Ohio History Journal

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IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF ARCHAEOLOGY

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF ARCHAEOLOGY

IN OHIO.

IN no State of the Union are there more objects of archae-

ological interest than in Ohio, and never before were we so

well prepared to study them successfully as at the present

time. Pre-eminently is it the case with such objects as our

earthworks that they need to be studied by comparison with

other such works the world over. Their treasures of knowl-

edge cannot be rendered by themselves, nor even, with all the

fulness of our present information, can it reasonably be sup-

posed that these monuments can deliver up all their secret

stores of knowledge at the present time. It is, therefore, of

the utmost importance that the citizens of the State should be

aroused to the importance of preserving such monuments as

remain, and of collecting all the information extant respecting

such as have been destroyed. It is also of the greatest im-

portance that explorations of these works in the future should

be conducted with the greatest accuracy and upon the most

approved system. In the approaching centennial of the set-

tlement of this State there is no other department of historical

research making such imperative demands as this upon the

attention of its citizens. We bespeak a general interest in

the subject and the hearty co-operation of all with the aims of

this Society. We cannot introduce the subject better than

by printing a letter from Professor Putnam, Curator of the

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in Harvard

College, and incorporated in the first report of the Committee

of our Society upon the preservation of the earthworks of

Ohio:

"CAMBRIDGE, MASS., Feb. 10, 1885.

"DEAR PROF. WRIGHT: It is with much pleasure that I

learn from your letter that at last there is hope of some action

being taken by the Archaeological Society of Ohio to induce

the State to provide for the protection of the more important

of the ancient monuments within her borders, works which all

students of American archaeology know to be as important to

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