XLIL ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 
Nothing has been found connected with the mounas to sus- 
tain or justify the opinion, so frequently advanced, of their 
great antiquity. The caleulations based upon the supposed 
age of trees growing on some of them are fast giving way 
before recent investigations in regard to the growth of forests, 
as it has been ascertained that the rings of trees are not a sure 
indication of age. 
Eighth. That all the mounds which have been examined and 
carefully studied are to be attributed to the tribes found inhab- 
iting this region and their ancestors. 
A suggestion may perhaps be offered with regard to the sev- 
enth of the above propositions. Professor Thomas has fully 
established the conclusion that the mound building period con- 
tinued into the historic period. He has overthrown the theory 
of the vast antiquity of a higher stage of culture antedating the 
Indian occupancy of the country, which theory has been widely 
accepted by careless thinkers and writers. In doing this he 
has rendered an inestimable service to the proper study of the 
Indian tribes. But an attempt to fix the duration or beginning 
of the mound building period is unadvisable in the absence of 
evidence not yet obtained and which may never be forthcoming. 
It also may be suggested that there is not yet sufficient evi- 
dence to justify any decided view as to the routes by which 
the several Indian tribes reached their historic seats. Much of 
that which has been obtained is conflicting, and for the present 
it is not possible to arrive at sound and enduring conclusions. 
THE CHEROKEE NATION OF INDIANS, BY CHARLES C. ROYCE. 
The introductory part of this paper explains the plan and 
scope of the Historical Atlas of Indian Affairs upon which Mr. 
Royce has been for several years engaged. ‘The body of the 
paper exhibits the method of the work as applied to the Chero- 
kee Nation, as it is now officially styled by itself and recog- 
nized by the United States in the language of treaties and stat- 
utes, though in strictly scientific phraseology the people con- 
stituted a confederacy, their several towns being the tribal 
units. 
