Pre-Historic Race

"As o'er the verdant waste I guide my steed, Among the high rank grass that sweeps his sides, The hollow beating of his footsteps seems A sacrilegious sound. I think of those Upon whose rest he tramples. Are they here --- 41

The dead of other days ? And did the dust Of those fair solitudes once stir with life And burn with passion ? Let the mighty mounds That overtook the rivers, or that rise In the dim forest crowded with old oaks, Answer. A race, that has long since passed away, Built them; a disciplined and populous race Heaped with long toil, the earth, while yet the Greek Was hewing the Pentelicus to forms Of symmetry, and rearing on its rock The glittering Parthenon. These ample fields Nourished their harvests; here their herds were fed, When haply by their stalls the bison lowed And bowed his maned shoulder to the yoke. All day the desert murmured with their toils, Till twilight blushed and lovers walked and wooed In a forgotten language, and old tunes, From instruments of unremembered form, Upon the soft winds a voice. The red man came --- The roaming hunter-tribes warlike and fierce, And the mound builders vanished from the earth." - Bayard Taylor. "Who were the Mound Builders?" This in the minds of most people has never been satisfactorily an- swered except to the answerers themselves. There are many theories extant. A few are plausible; many are superlatively nonsensical. Most of the latter are hastily built deductions, based an fragmentary evi- dence. The remainder are evolved in the fertile and highly imaginative minds of theorists. The origin of the Pre-historic Race of America has been attrib- uted to every nation known to ancient civilization. It has been asserted that they came from the Nile; that these transplanted Egyptians built the mounds in the western world, in rude copy of the pyramids in the land of the Lotus. 42

Others maintain that they were the lost Children of the tribes of Jacob. Some say they were Phoenicians; others, Scythians; while still others are equally cer- tain that they were of Welsh extraction. Voltaire had the evolutionary idea, that it isn't necessary to believe they came from anywhere; that they were native to the soil the same as the beaver or the bison. It is not our intention to discuss any of these the- ories or attempt to answer the original question. It must be said, however, that the subject of archaeology is being studied more systematically than ever and that men are analyzing the subject from a scientific standpoint, and that the "relic hunter" is not now being cited as authority. It is not out of place, however, to say here, that it is being generally conceded that the mounds and earthworks left by these unknown people are not so old as was formerly believed; that the Mound Builder and Indian do not belong to different races; and that the Mound Builders were not such a highly civilized race as has been thought. We have been able to learn only a few of the things concerning these people. All else is conjecture. We know only, that somebody at some time built these strange works. We can only look at them and wonder. These people lived in our county. They built their mounds and fortifications. We can but describe them as we find them, then the reader can draw his own con- clusions. That will be satisfactory to him at least. There are over a hundred mounds, fortifications, earthworks and village sites in Perry County. The most interesting and best known of these is the "Stone Fort" at Glenford. This fortification belongs to the class of "Hill-top Enclosures," and is the best example 43

of its kind in the state. Caleb Atwater came over from Circleville about 1840 and then published a glowing description of it in the first book ever written on Ohio Archaeology. Archaeologists from all over the land have visited here and the concensus of opinion is that it is one of the most wonderful of fortifications. This enclosure was evidently erected for defensive purposes. Its area is a fraction over 27 acres. It is made en- tirely of stone. The pieces are of various sizes. None are larger than what can be easily carried and many are much smaller. The present condition of the walls shows only a win-row of stones. Many have been hauled away. When originally built the wall must have averaged from seven to ten feet in height. The entire length of the rampart is 6,610 feet. Within the enclosure is a stone mound, l00 feet in diameter and 12 feet high No stones are found within the enclosure. They were evidently utilized in building the work. Whoever it was that erected this wall, certainly "knew their business." They took advantage of the natural surroundings. The hill upon which it was built is something over 200 feet above the creek level. The sides of this hill are covered with the conglomerate that overlies the sub-carboniferous limestone. This same stone composes the cap-rock of the hill. Where its stratum appears, water has eroded deep embrasures, thus forming natural passage ways. The loose stones were heaped along the edges of the solid rock, so in- creasing the height. With the exception of the south- eastern corner, the hill has no connection with the sur- rounding hills. The top could only be reached by climbing the bluffs. At the point, or corner before mentioned, there is a narrow, depressed ridge, leading 44

to higher ground, beyond. On this higher ground is the Wilson Mound, 18 feet high and covering one acre of ground. From the Wilson Mound can be seen the earth enclosure to the north and the Roberts Mound, east of Glenford. The easiest approach to the fort would have been by the Wilson Mound. The builders, however, took the extra precaution to dig a circular moat and to build a wall to protect this point. The diameter of this moat-enclosure is about 150 feet. Good springs of water are easily reached from the fort. Characteristic flint and stone implements have been found in abundance. If this fort were built for defense there certainly were no bloody battles fought, or the cemetery would be present. At Fort Ancient in Warren County, are two burial places, - one within and one without the fort.. None has ever been dis- covered at the Stone Fort. The Wilson Mound, mentioned above, is one of the best in the county. It belongs to the "Platform" class of mounds. It has never been thoroughly explored. Several shafts were sunk into it and it was found that the mound was at least half stone. Many of the stones showed signs of fire. A considerable amount of ashes and red clay was found, through which were mingled scraps of bone and pieces of mica. The Roberts Mound, east of Glenford, is the larg- est east of the Scioto River. This structure is 120 feet in diameter and 27 feet high. There are no trees upon it, but old settlers say that sixty-five years ago a very large white oak grew upon its crest. This mound is remarkable because a layer of large flat stones was found under the earth and lining the walls. This was for the purpose of holding the wall and preventing 45

wash. In this mound were found skeletons partly cremated. Just north of Glenford on a hill about l00 feet in height, is a fortification and several mounds. South of the fortification is a circle enclosing a bird with wings outspread. This circle is 652 feet in circumfer- ence, 31 feet wide and 4 feet high. The Gateway, 23 feet wide, faces toward the north. The bird effigy from head to tip of tail is 48 feet ; one wing is 122 feet while the other is 111 feet. The body is 20 feet wide. The total length from tip to tip is 253 feet. Excava- tions were made in the bird effigy and ashes were found. The flint instruments found in the county were all made of Flint Ridge material. Nearly every knoll in the northern part of the county was a workshop. The Perry County mounds do not show the high degree of advancement that the pre-historic inhabitants of the Scioto region evinced. No copper and very little mica has ever been found in our mounds. Everything points to their belonging distinctively to the stone age. At New Lexington could be seen in the flint quarries, places where these former citizens of Perry County secured and shaped the raw material. The presence of the Mound Builders in our county is shown by the following: Thorn Township has 3 circles, 22 earth mounds, l village site, 1 mound group, 1 enclosure. Hopewell, 10 mounds, 3 enclosures. Madison, 3 earth mounds. Reading, 15 earth mounds, 1 village site. Clayton, 4 earth mounds. Jackson, 2 earth mounds, 1 stone mound, 1 village site. 46

Pike, 3 earth mounds. Saltlick, 1 earth mound. Monroe, 1 earth mound, 1 stone mound. Mondaycreek, 3 earth mounds, 1 village site. Harrison, 5 earth mounds. Reference has been made to the fact that the pre- historic race belonged to the Stone Age of civiliza- tion. The material from which they fashioned their implements came from various sources. The "Drift Region" was amply capable of furnishing all of the granite needed for their axes, celts and gouges. The only difference between a stone axe and a celt is that the axe has a groove for fastening a split stick for a handle, while the celt has no such groove. The latter was used with the hand alone, for stripping the skins from animals or dividing bones at the joints. They were often made from hematite which could be pro- cured in southwestern Ohio or West Virginia. The pestle made from granite is a common find. It is often conical or bell-shaped, made to fit the hand. Its use is too manifest to enter into a description. Corn has been found in these mounds. We conclude, therefore, that one use of these implements was to crack that grain. Small pieces of hematite, slate and quartz are often found, with grooves cut into their edges, or in the case of slate, a hole is perforated. These were probably used as sinkers, for the Mound Builders really fished. Bone fish hooks have been found in abundance, not in our county, particularly, but in the Scioto Valley. One of the interesting productions of these people is the ceremonial stones made of slate. They are of various shapes but usually flat. They are, with but few exceptions, perforated. They are known by the dif- 47

ferent names of Gorgets and Banner Stones. Their purpose was evidently to be worn as amulets. Their greatest skill was manifested in the manu- facture of pipes. The variety of form and decoration was endless. They were made in effigy and symbolized something. The utilitarian idea was not only looked at but the art must be good as well. Possibly the- smoking was better when the aesthetic side of their na- ture was appealed to. These pipes were made to rep- resent human heads, human heads on the bodies of birds, the wild cat, the otter, the buzzard, the eagle, the toad, ground hog, coiled rattlesnake, elk head, etc. The implements most commonly found in this county are the flint instruments. These consist of arrow-heads, knives, drills, etc. Flint is the generic name for different forms of silicious matter, such as chalcedony, jasper, hornstone and chert. At Flint Ridge, beds of light and dark jasper are found. Chalcedony, with various tints of blue, red, brown, yellow, white and even green and purple, is plentiful. The manner of the mining of this was crude but ingenious. The soil was removed to the surface of the flint. In this was put a large fire. When the stone became hot, water was thrown upon it, causing it to shatter. By means of the repetition of this process and the use of hammers, the workman obtained his raw material. Bone hammers with flexible handles, and prongs of deer were then used to chip off the edges. At this they were certainly adept, when we consider the immense number that were manufactured. It is said that a modern Apache Indian could complete an arrow in about six minutes. 48

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