Aboriginal Structures in GeorgiaExcerpted from the Smithsonian report of the previous year, here Jones investigates ancient Indian burial mounds along various Georgia rivers. |
Common terms and phrases
ABORIGINAL STRUCTURES Ancient tumuli apex Augusta bank BARTRAM base battle bird BIRD-SHAPED STONE blazon body bowlders of white brave cause ceno cenotaph clay commissioned officers Confede Confederacy Confederate Army Confederate dead crowning cultivated dead heroes death devotion diameter eagle earth eleva elevation embodyment erected exalted excavations fame feet high Fort James four freshet furnished gave their lives Georgia glorious glory grave-mound graves hail the dedication head hearts heroic human bones illustrious images inch Indian JONES labors land large tumulus marble memories miles from Eatonton milky quartz monument mound in Putnam niches or sentry-boxes numbers Oconee River patriot perished plantation present preserved primitive private soldier Putnam County rasure of oblivion recollections Richmond county ridge Savannah River serpent sherds South Southern spire hope spirit statues stone mound tail territory tion traces tribes triumphal arches triumphs UNVEILING valley valor victories virtues WILLIAM BARTRAM wings yards
Popular passages
Page 4 - The neck of the serpent is stretched out, and slightly curved, and its mouth is opened wide, as if in the act of swallowing or ejecting an oval figure, which rests partially within the distended jaws.
Page 9 - The great mount is in the form of a cone, about forty or fifty feet high, and the circumference of its base two or three hundred yards, entirely composed of the loamy rich earth of the low grounds: the top or apex is flat: a spiral path or track leading from the ground up to the top...
Page 3 - Conforming to the curve of the hill, and occupying its very summit, is the serpent, its head resting near the point, and its body winding back for seven hundred feet, in graceful undulations, terminating in a triple coil at the tail.
Page 5 - For a distance of twelve feet the tail is bifurcated, and just above the point of bifurcation it is 12 feet wide. Across the body, and from tip to tip of the wings, the tape gave us a measurement of 132 feet. The body of this bird, which is evidently lying upon its back, is stouter than that of the eagle, being 76 feet in diameter.
Page 7 - ... are entered into from the winding path, and seem to have been meant for resting places or look-outs. The circumjacent level grounds are cleared and planted with Indian Corn at present; and I think the proprietor of these lands who accompanied us to this place, said that the mount itself yielded above one hundred bushels in one season: the land hereabouts is indeed exceeding fertile and productive.
Page 3 - The mounds themselves not only represent animals, such as men, buffaloes, elks, bears, otters, wolves, raccoons, birds, serpents, lizards, turtles, and frogs, but also some inanimate objects ; if at least the American archaeologists are right in regarding some of them as crosses, tobacco-p:pes, &c.
Page 4 - Scott, may now be seen a bird-shaped mound of definite configuration. Located in the midst of a beautiful wood, and crowning a high ridge near the headwaters of Little Glady Creek, it is composed entirely of bowlders of white quartz rock, gathered from the adjacent territory. Most of these bowlders are of such size that they could have been transported by a single individual. For the removal of others two or three persons would have been requisite. These bowlders were carefully piled one above another,...
Page 6 - At the tips of the wings, which are short and curved, the height is not more than a foot and a half. The ridge upon which this mound rests has never been cleared. Surrounding this bird-shaped tumulus is an inclosure of rocks similar to those of which the mound is built. This stone-circle is symmetrical in outline, and at its nearest approach passes within a few feet of the tips of the wings. Crowning the elevated ridges by which this county is traversed, are occasional rock-mounds of artificial origin....
Page 5 - ... toward the extremity of the wings and tail, where it has an elevation of scarcely 2 feet The beak is decidedly aquiline, and the tail is indented. Measured from the top of the head to the extremity of the tail this structure is 102 feet long. From tip to tip of the wings, measured across the body, we have a distance of 120 feet. The greatest expanse of tail is 38 feet, the same as the lateral diameter of the body. The proportions of the head, neck, wings, and tail are cleverly preserved. That...