﻿196 



Cincinnati Society of Natural History. 



did the work told me he found only one flint arrow-point in that hole. 

 The layers of the earth in this hole were dark and mouldy, but nothing 

 else was apparent that related to the mound. A small and old depression 

 was afterward found on one side of the mound about a third of the way 

 down the side, which was undoubtedly at one time the external opening 

 of a burrow of our common ground hog. (Arctomys monax.) 



The large size of the mound and its height inclined us to the view that 

 it belonged to the class known as sepulchral mounds. Following the usual 

 plan,* we began to sink a shaft from the apex to the base. This shaft 

 was circular in shape and six feet in diameter. The apex of the cone 

 was so distinctively marked that a perceptible curve was embraced in the 

 outline for the top of the shaft; all of which only shows the very fine 

 state of preservation of this monument. 



Throughout the valley of Deercreek, from the lower portion of Mad- 

 ison County, to its end in the Scioto Valley, a distance of over forty 

 miles, are found many remains of the Mound Builders. These are nu- 

 merous and close together at the lower end and richest part of that basin, 

 and are scattered out and become separated by wider and wider distances 

 as one ascends the creek. 



From the top of this mound many earth-works and mounds, situated in 

 the valley or on the neighboring hills, are easily seen, notwithstanding the 

 fact that the tall trees and dense foliage of the native forest covering this 

 mound, and the surrounding fields, obstructs by far the largest portion of 

 the view. It may not be out of place to remark that the growth of timber 

 and bushes at this place was such as to completely obscure the mound at 

 the distance of a few hundred feet. In more immediate relation to this 

 large mound are three or four smaller ones, varying in height from two 

 to four feet. One of these smaller elevations is situated at the center of 

 an embankment, of which only a semi-circle is built, the walls of which are 

 three feet high, and the ends are separated by the diameter of the circle, 

 which is fifteen feet. All these lesser earth-works are situated within 

 two hundred feet of the base of the large mound, and are located further 

 back from the edge of the bluff than the mound. They are, like it, cov- 

 ered and obscured from view by the dense undergrowth, so that you only 

 see them when a few feet away. The small semi-circular embankment al- 

 ready described, with a small mound as its center, is situated around the 

 portion of the small mound farthest from the large mound. No other 

 works were discovered closer than half a mile, except those here described. 



In the course of sinking the shaft the following points were noted : 



*That of Squier and Davis. 



