Military Posts in the State of
Ohio. 313
FORT ANCIENT, AN OUTLINE DESCRIPTION.
The accompanying map from the survey
made under my
direction by Messrs. Fowke and Cowen
will acquaint the reader
with the hillsides and the embankments.
The walls run in very
crooked lines, always following the
brink of deep ravines,
twisting and turning in the directions
which would afford best
protection. The following briefly
narrated facts regarding the
embankments should be carefully noted.
The composition is tough, glacial clay.
A stone wall is
frequently found within the earth
embankment. The stones
average in size 14x20 to 9x14 inches and
in places remain stand-
ing to a height of eight feet. The earth
from the top of the
embankment washes down and covers them,
hence the wall can-
not be witnessed save by excavation.
Height and breadth. The
embankments average 13½ feet in
height. The average 431/2 feet wide at
base, 4 feet at summit.
Maximum height 3391/2 feet. Minimum,
41/3 feet.
Number of gateways 74.
Number of natural washes, occasionally
mistaken for gate-
ways 9.
Average length of walls between
gateways, 239½ feet.
Height above Atlantic Ocean level, 941
feet.
Divisions. The portion north of the Isthmus is called upon
the map New Fort. A better name is South
Fort. The central
part, Middle Fort; the portion south of
Great Gateway has been
called Old Fort. A better and not so
confusing a name would
be South Fort.
Terraces, bastions, etc. There are artificial "roads" or
terraces extending around the hillsides
on the river side of the
fortification. One or two short ones
follow the foot of the wall
just east ot the Great Gateway for a few
hundred yards. These
terraces are covered with stone graves.
Many spurs or bastions
run out for varying distances from each
gateway, and overlook
or command the ravine. This is
particularly true of the great
314 Ohio Arch. and His. Society Publications. [VOL. 3
hollow east of the structure, against
which the builders seem to
have protected themselves with the
greatest of care.
Washes and erosion. The fort walls do not easily erode,
being composed of very tough clay. They
are covered with
shrubs and large trees, the roots of the
latter, together with grass
and moss, forming a considerable
protection against storms and
wearing paths such as the thousands of
visitors to the enclosure
would undoubtedly make.
"Some ravines were probably small
when the fortification
was built, and others were large and
deep. The wall was carried
across the smaller ones, but stopped on
the edge of the bank of
the larger ones. Many of these have
since washed out, and the
washes in some of them are very old. A
good idea of the age
of this fortification can be obtained by
studying these washes.
Length of Embankment. Total length. 18,712.2 feet or
32/3 miles.
Two races fought for position and
supremacy at Fort
Ancient. The one had a skull of
Brachycephalic type, the
cranium of the other was
Solichocephalic. One buried in hol-
lowed vaults or stone graves, the other
underneath small mounds
rudely thrown up upon the terraces. Both
were savages, the
"stone-grave people," being
but a degree removed from their
enemies in that they were able to
construct the fortification.
The proofs of the two races are:
(a) Two types of crania.
(b) Two modes of burial.
(c) Two classes of implements and
pottery.
(d) Two kinds of lodge or house circles.
That neither of these peoples were
"civilized" is set forth
in the manner employed in the
construction of the embankments;
in the cemeteries, in the village site
debris. Dark patches of
earth of the size of peck measure,
several of which still retain
the imprint, the laced work of
a basket around them, have been
found in the walls. In the village sites
twenty-seven birds,
animals, fish and reptiles in ashes and
cooking places have been
found, together with a multitude of bone
shell, stone and clay
Military Posts in the State of
Ohio. 315
objects used by the woman, the man and
the child of the fort-
construction-period.
We have found a complete chain of
testimony regarding the
purpose for which the fort was erected,
we now know how it was
built, the characteristics of the
builders and their enemies; in
short, old Fort Ancient is no longer a
mystery. In the near
future, the writer hopes to be able to
give to the public a lengthy
and comprehensive account of the
discoveries made this summer.
WARREN K. MOOREHEAD.