IV. ABORIGINAL HOUSE MOUNDS 



The small, low, flattened mounds of the lower Mississippi Valley 

 are a problem to archeologists. They have been studied principally 

 near the Mississippi River, in Arkansas and Missouri, and. for many 

 years it was thought that in the latter State they are confined entirely 

 to the southeastern portion. Recently they have been found much 

 farther to the north and the west than they were supposed to exist. 



A group, rather limited as to nimiber and to the area covered, is 

 at the head of a narrow valley trending northward from Granite 

 Mountain in Iron County. 



" Near Iron Mountain, in St. FranQois County, more than 500 

 of these small mounds, arranged in parallel rows following the direc- 

 tion of the watercourses, were counted within a radius of 3 miles." ^ 



The next gi'oup known north of this is on the right bank of Plattin 

 Creek in Jefferson County, about 12 miles from the Mississippi. 



" A group of some 50 similar mounds is situated on the right bank 

 of the Meramec, about 6 miles above its mouth, in Jefferson County." ^ 



The most northern group so far observed is near Ferguson in St. 

 Louis County, Missouri, where 46 are located on a narrow ridge 

 which has the same general elevation as the table-land. The ridge 

 extends around the head of a ravine, and the mounds are placed 

 along its crest or on the gentle slopes near the top. There are 10 or 

 12 at the southern edge of Ferguson, on an overflow bottom bordering 

 a small creek. 



Toward the west from the swamp region a small group is in a 

 broad valley near Alton in Oregon County, which borders on 

 Arkansas. They are scattered along a gentle slope which has a little 

 stream at the foot. 



In Dent County four groups are known. One is on the infirmary 

 farm south of the town of Salem. Most of these are but slightly 

 changed from their natural condition. Another group is 6 miles east 

 of Salem. These also are largely intact. A third is on the road from 

 Salem to Short Bend. The fourth is at the edge of Salem, on the 

 Rolla road. 



" On the high plateau of Dallas County, north of the Niangua . . . 

 within an area smaller than 10 square miles, 860 were counted." ^ 



1 Bushnell, D. I., jr., Archeology of the Ozark region of Missouri. Amer. Anthrop., 

 n. s. vol. 6, no. 2, p. 298. 

 =»Ibid., p. 297. 



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