Delaware County, Indiana - Arch Hology, 1881

to the issue have been in the recent past engaged, and do now command, the energies of the best class of minds having a penchant for researches among the ruins of a lost race. Half a century ago, little was known, or cared for, concerning the existing evidences of a pre-existing people, endowed with many of the elements of genius, well developed in the remains so numerously found along the valleys of the principal rivers of Indiana, Ohio and other Middle and Western States. "These remains," says a recent writer, " have been carefully examined, and, after long and patient investigations, the archzologist has arrived at certain definite conclusions, and so apparently accurate are they that we may safely say that we are very well acquainted with this lost race. By what appellations they were known during their existence is [yet] past finding out. They have been called the Mound-Builders, on account of the innumerable mounds which they erected, and which remained until the advent of the white man."* So numerous are these remains, that, in '' Ohio alone, there are not less than thirteen thousand, inelwding both mounds and inclosures. Within a radius of fifty miles from the mouth of the Illinois River, in the State of Illinois, there are about five thousand mounds." 'The extent and variety of these in the State of Ohio would seem to indicate that there the country was most densely populated by them, and, certainly, not without a purpose, since the regions so generally occupied by them, consisting of a great system of plains, seem well adapted to the wants of a people apparently accustomed to agricultural, pursuits, who, therefore, exercised great foresight and wisdom in selecting and occupying such a locality. "This whole country affords a perfect system of navigation. The Alleghany rises, on the borders of Lake Erie, at an elevation of nearly seven hundred feet above the level of the lake and one thousand three hundred feet above the sea. A boat may start from within

Connewango or Cassadaga to the Alleghany, thence into the Ohio, and finally, into the Gulf of Mexico, the whole distance being 2,400 miles. Add to this the great natural advantages, and the fact that this is pre-eminently the garden spot of North America, with almost innumerable other considerations, we may be able to judge of the wisdom of the Mound-Builders."

The following description of the general classes of these remains, copied from McLean's " Mound-Builders," will be found of interest, as giving the most recent exposé of the situation. 3

«The ancient. remains, composed of works of earth and stone, naturally divide themselves into two general classes, viz., inclosures and mounds, and different purposes. The first is characterized by being bounded by omiboiake ments, circumvallations or walls, and include fortifieations or strongholds, sacred inclosures and numerous miscellaneous works, mostly symmetrical in structure.

general or single system of works, and include what. has. been specially designated sacrificial, temple, sepulchral, symbolical and anomalous." .

" Inelosures. - The inclosures, to the general observer, form the most interesting class of these remains. They are massive, sometimes of great dimensions, and required great labor in their construction. Their number is great, Ohio alone containing over one thousand five hundred of them. - They are composed of clay - sometimes of stone - the walls having a height ranging from three feet to thirty, and inclosing areas of from one acre to four hundred. Inclosures of from one to fifty acres are common; of two hundred acres, not infrequent, and of greater extent, only occasionally met with, . :

" & large proportion of the inclosures are regular in outline, being constructed in the form of the square, circle, parallelogram, ellipse and polygon ; the first two predominating. The regularly formed works occur om the level river terraces, and the irregular works, being used as places of defense, are made to conform to the nature of the brows of the hills upon which they are situated. The square and circle frequently occur in combination, and are either directly

| remain which were left in an unfinished state. The walls are usually accom- _ oblong, oval or octagonal. Generally, they are high, yet in some pri | panied by a ditch either interior or exterior to the embankment. From this | they are elevated a few feet only, while covering many acres of eG 4 ditch the earth was taken for the foundation of the walls. Where the | Another feature is, they are almost uniformly surrounded by embankments anc . | ditch does not occur, pits or excavations are usually found in the immediate | ditches. In some instances, also, they are terraced, having BaCeeserve stages. ei vicinity." : But, whatever their form, they invariably have flat or level tops, which were | 4 DEFENSIVE INCLOSURES, probably crowned with temples, but, being composed of perishable material, all + | Of the several classes of inclosures those located and erected for purposes | traces of them have long since disappeared from view. The opinion is enterof defense are, perhaps, the most important, and involve a higher degree of | tained, too, by some careful observers, that these temple mounds were freskill in their construction. These were generally situated upon bluffs or quently used for sepulchral purposes, and many Instances are cited where vast hilltops, overlooking settlements in the adjacent valleys. Sites for works of quantities of human skeletons have been found. "The Grave-Creek Mound, this character are sometimes found surrounded by deep ravines, difficult of | which is in the form of a truncated cone - the flattened area'on the top being ascent, on three sides. Many of them, also, are on isolated hills with broad fifty feet in diameter, and therefore coming under the classification of temple and level summits, presenting all the requisites of a stronghold. When such | mounds - was found to inclose two vaults originally constructed of wood, which sites are adjacent to an extensive valley, the works erected thereon appear to | contained human skeletons." [Pre-Historic Races, p. 187-8. ] | have been of more elaborate construction, with best adaptations to the pur- "The truncated pyramid," says the same writer, "is among the strongest | poses of defense, and exhibit superior military skill; the sides most exposed | Jinks in the chain which connects the ancient inhabitants of the Mississipp1 | to attack and approaches being protected by trenches and overlapping walls, Valley with those of Mexico and Central America. In the rude earthworks . more or less numerous, according to the circumstances, the trenches being | we see the germ of the idea which was subsequently wrought out in propor- | usually found on the exterior of the walls. Not unfrequently the gateways, | tions of beauty and harmony, giving origin to a uni jue style of architecture."' | situated at the points most easy of approach, are guarded by a series of overf lapping walls, sometimes with a mound accompanying, which rises above the SEPULCHRAL MOUNDS. . rest of the works, designed, perhaps, for the double purpose of observation and Descriptively, these generally consist of a simple knoll or group of knolls, if | defense. | of no considerable height, without any definite arrangement. " Examples of i , een at this character may be seen at Dubuque, Merom , Chicago, and La Porte, which, on || These works are generally regular in structure and usually found in groups. exploration, have yielded skulls differing widely from the Indian type. It often | | While the military inclosures were uniformly situated on elevated positions, happens that in close proximity to a large structure there is an inconsiderable on bluffs and hills, the sacred inclosures occupied the lower and more level one which will be found rich in relics." Tn shape they are usually conical, but f | river bottoms - seldom or never upon table-lands where the surface is broken. frequently are elliptical or pear-shaped, from six feet to eighty in height, aver- | Those of a circular form are generally small, having nearly a uniform diameter aging from fifteen to twenty-five feet in altitude, and are situated outside the "el of from 250 to 300 feet, the larger ones sometimes reaching more than a mile walls of inclosures, at distances more or less remote. As a rule, when a num- ) in circumference. The gateways to 'these inclosures usually face toward the | ber of these mounds are found connected, one of the group is uniformly two east. In the immediate vicinity of the larger circles, small ones, varying from | or three times larger in dimensions than any of the others, the smaller arranged thirty to fifty feet in diameter, consisting of a light embankment and no gate- | around the large at 'its base, indicating an intimate relation between them. b& way, are quite numerous. _ Compared with the walls of defensive inclosures, Such mounds invariably cover a skeleton, sometimes more than one, near the 7 the walls of those appropriated to sacred purposes are comparatively slight, original surface of the soil. \e ranging from three to seven feet, occasionally, however, reaching a height of | thirty feet. The walls are composed of surface material and clay. These SAORIEN AY MORNE, | works, many of them, are accompanied by parallel walls of slight elevation, This class, as compared with. others, possesses many distinguishing features, { while others are more elaborate, sometimes reaching the length of 800 feet. In | one of which is that they are invariably situated within the inclosures, or in form, some of these works combine the square, circle, ellipse, octagon, also parallel | the immediate vicinity. They are regularly constructed with uniform layers i walls, in their construction. A description of such a system of works, how- | of gravel, earth and sand, alternately, in strata conformable to the shape of the | ever, would be of too great length to be practicable in a volume of this mag- | mound, and are covered by a symmetrical altar of burnt clay or stone, upon 1 nitude. An excellent example of such a combination may be found at the | which numerous relics are found - in ul instances exhibiting traces of having ih Junction of the South and Raccoon Forks of Licking River, near N ewark, Ohio, | been subjected to the action of fire. These altars are carefully formed, varying ' and Wilson's " Pre-Historic Man," contains an account in. descriptive detail, to | both in size and shape, some being round, while others are elliptical ; others ; | which reference may be made. A very satisfactory description is found, also, | again being in the form of Squares or parallelograms. In size, they vary from 'ja! in McLean's " Mound-Builders." two to fifty feet by twelve or fifteen - usually, however, they are from five to j MOUNDS. eight feet. "They are modeled from fine clay, and usually rest upon the | "The mounds proper form an interesting feature of these ancient remains : original surface. In a few instances ney have been found with a layer or they have been carefully studied, and are undoubtedly of as much importance small] elevation of sand under them. 7 pa height seldom exceeds a foot or to the archzeologist as the inclosures. Among the people generally, who live twenty inches above the adjacent level. U pon the altars have been found a | Within the vicinity of the earthworks, the mounds are better known than th ' calcined human bones, elaborate carvings in stone, ornaments cut In mica, inclosures. On inquiring for the latter, great difficulty is often experienced in | COPper iiss. disks, and tubes, pearl and shell beads, pottery, spearfinding it, while almost any one could readily point out the mounds," which heads, ete,""* are more numerous. Works of this class vary in dimensions from a few feet WHO WERE THE MOUND-BUILDERS ? in height and a few yards in diameter to ninety feet in height and covering In this day of ethnological investigation, when so much has been developed | several acres at the base. Usually, they range from six to thirty feet in per- concerning the mysterious works of a race of people, who, in the remote past, \ ree pendicular height by forty to one hundred feet hase-diameter. Common erected, oceupied and maintained them, the inquiry naturally suggests itself - ' | earth is found generally to be the composition of these mounds, though | « Who were, and whence came they and whither did they go?" All these inves- ' not infrequently they are composed chiefly of stone. Again, they are tigations, while they elicit an interest sufficient to maintain a healthy progress | found entirely of clay, while the material around is gravel or loam. The pur- | in the work, awaken new zeal and induce greater activity in the pursuit of seared for which mounds were erected were various, depending very much upon | 'additional information. Such interest is only equaled by the importance of the their location. Sometimes they are found on hills or higher elevations and object to be attained. Great diversity of opinion and much learned discussion occupying commanding positions. Generally, they are within or near inclos- have been the result. With all this diversity, however, there are some points ures; Sometimes in groups, again detached and isolated. upon which little difference of opinion obtains. One of these points is TEMPLE MOUNDS. involved in the answer to the query, " Whence came they?" It is now generally | A distinguishing feature of this chiss of mounds is their great regularity of ce se by enorme ys ag ue? oe = ay eget . a . 4 Sorat, and langedimenstons, They ace chiefly tro: SE SEO ena tropics, where these monumental remains most numerous y abound. ie y , and large dimensions ey are chictly truncated pyramids, having grade i. : es avenues or spiral pathways to their summits, Some are round, others square, * Mound-Builders, p. 47,

'They were unquestionably American aborigines, and nét immigrants from another continent. That appears to me the most reasonable suggestion Which assumes that the Mound-Builders came originally from Mexico and Cen? tral America. It exp'ains many facts connected with their remains. In the Great Valley their most populous settlements were at the south. Coming from Mexico and Central America, they wouid begin their settlements on the Gulf Coast, and afterward advance gradually up the river to the Ohio Valley. ~It seems evident that they came by this route, and their remains show that their only connection with the coast was at the South. Their settlements did not reach the coast at any other point.

'Their constructions were similar in design and arrangement to those found in Mexico and Central America. Like the Mexicans and Central Americans, they had many of the smaller structures known as ¢eocallis, and also large, high mounds, with level summits, reached by great flights of steps. Pyramidal platforms or foundations for important edifices appear in both regions, and are very much alike. In Central America important edifices were built of hewn stone, and can still be examined in their ruins. The Mound-Builders, like some of the ancient people of Mexico and Yucatan, used wood, sun-dried brick, or some other material that could not resist decay. There is evidence that they used timber for building purposes. In one of the mounds opened in the Ohio Valley, two chambers were found with the remains of the timber. of which the walls were made, and with arched ceilings precisely like those in Central America, even to the overlapping stones. Chambers have been found in some of the Central American and Mexican mounds, but these hewn stones were used for the walls. In both regions the elevated and terraced foundations remain, and can be compared. _I have already called attention to the close resemblance between them, but the fact is so important in any endeavor to explain the Mound-Builders, that I must bring it to view here.

" Consider, then, that elevated and terraced foundations for important buildings are peculiar to the ancient Mexicans and Central Americans; that this method of construction, which, with them, was the rule, is found nowhere else, form and appearance, occupy a chief place among the remaining works of the Mound-Builders. The use made of these foundations at Palenque, Uxmal and Chichen-Itza, shows the purpose for which they were constructed in the Mississippi Valley. The resemblance is not due to chance.

"A very large proportion of the old structures in Ohio and farther south, called 'mounds ' - namely, those which are low in proportion to their horizontal extent - are terraced foundations for buildings, and, if they were situated in Yucatan, Guatemala and Southern Mexico, they would never be mistaken for anything else. The high mounds, also, in the two regions, are remarkably _ alike. In both cases they are pyramidal in shape, and have level summits of " considerable extent, which were reached by stairways on the outside. * * * * All these mounds Were constructed for eae? uses, and they are, in their way, as much alike as any five Gothic churches."

From these statements, and similar opinions ated be other eminent archaeologists, it may be safely assumed for the purpose of this work, that the Mound-Builders were offshoots of the original projectors and builders of those structures so numerously found in Central America, who emigrated northward through Mexico, Texas and the Mississippi Valley. This is indicated very of intercommunication are shown by the fact that the obsidian dug from these mounds in the Ohio Valley is only found in the mines of Mexico, and must

This question can only be answared inferentially, since we have no direct information on the subject. If we take those inferences drawn from apparently legitimate sources, the conclusion may be arrived at with a fair degree of certainty, that they probably returned southward, but under what circumstances is conjectural also. "Civilization, as a rule, radiates from a center," says the author of '" Pre-Historic Man," "and when, from any cause, it fades out, it contracts upon the center. Now, the vast stone temples and palaces of Central America are, at least, as old as the mounds of the United States. Central America was then, relatively, the birthplace and center of American aboriginal civilization. The influence spread northward to the Mississippi and Ohio

"The existing remains show they had, north of des Ohio River, a strong line of fortresses along the Great Miami, from its mouth to Piqua, with advanced works-near Oxford and Eaton, and with a massive work in rear of this line, on the Little Miami, at Fort Ancient. There was another line crossing the Scioto Valley at Chillicothe, and extending west up the vulley of Paint Creek. These seem to have constituted a line of permanent defense.

'The situations were well chosen, were naturally very strong, and were fortified with gr at labor and some skill:. Such works, if defended, could not have been taken by assault by any means the natives possessed, and they were so constructed as to contain a supply of water. They would not be abandoned until the nations that held them were broken. When these were abanduned there was no retreat, except across the Ohio. South of the Ohio in Kentucky - and Tennessee, there are many works of defense, but none possessing the massive character of permanent works like the Ohio system. They are, comparatively, temporary works, thrown up for an exigency, are moreover isolated , not forming, as in Ohio, a connected system. They are such works as a people capable of putting up the Ohio forts might erect, while being gradually pushed South, and fighting an invader from the North or Northwest. South of the Tennessee River, the indications are different. We miss there the forts that speak of prolonged aud obstinate conflict. And we find among the tribes, as they were when first discovered, lingering traces of what we have called characteristic traits of the Mound. Builders.""*

Ohio. very indication shows that they were expelled from this territory by force. Being harassed by the inroads of warlike bands, they erected strong fortifications as places of safety and retreat during the predatory visits of these hostiles. They erected mounds for obsérvation on eligible points, and; when surprise was imminent, they established lines of signal posts, upon which beacon fires were kindled, and the people warned of the enemy's approach.

These mounds of observation, or signal stations, indicate the direction whence came the enemy. On the projecting highlands bordering the Great and Little Miami Rivers, are numerous small mounds well adapted to purposes of observation, and, in addition to these, a similar series of them is found along the Scioto, across Ross County, and extending down into Pike and Pickaway Counties, and so situated that in a few minutes intelligence of an ee enemy could be flashed from Delaware County to Portsmouth.

"From time immemorial, there has been immigration into Mexico from the North. One type after another has followed. In some cases, different branches of the same family have successively followed one another. Before the Christian era the Nahoa immigration from the North made its appearance. They were the founders' of the stone works in Northern Mexico. Certain eminent scientists have held that the Nahoans belonged to the race that made - the mounds of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. Following this people came the Toltecs, and with them light begins to dawn upon anéient Mexican migration. They were cultivated did constituted a branch of the Nahoa family."'*+

As to the time when the Toltecs entered Mexico, there is great diversity of opinion. among scientists, but it is generally conceded that it was at a very remote period, as early as the seventh century. |

"Tn the light of modern discovery and scientific investigation, we are able to follow the Mound-Builders. Wee first found them in Ohio, engaged in tilling the soil and developing a civilization peculiar to themselves. Driven from their homes, they sought an asylum in the South, and from there they wandered into Mexico, where we begin to learn something moro definite concerning them."