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 58 ABORIGINAL MONUMENTS

discovered ; not far from one hundred occurred in a single mound. They were all too much burned to be recovered entire. One of the largest measured six inches in length, and upwards of four inches in circumference at the largest part. They are destitute of enamel, and have a pulp cavity, in this respect resembling those of the whale, from which, however, they differ widely in shape. They have not yet been identified. The mound-builders evidently used them for various purposes, and some of the articles taken for ivory may have been made from them. A specimen was found which exhibited marks of haying been sawn, drilled, and polished. Accompanying them were several beautifully carved cylinders of a compact substance resembling ivory ; one of these was originally fourteen inches in length, and when found was closely wrapped in sheet copper. Bones of the elk, deer, &c., worked into the form of daggers, awls, &c., are of frequent occurrence.

It is impossible here to indicate the great variety of the implements and ornaments of silver, copper, stone, &c. &c., found in the mounds. Many of these are of a very inter- esting character, as illustrating the state of ancient art, and as enabling us, from the material of which they are composed, their peculiarities of form, and correspondences of use, to define the intercourse, and in some degree the con- nections, of the ancient races. From what has already been presented, it will be seen that there are gathered in the mounds, or the alluvions of the Ohio, copper and silver from the Great Lakes; pearls and shells from the Southern Gulf; mica from the primitive ranges of the Alleghanies, and obsidian from the volcanic ridges of Mexico,—an extended range, the extremes of which define, with great precision, the field in which the mounds occur. 1t would almost seem that the ancient race existed contemporane- ously over this great area, maintaining throughout a con- stant intercourse.

There is one class of ancient remains which probably