Mound-Builders. 89 



southern portion of the State of Ohio could be warned of 

 danger and prepare for combat or shelter. 



Such a system has been used by all nations, both civilized 

 and savage. We need not wonder that the Mound-builders 

 with such sagacity and forethought, should establish such a 

 system of alarm by which the inhabitants could be apprised 

 of invasion. 



Indefinite Mounds. — Of this class there are many. Thou- 

 sands of such indefinite mounds and squares and circles are 

 to be seen scattered over the various States of the Union. 

 Their structure, composition and contents, give us no clue 

 by which they may be assigned a place. It is believed that 

 many of the strange works that abound in Butler county, 

 Ohio, and which cannot be classified, are among the incom- 

 plete works, that is, works left unfinished by the builders. 



Implements. — The people of Ohio have appropriated the 

 implements of the Mound-builders to a large extent. Almost 

 every homestead in Ohio is ornamented with some of those 

 ancient implements and relics, yet tons have been taken 

 away to grace private and public museums in all parts of 

 this country, and even the museums of Europe and Asia. 

 Among the implements are to be found spear heads, arrow 

 heads, rimmers, knives, axes, hatchets, hammers, chisels, 

 pestles, mortars, pottery, pipes, sculpture, gorgets, tubes, 

 and articles of bone and clothing. Fragments of coarse, but 

 uniformly spun and woven cloth have been found, of course 

 not in preservation, but charred and in folds. One piece, 

 near Middletown, Ohio, was found connected with tassels or 

 ornaments, and may be seen at the Smithsonion Institute at 

 Washington. In Anderson township, Ohio, native gold has 

 been found for the first time. Several small ornaments of 

 copper have been found covered with thin sheets of gold. 

 Earrings also, made of meteoric iron, have been found, and 

 a serpent cut out of mica. Some terra-cotta figures also, 

 which give us an idea of the way the hair was dressed in 

 the days of the Mound-builders. I cannot here name all 

 the implements and ornaments that have been discovered. 

 Though most of them are of hard stone, yet many have been 

 found made of copper. 



