OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 41
of a family—the principal mound covering the head of the same, the smaller ones its various members? In the Grave Creek mound, it is possible that, instead of building anew mound, an additional chamber was constructed upon the summit of the one already raised—a single mound being thus made to occupy the place of a group.
Mounds of Observation—On the tops of the hills and on the jutting points of the table lands bordering the valleys in which the earth-works of the West are found, mounds occur in considerable numbers. The most elevated and commanding positions are frequently crowned by them,
" suggesting at once the use to which some of the cairns of the Celts were applied—that of signal or alarm posts. Ona high hill, opposite Chillicothe, six hundred feet in height, the lofti- est in the whole region, one of these mounds is placed. A fire built upon it would be visible for a distance of fifteen or twenty miles up and down the river, as well as for a num- ber of miles up the valley of Paint Creek—a broad and fer- tile valley, abounding in ancient monuments. Between Chillicothe and Columbus, a distance of forty-five miles, there are about twenty mounds, so placed that, it is be- lieved, if the country were cleared of forests, signals by fire could be transmitted along the whole line in a few min- utes. Our examination of this description of mounds, from a variety of causes, has been comparatively limited. So far as our personal observation goes, they contain few of the remains found in the two classes of mounds just de- scribed ; and, although there are traces of fire around many of them, the marks are not sufficiently strong to justify fully the inferences that they were Jookouts and fires used as the signals. Indeed, it is certain that, in some cases, they contain human remains, undoubtedly those of the mound-builders. It is possible that a portion, perhaps alk, were devoted to sepulture, another portion to obser- vation, or that some answered a double purpose. This is
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