The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races

by Emory Adams Allen

If we were uncertain of the uses of the other class of inclosures, which have been named Sacred Inclosures, we have no need to hesitate as to the character of this work. Every thing in reference to it betokens that it was a defensive work. The valley of the Big Miami, in which it occurs, was a favorite resort of the Mound Builders. On the opposite side of the river, to the south, was a square and an ellipse combined, and several other large works were ranged along the river in the course of a few miles. We need scarcely doubt that this was a citadel in times of need, and that when warning columns of smoke or flaming fires showed the approach of an enemy, the old and the sick, the women and the children, fled hither for protection, while the warriors went forth to battle for their homes.

We will call attention to but one more of these fortified hills, but this is on a magnificent scale. It is known as Fort Ancient, and is situated on the Little Miami River, about forty miles east of Cincinnati. It was not only a fort, but was also a fortified village site, and has some features about it which are regarded as of a religious nature. The hill on which it stands is in most places very steep towards the river. A ravine starts from near the upper end on the eastern side, gradually deepening towards the south, and finally turns abruptly towards the west to the river. By this means nearly the whole work occupies the summit of a detached hill, having in most places very steep sides. To this naturally strong position fortifications were added, consisting of an embankment of earth of unusual height, which follows close around the very brow of the hill. This embankment is still in a fine state of preservation, but is now annually exposed to cultivation and the inroads of cattle, so that it will not be long before it will be greatly changed if no effort be made to preserve it.

This wall is, of course, the highest in just those places where the sides of the hill are less steep than usual. In some places it still has a height of twenty feet. We notice the wall has numerous breaks in it. Some of these are where it crosses the ravines, leading down the sides of the hill. In a few cases the embankment may still be traced to within a few feet of a rivulet. Considerable discussion has ensued as to the origin and use of these numerous gateways. Mr. Squier thinks that these openings were occupied by timber work in the nature of blockhouses which have long since decayed. Others, however, think that the wall was originally entire except in a few instances, and that the breaks now apparent were formed by natural causes, such as water gathering in pools, and musk-rats burrowing through the walls, and we are told that such an opening was seen forming in the year 1847.⁷² No regular ditch exists inside the wall, the material apparently being obtained from numerous dug holes.

It will be seen that the works could be naturally divided into two parts, connected by the isthmus. More than one observer has pointed out the resemblance in general outline of this work to a map of North and South America, but of course the resemblance, if any, is entirely accidental. Mr. Peet has called attention to the resemblance which the walls of the lower inclosure bear to two serpents, their heads being the mounds, which are separated from the body by the opening which resembles a ring around the neck. Their bodies are the walls, which, as they bend in and out, and rise and fall, much resembles, he thinks, two massive green serpents rolling along the summit of this high hill. If any such resemblance occurs, we think it purely accidental. In relation to the wall across the isthmus, it has been thought to have been the means of defending one part of the work should an enemy gain entrance to the other. It has also been supposed that at first the fort was only built to the cross wall on the isthmus, and afterwards the rest of the inclosure was added to the work.

The total length of the embankment is about five miles, the area enclosed about one hundred acres. For most of this distance the grading of the walls resembles the heavy grading of a railroad track. Only one who has personally examined the walls can realize the amount of labor they represent for a people destitute of metallic tools, beasts of burden, and other facilities to construct it.

Now, what was the object of this work? We think it was not simply a fort, but rather a fortified village. That it must have required the work of a numerous body of people, is undoubted, and if they lived elsewhere, where are the works denoting such a fact? We would further suggest that, if this was the seat of a tribe, each of the two divisions might have been the location of a phratry of the tribe, by a phratry, meaning the subdivision of a tribe. We would call especial attention to the two mounds seen just outside of the walls at the upper end. From these mounds two low parallel walls extended in a north-easterly direction some thirteen hundred and fifty feet, their distant ends joining around a small mound. As this mound was not well situated for signal purposes, inasmuch as it did not command a very extensive view, and as the embankments would afford very little protection, unless provided with palisades, it seems as if the most satisfactory explanation we have is that it was in the nature of a religious work.

Mr. Hosea thinks he has found satisfactory evidence that between these walls there was a paved street, as he discovered in one place, about two feet below the present surface, a pavement of flat stones.⁷³ From this, as a hint, he eloquently says: “Imagination was not slow to conjure up the scene which was once doubtless familiar to the dwellers at Fort Ancient. A train of worshipers, led by priests clad in their sacred robes, and bearing aloft the holy utensils, pass in the early morning, ere yet the mists have risen in the valley below, along the gently swelling ridge on which the ancient roadway lies. They near the mound, and a solemn stillness succeeds their chanting songs; the priests ascend the hill of sacrifice and prepare the sacred fire. Now the first beams of the rising sun shoot up athwart the ruddy sky, gilding the topmost boughs of the trees. The holy flame is kindled, a curling wreath of smoke arises to greet the coming god; the tremulous bush which was upon all nature breaks into vocal joy, and songs of gladness bursts from the throats of the waiting multitude as the glorious luminary arises in majesty and beams upon his adoring people. A promise of renewed life and happiness. Vain promise, since even his rays can not penetrate the utter darkness which for ages has settled over this people.” Thus imagination suggests, and enthusiasm paints a scene, but, from positive knowledge, we can neither affirm nor deny its truth.

Most of the works of the Mound Builders are noticeable for their solidity and massiveness. We see this illustrated in the great walls of Fort Ancient. Some of our scholars think this is a distinguishing feature of the Mound Builders’ work.⁷⁴ It seems to us that it is difficult to make this a distinguishing feature, as we have no means of knowing how much “massiveness” is required in a work to entitle it to be considered a work of the Mound Builders. Should this distinction be established, however, we have to notice that while in the western part of the State of Ohio the Mound Builders’ inclosures are more often of the defensive sort, the type changes to the eastward, where, as in the Scioto Valley, we find the so-called sacred inclosures in larger numbers. In the State of Ohio, then, there were at least two well defined types of works by the Mound Builders. But if we split the Mound Builders up into tribes, where shall we draw the line between them and our later Indians?