SKETCH OF ANCIENT EARTHWORKS. 



BY I. DILLE, OF OHIO. 



The archaeological remains of the Mississippi valley, traced from the lakes 

 south and southwesterly, exhibit a progressive change of structure and outline 

 from the most simple to the most complicated. At the mouth of Chagrin river, 

 on Lake Erie, a bold promontory is surrounded by a fosse and parapet, which 

 were obviously intended for defence. The choice of the site and the character 

 of the structure are such as a military leader of a rude people would be likely 

 to adopt. From the lake to central Ohio the ancient remains are exclusively of 

 a defensive or of a sepulchral character, and no mystery attaches to the purpose 

 for which they were intended. Still further north, on the southern shore of 

 Lake Superior, the working of the copper mines, with extensive explorations, 

 leaves us in no doubt as to the object of the copper implements and ornaments 

 found all over that country. Nothing has been observed which indicates that 

 the makers understood the fusing of metals, or of casting them into desired forms. 

 With the exception of the bowl of a spoon, found in the great mound at Grave 

 creek, on the Ohio, and of doubtful origin, no useful article is known to have 

 been made of copper by the ancient people. This metal was probably regarded 

 as a malleable and durable stone, to which could be given any desired form by tlie 

 hammer alone, and its use was ornamental, or connected with official or sacerdotal 

 dignity. 



But there is a large class of antiquities, comprising fully four-fifths of all 

 these remains found from central Ohio southward and westward, east of the 

 Mississippi, that we cannot refer to any purpose or use of any races of men, or 

 of their institutions, religious, political, or social. 



Of this class the ancient works in the vicinity of Newark, Ohio, are the most 

 easterly and northerly. The great extent and variety of these works in Lick- 

 ing and Perry counties show clearly that this section of country contained a 

 large and industrious population. Sepulchral mounds, differing in form and 

 height, abound everywhere, and are especially numerous in the southeastern 

 part of Licking and northeastern part of Perry. 



The great stone mound about eight miles south of Newark, and about one 

 mile east of the reservoir on the Licking summit of the Ohio canal, was one of 

 the most remarkable structures in the State. It was composed of stones, in their 

 natural shape, as they were found on the adjacent grounds, laid up, without ce- 

 ment, to the height of from 40 to 50 feet, iipon a circular base of 182 feet diam- 

 eter. This was surrounded by a low fosse, and parapet of an ovate form, with 

 a gateway on the east end, leaving a large open area on the west end of the 

 mound, within the enclosure. In the early settlement of this part of the State 

 the old pioneers say this mound was a great resort for rattlesnakes; and it is 

 told of an old woman who lived near by, that in the spring of the year she used 

 to rake up the forest leaves around the toot of the mound, and when the weather 

 became warm enough for the snakes to come out to bask in the sun she would 

 set fire to the leaves, which so infuriated the snakes that they would, in their 

 madness, rush into the fire and perish. 



When the canal reservoir, which is seven or eight miles long, was made, it 



