328 NORTH AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. 



fifty feet by twelve or fifteen. The usual dimensions, however, are from five to 

 eight feet. They are almost always found within sacred enclosures ; of the 

 whole number examined by Messrs. Squier and Davis, there were only four 

 which were exterior to the walls of euclosm-es, and these were but a few rods 

 distant iiom them. 



The "altar" is always on a level with the natural soil, and bears traces of 

 long-continued heat ; in one instance, where it appeaus to have been formed of 

 Band, instead of clay, the sand for the depth of two inches is discoloured as if 

 fatty matter of some sort had been burned on it. In this case a second deposit 

 of sand had been placed on the first, and upon this stones a little larger than a 

 hen's egg were arranged so as to form a pavement, which strongly reminds us 

 of the ancient hearths in the Danish Kjkokenmuddings. 



In a few instances traces of timber were found above the altar. Thus in one 

 of the twenty-six tumuli forming the "Mound City," on the Scioto river, were 

 found a number of pieces of timber four or five feet long, and six or eight inches 

 thick. " These pieces had been of nearly uniform length ; and this circumstance, 

 joined to the position in which they occurred in respect to each other and to the 

 altar, would almost justify the inference that they had supported some funeral 

 or sacrificial pile."* The contents of these mounds vary very much. The one 

 just mentioned contained a quantity of pottery and many implements of stone 

 and copper, all of which had been subjected to a strong heat. The pottery 

 may have formed a dozen vessels of moderate size. The copper articles 

 consisted of tAVO chisels, and about twenty thin strips. About fifty or a 

 hundred stone arrow-heads, some flakes, and two carved pipes, completed the 

 list of articles found in this interesting tumulus. In another mound nearly two 

 hundred pipes were buried. Generally speaking, the deposit is 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 dig- 

 nitary, we find upon one altar jji/^t^s only, upon another a single 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 connexion with each other."t 



This conclusion does not seem to us altogether satisfactory; and although 

 these altar-containing mounds differ in so many respects from the above-described 

 tumuli, we still feel disposed to regard them as sepulchral rather than sacrificial. 

 Not having, however, had the advantage of examining them for ourselves, we 

 throw this out as a suggestion, rather than express it as an opinion. We confess 

 that we feel much difficulty in understanding why "altars" should be covered up 

 hi this manner; we can call to mind no analogous case. On the other hand, if 

 Prof. Nillson's suggestion in relation to the ancient tumuli be correct, the long- 

 continued fire will ofier no difficulty ; while the wooden constructions and the 

 burnt bones will all be explicable on the hypothesis that we have before us a 

 sepulchre, rather than a temple. 



Nor does the "homogeneousness" of the deposits found in these mounds 

 appear so decisive to us as to Messrs. Squier and Davis. Take, for instance, the 

 cases in which pipes are found. The execution of these is so good that "pipe- 

 carving" was no doubt a profession ; the division of labor must have already 

 begun. Exactly the same feeling which would induce them to bury weapons 

 with the dead hunter, in order that he might supply himself with food in Hades 

 as on earth; that feeling which among some ancient nations suggested the 

 placing of money in the grave, would account not only for the presence of these 

 pipes, but also for their number. The hunter could use but few weapons, and 



* Squier and Davis, 1. c, p. 151. t Ditto, p. 160. 



