My treatment of the subject in this and the following chapter will, however, differ considerably from that in those preceding. I have hitherto proceeded geographically from south to north, placing before the reader all the information extant, be it more or less complete, respecting every relic in each locality, and giving besides in every case the source whence the information was obtained. In this manner the notes become a complete bibliographical index to the whole subject, not an unimportant feature, I believe, of this work. In the broad eastern region bordering on the Mississippi and its tributaries, a region thickly inhabited, and thoroughly explored by antiquarians, or at least comparatively so, so numerous are the relics and the localities where they have been found, that to take them up one after another for detailed description would require at least a volume; and these relics, although of great importance, present so little variety in the absence of all architectural monuments, that such a detailed account could hardly fail to become monotonous to a degree unparalleled even in the pages of the present volume. Moreover, the books and other material in my possession, while amply sufficient, I think, to furnish a clear idea of the Mississippi and South American monuments, are of course inadequate to a continuation of the bibliographical feature referred to. For these reasons I deem it best to abandon the elaborate note-system hitherto followed, and shall present a general rather than a detailed view of material relics outside the Pacific States, formed from a careful study of what I believe to be the best authorities, and illustrated by the cuts given in Mr Baldwin's work.[XIII-1]
THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
Material relics of the aboriginal tribes are found in greater or less abundance throughout the Eastern United States and the Canadas. But those found in New England and the region east of the Alleghanies, extending southward to the Carolinas, may be dismissed in an account so general as the present with the remark that all are evidently the work of the Indian tribes found in possession of the country, many of them evidently and others probably having originated at a time subsequent to the coming of Europeans. But whatever may be decided respecting their antiquity, it may be regarded as absolutely certain that none of them point to the existence of any people of more advanced culture than the red race that came in contact with Europeans. They consist for the most part of traces of Indian villages or camps, burial grounds, small stone-heaps, scattered arrow-heads, and some other rude stone implements.
CLASSIFICATION OF REMAINS.
The great Mississippi Valley system of ancient works, consisting of mounds and embankments of earth and stone, erected by the race known as the Mound-builders, extends over a territory bounded in general terms as follows: on the north by the great lakes; on the east by western New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia in the north, but farther south extending to the Atlantic coast and including Florida, Georgia, and part of South Carolina; on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, including Texas according to the general statements of most writers, although I find no definite account of any remains in that state; on the west by an indefinite line extending from the head of Lake Superior through the states of Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territory, although there are reported some remains farther west, particularly on the upper Missouri, which have not been thoroughly explored. The map in the accompanying cut is intended only to show the reader at a glance the relative position of the states in the territory of the Mound-builders.
Map of the Territory of the Mound-Builders.
Throughout this broad extent of territory, but chiefly on the fertile river-terraces of the Mississippi and its tributaries, the works of the ancient inhabitants are found in great abundance, and may be classified for convenience in description as follows:—I. Embankments of earth or stone, and ditches, often forming enclosures, which are subdivided by their location into, 1st, fortifications, and 2d, sacred enclosures, or such as are supposed to have been connected with religious rites.
II. Mounds of earth or stone, of varying location, size, form, material, and contents; divided by their form into, 1st, 'temple mounds,' of regular outline and large dimensions, having flat summit platforms, and often terraced sides with graded ascents; 2d, 'animal-mounds,' or those resembling in their ground plan the forms of animals, birds, or even human beings; and 3d, conical mounds, which are again subdivided according to their contents into 'altar-mounds' or 'sacrificial mounds,' 'burial mounds,' and 'anomalous mounds,' or such as are of mixed or undetermined character.