116 Proceedings of Indiana Academy of Science 



embankment. It was reported in the Geological report of Indiana for 

 the year of 1875 as being 280 feet interior diameter, the ditch being 

 30 feet in width and about 9 feet deep. 



A third embankment is of a rectangular shape and located at Win- 

 chester in Randolph county, a portion of which was formerly within the 

 county fair grounds. In the Geological Report of Indiana for the year 

 1878 it was reported as containing about 31 acres, the interior area 

 being about one fourth mile in length and over a thousand feet in 

 width. The embankment was 6 to 8 feet high with a gateway at each 

 end, one of which had an elaborate entrance in the form of a crescent. 

 It is remarkable as to outline and for having no ditch accompanying 

 the embankment; also in having two gateways, inasmuch as Smithsonian 

 descriptions say these single earthworks invariably have but one 

 gateway. 



Indiana is most fortunate in having these three groups or instances 

 of aboriginal earthworks which may prove to be primeval. They are 

 specially interesting as they represent three different types of construc- 

 tion and commemorate a remaikable race of primitive times and one 

 with a personality which American history will be proud to record. 



Of the use to which these earthworks were put, Smith.sonian con- 

 clusions are as follows: 



"On the whole, the American Indians incline strongly towards all 

 farms of religious excitement. Their festivals and games were accom- 

 panied by religious rites, .some being confined to groups and others par- 

 ticipated in by whole tribes. Specially prepared lodges or grounds were 

 tabooed, into which none but the initiated could enter, and which were 

 indicated in such a manner that the public might not mistake it. The 

 ceremonies formed intrinsic featvnes and may be regarded as phases 

 of culture, theii' special character depending on the state of culture of 

 the people by which they were performed; hence there are at least as 

 many kinds of ceremonies as there arc phases of culture in North 

 America." 



As to segregating the phases of culture and working out a sequence, 

 which has pi-obably been awaiting the completion of sufficient explora- 

 tion, it would seem practicable to draw the same line in the stone age 

 that is done in Europe, viz. the early or primitive stage as separate 

 from the later or perfected stage. As flint may be taken as emblematic 

 of the early period, being the material so easily fractured into the form 

 of a spearhead, so may we select the stone of hard and tough texture, 

 .such an granite, syenite, diorite, basalt, etc., as typifying the late period 

 in the stone age. This tough, grained i-ock was subject to abrasive 

 treatment in the way of hammering, pecking and rubbing to give a 

 desired outline and cutting edge. The first implement in this line to 

 be worked out has been considered to be the hatchet shaped implement 

 known as the "celt" (fig. 6) which appears in about the same form in 

 the stone age of European countries. It required long and patient 

 work to give it the required outline, and then the cutting edge was 

 formed by a rubbing or polishing process, and this polishing in some 

 cases was applied to the entire surface of the implement. 



