THojiAs.) MISSOURI. 589 



veutuie tlie assertion, which is borne out by history and explorations, 

 that in the south as a general rule they were the sites of council houses, 

 residences of the chiefs, and possibly of temples. 



INCLOSURES. 



Though not numerous in the district, inclosures are by no mean 

 wanting. They occur, however, in the largest i>roportion in south- 

 eastern Missouri. The latter, as heretofore remarked, are usually 

 quadrangular and inclose groups of hut-rings, with an occasional 

 mound. These, I am inclined to believe, should be considered a dis- 

 tinct type, due jirobably to one or more tribes different from the 

 avithors of the Arkansas works. Tlie few inclosures found iu Arkansas 

 and Louisiana and two or three in southeastern Missouri are usually 

 irregularly semicircular, abutting on water courses or swamps. As a 

 general rule they inclose one, rarely two, large and from two or three 

 to several smaller mounds. It is to be remarked that the large mound 

 is seldom if ever a regular pyramid. This fact, though seemingly of 

 slight importance, may prove of value in studying the archeology of 

 this region, as the same fact is found to be true of some groups in 

 southern Illinois, southern Indiana, and middle Tennessee. It is 

 scarcely necessary to state that the walls as well as the mounds are in 

 all cases built wholly of earth. In or immediately adjoining some of 

 the inclosures are irregular excavations, a few of which are of consid- 

 erable size, whether for other purposes than obtaining earth for the 

 mounds is a question yet undecided. 



URADEI) WAYS AND KAMPS. 



These occur in connection with a few of the large mounds of Louisi- 

 ana and southeastern Missouri, but very lew are found in Arkansas. 

 The best examples of these appendages are seen in a group in Stoddard 

 county, Missouri, known as the " Rich Woods mounds," figured in the 

 first part of this volume, and the Moorehouse group of Louisiana, fig- 

 ured in " Ancient Monuments." The former is, in some respects, one 

 of the most remarkable groups in tlie entire district. The very large 

 number of mounds it contains, the fact that three different series of 

 these are united by ramps, the various forms ijresented (one of which 

 is unique), and the large area over which the group extends, render it 

 exceedingly interesting and worthy of more careful study. The only 

 true crescent- shaped mound observed during the explorations carried 

 on by the Bureau, is found here. 



The pottery, which is found in great abundance, affords one of the 

 chief archeological features of the district. As has been repeatedly 

 remarked, the pottery of southeastern Missouri — the necked jar or 

 water bottle, and vessels ornamented with bird, animal, or human 

 heads, being prominent types — resembles so closely that found about 

 Oahokia, Illinois, and in the vicinity of Nashville, Tennessee, as to be 



