SACRIFICIAL MOUNDS.
MOUND ALTARS—ALTAR DEPOSITS—QUENCHING THE ALTAR FIRES—MOUND
HEARTHS—MOUND CITY—MILITARY ALTAR MOUNDS—THEIR STRUCTURE AND
CONTENTS—SIGNIFICANCE OF THEIR DEPOSITS—ANALOGOUS INDIAN RITES
—TRANSITIONAL CIVILISATION.
The name of sacrificial mounds has been conferred on a class of
monuments peculiar to the New World, and highly illustrative of the
rites and customs of the ancient race of the mounds. From their contents
also we derive many of the most interesting examples of the arts of that
singular people. The most noticeable characteristics of the sacrificial
mounds are: their almost invariable occurrence within enclosures; their
regular construction in uniform layers of gravel, earth, and sand,
disposed alternately in strata conformable to the shape of the mound;
and their covering a symmetrical hearth or altar of burnt clay or stone,
on which are deposited numerous relics, in all instances exhibiting
traces, more or less abundant, of their having been exposed to the
action of fire.
A sufficient number of sacrificial mounds has been opened to justify the
adoption of certain general conclusions relative to their construction
and the purposes for which they were designed. On the natural surface of
the ground, in most cases, a basin of fine clay appears to have been
modelled with care, in a perfectly symmetrical form, but varying in
shape, and still more in dimensions. They have been found square, round,
elliptical, and in the form of parallelograms; and, in size, range from
a diameter of two feet, to fifty or sixty feet long, and twelve or
fifteen feet wide. The most common dimensions, however, are from five to
eight feet in diameter. The clay basin, or “altar,” as it has been
designated, invariably exhibits traces of having been subjected to the
action of fire, and frequently of intense and long-continued or
oft-repeated heat. It is, moreover, evident that in some cases it had
not only been often used; but, after being destroyed by repeated
exposures to intense heat, it had been several times remodelled before
it was finally covered over by the superincumbent mound.
Within the focus or basin of the altars are found numerous relics:
elaborate carvings in stone, ornaments cut in mica, copper implements,
disks, and tubes, pearl, shell, and silver beads, and various other
objects, hereafter referred to, but all more or less injured by fire. In
some cases the carved pipes and other works in stone have been split and
calcined by the heat, and the copper relics have been melted, so that
the metal lies fused in shapeless masses in the centre of the basin.
Traces of cloth completely carbonised, but still retaining the structure
of the doubled and twisted thread; ivory or bone needles, and other
objects destructible by fire, have also been observed; and the whole are
invariably found intermixed with a quantity of ashes. Large
accumulations of calcined bones, including fragments of human bones,
also lay above some of the deposits, or mingled with them; and in other
cases a mass of calcined shells, or of fine carbonaceous dust, like that
formed by the burning of vegetable matter, filled up the entire hollow.
But while it is obvious from a few traces, that the deposits on the
altars had included offerings of objects which yielded at once to the
destructive element to which they were there exposed, as well as others
capable in some degree of withstanding the intensity of the flame: there
are only faint traces of all but the least destructible relics of stone
or metal. In one mound portions of the contents were cemented together
by a tufa-like substance of a grey colour, resembling the scoriæ of a
furnace, and of great hardness. But subsequent analyses demonstrated
that it was made up in part of phosphates; and a single fragment of
partially calcined bone found on the altar was the patella of a human
skeleton. The long-continued, and probably oft-repeated application of
intense heat had reduced the cemented mass to this condition. A quantity
of pottery, many implements of copper, and a large number of spear-heads
chipped out of quartz and manganese garnet, were also deposited on the
hearth; but they were intermixed with much coal and ashes, and were all
more or less melted or broken up with the intense action of the fire.
Out of a bushel or two of fragments of the spear-heads, and of from
fifty to a hundred quartz arrow-heads, only four specimens were
recovered entire. Scattered over the deposits of earth filling one of
the compartments, were traces of a number of pieces of timber, four or
five feet long, supposed by the explorers to have supported a funeral or
sacrificial pile. They had been somewhat burned, and the carbonised
surface preserved their casts in the hard earth, although the wood had
entirely decayed. They had been heaped over while glowing, for the earth
around them was slightly baked; and thus, after repeated, and perhaps
long-protracted sacrificial rites, some grand final service had
consummated the religious mysteries; and the blazing altar was quenched
by means of the tumulus that was to preserve it for the instruction of
future ages.
The evidence that some of the altars remained in use for a considerable
period, and were repeatedly renewed ere they were finally covered over,
has suggested the idea that they are no more than the hearths of the
ancient Mound-Builders’ dwellings. But in some cases a single
altar-hearth has been found within extensive circumvallations. When in
groups their enclosures are slight demarcations, as of places sacred to
religious observances, and not defensive embankments with outer ditch.
Their contents cannot be regarded as mere miscellaneous deposits, either
like the waste heap of an Indian hut, or the contents of the modern
Indian’s ossuary; and it is obvious that those hearths have been
systematically overlaid with mounds constructed with great care, even
where they were devoid of other traces than the ashes of their final
fires. In one large mound, for example, one hundred and forty feet in
length, by sixty feet in greatest breadth,—already referred to as that
in which so many quartz spear and arrow-heads, with copper and other
relics, were found;—a new and smaller hearth was observed to have been
constructed within the oblong basin of the original altar. In this all
the relics deposited in the mound were placed, and the outer
compartments of the large basin had been filled up with earth to a
uniform level, the surface of which showed traces of fire. A more minute
examination led to the discovery that three successive altars had been
constructed, one above another, in addition to the smaller hearth or
focus which had received the final offerings, ere it was buried under
its enclosing mound. In other examples the altars have been observed to
be very slightly burned; but wherever such was the case, they have also
been destitute of remains.
Along with the evidences of a uniformity of system and purpose in those
structures, there is also considerable variety in some of their details;
and one group may be selected, as on several accounts possessing
peculiar features of interest. On the western bank of the Scioto, an
ancient enclosure occupies a level terrace immediately above the river.
In outline it is nearly square with rounded angles, and consists of a
simple embankment, between three and four feet high, unaccompanied by a
ditch, or any other feature suggestive of its having been a place of
defence. It encloses an area of thirteen acres, within which are
twenty-four mounds, including the large oblong one already referred to.
The whole of these have been excavated, and found to contain altars and
other remains, suggestive of places of sacrifice, and not of sepulture.
Here, therefore, it may be assumed, was one of the sacred enclosures of
the Mound-Builders. The name of “Mound City” has been given to it; and
the results of its exploration prove it to have been one of the most
remarkable scenes of ancient ceremonial in the Scioto Valley. It would
almost seem as if here an altar had been reared to each god in the
American pantheon; for not the least remarkable feature observed in
reference to this class of mounds is, that they do not disclose a
miscellaneous assemblage of relics, like the Indian’s ossuary or
grave-mound. On the contrary, the sacrificial deposits are generally
nearly homogeneous. On one altar sculptured pipes are chiefly found, to
the number of hundreds; on another pottery, copper ornaments, stone
implements, or galena; on others, only an accumulation of calcined
shells, carbonaceous ashes, or burnt bones. One mound of this enclosure
covered a hearth in the form of a parallelogram of the utmost
regularity, measuring ten feet in length, by eight in width, and
containing a deposit of fine ashes, with fragments of pottery, from
which the pieces of one beautiful vase were recovered and restored. With
these also lay a few shell and pearl beads. In another oblong mound, the
altar was an equally perfect square, but with a circular basin,
remarkable for its depth, and filled with a mass of calcined shells.
Another, though of small dimensions, contained nearly two hundred pipes,
carved with ingenious skill, of a red porphyritic stone, into figures of
animals, birds, reptiles, and human heads. In addition to these were
also disks, tubes, and ornaments of copper, pearl and shell beads, etc.,
but all more or less injured by the heat, which had been sufficiently
intense to melt some of the copper relics. The number of the objects
found in this mound exceed any other single deposit. Some of them supply
illustrations of great importance relative to the arts, habits, and
probable origin of their makers; and that they were objects of value
purposely exposed to the destructive element can scarcely admit of
doubt. A like diversity marks the contents of other mounds, both within
the enclosure referred to, and in others where careful explorations have
been effected. From one, for example, upwards of six hundred disks of
hornstone were taken, and it was estimated that the entire deposit
numbered little short of four thousand.
It thus appears that sacrifices by fire were practised as an important
and oft-repeated part of the sacred rites of the Mound-Builders; and
also that certain specific and varying purposes were aimed at in the
offerings. The altar-mounds are chiefly found within what appear to have
been enclosures devoted primarily, if not exclusively, to religious
purposes; but they also occur, generally as single works, within the
military strongholds: where it may be assumed they sufficed for
sacrifices designed to propitiate the objects of national worship, and
to win the favour of their deities, when the garrisons were precluded
from access to the sacred enclosures where national religious rites were
chiefly celebrated.
Within a quarter of a mile of “Mound City” a work of somewhat similar
outline, but of larger dimensions, suggests the idea of a fortified
site: not designed as a military stronghold, but as a walled town,
wherein those who officiated at the sacrifices of the adjacent temple
may have resided. Unlike the slight enclosure of the latter, its walls
are guarded by an outer fosse; and if surmounted by a palisade, or other
military work, they were well suited for defence. The area thus enclosed
measures twenty-eight acres; and nearly, if not exactly, in the centre
is a sacred mound, which covered an altar of singular construction, and
with remarkable traces of sacrificial rites. It had undergone repeated
changes before its final inhumation. Upon the altar was found an
accumulation of burnt remains, carefully covered with a layer of sand,
above which was heaped the superstructure of the mound. “The deposit
consisted of a thin layer of carbonaceous matter, intermingled with
which were some burnt human bones, but so much calcined as to render
recognition extremely difficult. Ten well-wrought copper bracelets were
also found, placed in two heaps, five in each, and encircling some
calcined bones,—probably those of the arms upon which they were worn.
Besides these were found a couple of thick plates of mica, placed upon
the western slope of the altar.”[88]
All investigations coincide in proving that the altars of the
Mound-Builders were used for considerable periods, and that their final
incovering was effected with systematic care. In this respect they
present a striking contrast to the sepulchral mounds of the Indians, the
largest and most imposing of which are no more than huge grave-mounds,
or earth-pyramids, sometimes elliptical or pear-shaped, but exhibiting
in their internal structure no trace of any further design than to heap
over the sarcophagus of the honoured chief such a tumulus as should
preserve his name and fame to after times.
The investigation of this class of ancient works suggests many curious
questions to which it is difficult to furnish any satisfactory answer.
It seems probable that not only each successive stage in the use and
reconstruction of the altar, but in the building of the superincumbent
mound, had its own significance and accompanying rites. In one of the
“Mound City” structures, after penetrating through four successive
sand-strata, interposed at intervals of little more than a foot between
layers of earth; and excavating altogether to a depth of nineteen feet:
a smooth level floor of slightly burned clay was found, covered with a
thin layer of sand, and on this a series of round plates of mica, ten
inches or a foot in diameter, were regularly disposed, overlapping each
other like the scales of a fish. The whole deposit was not uncovered,
but sufficient was exposed to lead the observers to the conclusion that
the entire layer of mica was arranged in the form of a crescent, the
full dimensions of which must measure twenty feet from horn to horn, and
five feet at its greatest breadth. In some mounds the accumulated
carbonaceous matter, like that formed by the ashes of leaves or grass,
might suggest the graceful offerings of the first-fruits of the earth.
In others, the accumulation of hundreds of elaborately carved stone
pipes on a single altar, is suggestive of some ancient peace- or
war-pipe ceremonial, in which the peculiar American custom of
tobacco-smoking had its special significance, and even perhaps its
origin. In others again, we should perhaps trace in the deposition under
the sacred mound of hundreds of spear and arrow-heads, copper axes, and
other weapons of war, a ceremonial perpetuated in the rude Indian
symbolism of burying the tomahawk or war-hatchet. But looking to the
evidence which so clearly separates the sepulchral from the sacred
mounds, it is scarcely possible to avoid the conclusion that on some of
the altars of the Mound-Builders human sacrifices were made; and that
within their sacred enclosures were practised rites not less hideous
than those which characterised the worship which the ferocious Aztecs
are affirmed to have regarded as most acceptable to their sanguinary
gods. Among the Mexicans, if we are to believe the narratives of their
Spanish conquerors, human sacrifices constituted the crowning rite of
almost every festival. That great exaggeration is traceable in the
narratives of the chronicles is admitted in part even by the
enthusiastic historian of the conquest of Mexico; and the charming
historical romance woven by Prescott, is perhaps even more open to
question in its reproduction of the gross charges of cannibalism and
wholesale butchery in the superstitious rites of the Mexicans: than in
its gorgeous picturings of their architectural magnificence, their
temples and palaces, sculptured fountains, floating gardens, and all the
strange blending of Moorish luxury, with the refinements of European
life, and its unreserved freedom of women.
Nothing corresponding to the geometrical enclosures or altar-mounds of
the Mississippi Valley appears among the works of any Indian nation
known to Europeans. Nevertheless in searching for evidence of their
ethnical affinities, we are naturally led to inquire if no traces of
their peculiar rites and customs can be detected in the ruder practices
of savage nations found in occupation of their deserted sites; and some
of those in use by different Indian tribes undoubtedly suggest ideas
such as may have animated the ancient people of the valley in the
construction and use of their mounds of sacrifice. One class of mound
relics, for example, is thus illustrated in Hariot’s narrative of the
discovery of Virginia in 1584. He describes the use of tobacco, called
by the natives _uppówoc_, and greatly enlarges on its medicinal virtues.
He then adds: “This _uppówoc_ is of so precious estimation amongst them
that they think their gods are marvellously delighted therewith,
whereupon sometime they make hallowed fires, and cast some of the powder
therein for a sacrifice.” The discovery of unmistakable evidence that
one of the sacred altars of “Mound City” was specially devoted to
nicotian rites and offerings, renders such allusions peculiarly
significant. In the belief of the ancient worshippers, the Great Spirit
smelled a sweet savour in the smoke of the sacred plant; and the homely
implement of modern luxury became in their hands a sacred censer, from
which the vapour rose with as fitting propitiatory odours as that which
perfumes the awful precincts of the cathedral altar, amid the mysteries
of the Church’s high and holy days.
It is indeed a vague and partial glimpse that we recover of the old
worshipper, with his strange rites, his buried arts, and the traces of
his propitiatory sacrifices. But slight as it is, it reveals a condition
of things diverse in many respects from all else that we know of the
former history of the New World; and on that account, therefore, its
most imperfect disclosures have an interest for us greater than any
discoveries relating to the modern Indian can possess. Still more is
that interest confirmed by every indication which seems to present the
ancient Mound-Builders as in some respects a link between the rude
tribes of the American forests and prairies, and those nations whom the
first Europeans found established in cities, under a well-ordered
government, and surrounded by many appliances of civilisation akin to
those with which they had been long familiar among ancient nations of
southern Asia. To the great centres of native progress still manifest in
the ruined memorials of extinct arts in Central America, and illustrated
by so many evidences of national development attained under Aztec and
Inca rule, attention must be directed with a view to comprehend whatever
was essentially native to the New World. But before turning southward to
those seats of a well-ascertained native civilisation, there still
remains for consideration one other class of earthworks of a very
peculiar character. The mineral regions from whence the Mound-Builders
derived their stores of copper have been described; but between them and
the populous valleys of the Ohio, an extensive region intervenes,
abounding in monuments no less remarkable than some of those already
referred to; and valuable as a possible link in the detached fragments
of such ancient chroniclings. Lying as they do in geographical, and
perhaps also in other relations, immediately between the old regions of
the Mound-Builders and the Miners of ante-Columbian centuries, they
cannot be overlooked in any archæological researches into the history of
the New World.
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[88] _Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley_, p. 157.