214 MODERN EARTHWORKS. 



Among the Northern tribes of existing Indians there do 

 not appear to be any earthworks corresponding to these so- 

 called Sacred Enclosures. " No sooner, however, do we pass 

 to the southward, and arrive among the Creeks, Natchez, 

 and affiliated Floridian tribes, than we discover traces of 

 structures which, if they do not entirely correspond with the 

 regular earthworks of the West, nevertheless seem to be 

 somewhat analogous to them.* These tribes, indeed, appear 

 to have been more civilised than those of the North, since 

 they were agricultural in their habits, lived in considerable 

 towns, and had a systematized religion, so that, in fact, they 

 must have occupied a position intermediate, as well econo- 

 mically as geographically, between the powerful monarchies 

 of Central America and the hunting tribes of the North. 

 The "structures to which Mr. Squier alludes are described 

 by him, both in his "Second Memoir," and also in the 

 "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley" (p. 120). 

 The "Chunk Yards," now or lately in use among the Creeks, 

 and which have only recently been abandoned among the 

 Cherokees, are rectangular areas, generally occupying the 

 centre of the town, closed at the sides, but with an opening 

 at each end. They are sometimes from six to nine hundred 

 feet in length, being largest in the older towns. The area is 

 levelled and slightly sunk, being surrounded by a low bank 

 formed of the earth thus obtained. In the centre is a low 

 mound, on which stands the Chunk Pole, to the top of which 

 is some object which serves as a mark to shoot at. Near each 

 corner at one end, is a small pole, about twelve feet high ; 

 these are called the "slave posts," because in the "good old 

 times," captives condemned to the torture were fastened to 

 them. The name " Chunk Yard " seems to be derived from 

 an Indian game called "Chunke," which was played in them. 

 At one end of, and just outside, this area stands generally 

 * Squier, I.e. p. 136. 



