that similar
usage was observed among many of the tribes of Mexico, and that the
Mayas, of Yucatan, burnt the bodies of their lords, and built temples
over their remains. So it may be that the altar mounds are but varieties
of funeral mounds, the remains of the bodies burned here being buried
elsewhere.<23>

Illustration of Burial Mounds.-------------

The nations that celebrated their mysteries around these mounds have
long since departed; the altar fires long since burned low. We are not
sure that we understand their purport, but we are certain they were
regarded as of great importance, and we can readily imagine that when
the fires were lit on the altars, gathering crowds stood round, and
participated in the religious observance, throwing into the fire their
most valued ornaments, in this manner paying their last respects to the
departed chiefs and great men of their tribe.

The true burial mounds are very numerous, an comprise by far the larger
number of mounds. They are to be found all over the Mound Builders'
territory, and are about the only class of remains found in the prairie
regions of the West. From the upper waters of the Missouri and the great
lakes on the north to the Gulf States on the south, and from west of the
Mississippi to the Alleghenies of the East, in all this vast region they
are the prevailing class of remains, and occur by hundreds, and even
thousands, along the valleys. The mounds themselves are often not very
conspicuous; as a rule they are simply heaps of dirt raised above the
surface and rounded over, and from two or three to fifteen or twenty
feet high, although many are of much larger size. They are seldom found
on the lower, or recent river terrace, but are common on the upper
terrace, and are often built upon the high bluffs bordering the streams,
where a wide stretch of country is exposed to view. Black-bird, an Omaha
chief, who died about the year 1800, desired to be buried on a high
bluff overlooking the Missouri, so that he might see the boats passing
up and down the river. Perhaps from a similar superstitious wish the
Mound Builders sometimes chose the sites of their burial mounds where
they could watch over their country; or it may be that the monuments
over the dead were placed in such conspicuous positions that they might
be readily seen by the people.

The next cut represents an ordinary burial mound, which was explored by
tunneling in from one side. We notice there a