Page:Observationsonab00squi.djvu/10

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY
7

Davis, M. D., of Ohio, commenced the series of investigations, a brief and very general statement of some of the results of which is herewith presented. It is proper to remark, that these investigations were set on foot, with no view to ulterior publication, but to satisfy individual inquiry. At the outset, all preconceived notions were abandoned, and the work of research commenced, as if no speculations had been indulged in, nor any thing before been known, respecting the singular remains of antiquity scattered so profusely around us. It was concluded that, either the field should be entirely abandoned to the poet and the romancer, or, if these monuments were capable of reflecting any certain light upon the grand archeological questions connected with the primitive history of the American continent, the origin, migration, and early state of the American race, that then they should be carefully and minutely, and above all, systematically investigated.

The locality chosen for the commencement of operations, is a section of the Scioto River and Paint Creek valleys, of which the city of Chillicothe is the centre, and which possesses a deserved celebrity for its beauty, unexampled fertility, and the great number, size, and variety of its ancient remains. Situated in the middle of Southern Ohio, and possessing a mild and salubrious climate, this seems to have been one of the centres of ancient population; and, probably, no other equal portion of the Mississippi basin furnishes so rich and interesting a field for the antiquary. A glance at the accompanying “Map of a Section of Twelve Miles of the Scioto Valley, with its Ancient Monuments,” will fully illustrate this remark.

The plan of operations was agreed upon, and the fieldwork commenced, early in the spring of 1845. Subsequently, the plan was greatly extended, and the investigations were carried on, with slight interruption, up to the summer of 1847. The scope of this paper will not admit of a detailed account of the mode in which the explorations were con-

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.