June 27, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



383 



nated independently in some two or three different sections. 

 This is inferred from the fact that there appear to be at least 

 three comprehensive classes of works: first, those of the 

 Huron-Iroquois region; second, those of the Dakotan dis- 

 trict; and, third, those of the southern section. These are 

 not limited by ethnic lines, as the people who built the 

 works along- what we have designated the Cherokee and 

 Shawnee belts probably derived the custom from the south- 

 ern mound-builders. 



The southern Dakotans, as the Quapaws and cognate 

 tribes, also built mounds of the southern type. It is possi- 

 We, however, that future discoveries in the north-west and 

 south-west may throw additional light on these questions, 

 and modify the views here advanced, which are based, as a 

 matter of course, only on the data so far obtained. 



The attempt to estimate the time that has elapsed since the 

 arrival of the Cherokees on the banks of the Mississippi (as- 

 suming the theory advanced to be correct) or since their 

 meeting with the Lenape must be almost wholly conjectural. 

 Mr. Hale says the time which has elapsed "since the Tal- 

 legwi were overthrown" is variously estimated, but that the 

 most probable conjecture places it at a period about a thou- 

 sand years before the present day, which would carry it back 

 to the ninth century. Basing the estimate on the traditional 

 •evidence, for mound evidence gives but little aid in this re- 

 spect before contact with the whites, it would seem to be 

 more nearly correct to place the event in the eleventh or 

 twelfth century. How long they had remained in this i-e- 

 gion when the war with the Lenape occurred is a question 

 that must be left wholly to conjecture until other data than 

 those we now possess are obtained ; but it must have been a 

 stay of some centuries, during which, as before said, they 

 had lived in comparative peace. There are some reasons for 

 Ijelieving that during this time another tribe had pushed its 

 way up the Ohio River to the region about the mouth of the 

 Miami. It is even probable that bands had crossed to the 

 north side of the Ohio, and established themselves along the 

 Tianks of the two Miamis. These I am inclined to believe, 

 as heretofore remarked, were Shawnees who probably en- 

 tered the Mississippi valley after the advent of the Chero- 

 kees. There is some evidence, however, in this region, of 

 the presence of another small tribe which must have been 

 •driven out or destroyed. The remains which indicate the 

 presence of this tribe are peculiar stone heaps and stone 

 ■graves- It is possible that the presence of other people in 

 this part of the Ohio valley caused the Cherokees to retreat 

 Tip the Kanawha instead of southward across Kentucky. 



The importance archceologically of the questions here dis- 

 cussed does not end with their bearing upon the history of 

 a single tribe, for at almost every point there are side con- 

 nections with other peoples. If it be admitted that the 

 'Cherokees were mound-builders down to the appearance of 

 the white race «n the continent, the mystery of the builders 

 •of our ancient monuments is virtually dispelled ; for the 

 lines which radiate from this point are so numerous and so 

 far-reaching, that, when traced out to their utmost extent, 

 the whole realm of mound-builders will have been traversed. 

 This is a view of the subject which has not received due 

 -consideration on the part of those who admit that some of 

 t;he works are attributable to Indians, yet claim that others 

 are due to a different and more .highly cultivated race. An 



illustration by partially tracing one or two of these lines 

 will serve to impress the reader with the importance of in- 

 vestigation in this direction. 



Reference has already been made to the fact that engraved 

 shells similar to those found in the mounds of North Caro- 

 lina and East Tennessee have been discovered in stone 

 graves of a particular type, and that stone graves of this 

 type often occur in mounds assigned, even by disbelievers of 

 the Indian theory, to the true mound-building age. As the 

 designs on these shells are peculiar, it is reasonable to con- 

 clude that the builders of the two classes of works were con- 

 temporaneous, or that there was an overlapping to some ex- 

 tent chronologically. Following up this line, which is 

 traceable by other indications than merely the form of the 

 sepulchres in which the dead were buried, we are led in one 

 direction to th.e banks of the Delaware, where, history and 

 archseology inform us, the Indians of that locality were 

 burying their dead in tombs of the peculiar type mentioned, 

 as late as the time of William Penn. It carries us in an- 

 other direction, to southern Illinois, where links are found 

 connecting unmistakably with the historic tribes of that sec- 

 tion. 



Going back to the Cumberland valley, the chief seat of 

 these stone-grave builders, other lines start out which lead to 

 the ancient works of south-eastern Missouri. Speaking of 

 objects taken from "the peculiar stone graves of the South- 

 ern States," especially those of the Cumberland valley. Pro- 

 fessor Putnam states that he has classed these "as belonging 

 to the southern mound-builders, from the fact that the care- 

 ful exploration of thousands of the graves, under the direc- 

 tion of the Museum, shows that their contents, including the 

 human remains, are of the same character as those of the burial 

 mounds in general, in the same region. . . . We have con- 

 clusive evidence, in the objects here arranged, that the 

 stone-grave people of the south-west, and at least one group 

 of the mound-builders, were one and the same people." 



In another place he says, "Many of these carved disks of 

 shell have been found in the graves and mounds of Tennes- 

 see and Missouri, and, with the identity of the associated pot- 

 tery from the two localities, go far to prove the unity of the 

 people, notwithstanding some slight differences in burial 

 customs." 



Although it is probable that Professor Putnam is not jus- 

 tified in concluding that the people of the two sections were 

 tribally identical (if this be his meaning), yet the strong 

 similarity in the forms, ornamentation, and character of the 

 pottery leaves no doubt that they were contemporaneous, 

 and, in consequence of contact or intercourse, had adopted 

 in some respects similar customs. 



Thus it is seen, that, commencing with the mounds of the 

 Cherokee district, the connecting lines lead to the modern 

 and non-mound-building tribes of the Delaware valley, to 

 the historical tribes of Illinois, and to the veritable mound- 

 builders of middle Tennessee and south-eastern Missouri. 

 Nor do these complete the list of points to which the 

 branches of this single diverging line lead us. As there are 

 other diverging lines, it is apparent, that, when all have 

 been traced out along their various branches, a large por- 

 tion of the mound area will have been traversed. 



This renders it highly probable that there was no manifest 

 break in the mound-building age. It may have continued. 



