USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne county, Ohio, from the days of the pioneers and the first settlers to the present time > Part 11
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This base rock is a compact gray sandstone, and is successfully used for building purposes, and considered on equality with the Massillon sandstone. It is quarried extensively on the Foster farm. In this quarry, several years ago, the workmen, at the depth of about 15 feet from the surface of the rock, came upon what had been the trunk of the Lepidodendron tree, of about four feet in diameter, which was solid rock, with the impressions of the surface of the tree very distinctly visible. About seven feet of this rock tree was taken out of the quarry and preserved, about two
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feet of which being presented to John P. Jeffries, Esq., of Woos- ter, by Mr. Frank Foster, of near Mt. Eaton, is represented in section Fig. 4.
The rock from which this fossil tree was taken is located about 60 feet from the surface of the ground, and about 100 feet above the coal strata of the Flory mine.
Fig. 4.
The same character of rocks literally cover the ridge under which the coal vein of the Flory mine is located, the north-east side having a mountainous appearance.
Similar rocky ridges exist in Chippewa township, and the same order of stone exists there also; and especially in the ridge upon which Doylestown is situated the white sandstone crops, and which is quarried for building purposes, it being well adapted to that use.
The ridge in which is located the Finley coal mine of Saltcreek township, is chiefly covered with sandstone rocks, and is crowned by a thick strata of fine-grained sandstone, equal, and in some re-
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HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
spects superior, to the celebrated Massillon sandstone, and is sus- ceptible of a smooth finish.
At the Kirkendall quarry similar stone are taken out. Salt- creek township is noted for its fine building stone. About forty years ago the stone for the construction of the Wayne county jail was supplied from one of the Saltcreek quarries. Sugarcreek contains the same character of stone. In East Union the same kind of sand rock exists, though of coarser grain and of darker color ; at least such is the case as regards the quarry on the J. E. Breneman farm. The stone of the Daniel Goodyear farm, in Mil- ton township, is of the same character.
In Plain township, on the farm of Benjamin Wallace, are sand- stone as white as marble and nearly as compact. Pulverized, it makes a beautiful white finish, for which purpose it is used by plasterers. This same class of rock exists in Chester and Clinton townships to some extent.
There are no other rock strata of any note existing in the county. The slate and shaly sandstone, and soap-stone, not being independent formations, belong to the Waverly series, with an oc- casional exception as to the soap-stone, which, in some instances, is found in the coal measure in connection with iron ore and fire clay but only to a limited extent.
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CHAPTER VIII.
ARCHAEOLOGY-DEFENSIVE AND SACRED ENCLOSURES. THE MOUND.BUILDERS.
THE antiquities themselves present two classifications: Earth- works and Implements, including Ornaments.
IMPLEMENTS.
The simple weapons of bone and stone which are found in America bear sharp analogy to those found in other countries. The axes, blue, gray and black arrow heads, flakes, hatchets and general bone implements, are closely identified with those which oc- cur in the Swiss lakes, differing only, in some instances, in point of material. These simple and more general forms and specimens appear with others quite complicated. We find perforated axes, and it is believed by European archaeologists they represent the Metallic Age.
With the bare exception of a tribe near the mouth of the La Plata, it is affirmed that iron was positively unknown to the North American aborigines upon the discovery of the New World. This tribe pointed their arrows with this metal, which we inferentially believe, was procured from the native iron. While the more pol- ished nations of Central America were in the Age of Bronze, the North Americans were in a state concerning which, we find, in Europe, but meagre outline-the Age of Copper.
Although found in but small quantities, silver is the only metal found in the ancient tumuli. Some of the copper deposits of Lake Superior are veined with this metal, though it never seems to have
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been smelted. Yet, on the other hand, copper is determined in the tumuli both wrought and unwrought. The axes very much resemble the simple axes of Europe which embody the minimum per cent. of tin ; and some of the Mexican paintings supply us with gratifying evidence as to the way in which they were employed. However, these were of bronze, and had, therefore, been smelted or fused ; but the Indian axes, which are of pure copper, appear in all cases to have been worked in a cold state, which is the more re- markable, because "the fires upon the altar were sufficiently intense to melt down the copper implements and ornaments deposited upon them." The hint thus afforded does not seem to have been seized upon.
This surprises us less than we at first imagined, as around Lake Superior, and other even more northern localities, copper in large quantities is found native, and the Indians had nothing to do but to break off pieces and hammer them to the bent and purpose of their barbarian wishes. Hearne's celebrated journey to the mouth of the Coppermine river was undertaken in order to examine the locality whence the natives of the district obtained the metal. In this instance it appeared in lumps upon the surface, the Indians picking these up, but making no pretensions to, or having no knowledge of, mining. The case is different about Lake Superior. A brief account of the ancient copper mines is given by Messrs. Squier and Davis, the works having been first discovered in 1847, by the agent of the Minnesota Mining Company.
"Following up the indications of a continuous depression in the soil, he came at length to a cavern where he found several porcupines had fixed their quarters for hybernation ; but detecting evidences of artificial excavation he proceeded to clear out the accumulated soil, and not only exposed to view a vein of copper, but found in the rubbish numerous stone mauls and hammers of the ancient workmen. Subsequent observations brought to light ancient excavations of great extent, frequently from 25 to 30 feet deep, and scattered over an area of several miles. The rubbish taken from these is piled up in mounds alongside, while the
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trenches have been gradually refilled with the soil and decaying vegetable matter, gathered through the long centuries since their desertion ; and over all, the giants of the forests have grown, and . withered, and fallen to decay. Mr. Knapp, the agent of the Min- nesota Mining Company, counted 395 annular rings in a hemlock tree, which grew on one of the mounds of earth thrown out of an ancient mine. Mr. Foster also notes the great size and age of a pine stump, which must have grown, flourished and died since the works were deserted; and Mr. C. Whittlesey not only refers to living trees now flourishing in the gathered soil of the abandoned trenches upwards of 300 years old, 'but,' he adds, . on the same spot there are the decayed trunks of a preceding generation, or generations of trees that have arrived at maturity and fallen down from old age.'"
A detachment of native copper, weighing nearly six tons, was found in another excavation. Tools of the same metal and a variety of implements were found in it. Hammers and stone mauls did "most abound," one place alone producing its quota of ten cart loads. With the above implements were also found "stone axes, of large size, made of green stone, and shaped to receive the withe-handles; some large, round, green stone masses that had apparently been used for sledges, were also found. They had round holes bored in them to a depth of several inches, which seemed to have been designed for wooden plugs, to which withe- handles might be attached, so that several men could swing them with sufficient force to break the rock and the projecting masses of copper."
POTTERY.
Antecedent to the period of metals, or the subserviency of metallic vessels, the art of the potter attained to conspicuous pre- eminence. As a consequence, the sites of ancient habitations are indicated by fragments of pottery ; and this is equally true of the ancient Indian settlements as well as of the Celtic towns of En- gland or the lake villages of Switzerland. These fragments would
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generally be those of rude household vessels; and it is principally from the tumuli that we obtain those better made urns and cups from which the state of the art may fairly be inferred.
Squier and Davis say : " Among the North American mound- builders the art of pottery attained to a considerable degree of per- fection." Some of the vases are said to rival, "in elegance of model, delicacy and finish," the rarest Peruvian specimens. The material used is a fine clay ; in the more delicate specimens, pure; in the coarser ones, mixed with pounded quartz. The art of glazing and the use of the potter's wheel seem to not have been known, though that "simple approximation to a potter's wheel may have existed which comprises" a stick of wood grasped in the hand by the middle, and turned around inside a wall of clay, formed by the other hand, or by another workman.
As specimens of ancient pottery, none, perhaps, are more char- acteristic than the pipes. Many of these are rude and simple bowls, not unlike our common pipes, but usually without stems, the mouth, probably, being applied to the bowl. Others are gro- tesquely ornamented, and some are animated representations of monsters or animals, such as the beaver, otter, wildcat, elk, bear, wolf, panther, raccoon, opossum, squirrel, manatee, eagle, hawk, heron, owl, buzzard, raven, swallow, paroquet, duck, grouse, etc.
ORNAMENTS.
Shells, necklaces, pendants, plates of mica, bracelets, gorgets, etc., have been found in the mounds, and which include the orna- ments. The number of beads is sometimes quite astonishing. The celebrated Grave Creek mound contained between three and four thousand shell-beads, besides about two hundred and fifty ornaments of mica, several bracelets of copper, and numerous articles carved in stone. The beads are most generally manufac- tured of shell, but are sometimes made of bone and teeth. The necklaces are formed of shells and beads, and sometimes of teeth. The ornaments of mica are thin plates of various forms, each of which contains a small hole. The bracelets are of copper, and
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generally encircle the arms of the skeletons, besides being frequent on the "altars." They are simple rings, hammered out with more or less skill, and so bent that the ends approach, or lap over each other. The so-called "gorgets" are but thin plates of copper, always with two holes, and very likely, therefore, worn as marks of authority.
EARTHWORKS.
Defensive Enclosures .- These "usually occupy strong nat- ural positions." What is known as the Bourneville enclo- sure, in Ross county, Ohio, is a very fair specimen. This work "occupies the summit of a lofty, detached hill, twelve miles westward from the city of Chillicothe, near the village of Bourneville. The hill is not far from four hundred feet in perpendicular hight; and is remarkable, even among the steep hills of the west, for the general abruptness of its sides, which, at some points, are absolutely inaccessible."
"The defenses consist of a wall of stone, which is carried round the hill, a little below the brow; but at some places it rises so as to cut off the narrow spurs, and extends across the neck that connects the hill with the range beyond." Nothing, however, like a perfect wall exists at present, the aspect being rather what might have been "expected from the falling outwards of a wall of stones, placed, as this was, upon the declivity of a hill." Where it is most distinct, it is from 15 to 20 feet wide, by 3 or 4 in hight. The area thus enclosed is about 140 acres, and the wall is 214 miles in length, and has possibly been 7 or 8 feet high, with a cor- responding base. Trees of large size are growing upon it.
In Highland county, Ohio, on a similar work, known as "Fort Hill," Messrs. Squier and Davis found a chestnut tree which they supposed to have been 600 years old. "If," say they, "to this we add the probable period intervening from the time of the build- ing of this work, to its abandonment, and the subsequent period up to its invasion by the forest, we are irresistibly led to the con- clusion that it has an antiquity of at least 1,000 years. But when
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we notice all around us the crumbling trunks of trees, half hidden in the accumulating soil, we are enabled to fix upon an antiquity even more remote."
The enclosure known as Clark's work, in Ross county, Ohio, is one of the largest and most attractive, and, according to our author- ity, consists of a parallelogram 2,800 by 1, 800 feet, and enclosing about III acres. To the right of this, the principal work is a per- fect square, containing an area of about 16 acres. Each side is 850 feet in length, and in the middle of each is a gateway 30 feet wide, and covered by a small mound. Within the area of the great work are several smaller mounds and enclosures, and it is estimated that not less than 3,000,000 of cubic feet of earth were used in this great undertaking. .
Sacred and Miscellaneous Enclosures .- These are to be found "on the broad and level river bottoms, seldom occurring upon the table lands, or where the surface of the ground is undulating or broken." In this respect they differ from the defensive earthworks, which occupy hilltops and other favor- able points of resistance. They, too, are usually square or circu- lar in form, a circle being combined with one or two squares. "Occasionally we find them isolated, but more frequently in groups. The greater number of the circles are of small size, with a nearly uniform diameter of 250 or 300 feet, and invariably have the ditch interior to the wall." Some of the circles, however, are much larger, enclosing 50 acres or more. These squares and other rectangular works never have a ditch, and the earth of which they are composed appears to have been taken up evenly from the sur- face, or from large pits in the neighborhood. They vary much in size ; five or six of them, however, are "exact squares, each side measuring 1,080 feet-a coincidence which could not possibly be accidental, and which must possess some significance." The cir- cles also, in spite of their great size, are perfectly round, so that the American archaeologists consider themselves justified in con- cluding that the mound-builders must have had some standard of measurement and some means of determining angles.
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ARCHÆOLOGY.
The most remarkable group is that near Newark, in the Scioto valley, which covers an area of about four square miles. It con- sists of an octagon, with an area of fifty, a square occupying twenty acres, two large circles occupying, respectively, thirty and twenty acres. From the octagon, an avenue formed of par- allel walls, extends southwards for two miles and a half. There are two other avenues which are rather more than a mile in length, one of them connecting the octagon with the square.
There are other embankments and small circles in addition to these, the majority of which are about 80 feet in diameter, but some are larger. The walls of these small circles, as well as those of the avenues and of the regular portions of the work generally, are very slight, and for the most part about four feet in hight. The other embankments are much more considerable; the walls of the large circle are twelve feet high, with a base of fifty feet, and an interior ditch seven feet deep and thirty-five in width. At the gateway they are still more imposing, the walls being sixteen feet high, and the ditch thirteen feet deep. The whole area is covered with gigantic, primitive trees, and, according to Squier and Davis, in "entering the ancient avenue for the first time the visi- tor does not fail to experience a sensation of awe, such as he might feel in passing the portals of an Egyptian temple, or in gaz- ing upon the silent ruins of Petra of the desert."
The city of Circleville takes its name from one of these embank- ments. It consists of a square and a circle touching one another, the sides of the square being about 900 feet in length, and the circle a little more than 1,000 feet in diameter. The square had eight doorways, one at each angle, and one in the middle of each side, every doorway being covered by a mound. This work, like many others throughout the country, and some few of the simpler earth-circles of our own county, have succumbed to the vandalism of the plow, and the rash demolitions of man.
Both as being the only example of an enclosure yet observed in Wisconsin, and also as having in many respects a great resem- blance to a fortified town, the ruins of Aztalan have attracted great
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attention. They are situated on the west branch of Rock river, and were discovered by N. F. Hyer, Esq., in 1836. The name "Aztalan " was given to this place by Mr. Hyer because the Aztecs had a tradition that they originally came from a country to the north, which they called Aztalan, which phrase is said to be derived from two Mexican words Atl, water, and An, near. "The main feature of these works is an enclosure of earth ( not brick as has been erroneously stated ) extending around three sides of an irregular parallelogram, the river forming the fourth side on the east." The space thus enclosed is seventeen acres and two-thirds. The corners are not rectangular, and the embankment, or ridge, is not straight. The ridge forming the enclosure is 630 feet long at the north end; 1,419 feet long on the west side ; and 700 feet on the south side; making a total length of wall of 2,750 feet. The ridge or wall is about 22 feet wide, and from one foot to five in hight. The wall of earth is enlarged on the outside, at nearly reg- ular distances, by mounds of the same material. They are called buttresses, or bastions, and vary from 69 to 95 feet apart, the mean distance being 82 feet.
Frequently the earth forming the walls appears to have been burnt. "Irregular masses of hard, reddish clay, full of cavities, bear distinct impressions of straw, or wild hay, with which they have been mixed before burning. This is the only foundation for calling these 'brick walls.' The 'bricks' were never made into any regular form, and it is even doubtful if the burning did not take place in the wall, after it was built."
Some of the mounds, or buttresses, were, though forming part of an enclosure, also used for sepulchral purposes, as has been proven by their containing skeletons in sitting posture, with fragments of pottery. The highest point inside this enclosure is "occupied by a square truncated mound, which presents the appearance of a pyr- amid, rising by successive steps, like the gigantic structures of Mexico." Inside this enclosure is another " rectangular, truncated pyramidal elevation of 65 feet level area at the top, with remains.
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of its graded way, or sloping ascent, at the south-west corner, lead- ing, also, to a ridge that extends in the direction of the river."
Almost the entire portion of the enclosure not occupied by mounds is a series of excavations and ridges, which might suggest the vestiges of ruined and demolished houses. A skeleton was found in one of these mounds, folded, apparently, in cloth of open texture, "like the coarsest linen fabric," the threads of which were so rotted as to render it impossible to determine the material of its composition.
It is unnecessary to add that the last Indian occupants of that historic locality had neither knowledge nor tradition of these mys- terious earthworks.
There does not appear to be any corresponding earthworks to these so-styled sacred enclosures among the northern tribes of ex- isting Indians.
No sooner, however, do we pass to the southward and arrive among the Creeks, Natchez and affiliated Floridian tribes, than we discover traces of structures, which, if they do not entirely cor- respond with the regular earthworks of the West, nevertheless seem to be quite analogous to them.
Sepulchral Mounds .- To say that they are innumerable, in the ordinary sense of the term, would be no exaggeration. They may be numbered by thousands and tens of thousands. They vary from six to eight feet in hight; generally stand outside the enclo- sures; are often isolated, but often, also, in groups ; they are usually round, but sometimes elliptical or pear shaped. They cover, gener- ally, a single skeleton, which is often burnt. Occasionally there is a stone cist ; but urn burial also prevailed to a considerable extent, espe- cially in southern States. The contracted position of the corpse seems to be, as usual, as in the more ancient burials of Europe. Imple- ments both of stone and metal occur frequently ; but, while per- sonal ornaments, such as bracelets, perforated plates of copper, beads of bone, shell or metal, and similar objects, are very common, weapons are but rarely found ; a fact which, in the opinion of Dr.
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Wilson, "indicates a totally different condition of society and mode of thought," from that of the present Indian.
What, then, is the idea implied in these gigantic tumuli-this disposition of the inertia-smitten, soul-divorced body? The above quoted authority seems to recognize the tumulus as a simple devel- opment of that little heap of earth "displaced by interment which still, to thousands, suffices as the most touching memorial of the dead." Rather would we coincide with Professor Nillson, the Swedish antiquary, "that the grave was but an adaptation, a copy, or a development of a dwelling place. Unable to imagine a future altogether different from the present, or a world quite unlike our own, primitive nations seem always to have buried with their dead those things which in life they valued most-with ladies their ornaments, with chiefs their weapons, and sometimes, also, their wives. They burned the house with its owner; the grave was literally the dwelling of the dead. According to Professor Nillson, when a great man died he was placed in his favorite seat, food and drink were arranged before him, his weapons were placed at hand, and his house was closed, sometimes forever, sometimes to be opened once more when his wife or his children had joined him in the spirit land. The ancient tumuli of Northern Europe consist, usually, of a passage leading into a central vault, in which the dead "sit." The graves of the Tartars are said to resemble their dwellings. In some of the far-off islands of the East it is the custom to desert the house in which a great man dies ; and Cap- tain Cook pleases to have us understand that he observed at Mooa certain houses erected on mounds, in which, he was told, "the dead had been buried."
Bone-pits .- Some of these tumuli are crowded with human re- mains, in conjunction with which may be mentioned the so-called "bone-pits" described by Mr. Squier. "One of these pits, discov- ered some years ago in the town of Cambria, Niagara county, was estimated to contain the bones of several thousand individuals. An. other one which he visited in the town of Clarence, Erie county, contained not less than 400 skeletons." And Thomas Jefferson,
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in his "Notes on Virginia," describes a tumulus that was esti- mated to contain the skeletons of 1,000 individuals. These "bone-pits" are explained by descriptions given of the old and solemn "Festival of the dead," It seems that about every decade the Indians met at some place previously designated; that they dug up their dead, collected the bones together, and laid them in one common burial place, depositing with them valuable articles.
Sacrificial Mounds .- A class of ancient monuments peculiar to the New World has been honored with the above title, and which are strikingly illustrative of the ceremonies and customs of these ancient races of the mounds.
Says Dr. Wilson: "This remarkable class of mounds has been very carefully explored, and their most noticeable char- acteristics are, their almost invariable occurrence within enclosures ; their regular construction in uniform layers of gravel, earth and sand, disposed alternately in strata conformable to the shape of the mound; and their covering a symmetrical altar of burnt clay or stone, on which are deposited numerous relics, in all instances ex- hibiting traces, more or less abundant, of their having been exposed to the action of fire."
This so-called "altar " is a basin, or table of burnt clay, care- fully formed into a symmetrical figure, but varying much, both in shape and size. Some are round, some elliptical, and others squares or parallelograms, while in size they vary from two feet to fifty feet, by twelve or fifteen. They are pretty generally found within sacred enclosures. The "altar" is always on a level with the natural soil, and bears traces of long-continued heat. Traces of timber have been discovered even above the altar. In one of the twenty-six tumuli forming the "Mound City," on the Scioto river, were found a number of pieces of timber, four or five feet long and six or eight inches thick. "These pieces had been of nearly uniform length ; and this circumstance, joined to the posi- tion in which they occurred in respect to each other, would almost justify the inference that they had supported some funeral or sac- rificial pile. Great diversity manifests itself in the contents of
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