SQUIER AND DAVIS. 121 



them had been ceremoniously placed a covering of earth in layers, or strata, of 

 different materials, carefully and evenly spread, and adjusted to a conical shape — 

 the first stratum, perhaps, of loam, the next a thin covering of pure sand ; earth 

 and sand, or small stones, continuing to alternate, but in different proportions, till 

 the mound was completed. In consideration of their position, and the circum- 

 stances attending them, these received the name of sacrificial mounds. They were 

 the most fruitful of relics; the richest among them being of slight elevation and 

 un imposing exterior. Some of them contained altars alone, or relics without 

 human remains, showing that they could not be regarded as places of interment. 



A more numerous class of mounds, generally removed from enclosures, and often 

 of great height, were found to cover a single skeleton — in very rare instances more 

 than one — enveloped in bark or coarse matting, and surrounded by a rude protection 

 of timber. The great Grave Creek mound, the most striking example of this 

 class, is a double monument of unusual character. At its base were two skeletons, 

 and thirty-live feet (or half the total height of the mound) above them, was another; 

 so that the superior altitude of this tumulus is the result of two interments, probably 

 at different periods of time. 



These mounds contain, with the human remains, various ornaments and imple- 

 ments, but no altars, and the remains have not been burned. They are therefore 

 denominated sepulchral mounds, and might with equal propriety be styled monu- 

 mental mounds. 



The third variety of earthen elevations, termed temple mounds, were so named 

 because their place within the enclosures, their rectangular and truncated forms, 

 and the peculiarity of inclined planes of easy ascent attached to them, make them 

 correspond to the Mexican structures on which sacred edifices were situated. In 

 the United States, near the gulf of Mexico, such was also the use of the similarly 

 shaped mounds which characterize that region. 



These diversities are clearly defined by Messrs. Squier and Davis, their antiquity 

 well established, and their occasional invasion by later races satisfactorily dis- 

 tinguished from their original and legitimate use. 



Another kind of mounds, erected on commanding positions, they believe to have 

 been intended for signal or alarm posts ; ranges of them being so situated that by 

 their means signals of fire could be transmitted a great distance in a few moments. 

 These are called mounds of obseroation. 



While the authors are confident that the leading purposes of the mounds (at 

 least those in Ohio) have been rightly determined, they admit the existence of 

 many of an anomalous character, conforming to no classification. It appears 

 natural enough that this should be so when we consider that mound building, for 

 some purpose or other, is a common practice with rude nations, and still pre- 

 vailing to some extent among the aborigines of the country. There are mounds 

 that are composed of bones collected with pious care by recent tribes from the 

 burial places of their fathers ; and there are others known to have grown from 

 gradual contributions made by the passing Indian, in recognition of an inherited 

 obligation to mark the spot, for some reason that he may not himself be able to 

 explain. It would be too much to expect that the motive for these varied and 

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