CHAPTER IX. 



ANOMALOUS MOUNDS. 



Besides the mounds already described, the purposes of which seem pretty 

 clearly indicated, there are many which will admit of no classification. Some of 

 them possess features in common with all classes, and seem to have been appro- 

 priated to a double purpose; while others, in our present state of knowledge 

 concerning them, are entirely inexplicable. As these mounds differ individually 

 from each other, it is of course impossible to present anything like a general view 

 of their character. We can therefore only describe a few of the more remarkable, 

 dismissing the remainder with the single observation that their features do not indicate 

 any specific design, and are not sufficiently distinct or uniform to justify or sustain 

 a classification. 



One of the most singular of these mounds, and one which best illustrates the 

 remark that certain mounds were probably made to subserve a double purpose, 

 is situated within a large enclosure on the east bank of the Scioto river. (Marked 

 c e, Plate XX.) A plan and section of the mound are herewith presented (Fig. 67). 



It is an irregular oval in form, and is one hundred and sixty feet long, ninety 

 broad at its larger end, and twenty feet in height. Excavations were made at the 

 points indicated in the section. The one towards the right or smaller end of the 

 mound disclosed an enclosure of timber, eight feet square, and similar, in all 

 respects, to those found in the sepulchral mounds, except that, in this instance, 

 posts eight inches in diameter had been planted at the outer corners, as if to 

 sustain the structure. These posts bnd lieen inserted eighteen inches in the 



