16 
REVIEWS. 
from the above-described tumuli, we still feel disposed to regard 
them as sepulchral rather than sacrificial. Not having, however, had 
the advantage of examining them for ourselves, we throw this out as 
a suggestion, rather than express it as an opinion. We confess that 
we feel much difficulty in understanding why “ altars ” should be 
covered up in this manner; we can call to mind no analogous case. 
On the other hand, if Prof. Nillson’s suggestion with reference to 
ancient tumuli be correct, the long continued fire will offer no diffi¬ 
culty ; while the wooden constructions, and the burnt bones will all 
be explicable on the hypothesis that we have before us a sepulchre, 
rather than a temnle. 
Nor does the “ homogeneousness ” of the deposits found in these 
mounds appear so decisive to us as to Messrs. Squier and Davis. 
Take, for instance, the cases in which pipes are found. The execu¬ 
tion of these is so good that “pipe-carving” was no doubt a pro¬ 
fession ; the division of labour must have already begun. Exactly 
the same feeling which would induce them to bury weapons with 
the dead hunter, in order that he might supply himself with food in 
Hades as on earth ; that feeling, which among some ancient nations 
suggested the placing of money in the grave, would account not only 
for the presence of these pipes, but also for their number. The 
hunter could use but few weapons, and must depend for success 
mainly on his strength and skill; whereas the pipe-seller, if he could 
use a pipe at all in the grave, might render his whole stock in trade 
available. 
If, therefore, “ the accumulated carbonaceous matter, like that 
“ formed by the ashes of leaves or grass,” which suggests to Prof. 
Wilson “the graceful offerings of the first-fruits of the earth, so 
“ consonant to the milder forms of ancient sacrifice instituted in 
“ recognition of the Lord of the Harvest,” seems to us only the 
framework of the house, or the material of the funeral pyre; on the 
other hand, we avoid the conclusion to which he is driven, that on 
“ the altars of the mound-builders, human sacrifices were made ; 
“ and that within their sacred enclosures were practised rites not less 
“ hideous than those which characterized the worship which the 
“ ferocious Aztecs are affirmed to have regarded as most acceptable 
“ to their sanguinary gods.” 
Temple Mounds. 
The class of mounds, called by Messrs. Squier and Davis “ Tem¬ 
ple Mounds,” “ are pyramidal structures, truncated, and generally 
“ having graded avenues to their tops. In some instances they are 
“terraced, or have successive stages. But whatever their form, 
“ whether round, oval, octangular, square, or oblong, they have inva- 
“ riably flat or level tops, of greater or less area.” These mounds 
much resemble the Teocallis of Mexico, and had probably a similar 
origin. They are rare in the North, though examples occur even as 
far as Lake Superior, but become more and more numerous as we 
