In this case they constructed a sort of a cave, but in many cases they mined open to the air, that is, they simply dug trenches or pits. A row of these ancient pits, now slight depressions, indicate a vein. What they seem to have especially sought after was lumps of copper that they could easily manage and fashion by hammering. They had not discovered the art of melting. When they found an unusually large piece, they broke off what they could by vigorous hammering. In one case they found a mass weighing about six tons of pure copper. They made an attempt to master this piece. By means of wedges they had got it upon a cob-work of round logs or skids, six or eight inches in diameter, but the mass was finally abandoned for some unknown reason after breaking off such pieces as they could until the upper surface was smooth. This mass rested on the framework of logs while the years came and went, until, after the lapse of unknown time, the white men once more opened the old mine.
On the rubbish in front of this mine was standing the stump of a pine tree ten feet in circumference. These ancient mines are found not only on the main-land, but on the islands off the coast as well. The only helps they seem to have employed was fire, traces of which are found everywhere, and stone mauls and axes. The mauls consist of oblong water-worn bowlders of hard tough rock, nature having done every thing in fashioning them except to form the groove, which was chiseled out around the middle. Some copper implements were also found.
Col. Whittlesey, from whose writings we have drawn the foregoing, concludes that these mines were worked by the Mound Builders. As he finds no traces of graves or houses, or other evidence of a protracted stay, he thinks they were worked only through the Summer season of the year by bands of workmen from the south.
As to what caused the abandonment of the works we do not know. It might have been an impulse of their race hurrying them on to some distant migration; or, more probably, pressed by foes from without, they were compelled to abandon their ancient homes. Whatever the cause was, nature resumed her sway. Forest trees crept up to and grew around the mouths of the deserted mines. Col. Whittlesey concludes from the group of trees growing on the top of the rubbish heap that at least five hundred years passed away before the white man came from the south to resume the work of his ancient predecessor.90
It is not, however, proven that the Mound Builders were the sole workers of these ancient mines. It is known that the Indians mined for flint. Some of the excavations for this purpose, in what is known as Flint Ridge, in Muskingum County, Ohio, are as marked as the traces of ancient mining in Michigan. Similar appearances are recorded in Missouri. As copper was in demand among the Indians, and as it is probable that they obtained much of it from the North, they may have continued to work the ancient copper mines until comparatively recent times. Mr. Lapham believes that the progenitors of the Indian tribes found dwelling in the regions near these mines, carried on mining operations there. Dr. Rau thinks it probable that small bands of various Northern tribes made periodical excursions to the locality, returning to their homes when they had supplied themselves with sufficient quantities of the much-desired metal. The fact that many of the modern Indian tribes knew nothing about these mines is not of much weight, when we reflect how easily a barbarian people forget events, even those of a striking nature.
We are apt to judge the culture of a people by the skill they display in works of arts. The article on which the Mound Builder lavished most of his skill was the pipe. This would show that with them, as with the modern Indians, the use of the pipe was largely interwoven with their civil and religious observances. In making war and in concluding peace, it probably played a very important part. “To know the whole history of tobacco, of the custom of smoking, and of the origin of the pipe, would be to solve many of the most interesting problems of American ethnology.”91
The general decoration consisted in carving the bowl of the pipe into the shape of some animal or bird. In some instances we have carved representations of the human head. Such as these are of particular interest and value, as they are probably faithful representations of the features of the Mound Builders. This is a fine specimen found in one of the altar mounds in Ohio. The method of wearing the hair is worthy of notice. The holes placed in a row encircling the forehead and coming down as low as the ears, were once filled with pearls. In some they still remained when found, though they had been burned in the fire. The lines upon the face obviously imitate the custom of tattooing the countenance.
Scholars have called attention to the fact that Humboldt discovered in Mexico a small statue which he supposed represented an Aztec priestess. This statue had sculptured upon its forehead a row of pearls, worn in the same manner as is represented in this pipe. This is another pipe of great interest, and is supposed to represent the head of a woman. The countenance is expressive, the eyes prominent, and the lips full and rounded. We must notice again the headdress. While the faces are of Indian type, the method of wearing the hair is different from that of the typical Indian of the North.