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[ Serpent Mound of Ohio Index ] Conclusions section of 'The Serpent Mound of Ohio' written by Frederic Ward Putnam (1890). [ << Return to Previous Page ] There is still much to be done in exploring other spots in the immediate vicinity of the serpent before we shall know all that the earth has hidden of the past relating to this old monument. But the outlines of a picture have been traced out, which can be filled in as individual fancy may dictate, or as discoveries here and elsewhere may determine. It is evident that written history will be of little aid, although the customs of some of the many tribes or peoples who have passed to and fro over the land may give us a hint, here and there, to the better understanding of some things which have been revealed. History, however, has its limits, and any attempt to make it apply to a time anterior to those limits, and from vague general resemblances to draw conclusions, is unwarranted. Let the archaeologist work on with greater care than ever before. Let him, if possible, start with the earliest traces of man, and, step by step, follow his record in the past down to the dawn of history, when language, myths, and legends open the door to the historian, who then takes the place of the archaeologist. To work in the other direction, with the idea that language and history can tell us of the relations of mankind in early times, is starting with the assumption that man has everywhere, and in all past times, been as now; that there has been no development within a race, no diversity of races, no migrations of peoples, except in recent times, and no change in the innumerable languages now spoken. The origin of any one of these languages is not as yet actually known and probably never can be known, from the fact that archaeology leads us to believe that man existed so long ago that the thousands of years since man in America hunted at the foot of the glaciers are but as yesterday compared with his probable but still unknown origin. What languages were spoken throughout all this time? We only know that the skulls of earliest man yet discovered are as perfectly those of man as are our own, and of man with a brain capacity and muscular and bony structure indicating powers equal to those of races existing to-day. Some races have developed these powers more rapidly than others. Who is yet able to state where man originated? and who but the archaeologist, with the aid of the geologist, can take up the snarled skein with any hope of unraveling the great mystery of man's origin? What light is thrown back over one brief period of the past by this study of the Serpent Mound and its surroundings, this singular structure in the midst of many other strange earthworks in the Ohio Valley! If history can now lend its aid and bring out some points with clearness, much will be gained. But it must be critical and trustworthy history, and not the simple patchwork of vague generalities. Here, on this commanding point of land, in many ways adapted to what we know of the ancient faiths of man, is an imposing structure in the form of a huge serpent guarding an oval inclosure within which is a mound of burnt stones; all essential points in the fulfilment of special religious rites connected with the older faiths, which, so far as we know, had their greatest development in Asia, which is the land, more than any other, that we have reason to consider as the original home of the brachycephali, one of the early peoples of America. Exploration has shown us that this serpent was made many centuries ago, and it is evident that a structure of such magnitude, so carefully planned and executed, was intended for some great purpose deeply affecting the people who made it. Again let me ask, what other than a religious motive could have been sufficient? Assuming this to be the case, we naturally give it the meaning of a religious shrine to which the people came at specified times to worship their gods. It is evident that there was never a very large community living on the plateau near the shrine, and the probability is that it was more a place of habitation in after than in early times. Here, near this sacred shrine, ceremonies of great import have taken place; individuals of importance have been buried in connection with ceremonies of fire, and in two instances, at least, accompanied by the burning of human bodies - possibly human sacrifice, that constant accessory of many ancient faiths. In later times the shrine was still a place of resort, possibly as one held sacred in myths and legends; and finally a few of the scattered bands of the last century made their habitation on the spot, probably without any legendary knowledge or thought of the earlier worshipers at the shrine, overgrown and half hidden by a forest which seventy years ago was of the same character as that on all the hills about. Now another race has come, and the old shrine, cleared of rubbish, is again held sacred; not for ancient and awful rites, but for the study of future generations, when a wider knowledge of the past in other countries shall lead to a better knowledge of that of our own. F. W. Putnam. [ Top of Page ] |
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