Mexico weekly ledger., 1876-11-09
The MOund-B Builders.

lAC1O olO Ill Dh0p fISAhAOy
mounds belonging to the class which
recent archaeological investigation has
referred to that mysterious race which
inhabited the central portion OF North
America long before the present 'aborig-
ines obtained. foothold here. Select
ing the largest of these mounds, the ex-
plorers dug a trench from its outer
edge to the center, thirty feet long, five
feet wide, and at the center attaining. a
depth of ten feet. About a foot from
the bottom, at the deepest part of the
excavation, a layer of ashes and decay
ed wood was laid bare. A few inches
below this was a hard deposit resem-
bling mortar, and beneath were found
the remains of four adults and two
children. That they belonged to the
race of Mound builders is inferred from
the fact that there had previously been
exhumed, only eighteen inches below
the surface, a complete Indian skele-
ton. The other, and vastly more inn
portant, relics were eight and a half
feet lower down. The first OF
these, the skeleton of a man, lay
with the head to the west in q reclining
position. At the knees, near each hand,
were two ornaments, composed of the
teeth of some wild animal, about four
inches long, and having holes bored
through for the string which attached
them to the wrists. Close by was the
skull, but so badly decayed IS to pre-
vent removal. A little to the south OF
the skull were four perfect arrow-heads,
as clearly cut as if the work had been
done by the best modern machinery.
- 1900 --I ..nIan III oh0y,lInsr
were 20 beads, manufactured from
small shells, and perforated, so as to be
worn as a necklace. Evidently this was
the skeleton of some famous parsonage,
for among the bones of the five others
no ornaments whatever were found.
The chiefs companions were arranged
about him in the west, northwest and
east. In the jaw-bone of n was a part
ly developed wisdom-tooth, and most
| of the jaw-bones and teeth were in good
preservation.
We have characterized the Mound
builders as ga mysterious race" but
they are as wonderful as mysterious.
The traces they have left behind in the
West and Northwest are entirely
unique; nothing at all resembling them
having as yet been discovered in the
Eastern hemisphere. Fort Hill, in
Ohio, is surrounded by a wall and ditch
q mile and a half long-part Of the ditch
being cut through solid rock. Within
the wall are skillfullv constructed reser-
yoirs for water, and at one end is n sort
of citadel with independent fortifica-
tons and water-supply. Clark's Work,
in Scioto Valley, Ohio, appears TO have
been a fortified town, inclosing 127
acres, having three miles of embank-
ments estimated to contain 5000, 900
cubic feet of earth. At Newark, Ohio,
an area of several miles is literally
covered with connected groups of
circles. octagons, squares, ellipses and
avenues, formed by entertainments
twenty or thirty feet in height. Ac-
curate survey has shown that these
enormous geometrical figures are abso-
lutely correct in their outline, though
the sides Of some of the squares meas
ure a thousand feet, and the diameter
of the circles a third of a mile. In 9TH
er States, more particularly Wisconsin,
these earthworks are in the shape of
gigantic animals, following nature as
closely rs the geometrical figures do
science. The length of time and in
dustry required to execute the task I'M
dertaken by the Mound builders may be
remotely guessed at when it is known
that in Ohio alone there are between
| eleven and twelve Thousand of these
monuments of an extinct people-many
of them of the largest and most ella
boTate kind.
Unfortunately, though the graves of
the Mound builders are not ~unfrequent-
ly discovered, as in the instance above
mentioned, only a few skulls sufficient
" undecayed to permit careful scien-
tific examination have as yet been OBJ
tanned. The possessor of one of the
few describes it as ga beautiful skull,
worthy of a Greek" The Milton
mound seems to have contained moth
ing of special importance, but in others
have been found bones and copper
tools and ornaments, some fine speci-
mems of pottery and, most interesting
and important of all, sculptured stone
heads, evidently drawn from originals.
Mr.. Alfred Russell Wallace, from
whose address to the British Associa-
ton for the Advancement of Science,
recently in session at Glasgow, we have
borrowed literally, says of these heads:
AhCy PiCoCuo W US tnC 1cdbu16S VI
an Intellectual and civilized people.
The ose in some is perfectly straight,
and neither prominent nor dilated; the
mouth is small and the lips thin the
chin and upper lip are short, contrast
ing with the %ponderous jaw of the
modern Indian, while the cheek-bones
present no marked prominence. Other
examples have the nose somewhat pro-
jecting at the apex, in a manner quite
unlike the features of any American in
digines."
Mr.. Wallace further remarks ssthat
when North America was first settled
by the Europeans, the Indian tribes in
habiting it had no knowledge or ira
dition of any preceding ace of higher
civilization than themselves" This
well known fact, taken in connection
with others, has been made the basis of
many ingenious theories concerning the