180 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences^ Arts, and Letters. 



decay in wliicli skeletons of Mound-buiklers are found, have 

 assisted in ascertaining tliat the mounds are of high antiquity, 

 which is also attested by their relation to forest-growths. It 

 is impossible to give any fixed data ; it is, however, safe to say 

 that 2000 years at least have passed since the disappearance of 

 a people which were not the ancestors of the wild Indians, as it 

 is commonly believed. For many reasons (mining operations, 

 etc.) the Mound-Builders must have been stationary and agri- 

 cultural in their habits. We may never be able to answer the 

 question, Who were these Mound-Builders or whence did 

 they come ? Still it is not impossible to find the thread which 

 connects these ancient monuments and their scanty relics with 

 those of Central America and, perhaps, with more distant 

 quarters, after their extent and contents, as well as their general 

 character, have been better understood. 



We have a meritorious work by Dr. I. A. Lapham, " The 

 Antiquities of Wisconsin " (Smithsonian Contributions to 

 Knowledge, Vol. vii), which has however not made unnecessary 

 further exploration and study. There remain a great many 

 mounds unnoticed and unexplored, which may lead to more 

 important results. It is hoped that these mysterious antiqui- 

 ties within our State will be saved as sacred mementos of the 

 past from oblivion and destruction. 



There is hardly a farmhouse in Wisconsin, where some kind 

 of relics, as stone-implements, etc., are not either kept as a 

 curiosities or thrown aside like so many other " useless things.'' 

 Sufficient interest should be awakened among the people to 

 care for the preservation of such relics or to forward them 

 generously to some place of collection.* 



Let us mark the words of William D. Whitney, safest and 

 surest of guides : " Our national duty and honor are pecu- 

 liarly concerned in this matter of the study of aboriginal 



*Mr. F. S. Perkins of Burlington, Wis. , lias the largest collection of stone imple- 

 ments, beside that of the Sipithsonian Institute, and he spares neither time nor money, 

 in order to make new additions to his valuable collection. We hope that the St;ite may 

 be able to procure this collection some day, as the beginning of a State Museum of 

 American (Wisconsin) Antiquities. 



