538 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



Auothcr curious circuinstaiieu that may be noticed by inspection of the figures of 

 mounds accomintnying this work is the gradual transition, as it were, or change of 

 one form into another. Examples can be found of all forms from a true circle [cir- 

 cular mound], through the oval and elongate-oval, to the oblong mounds and long 

 ridges. Again there is a succession of mounds, from the simple ridge of considerable 

 size at one end and gradually diminishing to a point at tlie other [this form is, how- 

 ever, rare] tlirough the intermediate forms having one, two, three, or four projections 

 to the "turtle form." In this way. also, we may trace ;i gradual development (so 

 to spe.ak) of nearly all the more complicated forms. 



It is not i)retended that this was the order in which the mounds were erected, or 

 that the aborigines gradually accjuired thi^ art by successive essays or lessons. 

 Indeed we are led to believe tliat the more complicated forms are the most ancient. 



The relative ages of the different works in Wisconsin, so far as they can be ascer- 

 tained from the facts now before us, are probably about as follows: 



First and oldest. The animal forms and the great works at Aztalan. 



Second. The conical mtmnds built for sepulchral purposes, which come down to a 

 very recent period. 



Third. Thi- indication of garden beds planted in regular, geometrical figures or 

 straight lines. 



Fourth. Tlie plantations of the present tribes, who plant without system or regu- 

 larity. 



Thus the taste for regular forms and arrangements and the habits of construction 

 with earthy materials seem to liave been gradually lost, until all traces of them dis- 

 appear in our modern, degenerate red men. 



The animal-shaped mounds and accompanying oblongs and ridges, constituting 

 the first of the above series, aie composed of whitish clay or the subsoil of the 

 country. The mounds of the second series, or burial mounds, are usually comiio.se<l 

 of black mold or loam, itromiscuously intermixed with the lighter-colored subsoil.' 



BUKI.M. MOl'ND.S. 



As a general rule the burial mouuds of this district are comiiara- 

 tively small, seldom exceeding 10 feet in height and usually ranging 

 from 3 to (i. They are in nearly all cases of the siinide conical form. 

 There is, however, one peculiarity in regard to form, which occasionally 

 occurs, that is worthy of notice. This peculiarity consists of one or 

 more ridges or long, narrow emhaukmcnts which extend from the mound 

 directly outward. These have been noticed in Wiscf>nsin by Lapham- 

 and by the present writer in Xortli Dakota. What these appendages 

 signify is unknown; nevertheless it is ])robable that they are a result of 

 the custom of building embankments with a mound at each end as seen 

 in North Dakota and Manitoba. 



It seems to have been a custom prevailing to a greater or less extent 

 over the entire di.strict and to some extent in other northern sections 

 to first dig a shallow, basin-shaped pit in the original soil, bury the 

 dead in this, and heap the mound over them. In other cases the bodies 

 or skeletons were deposited on the original surface. In many instances, 

 where there are no indications of intrusive burial, they were placed at 

 different depths in the mound: and what is strange, this frequently 

 occurs where the mounds are uustratifled. 



lAutici. Wis., pp. 91.92. nbiil., i.jv :;.■■. fil, 57. 



