570 THE MOUNDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 
so joined together that they must have formed parts of one connected 
whole. Near the center of the circle or, as it is called, “ the round 
fort,” which as we have seen, had once been inclosed by palisades, was 
a tumulus of earth about 10 feet in height and several rods in diameter 
at its base. On its eastern side and extending 6 rods from it, was a 
semicircular pavement composed of pebbles, such as are now formed 
in the bed of the Scioto River, from whence they appear to have been 
brought. The summit of this tumulus was level, nearly 30 feet in 
diameter, and there was a raised way to it leading from the east, like a 
modern turnpike.* The earth composing this mound was entirely 
removed in the presence of Mr. Atwater, and there were found lying 
on the original surface of the ground, and about 20 feet apart, the 
remains of two human skeletons that had evidently been burned. With 
one of these skeletons there was ‘‘ the handle either of a small sword or 
a large knife, made of an elk’s horn; around the end where the blade 
had been inserted was a ferrule of silver which, though black, was not 
much injured by time. Though the handle showed the hole where the 
blade had been inserted yet no iron was found, but.an oxide remained 
of similar shape and size.” With the other skeleton ‘“ there was alarge 
mirrour about 3 feet in length, 14 feet in breadth, and 1Sinches in thick- 
ness. This mirrour was of isinglass (mica membranacea), and on it (was) 
a plate of iron, which had become an oxide; but before it was disturbed 
by the spade resembled a plate of east iron.” 
A quantity of arrow-heads and spear-points were found with one of 
the skeletons; but of these it is unnecessary to speak, as they proba- 
bly did not differ from those that lie scattered about everywhere in the 
Ohio Valley, and they can not therefore (except indirectly) throw any 
light upon the origin of these works. Not so however with the arti- 
cles of iron and silver. These do tell a story; and whilst they do not 
indicate the precise period of time when this mound was erected, yet 
they enable us to say, with some degree of certainty, that it must have 
been subsequent to the arrival of the whites, for the reason that the 
nations that held the Mississippi Valley previous to that event, whether 
Mound-builder or recent Indian, may in a general way be said to have 
been unacquainted with any metal except native copper; and this they 
simply hammered into shape, or possibly “‘having melted it,” they 
‘‘spread itinto sheets,” as Champlain ( Voyages, vol. 11, p. 236: Boston, 
1878) tells us they sometimes did, before submitting it to the process 
of malleation. Of the manufacture of iron they appear to have been 
ignorant; and though the recent Indians were unquestionably ac- 
quainted with silver, beat it into ornaments, and in all probability 
* Archwologia Americana vol, 1, pp. 177, et seq. See also Squier, Abor. Mon. of 
New York, p. 107; Stone, Life of Brant, vol. 11, p. 485, and Schoolcraft, Lead Mines 
of Missouri, p. 274, for notices of other mounds that have been built in the State of 
Ohio within comparatively recent times. 
