ANCIENT WORKS NEAR ROCK RIYER. 33 



of ancient niininj^- as at the copper mines of Lake Superior. The copper ore asso- 

 ciated with the lead was beyond the reach of their metallurgic arts. The worlds 

 alhided to are sketched on Phate XXV, and consist of several oblong, or circular, 

 and one tapering mound ; the last destitute of appendages, or other indications of 

 its relation to the turtle and lizai'd forms, found further east. 



They are situated on the sloping ground, and extend from the top of the hill half 

 way to the river. The soil is here sandy, being in the district of the sand-stone, 

 which is seen cropping out along the road near by. There is nothing to distin- 

 guish them from others more within the proper region, as it were, of the mound- 

 builders. One of them had been opened prior to our visit, from which bones were 

 said to have been obtained. Indian graves while exposed along the margin of the 

 river, furnished a few glass beads and some trinkets. 



The valley of Sugar river, a considerable stream between the Pekatonica and 

 Rock rivers, appears also to have been avoided by the mound-builders. We could 

 hear of only a few unimportant mounds on- sections fourteen and fifteen, township 

 four, range seven; and on thirty-five and thirty-six, township foui', range six. None 

 could be heard of about Monroe and Exeter, where lead is dug in considerable 

 quantities. For some unknown reason, they seem not to have occupied this 

 mineral region. 



A few mounds of no great interest were seen about Delavan lake, also in and 

 near Beloit, which were not minutely examined by me, but have since been sur- 

 veyed by Prof. S. P. Lothrop, of Beloit College. (See Plates LIV, LV.) Pro- 

 ceeding up the immediate valley of Rock river, the first works worthy of note are 

 near the junction of the outlet of the four lakes at Fulton. 



Plate XXVI represents the works at a place known as Indian Ilill, about a 

 mile above the mouth of the outlet. Here is a series of oblong mounds on the 

 steep slope of the hill, converging towards a point where there is a dug-way leading 

 to the river. The hill has an elevation of seventy or eighty feet, and from its 

 summit the valley of the river can be overlooked for several miles above and 

 below. It may be that this was one of the most important posts of observation, 

 and that the peculiar arrangement of the mounds was intended to guard the access 

 to the water from the top of the hill. 



The hill is quite steep, and at present covered with trees and an under-growth 

 of hazel-bushes. The graded way has been increased in depth by running water, 

 but it bears evidence of having originally been constructed by art. 



At the intersection of Main and State streets, in the village of Fulton, is an irre- 

 gular oval earth-work, consisting of a flat ridge, and resembling the road-way of a 

 modern turnpike. (See Plate XXV, No. 2.) The breadth varies from thirty to 

 forty feet, and the elevation from two to three feet in the middle. The diameters 

 of the oval are five hundred and three hundred feet. Such a structure might have 

 had its uses in some of the public games or ceremonies of uncivilized life ; but it 

 would be idle to attempt to ascertain its particular purpose. 



Besides the works already mentioned in this vicinity, thei'e are numerous tumuli 

 of the ordinary circular form, supposed to be sepulchral. They are occasionally 

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