All that we have seen and learned of the Mounds and Earthworks, up to
this point, is merely what anyone, by using his eyes, might see and
learn; in fact, just what the pioneers observed. In other words we have
looked at them from the outside, without knowing the secrets buried
inside them. And now, since the Mound-builders left no written history
behind them, we must get acquainted with another branch of science in
order to obtain the information we desire. This new science is known as
Archæology, and the man or woman who works at it is called an
archæologist. Archæology is really the science of old things; that is,
it concerns itself with the things which human beings did before they
became intelligent enough to write and leave behind them their own
histories. Since he has no intentional records to guide him, the
archæologist depends mostly on exploration or digging into ancient ruins
and remains for his information. Thus he finds the rude relics of
by-gone ages, relics lost or thrown away by their one-time users, and
from these he pieces together the story of a people.
Having met the archæologist, we may now get an insight into the
interiors of the mounds, cemeteries and village-sites of the
Mound-builders. Let us go ahead of our story for a moment and explain
that archæologists, as a result of their explorations, have found that
there were numerous kinds, or cultures as he calls them, of
Mound-builders. While all of them were closely related, and belonged to
the same race, they differed greatly among themselves in manners and
customs. Some of them were rather highly advanced in their civilization,
while others were rather backward, just as is true of the various tribes
and nations of Indians of later or historic times. With some of them the
trait or habit of building mounds was very important while with others
it was only a sort of “side-line.” Some of them merely placed their dead
upon the surface and piled earth above the remains to form a Mound,
while others prepared carefully made tombs of logs within the Mound for
the dead. Some were skilled in the use of copper and silver, the weaving
of cloth and the making of potteryware, while others contented
themselves with only flint and stone and the simpler arts of living.