430 PRE-HISTORIC MOUNDS OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN. 



tlie location of all the long mounds by themselves ; the same is the 

 case with the circular ones, and the effigies also are located in groups. 

 'Not does the presence of the long mound, Fig. 8, Diagram II, or the 

 round ones near the residence of Mr. Glen appear to conflict with the 

 general unity of design ; as the former may have served some special or 

 temporary purpose, and the latter may have been constructed subse- 

 quently to the rest. 



The mounds represented on Diagram II, have never been cultivated, 

 but most of them are situated in almost impenetrable thickets of brush 

 and young timber, which renders them very difficult to find and trace 

 out. 



11. N. E. ^ sec. 17, T. 5, E. C W.— The group or groups of mounds, 

 represented in Diagram III, are situated on the Mississippi River bot- 

 tom. They are the first specimens of the circular mounds anywhere 

 observed. Their diameters vary from 20 to 50 feet, and they are from 

 5 to 15 feet high. The mounds are situated on a low sandy ridge, a 

 few feet higher than the adjoining grounds, which are not far above 

 high- water mark. It will be seen that they are built in straight lines 

 consisting of three or four mounds each, the lines making angles with 

 each other, to conform to the higher portions of the ground. The 

 mounds appear to be constructed of a sandy loam, although, as no 

 excavations were made, it is impossible to say of what material the 

 inside is composed. 



In two or three of the mounds near the southern end of the group, 

 excavations had been made which were evidently of a recent date, 

 probably within a few months. The excavations were shallow holes, 

 about IS inches deep, sunk in the tops of the mounds ; a large quantity 

 of human bones and teeth had been exhumed from them in each 

 instance. They were still lying scattered about on the summits of the 

 mounds, and a number of them were collected. The bones were well 

 X)reserved and firm in their texture, and the teeth, some of which were 

 as sound and solid as any in a living person, had the grinding surfaces 

 worn flat and smooth, similarly to those before mentioned. 



The fine state of preservation of the bones, so different from those 

 found in the mound previously described, together with the circum- 

 stance of their being found so near the surface, leads me to think that 

 they are not the bones of the original mound-builders, but rather that 

 they are intrusive burials ; that these mounds have been resorted to 

 in comparatively recent times by a difiereut race for burial purposes. 

 Unfortunately no crania (except some small fragments) were found, 

 which might have been of assistance in determining this question ; and 

 my limited time did not permit me to make any excavations. 



12. S. E. i sec. 17, T. 5, R. 6 W.— Following the course of the Mis- 

 sissippi about a quarter of a mile southeast of the preceding locality, 

 numerous long mounds were seen arranged in several rows parallel to 

 each other and to the river. They are situated in the cultivated fields 



