"With westward expansion in the United States beyond the Appalachian wall in the late eighteenth century, settlers increasingly encountered the mysterious earthen mounds of the interior eastern woodlands. These mounds, and the identity of the mound builders, would remain at the center of archaeological interest and debate through much of the succeeding nineteenth century. The Division of Mound Exploration of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, was established in 1881 to resolve the issue of the identity of the builders of the mounds. Published in 1894 as the accompanying paper of the Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, the final research report of the Division rejected the various speculative scenarios of vanished races and convincingly demonstrated that the forebearers of American Indian groups were the builders of the mounds. This final report is generally recognized as marking the beginning of modern archaeology in the Americas."--Page 5.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.