SKULLS FROM THE MOUNDS, 



219 



worship or of sacrifice. The pyramidal structures of Mexico are called Teocal- 

 LIS5 or houses of the gods, indicative of at least one of the purposes to which they 

 were devoted. Sd, As the foundations of dwelHngs. This fact has been observed 

 in the low grounds of Louisiana, where the villages were liable to inundation ;* 

 and Lewis and Clark appear to refer to a similar use of mounds among the Ottoes 

 of Missouri.! 



Of what race were the people who constructed these tumuli ? It appears to 

 me that if we examine this question in reference to the cranial remains and other 

 relics found in the mounds, there can be no diifficulty in tracing their origin. 

 The first step in the inquiry, however, will consist in an examination of the 

 following series of skulls from localities remote from each other ; merely premising, 

 that I have not in this instance admitted any specimens which are not perfectly 

 authenticated by the places and circumstances in which they were obtained. 



PLATE LI. 



SKULL FROM A MOUND NEAR CIRCLEVILLE, OHIO. 



This relic was presented to me by my friend Dr. S. P. Hildreth, of Marietta, 

 Ohio, who has furnished me with the following note, " Cranium of an aboriginal 

 inhabitant of the Sciota valley, taken from an ancient mound constructed on a 

 small natural elevation in the present town of Circlevillec Several other skeletons 

 were found, but none of them in a better state of preservation. The os frontis is 

 cut through or beaten in, probably by a blow from a battle axe ; and no less than 

 five arrow-heads were found sticking in and about the skeleton. The tumulus is 

 constructed of loam and coarse limestone gravel, which doubtless assisted in 



* Brixgier, Amer. Jour, of Science and Art, III, p. 37. 



tExped. I, p. 35. 



