Mound-Builders. 81 



of forests have flourished since these forts were abandoned 

 by those who made them. 



Graded Wats. — It is well known that, in most of these 

 valleys, there are several terraces, from the river bottom or 

 flats, up to the high lands in the distance. Near a place 

 called Piketown there is a beautiful graded avenue. The 

 third terrace is seventeen feet above the second and the 

 second about fourteen feet from the river flat. These ter- 

 races form, when graded, this avenue, which has walls on 

 either side in height twenty-two feet. These walls run for 

 1,010 feet to the third terrace, where they continue to run 

 for 2,580 feet, terminating in a group of mounds one of 

 which is thirty feet high. Some distance from these walls 

 another wall runs 212 feet at right angles, and then turns 

 parallel for 420 feet, when it curves inwardly for 240 feet. 



Mounds. — I stated at the outset that the mounds in Ohio 

 were very numerous. They are of various sizes, ranging 

 from those which are only a few feet in height and a few 

 yards at their base, to those which are about 90 feet in 

 height, and covering some acres at their base. These mounds 

 are mostly composed of earth, the material often differing 

 greatly from the surrounding soil. "When we consider the 

 multitudes of these mounds, and the immense transportation 

 of earth and stones required in their structure, it needs no 

 stretch of imagination to conclude that the Mound-builders 

 were a mighty race. Most of these mounds are located near 

 large rivers or streams, and, consequently, in the valleys, 

 although some few are to be found on high lands, and even 

 on hills very suitable for military purposes. Sometimes 

 they may be seen in clusters, indicating a great business 

 centre and large population, while again only one may be 

 found in a journey of fifty or one hundred miles. 



During the last fifty years, these tumuli have been care- 

 fully examined, and, from their contents, shape and position, 

 they are now classified as Temple or Sacrificial Mounds, 

 Burial or Sepulchral Mounds, Symbolic Mounds, Signal 

 Mounds and Indefinite Mounds. I shall briefly describe the 

 characteristic of each class and give a few examples. 



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