Excerpt from The Mounds of the Mississippi Valley: Historically Considered TN a papef upon the Prehistoric Remains of Kentucky, published in the first volume iof these Memoirs, I have expressed the opinion that it was impossible to distinguish between a series of stone implements taken from the mounds in the Mississippi Valley, and a similar series made and used by the modern Indians. In fact, so alike are these objects in conception and execution, that any attempt to distinguish them, based' upon form or finish, must be but the merest guesswork. From the rude knife to the carved and polished gorget, they may, one and all, have been taken from the inmost recesses of a mound, or picked up on the surface amid the debris of a recent Indian Village; and the most experienced archaeologist, if called upon to decide as to their origin, would have to acknowledge himself at N or does this similarity step with objects made of stone. Onthe contrary, it is believed to extend to all the articles, of every kind whatso ever, that have thus far been taken from the mounds. Indeed, I might even go farther, and as the result of some years of work, as well in the field as in the library, venture the assertion that not only has there not, as yet, been anything taken from the mounds indicating a higher stage of develop ment than the red Indian of the United States is known to have reached, but that even the mounds themselves, and under this head are included all the earth-works of the Mississippi Valley, were quite within the limits of his efforts. 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.