The Prehistoric Monuments of the Little Miami Valley. 119 



THE PBEHISTORIC MONUIIENTS OF THE LITTLE 

 MIAMI VALLEY. 



By Charles L. Metz, M.D, • 



The aboriginal earthworks in this vicinity are so rapidly becoming 

 more and more indistinct, from the effects of continued cultivation, the 

 elements, the leveling of man}^ for building sites, and the carting 

 away of others for the purpose of making fills and grades, that in a 

 few more years their sites will be obliterated and forgotten. 



This has determined me to prepare a chart, giving the location of 

 the works, and mounds, in Columbia township, and of those in An- 

 derson and Spencer townships, situated near the Little Miami River. 



The}' are principally situated in Groups, and are marked respec- 

 tively, A, B, C and D, on the chart. 



Group A. 



Is situated partly in section 9, and parth^ in section 15, Columbia 

 township, Hamilton count}-, Ohio, one mile west of Plaiuville sta- 

 tion, on the Little Miami Railroad, and on the second bottom or plateau 

 of the Little Miami river, on a narrow sandy ridge of a reddish color. 



This ridge has an elevation, averaging from 10 to 25 feet above the 

 general level of the plateau on which it is situated. It lies between 

 the Wooster Turnpike, and the Little Miami Railroad and River, 

 elevated about 200 feet above the latter. On this ridge the principle 

 work of this group is situated. 



Commencing at the east end of the ridge, and in a wood known as 

 " Stites Grove," we find an earthwork (Group A, No. 1) consisting of a 

 circle, central tumulus, and an oval-shaped tumulus impinging on the 

 outer southeast edge of the circle. The following extract, from an ar- 

 ticle entitled " The Mound Builders," b}- Mr. Florien Giauque, pub- 

 lished in the Harvest Home Magazine, August, 1876, describes this 

 work as follows: " In the grove known as the ' picnic woods,' owned bj- 

 Mr. Charles Stites, of Columbia, and on the top of this ridge, there is a 

 circular enclosure, made b}' a ditch, and an earthen embankment out- 

 side of and immediately adjoining this ditch, and no doubt made of the 

 material which was taken from it. From the bottom of this ditch to 

 the top of the embankment, the present height is about 5|^ feet; the 

 diameter of the ditch from deepest cut on either side is 75 feet; the 

 enclosing embankment, from crest to crest, is 105 feet; and the diameter 

 of the entire work from outside to outside is about 145 to 150 feet. On 

 the east, this embankment is enlarged into a regular mound, about 48 

 feet in diameter, and about 6 feet high above the adjacent ground. At 

 the southeast part of the enclosure, there is left an entrance way 



