Researches Concerning The Institutions And Monuments Of The Ancient Inhabitants Of America Vol 2

Author : Stephen D. Peet
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330432730
Total Pages : 446 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (327 download)

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Download or read book Prehistoric America written by Stephen D. Peet and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Prehistoric America, Vol. 2 This book is the result of personal explorations which have con tinned at intervals for several years. The explorations have been mainly in the state of Wisconsin but have extended into Iowa and parts of Ohio. The effort of the author, however, has been to give information about all effigy mounds. He has therefore drawn from descriptions of mounds which have been explored by other parties. These are situated in Dakota, eastern Iowa, Georgia, Florida, as well as in Ohio and Wisconsin. Where the account is taken from other books full credit has been given. The engravings in the book have been mainly prepared from drawings made by the author, and these from the notes of surveys reduced to a scale of inches. A number of them however, have been taken from the works previously published, such as "Ancient Monuments," or "Smithsonian Contributions, Vol. I," Lapham's "Antiquities of Wisconsin," "Smithsonian Reports," "Annual Reports of the Ethnological Bureau," "American Naturalist," "Wisconsin Historical Collections" and "Proceedings of Wisconsin Academy of Science and Art." The engravings are generally silhouettes. They do not represent the mounds in relief, but nevertheless give a good idea of their shapes. Silhouettes are better than outline drawings for they represent the shape of the animals and suggest the ideas of relief. Both of these, however, are imperfect for they do not illustrate the beautiful earth moulding which was so close an imitation of the actual living creature. If the mounds could be given in section the relief would be better understood but in the majority of cases the mounds arc so worn down that the section would not really represent the effigy as it was when it was finished and therefore this has not been undertaken. Photographs of the mounds would probably have been more accurate than plotting and drawing to a scale, but photographs would represent the within condition and would have proved unsatisfactory. The drawings are generally on a scale of 100 ft. to an inch. Where groups were to be described the scale was reduced to 200 ft. to an inch. Where maps of several groups are given it is reduced to 400 ft. The topography has, in a few cases, been represented in the engravings. The descriptions of the mounds have been written with care after they had been visited several times. It was the experience of the author that a single visit was not sufficient, for each successive visit would be sure to bring out some new point, either new mounds were discovered or new relations of the mounds to the topography were recognized, or new ideas were gained as to the use of the mounds or new significance seen in their shapes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.