6 GEOLOOY OF OHIO. 



the first; and the far greater number resembling in some respects both 

 of the above, but usually smaller, seldom symmetrical, evincing less care 

 or design in construction, and placed on high or low ground indifferently, 

 sometimes with little regard to topographical features. They are of 

 wider distribution than the others, occurring more or less frequently 

 throughout the area between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi, from 

 Tennessee to Michigan. 



(a.) LOW-LAND ENCLOSURES. 



Coincident with the appearance of the volume above mentioned was 

 the manifestation of public interest and curiosity in the remains placed 

 first in this division. The regularity of curves, the remarkable uniformity 

 in lengths and areas, the complexity and intricacy of structure, the abso- 

 lute geometrical accuracy of squares, octagons, and circles, as claimed in 

 the text and portrayed in the illustrations by the authors, induced the 

 belief that this region had been occupied by a race which had attained to 

 a high degree of culture; and finally extravagant theories were promul- 

 gated, totally unauthorized by the most liberal interpretation ol statements 

 which themselves claimed much more than was justified by facts. 



The fertile valleys of the Muskingum, Scioto, and Little Miami, seem 

 to have been the favorite homes of the builders of these earthworks, 

 whose magnitude compels the admiration and serious consideration of 

 every intelligent visitor. With the exception of one group on the Kana- 

 wha River, and another opposite the mouth of the Scioto, which is really 

 a. part of the " Portsmouth Works," all the principal enclosures of this 

 class are confined to the vicinity of these streams. Many speculations 

 have been indulged in concerning the purpose for which such works 

 could have been constructed; but so far without definite result. Every 

 explanation or theory yet advanced is largely conjectural, and in some or 

 many respects inconsistent with facts which soon become apparent to the 

 careful observer. The term "sacred enclosures" was among the first 

 applied to them, from the supposition that they were used only in the 

 performance of religious ceremonies. It is impossible to imagine any 

 condition of life that would lead people to enclose areas so great for no 

 other purpose than to conceal the operations of one portion of the popu- 

 lation from the remaining portion; or to conceive of what use the walls 

 would be in case all should take part in the exercises. There is nothing 

 in our knowledge of any barbarous race, extant or extinct, that justifies 

 such a statement. True, the priests of most religious systems in former 

 ages, concealed the preliminaries of their rites from the multitude; 

 but to cite records of the use of caves or groves for this purpose 

 in vindication of the theory that the same object could be attained 

 by means of a comparatively low wall aro' nd a twenty-acre field, is 

 a large tax on credulity. Nor is the suggestion more tenable that 

 they were used as "game drives and preserves," or places wherein to 



