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Show 76 BASIS OP AMERICAN HISTORY semblances to animal forms, it is quite impossible to say what most of them were intended to represent. The most famous of these is probably the Serpent Mound, in Adams County, Ohio. 1 Another important group of works falls under the term " enclosures." \ While pyramidal mounds usually occur on level lowlands, these enclosures are frequently found on bluffs and hill- tops, and are sometimes known as " hill forts" in consequence. Walls of earth and stone are also found thrown across necks of land, in the bends of rivers, on the shore - lines of lakes, or in the rear of projecting bluffs whose precipitous sides would afford protection from the attacks of enemies. The defensive purpose of many of these is evident enough, but in other cases their use is quite unknown. \ Fort Ancient, in Warren County, Ohio, may be regarded as the best example of these " hill forts." * Other types of local antiquities need be referred to but briefly. In various parts of the country hundreds of rings of earth from five to fifteen feet in diameter, with the enclosed area more or less depressed, have been found. These are so obviously the remains of circular dwellings that they have been termed " hut- rings." In certain regions, notably in Arkansas, square house sites have been discovered, indicating at least a different if not a 1 Putnam, " Serpent Mound of Ohio" ( Century Magazine, April, 1890); Holmes," The Serpent Mound " ( Science, December 31, 1886). * Moorehead, Fort Ancient. |