The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesAllen, Emory Adams
History
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races
Allen, Emory Adams
Archaeology; Indians; Prehistoric peoples
It is not to be supposed that the mounds were the sole cemeteries
of the people who built them. Like the barrows of Europe, they
were probably erected only over the bodies of the chiefs and
priests, the wise men, and warriors of the tribe. The amount of
work required for the erection of a mound was too great to
provide one for every person. The greater number of the dead were
deposited elsewhere than in mounds, but it is doubtful whether we
can always distinguish the prehistoric burial places from those
of the later Indians. An ancient cemetery, discovered near
Madisonville, Ohio, proved to be a most interesting find, as it
was thought to be a burial place of the Mound Builders,27 but it
seems there is strong doubt on this point. One writer thinks this
was a cemetery of the Erie tribe of Indians, and not very ancient
in date.28
In Tennessee are to be found numerous burial places known as the
stone-grave cemeteries. Stone graves of a similar character are
found in Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri. These are as yet but few
facts which can be used as indicating that all the stone graves
are of one people. Many of these cemeteries are of great
antiquity, while similar stone graves are of quite recent date.
In some places the cemeteries cover very large areas.
Terraced Mound.
We have now to describe a class of mounds that are always
regarded with great interest, as a number of our scholars think
they see in them the connecting link between the remains in this
country and those of Mexico and the South. These are generally
known as “temple mounds,” from the common impression that they
were sites of temples or public buildings. In general terms,
mounds of this class are distinguished by their large size and
regularity of form, and they always have a flat or level top. On
one side there is generally a graded way leading up to the
summit, in some instances several such methods of approach.
Sometimes the sides of the mound are terraced off into separate
stages.29
We have already noticed that different sections of country are
distinguished by different classes of mound remains. In the
present State of Ohio are found many altar mounds and inclosures.
In the West are large numbers of burial mounds, but the so-called
temple mounds are most numerous in the South. At one place in
Wisconsin is found a low embankment inclosing four low mounds
with leveled tops. But the resemblance between these and the
regular temple mounds is certainly slight. Only a few instances
of these flat-topped mounds are found in Ohio. Of these the still
existing “elevated squares” at Marietta are good examples.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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