6 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. YU. 



scarcely be avoided where low walls, almost obliterated by time, or concealed by 

 thickets and standing grain, are to be delineated. 



There remained, however, several works not yet described, and it is to this class, 

 with one exception, that the present communication relates. 



This memoir may therefore be regarded as a supplement to the descriptive part 

 of the first volume of the Smithsonian Contributions ; and so far as Ohio is con- 

 cerned, the two may be said to present the descriptive part of the whole subject of 

 ancient mounds, forts, pyramids, and similar constructions. 



Those who choose to speculate upon the objects for which these works were 

 made, the character of the people who built them, and the relation the latter held 

 to races at present known, may rest assured that they have reliable facts on 

 which to proceed. 



My object has been throughout merely to present additional facts for the use of 

 the antiquarian, performing the part of a common laborer, who brings together 

 materials wherewith some master workman may raise a perfect edifice. Though 

 the ancient works of Ohio may not all be described, because they are probably not 

 all discovered, yet it can scarcely be doubted that a type or sample of every variety 

 must now be in the possession of the public. 



A number of the works described in this paper are of a remarkable character. 

 They consist of heavy excavations, ditches, and moats, without the usual exhibi- 

 tion of walls and embankments. 



With regard to the geographical range of artificial mounds and other ancient 

 structures to the northward, I have seen them as far as Point au Chene, on the 

 Mississippi, in Minnesota, about latitude 47° N. Those of Wisconsin are very 

 numerous, but they are low and of small dimensions. They are about to be 

 described by I. A. Lapham, Esq., of Milwaukie, and I think it will appear that 

 they belong to a diflerent race or a different era from those of Southern Ohio. 

 In fact, those found near the south shore of Lake Erie differ from both, and are 

 probably due to a diSerent age or people. 



I do not feel inclined to attribute the great works of Central and Southern Ohio 

 to the progenitors of our Aborigines ; but in regard to those of Wisconsin and Min- 

 nesota there is room for doubts and ample discussion on this point. 

 Cleveland, 0., April 3, 1850. 



