11.)
The most ancient remains of man found in Europe are distinguished by a
flattening of the tibia; and this peculiarity is found to be present in
an exaggerated form in some of the American mounds. This also points to
a high antiquity.
"None of the works, mounds, or enclosures are found on the lowest formed
of the river terraces which mark the subsidence of the streams, and as
there is no good reason why their builders should have avoided erecting
them on that terrace while they raised them promiscuously on all the
others, it follows, not unreasonably, that this terrace has been formed
since the works were erected." (Baldwin's "Ancient America," p. 47.)
We have given some illustrations showing the similarity between the
works of the Mound Builders and those of the Stone and Bronze Age in
Europe. (See pp. 251, 260, 261, 262, 265, 266, ante.)
The Mound Builders retreated southward toward Mexico, and probably
arrived there some time between A.D. 29 and A.D. 231, under the name of
Nahuas. They called the region they left in the Mississippi Valley "Hue
Hue Tlapalan"--the old, old red land--in allusion, probably, to the
red-clay soil of part of the country.
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