S A C R E D E N C L O S U R E S . 49; 



existence of some standard of measurement among the ancient people, if not the 

 possession of some means of determining angles. The rectangular works have 

 almost invariably gateways at the angles and midway on each side, all of which 

 are covered by small interior mounds or elevations. In some of the larger struc- 

 tures the openings are more numerous. A few of this description of remains have 

 been discovered which are octagonal. One of these of large size, in the vicinity 

 of Chillicothe, has its alternate angles coincident with each other, and its sides 

 equal. 



Another class of works, probably akin to those here noticed, are the paral- 

 lels, consisting of slight embankments seven or eight hundred feet in length and 

 sixty or eighty feet apart. Indeed, so various are these works, and so numer- 

 ous their combinations, that it is impossible, through the medium of description 

 alone, to convey an adequate conception of their character. If we are right in the 

 assumption that they are of sacred origin, and were the temples and consecrated 

 grounds of the ancient people, we can, from their number and extent, form some 

 estimate of the devotional fervor or superstitious zeal which induced their erection, 

 and the predominance of the religious sentiment among their builders. 



Their magnitude is, perhaps, the strongest objection that can be urged against 

 the purpose here assigned them. It is difficult to comprehend the existence of 

 religious works, extending, with their attendant avenues, like those near Newark, 

 over an area of little less than four square miles ! We can find their parallels only 

 in the great temples of Abury and Stonehenge in England, and Carnac in Brittany, 

 and must associate them with sun worship and its kindred superstitions. 



It was originally proposed to include within another division those structures 

 which were regarded as anomalous, or to which it was impossible to assign a 

 definite purpose. Reflection, however, has tended to strengthen the opinion, that 

 those works not manifestly defensive were connected with the superstitions of the 

 builders, and that all the enclosures of the West (except perhaps some of the 

 petty circles to which allusion has been made) were either military or religious in 

 their origin. Those only which are obviously defensive have been classed under 

 the head of Defences, and all others have been thrown together into this chapter. 

 It is not impossible, therefore, that some which follow should be included in the 

 former division ; nor is it improbable that a few were designed to answer a double 

 purpose. 



7 



