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
55
56 Ohio
Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
the history of America as the pyramids
of the Nile valley are
to that of Egypt.
"Within the territory of the State
of Ohio are many re-
markable and extensive series of ancient
works, some of which
are unlike any others known, while
several have such close
resemblances to those of other parts of
America, and even
with those of Europe and Asia, that
their preservation for fu-
ture study and comparison, under such
new light as further
research will give, is of the utmost
importance.
"The admirable work of Squier and
Davis, embracing as it
does the plans and descriptions of
earlier observers in the
field, with their own additional
surveys, will, by the faithful
illustrations and well written pages,
ever provide an account
of the ancient monuments of Ohio; but
this is not sufficient
for the thorough student, as he must see
the works himself and
study them with that minuteness and
discrimination which
modern science demands in all
departments. As this is true
to-day, consider how much more important
it will be in time
to come, now that the rapid advance of
archaeology is widen-
ing the field of inquiry and demanding
the constant re-exam-
ination of facts.
"The State of Ohio has an important
trust in her keeping,
and one which has been neglected too
long. Even now,
many of the important works of the
peoples who formerly
lived in her beautiful valleys have been
levelled by the plough
or thoughtlessly destroyed in building
towns and cities. Had
there been a proper appreciation of
these grand old monu-
ments of the past, how many a town and
city in the State
could have added beauty and grandeur to
its public squares
and parks by their preservation. Even
Marietta, where every
precaution was taken by its enlightened
founders to preserve
a portion of the remarkable earthworks
over which the city is
partly built, a few years since
permitted one of the great em-
bankments to be carted away for the
manufacture of bricks,
and the words sacred way, the name of
the road which
formerly passed between the old
embankments, painted on a
sign board and nailed to the corner of a
fence, is a painful
illustration of the probable fate of
many other works of like
character if not protected by the strong
arm of the State.
"Circleville is another deplorable
instance of the destruc-
tion of ancient works, where much could
have been saved in
such a way as to have added beauty to
the town, had there
been a proper appreciation of the
subject. The rapidity with
which these works are disappearing from the surface can
be
noted by any one who will take the trouble to hunt for
many
The Study of Archaeology in
Ohio. 57
of those described and figured in the
valuable work by Squier
and Davis, to which I have alluded. It
will be found, on
such an examination, that scores have
been destroyed. Here
and there a mound is left, and
occasionally a hard ridge of
clay is found, but in many instances all
traces, even of large
works, have disappeared, except to the
practiced eye of a
field archaeologist. In a few cases, as
at Hopeton and High
Bank, the larger walls have held out
thus far, because of the
difficulty of ploughing over them, but
they are slowly giving
away, and if not at once protected the
farmer will make an
attack on them for the purpose of
levelling his fields. What
remains of these famous, and among the
best known and most
widely written about, of the works in
the Scioto valley should
be saved, and the destroyed portions
should be carefully re-
stored, under proper direction, so far
as can be done by fol-
lowing an early and authentic survey.
"Among the other great works of
that valley, those of
Cedar Bank, as among the least injured,
should be saved at
once, as well as several of the large
mounds. The 'Liberty
Works' are, unfortunately, so nearly
levelled as to be beyond
restoration.
"The two famous effigy mounds of
the State, the 'Ser-
pent' and the 'Alligator,' should be
saved at once from
further destruction, and several of the
great fortifications will,
if protected, be beyond price to future
generations. 'Fort
Ancient' and 'Fort Hill' should be
secured at once from
further injury by cattle, hogs, and the
plough.
"The fortified hill in Butler
county, with its complicated
gateways, is another place which should
be protected without
loss of time. The circle and some of the
other works at
Newark can still be saved, and Marietta
has yet time to pre-
vent a further disgrace falling upon her
by the greater pro-
tection of the platform mounds, which,
although nominally
reserved as public squares, are not
adequately guarded nor
properly cared for.
"Of course there are many other
ancient works of various
kinds in different parts of the State
which are as worthy of
protection as those I have mentioned,
and as soon as an effort
is made in the State, local interest
will make them known.
"The great interest I have taken in
the archaeology of
Ohio, on account of its being of the
first importance in rela-
tion to that of the rest of the country,
leads me to call your
attention to what I have said on other
occasions in regard to
the importance of the preservation of
many of the ancient
works which I have visited and you will therefore
excuse my
58
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly.
referring to the following papers in
which I have called at-
tention to the subject:
"The Sixteenth Report of the
Peabody Museum of Amer-
ican Archaeology and Ethnology, pp.
168-9; Seventeenth
Report, pp. 348-9 and particularly pp.
350 351. Proceed-
ings of the American Antiquarian
Society, October, 1883.
" With the earnest hope that the
Ohio State Archaeologi-
cal Society will use every effort in its
power to secure a law
for the protection of the Ancient
Monuments of Ohio, and
with the assurance that the Trustees and
officers of this Mu-
seum, founded for the study of the
Archaeology and Ethnol-
ogy of America and the preservation of
her antiquities, will
give all aid in their power to such an important
and noble
object, I remain, faithfully yours,
F. W. PUTNAM."
We append two or three extracts from the
publication of
Professor Putnam, referred to in his
letter:
"Fort Ancient is the largest and
most interesting of the
remaining earthworks of Ohio. We walked
over the whole
of the nearly five miles of high
enbankment and noticed with
regret the many signs pointing to its
early destruction. Al-
though it has withstood the elements for
untold centuries, it
is falling before the American farmer
with his all-destroying
plough, his herds of cattle and droves
of swine. The im-
mense enbankments, from twelve to twenty
feet in height
and sixty or more in width, are now
gradually being under-
mined. Along their summits a fence has been
built, by the
side of which the cattle have worn a
deep path, and from
this, after every rain, flow hundreds of
little rills which are
slowly but surely washing the earth from
the top to the bot-
tom of the steep banks. Here and there,
also, a ditch has
been made to drain the fields enclosed,
which every spring
cuts deeper and deeper into the ancient
walls. After fully
appreciating the immensity of this
structure and realizing the
enormous amount of human labor which was
bestowed cen-
turies ago upon these ancient walls and
the mounds which
they enclose, it was with a sigh that I
turned away feeling
myself powerless to save so important a
monument of the
past for the wonder and admiration of
future generations.
The Study of Archaeology in
Ohio. 59
It would require but a few thousand
dollars to secure this
grand old work, and with little expense
the recently de-
stroyed portions could be restored and
nature be induced
again to furnish her protecting coat of
verdure, and with
slight care from coming generations this
achievement of an
unknown people would be preserved for
all time to come."
(Pp. 168, 169).
"Fort Hill, of which an accurate
description and figure
are given by Squier and Davis, is in
several respects one of
the most remarkable of the prehistoric
works in the State of
Ohio, and has not yet suffered much by
the hand of man,
thanks to its being difficult of access.
Nature has held
almost undisputed sway over the works
since they were de-
serted, and forest trees of great age
are growing upon the
walls and within the enclosure. The
walls of this fort are
formed of stones taken from the top of
the hill and from the
ditch made on the inside of the walls.
These walls are from
eight to fifteen feet high and from
twenty to thirty or more
feet in width, and they enclose an area
of nearly fifty acres.
They are carried around the very brow of
the hill, forming a
continuation of its steep sides. Some
conception of the
antiquity of the place may be derived
from the size of a
decayed oak stump still standing upon
the summit of the wall,
which measures seven by nine feet in its
two diameters,
nearly three feet from the ground. This
is probably the
same stump which thirty-seven years ago
Squier and Davis
reported as having a circumference of
twenty-three feet."
(P. 349).
"A generation of men has not yet
passed away since most
of these earthworks were in a good state
of preservation;
our children's children will look for
them in vain, unless
something is done at once to preserve
them. Is it not pos-
sible to protect these ancient works
before it is too late?
Every year that passes without action is
one more year
allowed for ploughing over and
destroying these wonderful
works. A few thousand dollars expended now
for the pur-
chase of those which are best preserved
will save monuments
that future generations will surely
value beyond all price.
60 Ohio Archaeological and
Historical Quarterly.
Shall Fort Ancient, Fort Hill, Hopeton,
The Serpent, and
many other ancient works in various
parts of Ohio be obliter-
ated? Shall such vandalism, such shame,
be laid to Ameri-
cans of this century? If the State will
not take action, cannot
the cities, or counties, or local
societies become the preservers
of ancient monuments? By Americans, who
have so little of
the past to preserve, these works of
another race should be
regarded with veneration and reverence.
Of what value are
our recent monuments of stone and bronze
compared with
these? Would it not be well to form an
association for the
preservation of ancient monuments?"
(Pp. 350, 351).
The persistent labors of the archaeologists
of the country
have already produced results going far
towards a solution of
the mystery of the mounds of Ohio. On
this point, the fol-
lowing extract from a letter recently
received from Professor
Cyrus Thomas, of the Smithsonian
Institution, speaks vol-
umes, and should act as an incentive to
further zeal on the part
of all who are pursuing the study of
archaeology. Professor
Thomas writes:
"You can say to your society that
the mistery of the
mounds is being solved. We have now
proof that the Cher-
okees were the authors of the mounds of
East Tennessee and
western North Carolina so strong and
convincing that when
presented no one will doubt it any
longer. Our explorations
of the works of the Kanawha Valley show,
on the one hand
that they were constructed by those who
built the mounds of
East Tennessee and North Carolina, and
on the other that
the people who built them were the
authors of the so-called
altar mounds of Ohio. There is also
other evidence that the
Cherokees were the authors of the
typical works of Ohio,
and are identical with the Tallegwi of
tradition. The mounds
furnish positive evidence that the
typical mound-builders of
Ohio did not go south and merge into the
Chata-Miskakee
tribes as Judge Force surmised. They
were Cherokees."