S A C R E D E N C L O S U R E S . 83 



more regular works of the Scioto valley. (See Plates XX and XXI.) It seems 

 never to have been completed; at any rate, the various parts were never con- 

 nected. A portion of the great circle A has been washed away by the river, which 

 here encroaches upon the second terrace. The diameter of this circle is one hun- 

 dred feet greater than that of the corresponding large circle of the Scioto works ; 

 and the same proportionate increase in size is to be observed in the square and 

 lower circle. The embankments are now between live and six feet high, and have 

 a base fifty feet wide. They are composed of a tough, yellow clay, which is found 

 to be superimposed on the loam of the original level. It must have been brought 

 from a distance, as there are no excavations perceptible in the vicinity. The 

 embankments, as in the case of several other works which have been noticed, 

 appear to have been some time or other subjected to the action of fire. They are 

 unaccompanied by a ditch. 



The Miami canal extends through these works, and the little town of Alexanders- 

 ville is laid out over a portion of the smaller circle. The clay composing the 

 embankments is now much used in the manufacture of bricks, and but a little 

 time will elapse before the work will be entirely obliterated. 



We can only regard this structure as kindred in its purposes to those above 

 alluded to in the Scioto valley, and associate it with the superstitions of the 

 builders. It tends to confirm the impression produced by the other works, that 

 some significance attaches to the combination of the two circles and the square. 



PLATE XXIX. No. 2. 



ANCIENT WORKS, SCIOTO COUNTY, OHIO.* 



This singular work is situated five miles north of Portsmouth, Scioto county, 

 Ohio, on the west bank of the Scioto river. It is not a true ellipse, but 

 approaches very near it. Its longest axis is four hundred and eighty feet, its 

 conjugate diameter four hundred and seven feet. It is built upon a high and beau- 

 tiful level, elevated some sixty or seventy feet above the Scioto river, which flows 

 about half a mile to the eastward. The embankment is unaccompanied by a 

 ditch, and is about three feet in height, by thirty feet base. It has, as shown 

 in the plan, a single gateway, ninety feet wide, opening to the south-east, which 

 is covered by a long exterior mound, of about the same height with the embank- 

 ment of the enclosure. 



Within this enclosure is a large irregular mound, which, from its resemblance 

 to the animal-shaped mounds of Wisconsin, of which notice will be taken in 



From the Survey and Notes of Charles Whiitlksev, Esq 



