This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1878 Excerpt: ... by John Edward Lee, F.S.A., F.G.S. London, 1878. Appendix E, p. 678, Vol. L of men in a very primitive stage of culture. Such, probably, were the people who lived in the pre-historie lake dwellings of Switzerland." The architecture of the Mound-Builders will next engage our attention. As the only monuments which ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1878 Excerpt: ... by John Edward Lee, F.S.A., F.G.S. London, 1878. Appendix E, p. 678, Vol. L of men in a very primitive stage of culture. Such, probably, were the people who lived in the pre-historie lake dwellings of Switzerland." The architecture of the Mound-Builders will next engage our attention. As the only monuments which remain of the Mound-Builders' labors are their tumuli of earth, which in the majority of cases possessed a religious or symbolic significance, when not designed for the interment of the dead, it is reasonable to suppose that their habitations were but temporary structures which have long since perished. As we advance southward, however, we find that the dwelling-places of the people were prepared with greater care, and were intended to be permanent, while less labor and time were expended in the preparation of the resting-places for the departed. Such indications point to a considerable advancement in civilization and the arts. The abodes of the ancient Pueblos of the south-west were constructed of adobe or of stone. The walls were solidly built and cemented with an adhesive mortar, though we find on them no indications of exterior embellishment, no elaborate sculptures or ornamental reliefs. It is not until we reach Mexico and Central America that we find the culmination of aboriginal art on the Western Continent. Here we are filled with admiration and surprise at the existence of a megalithic architecture, which compares favorably with many of the famous ruined edifices of the older and more highly civilized Orient. The characteristic form is the pyramidal, somewhat analagous to that of the gigantic piles of Egypt, yet, while the teocalli of ancient Mexico were almost invariably surmounted by temples, the pyramids of the Wile were as invaria...
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