important anthropological aspect has been completely ignored by university archaeologist, many
artifacts used in everyday life have never been found.
The following articles describe the oil pits found in Pennsylvania and New York. In French Creek Valley (Pennsylvania) 1938
In writing of his visit to the pits near Titusville, William Reynalds quoted a part of an address
deleivered in 1843 by William H. Davis: A short distance below the village of Titusville, and on the
west side of Oil Creek, there are perhaps about two thousand pits, scattered over a level plain not
exceeding five hundred acres. Some of them are very close together; as close as the vats in a tan yard,
which they somewhat resemble, each being seven or eight feet long, four wide and six feet deep. These
pits had nearly all bee filled; some of them entirely so by vegetable deposit, perhaps the accumulation
of ages. The mounds raised at the sides of the pits by the excavation of the earth from it are distinctly
visible. Close upon the margin of them on the very mounds of the earth excavated are trees whose size
indicates an age of two or three hundred years.
The early settlers first discovered the pits from the regularity of size. They were induced to open them
and found that each pit was walled with logs regularly cut and halved at the ends so that they could lie
close together. It was found that the water rose in the bottom of these pits and in a few days would be
covered with oil to the depth of a third or half inch.
Of the many pits that were cleaned out at this time and later, all were found to have been built and
walled in like manner. Their probable purpose was for skimming what the first settlers knew as Seneca
Oil. The Indians had no traditions about them and there are no records to show that they had been
constructed by the French during their occupation.
History of Venango County, Pennsylvania, 1879 It is said large and deep pits exist in the region of Cherrytree, in this county, which were undoubtedly made long ago, by whom and for what purpose is not known, but probably to obtain some mineral. It is well known that when the English came here, they found deep pits along Oil Creek, in which large trees were growing, which appeared to have been used as reservoirs for the collection of petroleum, and fragments of notched logs, which had been used as ladders in obtaining the oil were found in them, which had been preserved from the entire decay by the saturation of the oil. Mr Henry, in his "History of Petroleum" states: " There is reason to believe that at some former period in the history of the American continent, the existence and uses of petroleum had been better understood than they were for some centuries before the recent artesian developments. The numerous pits, until recently, and perhaps even still to be seen cribbed with roughly hewn timber, but nearly hidden by the rubbish of ages, indicated a development comparatively extensive. Trees were found growing in the center of some of these pits, which we are told, on the evidence of the concentric circles in the wood, were shown to be the growth of centuries. Many circumstances concur in referring these excavations to a period of time, and to a race of people, who occupied the country prior to the advent of those aborigines, found here by our Latin or Saxon ancestors. They were, probably the work of that mysterious people who left the traces of their rude civilization in the copper mines about Lake Superior and the mounds of the Southwest. The mound builders were and offered sacrifices to the Sun God, and were, in these respects, like the people of Mexico at the time of the Spanish invasion. It is speculating too musch to say that they made annual or more frequent journeys here to obtain petroleum to maintain the perpetual fire used their worship and sacrifice?
History of Cattaraugas County, New York, 1879
Another early writer mentions that "numerous pits were found along Oil Creek and the Allegheny,
cribbed with logs many years before discovery; and in the center of some of these pits trees were
growing centuries old."
History of Crawford County Pennsylvania, 1885
Who Built the Oil Pits? On an extensive plain near Oil Creek, there is a vast mound of stones, containing many hundred thousand cart loads. This pyramid has stood through so many ages that it is now covered with soil, and from its top rises a noble pine tree, the roots of which, running down the sides, fasten themselves in the earth below. The stones are, many of them, so large that two men can scarcely move them, and are unlike any in the neighborhood; nor are there quarries near, from which so large a quantity could be taken. The stones were perhaps, collected from the surface, and the mound one of many that have been raised by the ancient race which preceded the Indians, whom the Europeans have not known. These monuments are numerous further north and east, and in the south and west are far greater, more artificial and imposing.
When first visited by the whites in 1787, in the valley of French Creek, were old meadows destitute of trees, and covered with long, wild grass and herbage resembling the prairies; but by whom those lands were originally cleared will probably forever remain a matter of uncertainty.
The Indians alleged that the work had not been done by them; but a tradition among them attributed it to a larger and more powerful race of inhabitants, who had pre-occupied the country. The following accounts are of canals that were observed with no explanation as to whom the builders
were. It is assumed that these works were the efforts of the Allegewi-Hopewell mound builders.
The historical accounts would add to the belief that a vigorous economy was in place that would
necessitiate such an undertaking as building a canal. Biographical and Historical Memoirs of the Mississippi, 1891
The great ditch extending from a point below Cape Girardeau, Mo., to the headwaters of the White
and St. Francis rivers was excavated in prehistoric days, and was old when Indian legend first refers to
it. Whether the object was to use this great canal for purposes of navigation or simply for drainage can
never be known. The ancient inhabitants, whether Mobolians or Peruvians, may have known the rich
valley of the Nile, of the artificial ponds or lakes and canals used at the time to regulate its high waters
and resorted to the same plan here for controlling the mighty Mississippi.
History of Mifflin County Illinois, 1905
On the banks of Green River, in Henry County in Illinois, are traces of an ancient city, which was
once the abode of a commercial people, and points to a time when the Rock River was a navigable
stream of some commercial importance. A canal connected these two rivers some three miles above
the junction. This canal is about a mile and a half long and is perfectly straight for about one-fourth of
a mile from the Green River end; it is then relieved by a perfectly easy curve, reaching the Rock River
at a bend, and showing that the engineering was done in a masterly manner. The soil is of a very fine
texture, mixed with a ferruginous mineral deposit; hence its firmness, and the reason of it withstanding
the washings of rains, for this great lapse of time. About twelve miles back and above this canal is
another partly natural and partly artificial connecting Rock and Mississippi Rivers. This is so well
preserved that about twelve years ago the "Serling" a small Rock River steamer, passed through it into
the Mississippi river. These works are as old as the mountains of Egypt, and were in all probability
built by a contemporaneous people.
American Antiquarian, Volume V, 1885
Notes and Queries Rumors of finds have come to us at various times, which we mention with the suggestion that they be followed up and confirmed. Continuous lines of pavements, or rows of burned stone, forty or fifty yards long, on the banks of the Ohio River, twenty inches to five fee
t, below the top of the bank. The pavements, called macadamized roads, have been noticed on the banks of the Allegheny River. These are probably the fire beds. Has any one evidence to the contrary? A prehistoric canal, connecting two rivers in Illinois; also, several pieces of masonry, exposed in a sand bank after a storm, and covered up again.
History of Greenup County, Kentucky, 1951
At Springfield there is a large enclosure with walls plainly discernible, and it is said to have been an
Indian town having an underground opening to the Ohio River.
North American Megaliths
The lack of megalithic remains in North America may be due to the Beaker Peoples arrival in
Britain as early as 2700 B.C., leaving a small window of time for megaliths to have been constructed in
North America. Standing stones or menhirs have been observed in close proximity to the Red Paint
People's graves in Labrador and British Columbia, but are isolated to the extreme northeast and
northwestern coasts of North America. One of the Red Paint People's mounds contained a Mycenean
doorway lintal with a passage grave at Nulaik Cove, Labrador. Quartz crystals that are common in
megalithic graves across Europe, have also been found early North American, earthen and shell
mounds. The megalithic builders believed that departed souls went to the “mother” moon. Quartz rocks
were believed to be parts of the moon that had found there way to earth.
The most megalithic-like sites, east of the Mississippi are found in the Ohio Valley, in lands occupied
by the Allegewi. A stone circle was described by the Bureau of Ethnology in West Virginia, on the
Kanawha River that was unique, with nothing like it described elsewhere. The work described in Ross
County, Ohio is reminiscent of Og's Circle in Palestine.
Bureau of Ethnology, 12th Annual Report
West Virginia Below the mouth of the Kanawha the caving in of the bank of the Ohio had exposed a wall of stone, on some of the slabs of which were rude totemic and other marks made be some pecking tool. Careful excavations revealed a circular enclosure about 100 feet in diameter, inside measurement. The wall was composed of angular slabs of various sizes from the hills near by and averaged 25 feet across the base by 3 1/2 in height. Many of the stones bore evidences of fire, the spaces between them (they were laid flat with joints broken) being filled with charcoal, ashes, and earth, separate or mixed. No gateway was found, though no doubt one exist at some point not excavated. The sediment from the overflows has accumulated to the depth of about 5 feet since the wall was built, and its existence was never suspected until exposed as above stated by the falling in of the bank. This may not be aboriginal work.
State Centennial History of the County of Ross Ohio, 1902
To the south of this, about two hundred yards, is a stone circle one hundred feet in diameter and five or six feet high. In the center of this is a large stone mound some ten feet high.
The Allegewi mound in Ross County, Ohio was surrounded by a stone wall and falls within the grey
area of whether it is megalithic or more similar to mounds constructed by the Corded People. Of
coarse, the Corded People have their roots with the megalithic Amorites. Henges in the Ohio Valley,
were a continuation of the megalithic cultures in the England, that was adopted by the Beaker People.
Burial mounds surrounded by a curb of stones have their origins with the Amorites. Some Hopewell
mounds have been discovered which contained vaults containing numerous burials, that are similar to
the European long mound, megalithic vaults.
West of the Mississippi, contains more evidence of megalithic builders that may stem from the
continued migrations from the Island of Hokkaido, Japan; home of the Joman and Ainu. As in Europe,
the Joman transitioned from internments in shell mounds to megalithic burials, with the arrival of the
Amorites. A connection between the megalithic remains in the British Isles and Japan was reported in
Archaic England, Bayley, 1920. “Josephus mentions that the Scythians were called Magogoei by the
Greeks: by some authorities the Scythians [Corded People] are equated with the Scotto or Scots. There
are still living in Cornwall the presumed descendants of what have been termed the “bedrock” race, and
that these people still exhibit in their physiogomies the traces of Oriental or Mongoloid blood. The
early passage tombs of Japan are, according to Borlase, literally counterpart in plan and construction to
those giant-graves or passage tombs which are prevalent in Cornwall.”
Physical evidence that the megalithic builders had spread their culture into Japan was revealed when
stone circles were discovered on the island of Hokkaido.
Stars and Stripes, March, 27, 1957
A German Missionary Speaks for the Land of the Ainu OTURU, JAPAN-HOKKAIDO is a strange fascinating island where legends abound. Here, where the modern Orient meets one of the world's oldest cultures, one finds American silos and red barns mixed with hodgepodge with the homes of the ancient Ainu.
Here, in Japan's Yukon, one finds well -planned cities with broad streets and ginger bread houses just a few miles from the mysterious Ranjima stone circles; circles similar to the Druid stones of ancient England.
Since there is no written Ainu language, the history is vague. Father Huber learned much of their religion from an Ainu youth he befriended. He reconstructed much of their history and culture from the religious songs the boy taught him.
One story concerns the stone circles which, he believes, may be connected with the Ainu fire god Oina-Kamui, supposedly the Ainu creator. This god subdued the Ainu evil spirits, imprisoning them in six stone boxes, according to the story. The Ranjima stones form six concentric circles, indicating a possible correlation.
But, too, he said, they may have been a timing device. Because of the stone's relative geographic position, they form something of a sundial for the seasons
Stone circles have been reported on the islands off of British Columbia in Canada, that are a likely
extension of the Megalithic Builders, that had spread into in Japan. The large stones used in these
works, the receptacles for the dead, the inclusions of quartz in graves are comparable to the
Megalithic Builders.
Bancroft’s Native Races, 1882
British Columbia In such localities, the general feature of the landscape is very similar to many parts of Devonshire, more especially to that on the eastern escarpment of Dartmoor, and the resemblance is rendered the more striking by the numerous stone circles, which lie scattered around. These stone circles point to a period in ethnological history, which has no longer a place in the memory of man. Scattered in irregular groups of from three or four, to fifty or more, these stone circles are found, crowning the rounded promitories over all the South Eastern end of the Island. Their dimensions vary in diameter from three to eighteen feet; of some, only a simple ring of stones marking the outlines now remains. In other instances the circle is not only complete in outline, but is filled in, built up as it were, to a height of three to four feet, with masses of rock and loose stones, collected from amongst the numerous erratic boulders, which cover the surface of the country, and from the gravel of the boulder drift which fills up many of the hollows. These structures are of considerable antiquity, and whatever they have been intended for, have been long disused, for, through the centre of many, the pine, the oak, and the arbutus have shot up and attained considerable dimensions-a full growth. The Indians when questioned, can give no further account of the matter, than that, “it belonged to the old people” and an examination, by taking some of the largest circles to pieces, and digging beneath, throws no light on the subject.
Other British Columbian antiquities consist of shell
mounds, burial mounds, and earth-works, chiefly confined to Vancouver Island, and known to me through the investigations and writing of Mr. James Dean.”
Burial mounds on Vancouver Island are of two classes, according as they are constructed chiefly of sand and gravel or of stones. One of the first class opened by Mr. Deans in 1871, will illustrate the construction of all. It was located on the second terrace from the sea, the terraces having nearly perpendicular banks of fifty and sixty feet respectively. By carefully cut drift through the center, it was ascertained to have been made in the following manner. First, a circle sixteen feet in diameter was marked out, and the top soil cleared off within the circle; then a basin-shaped hole, six feet in diameter, smaller at the bottom than at the top, was dug the centre, in which the skull, face down, and the larger unburned bones were placed and covered with six inches of earth. On the layer of earth rested a large flat stone, on which were heaped up loose stones, the heap extending about a foot beyond the circumference of the central hole. Outside of this heap, on the surface, a space two feet wide extending round the whole circumference was sprinkled with ashes, and contained a few bones also. Outside of this space again, large stones two or three feet long were set up in the ground like pillars, five feet apart, round the circumference; and finally the earth dug from the central hole, or receptacle for the bones, was thrown into the outer circle, and gravel and sand added to the whole until the mound was five feet high, having rounded form. Four smaller mounds, six and ten feet in diameter, were opened in the same group, showing the same mode of construction, but somewhat less order.”
The second class, or stone mounds, which are much more numerous than those of earth, differ but little from the others in their construction, except that the final additions to the mound were of stones instead of earth, and the stones about the circumference were flat and set up close together. A piece of quartz sometimes accompanies the bones, but no other relics are found. When the skeleton is deposited face down, as is usually the case, the skull is placed toward the south, or when in a sitting position, it faces the south, seeming in some cases to have been burned where it sat. In a few instances the skeleton, when it was but little burned, was lying on the left side. Some stones weighting over a ton are found over the human remains. Traces of cedar bark or boards are found in some of the cairns, in which the bone s were apparently enclosed; and in a few others a small empty chamber was formed over the flat covering stone.
The Nephilim Chronicles: Fallen Angels in the Ohio Valley Page 22
