ANCIENT WORKS IN TUE VICINITY OF LAKE MICIIIUAN. }) 



" On the point of the iiigh bluff marked A on the map (Plate II.) is a mound 

 six feet high, in connection with an embankment 235 feet long. This embank- 

 ment is two feet high, and twelve feet wide at the point nearest to the mound, and 

 tapers gradually to a mere point at its western extremity, near a spring. I am 

 informed that there were formerly other works connected with this, which have 

 been obliterated by cultivation and other improvements. (Au enlarged plan of 

 this interesting group is shown on Plate II.) 



"A little further east, on the same side of the river, is a single low mound, 

 occupying the projecting point of a bluff. Opposite this, on the north bank of the 

 stream, there is a cluster of mounds crowded into a small space, bounded on the 

 east by a long mound, and on the west by a 'lizard mound'^ eighty feet long. 



" The remaining works, situated on the bluff north of those last named, consist 

 of three lizards, one oblong and six conical tumuli, and three inclosures. The 

 two semicircular embankments are situated on an almost inaccessible bluff eighty 

 feet high. The embankments are slight, not over one foot in elevation, and ten or 

 twelve feet broad, but perfectly distinct and well defined. There is some evidence 

 that they formerly constituted graded ways leading to the river. They are tolerably 

 well situated for works of defence, but, without the addition of palisades, could 

 afford no protection. The small circle, from its size and position, could scarcely 

 have been designed for a work of defence. Neither of these has any perceptible 

 ditch on either side; if one formerly existed, it is now obliterated. The 'lizards' 

 are much alike, from two to two and a half feet high, and from twelve to fourteen 

 feet broad at the shoulders, the tail gradually tapering to a point. The longest is 

 130 feet, and the shortest 80 feet in length. 



" In addition to the works represented on Plate II., there is a cluster of eight 

 mounds, situated on a sandy ridge, three-fourths of a mile further south. 



" I opened one of the lizards, but found nothing. We excavated fourteen of the 

 mounds, some with the greatest possible care ; they are all sepulchral, of a uniform 

 construction, as represented by Fig. 2. Most of them contained more than one 

 skeleton; in one instance, we found no less than seven. We could detect no 

 appearance of stratification, each mound having been built at one time, and not 

 by successive additions. During these investigations, we obtained sufficient 

 evidence to warrant me in forming the following conclusions. The bodies were 

 regularly buried in a sitting or partly kneeling posture, facing the east, with the 

 legs flexed under them. They were covered with a bark or log roofing, over which 

 the mound was built. The apparent confusion in which the skeletons are some- 

 times found, is owing to their falling over at different angles, at the time, perhaps, 

 of the giving way and caving in of the temporary roofing. It is quite common 

 to find skeletons before reaching the primitive receptacle or pit. These were 

 undoubtedly subsequent interments, made by the modern Indians. They are in a 



* This appellation is given for convenience to a class of mounds having two projections or legs on 

 one side near the larger extremity, without pretending that they were actually intended to represent 

 lizards. 



