Fig. 196.

Fig. 196. From one of the mounds, numbered 1 in the plan of the great enclosure on the North Fork of Paint creek, (Plate [X],) were taken several singularly sculptured tablets, of one of which the figure here presented is a copy, so far as it has been found possible to restore it from the several fragments recovered. It represents a coiled rattlesnake; both faces of the tablet being identical in p277 sculpture, excepting that one is plane, the other slightly convex. The material is a very fine cinnamon-colored sandstone, and the style of the sculpture is identical with that displayed in the tablet from the Cincinnati mound already noticed. The original is six inches and a quarter long, one and three eighths broad, and one quarter of an inch thick. The workmanship is delicate, and the characteristic feature of the rattlesnake perfectly represented. It is to be regretted that it is impossible to restore the head, which, so far as it can be made out, has some peculiar and interesting features,—plumes or ornamental figures surmounting it. Previous to the investigation of the mound by the authors, an entire tablet was obtained from it by an individual residing near the spot, who represents it to have been carefully and closely enveloped in sheets of copper, which he had great difficulty in removing. Incited by a miserable curiosity he broke the specimen, to ascertain its composition; and the larger portion, including the head, was subsequently lost. The remaining fragment, from its exceedingly well preserved condition, confirms the statement of the finder respecting its envelopment. It seems that several of these tablets were originally deposited in the mound; the greater portions of four have been recovered, but none displaying the head entire. The person above mentioned affirms that the head, in the specimen which he discovered, was surrounded by “feathers;” how far this is confirmed by the fragment, the reader must judge for himself. The tablets seem to have been originally painted of different colors: a dark red pigment is yet plainly to be seen in the depressions of some of the fragments; others had been painted of a dense black color.

It does not appear probable that these relics were designed for ornaments. On the contrary, the circumstances under which they were discovered render it likely that they had a superstitious origin, and were objects of high regard and perhaps of worship. It has already been observed, in connection with the account of the great serpentine structure in Adams county, Ohio, (Plate [XXXV],) that the serpent entered widely into the superstitions of the American nations, savage and semi-civilized, and was conspicuous among their symbols as the emblem of the greatest gods of their mythology, both good and evil. And wherever it appears, whether among the carvings of the Natchez (who, according to Charlevoix, placed it upon their altars as an object of worship), among the paintings of the Aztecs, or upon the temples of Central America, it is worthy of remark, that it is invariably the rattlesnake. And as among the Egyptians the cobra was the sign of royalty, so among the Mexicans the rattlesnake was an emblem of kingly power and dominion. As such it appears in the crown of Tezcatlipoca, the Brahma of the Aztec pantheon, and in the helmets of the warrior priests of that divinity. The feather-headed rattlesnake, it should be observed, was in Mexico the peculiar symbol of Tezcatlipoca, otherwise symbolized as the sun.

p278

CHAPTER XVI. METALS, MINERALS, FOSSILS, SHELLS, ETC.

Frequent allusion has been made, in the preceding pages, to the numerous rare and beautiful varieties of minerals, fossils, and shells, disclosed from the mounds; but no opportunity has been afforded to speak of them with desirable fulness. The identification, accurate or approximate, of the localities from whence these were obtained, will serve, in a degree, to reflect light upon the grand archæological questions of the origin, migration, and intercommunication of the race of the mounds. In this respect they are of value; for, in the investigations here attempted, we are compelled to press into the work of elucidation, every fact and circumstance which can, in any way, affect the subject of our inquiries. The discovery of obsidian, a purely volcanic production, in the mounds, in a region entirely destitute of the evidences of immediate volcanic action, is, to the commonest apprehension, a remarkable fact, a subject of wonder; but neither marvels nor mysticism have aught to do with science. The fact, to the mind of the rational archæologist, is suggestive only of the inquiry, Whence was this singular product obtained? Its presence cannot be accounted for, in the quantities discovered, except upon the supposition that it was transported from a distance; which supposition involves, of necessity, intercommunication or migration. To measure the bounds of intercourse, casual or constant, or define the course of migration, it is necessary to ascertain the exact primitive locality of the product in question. So far as we are informed, the nearest point of its occurrence is Mexico, the ancient inhabitants of which country applied it extensively to the very purposes for which it was used by the race of the mounds.

In this process of investigation, there are many circumstances which must come under view and receive due consideration, before we venture upon the simplest conclusions. They are, however, entirely omitted in this connection; the object of the illustration being simply to show in what general manner facts of this kind may be made subservient, and of what importance they may become in a system of research, in which we have neither written record nor even the voice of tradition to give direction to our inquiries.

It so happens that it is difficult in every case to detect the true nature of the remains discovered, and often quite impossible to point out their original localities. Hence the necessity of presenting a comprehensive view of their extent and character, so that other laborers in the field of antiquarian research may be able to institute comparisons, and indicate localities, and thus gradually work out the grand problems involved in our aboriginal history. The process may appear p279 tedious and intricate, and the results hardly worth the labor of their development; that is, however, a question open to discussion. The mode of investigation here indicated is, at any rate, the only one which philosophy sanctions, and which can ever lead to satisfactory results.