Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1876-09-29
THE MOUND. BUILDERS.

VIes. ts ShOwn at the Centennial.
Philadelphia Iimes.l
The seeker after things curious
and strange will find himself re-
warded by going to the departments
of Ohio, Missouri and Arkansas,
and also to the government build
ing, and examining the relics of
the mound d-builders. These pri-
meyal Americans do not occupy
much space or make great show
in the exhibition, but what they do
present furnishes food for thought
and reflection. The collection OF
remains and relics is much the same
in all the departments. Earthen-
ware vessels, used as drinking and
cooking utensils, medicine bottles,
necklaces of shells, bone and cop
per needles, arrow-heads, and spear
heads. stone axes and implements
for dressing skins tell us something
concerning their skill in the arts.
The earthen vessels are of various
sizes and shapes. The vast majority
are the counterpart of the water
colors still in use in India and
Siam. Others again are wrought
Into rude representations OF differ
| ent birds and animals. In many
cases there has been an attempt at
| decoration with colors. 1t is very
suggestive concerning the identifi-
cation of the mound builders tC
visit the department OF Peru, and
| to find there the same kind Of pot
terv ware, both as to form and color
as that found in the mounds along
the Mississippi. The remains o
this ancient people and their civil
! zation are found all over the cont
nent. In nearly every State mu
scum can be seen some traces eithel
of their graves or of their habita
tions. The relics in the centennia
buildings have been obtained prin
clpally from mounds in the West
These mounds are found all through
the valley of the Mississippi, from
the lakes to the Cult of Mexico
The evidence furnished, by grave
wards and ruins of ancient village
a | shows concluslvely that there mus
have been a population there lon
Q centuries ago, almost equaling tina
which now possesses the great val
( lev. The curious visitor will no
y fail to observe the peculiarities {
the skulls in these collections. Il
those taken from the mounds i
> Missouri and Arkansas he will fin
marks of the early training t
which these ancient Americans sui
iected their children. Some OF tn
!. skulls are pressed flat on one sldt
n others are conical; some have jaw
:. of monstrous size. The writer hi
i seen one taken from a mound
e Illinois that would easily pass ovC
to the chin of a large-sized moder
Q, American. The mounds or tumu
ut were to this ancient people VIII,
ms the pyramids were to the Egyptian
e. Those recently opened in Arkans'
es show plainly their use-within a
by ranged inclosure are the bones
sS Ss the dead. They we're buried in
ed sitting position +; at the right arm
M each skeleton was q water vessC
Ia before it a plate for food, and at
le. left side a smaller vessel, by son
* supposed to be a medicine bottl
:, Then the dead were equipped I
their long journey Evidently I'll
bis old race hoped for immortality.
lho Southern and Southwest Nilsson
''' there are to be found traces of thu
villages; in other places, as at M
ne rietta, Ohio, and at Davenpo
Iowa, are the ruins OF immense fC
tifcstions built by them.
mt Who were these strange peoT
!. that once owned this continent, a
VINO are now dragged from thu
- - graves, where they have been slice
b ing for a thousand years, to grs
our centennial? Whence did tn
come? What discoveries did I'll
make? What battles did they fgl
Where are they gomez 1t is cert
they were not the ancestors Of
'Ny North American Indian. The
our dian is d more recent conner TO |