Frequent allusion has been made, in the preceding pages, to the numerous rare and beautiful varieties of minerals, fossils, and shells, disclosed from the mounds; but no opportunity has been afforded to speak of them with desirable fulness. The identification, accurate or approximate, of the localities from whence these were obtained, will serve, in a degree, to reflect light upon the grand archæological questions of the origin, migration, and intercommunication of the race of the mounds. In this respect they are of value; for, in the investigations here attempted, we are compelled to press into the work of elucidation, every fact and circumstance which can, in any way, affect the subject of our inquiries. The discovery of obsidian, a purely volcanic production, in the mounds, in a region entirely destitute of the evidences of immediate volcanic action, is, to the commonest apprehension, a remarkable fact, a subject of wonder; but neither marvels nor mysticism have aught to do with science. The fact, to the mind of the rational archæologist, is suggestive only of the inquiry, Whence was this singular product obtained? Its presence cannot be accounted for, in the quantities discovered, except upon the supposition that it was transported from a distance; which supposition involves, of necessity, intercommunication or migration. To measure the bounds of intercourse, casual or constant, or define the course of migration, it is necessary to ascertain the exact primitive locality of the product in question. So far as we are informed, the nearest point of its occurrence is Mexico, the ancient inhabitants of which country applied it extensively to the very purposes for which it was used by the race of the mounds.
In this process of investigation, there are many circumstances which must come under view and receive due consideration, before we venture upon the simplest conclusions. They are, however, entirely omitted in this connection; the object of the illustration being simply to show in what general manner facts of this kind may be made subservient, and of what importance they may become in a system of research, in which we have neither written record nor even the voice of tradition to give direction to our inquiries.
It so happens that it is difficult in every case to detect the true nature of the remains discovered, and often quite impossible to point out their original localities. Hence the necessity of presenting a comprehensive view of their extent and character, so that other laborers in the field of antiquarian research may be able to institute comparisons, and indicate localities, and thus gradually work out the grand problems involved in our aboriginal history. The process may appear p279 tedious and intricate, and the results hardly worth the labor of their development; that is, however, a question open to discussion. The mode of investigation here indicated is, at any rate, the only one which philosophy sanctions, and which can ever lead to satisfactory results.
THE METALS.—Silver and copper are the only metals, pertaining to the race of the mounds, which have been taken from their depositories. The discovery of gold has been vaguely announced, but the fact is not well attested.175 It is not unlikely that articles of gold have been found, with brass dial-plates, silver crosses, and other vestiges of European art, among the recent deposits in the mounds; and it is far from impossible that the metal may yet be disclosed, under such circumstances as to justify the conclusion that it was not, as from existing facts it seems to have been, an entire stranger to the ancient people. Its discovery will be no matter of surprise; as yet, however, we have no well authenticated instance of its occurrence. Mention is made, in a published work, of a silver cup, “finely gilded in the interior,” which was said to have been found in a mound at Marietta. It will be early enough to ask for the verification of the statement, when any one shall be found to claim for the cup any other than a European origin, or assign it an antiquity beyond the period of the first European intercourse.
As has been already observed, considerable quantities of wrought, and some small fragments of unwrought native copper, have been extracted from the mounds. Axes, as we have seen, have been found, wrought from a single piece, weighing upwards of two pounds each. The metal appears, in all cases, to have been worked in a cold state. This is the more remarkable from the fact that, in some instances, the fires upon the altars were sufficiently intense to melt down the copper implements and ornaments deposited upon them. The hint thus afforded does not seem to have been seized upon. In consideration of the amount of the metal discovered, implying a large original supply, and the fact that it is occasionally found combined with silver in the peculiar manner characterizing the native deposits upon the shores of Lake Superior, we are led to conclude that it was principally, if not wholly, derived from that region. This conclusion is sustained by the recent investigations upon the shores of that lake. These have led to the discovery that the aborigines, from a very remote period, resorted there to obtain the metal. There is also evidence that some of the more productive veins were anciently worked to a considerable extent. “A few rods north of the present ‘location’ and works of the North-west Mining Company, and near the foot of the bluff, are excavations in the earth and rock, in which are found numerous rude implements of stone, such as hammers and wedges. Pieces of copper, partially wrought into shape, are to be found at various places around the works. Upon the earth and rocks thrown from the pits, large trees are now growing. One of these pits is sunk almost entirely in the rock, and is not far from seven feet deep. p280 To the north-west of this, an open cut mas made, twenty-four feet on the course of the vein, and from it was taken not less than a bushel of hammers and wedges of stone and pieces of copper. A few rods to the northward of the present works on the eastern vein of the ‘Copper Falls Location,’ and also at some distance to the south-east of the mines at the Eagle river, similar traces of ancient mining are to be observed.”176 p281
The tribes visited by De Soto indicated some portion of the South Appalachian chain as the locality whence they obtained the copper in their possession. We are ignorant of the sources whence the Indians on the Hudson procured the copper which was found among them; it probably reached their hands by a course of exchange with western tribes, and came from the north-west. Silver has been found in very small quantities, and was evidently exceedingly rare among the mound-builders. The specimens recovered are pure, and were undoubtedly derived from the same locality with the copper.
It is not certain, but nevertheless extremely probable, that the race of the mounds were acquainted with the art of reducing lead from its ores; the absence of the metal may be accounted for by the fact that, from its nature, it could not be applied by them to any useful purpose. Too soft for axes or knives, too fusible for vessels, and too soon tarnished to be valuable for ornament, there was little inducement for its manufacture. Still, unless we suppose that it was valued and used to a limited extent, we can hardly account for the amount of galena found in the mounds. The nearest locality, from which it can be obtained in quantities equal to those found, is the mineral region of Illinois.
FOSSILS.—A variety of fossils, selected for purposes of use or ornament, are obtained from the mounds. Among the more remarkable may be mentioned the fossil teeth of the shark, and some large teeth, probably cetacean. About one hundred of the latter were found in one mound; but they were too much burned to be recovered entire. One of the largest measures six inches in length, by about four inches in circumference at the largest part. They are destitute of enamel, and have a pulp cavity at the base, something like those of the whale, from which, however, they differ widely in shape. They have not yet been identified, although they have been examined by several eminent naturalists. The mound-builders evidently used them for various purposes, and some of the articles supposed to be ivory may have been made from them. Some of the specimens have been variously wrought, drilled, sawn, and polished. The striæ produced by sawing are distinctly visible. Accompanying these were found several beautifully carved cylinders of a compact substance resembling ivory. These were variously and tastefully ornamented. One of the rods was originally fourteen inches in length, and, when found, was closely enveloped in sheet copper. It has been suggested that these were carved from the ribs of the manitus; the bones of which animal, p282 we are informed by Bartram, were much used by the Southern Indians for articles of use and ornament.
Several of the fossil teeth of the shark recovered from the mounds are represented in the cut, Fig. 197. It will be observed that they are of different species. They seem to have been used for various purposes. Some have holes drilled through them near the base; others are notched, as if designed to form spear or arrow-heads. Raleigh observed some used as such among the Indians of Carolina. It seems most probable that they were designed for cutting purposes. No. 2 is fragmentary; the remaining portion was not found. It will be seen that it had a hole drilled through it near the base, and was notched at the sides. We are of course ignorant of the locality from which they were obtained. It is a well known fact, however, that they are abundant in the tertiary formations of the Lower Mississippi.177 From this direction must have come the teeth of the alligator, a number of which have been obtained from the mounds.
PEARLS.—Mention has been made, on a preceding page, of the great number of pearls found in the mounds. It is incredible to suppose that a hundredth part of these were obtained from the molluscs of our rivers. The question then arises, whence were they obtained? As has already been stated, the Indians of the South and South-west used them extensively as ornaments at the time of the Discovery, and at that time, it appears from the chroniclers, maintained regular fisheries for them.178 If we may credit the early writers, they were abundant among all the nations inhabiting the shores and islands of the Gulf, and were found in considerable numbers on the Atlantic coast, as far north as Virginia. Raleigh saw them on the coast of North Carolina. Heriot, in his Voyage to the Shores of Virginia, says: “Sometimes in feeding on muscles we find pearls; but it was our hap to meet those which were ragged and of a pied color, not yet having discovered the country where we heard of better and more plenty. One of our company, a man of skill in such matters, had gathered from among the savage people about p283 five thousand; of which number he chose so many as made a fair chain, which for their likeness and uniformity in roundness, orientness, and piedness, of many excellent colors, with equality in greatness, had been presented to her majesty, had not a casualty by sea lost them.”
Ribaulde, at an earlier day, (1562,) wrote in extravagant terms of the quantities of pearls which he saw on the coast of Florida. “They had also a great abundance of pearls; which they declared unto us they took out of oysters, and in so marvellous abundance, as is scant credible: and we perceive that there are as many and faire pearls found there, as in any country of the world. For we saw one man who had a pearl hanging at the end of a chain of gold and silver, as great as an acorn at the least.”
The Decades of Peter Martyr teem with exclamations of surprise and wonder at their great number and beauty; they elicit both his praise and his philosophy.179 We may therefore safely derive the pearls found in the mounds from the Gulf. Together with numerous other remains, they go to establish an extensive communication with southern and tropical regions, or a migration from that direction. At present it is believed no pearl-fisheries are maintained, except upon the coast of California.
MARINE SHELLS.—The cassis and pyrula perversa of Lamark; the oliva, marginella, and natica; as well as the columella of a shell, probably the strombus, have been found in the mounds. A cassis of large size, from which the inner whorls and columella had been removed to adapt it for use as a vessel, was found in mound No. 5, in the great enclosure, Plate X. It is doubtful whether this particular shell belongs to the era of the mounds, or is of a later date. Portions of these shells have nevertheless been found upon the altars, and they were consequently known to the mound-builders. This specimen is eleven inches and a half in length, by twenty-four in circumference at the largest part. Specimens have been found in the vicinity of Nashville, from which the inner whorls had been removed so as to give place to an idol of clay or stone.180 Fragments only of the pyrula, Fig. 198, have been found in the mounds; although quite a number have been p284 discovered entire in excavating at different points in the Scioto valley. In digging the Ohio and Erie canal, there was found near Portsmouth, its southern terminus on the Ohio river, a cluster of five or six, which appeared to have been thus carefully deposited by the hand of man. They were about three feet beneath the surface. The columellæ of some large shell, probably the strombus gigas, have also been discovered. Most of the shell beads and ornaments from the mounds appear to have been manufactured from them.
All these shells are found in the Gulf. The strombus is observed on the shores of the West Indies and Florida; the cassis occurs in the same localities, as do also the pyrula and the minor shells above mentioned. A very large number of the marginella were taken from the Grave creek mound.181
FLUVIATILE SHELLS.—Examples of the unios of the Western rivers also occur in the mounds, generally entire, but sometimes manufactured. The unio ellipticus, crassus, rectus, verrucosus, and ovatus have been identified, all existing, at the present time, in the neighboring streams. They occur side by side with the marine shells and other remains heretofore noticed.
MINERALS.—This department is very rich, and comprises some very interesting and beautiful varieties,—mica, transparent, opaque, silvery, and graphic; obsidian; quartz, many varieties; serpentine; porphyry, several beautiful kinds; manganesian garnet, in crystals; variegated slate, beautifully colored; catlinite or red pipe-stone (?); limestone, common and coralline, etc., etc.
MICA is abundant in the mounds and in the vicinity of ancient works, where it is often ploughed up. It seems to be extensively disseminated, south as well as north. The common, transparent, silvery or opaque, and graphic or hieroglyphical varieties, have been discovered; some specimens have a golden color, much resembling “Dutch leaf.” It is in general neatly cut into ornamental figures, scrolls, discs, and oval plates. These plates are frequently a foot or more in diameter, and a fourth or half an inch in thickness. In a mound at Circleville, a plate is said to have been found, three feet in length, one foot and a half in breadth, and one inch and a half in thickness. It has been suggested that these plates were designed as mirrors; but there seems to be no good foundation for the supposition.182 The opaque varieties, from their beauty, seem to have been uniformly applied to ornamental purposes, having often, as appears from the holes occasioned by the process, been worked into scarfs or attached to the martial or priestly robes of the ancient people. The mineral seems also to have been consecrated to some religious purpose. It appears at various points in the mounds, and is sometimes found resting on the breasts or above the heads of p285 skeletons. It has also been found covering one sacrificial altar, and regularly disposed in the form of a crescent before another. (See pages 144 and 154.) The suggestion has been advanced that it was consecrated to some divinity, equivalent to the Mexican Tezcatlipoca, “Lord of the Light.”
The mica of the mounds is often found fissile and fragile, perhaps the result of exposure to heat, but generally quite compact and possessing its original tenacity. Some very fine specimens of the graphic or discolored mica have been found in the mounds of the Scioto valley and elsewhere. Fifteen or twenty beautiful oval plates of this variety were taken recently from a low mound near Lower Sandusky, Ohio. They are beautiful specimens, stained with a solution of some of the oxides of iron or manganese, during the process of crystallization.
Mica, like many other substances, crystallizes in oblique rhombic prisms whose planes are 60° and 120°. When these planes are colored, they resemble many letters of the alphabet. The specimens in question are iridescent, exhibiting all the prismatic colors when the light falls upon them in a certain direction. These circumstances no doubt gave rise to the idea that they were painted hieroglyphics. Graphic mica occurs, in place, on the Schuylkill, some distance above Philadelphia, and probably in other localities. No original deposit of the mineral exists in the State of Ohio.
OBSIDIAN, the itzli of the Mexicans, and gallinazo stone of the Peruvians. Frequent reference has been had to this mineral, precluding the necessity of an extended notice here. It has been observed in five of the mounds excavated in the Scioto valley, from one of which a number of large and very fine specimens were obtained (page 155). It is only found in the form of implements, such as knives and spear and arrow-points. This mineral is a volcanic product, and occurs, so far as known, no nearer than Mexico, where it is found in abundance. It is also found in Peru, and was extensively used by the ancient inhabitants of both countries, for cutting and warlike implements. They also, notwithstanding its obstinacy and fragility, worked it elegantly into mirrors, ornamental rings, and masks.183 Some specimens have been discovered in the mounds of Tennessee, which were doubtless obtained from the same source with those found on the Ohio.184 All the specimens discovered are glassy black, subtranslucent, and break with a clear conchoidal fracture. According to Humboldt, the mountains of Jacul or Cerro Gordo, on the route between Vera Cruz and the city of Mexico, furnished the celebrated itzli quarries or mines of the ancient Mexicans; the locality is still known as El Cerro de los Nabijas, the Mountain of Knives.185 This is believed to be the nearest point of its p286 occurrence. Lieut. Fremont observed some small nodules in the rocks of the Sierra Nevada, lying to the eastward of the valley of the Sacramento. He also found numerous fragments on the hills bordering the Lewis fork of the Columbia river.
PORPHYRY.—Most of the sculptured pipes of the mounds are made of a very fine and beautiful description of porphyry. It occurs of many shades of color. Some varieties are of a greenish-brown base, with fine white and black granules; others of a light brown base with white, purple, and violet-tinged specks; but most are red, with white and purplish grains. In some specimens the base scarcely exhibits any admixture either of grains or crystals, and strongly resembles the red pipe-stone of the Coteau des Prairies. All are of intense hardness,—a natural characteristic, or in some degree the result of the great heat to which they have been subjected. It generally breaks with a granular fracture, sometimes disengaging the grains of the foreign material. Under heat it splinters, often on very nearly the same plane; pieces partly fused into a porous, dull mass, have been remarked. Heat has also the effect of giving a bright black color to the fragments more particularly exposed to its influence, and some of the restored sculptures present a striking contrast in the appearance of their parts. It would seem incredible that the different fragments originally pertained to the same piece, did they not exactly fit to each other. One or two of the varieties seem to have an argillaceous base, adhere slightly when applied to the tongue, and have a marked argillaceous odor; these exhibit a rather dull surface, while the others are exquisitely polished. It is difficult to tell how the ancient inhabitants worked this obstinate material with the elegance and finish which their sculptures display. It resists the best tempered blade, and yields reluctantly to the finest grit stones. Yet it is clear from the markings on certain specimens that it was cut by some kind of implement. We can only account for the fact by supposing that it was once much softer than it now is. Under such a supposition, it is not improbable that it may have been derived from a locality mentioned by Du Pratz, on the Missouri. So far as the external features of the stone are concerned, the description is very exact; we are left in doubt, however, as to the size of the granules, which in the mound pipes are seldom larger than mustard seeds.
“In this journey of M. de Borgmont, mention is made only of what we meet with from Fort Orleans, from which we set out, in order to go to the Padoucas; wherefore I ought to speak of a thing curious enough to be related, which is found on the banks of the Missouri; and that is a pretty high cliff, upright from the water. From the middle of the cliff juts out a mass of red stone with white spots, like porphyry, with this difference, that what we are now speaking of is almost soft and tender like sandstone. It is covered with another sort of stone of no value; the bottom is an earth like that on other rising grounds. The stone is easily worked and bears the most violent fire. The Indians of the country have contrived to strike off pieces thereof with their arrows, and after they fall in the water plunge in for them. When they procure pieces large enough to make pipes, they fashion them with knives and awls. This pipe has a socket two or three p287 inches long, and on the opposite side the figure of a hatchet; in the middle of all is the bort or bowl to put the tobacco in.”186
The fashion of the pipe here described is that adopted by the modern Indians; and the paragraph is introduced as suggestive, rather than as indicating the unknown locality of this singular stone. A description of red porphyry is said to occur upon the shores of Lake Superior; but in the absence of specimens for comparison, it is impossible to say how far it resembles that found in the mounds.
Many of the ancient carvings are executed in a description of compact slate, of a dull green ground, relieved with stripes of a dark black color, giving the stone a fibrous appearance, and leading many uninformed persons to suppose that it is petrified wood. It has a very fine grain, cuts clearly and readily, and receives a high finish. It seems to have been chiefly used for ornamental purposes. No one has, as yet, been able to identify its primitive locality. A single implement of this material was found a number of years ago, near Middletown, Connecticut. (See page 218.)
Another variety of stone, of a high specific gravity, dark ground, thickly interspersed with minute flakes of salmon-colored mica, is also found. It is not abundant. It has thus far defied scrutiny, and its primitive locality is unascertained. It is often very tastefully worked into rings, figures of animals, etc. It cuts without difficulty, and receives a very high polish.187
The axes, pestles, etc., of the mound-builders, like those formerly in use by the Indian tribes, are composed of tough sienitic rocks, greenstone, etc. The material must have been derived from primitive localities, or from boulders of primitive rocks.
Besides these varieties of stone, we find articles composed of every description of quartz; of brown hematite; steatite, black and mottled; slate; limestone, etc. Some very pretty articles are worked from coralline limestone.
175 Archæologia Americana, vol. i. p. 176. The report here alluded to has been traced to its source. The ornament was not of gold but of copper.
176 These statements are confirmed by several observers. The subjoined passages are from a letter from the eminent geologist and mineralogist, Prof. W. W. MATHER.
“I am informed by gentlemen connected with the survey of the government mineral lands, that abundant traces of ancient mining are to be observed at the Copper Falls and Eagle river mines. It is stated that on the hill south of the Copper Falls mine an excavation several feet in depth, and some rods in length, was discovered extending along the course of the vein. Fragments of rock, etc., thrown out of the excavation, were piled up along its sides, the whole covered with soil, and overgrown with bushes and trees. On removing the accumulations from the excavation, stone axes of large size, made of greenstone, and shaped to receive withe handles, were found. Some large, round, greenstone masses, that had apparently been used for sledges were also found. They had round holes bored in them to the depth of several inches, which seemed to have been designed for wooden plugs, to which withe handles might be attached, so that several men could swing them with sufficient force to batter or break the rock and the projecting masses of copper. Some of them were broken, and some of the projecting ends of rock exhibited distinct marks of having been battered in the manner here suggested.”
The great Ontonagon mass of virgin copper, now deposited in Washington, when found, exhibited marks of having had considerable portions cut from it, and the ground around was strewn with fragments of stone axes which had been broken in endeavors to detach portions of the mass. Henry (Travels p. 195) observes that the Indians obtained much copper from the above localities, which they worked into spoons, bracelets, etc. He saw one piece in their possession, weighing twenty pounds.
The following additional information embraced in a private letter to a gentleman of Buffalo, under date of June 15, 1848, relating to ancient mining on the shores of Lake Superior, will prove highly interesting in this connection. The new discoveries which it records seem to establish that the mines were anciently extensively worked, and the copper extracted in large masses. Were it not for the abundance of stone implements in the excavations, it might be supposed that they were the traces of the later operations of the French.
“The gentlemen connected with Vulcan Mining Company have made some very singular discoveries in working one of the veins which has been lately found. They discovered an old cave, excavated centuries ago. This led them to look for other works of the same kind, and they have found a number of sinks in the earth which they have traced a long distance. By digging into those sinks, they find them to have been made by the hand of man. It appears that the ancient miners worked on a different principle from that adopted at the present time. The greatest depth yet found in these holes is thirty feet. After getting down to a certain depth, the ancient miners drifted along the vein making an open cut. These cuts have been filled nearly to a level by the accumulation of soil, and we find trees of the largest growth standing in the depressions, and also find that trees of a very large size have grown up and died, and decayed many years since in the same places there are now standing others of over three hundred years’ growth. Last week they dug down into a new place, and about twelve feet below the surface found a mass of copper weighing from eight to ten tons. This mass was buried in ashes, and it appears the ancient miners could not handle it, and having no means of cutting it, probably built fire around it to melt or separate the rock, which might be done by heating and then dashing on cold water. This piece of copper is pure and free from corrosion. The upper surface has been pounded smooth. It appears that this mass of copper was taken from the bottom of a shaft, at the depth of about thirty feet. In sinking this shaft from where the mass now lies, they followed the course of the vein, which dips considerably, this enabled them to raise it as far as the hole came up with a slant. At the bottom of the shaft were found skids of black oak from eight to twelve inches in diameter, these sticks were charred through, as if burnt; large wooden wedges were also found in the same situation. In this shaft were discovered a miner’s ‘gad’ and a narrow chisel made of copper. I do not know whether these copper tools are tempered or not, but they display good workmanship. There have been taken out of the excavations more than a ton of cobble-stones, which have been used as mallets. These stones were nearly round, with a groove cut round the centre, for the purpose of putting a withe around for a handle. The Chippewas all say that this work was never done by Indians. This discovery will lead to a new method of finding veins in this country, and may be of great benefit to explorers. I suppose the miners will continue to find new wonders for some time yet, as it is but a short time since they first found the old mine.”
177 B. L. C. WAILES, Esq., Proceedings of Sixth Annual Meeting of the American Association of Naturalists and Geologists, p. 80.—Also Prof. GIBBS, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. second series, vol. i.
178 De Soto’s Expedition, Supplement to Hakluyt’s Voyages, p. 715.
179 Peter Martyr, Supplement to Hakluyt’s Voyages, pp. 415, 417, 419, 455, 469, 471, 475, 493, 500, 517, 520, 530, 539, 599; Oviedo, in Purchas, vol. iii. p. 972.
180 Transactions of American Ethnological Society, vol. i. p. 361.
181 American Pioneer, vol. i. p. 200.
182 Capt. LYON mentions finding among the Esquimaux, on the North-east coast, “a mirror composed of a broad plate of black mica, fitted into a leather frame, so as to be seen from either side.”—Narrative, p. 68.
183 The Mexicans used blades of obsidian in the construction of their swords; their sacrificial knives and razors were of the same material; and, from practice, they became so perfect in their manufacture that, according to Clavigero, “in the space of one hour, an artist could finish more than a hundred.”—Clavigero, vol. ii. p. 288.
184 Transactions of American Ethnological Society, vol. i. p. 361.
185 Researches, vol. ii. p. 204.
186 DU PRATZ, History of Louisiana, p. 179.
187 A specimen of this mineral was submitted to JAMES T. HODGE, Esq., of New York, for examination, with the following results: “It resembles mica in appearance, in fine scales, cemented in one lump. Color, reddish brown. Before the blow-pipe it does not change. It fuses with soda, with difficulty, into a dark bead,—soluble in nitric acid, leaving a considerable residuum of silicia. The qualitative analysis gave alumina, iron, and potash, all of which are ingredients of mica.”