ARCHAEOLOGY. 21 



dimensions. A definitive name expressive of one certain purpose, 

 applied to a mound on account of its location or outward appearance, is 

 very apt to be misleading. 



Specific descriptive terms, suggested by some peculiarity of internal 

 structure, have also found a place in mound nomenclature; all are open 

 to the same objection, namely, the lack of uniformity in those to which 

 any particular word is applied, and their close resemblance in some 

 respects to many . which are arbitrarily placed in another division. It is 

 natural to employ the term "burial mound" for one containing human 

 remains; but the desire to honor the dead may not have been the only 

 motive leading to its construction. So with those erected for any other 

 apparent purpose; while the work may have been undertaken with a 

 definite object in view, subsequent or subordinate ideas may have led to 

 modifications of the original plan. Thus, a mound intended as the burial 

 place of one body may be afterwards made to cover several; one erected 

 to protect a deposit of various articles, possibly as a votive offering on an 

 "altar," perhaps only for concealment, may be extended to include 

 another in which several bodies are interred. Occasionally several small 

 mounds placed near together, some for burial purposes; some apparently 

 to protect property considered valuable; others containing quantities of 

 implements and ornaments injured or almost destroyed by fires made on ■ 

 them after they were deposited; still others which contain nothing to 

 throw light on the reason for their existence; — may all have earth heaped 

 on them until they merge into a single symmetrical structure that seems 

 the result of a continuous effort toward a defined end. 



In magnitude and ingenuity the large enclosures and fortifications of 

 Ohio have no equals; but, as a rule, other remains are less impressive 

 than similar works occurring elsewhere. The few representatives of the 

 effigy groups of the northwest are, with the single exception of the Ser- 

 pent Mound, inferior in size and interest ; the same is true in regard to 

 those resembling the great flat-topped pyramids of the south. Externally 

 the ordinary conical or dome-shaped mounds present no remarkable 

 features, unless it be the great size of some; and even in this respect they 

 are surpassed by many in other states. Explorations in these mounds, 

 however, have resulted in discoveries which render them of the highest 

 interest, not only to the archaeologist, who finds in them abundant mater- 

 ial for careful study, but also to the general public whose attention is 

 attracted by the novelty of what can be placed on exhibition. 



The manner of their construction was long a puzzling question; it 

 was deemed impossible that such piles of earth could be made without 

 the aid of machinery or beasts of burden. But there has never been 

 found the slightest evidence of the use of any mechanical appliances, not 

 even a hand-barrow, nor a bone of any animal susceptible of domestica- 

 tion and of sufficient strength to be serviceable in such work. On the 



