OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 25
This conclusion is not entirely speculative, but rests in a great degree upon traditional and historical facts. The late Sir R. C. Hoare, author of “ Ancient Wiltshire” (the most scientific as also the most splendid antiquarian work ever issued from the British press), regarded the occurrence of the fosse, interior to the wall, in a portion of the British works, as precluding the supposition of a military, and establishing their religious origin.
The character of these works has already been briefly indicated. They are generally regular in their structure, and occupy the broad and level river-bottoms, seldom occurring upon the table-lands, or where the surface is undulating or broken. Their usual form is that of the square or the circle ; sometimes they are slightly elliptical. Occasionally we find them isolated, but oftenest in groups. The greater number of the circles are of small size, having a nearly uniform diameter of two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet, with the ditch invariably interior to the wall. These have always a single gateway, opening oftenest towards the east, but by no means observing a fixed rule in this respect. It frequently happens that they have one or more small mounds interior to their walls, of the class denominated sacrificial. These small circles occasionally occur within larger works of a defensive character. Apart from these, numerous little circles, from thirty to fifty feet in diameter, are observed in the vicinity of large works, consisting of a very light embankment of earth, and destitute of a gateway or entrance. It has been suggested that these are the remains of the ancient lodges or of other buildings. The accounts which we have of the traces left of the huts of the Mandans and other Indian tribes, at their deserted villages, render this supposition not improbable. It some- times happens that we find small circles around the bases of large mounds; these probably cannot be regarded as of the same character with that numerous class already described.
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