Page:Anthropology.djvu/64

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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY.
63

ference, and from 2 to 3 feet high. In Leech Township, on the west side of the river, is a group of six mounds, which have not been examined; neither has the one which is on the east of the river at the Iron Bridge, where the stage road crosses the stream. About one mile east and one mile south of the bridge are three mounds, standing as shown on the map, one of which was examined, and found to be a burial mound.About 100 yards southwest of these mounds is a pit 10 or 12 feet square and 7 or 8 feet deep, and within 6 or 8 feet of the river bank. It has never been examined. One of the old men in the vicinity told me he had noticed it every year for a long time, and says it is not nearly so large as it used to be. Just below, at the mouth of the Pond Creek (on the west side of the river), is a square inclosure, said to be 100 yards or more square, called the Old Fort, but I have not seen it. In Massillon Township is a group of seven or more mounds, as shown on the map. It is a very high bluff, and has been a famous place for the ancient race. It is a good fishing and hunting locality, the river at that point containing a shallow rapid or riffle, and just across the river on the east side is a low, flat, bottom land, stretching around for miles, and has been one of the choice spots for game.

In the northeastern part of the county are two mounds, which, from the description given, must be the largest in the county, being 60 or 80 feet high and wide in proportion, but they have never been examined.

Our mounds, as a rule, do not at all compare with those on the Ohio River, about 60 miles south of us. They are small and scattered, and are generally found in groups of from 3 to 20. I must not omit to mention that there are a number of mounds outside of Wayne County, situated on the bank of a river in White County. I have never been to see them, but I have been told that they number between thirty and forty, all in a row and following the trend of the river. Throughout the county generally are found more or less of the stone implements, but they are much more plentiful near the streams and in the timbered lands, and are scarce on the prairie.

In the Smithsonian Report for 1876 (page 436) is cited a remark of Messrs. Squier and Davis relating to the disks of black flint. There have been two deposits found in this country, one in the county south of us (White), and one in the county west (Jefferson). The first one contained thirteen of them, of which I obtained eight, and the other contained forty-six, of which I obtained several. Speaking of the disks, on page 440 (1876), it is said: "Thus far not one of them has been found isolated or bearing marks of use." This is a mistake, if mine are of the same kind as those spoken of by them, as I have found those in this county, one at a time, and one of them not quite twice the size of a trade-dollar. They are of the same stone and the same shape, &c., but none bear marks of use. In addition to those given above, fifteen more mounds have been found in Massillon Township. They are on the west side of the river, about one inch (as measured on the map sent) from the north