The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-02-06
AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.
BY GEO. VI. TOWLE.

Nblk lHS Hii' ~ o'u', 'ih'N hiouN u "bHu''
ful progress in the past quarter of u century
The one seeking for the history and transfer
nations of the physical earth, and the othe
aiming to discover the antiquity, differences u
race, and social and clinical development o
man, have obtained results which we Canno
regard without amazCmcnt and more or les
Incredibly. The two sciences have beer
faithful handmaidens, the one of the other
but geology has alnays led the way, anC
archaeology ilas been compelled to follow il
its path.
Though We may doubt rs to the cxactncs
Of the detailed data established by The arch
biologists, there are certain broad facts which
we must accept from them as established be
EyOnd doubt. These facts are of the highcs
value and interest. The anriquary has beer
able, from discovered remains of cxtinc
. civilizations, to reconstruct societies anC
peoples, and to trace the occupancy of cOun
tries to periods far anterior to that of whicl
history takes cognizancc. The general fac
has been settled that, IN prehistoric times
Europe passed through four distinct cras
These were the Rude Stone age, when mar
was the contemporary in Europe OF the eX
tinCt hairy elephant and the cavc.bcar; tn,
Polished Stone age; the Bronze age. wncy
bronze was used for arms and utensils and
the Iron age, in which iron superseded
bronze in useful articles.
It, the same way il has been established
that on oar own continent, the oldest dscOv
cradle civilization was one in which rude
stone implements were used and man lived
lcOptcmpoIancously with the megatherIum
and the mas'odon. The polished and work
ed stone implements came into use; and after
the lapse of ages, copper. The researches of
our antiquarcs have rendered it probable
that America is as ancient, as an inhabited
continent, as Europe Evidences have been
brought to light, leading TO the conclusion
that many thousands of years before the
Christian era America was the seat OF civ
| ilizatiOn far from rude or savage. Cropping
INTO the remains of the tar past, we find skel.
etons, skulls implements of war, and even
basket work, buried in geological strata, which
have been overlaid by repeated commissions
and changes Of the physical earth. But so
few are the relies of this DIM, primeval per.
] iod. that We can only conclude It's antiquity,
and we can infer little or nothing of lis char.
acteristlCS.
! Advancing, however, another stage in re-
search and discovery, we come upon clear
and overwhelming proofs Of the existence on
this continent OF a great, enterp"lslng, skill.
full, and even artistic people, spread over al
immense area, and leaving behind them the
most positive testimony, not only Of their cx-
| istcnCc, but of their manner, aud customs
their arts, their trace, heir methods of war
fare, and their religion and worship. Com.
pared with this people, the Red Indians
found here by the Pilgrims ana the Cavaliers
were modern iDtruders upon the land. These
ancient Americans indeed, were far superior
in all respects to the Red Men of our historic
acquaintance. When the Red Indians re-
placed them, the civilization of the continent
fell from high to a much lower plane
The great race OF which | speak Is known
as the Mound Builders" Lake the Wall
Builders" of Greece and Italy, they stand out
in the light of their remains, as distinctly as
ii We had historical records of them. The
Mound Builders occupied, often in thickly
settled communities, the region abou, our
great Northern Lakes the valleys Of the
Mississippi, the Ohio the Missouri, and the re
gions watered by the aiiluents of these rivers
and wide ard irregular belt along the coast
of the Gulf of Mexico. There is little or M
evidence that the same race inhabited any
part of tho country now occupied BY the
Eastern and Middle Siates: but some few ira
CeS Of them are found in North and South
! Carolina.
The chef relic, l,f, by this great and com
paratlyely polished race are The various mum
erous mounds, OF artificial hills, found scat
tered over the country These are sometimes
ten, and sometimes forty ard fiftC feet in
height with widely varying bases. They e
sent many forms; they are circular and pyra
Imidai, square and pClyG0nal, aud in som,
lplaCcs are mnnlirstly limitations OF the shape:
of beasts, birds and human beings. Their,
are districts where hundreds OF these mound.
appear within a limited area. Sometimes
as at Azlalan. in Wisconsin, and at Newark
ION the OHM river larias pf II
enclosures Is discovered the latter with EN-
p. bankmcntS twelve feet high and fifty broad
within which are yariously shaped mounds
definitely formed avenues, and passages ant
ponds. These enclosures amply prove, aside
from the geological evidence. of their anti
lquity, the existence of a race very different
from the Red Indians They were clearly ,
people not nomahic. but with fixed settle
ments, cultivators, ot the soil, and skillful il
the ART of military defence
The excavations Of the wonderful mound
have brought 10 light many things NOR
curious than the mound, themselves. 1t ha
), been well established that the mounds wer
used for four distinct purposes. They wcr
affairs for sacrifice, and, like the P,rsians
whose SacriiicIal ceremonies strikingly re
semLiei those of The Mound. Builders the,
were sun.wOrshipcrs They offered Mn cos,l,
gifts. and even human victims. The pyra
midal mounds, with avenues leading 10 tn
SUBMITS, were the sites OF the stately su,
and moon temples. Here, undoubtedly. i'm
posing ceremonies were often performed. TIN
lower, or knool' mounds, were used as In
sepulchcrs of the dead. They yield up I,
the modern aEtiquary numl erless skulls, of ,
TYPE distinctly different from those of the Rec
Indians The Mound Builders buried ,hei
dead, most often, in sitting posture adorned
with shells, beads and ivory ornaments
S Sometimes the dead were burned. FINAL,
the mounds were employed aS points OF oj
servation.
That the Mound Builders we're lar NOR
civilized race than the Indians, is clearly be
uayed by the relics found in and about In
mounds They have left behind them thous
lands of aint arrow,heads. many Of beautiful