HADiN] . WINNEBAGO ARCHEOLOGY 81 



There are a large number of effigies that, for want of a better name, 

 most Wisconsin arciieologists have called "turtle" mounds. No 

 explanations can be offered of these peculiar effigies unless they are 

 attempts to picture fish or are altered water-spirit mounds. The 

 Winnebago had no turtle clan, but the turtle plays an important part 

 in their mythology. 



Perhaps the most peculiar effigy mounds are the famous "Man" 

 mounds, of which only two examples are in existence, and the so- 

 called "intaglios." Good descriptions of both types have been 

 given.' 



The two "Man" moxinds have generally been regarded as inex- 

 plicable or connected with some prehistoric rite, and it seemed useless 

 to attempt any explanation. As there seemed to be no reason why 

 these mounds might not fall into the same category as the clan 

 mounds, the writer took the opportunity of inquiring about them 

 among the older Winnebago. A number of the people asked knew 

 nothing about them, but, fortunately, two very old members of the 

 tribe interpreted them, as soon as they were described, as represen- 

 tations of the Warrior or Hawk clan. As this clan belonged to the 

 Bird phratry, no one had ever looked for any but bird emblems. 



No information has been obtained from living Winnebago that 

 could throw any light on the " intaglio " mounds. We wish, however, 

 to hazard a suggestion as to their possible meaning. "The intaglio 

 effigies, " to quote Mr. Brown, "may be described as being the reverse 

 of the ordinary effigy mounds. They are excavated out of the soil 

 instead of erected upon it, the earth removed from the shallow exca- 

 vation being heaped up with care along the edges, giving form and 

 prominence to the animal shapes depicted."^ Tlie Winnebago fre- 

 quently placed symbols referring to water deities under water, and, as 

 10 of the 12 intaglios that have been described belong unquestionably 

 to the Water-spirit clan, it may have been customary to keep these 

 "intaglios" filled with water. The discovery of two supposedly 

 Bear "intaglios" militates against this suggestion. However, ac- 

 cording to the Bear clan legends, the ancestors of that clan came 

 from the water, as did likewise those of the Wolf and Buffalo clans. 



We now come to the most unsatisfactory problem of oxu" area — 

 namely, the nature and significance of the linear movmds. The 

 various types have been best described by Mr. A. B. Stout and we 

 will do best to quote him in extenso: 



The principal classes of linear mounds are as follows: 



The pure linear type is a straight wall-like mound of uniform width and height. 

 They are usually about 2J feet in height and from 10 to 20 feet in width. Some are so 



'"The Preservation of the Man Mound," in vol. 7, no. 4, of the Wisconsin Archeologist, and "The 

 Intaglio Mounds of Wisconsin," in vol 9, no. 1, of the same journal; both papers by C. Brown. 

 3 Of. Wisconsin ,\rcheoIogist, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 6. 



