Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-03-03
MOUND BUILDERS
MYSTERY DEEPENS
Scientists Discover Remains in
Missouri Valley of Van
ished Race.
LIVED IN ARTIFICIAL CAVES
People Apparently Cracked HUI
man Bones in Order to Ex-
tract Marrow.
LIVED IN ARTIFICIAL CAVES
nY GARRETT r.. sI:wyIss.

It IS evident That The stor. Of ancient
America viii hive TO be entirely re-
written. VIII The first Europeans ar
rived here the great cXp.rse OF North
America was thiniy peop!cd with scat
tered tribes o. rcd men. who had no
history and only the vaguest tradt-
lions concerning their origin. But
when white men began take up
the study OF the prehistory OF this
continent. concerning Which it's red
skinned possessors we're SO ignorant,
they soon began TO unclrrh strange
mysteries.
First among these were the remark
able renar.s OF the mound builders"
SUCH as the great carthen forts OF the
Mississippi Valley and the extraordi-
nary Serpent mound" in ohio. Marks
Of race about whom the Indians
knew nothing we're found nearly every
where from the Lakes to the Gulf OF
Mexico. and in tho graves were dis
covered articles of copper and other
evidences that the vanished people had
possessed a crude knowledge OF metal
working and the beginnings of art
At first theory prevailed that the
people who had left these marks OF
their presence were members of a race
superior to tho rcd men aud long an
| tcdating them in time Various the
cries were invented as to their place
OF origin. and almost invariably tho
supposition adopted was that they had
come from some part OF tho old world
For long time 1t was widely be-
level that the mound builders" OF
North America had come from Mexico
ana Central t:n"rica. being driven
North by the rise o; tho rlcrciless and
warlike Aztccs. who bad nourishin:-
en- miro" in MrXic" IN tho early part
of the sixteenth century. when Cortcz.
with his mail-clad Spanish warriors,
descended upon them.
But aftcrvard there arose n ten
dcncy to ccn:iHcr The Good OF invasion
as having flowed from ',c Nnrth rath-
er than the South while tho mound
builders" were set down as nothing
more than the ancestors. 4 few CEN
turtles back, of the rcd men themselves.
INTERESTING: DISCOVERIES
ADD 10 MYSTERY
But n satisfactory solution of the
mystery was never obtained 1t was
tclt that there was wonderful chap
ter Of human history buried under the
soil of North America written in arch
deciphcr. And nov comes, ~ the same
line, q deepening OF the nystcry. to.
Scthcr with Wealth OF ncw and sur
prisins facts which may lead to it's (
solution.
These facts are the fruit Of investi-
gat!cns made by and under the direc-
ton Of Or. f.. y. Stearns. OF the Pea
body Museum OF Boston. and Or. Il. T..
Glider, OF the University of Nebraska
They have found remains. including
skulls. articles Of pottery, stone i'm
PIGMENTS and carved hustS and figures
in soaps,one and ;crracot;a left by
what appears TO have been race OF
cave-dweilers living in the Missouri
Valley unknown thousands OF years ago
1t may be 1000 and it may be 1000
or 5000
SCIENTISTS RECONSTRUCT
FACES FROM SKULLS
While in some ways these people
seem 20 have had more or less resem-
blance TO the inhabitants of ancient
Mexico and Hrcatan, yet they also pre-
sent type OF head and face that is
strikinGiy original, as may be seen
from the busts that have been in
Een!ousiy reconstructed upon tho
framework OF their skulls at the Uni
Versity or Nebraska This process OF
restoring the faces OF vanished race
by hlling ont. on scientific principles
the gaps left by the disappearance of
the flesh. is one OF the most inter
esting OF recent developments of
archaeology.
1t has been found possible by means
OF great number OF minute measure
ments. 10 determine with much exact
ness the outline ana thickness %of the
heshy covering characteristics OF faces
or different types. and the results of
the application OF this system in tho
ease OF the mysterious cave jewellers
or Missouri are startling. The behcIder
seeming 10 be looking into the very
countenances OF that ancient. people.
CAVES ALWAYS BUELT
EXACTLY ALIKE
The caves that they inhabited. as far
rs 1T present known. were artificially
constructed. ard rcrnarkrtla for their
strict uniformity OF size and outline
Thcy we're sunk 10 4 deo'h OF five to
seven feet aud were always perfect
roctanGles, twenty by forty feet. and
carefully cricntCl to tie cardinal
points" showing that the builder has
sufficient astronomical knowledge to
contro' their operations with it's aid.
In che corner OF the cave was cx-
caNated bottle shape cavity about
four feet deep. and storpered with
burnt clay. The walls OF tnese cavities
were so skillfully calcined with fire.
and the nccks were so carefully closed
that The interiors are now found per-
fectly dry. with their contents we'll
preserved. In these places most of the
skulls. bones. beads. pottcrics and min.
ute carved busts representing men or
idols. arc found.
INDICATIONS FOUND TUAr
PEOPLE WE'RE CANNIBALS
One OF tho most surprising discoy-
cries about those people ~ that they
appear to have been canniba.s. Around
tho sites OF their fires arc found rude
stone anvils, and stone hammers. to-
- 11Son fInIIni q !, 1rsI- 81 % 1919 So