Association of American Geologists and Naturalists. 141 



Mr E, G. Squier read a paper entitled " Observations on the 

 Fossils, Minerals, Organic Remains, &c., found in the Mounds of 

 the West." Mr Squier stated, that any traveller through the fer- 

 tile valleys of the west, must have been struck with the number 

 and magnitude of the mounds there existing. Many who have had 

 no opportunity of examining them, have questioned their artificial 

 origin. They have regarded them as the result of diluvial action; 

 and the fact that some of them are stratified, has been seized upon 

 as conclusive upon this point, and as establishing the hypothesis. 

 Recent investigations shew that this feature, instead of being the 

 result of natural causes, is the strongest proof of the artificial origin 

 of the mounds in which it occurs. The tumuli or mounds of tlie 

 Ohio valley are clearly distinguished from each other by position, 

 structure, and contents. Some are deemed sepulchral ; others are 

 connected with the superstitions of the builders ; others still the 

 sites of ancient structures, or in some way connected with the mili- 

 tary system of the ancient people. The sepulchral mounds stand 

 isolated or in groups, apart from other works ; those which are 

 deemed sacred, are found alone within the enclosures. It is this 

 class which appear stratified. They are considerably less in size 

 than the other varieties, and are formed of alternate layers of loam 

 and sand or gravel. The fii'st or outer layer consists of coarse 

 gravel, pebbles, and water-worn stones ; the second of loam of vari- 

 able thickness, alternating with thin strata of fine sand. These 

 layers are all clearly defined, but their arrangement is not uniform. 

 Sometimes there is but a single layer of sand, while occasionally 

 tliere are as many as six. Pits or excavations, at times broad and 

 deep, almost invariably accompany these works. It is from them 

 that the materials were taken for their construction. 



A peculiar feature of these stratified mounds is, that they almost 

 invariably cover altars of burned clay or stone. The altars are 

 generally round, always symmetrical, and ai^e occasionally of great 

 size. One has been discovered sixty feet long, by twelve broad, 

 covered with remains of ancient art. 



The character of the stratification fixes its artificial origin. It 

 would bo extremely difficult to explain how diluvial action could 

 have originated these altars of burned clay or stone. The mounds 

 of a lower latitude, in Louisiana and Mississippi, present a different 

 kind of stratification. It is not improbable that in some instances 

 natural structures have been modified by art, the natural stratifi- 

 cation being preserved. 



None of these mounds are found on the first or latest formed 

 terraces of the western rivers, that is, the Ohio or its tributaries. 

 This fact bears directly on the question of their antiquity. The 

 mounds are found indiscriminately upon all the other terraces or 

 bottoms. It is legitimate, then, to conclude, that tiie latest terrace 



