All indications point to the fact that near this latter place was a very important settlement of the Mound Builders. Several fortified works exist a few miles up the valley; signal-mounds are to be seen on all heights, commanding a wide view, and the famous alligator mound is placed, as if with the design of guarding the entrance to the valley. No verbal description will give an idea of the works, so we refer at once to the plan. This will give us a good idea of the works as they were when the first white settlers gazed upon them. They have nearly all been swept away by modern improvements, excepting the two circular works and the octagon. Here and there fragments of the other works can still be traced.
Two forks of the Licking River unite near Newark; the bottom between these rivers comprising several square miles, was occupied by these ancient earth-works. By reference to the plan, we see the works consisted of mounds of various sizes, parallel walls, generally of a low elevation, small and low embankments, in the form of small circles and half-circles. There are also several large works consisting of a circle and octagon combined, one large circle, and a parallelogram. The circular structure at ‘E,’ is undoubtedly one of the best preserved and most imposing in the State. There are many inclosing larger areas, but none more clearly defined. As this is now included in the fair-grounds of Licking County, it is preserved from destruction, and will remain a monument of aboriginal work long after all traces of the others have disappeared. “At the entrance, which is towards the east, the ends of the walls curve outwards for a distance of a hundred feet, leaving a passage way eighty feet wide between the deep ditches on either hand.” From this point the work, even now presents an impressive appearance. The walls are twelve feet in perpendicular height, and about fifty feet base. There is a ditch close around it on the inside, seven feet deep by thirty-five feet wide. The area inclosed is about thirty acres.
Eagle Mound. In the center is an effigy-mound, represented by this cut. It represents a bird on the wing, and is called the Eagle Mound. The long mound in the body of the bird has been opened, and it was found to contain an altar, such as has been already described. Was this a place of sacrifice, and did this wall inclose a sacred area? Our question remains unanswered. We can dig in the mounds, and wander over the embankments, but the secret of the builders eludes us.