44 



GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 



times its height. An ideal "section" of the large mound near Lacking 

 Reservoir gives the impression that the stones are each several feet thick. 





Hfiss: 





Fig. 4. 



Figure 4, a small work in Pike count}', shows a ditch of uniform width 

 surrounding a square court, the whole enclosed by a circular embank- 

 ment which touches the ditch only at the corners. Actually, the ditch 

 occupies the whole space between the inner level and the embankment, 

 the outer margin following the curvature of the latter. 



Such details are in themselves trivial; but they show a negligent, 

 slip-shod manner, which casts doubt on more important work. It is un- 

 necessary to multiply instances; the}' are to be found in nearly all works 

 upon archaeology. 



A vast amount of toil has been expended in attempting to establish 

 classifications based upon cranial form and development, or other osteol- 

 ogical peculiarities; but when, in a single mound, are found skulls that 

 exceed in either direction the limits assigned as the measurements of 

 long and short heads, respectively, or when in the same cemetery they 

 occur of almost every normal variety of size and shape, it is plain that 

 little value can be attached to these variations. If a single tribe remain 

 in one place for centuries, under conditions of life that vary but little in 

 that time, a mediocrity may be reached which will admit of the evolution 

 of a particular type of cranium ; but with a roving people, or one subject 

 to alliance with other stocks, the intermingling of different bloods will 

 be attended with a diversity of physical structure affecting not the skull 

 alone, but the entire frame. The skeletons from mounds vary much in 

 size, but none are larger than may be found among any people living a 

 natural life out of doors. The lower jaw is more massive than in civil- 

 ized races, as more strength was needed for masticating their tough or 

 coarse food. Nothing is proven as to size of individuals, by "slipping 

 the jaw-bone over the face of a full grown man;" it never slips back to 

 the coupyles of the experimenter, and the opening of any V-shaped object 



