CHAPTER IV.

ANCIENT INDIAN MOUNDS AND EARTHWORKS IN OHIO.

Earthworks of the Mound Builders and their geographical position. — Miamisburgh Mound. — Grave Creek Mound. — Ages and contents of burial mounds. — Rectangular, circular and octagonal Inclosures near Newark. — Marietta Earthworks. — Discoveries made in a burial mound. — Fortifications near Portsmouth. — Encampments in the valley of the Scioto.

The great earthworks in Ohio are the subject of much antiquarian interest and conjecture. Several surveys of them have been made for the purpose of ascertaining their purpose and the probable period of their construction, but nothing definite has yet been determined.

In considering the various theories respecting the migrations of the aboriginal tribes, it is strange that traces of the same kind of encampments have not been found either in the North-West towards Asia, or in the southern parts of the valley of the Mississippi. It is difficult to understand how it happens that these works only occur within a comparatively confined region. Their actual geographical limits are contained within an area bounded approximately, towards the South, by the left bank of the river Ohio, from the neighbourhood of Cincinnati towards the West, to Wheeling towards the East, and not extending northwards beyond a line drawn from East to West through the centre of Ohio.

Consequently it will be seen, upon making a reference to the map, that the works of the people called the Mound Builders, are situated within the southern division of the State including both banks of the Ohio river. These were their extreme limits, but the part of the country chiefly occupied by them has a much lesser area.

It is evident from the positions of the earthworks, that the tribes which raised them thought it necessary to maintain their communications by water with the valley of the Ohio, and on the banks of that river they had several important fortifications or encampments. It is, however, upon the banks of the tributaries that fall into the Ohio from the North, that their settlements were most numerous, especially upon the Scioto, the Muskinghum and the streams entering those rivers near Newark and Chillicothe.

The first earthwork that I visited was the great mound of Miamisburgh, which is situated upon the summit of high ground overlooking the valley of the Little Miami river. It was opened and examined in 1869, a few months before I saw it. In appearance and shape it resembled the largest of the Tumuli that were raised upon the plains of Troy, but the dimensions of this American mound are much greater. It is sixty-eight feet high, and has a circumference at the base of about eight hundred and thirty feet.

A perpendicular shaft was sunk from the centre of the summit to the centre of the base, and two horizontal shafts were made, one at eighteen feet, and another at thirty-six feet respectively. At a depth of four feet from the top, there was a layer of wood ashes. At eight feet there was discovered a skeleton and some decayed wood. At fifteen feet there was a layer of charcoal and lime. At the depth of twenty-four feet a singular construction was found. It consisted of an upright stone, standing upon two flat stones, together with a number of rounded water-worn stones. With these there was some closely pressed material, looking like a kind of cloth made from wood fibre. Upon reaching the depth of thirty feet, there was discovered a quantity of charcoal and ashes. Six feet below this was a hollow space and, from the character of the contents within, it was supposed that there must have been a vault there, which had been surrounded and covered with logs of wood. At the base of the mound there was a large quantity of charcoal.

Before the tumulus was opened, it had been conjectured that it was raised by the Indians for the purposes of observation. It is situated at the extreme western limit of the territories of the Mound Builders, and at a considerable distance from any of their other earthworks. The other great burial mound was placed in a similar manner beyond the eastern boundary at the confluence of a small stream called the Grave Creek with the Ohio, near Wheeling. On my way there by the river, I passed the mouths of the Scioto and Muskinghum, and the towns of Portsmouth and Marietta,[13] where are the remains of extensive encampments.

The Grave Creek Mound is similar to that at Miamisburgh, but it is, in all its measurements, rather larger and rises to a height of seventy feet. In the early part of the present century, some slight excavations were made upon the slopes, and it was then ascertained that numerous skeletons were buried there.

In the year 1838, a more thorough system of examination was adopted. A shaft was carried through horizontally from the surface of the ground at the base to the centre. Then a perpendicular shaft was sunk from the centre of the summit to the base, connecting these with the passage already opened. At three feet from the summit there was found a skeleton in a complete state of decay. Thirty-two feet lower down, there was a small vault or structure of logs of wood, within which was another skeleton also decayed. At the base there was a larger vault, containing two skeletons which were in a sufficiently well preserved condition to enable them, subsequently, to be exhibited. These skeletons were found to be partly enveloped in a fibrous material, and they were placed within a structure, formed by a number of upright logs of wood, covered by other similar logs placed horizontally. Upon the top of this roof there had been piled a small heap of stones.

The excavation of the horizontal shaft, near the surface, disclosed a very singular system of burial.

Dr. Clemens,[14] in his account of this operation, states that at a distance of twelve or fifteen feet were found masses of a substance composed of charcoal and burnt bones, and also that when enlarging the lower vault, in which were the two skeletons, ten more skeletons were discovered, all of them in a sitting posture, but in a state so fragile as to defy all attempts to preserve them. In this lower vault there were six hundred and fifty beads made of shell and perforated in the centre. In the smaller vault above, in which was the single skeleton, there were seventeen hundred shell beads, about one hundred and fifty small plates of mica perforated at their sides and corners, five hundred marine shells and five copper bands or bracelets which were placed on the bones of the arms.

There was a tree growing upon the top of the mound which interfered with the operations. Dr. Clemens stated that it was two-and-a-half feet in diameter, and had three hundred growths from centre to circumference. Some years earlier another oak which had become decayed was cut down by the proprietor, who said that he had counted upon it nearly five hundred annual rings. The number of rings in the trunk of a tree, growing upon any part of the mound, gives clear evidence upon the question of its least age, and therefore it may be assumed that the date of the completion of the burial mound cannot be later than the fourteenth century. It is, however, possible that there may have been several successive growths of trees on the slopes, and in that case it may have been raised at some earlier period. The Miamisburgh mound, at the time when I saw it, was covered with trees, none of which appeared to be of great age. They must have been preceded by other growths.

The nature of the ornaments buried with the skeletons in the Grave Creek mound, seems to prove that there must have been communications between these Ohio races, and the tribes dwelling to the South of the Mississippi valley,[15] for the small sea shells were considered to be of the same kind as those seen on the beaches in Florida. The glittering flat slabs of mica, which hung over the breast, either as ornaments or marks of distinction, were similar to those discovered in burial mounds in the Iroquois country, near Lake Ontario. The copper bracelets were of rude workmanship, and were probably hammered into their shape from lumps of native copper. Similar bracelets have been found in some smaller burial mounds in other parts of Ohio. Those examined by me were made in the most rough and simple manner. The copper seems to have been beaten out into the required lengths, and then bent over to form the bracelets. The shapes resembled the bangles made in Hindostan and Persia.

There are circumstances with respect to the manner of burial by the Mound Builders which require to be noticed. It seems from the evidence of the various excavations that have been made, that it was frequently the custom to construct in the centre of the spot intended to be a burial place, a vault surrounded by upright logs of wood. In this was put the earliest burial, which was probably that of a chief. This vault was then covered with a roof of logs, and over it was piled a heap of stones. Other mounds were added in the course of time, and were placed on the surface of the ground in a circle surrounding the vault. This system of placing mounds was then continued in circles, one outside the other, until the space or area intended to be occupied was filled up. The later interments were probably made successively one above the other, until the tumulus was completed. The time that would elapse before a tribe had raised such a high mound as that at the Grave Creek, would necessarily be very long.

In the town of Newark, situated in a part of the country which appears to have been much occupied by the races that built the ancient earthworks, a very interesting collection of local antiquities had been brought together. Amongst the various relics discovered in the mounds were, stone axes and chisels, quantities of rude coarse pottery, many shell beads, and some copper bracelets.

Dr. Wilson, who was a resident in the neighbourhood, and took much personal interest in antiquarian investigations, told me he had observed that the larger burial places seemed to have been raised gradually, and at intervals. He had formed the opinion that the Indians usually traced upon the surface of the ground the outer base of the tumulus. Within the inclosed space a number of skeletons were then laid and covered over with layers of earth or small mounds. Over these, after a certain time had elapsed, more skeletons were placed and similarly covered. This system of burial was continued until the mound was completed. There were evidences of a great burning having taken place upon the top of every successive series of burials. The nature of the contents of such of the smaller mounds as had been opened varied in many respects. In some instances nothing was found except ashes and broken pottery. In others were skeletons together with stone pipes, chisels made of hard greenstone, flint arrow heads, bone awls and numerous beads. There were also occasionally found a few rudely made copper rings. In a mound which was supposed to be a child’s grave, a necklace of beads, strung upon a kind of fibre, was placed round the neck of the skeleton.

There was a large cairn, above forty feet in height, placed a few miles south of the town, which was destroyed about the middle of the present century in order to obtain materials for constructing a portion of the banks of a canal. When the stones were removed, fifteen small mounds composed of earth were discovered ranged in a circle at some distance from the centre, and near the outer part of the base. There was also a central mound which contained a quantity of human bones. In one of the outer mounds the explorers saw a hollow wooden trough, in which was a skeleton and several rings made of copper. I examined some fragments of this trough that were preserved in the Museum. The wood was black and very hard. It was considered that the mounds beneath the cairn contained earth that must have been brought from a distance. This singular fact is in accordance with what has been observed in other Indian works, and probably has a special significance.

Judging from the character of the relics that have been discovered in the Ohio mounds,[16] it does not appear that there is any reason to justify the conclusion that the Mound Builders differed in their condition of civilisation from the other Indian tribes. The consideration of this subject has been made perplexing in consequence of the existence of the numerous burial places of the tribes who were settled in this region after the arrival of the Europeans. In several mounds were found gunbarrels, silver crosses and other objects which are undoubtedly of foreign workmanship. The crosses were usually placed upon the breasts of the skeletons, and from this circumstance it is probable that they belonged to Indians who had been converted by the French missionaries.

After I had seen the principal burial places of the Mound Builders, I proceeded to look at the largest and most important group of that class of earthworks, which were considered by Messrs. Squier and Davis, who surveyed them in 1845, to have been raised for the purpose of religious ceremonial, and who accordingly called them sacred inclosures. It has also been conjectured that they may have been fortified camps.

They are situated a few miles from Newark, upon a slightly elevated plain, about forty feet above a river now called the Licking Creek. Upon two sides of them there are smaller streams, respectively named, South Fork and Racoon Creek: thus the camps are surrounded on three sides by water. The site chosen by the Indians was well adapted for the purpose of defence, when the habits or requirements of the tribes were such as to make it desirable for them to establish their dwelling places as near as possible to a river. The inclosures are designed with skill, and their construction must have involved arduous and long continued labour, which was probably executed in consequence of the apprehension of serious danger from the attacks of enemies. Upon an examination of their formation, it becomes evident that the men who traced the lines of the embankments, followed clear and well-defined rules.

As these earthworks are, with respect to their principles of construction, the most remarkable of their kind in North America, it is expedient to investigate their plans with careful attention. The inclosure, which is marked A on the annexed ground plan, consists of a large octagonal work connected with a smaller circular work. The octagon contains an area of about forty acres, surrounded by an embankment whose existing average height slightly exceeds five feet. There are eight entrances or gateways placed at equal distances from each other. They are guarded by mounds, made sufficiently wide to extend a little beyond the width of the openings and thus cover the approach. These mounds are of the same height as the ramparts, and are placed within them. They were made flat upon the top, and possibly the platform thus made was useful for defensive operations.

At one end of the inclosure the ramparts leave the octagon, and form two parallel banks leading into the circle B. This approach is nearly one hundred yards long and about fifteen yards wide. At its termination the banks turn to the right and left, and form a circular work containing an area of twenty acres. At the outer edge of the circle and opposite to the entrance, is placed a large flat-topped mound, attached to, but outside the general line of the banks. This mound, according to my measurements, was twelve feet in perpendicular height, and had a platform on its summit which was about one hundred and eighty feet long by thirty feet wide. In consequence of being several feet higher than the embankments and outside their line, it commands the approaches to that part of the inclosure. There is no exterior or interior ditch to either of these works.

From the central, or eastern opening of the octagon a long low line of parallel embankments connect it with another group of earthworks which, in the plan, is marked C. The inclosure has been, in many parts, destroyed or levelled, but it is possible to trace its original form. It appears to have been an exact square, containing an area of twenty acres. This square is connected with the circular work D by parallel banks in the same manner as the octagon is joined to the circle B, but they are of greater length and magnitude. At the entrance, where the banks diverge outwards and begin to form the curve of the circle, they rise to a height exceeding fifteen feet.

The appearance of these great avenues of approach, and the inclosing banks, covered with forest trees, is very impressive, and it can be well understood why it has been thought probable that the circular work was raised for the purpose of performing religious or sacrificial ceremonies. With respect to that opinion it should be observed that, in this particular instance, the theory that the lofty banks were intended as a fortification is to some extent doubtful, because it happens that the ditch is placed within the ramparts. This method of defence is unquestionably opposed to all the rules of European fortification. Possibly in the systems of Indian warfare where stockades were generally used, and sometimes placed on the sides of sloping banks, an inner ditch may have been considered more capable of defence than one placed externally.

The inclosure, like that at B, is in the shape of a circle. It contains an area of about twenty-six acres. The ramparts have an average height of nearly twelve feet, and the depth of the ditch is over nine feet. At that part of the work which is near the entrance, the dimensions are, however, of still greater importance, and the perpendicular height measured from the bottom of the ditch exceeds twenty-eight feet. The length of the inner slope may be estimated as being about forty-two feet. In the centre of the inclosure, there is a low heap of earth and stones which, in consequence of its shape, has received the name of the eagle mound. It is not improbable that this was the spot where, after the Indians returned from their wars, their prisoners were tied to a stake, then tortured, and burnt in accordance with the usual customs, and war dances with other savage ceremonies, were performed in the presence of the women and children assembled around.

When taking into consideration the various circumstances which are apparent in the[17]Newark inclosures, particular attention should be given to the fact that their ground plans are geometrical figures. Thus the circle B is accurately traced. D has some small difference in the lengths of its diameters, but is very nearly a true circle. The square has its four sides equal, and all its angles are right angles. The octagon is carefully laid down, and its angles are almost mathematically correct.

The plans and measurements are evidences of the existence of mental capacities which were far in advance of those of the present Indian races, who are remarkable for their extreme indifference to all ideas of regularity of form, and who have not, and never could have had, the slightest acquaintance with the rules of geometry.

The Licking river, after passing these inclosures, finally enters the Muskinghum, and the Muskinghum falls into the Ohio. The confluence takes place near the town of Marietta, where there are groups of earthworks which, in many respects, resemble those at Newark, and some of the areas were equal. The positions for the inclosures were evidently chosen upon similar principles. They were upon a comparatively elevated plateau, and had direct communication with the river.

In the early part of the present century some discoveries were made, which were considered to be of the utmost importance. It was thought that they had a direct bearing upon the question of the civilisation and antiquity of the Mound Builders, and a letter, written by Dr. Hildreth, has been acknowledged to be a very important contribution to the evidence upon these subjects.[18]

The letter ran as follows:-

“Marietta, July 19th, 1819.

“In removing the earth which composed an ancient mound in one of the streets of Marietta, on the margin of the plain, near the fortifications, several curious articles were discovered the latter part of June last. They appear to have been buried with the body of the person to whose memory this mound was erected.

“Lying immediately over, or on the forehead of the body, were found three large circular bosses, or ornaments for a sword belt, or a buckler; they are composed of copper, overlaid with a thick plate of silver. The fronts of them are slightly convex, with a depression, like a cup, in the centre, and measure two inches and a quarter across the face of each. On the back side, opposite the depressed portion, is a copper rivet or nail, around which are two separate plates, by which they were fastened to the leather. Two small pieces of the leather were found lying between the plates of one of the bosses; they resemble the skin of an old mummy, and seem to have been preserved by the salts of the copper. The plates of copper are nearly reduced to an oxyde, or rust. The silver looks quite black, but is not much corroded, and on rubbing, it becomes quite brilliant. Two of these are yet entire; the third one is so much wasted, that it dropped in pieces on removing it from the earth. Around the rivet of one of them is a small quantity of flax or hemp, in a tolerable state of preservation. Near the side of the body was found a plate of silver which appears to have been the upper part of a sword scabbard; it is six inches in length and two inches in breadth, and weighs one ounce; it has no ornaments or figures, but has three longitudinal ridges, which probably corresponded with edges, or ridges of the sword; it seems to have been fastened to the scabbard by three or four rivets, the holes of which yet remain in the silver.

“Two or three broken pieces of a copper tube, were also found, filled with iron rust. These pieces, from their appearance, composed the lower end of the scabbard, near the point of the sword. No sign of the sword itself was discovered, except the appearance of rust above mentioned.

“Near the feet, was found a piece of copper, weighing three ounces. From its shape it appears to have been used as a plumb, or for an ornament, as near one of the ends is a circular crease, or groove, for tying a thread; it is round, two inches and a half in length, one inch in diameter at the centre, and half-an-inch at each end. It is composed of small pieces of native copper, pounded together; and in the cracks between the pieces, are stuck several pieces of silver; one nearly the size of a four-penny piece, or half a dime. This copper ornament was covered with a coat of green rust, and is considerably corroded. A piece of red ochre, or paint, and a piece of iron ore, which has the appearance of having been partially vitrified, or melted, were also found. The ore is about the specific gravity of pure iron.

“The body of the person here buried, was laid on the surface of the earth, with his face upwards, and his feet pointing to the north-east, and head to the south-west. From the appearance of several pieces of charcoal, and bits of partially burnt fossil coal, and the black colour of the earth, it would appear that the funeral obsequies had been celebrated by fire; and while the ashes were yet hot and smoking, a circle of flat stones had been laid around and over the body. The circular covering is about eight feet in diameter, and the stones yet look black, as if stained by fire and smoke. This circle of stones seems to have been the nucleus on which the mound was formed, as immediately over them is heaped the common earth of the adjacent plain, composed of a clayey sand and coarse gravel. This mound must originally have been about ten feet high, and thirty feet in diameter at its base. At the time of opening it, the height was six feet, and diameter between thirty and forty. It has every appearance of being as old as any in the neighbourhood, and was, at the first settlement of Marietta, covered with large trees, the remains of whose roots were yet apparent in digging away the earth. It also seems to have been made for this single personage, as the remains of one skeleton only were discovered. The bones were much decayed, and many of them crumbled to dust on exposure to the air. From the length of some of them, it is supposed the person was about six feet in height.

“Nothing unusual was discovered in their form, except that those of the skull were uncommonly thick. The situation of the mound on high ground, near the margin of the plain, and the porous quality of the earth, are admirably calculated to preserve any perishable substance from the certain decay which would attend it in many other situations. To these circumstances, is attributed the tolerable state of preservation in which several of the articles above described were found, after lying in the earth for several centuries. We say _centuries_, from the fact that trees were found growing on those ancient works, whose ages were ascertained to amount to between four and five hundred years each, by counting the concentric circles in the stumps after the trees were cut down; and on the ground, besides them, were other trees in a state of decay, that appeared to have fallen from old age.”

It should be observed with reference to the statements made in the above letter, that the age of the trees, said to have been estimated by the early settlers at Marietta, has generally been accepted as being correct, and based upon direct and accurate evidence. Consequently it would be necessary to admit that the earthworks were raised at some period before the fifteenth century.

Passing from the question of this date, as calculated by the annular rings counted upon the trees, to the subject of the contents of the burial mound which was excavated in the presence of Dr. Hildreth; the problem that has chiefly to be solved is the age of the silver-plated ornaments. It is difficult to fix the time when these were made, but judging from the sketches of them, as published in the account of these discoveries, the ornaments appear to have been such as would have been placed upon the sword belt and scabbard of a European officer of rank.

When the inclosures and their ramparts were for the first time surveyed and described in the year 1805, it was observed that there were parallel passages or protected ways leading from the larger of the forts down to the river. These appear to correspond with the parallels that can still be traced at Newark, and which also lead to the river. Those at Marietta were however more remarkable, because, in order to obtain the gradual approach which was required, it was necessary, apparently, to excavate the river bank in such a manner as to make a sunken road. A conveniently sloped communication with the water was thus constructed. It is probable that at the river side where the protecting embankments terminated, a fleet of canoes was kept ready for use or escape.

The next confluence of rivers below Marietta, occurs at the point where the Scioto falls into the Ohio. Near the spot where the town of Portsmouth is now situated, are traces of an extensive series of low embankments which seem to have been made for temporary entrenchments. On the opposite or south bank of the river, there was an inclosure constructed in the shape of a square, each of the sides being eight hundred feet long; the area inclosed was nearly fifteen acres. The embankments were over twelve feet high: and there was no ditch.

This fort was brought into especial notice in consequence of a strange discovery. A large number of iron pickaxes, shovels and gunbarrels were found buried in the ramparts. It has been conjectured that they were hidden there by the French soldiers when they retreated down the Ohio after the capture of Fort Du Quesne[19] by the British forces in the year 1758. The Indian fortifications on the banks of that river were placed upon the direct line of the communication with the other French forts in the valley of the Mississippi and Louisiana. In the ordinary course of events they would probably have been used by the French and their Indian allies, when they happened to be in their neighbourhood.

The valley of the river Scioto above Portsmouth, towards Chillicothe, was evidently much frequented by the Indians, who dwelt in inclosures resembling in their formation the square and circular works at Newark, although the embankments were of smaller dimensions. A brief description of one of them as it existed when first surveyed, is sufficient to give a knowledge of the usual plans of these encampments. It was situated on the left bank of a tributary of the Scioto, called Paint Creek.

There was a square inclosure, each of whose sides was one thousand and eighty feet in length. Attached to this square, which contained an area of twenty-seven acres, was a large circular inclosure having a diameter of about seventeen hundred feet. This circle had another smaller work connected with it which was also circular, and had a diameter of eight hundred feet. The embankments of all these inclosures were low, and did not anywhere exceed five feet in height. The position of the gateways and the mounds protecting them was the same as in the octagonal work at Newark. The large circle had an opening into it leading out of the square, and the small circle had also one opening which connected it with the other.

This part of Ohio was, in the eighteenth century, occupied by settlements of the Shawnee tribes. In several of the burial mounds, which are supposed to have belonged to them, there have been found copper kettles, silver crosses and iron gunbarrels—all of which must have been unquestionably made by workmen of European descent.