The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1876-06-03
Mound Builders.

sion OF the Academy Of Sciences, in
Washington, presented paper on the
mystery of the Mound Builders, that was
received with much favor. His views
are thus given by the Tribune correspon-
dent:
prof Morgan thinks that the Mound
builders were probably Village Indians
from New Mexico. Their arts arc shown
by their implements, their copper tools,
their textile and fctile fabrics, were in
advance of the Indian tribes found east
of the Mississippi.
"We find in Yucatan and Chiapas the
highest type of Village Indian life. 1t
declines as we advance northward to
Mexico and New Mexico. 1t was best
adapted to a warm climate. The attempt
to transplant this mode of life from the
Rio Grande or the San Juan, first to the
Gulf of Mexico and then northward to the
Ohio, must have been doubtful experiment
from the start Nevertheless the struc-
lures left by the Mound Builders indicate
such an attempt; their earthworks may be
regarded as the dwelling sites of Village
Indians. 1t is certain that if sensible
use for these cmbankmeuts can be discov-
cred, the mystery about them will be dis
PEELED. The theory that they were built
for religious purposes is exceedingly i'm
probable; the magnitude of the work
considering their grade in civilization, in-
dicates that these Indians were laboring
for themselves, not for their gods. If a
tribe of Village Indians, with their acquired
habits of living, emigrated to the valley
of the Ohio, they would find it impossible
to construct adobe houses Some modif-
cation of the plan and character of the
house would be necessary, because of the
different climate. They might have used
stone, but they did not; no stone houses
had been built by the Mexican tribes
They might have made house of inferior
character upon the level ground, like the
timber framed houses of the Minnetous.
Lastly, they might have raised embank-
ments of earth and built houses on the
submits and this, it is respectfully sub
mitted, is what they did.
"The elevated platform is feature of
the adobe houses of New Mexico; it ap.
pears also in the Yucatan dwellings Let
us regard the high bank on the Sciota
River as a pueblo. 1t is an octagonal
inclosure 900 feet square with an opening
at each angle and in the centre of each
side. The embankments are 80 feet thick
at the base, 10 or II feet high, ana over
80 feet level on their submits. These,
then, were the sites of their houses. There
are six of these embankments, each 450
feet long, and one 900 feet. On the
inside before each opening, there is a
mound. If the openings were gateways
defended by palisades, the whole structure
became a fortress. We have now to
suppose that the buildings were Of timber,
on the submits of the embankments, and
uniform with the latter in slope. The
walls of the buildings were coated with
earth, and probably rose ten or twelve
feet above the embankments thus making
n continuous sloping rampant 90 feet high.
This form of house would harmonize with
the prevailing architecture. of the Village
Indians but knowledge of the actual
shape of the houses, or of their interior
arrangements, is not necessary to the hy-
pothesis. The Mandan Indians surround
their houses with wall Of split timber,
coated with earth. 1t may be pointed out
that such structures on the edge of en-
bankments could not be successfully as
sailed from without, either by Indian
weapons or by fire"
Prof Morgan exhibited q ground plan
for such buildings, showing how they
might have been readily constructed, and
would perhaps contain from two to three
hundred families, on the communal plan,
and serving the purposes of thier former
mode of life. In fact the mode of life
necessarily determined the form of archi-
lecture. We need not discuss the uses
or contents of the inclosure formed by the
embankments. 1t is not at all improbable
that it was the Village garden, or at all
events received some tillage. But this
mode of life was after all not adapted to
the climate, and these emigrants eventual
ly succumbcd in the struggle for exist
ence. There is evidence of the better
adoption for such life in warmer climates,
from the fact of the longer continuance Of
the Village Indians in Mexico, and espe-
cially in Central America.