Mound-Builders | Page 6

which in early times roamed over this continent. I think we should not be going too far if we supposed that the Mound-builders lived contemporaneously with the last of these monsters of the Prehistoric forests.
Signal Mounds.--It seems quite in keeping with what we have already seen of the sagacity of this wonderful race, that they should erect stations of observation in various suitable regions, so that signals could be given to the multitudes who dwelt in the plain, when they were threatened by an approaching enemy. If a fire were lit on a much burnt mound at the ancient fort near Bournville, it could be seen over a large portion of the valleys, where numerous works are found. No doubt, this was a signal mound, where the appointed watchman, like the watchman of Scripture, could give the alarm of the coming foe, enabling the industrious people to reach the fortress in safety.
On a hill 600 feet high, near Chillicothe, Ohio, there is a mound, which in the days of the Mound-builders must have been a signal mound. A light on this can be seen for twenty miles either up or down the valley.
The great mound at Miamisburg, Ohio, which is 68 feet high and 852 feet in circumference at its base, served, no doubt, this important department of warfare, as a fire kindled on it could flash light into Butler county, near Elk Creek, where it would again be taken up by the watchman there, and light flashed in the direction of Xenia, and from one signal mound to another until it would reach the great works at Newark. Thus in the course of an hour the whole southern portion of the State of Ohio could be warned of danger and prepare for combat or shelter.
Such a system has been used by all nations, both civilized and savage. We need not wonder that the Mound-builders with such sagacity and forethought, should establish such a system of alarm by which the inhabitants could be apprised of invasion.
Indefinite Mounds.--Of this class there are many. Thousands of such indefinite mounds and squares and circles are to be seen scattered over the various States of the Union. Their structure, composition and contents, give us no clue by which they may be assigned a place. It is believed that many of the strange works that abound in Butler county, Ohio, and which cannot be classified, are among the incomplete works, that is, works left unfinished by the builders.
IMPLEMENTS.--The people of Ohio have appropriated the implements of the Mound-builders to a large extent. Almost every homestead in Ohio is ornamented with some of those ancient implements and relics, yet tons have been taken away to grace private and public museums in all parts of this country, and even the museums of Europe and Asia. Among the implements are to be found spear heads, arrow heads; rimmers, knives, axes, hatchets, hammers, chisels, pestles, mortars, pottery, pipes, sculpture, gorgets, tubes, and articles of bone and clothing. Fragments of coarse, but uniformly spun and woven cloth have been found, of course not in preservation, but charred and in folds. One piece, near Middletown, Ohio, was found connected with tassels or ornaments, and may be seen at the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. In Anderson township, Ohio, native gold has been found for the first time. Several small ornaments of copper have been found covered with thin sheets of gold. Earrings also, made of meteoric iron, have been found, and a serpent cut out of mica. Some terra-cotta figures also, which give us an idea of the way the hair was dressed in the days of the Mound-builders. I cannot here name all the implements and ornaments that have been discovered. Though most of them are of hard stone, yet many have been found made of copper.
MINING, ETC.--That these people were miners, is evident from the prevalence of various mineral fragments and implements. At Mound City, near Chillicothe, has been found galena, none of which can be found in Ohio. Obsidian also is found in the shape of instruments, which they must have transported from the Rocky Mountains. Ancient mining shafts are found in Minnesota, where the solid rock had been excavated to the depth of 60 feet. On Isle Royal there are pits 60 feet deep, worked through nine feet of solid rock, at the bottom of which is a rich vein of copper, and in the two miles of excavations in the same straight line have been found the mining implements in great numbers. Such advancement in mining, sagacity in warfare, industrial pursuits, and geometric skill, as their works display, prove their great superiority of race over the modern Indian. Their implements, some of them most elaborately made, their brick-making and various other ingenious works, enable us to place