NORTH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY. 319 



troduction to the study of North Ameiican Archaeology. He gives us compara- 

 tively few observations or opinions of his own ; but after a careful examination 

 of what others have written, he comes to the conclusion that the anci(;nt earth- 

 works of the United States "differ less in kind than in degree from other remains 

 concerning which history has not been entirely silent. They are more numerous, 

 more concentrated, and in some particulars on a larger scale of labor, than the 

 works which approach them on their several borders, and with whose various 

 characters they arc blended. Their numbers may be the result of frequent 

 changes of residence by a comparatively limited population, in accordance with 

 a superstitious trait of the Indian nature, leading to the abandonment of places 

 where any great calamity has been suffered ; but Ihey appear rather to indicate 

 a country thickly inhabited for a period long enough to admit of the progressive 

 enlargement and extension of its movements." 



The last work on our list is of a very different nature. It is more general and 

 more ambitious. At the same time, it scarcely fulfils the promise of its title ; for 

 though some portions are sufficiently general, by far the larger part is purely 

 North American. It will foi-m the subject of a separate notice in this Review. 



The antiquities themselves fall into two great divisions : Implements (including 

 ornaments) and Earthworks. The Earthworks have been divided by the Ameri- 

 can Archaeologists into seven classes : 1. Defensive enclosures ; 2. Sacred and 

 Miscellaneous enclosures ; 3. Sepulchral mounds ; 4. Sacrificial mounds ; 5. 

 Temple mounds ; 6. "Animal" mounds ; and 7. Miscellaneous mounds. Theee 

 classes we shall treat separately, and we can then better consider the " mound- 

 builders" themselves. 



IMPLEMENTS. 



The simple weapons of bone and stone which are found in America closely 

 resemble those which occur in other countries. The flakes, hatchets, axes, 

 arrow-heads, and bone implements are, for instance, very similar to those which 

 occur in the Swiss lakes, if only we make allowance for the differences of ma- 

 terial. In addition to the simple forms, which may almost be said to be ubi- 

 quitous, there are some, however, which are more complicated. In many cases 

 they are perforated, as, for instance, those figured by Messrs. Squier ancl Davia 

 (1. c, p. 218.) These perforated axes are generally considered in Europe to 

 belong to the metallic age, as also was probably the case in' the New World. 



At the time of the discovery of America iron was absolutely unknown to the 

 natives, with the exception, perhaps, of a tribe near the mouth of the La Plata, 

 who had arrows tipped with this metal, which they are supposed to have ob- 

 tained from masses of native iron. The powerful nations of Central America 

 were, however, in the age of bronze, while the North Americans were in a con- 

 dition of which we find in Europe but scanty traces — namely, in the age of cop- 

 per. Silver is the only other metal which has been found in the ancient tu- 

 muli, and that but in very small quantities. It occurs sparingly in a native 

 form with the copper of Lake Superior, whence, in all probability, it was de- 

 rived. It does not appear to have been ever smelted. From the large quantity 

 of galena which is found in the mounds, Messrs. Squier and Davis are disposed 

 to think that lead must have been used to a certain extent by the North Ameri- 

 can tribes ; the metal itself, however, has not, I believe, yet been found. 



Copper, on the other hand, occurs frequently in the tumuli, both wrought 

 and unwrought. The axes have a striking resemblance to the simple axes of 

 Europe, which contain the minimum quantity of tin; and some of the Mexican 

 paintings give us interesting evidence as to the manner in which they were han- 

 dled and used. These, however, were of bronze, and had therefore been fused ; 

 but the Indian axes, Avhich are of pure copper, appear in all cases to -have been 

 worked in a cold state, which is the more remarkable, because, as Messrs. Squier 

 and Davis have well* observed, "the fires upon the altar were sufficiently in- 



