google-site-verification: google1c6a56b8b78b1d8d.html Adena Hopewell Mound Builders in the Ohio Valley: Wisconsin
Showing posts with label Wisconsin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wisconsin. Show all posts

Thursday, March 31, 2016

About American Indian Burial Mounds And Their Builders.

About American Indian Burial Mounds And Their Builders.



In many parts of the United States, from western New York to the Rocky Mountains and even beyond, there are great numbers of artificial heaps and extensive embankments of earth. These show skill in construction, and from them have been dug many relics of artistic merit and good workmanship. At one time these earthworks and relics were generally believed to be the work of a single, highly civilized people, who preceded the Indians, who were not related to them, and who are now extinct. To this people the name “mound-builders” was given.
There are three ways in which we can learn about these so-called “mound-builders.” We may learn something from the mounds themselves, from the relics found in the mounds, and from the bones of persons who were buried in them.
Studying the mounds themselves, we find that they differ in different areas. We will look at three areas:
(1) In Ohio there are thousands of mounds and earthworks. Near every important modern town there are groups of them. Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Dayton, Xenia, are all near important mounds. 
The regular enclosures are numerous in this area: these are great embankments of earth inclosing a regular space. Some are in the form of circles; others are four-sided; in a few cases they are eight-sided. Sometimes a square and a circle are united. There is one such combination at Hopeton; one of the embankments is a nearly true circle containing twenty acres; joined to it is a square of almost the same area.
At Newark there was a wonderful group of enclosures. The group covered about two miles square and consisted of three divisions, which were connected with one another by long parallel embankment walls. One circle in this group contained more than thirty acres: the walls were twelve feet high and fifty feet wide; a ditch seven feet deep and thirty-five feet wide bordered it on the inner side; a gap of eighty feet in the circle served as an entrance. In the center of the area enclosed by this great circle was a curious earth heap somewhat like a bird in form. Northwest from this great circle, nearly a mile distant, were two connected enclosures, one octagonal, the other circular: the former contained more than fifty acres, the latter twenty. East from these and northeast from the great circle was a fine twenty-acre enclosure, nearly a square in form. Besides these great walls, there were long parallel lines of connecting embankment walls, small circular enclosures, and little mounds in considerable variety. This great mass of works represented an enormous amount of time and labor. 
What was the purpose of these regular enclosures? Some writers claim that they were forts for protection; others consider them protections for the corn-fields; others think they were places for games or religious ceremonials; one eminent man insists that they were foundations upon which were built long and narrow houses.
“Altar mounds” occur in Ohio. Professor Putnam and his assistants opened a number of these. They are small, rounded heaps of earth. At their center is a basin-shaped mass of hard clay showing the effect of fire. These basins are a yard or four feet across and contain ashes and charcoal. Upon these are found many curious objects. On one altar were two bushels of ornaments made of stone, copper, mica, shells, bears' teeth, and sixty thousand pearls. Most of these objects were pierced with a small hole and were apparently strung as ornaments. These objects had all been thrown into a fire blazing on the altar and had been spoiled by the heat. After the kindling of the fire, and the destruction of these precious things, earth had been heaped up over the altars, completing the mound.
The most famous mound in Ohio is the great serpent in Adams County. It lies upon a narrow ridge between three streams, which unite. It is a gigantic serpent form made in earth; across the widely opened jaws it measures seventy-five feet; the body, just behind the head, measures thirty feet across and five feet high; following the curves the length is thirteen hundred forty-eight feet. The tail is thrown into a triple coil. In front of the serpent is an elliptical enclosure with a heap of stones at its center. Beyond this is a form, somewhat indistinct, thought by some to be a frog. Probably this wonderful earthwork was connected with some old religion. While there are many other earthworks of other forms in Ohio, the sacred enclosures, the altar mounds, and the great serpent are the most characteristic.
Great Serpent Mound: Ohio. (From The Century Magazine.)

(2) In Wisconsin the most interesting mounds are the effigy mounds. There are great numbers of them in parts of this and a few adjoining states. They are earthen forms of mammals, birds, and reptiles. They are usually in groups; they are generally well shaped and of gigantic size. Among the quadrupeds represented are the buffalo, moose, elk, deer, fox, wolf, panther, and lynx. Mr. Peet, who has carefully studied them, shows that quadruped mammals are always represented in profile so that only two legs are shown; the birds have their wings spread; reptiles sprawl, showing all four legs; fish are mere bodies without limbs. We have said these earth pictures are gigantic: some panthers have tails three hundred and fifty feet long, and some eagles measure one thousand feet from tip to tip of the outspread wings. Not only are these great animal and bird pictures found in Wisconsin in relief; occasionally they are found cut or sunken in the soil. With these curious effigy mounds there occur hundreds of simple burial mounds.
The purpose of the effigy mounds is somewhat uncertain. Some authors think they represent the totem animals after which the families of their builders were named, and that they served as objects of worship or as guardians over the villages.
Ground Plan of Earthworks at Newark, Ohio. (After Squier and Davis.)

(3) Farther south, in western Tennessee, another class of mounds is common. These contain graves made of slabs of stone set on edge. The simplest of these stone graves consist of six stones: two sides, two ends, one top, and one bottom. There may be a single one of these graves in a mound, or there may be many. In one mound, about twelve miles from Nashville, which was forty-five feet across and twelve feet high, were found about one hundred skeletons, mostly in stone graves, which were in ranges, one above another. The upper graves contained the bones of bodies, which had been buried stretched at full length; the bones were found in their natural positions. The lower graves were short and square, and the bones in them had been cleaned and piled up in little heaps. This mound was very carefully made. The lids of the upper graves were so arranged as to make a perfectly smooth, rounded surface. Sometimes these stone graves of Tennessee are not placed in mounds, but in true graveyards in the level fields. In these stone graves are found beautiful objects of stone, shell, and pottery. The stone-grave men were true artists in working these materials.
In the same district are found many dirt rings called “house-circles.” These occur in groups and appear to mark the sites of ancient villages, each being the ruin of a house. These rings are nearly circular and from ten to fifty feet across, and from a few inches to two or three feet high. Excavation within them shows old floors made of hard clay, with the fireplace or hearth. The stone-grave people lived in these houses. They often buried little children who died, under the floor. Their stone coffins measured only from one to four feet long. They contain the little skeletons and all the childish treasures—pretty cups and bowls of pottery, shell beads, pearls, and even the leg bones of birds, on which the babies used to cut their teeth as our babies do on rubber rings.
These are but three of the areas where mounds are found; there are several others. If the “mound-builders” were a single people, with one set of customs, one language, and one government, it is strange that there should be such great differences in the mounds they built. If we had space to speak about the relics from the mounds, they would tell a story.
Shell Gorgets: Tennessee. (After Holmes.)
They would show that the builders of the mounds, while they made many beautiful things of stone, shell, bone, beaten metals, could not smelt ores. They were Stone Age men, not civilized men. The objects from different areas differ so much in kind, pattern, and material as to suggest that their makers were not one people. Study of skulls from mounds in one district—as Ohio or Iowa—show that different types of men built the mounds even of one area.
So neither the mounds, the relics, nor the remains prove that there was one people, the “mound-builders,” but rather that the mounds were built by many different tribes. These tribes were not of civilized, but of barbarous, Stone Age men. It is likely that some of the tribes that built the mounds still live in the United States. Thus the Shawnees may be the descendants of the stone-grave people, the Winnebagoes may have come from the effigy-builders of Wisconsin, and the Cherokees may be the old Ohio “mound-builders.”

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Historian, George Catlin Places the Mandan Sioux at the Serpent Mound in Ohio in Ancient Times

Historian, George Catlin Places the Mandan Sioux at the Serpent Mound in Ohio in Ancient Times


The Dakota Sioux not only built mounds for their dead, but also constructed Serpent Mounds in Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. 

Prehistoric America,” Vol. II. Stephen Peet, 1892 
    “It is well known that Catlin, the celebrated painter maintained that the Mandan’s, who were a branch of the Dakotas, originally were located in Ohio, the very region in which the great serpent is found, but that they migrated from that region, passing down the Ohio River, and up the Missouri, and that they became nearly extinct by the time they reached the headwaters of the Missouri.  I think there may be a pretty fair deduction drawn, that they formerly occupied the lower part of the Missouri, and even the Ohio and Muskinghum, and have gradually made their way up the Missouri to where they are now.”

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Neanderthals Hybrids Discovered in Wisconsin

Evidence of humans and Neanderthal mating are found with the Wisconsin mound builders. Wisconsin Mound Builder's Skull from Burial Mound in Racine Wisconsin. Like many of the skulls found in this region, it has many qualities that could be considered "archaic."  Sloping forehead, facial prognathism, and a mental foreman that is located under the first molar.
Wisconsin mound builder skull from a burial mound in Racine. The skull type has all of the characteristics to be considered, "Archaic, " which was more common to the Neanderthals.


Male and female skulls from Wisconsin showing "archaic" skull attributes of a furrowed brow, sloping forehead and a lack of chin on the female to the right.  



The newspaper article that describes a find of these same Neanderthal hybrids.  This type of skull was common across the Great Lakes region and the coastal areas of North America.  They represent the migration of the Maritime Archaic from Europe and Asia.




Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Ancient Indian Effigies at Mayville Wisconsin

Ancient Indian Effigies at Mayville Wisconsin



There are various interesting localities of ancient works in the vicinity of Mayville, as will be seen on Plate. The most extended of these is on the northwest quarter of section eighteen, township twelve, range seventeen, two miles northeast of the village. This group is shown on  It comprises thirty-five mounds of various forms, and occupies a nearly level strip between the base of a large ridge1 and brook.
1 On Plate I have endeavored to represent these diluvial ridges, and to show how they give direction to the water-courses. It would be a matter of much interest to the geologist to determine their extent and exact nature, with the view of ascertaining, if possible, their origin. But such an investigation would be out of place in this memoir.

We found here one of the largest and most regular turtle-mounds we had yet seen, and three or four of the quadruped form, one of which is represented on an enlarged scale on . The two crosses are directed towards the northeast, while most of the other forms have an opposite direction. Their arms are seldom at right angles with the body, nor are the two parts of the body or trunk in the same line. The head is always largest, highest, and nearly rectangular in] form. Their height corresponds with that of the other figures, it being usually from two to four feet. If these crosses are to be deemed evidence of the former existence of Christianity on this continent (as some have inferred), we may, with almost equal propriety, assert that Mohammedanism was associated with it, and, as proof:, refer to the mound or ridge here represented in the form of a crescent.
Three mounds, near the north end of the group, are cleft at the extremity, like that noticed at Burlington. One of them might be supposed to represent a fish, and, as the finny tribe must have afforded a principal source of subsistence to the builders, it would not be surprising if they should include them in the list of animals to be thus depicted. In that case the cleft extremity should be considered as a forked tail, rather than an open mouth. The general direction of the other figures would naturally suggest the same thing, at least in this locality.
In a cultivated field, near these works, were traces of other mounds, whose nature we could not determine; they were too far gone to be restored.
Half a mile east of this extensive group is a smaller cluster, consisting of two animals and two oblong mounds. They were discovered by the engineer party in the survey of the Valley Railroad, who reported the animals as resembling the horse. Mr. Logan Crawford, Deputy Surveyor of Dodge county, made a survey and drawing of one, given on, which, as will be seen, has but little resemblance to a horse. It was, without doubt, constructed, by men who had never seen or heard of such an animal, being long before its introduction upon the American continent.
The two figures at this place are almost exactly alike, and Mr. Crawford’s outline may be relied upon as correct. The dimensions were ascertained by running a line over the mound lengthwise, and then measuring at right angles from this line to thirty-six of the most prominent points in the outline. The height on the shoulders and fore-part of the body is about two and a half feet. The legs, tail, head, and neck, are not more than one foot high. Its whole length is one hundred and twenty-four feet.
Directly north of Mayville (on the northeast quarter of section fourteen, township twelve, range sixteen), on the eastern declivity, and near the base of a ridge, I saw some traces of ancient cultivation, in the form of garden-beds, with intermediate paths. In one place, where the beds were examined, they are one hundred feet long, and had a uniform breadth of six feet, with a direction nearly east and west. The depressions or walks between the beds were about eight inches deep and fifteen inches wide.
The next group of mounds noticed was at the northern extremity of a ridge near the lower dam and mills (northwest quarter of section fourteen). There were five elevations of the circular form, three of them with a projecting ridge, gradually tapering to the extremity, being of the kind called "tadpoles.”1 There are also two of the lizard form, the tail of one being in contact with the head of the other.
1 This form (see Fig. 18, p. 51), may possibly have been intended to represent the gourd, an ancient American plant, doubtless much used by the mound-builders.


On the adjoining tract (northeast quarter of section fifteen), are some round mounds; among them two of larger dimensions than usual, being from twelve to fourteen feet in height, and from sixty-five to seventy feet in diameter.
These several groups form a regular row, from east to west, a little north of Mayville. There is a similar arrangement at about the same distance south of the village, commencing at a group of three mounds near the centre of section twenty-six, which were very accurately surveyed and delineated by Mr. Crawford —the cross, as usual, with a direction opposite to that of the other figures, of which the central one is doubtless intended to represent the trunk and arms of the human body. The trunk is two feet high, the arms and shoulders one foot. The animal-shaped figure is brought too near this man on the plate (being ninety feet distant). It differs from most others of similar configuration in its slender form, rounded head, and recurved caudal extremity. The body is for most of its length two and a half feet high; the legs, head, and tail are one foot and a half high; but the tail gradually slopes down to about six inches at the extremity.

Indian Lizard Effigy Mounds in Milwaukee Wisconsin

Ancient Indian Lizard Effigy Mounds in Milwaukee Wisconsin


On the west side of the river, within the limits of the city, were numerous mounds occupying the several promontories overlooking the city and bay. The most remarkable group was near the intersection of Walnut with Sixth Street, as represented on Four different varieties of structures may be seen. The oblong (a), which is simply a ridge of earth; the lizard (b), an elongated ridge terminating in a point at one end, and having two projections or legs at the other; the winged mound (c), being a circular tumulus, with two long, slightly curved arms or wings; and the anomalous mound (d), differing from the ordinary form by having the legs on opposite sides, instead of the same side. These works were, in 1836, covered with a dense forest. The oblong, at a in the plan, appears to have been the “observatory,” being in a very conspicuous place, from which may be seen all the works, while in the opposite direction there is presented a magnificent view of the valley of the river, and the bay of Lake Michigan, now called Milwaukee Bay. It is eighty-three feet long, twenty wide, and four in height.
Two of these mounds were opened, but produced nothing beyond the fragment of a bone, and a slight admixture of carbonaceous matter near the original surface. They were composed of the same tough, reddish, sandy clay that constitutes the adjacent soil. There are two large natural elevations or mounds near these works, and upon the summit of one was a small “winged mound.“ The other, though the largest, was apparently not occupied by the aborigines. In that part of the city known as Sherman’s Addition, we first find mounds of undoubted animal forms. One of these ( Fig. 2) is on ground covered by the corn hills of the present race of Indians, who occupied the lands in this vicinity down to a very late period. It may be considered as a rude representation of a wolf or fox guarding the sacred deposits in the large though low mound immediately before it. Both of these are of so little elevation as to be scarcely observed by the passer by; but when once attention is arrested, there is no difficulty in tracing their outlines. The body of the animal is forty-four feet, and the tail sixty-three in length. A more graceful animal form was found on block No. 36. (SeePlate VII. Fig. 2.) It may be regarded as the representation of an otter. Length of head and neck, twenty-six feet; body, fifty feet; tail, seventy feet. Its direction is a little south of west.
Whatever may be said in regard to the mounds which I have denominated "lizards,” there can be no doubt that they do, and were intended to represent the forms of animals. But what shall we say of the next figure , with its long, slightly curved arms? If, like some others hereafter described, it had a beak, it would be considered a representation of one of the feathered tribe; or, if it had legs as well as a body, it might be deemed a rude imitation of the human form. We may suppose that in the lapse of ages these works have been more or less modified by natural causes, and also that portions were constructed of different and more perishable materials, now entirely gone. This figure points almost directly south. It is thirty-four feet long, the arms being sixty feet. It was surveyed by me a number of years since, and was almost immediately afterwards removed to prepare the foundation of a house. How many more of these interesting structures have been lost to the antiquary, by being destroyed before a plan and record of them were made, it is impossible to determine; but their number must be very great.

Serpent Effigies in Waukesha County, Wisconsin


Possible Serpent Effigies in Waukesha County, Wisconsin
But the most remarkable natural appearances we were led to examine were the ridges in a large natural meadow in the town of Brookfield, Waukesha County, which were supposed to be artificial representations of the Massasauga rattle-snake. My attention was first called to them by Mr. M. Spears, who detected them. They vary from a few inches to two feet in height, above the otherwise uniformly level surface of the marshy ground; and in length they vary from ten or fifteen to one hundred and forty feet. Many of them are obtuse at one end, and tapering and acute at the other, as if intended to represent the head and tail of a snake; others are acute at both extremities. (See Fig. 4.) The accompanying figures show their appearance and relative situation. Some are so arranged that, were they larger and differently situated, we might suppose them portions of a fort, with a guarded entrance. They are composed of the same black mucky earth that constitutes the surface soil of the marsh. They have all the same general direction, being parallel, or nearly so, with that of the marsh. There are great numbers of these ridges, not less, perhaps, than one hundred on this marsh.

To understand how these ridges were probably formed, we must take into account the soft nature of the surface soil; and the fact that, except in the driest portion of the year, it is completely saturated or covered with water. The ice formed on the surface in winter must therefore include a considerable portion of the soil. During very cold weather, this covering of ice contracts, leaving in the middle of the marsh numerous irregular cracks, probably assuming the arrangement and directions of these ridges. As the temperature moderates, the ice expands, closing up the cracks, but moving towards them a portion of the soil, and leaving a slight elevation. The next winter, the same thing is repeated; but the ice being thinner on these slight ridges, it would naturally separate where they occur: and thus the same ridges are enlarged from year to year, until they assume the size and shape now so much resembling serpents. We afterwards saw similar ridges in several other marshes.


Serpent links from “Mound builders”

Ohio's Serpent Mound Visitors Guide

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2013/01/ohios-serpent-mound-visitors-guide.html

Origins of Ohio's Great Serpent Mound is in Scotland


Ohio's Great Serpent Mound Visitors Guide

Visual Tour of the Serpent Mounds in the Ohio Valley

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/12/visual-tour-of-serpent-mounds-in-ohio.html



Large Stone Alter Reported Near Ohio's Famous Serpent Mound

Serpent Mound Discovered in Indiana


Serpent Effigy and Indian Fort Wisconsin



Serpent Mound and Burial Mounds in Chicago, Illinois
http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2012/02/indian-burial-mounds-north-of-chicago.html



Adena Serpentine Enclosure in Hamilton County, Ohio

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2011/11/adena-serpentine-enclosure-in-hamilton.html



Ohio Mounds: Adena Hilltop Serpentine Enclosure in Hamilton County

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2011/11/ohio-mounds-adena-hilltop-serpentine.html



Serpent Mound in Peebles, Ohio and its Ancient Symbolism

http://moundbuilder.blogspot.com/2011/09/serpent-mound-in-peebles-ohio-ans-its.html