THE MOUND BUILDERS IN CANADA. 137 



to throw light on important points connected with the peopling of 

 North America — whether the Mound Builders were Indians or a 

 different I'ace of men. The remains of the Mound Builders vary in 

 character and structure in different recognized geographical areas, as, 

 for instance, the pjramidal mounds of the Southern States, the em- 

 bankments of the Ohio, the stone graves of Tennessee, and the effi- 

 gies of Wisconsin. It may be taken for granted that even if one race 

 of people with customs in the main identical, climatic influences alone 

 would modify and alter the habits of the Builders. The presence of 

 manufactured seashells in the mounds of Manitoba, which probably 

 came from Southern California or the Gulf of Mexico, will give a 

 clue to the range of the trade. Not only have specimens of 

 the Busycon perversum been taken from the mounds on the Red 

 River, but several shells of the Natica and Marginella appeared in a 

 mound on the Rainy River, a distance of fully 1,500 miles from their 

 native water. The Manitoba Mound Builders probably had some other 

 medium of exchange than copper, which does not seem to have been 

 tised then (judging from its total absence so far as now known), and 

 it is extremely probable that the fine fur of the north was sent 

 south to regions which, though possessing a milder climate, were sub- 

 ject to variations of temperature that necessitated the use of warm 

 clothing at certain seasons. In short, fur was no doubt the article ex- 

 changed for the sea shells of the south. While agriculture may have 

 been engaged in, and the presence of mounds in the most fertile dis- 

 tricts suggests that it was, no traces of stone spades, or " furrowed 

 patches," such as have been discovered further south, have yet come to- 

 light in or near the mounds opened, of which record has been filed. 

 Like the Mandous, the Builders may have used the shoulder-blade of 

 the buffalo as a spade. In a short paper of this kind it is impossible 

 to enter into many details, and I have been compelled to omit many 

 interesting data which have been secured by field work in the North- 

 West. 



Mr. J. H. Hunter enquired whether there was any theory in 

 regard to the age of the mounds. 



Mr. Bell did not like to offer any. It was very difficult to 

 tell their age. Most mound-diggers have refused to give any 

 date. Much depends on the nature of the soil adjoining them. 

 In the case of trees, the number of rings was not a certain 



