168 ANIMAL CARVINGS. 



worked, to say nothing of the other manifold nses to which it is put,^ 

 both by primitive and civilized man. The mastodon affords an abun- 

 dant supply of this highly prized substance, not a particle of which 

 has ever been exhumed from the mounds either in the shape of imple- 

 ments or carving. Yet the exceedingly close texture of ivory enables 

 it to successfully resist the destroying influences of time for very long^ 

 periods — very long indeed as compared with certain articles which com- 

 monly reward the search of the mound explorer. 



Among the articles of a perishable nature that have been exhumed 

 from the mounds are large numbers of shell ornaments, which are by 

 no means very durable, as well as the perforated teeth of various animals ; 

 sections of deers' horns have also been found, as well as ornaments made 

 of the claws of animals, a still more perishable material. The list also in- 

 cludes the bones of the muskrat and turtle, as of other animals, not only 

 in their natural shape, but carved into the form of implements of small 

 size, as awls, etc. Human bones, too, in abundance, have been exhumed 

 in a sufficiently well jireserved state to afibi'd a basis for various theo- 

 ries and speculations. 



But of the mastodon, with which these dead Mound-Builders are sup- 

 posed to have been acquainted, not a palpable trace remains. The tale 

 of its existence is told by a single monnd in Wisconsin, which the most 

 ardent sup])orter of the mastodon theory must acknowledge to be far 

 from a lac simile, and two carvings and an inscribed tablet, the three 

 latter the finds of a single explorer. 



Bearing in mind the many attem.pts at archfeological frauds that re- 

 cent years have brought to light, archaeologists have a right to demand 

 that objects which afford a basis for such important deductions as the 

 coeval life of the Mound-Builder and the mastodon, should be above 

 the slightest suspicion not only in respect to their resemblances, but as^ 

 regards the circumstances of discovery. If they are not above sus- 

 picion, the science of archaeology can better afibrd to wait for further 

 and more certain evidence than to commit itself to theories which may 

 prove stumbling-blocks to truth until that indefinite time when future 

 investigations shall show their illusory nature. 



THE "ALLIGATOE" MOUND. 



Although of much less importance than the mastodon, a word may 

 be added as to the so-called alligator mound, more especially because 

 the alligator, owing to its southern habitat, is not likely to have been 

 known to the Mound-Builders of Ohio. That it may have been known 

 to them either through travel or hearsay is of course possible. A copy 

 of the mound from the "Ancient Monuments" is subjoined. 



The alligator mound was described under this name for no other reason 



