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seldom been raised more than from twelve to twenty inches 
above the original surface-soil upon which they rest. The clay 
of which they are composed is usually burnt hard, sometimes 
to the depth of ten, fifteen, and even twenty inches. Regular 
strata of sand have been observed in the " altar mounds 
these bands conform to the convex outline of the mound. 
Mounds of Sepulture. 
These mounds are destitute of altars," do not occur within 
enclosures, and invariably cover a skeleton, usually deposited in 
a rude chamber of timber ; occasionally the chamber is of 
rubble-stone. 
Temple Mounds. 
Temple mounds are chiefly pyramidal in form, truncated, and 
generally with graded paths to their tops. In some instances 
they are terraced. Mounds of this class are not numerous in 
Ohio. 
Along the Mississippi river, and especially towards the Gulf, 
these "temple mounds" increase both in number and in 
magnitude. In Kentucky they are more frequent than in the 
States north of the Ohio river ; and in Tennessee and Missis- 
sippi they are still more abundant. 
Anomalous Mounds. 
Anomalous mounds, according to the classification of Squier 
and Davis, include mounds of observation" and such as have 
been applied to a double purpose, or of which the design and 
objects are not apparent. 
" Mound City." 
Some of the most interesting objects in the Collection 
from America were obtained from a group of mounds, 
called by Squier and Davis Mound City." Mound City" is 
on the left bank of the Scioto River, four miles north of the 
town of Chillicothe, Ross county, Ohio. There are twenty- 
three mounds in this group ; these are surrounded by a bank 
between three and four feet high, unaccompanied by a ditch. 
