12 ABORIGINAL MONUMENTS OF NEW YORK. 



obliterated by the plough, or so much encroached upon as to be no longer satis- 

 factorily traced. 



Were these works of the general large dimensions of those of the Western 

 States, their numbers would be a just ground of astonishment. They are, however, 

 for the most part, comparatively small, varying from one to four acres, — the largest 

 not exceeding sixteen acres in area. The embankments, too, are slight, and the 

 ditches shallow ; the former seldom more than four feet in height, and the latter of 

 corresponding proportions. The work most distinctly marked exists in the town 

 of Oakfield, Genesee county ; it measures, in some places, between seven and 

 eight feet from the bottom of the ditch to the top of the wall. In some cases the 

 embankment is not more than a foot in height, and the trench of the same depth. 

 Lest it should be doubted whether works so slight can be satisfactorily traced, it 

 may be observed, that a regular and continuous elevation of six inches may always 

 be followed without difficulty. 



In respect of position, a very great uniformity is to be observed throughout. 

 Most occupy high and commanding sites near the bluff edges of the broad terraces 

 by which the country rises from the level of the lakes. From the brows of the lime- 

 stone ledges, w^here some of these works occur, in Jefferson and Erie counties, 

 most extensive prospects may be obtained, often terminating in the blue belt of the 

 lakes, distant from ten to forty miles ; the intervening country presenting a beau- 

 tiful variety of cleared and forest lands, dotted with houses, churches, and villages. 

 When found upon lower grounds, it is usually upon some dry knoll or little hill, or 

 where banks of streams serve to lend security to the position. A few have been 

 found upon slight elevations in the midst of swamps, where dense forests and almost 

 impassable marshes protected them from discovery and attack. In nearly all cases 

 they are placed in close proximity to some unfailing supply of water, near copious 

 springs or running streams. Gateways, opening toward these, are always to be 

 observed, and in some cases guarded passages are also visible. These circum- 

 stances, in connection with others not less unequivocal, indicate, with great pre- 

 cision, the purposes for which these structures were erected. 



It has already been mentioned that Messrs. Clinton, Yates, and Moulton, and 

 others, have concluded, upon the assumption that none of these works occur upon 

 the first and second terraces above the lakes, that the latter have subsided to their 

 present level since their erection. This conclusion does not necessarily follow 

 from the premises. Few positions susceptible of defence, under the system prac- 

 tised by all rude people, are to be found upon either of these terraces ; the builders, 

 consequently, availed themselves of the numerous headlands and other defensible 

 positions which border the supposed ancient shores of the lakes, simply because 

 they afforded the most effectual protection, with the least expenditure of labor. 



I found an entire uniformity in the indications of occupancy, and in the charac- 

 ter of the remains of art discovered within these enclosures, throughout the whole 

 range of their occurrence. The first feature which attracts notice, upon entering 

 them, is a number of pits or excavations in the earth, usually at the points which 

 are most elevated and dry. These pits are occasionally of considerable size, and 

 are popularly called " wells," although nothing is more obvious than that they 



