The altars, or basins, found in these mounds, are almost invariably of burned clay, though a few of stone have been discovered. They are symmetrical, but not of uniform size and shape. Some are round, others elliptical, and others square, or parallelograms. Some are small, measuring barely two feet across, while others are fifty feet long by twelve or fifteen feet wide. The usual dimensions are from five to eight feet. All appear to have been modelled of fine clay brought to the spot from a distance, and they rest upon the original surface of the p144 earth. In a few instances, a layer or small elevation of sand had been laid down, upon which the altar was formed. The height of the altars, nevertheless, seldom exceeds a foot or twenty inches above the adjacent level. The clay of which they are composed is usually burned hard, sometimes to the depth of ten, fifteen, and even twenty inches. This is hardly to be explained by any degree or continuance of heat, though it is manifest that in some cases the heat was intense. On the other hand, a number of these altars have been noticed, which are very slightly burned; and such, it is a remarkable fact, are destitute of remains.
The characteristics of this class of mounds will be best explained, by reference to the accompanying illustrations. It should be remarked, however, that no two are precisely alike in all their details.
Fig. 29.
The mound, a section of which is here given, occurs in “Mound City,” a name given to a group of twenty-six mounds, embraced in one enclosure, on the banks of the Scioto river, three miles above the town of Chillicothe. (See Plate [XIX], mound No. 1.) It is seven feet high by fifty-five feet base. A shaft, five feet square, was sunk from its apex, with the following results:
- 1st. Occurred a layer of coarse gravel and pebbles, which appeared to have been taken from deep pits surrounding the enclosure, or from the bank of the river. This layer was one foot in thickness.
- Fig. 30.
- 2d. Beneath this layer of gravel and pebbles, to the depth of two feet, the earth was homogeneous, though slightly mottled, as if taken up and deposited in small loads, from different localities. In one place appeared a deposit of dark-colored surface loam, and by its side, or covering it, there was a mass of the clayey soil from a greater depth. The outlines of these various deposits could be distinctly traced, as shown in Fig. 30.
- 3d. Below this deposit of earth, occurred a thin and even layer of fine sand, a little over an inch in thickness.
- 4th. A deposit of earth, as above, eighteen inches in depth.
- 5th. Another stratum of sand, somewhat thinner than the one above mentioned.
- 6th. Another deposit of earth, one foot thick; then—
- 7th. A third stratum of sand; below which was—
- 8th. Still another layer of earth, a few inches in thickness; which rested on—
- 9th. An altar, or basin, of burned clay. p145
This altar was perfectly round. Its form and dimensions are best shown by the supplementary plan and section A. The altar, measured from c to d, is nine feet in diameter; from a to e, five feet; height from b to e, twenty inches; dip of curve a r e, nine inches. The sides c a, e d, slope regularly at a given angle. The body of the altar is burned throughout, though in a greater degree within the basin, where it is so hard as to resist the blows of a heavy hatchet,—the instrument rebounding as if struck upon a rock. The basin, or hollow of the altar, was filled up evenly with fine dry ashes, intermixed with which were some fragments of pottery, of an excellent finish, and ornamented with tasteful carvings on the exterior. One of the vases, of elegant model, taken in fragments from this mound, has been very nearly restored, and will be further noticed in the chapter on the Pottery of the Mounds. A few convex copper discs, much resembling the bosses used upon harnesses, were also found.
Above the deposit of ashes, and covering the entire basin, was a layer of silvery or opaque mica, in sheets, overlapping each other; upon which, immediately over the centre of the basin, was heaped a quantity of burned human bones, probably the amount of a single skeleton, in fragments. The position of these is indicated in the section. The layers of mica and calcined bones, it should be remarked, to prevent misapprehension, were peculiar to this individual mound, and were not found in any other of the class.
It will be seen, by the section, that at a point about two feet below the surface of the mound, a human skeleton was found. It was placed a little to the left of the centre, with the head to the east, and was so much decayed as to render it impossible to extract a single bone entire. Above the skeleton, as shown in the section, the layer of earth and the outer stratum of gravel and pebbles were broken up and intermixed. Thus, while on one side of the shaft the strata were clearly marked, on the other they were confused. And, as this was the first mound of the class excavated, it was supposed, from this circumstance, that it had previously been opened by some explorer; and it had been decided to abandon it, when the skeleton was discovered. Afterwards the matter came to be fully understood. No relics were found with this skeleton.
It is a fact well known, that the existing tribes of Indians, though possessing no knowledge of the origin or objects of the mounds, were accustomed to regard them with some degree of veneration. It is also known, that they sometimes buried their dead in them, in accordance with their almost invariable custom of selecting elevated points and the brows of hills as their cemeteries. That their remains should be found in the mounds, is therefore a matter of no surprise. They are never discovered at any great depth, not often more than eighteen inches or three feet below the surface. Their position varies in almost every case: most of them are extended at length, others have a sitting posture, while others again seem to have been rudely thrust into their shallow graves without care or arrangement. Rude implements of bone and stone, and coarse vessels of pottery, such as are known to have been in use among the Indians at the period of the earliest European intercourse, occur with some of them, particularly with those of a more ancient date; while modern implements and ornaments, in some cases of p146 European origin, are found with the recent burials. The necessity, therefore, of a careful and rigid discrimination, between these deposits and those of the mound-builders, will be apparent. From the lack of such discrimination, much misapprehension and confusion have resulted. Silver crosses, gun-barrels, and French dial-plates, have been found with skeletons in the mounds; yet it is not to be concluded that the mound-builders were Catholics, or used fire-arms, or understood French. Such a conclusion would, nevertheless, be quite as well warranted, as some which have been deduced from the absolute identity of certain relics taken from the mounds, with articles known to be common among the existing tribes of Indians. The fact of remains occurring in the mounds, is in itself hardly presumptive evidence that they pertained to the builders. The conditions attending them can alone determine their true character. As a general rule, to which there are few exceptions, the only authentic and undoubted remains of the mound-builders are found directly beneath the apex of the mound, on a level with the original surface of the earth; and it may be safely assumed, that whatever deposits occur near the surface of the mounds, are of a date subsequent to their erection.