228 THE MOUND BUILDERS. 



sented taking the hand of the Indian Sachem." The large 

 number of beads found in some of the tumuli were perhaps 

 in a similar manner intended to commemorate the actions 

 and virtues of the dead. 



THE MOUND BUILDERS. 



Just as the wigwam of the recent Mandan consisted of an 

 outer layer of earth supported on a wooden framework, so 

 also, in the ancient sepulchral tumuli, the body was pro- 

 tected only by beams and planks ; when therefore these latter 

 decayed, the earth sank in and crushed the skeleton within. 

 Partly from this cause, and partly from the habit of burying 

 in ancient tumuli, which makes it sometimes difficult to dis- 

 tinguish the primary from secondary interments, it happens 

 that from so many thousand tumuli we have only three well- 

 preserved skulls which indisputably belong to the ancient 

 race. These are decidedly brachycephalic ; but it is evident 

 that we must not attempt to build much upon so slight a 



No proof of a knowledge of letters, no trace of a burnt 

 brick, have yet been discovered, and so far as we may judge 

 from their arms, ornaments, and pottery, the mound-builders 

 closely resembled some at least of the recent Indian tribes; and 

 the earthworks agree in form with, if they differ in magnitude 

 from, those still, or until lately, in use. Yet this very magni- 

 tude is sufficient to show that, at some early period, the great 

 river valleys of the United States must have been more 

 densely populated than they were when first discovered by 

 Europeans. The immense number of small earthworks, and 

 the mounds, " which may be counted by thousands and tens 

 of thousands," might indeed be supposed to indicate either a 

 long time or a great population ; but in other cases we have 

 no such alternative. The Newark constructions ; the mound 

 near Florence in Alabama, which is forty-five feet in height 



