Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-03-15
Aaelens 15ss.qs .;. q. e &. sas west and

AT stated meeClng OISeIne N umlSmaGlc
and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, -
held on the evening of March z, Charles n.
Hart, Esq, Corresponding Secretary, read
TO the Society a letter headed .sWestern
Antiquities" /" after which he made the fol-
lowing remarks: .i4.s = i.ss ID s. - = =
1t is generally admitted that the mounds,
terraces and other works, 0feWhich visible
remains exist In many portions of this re-
Riens evinee q, degree of skill not known to
have been possessed by native tribes which
occupied the present territory of the UNI
ted states of America at the time of its
discovery by the Europeans. Mr.. Gallatin,
1h'thes frahsacti6ns of the American An
ffqdariai Society p expresses himself with
rather less pOsitiVeness on this point than
most other writer's have thought it .neces4
shy 20 employ. There is nothing in their
construction" he remarks, .snor in the REM
nantsfWhich they contain, indicative of a
much more advanced state of civilization
than that, OF the present inh abitant.t But it
may be inferred, from their number and
size that they were the work of more
popuious nation than any now existing !;
ana, If this inference Is correct, 1t would
necessarily imply state OfsOciety in which
Gzeztet progress had been made in agri-
culture" None of the works in question
bore the appearaIlce attilat imeof being of
recent structure. None OF the tribes, since
their manners and-customs began to be
noticed by travellers or colonists,, have been
Observed tobe in the habit of erecting any
similar works for the purpose of sepulture,
caSTemesatlon, or agriculture.s AT the
,pfeseht day there is not known to be any
tinent possessed of numbers, to say nothing
of theiskiAs implied in the construction of
these extensive and remarkable works.
Nature has borne au unequivocat testimony
tostheir antiquity in the size and evident
age of the forest trees that are found grow
ing on the summits of these mounds, and
wiChin the incloeures and on the sides of
these ramparts or terraces.
There are three suppositions, by some
one of which their existence. must be
accounted for. They were either con-
'structed by some race of men sufficiently
civilized for this poTposesbu of whom
no historical memorial nor any other trace
remains. and who, by causes of which we
are entirely Ignorant, have wholly perish
ed; or they were the works of the Aztecs
soiourning in this region before their mi
grafton southwark to the elevated plains of
Anshnae or, lastly, they swrre erected by
,flie aneestors OF 20 me Of the tribes found
by the European colonists in this part of
the econtinent, in which case those, tribes
safe to be sFegarded as the degenerate aud
broken-down remains of more improved
ancient races. III
OF the first supposition nothing more
can besaid than thai it is a theory by which
facts, the prihcipaf strength of which the
ory dwells in the assumed impOssibility
that these works cotldz have been erected
by tribes no more advanced in civilization
than the Indians found on the continent
two centuries and half ago, and in the
Supposed want of any historical indication
pointing to different origin. It is saying,
IN other words, that they were made by the
art and labor of men, but we know not OF
what men4 Their memory Is buried in the
depth and silence of the venerable forests
which cover these works Of their hands.
The innate propensity Of the mind to
generalize its ideas has given greater cur
sTencY to the second supposition. The uni
tVet5aE cufIent Of the traditions of the Mex-
leans, and the express testimony of their
hieroglyphical annals (if the Interpretation
can ube depended upon which was given, in
thelage OF. the Spanish conquest by those
riRh0 must have been well aequainted with
their symbolic characters), point TO de-
scent 0f the Aztecs from the Nofthy and
ascrfbe to tsiem progress sufficiently grad
ual to a1fnitlOf tlie erection of perthaAent
ssEpsEnFf S& the way rnese eo facts have
second as the more probable account
yOf the origin Of these works. Suctf was
tie opinion of General Harrison in his
most able discourse on the AbOrfgines of
the Valley of tieA0hio, before the Ohio
Historical Society in 1888. In conformity
with this, view of 1.-The subject, the name of
.Aztalan has been appropriated to the re-
.markable, works which, exist in Wisconsin.
General Harrison, winds up his argument
in favor, Of this opinion by saying, III the
Aztecs were not the authors OF the, Ohio
works, we can only account for the ulti-
mate fate of those who were, by supposing
tbgkstl1ey were entirely extifpattd, preterr-
ing. like the devoted Numantians, to be
buried under tile ruins ofStheir own walls,
to , seeking safety by ans1gnominious
fight" ,YsDT W9E
IA new species of evidence, of very
satisfactory character; to establish the
identity of the races, of the mounds, with
those which had made such advances in |
civilization In the more southern portions
81 yHe continent, Is the resemblance of the |
skulls which hare been found In the mounds
IN the northwesterns region to those which |
have been discovered in similar ancient |
works in Mexico and Peru. his import |
ant c0mparisOn was first Instituted by that |
1lninenf scienfisE Or. John @. Warren; and |
DelafeId, In his enquiry, observes that |
fi1ev ars fully cOnfirmed by the examina
tions made BY himself, and theela DIR.
Norton. of this city,, concludes, from. his
sxtensive comparison of serania, SHAT the
aniaIremains discovered in the mounds
ION peru to Wisconsin belong to the same
s zee and probabl lYl 10 the Toltican family
The third opinion above alluded tois that
he Indian tribes found by the europeans
E.llE ~