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In Scottish archaeology, a cairn is a mound of stones raised over a prehistoric grave, like an English barrow. Ancient cairns are of two types - chambered from the stone age and unchambered from the bronze age. Chambered cairns are again found in two forms; long cairns and horned cairns.
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A cromlech is an ancient erection consisting of two or more stones standing like pillars, with a large flat or slightly inclined stone placed on top appearing somewhat like a table so as to form a rectangular chamber, beneath the floor of which is sometimes found a cist inclosing a skeleton and relics. Sometimes the cromlech was encircled by a ring of standing-stones, as in the case of the Standing-stones of Stennis, in Orkney; and sometimes it was itself buried beneath a large mound of earth.
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A drumlin is an irregular, rounded, hog-backed mound of boulder clay, often from a hundred to two hundred feet high and hundreds of yards long. They are abundant in most flat countries over which an ice sheet has passed.
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A dune is a wavelike mound or ridge the materials of which have been accumulated and shaped by the wind. Dunes may occur where ever sand is formed; by the margins of seas lakes and rivers, in inland regions of low rainfall, which are the most extensive dune-covered areas.
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A mound or orb is a sign of sovereign authority and majesty. It consists of a ball or globe surmounted by a cross and encircled with a horizontal band, from the upper edge of which springs a semi-circular band, both of which are enriched with precious stones. The mound forms part of a sovereigns royal regalia.
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Smoking is the practice of drawing into the mouth or nose the fumes of a burning vegetable substance with narcotic, sedative or stimulant properties. The chief substances thus used are tobacco, opium and cannabis. Cannabis smoking was traditionally practised in central Asia and India and across Africa from the Middle East to South Africa, and is referred to by Herodotus among the Scythians. Tobacco smoking was practised by the Neolithic age mound builders of the upper Ohio, and for over 300 years for its health-giving properties in Britain until competition from the pharmaceutical manufacturers led to a campaign of counter information claiming connections between tobacco smoking and disease. During the 20th century a widespread campaign of oppression of all forms of smoking commenced, starting with opium, then cannabis and finally tobacco, the oppression being more prevalent in the USA and Britain than other parts of the world.
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Mound Bird is a popular name for birds of the family megapodes so called from their habit of depositing their eggs in mounds of decaying vegetable matter where the heat of the decaying matter and the sun incubates them. There are about fifteen species found mainly in Australasia and the Pacific.
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Hopewell is a North American Indian agricultural culture of the central USA, dating from about 200. The Hopewell built burial mounds up to 12 m high and structures such as Serpent Mound in Ohio.
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The moundbuilders is a name given to an American prehistoric race the principal remains of which are extensive earthworks found in the Mississippi Valley extending from the lakes southward to the gulf. Many of these are clearly defensive works or places of sepulture. Fort Hill, Ohio, has a line of circumvallation about four miles in extent. These defensive works also include structures used for religious purposes. Many mounds are of regular outline assuming the form of various geometrical figures. In Newark, Ohio, works of this character cover an area of more than two square miles. A mound near St Louis is 700 feet long by 500 broad at the base and ninety feet high. Some mounds of this character contain skeletons. Mounds, such as those near Wheeling, West Virginia, and Miamisburg, Ohio, are possibly the graves of distinguished personages. In Wisconsin and Iowa are earthworks which assume the outline of men and animals. One in Adams County, Ohio, has the form of a serpent. It is over 1000 feet in length and its mouth is partially closed around an egg of perfectly regular dimensions. The figure reaches a height of about five feet. Various theories prevail as to the question what race built the mounds. It is now frequently thought to have been a race related to the Indians.
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Kevin Sorbo is an American actor, director, and producer. He was born in 1958 at Mound, Minnesota. He is known for his starring role as 'Dylan Hunt' in the science-fiction television series 'Andromeda'.
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The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
©1993 - 2009 The Probert Encyclopaedia
Southampton, United Kingdom
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