The Problem of the Ohio Mounds

e seen, conclusive that some of the t

o many corroborative facts that the question may be considered settled. These will shortly be

ther people, every fact indicating a similarity between the arts, customs, and social life of the mound-builders and those of the red Indians, is an evidence of the identity of

ks as being very significant, is the entire absence of any evidence in them of architectural knowledge and skill approa

fferences in the manifestations of architectural skill are so great, and the resemblances are so faint and few, as to furnish no grounds whatever for attributing the two classes of works to the same people. The facts that the works of the one people consist chief

who erected the earthen structures is to be found. The utmost they attained in this direction was the construction of stone cairus, rude stone-walls, and vaults of cobble-stones and undressed b

the houses of the mound- builders were constructed of perishable materials; consequently that the builders were not sufficiently advanced in art to use stone or brick in building, or else that they lived a roving, restless life that woul

orest region in which they dwelt. It is therefore apparent that in this respect at least the dwellings of mound-builders were similar to those of Indians. But this is not all that can be said in reference to the houses of the former, for there still remain indications of their shape and character, although no complete examples are left for inspection. In various places, especially in Tennessee, Illinois, and southeast Missouri, the sites of thousands of them are y

e and form; the numerous fragments of burnt clay forming a layer over the floor-often taken by explorers for brick-revealed the method of plastering their dwellings; the charred remains of grass and twigs showed that it had been strengthened by this admixture; the impressions left on the inner face of these lumps of burnt plastering revealed the character of the lathing, which was in some cases branches an

though usually varying from 4 to 8 inches) and broken into lumps, never in a uniform, unbroken layer; immediately below this (3) a thin layer of hardened muck o

ing statement by Dr. Edward P

d, and stamped, apparently, with an implement made of split reeds of comparatively large size. This layer was often a foot thick, and frequently burned to a brick-red or even to clinkers. Below this would be found more or less ashes, and

Palmer found in a broad platform like elevation not more than 3 feet high the remains of a house of this form which he traced by the burnt clay. The lines of the upright wal

ges was evidently at some height above the door, as I judge fro

f ashes 6 inches thick, and below this black loam. On these areas large trees were growing, one a poplar 3 feet in diameter. Below one

third of the same size immediately behind these two, were discovered in the same region by Colonel Norris. In

h split cane, plastered with clay both inside and out, which he found in a mound in southeastern Missouri. Colonel Norri

t is evident that the houses of the Indians occupying this region when fir

houses. In Iberville's Journal [Footnote: Relation in Margry, Deconvertes, 4th part (March, 1699), p. 170] it is stated that the cabins of the Bayogoulas were round, about 30 feet in di

ere square, with the roof dome-shaped, and that the walls were plastered with clay to the height of 12 feet

Footnote: Hist. La., vol. 2, French ed., 1758, pp. 173-175; English ed., 1764, p

o seek the trunks of young walnut trees of 4 inches in diameter and from 18 to 20 feet long; they plant the largest ones at the four corners to form the breadth and the dome; but before fixing the others they prepare the scaffolding; it consist

other; a young man then mounts to the end of one of the corner poles with a cord in his teeth; he fastens the cord to the pole, and as he mounts within, the pole bends, because those who are below draw the cord to bend the pole as much as is necessary; at the same time another young man fixes the pole of the opposite corner in the same way; the two poles being thus bent at a suitable height, they are fastened strongly and ev

thick; they leave no opening but the door, which is only 2 feet in width by 4 in height; there are some much smaller. They then cover the frame-work which

e grass is fastened with large canes, and splints, also of canes. When the cabin is covered with grass they cover all with a matting of canes well bound together, and at the bottom they make a ring of "bind-we

w that the remains found in the mounds of the South are precisely what would result from the

ith it the inference that works of the same type, for instance those of northern Ohio and eastern Michigan, are due to Indians. It is also admitted that the mounds

s often at war with each other are now too numerous and strong to be longer denied

beliefs as do those which relate to the disposal of their dead. By the modes adopted for such disposal, and the relics found in the receptacles of the dead, we are enabled not

ns when first encountered by the whites, as to leave little room for doubt regarding their identity. [Footnote: Evidence bearing on this point will be found in the paper on The Burial Mounds of the Northern Sections,

s in which resemblances a

ny different ways; their modes of sepulture were also quite varie

sonian Institution, 1879-'80 (1881), p. 93.] "has been that of interment in the ground, and this has taken place in a number of ways." The different ways h

the Indians were in vogue among the former. It was supposed for a long time that their chief and almost only place of depositing their dead was in

Mexicans, as the usual mode of disposing of the dead by the latter was cremation. [Footnote: Clavigero, Hist. Mex., Cullen's transl., I, 325; Torquemada, Mona

actice appears to have been followed quite

tent by the mound builders of various sec

their natural state. Instances of this kind are so numerous and well known that it is scarcely necessary to present any evidence in support of the statement. The well-known instance referred to by Jefferson in his "Notes on Virginia" [Footnote:

81, p. 636.] and Mr. Walker; [Footnote: Smithsonian Rept., 1879, p. 398] in Cass County, Ill., by Mr. Snyder; [Footnote: Smithsonian Rept., 1881, p. 573.] in Georgia, by C. C. Jones. [Footnote:

e by side, immediately beneath a layer of hard, mortar- like substance. The fact that this mortar had completely filled the interstices, and in many cases the skulls also, showed that it had been p

grown individual could not by any possible means be pressed into them, the bones of adult individuals

emoved, as the folding, to the extent noticed, could not possibly have been done with the flesh on them, and the positions in

shows that the fire was applied to the outside of the vault or above the clay layer, ca

among the mound builders in various se

comparatively modern date, to remove the flesh before final burial by suspending on scaffolds, depositing in

bones from the old burial place to a place of deposit in the country the

. 110.] The same custom is alluded to by Lafitau. [Footnote: Moeurs des Sauvages, vol. 2, pp. 420-435.] Bartram observed it among the Choctaws. [Footnote: Travels, p. 516.] It is also

e: February, 1884.] It is a well-attested historical fact that such was also the custom of the southern Indian tribes. Bartram affirms it to have been in vogue among the Muscogulgees or Creeks,[Footnote: Travels, p. 505.] and Barnard Romans says it was also practiced by the Chickasaws.[Footnote: Nat. Hist. Florida, p.

ts of the Bureau show that this custom prevailed to a certain extent in Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, and West Virginia. Instances have also been observed elsewhere. [Footnote: Jones's Antiq. So. Indians (Georgia and Florida). pp. 183-185.] That t

mounds as to lead to the supposition that the mound-builders were in the habit of offering human sacrifices to their deities. Although charred and even almost wholly consumed human bones are often found, showing that bodies o

mans, Nat. Hist. Florida, p. 90.] Breboeuf also mentions its use in connection with the communal burial of the Hurons. [Footnote: Jesuit Relations for 1636, p. 135.] According to M. B. Kent [Footnote: Yarrow's Mort. Cu

it was their custom to take from the bone- house the skeletons, with which they repaired in funeral procession to the suburbs of the town, where they placed them on the ground in one heap, together with the property of the dead, such as pots, bows, arrows, ornaments, curiously-shaped stones for dressing deer skins, and a variety of

om those made by the other. So true is this that our best and most experienced archaeologists make no attempt to separate them, except where the conditions under which they are found furnish evidence for discrimination. Instead of burdening these pages with proofs of these statements by reference to particular finds and authorities, I call attention to the work of Dr. C. C. Abbott on the handiwork in stone, bone, and clay of the native races of the northern Atlantic sea board of America, entitled "Primitive Industry." As the area embraced in this work, as remarked by its author, "does not include any t

he resemblance stop with types, but it is carried down to specific forms and finish, leaving absolutely no possible line of demarkation between these and the similar articles attributed to the mound-builders. So persistently true is this that had we stone articles alone to judge by, it is probable

20 by Caleb Atwater, who, knowing that the former were Indian manufactures, attributed the latter also to the same peopl

yond that reached by the Indians. The vase with a bird figure found by Squier and Davis in an Ohio mound is presented in most works on American archaeo

clay vessels fabricated at the Cahokia Creek were in every respect equal to those exhumed from the mounds of the Mississippi Valley, and Dr.

that name (Madison County, Ill.) he ascribes to Indian

424; Loskiel, Gesell. der Miss., p. 70, etc.] Du Pratz says that "the Natchez Indians make pots of an extraordinary size, cruses with a medium-sized opening, jars, bottles with long neck

ose colored or ornamented with red are often found in the mounds of the former sections. It is worthy of notice in this connection that the two localities-near Saint Genevieve, Mo., and near Shawneetown, Ill.-where so many fra

tery, especially that of Ohio, far excels that

anufacture have been found in mounds where their presence could not be attributed to intrusive burials, but the limits of the pap

works are attributable in part at least

herokees were mound-builders, and as having an important bearing upon both question