear heads and other similar pieces of flaked flints are the most abundant of any aboriginal relics in the United States. They are chiefly made of hard and brittle silicious materials ; are easily damaged in hitting any object at which they are aimed, hence many of them bear marks of violent use. Perfect specimens are, however, by no means rare. The art of arrow-making survives to the present day among certain Indian tribes, from whom is learned the manner of producing them.

A classification of arrow-heads is rarely attempted by archaeologists, as the styles are almost as numerous as their makers. In general, they are all the same in outline, mostly leaf-shaped, varying according to the taste of their manufacturers, and their number, we might say, is infinite. They may have been made by chipping - probably most of them were - and some may have been ground.

Spear-heads exhibit as large a variety as arrow-heads, and, like the latter, were inserted in wooden handles of various lengths, though in many tribes they were fastened by thongs of untanned leather or sinews.

Their modes of manufacture were generally the same. Sometimes tribes contained arrow-makers, whose business was to make these implements, selling them to or exchanging them with their neighbors for warn- pum or peltries. When the Indian desired an arrow or spear head, he could buy one of the arrow-maker or make one himself. The common method was to take a chipping implement, generally made of the pointed rods of a deer's horn, from eight to sixteen inches in length, or of slender, short pieces of the same material, bound with sinews to wooden sticks resembling arrow-shafts. The arrow-maker held in his left hand the flake of flint or obsidian on which he intended to operate, and pressing the point of the tool against its edge, detached scale after scale, with much ingenuity, until the flake assumed the desired form.

Beginning in the southern portion of Madison County, we find a chain of mounds extending to its northern limits, although with no apparent connection in location or size. It is, however, evident that all excepting one belong to the sepulchral order of mounds, as their construction is exactly alike. The largest of the burial mounds is located upon the estate of John Dun, in Oak Run Township, on an elevation overlooking the beautiful valley of Deer Creek. It is about two hundred and forty feet around the base, and twelve feet in height, circular in form and gradually tapering toward the summit. In January, 1881, it was opened to a depth of six or eight feet by Mathew Rea and Thomas Roby, who found the remains of two skeletons, the skulls being the only portions in a fair state of preservation. Nothing else was discovered here, the different layers of burnt clay, charcoal and ashes, being the same as in all sepulchral mounds. This mound has, doubtless, been several feet higher than it is to-day, and the view to be obtained from its summit is such an excellent one, that it is probable it was also used as a mound of observation.

There are two small mounds in Union Township, northwest of the Dun Mound - one on the land of Addison Chrisman, and one still further up on the land of Charles Baker. The former is located in a cultivated field on northeast side of the pike, but the plow has so nearly obliterated all evidences of this once sacred spot, that little remains to attract the attention of the casual observer. The mound on the Baker land is in the timber, also on the northeast side of the pike. Neither of these mounds have ever been large, not more than from three to five feet in height, and thirty-five feet in diameter. With the exception of the common evidences peculiar to burial mounds, nothing has been discovered in either. The cause of this was, perhaps, the absence of care in opening them, or that atmospheric influences had completely destroyed whatever remains may have been buried therein, their diminutive size affording little or no protection against the ravages of time.

Southeast of the mound in Oak Run Township, on the land of Stephen Anderson, in Pleasant Township, is the remains of what was once a burial mound. It evidently was about the same size as the Dun Mound, but for many years the leveling process has gone on until its once beautiful symmetrical proportions have disappeared. Located in a cultivated field on the east bank of Deer Creek, it now appears as a large hillock sloping gradually in every direction. We understand there is a small mound on the estate of Frank Hicks, near the western line of Pleasant Township.

One of the handsomest mounds in Madison County is upon the farm of Isaac Hambleton, on the east side of Little Darby, and about one mile southeast of Jefferson. It stands in a wheat-field, a few hundred yards from the banks of the stream ; is about two hundred feet around the base, and ten feet high. From its summit are growing three trees, two of which are more than fifteen inches in diameter. The base has been very much disfigured by the plow, while the top has been dug into and never filled up. Still following the meanderings of Little Darby northwest of Jefferson we come to four small mounds. The first is on the land of Truman Kimball, on the southwest bank of the stream. It has been opened by William Deardorff, a whole skeleton taken out, and the remains of others discovered. Some distance northwest of this one, but on the opposite bank of Little Darby, are three similar mounds, all being about five feet in height, and thirty-five feet in diameter. These are located on the land of James Dun, and all four mounds are in Jefferson Township. They have been dug into by different parties, William Deardorff and Thomas Bates opening two of them. In one was found a copper needle and three slate ornaments nicely polished, with holes drilled through them, by which they were suspended, fastened, or made convenient for whatever use their owners put them to. No other relics were found in these mounds, as far as we have been able to learn. It is said that cpuite a large mound existed at an early day in the southern portion of Deer Creek Township, but that a Mr. Ewing scraped it down and erected his residence upon its site.

The only other burial mound of which we have any knowledge, is located on the north bank of Big Darby, about one mile northwest of Plain City, and as this territory originally belonged to Madison County, it will be proper to here mention it briefly. It was originally about the same size as the mound on the Hambleton farm in Jefferson Township, but is much smaller to-day. In 1848, a society called "the Rectifiers," was organized in Plain City, the object of which was the improvement or morals, the advancement of education, benevolence and institutions of charity, and the development of archaeological history. In 1850, the society opened this mound, from which they took the remains of some skeletons. The thigh bones were very massive, while the jaw bones were sufficiently large to slip over the face of the ordinary man, demonstrating that the beings to whom they belonged must have been of extraordinary size and proportions. The teeth were found in an almost perfect state of preservation, and belonged to persons of full growth and well-developed maturity. It is not understood that there was anything else of interest found here, but this like all the other burial mounds, bore the same evidences of the pre-historic age.

We now come to the largest mound in Madison County, and one of the largest in Ohio. It is classed under the head of Temple Mounds, is oval in shape, 600 feet around the base, and about twenty-five feet in height. Located upon an elevated ridge in the southeast corner of Monroe Township, on the estate of John Dun, it overlooks the valley formed by the junction of Spring Fork and Little Darby, the view from its summit being a charming one. Like all temple mounds, it has an unfinished appearance, and presents evidences of steps or inclined planes leading to the top. It is the supposition among archaeologists that this class of mounds, which are not numerous, were surmounted by wooden structures, all traces of which had disappeared long prior to the coming of the white race. During the pioneer days of Ohio, the vicinity of this mound was a favorite camping ground of the Indians, and it is said that they used the mound for burial purposes. In after years, when the whites had possessed and settled upon these lands, the Indians often returned to this spot made sacred as the resting place of their loved ones. Here it was that Tobias Bright shot in cold blood an Indian named Nicholas Monhem, in 1810, which created great excitement amon<* the Indians, almost leading to a collision with the whites. Thus it will be seen that this mound which was constructed by one race, way " back in the bygone time, lost mid the rubbish of forgotten things," became one of the favorite spots of their successors.

From the foregoing the reader can glean the knowledge that Madison County, with its silent monuments everywhere spread before our wondering eyes, like the everlasting rocks that point the geologist to the past history of the globe, can truly lay claim to being called historic ground. Can it be that these people, becoming very numerous, living in affluence upon the golden riches of the soil, vain in their superiority of knowledge, bigoted in their religious superstitions, effeminate and weakened in long security, have met the same fate as the Roman Empire, when barbarians of athletic proportions and warlike prowess swept down from the north, laying vandal hands upon accumulations of art gathered in past centm'ies ? The people were annihilated or driven farther toward the south ; their wTorks, all that could be destroyed, were destroyed, and the country allowed to grow up again in its primitive wildness, furnishing hunting grounds for the American Indians. They in turn were driven out by the more powerful white race who now dwell therein, giving to us Madison County of to-day, with her well-tilled farms, her schools, and churches, her towns and villages, and her railroad and telegraphic communications with every portion of the civilized world.