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| The Mound Builders - The Ancient Ones- The Giants - The Men of Old - The Mound Builders - Mound Builders Mounds of Wisconsin - Mound Builders of Wisconsin - Effigy Mounds - Conical Mounds- Ceremonial Mounds - |
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| Rochester to Burlington Mounds - Lapham The plank road leading from the city to Rochester and Burlington, on the Pishtaka River,1 passes near this great group of ancient mounds. Many of them are on the line of another road, and are levelled from time to time by the inhabitants in working out their road tax, without regard to the sacred deposits they contain; and in a few years, all traces of them will be gone for ever. This spot was probably the common cemetery for the neighboring tribes, and not their place of residence. Its situation, on the level ground back from the river and bluff; and at the head of a deep and narrow ravine, may be adduced as an evidence of this. The fact that seven bodies were buried in one mound apparently at the same time, and three or more in another, seems to indicate that many died simultaneously by some calamity. 1 Or Fox River of the Illinois Subsequently to my visit to this locality, Dr. Hoy informs me that he “had the good fortune to obtain two vases of pottery from one of the mounds. They were in a gravel-pit, two feet and half below the original surface of the ground, in immediate contact with the fragments of two skeletons much decayed. One is made of cream-colored clay and white sand, quite similar in composition to our pale bricks. It has a nearly uniform thickness of about one-fifth of an inch, and was originally quite smooth and hard. I have so far restored it as to render it a good specimen. It would hold about five quarts, being seven inches in diameter at the mouth, and eleven and a half inches high. The other is of a red, brick color, about half as large, much thicker and coarser, and crumbled a good deal in handling. A considerable portion of gravel was used in connection with the clay in its fabrication.” The banks of rivers appear to have been their favorite localities; and in this respect they resemble the present Indians, who select sites commanding a view of the country around them (so as to be able to detect the first approach of an enemy), and near hunting and fishing grounds. They appear also to have had an eye for the beautiful as well as the useful, in choosing their places of abode. |
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| The photo to the left shows us researching 3 conical mounds on the other side of Hwy 36 off Hwy W. . This land has been set aside for public hunting grounds and is considered protected wetlands. However less than 200 ft. from this area, some of these wetlands have been re-zoned for housing development . (photo below) Although we are not saying anything illegal is going on - we do suggest that high profile mound areas be monitored to keep these sites from being damaged. |
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| On the east bank of the river, opposite the village of Burlington, is a series of mounds arranged in an irregular row along the margin of the stream. (See Plate XIII. Top Photo and photo below ) The largest of the series, near the middle, is ten feet high, and fifty feet in diameter at the base. It is connected with the next by an embankment, a circumstance observed in several other cases. At the north or upper end of the series, are four oblong mounds; one with a divided extremity, or horns, as shown in the drawing. Eleven conical tumuli may yet be traced; and some others, it is said, have been removed. This may be representive of the mound similiar to the Gt. Serpent Mound in Ohio as it seems to represent a serpent, with mouth open, in the act of swallowing its prey; the series forming a sort of serpentine row. According to Burlington Historian, Duckett, 27 Indian burial mounds were located in what is now Burlington's business district. (Upper Photos) One block up from the River and the River Project. And over the years, the Burlington newspapers have reported the finding of bones while excavating to lay the foundations for several buildings in the downtown area, particularly the area where the Spinning Top Museum, JLS Vacuum, Kreins Color Bar , Burlington Research Center are located.. Click here for map and more details Bones were also found on the old fair grounds (where the Burlington Blanket Co., later called the Burlington Mills, was built), near Tower Hill on Storle Ave., on the north side of the mill pond (Grove St.), and on the northeast side of the Fox River, near what is now the start of the bike trail. CLICK HERE TO GO TO NEXT PAGE |
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| The merging of the Fox and White River. On the pennisula was once a Serpent Mound Mound Area . See Description above. |