CONANT — ARCHEOLOGY OF MISSOURI. 353 



Arch<Bology of Missouri. 



By A. J. CoNANT, A.M. 



There is, doubtless, now no richer field for archaeological 

 research in this great basin of the Mississippi Valley than is to 

 be found in the State of Missouri. The wonderful extent and 

 variety of the ancient works and monuments therein, the relics 

 they disclose, the huge burial mounds filled with the bones of the 

 dead, disposed in orderly array, as though by loving hands, along 

 with vessels of pottery of graceful forms and varied patterns, often, 

 too, skillfully ornamented,— all bear witness to a s;;ttled and per- 

 manent condition of society and government and obedience to 

 law, and to certain convictions of a future life. Mounds are found 

 almost everywhere throughout the length and breadth of the State. 



The largest tumuli and most extensive works are seen upon 

 the river tenaces of the Mississippi and its tributary streams. 

 Here were the large towns and populous centres, seats of gov- 

 ernment, and doubtless, too, where the national solemnities of 

 their worship were celebrated. The truncated, oblong mounds, 

 with a graded way leading to a higher elevation at one end, are 

 so like the pattern of the Teocalli of Mexico, as to compel the 

 conviction that their purpose was the same, and that from these, 

 too, ascended the smoke of the sacrificial altars in the worship of 

 the heavenly bodies. In the centre of the enclosures rise the 

 commanding residence sites of the dwellings of their chiefs, and 

 grouped around them were similar structures of less notable 

 character. It is interesting to note, also, that the dead were not 

 carried to some distant, isolated spot for interment, but in the 

 very heart of the town, where the homes were the thickest, the 

 last resting-place — the burial mound — was erected. 



In many placts, the streets of the cities may be traced. The 

 sites of the long rows of dwellings, built of such perishable mate- 

 rial that no vestige now remains, may be identified by the con- 

 stant presence of the family hearth, showing by its reddish, baked 

 appearance, to the depth of several inches, the long continued 

 action of fire. 



But not in works like these alone are to be found the evidences 

 of an ancient and vast population. Within the State, from Pu- 



iii — 23 [Apr. S, 1S76.] 



