ARCHEOLOGY. 33 



relics, whether of a useful, ornamental, or supposed ceremonial character, 

 are common in the mounds, and present no special features, in appear- 

 ance or material, that may not be observed in similar specimens from 

 the adjacent surface. This statement applies only to articles of stone 

 or other durable material. Objects peculiar to mounds are almost in- 

 variably of something that would so m be destroyed if exposed to the 

 weather; as pottery, bone, shell, copper, wood, textile material, or soluble 

 minerals, whose preservation is due to the protection afforded by the 

 earth above them. They are more abundant than mound relics of the 

 more lasting materials, and of greater scientific value, as a careful study 

 of them has revealed much that would otherwise have remained unknown 

 concerning the customs and habits of their makers. 



The sole evidence of a mechanical or artistic ability beyond that at- 

 tained by many tribes independently of contact with a civilized race, 

 found in any mound in Ohio under circumstances precluding the possi- 

 bility of intrusive deposit, and bearing no similitude to any wares of 

 European manufacture imported for barter with the natives, are some 

 objects of sheet copper from Ross county. They present an intricacy of 

 design, a degree of symmetry and finish, impossible of achievement by 

 the most advanced aborigines who have ever existed within the limits of 

 the United States, so far as there is any historical, traditional, or other 

 knowledge; and could have been made only by a skilled artificer, from 

 accurately drawn patterns, with tools of steel or like metal. A very few 

 similar pieces have been found in other states. Their rarity refutes the 

 idea they were made in the vicinity where found; with the abundance of 

 copper it is unlikely that its use would be confined to rude ornaments 

 and implements to the exclusion of such ornate specimens; and no signs 

 have been fonnd of the tools requisite for their manufacture. The 

 resemblance of human figures among them to characteristic carvings in 

 Mexican antiquities, points to that country for their origin; but it is un- 

 certain whether work of this character was performed there. 



Omitting from consideration the few articles so plainly of foreign de- 

 rivation, a comparison of all the relics collected from mounds with those 

 picked up on the surface and those of known Indian manufacture will 

 show that the former do not surpass the latter in any particular denoting 

 superior skill, knowledge, or discernment of harmonious proportion. It 

 is remarkable that the contrary opinion should be so commonly accepted 

 and so tenaciously adhered to despite the evidence of abundant material 

 widely distributed and readily accessible for examination. Because many 

 specimens, really beautiful in design and execution, are exhumed from 

 tumuli, and many rude or hastily wrought ones are gathered up on the 

 surface or observed in use among Indians at the present day, it seems to 

 be taken for granted that all relics may be brought under this conven- 

 ient and inclusive system of classification. But the converse is equally 

 true; some modern or surface specimens are more artistic and of better 

 3 G. O. 



