56 ANTIQUITIES OF WISCONSIN. 



cations that anj'thing had ever been deposited beneath it. If a human body or 

 anything else had been buried there, all traces of it had disappeared. It is difficult 

 to comprehend for what purpose the very numerous small tumuli were made, if not 

 for burial ; and yet it is hardly probable that all evidence of such use would have 

 disappeared. They are here commonly made of the black vegetable mould, but 

 slightly mixed with the subsoil, which has a lighter color. 



On the other hand, one of the crosses was composed of whitish earth, evidently 

 taken from beneath the surface-soil. The animal mounds and crosses, being com- 

 posed of whitish earth, can sometimes be traced in a cultivated field, even after it 

 is ploughed down to a level with the general surface. One of the crosses imme- 

 diately south of the two large mounds seen on the plate, has the arms extended 

 quite athwart the top of the ridge, which is here flanked on one side by the river, 

 and on the other by an extensive marsh, or natural wet meadow. 



Immediately above, the river expands into a broad and shallow lake, extending 

 twelve miles, with a mean breadth of five miles. Until recently this lake was four 

 feet lower than at present, and was mostly covered with a floating morass. Im- 

 mense numbers of fish and water-fowls are found there, and afibrd subsistence to 

 the inhabitants. These advantages have probably, from the remotest antiquity, 

 given this situation a prominence in the estimation of the various tribes or nations 

 who have successively occupied the country. It is a fact of some importance, in 

 deciding upon the general characteristics of the mound-builders, that they have 

 selected the same localities as their successors, and probably for the same reasons, 

 to wit : the greater facility of subsistence. 



The beaver and otter, in former times, doubtless occupied the shores of this lake, 

 as the muskrat still continues to do. The several sources of the Rock river run 

 into the lake at various points, and their united waters are discharged at Horicon. 

 It has an elevation above Lake Michigan of two hundred and ninety feet. The 

 celebrated Sauk chief. Black Hawk, formerly had his residence at this point. 



There are various interesting localities of ancient works in the vicinity of May- 

 ville, as will be seen on Plate XXXVIII. The most extended of these is on the 

 northwest quarter of section eighteen, township twelve, range seventeen, two miles 

 northeast of the village. This group is shown on Plate XXXIX. It comprises 

 thirty-five mounds of various forms, and occupies a nearly level strip between the 

 base of a large ridge^ and brook. 



We found here one of the largest and most regular turtle-mounds we had yet 

 seen, and three or four of the quadrujoed form, one of which is represented on an 

 enlarged scale on Plate XXXIX. The two crosses are directed towards the north- 

 east, while most of the other forms have an opposite direction. Their arms are 

 seldom at right angles with the body, nor are the two parts of the body or trunk 

 in the same line. The head is always largest, highest, and nearly rectangular in 



* Oe Plate XXXVIII, I have endeavored to represent these diluvial ridges, and to show how they 

 give direction to the water-courses. It would be a matter of much interest to the geologist to deter- 

 mine their extent and exact nature, with the view of ascertaining, if possible,* their origin. But such 

 an investigation would be out of place in this memoir. 



