Chapter 1

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Transcriber's Note

A number of typographical errors and inconsistencies have been maintained in this version of this book. They have been marked with a [TN-#], which refers to a description in the complete list found at the end of the text. Oe ligatures have been expanded.

ANCIENT AMERICA, IN NOTES ON AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY.

BY JOHN D. BALDWIN, A.M., AUTHOR OF "PRE-HISTORIC NATIONS."

_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS._

NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by JOHN D. BALDWIN, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PREFACE.

The purpose of this volume is to give a summary of what is known of American Antiquities, with some thoughts and suggestions relative to their significance. It aims at nothing more. No similar work, I believe, has been published in English or in any other language. What is known of American Archaeology is recorded in a great many volumes, English, French, Spanish, and German, each work being confined to some particular department of the subject, or containing only an intelligent traveler's brief sketches of what he saw as he went through some of the districts where the old ruins are found. Many of the more important of these works are either in French or Spanish, or in great English quartos and folios which are not accessible to general readers, and not one of them attempts to give a comprehensive view of the whole subject.

Therefore I have prepared this work for publication, believing it will be acceptable to many who are not now much acquainted with the remains of Ancient America, and that some who read it may be induced to study the but as Ancient America covers all time previous to the discovery by Columbus, they may not be deemed out of place. Materials for the paper on "Antiquities of the Pacific Islands" came to me from the Pacific World while I was preparing the others. The discovery of the Pacific is so intimately connected with the discovery of America, that this paper would not be out of place even if the Mexican and Peruvian traditions did not mention that a foreign people communicated with the western coast of America in very ancient times.

WORCESTER, MASS., _November_, 1871.

CONTENTS.

Page I. ANCIENT AMERICA.--THE MOUND-BUILDERS 13 Works of the Mound-Builders 14 Extent of their Settlements 31 Their Civilization 33 Their Ancient Mining Works 43

II. ANTIQUITY OF THE MOUND-BUILDERS 47 How long were they here? 51

III. WHO WERE THE MOUND-BUILDERS? 57 Not Ancestors of the Wild Indians 58 Brereton's Story 62 American Ethnology 65 Who the Mound-Builders were 70

IV. MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 76 Their Northern Remains 77 The "Seven Cities of Cevola" 85 Central Mexico 89 The great Ruins at the South 93

V. MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 103 Palenque 104 Copan and Quiragua[TN-1] 111 Mitla 117 An Astronomical Monument 122 Ruins farther South 123 The Ruins in Yucatan 125 Mayapan 127 Uxmal 131 Kabah 137 Chichen-Itza 140 Other Ruins 144

VI. ANTIQUITY OF THE RUINS 151 Distinct Eras traced 155 Nothing perishable left 156 "The Oldest of Civilizations" 159 American Cities seen by Tyrians 161

VII. WHENCE CAME THIS CIVILIZATION? 165 The "Lost Tribes of Israel" 166 The "Malay" Theory 167 The Phoenician Theory 171 The "Atlantic" Theory 174 It was an original Civilization 184

VIII. AMERICAN ANCIENT HISTORY 187 The Old Books not all lost 189 The Ancient History sketched 197 The Toltecs our Mound-Builders 200 Some confirmation of the History 205

IX. THE AZTEC CIVILIZATION 207 The Discovery and Invasion 209 The City of Mexico 211 The Conquest 213 Who were the Aztecs? 216 They came from the South 217

X. ANCIENT PERU 222 The Spanish Hunt for Peru 223 The Ruins near Lake Titicaca 226 Other Ruins in Peru 237 The great Peruvian Roads 243 The Peruvian Civilization 246

XI. PERUVIAN ANCIENT HISTORY 257 Garcilasso's History 258 Fernando Montesinos 261 His Scheme of Peruvian History 264 Probabilities 268 Conclusion 272

APPENDIX 277 A. The Northmen in America 279 B. The Welsh in America 285 C. Antiquities of the Pacific Islands 288 D. Deciphering the Inscriptions 292

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page 1. Gateway at Labna _Frontispiece._ 2. Great Mound near Miamisburg 16 3. Square Mound near Marietta 18 4. Works at Cedar Bank, Ohio 19 5. Works in Washington County, Mississippi 20 6. Works at Hopeton, Ohio 22 7. Principal Figures of the Hopeton Works 23 8. Graded Way near Piketon, Ohio 25 9. Great Serpent Inclosure 29 10. Fortified Hill, Butler County, Ohio 30 11. Stone-work in Paint Creek Valley, Ohio 35 12. Work on North Fork of Paint Creek 36 13. Ancient Work, Pike County, Ohio 38 14. Work near Brownsville, Ohio 38 15. Works near Liberty, Ohio 39 16. Work in Randolph County, Indiana 40 17. } Vases from the Mounds 41 18. } 19. Ancient Mining Shaft 45 20. Pueblo Ruin at Pecos 80 21. Modern Zuni 81 22. Ruins in the Valley of the Gila 83 23. Pueblo Building restored 87 24. Ground Plan of the Building 88 25. Arch of Los[TN-2] Monjas, Uxmal 98 26. Arch most common in the Ruins 100 27. Casa No. 1, Palenque 107 28. Casa No. 2 (La Cruz), Palenque 108 29. Great Wall at Copan 112 30. Ruins at Mitla 116 31. Great Hall at Mitla 118 32. A ruined "Palace" at Mitla 119 33. Mosaic Decoration at Mitla 120 34. Great Mound at Mayapan 127 35. Circular Edifice at Mayapan 129 36. Casa del Gobernador, Uxmal 132 37. Ground Plan 132 38. Two-headed Figure at Uxmal 133 39. Decorations over Doorway, Uxmal 134 40. Ground Plan of Las Monjas, Uxmal 136 41. Ruined Arch at Kabah 139 42. Casa Colorada, Chichen-Itza 141 43. Great Stone Ring 143 44. Great Mound at Xcoch 145 45. Bottom of an Aguada 146 46. Subterranean Reservoir 147 47. Plan of the Walls of Tuloom 148 48. Watch-tower at Tuloom 149 49. Specimen of Inscriptions on Stone 190 50. Specimen of the Manuscript Writing 191 51. Ancient Masonry at Cuzco 227 52. Ruins of a "Temple" on the Island of Titicaca 228 53. Ruin on the Island of Titicaca 229 54. Ruin on the Island of Coati 231 55. Monolithic Gateway at Tiahuanaco 233 56. Remains of Fortress Walls at Cuzco 234 57. End View of Fortress Walls at Cuzco 235 58. End View of Walls at Gran-Chimu 238 59. } Decorations at Chimu-Canchu 238 60. } 61. Edifice at Old Huanuco 239 62. Ground Plan of the Edifice 240 63. "Look-out" at Old Huanuco 240 64. Ruins at Pachacamac 242 65. Peruvian Copper Knives 249 66. Copper Tweezers 249 67. Golden Vase of Ancient Peru 251 68. Ancient Peruvian Silver Vase 251 69. Ancient Peruvian Pottery 252 70. Ancient Peruvian Pottery 253

ANCIENT AMERICA.

I.

THE MOUND-BUILDERS.

One of the most learned writers on American antiquities, a Frenchman, speaking of discoveries in Peru, exclaims, "America is to be again discovered! We must remove the veil in which Spanish politics has sought to bury its ancient civilization!" In this case, quite as much is due to the ignorance, indifference, unscrupulous greed, and religious fanaticism of the Spaniards, as to Spanish politics. The gold-hunting marauders who subjugated Mexico and Peru could be robbers and destroyers, but they were not qualified in any respect to become intelligent students of American antiquity. What a select company of investigators, such as could be organized in our time, might have done in Mexico and Central America, for instance, three hundred and fifty years ago, is easily understood. In what they did, and in what they failed to do, the Spaniards who went there acted in strict accordance with such character as they had; and yet we are not wholly without obligation to some of the more intelligent Spaniards connected with the Conquest.

There are existing monuments of an American ancient history which invite study, and most of which might, doubtless, have been studied more successfully in the first part of the sixteenth century, before nearly all the old books of Central America had been destroyed by Spanish fanaticism, than at present. Remains of ancient civilizations, differing to some extent in degree and character, are found in three great sections of the American continent: the west side of South America, between Chili and the first or second degree of north latitude; Central America and Mexico; and the valleys of the Mississippi and the Ohio. These regions have all been explored to some extent--not completely, but sufficiently to show the significance and importance of their archaeological remains, most of which were already mysterious antiquities when the continent was discovered by Columbus. I propose to give some account of these antiquities, not for the edification of those already learned in American archaeology, but for general readers who have not made the subject a study. My sketches will begin with the Mississippi Valley and the regions connected with it.

THE MOUND-BUILDERS--THEIR WORKS.

An ancient and unknown people left remains of settled life, and of a certain degree of civilization, in the valleys of the Mississippi and its tributaries. We have no authentic name for them either as a nation or a race; therefore they are called "Mound-Builders," this name having been suggested by an important class of their works.

Prominent among the remains by which we know that such a people once inhabited that region are artificial mounds constructed with intelligence and great labor. Most of them are terraced and truncated pyramids. In shape they are usually square or rectangular, but sometimes hexagonal or octagonal, and the higher mounds appear to have been constructed with winding stairways on the outside leading to their summits. Many of these structures have a close resemblance to the _teocallis_ of Mexico. They differ considerably in size. The great mound at Grave Creek, West Virginia, is 70 feet high and 1000 feet in circumference at the base. A mound in Miamisburg, Ohio, is 68 feet high and 852 feet in circumference. The great truncated pyramid at Cahokia, Illinois, is 700 feet long, 500 wide, and 90 in height. Generally, however, these mounds range from 6 to 30 feet high. In the lower valley of the Mississippi they are usually larger in horizontal extent, with less elevation.

Figure 2 represents the great mound near Miamisburg, Ohio, which may be compared with a similar structure at Mayapan, Yucatan (Fig. 34). Figure 3 shows a square mound near Marietta, Ohio.

There have been a great many conjectures in regard to the purposes for which these mounds were built, some of them rather fanciful. I find it most reasonable to believe that the mounds in this part of the continent were used precisely as similar structures were used in Mexico and Central America. The lower mounds, or most of them, must have been constructed as foundations of the more important edifices of the mound-building people. Many of the great buildings erected on such pyramidal foundations, at Palenque, Uxmal, and elsewhere in that region, have not disappeared, because they were built of hewn stone laid in mortar. For reasons not difficult to understand, the Mound-Builders, beginning their works on the lower Mississippi, constructed such edifices of wood or some other perishable material; therefore not a trace of them remains. The higher mounds, with broad, flat summits, reached by flights of steps on the outside, are like the Mexican _teocallis_, or temples. In Mexico and Central America these structures were very numerous. They are described as solid pyramidal masses of earth, cased with brick or stone, level at the top, and furnished with ascending ranges of steps on the outside. The resemblance is striking, and the most reasonable explanation seems to be that in both regions mounds of this class were intended for the same uses. Figure 4 shows the works at Cedar Bank, Ohio, inclosing a mound. The mound within the inclosure is 245 feet long by 150 broad. Figure 5 shows a group of mounds in Washington County, Mississippi, some of which are connected by means of causeways.

Another class of these antiquities consists of inclosures formed by heavy embankments of earth and stone. There is nothing to explain these constructions so clearly as to leave no room for conjecture and speculation. It has been suggested that some of them may have been intended for defense, others for religious purposes. A portion of them, it may be, encircled villages or towns. In some cases the ditches or fosses were on the inside, in others on the outside. But no one can fully explain why they were made. We know only that they were prepared intelligently, with great labor, for human uses. "Lines of embankment varying from 5 to 30 feet in height, and inclosing from 1 to 50 acres, are very common, while inclosures containing from 100 to 200 acres are not infrequent, and occasional works are found inclosing as many as 400 acres." Figures 6 and 7 give views of the Hopeton works, four miles north of Chillicothe, Ohio. Combinations of the square and circle are common in these ancient works, and the figures are always perfect. This perfection of the figures proves, as Squier and Davis remark, that "the builders possessed a standard of measurement, and had a means of determining angles."

About 100 inclosures and 500 mounds have been examined in Ross County, Ohio. The number of mounds in the whole state is estimated at over 10,000, and the number of inclosures at more than 1500. The great number of these ancient remains in the regions occupied by the Mound-Builders is really surprising. They are more numerous in the regions on the lower Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico than any where else; and here, in some cases, sun-dried brick was used in the embankments.

One peculiarity at the South is, that while the inclosures are generally smaller and comparatively less numerous, there is a greater proportion of low mounds, and these are often larger in extent. Harrison Mound, in South Carolina, is 480 feet in circumference and 15 feet high. Another is described as 500 feet in circumference at the base, 225 at the summit, and 34 feet high. In a small mound near this, which was opened, there was found "an urn holding 46 quarts," and also a considerable deposit of beads and shell ornaments very much decomposed. Broad terraces of various heights, mounds with several stages, elevated passages, and long avenues, and aguadas or artificial ponds, are common at the South. Figure 8 shows the remains of a graded way of this ancient people near Piketon, Ohio.

At Seltzertown, Mississippi, there is a mound 600 feet long, 400 wide, and 40 feet high. The area of its level summit measures 4 acres. There was a ditch around it, and near it are smaller mounds. Mr. J. R. Bartlett says, on the authority of Dr. M. W. Dickeson, "The north side of this mound is supported by a wall of sun-dried brick two feet thick, filled with grass, rushes, and leaves." Dr. Dickeson mentions angular tumuli, with corners "still quite perfect," and "formed of large bricks bearing the impression of human hands." In Louisiana, near the Trinity, there is a great inclosure partially faced with sun-dried bricks of large size; and in this neighborhood ditches and artificial ponds have been examined. In the Southern States these works appear to assume a closer resemblance to the mound work of Central America.

The result of intelligent exploration and study of these antiquities is stated as follows: "Although possessing throughout certain general points of resemblance going to establish a kindred origin, these works nevertheless resolve themselves into three grand geographical divisions, which present in many respects striking contrasts, yet so gradually merge into each other that it is impossible to determine where one series terminates and another begins." On the upper lakes, and to a certain extent in Michigan, Iowa, and Missouri, but particularly in Wisconsin, the outlines of the inclosures (elsewhere more regular in form) were designed in the forms of animals, birds, serpents, and even men, appearing on the surface of the country like huge _relievos_. The embankment of an irregular inclosure in Adams County, Ohio, is described as follows by Squier and Davis, Mr. Squier having made the drawing of it for the work published by the Smithsonian Institution:

"It is in the form of a serpent, upward of 1000 feet in length, extended in graceful curves, and terminating in a triple coil at the tail. The embankment constituting this figure is more than 5 feet high, with a base 30 feet wide at the centre of the body, diminishing somewhat toward the head and tail. The neck of the figure is stretched out and slightly curved. The mouth is wide open, and seems in the act of swallowing or ejecting an oval figure which rests partly within the distended jaws. This oval is formed by an embankment 4 feet high, and is perfectly regular in outline, its transverse and conjugate diameters being respectively 160 and 80 feet. The combined figure has been regarded as a symbolical illustration of the Oriental cosmological idea of the serpent and the egg; but, however this may be, little doubt can exist of the symbolical character of the monument."

Figure 9 gives a view of this work.

No symbolic device is more common among the antiquities of Mexico and Central America than the form of the serpent, and it was sometimes reproduced in part in architectural constructions. One of the old books, giving account of a temple dedicated to Quetzalcohuatl, says, "It was circular in form, and the entrance represented the mouth of a serpent, opened in a frightful manner, and extremely terrifying to those who approached it for the first time."