Mower County transcript., 1869-12-02
: The Mound Builders.

The. Chicago Times, Of the 9th contains
the following: i ~ AZ q i s.
Prof William Stimson, connected with
the Chicago Academy of Science, . short
time since, while, passing iMf. Thatcher d
farm, just beyond tho town Of Harlem, and
adjoining Haas Park, discovered hillock,
which he suspected might belong to the
mound-building period, dnd might contain
valuable, mementoeA Of . past age. few
days aatArxatf JhS tobtshed PeTnaissinn of
the owner Of the farte itoimate es e1qmina-
tion of the mounds. and last week he, to
gether with Charles Kennieott, made a per.
ssonal examination, of the premises. and IN
covered the earth tb the depth Of about
three feet. They had dug but short time.
when human bo4esWera discovered, which,
upon. examination, proved to be Of race
at present extinct Upon the continent Of
North America. Petssvs1ing efforts of'sev-
eral days were rewarded with the finding Of
several other similar mounds, and the re-
mains of twenty hdman be&gA Z Tso EN-
tire skeletons were found, with the exeep.
ton that one of them lacked two cervical
bones, and the othera few Of the bones Of
the hands and feet The bones themselves
were very friable. and required the most
careful handling to prevent their falling in
to dust again. . s,esF..a:s5i ,s..a:'sx55 .
The bones which nafk the peculiar CHAR
acters of the beings. tho once possessed
them ato those or III Uranium. 1t is well
known that The .heada 0fsEuropeans and all
descendents !. OF tho Cncasian race are
usually ymuchf great n 1sngth and breadth.
They have what isa technically called the
-csphdlic. skull Mhich the Iroquois
Indians who inhabited America at the
landing Of Columhus, possessed square
heads, OF skulls which arcbmologists call
brachy- -csphdl'e. The skulls found at
Thatcher's farm are o. the brachy- cephalic
type, and this fact stamps them as being at
least as oldas the nrst discovery of Amer
ica. Il is said that the Influences of civili-
zation have entirely changed the shape Of
the Indians skull, SO that the present
tribes, no;matter; how mach isolated from
the white man, present no cases Of tho an
tique Indian head.
Another evidence of the antiquity OF
these remains is the position in which they
were found. Prof. Stimson was obliged to
remove large tree which grew on one of
the mounds to reach theskeletons.'' Across
section of tree disclosed 81 rings, and
since botanists claim that the evidences Of
the first "a years growth of old trees has
was at least 100 years old. -
the surface Of the prairie, were oval in
&ide, and from 10 to 90. feet. in length.
They were each surrounded by we'll de-.
fined trench. Before reaching the remains
a4ayer of hard blue clay was penetrated,
and the bones were found reposipgina q bed
Of gravel. The remains were found three
feet below the surface. - = 'a-'-''
The tombs OF the ''mound builders" as
they are called are supposed to have been
constructed by the ancestors of the ancient
Aztecs, or by the Aztecs themselves TIE
remains are usually found arranged in reg
ular order, and accompanied with tools,
weapons, and implements. by which their
great antiquity is inferred and, to some ex-
tent, measured. The mounds discovered
: last week by Prof Stimson contained no
tools or weapons. or at least none have yet
been discovered, although, as the research.
es have not terminated, it is impossible
that these objects may yet be found. The
remains were apparently thrown together
promiscuous]y, as if the rites Of sepulture
had been hurried-perhaps at the close o1
of a battle.s
From all the circumstances, it is believed
thSt when. the beings were buried there,
the place was the margin. Of tho lake, and
thus the phenomena are closely connected
with another interesting series Of questions
relating 70 the lake and it's physical condi
ton and boundaries before The shores were
discovered by Europeans. -
On yesterday, another mound ,yas dis
covered, circular in its form. and hrgel
and higher than the othe Il has mt ye