Ancient Earthwork Discovered on Brookville Lake in Indiana

MOUNDS IN INDIANA. By E.D. R. QUICK, Brookville, Indiana. The valley of the White Water River contains some terraces. There are mounds on the two highest of these and on the tops of the hills. I have opened several, finding them to be sepulchral— containing bones, charred and re-charred; a few curved and a few chipped stones. They also contain much charcoal and other evidence of fire. In one case there was a stick, eight or ten inches thick, completely charred. Above this was a layer of clay that had been subjected to heat so intense that it was in some places completely vitrified or glassy in appearance.\
   The mounds are generally low and situated in pairs, a larger and a smaller one, are together on some prominent point. 
    The stone mounds consist of stone and earth, with which are mingled great quantities of bones of men, animals, birds, and reptiles. I know of but one “enclosure” in our county. It is situated on an almost isolated hill, about three hundred and fifty feet above the level of the river. The level surface of the hill, containing about fifteen acres, is in the shape of a horse-shoe, the embankments being a semi-circle joining the ends. The ditch is on the outside.
    We find a great many axes, of all sizes, from a few ounces to thirteen pounds in weight; also fleshers, chisels, gouges, scrapers, etc. In some fields almost innumerable arrow-heads and spearheads are found. We find a few pipes, some gorgets, and double edged or double-pointed implements, like tomahawks, but too light to do service as such. 
    I also have one of the so-called “boat-form ornaments.” I send you drawing of an ornament in my collection. It is of blue slate, banded with black, and shows evidence of rasping and scouring into its present shape. It is perfectly symmetrical in form and shape. We find broken pottery scattered over the river bottoms. Old bones which I have found were so decomposed that nothing satisfactory could be determined with regard to them. At some future time I can furnish casts of my best pieces.

Archaeological Map of the Burial Mounds in Noble County, Indiana

About  30 burial mound sites were physically investigated in Noble County, Indiana.  Many of these sites required 3 or 4 visits before getting access o the land.  A few burial mounds were photographed that had no historic provenance but were shared with me because all I desired was to take a photo for posterity.  Many landowners shared that they had held information back about mound sites and skeletal remains being found from archaeologists because they knew that they could seize their land or destroy any mounds that were on their property. In the end, 8 mound sites were photographed and the directions provided in "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley."

Hopewell Dakota Sioux Earthwork in Dearborn County, Indiana Revealed by Lidar Imagery

The ancient work remains on private property with no plans of preservation by the State. Indiana University and Ball State University archaeology departments have plans of excavating (destroying) the site in the near future and so its fate is uncertain at best.

Part of the earthwork are clearly visible in this lidar image along with the burial mound within. At least one of the burial mounds that are on the ridge to the northeast is also visible.

An Archaeological Map of the Location of Iroquois Indian Burial Mounds in Noble County, Indiana

An Archaeological Map of the Location of Iroquois Burial Mounds in Noble County, Indiana

36 burial mound sites were investigated in Noble County.   7 of these ancient burial mound sites can still be viewed today. Nothing is preserved or even recognized as a historic site. The mounds could date from 2000 B. C. -1200 A.D. Numerous remains were found, making it the most abundant County in Indiana of prehistoric remains. Discover ancient Indiana with all the photos, directions, and historical documentation.

Nephilim Skeletal Remains and Sun Temples (Henges) of Delaware County, Ohio

Giant Skeletal Remains and Sun Temples (Henges) of Delaware County, Ohio

The above map shows the location of the henge in Perry Township. This site was investigated, but there is no trace of the henge that is currently being plowed.  The sandy nature of the soil at this location would have lent itself to quickly obliterating all traces of the earthworks in a few years of cultivation.

   One the best clues that Delaware County, Indiana was the haunt of the Nephilim are the numerous giant human skeletons that were unearthed in the county. More giants in Indiana  For more on Indiana giants www.nephilimgiants.net : Indiana's Ancient Giant Race

Indiana Geological Report 1881

   In section 2 Perry Township was an enclosure, now obliterated, this was situated upon the summit of a natural hill and commanded a good view of the surrounding country; the enclosure was 130 feet in diameter, circular, with a ditch inside which, when discovered was about ten inches deep. In the center was a small mound from which a passageway led in a south-westerly direction through the enclosure, numerous implements were picked up here when first discovered. The Indians used many of the hills as burial places; bones have been discovered which from their size would indicate that they belonged to a race of giants.

Iroquois Indian Burial Mound in Allen County, Indiana is Destroyed by Archaeologists

Iroquois burial mound located northeast of Fort Wayne, in eastern Allen County, Indiana on the Maumee River.  This Iroquois burial mound was photographed prior to being destroyed by IPFW archaeologist, who removed skeletons and artifacts from the mound according to eyewitnesses.  Like 80% of all archaeological digs, there was no known academic paper produced from this excavation.  The mound is near rapids that were interpreted by the Iroquois to have been endowed with spirits.  Knowing the iconic and spiritual nature of the natural landscape will enhance your visit to these sacred spiritual realms for the dead.

  

DISCOVER AN ANCIENT WORLD

Indiana's Iowa, Omaha, Osage Oneota Hopewell Sioux Mound Builder Pipes

   Disk pipes of the heavy type have found in the ceremonial bundles of the Iowa, Omaha, and Osage ( Siouan tribes), provided with stems fitted in such a manner that the disks were used for the bowls. This same type of pipe is characteristic of the Oneota culture centering in Nebraska and Iowa and strongly suspected of Siouan identity. We in Indiana are particularly interested in this form, for it was the characteristic one of the celebrated site near the Wabash dug in 1898 by Clifford Anderson. More on the Oneota and Osage IndiansThese pipes, together with coiled-copper ear ornaments, cylindrical copper beads, and a small triangular arrow points, suggest Siouan relationships.

   This is considered a very old type of pipe, no file marks having been found on any specimens examined. Since pipestems were considered so important for decorative and symbolic purposes at the time of discovery, and since the oldest of these disk pipes probably had no stems, it is quite probable that they are very old form. The disk pipe found in the Upper Mississippi and Ohio Valleys and in the western parts of the Middle Atlantic States.

Mysterious Golden Circles dating 3,000 B.C. on a Hancock County, Indiana Farm

Mysterious Golden (Crop) Circles dating 3,000 B.C. on a Hancock County, Indiana Farm

There are few things that make no sense from the archaeologists explanation of the golden circles on a Hancock county farm. They were said to be winter campfires, but they overlapped one another like a crop circle. Also, why would they be ringed with artifacts unless they represented some kind of 'offering." 

“A History of Hancock County Indiana in the Twentieth Century“, by Dorothy and Thomas Williams, 1995

Evidence of Hancock County’s Prehistoric Past

Esther Bodkins, in 1993, made provision for the preservation of Indiana artifacts found on her farm proving habitation of Hancock County back as far as seven thousand years ago. As Esther and her husband worked their farm near Fortville Pike, south of Sugar Creek, they began uncovering arrowheads, mortars, axes, scrapers.

Then the artifacts started appearing in a flood when the Bodkins’ plowed a pasture field that hadn’t been tilled within memory. That next Spring after the initial cultivation, the Bodkins’ were startled to notice that as the snow melted in this field, golden circles began to appear which overlapped each other. They thought this odd because the patterns didn’t fit with soil type.

These mysterious golden circles summoned the images of some strange visitation on their farm. As they looked more closely at the edges of the golden circles, they began finding more and more Indian artifacts. Close on the edges of the circles were rings of arrowheads, and shape rocks. As they examined them, it was clear the stones were the product of human hands.

That’s when the Bodkins’ called for expert opinions as to what they had discovered. The Black Institute at Indiana University, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and other agencies responded. The Bodkins’ had discovered an ancient Indian trading site on their farm. The golden circles were the remains of the huge ancient traders’ winter campfires.

The experts told the Bodkins that the trading site had been occupied for several thousands of years. Indians had trade there, come and gone. The times of use were far enough apart that the artifacts were from several different Woodland Indian civilizations which explains the many different types and styles of arrowheads and stone configurations found.

The Bodkins’ farm is a strange location for an Indian trading site. Nothing about it would given any reason to believe the site should be where it is. The best the experts could surmise was that the site was along an old Indian trail following Fortville Pike, a trail that the Woodland Indian tribes used as we do. Only thousands of years before we have used the route.

Among the finds were many different types of arrowheads, scrapers to work hides with, and trading forms.

The time of occupancy of the trading site was between 3000 B.C. to 1000 A.D. Ancient peoples had been present and left proof of their presence on the Bodkins farm long before the birth of Christ. The founding of Tome, or the happening of most Old Testament biblical accounts. It is not thought the site was used much after 1000 A.D. Strangely, no Indian village as such appears associated with the site, nor are mounds nearby.

And though some might hoard these wonderful treasures of history. Esther Bodkins did not. She purchased, at her own expense, a beautiful walnut case to house them and presented them as a gift to the Hancock County Historical Society and are now located in its museum in the basement of its Park Chapel meeting place in Riley Park.

Brookville Lake Indian Mound in Franklin County, Indiana

Brookville, Indiana Burial Mound

Sometimes referred to as the Glidwell Mound, it can still be seen overlooking Brookville Lake in Franklin County, Indiana.  The mound was partially damaged by Indiana University archaeologists who never restore after digging. Still worth the hike to see.

85 Ancient Burial Mounds and Earthworks Photographed in Indiana

Indian Burial Mounds in Whitley County, Indiana

Indian Burial Mounds in Whitley County, Indiana

This small pile of stones has been there since the land was settled according to locals.  It is located on an old Indian trail that overlooks the Miami Indiana village once inhabited by the infamous Little Turtle.

Counties of Whitley and Noble Indiana,1882

      Several mounds have been discovered in Whitley County, and novices have opened a few of them, and as a consequence the more important features have been lost or overloaded. It may be stated in general that, in this locality, the earthworks are of three kinds-sepulchral, where the dead lie buried, sacrificial, where offerings were burned to gain the favor of the deity; and memorial mounds, which were erected to commemorate some great event. A number of years ago, a sepulchral mound was opened about three miles east of Columbia City and a quantity of crumbling homes and a few stone implements were taken. This was a sepulchral mound, and, if a cross section had been examined, the alternate layers of clay, sand and small cemented pebbles would have been seen. This kind of mound was wisely made. There first the stratum of fine gravel, almost as good as cement, placed directly over the skeletons; next was a hard pan of clay that was almost impervious to water as the cement; then came a stratum of sand that would carry all percolating water down the sides of the mounds and away from the skeletons. It is maintained on good authority that corpses, placed under these conditions, with additional stratum of earth above the sand, will be preserved for centuries. The burden of authority places the erection of the mounds throughout. The country at a period preceding the Christian era a co-existent with the old Assyrian, Egyptian and Babylonian nations.

     Several mounds have been opened in the county, in which charcoal has been found. If carefully examined, these mounds will present the following characteristics always present in sacrificial mounds. A small earthen alter, sometimes two or more yards square, in the center and at the bottom of the mound, upon which is often found a bushel or more of charcoal and ashes, often mingled with half consumed bones of animal that were burned to propitiate the deity. Over the altar are found the strata of earth already mentioned. . . .The writer learns from various sources that there are mounds in the following townships: Etna, Jefferson, on its eastern line, Troy, Thorn Creek, Smith, Union, and possibly in Columbia and Cleveland. Openings have been made in most of them, and bones, charcoal, ornaments and implements have been discovered.

Smaller, Oto Sioux Earthen Circle Discovered at the Strawtown, Indiana Works

Smaller, Oto Sioux Earthen Circle Discovered at the Strawtown, Indiana Works

History of Hamilton County, Indiana 1915

The Fort and Mound

The main work is a circle about three hundred feet in diameter, thrown up in the center, but apparently level and surrounded by a ditch that Mr. Parker says was about six feet deep when he first saw it. Fifty yards to the south of the large circle is a lesser circle about fifty feet in diameter and now almost obliterated

IPFW archaeologists determined that this Hopewell earthen circle was affiliated with the Oto Sioux. Additional Oto Sioux burial mounds and earthworks have been identified at the Mann Site in Pozsey County, Indiana. More on the Oto Sioux

History of Hamilton County, Indiana 1915

The Fort and Mound

The main work is a circle about three hundred feet in diameter, thrown up in the center, but apparently level and surrounded by a ditch that Mr. Parker says was about six feet deep when he first saw it. Fifty yards to the south of the large circle is a lesser circle about fifty feet in diameter and now almost obliterated.

South of the large circle this earthwork was discovered.  It is believed that these embankments are the smaller 50 foot diameter circle.

Adena Sun Temple at New Castle, Indiana - Winter Solstice Alignment

Adena Sun Temple at New Castle, Indiana - Winter Solstice Alignment

Sun Temple (Henge) located in Henry County, Indiana has a gateway aligned to the winter solstice sunrise.

This small isolated henge was constructed so that the gateway would align to the Winter Solstice sunrise.  This sun temple is located about 5 miles south of the larger Sun Temple complex, north of New Castle. A large hole is evident in the center of the enclosure that was the result of Ball State archaeologists.

Historic Henry County, 1820-1849, Vol. I, by Herbert L. Heller

Another Adena enclosure still remains in the city of New Castle. This is found at the west edge of Baker Park on S. Main St., immediately east of the Chrysler High School. Although its original use is problematical it is generally considered this type of enclosure was of ceremonial usage. It is an excellent example of the work of the Adena Culture although not as large as similar mounds found in the Mounds State Park in Anderson. New Castle and Henry County residents will do well to see that these works of the earliest residents are preserved for future generations.

Ancient Burial Mound is Obliterated by IPFW archaeologists in Allen County, Indiana, east of Fort Wayne.

Ancient Burial Mound is Obliterated by IPFW archaeologists in Allen County, Indiana, East of Fort Wayne.

History of the Maumee River Basin, 1905

Nine mounds have been determined on the high banks of the Maumee River. Two of these mounds are in Indiana near the Ohio line.

Located in the southeast quarter of Section 9, on the Maumee River, east of Fort Wayne, this mound was primarily made from natural erosion, however, it is possible that it was altered and used as a sepulcher. Recently, IPFW archaeologists removed two skeletons from this mound according to the property owner. The mound was completely obliterated by the archaeologists.

Oneoto Sioux Earthwork at Merom, Indiana (Sullivan County)

Oneoto Sioux Earthwork at Merom, Indiana (Sullivan County)

Earthwork placed on the highest bluff of the Wabash River was believed to constructed by the Oneoto Sioux.

The Strawtown earthwork was excavated by IPFW in Fort Wayne, Indiana and their conclusions were that the earthwork was Oneoto Sioux in origin. This earthwork had been plowed for many years and its original contours diminished. The archaeologist replaced the earth when finished; leaving no apparent signs of an excavation. The earthwork at Yorktown, Indiana looks similar in design to Strawtown, also on the White River and may also prove to be Oneoto in origin.

    The large mounds found in the southwestern portion of the State represent some of the largest mounds ever constructed by the Hopewell.  Eli Lilly had made the suggestion that Murphy, Bone Bank and the Indian “citadel” at Merom, on the Wabash in Sullivan County, were indicative of a Siouan      relationship, equating the three with the Oneoto culture. Moorehead said of the Murphy site that the platform pipes represented “early Siouan.”

Oto Sioux Hopewell Indian Mound in New Harmony, Indiana (Posey County)

Indian Mound in New Harmony, Indiana (Posey County)

Several mounds were photographed within the city of New Harmony, Indiana in Posey County, Oto Sioux have been identified as the builders of the mounds and earthworks in the county. More on the Oto Sioux

Porter County, Indiana Indian Burial Mounds

Porter County, Indiana Indian Burial Mounds

Two of the largest mounds are still visible a mile and a half east of Boone Grove on C.R. 550 South. Two additional smaller mounds are behind the barn, but in bad shape, as they are being trampled by cattle. A larger mound is east of these in a field and is currently being cultivated. 

History of Porter County

    Although Porter County has not been found so rich in prehistoric remains as some of her sister counties, one of the finest groups of mounds in northern Indiana lies within her borders. The original field notes of the United States land survey in 1834, mention the fact that the north and south line between sections 33 and 34, township 34 north, range 6 west, “passes over a large artificial mound surrounded by a number of smaller ones.” A copy of the original plat now on file in the state auditor’s office at Indianapolis shows the larger mound on the section line, with a group of nine smaller mounds surrounding it in a circle. This is the group of mounds located about a mile and a half east of the village of Boone Grove, on the south side of Wolf creek. At present time there are eight mounds visible on an area of some thirty acres. The plat of the original survey above-mentioned shows ten mounds, but it is possible that two of them have been obliterated by the plow. Seven of the mounds are situated on the high wooded ground.

Early photo of the burial mounds near Boone Grove, Indiana

Photo taken at the same angle as my perspective, showing the burial mounds have changed little in the last 80 years.

85 Burial Mound and Earthwork Sites in Indiana!

Ancient Iroquois Burial Mound Desecrated by IPFW Archaeologists - Where's the Artifacts?

Ancient Iroquois Burial Mound Desecrated by IPFW Archaeologists - Where's the Artifacts?

This ancient Iroquois burial mound was hacked into by IPFW archaeologists, when an inquiry was made to what artifacts were found we were told that the head archaeologists had moved and taken them with him.  He is according to the story, still studying them years later. 

Two Adena Sun Temples (Henges) at the New Castle, Indiana Works

Two Adena Sun Temples (Henges) at the New Castle, Indiana Works

Two of the best preserved henges are back in the wooded area at the former epileptic hospital north of New Castle, Indiana. Most of these ancient treasures have been destroyed by Ball State archaeologists.

The outer wall is still prominent on the left, with the interior ditch visible to the right along with the interior platform.

Next to earthwork #7 is #8 that is also visible, with the outer wall and interior ditch still prominent.  

1907 Photo of the Windsor Adena Burial Mound in Indiana

1907 Photo of the Windsor Adena Burial Mound in Indiana

Early photo of the Adena Windsor Mound in Randolph County, Indiana.

Ancient Burial Mound Photogrpahed in a Warsaw, Indiana Cemetery

Ancient Burial Mound Photogrpahed in a Warsaw, Indiana Cemetery

History of Kosciusko County, 1905     In our own Oakwood Cemetery there are several mounds overlooking the lake, situated on top of a bluff.”

This is the only mound that survives in the Oakwood cemetery, overlooking Pike Lake. The three mounds described in the previous article were located near this mound.