Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley / Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. I.

by E. G. Squier; E. H. Davis

PLATE XXXI. GRADED WAY, NEAR PIKETON, PIKE COUNTY, OHIO.

There is a singular class of earthworks, occurring at various points at the West, which seem better to come up to the utilitarian standard of our day than any other, and the purposes of which to the popular mind, if not to that of the antiquarian, seem very clear. These are the graded ways, ascending sometimes from one terrace to another, and occasionally descending towards the banks of rivers or water-courses. The one already described, in connection with the works at Marietta, is of the latter description; as is also that at Piqua, Ohio, described by Maj. LONG.[67] One of the former character occurs near Richmondale, Ross county, Ohio; and another, and the most remarkable one, about one mile below Piketon, Pike county, in the same State. A plan and view of the latter is herewith presented.

Fig. 20.—View of graded way near Piketon Ohio.

It consists of a graded ascent from the second to the third terrace, the level of which is here seventeen feet above that of the former. The way is ten hundred and eighty feet long, by two hundred and fifteen feet wide at one extremity, and two hundred and three feet wide at the other, measured between the bases of the banks. p089 The earth is thrown outward on either hand, forming embankments varying upon the outer sides from five to eleven feet in height; yet it appears that much more earth has been excavated than enters into these walls. At the lower extremity of the grade, the walls upon the interior sides measure no less than twenty-two feet in perpendicular height. The easy ascent here afforded has been rendered available in the construction of the Chillicothe and Portsmouth turnpike, which passes through it. The walls are covered with trees and bushes, and resemble parallel natural hills, and probably would be regarded as such by the superficial observer. Indeed, hundreds pass along without suspecting that they are in the midst of one of the most interesting monuments which the country affords, and one which bears a marked resemblance to some of those works which are described to us in connection with the causeways and aqueducts of Mexico.

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• XXXI.
  • No. 1. Graded-way Near Piketon, Pike Co. Ohio.
  • No. 2. Ancient Work Near Sommerville, Butler Co. Ohio.
  • No. 3. Ancient Work on Nine Mile Creek, Butler Co. Ohio.
  • No. 4. Ancient Work on Great Miami River, Butler Co. Ohio.

From the end of the right-hand wall, upon the third terrace, extends a low line of embankment, (now much obliterated by the construction of the turnpike,) two thousand five hundred and eighty feet long, leading towards a group of mounds, as shown in the plan. At the distance of fifteen hundred feet from the grade, a wall starts off at right angles, for the distance of two hundred and twelve feet, when it assumes a course parallel to the principal line for four hundred and twenty feet, and then curves inwardly, terminating near a group consisting of one large and three small mounds. A ground plan of the latter is elsewhere given. This group of mounds is now enclosed, and constitutes the cemetery of the neighborhood. Forty rods to the right of this group, is a large mound thirty feet in height. Several small mounds occur upon the adjacent plain, though no enclosures of magnitude are found nearer than five miles lower down, on the river.

The left-hand wall of the grade as we descend seems continued down upon the second terrace for some distance, terminating near a low spot of ground, usually containing water. Similar depressions are observed in the ancient beds of streams. It has been suggested that the Scioto river once flowed along the base of the terrace at this point, and that the way led down to it. Without expressing an opinion upon the probability of this conjecture, it is sufficient to observe that the river now flows more than half a mile to the left, and that two terraces, each twenty feet in height, intervene between the present and the supposed ancient level of the stream. To assent to the suggestion, would be to admit an almost immeasurable antiquity to the structure under consideration.

It is, of course, useless to speculate upon the probable purpose of this work. At first glance, it seems obvious; namely, that it was constructed simply to facilitate the ascent from one terrace to another. But the long line of embankment extending from it, and the manifest connection which exists between it and the mounds upon the plain, unsettle this conclusion. After all, we are obliged to leave this interesting work with the single remark, already several times made in respect to others equally interesting and inexplicable, that future investigations, carefully conducted, may solve alike the problem of their purposes and of their origin.[68] p090

A singular work of art occurs on the top of a high hill, standing in the rear of the town of Piketon, and overlooking it, which it may not be out of place to mention here. It consists of a perfectly circular excavation, thirty feet in diameter, and twelve feet deep, terminating in a point at the bottom. It contains water for the greater part of the year. A slight and regular wall is thrown up around its edge. A full and very distinct view of the graded way just described is commanded from this point.

• PLATE XXXI. Nos. 2, 3, and 4.
  • NUMBER 2 is situated near Sommerville, Butler county, Ohio, on S. 3 and 10, T. 5, R. 2, E. M. It occupies the second terrace between Pleasant run and Seven Mile creek, and seems to have been encroached upon by both these streams. This terrace is about twenty-five feet higher than the first terrace, and is bounded by steep banks. The wall of the work is about four feet high, the ditch of proportionate depth. Near the centre is an exceedingly regular mound, one hundred feet in diameter at the base, and thirteen feet in altitude. It is now covered with a fine growth of maple-trees. At the north-east corner of the work, in the embankment, there is a quantity of stones placed with some degree of regularity,—probably originally constituting a sort of wall. At the opposite extremity of the work is a dug hole or “well.”
  • NUMBER 3 is situated nine miles north of the town of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, on a rich alluvial bottom, between Seven Mile and Nine Mile creeks, the latter of which seems to have encroached upon the work. The large oblong mound in the centre was partially excavated in constructing the Hamilton and Eaton turnpike. A quantity of bones were discovered; but nothing is known of the position in which they were found.
  • NUMBER 4 is situated on the east bank of the Great Miami river, four miles below the town of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, and is indicated by the letter D, in the map of a section of the Miami valley. Probably not more than half the original work now exists, the remainder having been destroyed by the encroachments of the river. The wall and ditch are slight; the former not exceeding three feet in height, and the latter two feet in depth. At the bank of the river, however, the original depth of the ditch, as also the amount of the vegetable and other matter with which it is filled up, are distinctly visible. The ditch, which had been sunk into the p091 gravel, was originally five feet eight inches in depth; the accumulation since its abandonment has been, therefore, three feet eight inches. Allowing the wall to have subsided to an equal extent, its original height from the bottom of the trench must have been upwards of twelve feet.
  • The rapidity with which the river encroaches upon its banks at this point may be inferred from the fact, that twenty years previous to the time of the survey of this work by Mr. McBride, in 1836, the river flowed not far from three hundred feet to the left of the central mound, which since that time has entirely disappeared. About thirty feet below this mound was found, some years ago, a number of flat stories set on edge, forming a kind of coffin, in which was a human skeleton, accompanied by a large marine shell and some rude implements. About a fourth of a mile below this work, appears to have been a general cemetery. The graves are indicated by small regular elevations.[69] The three works last described are laid down from the surveys of Mr. MCBRIDE, from whose notes the above facts are principally derived.
• The works here presented possess few characteristics of works of defence, and yet have little of the regularity, and but few of the features, which distinguish the sacred enclosures.

• PLATE XXXII.
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    • XXXII. Ancient Works:
      • No. 1. On Mill Creek, Butler Co. Ohio.
      • No. 2. Near Lowell, Washington Co. Ohio.
      • No. 3. Near Chillicothe, Ross Co. Ohio.
      • No. 4. In Chillicothe, Ross Co. Ohio.
      • No. 5. Near Bainbridge, Ross Co. Ohio.
      • No. 6. Near Mt. Sterling, Montgomery Co. Kentucky.
  • NUMBER 1 is a group of small works situated on a branch of Mill creek, near the south-east corner of Butler county, Ohio, on S. 14, T. 3, R. 2, M. R. The rectangular work is two hundred and twenty feet long, by one hundred and twenty feet broad. The walls are now about five feet high, and are unaccompanied by a ditch. There were standing upon the embankment, in 1842, a red-oak tree three and a half feet in diameter, and a white-oak tree three feet in diameter. Twenty rods north of this work is a truncated mound ten feet high; and a short distance p092 beyond it, rises a steep bank, fifty feet high, ascending which we come to elevated ground. Here are the remains of another small elliptical work, and some mounds. Upon the brow of the bank, at a, is a pile of stones much burned, which is known in the vicinity as “the furnace.” Immediately below, at the foot of the bank, is a copious spring. The survey of this group was made by Mr. MCBRIDE.
  • NUMBER 2 is situated near the town of Lowell, Washington county, Ohio, and consists of a slight embankment of earth, of exceedingly regular outline. Little can be said of it, except that it is accompanied by eleven mounds; all of which are, however, exterior to the walls.
  • NUMBER 3 is a group of small works, occupying the high lands on the east side of the Scioto river, opposite Chillicothe. They are indicated by the letter L, in the map of a section of the Scioto Valley (Plate [II]). They are introduced on a very small scale, so as to exhibit the dependence which seems to exist between them. Of course the relative size of the circles and mounds is considerably exaggerated. The mound numbered 1 occupies the most conspicuous point in the valley; and from it is afforded the most extended view that can be obtained in that entire region. Whether this fact can be taken to establish its design as a beacon or observatory, it is not presumed to say. The mound numbered 2 is one of the finest known. It is elliptical, one hundred and sixty feet long, sixty broad, and fifteen high. It has never been investigated. The remaining mounds, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are all of large size. A fine view of the extensive ancient works in the vicinity of Chillicothe must have been afforded from these elevated plains.
  • NUMBER 4.—These works are included within the corporation limits of Chillicothe. They are already much obliterated, and will soon be no longer traceable. They consist of a series of small circles, of uniform size, each two hundred and fifty feet in diameter. More extensive works formerly existed in connection with them, but have now entirely disappeared. The mound represented in the plan is seventeen feet in height, and has what seems to be a graded ascent from the south. It has been excavated, and will be noticed at length elsewhere in this volume. The circles, it will be observed, appear to be disposed with some degree of regularity in respect to each other. The gateways of three of them open towards the east, that of the remaining one towards the south.
  • NUMBER 5.—This unique little work is situated in the valley of Paint creek, about one mile west of the village of Bainbridge, Ross county, Ohio, on the turnpike leading from Chillicothe to Cincinnati. Its character can only be understood from the plan. It affords but one of the thousand various combinations which the circular structures of the West assume. It can, of course, be regarded only as connected with the superstitions of the builders, for the reason that it could answer no good purpose for protection, nor subserve any of the p093 useful purposes for which enclosures are required, such as the limits of fields and possessions, or the boundaries of villages.
  • NUMBER 6.—This work is situated near Mount Sterling, Montgomery county, Kentucky; and consists of a large truncated mound, twenty-five feet in height, flanked on the north and west by narrow grades or slopes. It is connected with a circular work, three hundred and fifty feet in diameter, by an elevated way or terrace, one hundred feet long. The circle has a small mound in its centre, and a gateway opening to the east. Three small mounds occur in close connection with it. The plan is from the RAFINESQUE MSS.
  • Lest these comparatively little works should appear insignificant, from the small scale on which they are presented, it may be well enough to remark, that the circle formed by the stones composing the great temple of Stonehenge is but a little more than one hundred feet in diameter, and that most of the circular earth and stone structures of the British islands are considerably less in size than those here presented.
• Upon this plate are placed a number of small works, and groups of works, arranged however with no view to any relationship, but as best served the purposes of the engraver.

PLATE XXXIII. No. 1.[70]

This group of ancient works is situated on the west side of Brush creek, six miles south-east of Mount Sterling, Montgomery county, Kentucky. The work indicated by the letter A is one hundred feet square, and is composed of a slight embankment, with an interior ditch. There is an entrance from the east. The elliptical mound C is about two hundred yards distant from A, towards the east. It is nine feet high, two hundred and seventy feet in circumference, truncated, and surmounted by a smaller conical mound. Another small mound is connected with it, as shown in the plan. B is a circular work, five hundred and ten feet in circumference, with a ditch interior to the wall, and a gateway opening towards the east. The unexcavated ground in the interior is square in form, exhibiting an entire identity in this feature with various works in Ohio. (See Plates [XXII], [XXIV].) D is a hexagonal enclosure; whole circumference three hundred feet, each side fifty feet, with a gateway at the eastern corner. On the opposite side of Brush creek is a large elliptical mound, E. This group occupies a broad, elevated plain. Numerous other works occur in the same county. p094

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• XXXIII.
  • No. 1. Ancient Works on Brush Creek, near Mount Sterling, Kentucky.
  • No. 2. Ancient Work near Winchester, Indiana.
  • No. 3. Map of a part of T. 20, R. 14, Randolph Co. Indiana.

PLATE XXXIII. No. 2.[71]

The character of this work, which is situated in Randolph county, Indiana, is sufficiently well exhibited by the plan. In the same vicinity are other works of an interesting character, the relative positions of which are shown in the sectional map. The work of which the enlarged plan is here given is indicated by the letter A on the map. A precisely analogous work, of smaller size, is situated on Sugar creek at C. At B is a copious spring, surrounded by an embankment.