ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS OF AMERICA. 193 



augers, and hoes are usually of flint ; their axes and celts are gen- 

 erally made of green-stone, a tough and heavy rock specially 

 adapted to such use ; the celts were inserted in handles and closely 

 resemble those of the polished-stone period in the Old "World. 

 Their axes, all grooved for a withe, were frequently wrought with 

 great skill and patience. The most common ornaments found 

 with the remains of the mound-builders are anklets or armlets of 

 copper, and strings of beads of shells or bone, of copper or baked 

 clay. In addition to these are many large ornaments of shell or 

 stone perforated for suspension from the neck or for attachment 

 to the head. 



Of the clothing of the mound-builders we have as yet little in- 

 formation, since the lapse of time has caused fabrics of vegetable 

 or animal fiber to perish. In a few instances, however, the anti- 

 septic properties of copper salts or special conditions have been 

 the means of preserving some fragments of cloth made from the 

 fibers of a plant. Of these the workmanship is so good that we 

 may believe that woven fabrics were largely used for clothing. 



In regard to the ethnic relations of the mound-builders, the 

 age in which they lived, and the causes of their disappearance, much 

 has been conjectured, but little can be asserted. As to the time 

 in which they lived in the country they inhabited when and how 

 long this at least may be said, viz., that they occupied all the 

 forest-covered region of the Mississippi Valley to which they 

 seem to have given a decided preference for many hundreds and 

 perhaps thousands of years. This is indicated by the general 

 occupation of this wide-spread area, the magnitude and number of 

 such of their works as have resisted the ravages of time, and the 

 great abundance of the stone implements of their manufacture 

 found scattered over the surface ; also by the extent of their min- 

 ing operations on Lake Superior and elsewhere. All this can 

 mean nothing less than the long-continued possession of the 



country. 



The general distribution throughout the valley of the Missis- 

 sippi of shells obtained on the Gulf or Atlantic coast ; the copper, 

 mica, galena, flint implements, etc., all of known origin, indicate 

 considerable internal interchange of commodities, but furnish no 

 proof of a foreign commerce. 



In regard to the origin of these peoples little is known. We 

 may infer from their bony structure that they belonged to the 

 American family of men, and were not unlike, in structure, physi- 

 cal aspect, and color, the red Indian of to-day. 



A few stone tablets have been found in the mounds, which are 

 decidedly Mexican in character ; and if, as seems probable, the 

 authenticity of these relics should be established, they would go 

 far to prove synchronism and intercourse between the mound- 



VOL. XLI. 16 



