;ss 



TRANS. ST. LOUIS ACAD. SCIENCE. 



figures were not a mere fanciful invention, but had some symbolic 

 meaning. In the same mound, and in the immediate vicinity of 

 the skeleton from which the engraved shell was taken, an altar or 

 hearth of burned clay was found, on which stood a large shallow 

 dish, the sides not exceeding four inches in height, containing 

 charred animal bones and a few fragments of charcoal ; the ves- 

 sel had been subjected to such great and continuous heat that it 

 was impossible to remove it, as it crumbled on being touched ; 

 but the bones were carefully collected and preserved. From these 

 facts a conclusion may naturally be drawn, that the wearer of the 

 symbolic shell bore the priestly office. What would be more 

 natural than that the priest should be interred in immediate prox- 

 imity to the altar he had served in life ! 



From time to time pieces of sandstone have been found in the 

 mounds of this State, deeply grooved and furrowed as if they had 

 been used lor the purpose of sharpening some metallic imple- 

 ment, and I believe this was the general impression in regard to 

 their use. I was so fortunate as to find one of these stones, and 

 by its side a knife or implement, formed of bone, which exactlv 

 fitted the grooves and markings on the stone, thus leaving no 

 doubt as to the manner in which this and similar tools had been 

 made and sharpened. 



The question as to the antiquity of the earth-works which I 

 explored, is one involving so many elements of uncertainty that 

 I will not now attempt to discuss it. All the evidences I found 

 point to a remote antiquity, and although the trees growing on 

 the mounds afford no clue to the age of the latter, stdl it must be 

 admitted that they are older than the trees. All the mounds 

 opened by me bore a heavy growth of timber ; one tree, an elm, 

 measured fifteen feet in circumference, a size which it must have 

 required centuries to attain. 



Whatever may have been the fate of the race whose remains 

 are so abundantly scattered over our State — whether they emi- 

 grated to more congenial climes — were driven from their hearths 

 and altars by the incursions of fiercer and more warlike tribes — 

 or whether pestilence swept them away, and none were left to 

 perpetuate their race and bear evidence of their history and cus- 

 toms, it is certain that our knowledge of them is very limited. 

 To extend this knowledge, and to inscribe upon the pages of 

 history the memorials of a lost race, are objects that may never 

 be fully realized, but are at least worthy of all the skill and per- 

 severance that can be brought to bear upon them. The explo- 

 rations which have been commenced by the members of the 

 Archaeological Section are already yielding results which en- 

 courage them to hope that they may be able in time to make 

 important contributions to the knowledge obtained by previous 

 workers in this interesting field. 



