Editorialana. 577
PRE-HISTORIC MAP.
Concerning the archaeological atlas of
Ohio now being prepared
by The Ohio State Archaeological and
Historical Society, under the
direction of W. C. Mills, Curator of the
Society, the Associated Press
has given out the following statement:
Work on the archaeological atlas of
Ohio, a work unique of its
kind in the history of literature, is
about one-fourth completed, but so
quietly has it been in progress that
few, if any persons outside the
membership of the Ohio Archaeological
and Historical Society have
known of it. It will require at least a
year longer to complete.
The nearest approaches to this work are
an archaeological map
of the state of New York, which has been
completed and published,
and a series of maps which Wisconsin is
having prepared, showing
its wealth of mounds. Ohio, moreover,
according to William C. Mills,
curator and librarian of the Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Society,
has as much material in almost any of
its counties as most of the states.
The present work has been systematically
undertaken. There will
be a plate and a map for each of the 88
counties. Of these more than
20 have been completed. For a basis the
United States topographical
survey maps are being used. The scale is
one-half inch to the mile,
which permits of a vast amount of detail
going into the maps.
In telling of the work, Mr. Mills
continually says "we are doing
this and that," but that is only
modesty, and he is doing practically
all the work himself.
Work was begun in the north-eastern part
of the state, so that
the biggest counties are still to come.
The Miami, Scioto and Mus-
kingum valleys are richest in
archaeological treasures, and will entail
the most work in making the surveys.
Scioto county has just been
completed and the plate will be issued
in a few weeks. While some
counties have a great deal more material
than others, not one of
the 88 is barren.
Mr. Mills says it is a fact not
generally known that they are both
numerous and important, but, for the
most part they have all been
partly explored by amateurs, so that
when the society gets to work it
has little material to work on. Every
exploration has value, he says,
in proof of which he cites the recently
explored Seip mound in Ross
county. In it alligator teeth were
found, proving to the satisfaction
of the archaeologist the wide extent of
commerce carried on by the
aborigines and the long distance they
traveled. This is, to date, the
only case on record wherein such teeth
were found this far north.
Then, too, the scientific conception of
what the mounds really
were, has changed since most persons
learned about them. They are
no longer considered as signal towers,
forts or dwelling places. In-