Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/195

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��the bottom, was found. It is about fifteen inches deep, and contains four distinct impres- sions of a drill, one and a fourth inches in diam- eter, and seven inches long. The inside of this block has been neatly dressed, and would answer well for the purpose for which it evi- dently was intended. Investigations proved the block to be the work of an old pioneer, front- iersman, bj' the name of Horrick. hence dis- pelling the romance of its supposed origin.

Clear Creek Township contains more relics for the archaeologist than any in this part of the county. The nature of the soil enabled the Mound-Builders to erect earthworks that can yet be seen. On Section 36. there was an ancient embankment, known as the •• Square Fort," very few of which have been found in Ohio. Mr. John Bryte entered the land on which the fort was situated, about half a cen- tury ago. Then huge forest trees grew about and on the fort, showing its antiquity. At the time Mr. Bryte entered the land, the walls of this embankment were about three feet high, and probably twent}' feet wide at the base. The east and west sides were about 800 feet long ; the north and south 200. At the south- west corner was a gateway leading to a very fine spring. Dr. Hill thinks the walls were at one time probably seven feet high, as sufficient soil has been worn down to have made them that height, if not greater.

Two old and curiously constructed mounds were found by the pioneers on Section 35. An elevation, composed of well-rounded bowlders, gravel and light loam — ancient glacial drift — lifts its head over one hundred feet above the surrounding valley's. When the glacial flow occurred, this large mound, containing over six acres, was left intact, alone on the plain. The surface on the top is about one hundred and twenty -five feet long from north to south, and about one hundred feet wide. Mr. Thomas Sprott, one of the early pioneers of this section, owns the farm on which this mound is placed.

��and when he settled here, says he found on the summit two smaller mounds, about twenty -five feet apart, nearly four feet high, and about thirty feet in size at the base. Large forest trees grew on the summit of this mound, and on the mounds on its crest. In making exca- vations about one of the smaller mounds, he found bones, Indian paint, arrow heads, etc., showing that the locality was used b}' the abo- rigines as a place of burial.

The principal mounds in this county have now been mentioned. They open a. wide field of investigation, and may throw light on the problem that shrouds their makers in the dark- ness of antiquity. It will also l>e well to notice the implements made by this race, especially those found in Richland County.

Very few, if any, copper implements have been found in this part of Ohio, owing partly to the fact of the unexplored condition of many of the mounds, and to the fact that little, if any, copper exists in this part of the United States. What does exist is in loose fragments that have been washed down from the upper lake. region. When mounds are explored, great care is neces- sary lest these small utensils be lost, as they are commonly scattered through the mass, and not always in close proximity to the skeletons. The copper deposits about Lake Superior fur- nished the prehistoric man with this metal, and. judging from the amount of relics made of this metal now found, it must have been quite abundant. The population of the country then must have been quite numerous, as occasional copper implements, tempered to an exceeding hardness, ai-e still found about the country. These implements are small, generally less than half a pound in weight, and seldom exceeding three pounds. There were millions of these in use during the period of the ancient dwellers, which must have been thousands of 3-ears in duration. The copper implements left on the surface soon dis- appeared b}' decomposition, to which copper is

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