Morton’s Crania Americana, pp. 221.
It is known that a communication between the south-western extremity of Lake Superior and the Mississippi Valley, existed from an early time. When I was at Toronto, Professor Daniel Wilson, to whom I was indebted for much information upon subjects relating to American archæology, told me that it had been ascertained that the copper found in these mounds, was of the same character as that in the Lake Superior Mines: so that the question of its origin was practically settled. It thus seems probable that some of the small lumps of pure copper found in the forests and on the shores of the lake, near the Kee-wai-wona promontory, were brought into Ohio.
A mound that was opened near Lake Ontario, and whose contents I examined, was stated to have been twelve feet high. Within it were about twenty skeletons, some coarse pottery, a number of arrow heads made of a hard flinty stone and several flat rectangular stones, pierced with one or two holes, which had been used as breast ornaments, possibly denoting a certain rank. There were also stone gouges, some stone axes and many fragments of charred wood. This was probably an Iroquois grave.
In the valley of the Mississippi, especially in the northern part which had been occupied by the Dakotas, I afterwards saw many burial mounds, which, with the exception of the unusually great mounds near Miamisburgh and Wheeling, resembled in all respects those in Ohio. The methods of burial with the Sioux were evidently similar to those of the Mound Builders, with respect to the custom of conveying skeletons from considerable distances for the purpose of placing them together in one burying heap.
In several of the ancient burial mounds in Ohio, thin flat plates or slabs of mica are placed with the skeletons. This shining and silvery looking mineral appears to have been greatly valued by Indians. When I was on the coast of California, I happened to be present when a shell bank was cut open and a section of it examined. There was found, piled within it, a confused heap of skulls and shells, together with a larger quantity of rough pieces of mica. It is remarkable that the use of mica as an ornament should have been prevalent over such a wide geographical area amongst tribes dwelling so far apart.
I have seen a re-survey of the Newark inclosures made on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution, under the direction of Professor Cyrus Thomas. The results of this survey are very useful. The measurements have evidently been taken with much care. With respect to the Octagon, Professor Thomas observes that, “The angles at the crossings of the diagonals and diameters at the centre O, are so nearly right angles as to be worthy of notice in this connection. For instance, the angles at the crossings of the diagonals BF and DH, differ but 10´ from true right angles, while those at the crossing of the diameters AE and CG differ but 2´.”
As regards the Square he states, that, “This inclosure varies but slightly from a true square, the course of the opposite sides in one case differing but 31´, and the other but 6´. The greatest variation at the corners from a true right angle is 57´.”