MOUNDS IN BUTLER COUNTY, OHIO. 845 



These mounds and the general surface of the country have afforded not 

 less than two hundred thousand implements belonging to prehistoric 

 times, and every succeeding year adds to the number. When it is con- 

 sidered that the county contains but 291,000 acres, including waste 

 land caused by streams and wood-land, the yield of implements must 

 be regarded as remarkable. The plow turns up a vast number every 

 year, as though the supply was undiminished. 



The tumuli, located on the second and third river terraces, have never 

 been systematically explored. The plow has been instrumental in turn- 

 ing out many relics from the mounds, and curiosity-seekers have obtained 

 many specimens by digging into them, but without taking note of the 

 layers forming the tumuli. Most of the relics have been taken near the 

 surface of the mound, and consistofarrowand spearheads, axes, pestles, 

 mortars, pottery, &c. A mound* situated in Fairfield Township was 

 partially taken down ; and in removing the earth there was found a thin 

 copper breast plate,t 5^ inches long, and 3| inches wide at one end, and 

 4£ inches at the other. Near the center are two perforations an inch 

 apart, broader on one side than on the other. The implement was ham- 

 mered out cold. One side is partially covered with verdigris. From 

 one of the three mounds on the commanding hill in section 9, Saint- Clair 

 Township, there was plowed up, in 1855, four copper hatchets, G to 9 

 inches long, and 4 to 2 inches wide. From a mound (location not now 

 known) James McBride procured the representation of the head of a 

 bird,f somewhat resembling the toucan. It was made out of clay, and 

 seemed originally to have been attached to some vessel. 



A few of the mounds have been entirely removed and the contents 

 noted. In grading for the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Eailroad, 

 it was found necessary to cut through the large mound in section 11, 

 Madison Township. This mound was not only cut in two through the 

 center, but the grade of the road-bed went below the original surface 

 of the ground. At the bottom of this tumulus and under the apex were 

 found human bones and chert implements. With the bones was found 

 cloth. The cloth had the appearance of having enveloped the skeleton. 

 The fabric was composed of some material allied to hemp, and the sep- 

 aration between the fiber and the wood was as thorough as at this day 

 by the process of rotting and hackling. During the year 1881 I exam- 

 ined some of this cloth, then in the possession of Thomas Doner, a drug- 

 gist, of Dayton, Ohio. I found the thread to be coarse, uniform in size, 

 and regularly spun. In grading for a roadway in Wayne Township, it 

 was found necessary to cut away the greater portion of a mound in section 

 24. At the base of the mound occurred a human skeleton in an extended 

 position. Lying upon the chest of the skeleton was a spear-head, com- 

 posed of blue chert, nearly 6 inches in length and 2 inches in width 



* Ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley, Plate xxx, No. 1. 

 t Figured in "Mound Builders," page 164. 

 t Ancient monuments, page 194. 



