THE 



AMERICAN 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND ARTS. 



[SECOND SERIES.] 



Art. I. — A Monograph of the Ancient Monuments of the State 



of Kentucky ; by E. G. Squier. 



Kentucky abounds in ancient earthworks, which partake very 

 much of the character of those bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Many of the enclosures are manifestly defensive, but the larger 

 proportion, like those of Ohio, were probably dedicated to sacred 

 purposes. The latter, however, are seldom of large dimensions ; 

 and none, so far as we are informed, assumed the remarkable 

 combinations which are to be observed in the Scioto and Miami 

 valleys. They are, for the most part, small circles and squares, 



the former greatly predominating in point of numbers. The 

 mounds, on the other hand, are usually more regular and perhaps 

 of larger average dimensions than those to the northward of the 

 Ohio. The rectangular and terraced mounds, in particular, are 

 comparatively numerous, and are often of great size. Those 

 which are low, and cover large areas, are known as "platforms ." 



Few of the Kentucky works have ever been surve yed, although 

 many have been noticed and described with greater or less full- 

 ness, at various times. Prof. Rafinesque, in his notes, has indi- 

 cated the localities of a great number, but has failed to give us 

 any very clear conception of their character. In his fanciful in- 

 troduction to Imlay's History of Kentucky, he estimates the num- 

 ber of groups of works within the state at six hundred.* 



* For " Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley," I have in the following 

 pages substituted the abbreviation "A. M. of M. V." For the name of Rafinesque, 

 from whose confused notes most of the facts were obtained, simply the initial " R:' 



Second Series, Vol. VIII, No. 22.— July, 1849. 1 



