MOUNDS OF THE UNITED STATES BUSHNELL 679 



THROUGH THE PINELANDS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI 



South of the Ohio was a region where the wants and requirements 

 of a primitive people were easily fulfilled, where game was plenti- 

 ful, and the many streams afforded easy passage for canoes. Here 

 among the hills and valleys of the present States of Kentucky and 

 Tennessee lived tribes whose manners and ways of life differed, and 

 consequently the traces of their villages and burial places vary in 

 form and appearance. All were not here at the same time, and 

 centuries must have elapsed since the region was first entered by man. 

 The first comers were followed by other tribes speaking different 

 languages and possessing other customs. 



Small groups of mounds are quite numerous along the water- 

 courses, many were places of burial, and others served as elevated 

 sites for habitations or other structures. Many when examined re- 

 veal several tiers of stone-lined graves placed one upon another and 

 all covered with a mass of earth, thus forming a mound. The graves 

 are similar to those which existed in vast numbers in the same region, 

 forming the stone-grave cemeteries which often covered many acres, 

 as did those in the vicinity of the city of Nashville. It is not possible 

 at this time to refer to all of the many mound groups, indicating the 

 positions of ancient settlements in the valleys of the Tennessee, the 

 Cumberland, and other streams, but a few may be mentioned. One 

 interesting cluster stands in the national cemetery, Shiloh, on the 

 banks of the Tennessee, and fortunately the mounds will thus be 

 preserved. The largest work in the valley of the Tennessee is near 

 Florence, Ala., a few miles south of the northern boimdry of the 

 State. It stands near the bank of the river, and the site was pro- 

 tected by a crescent-shaped embankment touching the river bank 

 both above and below the mound. The latter, when surveyed nearly 

 a century ago, appeared to have been roughly hexagonal in oucime, a 

 remarkable feature if it actually existed as shown on the old sketch. 



Evidently at some time during the occupancy of this region by 

 native tribes it was necessary for them to protect their villages and 

 secure themselves against attacks by their enemies. Many ancient 

 sites in Tennessee and some in the country southw^ard, were protected 

 by walls and embankments, with ditches and probably with palisades. 

 A strongly protected village, covering many acres, stood at the junc- 

 tion of two forks of Duck River, Franklin County, Tenn. (Fig. 3.) 

 Here artificial walls, ditches, and mounds supplemented the protec- 

 tion afforded by the high cliffs which rose above the waters. The 

 site is quite similar in appearance to others found northward, across 

 Kentucky, scattered through eastern Indiana and western Ohio, near 

 the south shores of Lake Erie, and thence eastward to near the Hud- 

 son. Were the builders of the widely scattered works related, and 



