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27

Antiquities

Wisconsin does not fall behind the other portions of the western country in the monuments it affords of the existence of an ancient people who once inhabited North America, but of whom nothing is now known except what can be gathered from some of the results of their labors. The works at Aztalan in Jefferson county are most known and united, but there are many other localities which are said to equal them in interest and importance. The substance called brick at this place is evidently burned clay showing marks of [straw] having been mixed with straw [it]; but they were not moulded into regular forms. There is a class of ancient earth works in Wisconsin not before found in any other country, being made to represent quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, and even the human form. These representations are rather rude and it is often difficult to decide [as to] for what species of animal they are intended; but the effects of time may have modified their appearance very much since they were originally formed. Some have a resembleance to the Buffalo, the Eagle, or Crane, or to the turtle or lizard. One representing the

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