670 ANNUAL EEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1928 



was prepared by Capt. Jonathan Heart, of the First Regiment, and 

 appeared accompanied by a map in Volume I, No. 9 of the Colum- 

 bian Magazine, Philadelphia, May, 1787. It was an interesting 

 group of medium size, consisting of two quadrilateral inclosures, 

 within and without which were various mounds and embankments. 

 South of the smaller inclosure, nearer the banks of the Ohio, was a 

 beautiful example of ancient earth mound, very symmetrical and 

 surrounded by a ditch and embankment, a type found elsewhere in 

 the near-by country on both sides of the Ohio. 



The class of works to which those already mentioned belonged 

 were so skillfully made, of such perfect outline and proportion, that 

 they are usually referred to as ceremonial structure-s, thus distin- 

 guishing them from the more massively constructed embankments 

 which were obviously intended to protect the inclosed villages. Some 

 were quite small, but others would have offered security for thou- 

 sands of persons. The space within the irregular walls of Fort 

 Ancient, Warren County, Ohio, equaled about 100 acres — sufficient, 

 we are inclined to believe, to have furnished space for the native 

 population of the entire valley. (PL 4.) The walls or embankments 

 are more than S^/o miles in length. The area of the inclosed ground 

 at Fort Hill, in Highland County, Ohio, was about 48 acres, and 

 there were many similar sites. The interesting fortification in 

 Butler County, which stood on the west side of the Great Miami 

 River, was about one-third the size of the latter. The wall, formed 

 of stone and earth, was about 5 feet in height and 35 feet in width 

 at base. It skirted the brow of the hill, on both sides of which flowed 

 small streams, a position easily defended. Tlie several openings in 

 the wall and the manner in which they were protected are the 

 unusual features of the fortification. (PI. 5.) 



Burial mounds are often associated with the earthworks, or stand 

 near by, and when examined reveal the methods followed by the 

 ancient people in disposing of their dead. Some were cremated and 

 the ashes deposited in prepared graves, all being eventually covered 

 with earth and the mound thus raised. This is a highly specialized 

 form of burial and is yet another proof of the cultural development 

 of the people who occupied the valleys of southern Ohio many gen- 

 erations ago. Possessing as we do such evidence of the existence 

 of permanent villages, of a rather large population occupying rich 

 and fertile lands where such labor had been expended in the con- 

 struction of lasting monuments, we are confronted with the question 

 of why they were abandoned. The question may never be answered, 

 but this was probably the early habitat of Siouan tribes, ancestors 

 of the Osage, Omaha, and others of the related group, who when 

 first met by EurojDeans were living west of the Mississippi, but whose 



