188 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 



THE ANTIQUITIES AND PLATYCNEMISM OF THE 

 MOUND BUILDERS OF WISCONSIN. 



BY J. M. De hart, M. D. 



The vast difference that has been found to exist between tbe 

 mounds of "Wisconsin and those of other parts of the United 

 States, both in their form and variety of structure, have led many 

 arch apologists to infer that thej were constructed by a different 

 race ; but such eminent aulhorit}'- as the late Dr. Lapham, has 

 dispelled these views, and finds in them sufficient evidence to 

 prove that they are of a common origin. The animal mounds, 

 located a few miles west of the four lakes, near Madison, were 

 first described by Squier and Davis, in their contributions to the 

 Smithsonian Institution, in 1848, and also by R. C. Taylor, in 

 Silliman's Journal. 



Dr. Locke, in the Oeological Report of Iowa and Wisconsin, 

 furnished information which greatly increased our knowledge of 

 these structures ; but Dr. Lapham, in his contributions to the 

 Smithsonian Institution and American Antiquarian Society, has 

 done more than any other writer, in furnishing evidence of their 

 conformation and general character. 



Most of these mounds consist of imitations, on a gigantic scale, 

 of animate objects, which were characteristic of the region, such 

 as the bear, buffalo and deer, among the mammals ; of the turtle 

 and lizard, among the reptiles, and the night hawk and eagle, 

 among the birds ; and, in a few instances, of the human form. 

 The animal mounds seldom exceed five feet in height, while some 

 of them were only one or two feet high, above the surrounding 

 ground. From the fact that the mounds were nearly always 

 located near the great rivers, and in the vicinity of the lakes, we 

 are led to infer that the mound-builders availed themselves of the 

 natural advantages of the country — ready access to living water, 

 natural highways, streams abounding with fish, and the adjacent 

 forests with game. 



