Warren County Local
History by Dallas Bogan |
Contributor: |
Dallas Bogan on 28 July 2004 |
Source: |
Dallas Bogan, Warren County, Ohio and Beyond (Bowie Maryland: Heritage Press, 1979) page |
Return to Index to see a list of other articles by Dallas Bogan |
The ancients who built the mounds were, according to some early writers and
archaeologists, of an advanced race, or descendants of the "lost tribes
of Israel." These writers wrote of the advanced technology of the first
inhabitants of the continent and their culture. The publications have yet to
prove the existence of superiority amongst the mound builders.
Ohio has the largest accumulation of mounds in the nation. The most noteworthy
in this area are Fort Ancient near Oregonia,
and the Miamisburg Mound near Miamisburg. These two earthworks have been explored
and excavated and no trace of a "superior race" and their works has
been found; only old relics have been unearthed. The relics of these two earthworks,
along with thousands of other works, have been scientifically digested with
the conclusion being that they were the work of a rather crude people.
The original writings professed that the mound builders consisted of a mathematical
knowledge and engineering skill. This theory was wide spread for many generations,
but has since been proven a falsehood. Some early archaeologists, using inadequate
measurements and observations, overstated that the mound builders geometrical
figures were precisely laid out, that the circular works were perfect circles
and the rectangular works perfect squares. Modern instruments of precise measurements
and surveys have disrupted that theory. Not a single discovery has been found
that shows the earthworks to be built on a perfect scale. The culture of the
mound builders was no further advanced than that of the Indians Columbus discovered.
The conclusion that the builders were without architectural science or engineering
skill is one of scientific advancement.
The stones in their walls were without chisel marks. They had no mortar or cement.
Their embankments were practically absent of stone in which to prevent them
from sliding down hill. They used fire, but had no chimney to carry away the
smoke. No evidence of a walled up cistern or dug wells has been found. The mounds
were and still are an amazing feat, but compared to the building of the great
Pyramids, they are feeble in their construction. They are merely structures
of earth in which mere aborigines could dig and carry materials in baskets for
their configurations.
Fort Ancient is acclaimed the most studied
of the archaeological forts in the United States. The accumulative amount of
earth in its 3 1/2 mile structure would hardly equal just one of the great pyramids
of Egypt. The dirt of the fort was carried up from the sides of the hill a distance
of about 20 or 30 feet, while the huge 40 cubic feet blocks of the Great Pyramid
were carried to a height of more than 400 feet.
An opinion of many was that a mighty race once dominated the Mississippi Valley,
which predated the American Indian. This population was supposed to be racially
distinct from the Indian. They were called the lost race, and it was believed
they disappeared before the arrival of the Indian. The scientist has found no
proof of such a race. No distinction has ever been made between the ornaments,
utensils and artifacts that the mound builders and Indians made.
The Indian tribes at the time of the discovery of America were mound builders.
When DeSoto wandered through the Gulf States in 1540-41, several tribes were
using mounds, and articles found in the mounds were indications that the Indians
had erected them since the coming of the white man. David Zeisberger,
the Moravian missionary, writing in 1779, wrote:
"Underground dwellings, there were also of which here and there traces
may be found, particularly along the Muskingum, in which region one may find
many places where embankments, still to be seen, were thrown up around a whole
town. Here and there, furthermore, near the sites of such towns there are mounds,
not natural, but made by the hand of man, for in those days the natives carried
on great wars within one another, the Indians being formerly according to their
own testimony far more numerous than at the present time. At the top of these
mounds there was a hollow place in which the Indians brought their wives and
children when the enemies approached and attacked them, the men ranging themselves
round the mound for defensive action. Their weapons were the bow and arrow and
a wooden club, this last a piece of wood of not quite arm's length, having at
the end a round knob about the size of a child's head and made of very hard
wood. In such attacks both sides usually lost many men, which were often buried
in one pit and a great mound of earth raised above them, such as may even now
be seen bearing in these days great and mighty trees."
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This page created 28 July 2004 and last updated
28 September, 2008
© 2004 Arne H Trelvik
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