AMERICAN ARCHEOLOGY. 



(Read before the Cincinnati Natural History Society, Nov., 1877.) 



Archaeology pertains to people now extinct, and 

 whose history could not be traced were it not for im- 

 perishable objects which bear marks of a display of 

 human skill. Scratch! ngs or markings on the face of 

 a rock near Dighton, Mass., the Round Tower at 

 Newport, R. I., the Earth Mounds so plentiful in the 

 West and South, and the Pyramid of Cholulu^ in 

 Mexico, are among the larger objects of an archaeolog- 

 ical character. It is possible that the first, two are 

 apocryphal, or were the production of the early col- 

 onists, but there is no question in regard to the genu- 

 ineness of the last two. The ancient Mexican pyra- 

 mid is two hundred feet high, and so sloping that a 

 horse can be -ridden to its truncated summit. It is 

 constructed of thin slabs or bricks ; and the work 

 bears evidence of great antiquity. The earth mounds 

 alluded to are covered with old forest trees, and other- 

 wise furnish proof of being at least five hundred years 

 old, and possibly two thousand years have elapsed 

 since their construction. The Indian tribes found in 

 the country have no traditions in regard to the build- 

 ers or purposes of these works. They are usually 

 found in the vicinity of rivers, yet on the second ter- 

 race or above high water. This would seem to indi- 

 cate that they were forts, especially as the positions 

 and outlines of many of them show that they would 



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