160 



ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 



the deposits are generally homogeneous. That is to say, instead of finding a 

 large variety of relics, ornaments, weapons, and other articles, such as go to make 

 up the possessions of a barbarian dignitary, we find upon one altar jnpes only, 

 upon another a simple mass of galena, while the next one has a quantity of 

 pottery, or a collection of spear heads, or else is destitute of remains except 

 perhaps a thin layer of carbonaceous material. Such could not possibly be the 

 case upon the above hypothesis, for the spear, the arrows, the pipe, and the other 

 implements and personal ornaments of the dead, would then be found in con- 

 nection with each other. Besides the negative evidence here afforded in support 

 of our classification, it is sustained by the circumstance that these mounds are 

 almost invariably found within enclosures, which, for a variety of concurring 

 reasons, we are induced to believe were sacred in their origin, and devoted 

 primarily, if not exclusively, to religious purposes. The circumstance of strati- 

 fication, exhibiting as it does an extraordinary care and attention, can hardly be 

 supposed to result from any but superstitious notions. It certainly has no exact 

 analoo-y in any of the monuments of the globe, of which we possess a knowledge, 

 and its significance is beyond rational conjecture. Why these altars, some of 

 which, as we have already seen, had been used for considerable periods, were 

 finally heaped over, is an embarrassing question, and one to which it is impossible 

 to suggest a satisfactory answer. That all were not covered by mounds is quite 

 certain. The " brick hearths," of which mention has occasionally been made by 

 writers upon our antiquities, were doubtless none other than uncovered altars. 

 Nothing is more likely than that, even though designed to be subsequently covered, 

 some were left exposed by the builders, and afterwards hidden by natural accu- 

 mulations, to be again exposed by the invading plough or the recession of the 

 banks of streams. The indentations occasioned by the growth of roots over their 

 surfaces, or the cracks resulting from other causes, would naturally suggest the 

 notion of rude brick hearths. One of these " hearths " was discovered some years 

 since near the town of Marietta in Ohio. It was surrounded by a low bank, of 

 about one hundred feet in circumference, which seemed to have been the ground 

 plan or commencement of a mound. 





F,o. 4H. — F.T.I.IPTir .V' MOrND. 



