40 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 



supposed prototype. The only point of agreement seems to be a reluct- 

 ance to admit the possibility of the mammoth having survived into 

 recent time. 



"While the bones of this species are frequent in gravel deposits of 

 glacial or post-glacial age, they also occur under other conditions. The 

 pioneer who discovered the Big Bone Lick Springs, twenty miles south of 

 Cincinnati, made tent-poles of mastodon ribs; people now living there 

 remember having, when children, gathered vertebrae which they used as 

 seats or door props. The Springs are in a basin with a very narrow out- 

 let, so the presence of these remains on the surface cannot be attrib- 

 uted altogether to erosion. 



When aquatic vegetation once gains a foothold, swamps or shallow 

 lakes fill rapidly; elephant bones, often much nearer to the surface than 

 to the solid ground underneath, are common in such places, the animals 

 probably having mired while seeking food or water. 



Instances like these can be accounted for only by admitting the sur- 

 vival of the living species to within a few centuries at the most. More- 

 over, there is definite proof that it was not unknown to the aborigines; 

 the bones of one were found in Missouri, under circumstances which 

 showed plainly that it had been slain by men, while fast in a bog. Rude 

 weapons were scattered ■ about it and some of the bones were charred- 

 The Mound Builders, indeed, have left no indication that they knew of 

 it; but this is equally true respecting other animals with which they must 

 have been familiar. 



It has been alleged that no earthworks are found on the latest or 

 lowest formed terraces. Both statement and inference are wrong; mounds 

 do occur in such places; but if they did hot it is only a natural sup- 

 position that their builders would avoid situations liable to inundation, 

 when high ground as suitable in all respects could be found close at hand. 

 The same argument could be used to prove that modern buildings, which 

 are usually located above ordinary floods, are older than geological form- 

 ations near them. 



To sum up, there seem to be no data from which can be determined 

 what people built these mounds and enclosures, whence they came, how 

 long they lived here, when or why they left, or what became of them. 



It may, however, be considered definitely settled that in no particu- 

 lar were they superior to, or in advance of, many primitive Indian tribes. 

 They hunted with the same kind of weapons. They worked with similar 

 tools. They were patient and plodding. There is nothing that shows 

 they had any appliances or conveniences for economizing time or lighten- 

 ing labor. Agriculture was rudely carried on and practicable only in loose 

 soil. 



Under such conditions a dense population is impossible even among 

 the most peaceable people; intestine disputes or warlike neighbors would 

 still further prevent a rapid increase. 



