Mortuary Customs.-Bodies are buried in the ground, with elaborate ceremonies, which seem to resemble those of the Winnebago, at least superficially. Some features, such as the taking of the corpse through the window, or formerly through the back of the lodge, instead of through the door, are like those of the Ojibway north of Lake Superior, and many of the mourning customs closely resemble those of this tribe.1

Small grave houses identical with those of the neighboring Winnebago were observed and resembling those of the Sauk. I am not acquainted with Potawatomi and southern Ojibway burial customs, but suppose there is a similarity. The northern Saulteaux, Ojibway, and Cree do not erect a house over the grave at present, but build a small fence around it. The Menomini made the headboard with the totem animal of the deceased.

War Customs.-War chiefs are men who have received divine inspiration usually accompanied by instructions as to the making of a sacred war bundle. Here we are again embarrassed by a lack of published material, but it seems safe to assume that Menomini war customs were fairly similar to those of their Central neighbors. It is known that the Winnebago also had war bundles and sometimes joined with the Menomini in forays against mutual foes, but to what extent the rituals of the sacred objects were the same can not be stated. The Sauk and Fox also used these palladiums to manipulate the war gods. Apparently, from J. O. Dorsey's account of the Omaha, there were many points of similarity with them, but his account seems vague and incomplete, no doubt owing to the natural reluctance of the Indians to speak on the subject. On the warpath the leader was always accompanied by his nephew, and this is also true of the Winnebago.

CONCLUSION

On the whole, to sum up briefly, the Menomini resemble most those tribes directly in contact with them to the south, east, and west. They have received a slight influence from the north, but they differ manifestly from the tribes of the Plains. With the

See especially Peter Jones, History of the Ojebway Indians.

southeast, they have but little in common, save a belief in the hazardous journey of the soul to the afterworld, and some mechanical processes in material culture. With the eastern woodland tribes a larger number of similarities, many of them in regard to widespread beliefs and customs, may be noted, but, as has been stated, this does not seem remarkable when we consider that the contact of the Central and Eastern tribes along the highway of the Great Lakes was so long and continuous during the years of the fur trade, and take into account the similarity of environment between these people and the Menomini, and the popular traditions of the latter which point to a former residence farther east.

Thus it seems that the Menomini were among the first of the Central tribes to occupy their present area; it is probable that they came into the region with their social organization fully developed. When other tribes appeared there came a gradual fusing of their material culture with that of their neighbors, the customs and processes best adapted to their environment and general mode of life being mutually assimilated. In the meantime the immediate neighbors of the Menomini acted as buffers against innovations from the eastern, northern, western, and southeastern areas, so that the Menomini have remained the least affected after the general blend of local culture was over, of all the Central tribes, and stand today as most typical of the region which they represent. HARVARD UNIVERSITY,

CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

AM. ANTH., N. S,, 13-37

J

CERTAIN EARTHWORKS OF EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS

M

BY CHARLES C. WILLOUGHBY

OST of the earthworks of the New England Indians have been partially or wholly obliterated by the continued cultivation of the land for nearly three hundred years. It is only in the woodlands and waste places that we may hope to find these remains in a fair state of preservation. They usually consist of embankments and trenches, the former about 12 to 30

FIG. 84. Marblehead: Portion of a circular embankment and trench. In quarrying stone the hill has been partially cut away and the greater part of the earthwork destroyed. The enclosed area was 50 feet in diameter, measuring from center to center of the embankment.

inches in height, and the latter of corresponding depth. There is commonly but one trench; sometimes, however, a trench appears upon either side of the embankment. The usual height from the bottom of the trench to the top of the embankment is 2 to 4 feet, and the distance from the outer edge of the trench to the opposite edge of the embankment averages about 13 feet. The embankments were doubtless originally somewhat higher and the trenches deeper. Their combined measurements were probably about the

Most of these formerly enclosed

breast height of an average man. areas of various extent which were doubtless village or house sites. A few years ago the circular earthwork near Marblehead, a segment of which is shown in figure 84, was in a good state of preservation, but in quarrying stone a part of the hill was cut away and the greater portion of the work destroyed. This earthwork is mentioned in a deed of 1658 as "the Indian fort." It was originally about 50 feet in diameter and probably enclosed a single large house. The embankment undoubtedly supported palisades 10 to 12 feet high made of the trunks of small trees, the structure being similar to certain small fortified strongholds mentioned by the early colonists.

.1.......

FIG. 85.-Andover: Remains of a square enclosure near Haggett's Pond. The embankment and trench forming the eastern side are well preserved, and are 216 feet in length; the other portions have been destroyed by cultivation.

A single large house was sometimes built within a square or oblong enclosure like the one seen by Champlain at Saco, Maine, but this type of enclosure seems usually to have contained several cabins. Near Haggett's Pond, in the town of Andover,' are the remains of what was probably a square enclosure, but one side and two corners of which can now be traced (fig. 85). These lay within the edge of a wood, and, although the trees have been cut off, the ground has not been disturbed at this point. The other portions of the embankment and trench have evidently been obliterated by cultivation. This was an ideal location for a village. The site occupies

1 The first notice of this earthwork is on page 153, Bulletin III of the Department of Archaeology, Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.

nearly the entire width of a level highland. A few feet to the north is a declivity 15 or 20 feet deep, at the bottom of which is a brook connecting with the lake. It is probable that in former times canoes were brought to within a hundred feet of the stockade.

Besides the circular and square enclosures, there were evidently extensive areas of irregular form, sometimes subdivided into sections, the direction of the stockade being determined by the contour and character of the land enclosed. The most extensive and best preserved earthwork of this type

known to the writer lies in the town of Millis, about twenty miles south of Boston. It is situated on the shore of South End Pond,

FIG. 86.-Millis: Embankments and trenches enclosing upland, western shore of South End Pond. The amount of land in areas 1-5 is approximately 31 acres.

an expansion of Boggestow Brook which flows into the Charles River. The general character of the earthwork, and the contour of the land enclosed is shown in figure 86. The hills which make up a greater portion of the enclosed areas are covered with trees and the land has never been cultivated. The greater part of the land bordering the hills has been under cultivation for many years and it is quite certain that portions of the embankments have been levelled and the corresponding trenches filled. About 6,000 feet, or approximately 1 1/7 miles of embankments remain. The combined length of areas 1 and 2 is nearly