492 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1916. 



kindled is doubtless similar to one of the inner circles Avhich occur 

 in many of the symbols of this class. This, together with the outer 

 interrupted oval, was compressed to conform to the outlines of the 

 reptile's head. The opposite openings in the outer oval may repre- 

 sent two arms of the cross. They seem to be analogous to similar 

 openings shown in h of the same plate. It is not improbable that 

 these may have been at one time a cross within the oval. 



I am well aware that the above interpretation of the serpent effigy 

 is at variance with all others, but it is much more in keeping with 

 what we know of the symbolism of these Indians than that of Squier 

 and Davis, who saw in it a serpent with open jaws swallowing or 

 ejecting an oval figure, or of MacLean, who thought it represented a 

 frog ejecting an egg into the open jaws of the snake. 



A very remarkable earthwork which seems to be of like nature 

 to the one described above occurs on both banks of the Ohio River 

 near Portsmouth. It is shown on plates 27 and 28 of Squier and 

 Davis. A portion of this is illustrated on our plate 1, h. It consists 

 of a truncated central mound surrounded by a ditch and having a 

 graded way to the top. This is inclosed by concentric circles inter- 

 rupted by passageways in the form of a cross. This great cosmic 

 symbol is 1,300 feet in diameter and is connected with a gi'oup of 

 works 3-| miles distant by serpentlike parallel lines of earthworls:s. 

 This gigantic conventionalized figure probably embodies ideas similar 

 to those of the serpent mound. 



In Paint Creek Valley, near Bournville, is an effigy of stones^ 

 which is reproduced on plate 1, a. It is about 250 feet in diameter 

 and doubtless represents the foot and claws of the bear. Analogous 

 designs are shown in h and c. The former is cut from copper and the 

 latter forms a part of the design incised upon the human femur 

 illustrated in ^, Z, plate 6. 



The earthwork in the form of a cross with the central sun symbol ^ 

 shown in fZ, occupies a narrow spur of land in Pickaway County. 

 This undoubtedly embodies a meaning similar to that of the cross 

 and central circle represented in e. A, and k. The gateway to the 

 great inclosure near Hamilton, Butler County,^ is represented in /. 

 This is probably also symbolic, as we have a like design upon the 

 bone shown in g^ and plate 6, i and I. 



ARTIFACTS OF METAL. 



In common with other American tribes, the builders of the great 

 earthworks of Ohio had become proficient in working native copper. 

 This metal seems to have been highly prized in this region and was 

 made into a great variety of ornamental or symbolic forms. Its 



1 Squier and Davis, plates 3 and 30. « Ibid., plate 26. » Ibid., plate 8. 



