Ancient Stone Buildings Diagrammed in Missouri and Franklin County, Indiana

Ancient Stone Buildings Diagrammed in Missouri and Franklin County, Indiana

Illustrated History of Missouri, 1879
    The stone edifices thus described seem to have been peculiar to Missouri alone, as I find no notices of existing similar works in any other locality, unless those described by Mr. Brown in his Western Gazetteer were such. Those were found near the town of Harrisonville, Franklin Co., in the State of Indiana. They were located on the neighboring hills, northeast of the town. The ruins of quite a number were observed, all of which, it is stated, were built of rough, unhewn stone. The walls were leveled nearly to the foundations, and covered with soil, brush and full-grown trees. Mr. Brown informs us that "after clearing away the earth, roots, and rubbish from one of them, he found it to have been anciently occupied as a dwelling. It was about twelve feet square. At one end of the building was a regular hearth, on which were yet the ashes and coals of the last fire its owners had ever-enjoyed, for around the hearth were the decayed skeletons of eight persons, of different ages, from a small child to the head of a family. Their feet were all pointing towards the hearth, which fact suggests the probability that they were murdered while asleep." The bottom lands in this region are said to have abounded in mounds similar to those described elsewhere, and containing human bones, implements of stone, and a superior article of glazed pottery. A skull taken from one of them was found pierced with a flint arrow which was still sticking in the wound, and was about six inches long. The stone dwellings described by Mr. Brown were evidently of inferior construction to those of Missouri. The authors of the latter showed no mean skill in architecture; while the rough and ruder walls of the Indiana structures, their diminutive size, along with the fact of the whole family lying together on the floor, would indicate a social condition but little removed from barbarism. Whether their builders belonged to the race of the mounds in the valleys near, is not certain, and the means of deciding the question are doubtless destroyed.

Ancient Fish Wells Carved in the Rock in Paint Creek, Ross County, Ohio

Ancient Fish Wells Carved in the Rock in Paint Creek, Ross County, Ohio

I am not convinced that these wells carved deep into the rock of Paint Creek were functional.  Their proximity to the ceremonial earthworks makes me lean more to them being sacred wells that may have been presided over by a priestess.


Illustrated History of Missouri

   Many years ago, in the bed of Paint Creek, in Ross County, Ohio, several deep cavities or wells were discovered, which gave rise to much speculation as to their origin and purpose. I believe they have since been found in many other localities. Mr. Pidgeon states that he discovered four similar ones in the bed of a small tributary of the St. Peters river, varying in depth from eight to twelve feet, from five to six feet in diameter at the bottom and from three to five feet at the top. These excavations were made in the soft slate rock which formed the bed of the stream. To the level top, or rim of the well, a thin flat rock was fitted, with a round or square hole in the center, about twelve inches in diameter. This opening could be closed at will, by a stone stopper perforated with small holes. A short distance below the wells he found one of these stoppers which fitted neatly the larger capstone of one of the wells. At the time of their discovery, the depth of the stream which flowed over them was ten inches. Mocking-Bird informed him that these were fish traps and that many such could be found in other streams, were they not so filled with mud and stones as to escape observation;  and also that they were constructed and used anciently for the purpose of securing a supply of fish for the winter. Large quantities of bait being deposited in them in the fall, the fish would gather there in great numbers, when the stopper would be placed over the mouth, which prevented their escape, and then they could be taken out with a small net as desired. While it is no doubt true that the mound-builders were an agricultural people, it is quite reasonable to suppose, from the fact that their most extensive works are found upon the shores of lakes and banks of rivers, that fish formed no inconsiderable item of their bill of fare.

Stone Altar for Human Sacrifice Discovered at the Portsmouth Ancient Ceremonial Earthen Temple

Stone Altar for Human Sacrifice Discovered at the Portsmouth Ancient Ceremonial Earthen Temple

Photo shows the Children's home in the background with the horseshoe-shaped work in the foreground.

Prehistoric America, 1905
Mr. T. W.Kinney says the mound, which was a natural elevation, was selected as the site for a children's house. In excavating the cellar there was discovered a circular altar composed of stones which were standing close together, and showed evidence of heat.  This altar was four feet below the surface. leading from the altar was a channel about eighteen inches wide, composed of clay, which was designed to "Carry off the blood,' giving the idea that human sacrifices were offered here, as upon the altars of Avebury, England.

The Children's home and the site of the altar for human sacrifice was within the circular earthwork to the north of the horseshoe-shaped earthworks.

Combe-Capelle Type Cro-Magnon Skull Discovered in Wisconsin

Combe-Capelle Type Cro-Magnon Skull Discovered in Wisconsin

The Combe Capelle skull was discovered in France and is dated to about 7,500 B.C.: it has been labeled as Cro Magnon.  The same Archaic features can be found within the Maritime Archaic skulls from Northern Germany, Denmark to North America.  The Maritime Archaic migrated from the coastal regions to the Great Lakes.  Their skulls are easily recognized by the protruding brow ridge and sloping forehead. 

The Sacred Number 3 and the Mound Builders in Ohio and the British Isles

The Sacred Number 3 and the Mound Builders

The Ohio Serpent faces the confluence of  3 creeks, it has 3 bends in the body and the tail coils 3 times. Upstream on Brush Creek is Fort Hill that is also a serpentine shaped work that has 33 gateways. 

The most common cluster of Adena (Beaker People) mounds is in groups of three, many times in the form of a triangle. 

    The mound itself is built as all other serpent mounds are, no matter in what country. The head of the serpent, containing the altar, is on a high bluff overlooking Brush Creek. The first rays of the Sun God fell first upon this altar, and from it, far below, the priests of the ancient faith could see the ♦three forks of the river. This trinity, whether it be three rivers or three mountains, is always to be seen from an altar of the serpent worshippers and is always unmistakable. The altar is invariably placed in the one spot from which the Trinity may be seen. It is always placed where the first rays of the rising sun may fall upon it. From the neighboring lands, the awe-struck worshippers of old might see the priests 

perform their fearsome rites and watch the victim of the stone knives gasp out his last breath as the first tongue of flame licked at his still quivering flesh. Just what these rites were will never be known, in all probability. But that fire and knife played a part in them can hardly be doubted 
from the mute witnesses found by modern searchers.

Located north of the Serpent mound is Fort Hill in Highland County, Ohio.  There are 33 gateways

in the stone walls. The northern entrance represents two serpent heads.

The stone walls of Fort Hill undulate like a giant serpent between the 33 gateways. T

here is little doubt that the Serpent Mound and Fort Hill were contsructed to be numerically harmonic.

The Serpent Mound in Oban, Scotland, also constructed by the Beaker People, 

also has 3 bends of the body, 2 bends of the tail and faces 3 mountain peaks. 

The head of the serpent also had a  stone alter. 

Mysteries of the Serpent Mound

Blonde Haired, Blue Eyed Mandan Indians Were Remnants of the Ohio Mound Builders

Blonde Haired, Blue Eyed Mandan Indians Were Remnants of the Ohio Mound Builders

Blonde hair, blued eyed Mandan woman painted by George Catlin

THE MYSTERY OF THE MANDANS

© 1998 Charles W. Moore

In 1832, lawyer, frontiersman and pictorial historian George Catlin lived for several months among the Mandan Indians, near the site of present- day Bismarck, North Dakota. The Mandans were distinctly different from all other native American tribes Catlin had encountered, not least for the fact that one-fifth or one-sixth of them were "nearly white" with light blue eyes. Catlin deemed the Mandans to be "advanced farther in the arts of manufacture," than any other Indian nation, and their lodges were equipped with "more comforts and luxuries of life."

Some Mandan women, especially, possessed almost Nordic features -- characteristics clearly shown in Catlin's surviving portraits of Sha-ko-ka ("Mint") and Mi-neek-e-sunk-te-ka ("Mink"). Apart from their Indian clothing, these women might have been mistaken for Europeans. Catlin described Mandan women as having "a mildness and sweetness of expression, and excessive modesty of demeanor," rendering them "exceedingly pleasing and beautiful." He found Mandans in general to be "a very interesting and pleasing people in their personal appearance and manners, differing in many respects, both in looks and customs, from all the other tribes I have seen." 

As he got to know them better, Catlin became more and more intrigued by the Mandans' "peculiarities." They claimed to be descended from a white man who came in a big canoe, which their oral tradition said had come to rest on a high mountain after a great flood that destroyed everything on earth. A symbolical representation of this canoe occupied a religious shrine in their public square. This was the more remarkable inasmuch as the plains-dwelling Mandans had little use for canoes, and their own watercraft were primitive, round "bullboats" of wicker covered with hides, used only for crossing rivers. The legend also related how a dove, sent out in search of dry land, returned with a willow twig in its beak. Similarities to the Biblical account of Noah's flood seemed too close to be coincidental.

Ancient Stone Road Discovered in West Virginia

Ancient McAdamized Stone Road Uncovered in West Virginia

History and Progress of the County of Marion, West Virginia, 1880
      Upon “Fort Hill,” about two miles north of Fairmont, were found traces of an aboriginal fort. Along the bank of the' Monongahela river, and running through Palatine, where the earth has been washed away by freshets, can be seen traces of an old McAdanized road. It is some feet below the surface and can be traced for quite a distance. The bed of the road seems to vary, from ten to fourteen inches in thickness, and the stone is broken with great regularity The earth above the bed is black and pre sents somewhat the appearance of an alluvial deposit. It is very probable that this deposit formed the bed of what we now call a McAdamized road, at some former period of the world. Since the settlement of the county, skeletons have been found at various times in the vicinity of Boothsville and other towns.