S A C R E D E N C L S U K E S . q] 



creek, wliich has since receded something over a fifth ot" a mile, leavmg a low rich 

 bottom intervening. 



Such are the predominant features of this remarkable series of works. As 

 already remarked, the coincidences observable between theni could not have been 

 the result of accident, and it is very manifest that they Avere erected for common 

 purposes. What those purposes were, the reader must judge. Without entering 

 into an argument upon the subject, we may content ourselves with the simple expres- 

 sion of opinion, that they were in some manner connected with the superstitions 

 of the builders. 



There is one deduction to be drawn from the fact, that the figures entering into 

 these works are of uniform dimensions, which is of considerable importance in its 

 bearing upon the state of knowledge among the people who erected them. It is 

 that the builders possessed a standard of measurement, and had some means of deter- 

 mining angles. The most skilful engineer of the day would find it difficult, without 

 the aid of instruments, to lay down an accurate square of the great dimensions of 

 those above represented, measuring as they do more than four fifths of a mile in 

 circumference. It would not, it is true, be impossible to construct circles of 

 considerable size, without instruments ; the difficulty of doing so, when welcome 

 to the construction of works five thousand four hundred feet, or over a mile in 

 circumference, is nevertheless apparent. But we not only find accurate squares 

 and perfect circles, but also, as we have seen, octagons of great dimensions. 

 Other evidences tending to sustain the above conclusions will be adduced in the 

 progress of this work. 



PLATE XXII. No. 1.* 



JUNCTION GROUP, ROSS COUNTY, OHIO. 



The singular group of works here represented is situated on Paint creek, two 

 miles south-west of the town of Chillicothe. It coi^gists of four circles, three 

 crescents, two square works, and four mounds. The eastern enclosure is the 

 principal one ; and, in common with all the rest, consists of a wall three feet high, 

 with an interior ditch. It is two hundred and forty feet square, the angles much 

 curved, giving it very nearly the form of a circle. The area, bounded by the ditch, 

 is an accurate square of one hundred and sixty feet side, and is entered from the 

 south by a gateway twenty-five feet wide. To the south-west of this work, and one 

 hundred and thirty feet distant, is a small mound enclosed by a ditch and wall, with 



* This group is indicated by G iii tlie Majj, Plate II. 



