﻿ABORIGINAL 
  MOUNDS 
  AND 
  CREEK 
  CUSTOIMS 
  SWANTON 
  497 
  

  

  The 
  problem 
  of 
  the 
  mounds 
  does 
  not, 
  it 
  should 
  be 
  said, 
  involve 
  all 
  

   works 
  in 
  the 
  area 
  under 
  consideration, 
  since 
  fortifications, 
  even 
  those 
  

   as 
  extensive 
  as 
  Fort 
  Ancient, 
  Ohio, 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  almost 
  

   any 
  people 
  in 
  the 
  territory 
  in 
  question, 
  provided 
  only 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  

   sufficiently 
  numerous. 
  Stockades 
  reinforced 
  with 
  earth 
  are 
  reported 
  

   from 
  the 
  entire 
  area. 
  Nor 
  is 
  it 
  a 
  question 
  of 
  burial 
  mounds, 
  because 
  

   interments 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  called 
  for 
  were 
  the 
  rule 
  among 
  the 
  Choctaw 
  

   and 
  some 
  eastern 
  Siouan 
  tribes. 
  

  

  A 
  group 
  of 
  mounds 
  of 
  peculiar 
  character 
  is 
  that 
  including 
  the 
  

   so-called 
  " 
  effigy 
  mounds," 
  which 
  are 
  characteristic 
  of 
  Wisconsin. 
  

   A. 
  B. 
  Stout 
  and 
  Paul 
  Radin 
  were 
  informed 
  by 
  Indians 
  of 
  the 
  Siouan 
  

   Winnebago 
  Tribe 
  living 
  in 
  that 
  region 
  that 
  these 
  had 
  been 
  put 
  up 
  

   by 
  their 
  own 
  people 
  to 
  mark 
  clan 
  residences 
  and 
  clan 
  lands, 
  but 
  other 
  

   archeologists 
  have 
  called 
  attention 
  to 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  phj^sical 
  type 
  

   of 
  the 
  people 
  whose 
  skeletons 
  have 
  been 
  disinterred 
  from 
  these 
  

   mounds 
  is 
  altogether 
  different 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Winnebago. 
  The 
  

   matter 
  is 
  therefore 
  still 
  involved 
  in 
  doubt. 
  

  

  The 
  main 
  problem 
  revolves 
  about 
  the 
  considerable 
  groups 
  of 
  

   mounds 
  and 
  inclosures 
  which 
  clearly 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  sacred 
  

   edifices 
  or 
  at 
  least 
  structures 
  of 
  tribal 
  significance. 
  One 
  undoubted 
  

   reason 
  for 
  the 
  erection 
  of 
  mounds 
  was 
  to 
  raise 
  the 
  buildings 
  they 
  

   carried 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  reach 
  of 
  floods, 
  but 
  while 
  this 
  will 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  

   mounds 
  themselves 
  it 
  will 
  not 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  distinction 
  given 
  to 
  

   certain 
  buildings 
  by 
  the 
  size 
  and 
  height 
  of 
  the 
  mounds 
  on 
  which 
  they 
  

   stood, 
  or 
  for 
  the 
  shapes 
  of 
  the 
  courts 
  or 
  plazas 
  which 
  usually 
  occur 
  

   between 
  them, 
  or 
  for 
  the 
  earthworks 
  in 
  the 
  Ohio 
  Valley 
  in 
  circles, 
  

   squares, 
  and 
  other 
  geometrical 
  patterns. 
  These 
  things 
  point 
  clearly 
  

   to 
  communal 
  undertakings 
  for 
  communal 
  ends. 
  

  

  Mounds 
  and 
  grounds 
  of 
  this 
  type 
  are, 
  in 
  fact, 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   in 
  use 
  among 
  the 
  tribes 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  area 
  when 
  Europeans 
  first 
  en- 
  

   tered 
  it. 
  At 
  Ucita, 
  the 
  town 
  on 
  Tampa 
  Bay 
  near 
  which 
  De 
  Soto 
  

   landed 
  his 
  army, 
  the 
  chief's 
  house 
  was 
  raised 
  on 
  a 
  high 
  artificial 
  

   mound, 
  and 
  buildings 
  placed 
  upon 
  such 
  elevations 
  were 
  frequently 
  

   encountered 
  by 
  his 
  army. 
  Garcilasso 
  de 
  La 
  Vega 
  describes 
  the 
  con- 
  

   struction 
  of 
  a 
  typical 
  mound 
  with 
  some 
  care. 
  He 
  is 
  usually 
  guilty 
  of 
  

   exaggeration, 
  but 
  there 
  are 
  enough 
  references 
  by 
  other 
  chroniclers 
  of 
  

   the 
  De 
  Soto 
  expedition 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  clear 
  that 
  mounds 
  were 
  frequently 
  

   met 
  with 
  in 
  the 
  towns 
  visited 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  chroniclers 
  believed 
  that 
  

   they 
  had 
  been 
  raised 
  by 
  the 
  Indians 
  found 
  in 
  occupancy. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  

   buildings 
  which 
  they 
  observed 
  upon 
  these 
  mounds 
  are 
  called 
  houses 
  

   of 
  the 
  chiefs 
  and 
  some 
  temples, 
  but 
  the 
  chief's 
  house 
  in 
  this 
  section 
  

   often 
  served 
  a 
  semipublic 
  function. 
  When 
  the 
  French 
  visited 
  tJie 
  

   Natchez 
  towns 
  near 
  the 
  present 
  city 
  of 
  Natchez, 
  Miss., 
  they 
  found 
  the 
  

   great 
  temple 
  raised 
  upon 
  an 
  artificial 
  mound 
  and 
  the 
  house 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  