NORTH AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. 329 



must depend for success mainlj on Lis strength and skill; wliereas tlie pipe- 

 seller, if lie could use a pipe at all in the grave, might render his whole stock in 

 trade available. 



If, therefore, "the accumulated carbonaceous matter, like that formed by the 

 ashes of leaves or grass," which suggests to Prof. Wilson "the graceful offerings 

 of the first fruits of the earth, so consonant to the milder forms Oi ancient sacrifice 

 instituted in recognition of the Lord of the Harvest," seems to us only the frame- 

 work of a house, or the material of a funeral pyre ; on the other hand, we avoid 

 the conclusion to which he is driven, that on "the altars of the mould-builders, 

 human sacrifices were made; and that within their sacred enclosures were 

 practised rites not less hideous than those which characterized the worship 

 which the ferocious Aztecs are affirmed to have regarded as most acceptable to 

 their sanguinary gods." 



Temple mounds. — The class of mounds, called by Messrs. Squier and Davis 

 "Temple mounds," "are pyramidal structures, truncated, and generally having 

 graded avenues to their tops. In some instances they are terraced, or have 

 successive stages. But whatever their form, whether round, oval, octangular, 

 square, or oblong, they have invariably flat or level tops, of greater or less area." 

 These mounds much resemble the Teocallis of Mexico, and had probably a 

 similar origin. They are rare in the north, though examples occur even as far 

 as Lake Superior, but become more and more numerous as we pass down the 

 Mississippi, and especially on approaching the Gulf, where they constitute the 

 most numerous and important portion of the ancient remains. Some of the 

 largest, however, are situated in the north. One of the most remarkable is at 

 Cahokia, in Illinois. This gigantic mound is stated to be seven hundred feet 

 long, Jive hundred feet wide at the base, and ninety feet in height. Its solid 

 contents have been roughly estimated at twenty millions of cubic feet. 



Probably, however, these mounds were not used as temples only, but also as 

 sites for dwellings, especially for those of the chiefs. We are told that among 

 the Natchez Indians "the temples and the dwellings of the chiefs were raised 

 upon mounds, and for every new chief a new mound and dwelling were con- 

 structed." Again : Garcilego de la Vega, in his History of Florida, quoted by 

 Mr. Haven,* says, "The town and house of the cacique of Osachile are similar 

 to those of all other caciques in Florida, and, therefore, it seems best to give one 

 description that will apply generally to all the capitals, and all the houses of 

 the chiefs in Florida. I say, then, that the Indians endeavor to place their 

 towns upon elevated places ; but because such situations are rare in Florida, or 

 that they find a difficulty in procuring suitable materials for building, they raise 

 eminences in this manner. They choose a place to which they bring a quantity 

 of earth, which they elevate into a kind of platform two or three pikes in height, 

 (from eighteen to twenty-five feet,) of which the flat top is capable of holding 

 ten or twelve, fifteen or twenty houses, to lodge the cacique, his family, and 

 suite." 



Animal mounds. — ^Not the least remarkable of the American antiquities are 

 the animal mounds, which are principally, though not exclusively, found in 

 Wisconsin. In this district " thousands of examples occur of gigantic basso- 

 relievos of men, beasts, birds, and reptiles, all wrought with persevering labor 

 on the surface of the soil," while enclosures and works of defence are almost 

 entirely wanting, the "ancient city of Aztalan" bemg, as is supposed, the only 

 example of the former class. 



The "Animal Mounds" were first observed by Mr. Lapham in 1836, and 

 described in the newspapers of the day, but the first account of them in any 

 scientific journal was that by Mr. R. C Taylor, in the American Journal of 

 Science and Art, for April, 1838. In 1843 a longer memoir, by Mr. S. Taylor, 



*L. c, p. 57. 



