USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume One > Part 6
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pits, were later used as graves, and the store pits, be- came refuse pits or graves as emergency required, showing the facility with which the prehistoric man adapted himself to circumstances.
Here the bones of the prehistoric dog were found in great numbers, the only domestic animal attributed to these ancient people. The remains of this dog in- dicated, says Professor Lucas of the Smithsonian Institution, a "short faced dog, much the size and proportions of a bull-terrier, though probably not short haired." Professor Putnam of Harvard University who has collected bones of the prehistoric canine in all parts of the world and found the same type everywhere, says "this variety of dog is apparently identical with the pure blood Scotch collie of to-day;" and he further comments, "if this is the case, the prehistoric dog in America, Europe and Egypt and its persistence to the present time as a thoroughbred is suggestive of a distinct species of the genus canis, which was domes- ticated several thousand years ago, and also that the prehistoric dog in America, was brought to this con- tinent by very early emigrants from the old world." From the Baum village refuse and store house pits the bones of animals, used as food, were removed by the wagon load; elk, black bear, wolf, mountain lion, wild cat, fishes, opossum, ground hog, beaver, musk rat, rabbit, gray squirrel, weasel, field mouse, box turtle, snapping turtle, wild turkey, great horned owl and barred owl, Canada goose, trumpeter swan, blue heron, bald eagle and mallard duck. Certainly the Mound Builder could regale himself with a repast hardly sur- passed for variety or palatability by the cuisine of a
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modern epicure. Nor was the vegetable diet less variant and succulent; beans, corn, bitter-nut, butter- nut, chestnut, red wild plums, pawpaw, wild grape, and for the initial course, the assortment of fish which so abundantly filled the streams. In this site, too, were gathered samples of the "prehistoric ceramic art;" fragments, and one or two complete specimens, of the pots or vases. They were fine examples of clay hand- moulding, decorated with crude but often complex figures and designs. here were profuse numbers of implements, stone, flint, and bone for warfaric purposes and also utensils for domestic use, shell hoes, spoons and cups, bone needles, awls, scrapers, gorgets, cere- monials, etc .; likewise many varieties of the discoidal stone, the toy of the Mound Builder, employed in his favorite game; a round flat disk, usually concave on both sides and perforated in the center. It was made from the hardest material found, often the bowlder, ranging in size from that of a dollar to a small saucer. It was rolled or shoved on the smooth surface in some game like "shinny" or "shuffles." That it was a favorite sport is proven by the prevalence of this "play- thing" in all places where the Mound Builder had his habitation.
The Harness Mound, one hundred and sixty feet long, eighty wide and twenty high, was one of the largest of a group, eight miles south of Chillicothe, in that favorite land of the Mound Builder, the valley of the Scioto. This mound, famous the world over, was first examined by Squier and Davis in 1846. They sank two shafts from the mound's summit to the base level and in each instance penetrated into a log enclosed
EDWIN HARNESS MOUND.
A typical rectangular Grave, showing refuse or charred bones of a human being and the pipes, gorgets, ornaments, ear-rings and shell artifacts buried with the burned bones. Photograph made by Professor Mills at the time of explora- tion.
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modern epicurCUOM 22andAH AIWICEable diet less vari , a fut butter- ,afnomsmo , 219810g , 29qlq ont pas ghied ismud's to 29nod'
and fenolqxs to omis ont to allil / Topesto 4 yd obem destgoody h which so abundantly reims, In thigodite, too, were gathered samples of the " prehistorie ceramic art;" fragments, and one or Iwa complete specimens, of th pois or vases They were frie examples of clay hand- moulding, decorared with crude but often complex foures and design. here wire profor numbers of Implementa, stone, fint, and bone for warfare purposes cod also utensils for domestic use, shell hoes, spoon and cups, bone noodles, awle, serapen, gorgets, cero- momiala, etc ; likewise many varieties of the discoids' strme, the toy of the Mound Builder, employed in his Torite game; a round flat disk, usually concave ou both ildes und perforated in the center. It was made from the hardest material found, often the bowlder, ranging in size from that of a dollar to a small saucer It was rolled or shoved on the smooth watface in some game like "shinny" or "shuffles." That it was a favorite sport is proven by the prevalenceof this "play- thing" in all places where the Mound Builder had hi Habitation.
The Hamet Mound, one huuned and sixty feel long, eighty wide and twenty Kyl, was one of the largest of n group, elglit miles roush of Chillicothe, in that favorite land of the Mound Hluilder, the valley of the Scioto. This mound, famous the world over Was birer examined by Squier and Davis in 1846. They antik rwe shafts From the mound's summit to the base level and in each Instance penetrated into a log enclosed
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tomb, the size of a small low room, within which lay the buried skeleton and accompanying personal effects of the dead. One of the "tombs" contained an earth platform or altar of "exceeding symmetry." The wealth of specimens secured by these explorers were purchased at great price for the Blackmore Museum, Salisbury, England. Professor Putnam, in 1885, con- tinued the examination of Squier and Davis, exploring the mound interior from the openings of the former excavators. His scholarly report is one of the docu- ments of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, which was greatly enriched by the "finds" from this archæological mine. Professor Putnam opened twelve graves and burial chambers; the latter with the con- ventional log sides and covering. The skeletons had been wrapped in woven garments and, in some in- stances, laid on mats of woven grass. There were the customary ornaments; copper plates, earrings, shell beads, banner stones, etc. A few of the bodies had been burned in the open grave, which was then closed over the charred remains.
Again in 1896, Professor Moorehead conducted investigations by means of tunnels cut laterally into the center of the mound, which tunnels and their branches reached a total length of over two hundred and fifty feet, employing five men for sixteen days. Twenty-seven burials were unearthed, in all but two of which the bodies were found to have been cremated, and the bones had been placed upon little raised plat- forms of burnt earth, varying in height from four to ten inches "and having a table surface about two by three feet." Professor Moorehead's interesting dis-
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coveries are related in full in the publications of the Ohio State Archeological and Historical Society of which he then held the office of Curator.
It was reserved, however, for Professor Mills, in the years 1903 and 1905, to raze this imposing sepulcher containing some five thousand cubic yards of earth. In the process of gradually leveling it the professor came upon no less than one hundred and thirty-three graves, in nearly all of which were "cremated burials." The base formation of the mound revealed that its origin, at one end was a "charnel house," an enclosure in the form of a semi-circle or half moon, some sixty by forty feet, outlined by rows of post holes, the original sockets of the upright timbers of the outside walls. A second post enclosure-of larger dimensions-joined the previous one. These charnel houses were filled up with the earth in which the graves were placed, until finally all was covered over by additional layers of soil, completing the mound as found and explored by the indefatigable scientist. "All the burials," writes Professor Mills, "whether cremated or uncremated, were placed in prepared graves and great care and some degree of skill was displayed in their construc- tion." The remains of the half burned bodies, for such there were, the skeletons or mere bone heaps, as the case might be, were laid on clay platforms or in the bowl-shaped cavities. There were log-lined re- ceptacles and mere unprotected burials. The articles obtained in these graves "represent the highest art of prehistoric time," asserts Professor Mills, who removed over twelve thousand specimens from this monument of the ancient dead. There were copper
b
fe
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pieces containing nuggets of silver, which must have come from the Lake Superior region. There were "large ocean shells that were made into drinking cups and ornaments of various kinds which evidently came from the region of the southern gulf; great quantities of mica, some pieces representing the original blocks as they were quarried, other pieces had been cut into geometrical forms and used for decorations." This mica, no doubt, "came from North Carolina; there were crystals of galenite as well as large lumps of lead ore, which came from the North Illinois region; obsidian was also found; an importation from the far West, perhaps the Yellowstone region." All this indicates "that the prehistoric inhabitant of this [Scioto] section had an inter-tribal trade, for it certainly would have been impossible for the Ohio tribes to visit those distant points mentioned." Judging from the material and craftsmanship here discovered in great profusion one may readily infer that the Harness Mound builders were people capable of artistic taste and delicate work- manship. The copper plates, one nine inches in length by five in breadth, were the finest found in the Ohio mounds; beautiful copper axes, one being half a foot in length and proportionately broad, were removed from the sepulcher graves; copper earrings were plentiful in number, their construction evidencing rare skill and ingenuity; they consisted of two similar copper disks, varying in size from a silver quarter to a dollar, made bulging or concavo-convex, the two disks being connected in the center of the convex sides by a uniting bar. The concavo-convex plates, according to Pro- fessor Willoughby of Harvard University, were made
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over a wooden pattern, the copper sheets being ham- mered into the required form, for it must not be for- gotten that the Mound Builders, the artizans, belonged to the stone age and knew nothing of the melting and molding of metals. These earrings, produced with many diverse details as to size, shape, form of rim, etc., were attached to the ear by thrusting the connect- ing bar through the perforated ear-lobe and fastening the disks to the respective bar ends. The ornaments cut from the sheets of mica were numerous, artistic and ingenius in design; thousands of pearl beads lay scattered in the graves; not only the genuine pearl, but imitation pearls, made of clay and modeled in exact similarity to the "real thing." The "mud pearls" had been burned to give them a firm constituency and were then coated with a thin flexible mica, thus pro- ducing the pearl surface appearance. No unbroken jars or vessels were exhumed but fragments were un- earthed and these "sherds plainly show that the fictile products" of these primitive people "are entitled to a high place in ceramic art."
In view of the quality of the artifacts discovered and the deftness displayed in their production, Professor Mills pronounces the "culture" of the Harness mound people to be that of the highest degree reached by the prehistoric Ohioan. The same authority describes the Mound Builders as representing, in different localities, distinctive types of "culture" or degrees of ingenuity and proficiency as indicated by the evidences of their domestic life and the workmanship of their artifacts. The Mound Builders of Fort Ancient, for instance, displayed a different "culture" from those of the Hope-
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well Group of mounds. This ethnic classification leads to the theory that there were distinct tribes or divisions of the Mound Builders as there were among the later Indians.
Three miles east of Bainbridge, on Paint Creek, in Ross county, is the Seip group, enclosed figures of a square and two different sized circles, embracing probably a hundred acres in all. It is a group early known to archæologists and explorers, for Mr. Caleb Atwater described the works in the first volume of the American Antiquarian in 1820 and Squier and Davis did the same in their "Monuments" in 1846. Professor Mills completely examined the Seip mound which lay within the large circle of the group. This mound proved to be another "trio" in one; the largest being twenty feet high and one hundred and twenty in diameter; the second twelve in height, seventy in diameter and the third, six feet high with a diameter of forty feet. These distinctive sections, all afterwards merged into the complete tumulus, were the three original and separate divisions of a large charnel house, built as previously described by circles of upright posts within the enclosed area of which the earth was packed for the subsequent burials. The sections of the mound had each been built up as graves had been made thereon. Throughout the interiors of the separate sections of the mound were the earth molds made by the decayed posts which had originally supported the charnel house roof. The burials were typical, in most cases the flesh had been removed before burial, the lower limbs drawn up, or the bones disarticulated and "bundled" or stretched out horizontally on the ground, generally on
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an altar, or platform. Often the skeletons were found in a sitting posture. The discoveries in the fifty-eight graves, differed but little in character from those found in other explorations already noted. Perhaps the notable exception was the skin of animals made into leather, found in many of the graves; a specimen of "tanning" that was "very fine and soft, resembling the chamois skins of today."
While upon the subject of the village sites and burials there must not be omitted mention, for it can only be that, of the Madisonville cemetery and village site, located in the eastern section of Hamilton county, about thirty miles southwest from Fort Ancient. The village site or "Pottery Field," as it is called, is on a level plateau; the "cemetery" is on a spur reaching out and down from the plateau, which is bounded on two sides by deep and precipitous ravines. The pottery field or village site, first explored in 1878, furnished indubitable evidences of a long inhabited center. There were the small hut or tepee circles of post holes, the ash pits, refuse piles, pottery sherds and vast quan- tities of bones, shells and fragments of domestic uten- sils.
The surface covering of the cemetery is a leaf "mold," or accumulated vegetable decay, an average of two feet thick. Beneath this is a yellow clay four to six feet deep, below which still is a stratum of sand. The graves are mostly found on or in the clay beneath the leaf mold covering. The skeletons therein buried were found in every imaginable position; some horizontally on the back or side; some with legs drawn up on the abdomen or to one side; some in a sitting posture.
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Many skeletons were buried in a fragmentary state; others piled up on a secondary burial; often skulls were buried alone, in many cases bodies were super-imposed three or four deep. One space fifteen feet square contained thirty-five bodies. Previous burials were often disturbed or crowded to one side to make room for later interments. With almost every skeleton was found a clay bowl or pot, usually undecorated, but often with "salamander or lizard handles," lying against or close to the skull of the interred. In the graves were also found many beautiful artifacts, flint and copper, bone and stone ornaments, beads, pipes, rings and drawings of men and animals, scratched on pieces of slate, stone and coal. Many of these articles were unique in design and most delicate in workmanship, evidencing the rare craftsmanship of the prehistoric artizans. But nowhere was any article exhumed giving evidence that these people had any contact with any European or civilized nation.
Ash pits, countless in number, existed in every sec- tion of the cemetery. Several thousand of these have been excavated. They were beneath the leaf mold in the clay stratum and in size were from four to seven feet deep and three to four in diameter. They varied in form, being oval, round, cylindrical, etc. In these were found great quantities of "kitchen refuse;" bones of fish and animals, broken pottery; many of them contained quantities of charred corn both on and off the ear. In some instances the ash pits were sub- sequently used as graves in which skeletons were in- terred. This cemetery is the great "city of the dead" of the prehistoric people. Nowhere has its equal been
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found. It covers an area of fifteen acres, all over- grown with stately trees, the roots of many of which held in their firm grasp the crumbling bones of the ancient dead.
The explorations of these "catacombs" have been conducted at intervals over a period of forty years, and nearly four thousand skeletons entire or in portions have been removed though a large section of the cem- etery is still undisturbed. The explorations were first made under the auspices of the Literary and Scientific Society of Madisonville, and were subsequently con- ducted by the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, which secured possession of the cemetery and which has enriched its museum with the limitless "finds" taken from the graves and village site.
Thus much for the mounds and village sites, upon which volumes have been written by the painstaking archæologist. Many other tumuli and town centers deserve mention for some peculiar characteristic or unique, interesting feature. But we have already devoted too much space to the theme. We have done so because in their remains and relics rest the sole sources of our knowledge of the vanished race that built and lies buried in these earthen structures. They left no written records. Those prehistoric people were speechless save in their monuments and the mementoes they contain. True it has been claimed that inscribed tablets have been found in these mounds, evidencing that the Mound Builder had a written language, a subject fully set forth by Colonel Charles Whittlesey in an article on "Archæological Frauds" in the Western Reserve Historical Society publications. Some of these
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such as the "Holy Stone," taken from one of the mounds at Newark, and the "Cincinnati Tablet, " removed from a mound once standing in the precincts of that city, attracted extraordinary attention and elicited the serious study of scholars of national fame. The first, having Hebrew verses engraved upon it, was proven to be a fraud, having been "prepared" and intruded into its mound lodgment only a short time before it was "discovered." The Cincinnati tablet was undoubtedly genuine as to its place of exhumation and its antiquity but no one has ever been able to determine that the "inscriptions" carved thereon are other than mere fanciful and meaningless lines. Sever- al other alleged "records" have been "unearthed" in the Ohio mounds, but in every instance these so-called "hieroglyphics" have been proven to be modern "in- trusions," or deceptions or unintelligible scrawls. It is undoubtedly the unanimous conclusion of all author- itative archæologists that thus far no reliable evidence has been discovered that the Mound Builder had a written language even of the crudest form. But if the Mound Builder was "an unlettered, small-knowing soul," he was like all primitive people, a religious being. He had his faith, his sanctuaries and undoubtedly his ceremonial worship. In Ohio was his greatest spiritual emblem, altar or temple.
The Serpent Mound, the greatest effigy structure of the Mound Builders in America, is a huge earthen bas-relief representing a serpent resting his curving folds upon the summit of a bluff that rises a hundred feet above Brush Creek in Adams County. This bluff, the spur of an elevated ridge, projects abruptly into
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the valley which, with its flanking hills, forms an open arena or amphitheatre some two miles in diameter. Upon the slightly inclined crest of this high ridge lies in graceful and gigantic undulations the Great Serpent, so located that it may be seen in its majestic length and snake splendor from far and near in the plains below. For exhibition purposes no finer situation could have been found in Ohio. Moreover this rugged bluff, with its beetling brow, was just such a spot, suggests one writer, as the superstitious man of the primitive age would look upon with peculiar awe as if it might be the abiding place of some great Manitou; a place to inspire "the sentiment of wonder and of worship." The serpent, beginning with its tip end starts in a triple coil of the tail on the most marked elevation of the ridge and extends along down the lowering crest in beautiful folds, curving gracefully to right and left and swerving deftly over a depression in the center of his path and winding in easy and natural convolutions down the narrowing ledge with head and neck stretched out serpent-like and pointed to the west; the head is apparently turned upon its right side with the great mouth wide open, the extremities of the jaws, the upper or northern one being the longer, united by a concave bank immediately in front of which is a large oval or egg-shaped hollow eighty-six feet long and thirty feet wide at its greatest inside transverse, formed by the artificial embankment from two to three feet high and about twenty feet wide at its base. The head of the serpent across the point of union of the jaws is thirty feet wide, the jaws and connecting crescent are five feet high. The entire length of the serpent,
SERPENT MOUND.
On the bluff overlooking the valley of Brush Creek in Adams County. The largest "religious " symbolic earthen structure of the Mound Builders. The Mound in its entire length measures thirteen hundred and fifty feet. Reproduction of the drawing made by Professor F. W. Putnam of the Peabody Museum and first published in the Century Magazine for April, 1890.
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The valley which. CUOL TALAse hills, forms an open Mena qui det? david to volley ont guidoolivo fuld ont frodiameter. Upon att ni bandoMent lesblind banoMI ony lfo highwidge lie in grecoest with bas barbour growthin winesont suggeritoserpent
and make mp 1 .0081 ;IntqA tot shissgeM \mutasOtdit plain below For exhibi no finer situation
could have been Moreover this rugged Bludi, with its bertling brew, sex just such a spot, Tugemiis ong writer, ar The majorarith us man of the primitive age would look upon with peculiar awe al il D) mblo he the abiding place of some great Manitou a plim to inspire "the sentitaent of wonder and of -onbio " The serpent, beginning with its tip end STAYSE in A triple coil of the tail on the most marked Heration of the ridge and extends along down the lowering crest in beautiful folds, curving gracefully to right and left and werving deftly over a depression in the colter of his path and winding in easy and natural powwolutions down the narrowing ledge with head and neck stretched out serpent-like and pointed to the west; the bend is apparently rurmed upon its right side with Le grey mouth wide inen, the estremities of the jaws, Lhe upper or northern one being Che longer, united by a concave bank lemnoliaol In front of which is a large oval or egg-phapril hollow wiehryHis feet long and thirty feet wide as ity preste Inside transveret. formed by the artificial ambani mest from iwo to three feet high and about twenty feer www at les base. The head of the serpent across the polat oL union of the jaws is thirty feet wide the Jaws aod manetting crescen are five feet high. The mitire length of the serpent,
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following the convolutions, is thirteen hundred and thirty-five feet. Its width at the largest portion of the body is twenty feet. At the tail the width is no more than three feet. Here the height is from three to four feet, which increases towards the center of the body to a height of five or six feet. Such is the size of the enormous earthen reptile as it has lain, basking in the suns or shivering in the snows of many centuries. The effect the sight of it produces, from close inspection or distant view, can scarcely be imagined or described. Professor Putnam, to whom is due the credit of the restoration and preservation of the mound, says, in the account of his first visit: "The graceful curves throughout the whole length of this singular effigy give it a strange life-like appearance; as if a huge serpent, slowly uncoiling itself and creeping silently and stealth- ily along the crest of the hill, was about to seize the oval within its extended jaws. Late in the afternoon, when the lights and shades are brought out in strong relief, the effect is indeed strange and weird; and this effect is heightened still more when the full moon lights up the scene and the stillness is broken by the 'whoo- whoo, hoo-hoo' of the unseen bird of night. Reclining on one of the hugh folds of this gigantic serpent, as the last rays of the sun gleaming from the distant hill-tops, cast their long shadows over the valley, I mused on the probabilities of the past; and there seemed to come to me a picture as of a distant time, of a people with strange customs, and with it came the demand for an interpretation of this mystery. The unknown must become known."
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