22 ANTIQUITIES OF WISCONSIN. 



mile northwest of the village. One of them was penetrated to some depth below 

 the original surface, but not the least trace of any deposit could be detected. Pits 

 had been dug in several other mounds, and, so far as we could learn, uniformly 

 with the same negative results. The soil here is sandy, and the materials of the 

 mounds consist of sand, with spots of darker color or mould, as if portions of the 

 surface soil were mixed with the sand. There are eight mounds, situated on a 

 level plain elevated about sixty feet above the river, to which there is a very steep 

 descent. They are not exactly round, but of an oval form : the longest diameter 

 lying in a north and south direction, or -at right angles with the steep bank. 



The following notice of the works near Manitowoc^ is from a letter written by 

 Mr. Charles Musson of that place. " There are some mounds and embankments, 

 or breastworks (or what seem to have been used for that purpose), found about 

 half a mile northwest from the town, on a high, level, and dry piece of ground of 

 considerable extent. These embankments now rise to the height of about four 

 feet ; their breadth at the base being from ten to twelve feet. In one place there 

 are two, ranging north and south, parallel to each other; one about thirty rods, 

 the other forty rods long, and seventy rods apart. They present every appearance 

 of having been works of defence for two contending parties. In the vicinity of the 

 breastworks, between and to the south of them, are about twelve mounds, varying 

 in size ; some are as large as fifteen feet in diameter at the base, and eight feet in 

 height. Some of these have been opened, and, I think, in one bones were found; 

 but nothing certain can now be known. It seems highly probable that this might 

 have been a battle ground, and these mounds the burial-places of the slain. The 

 suggestion is not the less probable from the fact of there not being anything in 

 them which can be recognized as human remains. For it is certain, from the size of 

 the trees now growing on the apparent fortifications, that they must have been 

 erected centuries ago ; some are pine trees four feet in diameter." 



These works are supposed to be the northern limit of ancient monuments on or 

 near the lake shore. 



^ Represented on Plate XXXII. No. 3. 



