HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME 



which have been systematically explored, notably those of the Porter, 

 Hopewell, Turner, and Liberty groups, a considerable number of 

 skeletons were found in the same mounds with the altars. The number 

 of altars occurring in a single mound ranged from one to four. It is 

 from the altars that many of the objects described in this paper were 

 taken. Other specimens illustrated were found with skeletons or in 

 deposits near them. 



SYMBOLIC EARTHWORKS 



Among the most interesting of the earthworks, when regarded 

 independently of the artifacts they contain, are the effigy mounds, 

 which appear to be related symbolically to certain objects recovered 

 from the tumuli. A brief notice of some of them may be of interest. 



The Serpent Mound of Adams county is the best known of the few 

 earthworks of this class. The illustration of this work shown on plate I, 

 i, is reproduced from Professor Holmes's drawing, made in 1886, and 

 undoubtedly represents the effigy much as it appeared to its builders. 

 MacLean's plan, made from careful surveys in 1885, agrees with the 

 above very closely, the principal difference being in the broadening 

 of the extreme projection in front of the oval and the adding of two 

 small spurs thereto. Squier and Davis's drawing is incorrect in several 

 respects, and seems to be more like a sketch-plan made without 

 surveying instrument than the accurate survey claimed by them. 

 In the Peabody Museum of Harvard University there is an unfinished 

 plan from a survey made by Thomas P. Gore of Hillsboro, Ohio, in 

 1878, which corresponds to those of MacLean and Holmes with the 

 exception of the wishbone-shaped section in front of the oval which 

 is not indicated. In this plan the embankments upon either side of 

 the rear half of the oval which connect with that of the triangular 

 inclosure appear as shown by both MacLean and Holmes. Portions 

 of these, and the wishbone-shaped embankment inclosing the front 

 of the oval, were much less conspicuous than the oval and the main 

 portion of the serpent. These were not considered by Professor 

 Putnam as parts of the effigy at the time of its restoration. Before 

 entering into details regarding the peculiar features of this earth- 

 work, I desire to call attention to the serpent head wrought from 

 copper shown in plate I, k, which was found with many other copper 

 objects in the great mound of the Hopewell group. 



As is well known to anthropologists, the serpent occupied a 

 prominent place in the religious life of many tribes north of Mexico, 

 as well as in Mexico and Central America, and it appears in combi- 

 nation with the cosmic symbol, or some of its parts, in various 



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