288 
called attention to the wide-spread operations of the 
museum, which had so far exceeded the early expec- 
tations of the trustees as to have entirely outgrown 
its foundation. The original fund, although a mu- 
nificent gift at the time, is now inadequate, owing to 
the unforeseen growth of the science. He hoped 
that in any account which might be given of,this 
meeting, it would be clearly stated that this trust is 
in no way connected with the Archaeological insti- 
tute of America, with which it has, no doubt, been 
confounded in some minds. 
Mr. Putnam, the curator, presented his report of 
the operations of the year, in which he dwelt at 
length on the explorations which had been carried 
on by means of the subscriptions of several patrons 
of science. With about $1,600, the balance of the 
special subscription-fund of 1882-83, and less than 
$1,000 spared from the income, work has been con- 
tinued in Nicaragua and Ohio, and, in a very limited 
manner, in Tennessee and North Carolina. 
The work in Nicaragua has been conducted for the 
past five years by Dr. Flint, who has made very im- 
portant collections from the ancient shell-heaps and 
burial-places. During the past year, on Deadman’s 
Island, in a trench lined with stones, he found a 
burial-jar containing decayed human bones, with old 
Venetian beads, and two gold ornaments like those 
found in the graves at Chiriqui. This shows that 
gold ornaments of this type were used by the natives 
of Nicaragua after the Spanish conquest had fur- 
nished them with glass beads. . As they are exception- 
al among Nicaraguan antiquities, and are identical 
with those from farther south, it is probable that 
their original source is Chiriqui. Dr. Flint has 
copied successfully many pictographs and cave- 
inscriptions, some of which are of great antiquity. 
But the most interesting discovery is what Dr. Flint 
believes to be human footprints in clay under sever- 
al layers of lava-rock, on the borders of Lake Mana- 
gua. Under date of Dec. 24, 1883, Dr. Flint writes 
that he has cut out several of these footprints, which, 
with fossil leaves from the same stratum, are now on 
their way to the museum. 
The work in the Little Miami valley has been 
continued with remarkable success, and has resulted 
in discoveries of far greater importance than could 
have been anticipated from previous exploration of 
the mounds. A year ago attention was called to 
some early results of this exploration; but now, just 
as the means for continuing explorations are want- 
ing, the discovery has been made, that, important as 
these mounds have proved to be, as much of interest 
is to be found beneath them. At the bottom of the 
largest mound, under a layer of burnt clay enclosed 
by a stone wall, trenching has brought to light a se- 
ries of pits six to seven feet deep. These pits are 
connected with tunnels of clay afoot in diameter and 
seven to eight feet long, ending in upright tubes five 
inches in diameter and two feet long. Fine ashes 
were found on the bottom of the tunnels or flues, 
and on the sides a glossy substance, as if the product 
of condensation and crystallization of vapors. The 
pits were partly filled with ashes containing minute 
SCIENCE. 
Py wd ee 
pieces of burnt bone, and the sides and bottom bore 
marks of fire. Two pits had dome-like covers of 
clay, in one of which were two small holes. A tube 
of clay opened into one pit opposite the flue. Al- 
though these facts seem to point out the manner of 
burning the dead in use among the people-who built 
this group of tumuli, it would be premature to make 
such an assertion. This work has been under the 
direct supervision of the curator and Dr. Metz. It is 
unquestionably the most thorough and important ex- 
ploration of a particular group of earth-works yet 
made in Ohio. Many mounds varying in structure, 
and evidently made at widely different times, have 
also been carefully opened; and several Indian burial- 
places and village sites have been examined. When 
this work in the Little Miami valley is completed, it 
will bring us nearer the solution of the problem, who 
built the mounds? Guessing will still go on, but 
thorough exploration by careful hands alone can 
give to science the answer it demands. The work 
is far more extensive than most persons imagine. 
The land has been hired by the museum, with exclu- 
sive right of excavation. It will be necessary to dig 
over a large area, including the whole altar-group, 
to trace in a systematic manner the underground 
works. A number of laborers will be required for 
months tocome. Funds are therefore needed at once, 
that the work may be continued without interruption. 
In closing his report, the curator urged the neces- 
sity of some immediate action for the preservation of 
the interesting monuments of aboriginal art, scat- 
tered over our western states. Probably nearly all 
which are in such condition as to be worth saving 
could be purchased at fair prices. Their owners, as 
arule, would be glad to see the ancient works pre- 
served, but do not feel able individually to sacrifice 
so large an amount of farming-land for the purpose. 
Special mention was made of the Hopeton works, with 
its twelve-feet embankments and large square and cir- 
cle; the Cedar-Bank works, which are still well pre- 
served, in the Scioto valley; the Great Serpent, 1,415 
feet long, the only work of the kind in the coun- 
try; the Stone Fort, enclosing fifty acres, known as 
Fort Hill, in the Brush-creek valley; Fort Ancient, 
with its four miles of wall, the largest of the many 
ancient fortifications in the United States, on the . 
Little Miami River; Cahokia Mound in Illinois, the 
great pyramid of the Mississippi valley, and the lar- 
gest tumulus in the country, nearly one hundred feet 
high, and covering an area of over eleven acres; and 
the singular group of low effigy-mounds in Wisconsin. 
Some of these mounds are more than a thousand feet 
long. Many other ancient works are equally worthy 
of preservation; but those mentioned had been re- 
cently inspected by the curator. With every year 
that passes, some mound or great embankment is 
levelled for economic purposes, or for the easier culti- 
vation of the land; or the old walls of the hill-forts, 
which have stood for untold centuries, are thrown 
down. Forty years ago many of the works were per- 
fect which are now nearly obliterated. Our children 
will not be able to trace their sités, unless destruction 
is immediately checked. 
[Vox. IIL, No. 57. 
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